Personal Reasons!

It's official. Sergei Samsonov is demanding a trade. Recently his agent has announced that he will not be playing in any of the future games, including the showdown against the Leafs this Saturday. He is currently residing in Mexico with his family for two weeks, trade talk beginning afterwards. When asked about his reason to leave, he has deflected most of them claiming that it was for "personal reasons" and in a wish to respect his family's wishes, he will not go into further detail.

His sudden decision has affected the team and its fans very strongly. Kovalev, his closest linemate was reported saying "It's his decision and if he wishes to follow his family's decisions then you gotta respect that". When asked about his play with Samsonov, Kovalev said "He was a great player. I mean he never complained and always went hard".

Fans however feel otherwise, there have been rumours buzzing that his wife, a native of Detroit, is not happy with her new home. Friends have overheard her complaining about the house, Jose Theodore's old home, smelling like Propecia. The inconsistent weather has been another of her concerns, the wind chill something she is not used to. "And why the (bleep) does everyone speak French?"

Another popular rumour is that Samsonov has been caught cheating and possibly impregnating a media journalist. Samsonov, despite his wolfish demeanor (and often the butt of many jokes involving an ugly stick) is known with his friends to be a late night party-goer.

Either way it's an uphill journey for the Canadiens, rocked by scandal and an unhappy player. Fans fear that this will scare other possible Free Agents signing in Montreal, Samsonov having just signed in the recent off season. For what "personal reasons", the fans will never know.

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Alright it was funny while it lasted. Samsonov is NOT asking for a trade. It's just that with the recent losses, fans feels major changes are needed. This report suggests a Chicago trade for Seabrook or Eklund from Hockeybuzz has been implying the Flames are searching for something too. The fans want Lombardi here, which is a longshot but who knows?

Bob Gainey is best known for his unpredictable deals, however when Mike Ribeiro was traded, fans were not surprised. Samsonov seems to sit in the same boat, being the 5th highest scoring forward despite earning 2nd line minutes as he previously requested. However do I feel he's the worst on the team? Definitely not. The team is suffering quite a bit and Huet's stellar play has proven that he is saving their asses a lot of time. Abby is another possible item to sell, he's not horrible for a backup and there are teams that can have worse. However I'm a firm believer in keeping a good goalie on the side. A prime example is of San Jose's rotating goalie system which is working nicely for them. Nonetheless Samsonov in last night's crushing loss has been playing quite hard and set up the second goal. He is slowly becoming noticeable for his hustle (not the dance) on the ice and his efforts to create scoring chances. However the numbers aren't appearing. And while other flashy yet lazy players *cough*KovalevandRyder*cough* are struggling they seem to be out of the question.

I can't help but think there is a coaching failure involved as well. They simply don't know what to do so many times, they've been playing for many games together but they still act as if this is their first time handling this. If there is no chemistry, they can at least try to fake it with hard work. Considering that the 3rd line is the only line that is almost consistently "chemistry" like, there's a little bit more than just "chemistry" that's needed for the team. Not to mention Carbonneau's obsession with keeping Kovalev with Samsonov is excruciatingly annoying. Sure they've split up once, during Samsonov's demotion. However I assume that he merely found out that Kovalev is still barely trying, and Samsonov's change made very little difference.

Another suggestion is for Kovalev to play with Koivu, since Higgins is still out with an injury. He played with Koivu many times last season and he seemed to work quite well.

Good coaching bedamned, I feel like this is one of those teams where you shake scrabble letters in a bag and make lines from whatever falls out.