The Canadiens will be back in action Tuesday night when former Hab Alex Kovalev and the Florida Panthers visit the Bell Centre.
The Panthers signed the 39-year-old Kovalev to a one-year contract on Friday and he scored a goal and added two assists Saturday in a season-opening 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Kovalev’s linemate, 19-year-old Jonathan Huberdeau, also had a goal and two assists. The centre on their line is Peter Mueller, the eighth overall pick at the 2006 NHL entry draft, who picked up an assist.
”You can tell he’s a talented kid,” Kovalev told The Associated Press about Huberdeau, the No. 3 pick at the 2001 NHL draft. “He’s really patient with the puck. He can hold on to it. Pretty strong on his feet and it’s really fun to play with a player of that type. You know if you give it to him, you’ll get the puck back. You’re not worried about helping him out. He’s strong enough to make the plays. That makes the job easier.”
About himself, Kovalev said: “I can still stickhandle. I can still skate. I can still make plays. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be wasting my time and someone else’s time. I know I can match anybody in this locker room. I can still play this game. That’s why I’m here.”
You can watch Kovalev and the Panthers in action Monday night when they visit the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 p.m. on RSE and RDS before heading to Montreal to face the Habs Tuesday in a 7:30 p.m. start.
Tickets for the 22 Canadiens’ remaining home games after Tuesday went on sale Sunday and a team official told The Gazette’s Brenda Branswell they were selling at a similar pace as last year.
Some games are sold out, said Donald Beauchamp, the Canadiens’ senior vice- president, communications and community relations. There were still some tickets available for a number of games, Beauchamp said late Sunday afternoon. For more ticket info, click here.
The question Canadiens fans are asking is how many games will unsigned restricted free agent P.K. Subban play for the Canadiens.
Writes Jack Todd in his Monday Morning Quarterback column:
“Sunday, while his teammates were recovering from a bruising loss to Toronto, Subban was in T.O., taking in the Lakers game from the front row. The Lakers need all the help they can get — but the Canadiens need Subban more.”
Todd adds: “Does it matter that Subban is still unsigned? Well, for you Tomas Kaberle fans (both of you) it was great: Kaberle wasn’t all that bad. For those who hope the Canadiens will make you forget last season’s 15th-place finish with a playoff push, not so much.”
Read Todd’s entire column by clicking here.
Tomas Plekanec took the blame for the Canadiens’ season-opening 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs Saturday night, saying the loss “is on me.”
Plekanec was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct at 7:14 of the second period when he stopped short of Ben Scrivens and treated the Toronto goaltender to a snow shower.
“I don’t think it even hit him,” Plekanec said. “But it wasn’t a smart thing to do and I’ll know better next time.”
Read more by clicking here.
Read Dave Stubbs’s column on the opening-night loss and the pregame torch ceremony by clicking here.
Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks are exploring the possibility of signing former Canadien Scott Gomez, who became an unrestricted free agent last week when the final two seasons of his seven-year, $51-million contract were bought out by the Canadiens.
“We look at it that he’s 33, he’s won two cups,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told the San Jose Mercury News. “A very versatile player.”
Gomez travelled to Calgary with the Sharks for their season-opening 4-1 win over the Flames on Sunday, but a decision on his future with San Jose might take another few days. Read more by clicking here.
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Kerry Frasor on the Pleks penalty:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=414132
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
It’s like I thought, refs were told to be harsher on this stuff, the face washing etc…
Too bad for Plekanec as he was made an example of.
Hopefully the refs will call the penalties consistently across the season and playoffs… I might just grow wings too.
Sadly, I don’t think consistency will ever be something we will have with the ref’s. After watching the AHL this season they def make the NHL refs look better….
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
i think the refs are generally good – pleks call was very marginal but he could have prevetned it. like a hooking penalty where a player di dnot really hook a guy – DON”T put your stick in the gut of another player or you will get called.
People on this site really crack me up.
Having been away from my computer for a few days, I went back to read some of the pre-game comments from Saturday. “emelin is gonna crush Grabovski”, “Habs 5-0 win for sure”, “Galchy hat trick”…and then the immediate post game comments : “fire Therien”, “They suck”, “Same as last year”.
Guess what folks, we improved our bottom 6… but we were arguably the worst team in the NHL last year. Improving the bottom 6 ain’t gonna do squat in terms of our goal scoring or power play (where the games are won these days).
Regarding Subban, I like the guy and I want him on the team but we had him last year and we were the worst team in the league. Not a reason we lost on Saturday.
Week 1 are essentially exhibition games in this joke or a league and ridiculous 48 game schedule.
Oh, and by the way, Subban is the most disliked guy in the locker room. It was Cammalleri and Subban – now there is only one.
Tre
If you take every post seriously, you’re going to have a bad time.
I see you like memes.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
I know of them, but I thought it was fitting here.
It’s pure BS that Subban is disliked in the room. More media fabrication.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
It is very controversial
Actually, the media are doing a hell of a job keeping a lid on it. It’s a known fact, but players will tolerate dislike if the guy is a superstar. Nobody on the Lakers likes Kobe, nobody liked Jordan, nobody likes Tiger, nobody liked Roy, nobody liked Lance, nobody liked Bonds…
These are all people that had or have no friends on their team.
PK is the same. The players in the room don’t like him. It’s a known fact – it will only come out if he goes. The way it did for Cammalleri.
I have numerous friends that play on pin the NHL and tell me the scoop. Nobody on their respective team likes Ribiero, Kane or PK.
They will tolerate him if he delivers.
The tell is this: no one is stepping up for him or speaking in his behalf. Not one player.
Tre
Doesn’t sound true at all.
Why should a player come up and speak about the negotiations that are none of his business?
And PK has friends on the team, and so does Price for that matter – the Habs’ stars seem to be popular guys on the team.
And who said Cammy was disliked? This is all speculation from soundbites and outsiders. I’ll believe it when and if I hear a player say it himself.
I guess we should ask Hal Gill about it.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
I’m sure if we had access to the Montreal Canadiens Media Guide we could all make much more sense out of what MT is doing.
LMAO!
Gimme that PDF, damn it!! Right Bleeping Now!!!!!
comes with decoder ring?
Why hasn’t anyone else suggested that?!
Jeez, Burly, you have all the BEST ideas!!
—Hope Springs Eternal—
They should make them available on iPad, IPhone and Android!
Watching the Bruins play – they look 3 times stronger than us.
I hate them, but man what a dominant team.
They are better than us. Probably better than the Canadiens as well. They also have a kickass mascot. If the Bruins mascot tells you to respect the facility… well it is just different. I wish the team had a great mascot.
WTF IS GALCHENYUK ON THE 4TH LINE FOR
Good idea, let’s freak out!
“thoroughbred”
They texted him about a practice change and he replied in full caps. Boom, 4th line just like that.
The kid’s got quite the freakin’ attitude. Trade him!
“thoroughbred”
LOL
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Watching this NYI, TB game and oh my god Tampa’s D is horrible! Brewer especially. If he backed into his zone any deeper, he’d put Lindback in the hospital.
I have never been more sure this site is mostly commented on by teenagers who know more about baggy jeans than about hockey than I am today.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Hey,Thanks Amigo! I haven”t been carded in 4 decades! Feeling better already!
I’ve the heart of a 16 year old in a body that’s twice as old…
Hey Habsrule1, I didn’t get your reply to my comment that the Habs will show up ready and more in sync tomorrow night. What did you mean by it? I don’t think it can be read as trolling anything, merely saying that even though we lost the first game and looked unprepared, you can expect a better performance tomorrow night.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
I had actually posetd something similar….using the words “out of sync”.
Take a look at the bottom post on this page. In case it’s gone, here it is:
The team looked out of sync, but it seemed to be getting better in the 3rd.
I wouldn’t read too much into the first game of any season, let alone one that included a 100+ day lockout.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Haha, so I see we are both giving the team a shot.
When you think about it and ignore the loss to the Leafs (grr) you can tell that it was mostly bad luck and special teams – I trust that the special teams aspect will improve by the next game, and even more down the line.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
It just boggles my mind (not sure why since I’ve been on this site since the beginning) that people who think they know a bit about hockey would say anything negative after 1 game in a lockout year. The fact is some teams will be a bit ahead if they had more players playing during the lockout and other teams will start slowly, especially if they have a new coach and system to play. I fully expect them to get better and if what Therrien is saying about how he wants the team to play, once they get it down, it should be a lot of fun to watch.
So easy to crap all over someone else’s job when you know you’ll never have to do it, and couldn’t for a second if you did.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Double post, sorry.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Given how bleak the situation looks this year, I did research on a Habs Tank. Given what I found, I think I can live with this.
http://shop.canadiens.nhl.com/section?SID=9e85f9ddf521cf2b93620bc5e51d708465e:4101&secid=39066
Now that is a tank I can support.
I like the rubenesque but the first one looks pregnant?
Was at the game Saturday night, and although I was not impressed with Mad Mike Therrien’s coaching, I was ready to give him a pass as it was the first game of the season and we looked awful. He also had only a week to work with the players. However, looking at the line combo’s from practice, all I’m left to think is “here we go again”.
Once again, Montreal has hired a coach who overplays the 4th line, and doesn’t allow his lines time to develop chemistry.
Galchenyuk looked great in the game against the leafs, and although bourque looked pretty good to, I dont think Galchenyuk should immediately be replaced by bourque on the second line. Galchenyuk needs to be shown confidence, and given ice time to allow him to get into a rhythm. The kid is legit thoroughbred, and could very well be the superstar this organization has been looking for for a long time. If hes not going to get top-6 minutes and a shown confidence game in and game out, than lets just send him back to junior where he can continue to dominate.
