In his post-game media scrum, Michel Therrien was looking at a glass half-full.
“We have to stay positive,” the coach said. “We won the game.”
Yes indeed, your Montreal Canadiens ended their three-game losing streak.
And if their visit to Tampa had ended after 54 minutes of play, we’d be celebrating a 3-0 win and singing a rousing chorus of Happy Days Are Here Again.
As it was, however, the Canadiens needed three saves from Carey Price in the Shootout to leave Tampa with two points were in the bag until the bag sprung a leak.
As has tended to happen with dismaying frequency lately.
Against Boston at the Bell Centre last week, the Canadiens took a 1-0 lead into the third period and lost 2-1.
The next night in Buffalo, they were leading with 12 minutes left in the third period. The Sabres tied the game with two seconds left and won the Shootout.
In Tampa, a three-goal lead evaporated with six minutes to play.
Do you see a pattern here? After blowing on-, two- and three-goal leads, will the Canadiens be up 4-0 heading into the third period against the Panthers Thursday night?
But Therrien is right: A win is a win, and the Canadiens deserved a W after playing an excellent road game for 54 minutes. And it was their first win in the state of Florida since March 5, 2011, when they beat the Lightning 4-2.
Max Pacioretty, who scored twice in that game, is still looking for his first goal this season. Max-Pac had four of the Canadiens 34 shots on goal Tuesday night; but his new line – with Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher – was the Canadiens’ least effective against Tampa Bay.
You raed that right, Habs fans: Max-Pac and the Flying Freshmen were outplayed by Lars Eller and the Lumbering Laggards. The Canadiens’ fourth line had its best game of the season, and Therrien singled out Eller for particular praise, lauding his work ethic and compete level at both ends of the ice.
Eller was on the ice for Tampa Bay’s second and third goals. But don’t let that obscure the fact he’s worked his ass off since being a healthy scratch for the second and third games of the season.
As usual Tomas Plekanec had the most ice time of Canadiens’ centres (21:30) and DD was second at 17:39. But Eller had more ToI, 13:02, than Galchenyuk’s 11:30.
Chucky, who turned 19 on Tuesday, did not have much of a birthday bash. The prize rookie had no shots on goal, looked lost during his 2:46 on the power-play and lost eight of 12 faceoffs.
It’s part of the learning curve for a kid who is going to be a special player. And maybe Galchenyuk and Gallagher, who had one shot on goal but registered three hits, were missing Brandon Prust, their babysitter since the beginning of the season.
Prust played with Desharnais and Erik Cole, both of whom were better than they were against Toronto on Saturday. Of course, they hardly could have been worse.
But Cole looked more interested than he had through the first 11 games. And DD won 11 of his 19 faceoffs.
Draws continue to be a problem for the Canadiens, who are 28th in faceoff efficiency. The ineptitude creates particular problems on special teams. Losing draws costs 10 to 20 seconds on the power-play and lets opponents get right into their set-up when they have the man advantage.
Another problem is penalties. The Canadiens are the most penalized team in the league – by a lot: 22.1 minutes per game to 17.5 minutes for runner-up Philadelphia. And you can bet the Flyers, who visit the Bell Centre this Saturday, aren’t committing a bunch of lazy, pussy-ass obstruction fouls.
Oops! I’ve strayed a bit from Therrien’s positivity message.
Back to the good stuff:
• Price, who struggled in Shootouts last season, was perfect in his first of 2013.
• Andrei Markov played 26:38 and blocked five shots, to match Josh Gorges.
• Raphael Diaz played 24 smart, quality minutes.
• I didn’t notice Alexei Emelin, and that’s a good thing.
• Travis Moen engaged B.J. Crombeen in a hilarious fight that featured Moen throwing body shots.
• The power-play, which has struggled since Boston ran a clinic on how to counter it, needed a 5-on-3 to do it but produced a goal by Brian Gionta.
• Until it was beaten late – and with ace Plekanec in the box – the penalty-kill was highly effective against the second-ranked PP in the league.
So on to the east coast of Florida – where the Panthers blew a 5-3 lead and lost to Washington.
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Well it wasn’t pretty but I agree with many people who have been talking about how the Habs have really been outplaying and out chancing their opponents over the past 4 games. Some bad bounces and especially a couple of bad “allowed goals” have made a significant difference.
The only thing that I have to say is that the team is letting off on the gas in the third – something that they didn’t do in the 5 games after the opening loss to Toronto.
Check my thoughts on last night Here.
Visit me at http://www.bleedbleublancrouge.com
One thing no one seems to be talking about is how much bad luck we’re getting lately. Well, I guess you can throw “crap reffing” into the bad luck category, but there’s other things, like a tying goal going in off TWO pairs of skates. And in the Buffalo game, we were shutting them down in the closing minutes, it was text book, until that bs non goal goal. So all this is to say, luck comes in patterns, and we’re having lots of bad luck now. But it should swing back our way soon.
Thing about the Hedman punch in, is that not only did it (assuming TBay wouldn’t have scored 2 goals another way) open the door to a dangerous 1 goal lead (which you just knew was going to be erased by a PP like that), it allowed Tbay to only fall back by 1 pt relative to us. That is going to count huge and maybe not just to us at the end of the season. In this case, it’s actually not Jackson’s fault since he couldn’t tell it was batted in with the glove. This went to the review room in…Toronto, where after EVERY single angle that we saw CLEARLY showed it to be illegal. If you were the NHL and wanted a clip to show what is deemed as the standard for punching it in with a glove — that was it!
Now, I’m not going to excuse the defensive breakdown, but wth is wrong with the NHL this year? They are all around awful, possibly the worst calls I’ve ever seen by refs since the season started. The key thing here is that Toronto got the time to review this and if there is anyone who thinks they have a frame showing it NOT hitting his glove, please post it, cuz this is ridiculous. Is there even any accountability in this league? Everything is so arbitrary, why even have rules like that?
————–
The Drive for 25
Despite the “sky fall” mentality for the Canadiens this season and due primarily to the last weeks 4 games.
Boston – outplayed, outchanced them, didnt win vs a good team
Buffalo – outplayed, outchanced them, lost in a shootuot that shouldn’t have happened (refer to Fraser’s c’mon Ref column on the TSN website, of course the tying goal with 2 seconds left should not have counted)
Toronto – ugly blowout
Tampa Bay – outplayed, outchanced them, won in a shootout that should never have happened (refer to Fraser’s c’mon Ref column on the TSN website, of course the Hedman handball goal should not have counted)
Despite all this blackness with these 4 games, this team is still 3 points above .500 1/4 the way through this short season
This output equals:
60 points in 48 games
102 points in 82 games
Hedman goal was bs. Knocked it in with his glove. Very obvious. Refs stink
I wonder if Anaheim would trade Patrick Maroon for Kristo and Weber or Diaz?
Habfan17
I meant to add, he is 6’3″ 229 lbs . In 75 games in the AHL he had 74 points, 120 pims and was plus 17
Habfan17
Replying to your comment from early this morning:
a) I knew that about Chelios
b) I didn’t know those details about LeClair, but my comments were not limited to management, they were toward the entire organization
c) 100% agree on Roy. I can’t join the “blame Roy” bandwagon when I know that things could have been rectified, but nothing seemed to happen. I blame Ron Corey more than Houle. He probably put so much pressure on that poor I-shouldn’t-be-a-GM.
d) I can see what you’re saying about Plekanec, and I think what I meant is that because he’s underrated, it would be a shame for Bergevin et al to misjudge his worth and one day replace him with a lesser player.
