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Five questions: Defence, UFAs and captain vacancies

November 2, 2009 01:43 PM | Posted by   Guy Carbonneau  

Here's how it works. You submit a question and Guy will provide the answer to five of them every Monday. It's that simple. That means your question may not make the final list, but there is nothing stopping you from submitting more than one!

Here are today's questions.

1. I've heard a lot of people talking about the "ideal" ratio of North American/European, veteran/youth players. Do you think such a formula exists, and if it does, what do you think are good ratios? - Connor

I think everybody has their own formulas and think they’ve found the perfect way to build a team. At the end, there's so much more that goes into building a team that to try to put those aspects into a formula is hard. If I was building a team, I would want a good mixture of veterans at key positions and surround them with some young players that would bring energy and passion.

It wouldn’t matter if there was one or 10 Europeans who were part of that mixture. I would try to get most of them from the same country (i.e., like Detroit) in order to facilitate their integration into my team.

2. I was a big fan of yours both as a player and as a coach. In your playing days you excelled as a defensive forward and I would go as far as saying that you brought shot blocking and a forward's role in penalty killing to a much higher level than existed previously. My question for you is, as a very gifted offensive player, how and why did you develop into such a powerful defensive specialist? - Greg MacPherson

Thanks Greg. Well, I was always a good offensive player in junior and in the American League and because my goal was to play in the NHL, I had to show them that I could play both sides of the ice. During my first three training camps things went well, but they would always tell me to go back to my team and work on my defensive responsibilities.

When I finally made the NHL, I didn’t have the chance to be on the ice a lot in offensive situations and as a result I didn’t get a lot of ice time. In my second year, because of injuries to a few players, I had the chance to play with Bob Gainey in a more defensive role and because of it, I was playing a lot more minutes than before, so I then dedicated a lot of time working on that part of my game. The rest is history.

3. The Bruins re-signed [Milan] Lucic to a three-year extension and avoided free agency. Should YOUR Montreal Canadiens do the same with [Carey] Price now? - Giovanni Zaccagnini

I thought it was a good move on the part of the Bruins to re-sign Lucic before he had a chance to become a restricted free agent next year. With the new economics in the NHL I can see more teams go after young players in their prime that would only cost draft picks in a restricted free agency system. So I am sure that the Canadiens are looking at Carey Price very closely to make sure he can keep improving and become the goalie they expect. If that happens, then they will probably try to sign him to an extension also.

4. Do you think an NHL team can play a full schedule without naming a captain? If not, at this point, who the Habs should consider? - Patrice Chevalier, Montréal

Patrice, it’s been done in the past. The Minnesota Wild, since their arrival in Minnesota, has always used a rotation and only last month named Mikko Koivu their captain. It's not an ideal situation, but you need to clearly define what you looking for from a captain before you make your choice. Since they have a lot of new players this year, the Canadiens are looking at different candidates during the first portion of the schedule before they announce their choice. Here are a few names that I would consider: Markov, Gionta, Cammalleri and Hamrlik.

5. Loved you as a player, and I miss seeing your tie selections for games. When are you going to write that tell-all book about the 2008-2009 Canadiens?! The people want to know! - Stephanie Darwish

Stephanie, I don’t want to disappoint you but I don’t have any intention at the moment to write a book about my experience as a coach with the Canadiens. I enjoyed every part of it and would go back in a second. Maybe when I'm older and my career in hockey is over I will re-think it, but for now, just keep reading my answers on the blogs!

Do you have a question for Guy? Email it to: CBCHockeyOnline@cbc.ca

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