I really hope mad mike gets it together because I’m tired of seeing this organization ruin young talent. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself because its the first game, but It’s frustrating that no matter who we bring in as coach, they all do the same thing.
To be honest, everything from the idiotic and embarrassing torch ceremony, to the brutal game, to the comments up to this point have all screamed “here we go again.” And I expect much the same result as last year.
But, it’s more fun than a lockout. So there’s that.
“thoroughbred”
The torch ceremony was not stupid and idiotic. Sure, the game was brutal, but the “here we go again” is more applicable to the comments on this site rather than the expected outcome of the Habs’ season.
I mean, once more we have the hockey experts who couldn’t get a job on TSN already roasting Therrien and the team after one game. Not sure if you’ve been following the rest of the league, but there are teams that are expected to perform better than the Habs this year who have put up dismal performances so far.
Not all oysters produce pearls, thankfully, Price is a pearl producing oyster.
The torch ceremony was absolutely brutal. Not stupid and idiotic, but embarrassing to watch. It was tone deaf to reality. Taking a famous quote inside the dressing room, and physically embodying it as the torch went from player to player, on a team that has and will continue to struggle…. I think the Habs marketing dept. has taken a turn for the worse.
One change that would’ve made that ceremony poignant and far more inspiring: instead of Habs players, have a load of kids in CH jerseys on the ice passing the torch. The symbolism of passing the torch to future generations really would’ve been more appropriate than the ham-fisted spectacle that played out. End it by passing it to the captain. Instead, we get “hey Gio, gimme that torch… hey Eller, can you hold this for a minute….” The constant attempts to tie the present roster players, and the NHL reality of 2013, with the truly inspiring and awesome past of the franchise falls very flat. It was trying too hard. Like the Spartan who introduced the Senators a few years ago.
It’s just like watching HNIC forever playing up the history of the game during its opening, while not being able to play “The Hockey Theme” by Dolores Claman.
“thoroughbred”
In the NHL, coaches shorten the bench for a reason. Therrien has said over and over he doesn’t want to put pressure on an 18 year old (who will be 19 next month). He is, however, putting pressure on Eller, 23, to actually show up.
Price, PK, Gorges, Pleks, Patches and DD haven’t been “ruined.” Bad attitudes have been shed. That’s code for SK74. Drunks have been cast away. That’s AK46. Me first players have been sent packing. Mickey Ribs, anyone? Airplane throwers during playoff games have been allowed to leave. Michael Ryder.
Accountability and coachability are now in. Chucky has that, and a ton of skill. He won’t be “ruined.”
and what did Galchenyuk have to be accountable for exactly? He didnt shorten his bench, as shortening the bench would imply giving less ice time to the bottom lines? SO i am little bit confused at to your reply, seeing as I saw more of prust than I would liked to.
Gorges came to us already a pretty mature player, price had his ups and downs, desharnais is more a product of his own determination being an undersized player, and do you really want to get started on PK? Last I checked, PK isnt playing right now. If I do recall as well, Pacioretty had to be vocal and tell management that they weren’t allowing him to develop properly.
Should we talk about Leblanc?
1-1 in the Bruins/Jets game. The Rat gets a goal and Lucic and Chara have been running around creaming Jets.Can”t wait till we play them, and bounce their black and yellow arses out of the………. oh yeah, forget that last part.Maybe next year amigos.
Don’t think we have anybody to compete with those two. We just have to skate and out work them as we have in past.
With the way the Subban negociations are going, I’m half expecting an announcement like:
“The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have signed Team President and CEO PK Subban to a lifetime contract. As per usual club policy, the financial terms of the unconditional surrender will not be published.”
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Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.
Jones, MacKinnon, Drouin or Barkov?
Trade every vet, get them all four!
We will all need to get our Brigadier Tank classifications then Shiram.
IMO, Drouin so far is shining.
I was very positive on MacKinnon, but didn’t see much at the wj’s.
I am entrenched in the Jones camp at this point. When is the last time we had a chance to draft a dynamic defenseman with unbelievable physical skills who could become our #1 dman within the first 2 seasons in the league!
And then not re-sign him when the time comes.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Or trade him to the Rangers…
Or the Hawks (Chelios)
______________________________________________________
“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
Ouch!
he didnt really get much ice time there, but he looked goo from what I saw, the juniors was the nugent-hopkins show
Give him a season, Bri. Mack wasn’t allowed to play much while Drouin made the coaches play him at the WJC.
I watched a bit of the Flyers V Penguins game the other day and for a while thought I was watching last seasons play-off game…so fast and slick passing plays. THen I heard some of the names that are new to the teams this season and realized this was a replay of Saturdays game.
First thought…man these guys on both teams are in mid to late season form and shape…very fast, slick plays, crisp heads up hockey…then I thought about what I watch with the Habs on Saturday…slow, unfocussed and missed plays and realized…unless the Habs pick up their game fast they are going to sink to the bottom very quickly because some of the other teams will crush them in upcoming games.
Granted the Flyers had a lot of players overseas, the Habs not so many.
I guess what I am saying this team really needs to get into game shape and mid season form much faster…this cannot be thought of as the beginning of the season and they will play themselves into shape…they really have to hit the ice at full mid season shape including timing and execution…hopefully that execution and timing comes together fast…like over the next two games or this could be another long lost season.
My hope is they find their lines and they stick with them so the chemistry, timing and execution can kick in fast.
Go Habs…
We want PK! Well at least I want PK in the line up!
This off the Habs’ website:
Lines and pairings at practice:
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Bourque-Plekanec-Gionta
Armstrong-White-Moen
Prust-Galchenyuk-Gallagher
Eller-Blunden
Markov-Emelin
Kaberle-Bouillon
Diaz-Gorges
Weber
It does not inspire confidence.
Well it does inspire confidence in losing.
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Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.
I’d put anyone one of Eller or Blunded instead of white.
hear hear!
White has NO offensive upside and can barely fight.
Waste of a roster spot.
______________________________________________________
“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
Agreed… I like White… but he didn’t do anything on Sat. Let’s not go f’n up Eller already this year.
Don’t waste Chucky on the 4th line (or 3rd). Send him back to the OHL and let him play.
Therrien was an analyst last year on RDS, no? So, why is he starting to make the same mistakes as JM?
Sometimes amid all the back and forth there are posts which in the spirit of ‘us all being in the same boat (sinking or otherwise) make you want to lift your beer and cheer the FUN!
I give you the following exchange re Eller. Brilliant give and take guys!
Loonie ;January 21, 2013 at 2:05 pm
“We all know how well Eller’s last kick in the ass went.”
Commandant; January 21, 2013 at 2:09 pm
“Wasn’t it right before his 4 goal game?”
You had to dig deep for that one, didn’t you trini?
It’s a ‘have no life’ day here.
Over/under on how many Habs get more points than Kovy this season…
Line is set at 1.5.
is the 0.5 DD?
——————
The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given
+1 I lol’d
—
Go Habs Go!
Well, the next two weeks are going to be interesting. I think it’s fair to say that the overall level of hockey in the 2013 season so far has been abysmal. Throw in the youngsters getting five-game peeks and that 48 game season is looking more like 38-40 games, now.
It’s gonna be topsy-turvy time.
RDS has a slew of fascinating cliche after practice interviews. I can’t tear myself away.
If the leafs beat Boston today the parade planning will be on.
I assure you 100% the Leafs won’t beat Boston today.
Peg is playing Boston now on CenterIce. Laffs Buf tonight
Boston’s playing the Jets right now. Are you implying their playing a double header?
Edit: Jinx! You owe me a beer, Ron.
———————————————————————-
Ka is a wheel.
“Bring it back home to me baby”
Bring it on Home
Doh! Nevermind.
TiHomer?
I spoke with the Leaf fans yesterday, the floats were actually ready for a trial run on the parade route, but was far too windy in Toronto yesterday to risk bringing them out. Gotta remember these floats have spent a long time in dry storage.
I bet you $5 that the Laffs will lose to the Bruins. LOL
I am assuming now that if indeed Eller is a scratch next game, that it has been confirmed that there is no chance MT wants to get full looks at the Gally boys first, and the reality is that there is only 4 forwards not named DD, MaxPac, Cole, Gionta and Plex in the top 9 forward roles which suit these two players?
That was one very long and complicated sentence.
I’m confuzzled also….
What they said.
—
Go Habs Go!
Sorry, my point is, DD, MaxPac and Cole have earned through last year the right to stay together even when struggling.
Plex and Gionta as veterans wont get touched early in season.
Therefore only 4 spots remain in top 9 in which to substitute in order to get a look at Galchenyuk and Gallagher.
So MT has a choice of Galchenyuk, Bourqe, Moen or Eller for who sits next to try out Gallagher.
Sorry for confusion.
I would sit White, and input Gally73:
MaxPower-DD-Cole
Bourque-Pleks-Gio
Gally27-Eller-Gally73
Moen-Prust-ArmDog
Therrien might wanna give Gallagher a try against NHL players, considering there were no pre-season games to test him in a game environment.
I still find it a weird decision to bump Eller completely out of the lineup for that.
I see it as two tests. 1) Gally27 at centre and (2) Gally73 against NHL comp. To do both at once, you need to bump a centre
Exactly.
If I Were a Hockey Player – by Random Fan
If I were a hockey player I would sign a reasonable contract. What can I buy with 6 million that I can’t buy with 5, unless the damn thing costs 6? I guess my ego is not big enough to play professional sports.
Kidding aside though, if Price and MaxP, 2 examples of reasonable contracts among others, get sick of playing in Montreal, they can ask for a trade and be moved very easily. (not saying it’s going to happen, nor that it should)
What players don’t seem to get, like Gomez, Redden, etc. is that money is great, who doesn’t want it? But that the quality of your life is way more important. Make a little less, and live a little stress free.