Anaheim…the repository for big guys
Montreal…the opposite
Everyone seems dead set against realizing that Eller has been much better since his benching. Maybe MT knows what he’s doing?
I’m still a bit confused as to why he is not getting more minutes with better linemates, but I think that is coming very soon. I like DD a lot because I know what I saw last season, but this season Eller will get his chance and if he plays like I (and most of you) think he can, he will be a fixture on the top 6 for years to come. This can only mean trades eventually. I don’t even want to think about who gets traded, but at first thought, a package involving DD and Weber with some picks might fetch us something….?
Ok…I guess I did want to think about it.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Don’t include me with the bunch that are dead set against it. I have been pushing for Eller to move up to centre on one of the top 2 lines! I’d love to see what he could with two quality wingers and at least 10 games to get some chemistry.
Habfan17
Since he was benched Eller has gotten better every game. He has been competing hard, throwing big hits and making stuff happen with the puck almost every shift he’s out there. Over the last few games I wouldn’t hesitate to say Eller has been one of our best forwards if not the best.
Therrien will have no choice but to give this guy more ice time with better linemates. He benched him for his lack of compete so now that Eller is proving to be one of the most hard working and effective forwards on the team if he doesn’t promote him soon future benchings to other players might fall on deaf ears. He said at the beginning of the season that he delegates ice time based on effort and performance so if he sticks to that we should see eller with some good linemates soon, especially if DD doesn’t pick it up.
Darren Dreger @DarrenDreger
“O’Reilly trade talk heating up. Strong interest from the east, but if the Avs don’t get the right deal, plan is hold firm and O’Reilly sits.”
Hopefully the Habs are one of the teams!
You wanna pay this dude 5 million a year to play on our third line?
Nope, we have Bergevin as our GM. And Desharnais would be going back the other way so he’d be on one of our top lines.
No, more like 2.5 then 3 million, like Patches did
Habfan17
If he’d accept that, he’d already be signed in Colorado.
Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe he just doesn’t like being behind Duchesne and Mitchel
Habfan17
Me too, send them DD, Kristo, Diaz and Weber and take O’byrne back too
Habfan17
O’Reilly has one 18 goal/50 point season.
Young, has upside. But 5 million?? I don’t think so. Then, how do you explain the contract you just gave him to Subban?
No way MB does a deal for him. He wouldn’t offer anything more than the Avs have…nor should he.
I would never sign him for $5 million either. Subban also wanted that money and didn’t get it. I think maybe Begevin could do some wheeling and dealing with his agent.
My take on yesterday: 1-I like DD but Eller is a better player in every measurable sense than is DD. 2-Diaz has sucked since PK returned and had no business on the ice in the last minute. 3-How did that 2nd goal count? It looked like there were four infractions to prevent it from counting, 2 related to interference with Price (in crease, touched his glove), one high stick over the cross bar, one directing the puck in with a hand on the high stick.
Hedman was also very surprised it counted.
IN the shootout the lightning players should of just steamrolled Price and carried the puck in their hand into the net. Im sure it would of counted.
Can someone explain why the NHL has taken checking out of the game? Appears a bodycheck is now boarding or interference at the least, a hip check is now tripping or interference. A stick check can’t really be made with 2 hands on the stick. Appears that anyone using a stick to poke, and it runs along the blade of the opponents stick gets a penalty.
I don’t get it..Is the NHLPA behind this ? The owners trying to protect assets? The league attempting “political correctness”, so no one is offended by a “violent act”?
I see alot of defencemen tentative in the zone, and looking over their shoulder after a “legal” hit, eyeing the refs,expecting the call. Not certain if that’s hockey.
Ya it sucks.
Had to chuckle last night towards the end of the first period on a play involving Victor Hedman and Eric Cole.
Hedman took exception to Cole flying in and nailing him and he started pushing, shoving and punching Cole. Montreal was on a PP so Cole wasn’t really fighting back and even if they weren’t I’m not sure he would have.
But the entire time this was going on, Prust was literally half a foot away with his back turned. This carried on from the corner and out to the front of the net, probably lasting about 10 seconds. Hedman kept whacking and punching Cole and I was screaming at the TV for Prust to turn around!
After the dust settled they showed Prust and Cole talking on the bench. It looked as if Prust was asking Cole if he missed something and Cole was laughing and saying he could have used a little help there.
Surprised i have not seen any Kaberle for Whitney trade suggestions.
Why would this work:
- Oilers need offense from the back end. Some people still think Kaberle can provide this. Maybe Oilers GM is one of them.
- Whitney’s best years were in the east.
- Both players warming the press box
- Both are nearing the end of their overpaid contracts.
- Whitney is a better fit in the locker room then mute Tomas
- Kaberle is good buddies with Ales Hemsky
Here are a couple of questions:
a) Emelin: Still developing? Or for the benefit of the hard hits, you accept the odd mistake
b) Gionta: Worth anything at the deadline (25 goal scorer, leader, has a Cup)? If so, what? Or you don’t trade the captain!!!
c) The defence corps: Too small or too slow…or both? Neither?
d) Prospect you are most excited for? (I’ll chime in on this one and say Collberg)
e) Patches: no goals. Cause for concern? Victim of his linemates? You’ll take the assists for now and expect him to start scoring too?
a) Maybe playing top 4 minutes is asking a tad too much right now.
b) IF the captain is traded it would be in the summer not during the season unless we tank. Trading captain during playoff race is a downer for the team.
c) They have speed and underrated puck movement skills. I think we need a big bruiser to help close out games.
d) Charles Hudon
e) Not as concerned as I am for his two former linemates.
blue jackets have 3 1st rounders this draft..wow…mr.davidson do your stuff.
In 2012, Montreal outscored their opponents 140 to 127 in the first two periods. They were outscored 67 to 87 in third period and overtime. This season Montreal is once again outscoring its opponents 27-18 in the first two frames and is down 14-6 in the third. The divergence is even more pronounced this season on a smaller sample size. The team is losing focus and intensity in the third period. Winnipeg also had this problem last season, but they alleviated it by getting outscored in all three periods this year. Hopefully, MT has a better solution.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
Perhaps it’s due to lack of conditioning borne of a mini-training camp.
Nice research! I think this could be corrected by the coaching staff.
One would hope so.
Not to diminish the excellent research, but pointing out problems is easy. Correcting them is the hard part.
–Go Habs Go!–
Last year I thought it could be ascribed to injuries and a lack of a good 4th line to take up minutes.
This year both of those problems have disappeared. However, as you say, the sample size is too small.
Good points all…
But maybe its also the fact that they’ve become one of the most penalized teams out there. That lack of discipline does a bunch of things:
1) It prevents the 4th line from getting to play those minutes thus contributing to fatigue in the 3rd period.
2) Penalties also tend to keep your goal scorers on the bench, hence a downturn in production.
3) Penalties usually at some point, lead to power play goals against meaning having to play catch up and shortening your bench (see point # 1)
Most coaches stress the importance of getting the first goal. When you play with a lead, you have the luxury of rolling 4 lines. When you don’t play with discipline…well we all know how that turns out.
—When Hell freezes over, I’ll play hockey there too—
That seems to be a very telling stat habsnyc.
Last year Montreal looked good at times, but they gave up so many leads. In fact we didn’t once get outscored 6-0 last year, I believe our worst loss was 5-1 to Chicago.
