Everything Habs

Good Signs For Habs In Ottawa

2011-12-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens 6-2 pasting of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night was encouraging for several reasons. Ending a five-game losing streak is important and doing with authority against a division rival is even better. Here’s why this was more than just a run-of-the-mill win for this group.

The obvious first one is that Randy Cunneyworth, who has put up with a lot since taking over from Jacques Martin a couple of weeks ago, got his first victory behind the bench. In the process, he avoided becoming the first coach in franchise history with five straight losses. He also got big performances out of the guys he benched for last Thursday’s debacle in Winnipeg, validating a bold move many questioned at the time. It also didn’t hurt that the team had a chance to get in a few practices under Cunneyworth, who faced four tough games in six nights when he was given the job on gameday, December 17th.

Secondly, the fact that six different Canadiens got onto the scoreline was a nice change of pace. Heck, the fact that any Canadiens got on the scoreline was a nice change of pace. Raphael Diaz and his three points stood out but other factors like some points from the fourth line, no glaring mistakes from Tomas Kaberle and the removal of Chris Campoli from the lineup were steps forward as well.

Third, the play of Lars Eller, PK Subban and Michael Cammalleri was obviously a huge step forward. Eller has shown flashes of his huge potential but count me among those who have felt he hasn’t gotten a fair shot among the top six. His size and speed are assets unmatched on this team and when you’re on the road, having a guy like that can be a huge bonus.

Subban showed some of the flair and end-to-end ability that have made him a fan favorite and his confidence seemed to be closer to the insanely high level it was at when he lit it up during the second half of last year. Hopefully he can build on that. Sure, he made mistakes but Josh Gorges and others were there to cover for him when he did. When he’s at his best, he’s taking risks and the rewards outweigh the errors.

Finally and perhaps more importantly, Cammalleri looked like the dangerous sniper he’s capable of being. He was a force all over the ice and was noticeable for doing the little things that he must do in order to be successful. Maybe you can chalk some of it up to having the youthful energy of an increasingly confident Louis Leblanc on his line. Many feel that Cammalleri wasn’t able to play his game under Jacques Martin. Either way, the fact that he played well for the first time in ages is a huge plus.

Max Pacioretty has to be a bit of a concern. He wasn’t at his best last night and in my mind, he truly hasn’t been the same player since returning from the suspension stemming from his hit on Pittsburgh’s Kristopher Letang back on November 26th. His recent statline of zero points and a -6 over the last three games is not good.

Too many times this year, the Habs have faced an opponent that simply didn’t show up and gotten the victory in a far less convincing fashion than they should have. Examples include the third game of the year, a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, another 5-1 win on October 26th against Philadelphia and of course the infamous “game that got Paul Maurice fired”, a 4-0 win over Carolina at the Bell Centre on November 16th. I realize those were strong performances but under the circumstances you want to see more. Most team would have blown the Hurricanes out of the water by a score of 7-0 or 9-1 that night. The fact that Habs only put up four goals spoke volumes.

Jump ahead to last night: Randy Cunneyworth’s men never took their feet off the gas and kept pushing, refusing to sit back with a three goal lead. Chalk the sixth goal, Erik Cole’s 14th of the season, up to something new that hasn’t existed on this team all year. The will to keep pushing until the final buzzer sounds.

Ultimately, it's just one win. Let’s see if they can keep it up in Tampa on Thursday night and then Florida on New Year’s Eve. It won’t be easy but this team can get right back into the thick of the playoff race with two more wins this week.

Protect the Language or Protect the Puck?

2011-12-20T11:04:00.001-08:00

Hurting people’s feelings is not something any responsible person in charge of a sports team should worry about. I understand language is a sensitive topic and I am completely insensitive to it. I realize that the public has a right to a coach who speaks their language but at what cost? Do you think Bill Belichick cares what people think about him?

I’m sorry, but it’s ridiculous. Did Jacques Martin share any insight of any relevance whatsoever in his two plus years in charge of the Canadiens? No matter what language he spoke, he had nothing to say. If you want someone to spew canned nonsense in any language there are plenty of people who fit the bill. The issue of what language the coach speaks is nothing but fodder for people who want to use it to further their own agenda. I’m not willing to listen to those people, especially when it comes to hockey.

I don’t consider myself a Canadiens fan but I know how important the team is to this city. I cannot accept that if they were winning games and contending for the Stanley Cup every year that anyone would be saying this. The fact is, the Canadiens are a bad team, poorly constructed and planned and they are an easy mark for politicians and journalists who are trying to make something out of nothing. If they want to skip the Stanley Cup parade of a team with a general manager named Jim Nill and coach named Randy Carlyle in 2016 then I think they should be encouraged to do so.

I can honestly say that if I wasn’t being being paid to watch this team play hockey I wouldn’t be watching them at all.

Let’s not forget that the most important thing is that the coach is able to communicate with the players. Since almost the entire roster and every top prospect on this team speaks English fluently, that should be the only language consideration. Since the Francophone media can translate the news of the entire world, no matter what language it’s in, into something their readers can understand, I think it’s fair to assume they could do likewise with the completely innocuous material that comes from the coach of a hockey team. I recognize the right of my colleagues in the media to be spoken to in their mother tongue and I think it sucks for them. It’s too bad but wouldn’t you rather make more money covering a team on a long playoff run and maybe write a book, in whatever language you want, about that magical season?

I don’t have children but if I did, I would encourage them to cheer for a team that makes intelligent decisions based on what the brilliant people running the team want to do. People like Dan Bylsma, Ray Shero, Mike Babcock, Peter Chiarelli and so on. This team fired both Stanley Cup finalist coaches of last year. Why would I want my kid to get beaten into the ground by a team that not only has to deal with the fact that no one wants to play here because of high taxes, cold winters and ridiculous language laws, but also hires people for the most important management jobs based on what language they speak? It’s preposterous to even consider. Life is too short.

If you want players to forget about these things, put a winning product on the ice. Detroit isn’t exactly a glamourous destination but do you think top notch talent listens when Ken Holland comes calling for free agents? Since there are factors out of their control that limit their ability to attract talent, why on earth is this club imposing other restrictions on themselves?

No successful team in any sport, let alone the hyper-competitive NHL, should make any personnel decision based on anything other than whether or not the candidate is the best person to fill the job in question. That’s it. I speak French fluently and ideally, that best person should be able to as well but if it’s at the cost of a season like the Canadiens are in the midst of and what their future currently looks like, all bets are off. You cannot hire people to run your business, especially one as competitive as the NHL if you’re worried about hurting people’s feelings.

It’s too bad that this simple fact is lost on so many people. If they want to stop cheering for their favorite team because of what language the coach speaks then they should have at it. I would venture that they were never really fans to begin with.

If I’m Geoff Molson I say forget everyone. Forget the politicians trying to generate political capital from this non-story, forget the “fans” who care about more than whether their team wins. Spare me the arguments about cultural institutions and the “dying” French language. Any team in any sport in any league should speak one language: winning. Win hockey games. Don’t lose 21 of your first 34 games in a league where 53% of the teams make the playoffs every year. If you win, who cares whose feelings get hurt along the way?

This team is being run into the ground by a man so arrogant he thinks that people might actually believe some of the things he says. I can’t hazard a guess as to how involved Bob Gainey still is but the fact that Pierre Gauthier is still running this team is nauseating.

The Canadiens are heading toward their best draft pick since they had the incredible fortune of stumbling into the 5th overall choice in 2005. Think about the moves this man has made while making no attempt whatsoever to rationalize them. I would use the word “contempt” to describe the way Pierre Gauthier speaks to the media. For the love of god, Geoff Molson, don’t let this man continue to run this team. Don’t mortgage the future for the sake of this year. Don’t trade a second round pick for another rental player, even though that’s been one of the few things that have worked out for you in the last few years.

Fire Pierre Gauthier and replace him with the best man for the job, no matter what language he speaks. Let that man decide who the next coach should be, no matter what language he speaks. Then shut up and watch this team play hockey and hope for the best. That’s what the fans everywhere else do. Complain about the general manager, the coach, the players and the product on the ice all you want. Complain about the terrible pregame video that leaves the Bell Centre crowd flat after years of being the most electrifying building in the league (we miss you Ray Lalonde!).

Just don’t complain about what language the decision makers speak. You’re better than that. Don’t listen to the politicians. Don’t listen to the reactionary columnists who know less than nothing about this game. You’re better than that and so is this city. So is this fanbase.

Happy Holidays.

NHL Playoffs: Top 10 Players With Something to Prove

2010-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

10. Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks – I hope Joel Quenneville doesn’t make me look bad by going with the other guy here. The 26-year old Niemi has earned the right to start by being the better Chicago goaltender down the stretch. He has no track record to weigh him down but he needs to shut his critics up. Clearly his 7 shutouts and 26 wins in 39 starts this year weren’t enough to do that. It doesn’t help that Niemi has been less than stellar in his non-NHL playoff career with Kiekko-Vantaa and Pelicans Lahti in Finland. Expectations are high in Chicago and Niemi may be on a short leash.

9. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils – Yes, Martin Brodeur has won everything there is to win. He’s entering the twilight of his career and when all is said and done it will likely be impossible to argue with the numbers. The reason I included Brodeur in this list is his recent struggles in the playoffs. It doesn’t help that the Fyers owned Brodeur this year. It doesn’t help that Brodeur lost the number one job to Roberto Luongo at the Olympics. It doesn’t help that Brodeur is 15-22 in the playoffs since 2003-04. Brodeur isn’t the only Devil under pressure but a run to the finals would shut up anyone who says he’s over the hill.

8. Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks – Sedin’s regular season totals speak for themselves but a bad playoff would make it all a distant memory. As the leader of a very strong Vancouver team he needs to carry his strong play over to the postseason and be the go-to guy for his team. Roberto Luongo may have the “C” but it will be Sedin leading this team on the ice. His 30 points in 53 career playoff games would be good enough for most guys but we’re now talking about an Art Ross winner. He also needs to turn his -7 career playoff rating around.

7. Evgeni Nabokov , San Jose Sharks – Terrible Olympics. Perennial playoff disappointment (32-31 record). Nabokov has a very good team. He has had many very good teams in years past but hasn’t been good enough to put them over the top in the playoffs. At age 34, the window is closing and Nabokov is in a contract year. A strong postseason could put him in a position to get another 3 or 4 years at huge money from a desperate team this offseason. From a personal standpoint, he could silence all of his critics and put the memory of getting yanked in the Olympics against Canada behind him by winning games for his team. He’s not the only guy in San Jose who’s under the microscope but his age and contract put him in a unique situation.

6. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks – The man who played for back-to-back Stanley Cup losing teams has a new address this year. His 51 points in 57 games and a +24 rating through the regular season were great but he needs to produce in the playoffs to make his mammoth contract worthwhile. He has struggled against Nashville with just 6 points and a -2 in 17 career games. It’s hard to imagine Hossa making it to the finals and losing again but if anyone can do it...

5. Jose Theodore, Washington Capitals – Theodore starts against his former team in a good situation. He’s undefeated in regulation through his last 23 regular season games but that means as much as the habs 2-1-1 record against the Caps this year. The Capitals are heavily favoured against the Habs and there’s very little reason to think this series will go long. It’s beyond the first round that Theodore will earn his stripes. He’s won three first round series in his career but his team has been swept out in the second round in each case. This is the playoffs, the Caps will need to count on their goaltender at times regardless of their firepower. Theodore will be the key in the 2-1 and 3-2 games his team may be a bit unfamiliar with. The Washington Montreal could very well see all four goaltenders involved see action if the starters don't perform for either team.

4. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks – Luongo may have won a gold medal this year but his well-deserved reputation as a goalie who isn’t at his best in crunch time hangs over him like a Vancouver raincloud. When it mattered most last year Luongo gave up a touchdown and an extra point to Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s conference finals or bust for Luongo. It’s going to be hard to improve on his lifetime playoff statline of .930, 2.09 but it’s the 11-11 record that needs to change.

3. Joe Thornton , San Jose Sharks – This one doesn't really require any explanation.

2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals – You could make a strong argument that Ovechkin has nothing to prove and that’s definitely true from a regular season standpoint. His forgettable Olympics magnified the fact that he hasn’t won anything significant outside of individual achievements. The fact remains that the Ovechkin-Sidney Crosby comparisons abound and the fact that Crosby added a gold medal to his trophy case this year throws more fuel on the fire. George McPhee showed he’s committed to winning now with his deadline moves and it’s now on Ovechkin to lead the way as the team captain. He has an impressive 30 points in 21 career playoff games and needs to keep up that pace while providing his unparalleled physical presence.

1. Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils – The biggest name entering this year’s thin free agent crop has almost zero playoff experience and he was disappointing in the few games he played while a Thrasher(4 GP, 1 G, 1 A, -2). He’s now part of a team with high expectations. New Jersey gave up less than I thought they would have to when he was acquired but the fact remains that he likely won’t be a Devil after this year. Lou Lamoriello sent his team a message when he picked up Kovalchuk. He thinks they can win now. There’s enough pressure to go around but a strong performance from Kovalchuk in the playoffs gives them the “secondary” scoring they may need and could be the difference between an $8 million and $10 million deal on or after July 1st.

The order is debatable but most of these names are going to be heros or goats in the next few weeks. Five goaltenders make the list because the position becomes all the more important in the playoffs.

Springing Forward

2010-03-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, I haven’t written about the Habs all year so pardon me while I shake off some rust. I haven't felt I had a feel for this team. I still don't but I'm starting to get some ideas.

The Habs impressive post-Olympic run continued last night with a win over the Rangers in New York. It was Montreal’s sixth straight victory, the most games they’ve won in a row since 2006. Bob Gainey's science experiment has lost only once, to the mighty San Jose Sharks, since the Olympic break.

Glen Metropolit got his 16th, a career high and his 10th on the power play. Metropolit LEADS the Canadiens in power play goals.

Sergei Kostitsyn had the game winner and Tomas Plekanec scored on an empty net to ice the win.

Perhaps even more impressively, the Habs allowed only 20 shots against a team fighting for their playoff lives so Jaroslav Halak wasn’t busy while picking up his 23rd win of the year. Halak hasn’t lost an NHL game since February 13th. Before Canada ever won a gold medal on home soil. Before the Hurt Locker achieved Oscar glory. Before Justin Bieber became the worldwide phenome... You get the idea.

How about the guys in contract years? SK74, Halak, Plekanec and Metropolit are all free agents at seasons end. All will get raises.

The Flyers lost last night so the Habs leapfrogged the Flyers into 6th place in the East although the Flyers hold three games in hand.

The Senators lost as well so Montreal now sits just just one point behind the Sens for 5th place. Ottawa has just three wins in their last ten games and Alex Kovalev hasn’t scored a point in over a month, right around the last time Jaro Halak lost an NHL game.

That loss came against Philly, right before the Olympic break. It looked very likely at that moment that Montreal would miss the playoffs.

What a difference a month, really two weeks, makes.

Jacques Martin gave his team a well-deserved day off today and they have some time to prepare for their next test, Saturday night in Toronto.

Martin had a revelatory moment late in the game last night, after Plekanec’s empty netter, when the RDS camera caught him leaning in to talk to some players and grinning like a Cheshire cat. We’ve seen that grin in postgame press conferences a few times but never on the bench.

When he was hired, many said he was unpopular among players and he’d have trouble getting along with the guys in Montreal. That has never been my impression in the locker room (with a few younger exceptions, notably Sergei, who is now thriving with Dominic Moore and Travis Moen).

I think the veterans appreciate the structure he provides. There’s no ambiguity about the gameplan with Martin. He’s not learning on the fly at the NHL level like several Canadiens coaches before him. He doesn’t panic when his team falls behind and that calm is evident on the bench.

He looks like he’s having fun after those dismal years in Florida with the Panthers. Those years may very well have taught him to appreciate times like these. His players are having fun too.

Go ahead and smile Jacques, somewhere in this city, Bob Gainey is watching sports on his HDTV and smiling too.

The question now, and I’m sorry for asking it, but was Rejean Tremblay right (gulp!) about Mike Cammalleri?

Breaking the Silence

2009-07-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

A Montreal Friday is upon us and I'm feeling inspired for the first time in months. It's been a crazy week around the NHL and virtually all the big names have found new homes or stuck around where they were.

The Canadiens have changed the guard. It's looking very likely that the Artist has played his last game for the Habs and the same goes for Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Chris Higgins, Mike Komisarek and several key components of Bob Gainey's so-called "five year plan".

It's the dawn of a new era with Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez getting into the mix along with two new blueliners in Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill.

Reaction has been mixed but largely negative to this new look team. They're being called small and the speculation is they will be pushed around by the opposition, even more so than in years past (if that's possible).

I like what Bob Gainey did because if this team proved anything last year, it was that the current formula wasn't working. Gone are the familiar faces who spouted cliches after every game, replaced by guys with big skill and Stanley Cup rings.

We're all aware of the crazy stories and rumours that flew around this team throughout their centennial season and something had to be done. Clearly things weren't working for the guys wearing the letters on their jerseys and now they're all gone.

Chris Higgins and Mike Komisarek were good teammates and worked hard for the team that drafted them in consecutive first rounds. I wish them the best in their respective careers and I have a feeling Higgins may burn the Habs for years to come and Komisarek will probably make their forwards pay along the perimeter too, but they had to go. They were the young core of the team's leadership which often resulted in their teammates being led into wild party nights in Montreal.

Hockey players have been partying hard for decades but it seems that this group just couldn't find the balance that effective teams have. They left young players to fend for themselves in a city more than willing to cater to their youthful whims.

It's hard to figure out Kovalev, who seems to be the guy most fans want back but Kovy turned down a two-year deal worth a reported $9 million. That's a lot of money for a 36 year-old power play specialist with a tendency to take nights off. Maybe he didn't want to play second fiddle to the new wave. Maybe his agent led him astray.

Regardless, I think his departure bodes well for the younger players who will be more driven to work hard and give their all under Jacques Martin's new regime.

The one that hits home with me is Saku Koivu. I don't think the team could have started anew with him in place so he had to go but he was a warrior for this team who grinded and played his heart out every night. He raised the bar for a captain`s role in Montreal and changed the meaning of `giving back to the community`. I will never forget his return from cancer, his playoff magic and continued humility when dealing with a vicious media and fan base with unrealistic expectations for a guy who never had a decent set of linemates and never once complained. His lasting image may be the night he capped of the greatest comeback in Montreal Canadiens history with his trademark shootout goal against the New York Rangers.

We`ll see how it plays out and tributes will start to pour in eventually. I like this one, courtesy of the great Aislin.

A Team in Turmoil

2009-02-18T08:54:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was one of those days that the trip to Canadiens practice in Brossard is well worth the trip across the bridge. I noticed Alex Kovalev wasn't on the ice almost as soon as I arrived, shortly after being informed of Sergei Kostitsyn's demotion to Hamilton to try and regain his form and if Jean Perron is right, to get him away from the party atmosphere he, Carey Price and Chris Higgins have been enjoying a bit too much of in Montreal.

Canadiens communications director Donald Beauchamp then came over and informed us that Bob Gainey would be addressing some player personnel moves he'd made earlier in the day personally. It was when Bob began to speak that the magnitude of actions began to take shape.

Kovalev has been asked to stay in Montreal to "rest" and Bob Gainey wants him to "stay away from the team" for a while, at least until he can re-evaluate where the team stands after two games without the Artist on Saturday.

This comes on the heels of the acquisition of 39 year-old Mathieu Schneider, the good-natured veteran defenceman who is returning to the team that drafted him 44th overall in 1987. Schneider, for his part, seems genuinely happy to be back in Montreal. He's wearing Chris Chelios' number 24, a fact he reminded his former teammate of in an early morning phone call prior to his first practice with the Canadiens. After practice, Schneider recounted that Chelios told him,

"You stole my job 15 years ago, you may as well take my number too."

Kovalev may be four years younger than Schneider but he's either being taught a lesson by Habs management or a deal for him is imminent. It's hard to believe the Habs would get more from him than a a 2nd round pick at this point and you'd have to think his trade value decreases as he sits out games by managements decree.

The Canadiens as an organization were unhappy about Perron's comments but Guy Carbonneau didn't back off of them completely either,

"I trust it's not just that," said the coach following yesterday's practice.

Price meanwhile patiently answered the charges in the locker after the skate,

"I don't think we go out any more than any other team in the league. We're young athletes and we go out every once in a while, but I don't think it's affected us at all," Price added. "I don't really care what [Perron] said."

Yale alum Chris Higgins also weighed in,

"I think it's pretty predictable, to be honest, when things go bad it seems like these stories come out, especially in this city. … I'd like to say more but I should stop there,"

Meanwhile, Guy Carbonneau continues to be plagued by claims that he's lost this team. It's a point that's hard to argue against. Since being given a midseason vote of confidence by Gainey, the Habs have sunk to new depths and are chipping away at rock bottom's sub-basement these days.

All the player movement has deflected attention away from such claims for now but losses in the next two games would certainly put them right back on centre stage. In the meantime, it's a one game at a time ritual to be a Montreal Canadien.

Kostitsyn's demotion is good news for Gregory Stewart, the hard working winger who will take his spot on the big team. Stewart has stood out in every game he's played at the NHL level and is one guy who Guy Carbonneau won't have to worry about motivating.

Dealing With Expectations

2009-02-11T07:39:00.001-08:00

It's amazing how things can change so much from one month to another. The Canadiens haven't put together a consistent stretch all year long. At the beginning of the year, they were winning games they should have lost. Lucky for them, they picked up 17 of a possible 20 points to begin the season and that's probably the main reason they remain in fifth place to this point despite being the coldest team in the NHL, 2-8 in their last ten games.

The Canadiens created so much hype with their phenomenal regular season last year. The playoffs were different, as both Boston and Philly exploited their lack of physicality and unwillingness to pay the price along the boards. After their second round exit, the offseason provided hope with the acquisitions of Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang along with a guy like Georges Laraque, who it seemed would make the Milan Lucics and Scott Hartnells of the league respect them.

The other side of it was the loss of two guys who had been around for a while, one coming off a career season and one off one of his worst campaigns, both UFAs.

I'm not going to say Michael Ryder would be enjoying comparable success here in Montreal to the great season he's having on a Boston team that looks destined for greatness. It's impossible to know and in all likelihood the change of scenery is one of the things that sparked Ryder's resurgence. Another factor was having a coach who believed in him in Claude Julien.

The other guy is Mark Streit. Streit put up 62 points last year while quarterbacking the top power play in the NHL. He took smart shots, did an excellent job of getting pucks in deep and pursuing them and played in virtually every role asked of him by the Habs coaching staff. He loved Montreal and looked crushed when it became clear he didn't fit in with the teams plan for their centennial season and onward. Streit moved on to a bad team in Long Island where he is revered by fans and teammates for what he is, one of the top offensive defencemen in the league and an NHL all-star.

With the Habs power play languishing at 24th in the league at a dismal 16.3% success rate, one can't help but miss Streit's under the radar modus operandi.

It might make it easier if Robert Lang's career wasn't likely over due to the brutal injury he suffered and Alex Tanguay not on the shelf for the foreseeable future. Those injuries are big for a Canadiens team that often looks young and overmatched these days.

The fact is that none of the factors experts and fans alike thought would propel the Canadiens to the top the Eastern Conference heap have come to pass.

The goaltending has been inconsistent at best and demoralizingly awful at times.

The veterans have often been hurt and not nearly as good as they were expected to be, from Kovalev to Tanguay and plenty more in between.

The young players who were supposed to take another step forward have remained in large part where they already were, and some have taken big steps back.

Sergei Kostitsyn has been disappointing but nowhere near as much so as Tomas Plekanec (29 goals last year), Chris Higgins (27) and Kovalev (35).

It's not all doom and gloom. The future looks bright with guys like Pacioretty coming up and performing but this year is starting to look more and more like another first or second round playoff exit, certainly nowhere near what was expected of this team going into this year.

Guy Carbonneau spoke of dealing with these expectations in a frank and what I believe to be totally accurate way yesterday after taking his team bowling instead of skating them again.

"I think the biggest (strain) is the pressure and anticipation from the people. We had a good year last year and from the start of (this) year, they saw us as Stanley Cup contenders. Maybe we're not as good as they think we are. It's a tough league to win in consistently. And it's going to get tougher and tougher until the end."

Randy Renaud, long time Montreal broadcaster and long-suffering Habs fan had this assessment yesterday, one that many Habs fans would agree with and one that's a little bit heartbreaking to read.

Montrealers and Habs fans everywhere might just love this team a little bit too much and love, as we all know, can be blinding.

Asleep at the Switch

2009-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

My apologies to my regular readers... I've been feeling uninspired but that has changed.

The Canadiens trainwreck made two stops at the Bell Centre this weekend with mixed results. Christopher Higgins, who has been unceremoniously stripped of his assistant captaincy, scored a huge goal to salvage a shoddy effort against the LA Kings and often maligned captain Saku Koivu devastated the Kings by ending it in regulation just over a minute later.

The real story of the game was Denis Gauthier's appalling head shot on Montreal's Josh Gorges, the fourth serious offense on the LA defenceman's resume. A lack of respect is rampant among NHLers and it's hard to understand.

Even harder to understand was the Canadiens decision to allow Gorges back on the ice after the incident. Even if they were able to determine that Gorges didn't suffer a concussion on the play, one would think they would keep him out of action for the rest of the game, if only as a precautionary measure. Higgins had a succinct assessment of the incident following the game,

"You saw his face after the hit and he wasn't on earth, he was someplace else."

Christopher Higgins isn't a doctor, and neither am I but we both know Gorges was messed up. He skated into the glass after getting up and likely didn't have the clearest of ideas where he was.

The question for me is how the Habs could be irresponsible enough to to put Gorges back on the ice. Luckily all it cost the team was a turnover by the dazed rearguard that led directly to an LA goal and not another crushing blow to the head of one of the teams more promising youngsters. We're talking about the long term health of a human being. Not hockey, but rather the ability to function normally for the remainder of one's life, hopefully a life that will go on long after his NHL career.

