From Francois Gagnon's blog, a respected Montreal journalist, translated from French.
When Mike Ribeiro made a 'dishonest' (probably sex) proposal to a girl of a member of the upper staff of the Canadiens, he was traded away. In his case, it was perhaps the last straw... But that doens't explain why the the Canadiens gave away their second line center for a defenceman who is not able to play regularly with a team desperate on defense...
Very interesting, though, a little exaggerated I find. No way Ribeiro was traded only for that, if he even was or maybe this is just a load of crap, but Ribeiro's soft play during the previous season, his inconsitency and his bad attitude cost him his job in Montreal. Gagnon is also exaggerating about the trade, as Montreal was lucky to get a player in return for Ribeiro, rather than a draft choice. Janne Niinimaa may not be the defenceman he was in New York, Philadelphia and Edmonton with Dallas, but Bob Gainey knew what he was doing.
He was dumping a whining, underachieving and fan-frustrating forward in exchange for a veteran defenceman, who's maybe lost his hockey sense after a potentialy drastic surgery he endured.
But anyhow, Janne Niinimaa is a good guy, and when he plays, he tries his best; I'm not saying he's played well this year, far from that, but he's helped Montreal when needed during injuries to Mathieu Dandenault, Francis Bouillon, and Andrei Markov.
The bottom line is: Janne Niinimaa is a different player than Mike Ribeiro; he tries hard, something Ribeiro NEVER did, and he's a good guy in the lockeroom, certainly not Ribeiro's style either.
I'm not convinced that's what happened though...
Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.
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