Same old same old, despite an early exit by Martin F. Brodeur
• Gill takes blame for first goal
• Price moving up in record book
• Arpon Basu on good 2011 stats
• Pierre Ladouceur’s game analysis
• Brendan Kelly on Nos Canadiens
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Not unless you’ve walked in their shoes. A lot of very moral people deserted during the Vietnam war. I was never faced with such a decision, propping up a regional dictator at the expense of thousands of lives, but I suspect I would make the same one.
Great post Chris. I enjoyed Arpon’s article too, but I didn’t look at it in light of the valid points you have raised. JM does like to match lines and does it well. He can’t do that on the road.
well whether you like it or not, todd uses his gazette sports column to push his leftist ideas, cherry uses cbc to push his right wing ones, melnick on montreal sports radio too does it for his pro-leftist simpleton ideas, and certain parts of the francophone sports media also do it for their political obsession.
No! I mean that or any leftist one which is what Todd does to his ‘sports’ column – turning it into his political idealogy.
Considering his main writing topic these days is hockey, logically a hockey controversy would be touched on more often than football. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Roethlisberger has been in his ‘zeros’ section for quite some time.
Anaheim, 2003. SCFs with the Underdog team and Babcock got it to Game 7.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
What, what, what? You’re lumping me in with him!!!!
the fact that you use the word leftist is amazing
well done
partisan division, we need more of that in this country, anything else drummed up by american pundits would you care to import into our backyards?
leftist?
observer, grow up!
i say this tongue in cheek as a st-lambertan, who secretly lives in greenfield park, close enough tho to call it st-lambert adjascent… thats my story and im stikin to it…
griffintown is like the point, minus the anal rape, so i spose
he shops at my provigo and lives in greenfield park
GREENFIELD PARK
nobody respected for ANYTHING lives in GREENFIELD PARK
Whole-heartedly agree. This is why I’m waiting to see what they do over the next month. The Habs have frankly surprised me this season, as I honestly didn’t expect them to be sitting this high in the standings while trying to work a number of rookies into the line-up.
The scheduling gods were nice to the Habs this year…no crazy road spells thus far. But unlike last season, the team is doing well against everybody.
Against the bottom 8 in the league as of today, the Habs are 13-7-2. Against the top 8, they are a very respectable 8-8-1. and against everybody else, they are 9-4-2. So the team’s record is “for real”…it is not being artificially padded by playing ridiculously well against crappy opponents while getting beat up by quality opponents. A .500 record against the top teams in the NHL is very good, and basically indicates they have a shot against everybody. Except perhaps Philadelphia.
I love the look on the player’s face to the right when the coach is losing it, you can tell he’s trying to stop himself from just bursting out laughing.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
Weird, that’s my favourite part too!
I had to look up Greenfield Park, never been there, but I’ve been everywhere around it haha. What about Griffintown? Do respected people live there?
“Check the meds, bud – Tourette’s is manageable.”
Speaking from experience, are we?
———————————————————————— “Young people have seen that a team can play electrifying, fascinating hockey while still behaving like gentlemen.” ~Serge Savard~
According to your hero, Jack Todd… Yes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrkR7ih6f3M
Yeah, and not just yell either, JM should really lose it for full effect! Like throw water bottles and sticks on the ice. Imagine the ref’s reaction knowing how subdued JM has been for years, I bet itd change the way the refs approach Montreal games for the rest of the year.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Todd’s article says that Gomez spoke out against PK’s attitude. I never heard this.
Also this article, to me anyways, has nothing to do with Price. So how you can make such a generalization, I don’t know. Why you are making this out to be about Price I also do not know.
Another thing I find interesting is PK’s stats of late, having 14 points in 16 games. Since being benched by JM, yet of course JM is hurting our youth.
