Lars Eller after the Habs’ loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Stubbs video capture
The Canadiens were 5-4 overtime losers to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at the Bell Centre, running the Habs’ losing streak to five games.
Some video from the room, and audio from Jacques Martin:
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Florida, Philly and Boston 2 games. This should be interesting. They could end up 1 and 10. I hope so and force a big change at the helm. I think everything Martin says goes on deaf ears. I think he’s done! Problem is now who do you bring in! I said when they hired Martin they should have looked at Kevin Dineen who played on the edge his whole career. All I can tell you is the ropy dope system is for the birds.
I can’t believe how many people in here over the last few weeks are hoping that the Canadiens lose. What do everyone think that this 1st overall pick will be the savior to everything that is wrong with the Habs.
People give your head a shake. This is magnified only because it is the start of the season. The Habs have gone through slumpls like this before, only further along in the season. The Habs still have lots of games to play.
Campoli and Spacek shouldn’t be that far off. Spacek probably closer than the latter. I know most people here hate Gomez, but the powerplay which is sucking right now can’t even get set up on the powerplay. Gomez at least got the puck in the zone most of the times to at least get a set up.
Hopefully we can get a better report on Markov after this week in Florida. The trade made today with Phoenix only moves bodies around it does nothing with regards making the team any better. The only positive out of this trade was it sent Enquivst down who was really struggling at the NHL level. We hopefully got a big body centreman who has some experience at the NHL level, not a lot, but hopefully more able to adapt at this time than Enquivst.
I for one, will not hope the Habs go 1-10 and suck for a first round pick. People who wish this are not competitive people and probably do not hate to lose when playing anything. While the competitive person will never be heard saying ” I hope we lose”
To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high.
WOW…is really all I can say. It is well documented on here what the issues are. I do think Markov and 15 mins a night from Spacek is much needed for depth…it’s not the main issue. I have supported JM all the way until this year, having to listen to my firend point out for two years why this guy is killing this organization with his lack of flexibility and matching the game plan to our strengths.
I am so F%^&*%g tired of watching this team have one forechecker and sit back and let teams take it to our inexpereinced D. This team is built to forecheck two guys and go for broke, lean on Price (like we haven’t done that with Price and Halak the last 2-3 yrs anyways), carry play and score some goals. I know I am repeating the sentiments of many, but God%^&* it!!!!!!!! Stop changing the F^&*($g lines! How the heck can these guys ever get used to one another or create some cohesion??????????? Oh, my bad, its a system and it doesn’t matter who you play with if you just do your job…WTF??????
Moen should be scoring goals from the 4th line, and PK. Darche should be back in the minors. If I see either of these two on our top 2 lines again, or Darche on the God D%^& PP, I am not watching. Our best players were Cole and Pax (11 and 14 mins respectfully), Andrei and Eller. Give them better linemates and don’t change it. Plekanec and Cammy will struggle with the other team taking them out of the game, help these other two lines with a real top 6-9 winger and center, and they become better.
Anyone know where Josh Gorges is? This is not about me being right but this is the Josh Gorges I always knew and why I was pleased as pie he got the contract he got. His ice time needs to be seriously reduced as he and Gill are killing us. PK needs to make the simple play and stop trying that minor league crap he tries and turns the puck over on. Lot of talent but has a lot to learn and do correctly on the ice before this cat starts puting him on the same pedistal some others have already.
I couldn’t be happier with Yemelin, Diaz and Eller. These guys are going to be real good!
THX for letting me rant, I care about this team and am disgusted with how it is being run right now. Most talent this team has had in 20 years and they cant get out of their own way.
I’m not going to rag on Gorges…but this is precisely why I laughed at people who thought he deserved $4M. I LAUGHED so HARD. I like Josh but he doesn’t deserve anything over $2M. He brings nothing offensively and frankly isn’t good enough defensively to be anything more than a 3rd pairing dman.
A lot of things that were said by those of us who weren’t wearing rose colored glasses are starting to make sense to our detractors now.
How much longer? That’s my only thought. You can fill in the answer to that anyway you like, but the answer we all want is fairly obvious to any astute hockey fan. I hope the equally astute, Mr Molson reads these comments and makes his decison sooner than later. The answers to all of the Habs problems are documented quite well here. I waited eagerly all summer for hockey to start to see what the Habs would do this year and this is what I waited for. I have never seen such incompetant management and coaching in all my years as a Habs fan (which is a long long time) and I am sick watching this crap. Honestly, a high school kid come up with a better line-up given 50 plus million to spend. This defence, including Gorges who I used to like is AHL calibre at best. Gill or Hamrlik, Markov or Wisniewski, Wowoytka or Emelin, who would you rather see? Pathetic. I don’t think I have ever been this close to throwing in the towel on a Habs team as I am on this one, and my God we haven’t even played 10 games. Yes, they are that bad.
\”A cannoting blast from the wing, by Lafleur\”
I just wish that JM would get over this endless need of changing lines up every 48 sec. if we haven’t scored. I couldn’t believe that Cole only played just over 11 mins. tonite. Did he lose track of him when he went to serve Price’s minor penalty? It was good to see Eller get 17+ mins. tonite and be the 3rd star. You can see how he is naturally suited tobe a centre and not the LW that JM tries to make him with his line changes. If you notice when he carries the puck in over the line he will go to the net directly or he wil lay a perfect pass on one of his wingers stick. He does not do that banana peel to the right face-off circle and then thro the puck out into the middle of the zone like a jump ball for anyone to get. I know we didn’t get to see that move 20 times tonight and I wasn’t sad for it at all.
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
- Adam Savage
I read the comments whinging about JM’s ‘bad attitude’ in response to a woman reporter’s question…and then I listed to the audio.