That's that.

On Sunday the Habs were lucky to remain in a game against Boston in which they were outclassed in virtually every aspect of the game. The 3-1 score didn't do it justice. Carey Price turned in a good performance but his teammates snoozed their way through sixty minutes of hockey, looking disinterested against a divisional arch-rival who are now 18 points clear of a Montreal team that suddenly seems in danger of missing the playoffs in their centennial season.

There are plenty of teams in the conference who want to be in the Stanley Cup playoffs more than the Habs given the way they're playing at the moment.

The bad news doesn't end there. Robert Lang had a busy day, winning the January segment of the Molson Cup, scoring a goal and suffering a potentially career ending injury. The severity of the tear to his achilles isn't yet known but at his age a full tear could spell the end of the line for a guy who's been a bright spot and leads the club in goal scoring.

Alex Kovalev had an awful game and Guy Carbonneau was asked if he thought the Artist played differently without the captain's "C" on his jersey. Instead of dismissing the notion out of hand as I expected him to, the coach was frank and said,

"“I hope that’s not the truth. Because then we’re in trouble because I’m not taking the C off Saku. If somebody needs a letter to perform well on the ice, I have a tough time with that. Alex is a professional. He’s not a rookie. Right now, he’s struggling, but we need him if we hope to go far.”

Whoa.

Things are not right at the Bell Centre and the road ahead looks grim. The Canadiens play 13 times in the last 26 days in a February schedule that includes dates with some of the leagues top teams and a six game Western road trip that concludes with stops in Pittsburgh, who make their first visit of the year to Montreal on Tuesday night and Washington to take on a terrific Caps team that features the best player in the game. Add games against San Jose, Philly and Ryan Miller's Buffalo Sabres and you've got the recipe for a meltdown.

It's gut check time.

Let's hope the Canadiens handle the upcoming adversity better than they did the Josh Gorges situation.

What Rivalry?

2009-01-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Things got interesting in the second period between the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs last night. It was the third meeting of the year between the two teams. The first was on October 11th when the Habs embarrassed the Leafs on home ice in a 6-1 spanking.

The Leafs got a measure of revenge just under a month later by handing the Habs a 6-3 defeat at the Air Canada Centre on November 8th. Mikhail Grabovski was the story that night with a goal, an assist and a butt-ending of Carey Price that went uncalled.

Grabovski is remembered by Habs fans largely as a guy who couldn't crack the lineup or find any consistency during his time with the Canadiens and had difficulty staying on his feet for more than five seconds at a time during a shift. He also left the team during a crucial Western road trip because he was unhappy about his ice time. The 24 year-old was happy to be dealt to the Leafs in the offseason and his seething hatred of the CH and Sergei Kostitsyn in particular boiled over last night. Grabovski really covered his bases, he also managed to take a shot at the French following the game.

"I think he is not Belarussian now, he is French because I never fight with Belarussian guys," Grabovski said. "I don't know why he wants to fight with me. If he wants to fight, we'll go in the street and every minute of every day I'll wait for him and we'll fight."

Grabovski went also made it clear that he only has it out for the younger Kostitsyn.

"He's not smart, because the older Kostitsyn, Andrei, he never fights with me and he never will fight because he plays hockey, he plays the game, I think it's stupid."

The fallout of Grabovski's temper tantrum late in last night's blowout is an automatic three game suspension from the NHL for "abuse of an official". Grabovski's return to the Bell Centre was also highlighted by a one-fingered salute he delivered to the Bell Centre faithful, who booed him mercilessly every time he touched the puck, upon his ejection from the game late in the third period.

It's a shame things didn't work out in Montreal for Grabovski because he's a gifted player who can make a difference when given a chance. His play has been a bright spot for a dismal Leafs team that dropped to 16-19-6 with last night's loss. That's a bad record but still has them 10 points behind the Islanders in the Tavares-Hedman sweepstakes, to the chagrin of many Leafs fans.

Round four of the intriguing Habs-Leafs season series won't happen until February 7th but don't expect any of the bad blood to diminish in the meantime. The bad news for the Leafs is that the Habs decimated them without the services of six regulars, including their starting goaltender, captain and prized offseason acquisition.

Some journalists pointed out the Leafs proved a point in the only aspect of the game in which they excelled, the fights. Jamal Mayers pounded Tom Kostopoulos and the newest Leaf, Brad May, beat the crap out of Francis Bouillon two seconds later.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that Mayers has 25 pounds and three inches on Tom the Bomb or that Bouillon gives May five inches and 15 pounds. Kostopoulos had to answer for his hit on Mike Van Ryn last time the teams met. Someone had to do something because referee Tim Peel was unable to get the job done all night long in one of the most embarrassing displays of officiating in recent memory.

Andrei Kostitsyn was a target all night for his hit on Luke Schenn, who appears to be the real deal, earlier this year.

Kostitsyn had three points and set up Alex Kovalev for a beautiful goal after avoiding a huge hit at his own blueline, drawing a hooking penalty and finally feeding Kovalev for a beauty on the delayed call. AK46 is on fire right now with three goals and six points in his last three games.

Other highlights included three first period assists for the reborn Patrice Brisebois, who has been an unsung hero for this team all year long and who saluted Habs fans with a brief tour of the rink following his being named the games first star and moving into fifth all-time on the Habs defensive scoring list. He's come a long way in his career and Guy Carbonneau is thrilled with what his old teammate has brought to the table this year.

“He’s done a lot for us not only this year but last year, too,” said Carbonneau following last night's game. “We signed him as a potential seventh defenseman or as a precautionary measure. That was the plan, but things can change pretty quickly in this business. Patrice knows his limits and he’s playing well.”

Another hated former Hab comes to the Bell tomorrow night in the form of Jose Theodore but the former Vezina trophy winning netminder will be hard pressed to follow up the Grabovski show.

Kovy's Kids Need to Step Up

2008-12-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

No, I’m not talking about the sick and underprivileged children that Alex Kovalev helps with his remarkable volunteer initiatives. The underachieving kids in the dressing room are the ones fans should be worried about.

Watching the Canadiens handle another Western Conference foe last night got me to thinking about what's changed about this team since the same time last year. It's easy to forget that the Habs remarkable 2007-08 regular season run really got underway during their annual and traditionally disastrous Christmas road trip and Ryan O'Byrne's antics following the team's rookie dinner.

Prior to that trip, people talked about the Habs home record and the fact that it wasn't as good as their road record. Some people were worried about Tomas Plekanec's production. Others complained about Cristobal Huet, still others about unproven youngster Carey Price.

No one was worried about the power play. Such fears were allayed in the first game of the season, when Mark Streit one-timed a power play goal on a blast from the point in Carolina that began to erase the memory of Sheldon Souray, who was all but forgotten by this time.

This year, it's the power play. It's Alex Kovalev's goalless streak. It's a concern for some, myself included, that teams will take liberties with the Canadiens because there is very little fear of the once-mighty Montreal power play making them pay for their transgressions. Kovalev has not found the stride or lethal shot that carried the team last year. The issues on the power play are largely tied to the Artist. Teams have keyed on Kovalev and kept the Habs to the perimeter, forcing them to take ill-advised shots that are frequently blocked or miss the net completely.

Kovalev is the lightning rod for the Canadiens. His point production has been consistent (5g- 16a)but his goal-scoring has not been remotely close to the pace that saw him light the lamp 35 times last year. He's on pace for just 15 goals. Meanwhile Matt D’Agostini has emerged as the smart player with a nose for the net that many Habs prospects have never become. His four goals in five games since being called up put him on pace for 50 goals this year in only 61 games. We all know that’s not going to happen but his production makes for interesting comparisons with other young Habs.

Fans and journalists pick on Kovalev's lack of production but let's have a look up and down the lineup and see who else is disappointing.

Chris Higgins: The 25-year-old has been in and out of the lineup all year. He's got 5 goals (3 in one game against Ottawa) in 21 games after scoring 27 last year. Higgins is on pace for the lowest total of his career (15 goals) although his season may be cut short by injury.

Andrei Kostitsyn: I expected a monster year out of AK46 and his production has increased of late but his 6 goals put him on pace for 18 one year after bagging 29 in what looked like the prelude to a superstar-making season this year.

Tomas Plekanec: Pleks admitted in the playoffs last year that he was "playing like a little girl". His play this season has indicated that he may not have put away his dollhouse just yet although he's another forward whose play has improved recently. Plekanec was second on the Habs with 69 points (29g-40a) last year. This year his 6 goals and 7 assists put him on pace for an 18 goal, 39 point season which is probably the most disturbing regression of the bunch.

Guillaume Latendresse and Sergei Kostitsyn have both struggled this year but they are both just 21 years old. Growing pains are expected at that stage of a career. Neither can be sent to Hamilton without first clearing waivers so GLT and SK74 are likely in it for the long haul and in the case of GLT, patience will be crucial.

One might argue that the addition of veterans like Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang, who have both been outstanding, took the pressure of these younger guys to perform but the Habs were expected to have three scoring lines this year and cause matchup nightmares for opposing coaches

The point of all this number crunching is that for Alex Kovalev to be blamed for the Habs inconsistencies on offence is ridiculous. He is slightly below his production of last year but he's 35 years old! Were you expecting him to break the 100-point barrier for the first time in his career?

The distressing part of the Habs power outage is that younger players who should be even better this year than last have been worse. The problem is not that Kovalev isn't producing at last year's pace. The play of the younger guys should complement guys like Kovalev, Lang, Tanguay and Saku Koivu but that hasn’t been happening this year. The geezers are carrying the load.

With seven pending UFAs and three RFAs the Canadiens will be a different team a year from now. This years’ crop has a chance to learn and enjoy the mentoring of the Artist, who may have lost a step but continues to be a leader on and off the ice. They have 56 games to turn it around and if they do, a lengthy playoff run isn’t out of the question.

Five Issues

2008-11-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

The roller coaster season is just getting going but doom and gloom abound in Montreal. Finger pointing is at a season high right now for a team that's 10-5-2 through 17 games. It's impossible to pinpoint the exact problem but that won't stop me from trying. Here are the top five issues plaguing your Canadiens.

5. Mike Komisarek - Komisaurus has been sorely missed since injuring his shoulder last Tuesday in Boston but the fact is that his play up to that point left something to be desired. Uncharacteristic turnovers and a lack of confidence against the forecheck have been a big part of his young season and in his absence, Andrei Markov just doesn't seem to be the same player.

4. The new arrivals - Plans for the Stanley Cup parade began during the offseason when Bob Gainey acquired Alex Tanguay from Calgary, Robert Lang from Chicago and singed free-agent Georges Laraque. Obviously plans have been put on hold indefinitely as the three have struggled to find their places on this team. Tanguay leads the Habs in goals and points but he has struggled in the last two games, not registering a shot in either of them while he adjusted to playing with Alex Kovalev. It appears that experiment is over as Guillaume Latendresse rejoins Koivu and Tanguay on a line that had success during the Habs 8-1-1 run to start the season. Lang is great around the net but his lack of mobility can be an issue when he's not paired with the right linemates. Laraque is a force when he drops the gloves but a -4 rating isn't and the Habs 4-4-1 record with him in the lineup is a troubling stat. (6-1-2 without)

3. Coach Carbonneau - Carbo was a favourite for coach of the year last year but this year he's gotten back to his line-juggling ways of two years ago, a time when things were much more difficult for the team. Implications that he could be losing the room are beginning to circulate. Such claims are premature but a team can only underperform for so long before the coaches grasp of the room comes into question. Oh how I long for the glory days when the only questions we asked about the coach were whether or not he would wear a certain tie on gamenight.

2. Missing chemistry - Last year's Habs were a loose bunch that had fun together whether in practice, during games or even hanging out together off the ice. This year's edition is still trying to find their identity but it's certain that they aren't having as much fun as they were a year ago. Lofty expectations, several players in the last year of their contracts and a lack of cohesion between linemates are all very real factors. With so many guys playing for contracts, competition for ice time and unhappiness with power play minutes could very well be coming into play and that's a bad sign this early in the year. With so much offensive firepower to play with there's bound to be unhappy campers every game.

1. The Kovalev line - Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn were the Habs unquestioned number one unit last year. The arrival of Alex Tanguay changed that as he and Saku Koivu became two-thirds of the top unit. Andrei's struggles come on the heels of a new three year deal signed on the offseason and it's possible AK46 is having trouble with claims of his emergence as the dominant forward he was projected to be when he was drafted 10th overall in 2003. Plekanec is playing without the confidence that made him a 69 point guy a year ago. Kovy is Kovy. He has never benefited from Carbo's line shuffling and he isn't benefiting from it now. Carbo needs to find a comfort zone for his best player and soon. It's no coincidence the Habs best regular season in recent memory coincided with the Artist having his best year since his glory days in Pittsburgh.

Now that I've joined in the finger pointing it's time to kick back and enjoy the show tonight. The Habs and Sens have been two of the leagues' least potent offenses so far this month only one year after they were 1-2 in goals scored across the entire league. Something's gotta give and Habs fans are hoping it's Sens goalie Alex Auld who loses the showdown with Carey Price.

Relax

2008-11-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

Watching the Canadiens against Carolina last night was a painful experience. Carey Price was outstanding but the signs of trouble continue to multiply for this group. Guy Carbonneau's revamped lines have provided no inspiration for the team and his post-game comments are becoming more and more ridiculous. The coach is running out of ideas fast and the catastrophic November continues tomorrow night for this team.

After a shootout win on Sunday, Carbo said "everyone played really well, I thought it was one of our best performances of the year." then he proceeded to give his team the next day off in scenic Raleigh. His team responded by giving up a season-high 48 shots while the $15 million line of Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev produced a grand total of 3 shots on goal.

I'm all for trying new things but these guys need a wakeup call. Ryan O'Byrne was exposed last night in a difficult third period for the young blueliner. Sergei Samsonov made him look like a beer leaguer on the Canes first goal and O'Byrne took a bonehead penalty that led to the game-winner. Lack of depth on the blue line is an issue for the Habs. If Carbo wants to send a guy down to Hamilton that guy has to clear waivers unless it's Sergei Kostitsyn or O'Byrne. There's no viable option for replacing O'Byrne in Hamilton so that idea doesn't hold water.

The other option is the pressbox. The production of Alex Kovalev's line has tailed off severely from last year. It's hard to pinpoint where the issue lies with that line but their production has reached a new low. Their success was such a huge part of what the Habs accomplished last year and their play up to this point leaves much to be desired. There is a lot of finger pointing happening in this city right now but the buck stops with that line. The Artist needs to start playing angry. His linemates need to start playing.

The fact is it's impossible for the Canadiens to live up to or exceed what they accomplished during last year's regular season. It's also easy to forget that it wasn't all easy all the time. There were struggles, trials and tribulations. There has to be. If a team never has to overcome adversity they will fail when the going gets tough in the playoffs. That's what happened last year.

The 2008-2009 Canadiens are a team better built for the postseason than last year's version. There will be peaks and valleys throughout the season but better they happen now than in the playoffs. As long as they can stay reasonably healthy and Carey Price finds consistency they will make the playoffs and surpass last year's postseason accomplishments.

Sweet Relief

2008-11-17T07:38:00.001-08:00

Alex Kovalev allowed Montreal to breathe a collective sigh of relief by roofing the backhander that beat the lowly St Louis Blues last night. The slide the Habs have been experiencing combined with the news that organizers of the Grand Prix will not pay off extortionist Bernie Ecclestone and lose the race that has become a staple of summer in this fine city was making it hard to stay optimistic as temperatures drop.

Sure, the Alouettes won the Eastern final on Saturday night. The problem is, nobody cares about the Alouettes. Everyone in the city likes a winner but next weekend's Grey Cup festivities will likely be buried by the hype surrounding the retirement of Patrick Roy's jersey and talk of how amazing or how terrible the Canadiens are depending on the results of this week's games on Tuesday in Carolina and Thursday in Ottawa. Anyone who has attended an Als game will tell you the vast majority of fans are there to hang out and drink outdoors and rarely cheer their team on when their support is sorely needed.

Guy Carbonneau was happy to get out of Montreal after Saturday night's loss to Philly. He knows that what I just said about the Als works pretty much exactly the opposite way for the Habs. It's hard not to read about yourself and given the fact that writers and commentators in this city spent the first six weeks of the season putting the Habs over and talking about how awesome they are despite largely mediocre performances. If you read enough of that stuff it's bound to go to your head. On the road the players are less distracted by all the hype surrounding the team, hype that has reached epic proportions for various reasons, mainly the teams' unbelievable run last year and the citywide centennial celebration.

It's easy to lose perspective after a performance like last Tuesday's in Ottawa. Ottawa is a shell of the team that dominated the Northeast division for years. It was easy for fans to get excited about that win after Carbo called it "a near perfect performance." and also because Ottawa has been so good for so long and had so much success against the Habs in recent years. As if to prove that point, the Sens went on to lose to the brutal Rick DiPietro-less New York Islanders in their next game. Meanwhile the Habs were awful against Boston in a performance that officially set off panic mode in Montreal.

One of the constants throughout this difficult period has been the lacklustre power play. Alex Kovalev has been turned into an ordinary winger with the man advantage and it seems every team in the league has figured out his moves. Andrei Kostitsyn is still looking for his first power play goal of the year after putting up 12 last year. The passing is still crisp but there is a level of hesitation out there that never existed in the past two years. It's becoming more and more clear that the loss of Mark Streit is far more significant than the loss of Sheldon Souray one year earlier. Streit was so effective at getting pucks in deep and keeping posession, something the Habs current powerr play unit has a very hard time doing.

Tomas Plekanec is a fractured shell of the centre who led the team with six game winning goals and was second only to Kovalev with 69 points and a +15 rating last year. In 2007-08 he became Kovalev's main man. In 2008-09 (so far) Plekanec has completely lost confidence in himself and his linemates have lost faith in him. He was terrific on the penalty kill yesterday but the explosive two-way player of last season remains M.I.A.

Luckily for the players, they can focus on guns and NASCAR in Raleigh tomorrow before they return home and start to hear everyone rant and rave about how great or how awful they really are before heading to our nation's capitol to face the Sens on Thursday. Both opponents will be fierce and compete but there is no reason the Habs shouldn't pick up at least three of the four available points.

The tough thing will be keeping things together when Milan Lucic and the Bruins are here to try and ruin Patrick Roy's jersey retirement night for what will surely be a rabid crowd baying for blood after what the Bruins did to them when last they met. Circle Saturday night on your calendars boys and girls, and don't stay out too late after the game... The local football team plays a game of some significance the next day.

Best of the Year

2008-11-12T06:37:00.001-08:00

Guy Carbonneau put the emphasis on fundamentals like defence and transition and forced his players to watch hours of tape after they didn't show up in Toronto on Saturday night. The result was what he described as ""the best 60 minutes we've played this year and probably the last two years." High praise for a group that gave him "the most embarrasing effort" he had seen in his career on Saturday night.

Last night, CH stood for Chris Higgins. His lightning-quick acceleration was on display throughout the game. He had more confidence than usual shooting the puck and some slick passing from his teammates earned him his first career NHL hat-trick and first since his Ivy League days at Yale. Carbo singled Higgins out for well-deserved praise after the game and Higgins himself dedicated his effort to his mom. Awwww.

Carey Price was very solid and more importantly, his defence was mean and spirited defending their end. Roman Hamrlik's return was a huge boost to the group and Ryan O'Byrne had his best game of the year with an assist and a +2 rating.

24 hours ago, it was doom and gloom for the Habs. Now as quickly as fall becomes winter, fans are back on the bandwagon and optimism is again the theme for radio talk shows throughout the city. The Canadiens served their fans and critics with a reminder of what this team is capable of when they work together and get on the same page.

Explosive in transition. Deadly on the PK. Tough.

Georges Laraque kept his gloves on all night but Chris Neil didn't take his usual liberties with the Habs late in the game when it was no longer in doubt, definitely a testament to what BGL brings to the table for opponents mentally.

Guillaume Latendresse scored his first goal in eleven games on a beautiful set play off an offensive zone faceoff won by Robert Lang. GLT roofed it about 1.7 seconds after the puck was dropped with the kind of release that elevates the unrealistic hopes many have for this kid.

One of those nights where it all comes together in a game with a late season level of intensity. The Sens did not go easily but to have a game that spirited this early in the season bodes well for this rivalry going forward. These two teams flat out don't like each other and it's becoming more and more obvious each time they meet.

Jason Spezza demonstrated this admirably by going after Saku Koivu away from the play as both were skating to the bench and Jarkko Ruutu took it a few steps further by attempting to decapitate Maxim Lapierre later in the game. Ruutu then did what he does, clutching his way through a terrible fight with Habs little big man Francis Bouillon that ended no contest.

Would've been nice to see Laraque get his hands on Ruutu, his former teammate.

The Canadiens 9-2-2 mark and 20 points in 13 games is good for first in the Northeast division and second only to the New York Rangers 24 points in 18 games, five more than the Habs. They have one point and a game in hand on the Sabres.

It gets no easier for the Habs who travel to Boston tomorrow and are back home to face Mike Richards and the Flyers on Saturday night.

A Lack of Inspiration

2008-11-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

As regular readers of this blog (hi Mom!) already know, I'm not a diligent poster. I have taken this to a whole new level through the first twelve games of the Habs centennial season by pretty much never updating this blog. That all changes today.

It's Remembrance Day. One of the rare days on the calendar that puts things in perspective as we reflect on the sacrifices made in generations past and today by the men and women of our armed forces. Having said that, the Habs are the subject of this blog and I will now proceed onward into hockey-talk.

The Canadiens haven't been overly impressive in any of their first twelve games. They looked pretty good in Buffalo on opening night but lost in a shootout. The next day they decimated the Leafs in what was likely their most complete performance to date, a 6-1 final at the Air Canada Center.

Fast forward four Saturdays. Mikhail Grabovski and the Leafs put on a clinic beating the Habs by crashing the net, winning battles and pounding the Habs D which was without its cornerstone, Roman Hamrlik. The Canadiens played an undisciplined game and you almost got the sense they were waiting around to start one of their famous comebacks until they realized they were out of real estate.

The Leafs got to Carey Price much the same way Philly did in the playoffs last year. They ran him and got in his face. When opponents get into Price's head, the Habs are in trouble.

With an 8-2-2 record it's hard to get too dramatic but that hasn't stopped Habs fans. They're freaking out and the bandwagon is actually losing passengers which isn't surprising given many fans never left it after the shock of last season's playoff exit.

Fortunately, 70 games remain. Starting tonight against a team the Habs struggle against. The Sens' line of Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza have teamed up for 41 points so far this year and always they do well against the Habs. The Habs need to get back to the three-pronged attack that looked so promising early in the season.

Guy Carbonneau thinks his team needs to get back to playing fundamentally good defense. He's right. With Hamrlik back tonight things should improve on the back end and that's great news for Price and the Habs.

As for this blog, all we can hope for is a more inspired effort from its author which will hopefully be inspired by his home town team getting out there and working.

Alex Kovalev needs to play like he just got high-sticked and the ref missed the call. Andrei Kostitsyn needs to play like Kurt Sauer didn't make him scared to take on NHL defencemen by trying to take his head off. Mike Komisarek needs to continue to make opposing forwards pay when they choose to attack his side of the ice. Andrei Markov needs to get his legs back under him after looking tired in Toronto, not a good sign at this point of the season.

It's going to be a long ride of ups and downs this year but better to hit a roadbump at this point of the campaign. The sign of a championship team is how they handle adversity and this team still has a lot to prove.

Eastern Preview

2008-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Conference is a wide-open battle this year. Several teams have lost big time talent in the offseason. The most dynamic young players in the game are in the East. Through it all, the Canadiens are one of the few teams that can claim to have made significant upgrades in the offseason. We'll get to them later...

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

15. Toronto Maple Leafs - The good: Vesa Toskala, Tomas Kaberle.

The bad: Ryan Hollweg, Jeff Finger and Jamal Mayers are your prized offseason acquisitions. I'm not going to include Niklas Hagman in that group, he's a great checking forward.

The ugly: Coach Ron Wilson came out and said the Leafs won't give veterans ice time just for the sake of staying in hockey games. Even their coach is thinking about next year and John Tavares. It will be a long and ugly season in T.O.

14. New York Islanders - Where to begin? Rick DiPietro is a good goaltender. Beyond him, things look grim. Habs fans know Mark Streit is not a number one defenceman. Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt will be doing their best to support him. Up front Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger are all in contract years and looking for strong performances. These guys will get ice time to stay in close games, which is why they will be better than the Leafs but only by the slimmest of margins. They won't get blown out a whole lot but won't win many games either.

13. Atlanta Thrashers - Poor Ilya Kovalchuk. The NHL's leading goal scorer since the 2001-02 season has very little support. Mathieu Schneider will help but who does Kovalchuk play with? The answer is Vyacheslav Kozlov and a third liner. Thanks to the utter craptaculence of Toronto and The Islanders, the Thrashers won't be the worst team in the conference.

PRETENDERS

12. Tampa Bay Lightning - Rod Francis pointed out on Melnick in the Afternoon the other day that the Lightning resemble a fantasy draft team. Fan favourite Dan Boyle is gone, replaced by Matt Carle, who took a drastic step back in his development last year in San Jose. Rookie Steven Stamkos will have his growing pains but being flanked by Ryan Malone and Radim Vrbata should help. People expecting an Ovechkin or Crosby-like rookie season for Stamkos should take a step back and remeber the growing pains Vincent Lecavalier experienced in his first year in Tampa. Mike Smith is a capable goaltender but is a huge question mark when it comes to handling the number one role. The Lightning will struggle.

11. New Jersey Devils - The Devils are still a few years away from getting back to their dominant years. Martin Brodeur is still Martin Brodeur but age and losing one defenceman after another every year will catch up. Brian Rolston is a great acquisition but isn't capable of providing the scoring the Devils need. Patrik Elias needs a huge season and Brian Gionta needs to rediscover his lightning quick wrist shot and scoring touch if the Devils want to avoid missing the postseason.