Todd is typically picking on a guy because of his contract. But I will ask this again. Without Gomez in the lineup we have won only 1 game in the last 2 years. We have been exceeding expectations and Gomez is our number one 5 on 5 center. He is a BIG key in our play, and since he has been on this team we have gone to the Conf Finals, and are currently holding on to 6th spot in the standing despite being without Gorges and Markov, along with Cammi for awhile. Not I do not pretend this to be simply the work of Gomez alone, if you think he isnt a big part of it, then I believe you are quite naive.
With Gomez we have been a much better team. So I do not see why he gets so much bashing… HE did not trade himself to Montreal, and He did not OFFER himself the contract, he simply said YES to two good opportunities. Which makes him a smart guy.
I will say it again. Gomez makes 7.3 million on average per season. SAME AS BETTMAN. What do you expect.
OH THATS RIGHT, some people want our first two lines to be Crosby, Ovechkin, Briere, LaCavalier, St. Louis, and Kesler. And of course they want them for 3 million each…
Todd may be able to write an article, but he is a typical instigating reporter who’s entire style is based on reaction. He is similar to Don Cherry, Howard Stern (without the humor) or Jackass movies….
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Gill just doesn’t have the speed and balance to properly lay guys out, he’s be hitting an enpty board more often than not. I like Gill, and he shows is real worth come playoff time.
Correction, Jack Todd would have wanted the Rocket to be kicked out of the league. At least that would be consistent with his thinking that Ben Roethlisberger shouldn’t have been playing yesterday.
I think that art thingy donation he made in Ottawa and then it turned out to be dubious, it had something to do with his mother or something. I forget the full story but that did him in in Ottawa.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Nice try at an an insult but it just proves that you really are a douchebag.
Tourette’s is a pretty awful disorder to have. I wouldn’t make fun of it. How on earth would a person even think another would have it via the written word?
Moreso and as has been proven here on numerous occasions I am articulate and well written. I will attest that I am equally capable of being so in public when speaking.
Yes I can swear like a drunken sailor if I want to. I can also control myself and after working in the public for decades I’d be without a job if I couldn’t.
Dumb-ass! That was intended. No tic there.
jack todd is a turkey
I always thought Alexei Yashin was a great player, but recognize I’m in the minority. I’ve always felt the guy has been unfairly maligned, but what can you do? He’s a big boy collecting a big salary, so I’m sure he can deal with it. But he was a very, very good NHL player for his entire career. The contract disputes tarnished his legacy, as did his playoff performances.
But the guy played for some not particularly great teams…he was with the Senators when they were starting to get good, and then got dealt to the Islanders when they started to get truly awful. His only good shots at success were thwarted when the Senators ran into the Dominik Hasek led Sabres in 1998-99 and then a Maple Leafs team pefectly designed to kill the Sentators (just like the Flyers seem designed to kill the Habs of late) in 2000-01. And if you want to see interference, watch the “defence” that Shayne Corson got away with while covering Yashin in that Leafs-Sens playoff seriesin 2001. That was absolutely the worst officiating I’ve ever seen.
I agree to an extent with Arpon Basu’s article, but there is a cautionary note.
Since Dec. 31, the time period Basu is talking about, the Habs have played 10 games at home and 6 on the road. That the Habs are a very good home team and a decidedly average road team thus far should be factored in, particularly given that those 6 road games were against Florida, New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Washington, only three of whom were in playoff positions . Since January 1, the Canadiens have had minimal travel (New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Washington, all within 800 km).
Once the current home-game heavy portion of the schedule is finished, the Habs face some nasty travel for the following month (Feb. 17 – March 20):
I have no doubt the Canadiens will make the playoffs. But I think we’ll have a much, much better idea of where the team sits in terms of Stanley Cup contender status on March 20th. That road-heavy schedule mixed in with some pretty tough home games could bring the team together and show that they might in fact be a solid Stanley Cup contender, or it could expose some weaknesses and show that they might be a pretender.
Jacques Martin loves to match up his lines and defensive pairs, and I think that is a big part of the team’s success. Whether he can do that without the benefit of the last change will be an issue for the team to face. I’m not saying anything that people don’t already know, I just thought it might be useful to point out that there can be some flaws in the conclusions you reach when you cherry-pick a short portion of the schedule.
