Gomez VS Heatley

First things first, I'm in the camp that likes a Heatley acquisition. And there are also those of you who are in the anti-Heatley camp. Reports are that he's going to sleep on it and maybe he'll waive his clause or maybe he'll reject the trade.

Who knows.

But for those who are worried that Heatley will wake up and decide to be an Oiler... that he brings loads of offense but also defensive liability... that he brings tons of intensity but no team spirit... I say:

At least we might be getting Dany Heatley for 7.5 million instead of Scott Gomez for 7.4 - I feel bad for Montreal fans tonight.

Gomez is worth 4.5 in the last year of his contract and Heatley is worth 5 in his, so there isn't even an advantage in terms of a cap reduction "last year of contract" UFA swap deal (a la Ryan Smyth NYI or Keith Tkachuk ATL). I think it's not even close if you want to compare Gomez to Heatley. Heatley has done pretty much what Gomez has done, and then some, in 200 less NHL games and he's almost 2 years younger. Value-wise, Gomez is not even within a pubic hair of the current Senators winger.

Simply put, if we acquire Heatley, at least we'll be better off than the Habs. That's not very reassuring to those of you who don't like Heatley, but we can't all agree.

Looks like I'll be looking for a new 2nd favourite team after July 1st.

1. Edmonton
2. Montreal

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Antropov

Rumours are that Antropov wants a 5 year, 25 million dollar contract. Originally, I was interested in landing Antropov to flank Gagner's line.

Now I think it's Antropov's ticket to the KHL.

See you later Nik, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Les Habitants - A potential cash cow for Rexall Sports?

This is a follow up on this story on TSN about the possible sale of the Montreal Canadiens to le Caisse de depot et placement.

I think it's a bad idea to let the Quebec government and Parti Quebecois to get involved in the financial situation of the team because the example set by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last few decades by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and the Maple Leaf board is not a stellar one to follow. We won't speak on any of Brian Burke's future moves, but everything since the mid-60s has been hit and miss for the Maple Leafs.

Instead, I would support another private investor coming in and buying the team, or at least the majority shareholding. If the Parti Quebecois wanted to buy some shares I would support a minority shareholding but to let the government get involved in the team would probably introduce a lot of unnecessary red tape to our hallowed habitants.

An example of such a buyer would be... wait for it...

DARYL KATZ.

That's right boys, if we combine the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens, we would have two of the storied franchises in the sport under the wing of Rexall Sports. And who doesn't want that? Imagine buying mini-packs for both teams on discount and flashback Rexall ads with Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Ken Dryden on them.

One can only dream.

Oilers @ Habs

Guy Charbonneau is gone. When someone told me an NHL coach was fired, I was thinking to myself "Has the FMNF campaign finally paid off?" Sadly, it did not. But Montreal is another city in which mediocrity is hard for the fans to stomach, just that in Montreal, they actually fire their coaches when mediocrity is the standard.

The Oilers got a win in Maple Laugh land the other night but those are not contending teams. In order to make the playoffs, the Oilers need to start beating the teams that are ahead of them, and the teams that are behind them.

They will win tonight.

Game Prediction:

Edmonton 5 Montreal 3

• O'Sullivan with 2 goals, Nilsson with 1 goal
• Kovalev will score

Return of Souray

This is the first time Souray has played in Montreal since becoming an Oiler. It will be interesting to see whether or not the Habs fans boo Souray. Souray was a popular player in his Habs days and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't boo him.

T.J. Kemp

The Montreal Canadians acquired former Oilers prospect TJ Kemp the other day. They acquired him for a bag of pucks.

He is probably to shore up their AHL power play or add defensive depth, despite TJ Kemp only having 10 points so far this season.

Last season, as a member of the Springfield Falcons, TJ Kemp led the team's blueliners with 46 points and was the offensive blueliner on a Falcons team with little or no offensive weapons on the back end.

The Oilers let him go and he was signed by Pittsburgh and assigned to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

I'm not sure why the Oilers let him go, though. Sure, he's 5'11 and 197, but size has never been an NHL deterrent for guys like Lubomir Visnovsky and Marc-Andre Bergeron, and perhaps with Montreal's powerplay stinking with the departure of both Souray and Streit, with some hard work and good luck, he may find himself on the Habs powerplay sooner rather than later.