Are you kidding??!!! After a tough loss and on a losing streak and Martin gets a challenge from a reporter live–and he gives the mildest possible pushback. Holy crap, it’s the whiners here who are the ‘sexists’–if a woman reporter can’t handle that kind of come back, then she really doesn’t deserve to be there. But it seems SHE handled it in stride, and its the posters here acting all ‘thou caddish varlet Martin spoke roughly to the dainty fair damsel, forsooth.’
Gimmie a break.
So, here’s a zany idea. Indulge me, please…
Why not go fishing in the gutters for Sean Avery? Think he’s currently buried in the AHL, but could we not use some of what he can bring?
I understand it’s highly improbable, given both the the team’s seeming conservatism and Avery being the circus sideshow he is, but hey, could he be any worse than Engqvist?
Yes, he’s a world-class pillock and is likely reviled by most players, but wouldn’t it be nice for a change for the Habs to have one of those guys, rather than keep their princely, esteemed figurehead reputation throughout the league?
You’ve only had to watch the last couple of games to see how effectively a pest can turn the tide of a contest. Asham did it for the Pens, while Rosehill was a thorn in the side tonight.
What has the team got to lose, besides their squeaky-clean image? If this is going to be a season of ignominy, why not go full out and take on Avery to help us crash and burn spectacularly? At worst, it would be entertaining and at best, it might help direct a general change in the club’s philosophy: that the Montreal Canadiens’ needn’t necessarily be the league’s sterling silver to win the sterling silver, if you will.
Sean Avery and Asham are not the same player. This team does not need Avery…..they need Asham though. Hey…wasn’t Asham a free agent last year? I bet he didn’t even receive a call from roof boy.
Just give me someone that guys hate to play against.
I want the same thing…just not Avery. Asham is a warrior…and can play. My goodness, we used to have so many guys like that.
P.K. Subban.
With P.K., sadly it seems more a matter of players just plain not liking him rather than not liking to play against him. He’s not that type of player anyway.
We had one LaPierre. We traded him for nothing, like many of PG trades
A grit guy like that would be great , but ya ,NO to Avery!!!!
What about a special teams coach like Doug Gilmour? He was a small grity player who scored alot of goals.. Isn”t he coaching the Kingston Frontenacs now? Owner maybe too?
Asham I believe was a Hab at one point in time. We got rid of him because he was…”too small”. Go figure.
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
- Adam Savage
I’m not a huge fan of the Count, but if anyone needs firing it’s the Goat.
What has he done since taking over?
Traded away a few draft picks for rentals. Traded some young players. Signed a few utility players. Overpaid for Erik Cole.
This year he has assembled a non-contender, while spending the cap.
Add to that his aspergeresque demeanor, and his lack of communication with the players. Guys like Metropolit and Halpern were never even told they weren’t being ffered a contract. No class.
Why is this guy still around?
The Goat and the Count need to go. Jacques Lemaire as GM, Patrick Roy as coach. Larry Robinson as assistant. Go Habs Go.
while we cannot blame price for the teams position if he is the number one goalie in the nhl as some people believe or even a top 5 he cannot have the type of stats he has right now based on the number of shots he has faced and their quality…he has made some great saves this year but no more than most goalies on the other teams(watching the centre ice package you get to see many goalies make great saves )…
The D is beyond atrocious. I don’t care who you are…if your D can’t…
a) Move guys from in front of the net
b) stop guys from running the goalie
c) continue to leave guys open in the slot
d) miss assignments time and time again
Your goalie’s numbers will suck. Price is not the problem. The team is. We would be just like this last year if Price wasn’t super-human. From Halak to Price the past the last several years we’ve needed superhuman goaltending in order to even be in games. It shouldn’t be like that.
Emelin and Diaz have never played in North America. Weber has never even played a full season. Subban is in his 2nd year. Gorges coming off injury and Gill is….Gill. Did you really expect that the D would be good or even passable?
Why is this a shock to some of you? The D coming into this season looked scary. Wiz and Hamr were replaced with Diaz, Emelin and Webber. Lulz!
got to agree with you about the lousy D, except maybe Price’s numbers should be better … he has not stolen a game yet
what does “Lulz” mean? LOLzZ
lulz = uncontrollable laughter.
Totally agree JB…..everyone is jumping on CP’s ass like the whole season has been his fault. But check it out. We have soft as butter defensemen. Look at tonight the way Gorges was stripped of the puck on a dumb play coming out beside the net. That’s a rookie mistake at best. Winning goal tonight….2 of our guys watching grabowski doing his dipsy doodle and scoring. Were they on lunch break or something. Phaneufs goal…yes a PP goal…but did you see where Enquist was playing him?….he was almost as deep as the defensemen….guess he didn’t want to get in direct line of site of his shot. If the 5 in front are doing their “defensive assignments” properly then Price can get back to playing his game.
Last point….what’s the difference this year when everyone say Price is crap and last year when Price was the best goalie on the planet? WE had the Hammer and the Wiz on our Blueline. But the Goat decided that untested players and and untested knee didn’t require back up insurance. Also…why not have a strong 4th line centre…Robert Lang, Glenn Metrolpolit, Jeff Halpearn for a very soft and for 6 mins. of Enquist. Thats the difference. So get off Price’s back.
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
- Adam Savage
I forgot to add I last difference….Kirk Muller…..this team is so missing Capt. Kirk.
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
- Adam Savage
Well, it’s hard to come up with a different refrain, as the games (except Buffalo), look much the same. The coach and G.M. are both horrible. In recent years, we have shown that as a team, we don’t seem to know how to handle the young, somewhat difficult, but talented players. Too many really to list, but Ribiero, Hainsey, Grabovski, P.K., S.K., A.K., and on and on. We just try to turn them into robots, or give them away. Management is incompetent and I am losing hope of EVER seeing a change. Time to clean house…big time.