ON THE EDGE

10. Carolina Hurricanes - The 'Canes possess some of the game's best forwards in the form of Eric Staal and Rod Brind'Amour. They will be supported by guys like Sergei Samsonov, Ray Whitney and Matt Cullen. The loss of Justin Williams for the first three months of the year will hurt this club big time. The addition of puck-moving defenceman Joni Pitkanen will help but not enough to bolster a defensive corps that gave up 249 goals last year. Brandon Sutter is a heck of a player and should make life hell for the 'Canes opponents.

9. Boston Bruins - The Bruins showed a lot last year, overcoming the loss of Patrice Bergeron to a season-ending concussion. Tim Thomas was a revelation in goal, Zdeno Chara was a Norris trophy contender and Marc Savard filled the void admirably. I Don't expect all those things to happen again this year. Blake Wheeler made the squad and could turn some heads and I'd love to see Bergeron bounce back with a huge season but he is second to Savard on the depth chart in Claude Julien's defence-oriented system. They will be close but on the outside looking in.

ON THE EDGE

8. Buffalo Sabres - The Sabres had a rough time last year. Ryan Miller struggled, especially early in the season. The absence of a true leader after the departures of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury hurt. Also missing was veteran blue-liner Teppo Numminen. This year the Sabres will rebound and new captain Craig Rivet will shine. I'm expecting big things from Miller and Tomas Vanek will return to his form of two years ago.

7. Florida Panthers - Big additions on the blue line and a healthy Tomas Vokoun equal a return to the postseason for the Panthers. They will play a boring brand of hockey and win close games. Nathan Horton is a very good player and will likely lead the team in scoring. With 57 points. You heard it here first.

6. Ottawa Senators - Unless the Sens add Mats Sundin I can't see them contending for the division crown. They're thin up front beyond the big three of Spezza, Alfredsson and Heatley. They're thin on the blue line beyond Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov. Martin Gerber is their goaltender. Nuff said.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

5. Philadelphia Flyers - The Flyers are thin on the blue line. Beyond Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen there are huge question marks on defense. Martin Biron is a capable goaltender but will have difficulty. The reason the Flyers will make the playoffs will be their forwards. Mike Richards is one of the best two-way forwards in the game. Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne will be the big-time players they're expected to be.

4. New York Rangers - They don't have a superstar anymore. Markus Naslund should have a big year with something to prove. Wade Redden is overrated and Nikolai Zherdev is a selfish jerk but having King Henrik in goal is enough. They will be lacking the physical edge they had last season with the losses of Sean Avery and Ryan Hollweg but more finesse isn't a bad thing.

3. Washington Capitals - They're a huge injury away from being in the cellar but the Caps look fantastic on paper. Mike Green is a beauty. Jose Theodore will get the job done. Alexander Ovechkin is a pretty good player. The supporting cast looks good. There will be nights when their blue line will look awful and be exposed but their depth at the forward position will win them the Southeast, which will once again be the worst division in the league.

CREAM OF THE CROP

2. Pittsburgh Penguins - They will feel the losses of Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar to long-term injuries in the first half of the season but will come out of it a better team. Marc-Andre Fleury will have a big year. Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL and will get his team to the promised land again. Crosby will win the Hart.

1. Montreal Canadiens - The Habs are deep. Scary deep. Having guys like D'Agostini and Weber in Hamilton knocking on the door will bring out the best in the players. Andrei Markov is emerging as the leader on the blue line and is capable of putting up 70+ points. Mike Komisarek will continue to punish forwards who try to squeeze past him. Up front, Andrei Kostitsyn is going to be huge. If he can keep his head in the game and his intensity level is there he could lead the team in scoring. Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev are in contract years. Carey Price will be dominant if can get his glove going again. Something special is brewing in Montreal. Expectations are high and it's almost impossible to follow up the magic of last year but the difference will be in the playoffs. This team is far better prepared for postseason play and the experience they gathered last year will only help.

Western Preview

2008-10-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

With the regular season officially underway, it's time to make predictions for the upcoming year. We start out west, with an Eastern version to follow later this week.

The Western Conference is the stronger of the NHL's two halves. Detroit is the odds-on favourite to win it all again and San Jose looks very dangerous just to name two. Here's the way I see it, from worst all the to best.

ON THE OUTSIDE

15. Los Angeles Kings - The Kings have a great young core of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson. They also don't have anything resembling a legitimate number one goaltender. Jason LaBarbera and Erik Ersberg will have their hands full all season long. Rookie defenceman Drew Doughty should be a standout but it will be a long year in LA.

14. St Louis Blues - The future looks good in St Louis. Brad Boyes, poised to follow up his monster 07-08 campaign with another big one this year. David Perron, skilled sophomore could break out. Guys like TJ Oshie and Patrik Berglund are looking to have strong rookie campaigns and could exceed expectations but the loss of big blueliner Erik Johnson could have disastrous consequences. Jay McKee and Eric Brewer need to eat a lot of minutes if this team wants to contend, which it won't.

13. Columbus Blue Jackets - It's a make or break year in Columbus. The Blue Jackets are the only NHL team to have never qualified for the postseason. Management has made a commitment to end that streak this year. They added Kristian Huselius and Carey Price's nemesis RJ Umberger up front. And they brought in a new number one defenceman.... Mike Commodore. He'll likely be with Fedor Tyutin as the top pairing. You've got to feel for goaltender Pascal Leclaire.

12. Nashville Predators - They were surprisingly good last year and gave Detroit a run for their money in the first round of the playoffs. Then Alexander Radulov injured Jason Arnott while celebrating a goal. It wasn't the last time Radulov shot his teammates in the foot. This summer Radulov elected not to honour the final year of his entry level contract instead opting to go to Russia and play in the KHL for big money and pay no taxes. Hanging his teammates out to dry came easily to Radulov and they'll be reeling from it for to long to make the playoffs.

11. Colorado Avalanche - Colorado's difficulties are in goal as well. Andrew Raycroft and Peter Budaj are expected to platoon and that's a tall order. The fact that the Avs put a whole lot of eggs in one basket with last year's deadline acquisitions doesn't help. If Paul Stastny is healthy he could score 90+ points but the lack of goaltending and dependence on aging and oft-injured superstars (Foote, Sakic, Hejduk) equals disappointment in the Mile High City this year.

10. Chicago Blackhawks - Huge changes in the windy city this summer. Cristobal Huet is an upgrade on Nikolai Khabibulin but isn't a guy who can give you more than about 50-55 starts per season so his backup will be important. Brian Campbell joins a strong blueline. Duncan Keith is a beast, Cam Barker and Brent Seabrook are solid. Pat Kane and Jonathan Toews are electric. Patrick Sharp is one of the best two-way forwards in the game. The rest of the forwards... Well Martin Havlat is great but he's more fragile than the polar ice cap. Andrew Ladd is a certified first round bust. Dustin Byfuglien was good last year and will need to be exponentially better if the Hawks expect to contend for a postseason berth.

9. Minnesota Wild - Jacques Lemaire is a great coach. Kiklas Backstrom a very good goalie. Marian Gaborik wants out. The Wild play a mind-numbing, sleep inducing brand of hockey and the loss of Brian Rolston will be too much to overcome. If they fall out of contention by trade deadline time, look for Gaborik to be in play on the trade market.

SQUEAKING IN

8. Edmonton Oilers - You have to love what the Oilers did this offseason. Bringing in noted Hab-Killer Erik Cole and underrated (at least out East) defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky to a talented group that includes Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, Dustin Penner, super-sophomores Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano up front and guys like Tom Gilbert Steve Staios and Sheldon Souray on the back end. Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon could very well determine whether the Oilers are on the outside or in when it comes down to the postseason.

7. Phoenix Coyotes - Ilya Bryzgalov had his ups and downs in his first year as a number one goalie but he proved he can get it done. Up front, a dynamic group led by veteran Shane Doan and complemented by youngsters like Peter Mueller and Kyle Turris is joined by Olli Jokinen. New addition Kurt Sauer is one of the most underrated defenceman in the West. Don't mess with them either. With noted sluggers like Daniel Carcillo (one of my favourite players in the league), Brian McGrattan and Todd Fedoruk out there, oppposing teams won't be taking too many liberties with Phoenix players. Viktor Tikhonov is a sleeper pick for rookie of the year.

6. Vancouver Canucks - This pick is based on one thing: Roberto Luongo and his ability to win games single-handedly. Sure, the Canucks will have trouble scoring goals but it won't stop them from making the postseason and pulling one of their patented early exits.

GOOD BUT NOT GREAT

5. Anaheim Ducks - Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne are some of the best of their generations. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are two of the best of theirs. Add in a JS Giguere in goal, a shake of role players like Sami Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer and the only question left is... Are Ken Klee, Kent Huskins and Steve Montador good enough as your bottom three defencemen? They're Good enough for 5th.

4. Dallas Stars - Is there a better vetran bargain than Brenden Morrow? Guy Carbonneau's son-in-law is signed in Dallas through 2013 at 4.1 million per season. A true leader. Brad Richards is overpaid but still great. Marty Turco is a good and possibly great goaltender. The question is can Sergei Zubov come back in time to help out on the back end. The other question is how long before Sean Avery steals Jessica Simpson from Tony Romo?

3. Calgary Flames - The addition of Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi will answer offensive questions. What it all comes down to is Mikka Kiprusoff. The Flames will live and die with Kipper this year and I expect big things from the ginger-haired netminder. He'd better be good and healthy as backup Curtis McElhinney's NHL experience is limited.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

2. San Jose Sharks - It's now or never in San Jose. Rob Blake and Dan Boyle are part of one of the West's best defensive units. Joe Thornton has this year's playoffs to prove he's not the A-Rod of hockey. The Sharks look to have the right mix of grit and raw talent, veterans and youngsters. They also have one of the best goalies in the game.

1. Detroit Red Wings - Take last year's most dominant team and throw in Marian Hossa and you've got a recipe to repeat. The deepest team in the NHL got deeper this summer and guys like Mikael Samuelsson and Valtteri Filppula will only get better. There defence is so good they make Chris Osgood look like a superstar. The Wings will have the best record in the regular season and shouldn't have much trouble skating to yet another Stanley Cup final.

There are many contenders for the last two playoff spots in the West and injuries will play a big part in who gets them. At the end of the day, it looks like Detroit and San Jose at the top and then everybody else. With the regular season right around the corner, it's time for some bruising Western showdowns.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-10-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ah, October. The leaves are changing, it's eleven degrees celsius in Montreal today so you know that three week period we call "fall" will soon become winter. The NFL is in full swing, MLB playoffs are getting underway and best of all, the Canadiens are about to embark on the teams 100th season weighed down by expectations and buoyed by the fact that Montreal is more excited about the Habs this year than they ever have been in my lifetime.

The expectation has to be a berth in the Conference or, dare I say, Stanley Cup finals. They have the team to do it and competing in the weaker Eastern Conference will do wonders for their chances. The hope of winning a Stanley Cup is unrealistic to me. We saw a Detroit team at the Bell Centre without its three best players (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom) and managed a shootout win thanks to Carey Price's heroics in goal.

That Detroit team is scary. Adding Marian Hossa to a group of that calibre means that they have a number one line as good or better than any in the NHL. Having guys like Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Holmstrom, to name a few, means depth and a second power play unit better than most teams number one unit.

All that being said, you have to like the Habs chances of repeating as Eastern Conference regular season champions.

Buffalo could have a bounce back year but there are big question marks for them on defence and at the forward positions. I see them back in the playoffs but not contenders for the Northeast crown.

Ottawa is thin on defence and in goal and depend far too heavily on their top line. They have a lot of good role players but no second line. They will contend for a playoff spot.

Boston is the wild card for me. They had an amazing season last year without Patrice Bergeron, who has looked excellent in the preseason. Tim Thomas carried the team in goal last year. He isn't even guaranteed a roster spot this year because youngster Tuuka Rask has been great and big money earner Manny Fernandez is now healthy. I think the Bruins will compete for anywhere between 7th and 10th place. Remember, they're pretty good when they're not playing the Canadiens.

The Leafs will be better than most think and probably won't end up with next year's number one pick, something many Leafs fans want. They will not make the playoffs.

The Canadiens should win the Northeast as long as they stay reasonably healthy. Losing Alex Kovalev for an extended period could be disastrous but the depth this team has could make up for it. The power play would take a huge hit however.

Carey Price will bounce back from his inconsistent and at times terrible performance against Philadelphia in the second round of the playoffs last year. He is healthier, even more confident and more mature than he was last year. The number one job is his and if his preseason performances are anything to judge by he could be one of the top goaltenders in the East this year. He's only 21 but his demeanour is that of someone far older. Having a leader with a calming influence in your net works wonders for a team.

The regular season gets underway next week. If you've never seen a hockey game at the Bell Centre get down there this year. It's an addictive, adrenaline-inducing night that leaves you in a bit of a daze.

Habs Back on RDS and...

2008-09-23T18:53:00.001-07:00

First chance to see the Habs in game action tonight. The headline was Tomas Plekanec appears to have picked up where he left off last year with two goals, the second of which was a brilliant drag and shoot that baffled Patrick Lalime. Andrei Kostitsyn scored on a break that wasn't one of his patented deke-you-out-of -your-pants moves but encouraging nonetheless.

Marc Denis picked up the win with 60 solid minutes of work but he did falter in the third period. Call me crazy but I don't know if it's a foregone conclusion that Jaro Halak makes the team. He has never cracked an NHL roster out of camp, a feat that Denis has accomplished on more than one occasion.

Like Maxim Lapierre, it wouldn't shock me to see Halak start another season in Hamilton. He is still the odds on favorite for the backup job.

Other standouts included Ben Maxwell, Max Pacioretty and Yannick Weber. The two big forwards didn't look out of place and on a team with less depth could contend for roster spots. Weber saw time on the PP and I found myself waiting in vain for him to unleash the slap shot that earned him the "Swiss Missile Launcher" moniker in Kitchener.

Not sure if that's an appropriate nickname. Not only is it a mouthful but the Swiss aren't exactly known for their missile launchers. Perhaps "the army knife" (a reference to his Mark Streit-like versatility).

Four games in the next five nights, looking forward to seeing how more of the young guys and vets are looking.

Musings on Round 2 So Far

2008-04-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

The series shifts to Philadelphia for tonight's showdown at the Wachovia Center. A lot has been made of what the media has deemed a "sucker punch" delivered to the head of Flyers' defenceman Kimmo Timonen after he taunted several Habs following the game-clinching goal to make it 4-2 on Saturday. Kostopoulos was repentant yesterday despite getting the vote of confidence from coach Carbonneau who said Timonen "deserved it."

I don't see anything wrong with it and I think calling it a sucker punch is a bit extreme. It's so funny to hear the Flyers complain about something like this. Watching the coverage on American networks yesterday, coach Carbonneau was made to look like a smiling villain. Nationally in Canada, response varied but was generally slanted towards the Flyers. Even though they're the last Canadian team in the playoffs, the national media is incredibly quick to jump on the Canadiens.

A lot has been made of the CBC's alleged anti-habs bias, with Don Cherry making his usual colourful remarks. That doesn't bother me at all. Cherry is not without his redeeming qualities but all told, it doesn't bother me not to have him cheering for my team. This guy cheers for the biggest jokes on skates in the Toronto Maple Leafs and is a huge Bruins fan. Why the heck would he jump on the Habs bandwagon? Anyone who thinks there's no place for visors in hockey should have their views taken with a grain of salt.

As far as bad blood goes, I think all this verbal jousting favours the Habs. If the Flyers should back up their team slogan for the 2008 playoffs and look for "vengeance now" it would favour the Habs who are a faster team. The amount of obstruction and interference that went uncalled in game 2 was appalling. It wouldn't surprise me to see the officials take control of the game and put the NHL's top two power plays of the regular season on display.

I expect a high scoring and entertaining game. The horseshoe Marty Biron had up his ass for game 2 will likely be less of a factor. Carey Price will find his game. Someone will probably get hurt.

The "Hub" of Hockey

2008-04-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting weekend. After the game at the Bell Centre on Thursday night I was informed that I'd be shipping off to Boston for game 6. My friend and colleague James Murphy of fasthockey.com is a native of Beantown and he offered me a place to stay so it was on. We left Montreal in the early afternoon of a gorgeous Friday afternoon from the Bell Centre where 5 000 rabid fight fans were waiting for the weigh-in prior to Saturday night's UFC 83.

The first part of the trip was slowed by traffic on the Champlain Bridge, which Murph speculated could be the result of inconsolable Habs fans jumping off of it. Very funny. We continued on to the border crossing and decided to pop into the Duty Free store to pick up some beers. Upon leaving the store and opening the trunk of his car, we realized the bellhop hadn't deposited Murph's suitcase into the trunk. After much intense debate, we decided to double back to Montreal and leave first thing Saturday morning.

Problem was, we had reached the point of no return, so while we waited in line to get into the States and then in another to return to the Great White North I was on the phone with radio station 1510 the Zone in Boston talking a little hockey and predicting a Boston victory in game 6 to force a game 7 in Montreal. I literally left Canada, entered the United States and then returned to Canada during the course of a telephone interview. Not what I would call a particularly promising start to the trip.

The next day we left as scheduled and after a few hours we arrived in Boston. Beautiful day but not much time to enjoy it. Murph hosts the fast hockey radio show on Saturday afternoons at 2 and we went straight from the car to the studio, located right on a gorgeous waterfront in the middle of a marina. The show was great, I had a chance to meet former NHLer Ian Moran who was co-hosting along with NHL.com's Bob Snow and Brian Malone and hang out with those guys in studio for a great two-hour show that was a lot of fun to do.

After the show, it was straight to Murph's place in Dedham, a suburb if Boston to get freshened up and then we headed to the Garden for a quick bite (the buffet there is free, dangerous where members of the media are concerned).

The game was quite an experience. You've surely read all about it and saw it for yourself. The bottom line for me is that the Canadiens best players aren't playing their best.

They look tentative and tender. Andrei Markov is a fractured shell of his regular season self. Tomas Plekanec scored a highlight-reel goal but was otherwise unremarkable as his postseason woes continue. Alex Kovalev was a minus 3 and made a weak attempt at clearing the puck that became the game winning goal.

The Habs defence, rock solid for most of the season, allowed 17 third period shots and as a shell-shocked Carey Price said after the game, "left a lot of open ice out there".

Game 7 goes Monday night. Habs fans aren't optimistic and with good reason. Even Saku Koivu's return couldn't inspire this team to hold three separate leads.

RDS is reporting that Patrice Bergeron could play in game 7.

I expect the Habs to win. This is Carbo's time to shine and if the game is properly officiated and he can get through to his players about protecting the lead, the Habs will face either New York or Philadelphia in a second round showdown.

Carey Price has been making a name for himself all year, he will be better than Tim Thomas when it matters most.

Lineup changes? I'll leave that one up to Carbo.

Go Habs Go. Daddy needs a second round series.

People rag on Habs fans a lot. Prove them wrong by staying on the bandwagon.

Political differences aside, The fans at the Bell Centre sing O Canada louder than any rink in the country.

Turnaround

2008-04-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Marc Savard has taken a lot of flak for his lack of playoff experience. Widely considered one of the best passers in the league, Savard made no mistake in converting a great feed from Dennis Wideman to pull the Bruins to within a game of the Canadiens in their best of seven series.

It marked the second straight game that Boston has outplayed the Habs and this time they got the win. Tim Thomas was brilliant in making several stops through the third period and overtime to give his team a chance. Carey Price sparkled at the other end of the ice and couldn't be faulted on either goal.

There are some causes for concern for Habs fans. Mike Komisarek is back, but still hasn't looked like the shutdown guy that was drawing comparisons to Scott Stevens during the regular season. Saku Koivu and Francis Bouillon continue to recover from injuries suffered late in the season and their absence is becoming more evident. Mark Streit was brutal on the coverage of Bruins wrecking ball Milan Lucic on the first goal and it's becoming more and more obvious that he's more suited to playing forward when the going gets rough.

The Habs first line and power play were shut down big-time last night, due in part to Claude Julien having last change and also to the Canadiens inability to get pucks into the slot and high percentage shooting lanes when it counted. Adjustments need to be made.

Tomorrow night's game is HUGE, they say a playoff series doesn't really start until the home team loses a game. The Canadiens need to get this one started tomorrow night.

Playoff Fever

2008-04-06T11:27:00.001-07:00

Here we are, post #100 of the year.

It's been the best year of my life. Having a front-row seat to the magical ride that's been the Canadiens regular season has been unbelievable. So many amazing moments. Watching a young team come of age and veterans feeding of the youth. A goaltender who has only just begun to etch his name into history.

Carey Price is the real deal. Talking to him after the game yesterday he once again had a great, albeit brief quote when asked about the possibility of winning the Eastern conference,

"They don't hang conference titles in this rink, they raise Stanley Cup banners. It'd be kinda nice to get it but everyone here knows what the ultimate prize is."

He knows. It's a total cliche, but the real season starts when the Bruins and Habs get down to business at the Bell Centre on Thursday. This team is playing unbelievable hockey right now. Losing their captain made them kick it up a notch. Chris Higgins has been dominant of late, getting his 26th and 27th goals of the year last night.

"It was an up and down year for me, a struggle to find consistency in my game. I feel I've played better in the last couple of weeks, when it mattered most and hopefully I can continue that in the playoffs."

Well said by one of the ambassadors of the this team, and the author of what I feel is one of the big turning points of the campaign with a monster goal off a lucky bounce in Florida back in December.

However as Mr. Price pointed out, the regular season is over.

The Boston Bruins closed out their regular season with a flat effort in a 3-0 loss to Buffalo. It's hard to believe they're a playoff team. It's also hard to believe they play the Canadiens against whom their struggles have been extremely well documented. They took one out of a possible 16 points against the Habs this year. Tim Thomas was lit up by Habs players all year long. Zdeno Chara was exposed by the Canadiens speed in every game.

The thing is, none of that matters. It's a new season.

Two More Games

2008-04-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

The playoffs are looming. It's the most wondeful time of the year and the Habs are working with home ice. Although the team has been more successful on the road than they have been at the Bell Centre, you know these guys are looking forward to the building rocking as the postseason gets underway.

Tonight's showdown with the Sabres is a chance for the Habs to deal their divisional rivals a knockout blow in their unlikely quest for the postseason. Derek Roy has being playing like a man on fire during his current 10 game point streak and is the key guy the Habs need to shutdown. Tomas Vanek is a funplayer to watch and has scored 33 goals this year, a huge drop from his 47 of last year which led to Kevin Lowe's infamous offer sheet. You could find a laundry list of reasons for the Sabres inconsistency this year. The fact is they don't look like a playoff team and even Teppo Numminen's return probably wouldn't change it.

There are car flags everywhere in this city. People are making a killing selling Canadiens merchandise as it seems every second window has a Kovalev jersey in it. A long playoff run would really get the city going as spring approaches. It would make the transition that much less difficult.

Fallout

2008-04-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

In breaking my first major story this weekend I dealt with a lot of things. I dealt with angry fans calling me an outright liar, I dealt with uncertainty due to the teams refusal to discuss the captain's status. I lost my wallet, which was completely unrelated but nonetheless incredibly annoying.

I used to be a big fan of the Canadiens and a part of me still is. It makes me happy to see this team succeed. I've been watching them my whole life. Now that I'm a member of the media I have to switch it off. It gives me no pleasure to report that Saku Koivu, the heart and soul of the Montreal Canadiens, is out with a fracture in his foot. I received solid information and reported it. I regret including the information I was given about the term of the injury but I did.

If I could go back in time and do it again, I would have done the same thing without including the info about the 4-6 weeks.

Life goes on.

The Habs take on the Sens in Ottawa tonight. The Sens are sliding big time and still haven't confirmed their spot in the playoffs. With the start the Sens had to this year, it's hard to believe but nothing has worked. A season-long goaltending controversy that never fully went away. A coach fired as a result. Trade deadline deals that didn't pan out (or haven't as of yet).

The Habs need only one point from the Senators to clinch the division but it won't be easy. They head into the game and possibly into the playoffs, without Mike Komisarek, Koivu, Francis Bouillon and the statuses of Mark Streit and Guillaume Latendresse are far from certain.

The team needs to focus and guys like Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn need to seize the opportunities they're being given. With Carey Price as the foundation, there's no telling where this team can go and when your captain has a heart the size of an MRI machine, you know he'll be there if it's humanly possible for him to do so.

The captain's in Montreal

2008-03-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

The Habs road to the postseason could be a bit bumpier than expected as Saku Koivu sees Canadiens team doctors in Montreal. I have a reliable source who tells me that Saku was evaluated by doctors in Buffalo and the prognosis is a broken foot.

The team has stated that the results of X-rays in Buffalo were inconclusive but that often seems to be the case when things don't look good. They say he is being re-evaluated by team doctors in Montreal so as of yet the story remains unconfirmed but I'm giving it to you first.

We'll see when the team makes an official announcement but the mere fact that the captain is in Montreal while his teammates play their last game of the season at the ACC is a bad indication.

Again, the team has confirmed nothing except that Koivu is in Montreal but I have it on authority that the first prognosis is a broken foot.

Timeframe for recovery is completely up to speculation but this type of injury can take 4 to 6 weeks.

What this means is the Canadiens need even more of their young players to step it up and give then strong play down the middle. The ability of their youngsters to step into roles and raise the level of their game has been a huge factor in their success so far, so a new chapter begins tonight of the Canadiens storybook season.

This also means Alex Kovalev will likely wear the captain's "C" tonight. He had an inspired effort earlier this year in New York as captain.

Time to Relax

2008-03-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

The Canadiens are the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a postseason berth. They did it in style, beating an Ottawa team that started the year 15-2 and drew comparisons to the greatest teams in NHL history. While the current Sens team is a fractured shell of the one that came out of the gates flying after being decimated in last year's Stanley Cup final, you can't take anything away from this team.

