Since I've nothing new or particularly relevant to talk about, today I'm going to touch on several rumours and questions surrounding the Habs.
Trade talk abounds. Bob Gainey was reportedly at the Rangers-Penguins game last night. Was he scouting the Penguins for Friday night's game? Probably not. Reports indicate the Rangers are interested in moving Petr Prucha. Not sure who they would want in return, but the Rangers are under intense pressure to be a dominant team this year after signing Chris Drury and Scott Gomez to huge contracts in the offseason. Prucha would obviously be an upgrade on Guillaume Latendresse for that second line, but it seems that a deal like that would send the wrong message to emerging young players in the Habs' organization.
The other rumour that's been circulating is equally mind-boggling. It's been reported that a deal with the Oilers has been discussed involving Michael Ryder for Shawn Horcoff. This is a strange deal, the Canadiens seem to have a wealth of centres already, so trading one of our first line wingers for another one seems counterproductive. What would that mean for our lines? Plekanec moving to a wing? To the third line?
If I were in charge of the Canadiens, I would put my faith in the young core of Higgins, Plekanec, Komisarek and Markov, the veteran leadership of Hamrlik, Koivu and Kovalev and of course the goaltending of Cristobal Huet and Carey Price. Unless they can get a huge return for one of the goalies in the minors or a non-roster player. The only guys I consider expendable on the current roster are Guillaume Latendresse, Mikhail Grabovski (who both have tremendous upside) and Mathieu Dandenault.
It would be nice to see Maxim Lapierre back on the team, drawing penalties and being a stitch in the side of opposing players. Another guy who has been impressive for the Hamilton Bulldogs is Sergei Kostitsyn. Andrei's little brother played his junior hockey last year for the London Knights on a line with Sam Gagner and Patrick Kane, who are both having solid starts at the NHL level. Not sure if there's a spot on the Habs for the younger Kostitsyn right now, but as long as he stays patient and continues to develop, the sky's the limit.
It's exciting to watch the Canadiens young talent emerging. Chris Higgins seems to be back at, or better than, his pre-injury form of last season. Tomas Plekanec seems to be adjusting to his linemates and getting comfortable with Kovalev at his side. Mike Komisarek is coming into his own and can now be considered a top-tier defenseman in the Eastern Conference. Latendresse has been much better and playing with great energy since being a healthy scratch.
The veterans have been great too. Koivu and Kovalev are tearing it up. Huet has been the early-season Huet we all know and love. Hamrlik never makes mistakes. He's not flashy, but he gets the job done in a huge way.
The future looks bright, let's not do anything rash.
Showing posts with label Cristobal Huet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cristobal Huet. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
What a Night
So The Red Sox are in the World Series. The Patriots are the most dominant NFL team I've ever seen. The Bruins started the season 5-2-0 and strutted into the Bell Centre on a four game win streak.
Boston is riding high on sports glory right now, but the Cristobal Huet and the Habs brought their not-so-beloved Bruins back down to earth with a resounding thud. Huet improved to 6-2-0 against the Bruins in his career, kept the Habs in the game early, and then the forwards took over and put on a passing clinic in what ended up as a 6-1 blowout.
The Canadiens were outshot 32-20 in the contest, but that's where the Bruins dominance ended. Marc Savard looked like an angry punk with a big contract, Zdeno Chara looked like Larry Bird on skates and Manny Fernandez stopped 14 of 20 shots. People had been busy jumping on the Bruins bandwagon for the last few days following their convincing win streak, but the team picked to finish last in the East by many of the "experts" was true to form last night, losing to the Habs for the 13th time in their last 17 meetings.
Alex Kovalev was spectacular. Dominating the flow of the game, especially on the power play. Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec were winning faceoffs all night. The Canadiens were passing the puck so fast at times that I felt my head spinning just watching them. Brisebois, Grabovski and Steve Begin all scored highlight-reel goals.
Breezer actually had what I consider one of his weaker performances this year, but his teammates picked him up, and all four lines played a great game. This team is scary when they get confident and use their speed. Cristobal Huet is starting to look like the magical guy who led the league in save percentage two years ago and was an Eastern Conference all-star last year. Here's hoping he can keep it up all year. Carey Who?
Just kidding. The Habs have a huge weekend coming up with back-to-back road games against two hungry and gifted teams, the Hurricanes and the Penguins. Expect Carey Price to be in goal for one of the two games.
It's always nice to see the Canadiens win a game that doesn't come down to the last ten seconds. Don't expect too many like that but enjoy them.
Boston is riding high on sports glory right now, but the Cristobal Huet and the Habs brought their not-so-beloved Bruins back down to earth with a resounding thud. Huet improved to 6-2-0 against the Bruins in his career, kept the Habs in the game early, and then the forwards took over and put on a passing clinic in what ended up as a 6-1 blowout.
The Canadiens were outshot 32-20 in the contest, but that's where the Bruins dominance ended. Marc Savard looked like an angry punk with a big contract, Zdeno Chara looked like Larry Bird on skates and Manny Fernandez stopped 14 of 20 shots. People had been busy jumping on the Bruins bandwagon for the last few days following their convincing win streak, but the team picked to finish last in the East by many of the "experts" was true to form last night, losing to the Habs for the 13th time in their last 17 meetings.
