More rumors and... Laraque's a vegetarian?

Last thing first, I think. I admit it, I've been kind of hard on Laraque this year. I was not very impressed with his role on the team this year. I thought - and still think - this whole code thing is silly. But as much as I don't like him as a player, he just earned some points as a human being for at least considering going vegetarian. Obviously, I'm a vegetarian - mostly vegan if we want to be picky about the wording - and I've never considered hockey players as the type to actually think about what they're putting in their mouths. Especially not a guy like Laraque who has this whole tough guy reputation on the ice. So, yeah, kudos to Georges for at least taking the time to think about what happens to the animals before they make it to a dinner plate. And take a couple of extra points for being grossed out by it. Hell, take a few more for making me be impressed by you for once.

Okay. Enough about that. Back to rumor season because I'm having so much fun with it.

This is the little rumory thing that has Guy Boucher in as the potential head-coach in Hamilton, that I mentioned yesterday. Just once, I'd like to know how people come up with this stuff.

The Swedish media (hopefully more reliable than the Russian media) has the Habs signing a 1 year two-way contract with Mikael Johansson. As per Habs Inside/out

Johansson, who's 5'10" and weighs 182 lbs., has scored 95 points in 203 games in the highest Swedish league with Farjestad. Johansson was originally drafted by Detroit in 2003 (9th round). He had an unspectacular 6 goals and 28 assists in 49 games and was minus-4 with Farjestad this year, down from 15-24 and plus-11 in '07-'08. He was 1+3 in 11 playoff games.

Habs Inside/Out also has the ever reliable non-specific "Russian Media" reporting that Alexei Yemelin negotiating with the Canadiens.

Speaking of the Habs....This site has the Russian media saying:

Alexei Kovalev has been offered a one-year, $6-million by the Canadiens and could be the team's captain next season. Both he and Saku Koivu are unrestricted free agents so this is possible and $6-million would be a raise from the $4.5-million a season deal he was playing on.

And while we're talking about Russians and the Russian media....This Russian site has Fedorov close to signing a deal with Metallurg Magnitorgorsk (you might remember that as the team that Malkin played for). No I didn't read it in Russian. I cheated and saw it on puckdaddy. However, Tarik El-Bashir at the Washington Post says it's not a done deal and Fedorov would still like to play with Washington.

AND proof that Blersus sucks

Via CBC

Hockey fans in the United States aren’t the only ones struggling to find the Stanley Cup playoffs on their televisions.

The Wings found themselves in the same boat while staying in Chicago when seeking to watch the eastern conference final etween the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

“I haven’t even seen a game yet,” Osgood said. “The hotel we were in doesn’t have Versus.

“I saw a bit of the last game in a restaurant from a distance, but that was it. I put it on my phone live and try to get the updates as it goes along.

“I haven’t seen them, but I’ve read about them on my phone.”

As fun as all of this is, I'd like to see some more nutty stuff. Like, maybe Roy is being offered the job as the next Commish. Now that I could find amusing...