HABS-TOWN: "The (Habs) need to spend a couple years at the bottom"

Max Harris is a cool kid.

I remember Max at a younger age then he likely remembers. I was working at a summer camp as a hockey instructor - and Max, barely interested in hockey would come to talk Expos baseball. I had Expos season tickets at the time, and went to virtually every single game. I knew all the players, all their stats, I knew everything about them - I even had a friend in the clubhouse - and yet, I think Max knew more than me.

Max is a sports guru - a name coined for him on a TSN 990 Trivia show years ago, by the show's host Elliot Price. If you look at pictures of Expos fans in their waning days - Max is often front & center.

At one time Max co-hosted "BALLS! The baseball Show" on TSN 990, he tweets, he blogs and he umps softball. Max is everywhere, and although baseball is his first love, this is still a HABS-TOWN, and Max is a part of it.

What got you into hockey, more specifically the Habs?

Baseball was my first interest, but you can't grow up a sports fan in Montreal and not have any interest in hockey. As to why I became a Habs fan? Convenience, mostly. They were the local team, their games were on TV, all my friends were fans, it was really that easy. The team wasn't that good the year I first starting following them (1996-97, we lost to Devils in the 1st round in 5. Frankly, I don't know even know how we beat Brodeur once, but I digress...)Sadly, my memories of Patrick Roy are only as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Do you have a favorite Habs player ever? if so, whom, and why?
In the 15 years I've been a fan we haven't had anything close to a superstar player. All-time favourite Hab is Saku Koivu. He was never quite a top centerman but he handled everything thrown in front of him with class and he wore the "C" with pride. In an era in which free agents don't want to come here, I admired the loyalty he showed the team. He's also the most fascinating Hab of lifetime. I've never seen a guy who was both under-appreciated and over-appreciated by his teams' fans.

Where do you like to watch games?
No preference as to where I watch games. I think the great thing about twitter is that you're never watching the game alone. If I'm at friend's or a bar, that's always fun, but if I'm home, I'm always plugged in and get to enjoy the communal aspect of sports fandom.

Do you prefer to watch with guys? with girls? why?
Trick question, I prefer to watch the game with people who understand the game and care about the outcome.

Do you have any pre-game rituals or in game superstitions?
None

What's the best game you ever went to? what do you remember about it?
Best game I ever went to was a Habs-Leafs game I took my brother to 4 (maybe 5) years ago. It was a pretty spontaneous event. A friend of a friend was selling tickets for that night's game and the plan was to meet him outside La Cage. Of course, he wasn't there, but I didn't want to disappoint my brother (who was 9 or 10 at the time). We found a scalper who was happy to get out of what felt like -20 and I managed to get a pair of centre ice greys for $90 (TOTAL!). The Habs won big and Raycroft got chased (nothing better than a visiting goalie taking the "walk of shame").



Do you have any funny or interesting stories that are somehow related to the Habs?
Well, I was on my way to a friend's house to watch game 5 of the Pens series from a couple years ago, only I never made it. Tripped over something on the sidewalk, flew forward and my wrist landed on one of the beer bottles I was transporting to the festivities (some 500m away from my destination). Had to go to hospital to get stitched up (which is where I watched most of the game). My Cammalleri t-shirt was covered in my own blood and I remember looking at my arm and realizing that I wasn't going to make it to my friend's that night. I was totally sober, although that didn't stop the triage nurse from giving me dirty looks. If it weren't for Halak carrying the team, this whole thing could have been avoided.

What's wrong with the current edition of the Habs?
Their flaws are numerous. I wrote about many of them here. Say what you will about the Bruins, but they play like a team. They stand up for each other and they don't let anyone push them around. The Habs have been fundamentally the same team for the past 15 years. They're undersized, defensive and they can't win without great goaltending.

Management has kept this team in the cycle of mediocrity. They care more about trying to make the playoffs every year than winning a cup. Habs fans tolerate the status quo and cling to the past. I wish more people fully grasped how screwed up this team is right now.

If you were General Manager Pierre Gauthier would you be a buyer or seller at the trade deadline? 

I don't see how this team can be anything but sellers. Right now, they're a long shot to make the playoffs and even if by some fluke they did, I don't see them going anywhere. This team needs to spend a couple years at the bottom and properly rebuild. They need to get bigger and younger, if they can get rid of some of the bad contracts they have, so much the better.