I never want to see good young players leave, but I can understand if they don’t want to waste their careers on perpetual crappy teams.
And oh yeah, Fire MB, Fire Therrien, and trade everyone for picks because after I game, it’s obvious they’ll never win another game again.
The Gomez lesson is a valuable one, the bigger your contract the more the pressure.
However, I think in PK’s case pressure isn’t much of an issue. He has a brashness and compete level about him, that I think the extra pressures may even make him play better.
Hi Burly, who says I was referring to PK?
This is one subject that is turning brother against brother, and has the potential to become an even greater war than the Prician-Halakian war of 2009-2010. I have promised a good friend I’m saying nothing about the subject any more.
I would not call Price’s contract reasonable, he extracted alot of money from MTL, and he is getting top money for a goalie in the NHL, with little on his resume to warrant it.
I don’t dislike Price’s deal, but I do feel he has to play up to it.
I don’t necessarily agree with that, but that’s not what I’m debating. I believe the contract itself is moveable. There will be another team that will have no issues taking it on.
Sounds like we really need to trade Price and PK in order to take a step forward L.
Like I said above, trade ‘em all for picks.
I love Price and would not move him, but I do think he got a great deal, and he can play up to it.
DD wont finish the season with Cole and Max Pac. Hope he proves me wrong. Plek is no super star but he’ll give us a better chance. I can’t believe how many overpaid useless players we have on this team, and we’re suddenly worried about our cap to sign “future” RFA/UFA’s.
Who is better and more valuable than Subban in this organization? Which player are we afraid of losing over our MVP?
Just give him a contract similar to Price’s, and buy out Kaberle. Trade Markov while it’s still possible.
To all of you saying Therrien has only coached 1 game, he has coached 191 . His record is 77-78-37
How much more time does he need ?
I’m willing give give him at least 1 more shot against a team that will be playing their 3 game in 4 nights on the road with no training camp .
BUT if he does’nt win that one thats it he only has 46 more chances.
A must read for all those saying “Fire Therrien!!”:
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/roster.htm
The Habs roster…. that’s the reading? Fascinating
You can’t whittle wood without the proper tools, eh Oz?
http://calsnhllockout2012songparodies.weebly.com/
HAHA! Well done.
LOUIS LEBLANC HAS SCORED A GOAL!
This gives him one less goal than Chris “we shoulda picked him instead” Kreider… despite Louis having 7 less AHL games this season.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Kreider appears to have caught the eye of Torts. I read it was more an issue with his defense. He seemed to play OK last night but nothing exciting. Perhaps his wonderful playoff performance has set the expectation bar too high.
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He got popped last night, Kreider did. I think he saw tweety birds, but it could have been stars.
Orpic said hi with his shoulder.
Rather than have Eller sit this is what I would try. it’s only one game what the heck.
Cole Pleks Gionta
Pacioretty Galchenyuk Bourque
Moen Desharnais Armstrong
Prust Eller White
I know Eller would be on the 4th line. It’s better than have him in the press box.
No pressure, Chucky. Here, be the second line center here in Montreal while you’ve been a winger all season in Sarnia. Remember, no pressure.
There are some people here that just post to say they posted.
As if I am actually reading how bad Therrien is already. Give him a couple games at least! So far, he has told us he wants an up-tempo aggressive style. Just because the team was unable to do that in the first game, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it or isn’t coaching it.
I swear some of you should be posting on my son’s “fun wall” at daycare instead of on here.
Although, the wall would no longer be fun, but it would be more your speed.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Perhaps those of us who aren’t happy with the Therrien hire for a number of well articulated reasons feel that others who have blinders on when it comes to the moves and decisions of the GM and Coach should do the same.
One thing for sure is Therrien wont bench anyone for taking a penalty.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Here is what I saw:
The team looked very much the same as last year. Same players, same results… since it was the coaches fault last year, it has to be the coaches fault again. I mean… nothing has changed
(sarcasm button was held down for that one)
I get your point but the fact that replacing the coach didn’t work doesn’t necessarily mean the new coach isn’t the problem this time also. For example, the Flyers have been changing goalies every year for the last 20 years and they still have goalie problems.
That’s why you have to judge Michel Therrien by the decisions he takes as much as his results.
I agree. But I am going to give him time to make decisions.
Although, that Boullion and Gorges on the PP is just wrong. I think Pleks is the better option and we saw what happened with that!!!!
I feel so chastised!
Another one of those stupid opening faceoff fights on the Island this afternoon. One last night in the Garden. Should have a special penalty for these WWE type fiascos.
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And those mighty Detroit Red Wing’s media guide
http://redwings.nhl.com/v2/ext/pdf_files/2012_13_DRW_Media_Guide_WEB.pdf
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Followed by Winnipeg
http://jets.nhl.com/v2/ext/files/1213-Winnipeg-Jets-Media-Guide.pdf
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Is the Canadiens’ media guide available?
And if not, why not?
________________________________________
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Damn Danno. Don’t get him started. He’s been whining about it on here for a week now!
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
OK.
But he has a point…
Maybe Mike Boone can scan his copy and post it for us to see…
________________________________________
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
More like two years. As if anyone here will be able to do anything about it.
Sometimes whining can go a long way.
If the Habs’ media guide is ever posted, that is a big IF, you all have me to thank.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
So not worth the whining.
What’s in there that’s so great that we should not have to live without it?
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Enough stats to make a Eyeontheprize blogger have an aneurism.
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Go Habs Go!
I am NOT calling for Therrien’s head. I just want to see evidence that we will see less similarity between him and JM.
Do you think the problem really is trying to make the playoffs with a flawed roster?
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The playoffs will come if they come. The team’s future is going to be determined by the strategies of today. Should I be happy that again another coach seems to be resorting to the marginalization of Eller as the number one remedy for our offense.
Sometimes a player needs encouragement, and sometimes a player needs a kick in the ass. We aren’t in the room, its hard to tell what motivational technique will work best with this player.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
We all know how well Eller’s last kick in the ass went.
Wasn’t it right before his 4 goal game?
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
He was scratched before the Christmas break and had the big came over a week removed from it.
If the idea is for him to find consistency the ups and downs, penthouses and doghouses won’t solve that.
Sticking with him through the ups and downs will.
Less similarity in terms of what?
- A sound, defense-first system?
- Communication skills?
- Passion behind the bench?
- Handling of youth?
- Acountability… blah blah blah?
How could anyone possible call for Therrien’s head after one game? I mean, I know that folks have to bitch and complain, but really?
No answers, just opinions. Bite me. Och.
The problem is the team is used to the way they were playing. Now, they are being asked to change. Sometimes it’s hard to break habits.
Therrien has very openly said he wants a more aggressive style. Players are going to be nervous at first to let loose, but in time (hopefully not too long) they will embrace this way of playing.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Yep, being asked not to suck can be a big adjustment and burden!
True. I keep asking some of the posters here for that much.
They NEVER listen.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
His hair looks completely different, seems much taller and bigger than JM. Also doesn’t have a notepad that I have noticed.
Gionta talks about finding chemistry. The Gelling officially begins.
Hallelujah.
chemistry? not this again…groan
its practically the same roster
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The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given
In fairness, you have to admit they were out of sync Saturday night.
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Potassium nitrate, carbon and sulphur also catalyses a chemical reaction.
I just wouldn’t want to stand anywhere near it.
Which one of you guys/girls lives in Miami? Will be there on Thursday so hopefully weather is good.
Too bad Markov isn’t still down there on Rehab. assignment, you could have hit the bars with him and Habsolutely!
I think Habsolutely is down that way Timo.
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I’d like to see this lineup tomorrow…..
Pacioretty Desharnais Cole
Bourque Plekanec Gionta
Galchenyuk Eller Gallagher
Moen Prust White/Armstrong
I just hope that Therrien is not resorting to sitting Eller already. He’s important to this lineup.
“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
Mark, I don’t know how important he is but I think it’s important that he be given every opportunity to succeed. We need to find out if he’s a legitimate NHL player. Sitting him for game 2 makes no sense IMO.
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I guess I should have said his potential is important to this team. He absolutely still has much to prove.
“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
@BriPro
…Brian, Quent and I met Henri Richard here 2 weeks ago …You are right, I sensed Henri becoming frail
…but, that being said, like Jean Beliveau, We will have to brace Ourselves that We will lose some of Our most cherished icons
…which, I know will be most difficult for Myself, as these wonderful memories and Men are why I remain a Fan
Same here, my friend.
I have mentioned in the past that my father and Yvan Cournoyer’s father co-owned a building in Lachine together, so many years ago.
And Yvan was a part-mentor for me at his hockey school.
To see him all white as he was on Saturday was also an eye-opener, and made me realize for the very first time in my life that I’m not immortal…. (enter sarcastic face here).
I mean, I still look great, but….
Lets not forget it was 13 years ago, that Henri’s older brother… our hero… the Rocket passed away.
We all knew that Maurice lived a long life, and that it was his time to go. Didn’t take the sadness away totally… but it was good to know he had lived a full life.
Now 13 years later, Henri is approaching the same age (he is 15 years younger than Maurice) and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he is going through the same aging issues we’ve seen in so many.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Growing old sucks, but it beats the alternative.
The only way out is to find a way to lengthen telomeres.
Used to have a beer or two with the Roadrunner at his Brasserie on 32nd Ave in Lachine
Like the DODGERS “Wait till next year”
Nice stories you two. It’s a part of our childhood that never leaves. We were so lucky to have had these greats to entertain us all these years. I was able to meet Doug Harvey as a youngster. I don’t think I slept for a week. Wasn’t life grand? Truly lucky we were, huh?
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When I saw Henri come down those stairs Saturday night I was scared. They are VERY steep should have been Damphouse and given Henri the torch to pass to Big Jean.