Cap issues aside, are you trying to say we would be a better team had Gainey not made the trade and kept, Higgins (36 points), McDonagh (1 pt), Valentenko (No NHL games, career AHLer?) Janik (2 points) over Gomez (101 points, 14 of them play-off points) Pyatt (9 pts)
Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Sather screwed the pooch on the Gomez contract, but I’d rather have him and Pyatt, rather than Higgins, who really is the only bonefide NHLer right now and who’s been through 3 teams since the deal, out of the 4 players the Habs dealt, even at Higgin’s 1.6 cap. hit.
..always with the negative waves, Moriarty, always with the negative waves..
Winning 1 National Newspaper Award for sports writing and being nominated 3 times overall indicates that his peers have some respect for his work.
Red Fisher and Michael Farber have both won it twice in their careers. It’s not the easiest award in the world to get.
I’m starting to get the feeling that much of the players really care what the media says. Gomez, Gionta, Cammi are all signed for the forseeable future, they are fresh off a Conference final and they continue to win games without top players. Media can say all they want this is a tight nit group that plays hard and has an identity
Jack Todd = what the J-school profs teach you not to be like. What a hack.
Andrew, I am not baiting, but really… he was our best forward?! How badly did the team suck that he ended up to be “the best”?
Amen to that. I love the guy’s contribution and I can overlook most of his shortcomings. What bugs me most about Gill is watching a guy with his size play like a Lady Byng candidate. I’m not saying he should go full-Pronger but a little Chara would go a long way. But if he were to develop a bit of a nasty streak he’d be a beast.
I was gonna say, depending on the severity Tourette’s is not that manageable. I have a cousin who has it and his life has been sh**.
You’re an embarrassment to these pages. Thankfully we have many much better posters here.
What Roethlisberger was accused of was a much more serious crime, although by his logic Jack Todd should be railing against Kristian Huselius and Henrik Tallinder every column for being aloud to play in this league.
fbkj, you’re in my top 2 favorite posters around here
Well we split a set of back to back games, so the team didn’t suck, but there wasn’t much offense to be had, and on both goals that were scored on goalies, Gomez either scored or set it up. Who would you say was better?
i just cant stand partisan talking points, especially in canada… especially on a HOCKEY BLOG
but thanks
Let me clarify that by peers, I should have written colleagues, as I was referring to Gazette writers. As for the National Newspaper Award, good for him, although listing Red Fisher and Michael Farber as other recipients makes me think they have bad taste in choosing winners. And let’s be clear that Shiloh stated NORTH AMERICA, not Canada. Winning a Canadian only award is great, but that accounts for what… 7% of the population of North America off the top of my head. Less?
Todd does not rail about Rothlisberger in every column. He railed about him in this one because it was topical.
Who knows if Huselius and Tallinder would draw Todd’s wrath if their team’s were in the Stanley Cup finals and they were drawing a lot of media attention? I certainly don’t.
I think senility has set in
He even tries to get Playfair to calm down by grabbing him and pulling him back a little. What an embarrassment.
I had forgotten about that story.
tourette’s isnt without its lulz however
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtSeAZWlow
A total embarrasment to the organization. There can be no condoning of what Richard did all those years ago. Richard’s treatment of on-ice officials was one of the things he did that tarnished his legacy.
i think deserting your own country’s army makes you incapable of criticizing any other person’s morals!
He only writes one column per week. In that column, he touches on hockey, baseball and football. He often delves into other sports, but those have long been his big three.
I don’t know how often Roethlisberger is in his zeros, but he wasn’t there on January 10. And I give Todd props for being one of the few “mainstream” journalists that routinely tries to give some credit to other sports. He routinely includes athletes from various Olympic sports, in addtion to the usual suspects from the NFL, CFL, NHL and MLB. He usually leave the NBA alone.
-todd uses his gazette sports column to push his leftist ideas
EXPLAIN!
