Why would the Habs hate Grabs?

by koopa kid on Nov 10, 2008 3:21 AM EST

This came up in one of the Montreal postgame threads, I figured I'd fanpost it because I have a sorta long response and those discussions have a tendency of dying, which would be a shame as this is a juicy topic.

Basically, Grabovski demanded a trade, and not just that, but a trade to a team that could find him ice time.Carbonneau had his pecking order down, a player like Grabovski was basically not on it.

Now, talent had one thing to do with it, it's hard to name a player in that top 6 that Grabs could supplant easily even now, but Grabovski is also certainly playing better for us than he ever did for the Habs. He's not dumb, he knows that he can't demand another trade without becoming a poisonous player to GMs, so instead he's working his tail off doing everything he needs to do to get ice time from Wilson. That includes backchecking, that includes forechecking, two areas that needed improvement when he was in Montreal.

Imagine you play for a storied franchise like Montreal (or, you know, the Leafs). The organization does it's best to impress upon it's players the honour and value of simply being a Canadien, it's special and it's a reward that comes from hard work and playing in the minors. Good teams often don't need talented rookies right away, Detroit is a great example with a stacked AHL team, so they need to convince their talent that the wait is worth it, else they all demand trades. Kind of like Grabovski. When he demanded a trade he gave the entire organization the finger, including every player in the NHL and the AHL pipeline.

Imagine Tlusty got fed up and demanded a trade. Would we as fans react well to that? Would the team? Grabosvki is probably more talented, and was given less of a shot in the bigs than good ol' Lusty.

Now imagine that the Leafs were not only nice enough to oblige Tlusty his request, but also traded him to a struggling divisional rival so he could have a shot. Now imagine he became their leading goal scorer.

I think we'd all be a little pissed off at the guy.

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Good post

I can understand why they hate him. The Four Habs Fans were pretty pissed after he demanded the trade and their fanpost preview reflected the lingering feelings. And I’d hate him if he did it to us. Luckily he didn’t ;)

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Nov 10, 2008 9:43 AM EST reply actions

Agreed

It makes sense and I can see it that way, although I wouldn’t hate Grabby, I wouldn’t like him and he would be in my “you annoy me but I can’t fault you for what you did because it makes perfect sense and I would do the exact same thing but I’m still irritated” book.

"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

by Winkle on Nov 10, 2008 10:36 AM EST up reply actions

kinda sorta agree

it’s not like he was drafted yesterday or something. He was drafted in 04, and didn’t get to the NHL until 07. That’s three years in the RSL before he came over here. He was getting his ice time in the RSL (which despite popular opinion, is not a glorified minor league) and then getting the shaft over here and constantly being sent down to the AHL. My book would probably have a shorter title than Winkle’s, but I don’t think I would hate him for wanting to maximize his career, but then, I’m not a Habs fan…

Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on Nov 10, 2008 10:44 AM EST up reply actions

Yup

I don’t know anything about his attitude and if he “demanded” a trade or just “asked” for one, but it makes sense. If I worked at a company who was keeping me from advancing my career I would leave and find a position at another company, as would anyone with a functional sense of logic and common sense. I would be annoyed because he jumped to a hated team, but it doesn’t make it any less logical.

"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

by Winkle on Nov 10, 2008 10:57 AM EST up reply actions

On the radio Saturday night, they had an interview with one of the Habs press guys. Can’t remember which one. Basically, they said Grabs had more than a little bit of attitude and also a history of bad blood with the Kostitsyns.

Haven’t seen a ton of evidence of bad attitude here and I don’t think Wilson would stand for it, but then again, he’s been getting the ice time he wanted.

Leaf, the universe and everything.

by 1967ers on Nov 10, 2008 10:52 AM EST reply actions

smells like charachter assisination to me. How often do teams go out and bad mouth a player? I can think of countless players who have demanded trades for one reason or another, but few instances where the team said it was the players fault. Take the Jagr trade to NYR from the Caps. Everyone knew Jagr was sulking, not enjoying playing for the Caps and he wanted out. The Caps made it happen, by agreeing to eat half of Jagr’s salary. A team isn’t going to do that unless there are some SERIOUS personell issues that facilitate the need to get the player out of Dodge ASAP.

This is an attempt to save face and paint Gainey as the saint, and not the doofus who got bent over by a 70+ year old man…

Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on Nov 10, 2008 11:01 AM EST up reply actions

Kostitsyns v. Grabovski

My buddy’s dad is from Belarus and was/is a pretty big coach/trainer (he worked with Fedorov before he came over) and I saw him Saturday night and he was saying that at the Worlds they were at each others throats. Grabovski was complaining to his dad about how the Kostitsyn’s were not passing to him on purpose.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Nov 10, 2008 11:02 AM EST up reply actions

This makes perfect sense. The Habs are in love with the Tits twins from the Owners down to the fans, so anyone on that team who doesn’t play nice with the cool kids is automatically a looser, no matter how good he is at plying his trade, it also explains why he may have been shafted for ice time and chances.
Now we get to profit, I actually like Grabs more now.

Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option

by JaredFromLondon on Nov 10, 2008 6:16 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with the statement about all this character assassination having to do with the Habs covering up a mistake. The fans in Montreal worship Bob Gainey, and he can do no wrong in their book.

Thus, when Gainey gets bent over by a senile old man in a trade, there has to be something done to justify it. They wouldnt want it to appear that Gainey actually made a mistake.

But Im glad he did, and its great to see Grabs playing so well for the good guys in blue and white. Now if only he and Hagman could get some help from their D….

The Maple Leafs News Ticket. Yes, its another Leafs blog.

by Drake15 on Nov 12, 2008 12:10 AM EST reply actions