Athletes often talk about peaking at the right time. In the case of the Sens, they peaked about a month into the season and have played .500 hockey since then. In fact, if you take away the Sens first 17 games, they aren't even a playoff team. They're 26-26-7 since. Not good enough to make the playoffs.

The Canadiens on the other hand seem to be rolling in a big way. They've been the most consistent team in the conference all year long and their 247 goals are the most in the NHL.

Guy Carbonneau forgave them right away for taking their foot off the accelerator after jumping out to a 7-1 lead through 40 minutes by playing brilliant, mistake-free hockey.

Carey Price wasn't available to the media after the game and may have been a bit frustrated at being hung out to dry when the Sens scored four third period goals but looked pretty happy as he left the Bell Centre in his big Ford pickup truck. You got the sense that the team may have been heading out to celebrate and what better time to do it?

Carbo worked the team on Easter Sunday but rewarded their recent achievements with a day off on Tuesday and only off-ice workouts on Wednesday. They'll get back on the ice on Thursday before heading to Buffalo for a Friday night showdown with the Sabres.

Loose Pucks: Carbonneau pointed out after the game that clinching the playoffs this early may open the door for some guys to get some rest. He said we would certainly see Patrice Brisebois and Mathieu Dandenault in the lineup before season's end. Don't be surprised if Jaroslav Halak gets the nod for either Friday or Saturday. Andrei Kostitsyn became the 6th Hab over the 50 point mark last night, Chris Higgins needs only two more points to be the 7th.

Long Time No Blog

2008-03-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on the blog front due to issues with the revamped Team 990 website and my inability to post my insightful bloggings. Suffice to say I predicted the Habs would lose to the Blues and own the Bruins yet again, with Alex Kovalev providing the fireworks. Having a few beverages and watching the Canadiens face the Bruins has been a real pleasure. They've outscored Boston 36-14 in the four wins so far. The Habs aren't just scoring goals, they're scoring highlight-reel goals by using their speed and precision passing. Guillaume Latendresse hit Saku Koivu with what may have been the best pass of his young NHL career before Koivu slid the puck to Michael Ryder, who provided the finish. Kovy's pass to Andrei Kostitsyn was another beauty.

Carey price was solid after a week-long layoff, beaten on shots he had no chance of stopping. He seemed to improve as the game went on in earning his 4th straight win over the Bruins.

The real story from this win could very well be the loss of Mike Komisarek. It's not clear how severe his injury is at this point but losing him for any period of time really hurts the team. What Carbo does here with his defensive pairings could be the defining moment of the season.

The line of Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn was a combined +8 last night. Kovalev has 7 goals in 7 games against Boston this year. He embarrassed Zdeno Chara big time last night and Chara and co. will likely be looking to put a hurting on the Habs big guns tomorrow night.

Here's hoping the Bruins goons don't get their way.

Rough Night

2008-03-13T22:44:00.001-07:00

The Canadiens 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators was the result of a lacklustre effort on the part of the home team and a perfect shutdown game executed by the visitors.

It's the second time the Sens have brought the Habs crashing back down to earth, the first was on February 9th when Jason Spezza had a six point night and they pounded the Habs 6-1. Spezza has the Canadiens number. He has absolutely decimated the Canadiens this year and tonight was no different.

The Sens made a statement. They're still the best team in the Northeast division and look to be back to form right now, although time will tell whether they can win consistently. Martin Gerber was perfect although he wasn't frequently tested. His team played well in front of him, didn't really allow the Habs a chance to get pucks in deep and scored on two of their five power plays.

The Canadiens were 0 for 3 with the man advantage, including a power play 42 seconds into the contest that the Sens stifled and never looked back. When their power play doesn't connect early it can often take the wind right out of their sails and this game was a perfect example. They looked tired, pucks weren't bouncing their way and Carey Price was beaten on shots he had basically no chance of saving. He talked about the Sens getting bounces after the game but I think we can all agree that putting up a goose egg on the scoreboard is a pretty good way to lose.

You can't overemphasize the importance of Saturday night's showdown with the low-scoring New York Islanders. Every point is so important right now, losing to the bottom-tier teams is not an option. The difference between finishing atop the Northeast division and finishing second is playing either Pittsburgh or New Jersey (that would be bad) and playing Philly or Boston (that would be good).

Winning the division will be a very tough task to accomplish but these guys can do it. Two more games against Ottawa and one last monkey to get off of their collective backs.

Shaking the Monkey

2008-03-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

That sounds dirty. I'm actually referring to the monkey that has been on the Canadiens back with respect to the New Jersey Devils for the last few seasons. The numbers speak for themselves: it's the second meeting in the last ten days between the teams; The Habs have beaten Jersey twice in a row. Since moving from the Forum to the Bell Centre, the Devils have dominated the Canadiens with a record of 12-6-1-1 on the Habs home ice.

Hot for the Devils: Martin Brodeur (3-0-0, 0.98, .972 in last 3 GP), Zach Parise (5 pts in last 3 GP)

Cold for the Devils: Arron Asham (0 pts in last 10 GP), Dainius Zubrus (0 pts in last 7 GP)

Hot for the Canadiens: Alex Kovalev (10 pts in last 6 GP), Andrei Markov (12 pts in last 11 GP)

Cold for the Canadiens: Michael Ryder (0 pts in last 5 GP), Francis Bouillon (0 pts in last 6 GP)

Quick notes: Devils centre Patrik Elias is 4 assists away from surpassing Scott Niedermayer as the Devils all-time leader in that category. Zach Parise has emerged as a solid two-way forward and his +23 rating reflects that. He also leads the team in goals and points.

The Devils have scored 180 goals and allowed 159. The Habs have scored 223 and allowed 197.

Tomas Plekanec is apparently a gametime decision as he continues to deal with flu-like symptoms. He didn't skate today but could still suit up. Steve Begin has missed the last six games, three with an ankle injury and three that Carbo left him out of the lineup.

Devils defenceman Colin White left Friday's game with an upper body injury and missed their last game, against Toronto. Another Devils defenceman is dealing with injury as Paul Martin deals with several minor injuries, he's missed their last four games.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber has this great piece on Mike Komisarek. Farber is a top-tier talent in the field of Hockey Journalism and he doesn't hold back when talking about Komisaurus.

With a Whimper

2008-03-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Habs Pacific division road trip is over and they were extremely lucky to walk away with 4 points. They were outplayed in every game and besides flashes of brilliance offensively and solid goaltending from the Price/Halak tandem things didn't look good.

They allowed an average of 38 shots per game during the four game trip and were undisciplined. Eight minors against Anaheim. Alex Kovalev had a tough night despite scoring his 30th on a terrific individual effort from disgruntled Belarussian Mikhail Grabovski. Kovy was called for three penalties and had most of the Habs best scoring chances but couldn't bury it again.

On the plus side, the Habs stayed in the game despite being shorthanded for long periods of time and had some great chances to pull ahead when the score was tied. The Kostitsyn brothers continue to impress, it's great when Carbo gets them on the ice together. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch them play for the next few years. The Kostitsyn era? Maybe that's a bit premature, still.....

Patrice Brisebois is not the answer. Ryan O'Byrne hasn't had a minus game since returning from his broken thumb. The Canadiens need him down the stretch so expect him back in the lineup for the home stretch. Twelve games remain, nine of which are against Northeast division rivals.

You really get the sense that this is a group of guys that are very confident and comfortable. A four game homestand gives them a chance to settle back into their home routine, wonder what they'll think about the latest dump of snow.

This weather is absolutely ridiculous. At this rate people will need to bring ladders to next weekend's St. Patrick's day parade to see the floats over the six foot snowbanks. I hope it all melts before then. I think we can all agree that we've had enough snow and we're ready for spring. Playoff hockey at the Bell Centre. Bring your earplugs.

Loose Pucks - Hopefully Tomas Plekanec comes home and gets some rest after missing yesterday's game with the flu. The Habs need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to beat New Jersey in a showdown for first place at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.

The Top of the Heap

2008-03-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Here we are, 91 blog posts into the season and the Montreal Canadiens are in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. It's been a year of ups and downs (mostly ups). You've probably heard by now that it's the first time the Habs have been in first at this point of the season since 1993. The young core has progressed more quickly than anyone could have predicted.

Since the uproar surrounding Bob Gainey's trade deadline activity, or lack thereof, the Habs have won three in a row and seem to approach each game with a new level of confidence. You could hear and see the relief of guys like Michael Ryder and Chris Higgins on Tuesday night. Losing Cristobal Huet was a blow, but the Carey Price era is upon us, and the Canadiens look pretty happy with it. It's tough to lose a teammate like that but clearly the Habs didn't think they could win a playoff series with him between the pipes.

The Kostitsyn brothers are looking more dangerous every game. Their parents were in attendance last night and must have liked what they saw. Andrei got the game winner on a ridiculous wraparound, victimizing the best goaltender in the world in the process. Sergei got 7 hits and was setting up his linemates all night long. They're a lot of fun to watch, especially when they're on the ice together.

Alex Kovalev is on another level out there, especially on the power play. Pucks seem to find him and guys have an incredibly difficult time clearing the puck when he's around. His anticipation is perfect. There really aren't any holes in his game. He won't get consideration for the Hart trophy but he deserves to. He is the MVP of the top team in the East, averaging over a point per game and playing in every situation. Opposing players are terrified of being embarrassed by him. Kovy is everything a Hart trophy candidate should be: leader, mentor and finisher. The success of the Canadiens begins and ends with number 27.

Tough road trip begins late tomorrow night. The Habs have struggled against Western teams this year but if the new-look Habs stay with the current formula, they should have success.

Today, let's just enjoy first place.

Links & Junk

2008-02-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

Marc-Antoine Godin has a very interesting piece on the Habs new goaltending tandem of Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak and how they are the youngest pair in the league and the youngest in Canadiens team history. Worth noting that although Halak has seen virtually no time between the pipes this year, he has good numbers when he's played and has an unbelievable 7-0 record and .935 save percentage at the Bell Centre in his career.

Speaking of Halak, the Gazette's Pat Hickey writes today that the Slovak netminder hopes to give Price a run for his money when it comes to the starting job. Halak doesn't have Price's ridiculous pedigree or hype but has performed admirably for over a year and shouldn't be overlooked. He got the Habs back into the playoff hunt last year when it looked like season was all but lost only to see a might-not-have been ready Cristobal Huet start the infamous last game of the year in Toronto. Halak could be the next Dominik Hasek!!

Now Jim Matheson, who writes for the Edmonton Journal, decided to do a piece on a team that's got some good things going for it. It's a real shame how far the Oilers have fallen since their Stanley Cup run a few years back. With a new owner in place, things could be looking up soon, although they have a lot of money tied up in questionable deals. In any case, Matheson writes about Carey Price having history on his side as he tries to get the Habs into the postseason and beyond. You've gotta love the Dryden and Roy comparisons being drawn here, I wonder if the kid reads any of this stuff....

And that's it. Huge back-to-back games this weekend in Buffalo and hosting the Devils on Saturday. Should give the Habs a better idea of where they stand in the East right now. With Toronto making a push, the games at the end of the season may yet have some meaning. I'm not saying they're making the playoffs but stranger things have happened. With the Philadelphia Flyers experiencing a New York Mets-like meltdown, there are spots up for grabs and you can bet Mats Sundin would love to grab one.

Deadline Debacle?

2008-02-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens were for the most part inactive today, adding Mikhail Grabovski and Jaroslav Halak from the farm. Grabovski has been tearing up the AHL for several weeks but his ability to compete at an NHL level is questionable.

The big news is that the Cristobal Huet era is officially over. It ended with a whimper, much the way it started. Huet was subdued in his comments to the assembled members of the media and made it clear that he was disappointed to be shipped out for a 2009 2nd rounder, what amounts to peanuts as far as most fans are concerned.

On the plus side, with the way Trevor Timmins handles the Habs scouting, that pick could easily become a blue-chip prospect, unfortunately not until well after the Canadiens centennial year in 2009.

Bob Gainey made it abundantly clear that he doesn't see his team as a Stanley Cup contender at this point. Mortgaging the future for a Hossa or Richards wasn't in the cards. Bob Gainey may catch some flak for his inactivity right now, but his is a longview.

Pittsburgh payed through the nose for Hossa and he's a rental player. With all of their young talent, the Penguins can afford to lose a few cogs like Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong. They want to win now. Their priority is now to re-sign Evgeni Malkin and possibly Jordan Staal to long term deals. Hossa is reportedly looking for a 4 year deal in the neighbourhood of $34 million. If the Habs want him, they can offer him those terms when he's a UFA.

The chemistry in the Montreal room is something you can't easily quantify with trade terms. This is a team that's winning together and growing together. The next few years look just as bright as they did two weeks ago. Brighter! They have a 2009 second round pick!!

Keep the faith, Bob knows better than any of us.

Gainey Night

2008-02-23T12:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight Bob Gainey's number 23 will be raised to the Bell Centre rafters where it belongs. He is considered the greatest defensive forward of all time and won the Selke trophy the first four years it was awarded. He won the Stanley Cup five times.

The Canadiens certainly know how to have a ceremony and I expect this one to meet the high standard set in the past.

I'm also hoping the buffet is something good. Like maybe burgers n' tater tots. These are the things I think about.

Looking forwawrd to seeing Rick Nash in action tonight, he's a hell of a scorer. I think he could be a consistent 50 goal guy if he had the right linemates. Unfortunately, Columbus' bad draft record and bad luck with injuries has put them in a bad spot. They are on the cusp of contention and actually have a shot at their first ever playoff berth. Tonight's game is huge for them.

It will be interesting to see how the teams will respond to the long ceremony prior to the game. They don't see this type if thing in Columbus very often.

Gainey is a really funny guy and has dealt with more tragedy in his life than anyone should. It will certainly be interesting what develops on the trade front in the coming days.

Game 62: Malkin & Co

2008-02-21T08:39:00.001-08:00

Evgeni Malkin stepped his game up to a new level when Sidney Crosby went down with a high-ankle sprain. He has 27 points in his last 14 games and leads the NHL in scoring with 79 points. He has five points in three games against the Habs this year. His speed, vision and great shot make him one of the top talents in the league right now and certainly the guy who the Habs need to contain if they want to get the win.

Ty Conklin, the guy who was in net for Edmonton at the Outdoor Classic a few years back, has emerged as the Penguins starting goaltender and leads the NHL with a .932 save percentage.

The Canadiens have matched a season high by winning their fourth straight game. They remain tied with Ottawa and New Jersey with 75 points, though the Sens still hold a game in hand.

Trying to make sense of Tuesday night's magic has been difficult. Jay Onrait of TSN called it the greatest game Habs fans under the age of 30 had ever seen. It was the most amazing game I have ever seen and I was lucky enough to experience it firsthand. It said so much about what this team is all about. They are a resilient bunch who go to war for each other. Say what you will about their lack of a tough guy, Steve Begin is out there punishing opposing players. Mike Komisarek is the scariest blueliner in the Eastern Conference. He has the ability to take over a game. Andrei Markov is among the best, if not the best passing defenceman in the NHL. Alex Kovalev is on another level. He explodes past opposing defenders seemingly at will and his one-timers are scary. He kills penalties, lays guys out with hard hits and is a true leader on this team.

All the talk of trades, Sundin, Hossa et al provide interesting fodder for debate but this team has chemistry. I would be reluctant to make a major lineup change, especially after Tuesday. On the other hand, it's not every day you get the chance to add a guy like Sundin or Hossa. I'm just less enthusiastic about a Tanguay or Havlat and don't really see those as positives.

Linkssssssssss

Le Journal: Carbo is Thinking About the Cup

TSN's Jay Onrait on Tuesday

La Presse says Hossa deal all but done

Edmonton Journal: Lowe is After Hossa

Le Journal: Hockey Madness has Officially Set In

Best Night Ever

2008-02-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, something happens that makes your average former-fan turned Canadiens reporter into a believer. Last night was so insane that I jumped out of my seat in the press box for the first time since Alex Kovalev scored an overtime winner in the preseason against Pittsburgh. I'm supposed to be a reserved professional up there but last night's game was too much.

Michael Ryder of all people kept the Habs in it long enough for the rest of the tem to catch up. Mike Komisarek looked like a bull at the rodeo waiting to get out of the box late in the second period. When he did, he punished several Rangers and got penalized again. It was one of those good penalties you hear about sometimes. The team got an inspired effort from Cristobal Huet and Kovy sealed the deal when he tied it on a late third-period power-play.

People are freaking out. The Habs have had some huge wins this year but this one was something else entirely. The Bell Centre was as loud as I've heard it in my professional career or my time as a mere fan. "La Foule" never gave up on their team, although a chant of "Hossa, Hossa." did start when it was 5-0.

This is the only city in the NHL that cheers a faceoff win with 19 seconds left.

Komisarek said his ears were still ringing after the game. He also said there is no doubt that the Canadiens have the best fans in the NHL.

I agree. Sometimes, I miss being one of them. Hopefully I can get away with some unprofessional fan-like activity when circumstances dictate.

Penguins demain soir, hard act to follow.....

Game 60: Watch out Eastern Conference

2008-02-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

It's in the books. The Canadiens oppressed the Philadelphia Flyers tonight in a game that proved several things. First, the Habs are now 10-1-1 against the Flyers since the lockout. Post lockout hockey and the post-lockout rule changes do not favour the Bullies when they face the speedy Habs. The Canadiens scored early and backed it up by making a statement and sweeping the season series against Philly for the first time since 1976-77, outscoring them 15-6 in the process.

I had a lot of confidence in the Habs going into this weekend, citing the fact that they matched up well with the Flyers and had turned a corner in winning a game against a Florida Panthers team that played a more complete game on Wednesday night but still lost. The Habs really stepped it up. They played fantastic team defense and Francis Bouillon in particular was brilliant in bothe weekend games.

The play where Bouillon did his Bobby Orr impersonation and went end-to-end, finally roofing it with 1.2 seconds left sums up this Flyers team perfectly. Instead of playing some D, Jim Vandermeer decided to go to the corner and attempt to get Josh Gorges to drop the gloves, easily creating a 2 on 1 break. Bouillon even looked back in astonishment before scoring. Carey Price saw the play all the way and yelled at Gorges not to drop the gloves, "wait! wait!" he cried, and Gorges just pointed at the other end and skated away when the puck was in the net. Bouillon's first goal in almost a year.

Saku Koivu and Michael Ryder scored at a time a time when both of their futures on this team look uncertain. Ryder is the one between the two who may be gone come Feb 26.

All of a sudden the Canadiens have a calm goaltender who has taken the helm of this team since being recalled from Hamilton. Before his demotion earlier this year, Price had ups and downs, but since being recalled from Hamilton he has been a force between the pipes for the Canadiens, who are tied for first place in the Eastern Conference, although the Sens hold a game in hand.

It's the first time the Canadiens have been in such a postion in a long long time. As the playoff races heat up, the Habs are hot and the Flyers are in a freefall. So are the Sens. It's time to start thinking about playoff matchups and if a deadline deal can improve this team going forward without sacrificing too much.

Phew

2008-02-14T08:19:00.001-08:00

I think it's safe to say Chris Higgins timely goal off a lucky bounce is among the biggest goals this team has gotten all year. Tomas Vokoun was rock solid until that point and clearly rattled afterwards. Alex Kovalev's seeing-eye shot to win it was vintage Kovy, his 26th, the most he's ever scored in a Habs uniform.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk for a moment about Carey Price. The kid had the best game I've seen from him with a CH on his chest. He was blameless on the only goal he allowed and was cooler than Miles Davis for several third period power plays. He created space in front of his net by removing bodies himself. He cleared the puck out of the zone himself and looked like Rick DiPietro in the process during one PK. Yvon Pednault had it right when he spoke of Price "closing the door." on several Florida chances.

He didn't beat the Detroit Red Wings, but he did get his team a win when it seemed impossible. His confidence is contagious and when he's rolling people tend to win Gold Medals and Calder Cups.

Cristobal Huet is probably squirming and it will be interesting to see what Carbo does with the back-to-back games this weekend.

Loose Pucks: Trade rumours continue to swirl around the NHL and the Habs are believed to be
in the thick of the talks. It's absolute lunacy to suggest that there's any interest in Michael Ryder. I would be happy to get a 4th round pick for Ryder. One guy I'd like to see out there is Chris Gratton. He is strong on faceoffs and has a mean streak that's sorely lacking on this team. He's also more mobile than Bryan Slowinski.

Things certainly changed with the Higgins goal last night. All of a sudden the Habs are still contending when it looked like they may be in a total freefall at times last night.

Distractions & Tests

2008-02-12T08:18:00.001-08:00

After a wild night at the rookie dinner that resulted in a stolen purse, I will be brief in my comments about the whole thing. Ryan O'Byrne and Tom Kostopoulos made a mistake. That mistake was acting like they were at home when they were on the road. Tampa is a city with a serious crime problem and a police force that has been accused of being a tad overzealous in the past. If the rookie dinner had taken place in Montreal, we probably would have never heard of it as the cops here treat the Habs much differently and chances are, Ryan O'Byrne wouldn't have to steal a girl's purse to get her attention. It seems a bit melodramatic to think his career could be over due to such a seemingly harmless act, but that is what's being reported.

The problem I have with it is the timing. Going out to celebrate the night after being ripped to shreds by your closest geographical and at one time statistical rival. But no one's telling me I can't hit the town if I have a rough day at work.....

It's back to business for the Canadiens with four games in the next six days. They can't afford to let this business affect their game. It's crunch time and they're facing teams that they shouldn't have any trouble beating. Tampa Bay is actually playing some good hockey right now, going 6-3-1 in their last ten games but this Habs team should come out of the gate hungry. The Panthers are another team the Habs should beat, and Carey Price looks to be the guy who'll get the nod tomorrow night in Sunrise.

Both Cristobal Huet and Price need to be better than they were on Saturday night if they want to get points out of these games. The other thing the Habs need is secondary scoring. The Kovalev line will only take this team so far before teams devote everything to shutting them down. If guys like Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder can't light the lamp then the Habs are in more serious trouble than some may currently think.

If they can't win tonight, the panic button will be pressed by 95% of Hab nation. Demands for trades, benchings and more cowbell will resonate all the way down to Bob's office at the Bell Centre.

Distractions & Tests

2008-02-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

A Game of Inches

2008-02-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't be completely demoralized if I was the Montreal Canadiens. They couldn't catch a break in falling behind 3-0 before the game was five minutes old. Cristobal Huet did not look sharp during that time , making only one save on four shots. The Habs made a valiant effort to come back but managed to hit the post or missed by centimetres on numerous occasions before Dany Heatley put it away with a beauty to make it 4-0.

Chris Higgins can't catch a break. I thought Michael Ryder looked pretty good with his old linemates, on one shift in particular they did a great job of creating havoc in the Sens end but couldn't get one over the line. The Habs just kept hitting the post all night long whereas the Sens top line could do no wrong.

The Senators were hungry to make a statement and re-establish themselves as the top team in the Eastern Conference and did just that. It's one of those games that you just have to forget. The Canadiens can't afford to live in the past and frankly deserved better last night.

Loose Pucks: One of the worst games of the year for Patrice Brisebois, one of the best for Sergei Kostitsyn, who caught a serious punch to the jaw from Wade Redden. The Kostitsyn borthers were the brightest spot on the night for the Habs. Roman Hamrlik should be back on Tuesday night, and not a moment too soon. The Habs have given up an alarming 18 goals in the last four games.

Defensive Surplus Pt II

2008-02-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens have a veritably plethora of up and coming defenseman in various leagues across the world. Here's a look at several of the most promising names.

1. Ryan McDonagh (NCAA) - 12th overall, 2007 entry draft - The Habs got McDonagh at 12 and many teams had him rated even higher than that. He missed the US team's development camp over the summer and as a result was left off the US team at the recent World Junior Tournament. Should be there next year. A big body on the blue line who has drawn comparisons to Mike Komisarek. Winner of the 2007 Minnesota Mr Hockey award as the best High School hockey player in the state and currently patrolling the blueline at University of Wisconsin-Madison in NCAA division I and has 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points in 28 games. Considered a blue-chip defensive prospect which many teams are rumoured to be interested in adding to their lineup as soon as next season.

2. Yannick Weber (OHL) - 3rd round, 73rd overall, 2006 entry draft - A later round gem for Trevor Timmins and co, Weber recently won the OHL hardest shot contest at the all-star game with a 99.2 mph shot. In his second year for the Kitchener Rangers, Weber has emerged as one of the top defenseman in the OHL with 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points in 41 games. Played for his home country of Switzerland at the World Juniors and received some consideration as the tournament's top d-man.

3. Alexei Emelin (RSL) - 3rd round, 84th overall, 2004 entry draft - Emelin is still playing in the Russian Super League and has had success there. A mobile defenseman who makes a good first pass and plays with a mean streak. 111 pim in 48 games and a big part of that mega-brawl which took place earlier this year in Russia.

4. Pavel Valentenko (AHL) - 5th round, 139th overall 2006 entry draft - Valentenko possesses a hard shot, good skating ability and has shown some flashes of pro potential in the last few weeks as he's been asked to play a bigger role for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Good size at 6'2 and 212 lbs.

5. Mathieu Carle (AHL) - 2nd round, 53rd overall 2006 entry draft - Carle impressed the Habs brass in training camp before getting hurt. He has since bounced back and is giving coach Don Lever quality minutes in Hamilton and is a quality prospect at this point.

6. PK Subban (OHL) - 2nd round, 43rd overall 2007 entry draft - Subban is one of the fastest defencemen in the OHL and a gold medallist for Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Tournament. He played a limited role on that team but should play a major role on next year's squad. Subban is confident, funny and looks like a future NHLer at this point. Subban grew up cheering for the Habs and was on the verge of tears of joy on draft day.

7. David Fischer (NCAA) - 1st round, 20th overall 2006 entry draft - Fischer is another Minnesota Mr Hockey winner with size and ability. His viability as a professional has been called into question on numerous occasions, especially recently but has had a strong second half of the season for Minnesota and looks to be emerging as a quality prospect.