I never really believed our team was as bad as we finished. Considering we were first in man games lost, and all the third period leads that we gave up along with shootout loses.
It is crucial that something is done about the intensity the boys show in the third period. I am really hoping MT has an answer for us.
“I think I may have found a way for us to get Griffey and Bonds, and we really won’t have to give up much” -Costanza
maybe the players are thinking other things like.
golf.
cocktails.
gfs.
cars.
sand.
dinners out.
kids.
home furnishings.
investments.
fine wine.
Dear Mr. Davidson
Had I known you were hiring this week I would have had my resume in sooner. I coach the Peewee Brandon Canadiens, and my assistants and I got this team into the Manitoba Provincials, and third in the Conference. I’ve been coaching my son for just over 4 years, however I lead my fantasy keeper’s league and have all the EA Sports Hockey games from 1994-2013.
Congrats on hiring Mr Jarmo Kekalainenenenenenenen
LET’S PACK THE HOUSE
Be A Pro Fundraiser Feb 24th (see web site for details)
Shane Oliver
Twitter @Sholi2000
http://www.Sholi2000.com
Custom Sports Figures
I don’t know much about Ryan Whitney….would he be worth pursuing?
Depends:
1) Is he right-handed?
2) What is his contract?
3) What would we need to give up?
He earns 4 mill, but is a UFA next year. So we wouldn’t have to take on much of the contract.
No idea what his value would be. Or if it’d be worth trading for him if he didn’t sign with us next year (for a lot cheaper) — and he’s a lefty.
Based upon past trades at the deadline, his value is around a second rounder. If he can play the right side, he would be worth looking at. Unfortunately, I do not have the evaluation abilities of Rick Dudley to answer further.
goes against what MB wants i think..younger and faster. whits is older and expensive.
I wonder if a defenseman that is being scratched by the Oilers is an upgrade on anyone.
We should sign Matt Kassian!
who is Matt Kassian?
(Seriously, I actually have no idea).
Trying to catch up to the comments on this thread, and I see earlier on a few posts about how Michel Therrien’s poor English skills might make his message seem harsher than what he actually thinks, since his grasp of nuances is weaker than a native anglophone. I would say to that, jocularly, that Michel Therrien’s grasp of nuance is also poor in French. He, like former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, might be said to have two second languages, English and French.
In any case, even if he did have an easier time communicating in French, it would be academic, since he speaks to the team in the language of Shakespeare, and only uses that of Molière incidentally with David Desharnais or Francis Bouillon.
Ultimately, what is important to remember is that the words he speak are only a portion of the message he delivers. Non-verbal communication like tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions, etc., carry a lot more import than the ‘mot juste’. When I see him slapping someone on the back on the bench after a shift, I think that is the kind of communication that is more important, and which Jacques Martin, who is much more well-spoken in both languages, was incapable of.
Good points. Like the Moliere reference…hopefully Therrien does not turn into Tartuffe…
with all due respect to some of my favorite people on this site who commented on Guy Boucher below, you haven’t a clue when it comes to this man.
I will not go into a long winded defence Boucher here, but suffice it to say that when he “loses it”, he knows exactly what he’s doing.
In my opinion he is one of the great young coaches in the game.
I don’t doubt for a moment that he knows what he’s doing Ed. Just like I know that Jim Harbaugh is well aware of what he’s doing when he berates officials.
They both appear to be brats when they do it.
As if they are the only coaches that pull that with the officials, MT does that a lot too. Just picking at straws here.
Do you know him?
Just curious.
Darren Dreger on the Ryan O’Reilly contract dispute.
“There is going to have to be a tough decision made by Greg Sherman and the Avalanche (on O’Reilly) as they sit last in the Western Conference and they might be thinking about the draft and building for the future.”
Building for the future? WTF does that mean? This guy is 21 years old with three years of decent NHL production. Stastny/Duchene/O’Reilly give the Avs three solid centres who are all under the age of 27. The O’Reilly situation is kind of ironic seeing the 4M contracts that were handed out to Parenteau and Jones.
Some team in the East is about to get a great young player. I just hope it’s not Toronto.
The kid wants $25 million Steve. And he’s way off base in that demand.
Sounds like someone else we know , but he caved.
Mr. Biter
No Guts No Glory
Fair enough but our defenseman who wanted a similar contract has similar point production to the forward in Colorado asking for the same.
That’s what they said about Subban. Who knows if it’s true?
Dreger stated that he heard there was an offer of five years for 17M. Make it 17.5M and it’s 3.5M a season. Duchene makes 3.25M. If O’Reilly is worried about term then he could cut it back to two or three years. Turris signed with Ottawa for the exact same deal.
The team has played well in most games
based on their talent….They have not shown up for 2 games this season and that was both vs the Leafs
Forgot the first Ottawa game.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Enough tiptoeing around it.
Therrien has a player who was a first round pick, displays the offensive skill set and size that teams covet for two way forward roles, a player who hasn’t complained once about crappy treatment, a player who when given the opportunity to produce offense with skilled players has delivered and has developed well in each of his first two seasons.
That player is now starting to show that he can produce offense with the most meager of talents in Travis Moen and Colby Armstrong.
It’s time to give Eller his shot. Second line behind Plekanec.
Anything else is unacceptable. He has now earned the opportunity much like his shorter teammate did two years ago when Scott Gomez was crapping the bed.
I agree. And MT did call out his play and attitude after last night’s game (in a positive way), so here’s hoping.
I think he was right not to through DD under the bus right away though. The guy was great last year, had a slow start this year. Can’t demote him right away. But with the way Eller is playing, a line with him Patches and Cole might be the way to go.
Completely agree.
Proud member of the Eller fan club.
The problem now is the team needs a defensive/energy line. You can’t do that with DD or Chucky and Pleks has his line set. Instead of getting moved, I think you will see Eller’s TOI get increased.
Moen-Prust-Armstrong
Yep, with Nokelainen/White in reserve. There are far worse fourth lines in the league.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I like that line but that means someone has to move to the wing…who?
Galchenyuk would be my choice.
I’m not sure there’s been much tiptoeing around that here. : )
Gotta say though, I agree with you.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I mean for Therrien. Not us here.
Enough of this one or two powerplay shifts each game and late defensive assignments. The kid is creating chances for his team and taking the oppositions’ chances away.
Everyone is talking about size on defence. To me the much bigger issue is speed.
Marky (nowadays), Emelin, Gorges, Bouillon and Diaz…none of them are fantastic skaters.
We need someone who has some speed and can move the puck back there.
He’s in Hamilton…Beaulieu…unfortunately we have to be patient for the next year.
Good point, haha
Agree (to a degree), Casper…but (@ the risk of being accused of singing the same ol’ swan song) I think lack of size/physicality/willingness to engage (in fisiticuffs, if necessary) is still resulting in a more pressing need on d.
I’m not saying small guys, but reasonably sized guys who can skate. If we had a lumbering slow dman out there, we’ll get killed. We’re already getting killed on the transition.
We lost in TO because they exploited our slow D, not because of any fights. Game was already done when that happened.
I guess I’m zero-ing in more on their propensity to lose battles in their own zone and a difficulty with clearing the front of the net/protecting Price.
You mena like…Subban for intance?
Habfan17
That’s why I didn’t include him on the list
AS others have said here, lighten up, the team is 7-4-1 and have looked more like winners than losers throughout the first quarter of the season. People are fretting over blown leads but then they forget that the leads we have blown, with the exception of the Boston game, were total flukes and non-call-based. Remember that in Buffalo, the tying goal should not have been a goal, and the goal that led to that was a mistake we learn from.
