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Ribeiro Or Plekanec?


jl-1

  

54 members have voted

  1. 1. Ribeiro or Plekanec?

    • Ribeiro
      7
    • Plekanec
      40
    • Too close to call
      7


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Much has been said and written about the Ribeiro trade for Janne Niinimaa a couple of years ago, no sense in reviving the dead. However, the Ribeiro trade has opened the doors to Tomas Plekanec's development, he who has now taken over in centering our first line.

That trade on the other hand served as a slap in the face to Ribeiro who also has developed into Dallas' number one center.

The question is: "If you had to pick one player between the two, who would you go with?"

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It has become a very interesting question considering that statistically Ribs has been the better player, and in fact gotten close to star (no pun intended) numbers, but Plekanek has worked out very well.

I think most members here will be somewhat biased becaus Ribs was thought of overall negatively and left on a sour note, while Plekanek is a fair bit more popular (who would have thought the Chezh is more popular than the French Canadian on the Habs?).

On that note, I'll still say I'm glad the trade happened. Although I wish we could have gotten more for him, considering how good he's become statistically, it I think helped to bring some stability to the team and we haven't been hard up for offense. We certainly didn't win the trade, but in the end I don't know that it hurt us either.

The biggest loss in the past 5 years was hands down Beauchemin, not Ribeiro.

But ... I'm voting too close, because you didn't ask "are you glad the trade happened", but rather who would be better to have, in which case it's tough to say.

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Ah JL, I said wb in another thread but its this kind of stuff I really miss! Terrific thought-provoking thread - good to have you back :)

I suspect the vote will be overwhelmingly in favor of Pleks - for a few reasons. #1 he is a hab - and ribiero is not! #2 Ribs left on such (arguably self-constructed) poor ground with such bad blood that many people would hate him if he scored 100 goals in a season. #3 Even though none of us is privy to the inner workings of the habs locker room, with story after story of bad publicity, you have to believe (at least some of) it was true.

Personally I would pick Pleks each and every time because he is a far better all-round player than Ribiero. Pleks should put up similar numbers to Ribiero while being far more defensively responsible. They are both small players but Pleks is much stockier and plays "bigger" and I think he is well liked and a quiet leader in the dressing room - certainly not the 'cancer' that Ribs is made out to be. Oh and 9 pts in 8 games is great, but -4 already on the season? Ouch Mikey thats a pretty harsh start.

In this world of instant gratification, so many of us would rather have a higher scoring guy - period - but I think if you ask most GMs, Coaches & Teammates, most of them would go with the all-round better player.

In other words, Mark Recchi - when he played with us, averaged 80pts a game & was defensively sound was a much better Mark Recchi than the guy who played for the penguins and flyers & averaged 100+ pts but played poorly in his own zone. ;)

My 2 c.

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On that note, I'll still say I'm glad the trade happened. Although I wish we could have gotten more for him, considering how good he's become statistically, it I think helped to bring some stability to the team and we haven't been hard up for offense. We certainly didn't win the trade, but in the end I don't know that it hurt us either.

QFT.

Only regret is that we didnt get more but as we've said time and again, im guessing thats all Gainey could get for him at that time.

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In other words, Mark Recchi - when he played with us, averaged 80pts a game & was defensively sound was a much better Mark Recchi than the guy who played for the penguins and flyers & averaged 100+ pts but played poorly in his own zone. ;)

My 2 c.

I suggested we try to pick up Recchi. I had no idea he averaged 80pts a game when he was with us though. That's amazing! ;)

Joking aside, I'd like to see Recchi back this year if we determine we need a grizzled veteran for our campaign.

As for the current question, Plekanec, easily.

Ribeiro was a lazy cherry picker with an ego/attitude problem.

Plekanec is calm, cool, collected and has a solid work ethic.

Plekanec is a game breaking player.

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Sigh....I would prefer Ribeiro. Without opening up an argument I've had on other boards, I will just say I liked Ribeiro when he was here, and see the trade as a mistake, though I think the world of Gainey. He is a special player, the kind you work with to maximize the talent, not the kind you give away. I said it then, and say it now, though I suspect the general consunsus here is as elsewhere.

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QFT.

Only regret is that we didnt get more but as we've said time and again, im guessing thats all Gainey could get for him at that time.

oh no doubt, I'm not saying "Gainey's an idiot for only getting Ninimaa", it's just in hindsight it's kind of dissapointing. He got what he could at the time (a player worth next to nothing) and not much could have been done differently.

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I think that anyone who has been here for any length of time knows how I feel about Ribeiro and Theodore, the clique as they called it alongside Pierre Dagenais. Having said that, I'm happy for him to see that he has matured and I'm not so sure that it would have happened had he stayed in Montreal, and he's even admitted to that himself.

In my eyes, his trade served two purposes:

  1. It started cleaning up the grouping that was happening on the team, serving as the beginning of a more united dressing room
  2. It allowed Plekanec to get more ice time, and coincidentally, he was our best forward in the second half of that season and became the player that we all know now.

All in all, I'd pick Plekanec because although he might not put up the offensive numbers that Ribeiro does, he'll help keep the puck out of his own net as he's a great all around player who's very dependable defensively and plays great short handed as well.

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I think what it all boils down to is simply what kind of personnel are already in place.

A perfect case-in-point for this argument is to look at a typical free-agent period. When you're looking to add players, you look to the holes you have to fill; there's no sense in bringing in a square block to fit in a round hole.

If you're a team that lacks two-way play up the middle, then Plekanec is clearly your man. However, if you've got the big-time wingers in place, Ribeiro is more than likely the one you want to target. Or if what you're looking for is a big body that can score, well, you've come to the wrong place on both accounts.

There will traditionally be more interest in a guy that can put up 60-points and play the PK, but there will still be a need for the pure playmaking talent of certain centermen. Plekanec is a good fit around players like Kovalev that don't make a living by driving the net or slashing through lanes, but I can't see him gelling well with the likes of Heatley and Alfredsson for example, whereas Ribeiro is a better fit in this type of situation.

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It almost sounds like we traded Ribeiro for Pleks in this thread...in reality we could have both of them on our team....but the team wasn't tough enough and the same criticism of Ribs would apply on today's team(not big enough and not defensively responsible)...personally I always liked Ribs and thought he had a great upside and he's proving that now with the Stars...but..would he fit into this roster today???that's the question we should be asking...as much as I like the kid and his skills I still don't think he'd be the right fit for the present -day Habs

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It almost sounds like we traded Ribeiro for Pleks in this thread...in reality we could have both of them on our team....

It actually wasn't the intent of the thread, as explained in the original post, nor was it intended to re-harsh the trade itself as far as value is concerned. We've all debated that to death in many occasions. Here's the first post:

Much has been said and written about the Ribeiro trade for Janne Niinimaa a couple of years ago, no sense in reviving the dead. However, the Ribeiro trade has opened the doors to Tomas Plekanec's development, he who has now taken over in centering our first line.

That trade on the other hand served as a slap in the face to Ribeiro who also has developed into Dallas' number one center.

The question is: "If you had to pick one player between the two, who would you go with?"

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Should have created this poll a the time the amigo was dealt .

It is a HABS Message Board so the results are not shocking at all

Ribs had , and still does, all the talent in the world. He was just very imature when playing for the Habs .

My two cents

It was plenty discussed back then, and that's why the question is as of TODAY. Can't say that it's unfair as Ribeiro just had a 5 points night the night before I did that poll. :D

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Not even close, for me it's Pleckanec he acts like a professional and IMO is a more complete player. You would never see Pleckanec fake and injury on the ice like Ribeiro did when he played for the Habs.

I was very happy when he got traded and no I did not mind that we did not get much in return for him. Obviously Gainey decided he had enough of his antics and took whatever offer he could.

I dont think Ribeiro would have become much better in MTL, it looks to me that one reason he is doing well in Dallas is that he is not as scrutnized and under the same pressure that he was in MTL.

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This is one of those funny situations. Ask any other fans who they'd rather have, I'm pretty sure they'd say Ribs. Yet ask anyone on here if we'd trade Pleks for Ribs straight up (ignore any contract or salary issues), very few of us would.

That's because we know Ribeiro, just because a player does well for one team does not mean he will on another.

Look at Tanguay this year, his style fits MTL more than Calgary ask them in Calgary who they prefer Tanguay or Bertuzzi my guess is that overwhelmingly they would chose Bertuzzi. ;)

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