AK-1 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Mike Blunden HEIGHT: 6' 4" WEIGHT: 218 SHOOTS: RIGHT BORN: DEC 15, 1986 (AGE 24) BIRTHPLACE: TORONTO, ONT, CANADA ------ ACQUIRED: July 7th 2011 in exchange for forward Ryan Russell MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens general manager, Pierre Gauthier, announced Thursday the acquisition of forward Michael Blunden from the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for forward Ryan Russell.The 24-year old Blunden played 37 games with the AHL Springfield Falcons in 2010-11, recording 21 points (12 goals, 9 assists) and serving 41 penalty minutes. Blunden also appeared in one NHL game with the Blue Jackets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatethosebruins Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Welcome to the habs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Big boy. Don't know if he uses that size, but it certainly does bring up the average team height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-1 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Interesting pick-up,,,,I wonder what PG has in mind for him. I would think he will play in Hamilton for a while (2-5 mons.) and then bring him up for a look-see. JM2C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 OhOh....Picked up this bit of info from H/IO... Blunden is a big boy: 6’4″, 210 pounds. And, in limited NHL action, he’s been a willing warrior. But a glance at some of his fights on YouTube suggests Blunden has a legitimate shot at dethroning Tom Kostopoulos as the worst fighter in team history Not the kind of info i was hoping to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brand__x Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Check this out: His goal against the red Wings isn't too shabby. Good physical presence, is what he brings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskeg2 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Welcome to the Habs, although I think a more accurate welcome would be to the Bulldogs. I can't see Blunden being anything but an AHLer with a few spot call-ups if injury necessitates. But who knows...I've been wrong dozens of times before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfoundlandHab Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I think this was a good trade for us. He and Russell are pretty much the same age, but he is way bigger and better offensively. Russel didn't really have a future with the habs anyway so even if Mike stays in the ahl it's not a big loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31Careyprice Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 We traded away an ahler for a 4th liner, so I say its good trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Regis2 Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I think we traded an AHL'er for another AHL'er Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfoundlandHab Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I think we traded an AHL'er for a BETTER AHL'er Fixed it for ya (IMO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Regis2 Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 Fixed it for ya (IMO) OK..whatever It's not like this trade is goign to make a difference to the Habs starting lineup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js2 Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I don't know, that video posted shows he's big, slow, and has hands like Moen. I don't think he'll be better than Russell who could be used in all situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I don't know, that video posted shows he's big, slow, and has hands like Moen. I don't think he'll be better than Russell who could be used in all situations. I thought he looked pretty slow myself. I guess we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I thought he looked pretty slow myself. I guess we'll see. Ditto. Didn't look like he had very good acceleration, but it does seem like he goes to the net hard with or without the puck. That's a plus. Is he better than Russell? Don't know. I think Russell is the more talented player, but Blunden might have a higher chance of sticking in the NHL as a 4th liner. Guess we'll see... this, to me, is a crapshoot as to who wins the trade, just like the Dags-for-Palushaj deal and the Lats-for-Pouliot one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatethosebruins Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Ditto. Didn't look like he had very good acceleration, but it does seem like he goes to the net hard with or without the puck. That's a plus. Is he better than Russell? Don't know. I think Russell is the more talented player, but Blunden might have a higher chance of sticking in the NHL as a 4th liner. Guess we'll see... this, to me, is a crapshoot as to who wins the trade, just like the Dags-for-Palushaj deal and the Lats-for-Pouliot one. And so far we've lost those trades, unless Palushaj makes the NHL soon ish. As for this one, maybe Russell asked for the trade to be close to his brother, maybe the organization for either Habs or Blue jackets thought he would be better playing with Kris, or maybe the trade just happened to be a coincidence. All I'm saying is that now Russell has motivation to make the NHL to be playing with his twin, I think hes gonna make it in Columbus to at least 4th line winger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Bah Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Blunden brings some more size to the game tonight looks like it might get nasty out there,the big bodies can keep Dallas in tow I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs_Hockey_Nutz Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Blunden brings some more size to the game tonight looks like it might get nasty out there,the big bodies can keep Dallas in tow I hope. Contrary to what many seem to think, I've liked what I've seen of Blunden. I also believe he is an ideal candidate for the 4th line right wing position (good size, decent speed [has improved during the camp IMO], shoots right and goes to the net). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIASUN Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 IMHO, he needs to fight next game and handle himself decently to solidify his chances as a 4th liner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennifer_rocket Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 IMHO, he needs to fight next game and handle himself decently to solidify his chances as a 4th liner. Apparently he's a terrible fighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Apparently he's a terrible fighter. Right. He's a big guy, but he's not a fighter. In a lot of ways, I find him to be a lot like Moen. He'll go out and hit a bit but ultimately, he isn't much of a physical force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIASUN Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Apparently he's a terrible fighter. That's kind of my point. If you are going to dress a big lug that toe picks at the red line and falls on his face with the puck, he'd better be able to fight as a 4th liner. Otherwise, goodbye. Moen and White crash and bang, occasionally drop the gloves. There's no need for a less skilled version of both of them unless he's bigger and a better fighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 That's kind of my point. If you are going to dress a big lug that toe picks at the red line and falls on his face with the puck, he'd better be able to fight as a 4th liner. Otherwise, goodbye. Moen and White crash and bang, occasionally drop the gloves. There's no need for a less skilled version of both of them unless he's bigger and a better fighter. White > Moen > Blunden. That's my opinion. White is the most intense player of the three. He is the one who goes to the net the most. He is the one who is the best fighter and most willing to drop the gloves. And he is also the most offensively talented of the three. Moen is probably the best of the three defensively. Blunden has shown he will hit often, but I don't find he does a lot of damage with his hits. If you're not making the opposition think twice when they see you coming, it really doesn't matter if you throw a hit once the puck is already gone. If White or Moen is healthy to start the year, Blunden goes back down to Hamilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs_Hockey_Nutz Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 White > Moen > Blunden. That's my opinion. White is the most intense player of the three. He is the one who goes to the net the most. He is the one who is the best fighter and most willing to drop the gloves. And he is also the most offensively talented of the three. Moen is probably the best of the three defensively. Blunden has shown he will hit often, but I don't find he does a lot of damage with his hits. If you're not making the opposition think twice when they see you coming, it really doesn't matter if you throw a hit once the puck is already gone. If White or Moen is healthy to start the year, Blunden goes back down to Hamilton. Very possible... but I did like what little we saw of him and with more time he could be more than adequate as a 4th liner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 Very possible... but I did like what little we saw of him and with more time he could be more than adequate as a 4th liner. I always as myself what players are bringing to the table and what skills they lack. In Blunden's case, his skill set is very similar to Moen's. He hits, he has good size, he's responsible defensively. That said, he's slow, he doesn't appear to have any scoring ability, and from all accounts, he doesn't really fight either. What Moen has on him is experience and some success as a penalty killer. The advantage to Blunden is that he's younger (maybe more fit???) and earns less money. But overall, I don't thin he brings enough to the table to justify the roster spot. I have trouble supporting Moen to begin with and the only reason in my opinion to keep him is the team's failure to bring in a penalty killer with additional skills (like we had with Halpern). So I'm not really that enthusiastic about Blunden either. If you're a big thumper with little scoring ability, I want you to have a mean streak or be good at face-offs or something else and I just don't now if Blunden (or Moen) adds much else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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