New Poll Question: If you could see any two Orginal Six Teams play who would they be.
My answer: Detroit vs. Chicago
…Montreal
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I trust you know i was Jesting. Just so frustrating, had very high hopes for this season.
…I find I am much more physically attracted to Ima than I was to Roger Doucet
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
LOL, oh too much
Leafs win didn’t help my case for a, “What if Habs went 4-0, with Gomez out of the lineup, for the week?”
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Eyes on The Prize! and on Twitter
One positive is watching Eller develop in the absence of Gomez. You can just about see his confidence growing with each shift.
I’ll say it again…
how come Gillis can ship high priced deadwood out of Vancouver and get a quality player like Booth and a solid faceoff man like Reinprecht while Goats smugly watches his soft china doll players vanish as soon as they hit ice and does squat??
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“If the Bruins played the Taliban, I’d root for the Taliban”
I agree on Booth, Reinprecht was on waivers at start of season. However, I have always thought he is an effective player and could be playing instead of Palushaj right now for us.
Why bother,Booth wouldn’t get any PP time because he had more pp goals then darche last year.
Gillis is a good GM.
Gauthier is not. He’s one of the worst GM’s in the league. At least now people are starting to open their eyes. I’ve been saying this for so long. Look at PG’s record. He’s not good. Habs haven’t had a good GM since Savard. Gainey was good at some things…but IMO he wasn’t a good GM. Love the guy, but he sucked too.
Things will not get better until there’s a change in PHILOSOPHY…and I mean from the owner on down. Right now we’ve been spinning our wheels for almost a decade. No progress. Fighting for a playoff spot in the last week of the season every year.
What bothers me is how the Habs seem to be delusional with how they do things. Like they’re too good for certain things. Like not even calling Wiz or Moore. So pompous for no reason. We haven’t won jack **** in 2 decades yet we have this air of superiority in our management. Makes no sense to me.
New blood! New mindset! New Philosophy!
losing to the Leafs got JM fired in Ottawa, will losing to them again get him fired from Montreal? will “the system” turn Price into Lalime? will PK’s career go the route of Wade Redden? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y
Why such evil thoughts? Price = Lalime and PK = Redden. Nightmares and it isnt even Halloween yet.
it’s not that bad I guess, we’re 1 win away from the best team evah, the bruins!!!
The Broons are wicked awesome, dude! So are tha Pats, Celts and tha So-ox… chowdah, Sam Adams lagah, wicked awesome, wicked awesome
(said with my best New Englandah accent and wearing my backwards baseball cap)
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“If the Bruins played the Taliban, I’d root for the Taliban”
On a positive note, whoever sang O Canada tonight should be hired full time. She had an amazing voice.
Yes she sang wonderful, I didn’t have the sound on, but I could tell.
LOL, that is a funny post HIB
That’s Ima. Yes, she is not hard on the eyes or ears.
http://youtu.be/LEAZvpK-x08
I remember Dec. 31, 1975
JM’s continuous ragging on inexperience is a shot at PG the way I hear it. Spacek is only out for a couple weeks, and there is no way PG and JM couldn’t have realized he was going to miss games given his age and propensity to get hurt as was the case throughout the end of last year.
Really the only guy truly missing whom they thought they would have is Markov. And how could they not have been prepared for him to miss the start given the surgery he was coming off of.
Therefore for him to continually blame the losses on inexperience he is saying PG didn’t give him the horses. I call bullshit on that though, cuz JM has had plenty of influence on what kind of players he gets. He needs to start taking the blame, I don’t care if he says publicly or not, but he has to know this is on him.
Prepared and Habs management should never…ever be mentioned in the same sentence.
I was never a fan of Gauthier but was willing to give him a shot. He quickly fell out of favour with me for several reasons.
Halak trade. I like Eller and think he will be good, but at that point we had other needs and I think he could have gotten more from Halak. Also, Eller would have been fruther along if he played the year in the AHL
Adding 2 Dmen who don’t even play in the league anymore for our “cup run”….He saw no issue with going into the playoffs with Halpern on the 1st line.
The 8-6 bludgeoning in Boston and not realizing that this team needed toughness
Going into the trade deadline….Halpern was on the 1st line. Instead of addressing this he talked about vacations and holes in roofs.
Everyting else just further cemented how I felt about the guy. He sucks and so does Martin.
Totally agree buds
The problem is Gautier and Martin are nothing without a pie chart, ergo NO HOCKEY SENSE or lil !After Gainey’s house cleaning “who was a player in the NHL” the Count and Goat we’re not able to share Gainey vision or adapt.I mean ,who give’s a rats ass what Cole did last year on another team! They’re paying him $4 million a year cause he’s considered one of their best,so put the eff’er on the powerplay!!! Clean house on this SHIP OF FOOLS and get people who have a feel for the game dam-it.
You could see tonight how hard Cole was trying to make an impact on the few shifts he got, but power forwards need lots of icetime. I have reserved my judgement on PG/JM for a long time, but I can no longer give them the benefit.
Yea, you could see he was out there working hard. I wonder if Martin even watched Cole play before he came to the Habs. Put him with Pleks and Cam and let them gain some chemistry.
This fool continues to shuffle lines and expects the players to produce. Chemistry is so important.
We so need some grit!!! We need guys like White back , isnt there any one in Hamilton we can bring up and send Palushaj down that will hit and bang? He”s not a 4th line player..
Teams are entering our zone with know fear of being nailed into the boards,even when they are cycling in our zone there’s know fear..
toronto had some huge hits tonight on our forwards, and on Price!!!