The theme here is the Canadiens wealth of the talent on the blue line is one of those "good" problems you hear about. They are far less deep at centre and right wing but with the amount of defensive talent they have coming up in the system, you'd have to think that some space will be created. Some questions still surround all these guys but the future on the blueline certainly looks bright.

Defensive Surplus

2008-02-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

One of the brighter spots in the Habs bright future is their prospects on defence. They've got several promising names on their way up and some good young guys already manning the blue line on the big club.

You can't help but wonder who will end up making the big club and who will spend their years in lesser leagues, especially with the trade deadline less than three weeks away.

Here's a review of what's going down on the blueline and what the Habs are looking at going forward and who fits where.

CURRENT BLUELINERS

1. Mike Komisarek - The foundation of this defence for the the foreseeable future. Just turned 26 and has emerged as a bona fide number one with upside. Bob Gainey needs to lock him up long before any kind of restricted free agency comes along, teams would gladly give up their future to add a guy like him.

2. Andrei Markov - The other cornerstone. Signed through 2011 and emerging as a Norris trophy contender. Markov gives his team quality minutes in every situation and plays a solid defensive game. He's very hard to beat and makes one of the first passes in the league. Not going anywhere.

3. Roman Hamrlik - A veteran presence who came pretty much as advertised and exceeded some expectations. Hamrlik plays a solid, mistake-free game and is a smart player. The only knock on him is that his contract is big and lengthy. In the first year of a four year deal that pays him $22 million. That's $5.5 million per season for a guy who will be 36 years old in the final year of the deal. Obviously, the Canadiens organization has a lot of faith that Hamrlik will continue to compete at a high level for years to come.

4. Mark Streit - A 7th round sleeper who does it all. Streit co-quarterbacks (did I just make up a term?) the number one power play unit in the NHL, kills penalties, plays forward when needed and gets a tidy pile of points along the way. Sometimes has trouble in his own zone when things get physical and some might argue is far more effective as a forward in even strength situations. Pending unrestricted free agent who may be looking to cash in. I'd like to see Streit signed to a two-year deal for about $1.75 to $2.25 per season but would be reluctant to pay even that much with the guys coming up in the next few years.

5. Josh Gorges - Starting to look like a solid 5th or 6th defenceman when he gets to play an everyday role on his natural side. Makes a good first pass and has settled into a groove since struggling to find an identity on the team at times since being acquired a year ago. Never going to blow you away but at 23 his upside remains a factor.

6. Francis Bouillon - Good skater who can hit. 32 years old so we've likely seen the best of Bouillon. Prone to the occasional defensive error or breakdown but generally solid. Maybe a tad overpaid at $1.875 million. Probably not a big part of any long term plans.

7. Mathieu Dandenault - Not really a defenceman anymore. Making too much money ($1.75 million) with another year remaining on his deal and a team-worst -10 rating. Someone who may be on the way out if Gainey can find any takers. Chances are he won't. Dandenault works hard and has three more Stanley Cup rings than anyone not named Brisebois on the Habs blueline.

8. Patrice Brisebois - A veteran presence who makes a lot of mistakes. The Canadiens have a dismal record with Brisebois in the lineup and many fans wouldn't be sad to see him gone. He's here for this year only and I'd be shocked to see him play in the postseason.

The unit has stayed remarkably injury-free throughout the year and that's paid huge dividends for the team.

The gist of the rundown is this:

-Hamrlik, Komisarek and Markov are the foundation of a solid future.

-Streit and Gorges are good options, although Streit looks better at forward while manning the point on the power play.

-Dandenault, Brisebois and Bouillon are the guys least likely to be here in the next two or three years and more likely to be dealt in the coming weeks although probably not too attractive to most teams.

On Friday I'll get into the prospects that will be challenging for jobs in the coming years.

Statement Game

2008-02-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

The Senators are looking to prove they're still the elite team of the East. Martin Gerber is looking to prove he's a bona fide number one goaltender. The Sens, as a team, are looking to prove they can win games without Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. It's a good litmus test for where this team stands right now.

The Canadiens look like they'll be without Roman Hamrlik, who missed the morning skate today with the flu after going -3 on Sunday against the Rangers. Michael Ryder is likely to be the other guy left aside. If the Habs win, they're only one point behind the Sens, who once had what looked like an insurmountable lead in the division and conference.

TSN.ca releases their power rankings every week and this week, the Sens were dropped to #17 and the Habs jumped up to #2, their highest position of the year and trailing only the mighty Detroit Red Wings. I don't know if any f the Sens pay attention to things like this, but it's indicative of the attitude of the hockey world toward their team. They're not really taken seriously as a Cup contender, especially given their current situation between the pipes and with injuries.

Martin Gerber has been brilliant for periods of his career and dismal at others. It seems that every time he's given the title of number one goaltender, he loses his composure and has a bad game or five. He's a guy who's at his best when competing for a starting job, ideally in a tandem situation. He melted down against the Habs in the playoffs a few years ago before Cam Ward stole his starting job and went on to win the Conn Smythe trophy. If that version of Gerber shows up to the Bell Centre tonight, the Habs may be battling for first place on Saturday in Ottawa.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

This Senators team does a great job against the Habs. Chris Neil always gets under Alex Kovalev's skin. Jason Spezza doesn't have Sheldon Souray to undress anymore but he still has a lot of success against the Habs. Mike Fisher is a great player who will have to step up if the Sens want to stay on top.

The story broke last night that the Senators head scout Frank Jay was signed by the Habs after resigning his post with Ottawa. This is a real coup for the Canadiens. Their much-maligned pro scouting gets a boost on this one and adding a guy to your staff with a track record like Jay's bodes well for the next few draft years, which are supposed to the best since 2005.

The Bell Centre will be rockin tonight, that's for sure. The only question is whether the Habs will keep them in the game as their 7th man.

Spectacular Super Sunday

2008-02-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

Great Super Bowl. After cheering for the Patriots all year, I found myself pulling for Eli Manning's Giants. It was incredibly exciting, maybe the best Super Bowl I've ever seen.

The Habs had an up and down weekend. After pounding the lacklustre Islanders on Saturday afternoon, the Habs came out flying and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Rangers turned it into a game by getting physical with the Habs and playing their style of hockey. The Habs are more of a finesse team and that was evident for the first half of the game, when they were flying all over the ice and their crisp passing had the Rangers on their heels. The game turned right after that and Ryan Hollweg took his frustration for out on little Andrei Kostitsyn for an elbow he absorbed from Alex Kovalev. Guy Carbonneau kept Kovy off the ice for about four minutes after the hit and finally Hollweg just went after a guy with the same initials.

I maintain that if Sergei hadn't sold the hit to the officials by laying prone on the ice for a minute or two, no major or game misconduct penalties would have been assessed on the play. Look at Chris Higgins the day before: Just as vicious a hit, but Higgins bounced back up so it went mostly unpunished.

I'm not overly concerned about the loss being a turning point for the Habs. I didn't give them much of a chance going into the game but I admit to being surprised they managed to blow a three-goal lead. Mitch Melnick was on point today when he mentioned that several veterans, including Roman Hamrlik and Saku Koivu, looked tired on Sunday afternoon.

It's too bad the Habs couldn't close out the Rangers, if they had then tomorrow night's game would have been a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference. It's still a huge game as the Habs can pull to within a point of the Sens with another tilt on Saturday. There's no reason to think that the Habs won't come out strong, the time is now for them to overtake the Sens, who are dealing with infighting and injuries to Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley. If they don't catch them with those two guys out of the lineup, they won't catch them at all.

What a Show

2008-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Cristobal Huet was named the NHL's third star of the month of January. He had a hell of a month and is well deserving of the honour. All anyone wanted to talk about today was the NHL's first star of the month, Alexander Ovechkin.

I think I can honestly say that he is the best player I have ever seen. Sidney Crosby is terrific and his playmaking skills are incomparable but he's not the physical presence that Ovechkin is and I'm beginning to think that Crosby will spend a lot more time on the injured list than the Penguins would like him to. Ovechkin has also gotten it done with a less than stellar supporting cast (at least in comparison to Crosby's) for the most part.

Too bad he's going to waste away for the next 13 years in a half empty arena in front of fans who don't truly appreciate him. My apologies to all hockey heads in the Beltway area but this guy should be playing in Canada or at least in a strong market like Minnesota, Buffalo or New York.

Doesn't look like the contract has lessened his edge or competive desire if last night's performance was any indication. Ovechkin was crushed by Francis Bouillon with a hit that broke his nose, when asked about Ovechkin's reaction Bouillon said,

"I thought I really hit him hard but when he got up, he came over to me smiling and asked me to do it again because he liked it. Instead of knocking him out of the game, I may have given him extra motivation."

Wow.

That's the kind of hockey player I like. He's like the polar opposite of your stereotypical soft player with no heart. He plays a real North American game and he's tough as nails. The Capitals don't strike me as a playoff team right now but Ovechkin will get them there at some point and it's going to very exciting to see him crank it up a notch.

This afternoon, ESPN.com still had a headline about Ovechkin's big night. It's always somewhat remarkable to see an NHL headline on their front page, usually dominated by anything but.

Lost in the Ovechkin hype are the Kostitsyns, particularly Sergei, who both had big nights. The Habs line of Lapierre, Latendresse and Sergei looks like a keeper, although I wouldn't object to the kid taking Michael Ryder's spot on the the Koivu line. Ryder's struggles have reached the point of no return. He has nothing working for him at the moment. It's baffling given what's at stake for him professionally. If he had put together another 30 goal season, he could have cashed in to the tune of $20 million for 5 years, although most likely not from Bob Gainey, who has never really been sold on Ryder. He certainly looks good for not signing him to a long term deal at any point.

Two huge games this weekend for the Habs, both the Islanders and Rangers rested their superstar goaltenders last night in preparation for the two matinees, so DiPietro and Lundqvist should both be fresh, although the Islanders did arrive here last night, so they may hit the town hard tonight and be a few steps slow early tomorrow. Look for them at Buona Notte if you can get in.

LINKS

Francois Gagnon of La Presse on Ovechkin's big night

Pierre Durocher on Carey Price's AHL odyssey

RDS.ca's weekend preview

Chris Aung-Thwin of habsinsideout.com with a where are they now? piece

Gameday in Washington

2008-01-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens strut into the Nation's capital tonight on the heels of George W Bush' s final State of the Union address. It will be a hard act to follow as Bush's theatrics garnered as much applause from the sheep in the audience as Alex Kovalev does when he scores one at the Bell Centre. The difference is that Kovalev seems to be playing arguably the best hockey of his career and Bush's approval rating is at a record low. Kovalev also has a way sweeter hairdo.

Tonight's game is the last between Ovechkin and co. and the Habs. There's some extra motivation for both teams after Viktor Kozlov called out the Canadiens for trying to "run up the score" late in Tuesday night's 4-0 game.

Running up the score is a contentious issue in sports and sometimes it's difficult to tell what exactly qualifies. The New England Patriots have been running up the score for the entire NFL season and the speculation has been that they've been doing it because the rest of the league basically called them a bunch of cheaters on the heels of the "spygate" scandal.

Bill Simmons of ESPN.com had a great piece on the Pats earlier this year, read it here.

Is it unreasonable to think that the Canadiens are feeling a similar burn and lack of respect from the rest of the league? After being picked by most experts to basically compete for a high pick in next year's draft, do they not have a legitimate reason to rub it in the faces of their opponents?

If the Capitals want to keep taking penalties late in a game in order to stop scoring chances, the Canadiens have every right to pour it on and try to get their power play back into the number one slot in the league.

Anyone that starts talking about running up the score needs to take a long hard look at themselves and what exactly they're saying about their team. It's embarrassing for a pro athlete to say anything of the sort. You're calling out your opponent for not taking it easy on you late in a game? Should the Habs have taken their foot of the gas and perhaps allowed the Caps to score a late goal and gather some momentum heading into tonight's game?

It's madness.

Cristobal Huet makes his tenth straight start, The Habs look to win their fourth in a row and further separate themselves from the pack in the still very tight Eastern Conference. If the Habs do pick up the win, it will be their tenth in a row on Thursday night this year. They have only lost on Thursday night once all season and it was all the way back in October.

Happy Days

2008-01-29T21:19:00.000-08:00

All of a sudden, the Bell Centre is a really fun place to be on gamenights.

The Habs seem to have put their home woes behind them with consecutive monster performances on their home ice. The fans were out in full force tonight and they serenaded Alex Kovalev and his team throughout the game.

Those weren't boos you heard during the Habs 2nd period power plays, they were cries of "shoot!". Ever notice how they never score when they respond to those demands?

Alex Kovalev looked like a man playing with boys. Whoa. That sounds kind of weird and sexual. There was nothing weird or sexual about it, he just skated and stickhandled circles around the Caps all night long. He showed Alexander Ovechkin a thing or two in the process.

Tomas Plekanec continues to look like a bona-fide first line NHL centre and the Flying Kostitsyn brothers continue to amaze.

Cristobal Huet played his best game of the year and if it was any indication, the Sens need to watch their backs. When he's on, he's virtually impossible to beat. It takes a few lucky bounces, but that what good goaltenders get.

It's too early to know what the prognosis is for Daniel Alfredsson, but the Sens lost their captain to injury in a win over the Islanders and if he joins Dany Heatley on the sidelines, they may have some difficulty holding on to the Northeast division lead.

The Leafs lost to the St. Louis Blues and moaned about the officiating after the game. There were 17 scouts from 15 NHL teams in attendance, looking for signs of life from a Toronto team that seems to be dead in the water and looking to sell of pieces.

It was absolutely electric in the Bell Centre tonight, one of those games that makes me pinch myself when I think about the position I'm in.

Alex Kovalev was, as Pierre McGuire might say, smiling like a Cheshire Cat in the Habs room after the game. When quizzed about his possible broken finger he stated, "It might be broken but I still have four fingers left."

He spoke also of how much fun he's having out there and you can tell. He looks like he's ten years younger than he is and it's been a real pleasure to watch him in action all year long. He is without any doubt at all, the MVP of this team, definitely the comeback player of the year and deserves Hart trophy consideration.

After a Brief Layoff...

2008-01-29T09:18:00.001-08:00

I, Like the Montreal Canadiens, am back to work. Looking forward to getting back to business at the Bell Centre where the Habs look to improve on their league-worst home record. With 33 games to go in the regular season, the Canadiens have 60 points.

Of the 33 games remaining, 19 will be played at the Bell Centre. It's time to correct the problems at home once and for all. The Canadiens need roughly 17 wins to assure themselves of a spot in the postseason. If they play the way they've played the last few seasons at home, there shouldn't be a problem.

The Canadiens have 7 players with 30 or more points. The only other teams that can make the same boast are Detroit, Carolina and Philadelphia. It's a stat that speaks to the overall depth of the team as well as the effectiveness of Carbo's rolling four lines.

Mathieu Dandenault seems to have become the odd man out with his -10 rating, the worst on the team. It must be frustrating for a veteran like him to swallow his pride and watch games from the pressbox but he needs to suck it up and put the team first. Chances are he'll be back in the lineup before long and how can he argue with the success the team is having right now?

You don't want to change a winning formula. If the Canadiens fail to win tonight and Cristobal Huet has difficulty, then I would like to see Jaroslav Halak on Saturday afternoon against the Islanders. Huet makes his ninth consecutive start tonight and is expected to play on Thursday and again on Saturday. That would be 11 straight starts, which would mark a career high for the French netminder.

Here's a little game preview: It's the third meeting of the year for the Habs and Caps. The teams split the first two games so far with the home team losing each time, the Habs loss came in OT after Carey Price gave up a few softies shortly before his reassignment to Hamilton.

Alex Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec have led the charge for the Habs with 4 points in those two games. The Caps exciting young defenceman Mike Green led the Caps with four points of his own in those two games, Alexander Ovechkin and rookie sensation Nicklas Backstrom have three points apiece.

It's a showdown of two of the league's hottest teams, the Habs are 7-2-1 in their last ten and Washington is 7-3-0 over the same span.

I expect the Canadiens to get the win unless they have problems in goal. The other factor for the Habs is scoring first. Le Tricolore is 21-2-6 when they get on the board before their opponent. Washington has had more difficulty in the same circumstances, going 14-7-0.

The Ottawa Senators are in Uniondale to face the Islanders. They have a six-point lead over the Habs but Montreal holds a game in hand.

Statement Game

2008-01-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

That's what they call those types of games. When you battle back after falling behind 2-0 and 3-1 to beat a team in regulation and pass them in the standings you make a statement.

Heading to the all-star break, the Canadiens are in sole possession of 4th in the East. They've won 17 games on the road this year, second only to Detroit. It was the first time the Canadiens have won a game while trailing after 40 minutes this season. And they did it in New Jersey.

Cristobal Huet joins Jose Theodore and Patrick Roy as the only Habs goaltenders to win in the Garden State since 1993.

Only four teams in the entire league have scored more goals than the Habs.

Chris Higgins iced it with his first goal in nine games, Saku Koivu tied it with his first in seven. Bryan Smolinski sparked the third period comeback and is all of a sudden looking like a pretty solid signing with his recent play. Josh Gorges is looking more and more comfortable as he gets more games under his belt. It would be difficult to make a case for putting Patrice Brisebois back in the lineup. The Habs record without the Breezer is an astounding 15-3-3.

That means their record WITH Brisebois is 11-12-5. If wins and losses are the only stats that really count, then why on earth would he play??

Everyone except Andrei Markov gets a well-deserved weekend off. It should be interesting to see the new breakaway event in the Skills Contest and who will be fastest skater and who'll have the hardest shot, less interesting will be the game itself, which tends to be very boring.

Here are some links for your pleasure

Mike Boone blogs poetic on what's happening right now GO

Habs youth movement recognition GO

Pierre LeBrun on Habs success GO

And finally I have to touch on this Cliff Fletcher-Richard Peddie press conference. Watch Peddie as he starts to mouth the words Fletcher speaks while he's speaking them. It's really weird and I have no explanation for this other than it makes it easy to make a case that Fletcher is a puppet for MLSE.

Have a look-see around the 4:45 mark!! GO

Habs Beat Bruins!!!

2008-01-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

Make it nine in a row, six this year. The Bruins-Habs rivalry is virtually non-existent at this point. It sure is fun to be in the Bell Centre on nights like this.

The crowd was in full force, and it's a toss up between Maxim Lapierre's fantastic forecheck on Zdeno Chara in the third period and Sergei Kostitsyn throwing down with Chuck Kobasew in a scrap for the loudest cheers of the night and possibly, of the year.

It was a real team win. 13 players showed up on the scoresheet. Seven different guys had goals with Andrei K getting two. When the doors to the dressing room opened, the veterans gave way to the role players who showed up huge. No Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev or Chris Higgins(gasp!) were available but Tom Kostopoulos, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight), Michael Ryder and Bryan Smolinski, who probably had his best game as a Hab were all there.

Guy Carbonneau reiterated that the Habs played well enough to win against the Penguins on Saturday night but some nights you get the bounces and some nights you don't.

They definitely got em tonight, starting with Michael Ryder's goal 14 seconds into the game.

Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek were unbelievable and each walked away with a +4 rating on the night. Komisaurus had a goal and an assist, five hits and two blocked shots. Markov had only one assist, but was on the ice for six of the Habs eight goals.

During a four on four sequence, the unreal Alex Kovalev held on to the puck for about fifteen seconds, absorbed a slash and dropped his glove, picked it back up and then went right back to skating and stickhandling circles around the Bruins until both teams had five skaters on the ice.

Cristobal Huet was great, no errors in a game where he didn't need to be sharp but was.

The Kostitsyn brothers are terrific. Sergei's time in London playing under Dale Hunter is paying dividends. He gave a visor-wearing Kobasew more than he could handle in their third period scrap. The physical game he brings has been an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. He doesn't back down from anyone and even in a checking role has been impressive. Great feed to his big brother on the Habs last goal.

Ottawa lost, so the Habs actually managed to gain some ground on one of the coldest teams in hockey. How big is Dany Heatley for them?

If there was a negative, it's that Koivu and Higgins didn't show up on the scoresheet. They really seem to have lost a step in the second half. I expect them both to be better during the home stretch of the year.

Josh Gorges continues to improve, he's doing a great job of getting in front of pucks and playing a solid game. He certainly has benefited from the injury to Patrice Brisebois, who shouldn't be out there as far as I'm concerned.

Stat of the day: Habs record without Brisebois is 14-3-3

Other stat of the day: The Habs have lost back-to-back games in regulation only once this year.

It's onto Jersey to face the dreaded Devils on Thursday. Don't get your hopes up.

P.S. Id love to see Novak Djokovic win the Australian Open. This guy's fantastic and hilarious... I'm watching a virtuoso performance right now against Davis Ferrer in the semis. Check out his sweet impersonations of various tennis stars HERE (way less funny if you never watch tennis)

Accountability

2008-01-22T14:38:00.001-08:00

The Leafs have yanked John Ferguson Jr out of his position as GM. It's a sad day in Toronto. Cliff Fletcher takes over on an interim basis as the Leafs enter a make or break period of their season that will determine whether they will be buying or selling in and around the trade deadline. If they can string together a few wins, they may hang on to Mats Sundin and try to make a run. If they continue to lose, they will try and move Sundin and many other overpriced members of their underachieving team.

The thing is, it will be hard to find takers for the likes of Pavel Kubina, Andrew Raycroft, Bryan McCabe et al.

It comes back to the fact that the Leafs brass, the Richard Peddies of the world think they know hockey. MLSE owns the Raptors, who brought in a top executive in Bryan Colangelo and gave him complete control of the team, no questions asked. Their problem is they're not capable of doing the same with their hockey team. If they were, Scotty Bowman would already be the one calling the shots.

Cliff Fletcher will be the guy in charge but make no mistake about it, MLSE will be looking over his shoulder every step of the way.

I'm starting to tire of the Leafs trials and tribulations. The amount of media attention they receive is nauseating. I feel for their fans, who deserve better. I can't wait for them to go on a winning streak so the tin-foil Stanley Cups start showing up again at the Air Canada Center.

It makes me glad I'm not a fan of the Leafs.

Long Weekend's Over

2008-01-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

It was a great weekend.

The New England Patriots stayed perfect with an imperfect game in which Tom Brady was less than perfect.

It's been amazing to see the Patriots charge towards a perfect season. Really saying f___ you to the rest of the league with every down.

The Giants have been equally impressive. Ever since they took the Pats to the brink for a 38-35 thriller in Week 17 this has been a team possessed. They've won 10 straight road games, a single-season NFL record. During their three playoff games, Eli Manning has emerged as the quiet leader Tiki Barber said he wasn't. He hasn't thrown a single interception over the same span after tying for the league lead in regular-season INTs.

Plaxico Burress had one the of the best games for an NFL receiver all year long. He dominated Al Harris.

I think that barring a minor miracle, Randy Moss and the speedy Patriots receivers will get the best of the Giants in the heat of Arizona. The key to the game will be whether the Giants pass rush can get to Tom Brady. I don't expect they will.

But this is a blog about the Montreal Canadiens.

The Habs are tied for the fewest home wins in the league. They're 8-8-5 at the Bell Centre after Saturday night's loss to the Penguins. Hardly time to push the panic button but disconcerting nonetheless. It's just one of those indefinable things. My take is that they're trying to do too much for the fans. The adrenaline can onlt take them so far before it becomes jitters. Performance anxiety. It seems that they're almost scared to get booed which in turn causes tentative play which of course causes the rumbles from the fans.

In other news, Michael Ryder appears to be back on a line with Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins. I have been unimpressed with the line of Ryder, Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski's line, so maybe this change can kickstart Koivu and Higgins. Those guys look like they're running out of gas right now and the Habs need them rolling in order to be effective.

The other concern right now has to be the Habs power play. They're 0 for 8 with the man advantage in their last three games, dropping them to 2nd in the NHL with a 23.7% success rate.

It's not all bad. The Habs deserved better against an inspired Pittsburgh team the other night and should continue their success against Boston tomorrow night. They're seeking their ninth straight win against the Bruins dating back to last March.

Tim Thomas has been great for the Bruins this year but has struggled against the Habs. He's lost all three starts against them this year with a 4.70 GAA.

Against the rest of the league he's 15-8-3 with a 2.04 GAA.

Weeeeeeiird.

Gameday

2008-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Crosby's out. Ty Conklin actually let a few goals in last night. It's a good time to be facing the Penguins and if the Habs get points they'll extend their slim lead over the flightless birds.

Watch out for Malkin, he's amazing and seems to really get up for games in Montreal, at least from what I've seen so far this year.

The game's broadcast nationally on CBC but stick with Pierre and Yvon and keep it real.

Bon match!

Confidence & the Ks

2008-01-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

Andrei Kostitsyn (K1) seems to have found his. I looked over at my buddy when the shootout started and said "I can't wait to see what the kid does with confidence," Sure enough, he looked completely calm and collected as he put the Thrashers on the brink before Saku Koivu and Cristobal Huet iced it. He also scored his second goal of the year candidate in the second period, splitting the Atlanta defence and roofing it on Kari Lehtonen on a sweet backhand. That line is really something else.

12 points for Kovalev-Plekanec-K1 over the 4 game road trip.

One thing that I've heard echoed by his teammates is that K1 makes highlight-reel plays in practice all the time, so they knew it was just a matter of time before he started doing it in game situations.

Sergei Kostitsyn (K2) smoked fellow rookie Tobias Enstrom into the boards really hard on two occasions. He doesn't have much in the size department but you can tell his time in the OHL added a physical element to his game. He has levelled a few guys over the last few games and continues to make smart plays. His defensive game has vastly improved during his time in the NHL as well.

The Thrashers seemed to be really pissed about something last night. Guillaume Latendresse was targeted a few times and I got the impression that K2 was a marked man at times.

Cristobal Huet wasn't the only guy to blame for the Thrashers tying it up on the turnover. Roman Hamrlik made a bad play as well. In a very awkward postgame interview on RDS, Huet took all the blame and seemed like he felt like shit about it. I get the impression that many Habs are hypersensitive about any line of questioning, fearing that their comments could be taken out of context and turned into a front page story in Le Journal.