-cherry uses cbc to push his right wing ones
agreed, he perpetuates a dialogue that WE DO NOT NEED UP HERE, much like you are doing
-melnick on montreal sports radio too does it for his pro-leftist simpleton ideas
again explain, also why throw in the word simpleton, the tone of this thread would suggest you were trying to come off as, what do they call it in the states, centrist?
-and certain parts of the francophone sports media also do it for their political obsession.
they do what? push a “leftist” agenda?
There is no left or right in Canada. We’re ALL left. No one follows “right” wing american politics up here. Voting conservative means you are still “left” in the eyes of the southern folks.
he didnt desert his country’s army, he was drafted to go to war, he didnt sign any contract
this is the ONE thing i respect todd for
edit: you are right, i was wrong, he wasnt drafted, he did desert the army, k that changes things
He doesn’t seem to disagree with peoples opinions.He rather disagrees with peoples right to have them.
No way – you’re one of a kind.
interesting… thats a lot of grey…
Jack Todd is not my hero, Andrew, but he’s a very good writer.
Retreat!!! Run away!!! Oh no, facts!!! Arrrgggghhhh! The facts are coming to get me.
Yeah, I would have liked to see him stay in Anaheim and continue building. Winning a Stanley Cup with Detroit is kind of like winning a World Series with the Yankees…your odds always go up.
double
Spot the Devils a one goal lead, go and grab a pillow and a blanket. Might as well watch paint dry.
Im going to toot my own horn here but I remember when I said the habs should get Avery, that he had hit a wall with his antics and it was all an act. Hed have come cheap and look at Avery this year. Hes a very good player and you dont hear anything out of him.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
You know I think Gill is getting away with too much, hes been MABesque a lot from what Ive seen. And just cause he owns up to it doesnt make it better. I dont dislike the guy but hes as much of a one trick pony like MAB was (his octopuss-like reach when on the PK). Just once Id like to see him use his size and flatten someone.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Jack Todd gets paid for that? Well, I guess I read it, wished I hadn’t.
Todd cites Gomez’s salary and not his cap number; in 2012 Gomez’s salary will be $5.5M (almost $2M lower than his cap number), who thinks Todd will still be citing his salary then?
Why is Todd so upset about there being regular season awards, and in particular an MVP award? Does Todd not realize that there is a playoff MVP award too?
Har har, Jack, Mr. Gisele Bundchen, that’s original. If that wasn’t enough, he then compared Brady (who played on a broken foot) to Ryan Leaf.
If he dislikes Gomez’s production so much, how come he was disappointed to see Max sent down last year? Max had 3 goals and 14 points in 52 games when he was sent down, and hadn’t scored a goal in 27 games. I guess it’s all about the Benjamins.
Say what you want about Ben Roethlisberger personal behavior, but saying he shouldn’t have played in the Super Bowl is ridiculous. Someone needs to remind Todd that you are innocent until proven guilty in America, he seems to have forgotten.
Boone/Stubbs/Hickey, how do you work with this guy? He must be to your staff, what Avery was to the Dallas Stars. You must be embarrassed every time his letterhead shows up in the paper.
Dumbest written statement ever”Are you paying his salary???”.Gomez at 8 mil a season is the worst trade EVER FOR A FORWARD. Niinaama worst trade for a Dman and Di Pietro worst goalie contract.
Todd really let Gomez have it. Is Gomez that much of a cancer? Is it really that big of a deal that he was mouthing off and got ejected? They were losing 3-1 against the last place team and had trouble generating any offence. People get frustrated and so what he got kicked out. Doesn’t that show emotion? I don’t see him doing that when they are winning and they don’t have guys that can fight or push the other team around; so what do they do? They chirp. PK churps, Georges, Cammi, they all chirp. 4-1, your losing, 2 minutes left, go nuts and bring it next game. + it was another back to back after a big shutout win.
Any news on when Cammi is set to return? I know he is skating but doens’t look like he is taking contact or shooting. I’m thinking another 2 weeks. Just my opinion but maybe even surgery after the season.
+ about last night, they were also missing Wisniewski. Injuries/illness are really taking the offensive players out. Give the team a break!