Would it really be so bad to bring up a guy like Alex Henry? Move Weber to forward and let Henry step in on D.. I know he”s not an NHL defenseman, but next week with the Flyers and Bruins on the schedule, cant see how it could hurt us… I like Weber , but we need some one to clear the front of the net and take out the trash when Price gets ran over!!!
Another thing….Palushaj is not a 4th line player…why is he there? Bring up an actual 4th line guy from Hamilton with grit/toughness and let him play on the 4th line here instead of stunting Palushaj’s growth. Let him play 1st line minutes in Hamilton. I’m so sick of how we handle young players with talent.
Gallagher will be on the 4th line soone enough.
All guys in Martin’s doghouse who were traded for scraps
Ryan O’Byrne 8gp 1G 1A +1
Guillaume Latendresse 7GP 1G 4A
SergeiK 7GP 2G 4A
Matt Dagostini 8GP 4G 1A
Darche has 3 (THREE) powerplay goals all-time…
Oh come on you need to do your research….
Lol. Wasn’t that a dick-ish comment by Martin? Would he have said it that way to a male reporter. I’ll bet not. I’m surprised he didn’t pull out the old “home baking bread” comment.
I remember Dec. 31, 1975
He would have never answered that way to an RDS reporter, they would have started roasting his nuts right there. I don’t speak french so i kind of stumbled through the french question and answers, but am surprised another reporter didn’t jump him for that response.
It would seem far too many of them just set the questions up on a tee for Martin to knock out of the park with his plethora of platitudes. Where’s Larry Brooks when you need him? I’m sure Torts wouldn’t mind lending him out.
Martin would never speak in such a way to Chantal Macabee. Boone would have charged the podium and clothes lined him.
Very good point prohab, have to believe JM will get roasted over the next few days for that answer though.
cole has 43,but hey JM is already having a hard enough time counting to 5.
Yes, Cole’s PP stats have declined since 2007-08, but you have to factor in a neck injury and coaching changes since then.
He has 3G and 3A on the PP vs Florida in 45 career games. Given the fact the Habs PP got, what 3 shots on goal tonight I think JM should maybe take a chance with cole…AND ELLER!
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Eyes on The Prize! and on Twitter
come on start to make some moves things need to get done!!
Don’t know if it was just a matter of audio quality, but Martin’s voice sounded audibly strained and quavery at the start, like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He has to be feeling the heat from upstairs; or at least one would hope.
I’ve never been an impassioned Martin supporter, but have at least tolerated his questionable ‘ways’ as long as the team was relatively successful.
At this point, however, for better or worse, I think his job is salvaged by the fact that half the blueline corps is so inexperienced.
To be honest, I’m not convinced we would be markedly better with Spacek and Markov in the lineup, as the team has looked entirely out of sorts, not just on the back end.
Moving forward, I see Martin being given at least the next week to right the listing ship. If it capsizes, the skipper is gone. Much as people clamor for his departure, however, who out there would represent a meaningfully effective replacement?
With french being a requirement who knows> Joel Bouchard!! Patrick Roy!! Michel Terrien, Mario Tremblay (don’t knock it not the same man!) Bob Hartley, Larry Robinson. These are the options I would say!
Sorry Ton, but Tremblay is not allowed to set foot behind the Habs bench EVER. Under any circumstances.
- Honestly yours
If nothing else, Roy would certainly be a spectacle back there.
You could add Gainey and Carbo to that list of coaches too..
And Muller and Cunneyworth too. Language issue be damned.
- Honestly yours
I think they would look at Marc Crawford. He answers the knock of not having won a cup. I don’t think he is a great coach, but is a more defensible hire in that regard.
Losing against the Laffs always sucks, but maybe this one was actually a good thing if it helps send the Molsons a signal that things must change.
Jacques Martin’s and Bob Gainey’s services are no longer needed in Montreal. In fact, Gainey should never have been appointed GM since the team suffered a lot due to Gainey’s braindead transfer decisions, especially since the death of his daughter which apparently took a toll on his sanity.
Here’s hoping for the wind of change to bring us a capable coach who is chosen based on his skill rather than his language or friendship with the GM.
your rude. his daughter should not be mentioned. gainey made good moves and brought the franchise back from ground 0. things change in the league from year to year. you could win the cup one year and not make the playoffs the next.
wow. bringing the death of the guys daughter into it shows just what a piece of garbage you are.
They said that they would monitor this kind of stuff on this site. Get him off, death and hockey are two totally different subjects. The man gave so much to this franchise and loosing a daughter is a good reason to take a day off!
Agreed . . . the line has been crossed with that posting!
CranbrookEd
Mr. Beliveau: “Pure Pak mais oui”!
“apparently took toll on his sanity” Unbelievable, belittle a human tragedy, then take issue because you think this tragedy caused pain for the hockey team you cheer for. Your priorities in life need reviewing.
DICK
The real losers are schmucks like us who invest so much emotional energy into this team of easily-satisfied millionaires. – Gumper
Are you a Maple LEAVES Troll coming up with that disgusting and totally ignorant assessment. Take your stupid and misquided attempt at a rant and stuff on another board.
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
- Adam Savage
you know your in trouble when Travis Moen leads your team in goals!!!!!!! Not that i hate him i think hes a great guy on the checkin line.. Where the hell are the high priced players on this team!!!!!! they are the ones who need to play like the superstars they are payed too be!!!!!
People are seeing that Martin plays favorites in weird ways that have cost this team not just games but assets – players. For some reason, Martin isn’t thrilled with Cole.. but he can’t bench him like he did SK or Obi, so he just keeps him down a bit.
BTW, speaking of former Habs, that Grabovski is totally useless eh? Not worth having on your team.
