Weather Forecast: Breezy In Montreal Next Season

by Joe Dunman on Jul 29, 2007 12:21 AM MDT in NHL News

Patrice Brisebois

Finally, some actual Avalanche-related news.

It seems the long-standing give-and-take relationship between the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche (see: Patrick Roy, Jose Theodore, David Aebischer, Jocelyn Thibault, Mike Keane, Martin Rucinsky, etc...) has been renewed, kind of.

The Habs have offered defenseman Patrice Brisebois a one-year, $700,000 contract to rejoin the team he won the Cup with back in 1993. Avalanche management had made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to get another offer from them after spending most of last season sidelined with a back injury. Well, sidelined from hockey. He found another hobby to keep himself occupied while still drawing a nice NHL paycheck.

I can't say too much about Breezer's stay with the Avs since he didn't do too much while he was in Colorado---he only played one full season and his performance was so-so. He's more or less at the end of his career anyway, and will likely not play past 2007-08.

At least the guy found work. It's never good to see hockey players forced into retirement from the NHL before they're ready because nobody wants them anymore. That's just sad.

UPDATE: Eyes On The Prize, a Habs blog, has posted their reaction to the Brisebois signing. Let's just say they're a little less than enthusiastic:

My take on Brisebois has always been that he is a player with above average tools, minus the toolbox.

Well put.

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Comments

??

I'm staggered by this -- the guy was easily the worst Av on the ice last year whenever he suited up -- which was rare anyways! now someone wants to PAY him to be the worst player on the ice again?

I know the arguments -- he's decent on the point of a PP, he provides "veteran leadership", he's cheap, etc... i just think it's dumb to ignore his other failings for those meager reasons.

by thedoctor on Jul 30, 2007 8:50 AM MDT reply actions

Re: ??

I have a feeling, if anything, the Habs will play him as the seventh defenseman and only use him during the PP. I don't think he'll get any significant ice time.

I could be wrong, of course. But, that team no longer has Sheldon Souray, who ONLY plays well on the PP, so they're probably looking to fill that roster hole.

by Joe Dunman on Jul 30, 2007 10:26 AM MDT up reply actions