And Matt Cassel makes three (if you count Pioli)

Matt Cassel was also traded to the Chiefs as part of the Vrabel deal. We got their second-round pick in return.

I know, I was 34 minutes slow on this story. That's what happens when I do work.

You might be asking, 'That's it?' I know that I was. Here is Reiss to explain. One thing to bear in mind: there is no guarantee that Cassel will step up at the same level. Somehow I don't think that we can forget he had Wes Welker and Randy Moss in New England (even if he wasn't throwing to Randy so often, it did mean other teams had to compensate for him in their defensive coverage). So yeah, now let's use that 2nd round pick for Good and not Evil. Or maybe just for a corner.

And here's Mark from NH with a parting thought:

"Ye of little faith. Do you think there is no master plan in place, not yet disclosed.
In Bill we trust. Come on you cranks, he didn't get to the top of the food chain being stupid."

This time in overtime

The Habs won! Again! 4-3 in overtime against the Flyers!

Now let's watch as Montreal fans everywhere start getting all excited again about how this could be the year...

Oh, and Halak was in net. Again!

A few hockey trades for good measure

The Habs also were busy:

1) They traded Bégin (forward) for Doug Janik (defense). Janik comes from the Dallas Stars and is going straight to the farm team in Hamilton. Which makes me ask, 'Huh' as well.

2) They picked up Glen Metropolit from the Flyers on waivers. He is a center and has 'lots of experience.' He's already been put on the fourth line.

According to Bob Gainey, the Habs really needed a center to bring everything together, hence the Metropolit acquisition. Also, if you read between the blog, it would seem that almost everyone is demanding to be traded...fabulous.

Whoa! Vrabel traded, yet another RB signed, bye-bye to Gaffney

Okay, that was unexpected. Vrabel was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Wow. Speculation runs rampant by Reiss on this one, but I think that the main train of thought remains, 'Huh?' Most comments range from, 'That was unexpected' to 'Wow, that was really unexpected.' My gut says that this is bad, but as others are also pointing out, we don't know what we got in return yet. So I shall save judgment until that time (unless it is another running back).

Speaking of which, the Patriots signed running back Fred Taylor, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars (remember when everyone thought they were going to tear up our D during the 2007 playoffs? One of those guys). This means that we now have, like, 87 running backs. Okay, I exaggerate, but not by a whole lot: LaMont Jordan, Lawrence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, and Kevin Faulk. This begs the question of who is going to leave from our side, because I don't know that you need 6 RBs. However, considering how quickly we seem to go through them, maybe you do.

Finally, Jabar Gaffney has gone to the Denver Broncos. Okay, he was the third WR, and he did do his job....but not always.....*coughing* COLTS GAME. So perhaps it is his time to go.

And all of this took place in 1 DAY of free agency. Fun!

We're not still pretending he's the back-up, right?

Montreal won! Again! Yes! Two in a row! Amazing, I know.

Jaroslav Halak got his first shut-out of the year in the 3-0 win against the Canucks (take THAT!). I would say that he has now earned his starter title, almost like he replaced the quarterback. I mean, he's clearly on the game, Carey Price is not.

Apparently Montreal players should be associated with purported organized criminals more often? I don't know. But keep up the turn-around!

The announcers noted that there was a key play by Patrice Brisebois to keep the shut-out intact near the end of the third. Also, does anyone else find it sad that the announcer at the Bell Centre says 'third' in a normal, English way now? It just destroys the whole fun of it really. Au moins on a toujours les Thrashers.

They won

Okay, hurray for a temporary stop to the implosion. Montreal beat Ottawa 5-3 today, despite all of the craziness that ensued over the past week. Kovalev, having returned from his Gainey-imposed time off, had a goal and two assists. All seems well -- for now -- with the Habs.

For now...

Good news, everyone! (More trouble in Habland)

Good grief (or 'tabernac' if you prefer en français):

'The French-language daily La Presse reported Friday that Andrei Kostitsyn and Sergei Kostitsyn had social ties with Pasquale Mangiola [only 2.5 letters away from Mangini!], who was arrested Feb. 12.

“We’re very concerned,” Montreal general manager Bob Gainey said at a news press conference at the team’s suburban practice facility. “We’re very concerned because we know that this person who became involved with these players, he’s not the only person who wants to find a place to enter the inner area of the hockey team.”

La Presse said none of the three players is suspected of any criminal activity.'

Awesome. Apparently Bob Gainey sat everyone down and said that associations with, you know, those involved with organized crime are a bad idea. He also noted that "it doesn’t reflect well on our team, it doesn’t reflect well on the individuals, it cannot be extinguished as a possible inhibitor to our performance." The third (or 'turd') player in question was Hamrlik.

Quit imploding! Now! Come on!

There was some University of Alberta study a few weeks ago that showed the Habs still have a 95% chance of making the playoffs. I wonder how that number changes from day to day.