I would like to see a bit more swagger and bravado from these guys. If they could bring the level of confidence they have on the road back to Bell Centre, there would be a lot of happy maniacs in the rafters.

The game also marked the first time this year the Habs have won a game in which they trailed after the first 20 minutes. I must say, I wasn't really concerned. Maybe I have more confidence in them. The first goal was the result of a phantom penalty on Francis Bouillon and a bad bounce going Atlanta's way. This year's edition of the Canadiens doesn't seem to let things like that stop them in their tracks as much as they used to.

Can't wait to see two of the hottest teams in the League square off on Saturday night. Sidney Crosby is a true pleasure to watch and Evgeni Malkin is no slouch either. Here's hoping the Ty Conklin's fairy tale run comes to an abrupt halt at the hands of K1, K2 and the confident Canadiens.

Habs in the Dirty South

2008-01-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

It's always interesting to hear people's takes on what the Habs should do at any given time. Montrealers are generally very fickle about their team and any win or loss sets off a chain reaction of insanity. I've had the opportunity to host a few Hab-related shows on the Team 990 and among our learned listeners I have heard some gems.

"Trade Koivu."

"They need to trade Alex Kovalev."

"Tomas Plekanec isn't good enough for the second line."

"Fire Carbo and/or Gainey."

It's funny how your perspective changes when you start watching the Habs as a member of the media . I went from paying my hard-earned dollars to see about 10 to 15 games a year at the Bell Centre, getting wasted with my friends in the reds or in the Molson Ex Zone. I've been to pretty much every pivotal playoff home game in the last few years (there hasn't been that many). I'm more of a long view guy now than I have ever been. I believe in Bob Gainey and by extension, I believe in his guy, Guy Carbonneau.

Trading Saku Koivu, who is a greatly underappreciated asset here, who plays every game with a metal brace on each knee, the captain of this team, his national team and one of the pre-eminent leaders in ALL sports, equates to giving up on the season. You don't just yank the foundation of a team away.

Kovalev is the MVP of this team so far this year. He's not in a contract year. He's in the midst of the second best statistical season of his distinguished career. Trading this guy equates to giving up on your season.

If there is one guy the Habs can't afford to lose, it's Kovalev.

Can you imagine the effect of his loss on the number one Power Play in the NHL? A lot worse than losing Sheldon Souray, who owes Kovy a steak dinner for all the space he created for him during his record-setting 19 power play goal season last year.

Plekanec is looking more and more like a first line centre every game. He's on the penalty kill, the power play and kicking all kinds of ass at even strength. Given his history of being a stronger player statistically in the second half of the season, is it unreasonable to think Plekanec could put up 80 points this year?

Credit the Canadiens for their handling of Plekanec's development. He benefited enormously from his time in Hamilton and it's been a true pleasure to watch him develop. I remember his performance against the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs a few years back. He was arguably the Habs most complete forward during that series and he's a much better player now than he was back then.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the season and the years to come. If the harmonious dressing room continues without controversy and this team stays near the middle of the pack in the East, they could do some damage in the playoffs (unless they play the Devils).

I also maintain that Montreal would be a more attractive option for free agents if the team was winning and making the playoffs every year. Guys want to win. It's not just about the money. I hope.

Success & Stupid Questions

2008-01-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Another road win. The Canadiens have 15 this year.

Ridiculous.

Things got a bit hairy in the second period but Cristobal Huet held down the fort. Tomas Plekanec is the best two-way forward on this team. He had a great second half last year but struggled with linemates Alex Kovalev and Sergei Samsonov.

When Radek Bonk signed in Nashville during the offseason, Plekanec acted quickly and contacted Habs equipment manager Pierre Gervais about taking over his number 14 instead of the number 35 he had for the last two years.

The change has been evident as Plekanec's speed and vision have been on display all year and he, Andrei Kostitsyn and Kovalev have been without a doubt the Habs best line this year.

He has a good shot and a lightning quick release.

There was some debate among my friends and I following the game. They thought Kovalev should have passed the puck over to Plekanec in the hopes he would score into the empty net and register his first career hat trick. They said it was selfish Kovy on display and then Darren Dutchyshen of TSN backed them up by calling him out during Sportscentre.

I honestly Kovalev made the right play by keeping it. He would've risked a turnover and the Islanders tying the game if he hadn't. It would have been nice to see Plekanec get it but he didn't and instead, Kovalev scored his 20th goal of the year.

It's nice to have fans worrying about trivialities like this instead of who our next general manager and/or head coach and/or president is going to be. Here's blogmaster Mike Boone of habsinsideout.com with his learned and extremely well expressed thoughts on the fate of the Leafs.

Long Weekend's Over

2008-01-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Winter is back in Montreal. I'm happy, it means outdoor hockey. The City of Westmount is still working on the rink in my neck of the woods. It's a disgrace. I realize that winter just took a week off but something needs to be done about this. It was fun to go outside and not get hypothermia for a little while.

Back to business for me and for the Montreal Canadiens. They're in Long Island to take on one of the most boring teams in the NHL in the Islanders. Mike Comrie is pretty good, Bill Guerin and of course their best player, one Rick DiPietro.

He's one hell of a goalie and he's headed to Atlanta to represent his team at the All-Star Game at the end of this month. The Habs power play needs to respond after being effectively shut down by the Rangers on Saturday night. Alex Kovalev was shut down big-time and the Habs couldn't get anything going during two separate two-man advantages. Time to adjust. Let's make sure our coaches' special teams expertise continues to pay dividends. If Kovalev isn't getting it done, the Habs and their power play are in a world of trouble.

It's so much fun to watch the continuing implosion going on down the 401. The Leafs are terrible, getting worse, with no clear end in sight. Things can't get much worse but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they do. People on the way out: John Ferguson Jr., maybe Paul Maurice, Mats Sundin....

Tonight's game is big for both teams is the ridiculously tight Eastern Conference, the Islanders trail the 5th place Habs by only 3 points.

When Mike Komisarek and Christopher Higgins go home, good things tend to happen for the Habs. There was a great article in the New York Times today about the young stars give it a read...

NY Times on 21 & 8

Enjoy the game.

Links of the Week

2008-01-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Andrei Markov is the only Hab going to Atlanta for the All-Star game later this month. It's another slap to the face for your underappreciated Canadiens courtesy of the NHL. The upside of the snub is that all the guys get a chance to rest for a few days, recharge the batteries. Alex Kovalev should be there. But he's a veteran player and will most certainly benefit from the time off. RDS.ca has a great piece on reactions from Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Carbonneau. Love the Plekanec quote.

All-Star Snubbery

Stephen Brunt is the premier sportswriter in Canada. Here's a fantastic story on how former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold's wheeling and dealing with the NHL brass put him in a much better NHL ownership situation in Minnesota, a place where there's actually fans. Interseting to read how things are done behind the scenes in the league. It stinks and is totally indicative of how this league has turned into a joke on the professional sports stage.

Brunt Breaks It Down

The story about the Ovechkin deal continues to get more interesting. Looks like he'll become a Hab after all (kidding!) but only due to a bunch of weird movement clauses in the deal. Apparently Ovechkin initially negotiated the 6 year, $54 million dollar deal I initially reported before Caps owner Ted Leonsis blew it out of the water with the 13 year deal. Here are the details from the good folks at TSN.

Ovechkin Details Emerge

The Leafs suck so much more than most people (not me!) thought they would this year. It's amazing to me that they were pretty much a consensus playoff team when the year began. The Leafs are living proof that you can't stick band-aids on gaping wounds. I take great pleasure in watching them continue to fail miserably.

What's that Leafs? You thought Jason Blake was the answer? Hmm, he's got 8 goals this year...

I feel for Vesa Toskala, his defence just won't bail him out, it's sad.

The Leafs are living proof that you must build your team from within in today's NHL, you can't just get a bunch of free agents and hope you'll succeed.

Dave Shoalts wants a change!!

Mike Boone is the master of Habs-blogging and his live game blog is a true pleasure to read. He got it open early today in preperation for tonight's showdwon at Madison Square Garden.

Boone's Online Eeee-Mail

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes about the Habs fourth line and the great job they've been doing. These guys need to continue to be solid in their shutdown role if the Habs want to continue to succeed.

Hickey's 4th Line Tribute

Finally your gameday preview from NHL.com

Bon Match!!

Absolute Madness

2008-01-11T07:41:00.001-08:00

So, looks like the 6 year Ovechkin deal was a little optimistic. His 13 year contract is absolutely insane. Here's how I see it: This guy is in Washington, and he is, at 22, the most electrifying player in the NHL. He will be there, wallowing in mediocrity in front of non-passionate fans who provide their team with the second-worst attendance record in the league right now. If he had opted for a six-year deal, he could have gotten out of there at age 28, entering the prime of his career and able to go somewhere that he has a legitimate chance of winning a championship.

That's not going to happen in Washington. Why?

They have no goaltending, very little hope for their future in goal and an owner who is notoriously stingy. It's also very difficult to build a winner when you have one guy using up 20-25% of your teams cap space (Brad Richards, anyone?).

As it stands right now, Ovechkin and his grandchildren's grandchildren are set for life. But what incentive does he have to keep competing at the level his fans are accustomed to?

He will regret this deal, especially when Sidney Crosby cashes in for $15 million bucks a season when his current deal expires. It's always good to have an escape plan and Ovechkin has none.

It's a real shame to see a talent of that magnitude wasted in a market like that.

That's all I have to say about that.

The Canadiens!! Haven't lost in regulation since the Dallas debacle of 2007!! They're 5-0-2 since then. Mike Komisarek looked like Scott Stevens last night, the Boston forwards were scared shitless of getting crushed by Komisaurus. His presence can't be overstated. He directs traffic, makes smart passes and kills penalties. He was a lot of fun to watch last night and it has been a lot of fun to watch him develop into the dominating presence he has become.

I had this debate with a friend of mine who pretends to hate the Habs during the second period of last night's game. I said Andrei Markov and Komisarek were among the top three defensive pairings in the NHL. He said I was crazy.

Here's how I see it.

#1 Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafaski, DET
#2 Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, ANA
#3 Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek, MTL

There are several other pairings that could be included, and everyone has an opinion, but here's mine. My buddy is a small part of a large contingent of NHL fans who don't give the Habs the credit they deserve. This team isn't just squeaking out wins, they're also winning games in which they don't get very good goaltending and they're completely outclassing teams at other times. I'm not planning a parade, but I am so excited about the future and frankly, the present of this team.

Markov and Komisarek actually remind a fair bit of Pronger and Niedermayer earlier in their careers. Komi doesn't really have power play vision (yet?) but he has a better shot than Roman Hamrlik or Patrice Brisebois. It wouldn't really surprise me to see him on the PP within the next few years. When Bob Gainey re-signs him to a five or six year deal. Markov sees the ice and the game as well as any D-Man in the league and makes one of the best first passes in the game. He also has the ability to shoot the puck and score goals. This in addition to the fact that these guys rarely make defensive mistakes and when one of them does, the other is there to make the play. They compliment each other perfectly and it really has been my distinct pleasure to watch them play together this year.

Habs in New York to play the Rangers tomorrow night on Hockey Night in Canada. Good timing, as the Leafs implosion continues after their 5-2 loss to cellar-dwelling Los Angeles last night. The Leafs have been outscored 19-6 during their current four game losing streak.

Life is good.

Done Deal?

2008-01-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

RDS.ca reports that Alexander Ovechkin has agreed to a $54 million extension that would keep him in Washington through 2014.

Damn.

It has yet to be confirmed, but it does look like the Caps made him an offer they couldn't refuse, and thus Alexander the Great won't become a Hab until his late 20s.

The good news is, the Canadiens have a great nucleus in place and are widely considered one of the most promising franchises in the NHL. The only question mark is up the middle, where a lack of centres does not bode well for the future. Other than that, things look great in goal, on defence and on the wings.

This year's NHL draft is deep, as is the next one. Here's hoping the Habs address the team's question marks at centre and make a splash.

Onto the here and now.

The Canadiens are in Boston, where they have absolutely owned the Bruins for the last few years. The current streak between the rivals stands at seven consecutive wins for the Habs. They are very comfortable against Boston and seem to do a great job at getting under Zdeno Chara's skin. When Chara is off his game, the Bruins have a very tough time competing.

The Bruins also have five regulars out of the lineup: Glen Murray, Patrice Bergeron and a couple of less significant guys will not be out there tonight.

The Habs scratched Tom Kostopoulos. I don't get it. Tom the Bomb had one of his best games as a Hab against the Blackhawks the other night and his reward is a night in the pressbox. It's hard to know what's going on behind the scenes but I just don't like this move.

Francis Bouillon and Josh Gorges were awful the other night. Turnovers, miscues and bad decisions. Patrice Brisebois' shortcomings are far less evident when he's paired with Roman Hamrlik, but the same can't be said for Gorges and Bouillon. Anyone have a nickname suggestion for that defensive pairing?

Carey Price is in Hamilton and reportedly looked good in his first start last night. Good to see the kid getting some shots and hopefully progressing more than he would watching the Habs from the bench.

Should be a good one tonight, hopefully the bad blood between the teams doesn't produce any injuries.

Midseason Musings & Gamenight: Chicago

2008-01-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens kick off the second half of the 07-08 schedule tonight against a depleted Chicago Blackhawks team that's without leading rookie goal-scorer Jonathan Toews and six other regulars.

Bob Gainey addressed members of the media at the Bell Centre yesterday and had largely positive things to say about what the team has accomplished so far this year and also hinted that there could be some changes on the horizon.

Firstly, since Cristobal Huet has made it clear he is the team's number one goaltender and should see the bulk of the workload in the coming months, we may see 20-year old Carey Price in Hamilton sooner than later so that he can get more playing time. Current Bulldogs starter Jaroslav Halak was named the AHL's player of the week yesterday and is no stranger to the NHL, having played a stretch for the Habs that put them back into postseason contention late last season.

Price has only made two starts in the last two weeks and has lost them both. Price doesn't see it as a demotion if it does happen, he in fact sounded very mature when he was asked about the possibility yesterday,

"They have my best interests in whatever they have planned, if Hamilton is what they deem necessary, then so be it. Right now, it's part of being young. If they think I need a little more game work, that's fine."

Second, Gainey is unhappy with what his team is doing in the faceoff circle so far this year. It was the only concern he raised that he can address personally by trading or moving personnel. The only Hab on the good side of a 50% faceoff rate is Saku Koivu, at 55%. The rest of the guys are between 44 and 49%, which is a big part of their shortcomings on the penalty kill in today's puck-possession NHL.

It will be interesting to see which guys respond to Gainey's remarks and if they can improve the faceoff stats from within. Gainey made it clear that until that happens, he will continue to look at other teams rosters for the answers. Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe was in town for a few games last month, and Edmonton's a team with a shortage of wingers and a surplus of centres...

The Hawks should be no match for your Habs tonight, but that's certainly no guarantee when these boys are playing at the Bell Centre. I feel like a broken record, but it's really quite astounding. The Habs have only 7 wins in 19 home games. This is after going 50-25-7 at home over the last two seasons. They need to stop being intimidated by their own rabid fans and let other teams worry about them. The Hawks haven't won in Montreal since 2001.

In other news...

This Roger Clemens thing boggles the mind. His impassioned defence compelled even me, a well known cynic. The bizarre tale of weepy phone calls between him and the trainer who claimed he injected him with HGH only adds to the growing insanity, but I'm starting to wonder if Clemens' refusal to submit to a simple polygraph is the clincher here. If he's so determined to clear his name, it seems a pretty straightforward way to get it done. I'm not familiar with the exactitudes of how those things work, but if it's good enough for terrorist interrogations, then it's good enough for me.

The other thing is, Andy Pettitte, who was also named by Clemens trainer immediately admitted to use of HGH and said he only did so briefly while recovering from injury. Pettitte is one of Clemens' best friends, is he supposed to be lying too?

Vitamin B12 and Lidocaine? Smells like bullshit, Rocket.

What a Game

2008-01-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Look, the Habs should have won.

They were the better team and although Carbo and Chris Higgins didn't put it on him, Carey Price lost them this game. He might have been rusty, but you need to make some of those saves. His defence, as Blogmaster Mike Boone of habsinsideout.com pointed out, is using a system that allows opposing forwards to enter the zone at full speed and take quality shots. He is beaten high on about 75% of the goals he allows.

Clearly Rollie Melanson's system of getting his goalies to go down early has its flaws. Price should have had at least two of the Washington goals and possibly three.

The Canadiens need to stop taking stupid penalties in the offensive zone. Saku Koivu seems to take on per game. Maxim Lapierre took one. It's a lot harder to kill stupid penalties than the ones that save goals.

That said, the Habs are looking real good. REAL good.

Here are my positives:

-Michael Ryder is a physical presence and has regained the confidence that made him effective. His defensive shortcomings, which were so evident in the last few years, are less obvious. He's hitting, making smart passes and working hard every shift. He is on a line that is responsible for shutting down the opposition's best, and they have done a good job so far. They're not going to score as much but they are providing a solid two-way game.

-Anderi Kostitsyn scored what was, in my opinion, the Habs goal of the year, undressing the Caps Mike Green before roofing it on Olaf Kolzig. That was unbelievable, as were several of the habs goals. Andrei is starting to emerge as a star player in this league. Was the promotion of his little brother the kick in the ass he needed?

-Alex Kovalev is unbelievable. Anyone who questions his heart is way out of line. This guy wants to win and is on his way to his best season since he quarterbacked a power play in Pittsburgh that featured Mario Lemieux (The Greatest of all Time) and Jaromir Jagr. He already has as many goals as he did last year. The pass to Tomas Plekanec on the Habs first goal was vintage Kovy. He is out there every single game competing, throwing hits and giving his team quality shifts. Without a doubt, the MVP of this hockey team.

-At the halfway point of the season, the Canadiens look like one of the better teams in a very competitive Eastern Conference.

-Guy Carbonneau is a top-tier NHL coach. It took a while for him to really come into his own, but he has.

-This team doesn't give up. There's a lot of heart and they're doing what the slogan above the door to the Bell Centre ice tells them to do.

WORKING TOGETHER
WINNING TOGETHER
GROWING TOGETHER

I am filled with a rare hope after watching a loss. The Canadiens are good.

And Canada's Juniors won gold.

As Ice Cube put it, today was a good day.

Oh, and Alex Ovechkin wouldn't admit it, but after hearing the roar the fans at the Bell Centre gave him following his selection as the game's first star, he definitely realized that he wants to be immortalized as a member of the Club de Hockey Canadien.

Changes & Resolutions

2008-01-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

I've been ignoring my responsibilities as a blogger. Over the holidays, I ate a lot, drank a lot and was merry. It was a fantastic holiday season which I was able to spend with friends and family. I am one lucky bastard.

Enough about me though.

My New Year's resolution is to blog more regularly.

Here goes as we kick off 2008.

I just got home from the Bell Centre. They still play Vertigo when the Habs score. I was hoping for a change. Enough with the negative though...

Michael Ryder had a big night. He was cheered by the fans when he was introduced in the starting lineup and the cheers continued all night as he set up the Habs first goal and scored two more, one of which was a vintage Michael Ryder snapshot from the top of the faceoff circle.

It's a lot more fun when your team is winning and even better when you're able to put the puck in the net. Ryder appears to be back on track and the timing couldn't be better. When he's playing with confidence, he's a proven performer with a great nose for the net. When the media was allowed into the Habs dressing room after the game, the scrum converged on Ryder's stall and all of his teammates hooted and hollered at him, even sending a few wolf whistles his way. It was a great moment, a moment that demonstrated how close of a unit this team has become. His teammates never gave up on him. Many of them have reiterated that they see the real Michael Ryder in practice all the time and knew it was just a matter of time until he started to put the puck in the net.

Chris Higgins continues to emerge as a dominant player on both ends of the ice and his leadership qualities shine through night after night. It's a real pleasure to see him healthy at this point of the season.

There is no doubt that the addition of Sergei Kostitsyn has not only energized the Habs but has also given his older brother's play a jolt, as he continues to perform at a high level, scoring the winner tonight and teaming up with his linemates to create plenty of offense.

Carbo's strategy of rolling four lines has had mixed results but one thing that's becoming clear is that the Canadiens have far more energy now than they did at this point last year, when the meltdown was in full swing. At his postgame press conference today, Carbo talked about the fact that he doesn't work the guys as hard this year and how that has kept them fresher and more energetic. He went as far as to say that he sometimes doesn't even allow the guys to skate on certain days, even when they want to.

Your Montreal Canadiens seem to be finding the consistency required to stay near the upper half of the Eastern Conference for a playoff run. If they can stay healthy, and that's a BIG if, they'll do some damage.

Looking forward to Saturday's matinee against the Capitals, hopefully I can get the scoop on just how interested Alex Ovechkin would be in having a CH on his chest.

by the way....

In my last blog entry, before the Habs hit the road for their holiday trip, I made some predictions.

"The Habs pick up 8 out of a possible 12 points, keeping in the middle of the pack in the playoff race. Sergei Kostitsyn scores his first NHL goal. Tomas Plekanec continues to elevate his game. Snow continues to fall in Montreal and snow removal continues to move at a snail's pace.

The outdoor rink in my neighbourhood finally opens after the city takes its sweet fucking time getting it done. The Sens continue to be the streakiest team in the league and Detroit continues its dominance."

I'm pretty happy with my success rate here. I was right about everything except the outdoor rink. It's still not open but I'm confident the City of Westmount will get it done by the end of January, or at least in time for it to melt. I hope you'll agree that I'm psychic and should probably quit while I'm ahead.

Hitting the Road

2007-12-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Man, Horatio from CSI: Miami really trips me out. He has this really weird way of talking to kids that I find mad creepy. The man can sure deliver a one-liner though.

Anyhoo...

The Habs played a crap game and lost. Three shots in the first period. Mistakes and giveaways galore. The goaltending controversy continues to gather momentum, although it's pretty clear that Cristobal Huet will be the guy between the pipes on Thursday.

The Habs have a way of losing games they should win. They have difficulty matching up against boring-ass teams like New Jersey and Florida. The Panthers are not a good team but they simply outwork the Canadiens every time they meet. The Habs would push the puck in deep only to be obstructed by Florida players and kept from catching it. They would not obstruct to the point where a penalty should be called, but they were close.

Tomas Vokoun is good, but the Habs had very few quality looks at him in goal.

Mike Komisarek was on the hook for a giveaway that resulted in the first goal. Carey Price was firmly on the hook for the second with a bonehead clearing attempt up the middle on an ill-advised trip from his crease. In my humble opinion, Price should have had the third goal. It comes down to positioning, which is usually one of Price's strengths.

He's on a serious learning curve and mistakes are bound to happen. The good news is the Habs displayed their ability to remain in games in which they are thoroughly outworked.

Andrei Markov bagged a couple of goals and remains firmly in the lead among Eastern Conference defencemen for the All-Star game. He was on the ice for the first two Florida goals, but was pretty much blameless on both.

Komisarek and Markov might be the best defensive pairing in the East.

The Habs have traditionally struggled on their annual holiday road trip but this year's team is much stronger away from home than years past. It won't be easy, but here's my prediction:

The Habs pick up 8 out of a possible 12 points, keeping in the middle of the pack in the playoff race. Sergei Kostitsyn scores his first NHL goal. Tomas Plekanec continues to elevate his game. Snow continues to fall in Montreal and snow removal continues to move at a snail's pace.

The outdoor rink in my neighbourhood finally opens after the city takes its sweet fucking time getting it done. The Sens continue to be the streakiest team in the league and Detroit continues its dominance.

Snow Day Developments & Slacking

2007-12-17T14:07:00.001-08:00

Montreal was so snowed in from the powder festival that happened over the weekend that kids knew school was cancelled early last night. I can't remember that ever happening to me, except during the ice storm. That was fantastic, we barely lost power at all. I great time with family and friends.

Anyway, I've been a big slacker when it comes to updating my blog. Thanks to some gentle prodding, here I am again. Even though it's my birthday today, I am hard at work.

Went down to the Bell Centre to see the Habs and the coach. Andrei Markov was downright standoffish when I asked him about his recent success compared to the period he went through in which his plus/minus stats plummeted and the Habs couldn't buy a home win. The team's success is intrinsically tied to the Russian blueliners' success. He may be the best passing defenceman in the NHL right now. Shades of Sergei Zubov.

In other news, Carbonneau announced today that Carey Price gets the nod again tomorrow night, his seventh consecutive start. Cristobal Huet is game-ready, but there's no way Carbo's taking out the kid while he rides the streak he's currently on. Huet may have the better goaltending stats, but Price has more wins, the most important stat for goaltenders.

The kids, the kids.

The Canadiens had 10 players in uniform on Saturday night currently aged 25 or younger. Andrei Kostitsyn is 22. Sergei Kostitsyn is 20. Carey Price is 20. The future seems to be hurtling towards the team at a furious rate right now, with callups like Ryan O'Byrne and Maxim Lapierre making solid contributions right after getting the call. The other guys on the list are Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins, Tomas Plekanec, Guillaume Latendresse and of course Kyle Chipchura. Good to see these guys get plenty of ice time and for the most part, make the most of it.

The Lapierre line shut down the Sundin unit on Saturday night. That's what allowed Saku Koivu's line to play a more offensive role and that they did, as Higgins, Koivu and the Kid had some spectacular shifts and were dominant at times. Nice to see the Captain get the monkey off his back, the Habs are a hell of team when he's rolling on all cylinders and creating space.

No one seems to have called for him to be traded anytime recently, so that must be nice.

Tomorrow night's game is the last one at the Bell Centre in 2007. The Habs will hit the road with stops in Atlanta, Tampa, Washington, Miami, Dallas and New York, coming back for January 3rd. If their road success continues, it could be a very merry Christmas in Montreal.

Looking Forward

2007-12-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

Big game tonight.

