On 110%, assessing the impact of Mathieu Schneider, Jean-Charles Lajoie of CKAC said:
"This team needs the help of Brother André … and I don’t mean Kostitsyn."
Line of the day
Line of the day
Me: Where is the Canadiens vaunted depth if they have to play Tom Kostopoulos on the top line?
Pat Hickey: I’m more of a glass half-full guy. How many teams have a 30-goal scorer on their third line?
• • •
Soft team?
Marc Antoinde Godin of La Presse points out that Mike Komisarek is tied with Dion Phaneuf for lthe league lead in hits with 64. (But the Flames have played one more game than the Canadiens.)
The Canadiens have five other players among the NHL’s top 50 hitters: Steve Bégin, 19th with 40 hits, Guillaumke Latendresse, 34th with 35, Tom Kostopoulos, 35th with 34, Francis Bouillon (whose missed four games), 41st with 33 and Michael Ryder, who also has 33 but has played 17 games and is ranked 44th.
Loading ...
Notice that i kept my umbrella on, there’s no leaf on me!
Ian, or should I say “The Ian Cobb,” I like our chances. Think about where we stand and we have yet to see all lines fire on the same night. The way the wags talk about the Sens, I am reminded of the same talk about the ’95 Red Wings and the Devils sent them home in what, four games? The regular season is just like a house league to eliminate the truely dreadful squads, like the leafs, from the playoffs. The ’86 and ’93 runs were much, much longer longshots than the current squad. Forgive me, but I don’t see any equivalent to the Edmonton Oilers in this years’ group. By the way, I love your picture. You should offer to sign some for charity. I’d buy one right away. All the best, Brian.
Just imagine how Avery is going to twist those leaf bastrads before the next game. The poor guy is gonna draw a $50K fine.
Don’t forget, these coaches know there stable both here and in Hamilton very well. They have kept a close eye on them from before they were drafted. Right down to which lace they do up first. Carecter and yes even the way they spell, temprement, all play a part in what they see and want from a paticular player. We only see the on ice product of a player. These coaches and G.M. themselves are top of the line winners, they have developed this system and are looking for the perfect combination for all 4 lines and special PP & PK units. It takes years to draft and develop a club into what we now see on the ice. We are getting very close to the day that we will hoist Stanly again. We are not there yet, but I can smell it.
Yea, it’s like when Ian called me “Teats.” You have to have a “rep” before something like that happens, or you’re just done. And, T-Lusty is indeed done!
Have any of you noticed that JFJ hasn’t blogged on the leafs website since the middle of October when he thought things were looking up?
No matter what the kid does in his career he’ll have to live with that all the time and the players won’t let him forget.
Is it as good for you as it is for me?
The kid show his privates on the internet, but the whole damn squad is denuded in Boston on TV. Which is worse, I ask you?
Boston 5 toronto 2.
The leafs are SFD: So F’n Dreadful!
Did you get a nice glossy print?
Yeats – Tlusty got caught with his pants down on the bruin’s 4th goal.
The leafs are absolutely smokin! 4-2 B’s. But what is TO smoking? They must be distracted by T-Lusty’s naked picks on the internet. ROFLMAO!!!
Its too bad… Latendresse has such a long leash, and yet Grabs doesn’t even get a chance when the first line is a man short.
Watching the leafs/Bruins’ game. Who is going to post naked pictures on the internet to take the heat of the boys from TO tonight?
What about Grabovski playing wing on the first line? Could be interesting to see him perform with first line duties.
bigjames & twitch- Thanks for the help. I wonder where DD, yeats,moey,naila,jt,gtc,tommyb,chuck and a dozon others have gone. Maybe my picture did them in!!
sabres are having a warm up scrimmage tonite against the sens. should be a good game tomorrow! go habs!
Hopefully Kostopoulos can take care of the dirty work down low in the corners and open up some time and space for Sak and Higgy. I think Rydz will do ok on the third line with a couple of guys like Smokes and Beige feedin him the puck. Should be an awesome line lots of size and now some scoring touch. I like when every line has at least one sniper. Even Lats on the fourth line is ok. Go Habs!
i think you saw the “225 reads” it’s how many times the post has been read, or rather, how many people have been to the page.
ian,
i think that number is reads, ie how many people have read this thread, not posts. i may be wrong, but that is what i think…
go habs!
Clayton M—Nice Sweater—It says at the top of this page 225 posts, I can only find 10 ???
I think Grabovski gets beaten off the puck too easily to be much help to Koivu and Higgins. He wouldn’t be able to dig the puck out of the corners. Hopefully TomK will, and by crashing the net may get a tip-in or a rebound. It may work for a game or two, but I agree it’s not a long-term solution. If Ryder continues to struggle, I’d like to see Dandenault given a chance on the top line.
