Montreal sends a message

It's often suggested that upgrading talent at the trade deadline is as important for the message it sends to the dressing room as it is to improving the lineup.

What, then, are players to think when a veteran player such as Montreal's Craig Rivet is dealt out of town with the team on the cusp of a playoff berth?

If Monday night's 5-4 win over Toronto was any indication, the Canadiens appear to be buying in fully to Bob Gainey's pitch that Sunday night's deal which sent Rivet to San Jose in exchange for young defenceman Josh Gorges and a first-round draft pick was not to be interpreted as waving the white flag.

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