The Habs need to win one at home. They get nervous in front of the Bell Centre faithful, almost tentative. They don't want to make mistakes or fall behind. They play a much more simple game on the road. They use their speed and skill to make teams pay. At home, they aren't as fast and seem to get into a defensive shell that eventually leads to penalties and losses.

The Habs didn't take a penalty against Philly until 15:09 of the second period, which was a huge reason for their success. They have a lot of trouble killing penalties.

The PK is ranked 27th in the league and the the power play is the the best in the NHL. Obviously, they need to stay out of the box. Saku Koivu needs to stop taking stupid penalties. Andrei Markov needs to keep making those crisp tape-to-tape passes.

Mark Streit was on fire the other night and Yvon Pednault actually said "Mark Streit est en feu.", which my friends and I found to be quite amusing.

There's going to be so many Leafs fans at the Bell Centre tonight that it might not even feel much like a home game, which could work to the Canadiens advantage given their dismal home play this season.

It's Sergei Kostitsyn's first home game, and Carbo says he's going to start the game on the top line with Chris Higgins and Saku Koivu. I liked what I saw from the kid the other day, as his confidence seemed to increase with every shift. He's got NHL talent and fantastic vision.

This game tonight is huge. The Canadiens need to turn the page at home and get two points. Count on a cardiac arrest-inducing game, as these Habs-Leafs tilts so often are.

The Descension to Panic Mode

2007-12-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a few days. This is a product of my inability to talk coherently about the Habs when they're failing miserably. The Canadiens were lucky to take a point from a tired Tampa Bay Lghtning team tonight but at the same time, Tomas Plekanec's brilliant late goal gave Hab Nation another painfully short whiff of what could be with this team.

The fact is, there isn't a dominant player on this team.

Look at the roster, up and down and see it. There are guys who may have been projected, at one time or another, to be brilliant but the fact is that they're not there. There aren't any Alexander Ovechkins on this team but there are encouraging signs.

Not enough to make this team a bona fide contender right now.

I'm a Tomas Plekanec guy. I have been since the Habs played the Carolina Hurricanes and had them on the ropes a few years back before Saku Koivu caught Justin Williams stick to the eye and turned the series around. Plekanec was, in my view, the best Canadiens forward in that series. He won faceoffs, battles and got points. He's capable of doing amazing things given the opportunity.

For me, the problem is that the opportunities aren't there.

Take Tampa as an example. It's plain to see that coach Tortorella leans heavily on Lecavalier, St. Louis and Richards to get it done for him. Those guys get about 40-45% of the ice time for their team and the formula has yielded mixed results. One of those results was a Stanley Cup.

Alex Kovalev plays about five minutes less per game than he did during his best years. Same goes for his linemates, and you could say the same for Koivu and Higgins.

For me, Koivu, Higgins, Kovalev and Plekanec and to a lesser extent Andrei Kostitsyn are catalysts for the forwards and their success on this team. I'd like to see the coach lean on them for a lot more minutes than he does.

If the Habs get scored on and relinquish a lead or fall behind, I don't want to see Tom Kostopoulos or Mathieu Dandenault on the ice. I like those guys, but they're around to get 6-11 minutes of ice per game, shut down the opposition and kill penalties, not to create offense.

People talk about the political climate, taxes and the media as factors that weigh in on why top players don't want to come to Montreal.

That may be somewhat true, but guys also don't want to come here because they're going to get 14-17 minutes of ice time and be expected to produce in a big way. The system is good in theory, but let's be honest, you have to lean on your best players to get results. Scoring isn't going to spread out between everyone evenly. The Habs should be getting most of their offense from five or six guys.

Look at the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are out there killing penalties and doing everything else. You have to lean on your top guys.

The fact that Andrei Markov has stopped producing has me mystified. He now has two points in his last eleven games. He had 17 points in the 19 games before.

This, to me, is an obvious reason why the Canadiens are stinking up the joint.

They were awful tonight and need to either make changes right now or give up on the season and hope for a high pick in next year's draft, which is alleged to be one of the deepest in years.

Let's hope the Habs don't take another David Fischer this time around.

Back on Track?

2007-12-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Not yet. The Canadiens always beat the Bruins. That was their fourth time beating them already this year, and seventh in a row going back to last season.

Chris Higgins is producing, that was his third straight game with a goal.

Carey Price did what he needed to do to pick up the win with 24 saves.

The Habs are better on the road then they are at home. Maybe it's the forced camaraderie, or the lack of insane fans recognizing you everywhere you go. It could be that the pressure feels a lot less intense when they're not under the bright lights of the Centre Bell.

I like they way they looked without Michael Ryder and Patrice Brisebois in the lineup. It's a lot more fun to see a guy in that position who's hungry for a spot and playing hard every shift. Granted, it's hard to accurately gauge the Habs against a Bruins team playing its third game in four nights.

Ryan O'Byrne had two assists and a very solid defensive game. He's on pace for about 110 points if he plays the rest of this year's games. Not gonna happen. However, the signs are encouraging. The key thing will be finding consistency and not letting the pressure get to him.
Easier said than done. He seems like a good kid, and there's always room for an Irishman on my blueline.

I wonder when Jaroslav Halak gets his first start of the year. Habs are home to Carolina and Tampa Bay in their next two games, both are high-powered offenses. Halak was lights-out at home last year, not sure of the exact numbers, but he was either 7-0 or 7-1.

If the Habs can pick up three points in the next two games I will agree that they're back on track. For now, let's just hope they can get it going at home and Guy Carbonneau doesn't call any of his star players out for a little while.

The coach has a mean streak that sometimes manifests itself in tirades against his players and the media. The problem is that it may not always have the desired effect. When the fans are booing you at home, I think you'd rather feel like your coach is on your side than calling you out in public. Carbo called out Andrei Markov and said he wasn't injured. He called out Saku Koivu's leadership and he called out the goaltending. If the Habs beat Carolina tomorrow night, I will have to say that it worked. Sometimes a coaches tirade can help a team, and it's not like Carbo's a jerk. He loves the guys, but like the fans, gets very frustrated when they play far worse hockey then they're capable of.

and...

Mark Recchi's gonna be on re-entry waivers in the next few days, meaning the Penguins pay half of his salary if anyone picks him up. If you're Bob Gainey, do you pick him up, presumably to fill the void left by Ryder's demise?

I wouldn't, but Pierre McGuire says it would be a good fit.

With Scott Niedermayer coming back to Anaheim, will Teemu Selanne be far behind? Speaking of Anaheim, what's going to happen with their salary cap situation? My understanding is that they need to free up some space, and if Selanne comes back it could get even more complicated. Mathieu Schneider could be the odd man out.

Could the Habs bring back one of the key components of their 1993 Stanley Cup run?

Probably not, but stay tuned....

A New, New Low

2007-12-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

On the way to work today, an older guy stopped and told me it took a lot of balls to be wearing the Canadiens tuque I had on my head. I guess you can start calling me BBC (Big Balls Conor).

So the Habs lost to the Red Wings. They're the best team in the NHL (The Wings, not the Habs). If you expected them to win that game, then you're far too optimistic. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom do it all. Best line in the NHL. Niklas Lidstrom doesn't get beat. Get over it, Habs are in Beantown demain soir to take on the Bruins, who should be just what the doctor ordered for their struggles.

The Canadiens have called up Ryan O'Byrne and Maxim Lapierre to try and counteract the freefall they're currently experiencing. They've now lost 8 of their last 12 games. Hab Nation is in panic mode. The team is mentally weak right now, and is being pushed around all over the ice. Cristobal Huet is out for a while, Carey Price has looked weak on many recent goals. Jaroslav Halak is waiting in the wings but it's fairly clear that he's not the answer.

Should be good for O'Byrne to play with Roman Hamrlik, the same guy who took Dion Phaneuf under his wing during his time in Calgary.

Guy Carbonneau is pissed. He called out his goaltender last night after he called out Andrei Markov, who despite leading the league in All-Star votes for defencemen, has been in a freefall. You could draw a direct line between the Canadiens success and Andrei Markov's production. He's now a -10 for the year, looking more and more like Sheldon Souray, only without the point production and willingness to fight.

Saku Koivu has been almost inconsolable after the last two games. I'll get the microphone in his face, and he starts talking, but he's so quiet I can't even hear what he's saying until I listen to it afterwards. He is not impressed to be playing with Bryan Smolinski, who has no business on the first line, especially given his dismal play so far this year.

Michael Ryder is playing scared hockey and the fans are letting him know how they feel. He was booed often last night and wasn't available for comment after the game or after practice today. He needs a two-goal game to get going again as he's currently as low as I've ever seen him.

There is speculation that Saku Koivu could be on the move if things don't improve soon. Given his recent demanour, it wouldn't really surprise me. It must wear a little thin to keep losing and dealing with the media the way he has for the last 10 years or so. I'd love to see Saku Koivu hoist a Stanley Cup, but I'd much rather see it with a CH on his chest.

Time will tell, and things can only improve.

A New Low

2007-12-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Coach Carbonneau told his team that this was the low point of the season following the demoralizing loss. Chris Higgins agreed. Cristobal Huet couldn't hang on in a game that was all but over with the Habs blowing 3-0 and 4-1 leads. The bounces were going their way for most of the game, but the Habs were severely outchanced by a team that outplayed them the entire game.

On the plus side, all four Canadiens goals were scored at even strength. Roman Hamrlik played a hell of a game. Guillaume Latendresse was great. Kyle Chipchura continues to improve with each game and reward his coaches growing faith in him. Alex Kovalev continues to look like a superstar.

On the downside, Saku Koivu looked very tired. Patrice Brisebois lack of speed and penchant for mistakes is becoming more blatant. Michael Ryder is playing with no confidence and is starting to get booed at home. Cristobal Huet did let the game slip away after looking like he might get a shutout for a while. Bryan Smolinski played poorly and took an incredibly stupid penalty late in a one-goal game.

The Habs didn't deserve to win, but sure looked like they would.

A lot of fans left after the Habs fourth goal. It will never cease to amaze me how people leave a game that clearly isn't over to beat traffic or get to the bar a bit earlier. Morons.

Radek Bonk of all people scored the tying goal and did it again in the shootout. I wasn't the least bit surprised when the Preds tied it up, and even less surprised that the Habs couldn't get the winner in OT. They're tired and let one slip away.

Now the best team in the NHL in town on Tuesday. No one said it would be easy.

Gamenight in Newark

2007-11-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

Habs in Newark tonight. Haven't won in New Jersey since 2002.

Brodeur's career record against the Canadiens: 33-12-5, 1.74 GAA.

Scary.

But the kid goes for the Habs tonight, Carey Price making back-to-back starts for the second time this year.

It will be the 14th and last game of a crazy month for the Habs. November saw them go 7-6-0. It was a tough month full of divisional games and back to back situations. After this weekend, it's onto a more normal style schedule for the Habs with more Tuesday and Thursday night games.

Game Notes: Devils are 8-4-1 in November. Patrik Elias has 29 points in 36 career games against the Habs. Marty Brodeur has seven career shutouts against Montreal. Alex Kovalev has 44 points in 60 career games against the Devils. Bryan Smolinski has 30 points, including 16 goals, in 41 career games against New Jersey. Cristobal Huet is 0-6-0 in his career against the Devils.

and...

What a game between the Sens and Predators last night. Looked like Daniel Alfredsson had sent it to OT with a beaut, then Martin Erat comes right back and scores with 22 seconds to go. That's 5 losses in a row for the Senators. The Habs could be right on their ass if they pick up a couple of wins this weekend. Nashville comes to the Bell Centre tomorrow night. Huet gets the start.

Habs Win A Close One

2007-11-27T20:43:00.000-08:00

The hungry Toronto Maple Leafs did everything they could to keep that shit-eating grin on Mats Sundin's face, but they lost. Unfortunately, the grin remained after the loss, apparently the result of Sundin wearing a mouth guard, rather than him actually eating shit, which would've been AWESOME.

Seriously though, the Habs won in a shootout. The Leafs are arguably the worst shootout team in the NHL and they showed it tonight. Even with Paul Maurice keeping the Zamboni on the ice for an unprecendentedly(is that a word?) long amount of time, the Leafs couldn't shut the door.

Carey Price is good. Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft are a couple of backups who are never going to be 45 game winners in the NHL.

Now.

The Canadiens deserved to lose. But they won. That's what happens when you have a premier goaltender between the pipes. Expect Carey Price to continue to improve, his performance tonight would be easy to overlook due to how easy he made it look. He's unflappable.

The kid hasn't dominated anyone for a shutout yet, but he's gotten his team wins and looked stellar in the process. Stellar. There's a word used to describe excellence in goaltending. A word that's been used far too seldom around here in the last few years.

It's Tuesday, why are there only three games tonight?

The NHL schedule is downright strange. Once again, the Habs will play a Friday-Saturday back-to-backer(sorry about all the hyphons) and this week, they'll get three days off in between. Why not have them play a classic Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday week?

Hopefully the NHL does something about the wacky schedules this offseason. It's getting out of hand. The Habs are coming off a period in which they played six games in nine days. That's too much for any team.

I'm watching the Ducks-Canucks game right now and I can't believe how the Ducks play the game. They are the most physical team out there, with absolutely no control over their emotions. This is the same style that brought them so much success last year, but not having Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer is going to hurt them until they both pull a Roger Clemens and put the Ducks back into the forefront of the race for the Stanley Cup once again.

Only without the steroids.

I'm at practice tomorrow to relay any tidbits and tallywackers I hear from what I hope will be an upbeat and happy group.

Gamenight & State of the Nation

2007-11-27T07:11:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens are in Hogtown for a big one tonight. Michael Ryder is off the first line. Guillaume Latendresse takes his place. Carey Price in goal. The Leafs desperately need a win.

With all the hoopla about Guy Lafleur saying the Habs looked like a bunch of fourth-liners on Saturday night, it's easy to forget that maybe they did. That was a brutal showing by the home team. After coming out of the gates strong, they faltered big-time and barely showed up for most of the night.

Saku Koivu replied to #10's barb by saying "I don't think a team of fourth liners would have the best power-play in the NHL."

True.

However, if the Canadiens continue to perform the way they did during Saturday night's game, they can kiss the #1 PP tag goodbye very soon.

Teams are letting the Habs do whatever they want on the perimeter and checking them tightly down low during man-advantage situations. The Habs need to find a way to respond to this and soon. What happened to the one-timer?

If anything can make Canadiens fans feel a bit better about what's been going on with the team in the last few days, it's the State of the Crown Jewel of MLSE, the Smurfs they call a hockey team at the ACC.

Mats Sundin is basically a one-man show this year and life for Paul Maurice, who should never have taken the job in the first place, and John Ferguson Jr, is not getting any easier. The Leafs solutions to their problems have long been veteran free-agents and trading for veteran talent. There are very few homegrown prospects succeeding in the organization. The future looks grim. JFJ will be the first to go, unless he offers up Maurice as a sacrificial lamb. It's not Maurice's fault he's been given shoddy personnel to work with during his tenure in Toronto.

It's a must-win game for both teams, much more so for the Leafs, here's hoping the Habs blow them out of the water and things start to change in the front office of one of the sorriest franchises in the NHL.

and....

Andrei Markov needs to get rolling offensively!! The Habs early success coincided with him averaging basically a point per game. During their recent slide he has been virtually invisible offensively.

A quick NFL note: Safety Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound after a home invasion. How do NFL players always seem to get caught up in this stuff? I will remember Taylor as one of the hardest hitting players I've ever seen, a guy who made receivers think twice before catching a deep ball or a ball across the middle. It's a sad sad story, and one we've heard far too often.

Thoughts and Musings

2007-11-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens are currently in a freefall.

It's not panic time yet, but the team needs to get back to the things that brought them success early in the season.

Losing three games in eight days against a divisional rival is tough to swallow. Buffalo is back into the thick of the Eastern conference race thanks to their four-game winning streak, three of which came against the Habs.

This is a Sabres team that is a skeleton of the one that dominated the NHL last year on the way to the President's Trophy. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury are gone. Teppo Numminen is still out with his heart problem. Thankfully, we won't see them again for quite some time and the Canadiens should be happy about it.

The Habs still have a respectable record (12-8-1-2).

Their record against the Sabres is now 2-3.

Against the Sens, they're 0-3.

So six of their eight regulation losses have come against two teams.

Fast, skilled teams. Teams the Canadiens are supposed to match up well against. This simply hasn't been the case. In fact, the Habs were thoroughly outclassed in both recent games against the Sabres. They can bitch all they want about the call against Mike Komisarek on Friday night, but the fact is that Saku Koivu interfered with Ryan Miller on an earlier goal, this is the way these things go. If you're playing the game in such a way that a single penalty call turns the game against you, you're doing something wrong.

It's extremely disheartening to see early chances with no goals to show for them. That's exactly what happened at the Bell Centre tonight. The Habs, like their fans, get down on themselves when they can't get an early lead.

Good teams overcome these things and find ways to put the puck in the net. Brian Campbell's Sabres are starting to look like one of those teams. The score would have been much more lopsided had it not been for Cristobal Huet's heroics.

Campbell logged 27:49 of ice time, was a +2 on the night, and got an assist and blocked seven Canadiens shots. He quarterbacks his teams offense while paying the price in his own zone.

Alex Kovalev had five hits and two shots on goal. This is a problem. You don't want your best offensive player getting more hits than chances.

We could discuss stats ad nauseum, but the key thig is, the Habs are too reliant on their special teams. There's bound to be ups and downs in any given season, but the key thing is to adapt and continue to find ways to score goals and win games.

When a game ends, wipe it from your mind and move on.

On to Toronto for a HUGE game on Tuesday.

Gamenight in Buffalo

2007-11-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

Habs in Buffalo tonight, exactly one week after getting tossed around in a 4-1 loss in the same building. The Sabres seem to be finding their stride after a slow start to their season. Ryan Miller is starting to look like the dominant goaltender that emerged last year. In his last seven games, Miller has posted a GAA of 1.86, and has gone 3-4-0.

The Canadiens possess the best road record in the Eastern Conference (7-3-1).

The Sabres are at 8-10-1, having played only 19 games, the Habs have played 21. They're (6-4-0) at home.

This home-and-home date represents the 4th and 5th meetings between the two teams already this year. The home team has won the first three, with the Habs getting two wins at the Bell Centre.

Derek Roy has 9 points in 8 games in his career against the Canadiens.

Trade rumours are stupid. They never seem to actually come true. Patrick Marleau? Shawn Horcoff? Why would anyone want to move those guys? Who could the Habs give up to get guys like them? They need a winger, not a centre.

Well, they could use Lecavalier or Thornton, but I don't think those guys are available.

Interesting to see that the Leafs had a chance to pick up Lecavalier back in 2001 when he fell out with coach John Tortorella. In typical Leafs fashion, they opted out of the deal, undoubtedly going for a more "right now" solution.

If Carey Price gets the win tonight, he'll be 6-1-1. Hard to argue with that kind of success.

Gamenight in Uniondale

2007-11-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

The Islanders, one of the the snooze-inducing teams in the New York area, are playing very boring but effective hockey. Rick DiPietro has been a force in goal and he continues to be one of the best puck-handlers at his position. He's 4-5 with a 2.34 GAA in his career against the Canadiens.

Josef Vasicek is leading them with 8 goals, Mike Comrie is tops with 17 points. Ted Nolan is a hell of a coach, and has been getting a good effort from his team all year long. He knows how to maximize his players potential.

The Habs have had difficulty picking up wins at Nassau Coliseum since 1998. In 17 games since Jan. 8 of that year, they're 4-12 with one tie.

Cristobal Huet looks to bounce back tonight after losing three games in a row. He's been jittery at times and has not received the support he needs from his teammates in the defensive zone over that span.

Count me among those who would rather see Carey Price in net. The Canadiens just seem to absorb the poise and confidence he plays with. When he's out there, the entire team seems more relaxed.

Price is 5-1-1. (5-2)

Huet is 6-5-2. (6-7)

It's starting to become more and more clear that it's not a question of if Price steals the starting job, but rather when. The numbers that really matter are wins and losses. Price's stats are skewed by having given up meaningless goals when games were already out of reach. He has also given up some soft goals. This happens to the best goaltenders, but some of the goals do leave you scratching your head.

It seems pretty clear that Price gives the Habs a better chance to win, and he's a workhorse, having proved that point by playing in over 82 games at various levels over the course of last season.

Big Night

2007-11-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens came out strong, played well and lost. This is the third game in a row now where they haven't gotten strong goaltending. It wasn't necessarily bad goaltending, but not good enough either. It seems the Habs need spectacular goaltending to win games.

The team defense, or lack thereof, was something that was mentioned ad nauseam by players and coaches after the game. For the second game in a row, the Habs played a run and gun, back and forth game. The difference is, as Chris Higgins pointed out, the Senators are just too skilled and strong to play that game against. They need to tighten it up.

Every game is huge for this team, with two more big road games coming up in Long Island and then on to Buffalo. They need four points.

Now.

Larry Robinson was one of the best to ever patrol the Habs blue line. Number 19 was eloquent and humble in his speech to the fans at the Bell Centre and at home.

Lou Lamoriello, who was briefly booed in his introduction, (because he fired Claude Julien?) spoke well and introduced his good friend to the fans, who were their typical noisy and jubilant selves during the pre-game ceremony.

When he was asked about what was his greatest memory of his 20 season career he replied, "That would be like eating a can of beans and trying to pick out which one gave you gas."

It was a moving ceremony, one I was lucky enough to enjoy with several members of the media all of whom were impressed by the events. The Canadiens know how to honour the franchise's greats.

The Senators are a classy bunch as well, and Robinson mentioned how honoured he was that their entire team was on the bench and ice for the entire ceremony. They remind me of the Red Wings team a few years back, a year after they were ousted from the playoffs early after setting a record for points in a season and winning the Presidents Trophy. They played like a team afire and went on to win the Cup that year.

The good news is, the Canadiens once again proved they can make a game of it against the Sens.

The bad news is, they've picked up exactly 0 points in 3 games against their divisional rivals so far this year.

Five more to go.

Gamenight: Ottawa & #19 Finally Retired

2007-11-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight was one of those games i circled on my Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar at the start of season. Actually I'm lying, it's a Hello Kitty calendar i stole from my little sister, but the fact is, this date was circled.

The best team in the NHL right now is in town. The Sens own a 15-3-0 record. Daniel Alfredsson is scary good. 15 goals, 25 points. Dany Heatley has the most assists on the team, with 13. They're coming off a 3-0 loss against mighty Toronto, so you know they're going to be hungry. This is their first visit to the Bell Centre this year, the Habs lost both meetings in Ottawa so far this season, but both games were close.

Cristobal Huet is in goal after the Habs got back-to-back weak performances for the first time this year on Friday and Saturday, with both their goaltenders having difficulty.

Larry Robinson, who patrolled the Habs' blue line for 17 of his 20 NHL seasons, is finally being honoured by his team for his unbelievable contribution to the teams of the 70s. Robinson won 6 Stanley Cups. One Conn Smythe Trophy. Two Norris trophies. 958 points.

I never had the pleasure of seeing him play live. I've seen the highlights of big, dominant d-man who left it all on the ice every night out there. Here's a link of "Big Bird" absolutely levelling Gary Dornhoffer. Wow.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JKd4HJNSbQg

This guy scored, hit and won.

This is one of those jersey retirements that fans and media have been calling for since his retirement. One of the best defenseman of all time. I get to talk to him at the first intermission!!

Here's the Legends of Hockey piece on Robinson.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lJioJrjnY6I

Gameday Musings

2007-11-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens host the Bruins at the Bell Centre tonight. They've had a lot of success in this situation for the last few years.

Last night was painful to watch. The Habs defense, which has been garnering praise all year, looked sluggish and the forwards were no better. The alleged top line continued to struggle on both ends of the ice. Whether it was Michael Ryder, Tom Kostopoulos or whomever else Carbo stuck with Koivu and Higgins, they struggled mightily.

Cristobal Huet wasn't superhuman, allowing three goals on twelve shots in the first period. The Habs are a team that has a lot of difficulty when their goaltending isn't superb. The bottom line is, looking tired and sluggish isn't an option for this team. They looked tired this morning as well. It's not encouraging to see at this point of the season. There's still a lot of hockey to be played.

Carey Price is in the net tonight, looking for his fifth win. This isn't exactly a must-win game, but the Habs need a strong performance after last night's debacle. Ryan Miller made it look incredibly easy as his teammates were buzzing all over the ice and resembling the strong Sabres team of last year.

Dropkick Murphys at Metropolis tonight, should be a good time.

and...

Did you see Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund take out Minnesota's Mikko Koivu with a two-handed slash to the ankle? Wow. It's amazing what these guys continue to do to each other.

No respect.

Or maybe it's more of a Finland-Sweden rivalry, something like the East coast vs West coast thing that engulfed the hip hop community in the 90s.

Tidbits & Tallywackers

2007-11-16T12:12:00.001-08:00

James Duthie proves to everyone that he's kinda funny, in an inoffensive and nice kind of way in this blog entry about etiquette for NHL trash-talking. Sean Avery can play for my team anytime by the way. This entire incident was a bunch of BS and had it occurred against any other any NHL team, we would have never heard about it. Can you imagine if this had happened between Ray Lewis and Joey Porter on an NFL field? School yard tattle-tailing is what it was.

Read Duthie

Courtesy of canadiens.com, here's a fluffy piece on what's going on in Hamilton with the Bulldogs. It's hard to get a feel for the team reading these propaganda-ish pieces but it's nice to hear some news about Maxim Lapierre, Jaroslav Halak, Sergei Kostitsyn and co. How long will Halak stay in North America? If the Anaheim Ducks can put Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers after dangling him as trade bait for two months, then it's pretty clear that NHL goaltenders currently have little or no value.

Read fluff piece

Former no. 22 and member of the 1993 Stanley Cup champion Canadiens Benoit Brunet is a member of the RDS team and he has this piece on Michael Ryder and Carbonneau's decision to drop him to the third line, at least for now. He also talks about how awesome Carey Price is.