Because we’re not quite in a position where we can afford to piss-away points while letting the first line get their act together, that’s why. We’re a good team on the rise, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves: we’re going to need every extra point that we can get our hands on to put us into the playoffs, and possibly a home-ice advantage in the first round.
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
It brings new meaning to “hanging your goalie out to dry”.
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
Hey buddy, how did your laffs do against the Boooins?.
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
I love your photo, Ian! To be honest, I was spending some time this evening voting for our guys on the all-star ballot.
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
Three scorers on a line rarely works out. You still need someone to go into the corners and dig the buck out for the finishers.
The Pocket Rocket wasn’t the greatest goal-scorer in history, but he sure as hell knew how to get the puck to his brother!
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
Very sporty, very sporty, indeed!
Yea, and we’re what fifth in the whole damn League? Calm down, it’s only mid-November. And, I guess you knew that nine rookies would band together to with the Cup in ’86? You want to blow your brains out, don a leafs jersey and load your luger.
Watching Ottawa 3 Buffalo 1—-Dan Alf has 2 goals 1 A— Be back after 3rd
The leafs: Truely naked in their collective incompetance!!!
Everyone is better looking, but you don’t know the majic within.
What leafs pic are going to show up on the internet tonight? Can’t blame it all on McCabe this evening. I really feel for Paul Maurice. The poor guy gets hired to coach what is considered a “legendary” franchise and he draws this collection of bung holes. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. OK, maybe I would and would truely relish it! Hey, I’m just shooting for purgatory, or salvantion’s version of the “A.”
Yeats, I had something important to say, but first I have to do some laundry. Let me make sure I have everything in order.
Laundry basket – Check
Detergent – Check
Camera phone – Check
Towel tied loosely around my waist – Check
A collection of friends who would be interested in seeing me naked – Check
Nude pictures couldn’t make the leafs worth watching tonight!
Especially since Gonads are considered optional equipment with that organization.
Go Habs Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent quote! I tend to agree with Pat
Bonus Trivia: Dion Phaneuf and I share a birthday. And I only found that out yesterday.
But can you headman the puck out of the zone, or deliver a crushing bodycheck? I thought not
I cut the average Canadian lots of slack when it comes to that BS. I am a native New Yorker. I just chalk it up to what I call the hijacking of ’67. These leafs’ supporters have created this absolutely mythical environment in which they are truely the best team in the NHL. It’s like some truely weird variant of “The Stockholm Syndrom.” These guys have yet to even get to a Stanley Cup final in the post-original-expansion era let alone win one. I was talking to a good friend and Habs’ fan tonight and I said that leafs’ nation is like some primative tribe. I can see them all sitting around a TV with bones through their noses worshiping HIO as if it were some sort of primative god.
It’s a little known fact that the majority of laffs fans believe their team colours to be purple and white. This is due to them looking at the team with rose-coloured glasses for 40 years and counting.
I’m choosing Markov and McCabe on every ballot. Plus I’m picking Rivet on the write-in ballot out West so him and Koivu can shoot the shit for a few days.
The 1st period was brutal for Habs fans last night but there was a bit of humour in it supplied by Pierre McGuire. Carbo started the Koivu line followed by the Smolinski line (begin-Smols-Ryder) and rolled his 4 lines. Kostopoulos who is used to short shifts and is very disciplined changed quickly and of course his replacement was Ryder and McGuire kept on saying that Ryder was back on the 1st line again and it kept on happening till Carbo’s panic set in. I suggest that Pierre have a Valium before the match cuz i don’t think he’d be to proud of last nights tape. Pierre has done it before, a few games back Pierre was praising Carbo for playing 2 centers on a line late in the game (Chips & Smol) for faceoff reasons but didn’t realise that Carbo had already gone to 3 lines and moved Smol to (rw) as he often does. I like Pierre and his knowledge but he gets cared away sometimes.
Sorry, i posted it on thr wrong cmment ca va.
souray hurt his shoulder in a fight…
It wouldn’t surprise me if Carbo has in his mind the intention of bringing up d’Agostini sometime soon. I think he’s giving Kostopoulos a shot because of his hard work ethic – the guy makes things happen in the O-zone and plays both ends of the ice. However, I don’t think the Greek Grinder is 1st line material. This is a temporary trial to allow Ryder to “find his game” without pressure. If things don’t improve, expect to see d’Agostini in Mtl. And, after seeing him burn things up in pre-season & camp, he could be the missing link to the Habs #1 line struggles. Time will tell, but this is for sure: no one on the team presently fits the bill of #1 line RW. So, something’s bound to change soon, like before December.
While I had d’Agostini in mind, there are other RWs that could easily come up and play the #1 line (at least on a trial basis): S. Kostitsyn, D. Milroy, and J. Ferland. I think the ones with the most potential at this level are S.Kostitsyn and d’Agostini. If the roster is too full, send down Grabovski.
