''I took this step because it is Jaroslav's wish to have his chance to play,'' Canadiens GM Bob Gainey told ruefrontenac.com. ''He feels ready to play a more important part.''
The "step" is a call that Gainey made to Paul Holmgren, his counterpart with the Philadelphia Flyers, sometime after Ray Emery went down with an injury. Gainey wanted to gauge Holmgren's interest in obtaining Jaroslav Halak.
'Let's be realistic,'' Gainey told the website. "I received a second-round pick from the Washington Capitals for Cristobal Huet and the Flyers gave up a second-round pick from Buffalo for Martin Biron."
It is highly unusual for Gainey to take the step of speaking with the media about an impending move. So why this time? It is possible that he was misquoted, but I don't think that is the case in this situation. The more probable explanation is that the move is strategic on Gainey's part.
To a small extent, the public message may have been aimed at Halak's volatile agent, Allan Walsh. It was Gainey's way of letting Walsh know that he was actively trying to deal Halak as requested. This would hopefully keep Walsh in check so that he wouldn't c ...
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Article written by Rocket All Habs
Gainey Signals his Intentions Regarding Halak
December 15th, 2009 by Rocket All Habs Leave a reply »
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