Last night, the two goals that erased our lead were FLUKES and the tying goal came from a flukey deflection on a PP that should not have been called anyway.
The team is much improved and will continue on that path, there is no reason to freak out or start the dumb tanking movement. This is a much more entertaining team, that clearly plays with more effort and grit than in recent times.
CHeer up Habs fans.
Eller looked great, again. DD showed some signs of improvement, and it turned out it was Patches that was demoted, not DD and Cole.
Discipline and faceoffs are still the major issues facing this team.
So watch for Eller taking a trip to the pressbox next game?
Just that same fourth line duty for the player who has without a doubt generated the most scoring chances and arguably been the team’s best defensive player for the last half dozen games.
Eller won that last important draw straight back…how his teammates did not pick that puck and clear it is what led to that pp starting up so organzied inthe Habs zone…watch the replay…he wins it staright back about 6-8 feet…how is that not an easy puck for the Canadiens. Now Moen and Eller played way too passive in their box after that but he won that draw.
Diaz had the game on his stick when Eller won that draw.
God I wish it’d been the Leafs who were the first to hire a European GM. Listening to Coach’s Corner would be amazing.
Would have been pretty funny considering Kekalainen forgot more about hockey on the flight from Finland to Columbus than Cherry has ever known.
Oh oh! Heretic alert!!!
Yeah,but does this Finn have have vulgar suits?
Not sure but heard that he does have a bearskin rug
Just doing my part to contradict the establishment of the false prophet.
It is amazing how often people forget Cherry’s hockey record, eh?
Career minor leaguer who had a few seasons where he coached an absolutely stacked team and couldn’t win the Cup before moving on to a team that stunk as much as he did.
I think he coached Orr for about 50 games. To here him tell it, he breastfed him.
Cherry’s a blowhard. Full of undeserved bluster. Dares you to contradict (even politely)him. Worse, will most likely shout you down first. Like the Tories in Ottawa and the Republicans in the USA. Made from the same cloth.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
So, I take it that the love affair with Guy Boucher is now officially over on HI/O?
His demeanour behind the bench leaves me bewildered. Please give it a rest and show some composure.
No kidding Steve.
What a brat. Jim Harbaugh junior.
Did you hear Onrait this morning? haha
Called him the next Bond villain, then said Javier Bardem, look out!
Love that guy.
Onrait stole that from the TSN690 Morning Show!
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Onrait taped that show at midnight last night. I suspect TSN 690 heard that, or did they do it prior to this morning.
Morning show guys stole that from Onrait! I knew they couldn’t be trusted!
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
What frstrates me is it appeared to work….the last few mintues of that game Montreal had several key calls go against them…and Boucher’s crazy tantrums may have been a contributing factor in that…drives me nuts that it does work sometimes as it shouldn;t.
Pretty funny to watch though. Sometimes I feel his eyes will pop out of the eye sockets.
He has the same look as my Bartender. Evil bast#rd.
I hate that guy…cuts me off too early…
Absolutely. Background in psychology – his demeanour behind the bench suggests he majored in psycho for sure. How could you NOT tell him to stick that routine where the sun don’t shine ?
ALWAYS Habs -
D Mex
Marc-Andre Bergeron.
YES!
Hell no! I’m waiting for the day he or Vigneault get the can so they can coach the Habs one day.
I have a lot of respect for those two coaches. Of course Boucher was pissed last night, the refs called crap penalties on both teams, and TB has lost 5 in a row, anyone who cares about their team, doing a good job, and winning, would be frustrated at that time. Not to mention his players played like crap that game, in a must-win. I’m sure Boucher will learn to keep his cool in those situations, which he has not had too many of anyway.
I’d much prefer him to MT, even though I’m not an MT detractor, I agree with a lot of the criticisms put against him, but I see him as the best alternative, and if he can change the culture on the team to one of grit, effort, and accountability, then he will do a lot to help the Habs develop into a perennially strong team.
Right now the Habs have a great record outside of the division but any playoff hopes will depend on winning games in the division…Right now the Habs are one point behind the Leafs with a game in hand but if they could have won their 2 home games vs the Leafs it would be a 7 point lead…
Btw, how come no one is celebrating Armstrong’s first point with that Habs last night? At the current pace he is headed for the 4 point season. I’d say he was a great acquisition by Bergevin.
Well, we did need someone to replace Gomez’s numbers.
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☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
At that pace, we’ll have to give him a Gomer contract
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jay_1-pJdaw&feature=youtu.be
You guys see this yet.. Jack Edwards jumping like a little bunny over daisys in a field !!!!
After the buins tie it at 3… I should have added…
HOMER !! bigtime
I think he also screamed that bruins have the hearts of a lion or something… I saw it on highlights last night.
LOL….
As much as I hate Edwards, at least he’ll full-out admit he’s a homer… You can hear it in the voice of a lot of others but they’d deny it up and down.
_________________________________
“Obviously it would be great, but they don’t really hang conference titles in this rink. They raise Stanley Cup banners.” – Carey Price
Oh gawd….that’s even worse than Joe “Holy Mackinaw” Bowen and Bob “Who’s on First” Cole.
The Hab’s current ranking is tied for 7th overall with only 2 teams from the Eastern confrence ahead of them:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20132ALLSAAAll&sort=pointPctg&viewName=summary
–Go Habs Go!–
Therrien!! Look who is coming to dinner my friend. If you do not want him at the table, there are 29 other teams that do.!!
Ouch!
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I wonder how many here will get the Sidney Poitier reference?
Happy birthday Ian!
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☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
That’s over the top.
Are you equating Sidney Poitier with PK Subban?
Poitier was a notoriously poor hockey player.
In this dinner scenario, are you Spencer Tracy,Ian?
Just put it out there, because I know Therrien reads every word on HIO.
And if the shoe fits!
Ian,it’s a Mad,Mad,Mad,Mad World out there.
MT dodged a bullet last night but at some point his treatment of PK is gonna come to a conclusion. Either we get a Trembley/Roy type of finale or MT gets fired cuz his ego is getting the best of his decision making.
Gorges has no business being on a 4 on 3 PP in OT nor does Diaz on a PK in the final minutes of a game……there’s only one reason why MT would opt to put PK on the bench for either.
PK’s leash is as long as DD’s poke check!
I would like to know how is Therrien of today is different from Therrien from the first stint with the Habs? Cause we were being fed that fairy tale that he improved on oh so many levels. Anyone care to point those improvements out?
Markov’s era is almost over, and Habs’ D is Subban, not in the future, it’s already shown.
If MT and MG could not handle Subban play/contract well, they would lost jobs in CH.
I pray for the latter every day.
Go watch the first goal again…that was some mens league play by PK, nonchalant, skate parallel to line, lose puck, throw half ass body check with stick up in air? roll into corner off sorry hit attempt and watch as opposition scores….it was horrible. For a guy with that talent it was even more painful…. but he very much deserved the benching for that 10 seconds. HE played that like he was playing the Wshington Generals…not an NHL team..
I think the fact that Subban screwed up is not the point. Everyone can see that he did. The main sticking point is the double standard that Therrien applies in handling Subban’s or Eller’s mistakes vs Cole or DD for example.
Guaranteed Cole and DD made as many if not more mistakes however you don’t see their ice time diminishing, being a scratch or being glued to a bench for an extended period of time.