PS: Gomez STANK tonight. Useless. Totally his fault.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Not only does JM not use Cole on the PP and gives him little ice time but he uses him to serve penalties too?? WTF was that all about?? Usually the 4th line guy serves those…something seriously wrong with the coach!
No. To serve penalty you send a player that doesnt play PK but you want on the ice after the 2min.
Riight, I’m sure that’s JM’s reasoning behind that. Please.
Actually, coaches often put goal scorers in the box hoping for the fast break at the end of the PK. Possibly the coach was resting Cole there, hoping for the breakaway goal to get the big fella started.
I’m pretty sure I heard JM say something earlier in the season about the way Cole plays without the puck ( but not positive). If this is the case, it goes against what this team is about, and none of us can judge this because that’s something that’s not easy to see watching the game on TV. It is something the coaching staff can see though. As for him sitting bench and goaltender penalties, what’s the problem, he’s not a penalty killer.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
Tell you what, no other city has so many microphones pointed at your face at any one time like in Montreal.
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Dooooooooooooooomed!™
I’d say Martin is a douche for his little tyrade against Jessica. She asked why Darche got pp minutes and why didn’t Cole. He said for her to check her stats first. Fine, I just did, and it was said in the locker room, from another reporter that Cole had 3 pp goals last season. Darche had 2, so why is Darche more deserving? What a dick!
MMkay, now look at career stats…
Cole was never a PP guy. Never has been, never will be. He’s a 5 on 5 kind of player.
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Dooooooooooooooomed!™
Mmkay let’s look at Darche’s career stats… pfft
Cole has scored 43 career PP goals. So he knows how to score them. Martin is just being a dick.
with us not scoring, don’t you not think we should not at least try
Cole? It surely couldn’t hurt, a career 20-30 goal guy. Don’t get me wrong, Darches’ work ethic is great, but give the puck to the players who have proven themselves as scorers, or at least are paid like scorers.
Last season Cole had 8 PP points @ 220 mins PP time & Darch had 7 PP points @ 79 mins PP time. Could be those are the stats JM was talking about……
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and Reality
Ok… Just finished vomiting after,yet another loss…
As much as it would be easy to shit-can JM now, I’m not sure it would make much difference…. I will admit, I’ve always thought he was a capable NHL coach and still do. However, there was something very troubling about his demeanour behind the bench the past couple of games… At one point in Pittsburgh, the camera focused on him behind the bench and he looked like he was “at a loss”, maybe unsure of what to do… I was like, WTF! He seriously does not know what to do… Maybe he is cracking under the pressure…. If that is the case, then he must go regardless…
One of the biggest problems we have right now is the inexperience on the blueline… PK and Diaz are doing well.. Even Emelin is improving… But they are all making mistakes…. Weber “should not” be playing on D. He seems to play better on the wing, but he is not an NHL calibre defenseman…
The breakdowns in our own end are one thing, but we cannot seem to get clean breakouts from our zone… Diaz’s first pass out are the best right now… But how can we expect our skilled forwards to press on the attack when our D keeps flipping the puck out of our own end just to relieve pressure….
Except for Pittsburgh and maybe Calgary, the team played well enough to win each game, including tonight… That is a good sign…
Eller, Diaz, PK, MaxPac and even Emelin are getting better… Price is playing well enough and sometimes great, but good enough that if the team was scoring, his play wouldn’t be topic for discussion…
We have not buried our chances and seems right now, that any chance the other team gets, they score…
Now back to JM….
The Powerplay has been brutal…
The Penalty kill has been so so…
“Too Many Men on the Ice” penalties, again!
Darche on the Powerplay…
Not giving Cole ice time…
Splitting up lines that work!
That is all on him….
JM did a great job plugging holes due to injuries the past two seasons… But he also managed to do that with a much more veteran group of Defensemen…. I don’t think he can pull it off this year with the young group that are back there…. It is time for a change…
It’s time for a change because another coach could make this D work? This D is not NHL calibre. That’s on PG. Not a big fan of JM, but your conclusion does not follow your premise. If you don’t like the product on the ice, its the GM that needs firing, not the coach.
Coming into this year PG thought he had Markov, Gorges, Gill, PK, Spacek and that Emelin, Weber, Diaz, and Woywitka would be fighting for the 6th and 7th D spots. Training camp showed that these 4 guys may not be ready, so he signed Campoli. I don’t think it’s PG’s fault that Markov’s rehab has not progressed like he was probably told it would by the medical staff. It;’s not PG’s fault that Spacek and Campoli get injured in the first couple of games of the season. Not many teams have the depth to overcome 3 of their starting 6 DMen being injured.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
No argument here about all the bad luck and all, but this defence still isn’t NHL calibre, and that’s still not the coach’s fault, and if anything is to be done about it, it’s still entirely up to PG. Sure he’s had a string of bad luck, and we all feel bad about it, but that and a five dollar bill will get you a Starbuck’s latte. And the Hab’s defence will still suck.
JM is a capable NHL coach… I simply don’t believe he is capable of working with such a young group on D…
With respect to the GM, I am not a fan, but I’m not sure how he could have predicted that Campoli would be injured in his first game, or Markov wouldn’t be ready, etc… Not making excuses for him, because from what I understand he had a hand in getting rid of the following(on his own or while working under Gainey):
Grabovski
McDonagh
Baby Kostitsyn
O’Byrne (big body on D… what a novel idea)
Halpern (it would be nice to have one guy who can win a faceoff)
and so on…
It will be interesting to see if Geoff Molson has the stones to chuck both the GM and JM
Well, we agree then that PG might not be the guy for the job. As far as another coach goes, I think to make this D work we should be looking for a magician, not a coach.
OLE, OLE, OLE, OLE….
You bunch of hab losers!!! hahahahah
So your alter ego is pillow biter???
