Boone's Questionaire

There was an interesting set of questions posed by Gazette writer Mike Boone. I'm not really sure if he was driving at anything, but I definitely sensed a negative, given up tone.

I, of course, would like to respond. But I will pick just a few, as I don't want to write an Epic.

Do you seriously see your Montreal Canadiens as a Stanley Cup contender?
No. They don't seem hungry.

In these troubled times, how much of your equity would you bet on them making the playoffs?
$250, even bet. Who wants my money? It sure would be a tense March. They haven't yet reached the make-or-break point, but it starts next week for sure! every game is already important!

What ails Carey Price? Did he catch it from Mike Komisarek? And has it spread to Andrei Kostitsyn?
Now that is a really interesting Question! If I knew the answer I'd be a millionaire sports psychologist. Or a pro hockey columnist. If I had to guess, I would throw my hat in with those who say 'sophmore slump'. Kostitsyn has his money, obviously he was gonna blow. Komisarek and Price in a cyclone of suck: they suck because they are mentally depressed about their game, then they get more depressed about their game because they suck. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

If Jaro Halak falters, can we start dreaming about John Tavares?
Good to see Mr Boone still has his sense of humour, and is willing to dream. Maybe if we draft him, he can grow an extra 2 arms and play both Center AND Wing. Awesome! or maybe he can coach!

On the morning after a loss and a plane trip, would you bag-skate 39-year-old Mathieu Schneider, who played 24 minutes the night before, 38-year-old Patrice Brisebois, 34-year-old cancer survivor Saku Koivu and 36-year-old Alex Kovalev?
You bet your ass I would! If they want to play like rookies, they can skate like rookies. It's a team game, and these leaders had better start leading. No one deserved a 'pass' from this workout. I hope Carbo skates them again after Atlanta. On your bikes, everyone! If you are gonna lose, you are gonna be so burned out by the end of the season you'll be contemplating retirement. There has been way to much leniancy on the players this year: the coaching staff has to push his players and assert some authority. The players are craving it.

If his name were not Guy Carbonneau, would he still be coaching the Montreal Canadiens?
That's another very interesting question! But assuming Gainey would hire only a coach he trusted, I would say yes. He fired Julien because he didn't hire Julien. If he fired the coach, at this point, he'd have to take over behind the bench; and that didn't really work last time. Gotta think Gainey is standing behind his coaching staff on this one, as well he should. Regardless of current woes. (May change in the summer or early next season, though).

If his name were not Bob Gainey, would he have the best job security – outside of maybe Gary Bettman – in the NHL?
I don't really get it. He was fired from Dallas, wasn't he? Or pushed out? Or if this is refering to Gillett's trust in him, then again, yes. Gillett hired who he thought was the best man for the job, and gave them complete controle. Whoever the GM is, Gillett would keep them, so long as the seats were full and merchandise sells. Check on both counts!

Anyhow, I hope I passed, Mr Boone.