Same goes for Markov on the first goal by the leafs. If it were Subban he wouldn’t see any ice time the rest of the night.
I am not sure what the issue with Eller/DD is that one is pretty perplexing ..but Cole has had his minutes as has Patches. HE has a vet in Kaberle in the pressbox, he has twice sat White down. Mistakes are excusable…mistakes happen but mental errors or lack of effort are not. Both COle and Patches have looked less willing to pay the price to score like they did last year (both palyed well last night though). I don’t understand why Eller and the kids are not getting more pp time …with the top d pairing (doesn’t do much good when they play the second half with BOuillon on the point).
The diff too between PK and Markov…is Markov just made a msitake…he has nothing else to “learn” he just messes up every now ansd then…wioth PK they are trying to break bad habits and instill good ones…nobody is perfect but Subban plays way too complicated and that lazy sequence was beyond inexcusable…I actually can;t recall a player playing that nonchalantly after turning the puck over…he looked like he really didn’t care….had he went tot he wall like he normally does he would have recovered and that puck doesn’t make it to the net.
The bad thing is that Subban may have already thrown the towel on Therrien. If that’s the case, not a professional thing to do, but then again, his own coach has shown very little of that.
I’ve never seen a guy get two points and get benched. Okay he made mistakes but what about everyone else? FB and Plek’s penalties were brutal. MT needs to be careful or he risks losing a guy who would be hard to replace.
I don’t think either Bouillon or Pleks deserved penalties ….heck Hedman should have had 4 for roughing at least and Cole 2 for interference, the goal shouldn’t have been ruled a goal on the ice, they missed a clear too many men in OT, they called TB for a terrible too many men earlier…it was a horribly officiated game from start to finish.
Agree that the reffing has been brutal this year. The Habs will just have to live with it (there is nothing they can do about it).
Don’t quite understand how PK can get # 5 minutes when he was clearly their best defence man last night. He was picked as the 3rd star of the game. How can Emelin be getting more minutes than him? Was he even used in overtime? I guess scoring 2 goals was not enough. He did make one mistake on the first goal, but DD and the others did not help much on the back check. Was that the reason?
Freedom is the right to BE wrong, not the right to DO wrong!
American broadcast had PK as the first star.
I would take Oreilly from the AVs for Moen and Tinordi. Avs are shopping Orielly now.
You would take a slightly above average physical forward for a physical forward and a potentially future shutdown defenseman who could fill this organization’s biggest need?
You would be having coffee with Scott Howson in no time.
and then you have to sign him?
Do you recall the PK mess? O’Reilly is looking for 5 years and 5 million (or so). Of those conttract demands, Bergevin has issues with only two of them.
Don’t always believe that though. They said the same about PK. The analysts should have brown eyes most of the time
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
No way. Tinordi’s size and mobility are a something we will need long term. Weber, Kabrele combined with a second round pick maybe but I think they are asking for a decent Roster player and a high prospect. I would pass for O’Reilly. Maybe Him for DD and a second rounder
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
The guy has not signed yet and he wants too much money. If PK did not get want he wanted, you think this guy will?
You’re so generous. Leaf fans are offering a random defenseman and a near bust prospect like Carter Ashton or Joe Colborne.
how does he fit in under the habs salary cap and no way the habs management sends a potential shut down d-man to the avs.
I wouldn’t mind having him on the team, but definitely would not give up Tinordi for him. Also I heard he’s asking for a lot of money and not sure how much he’s actually worth.
New day… having Therrien as Habs coach still sucks.
And I do miss Price-Subban low five, although I doubt they’d be doing it last night even if it weren’t talibaned.
So does anyone know if Kassian got picked up yesterday?
So strange to read you complaining about something Timo.
Is everything ok?
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I surprise myself sometime.
Personally, I’m fairly happy with last night’s game. Of course nobody wants to see a 3 goal lead vanish, but 2 of those 3 goals were flukey. Above and beyond that, if the Habs dominate 54 minutes every game (or even 45 minutes really), they will come out on top more often than not. The players should concentrate on the positives and the coaches should work on the negatives. It sucks to give away points to eastern conference teams, but if we get 4 points, and even give away 2, it will be a great trip.
I know MT is trying to make PK a better person by having him keep the bench warm for his teammates, but there’s no excuse having him out for only 30 seconds of OT and no time at all during the 4on3. That’s insane. PK is probably one of the best players in the league to have out during an OT PP.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Or the worst, depending on which Subban happens to be on the ice during that shift.
But he has been playing very well lately.
PK was to fault on 1st 2 goals against us…
Nirvana is earned…
Love how a mistake turns into a goal being all his fault. Take a look at wht else happened after the mistakes.
Everyone wants to blame PK so bad it’s not even funny.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
It wasn’t even a mistake. Somewhere in the area of 30 shots per game deflect off of a stick.
Markov was at fault for the Leafs first goal Saturday night……I didn’t see MT punish him for that.
Your not watching the same PK as I do my friend. He did give it up on the boards for one goal, but he was directly responsible for our 3 goals!!!
Ian, you nailed it in two sentences.
Meanwhile there are over two hundred posts that can’t reach that.
Happy birthday and many returns…CHeers!!
I guess one of us has better eyes than the other Ian
And I have almost perfect vision
Watch what happens after PK’s mistakes. It’s not like he was the last Hab near the puck. The players who scored were alone because of missed assignments.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I didn’t really get the feeling we were dominating last night. When Hedman got that first goal, I would bet more than half the people on this forum got squimish. Tampa wasn’t very good for most of the game. Don’t care about lucky bounces or officiating, we aren’t going far in the playoffs like this. MB must be going a little gray after the last few games. So, armchair GM’s, when the contenders come calling, what are you going to do when you are in 11th place 2 or 3 points out?
Can’t agree more. He was clearly their best defence man last night. How does he rate # 5 minutes ????
Freedom is the right to BE wrong, not the right to DO wrong!
It must be nice for the opposing team to know that even if you’re down by 3 goals going into the third against the habs, you still have a good chance to come back and get points, if not win.
yes, but it’s only points now. It used to be the win.
I’m starting to feel sorry for Weber. Let him play with someone else if anything. Give the kid a break. Is he gonna sit all season? If there is an injury, Kaberle is next to play.
I’m sure they could get a pick for him. If not, waive him and let him play in Hamilton. I’m sure they could use him. And, if he gets picked up on waivers, good for him.
He’s earning $900,000 this season. Don’t feel bad for him. We need him for depth.
Agree. Never got a real shot, but definitely doesn’t fit the plans going forward.
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Lars, PK, Galchenyuk, Pac, Emelin – @J_Perez22
No tears for Yannick … the club purposely gave him a one way contract and obviously feel that he could jump in when needed – he is on the roster and travels with the team.
Every team has an eye on the the depth players for the other teams and it is likely that his 2nd pp / low contract / RFA status would generate 5th-7th round offers but there is no upside for the Habs in moving him.
Kaberle is the obvious choice but everyone knows that which is why it will take a last second decision by a team at the deadline to haggle on cap and roll the dice.
For me, the nightmare scenario is the Bruins pick him up so he can’t score on them … his biggest successes have been bombs against the bruins.
“Don’t crush that dwarf Alex Henry, hand me the pliers”
He has a great shot. Even with limited playing time last year I think he still had a few goals.