For more from Max Harris, check him out on Twitter: @maxtheguru

Gary "The Kid" Carter

I was about to write something on the fantastic tilt between Montreal and Boston last night when news came down about Gary Carter's death. At this moment, I can't think about anything but Gary Carter, and while he wasn't a Hab, his retired Expos number hangs in the rafters of the Bell Centre, and for the rest of today "The Breakdown" will  be dedicated to "the Kid".



As I type this, Warren Cromartie is breaking down on air with Mitch Melnick on TSN 990. He is clearly torn up about this. Hearing him speak, tells you what you need to know.I never knew the man, but I knew his legacy - really well. Better then most in fact.



I'll never forget that early summer day in 1992. I was at my friend Lee's house, I didn't know or care for much about baseball. All Lee could talk about however was that Gary Carter had moved in down the street. All I could as was "who"? Lee  went on, "Gary.Carter. From the Expos!". I gave him a befuddled look, no clue who he was talking about. "He's one of the best ball players ever! He's amazing!". "So, why don't you go ask him for an autograph?" I asked. "I can't just do that" was the reply, but I was again quick-back: "why not?"

So, we trekked down the block, a whole three or four houses and rang the bell. A boy, around the same age as us answered the bell. Lee was petrified. "Hi. Is your dad home?" I asked. "No" the boy answered. "Oh, ok. We're going to go play catch in the park. Wanna come?" I asked. (There was a park across the way). "Sure! I'm D.J." The boy replied.

The three of us crossed to the park across the street an played catch for hours. D.J. was a great kid. I know Lee and D.J. played catch a few more times that summer, never meeting "The Kid". The topic of an autograph never came up again. When Gary Carter retired at the end of the season, he moved back to Florida with his family, but not before personally dropping off an autographed ball for Lee, leaving it with his mom.



I wouldn't care much for baseball until a few years later, and once I cared about baseball, I knew damn well about Gary's legacy on the field. I also started to hear the stories my dad would tell of how impactful Carter was in Montreal. He was a superstar rivaling anyone on the Habs. He learned French of his own accord (even using it at his Hall of Fame induction speech many years later). He was involved with community activities, and of course, he was one hell of a ball player - a hall of famer in fact.
Based on my his numbers from the field, the storybook career ending double, (a game winner no less) a triumphant return home for his final playing season, and having great kids, Gary has left a Hall of fame legacy on and off the field.

Today I am sad for D.J, I'm sad for Gary's other friends and Family, I'm sad for the Crow whose pain pierced through the radio on Mitch Melnick's show, but I can take some little solace knowing that one day soon #8 will take to the field in Dubuque County, Iowa.

HABS vs CANES

UPDATE
Unfortunately, I had the best of intentions to watch the game and live blog last night, but sometimes, life gets in the way of our plans.

I saw about 3 minutes of action. We'll have to try and give this another go tomorrow as the Habs take on the Bruins.

Happy Valentine's day!



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Captain Kirk & Spatch-O return to Montreal, the Habs are riding a 4 game winning streak, and today will makr another first for "the breakdown". I am going to attempt to live blog the game.



My game notes will appear along my twitter feed (with commentary, perhaps) and at the end of each period I'll breakdown what I've seen from the game. We'll see how this goes.

HABS-TOWN: "Cowboy Chique"

I have to admit, I didn't see a single minute of last night's HABS/LEAFS tilt.

I was out for a friend's Birthday party, and by the time I got home, not only was it really late, but I realized that I had forgotten to set the PVR to tape the game. OOPS.

As a result, I can't really breakdown the game, and instead today am presenting the second edition of HABS-TOWN.

Today we talk Habs with Jill Chandler. Jill has worked in the fashion industry for many years while also working on a burgeoning  music career. She can be found on Twitter @JillCMusic. Jill spends much of her time on Twitter waxing poetic on the Habs, Music, and pop culture in general.

Jill recorded a demo album a few years back to promote her talent for songwriting and I encourage you to give it a listen over at Soundcloud.

One of the missions of HABS-TOWN is to show just how diverse the people who are affected by the Habs are. I can't think of a better second entry to starkly contrast the first than Jill Chandler.

