We need Cory Schneider

[maplesyrup]

Halak might be a good option because I recall the Habs being totally outplayed in all facets of the game and Halak standing on his head. The more shots he faced the better he played.

What do you figure the cost would be to acquire him though and wouldn't you rather use those assets for something else? I just think one of Reimer or Gustavsson stands a chance to be as good as Halak one day.  :-\ I keep bringing up Bernier/Schneider as the exception because everything I've read/heard point to these guys being very good for a very long time. If the sole purpose of trading for Halak is to get to the playoffs now, then yeah, I totally get it but I've got the bigger picture in mind. 

 

[maplesyrup]

I'd rather take one in the hand in Halak than two in the bush on Bernier.

Or, like I said, why not really just keep the bird in the hand and just run with the current tandem?

 

[Bender]

Halak might be a good option because I recall the Habs being totally outplayed in all facets of the game and Halak standing on his head. The more shots he faced the better he played.

What do you figure the cost would be to acquire him though and wouldn't you rather use those assets for something else? I just think one of Reimer or Gustavsson stands a chance to be as good as Halak one day.  :-\ I keep bringing up Bernier/Schneider as the exception because everything I've read/heard point to these guys being very good for a very long time. If the sole purpose of trading for Halak is to get to the playoffs now, then yeah, I totally get it but I've got the bigger picture in mind.

Yeah, but Schneider is only a year younger than Halak. Bernier is 3 years younger but has not shown to put up good numbers consistently. We'd also be getting younger in Halak than Gustavsson. So what's the issue?

 

[Bender]

I'd rather take one in the hand in Halak than two in the bush on Bernier.

Or, like I said, why not really just keep the bird in the hand and just run with the current tandem?

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

 

[Tigger]

I'd rather take one in the hand in Halak than two in the bush on Bernier.

Or, like I said, why not really just keep the bird in the hand and just run with the current tandem?

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

Just to play avocat du diable can I have Halak and Jonas instead?

 

[maplesyrup]

Yeah, but Schneider is only a year younger than Halak. Bernier is 3 years younger but has not shown to put up good numbers consistently. We'd also be getting younger in Halak than Gustavsson. So what's the issue?

Like I said, I have 2 issues mainly.

1) Giving up assets significant assets for a position that I'm not convinced in the long run, we'd be improving by acquiring Halak - I'm more interested in a couple of guys who I feel, in the long run might be better options. Could I be wrong? Maybe. Heck, even probably because I freely admit I have now idea how to judge young goalie talent. I just suck up as much info as I can and let it rattle around in there... Now, thinking short term to make a playoff push? Yeah, giddy-up if the price is right.

2) Halak's size.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

And hey, if it's a Gustavsson + for Halak swap, then why not?

Not to get too ahead of ourselves, but if a trade for Halak happened Gustavsson likely wouldn't be involved. St. Louis has a couple of pretty decent goaltending prospects, including Ben Bishop who is among the top goalies in the AHL right now. If a move happened he would likely be moved into the back-up role.

 

[Bender]

I'd rather take one in the hand in Halak than two in the bush on Bernier.

Or, like I said, why not really just keep the bird in the hand and just run with the current tandem?

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

Just to play avocat du diable can I have Halak and Jonas instead?

Interesting. I don't know if I'd give up on James just yet: We don't know if he's having a slump or if he's Jim Carey (or Andrew Raycroft).

 

[maplesyrup]

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

Because I think both Reimer and Gustavsson stand a chance to be as good as Halak one day, that's why...

 

[CarltonTheBear]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

 

[Tigger]

I'd rather take one in the hand in Halak than two in the bush on Bernier.

Or, like I said, why not really just keep the bird in the hand and just run with the current tandem?

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

Just to play avocat du diable can I have Halak and Jonas instead?

Interesting. I don't know if I'd give up on James just yet: We don't know if he's having a slump or if he's Jim Carey (or Andrew Raycroft).

Not that there's a scintilla of truthiness to what I'm asking but Reimer might be worth more in a trade?