_____________________
Dooooooooooooooomed!™
no but your sister is!!!
Haa, I don’t have a sister. Nice try smacktard.
_____________________
Dooooooooooooooomed!™
na na hey hey goodbye!!!
leafs are garbage. all the way back to 67 you fricken loser.
Time to blow the smurfs up and reset!!! you know i speak the truth!!!
Go back to loserville, I mean leaferville you imbecile.
Couple thoughts…..
- Lars played GREAT! If he can play like that consistently and continue to develop he’s gonna be a beauty! His line tonight with AK and Moen were easily our best.
- Love how Moen is contributing on offense. Besides the 3 goals, he’s had a few other quality chances. Hope he keeps it up. BTW, I think he tipped the puck in on the goal they credited to Gorges, so give him 4 on the season, even if not officially.
- Our centers need to take special training on faceoffs cuz we are brutal in that department. While they’re at it, give the wingers the training too since our centers keep getting kicked out of the faceoff circle. Either that, our adapt the strategy and start putting a winger in for the faceoff, then when he inevitably gets booted out, the center can come in and take it.
- When the F. did Gorges become a defensive liability?? I’ll chalk it up to post-injury rust for now, but he’s gotta be the defensive stalwart he has been for us.
- For a team who’s philosophy is defense first, we’re playing lousy defense. I realize we have a lot of inexperienced D in the line-up, but it goes way beyond just Diaz, Weber, and Emelin.
- Is our team allergic to body-checking or something? Nevermind the Smurf BS cuz we do have some big guys on this team, but a lot of them just refuse to lay a hit on the opposition. I’m not talking about bone-crunching hits (though SOME would be nice), but at least put some weight behind it and throw a f’n hit! I’m looking at you Emelin, but you’re not alone.
- WTF is up with our PP?!?! In addition to defense first, our philosophy also includes killing the opponent on special teams, and there ain’t nothing special happening on the PP.
- PK is not having a good season so far….and neither is THE PK.
- Carey could be better. I’m not hanging the losses on him at all (or any other player for that matter), but he’s gotta find that Close-The-Door-Gear he seemed to have last year.
- Engqvist is brutal. Period. So is Palushaj. Send these guys back to Hamilton as soon as White and a defenseman come back.
- Two Too Many Men penalties tonight, and three so far this season? Are you f*ckin kidding me?!?! Where are these guys heads at FFS!
- Can we at least TRY Cole on the PP? For a coach who juggles his lines so much you think it would have happened – even by accident – by now.
- JM made an ass of himself in that interview. In addition to being wrong and stupid, he was also an arrogant douche. Hey coach, when you’re last in the conference you don’t have the right to laugh at ANYBODY.
- I think JM needs to go. I don’t know if our team’s lousy play is his fault or not, but something has got to change. Something is wrong with this team and I can’t figure out what it is.
- PG, whatever you do, DO NOT make a lousy desperation trade just to try to get the team “back on track”.
- Honestly yours
I have waited patiently for something to change, or a report to come out explaining this, but WHAT THE HELL is going on with the use of Erik Cole? Is there a logical reason he’s been relegated to the 3rd line, playing a shade over 15 minutes a game, and dropping to a season low 11:08 tonight?
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Disclaimer: While I don’t consider myself a “hockey guy” – I have never played the game competitively – I have watched 95% of Habs games since the lockout (going so far as to use wireless internet while in the Dominican to watch their 2010 run to the conference final), and what games I don’t watch, I listen to on XM radio. I have rarely turned the TV off during a game because we were losing; I always BELIEVE.
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This started off as a quick 3 sentence rant, but I decided to do some digging: Cole hasn’t been a huge shooter in his career, averaging just more than 2 shots a game, but he only has 8 shots in 6 games (all stats do not include Saturday’s game). More interesting stats: outside of 08-09 when he was with the Oilers, and 09-10, when he only played 40 games, Cole has earned a point per 30 minutes played and more than 18 minutes of ice time per game since the lockout. In a Montreal sweater Cole has 1 point in almost 91 minutes. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he’s not getting the prime ice time on the PP or enough playing time period. Elite (too strong a word?) players want to be involved and right now I don’t believe Cole is involved enough.
Cole has received 12:33 TOTAL ice time for the powerplay this season (avg. 1:46/game), out of 26 penalties we have drawn (avg. 3.7/game). The knock on our Habs has been that we’ve been too small for teams like Boston & Toronto.. We needed a big body to stand in front of the net and take the punishment that is dished out in those areas. If he wasn’t acquired for exactly that reason, why he was brought in at too many dollars and one too many years? To me it doesn’t make sense to have Moen- Eller-Cole playing together when the “smurfs” are playing together on the top line. I think Jacques Martin is stuck between a rock and a hard place because I understand we can’t have our Captain or Cammalleri on the 3rd line, nor do you want to send Kostitsyn into a tailspin this early in the season.
I love Mathieu Darche; he’s a great story for youngsters trying to make it to the NHL, but he isn’t number 72 nor is he expected to produce like Cole. That’s why he’s playing on his first 1-way contract at the age of 35. He’s a plugger; he should be in the bottom 6 with the guys that bang the bodies, kill penalties and try and get momentum on our side.
Cole’s speed is still there, and I can only assume that the hands that scored 52 points last season and .62 points per game over his career haven’t magically disappeared (unless Scott Gomez’s black hole somehow sucked them into the abyss).
That being said, I hope we right the ship & start collecting some W’s. As always I BELIEVE!
——————-
The Bruins are the “Starley Cup Champians”?? I’m cool with that.
She cute?
Eller and Moen played great tonight. AK was not bad. Pacioretty played like crap.
Desharnais and Darche were non-existent. Not sure how much ice time those two guys had though.
