The next step

It is quite clear that something is going to happen to José Theodore in the very near future. At the very least, he will be watching the Bruins game from the bench tomorrow night, and maybe even on Saturday. Seeing as how the Canadiens have three games in 4 nights, however, Bob Gainey will have to make a decision quickly, because Cristobal Huet cannot play all three games.

The next step for Gainey, in my opinion, is to send Theodore to the minors for a conditioning stint. There's no point letting him play in the NHL right now; Theodore's trade value decreases with every game he plays, save for last Saturday's Leafs game. If Gainey wants to either a.) Have Theodore back in form to make a playoff run, or b.) Have him back in form in order to facilitate a trade, sending him to the minors is the best option for that.

The Canadiens can't afford to let Theodore ride out his own personal Streak of Awful in the NHL, because it will continue to cost them valuable points in the standings. Sending Theo to the minors will allow Gainey to assess whether the duet of Huet and Yann Danis is up to the task of minding the nets, and, if not, Gainey will have to consider which other goaltenders are available around the NHL. A commentator on CKAC thinks that since Theodore usually plays well against the Bruins, he should be in nets tomorrow night in Boston, but I highly doubt he'll be given the opportunity. He's been given far too many chances to regain his confidence, and he has flopped horrendously on each and every one of them. There comes a point where you have to take some sort of drastic action, and for Gainey and Theodore, that point has been reached.

Update (12:37 PM): I take all this talk of sending Theodore to the minors back. He would never clear re-entry waivers, and the Canadiens would be stuck with half his contract when a team would pick him up. This new CBA really puts some teams in a rut...