Alex Kovalev was spectacular. Dominating the flow of the game, especially on the power play. Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec were winning faceoffs all night. The Canadiens were passing the puck so fast at times that I felt my head spinning just watching them. Brisebois, Grabovski and Steve Begin all scored highlight-reel goals.
Breezer actually had what I consider one of his weaker performances this year, but his teammates picked him up, and all four lines played a great game. This team is scary when they get confident and use their speed. Cristobal Huet is starting to look like the magical guy who led the league in save percentage two years ago and was an Eastern Conference all-star last year. Here's hoping he can keep it up all year. Carey Who?
Just kidding. The Habs have a huge weekend coming up with back-to-back road games against two hungry and gifted teams, the Hurricanes and the Penguins. Expect Carey Price to be in goal for one of the two games.
It's always nice to see the Canadiens win a game that doesn't come down to the last ten seconds. Don't expect too many like that but enjoy them.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Getting Ready for the Sens
The Canadiens are taking on the Sens in Ottawa tonight. Carey Price is not getting the same hype he got last week before his start against the Penguins due to the Carbo-Kovalev "dispute". Too bad. If Price does the unthinkable and shuts down Ottawa's high-octane offense he will have beaten two of the Eastern Conferences top offenses in just over a week.
Is it a coincidence that Price is again starting on the road? It seems that Carbo has a plan for the kid, and that plan seems to be to start him in middle-of-the-week road games against strong teams. Not sure how it looked on TV Tuesday night against the Panthers, but there were a few things that stood out for me as I watched from the Pressbox.
1. Cristobal Huet leaned onto his net and hung his head for a good ten seconds following the Panthers goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game. I have never seen him so demoralized. Huet is a competitor. He could taste the victory and the shutout before having it unceremoniously yanked away. There was no doubt in my mind that the Panthers would tie the game when Komisarek got called for slashing. An unfortunate call but it was definitely a penalty.
2. During the shootout, Carey Price moved from his usual spot in the tunnel leading to the Habs dressing room and got onto the edge of the Bench, leaning over the boards and taking in every moment of the first NHL shootout in his young career. He was cheering his teammates, banging on the boards and looking about as enthusiastic as I've ever seen him. Here's a guy whose monotone delivery will become a trademark. The kid is cool as a cucumber and seems to thrive under pressure. Can't wait to see the fans greet him for his first home start.
3. The Canadiens may have gotten a lot of shots, but that doesn't mean they're generating a ton of chances. The Habs haven't been there to finish, whether it's pouncing on rebounds or generating turnovers and odd-man rushes. Michael Ryder has been playing well but seems more reluctant to take shots than last year. The first line is due for a strong offensive performance, they've been playing great and making life difficult for opposing teams with very little to show for it. Not sure if it'll be against Anton Volchenkov and the Sens, but you never know...
Speaking of the Sens, how about Marty Gerber? The Swiss goaltender has been unbelievable so far this year, going 5-1 and with a .941 save percentage. I'd bet my press pass that the Habs are hoping to see the Gerber they lit up against the Hurricanes in the first round a few years ago before Cam Ward won the job and the series got turned around on Justin Williams' high stick almost turning Saku Koivu into Long John Silver (with no call).
Is it a coincidence that Price is again starting on the road? It seems that Carbo has a plan for the kid, and that plan seems to be to start him in middle-of-the-week road games against strong teams. Not sure how it looked on TV Tuesday night against the Panthers, but there were a few things that stood out for me as I watched from the Pressbox.
1. Cristobal Huet leaned onto his net and hung his head for a good ten seconds following the Panthers goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game. I have never seen him so demoralized. Huet is a competitor. He could taste the victory and the shutout before having it unceremoniously yanked away. There was no doubt in my mind that the Panthers would tie the game when Komisarek got called for slashing. An unfortunate call but it was definitely a penalty.
2. During the shootout, Carey Price moved from his usual spot in the tunnel leading to the Habs dressing room and got onto the edge of the Bench, leaning over the boards and taking in every moment of the first NHL shootout in his young career. He was cheering his teammates, banging on the boards and looking about as enthusiastic as I've ever seen him. Here's a guy whose monotone delivery will become a trademark. The kid is cool as a cucumber and seems to thrive under pressure. Can't wait to see the fans greet him for his first home start.
3. The Canadiens may have gotten a lot of shots, but that doesn't mean they're generating a ton of chances. The Habs haven't been there to finish, whether it's pouncing on rebounds or generating turnovers and odd-man rushes. Michael Ryder has been playing well but seems more reluctant to take shots than last year. The first line is due for a strong offensive performance, they've been playing great and making life difficult for opposing teams with very little to show for it. Not sure if it'll be against Anton Volchenkov and the Sens, but you never know...
Speaking of the Sens, how about Marty Gerber? The Swiss goaltender has been unbelievable so far this year, going 5-1 and with a .941 save percentage. I'd bet my press pass that the Habs are hoping to see the Gerber they lit up against the Hurricanes in the first round a few years ago before Cam Ward won the job and the series got turned around on Justin Williams' high stick almost turning Saku Koivu into Long John Silver (with no call).
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