Do you remember how you first got into Hockey, more specifically the Habs?
Ever since I was a little girl, and trust me when I say this, I had a huge obsession with Barbie Dolls, BUT I also had a huge obsession with sports. I remember my brother Jeremy teaching me how to swing a baseball bat at the age of 6, only to be hit in the face...but I digress. I remember as child playing street hockey with the neighbors and my brothers and loved it. I was horrible but I loved how much fun it was.

Having gone to an American Summer camp for 10 years, as a Canadian, everyone assumed I would naturally be amazing at Hockey, which wasn’t necessarily the case. I often played goalie which was fun. Though, Basketball was my true first passion I played for all 5 years in High School, as well as Tennis. It wasn’t until my 20s when I started to play Co-ed Ball Hockey. This is a fun sport.

Naturally, having been passionate about sports since I was young, the Habs had developed into my life the same way. As I grew up my brothers and cousins and their  friends were Habs fans, especially my guy friends, and we would watch the games together. Those Saturday nights watching games together are some of my most fun and cherished memories. It was magic, felt like being home. Today I watch many games with my boyfriend and our friends. It is one of our favorite things to do together.

Do you remember your first Habs game? when was it? who took you? What do you remember about it....
I don’t remember my first ever game. I think I may have been 10 or 11. My Dad took me. We had some “father-daughter” time. I barely knew what was going on, but I really really really liked the energy. EVERYONE was into it. Everyone was excited. From then onwards, I knew I needed to go to more games. It was just so much fun. 

Do you have a favorite Habs player ever? if so, whom, and why?
Now as a female, you have to forgive me, I like players for completely different reasons that a Male fan. I tend to like “the cute ones”. Why? Why not!
Here are some of my past favorites (in no particular order):
Christopher Higgins
Max Paccioretty
Maxim Lapierre
Alexei Kovalev
Michael Cammalleri
Kirk Muller

However, I have been privileged to meet some of the “old timer” hockey players and spend some time with them. Two wonderful players I have met and discussed hockey with are Dickie Moore and Jean Beliveau. These two men are legends, hard workers, played with good old fashion grit and did it for the passion of the game. Not anything else. Which is the true reason why little boys want to become NHL hockey players, right? Back in the day, players would play with broken bones because they LOVED IT. They had heart.

Where do you like to watch games?
I prefer to watch games at home with my boyfriend and friends, in Bars and restaurants. If its on, I try to watch. If I can’t access the game and I need to be somewhere else. I will definitely follow the game via Twitter or SportsMobile App.

Do you prefer to watch with guys? with girls? why?
I definitely prefer to watch with boys. They actually watch. When there are girls around, I get distracted and then I don’t get to really see the action. With guys there is a heightened involvement. They want to watch a great play over and over again. As long as I am with people that I enjoy spending time with I will have a good time.

Do you have any pre-game rituals or in game superstitions?
I definitely have a pregame ritual for when I go watch the game at the Bell Centre. I must have a Mister Steer burger beforehand. I always get a Hamburger with Suzy Q Fries and a Stewart’s Cream Soda. I love to see many Montrealers getting their burgers on in their jerseys and tuques. Its a feeling of camaraderie. Its special.

What's the best game you ever went to? what do you remember about it?
I can’t say I have a favorite game. Perhaps the one where my father took my brothers and I to a playoff game. It was round 2 and if the Habs lost it was over. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. We may have been playing Tampa Bay Lightning. I was excited to see Lecavalier play against us. I love it because everyone was super excited for the possibility of getting another Stanley Cup. We had the chance to get one step closer. The stadium was alive. A little chaotic maybe. We had such a good time. Sadly, the Habs lost that game.

Do you have any funny or interesting stories that are somehow related to the Habs?
Everyone loves a good hockey player sighting. Especially girls. Especially if the players are cute. Especially if they were in a bar or club.

As a young professional who works in fashion, I would like to discuss four players specifically who I have seen in a bar or club and what they were wearing. Some of the outfits were bad and some were good. Here is my recap:

1. Saku Koivu. I was at the then Sofia’s on St. Laurent Blvd. There was Saku Koivu partying in a mustard yellow Paisley Printed Shirt. YUCK.

2. Georges Laraque. Club Rouge. Surrounded by his posse of look-a-likes, Georges wore a black super tight turtleneck with tight jeans. I think if he had worn a proper shirt, he would have looked great. He also could have dressed apart from his friends. Overall it was just too 1990’s.