Well, good to know Cammi and Gio aren’t concerned. I guess making a few million a year takes the sting out of losing. The real losers are schmucks like us who invest so much emotional energy into this team of easily-satisfied millionaires.
Gumper:
That was the BEST post I have heard in yrs in here ……
SPOT ON BUDDY …
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”
New quote for my sig block.. thnx Gumper
The real losers are schmucks like us who invest so much emotional energy into this team of easily-satisfied millionaires. – Gumper
JM, How many PP goals does Darche have, 3 career, Cole had 3 last year and 43 career, a hole
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
I guess we all now know why Boone is afraid to ask JM the tough questions. Thank you Jessica for having the jugs to ask JM a question that needed answering.
I want to hear Jessica interview Gomez and ask him the hard questions now.
First star of the night: Jessica.
Not sure why the mods decided to remove this re-post from the previous thread…
Gill 1,001 GP
Gorges 370 GP
Subban 85 GP
Weber 55 GP
Diaz 6 GP
Yemelin 5 GP
Markov 623 GP
Spacek 836 GP
Campoli 398 GP
That is all.
JM took no responsibility for the loss, he blamed most of it on inexperience, and he thought Moen scored a shorthanded goal, umm douche bag, he did
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
She is a reporter with TSN radio in Montreal.
You can contact her (Jessica Rusnak) on Twitter @JessRusnak to let her know how you feel.
Martin was wrong to be disrespectful towards her and he needs to apologize.
________________________________________
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Honestly, no love for JM from me, but really, he might have been a little condescending, but nowhere near Ron Wilson disrespectful, and she’s a big girl. When you’re a reporter and ask the tough question, you can expect it might hit a nerve. The guy may not be a great coach, but he is human.
Thanks Danno. Just sent her 2 tweets thanking her and telling her she did a great job.
- Honestly yours
Habs has to go to the net more that’s how you score the dirty goals, that’s how the leafs got a couple of there’s tonight and ended up winning it.
…Jacques is right pointing out the understandable learning-curve of our young D-men
…but makes Pierre Gauthier’s gamble not to give Hamrlik a 2 year to stay questionable, considering the uncertainty of Markov
…so far that has come up craps for PG …and Us
…I would not have given Hammer a no-trade, but I would have given Him 2 years for similar dollars the Caps are paying Him today
…Steckal and Kenopka were also out there this summer as big bodies with face-off skills for Us as well
…JM has been adept at plugging holes for unrelenting injuries, but on these 2 essential needs He missed the boat, and We see now why
…whether firing JM in-season is in the cards, or whether it would make a difference for the better, none of Us can be sure (I think it would IF We convince Muller, Whom knows these Players and what They bring) …but I have been watching My Team since 1951 or ’52 …and, I will be watching Them until I croak
…I’m still pretty healthy and vital for My age, so THAT will certainly be for a while yet
…key injuries, learning on the job D, sub-par goaltending, baffling coaching …BUT that under-rated intangible of overall CHARACTER make Me hopeful Our Team will come around
…hopefully, not too late
…ALLONS-Y HABS !!!
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I would have had no issue bringing hamr back for one year if we were not already paying spacek.
…Hammer WAS offered one year Showey by PG …Hammer wanted minimum 2
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I wouldn’t be crazy about giving him a 2 year deal at 37 years old either. You would think he might have considered cutting us some slack considering how much he was paid the last 4 years.
…signing Him for 2 without a no-trade for reasonable dollars means He is tradeable once Our younger Guys are ready
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I think JM would like a do-over with his answer why he plays darche over cole on the PP based on powerplay goal statistics.
Eller. “It’s nothing like our defence was last year.”
Last year. Wiz, Sopel, Subban, Hammer, Gill, Spacek.
Tonight. Gorges, Gill, Subban, Emelin, Diaz, Weber.
True dat.
The guy in the picture at the top of this thread is the only Hab who hasn’t played a bad game yet this year.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
“WHAT!?!? Halak for two hockey sticks and a bag of magic beans … I miss Bob,” Liberal MP Justin Trudeau wrote, referring to former Habs GM Bob Gainey.
36th in the NHL in GAA. 37th in Save Percentage. 41st in Wins-Losses. Interstellar. Yep.
—————————————————–
Where is the next Beliveau? The next Ferguson, Rocket, Patrick Roy? The next Lafleur? The next Scotty Bowman and Sam Pollack?
Did Jacques Martin watch the same game as we did???
Nothing other than the standard blah blah blah about the “process” or the “system”…
What a french shower…
_________________________________________________
“If the Bruins played the Taliban, I’d root for the Taliban”
So, 4 games this week followed by 5 days off. hmmm….looks like it’s “save the coach’s job” time.
It would be nice if Price won his 100th game this year.
On the positive side, at least we now know Jacques Martin isn’t a robot.
On the negative side, he is as bad on the defensive as his team.
What’s this about Martin blowing his cool with a reporter?
________________________________________
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Martin blowing his cool..??? what, did he get abusive with his pen and notepad..?
Listen to the JM audio link above.
- Honestly yours
It’s been said a million times. If you’re a “reporter” for this team you should already know why cole is on the bench, and what darche is doing out there by screening.
Why Cole was basically benched for long periods of the rest of the game however is another matter…
Eller-Moen-Kostitsyn seems to be the only line.
Cole had the inklings of his best game in the CH and he pretty much gets benched.
Price is the only one standing up for himself and if not for his ridiculous saves plus a buzzer beater they’d get no loser point.
Good job knocking over your own goalie, Captain.
They saw how weak Gustavsson was. Instead of smelling blood after the AK46 goal they pretty much backed off.
Disgusting OT coverage. THREE Leafs point blank in front of Price and no one else moved.