Eller is a healthy scratch? You know many posters here advise me to chill.. it was only 1 GAME. Maybe you should pass this advice on to MT. Treating Elller this way after only 1 game…. seems like we have been there before. But I am sure those great veterans we have who so much regretted seeing ‘Gomez the Good’ go are OK with this.
And oh yes! Where’s the poster who promptly called me out when I posted to expect something like this….SEE EDIT!
Edit: Unless MT has really developed into a patient enterprising coach who has learnt that some players must soar differently.
Chill.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Where’s the change in direction?
If cleaning house was about moving in a new direction I’d love to know what direction that is. The only difference in regimes thus far has been that this one had higher draft picks.
Yep.
Eller may end up being a consistently excellent player. But treating him like dog shit isn’t the way to help him develop.
Desharnais has developed into a very good player with the opposite treatment. Funny how that works.
FFS just give it a couple games b4 you crap on the people that actually have the pressure and stress to get this team to win.
When your job depends on the wins & losses you can decide who sits, ok?
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
As a paying customer I was told that this team was moving in a new direction. That an enthusiastic attitude and embracing the future would be integral in building what was desired.
It’s been more of the same from the prior management group from day one. Failure to address team needs, hiring retread coaches, same style of play, same treatment of young players.
Therrien isn’t new and his moves are predictable and were proven ineffective by not only him earlier but Martin before him with this team.
It is one game, a short camp and a day of practice before the second game. The personnel moves and coaching style are all to reminiscent of what Molson just moved away from.
Hey! The team has played 1 f’ing game under MT! He has said he wants the team to be more aggressive. Now give the team time to adjust to a new directive!
I can’t believe I have to get upset about this sh*t!
Are you 8?? Sorry if that’s insulting. I do know some pretty smart 8 year olds.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
People seem to be think Desharnais is great because he can put up points with our two best wingers. On the other hand they are surprised Eller can´t produce like a second line centre when he always gets third/fourth line wingers and ice time. Really makes me laugh.
DD has produced at every level no matter who is on there wing though. He was on the third two years ago with the habs and lead the team in scoring from the all star break on when he was brought up.
Yes, last year he had our two best wingers and all three of them seemed to click. They had chemistry. To say that is the only time DD has succeed though is incorrect. He also lead the AHL in scoring before being called up a couple seasons ago.
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
+1
Seriously. Chill.
Therrien has 5 games to decide if Chucky or Gally make the grade which means that they need to be played and someone needs to sit. There’s no way that the 4th line is disrupted, and Bourque showed enough engagement on the 2nd line which means the ONLY logical casualty for Tuesday is Eller. I don’t expect both the young ‘uns to stay for the season… but MT has to play them both to make up his mind to at least which one will stay.
Kovalev is going to make fools of everyone anyway!
No answers, just opinions. Bite me. Och.
Trini, one could argue that its a performance based decision but if that were the case only a handful of players would be suited up tomorrow. Eller did nothing to distinguish himself but his play wasn’t the worse either. I scratch my head over this scratch.
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Anthony Stewart placed on waivers. Too bad we already have too many 4th liners.
Oh Man,I loved him when he played for the Fronts. Jeeze he had explosive speed for a big lad back then .He just was never the same after that injury in Florida a few years back. Sad ,really.
Didn’t the kings just pick him up? Not a good sign when the Cup champs discard you so soon after getting you.
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Go Habs Go!
This is my favorite post so far today!
“Too bad we already have too many 4th liners”
Yeah, it is too bad we have a boat load of marginal talent guys occupying roster spots. If we just had one less, we could have room for Tony Stewart. Look out everyone, here we come.
I wish good luck to the thousands who pluck the $$$$ for seats.
I really feel bad for you guys.
OK so here is my short take: There was a huge positive Saturday night – no goals against 5 on 5. The Habs played good defense with what I will call a less than steller defensive front.
Price played well – first goal I would have like to have seen his chest up higher but it was a good play made by kadri.
Speaking of kadri – his hit on Markov was not a cheap shot – Markov turned and only 2 minutes was a good call. While not a cheap shot I would have like dsomeone to step up and beat him for it. Sometime you take an extra 2 min penalty to make a statement and that would have been the time to do it.
I suppose pleks deserved the penalty but what I have not seen written is that no one on Toronto seemed to be bothered by it. Usually there is a big scrum after somethign like that so I do not think players on either team thought it should have been penalized.
What peeved me the most – two consecutive blunders on the blue line by Kabs during a powerplay – noone can make those mistakes!!! maybe 3 all year but 2 on the same PP – UGH
And finally – lots of chatter about Eller – save one game didn’t he score 12 goals last season? and he takes too many penalties (dono;t most of the Habs). While I do see him having potential but it’s not a top player.
RE PK: The thing that bugs me with Subban not signing yet is that it keeps the thought alive that he is a “Me first” teammate. I wonder if this is what’s bothering the Vets right now. All the young “talent” of the Habs’ past decade have done the bridge contracts. If that were true, and does anyone think it isn’t, do you want to tie up all that money on him, or explore possible alternatives (ie trades)? I still haven’t made my mind on that.
There’s new management, they have no obligation to keep the brigde contract if they don’t want to.
Every player is me first, to a degree, should the players be worried about Cole retiring next off season?
I’d sign PK long term.
Every player should be a me first, considering that management asks for a salary rollback every 4 years….
Then fans of those players shouldn’t get upset when they’re called selfish, because “me first” is definitely selfish.
I’d lock up PK as well – what’s the downside? At worst he will be your second pairing Dman (or a cancer in the lockroom). upside is he really is top 20 dmen in the league.
I guess you’re right. I was hoping that since PK “loves Montreal”, “their the best fans in the biz”. that he’d do what’s best for the organization first, and take the big money in three years. Maybe that’s not realistic. You hear of it in other cities. Star players too! You’ve help me think of this in another way: maybe a signed PK would get much more in a trade!
PK might have already refused offer sheets, at this point I think it’s likely at least one team offered hi one.
Sure he likes MTL, but he’s wise enough to know he’s a hot commodity.
What’s you best guess:
1 – Signs with habs in a not too distant future
2 – It drags on too long for either side and either PK signs an offer sheet or is traded
3 – the stalemate goes into next year
4 – ?
My views on saturday’s warm-up game:
1. I believe Henri Richard (with a great deal of respect to him) ‘s vision is waning. The poor man looked lost going down those 3-4 steps. I was afraid he was going to go over the railing.
2. For a first game, it offered exactly what I expected….not much.
3. I liked Prust. He’s got grit. Armstrong? Not so much…so far.
4. Playing one period out of three won’t do it in this NHL.
5. Gally, although not a stand-out, still fared better than most of his team mates.
6. Carey’s a little rusty. His timing was off.
7. Pleks needs duller skates.
8. Gros Bill (God bless him) looks old.
9. Nice to see all those empty seats (like Jack Todd said) in retaliation for alienating all the fans during the lock-out.
10. I couldn’t stop at 9.
A good run down Brian, I guess I’m not sold on Prust yet, Armstrong though was invisible to me.
I honestly not aware that he was even playing unless I specifically looked for him
When I see Henri Richard and Jean Beliveau, I do not see the Pocket Rocket’s failing eyesight nor that Le Gros Bill doesnt stand as tall as he used to.. but unfortunatley I do feel the vacuum that those two facts symbolize.
I was soooo worried he would tumble. And are they at the point of bringing out Gilbert Dionne for opening ceremonies ?
1&8. No kidding. They ARE old. Beliveau is 81 & the pocket rocket is 76.
2. Ditto
3. I liked them both. Prust more though.
4. Agreed
5. He looked about as good as the guy who wants his spot back, Bourque.
6. Carey looked great. No worries at all about him.
7. That call still seems laughable to me.
9. Empty seats won’t last. I really don’t care much one way or another, unless it makes the Habs do more for the fans, because I’m not overly impressed by their thank you/apology so far.
10. Insert smart-ass comment here.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I met Mr. Richard just 2 weekends ago out here in Vancover, and he was looking pretty good actually. Had a nice short chat with him.
I think his main issue at the game was him not wanting to miss a step on those deathtrap steep stairs that they have at the Bell center that high up.
_______________________________________________
“I got to get the Swede, eh?” – Saku Koivu
Thanks jon514 for the link (below) to Dave Stubbs article .
http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/1/21/3884474/p-k-subban-vs-his-peers-habs-montreal-canadiens
Here is an excerpt from it:
Dave Stubbs@Dave_Stubbs:
“In that spirit, I found these comments by Michel Therrien bizarre:
#Habs Therrien on Subban: “I’d love to work w/ the young man in his development yr… make him not only a better player but a better person”
Thank you Dave Stubbs! I have always been a fan of your writing when you question the ipse_dixit proclamations of ‘those on high or those in the loop’ in the world of sports. I was a bit discouraged that Therrien’s words and the ‘coded’ remarks of others from Bergevin right down to individual players which led to the proselytizing of many here in HIO, all aimed at making Subban appear to be an incorrigible cause of locker room discord and therefore team decay.
I felt fearfully alone in my questioning of the ‘peculiarity’ of those remarks.
Thank you Sir. Now maybe you can ask Monsieur Therrien why he sees it as his most pressing task is to make Subban a better person.
I still fret a little that it took this long for an established member of the press corps to find the oddity in those remarks and to comment on them.
Carry on Sir!
If Pk could comment, he might say the following:
“I am here to stay. I want to play an important role on this team for the long term. I don’t need you to fix my character, just coach the team some wins”.
