Blog 4

I want to start off by welcoming my buddy Daniel Iorio, a new regular guest on my show, The Montreal Forum. He is a singer and song writer and may I add, a very talented one. Until the end of the NHL playoffs, Daniel will produce at least 1 song per week. His first hit, which played earlier today was titled ''Big Sheldon Souray.'' The song was well received.....almost 100 emails to prove it. If you haven't heard it yet, email me and I will forward it to you. We should have it on The Team 990 website shortly. Check out Daniel's website at www.danieliorio.com

I have been monitoring The Sheldon Souray situation very closely. Last Saturday nite, I was at the Bell Centre and came across a headline on Sportsnet. The headline stated Bob Gainey assured Souray he wouldn't be traded and they were working on a long term deal. After the game, Souray said it was totally false. I don't like being critical of anyone in this business because it's not an easy business we're in. HOWEVER I will say this, I commend TSN for their work. TSN doesn't always get it first, but they almost always get it right.

Trade deadline day is quickly approaching and I have been working the phones, sending emails and texts, trying to find out who's talking to who. I guess you are wondering if Bob Gainey is talking to other teams? The answer is YES. Gainey, talked to Minnesota two weeks ago and has been talking with San Jose this week. But, Gainey won't make a deal just to shut people up. Lately, many Canadiens fans have started to question the job Gainey has done here for the past 3 years....After giving out some big contracts to several underachieving players and signing what has turned out to be a free agent bust (Samsonov); Gainey must make sure his next deal is a good one. If he does pull the trigger, I think it will be with a western conference team.

Recently, I have received many emails re: The Salary Cap. Here's 3 things you need to know.

1) You can't exceed the cap. The NHL won't let you make a move that would bring your payroll (projected until the end of the season) above the cap. Unless, you use a long-term injury exemption, in which case there is no penalty.

2) If a player is sent to the minors, his salary does not count against the cap. If a player clears waivers and isn't assigned to the minors, his salary does count against the cap as long as he is on the NHL roster. There are exceptions for players that are 35 years old or older that signed multi-year contracts.

3) A players salary is pro-rated based on the number of days the player is on your roster. At the deadline, there will be 40 days left out of 187 days in the season. So remember this formula when trying to figure out what the cap hit will be if a deal is done on Feb 27th.
(players annual salary / 187 x 40)

Hope you have it all figured out now. I will check back in a couple of days. Take care.