It's never a good sign when the opposing GM goes over the top to extol the virtues of the guys he just dumped on -- I mean, traded -- you.

Former twine-tender and current Blues president John Davidson bent over backwards to tell media pundits that losing Lars Eller and Ian Schultz is a significant blow to the team given the two players' incredible talents. But of course, you need to give up quality to get quality.

It's the same song I sing in fantasy when I'm fleecing another owner.

Sure, there is a lot of potential in those two young players. Eller is a top-50 guy prospect around the league and his solid season in the AHL least year all but assures him a gig in Montreal next season. His ceiling is as a second-line center who may one day deliver 65-70 points. Maybe. But Schultz is a grunt winger who doesn't even slot into the Habs' top-20 prospects.

The Habs couldn't tear themselves away from the "promise" of Carey Price. They drafted him. They drank the Kool-Aid. They can't possibly admit they might be wrong about him.

So out goes Halak, the man whose face, mask and jersey was PhotoShopped onto a painting of Jesus Christ (appropriately surrounded by his adoring apostles) during the team's recent playoff run.

They can say they believe in Price. They can say the upcoming changes in goalie equipment (read: smaller) will make a smallish Halak look tiny. They can say they needed cap space to re-sign Tomas Plekanec, Maxim Lapierre and (of course) Price. They can say it's just the harsh reality of the hockey business.

And sure, we may have actually seen Halak's ceiling. But that ceiling already looks pretty good. And who knows if we'll ever see Carey Price's, at least in Montreal.

Price has already proven he can't handle the pressure of playing for les bleu, blanc et rouge; it completely messed up his head last year. And now Habs fans are even angrier than they were when he was last in their net. In fact, I haven't heard of even one being happy. Even Quebec-based federal politicians were outraged by the deal; one even likened Eller and Schultz to "two hockey sticks and a bag of magic beans..."

Shudder.

Those jerseys will be burned. No wonder general manager Pierre Gauthier stayed at his Philadelphia-area summer home and teleconferenced the trade announcement instead of doing it live in Montreal.

Here's betting the athletic Halak actually adapts quicker and more easily to the smaller equipment than the stiff, angles-oriented Price. And Eller will be a fine forward for the Canadiens some day.

And the Blues get closer to a Cup far sooner than the Canadiens ever do.