Unfortunately, he’s a victim of circumstance. It’s a shame to see an NHL player rotting away in the press box, but it comes with the territory. At some point he will get a chance, it just may not be with the Habs.
Victim of circumstance. Will get his chance elsewhere.
Everyone keeps talking about trading Desharnais,,,,really? to who? the Hershey Bears?
Nobody want this guy!! When DD is done in Montreal, he’s headed to the AHL at most. As I said yesterday, we’ll keep him way longer than we should. This guy has peaked.
Good thing his contract is up this summer. Hope MB and Dudley let this guy go. If it weren’t for our logjam problems at middle thanks to BG&PG, DD would never have been tagged to become a no.1 centre.
I still actually thought he was terrible for most of the game yesterday. I *really* hope management wakes up, smells the coffee, and realize you need Centres who can protect and carry the puck on their own without the need of wingers to help do heavy lifting that is required.
What will it take for the NHL to change its disgraceful position on head injuries?
On Feb 5 BJ Crombeen of Tampa sustained a concussion during a fight.
The league has a video of the fight on nhl.com, for the entertainment of fans:
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=199142
Crombeen missed only one game, even though the recommended time away from play is 7 days following concussion. Last night he even started a fight- if he doesn’t does he keep his job?
So to summarize:
* Two summers ago three enforcers died. One (Boogaard) had severe traumatic encephalopathy despite being in his 20s. Pathologists described his brain as worse than Alzheimer’s sufferers.
* The NHL still uses fighting as a way to sell the game. Even fights where one player suffered a brain injury. Such fun!
* Players are not treated according to best medical practice following head injury.
* A player coming back from concussion starts a meaningless fight because “that’s his job”. Maybe if he inflicts more damage than he sustains it’ll turn the match.
This is sickening. All of it. The people who run the sport lack both shame and basic humanity(*). Hockey is sick from top to bottom. The owners, the league, the players, the commentators and the fans.
(*) I realize the people who run the sport are lawyers.
very valid points. keep in mind, hockey is a business – and fighting helps sell tickets. these are grown men who get paid to play – don’t want to fight – don’t and be better at hockey so you don’t have to.
The NHL is like a lot of other dangerous jobs in the world. A miner, construction worker, police officer. You are being paid to take a risk, in the NHL you are paid very well, nobody is forcing you to do it.
Nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to risk injury. If you are OK with it, that’s your decision. If you’re not ok with being paid millions of dollars a year with the chance of being injured, go find a desk job.
I’d go out there in 2 seconds and fight a guy and risk concussions for $1.5 million a year, but that’s just me
.
Hobie, you can’t let society’s lowest common denominator decide what is acceptable. That’s why we have things like child labour laws and minimum wage standards, because society as a whole is better when these exist, even if some would be happy to undercut these.
That someone (possibly me) would gladly take part in fourty fights in a season in return for the privilege of playing professional hockey doesn’t make fighting okay, or brain injuries a bearable cost to society.
Another point HFS72 makes is that safeguards and standards which should exist and/or be enforced in the NHL are woefully lax or non-existent. We’re constantly trying to make workplaces safer for miners and construction workers and police officers. The fact that there are still inherent risks doesn’t mean we should give up and not try to improve things, in all arenas.
violence is an integral part of humanity. it has been since the beginning of time.
violence, therefore, is hugely popular, because the average human relates well to it.
today it is 2 men locked in a steel cage, anything goes, MMA violence.
CNN, FOX, movies, video games, sports, everywhere there is violence, there is money to be made.
Violence is a great money maker, and money, is the driving force behind all.
It is shameful. At best it is willful ignorance because there has been a lot of good research done on this topic.
It’s one thing to allow fighting and violent collisions. It is downright negligent to allow concussed players to play again so soon. If they keep the fighting and violent hitting, they should at least manage the injuries more responsibly. Even Gorges shouldn’t be playing after the shots he took in the Ennis hit and Mclaren fight.
I really, really hope that all the players with brain injuries sue the NHL into oblivion someday. Its the only way change will happen. Its the only thing owners really care about.
What’s interesting to me is that in sanctioned combat sports (UFC/Boxing/Kickboxing etc) a KO is an automatic 30day suspension. IIRC it’s even a 7day ban on training. They wear padded gloves.
In the NHL it’s a tap on the back and “go get ‘em”
Completely agree.. And the cherry on last night’s “fight” was realizing the guy is a full-blown diabetic who needes 5 shots of insulin on game days to keep him going.
Wait until the NHL gets sued. Then they will wake up. The NFL saw it coming and has already adjusted (fines, check-ups, etc.). Fighting is inherently dangerous…that is why boxing and the UFC is regulated. It will be hard for the NHL to claim ignorance against a negligence charge when they obviously promote the activity even though it is technically against the rules.
Just want to say Happy Birthday to a great guy in Ian.Do not like how the Habs have played the past week.Blowing leads is real bad and we still need more muscle.
We don’t have a shut down D…A trade needs to be made asap. Weber, Kaberle, Cole etc…dump them and get someone to provide some confidence. It was guarantee Tampa would come back because the whole team shit their pants when the first goal went in, 2nd goal they didn’t even want to go on the ice for fear of being the goat. Need to build our defensive confidence.
pipes
As much as I’d love to see a Shane O’Brien or Tim Gleason in Montreal, this isn’t the year we win it all, and I’d shudder at the assets going the other way. I imagine MB is hoping Tinordi can step up next year, and maybe Thrower not long after that. If they can hit their potential, we’ll be sitting pretty. If management doesn’t like what they see from Tinordi this season though, I wouldn’t be surprised if we make a deal or pick up a UFA over the summer.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
It doesn’t matter if we win it all this year. It does matter that we be competitive in every game. A big Defenceman would help a lot.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Sure, but that kind of dominant physical D would cost picks/prospects and a roster player, and our present isn’t yet good enough to start trading away the future. I do think this team is competitive in every game though — and so far we’ve won most of them. : )
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
And how much is Price worth after he gets mugged and injured?
ya…good idea…maybe we can trade all 3 of them for Chris Pronger 10 years ago.
Instead of Pronger 10 years ago, I would just draft Duncan Keith before Tomas Linhart. I would still trade Weber though
pipes
see the size of the TB D? Hedman, Olund, Brewer etc…Habs have not one guy with that kind of size and zero crease clearers….also Matt Kassian is on waivers in Minny – pick him up for free and insert into line-up when you don’t want other teams messing with Gionta, Bourque and Gorges.
It would he nice to add a big dman but the teams biggest issue on the blueline is getting the puck out of our own end. Teams are just fore checking the crap out of our defence and we play chase the puck for long stretches. Not a new issue. We saw it all of last season. Emelin, Diaz, Gorges all need to improve in this area Imo.
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Yeah, lets pick Kassian up. His annual salary is only $575,000 per season with two years left in his contract.
Handles himself well with Parros here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOqKVwzSJc
Edmonton, Boston, Buffalo and Toronto are similar on the back end. Most of their defence are 6’2″ or bigger! Size does matter, in certain situations.
Habfan17
“see the size of the TB D?”
And yet we dominated the game from start to finish (even in OT) and had their keeper flopping like a fish for most of the game.
PS: Ohlund is out of hockey probably for good.
really? except for the last 5 minutes. if our D had some of that size – I bet we stop coughing up leads every freakin game. you can’t possibly be arguing that bigger D is not better, nor that our team has sufficient size on the back end.
So we dominate, and I mean DOMINATE for 54 minutes, then Tampa gets 2 lucky goals out of 3, and we need big defensemen?