No kidding. Michel Therrien as a life coach is like Tiger Woods as a monogamy coach.
did you see Therrien’s face after the second period??
when he turned to head back to the dressing room.
he was fuming!
then he gets up at his press conference after the game and states for the record, “the team was well prepared”.
hello???
what team could be well prepared in 5 or 6 practices? that was such a weird and insecure answer, because clearly, without any doubt, no one could have expected them to be “well prepared”.
I didn’t see either Ed but I’m about to watch the game again and I’ll look for it.
Here’s my elaborated opinion on Therrien. From day one I said he’s a louder version of Martin and he did nothing in game one or today in practice to prove otherwise and I would argue that having Bouillon and Gorges on the powerplay is worse than any mistake Martin ever made.
Second, if he hasn’t changed he won’t be successful, and on the flip side, if he’s continuing to focus on changing during his time with the team it means he isn’t fully focused on the tasks at hand.
My logic as to why this hire is a complete nightmare.
Reading, reading, Jack Todd and stop!
___________________________________________
Exploring the Habs history at Le Tir, et Le But! Follow me on Twitter
anyone ever wonder how ironic it is that some people are huge Price fans, total respect for him, but then these same people can’t see the value Subban has brought to Price’s game these past two seasons.
Goalies are very keenly aware of which defencemen have bailed them out of difficult situations; which defencmen help keep their goalie stats looking sharp; which d-men are very difficult to replace.
Ask Price what he thinks of Subban; of Subban the player and Subban the teammate.
Ask Price, our MVP, who would be the most difficult skater on this team to replace.
For all you Price fans out there, you should consider how Price views Subban.
If you cheer for Price’s success, and we all do, you should be cheering for Subban as well –
because these two studs are the foundation of this team for the next 10 years.
And any GM, any coach, and any fan who misses the connection between these two great players has simply not watched the Habs play these past few seasons.
I’m a Price fan and understand that Tim Thomas doesn’t rip off two vezina trophies without Zdeno Chara.
That Lundqvist doesn’t without a stellar defensive front and that Pekka Rinne is above average but not great without Shea Weber.
Subban isn’t yet in the class of the two defensemen I mentioned, but he well could become that level of player and when you have a player who is more likely than not to continue developing and is already your best defenseman, you sign him long term.
If Subban wants more than $5 million I hold firm if I’m Bergevin, but I’d be begging to sign him to any term he wants at $5 million per.
agreed
Sorry Ed, not gonna work. Price is my favorite player, but my loyalty is and always will be to the team. What Price thinks is irrelevant, it’s what Bergevin and the front office think. They’re the ones whose heads will fall if things go south, not Price. I refuse to believe there is a person on this planet that wants the Habs to succeed more than Bergevin, well maybe Therrien. None of our necks are on the line if what we think is right backfires, their’s are.
As usual, I was steaming mad when we lost to the Laughs. After cooling down, I realize the first game is not an indicator of how good the team is/will be. The NYR can tell you that much, having lost 2 games already, and so can the Canucks. I expect Montreal to come out ready and more in sync tomorrow night.
I refuse to feed you or Bob.
Unless that was feeding you. In which case I refuse to feed you any more.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I´m impressed with Therren. Gorges and Boullion on the PP, Eller a healthy scratch? He already shows what a useless coach he is. I thought it would take longer.
Gorges and Cube as a unit were having problems all night. It shows that we need some more size on the blueline.
But That would make too much sense amigo. What about those small guys that are good passers?
Someone should have pounded on kadri for hitting Markov from behind. Send the message to the league that he is off limits. Staals dirty hit on Markov went unpunished and should not have. This team is a joke.
HABS fan since ’68
It’s called the instigator rule.
___________________________________________
Exploring the Habs history at Le Tir, et Le But! Follow me on Twitter
Yeah trust me I know what the rules are in this game. Nevertheless they should have pounded him for it, its worth the penalty to send the message that we are not to be taken lightly.
HABS fan since ’68
I don’t recall the score at the time. Thought it was 2-0 already, but could be wrong.
If so, taking a penatlty then would not be a smart move.
___________________________________________
Exploring the Habs history at Le Tir, et Le But! Follow me on Twitter
I think Kaberle gave him a dirty look but felt bad afterward.
Fans are weary
They can’t control
Money signs in your eyes
We will count them all
Let go your pride
Don’t play this bluff
Our patience wearing down
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
We need you around
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
We need you around
Fans are down and out
Word out on the street
You’ve played your highest card
I’ve got news for you
You’ll make your mark
when improvement comes
Stop playin’ run around
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
We need you around
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
We need you around
There’s no bidding war
So don’t try
You’ve not yet hit your prime
You’ll be a star some day
You’ve still got time
To cash in big again
If you play well and shine
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
Sign the dotted line
Sign the bridge contract take the offer
Sign the dotted line
HH, this old fart doesn’t recognize that tune- any youtube link?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNgn4r6SOA
Make it or break season for a 23 year old who scored 16 goals while getting 15 minutes a game, no pp time, and crap linemates? Only in Montreal.
I thought Eller was skating hard on Saturday — I don’t think his performance warrants sitting. If anyone would be on my sh-t list, it would be Pleks and White.
I would sit White, and put in Gally73. I’d also sit Kaberle, and bring up St-Denis. If there was a way to get Dumont into the lineup, I’d do that, too.
Big Eller fan, but I was disappointed with him on Saturday. He looked about as good as Galchenyuk, except Galchenyuk was playing his first NHL game with basically no training camp, at 18 years old. That being said, I will be very disappointed if he’s a healthy scratch.
Jim Vandermeer is on waivers — may he at least give us some grit on the back end? I’d give him a shot and dump Weber for a pick.
i came on here to suggest the same thing
Friends and Family surprised me for my B-Day on Saturday and how do I thank them ?
Told them that Bergevin coul’nt sign Subban so he traded him to Anaheim for Perry and Fowler It was fun watching their reactions and again when I could’nt keep a straight face any longer
I texted my daughter’s bf last night: “Subban to Vancouver, Luongo to Toronto and a bunch of picks/prospects to Mtl and Vancouver. ” He bought it..LOL
___________________________________________
Exploring the Habs history at Le Tir, et Le But! Follow me on Twitter
Gorges and Boullion on the PP? That’s troubling. Much rather have Diaz and Emelin there. It’s time to let them improve their game rather than lean on a 37 year old Dman signed to a 1 year contract, and use him on the PP, on the PK and as a #2 Dman instead of a #5-6.
Also kinda sucks that Therrien already took Galchenyuk off the PP.
I personally think the penalty on Pleks was ridiculous. It’s laughable that it’s even in the rule book.
Maybe a warning on a first offense, but a penalty for snow-flinging?
Please. Give me a break.
Imagine if that call leads to a series’ winning goal in the playoffs. How much more Mickey Mouse can you get?
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
if he doesn’t stop he plows into the goalie, it doesn’t make any sense.
I really do think the Gally27, Gally73 and Prust line will do well together. Prust will make the kids feel protected and will be the forechecker. (Galchenyuk had that role on the Gionta line, and that is not his game.)
Bold Prediction, if line stays together vs FLA.
Chucky: 1A
Gally: 1G
Markov: 1A
Prust: 5PIM
The top three centres all embarrassed themselves Saturday night. Who pulls their weight vs. Florida?
“thoroughbred”
I would not point fingers at anyone, the team looked bad, it wasn’t just one or a couple guys.
No.. he said “all”. I am pointing finger at 90% of the roster that took a day off at the very first game of the season. And then another day off the following day.
The team looked out of sync, but it seemed to be getting better in the 3rd.
I wouldn’t read too much into the first game of any season, let alone one that included a 100+ day lockout.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Coaches Shuffle Lines
Every coach in the NHL shuffles his lines.
Only in Montreal is this cause for major controversy, and has been a complaint about every coach as far back as I can remember on the net. We complained about JM shuffling lines, Cunneyworth, Gainey, carbonneau, Julien.
Heck if they internet was around, we would have complained about Scotty Bowmans combos.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Come on Ben, the commentariat gave him a game. That is plenty of time for a team which clearly is going to use this year as evaluation and development.
We need to post MT’s home address and plan a night of pitchforks, torches and all kinds of fun stuff!
In fairness not everyone called for Therien’s head after the first game.
Timo wanted him fired before the end of the lockout.
–
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Fair is fair
Thank You!! Maybe it’s because most people are only aware of their own teams lines, but this line shuffling complaint is easily the stupidest complaint I’ve heard on here for the last 6 years. Every single damn coach, shuffles his lines, especially when things aren’t going well.
Oh people did.
I remember when Bowman had Jacques Lemaire on the PK (it was unheard of to put a star attacker on the PK in those days), there was a major outcry.
–
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Not really the line shuffling that is the issue here, but the fact that Eller might be a healthy scratch on Tuesday is more concerning for some.
I guess I’ll pull my MT effigy out of the closet.
I haven’t used it since the last time he was behind the bench.
It’s brain dead shuffling that gets us going: like Darche on the PP in the previous regime or now Boullion with Eller sitting (perhaps).
i’d play galchenyuk w eller and a “digger” like prust. that’s my lone comment till his 5 are up.
ex nihilo nihil fit
Eller and Moen have excellent chemistry. I wouldn’t be in any hurry to break that up.
Eller was kind of invisible Saturday night. With he and Pleks having played in Europe during the stoppage, I expected more from both. Eller needs to turn up the intensity.
Perhaps it is time to admit that Habs got hosed in the Halak deal.
That should help start the healing process. You are a facilitator of good growth and change here at HI/O. Thanks bud!
That’s never been up for debate, I have always maintained the Habs didn’t get enough for Halak. Also, I don’t see Eller as a top 6 forward and I don’t think he will ever be that with the Habs, but I hope I am wrong.
Ya think
DD’s played in Europe too, with good results, and he was just as bad as the others out there.
