Hit the Post with Rick Moffat

Doesn't Bob Gainey want to borrow Maxwell Smart's Cone of Silence? Remember when the GM worked the backrooms and flashed his brilliance in secret, away from the prying microphones of the media? If you've heard a Habs rumour, it has under Bob We Trust had to be false by definition...the man doesn't do rumours. So why just months after openly admitting he was courting a power forward at trade deadline and failing to land Hossa, is Mr. Gainey admitting he had the inside track on Sundin?



Could Mr. Gainey be playing the hearts and minds of Montrealers to make some media waves heard all the way back to Sweden? Is this open effort doomed to fail like the Hossa talks with the Thrashers? Or will the Habs have the perfect cover for getting the longtime Leafs' captain AFTER Toronto would be deserving of compensation? My gut tells me Sundin is headed to the Rangers, but then again, none of you expected Tanguay on Draft Day, did you!



Why has Marc Trestman brought down a tougher curfew on grown, hulking men than I gave my teenage daughters at 13? He's sure got their attention now, doesn't he. Some players were heard grumbling about a post-game curfew in Winnipeg, but that was pre-season. Now even more players are surprised...CURFEW STAYS at least for the first road-trip of regular season. But 11:30 PM? I'll take a Grey Cup parade with some sinners over a losing season with a bunch of Saints and choirboys. At least the Als will be tucked in bed in plenty of time to recover from not one but 2 team meetings on the eve of the game.



More importantly, Anthony Calvillo is loving the dozens of extra plays he'll be expected to keep handy on his secret decoder wristband and signalled in from Marc Trestman. "You didn't see anything in pre-season," raves AC.



The Herd is headed West. The Als O-line is as tight a social group as there is on the football team, possibly in the CFL...and their gravitational pull is toward the West Island. Paul Lambert's been enjoying the good life out in Vaudreuil and now his 5-year old son Jake is pulling on their gear in his rookie season for the St. Lazare Stallions (turns out Jake's a two-way scoring threat, which is two more ways than his Dad!). Scott Flory and Brian Chiu as well as Luke Fritz are West Islanders, while 2nd year man Jeff Perrett--who's won the starting left tackle job to protect AC's blind side--has spent his first off-season adding to the Island of Montreal tilting west even more. How much longer before Dave Mudge follows the Herd?



THE TRUTH HURTS: Als' CJAD quote of the Day? Dave Stala on going to Ti-Cat games as a teenager: "I loved booing AC!" Ironically, Stala would just love to be getting Calvillo's attention on the field these days.



Als' quote of the day runner-up? Assistant GM Marcel Desjardins, unceremoniously fired by the TiCats and quickly scooped up by Jim Popp for a return to the Alouettes on what's the best thing about coming back to Hamilton as an Al? "I don't have to work for a demented president anymore." Geez Marcel, tell us how you really feel! Don't hold back.