Benoit Brunet speaks

Speaking of Carey Price, he joined Andie Bennett for the Totally Broad quiz last night on her show, which is coincidentally titled Totally Broad and airs Thursday nights at 11 on the Team 990. Here is a transcript of the awesome exchange.

Andie Bennett: What was your favourite movie as a child?

Carey Price: 8 Seconds

AB: Favourite sport to play besides hockey?

CP: Probably golf.

AB: What do you normally eat before a game?

CP: Penne and chicken

AB: What's your biggest irrational fear?

CP: Losing.

AB: That's rational, I was thinking more along the lines of snakes, spiders......

CP: Oh. Bulls?

AB: Favourite dessert?

CP: Vanilla ice cream

AB: How far would you go on Survivor?

CP: I think I could probably survive pretty long, I dunno, I get along pretty well with everybody

AB: What's your TV guilty pleasure?

CP: The Simpsons

AB: What's a non-hockey skill people would be surprised that you have?

CP: I don't really have any skills. I can ride and rope. That's about it.

AB: Embarrassing habit?

CP: Picking my teeth after dinner.

AB: What do you prefer, a woman in jeans and a t-shirt, or heels and a mini-skirt?

CP: Jeans and a t-shirt.

AB: Favourite city to party in after a win?

CP: Williams Lake

AB: Sports icon you'd like to meet?

CP: I think I'd like to meet... Tom Brady.

AB: Famous person you'd most like to meet?

CP: George Strait

AB: Favourite song to sing in the shower?

CP: I don't really sing in the shower, but if I did, it'd probably be Heartland by George Strait.

How awesome is this kid? He seems impervious to pressure and oblivious to being cool.

I love it.

and...

your gameday preview is courtesy of nhl.com today!!! enjoy!!!

nhl.com Habs-Sabres preview

Off Day Musings

2007-11-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

So the Habs are getting ready for a couple of huge back-to-back division games this weekend. It will be interesting to see how much juggling of the lines goes on. Cristobal Huet starts on Friday in Buffalo and Carey Price goes on Saturday night against the Bruins.

Everyone's talking about Carey Price as he continues to emerge as a dominant goaltender with nerves of steel and ice running through his veins. Habs goaltending coach Rollie Melanson, who has seen a few dominant goaltenders over the years, compared Carey Price at his current pace to Patrick Roy and others. Pierre McGuire joined Melnick in the afternoon today and told us he thinks Price is further along in his development at this point in his career than Martin Brodeur was.

Whoa.

That's some pretty high praise, and well deserved. Let's just hope the kid doesn't listen to all the hype and get a big head. That definitely seems unlikely.

The Canadiens are rolling and it's fun to hear the national media heap praise upon them. The Globe & Mail has been lambasting the Leafs for everything that's been going on with them on and off the ice.

What are the odds that John Ferguson Jr leaked the Jiri Tlusty naked photo story to put a temporary hold on fans and media calling for his firing? It's funny how these ridiculous stories get more attention when your team is slipping down the standings and playing terrible hockey.

and...

In other news, Sheldon Souray has been confirmed as out indefinitely by the Edmonton Oilers with no return date in sight. His shoulder injury appears to be much worse than originally thought.

CBC sports has a piece about Cristobal Huet and his quest for an injury-free year.

check it out HERE

Game Preview tomorrow...

Practice & Fallout

2007-11-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

So Tom Kostopoulos pointed out that he has played on a number one line in the NHL today following practice at Denis Savard Arena. It was under the quickly-fired Eddie Olczyk in Pittsburgh.

Kostopoulos was on the first line with Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins at practice, replacing the beleaguered Michael Ryder. He clearly doesn't have the hands to be a first-line NHLer but it's also clear that Guy Carbonneau is aching to try something else, and Ryder is out of slack. The other options currently available to Carbo are limited: Guy Latendresse, who is still playing through some pain from his back injury, Mathieu Dandenault, whose offensive upside is limited, and Mikhail Grabovski, whose physical presence leaves much to be desired.

All of this smacks of putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. The Habs' second line has carried them offensively through the last four games, but the Koivu line needs to step it up. Is the answer in Hamilton?

Sergei Kostitsyn has been Hamilton's top forward so far this year, and both of his linemates from the London Knights last year are making waves at the NHL level. Is he ready? Bob Gainey doesn't like to rush his players and his patient approach paid huge dividends with Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec. Rushing guys can be disastrous (see: Latendresse, Guy).

So it looks like we'll see Kostopoulos on the top line Friday night in Buffalo. Ryder will see less ice, which won't make breaking his slump any easier. He seems to be overanalyzing everything and trying to make the perfect play instead of his usual shooting and crashing the net style.

Bob Gainey is certainly looking better and better for not offering him a long term deal in either of the last two offseasons. Ryder is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, which is usually a situation that will light a fire under a guy's ass. Not so far.

The important thing is, the Habs continue to win games and are getting unbelievable defense and goaltending. Carbo and Gainey are looking smarter and smarter with each passing day. Don't expect to sustain this level of success all year, injuries and other factors will obviously come into play eventually.

But enjoy the good times, as Mike Komisarek and the boys are.

and...

I don't think anyone, myself included, hates the Leafs as much as Alex Kovalev. Did you see him react to Komi's OT winner? He jumped like his name was LeBron James.

Beautiful.

Habs Beat the Leafs!!

2007-11-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

So the game's over. Maniacal Habs fans are calling for Carey Price to be installed as the team's starting goaltender.

MIKE KOMISAREK scored on a BREAKAWAY to win it.

Seriously.

4-3 was the final score. The Canadiens played an awful 2nd period but managed to tie it up every time the Leafs pulled ahead. Alex Kovalev has nine goals so far. Tomas Plekanec is looking like Jere Lehtinen on the forecheck.

Carey Price. He is the real deal. It's no fluke that he's where he's at. Having a presence like him behind the Habs makes all the difference in the world. Confidence with a capital C. If you turn the puck over, chances are Price will make the stop. He was blameless on all the Leafs goals.

Anderi Markov took four minor penalties but scored a huge goal and continues to look like one of the best defensemen in the world.

Raise your hand if you'd rather see Sergei Kostitsyn (or Joel Bouchard?) (who's a defenseman)on the first line instead of Michael Ryder.

Hell, get Kirk Muller out there.

Ryder's struggles continue. His inability to finish is exceeded only by his inability to create chances for his linemates. Something needs to change.

Tomorrow's a new day, I'm going to practice, and I will certainly ask all the tough questions, and all three of my blog readers (you know who you are!) will be rewarded by the extension of my wisdom.

and...

I'm siding with Sean Avery on this whole Jason Blake fiasco. I wish we had him on the Habs.

Gamenight: Toronto Maple Leafs

2007-11-13T06:31:00.001-08:00

The Canadiens take their sputtering offense down the 401 to take on the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre tonight. Carey Price will be in goal for the Habs, getting his first chance against the Leafs in his young career.

The Canadiens have had trouble scoring goals lately, getting only 7 goals in their last four games. They're hoping the Leafs defense, which has given up an NHL-worst 65 goals so far this year, will be the cure to their problems.

This is the third meeting between the archrivals so far this year, with Toronto winning each of the first two by a one goal margin. Toronto netminder Vesa Toskala picked up wins in both of those games and Cristobal Huet was on the hook for both losses against the Leafs.

The Toronto Sun is reporting that the Leafs will be wearing their white road jerseys tonight instead of their blue home sweaters. This is apparently due to the fact that the Leafs are 3-4-3 wearing the blue shirts and 3-3-1 in the white.

The Leafs have bested the Canadiens with a record of 10-4-4 against them since the NHL lockout.

It's exciting that the kid is getting a chance to play against the Leafs. Huet is having a great year (again) but seems to have a mental issue against the Leafs. Hopefully Price will once again be cooler than Miles Davis between the pipes and the Leafs won't get a free win like did at the Bell Centre 10 days ago.

Should we be worrying about the Habs power play? They haven't scored too many power play goals lately, but then they haven't been getting many power plays. If the slow Leafs can stay out of the box, or get a disproportionate amount of power plays, they could once again come out on top.

Alex Kovalev mentioned yesterday that the Habs tend to come out too strong, and act like it's a Game 7 situation for these games against Toronto and that they need to keep it simple in order to be successful. He's right. The Canadiens are the better, faster team and shouldn't let the Leafs stay in games.

other notes...

Garth Murray has been picked up on waivers by the Florida Panthers. He was a hard-working winger who wasn't scared to drop the gloves. I have nothing but praise for him, and wish him the best going forward.

For me, the highlight of his career in Montreal was Bob Cole in the 2005 playoffs with this memorable call,

"Here comes Murray, he can really fly."

or maybe it was

"Here comes Murray, he's got wings!"

Not the most accurate description I've ever heard but flattering nonetheless.

In other news, Mike Komisarek is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves as a legitimate number one defenceman in the league, and arguably the hardest hitting player out there as well.

News From the Farm

2007-11-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

Some news from the System: Kitchener Rangers defenseman Yannick Weber is one of the hottest players in the OHL right now. The Swiss native, drafted in 2007 in the third round, has racked up 24 points, including 11 goals, in 17 games, for second place among league defensemen in scoring.

Sticking to the OHL, PK Subban, an offensive defenseman playing for the Belleville Bulls, has 18 points in 18 games so far this year.

Another prospect of note is 2007 first round pick Ryan McDonagh, who has picked up 3 points in 6 games with a plus-2 differential so far this season for the Badgers at the University of Wisconsin.

Finally from the Western Hockey League: after a strong October, the Canadiens 2006 third round pick, forward Ryan White, hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. The center is first among Calgary Hitmen scorers with 23 points in 20 games. He’s also the team’s third-most penalized player with 40 minutes spent in the box.

Hier Soir

2007-11-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

The Canadiens second line came out to play last night and Carey Price helped the team hang on for a 2-1 victory by stopping 28 out of 29 shots.

The Habs got a huge penalty kill on a 5 on 3 situation for 1 minute and 58 seconds late in the third period with Mike Komisarek and Francis Bouillon in the box.

The Habs second line came out to play as Alex Kovalev got his eighth goal of the season and Tomas Plekanec got the winner. Andrei Kostitsyn assisted on both goals as he looks like he might be here to stay on the second trio.

A stronger Canadian dollar and higher ticket prices have made George Gillett Jr's team even more valuable. The Habs jumped to fourth on its 30-team NHL scale, Forbes Magazine's rankings of the value of NHL teams says the Canadiens are now estimated to be worth $283 million, up $53 million from last season.

The Canadiens are in Ottawa to take on the league-leading Senators tomorrow afternoon, the Sens are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals

Gameday: Boston Bruins

2007-11-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

Montreal Canadiens (8-3-3) at Boston Bruins (7-5-2) 7:35pm

The Canadiens begin a four-game road trip tonight in Boston.

It looks like there will be two twenty year old goaltenders between the pipes as Carey Price goes for the Habs, and Tuuka Rask appears to be Claude Julien's choice to make his first NHL start.

The Habs have beat the Bruins four times in a row. They got off to a hot start, winning five of their first seven games but have gone 2-3-2 since.

Montreal has yet to trail after the first period through 14 games this season, outscoring its opponents 16-7 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Habs have won six of their last eight games.

The Bruins, meanwhile, have scored just four goals in their last three games, and have been held to two goals or fewer nine times in their 14 contests. They are tied for 28th in the league with 32 goals on the season.

The Bruins played in Buffalo last night and dropped the game 2-1 in overtime. The Canadiens need to capitalize on the possibly tired Bruins by coming out of the gates strong.

If the first part of the season is any indication, the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden shouldn't be a factor. With the Patriots re-writing history, the Red Sox winning another World Series and Boston College vying for a National Championship, no one in Beantown seems to have time for the Bruins.

Off Day

2007-11-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

The Northeast division leading Ottawa Senators carved up the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 last night and are now 13-1 to start the season. They lead the Habs by 7 points after only 14 games.

The Canadiens took the Bell Centre ice at noon today for practice. The team is in Beantown to take on the Bruins tomorrow night as the Bruins are looking for a little revenge after getting blown out 6-1 by the Habs earlier this season.

The NHL all-star ballot was released yesterday and the Canadiens have three players on it. Cristobal Huet, Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu can all be voted for to appear at January's all-star game in Atlanta. Voting begins on Nov 13th, and continues until January 2nd.

Guy Carbonneau has now made it official. Price in the nets against Boston. Huet is coming off a shutout and has dominated Boston through the last two seasons but on the other hand, Price has a long career of games against the Bruins ahead of him, so why not get him a start now?

I would've preferred to see Price on Saturday against the Leafs, who Huet struggles against. That would have opened the door for Huet to make back-to-back starts this week against the Sabres and Bruins. Price could've been evaluated for Saturday's game based on the results from the week.

Last Night

2007-11-06T06:13:00.000-08:00

Cristobal Huet answered his critics with a convincing shutout win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Habs goalie stopped all 29 shots he faced and was particularly sharp in the first and third periods.

Tomas Plekanec got the game winning goal on a feed from new linemate Andrei Kostitsyn, who also played a solid game for the Habs, filling in for Guilaume Latendresse, who injured his back in the warmup.

Andrei Markov got two assists and logged just under 25 minutes of ice time as the Canadiens beat the Sabres in regulation for the second in this young season.

Michael Ryder managed a shot on goal but had difficulty again as last years leading goal scorer remains stuck on two goals and four assists on the season.

The Canadiens took only two shots in the third period, one of which was Bryan Smolinski's empty-net winner.

I wrote an additional post about the success of Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik so far this year. Thanks to the miracle that is Windows Vista, it was lost to the ages.

Gamenight: Buffalo Sabres

2007-11-05T06:11:00.001-08:00

Buffalo Sabres (5-6-1) at Montreal Canadiens (7-3-3) 7:35pm

The Canadiens are at the Bell Centre for the last game of a four game homestand tonight as they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to town. The Habs are coming off their third regulation loss of the season against the Leafs on Saturday night.

It looks like Francis Bouillon will be back in the Habs lineup after being missing three games.

This is the second game of the year between the teams, after Roman Hamrlik scored the winner and got the first star in a 4-2 Habs win on Oct 20th.

Buffalo sniper Tomas Vanek has done well in his career against Montreal, including 5 points in his last four games against the Habs.

The Habs will hit the road following tonight's game for a four game stint against divisional rivals, with their 8 of their next 11 games being played on the road overall.

Gamenight: Toronto Maple Leafs

2007-11-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Maple Leafs (5-6-3) at Canadiens (7-2-3)

The Leafs and their fans are in town! Things are looking generally peachy for the Habs right now, as they've picked up points in all but two games this year and have gone 5-0-1 in their last six.

The Leafs are led by Mats Sundin, he's got 20 points in 14 games this year, and will surely have that stupid mouthguard-induced grin on his face all night.

Toronto is without regulars Darcy Tucker, Kyle Wellwood, Carlo Colaiacovo and Bryan McCabe.

Hab-killer Tomas Kaberle is still in the lineup.

Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu have been playing like superstars. Roman Hamrlik is looking like one of the best free-agent acquisitions of the offseason. Tom Kostopulos has been solid and spectacular at times. Brisebois has been ok, all though his play seems to have diminished a bit lately.

The goaltending has been good, not spectacular. Good enough for the second-best record in the East!

The fans will be out in force tonight. The Philly game on Thursday was the most electric atmosphere I've seen at the Bell Centre for a regular season game in a while. Daniel Briere and the Flyers were intimidated by the fans.

What a Game

2007-11-01T21:32:00.001-07:00

The Canadiens dominated the Philadelphia Flyers from start to finish last night in a 5-2 final at the Bell Centre. The Habs outshot the Flyers 41-19 in the game and improved their record to 7-2-3 on the year.

Saku Koivu came out hungry and had an outstanding performance, scoring a goal and setting Guillaume Latendresse up for another as he earned the game's first star.

Daniel Briere was booed the moment he stepped onto the ice and the crowd was on his back all night. He finished the night with an assist and a -2 rating.

Tom Kostopoulos scored his first goal as a Hab on a shorthanded beauty and also mixed it up in a fight with Philly tough guy Ben Eager.

The Canadiens host the Maple Leafs tomorrow night in the teams' first meeting of the year. Toronto has struggled so far this year but the Habs won't take them lightly.

The Ottawa Senators are on top of the Northeast division with a 10-1 record leading the Habs by three points with a game in hand.

Gameday: Philadelphia Flyers

2007-11-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-0) at Montreal Canadiens (6-2-3) 7:30pm

The Habs host Daniel Briere, Mike Richards and the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. The Flyers are in the midst of an eight game road trip. Briere will probably get booed. He has 13 points so far this year. Mike Richards has six goals and is emerging as the superstar he was projected to be coming out of junior.

Hopefully the Flyers can avoid any dirty hits causing serious injury. The Broad Street Bullies have to stay out of the box if they want to steer clear of the league's top power play unit.

Martin Biron starts for the Flyers tonight and the Canadiens will counter with Cristobal Huet. Biron has been outstanding so far this year with a record of 7-2-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average.

The Habs are looking to bounce back after dropping their last game to the Thrashers in their worst performance of the season.

Last year saw the Habs win three out of four games against Philly, with David Aebischer picking up all three victories.

&

How good are the Detroit Red Wings? Henrik Zetterberg is starting to look like the best player in the NHL. He's picked up at least a point in every game so far this year. It's nice to see my second-favourite team kicking all kinds of ass in the Western Conference.

Last Night

2007-10-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Canadiens lost 3-2 to the Atlanta Thrashers in a shootout at the Bell Centre last night. The Habs came out snoozing in the first period as they directed only two shots towards Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg, who picked up his first career win against the Canadiens in his 7th try.

Michael Ryder was late for practice on Tuesday morning and had difficulty during the game, getting only three shifts in the third period as Mathieu Dandenault joined Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins on the top line.

The Canadiens managed to even up the shot totals after putting up only 2 shots in the first period. Higgins and Alex Kovalev kept the league's top power play going as they both scored goals on the man advantage.

Carey Price stole a point for the Canadiens in his home debut. He looked fantastic in the first period and both goals he allowed in the second were the result of giveaways by Canadiens defencemen.

Josh Gorges was on the hook for the most glaring of the two but Andrei Markov also coughed the puck up on a play that resulted in the Thrashers first goal. It wasn't Markov's best night. The Canadiens best defenceman was due for an off night as he's been amazing so far this year.

Kovalev got two points. Played another great game. He's got six goals in eleven games.

Hopefully the hangover from a great road trip will be done when Daniel Briere and the Flyers roll into town tomorrow night, with two more huge points at stake.

&

Carey Price has won the October segment of the Molson Cup!! Last night's first star passed Tomas Plekanec in the standings for the monthly award, becoming the youngest Hab to accomplish the feat in the process.

Gameday: Atlanta Thrashers

2007-10-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Atlanta Thrashers (3-8-0) at Canadiens (6-2-2) 7:35pm, Bell Centre

Put on your Hillary Clinton costume and head down to the Bell Centre and scare some little kids. It's All Hallows Eve, and the scariest lady in America is a popular costume choice.

The Thrashers are 3-2 in their last 5 games after starting the season 0-6 and firing head coach Bob Hartley. Ilya Kovalchuk has 7 points in his last 4 games. Atlanta goalie Johan Hedberg has never beaten the Habs, he is 0-5-0 against them in six career games.

Carey Price is getting the first home start of his career. He will follow Saturday's eight consecutive saves in the shootout by trying to keep the lowly Thrashers off the scoresheet. The fans are going to be in full effect, cheering him on.

Andrei Markov, Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev have been outstanding so far this year. The Canadiens have been using their speed and puck-moving skills to generate a ton of power play opportunities. The power play is on fire so far, the Habs are operating at a 30.4% efficiency rate this year. If the Thrashers take early penalties, look for the Canadiens to jump all over their chances.

Another good sign is the Canadiens are staying out of the penalty box. Sure, their penalty kill isn't as good as last year but a big part of the success is a lack of people like Mike Johnson and Sheldon Souray taking stupid penalties.

The Canadiens will honour Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski and Alex Kovalev, who all reached the 1000 game plateau this year. Patrice Brisebois will be playing in his 800th game as a Canadien tonight.

Francis Bouillon is out of the lineup tonight with an undisclosed shoulder injury. Josh Gorges should take his place.

Rumours and Speculation

There are a few Eastern teams off to disappointing starts this year. Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers haven't been getting the goaltending they were looking for and the talk is that Jaroslav Halak could be headed to either team. The players heading the other way are rumoured to be Colby Armstrong from the Pens or Sean Avery from the Rangers.

Both are gritty forwards who can skate and play a physical game. It's still early in the year however, and who knows what the Habs goaltending situation will look like down the road? There's too much talent in the system right now to give up a blue-chip goaltending prospect for a goon like Avery.

Finally... How much fun is it to watch the Leafs get embarassed on home ice? 7-1 to the Washington Capitals. Say what you will about the Habs, they NEVER get blown out like that, especially on home ice.

What a Week

2007-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

The week is officially over. The numbers are staggering. The Canadiens won their fourth in a row on Saturday night against the Penguins with a solid effort, despite blowing an early 3-0 lead. The efforts of the team were rewarded with extraordinary success on the Power Play.

Alex Kovalev got his 800th career point in his 1000th career regular season game. Saku Koivu has 11 points and is 56% on faceoffs through 10 games. Tomas Plekanec has 10 points over the same span. Andrei Markov already has 2 game-winning goals counting Saturday's shootout winner. Carey Price recovered from some marginal goals against to stop all eight of Pittsburgh shootout attempts on Saturday night. Kyle Chipchura got the first two goals of his blossoming career.

The goaltending has been extraordinary at times, and very solid overall. Carey Price is still looking for his rhythm between the pipes, but looked as calm as a veteran in the shootout situation. Can't wait to see him get a start at home. Seems like he's the type of guy who rises up to the pressure. The Leafs are in town for Hockey night in Canada next week......

Big week ahead. Four straight home games as the Habs welcome the Thrashers on Tuesday, Flyers on Thursday, Leafs Saturday and Sabres on Monday night.

I'm interested to see if Mikhail Grabovski remains with the team. Loved Andrei Kostitsyn getting under "Cindy" Crosby's skin the other night. He riles easily and sure gets away with his share with the NHL officials.

Looking forward to talking to some of the Philadelphia Flyers players and getting their take on the latest ugly incident that their club has been involved in. It's hard to believe that this is already the third such occasion already this year that the Broad Street Bullies have been under a microscope for the on-ice conduct of a player. It's no coincidence. This is a franchise that experienced its most glorious moments while employing a squad full of goons. It's going to be interesting to see how the NHL deals with it. Steve Downie got twenty games, Jesse Boulerice got 25. Does Randy Jones get 30?

Patrice Bergeron was motionless. It was scary.

This kind of stuff has to stop. Whether of not players are injured on the plays, these types of hits happen all the time in the NHL. Often no penalties are called at all.

Perhaps the Flyers should lose a spot on their 23-man roster for the length of the suspension. It really seems as if the message isn't getting across with the league's handling of the issue so far.

Too bad for Randy Jones. Young player, off to a great start this year, caught in the heat of the moment in a hockey play that really could have gone either way. It's more bad news for the NHL, as this seems to be pretty much the only type of thing that gets the game National media attention in the States and the game deserves better than that.

Whoa!

2007-10-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

So 13 goals in two games. 3-0-0 this week with 17 goals scored and only 7 goals allowed. The Cardiac Canadiens refuse to lose. Bring on Pittsburgh!!

It's nice to see the team succeed. It's also easy to forget that the team got off to a similar start last season, only to see everything go south right around Christmas time. The key to this season is sustaining success over the long term.

Five power play goals!! Sheldon who?

Tomas Plekanec. Four points. This guy's for real, the Habs young guns are turning heads. The league has to take notice. On the other side of the coin is Mikhail Grabovski, who despite occasional flashes of brilliance looks nothing like an NHL player. Not sure what the team's plan is with regards to Andrei Kostitsyn, but I'm hoping to see him in the lineup tomorrow night. Hungry to show what he can do.

The Habs went undefeated in Carolina this season. That's right, they won't be back there this year. Same goes for Pittsburgh, they're done going to Steeltown after tomorrow. Nice to get that out of the way.

This team is fun to watch. They can be forgiven for letting up in the third and should be lauded for not letting Carolina turn it into a goonfest in the second.

Here's hoping the team can sustain this level of play over the long term, consistency is the name of the game. Staying out of the box is huge. Using the team speed, which is still underrated is another.

Back tomorrow to preview the game....

Teeing Up the Canes

2007-10-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

It's gameday. The Habs have beaten the Hurricanes once in regulation in their last 12 meetings. They've also beaten them twice in overtime during that span. That means the Hurricanes are 9-1-2 against the Canadiens during that stretch. I'm scared.

The Habs are riding a modest 2 game winning streak, with both wins coming by more than a goal. It's been a well-deserved week of accolades for the team, as everyone besides PJ Stock seems to think they're on the right track. As we all know, this could change rapidly. If the Habs are unable to get any points this weekend, people will jump off the bandwagon faster than Josh Beckett strikes out the side.

The Hurricanes seem to own the Habs the same way the Habs own the Bruins. It's as if something happened during that fateful playoff series a few years ago when the Canes stormed back to beat the Habs and Cam Ward emerged as the elite goaltender he seems to be now. It may even go further back than that.

Eric Staal and company need to be contained and frustrated in order to be beaten. As happy as I've been with the Habs performance so far, I miss Maxim Lapierre. He was just so good at drawing the ire of opposing players, getting them to take bad penalties and take them off of their game. He'll be back, it's just a question of when.

How long can Andrei Kostitsyn sit in the pressbox? He hasn't played in a few games, you'd think he might come out there with something to prove. I'd rather have him in the lineup than Grabovski. His size and hands make him a more viable option than the little German.

It's with a sense of dread that Habs fans approach this weekend, as the city lives and dies with each game. Keep it in perspective: The Canes are quickly showing that they're back to being the elite team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago. There's a lot of firepower in that lineup. The Habs have to stay out of the box and not let them get too comfortable in front of the net.

Bon match.