Sure, big D may have cleared the front of the net better to prevent lucky goals, but luck happens in different ways.
I agree we need bigger defensemen, but last night was not the poster game to prove it.
I like what Roy said on Antichambre. A penalty in front of your goalie is worth taking. Bouillon should have put even more into it. Let the opposing players know that if you come near Price, you’re going to pay for it. They’ll think twice next time. Price is our most important player. If we ever lose him for a month or more cause someone crashed the crease, the season is over.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Kassian would be a good fit. He’s big enough to actually scare people. We have to worry about f’n Toronto now who have some serious bruisers. Need to beef up for them, just like we did back in the day when we grabbed Ewen to handle Clarke. Need a couple of nukes for the next TO game to go after Orr and Mclaren.
pipes
Happy Birthday wishes to the King of HIO Ian. Hope your 29th is a great one.
The poll question to the right makes you think, doesn’t it? Many B ‘s and C ‘s votes on a team who ‘s record would support those votes. This team us as bipolar as some of the fan base. Is this team overachieving or underachieving? A C vote seems to indicate the team is playing to their potential and I kind of think they may be overachieving especially given last season. Am I wrong?
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Psst! Jim. Just vote C. Makes folks wonder.
Happy birthday Ian!!!
To my mind, an “A” vote means you’re exceeding reasonable expectations, and to my mind, our boys are doing just that.
Sure, we lost a couple of games we should have won. But 12 games in, who’d have predicted that we’d be sitting 12th in a 30-team league with a 7-4-1 record, ranked 9th in the league for goals per game and 10th on the PP? This was a brutal bottom-dwelling team last year, and we’ve only added a couple of rookies and pluggers — yet here we are, defying all expectations. I don’t understand how that’s a C-grade performance.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
So when do we see Nokelainen? He can’t ride the pine forever, and last night’s assist aside, I’m not sure Armstrong’s an upgrade over him.
Nokelainen works hard, is solid defensively, fights when needed (better than Tom the Bomb, anyway) and is actually quite good in the faceoff circle.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I think he is still injured
Habfan17
Ah, that explains it.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I’m sure he is a swell guy, but I’m glad Guy Boucher didn’t potty train me. “Already in my pants Dad.”
Hahahahaha
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
Check out this dive of CBC’s bromance guy Erik Karlsson:
http://youtu.be/QqVk0dpP-LA?t=35s
It is going to take Bergevin some time to assess what he has. It is great to look at video from last season and talk to people, but the proof is in the pudding.Maybe the reason Therrien is playing some players more, even though they don’t deserve it so far, is because Bergevin wants to see how they respond. Hopefully players like Eller will be rewarded for their hard work and committment.
If that is not the reason some players seem to be getting a pass, then I worry that Therrien is not the right coach and he hasn’t learned enough. I do understand tinkering with lines that are not working, but it is baffling that Therrien split up Markov and Diaz on the PP.
Stick with what is working, change what is not!
I personally think that we will see Bergevin make more changes and put his stamp on the team when the trade deadline comes and in the off season. Unless a deal he can’t refuse pops up before then!
Habfan17
I think that’s a reasonable theory on what we are seeing but I still don’t like it as it pertains to PK and Eller.
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Me either!
Habfan17
Nice attempted fix job by the refs last night. I predicted exactly what would happen about 10 mins left in the 3rd period, exactly. I called the penalties even the one 1 min left in the game. It was obvious the ref was trying to keep the game super close. How many times do refs call penalties in the last minute of play, especially a cheap tripping call like they called. You think they would have called the other team with 1 min? They didn’t call the punches and stuff after hits but they managed to catch the trip at the end. Fix job, refs really wanted Tampa to win. The goal they scored too was easily goaltender interference but did you really think they were going to call it? I knew they would allow the goal. Sell out crowd in Tampa, of course it’s not a goal.
Last night was a combination of bad officiating and the stupid new rules that the NHL is trying to institute.
I believe it was Cole that tipped the puck ahead and tried to squeeze between the defenseman and the boards and the TB player was called for interference. I can see what the NHL is trying to do but man oh man is that a tough call. And that call has been going on all year either along the boards or at the blue line. Are the defenseman allowed to do anything anymore?
That was such a charge by Cole on Hedman, I loved it though, or at the minimum interference. Hedmen didn’t have the puck or even touch it at any point.
That call on Hedman is nothing new, it’s been around since the last lock out. I was at the game and the play happened right in front of me. I think I had my arm up before the ref. Hedman checked Cole when he tried to go by him. Getting in his way to slow him up is ok, checking him isn’t.
Plenty of people want to see David Desharnais on the wing.
The issue there is that we’re seeing what happens when he doesn’t have space to make plays. So how does moving him to the wing solve that issue?
It doesn’t. Moving Desharnais to the wing puts a small player who unlike Gionta and Gallagher can’t routinely win puck battles in a position to fail.
Desharnais is a centreman. If he can’t adapt his game and become better defensively he’ll need to be insulated with tremendous forwards to find success again.
Or traded!
Habfan17
Long term I don’t see DD as a solution on a 1st or 2nd line if this team is going to be competitive for Cup. His gamestyle is also not for 3rd or 4th line duty. Just my opinion of how this plays out longterm. Perhaps MB feels the same and is showcasing DD?
DD isn’t a bad third line centre if you put him with a couple of grinders. He did ok for a half a season there and you can put him on the PP where he is effective. If Eller develops into a big role though I would agree you have Galchenyuk, Pleks and Eller and DD doesn’t really work on the 4th line.
Not sure what DD would fetch in a trade and really at the current moment he is still useful on this team
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
See DD cover St-Louis last night late in the game? He took away his time and space.
If you’re referring to a couple of shifts late in the game I agree. I noticed that his compete level went through the roof against St. Louis.
And forgive me Cal but if Desharnais has any idea where his man(Hedman) is on the Lightning’s first goal it’s unlikely any comeback is mounted.
Tom, couldn’t agree more. There is no “problem” with DD between Cole and Max P. They just need to keep at it and at worse, do not commit egregious defensive errors.
Last night, like a baseball player who keeps up his defense while battling through a slump, MaxP seemed to be strong on the backcheck, using his size and speed effectively. Cole had more jump and DD was better on the draws and made a few good defensive plays that of course get overlooked when you are down in eyes of the viewers.
The slight line up change I would like to see is Eller at centre with the kids (no need to have an 19 year old at centre) and Prust as the 4th line centre. Even strength you roll 4 lines, Eller gets PK time with the 4th line and Plekanec/Bourque and some second line PP time.
In essence the kids are really playing 4th line time, Eller gets 14-16 minutes a game and if you see a hot hand during a game you go to that guy.
“Don’t crush that dwarf Alex Henry, hand me the pliers”
I didn’t get to watch the game as closely as I usually do last night So I’m not sure who was on the ice in the dying seconds of the game.
But in situations like that, we are desperate need of a large stay-at-home defenseman. I was always a bit annoyed with Hal Gill and Roman Hamerlik for not being a bit more physical but those guys could play defense. They were both big men with large wing spans that could get between Price, the puck and the opposing forwards.
We could really use a couple of those style of players, which has been painfully obvious the last two weeks.
Gorges and Diaz on defense.
Ya that doesn’t cut it.
Amen! Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone!