CFL seems to be the only league that fires incompetent refs. Even then, not an excuse to basically bend over.
Someone, anyone, should have punched Jay Rosehill back to the Marlies. That bloody goon has a job in the NHL on the 4th line and we can’t put Conboy-Dumont-White (when he’s back) to muck things up?
Give the team to Randy already. He made poop into gold and pushed aggressive hockey with the Dogs.
It only took 5 games for Jacques Demers to get fired…
It only took 5 games for Jacques Demers to get fired…
Yeah, and that turned out so well. I got no love for JM, but desperation moves don’t usually lead to good things.
Frankly firing Demers was wrong, much like trading half the team of anyone we loved, but they were sure quick to do that. What’s Martin got? Oh right, buddies.
And I’m not saying hire Mario Tremblay either. It ain’t working. It’s broken. It’s their job to fix it. And no trading AK46 is not going to fix it, especially when he’s part of the only line doing anything.
Was MaxPac playing? The defense was worse tonight.
can we start the JM watch:
1 game, maybe 2, or 3?
when will he be fired?
my guess is, on Friday. that will be 8 losses in a row.
and Jacques, please tale your idiot of a GM with you.
you know the habs are in trouble, when Travis Moen is you’re leading scorer.
He is a rocket! Moen heads right dead centre to the net. So many play on the outside shooting from crummy angles. Moen should give a clinic!
No kidding. That about sums it up
I really like Cammy. He’s from the GTA, yet he still had the nads to sign here, and he seems like one of the few who is playing like he gives a crap. good guy. get him a center who can even pale in comparison to Iggy and watch him pot 30 – 40 a season.
isn’t Iggy a winger?
oh ya, my bad. who was Cammy and Iggy’s C-man when they were in Calgary?
Langkow, I think
I take it that the Media in the room can’t ask ONE simple question.
“Jacques, when do you think you will be fired. If so, are you taking Pierre with you”?
Man oh man, it will be one LOOOOOONG day @ work Monday ….
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”
…if I can find ‘something’ humorous about tonight it is I just received this second HIO’s push notice on My Ipod Touch that Gorges just scored …Habs 4 the Weeds 3 !!!
…Go Habs Gooooo !!!
…
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
Where’s this erik Cole guy? 1 point in 7 games what is HE the new Gomez ? So what’s Gomez going to be …. it’s only up from here.
Cole never had any trouble scoring that timely goal against the Habs now did he!
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”
Back when he was getting 18-20 minutes/ game with the canes instead of the 11 minutes he got tonight.
back when he had a big stud like Eric Staal to set him up.
Top 6 players need to play top 6 minutes in order to produce. IMHO cole can still put up 25 goals playing with pleky. Its a joke that he sits on the bench on the PP.
Oh I agree. It’s just that sometimes stud players make others around them look good so it’s hard to tell from a laymans standpoint.
Hey…guess what. An ENGLISH ONLY dialogue from the players. Can’t F***EN believe that in 2011 this team is required to hire some piece of crap coach and GM b/c they can speak French.
– HABS INSIDE/OUT R.I.P. –
Eller speaks like a captain
Cammy not concerned? He he sh!ttin me?
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”
Does that really surprise you?
I was having nightmares earlier in the night… that wasn’t Darche on the powerplay, was it?!?!
cool video Stubbs. Thanks.
When do we play Winnipeg?
“Hate Bruins like a sickness”
The team that just scored 5? Yeah that should be fun. Put Budaj in net and let’s see what happens
so Jacko;
did you do your research and notice that Darche has a grand total of 3 pp goals in his total NHL career?
did you also do research to see that Cole wasn’t a hab last year?
and did you also research the fact that Cole has a few hundred NHL goals and Darche has maybe 10 NHL CAREER GOALS??
Jacques pack your bags, you @#$%^&*.
you’re GONE!!!!!!!
Amazing isn’t it? The first time I’ve seen/heard Jacques inject any emotion into anything and it’s to be a total douche to a reporter who asked a great question. The icing on the cake is that Cole’s 3 PP goals last year tie him with Darche’s CAREER PP goals. Do YOUR f*ck!n research Jacques-Ass. It was such an out-of-character response from him, I’m almost wondering if he isn’t feeling the pressure that his job might be slipping away.
I really like Darche too and I think all winning teams need guys like him, but he’s just not a PP guy. With all JM’s rampant line juggling it’s amazing to me that Cole didn’t land on the PP at all.
- Honestly yours
Jacques-ass? LMFAO.
I liked it too. A lot better than JM or Count
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
What else is there left to say?
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”
Herpa derp we’ll do better next time, don’t panic, lack of drive, etc
Who cares what they say, I only care what they do.
Not defending his coaching skills, just his right to be a mite peevish after another loss, and an “impertinent” question from a reporter. Not denying that there might be some chauvinism going on too, just saying (having worked as a reporter) that if you ask a question you know is going to piss off the interviewee, you have to be ready for the response. I’m sure she’s a big girl. I just hope she keeps asking the tough questions. No one else amongst the Gazette cheering section seems willing to do it.
So you want your $4.5 million Winger to be a screen on the PP facing shots from Diaz, Weber, and Subban whilst getting crosschecked a hundred times instead of Darche…….great. How exactly does that make sense again?
Yeah, those always work
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
Respectfully disagree. His production was quite consistent.
That bum gomez! Not only did he cost a lot of salary… don’t forget who was included in the deal…. Ryan McDonagh. Good young Dman. How that work out for ya??
good point. I think of every good hockey memory I have had watching the habs since 1969 but nothing compares to the birth of my daughter.
I didn’t even notice the blond hair or anything. I was just concentrating on her voice.
Not to good, probably just as good as the Kessel trade is going to work out for the Leafs long term. Did you see Seguins goal tonight.