 

[bustaheims]

Not to get too ahead of ourselves, but if a trade for Halak happened Gustavsson likely wouldn't be involved. St. Louis has a couple of pretty decent goaltending prospects, including Ben Bishop who is among the top goalies in the AHL right now. If a move happened he would likely be moved into the back-up role.

Maybe, but they also might want to leave him with Peoria getting starting goalie ice time and helping the Rivermen stay in the playoff hunt.

 

[maplesyrup]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

Toskala gave me my fill on the diminutive type keppers for a while... Gun shy?

 

[Zee]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

Could he work with Allaire?  Toskala was a smaller goalie too and as soon as Allaire tried to change his style it was game over.  Halak has his own set way of playing goal, I don't think he'd work well in the Allaire school of goaltending, also I think Allaire's school favors bigger goalies.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

I'm going to field this one:

Because.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

Could he work with Allaire?  Toskala was a smaller goalie too and as soon as Allaire tried to change his style it was game over.  Halak has his own set way of playing goal, I don't think he'd work well in the Allaire school of goaltending, also I think Allaire's school favors bigger goalies.

I suppose that's a fair point. With that said I can't see Burke acquiring a somewhat established goalie like Halak and telling him he has to change his game so dramatically. I know it happened with Toskala, but it's not like his game was all that great to begin with. 

Then again that does lead into another possible point, would Burke try to acquire a goalie in the first place that doesn't fit into the Allaire style of goaltending? I think it'd be foolish not to, but I wouldn't really put it past him.

 

[Bender]

The current tandem is not getting it done. I'm not saying Reimer can't develop, but if we can have Halak instead of Gustavsson I can't imagine how that DOESN'T make the team better in the short AND long term.

Because I think both Reimer and Gustavsson stand a chance to be as good as Halak one day, that's why...

Ok... but Halak is already as good as Halak. And he's 1 year younger than Gustavsson. Why would we wait until Gus is theoretically 30 or 31 to be as good as Halak at 26?

 

[Bender]

2) Halak's size.

That's kind of an odd thing to be worried about this late into his career. It hasn't hindered him yet, why now? It's like saying you wouldn't want Martin St. Louis because of his size.

Could he work with Allaire?  Toskala was a smaller goalie too and as soon as Allaire tried to change his style it was game over.  Halak has his own set way of playing goal, I don't think he'd work well in the Allaire school of goaltending, also I think Allaire's school favors bigger goalies.

I suppose that's a fair point. With that said I can't see Burke acquiring a somewhat established goalie like Halak and telling him he has to change his game so dramatically. I know it happened with Toskala, but it's not like his game was all that great to begin with. 

Then again that does lead into another possible point, would Burke try to acquire a goalie in the first place that doesn't fit into the Allaire style of goaltending? I think it'd be foolish not to, but I wouldn't really put it past him.

That's a fair question, but I don't think you can say either way "He's big, he can work with Allaire, he's small he can't work with Allaire." Patrick Roy was 6ft, and he cut a pretty good career working with Allaire.

Doing your due diligence is a much different thing than making questionable generalizations.

And for the record, Im not sure why Allaire gets flak for hurting Toskala. It's not like Toskala ever listened to his teachings anyway. Why can't we just say Toskala is just a bad goaltender? He's not even in the league anymore for crying out loud. I can't imagine a couple years under Allaire would break Toskala. Toskala broke Toskala.

 

[bustaheims]

Ok... but Halak is already as good as Halak. And he's 1 year younger than Gustavsson. Why would we wait until Gus is theoretically 30 or 31 to be as good as Halak at 26?

This. I also don't believe Gustavsson will be as good as Halak is now. I'm not sure he'll be all that much better than he already is, to be entirely honest - I have to imagine he's at or near the peak of his development curve.

Reimer, on the other hand, is still young enough that he might still have a lot of room to develop.

 

[Tigger]

Uh, I'm really not at all sure about what you can draw from whatever happened between Toskala and Allaire but he said he didn't want to play that way and he sucked, how can that possibly be shoveled with a straight face at Francois' doorstep?