If you’re JUST joining in on the fun of reading a summer recap for the Habs, I strongly suggest you go ahead and read part 1 right here: http://nhlhotstove.com/canadiens-summer-recap-part-1/

Now if you’re ready for the part of the summer recap where I get all pissy and angry against one of the players I dislike the most around the league, then you’re certainly going to want to read on.

The Sergei Kostitsyn trade

June 29^th 2010 marked the beginning of a huge party in many Montreal homes: Sergei Kostitsyn, the player I deem the most cancerous in the locker room in the AHL and second in the NHL (trailing Olli Jokinen, of course), was traded to the Nashville Predators for forward Dustin Boyd and goaltender Dan Ellis. Not two days later, the Habs signed Boyd to a one year contract.

Dan Ellis, on the other hand, was not signed by les Canadiens’ management and became a free agent on July 1^st, leading him to sign a two year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightening. Ellis claimed many reasons leading to not sign in Montreal, one being money, and the second being that he wasn’t comfortable playing behind Carey Price and having to mentor him.

The Habs obtained in Dustin Boyd a gritty, hard hitting and intense forward who can effectively replace the unsigned free agent Glen Metropolit, who is getting old now. Boyd brings a fresh blast of youth to the 3^rd and 4^th lines, all the while playing at a level equal to, if not superior, Glen Metropolit’s.

Yet for me, the biggest gain in this trade for the Habs was being able to get rid of the most difficult of the Kostitsyn brothers. Ever since they acquire him, Sergei has been nothing but trouble in the locker room, and his off-ice antics have been a shame to the team and fans alike, as he has always seemed to take his position on the team as granted. Certainly, the young man has a lot of time ahead of him to develop into a much better player, yet the way he has acted during his young career, i.e. missing team buses, not showing up to practices or storming out of them, etc, have deeply hampered his development as a player and as a teammate.

Sergei is one of those players who I believe will be much better off somewhere else than in Montreal. What he needs is a change of scenery and to play in a new city where the expectations on him are not as high, but where management will still keep a close eye on him to make sure that he is able to focus on hockey and keep himself out of trouble off the ice (see: Sergei’s “friendly” relationship with Montreal mobster Pasquale Mangiola). He was a lost case in Montreal, and the change of scenery will probably help, but at worse well… the Preds will be stuck with a fat hunk of problems on their lap. But hey, at least we Montrealers won’t have to read about it in the newspaper anymore, right? The Journal de Montréal is just going to have to find some other retarded stories to put on their front page!

Oh, and in case you missed it and you’re worried, the Habs replaced potential-second-goalie-who-skipped-town Dan Ellis with another massive goalie (6’5) Alex Auld. Hopefully, the journeyman of seven nhl teams will provide some leadership and mentoring for young Carey Price the way Pierre Gauthier (Habs GM) had hoped Dan Ellis would.

Christopher Nardi
NHLHS Montreal Canadiens Correspondent
cnardi@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @dragonlancehuma