Habfan17
Can’t wait for the game against the Flyers
For what its worth Dude, the Flyers aren’t as big and nasty as they used to be. Toronto made them look small earlier this week. I am not saying we can physically outplay them, but they aren’t in the Bruins and Leafs class for physicality.
Food for thought:
Bourque – Plekanec – Cole
Pacioretty – Eller – Gallagher
Desharnais – Galchenyuk – Gionta
Moen – Prust – Armstrong
Not crazy, but I worry that a line with two guys under 5’9″ might get ground into dust. I’d really love to see a big strong centre who can pot a few goals. Doesn’t need to be a star — just someone solid in both ends. Maybe someone like Jarret Stoll? I was hoping for Arnott when the lockout ended, but he failed his physical a couple of weeks ago.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
Love the top 6, Gallagher deserves it and so does Eller.
Not sure the 3rd will succeed, Maybe Prust instead of DD and throw White on the 4th, Desharnais being a team worst -6 deserves to sit a few IMHO
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Lars, PK, Galchenyuk, Pac, Emelin – @J_Perez22
Switch Moen for Desharnais. Having Gionta and DD on the same line would not help Galchenyuk
Habfan17
Your 3rd line is too small for prime time.
Besides, the lines will not be tinkered with after such a convincing win.
For those castigating Canadiens’ management (old and new) regarding their negotiating and player personnel decisions, here’s the view from Denver on the Avalanche’s standoff with Ryan O’Reilly.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2013/02/12/ryan-oreillys-days-as-an-av-look-to-be-over/12550/
Funny contrast between markets Normand. Subban was vilified here for wanting a lucrative long term deal and O’Reilly, he of 39 goals and 107 points in 236 games wants $25 million.
Would I be reasonable to suggest he’s overvalued himself just a tad?
Just a BIG tad…lol
Habfan17
An important point Adrian Dater makes is that this and other contract talks in Denver turn “personal” and the relationship sours, whereas when the P.K. Subban deal was struck all parties agreed that the negotiations were professional throughout. I know we see the sky as perpetually falling here, but the certitude that P.K. Subban is being insulted and “will never sign here” in the future is overblown. Our management team doesn’t look so bad in comparison.
Wow, that’s unfortunate. They want an awful lot for him though — how many GMs would give up a roster player and a top prospect for, essentially, a top prospect? And one who’s demanding $25M over five years to boot?
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
One way of looking at last night is
1- Blew one goal lead to Boston got NOTHING
2- Blew two goal lead to Buffalo got ONE point
3- Blew three goal lead to Tampa got TWO points
Sure I would rather they don’t blow leads but this time at least we got the win
Buffalo shouldn’t have counted. We should have got 2 points. That last goal was a joke with Ott pushing the goalie.
two fluke goals last night and one shouldn’t have counted but that is the way it goes.
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
And you didn’t even notice the attempted fix job. You didn’t notice Tim Peel who hates montreal with a passion in 2 of those games that clearly was biased in all his calls. Or how about the other ref who made maybe 1 or 2 calls?
Man it’s getting more and more difficult to enjoy NFL football these days. Johnny Knox of the Chicago Bears suffered a spinal injury during a game against the Seahawks in December 2011, had to undergo disk fusion surgery, and has not been able to play this season. He’s still rehabilitating to get back to normal function in his daily life, so football is out of the question for now.
For his troubles, Mr. Knox just had his contract terminated by the Bears. Even though he got hurt at work. The linked article points out that the team honoured his contract this past season, but they had no choice in the matter, a technicality forced them to do so.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0213-bears-knox-chicago–20130213,0,6341826.story
The NFLPA is a impotent organization. How they do not obtain guaranteed contracts and iron-clad medical benefits for their members is astounding. I’m glad the NHLPA was strong during the last lockout and the trial balloons floated by management regarding doing away with fully-guaranteed contracts were shot down immediately.
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http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
A good write up on the Bulldogs and how they need to maintain the coaching staff there for a couple seasons in order to see some growth out of the farm club. Far too much turnover at the farm, perhaps just the same with the parent club experienced last season and into this one.
http://www.thespec.com/sports/bulldogs/article/885956–bulldogs-edge-marlies-3-2-but-stability-is-needed-in-hamilton
I know some members here despair over the poor record of the Bulldogs, and are disappointed that all the rookies we were championing are having growing pains in the AHL, but I’m pretty optimistic about the future of the team and its prospects. Guys like Jared Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu are playing big, big minutes with no veterans clogging up the depth chart. All the rookies have opportunities to play lots and on special teams. Greg Pateryn is back from injury and already having a positive effect. Louis Leblanc is rounding into form after an early-season injury.
Next season these guys will be more mature, and we’ll have another crop of rookies joining up, like Darren Dietz, Danny Kristo, and maybe Magnus Nygren, among others. The coaching staff is strong, composed of former NHL journeymen who battled hard to get there and stay there.
With a new management team showing leadership, the stability the author of the article pines is in the cards, and the future looks bright, despite this season’s struggles.
Yeah, I think they just need to stay the course. Sure, the numbers don’t look pretty, but, as long as the coaches place an emphasis on development for the new young players, then things should pan out in 2-3 years.
And if any of them need to be brought up, playing with NHL-caliber players should help.
So, are we Stanley Cup bound now or are we going to screw up the #1 overall pick this year?
Tank I say! Tank! It’s a great super spectacular year for the draft!
Stanley Cup bound? Our Habs? Don;t even think about it!
Ain’t gonna happen unless the kids develop and we make major trades.
Only time will tell.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Back under the bridge with you. The Habs won last night.
Has anyone been following Hamilton. I’m just wondering how Tinordi is progressing this year. I see him play 2 games in October against the IceCaps, and he looked really good. Very mobile DMan for a big guy. If there was one thing on this team that is sorely missing, it is that type of DMan.
Et Le But
Was at the game last night….the big three Ellis, Tinordi, Bealieu as they call him here and they won last night 3-2 over the Marlies.
They are still young, and still learning, although I like Morgan the best out of the three. I don’t think Tinordi will pan out to be in the NHL, awkward out there., and yes Louis Leblanc our next French Canadian superstar as everyone has tagged him here, as been a disappointment as well.
Sometimes, Trevor Timmins hypes our prospects too much to the media and the fans.
We need a Ken Holland clone or Mark Siedel to come to our organization here.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
I really like Ellis as well. He got into a scrap at one of the games I watched. One of the bigger IceCaps fighters grabbed him, but he hung in there. I was really impressed. He seems so calm when he is on the ice. Bealieu is going to be good also, another year or 2 away. I’m disappointed in your assessment of Tinordi however. I thought he looked really good the games I watched. He also looked alright in the shortened preseason as well. Maybe on off game last night?
Et Le But
Tinordi will be just fine and will make the NHL. He will be in the NHL within 2 years. Put money on it. He isn’t playing as aggressive as he should currently and I think that comes with confidence. I think you will see a much better D man next year. Don’t lose sleep. Bealieu is going to be a keeper. That kid has great vision with the puck.
The habs will be fine on D in a couple years. Forwards are another story
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
That’s what we sad about Ryan O’Byrne and Pavel Valentenko….keepers.
Beaulieu will be a fine DMan but I still question Tinordi. Ellis will be a fine addition for us.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Tinordi is injured. I don’t see him on the boxscore from last night.
I didn’t mention that he was awkward last night, just that the games I’ve watched him play at Copps he has been awkward in his own zone along the corners, reminds me of Ryan O’Byrne, it will take time for him to develop than Beaulieu or Ellis.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “