| Subject: “Magnifique” off season for the Remparts |
Author:
Dino Bambino
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Date Posted: 17:28:07 07/28/04 Wed
“Magnifique” off season for the Remparts
After missing the playoffs by one point last season, GM Dean Belanger made a promise to his players that he would do everything in his power to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. Considering that just two seasons ago he cleaned house and started a massive rebuilding process, this is a major about face. “We are one year ahead of schedule for sure, but with the quality of free agents available this year, we had to expedite things.” Consider the most recent summer as “promise kept”!
The first priority was to improve the defense. After a series of meetings with the player and his agent, Belanger was able to convince Rob Blake to join the fold. Most hockey experts were shocked that a player like Blake would even consider moving from a team that was one win away from a dynasty, but obviously he believed in the plan. With that, Blake accepted the trade from Halifax and joined Quebec in what would prove to be the first of many huge additions.
The next move made was to secure Sergei Zubov as a free agent. Most agree that without the addition of Blake, there is little to no chance that Zubov would have even considered Quebec as an option. Both players will join Sandis Ozolinsh and Tom Poti on the much improved Quebec power play and both offer a right handed shot which is always a big plus. When you consider that Nick Boynton will soon be a regular on the Remparts, the defense looks solid for the next few seasons.
Finally on July 24th, Belanger sat in his office with head coach Pat Burns waiting for the fax machine to spit out one or more signed contracts. One or two more pieces of the puzzle were missing, and Belanger had the Magnificent one in his sights. The scream of joy could be heard all the way to Montreal as not only had Mario Lemieux agreed to a four-year deal, but Mike Dunham also came to terms as well.
At the press conference yesterday at Dino’s Bar & Grille, all four players were on hand to meet the media and some of their new teammates. Ryan Smyth was more than an innocent bystander as he handed Lemieux his new number 66 jersey with a fresh captains C on it. Mario was visibly moved as his Team Canada teammate made grand gesture. “It’s players like Ryan Smyth who convinced me that this will be the right fit for me,” said Lemieux “winning the gold medal with Smyth and Blake was amazing, hopefully we can bring silver to Quebec City.”
Pat Burns was also emotional but thankfully his recent health troubles allowed him to attend the presser. “I promised all these players that I would open things up this year, they have my word.”
Patrick Lalime looked happy even though the Terry Sawchuk finalist will have competition in the net this season. “I don’t care if I play 20, 40, or 60 games, as long as we win.” Lalime seemed to echo the thoughts of many of his teammates especially Martin Straka who is returning from a lengthy injury. Faced with the reality that he will be on the third line at best, Straka was also upbeat. “It’s a long season, hopefully everyone is healthy but injuries do happen. I’m sure I’ll also get some PP time as well as the season goes on.”
Parting shots
Dan Cloutier did not attend the press conference and has not made any comments at all to the media since the addition of Dunham. Word is that Belanger’s office does have a picture hung where a wall used to be when he broke the news to Cloutier. Mike Knuble is expected to make the team this year and there is even rumbles that he will be on a line with Lemieux and Pavol Demitra. If that does happen, expect the Tanguay, Smyth, Dvorak line to remain intact…except now they are the second line, not the first. Also expect to see Ales Hemsky make the team out of camp.
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