NHL Hockey ain”t European Hockey!Not even close Amigos!
Smaller ice surface,a lot rougher,and quicker.Still the Best hockey in the World IMO!
Go Habs,Go Fronts,Go Niners,and Go Obama!
It’s in response to Cal saying he expected more out of those 2 because they had played during the lockout, I was just pointing out the same reasoning applies to DD as well.
No excuses for Eller and Plekanec but to shine this season and put big offensive numbers this season…..if not, they will be 2 of the most overrated Habs players labelled by our fans.
IF Eller doies not perform, he will forever remind me of Patrick Lebeau, an up and coming prospect of ours who amounted to nothing.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
And Ottawa’s media guide available to the fans.
Still waiting for our Habs to post theirs on their website.
As one HIO member said on this site, there are copyright laws the team has.
Copyright my a**
http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDFs/…iaGuide_LR.pdf
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
I think Subban is great. The question is how great? He offers certain intangibles such as a very high level of charisma which can be good and bad. His physical abilities cannot be denied but he can also be irresponsible. He is a sparkplug. Dare I say, Subban does not a core player make. However, he provides certain elements which can get a team with a good core fired up and really tip the scales in that team’s favor. He’s the cherry on top – the icing on the cake. I don’t want to pay $5M for a decoration. – Even if it is a lot of fun to look at !
Don’t get me wrong, I think Subban is great and I would sign em for a max of $4,701,131 … 1 more dollar and I prefer the first, second, and third round picks from an offer sheet. Let’s build this team. We’re not beating the Pens, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins, Canucks, Kings, or Blackhawks for a while. We need core pieces !!!
I think Plekanec takes more BS irresponsible penalties that PK.
It’s hard to argue against that Timo – and after current events. Plekanec can sure act like a brat. However, penalties aside, I feel with the puck he’s quite responsible.
With Subban – I just don’t want to hurt our chances in the future for a fix right now. We’re not close… The cup is years away. His contract price will be higher due to perceived potential, but must also be hedged against for possible let down as well. I hope we can meet in the middle. I hope MB doesn’t fold to media pressure – I don’t think he will.
The fact is that we’ve been talking about “the future” for the past 20 years. Can future come one day and become present? It’s always about the future. I mean, I am not sure about your but I can think about some posters on here who just don’t have all that many years left to wait for the bright future to come upon us
Hey… hey…. speak for yourself!
As per that excellent EOTP article, Subban’s comparables (young RFA d-men who signed a long term contract last year) are Doughty (cap hit= $7M), Karlsson ($6.5M), Myers ($5.5M).
I would probably take PK over Karlsson in the long run but Karlsson did win a Norris. I would take Doughty over Subban and Subban over Myers.
So a salary of $6M for 7 years is not at all unreasonable.
My fear is that Therrien and Bergevin dislike Subban and that he may be another player (Roy, Chelios, Leclair) drummed out of town because of personality issues.
–
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
I would take all 3 over Subban. Myers can skate like Subban, but is 6’8 and just as productive offensively. Karlsson just won the Norris freaking trophy and Doughty is a top 5 defenseman in the game, Subban is not.
+1
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“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
So if the lines at today’s practice are any indication, looks like MT has already found his whipping boy. Lars Eller is the extra forward at practice, (lights fuse and runs away).
Edit:
John Lu @JohnLuTSNMtl #Habs practice lines Pacioretty Desharnais Cole Bourque Plekanec Gionta Prust Galchenyuk Gallagher Moen White Armstrong (Moen Eller Blunden)
Not a surprise. Let’s bench Price while we’re at it, make Markov a fourth line forward, make our top d pairing Kaberle and Bouillon and give Prust/Armstrong/White 22 minutes each game.
In all fairness, Eller has done zero last game. One thing I don’t get is love for White. The dude doesn’t have it and doesn’t look like he ever will.
Your other suggestions all sound really good and JM-like
Second that on White.
Third. I’d rather see Leblanc there instead.
I like White on 4th line and don’t feel LL would do anything better on 4th line, in fact would be less effective.
When Louis starts to play well in Hamilton, would then consider seeing him on 3rd line.
Bri would it be better if White’s name was LeWhite?
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Go Habs Go!
LOL…. witty.
Is he playing Prust as the 3rd line C?
No, Chucky, Gally and Prust is 3rd line.
Extremely important year for Eller’s development, and I have no problem with Therrien riding him hard. We need to see if he will ever have the potential to be a solid top 6, or just a bottom 6 role player. He’s far too often just invisible out there, and needs to use his size to much better advantage.
this is make it or break it for Eller. Problem is will he see the ice to have a shot at it? Not sure.
I liked Bourque on Saturday and think he should get a shot at the second line on Tuesday. Nothing against Gally but Bourque has more experience and looked hungry out there. It may happen after Gally’s 5 games.
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
I get the feeling Eller is not Therrien’s type of player. And since we only have one amnesty buy out, makes sense to see what Bourque can contribute, either to us or another team. We’d still have to use our buy out on Kaberle.
I f they should take anyone out it should be White.. he seemed lost out there.. and they have enough ‘grit’ between Armstrong, Prust & Moen. Plus it was nice to see Bourque throw his weight around a bit.
White is little more than a 4th line spit disturber, you can always find players like him. Eller has a much bigger upside, but has to start playing to it.
Great! This is how you develop players. Insert sarcasm icon.
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Yes, it is. Throw some adversity at them and see how they react. It most definitely is.
Did Habs fire Therrien yet?
Don’t tease me Timo.
No, but there will be another torch-lighting ceremony at noon EST.
I figure that they will give him at least 2 losses in a row before he is strung up.
Sorry if it’s been posted already, but HURRAY FOR BRUCE PETER!
http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/1/21/3884474/p-k-subban-vs-his-peers-habs-montreal-canadiens
I think Subban’s value is high and because of that he should be signed to a long term deal.
But Peter uses what in my opinion are awful statistics. Fenwick and Corsi are manipulated consistently and speak more of the opposing team’s style of play than individual merit. Stats per sixty minutes is a farce. If that’s how teams evaluated the strength of their personnel, prospects playing on their team’s third line would never be given opportunities to elevate.
So. How would you prefer to measure a player’s value against his peers?
Stats per half minute. It’s a per shift analysis that is a more realistic view of what they’re doing.
If the numbers used on a sixty minute evaluation aren’t rounded off they are close to accurate but per shift creates a more vivid picture.
Hockey statistics by large majority are terribly flawed to begin with. For example. Alex Galchenyuk had three shots Saturday night and was credit with two.
Louis Leblanc had three bodychecks on three different players on his first NHL shift and was given credit for one.
The system is broken. And there are a lot people trying to fix it. Hopefully some better metrics are developed
The stats themselves need to be fixed before a timeframe evaluation can occur. That’s why I’m not in favour of it.
Stats per half minute says absolutely nothing about the quality of the competition a player is playing against. Many people here are aware that PK is sent out to cover Crosby, Malkin, Tavares … Del Zotto for example is never asked to play against the same level of player.
The NHL is the quality of the competition. Gets to nitpicking at the level you’re referring to.
Are we going to start evaluating the talent all over sports based on who they were playing against on off nights and good nights?
That’s taking it too far.
I’m wondering what he finds so weird about Therrien’s comment regarding his wish to work on PK’s development.
Did you see the 4-part interview last week?
It was part of a long list of questions, and Stubbs asked several regarding PK and how he should approach him this year. There was nothing weird there at all.
He mentions that “The numbers didn’t match the talent here, for whatever reason.”
Maybe they did. He should stop to consider that these are some of the stats the Habs management have looked at and seem intent in improving.
Perhaps that’s why there’s no contract signed yet. Maybe they feel that a bridge contract (which the team usually prefers) is just what he needs until he’s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s a no.1.
He found it weird that Therrien say that Subban has personality flaws that he can fix.
I read the transcript version of the interview and assume it was a specific question about Subban so there’s probably more being read into the comment than should be. But it is very arrogant of Therrien to believe that Subban has personality flaws after having never coached him and also that he could “fix them”.
Therrien is not the one to talk about anyone else’s flaws. The guy is one big walking flaw and should stick to 3rd rate programs like l’antichambre.
Therrien whose own personality caused his team to lose a playoff game (and therefore round).
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
As far as Habs D is concerned is there a doubt that PK is their number one Dmen? Markov could be argued to be #1 but how long will he last? Beyond that we have #3-4 dmen at best… and most of the games even that is a stretch.
You won’t get any argument from me on the lack of talent at D.
However, there are players who show up regardless of circumstance (Gorges). Subban could learn a thing or two from them.
It might be the cynic or cruel part of me, but I can’t help but to look at the player and coach interviews for excuses, wondering when they’ll slip them in there.
Regarding Plek’s so-called snow shower, was that ref from Toronto?
Are we sure it wasn’t Chris Lee in disguise?
it was a marginal call but that was a really dumb move by pleks. There was no need for it.
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
I was surprised by the call.
It looked as though he slammed on the brakes at the hash marks. I wasn’t surprised in reading this morning that he felt the same.
But if he did, then you’re right, it was dumb.
Plek’s a smart player. I don’t see him doing that again… well not next game, anyhow.
LOL I don’t see him doing it the rest of the season. the pleks line was the best of the two “top” lines. I want to see bourque back up there though. They looked good in the third together
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
This quote re: Gomez
“We look at it that he’s 33, he’s won two cups,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told the San Jose Mercury News. “A very versatile player.”
Versatile- useless both offensively and defensively, useless in both ends of the rink.
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“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
Gainey must really love him some Gomez…
THAT’s versatility. Some players are only useless in some aspects of the game. Gomer can do it all.
Lack of effort will fail to pay dividends in all aspects of the game.
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
To all those who are lamenting the Habs salary cap “problems”, I don’t get it. As of today, according to Cap Geek, the Habs have a prorated cap for this year in excess of 5 Million. When they sign PK, someome will have to be sent down to Hamilton the cap is in reality closer to 6, plenty of money to sign him. Looking to next year not one single core player is scheduled to be an UFA, and the only significant RFA is DD. Habs have 16 on the roster for next year. Now, assume they buy out Kaberle, that adds approximately 4 Million to the 11 they already have, for a total of 15 signed players (including Galchenyuk at 3.2) with 15 Million available). Sign a goalie for a million, that’s 16 players with 14 million left. Take a max of 5 for PK, and that’s 17, with 9 left. Assuming 2 players on EL contracts (+/- 900K) will stick, and you have 19 players with 7 Million left. Habs would need to sign 6 more players at an AVERAGE salary of 1.5 Million. OK, DD is an RFA we want to keep so give him 3 million for 2 years and now it’s 5 players with 6 Million left. Maybe not enough for Perry or Getzlaf, but not sure they’re right for this team anyway. I really don’t see the huge concern with the cap. Tight maybe, but more than enough to keep building this team without losing anyone the value. Or am I not seeing something?
Have you factored in the reduced cap next year?
My numbers were based on a 64.3 million dollar cap hit, so yes.
EOTP’s front page can be confusing. Here is the specific article analyzing PK’s comparative worth, which seems to be pretty high.
http://bit.ly/10MiU0o
Extremely interesting read and since it’s all numbers based, difficult to argue with. Theres a case to be made for Doughty being more complete, and Karlsson being more elite offensively, but he’s in that company for sure. a hit of 6 million is not out of the question, but if that’s the case lock him up for the max years. One thing to note – there are almost no players on that list I’d want on my team more than PK. Most veterans have no upside, we haven’t even seen his full potential yet.
These are the same guys who used “numbers” to show how great Gomez is and will be.
“Simply put, there is hardly an outrageous contract out there that Subban could sign with the Canadiens. He’s clearly their best positional player. He’s elite amongst all defenders, and especially amongst those his own age. ”
That’s the core of what the article is saying. I disagree with the “elite tag, even with all these controversial stats to back him up. (Stats are like bikinis. What they reveal is interesting, but what they conceal is vital) Players after ELC have been given “bridge” contracts in Montreal. No exceptions. I agree that he should get 2 yrs at $5 mil per. No more…for now.
He will cash in soon enough. If not, see ya!
Love Kovy…wish he was still a Hab..hope he gives it to those stupid Sens tonight..he hated playing there(cannot blame him) but then takes it easy on us LOL
Hated Kovy…glad he’s gone. Played 1 game where your jaw would drop and disappear for 20. A classic prima donna.
He played well as a hab. I do miss his creativity and shot on the PP as well
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
For 10 games a year, I agree. For the other 70, not so much.
2 seasons at 65 points, 1 at 85 points and one at 47 in 4 years here….name another hab in the last decade who has done that?
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
Having to take long walks in the snow and be coaxed by your GM to come and play. Name another Hab, ever, that needed more coddling and cajoling to play. Obviously can’t argue with his points totals, but there were more than a few intangibles that really turned me off.
So the N.Y. Rangers have lost two in a row.
I watched last night’s debacle against the Pens.
With such an underwhelming team, with journeymen like Richards, Staal, Nash, McDonagh, Gaborik and Lunqvist in nets, they should trade to get some true talent.
Otherwise, their season is already doomed….just like the Habs.
Two games in, and everyone knows who the tanks are.
The Rangers and Flyers have reasons for optimism. Notably they have coaches who don’t sabotage their chances at puck drop.
The Pens look good….I think they have a serious shot if they can keep their play up.
It is only two games but they looked like a team that hasn’t missed a beat. Majority of the league not so hot.
That goal by Vanek against philly was a beauty yesterday
Agreed. Pittsburg is a serious contender this year.
Let’s face it, even if our Habs adopt a full team concept, they’re not built of the same talent pool.
Yes and the New York fan base is really happy with their coach too. After watching a half a dozen games in the past two days I don’t think any conclusions can be drawn. As a matter of fact the quality of play has been so substandard that the paying customers should be due a refund. Why this greed run league jumped into games after 1 week if practice was a mistake IMO. A couple of preseason games may have made a big difference. In another week we will see a more realistic take on where teams fit.
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100% Jim.
Because the team will probably have a difficult season and because he is a talented player that isn’t playing right now, there will be a huge temptation to overrate P.K. Subban this year. When he’s on his game, there’s no question P.K. is a game changer and one of the most talented defenseman is the league. The problem is that at this stage of his career, he isn’t nearly as constant as the best and that on most nights last year, he had very little impact. Worse, everybody who says he can play 25 minutes in a game forgets to mention he really struggled when he did last year.
The only place where the team has any kind of depth is among the offensive defensemen. The team should take the time to negotiate a good contract with him; it has that luxury.
Arrow, with all due respect, “on most nights he had very little impact” is not a factual statement.
I don’t think there is a player, manager or journalist who would agree with this.
ed lopaz, with all due respect, it was not meant as a factual statement but as an opinion and I believe there is more than one person who would believe he had a pretty bad first half last season.
If you disagree, that’s okay too.
PK is a game changer, a spark plug, you got to keep those guys. And if Im not mistaking, didnt PK play with Hal Gill. Gill’s only skill was doing the octopuss on the penalty kill, and the d-man playing with Gill usually had to cover a lot more ice. Like I said, Im not sure they were a pair or not but put a reasonably skilled d-man with PK and youre set.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
He played with Gill his rookie year, his good year, he played with Gorges last year.
he was better last year than the year before. defence isn’t just about big hits and scoring goals. he became a legitimate defenceman last year.
Well see that’s “your” opinion that he was better last year and “my” opinion he was better his rookie year. Believe it or not, we’re each allowed to have our own, but hey thanks for giving yours.
That’s the question I have, do we even have a recently skilled d-man in the habs over than say Subban?
Or for that matter do we even have a recently skilled forward, and if we could teach Price to clear the puck.
Even just doing the basics we suck as a team. Sure we have Cole and Pacioretty but the basic pass and shoot? No, they keep passing cause the habs have learned from the Russians if you pass the puck you won’t get hurt.
Time for a rebuild if you ask me, even if we have to get rid of everyone, Price, Subban, Galy, heck no one should be safe in a real rebuild. Let us not do the Trevor Timmins Mighty Midget Rebuild please, where Gainey and Timmins got us midgets.
You make the case that “we should keep P.K.” I just want to clarify that I wasn’t arguing otherwise. We should keep P.K. but I don’t think the team needs to rush his signing with the opinion that he’s gonna turn the season around. He’s still raw.
You take a 25 minute a game top pair dman off a team with below average back end dman and you weaken it considerably. Again, I’m not privy to the conversations here but let’s not poo poo PK’s value here either.
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“Poo-pooing his value” is a bit strong. I’m slightly lowering it. I believe him playing 25 minutes a game was more a sign of desperation by the team than a sign he was ready to play that much and I don’t think he will play that much again this season when he comes back. I’m confident he will eventually get there.
Ya agree 100% Arrow. PK had alot of either inconsistent or just plain bad nights last year. Most seem to forget he was a much better player the year before, when he wasn’t playing on the top 2. PK is a good defenseman, with potential to be very good, but he isn’t there yet. I think 2 years at 3 to 3.5 or 6 years at 4.5 to 5 is fair for Subban. I prefer the 2 year deal, because it’s what’s best for the team, but wouldn’t be upset about the 6 year deal. I also wouldn’t be upset if he was traded for a young goal scorer. With or with out PK, that is this teams biggest problem, we can’t score any friggin goals.
John Lu tweets that they’re working on the Powerplay right away and again, Frankie on the second unit with Gorges and Diaz as the #5 guy.
With intelligent personnel decisions like this how can we not win the Cup this season?
Gorges/Bouillon second unit on the powerplay. Wow.
Great hire.
It’s a weird decision, considering Diaz, Emelin and Weber could all play second unit with some success.
Not sure I like Having Markov and Kaberle together either.
You truly are a gentleman. Weird is the nicest way anyone could put that while maintaining any semblance of reality.
If I post too angry, it makes me angry IRL, so I try to tone it down, it’s so easy to get your hate-on around here.
I don’t really have a hate on about this because I have low expectations.
But this ice time should be going to guys like Emelin and Diaz while Subban’s out if for no other reason than development.
Bouillon is not a part of the future and he and Gorges have no business on the powerplay.
I agree and share your dislike of Therrien. Here’s hoping he finds a more reasonable approach in the coming games. Kinda makes me dread what he would do if Subban was on the team now.
I agree. The problem as well with Markov and Kabby is they know who is going to shoot every time
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
Emelin deserves more cred for his offence, the staff underrated him last yr. Hey! don’t do it again this yr.
ex nihilo nihil fit
If the coach is trying stuff out, might as well give some PP time to Emelin. You have to figure one or two of the D’s could be moved pretty soon, better get a complete picture on Emelin and the rest of the D’s so you can make the best move.
Every team has special units but at least they have a core of defense and a core of offense. With the habs you have Desharnais a d-man who can score but can’t defend, Gorges a d-man who can pass but can’t defend, and now add Emelin who can make passes and hit but not defend, and then you have Cole a forward who can defend but can’t play forward with his wingers largely but he can score alone….you don’t have any players who can just play offense or defense. Hence the difficulty in forming 4 lines if say you can’t sign Subban who can both defend and score. What the F? Bergevin won’t sign the only player who can play both ways in a good way? Then you have players like Gionta who can’t do anything but make plays but not crash the net and the only way he can is behind the scrum that forms in front of the other net when our d-men come forward to crash the net….what the F? again? You have Gionta a centre who has to wait while the rest of the team piles on the other goalie so he can get within five feet of the the other net?
If only Price can be allowed to skate all the way forward and shoot the puck while everyone piles on the other net Therrien style!
markov and kaberle are both setup guys, neither of them really has a shot that they like to use.
Weber has proved that he could score on the PP (oddly enough mostly in the playoffs).
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The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given
100% agree. Not sure why they don’t break those two up. Have Markov in the first wave PP and Kabby in the second. Put a shooter with them. Emelin and Markov and Kabby and Diaz/Weber would be what I would think
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
And hopefully, Marky is on the ice long enough that Kaberlazy only gets 10-20 seconds of exposure.
yeah I agree. I didn’t think Markov’s passing looked bad on Saturday. He isn’t the player he was but I think he can be useful
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
OK, we’ll tie up what little cap space so we can keep Markov who can’t shoot and Karbele who can’t shoot either so they can what? Set up the play to a player who can shoot? Do we have one of those? Supposedly we have Desharnais but who like Gionta as shown in the Laffs game too small to get even close to make a shot. So do we even have one player who can shoot? Yes we have Subban but sadly he is not signed.
Who scored the Habs’ goal?
8 days Tom. That’s how long Therrien had had. Plus, this is a practice!
Maybe we should let him experiment and get to know the team.
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Would you send a banker into a coal mine?
And if in a shortened season he’s practicing players on the powerplay that he doesn’t intend to use during a game, that doesn’t speak well of him.
His decisions thus far have been questionable at best and ridiculous at worst. It is early but that’s all the more reasons to use the proper tools for the job they’re intended for.
To be fair, Therrien shot himself in the foot by making waves over Subban. One of the only players who actually shows some heart versus what we saw out there, a group of players who are only out for themselves. This is not a team. It’s a mish mash of weirdos, players who don’t fit on any team.
That’s all the habs have become a team of weirdos, Cole the bigmouth no one wants, who can’t pass to save his life and set up assists except by fluke. Pacioretty who is a head case thanks to Charra, and DD who is like a Koivu, all heart but no size to match…..then you have Price who plays just good enough to lose.
What we need is leadership. Time to fire Gionta. Use up your last buyout on Gionta. We need someone to lead.
They should consider using that Subban guy on one of the units. …just a thought…
I think Weber needs a better chance at the Powerplay, cause at this point we meed someone who doesn’t have a week shot from the point.
Any news on PK, cause this is getting stupid and is effecting us on the PP, I understand its only one game, but PK makes that much of a difference
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Of the defensemen they have dressed I have no problem with Weber being in the pressbox. Having said that there are two better options on defense for the powerplay than Gorges and Bouillon and a couple of options in moving a forward back on each unit if the powerplay is intended to ya know, create offense and score.
Honestly, why does our every coach have to have blind spots like this?
Aww man, I loved L’Artiste.
He made me really proud to be a Habs fan on that line with Pleks and AK, killing it on the PP.
I loved watching him sit in his ‘office’ at the top of the circle and drift around with the puck, dishing it behind the net to Pleks, circling, circling, then FIRING a snap or wrister into the top corner of the net.
The rest of the NHL was terrified of our PP, and I effing loved it.
He loved Montreal, and I still think his skills DVD, filmed at the Bonsecours rink in the early morning is pure class.
Looking forward to seeing him tomorrow night.
As for the haters… well, haters gotta hate.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
I think he gets one on the PP tomorrow night
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
I sure don’t hate the guy Matty, I just cannot take the non effort nights that he brings when he see fit to do so! while team mates with half the skill bring their heart every shift.
Not to many can play at his level when he wants to bring it.!
Not a “haters gotta hate” thing at all. Kovalev coasted. A lot. He had 1 season where he played to his potential with Montreal. Kovalev could have done so much more, but he didn’t.
Yeah but then it got to the point that he was blamed for everything. Carbonneau did it to him and Kovalev stuck it up where his office is. He led the team until Saku came back. The next year it began again, no one getting in scoring position, AK hanging onto the puck, calmly telling players like Kostitsyn not to come to him when he has the puck as it only brings traffic– just get open. All for nothing. Too stupid to understand.
You can certainly instruct AK to go up and down, to shoot the puck in and change lines. He will. You can use your screwdriver to pound nails or test electrical circuits too. Good coaches get the best out of their players. Bad coaches blame the players for not giving their best.
I loved Kovy too. And I don’t think he was lazy – remember the old saying: “only the mediocre are always at their best.”
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
I agree. I don’t think he was lazy as much as he had so much talent and fluidity to his game, he made look easy…. or like he wasn’t trying.
There’s no question we could use his talents.
So I take it we should all start panicking, if we are not already panicking?
It was a bad game, the Leafs played bad too, but got the the 2 points.
I was more disappointed at the poor spectacle, after waiting so long, you want some action and excitement, but that was lacking saturday.
I would not stress too much, there’s some room for improvement and my expectations are not all too high.
On the Pleky snow shower, it seems to me something like that would not have been called last year, maybe I’m wrong.
It was just an ugly game all around and I have watched a couple since and I think it will be ugly hockey for next next week or so until the players start getting in sync.
The reason the snow shower bothered me is it is a dumb play. Even if he isn’t penalized he is just motivating the other team. It makes no sense. I like pleks but he always seems to take penalties that make me shake my head
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
I guess it’s a ways to get under the other team’s skin, but as Price said, if that works on you, you should not be a NHL goalie.
If that’s the way calls are being made this year I’m pretty sure Plekanec and the rest of the players around the league will have to adjust.
I watched a few games on the weekend and the penalties were insane.
I think it will be like that for a little bit. Shows the importance even more that the habs work on their power play.
I am a pleks fan I just don’t like some of the penalties he takes as they are unnecessary
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
Just like the players have to get into a groove, it’s the same for the referees, they’ll probably settle in correctly for the job after 10 or so games. One can hope.
I don’t think you’re wrong on the Plekanec penalty. I feel he the only way he avoids a penalty is by either taking a bad angle to the puck or by stopping earlier. Stopping earlier would have probably avoided a penalty but it was a wishy washy call in my opinion.
As for the season. One game shouldn’t be reason to start a panic but Therrien made and neglected making a lot of moves that were very alarming(Bouillon’s ice, no PK adjustment, line juggling, 4th line ice-time).
As long as he’s the coach of this team I’ll remain skeptical.
It was a weird game coaching wise, but I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to those in the last 3 or so years. I have to say I was not holding much hope, but the starting lineup did not look too bad.
I think Gorges was played on his wrong side though.
If Bryan Murray decides he wants PK Subban on his team we’re in real trouble with PK. He can offer him $6 million annually without batting an eyelash.
MB will be forced to match if the team is from the east.
If not, it may be deal time.
He’ll be hard pressed to match at anything higher than $6 million. And leaving the contract status unresolved(both sides) creates an opportunity for a rival to make the team’s financial situation ugly going forward.
Playing devil’s advocate here, if indeed he is this sought after, shouldn’t there have been an offer sheet presented already? This is not my argument, but rather an argument a fellow Hab fan friend of mine continuously brings up to me.
Many people(not you Gerald) seem to think that a team can just sign a player to an offer sheet without the player having any say or they just assume they’ll sign one.
I would be very surprised if Subban hasn’t been presented a contract offer from another team providing him the option of going the offer sheet route. It just probably isn’t for the term he’s looking for.
Also noteworthy that while Bergevin has been excused for waiting on a new CBA to get a contract done it should be noted that teams extending offer sheets would have been waiting on that same CBA. So the longer this drags out now that the season’s started, the better chance there is that he does eventually sign one. And there are a lot of teams that have the cap flexibility this year and in following years that could use him.
You are right on the longer this drags out the more chance there is of an offer sheet. The more teams that are weaker on D looking for a solution will be taking a look at PK.
Apparently talks are broken off with no new talks planned which isn’t a good sign. That basically means they are not sure how to close the gap as it must be far apart
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
I never thought of that. We might not be able to match an offer sheet. I wonder if they at least have a tacit agreement that PK won’t go this route or at least give them prior notice if he intends to. It’s a dangerous game that MB is playing.
The player has to sign the offer sheet before the fit hits the shan. This is pretty much the player saying goodbye to the club if he does.
After a 4 month lockout I don’t see GM’s stabbing each other in the back by issuing RFA offer sheets.
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“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
A GM did a couple of months immediately preceding the lockout. It’s their job to compete against each other, not make life easier for each other.
My point is offer sheets are rare occurrences and the GM’s will be even more mindful of issuing them post-lockout after sticking together for 4 months.
Of course anything is possible.
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“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
I understand your point but it wasn’t GM’s sticking together, it was owners. And it’s worth noting that the owners were as divided with each other as the owners v. players were.
We may not see a lot of offer sheets, but it isn’t like we aren’t going to see one again, and Subban’s the kind of player who draws them.
Even if we are going to loss this year lets get P.K. signed.He is are most exciting player on the team.
Hope he signs soon Jeff. Glad you got to visit with Guy the flower and got your shirt signed by him.
Hoping for some magic tomorrow night. The Habs will hopefully prevail, but a Price/Kovalev showdown would be fun, too.
Another thing about Subban and his penalties is that in his first season he took a penalty for every 40 minutes played. Last season he improved the number to a penalty for every 42 minutes played with a heavier workload against more challenging opposition.
Yes, there were visibly fewer really bad penalties last season. Even the slew-foot thing seemed to quiet down.
he never took one for snow showering a goalie though. so that is a minus one (sarcasim)
“Keep your stick on the Ice”
If you like the Habs go watch them. If you’re expecting a cup in the next 20 years don’t bother.