Just a little observation… The leafs had 6 powerplays to Boston’s 2… I guess they bring the refs with them whereever they go…
anyone remember the useless line juggling last year? what did johnson, begin, latendresse do on the first line last year? nothing extraordinary. what would kostopoulos do? i’m guessing that he would multiply giveaways.also, very interesting game tomorrow especially against a team that just lost to the senators. i’ll go with my gut and predict a 4-3 game.
whether you prefer the glass is half full, to the glass is half empty, doesn’t change the fact that it is only half a glass.
A bad Ryder is ten times the player Kostopoulous ever has been. Let’s get serious Mr. Boone. That he is on the first line points to a serious lack of depth.
Ryder has to get going and if moving him to the third line helps, than by all means do it. But let’s not kid ourselves, Kostopoulous on the first line is not a good thing. The man has played 17 games for the Habs and has yet to score an even-strength goal.
This team has huge problems scoring goals 5-5 and hopefully it is fixed before it becomes a problem. Their PP isn’t going to sit at 30% for the season.
ebk – I had an old neighbour who was always negative just like you. I suggested something to her and it worked. Now she’s running around yelling “exlax rules”.
awesome post nightmare_49, if you can’t refute it just resort to insults.
I am all for line juggling to see if some chemistry can be made. It won’t hurt Ryder to play a few shifts with some other guys, and I’ll bet that he still puts in a shift or two with Koivu and Higgins tomorrow regardless.
This just for laughs…….
I am playing a season of EA SPORTS NHL 08 with the Habs, and have found that Steve Begin can put the puck in the net if given the chance. I had him up on the first line with Ryder and Koivu for a while and now he is centering Kovalev and Higgins on the second (Pleckanec having proved to be a better set up man for Ryder and Koivu over the last 3 or 4 games) Kostopoulous has shown some promise, but has really been more of a hard-working grinder type and not a scorer so far.
Anyone else found any good line combinations on NHL 08?
B
anyone else having trouble with main page??
Soon and very soon we will see a young gun take the bus from Hamilton to boost the Habs 1st line. Who will it be? S. Kostitsyn or M. d’Agostini? and who will go back on the return trip? stay tuned… it’s coming
It’s a long season. Issues in goal and Ryder & goalscoring will work themselves out. Hopefully health will stay consistent. They are a great team, or seem to be so far. Glad to hear Kovy is playing both ways and with passion!
Go Habs – !!
JB
I was watching the leafs lose while voting for our boys on the all-star ballot. Toss a couple of cold beers into the mix, and there you have the makings of a great night!
Next up… the BuffaSlugs!
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
McCabe? You’re big on the pity vote, aren’t you? Either that or you’ve truly got a mean streak and want to see him embarrass himself in front of a larger TV audience. I like the way that you think!
.
.
.
______________________________________________
“Vote Saku for All-Star… or little Timmy gets it!!!”
Tom K on the top line I think will pan out. If it pans out too well Ryder won’t be back on the top line or the second line for that matter. Prediction for tomorrow’s game…..we win 3-0.
Personally, I’m waiting for someone to suggest that this is finally the chance to put Kovalev and Koivu together.
All points to Kostopoulos for working hard since he arrived, but let’s be serious, this cannot last long. Hopefully Ryder gets the message that Carbo wants to send.
I’m also predicting a win in Buffalo, thanks yet again to superb goaltending from Huet.
There’s no way you can take Kovalev off the second line right now. Right now they are our main offensive force. Splitting that up is lunacy.
Nice about the hits. So much for us being a small team. Yet another Habs myth- BUSTED!
Now if we could get a couple of guys in the top 50 for scoring…
C
Hab Fans, Never went to school, but I know all about chemistry. Thats what a good coach has to find, if he just stayed pat a lot of posters would be all over him. Finding the correct chemistry is what coaching is all about. I like Pat Hickey’s idea, a glass half full with a 30 goal scorer on the third line. Won,t he be a genious if that line can,t be stopped by the opposition,s third line! And Tom K is a fine hockey player who after a couple of games just might click on the # one line. Thats another reason why this game is so exiting when we have the depth that we do now. This is a very good franchise now, soon to be great! Keep tweeking things Carbo, untill you get it right. We are only the 4th best team in the league and we are getting better!!! Now I’ll read your post’s. IAN
Very well said!
WHERE ARE ALL THE POST’T—I CAN NOT FIND YOU PEOPLE< WERE ARE YOU ALL ???????
Voting for the boys on the All Star ballot
http://fanballoting.nhl.com/vote.asp
We should form our own ballot on HIO to decide who our write-in pick is. Kovalev, Higgins, Komisarek, Plekanec and Hamrlik should get some support.