3. Carey Price. Saturday night, last year in mid-January I attended a friends Birthday party at a trendy new spot called “Le Hanger”. Carey looked good. Dark Denim, crisp shirt and a blazer. He had 2 girls on each arm. Now thats what a hockey player should look like off of the ice.  

4. Kirk Muller. Kirk was dressed “cowboy chique”. Tight Jeans, blue denim shirt with a Giant Cross on the back. It was gaudy. He could have done without the cross. He would have looked perfect.

What's wrong with the current edition of the Habs?
It simple. They are lacking heart. They are lacking grit. They are lacking passion. They could even be lacking a true positive attitude. All of the current players are talented. We know this. They made it into the NHL not accidentally. They are the best of their class. They need to just play for the right reasons. If salary continues to be their biggest motivation they will never succeed. You can’t blame coaching. You can’t blame management. Players score goals. Goals win hockey games. Its not that they can’t do it. They just aren’t focusing the way they should. They need to get realigned and refocus on why they are there in the first place. This will make all the difference.

 

For more from Jill Chandler, follow her on Twitter: @JillCMusic

GOMEZ

The Canadiens beat the Islanders 4-2 last night.
Max Pacioretty scored his first career hat-trick.
Carey Price was strong - stopping everything the Islanders threw at him for 58 minutes.
They still need to win at least 20 of their final 26 games for a change at the playoffs.
But most importantly on this day, we'll let some clips from last night do all the talking.









Just enjoy the moment. Habs win. Hottest team in the East. Scott Gomez scored.

HABS-TOWN: "The Canadiens are total pushovers"

Today, I'm staring a new feature here on "The Breakdown". 

After a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the Canadiens still find themselves (realistically) playing out the string. It's becoming more and more difficult to write something new after each and every game as many of the things I notice are more of the same.

As the Habs continue to slide down the standings, the playoffs become less and less a realistic option this season, seats at the Bell Centre are suddenly available - and yet, this is still a HABS TOWN.

Sports talk radio still talks Habs almost 24/7 and every day there are new stories to tell. Who are the people calling in? Who are the people covering the team? Why is everyone in this town so passionate? "HABS-TOWN" will be a recurring feature here on "the breakdown"meeting the fans, the media, and everyone in between talking about their passion for all things Habs. Our first fan is Noah Sidel.

Noah Sidel is a writer and all around sports-nut.I first met Noah at Dawson College, at the time he was a writer at "The Plant" - Dawson's student newspaper. Noah covered all the Cegep sports you could think of  - while also acting as a Goal tending coach for the very first Dawson Blues Women's hockey team.

We have played hockey together and against each other various times in the entwining years and while we share a birth year, we don't share much else. Noah's got a great blog which stemmed from his NDG free press column "Off-Sidel". He mostly talks about sports, but he's also not afraid to talk political or business issues if it suits his fancy. He's also a regular writer on CFL.ca. 

Sports are such a huge part of Noah's life, that leading up to his Daughter's birth last May, he and his wife held a bracket tournament to "Name Baby Sidel".

Between his blog and his articles in the NDG free press, Noah's love for the game of hockey - particularly the NDG minor program - is evident. The fact that he is also a well spoken, opinionated person, makes him a great person to talk to about the Habs.

What got you into hockey, more specifically the Habs?

I've loved hockey and the Canadiens as far back as I can remember, which would probably be the 1987-88 season when I was six, going on seven. I started playing in the NDG Hockey organization the following season, first as a defenceman, then as a goalie, the following year. Playing the game with my dad as my coach and watching games with him as a kid was one of the best parts of growing up. He's been a Habs fan since he was a little kid 1950s and really passed that on to me at an early age.

Do you remember your first Habs game?

Absolutely. I don't remember the exact year - would have been in either the 87-88 or 88-89 season. My dad took me to the Forum for a Canadiens/Sabres game and there was this really loud guy sitting next to my dad cheering for the Sabres. He kept yelling "let's go, Buff-aaa-loooo!" and a group of girls a few rows down would yell back "let's go les Canadiens!" every time. It was an amazing experience. The Sabres fan also kept trying to give my dad beer, but that's not his thing, so it was funny watching my dad turn down this guy's offer of free beers for two-three hours. I remember that so vividly. The Habs won, by the way - in fact, they won or tied every game I went to until I was something like 16.

Do you have a favorite Habs player ever? if so, whom, and why?

My favourite player of all-time is Patrick Roy. As a goalie growing up in Quebec in the late-80s/early-90s, it was impossible not to be a huge Roy fan. And of course, I styled my game after him as much as I could. That said, however, I think the player that I most respected as a Hab was Kirk Muller. I've always been the kind of person who respects hard work over talent, and while Captain Kirk had all the talent in the world, it was his work ethic and leadership that always impressed me. I'll never forget the goal he scored to eliminate the Sabres from the playoffs, high, left-side over Darren Puppa.

Where do you like to watch games?

I'm not really picky where I watch - at home, at a bar/restaurant, at my dad's, a friend's, at my in-law's place - I don't really care. While it's very true that I'm a Habs fan win or lose, I do go hot-and-cold with watching games. Sometimes I'll watch a whole bunch of games in a row and really get into it, sometimes I'll go half a season watching only a period here and a period there... It has nothing to do with how the team is doing, but more that I honestly just don't have the energy to build my life around Habs games - especially since my daughter was born last May. Come playoffs, however, I usually never miss a game. Actually, come playoffs, I watch almost any game that's on at any point between any two teams. Playoff hockey is just too good to miss, especially once the second round starts.

Do you prefer to watch with guys? with girls? why?

My two favourite people to watch games with are my dad and my wife (and now I guess we can add my daughter to that list). I don't really have a preference other than that. It's fun to watch with people who understand and love the game, and also people who don't know anything about the game and ask questions. It's my pleasure to answer questions as long as the person asking them actually cares about the answers. I despise when people ask questions and don't listen to the answers. It's even worse when they ask the same question two minutes later. That drives me nuts. 

Do you have any pre-game rituals or in game superstitions?

Haha, no. I'm not 12 years old anymore.

What's the best game you ever went to? what do you remember about it?

The best game I ever saw live was Game 6 of the Montreal-Pittsburgh series a couple of years ago when the Canadiens went on that ridiculous run to the conference finals. What a crazy energy in that stadium. The best moment around the game I've ever experienced, however, was when Saku Koivu came back from his cancer treatments. It was hard not to get emotional when he skated out before the game and took a bow to the crowd. The way he was treated in Montreal in later years was just despicable. I'm very cynical about pro athletes in general - this guy was the closest thing to a sports hero Montreal has seen in many, many years. Not because he was the best player, but because of the way he carried himself and represented our city.

Do you have any funny or interesting stories that are somehow related to the Habs?

I've watched hundreds and hundreds of games since I was a little kid and been to probably over 100 at the Forum and Bell Centre - there are a lot of stories. My favourite hockey story, however, isn't directly Habs-related, however. My favourite story is the mission my wife, Johanna, and I, set out on a few years ago: Jo is as big a hockey/Canadiens fan as I am, so we decided to make it our goal to visit every NHL arena. There's no timeline or plan, necessarily, just a goal to see all 30 arenas. By the time we're done, I'm sure more than a few teams will have moved, folded, or been added to the NHL, so it'll likely be well over 30 arenas. 

So far, we've been to the Bankatlantic Center in Florida, the Prudential Center in New Jersey, the Saddledome in Calgary, the TD Garden in Boston, and of course, the Bell Centre, here in Montreal. We haven't been able to see the Canadiens at any of these places, except for here. We'd like to see the Habs on the road, but we're not that picky for the purposes of this adventure.

The other really cool thing we did was see the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field - yeah, the game in which Sidney Crosby's career might have been ruined by a VERY dirty and very illegal hit to the head that, of course, was not penalized. That was a very cool experience.

What's wrong with the current edition of the Habs?

I'm usually not one of those fans that gets into the nitty-gritty of what's wrong and who should be traded/fired/etc. I worked for the Montreal Alouettes for 7.5 years and I learned that management simply knows things that we as fans do not, so a large part of being a fan has to be to trust management. That said, anyone with eyes can see that the Canadiens are a total disaster these days because of terrible drafting, inept management, and just an overall lack of direction. George Gillett and his crew did a pretty good job of righting the ship right up, but once the whole scenario of Gillett selling to the Molson family, Bob Gainey resigning, and Pierre Gauthier and Jacques Martin being appointed as GM and coach, respectively, the whole thing seemed to just blow up.

Molson looks totally unprepared as an owner, and as the Alouettes have shown over the last almost two decades, success starts with good ownership. I'm not saying Geoff Molson is a bad owner and won't come around, but right now, it's all about reaction and crisis management instead of proactive team-building. Look at Detroit - have you ever seen Mike Ilitch, Ken Holland, or Mike Babcock look panicked? Look at the Boston Bruins - Jeremy Jacobs put Cam Neely and Peter Chiarelli in place; Chiarelli hired Claude Julien, and they are now the model of stability. When someone messes with any Bruin, it seems like the entire organization is on the ice punching the offender in the face together.

When something goes wrong in Montreal, it's every-man-for-himself.

This was epitomized by the Zdeno Chara/Max Pacioretty incident late last season. If it had been the other way around - say Hal Gill mashing Patrice Bergeron into the glass, Milan Lucic would have jumped onto the ice and broken Gill's head open. The Canadiens' response was to cry about it to the media after the game and the whole thing became just absurd.

The Canadiens are total pushovers, and that starts with the total lack of character they've shown at the management level from ownership down to the bench. Molson's not going anywhere, but hopefully he sees that he needs to completely clean house - starting with himself as team president. Be the owner and put people in place to manage the team. That's a good place to start. I could always pass him Mr. Wetenhall's phone number if he wants some advice.

If you were General Manager Pierre Gauthier would you be a buyer or seller at the trade deadline?

Geoff Molson should be ordering Pierre Gauthier not to do anything. He's a lame-duck GM whose every move is designed to save his job, not make the team better. If Gauthier is still the GM on deadline day, the answer is neither. It's nonsense to think the Canadiens are in any position to buy.Nobody - this team is not in a position to trade away the little talent it has both at the NHL and AHL levels. If you have to make any moves, then get draft picks. Everyone but PK Subban and Carey Price is expendable. If you think the Canadiens should trade Subban or Price, you're an idiot. 

For more from Noah Sidel, follow him on Twitter @NoahSidel

Time is but a doorway

If you subscribe to the theory that the Montreal Canadiens are battling for their playoff lives, then last night was a huge game. A must win game. Throw out every adjective in the book to describe the enormity of the game, and it might still not accurately describe the game.

Going into last night's game, the Canadiens were 8 points behind the final playoff spot with 2 teams ahead of them. Their schedule has them playing their next 7 games against other teams in the same fight. Logic would dictate the Canadiens need 10-12 points in those games, and they can't go past regulation time for there to be any hope of gaining ground. 7 teams fighting for 2 spots. The Canadiens loss last night, leaves them 4 teams ahead of them (7th in a 7-team chase) and 9 points behind 8th place Toronto. The road don't get any easier from here.

Carey Price made 37 saves, he was outstanding. The line of Erik Cole, Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais brought their "A" game as usual. Josh Gorges & rookie Alexei Emelin worked real hard...but where was the rest of the team?



Sure, Hal Gill tied up Paul Gaustad on the tying goal - but not enough. Sure Tomas Kaberle made a great defensive play on the side of Price's net with Buffalo pressing and the seconds ticking away at the end of period two. But where was the rest of the team?

Thomas Plekanec was on pace for a point-per-game season through the first 25 games - where has he gone? Scott Gomez looked so good before the all-star break, and yet was invisible last night.

Your leaders are usually the ones who face the music after the game, Erik Cole, Hal Gill, Mathieu Darche and Care Price faced the media last night. What does it say about the future of this team that 2 of those players likely won't be with this team next season?

The Canadiens were angry after the game that Sabres forward Paul Gaustad chirped at Max Pacioretty "Where's Chara?" after Patrick Kaleta scored into an empty net. Perhaps the Canadiens will channel that angry into victories. What's that old saying about the fleetness of time? 32 games till the season ends, 27 days till the trade deadline, better right this ship quickly if you plan to be in those playoffs.



TSN 990's Mitch Melnick posted an interesting blog this morning. If you listen to his show, it's no secret how he feels about the Canadiens current management team. It's no secret what he thinks needs to be done. It's never been laid out as bluntly as this. Do yourself a favour, read it : The Melnick Blog