After reading Red Fisher and Jack Todd this morning, it was refreshing to get Arpon Basu’s viewpoint. His analysis of the team after Dec. 31 is spot on. Not many teams can compete night after night as the Canadiens have after missing key players like Markov, Gorges, Cammalleri and now Wisniewski.
Scott Gomez may not be having his greatest season but when a player is angry after a loss, he is on the right track. Somebody has to question the poor officiating (only one powerplay in a game) against the Devils. The refs put their whistles in their pockets during the last 30 minutes. I am glad Gomez confronted the referees. Somebody has to do it. This has been going on for too long. If the Devils were behind, the Canadiens would be sure to get a few back to back penalties.
It is hard enough to compete without your top players, at least let the game be played fairly.
It seems Red Fisher never has a positive thing to say about the Canadiens. Early in September he said they would not make the play-offs with teams like Buffalo, New Jersey and even Toronto getting better. Then in December when the Canadiens were in a slump, he said things are not going to get easier for them suggesting their season is done.
This team has character, they will not quit. If they are given a fair chance to play, they are hard to beat.
“It’s too much for one guy to shoulder. For us, we’re going to do it as a group. It’s about sharing that responsibility win or lose.” – Mike Cammalleri
You don’t hear anything from Avery because he’s been demoted to the fourth line.
At the same time you don’t see to many players taking runs at him. When he gets involved in scrums players usually back off instead of throwing punches or trying to bully him.
If he started throwing his body around and flattening guys he must be prepared to get it back. Is he prepared for that?
Jack Todd continues to be just plain dumb.
Gomez was right in yelling at the ref’s, why wouldn’t he. GAME OVER and no chance to win. Why wouldn’t he yell at the idiots who helped stifle his team. I won’t blame the ref’s for us losing. But they did not help.
Second, maybe I am wrong, but I have NEVER heard anything about Gomez telling PK how to act. IF ANYTHING, I think Gomez is similar to PK’s joking style (or vise versa), and I wouldn’t take much out of his mouth as too seriously.
Then to say his contract is the worst ever, (ok I admit I stopped reading and saw that from another poster) but, again JACK TODD. I ask you…. This team has won 1 game without Gomez. With him we went to the Conf Finals. You can say what you want, no one can tell me that this team has not exceeded expectations time and time again since we traded for him… NOT ONLY HIM, but you have to admit, the center who gets the MOST even strength time on ice on this team is in fact a HUGE part of it’s success.
The way people bash Gomez you would think we were the New Jersey Devils in last place. When will people realize that without 3 of our best players the guys who are getting it done should be congratulated, not bashed.
It’s been said a few times, if you are a fan of winning, you should be a fan of this team. And there is not a player on our team who has more experience in winning than Gomez. So to those of you who fail to see the upside of Gomez, then I say you are in the same boat as Jack Todd, and enjoy the trip. What’s that you say, he isn’t worth his contract….. WAKE UP. THIS IS THE NHL… Half the players are over paid, FOR GOD’S SAKE BETTMAN MADE OVER 7 MILLION LAST YEAR to keep a bunch of half full arenas in the League.
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
anybody check out the canadien comic book?
http://c0389321.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/battles_canadien.pdf
me no understandy
You know maybe Red thinks like me. I dont find the habs a very good club at all, I mean they turtle around their goalie better than last year which is why Price looks so good this year (Price wasnt bad at all last year, its just they wouldnt score more than 1 goal when he was in) and usually manage 1 period of consistent offensive effort per game. Im honestly surprised they have the amount of wins they have… I find in the east that other than Philly and maybe Tampa, that theres a lot of flawed teams this year. I cant say Ive been dazzled while watching games. I hope theyre all saving something for the playoffs at least.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
The Gazoo. What a rag.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Im glad I don’t think like you I would have to shot myself.
Where do you get 8mil? did you sleep in math class? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
I think I’m speechless. WTF?
No reason for you to shoot yourself storm man, theres more to life than hockey.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.