Rick Chartraw - (Lindsay Gibson)

Member since November 10, 2007

Kelowna

Habs fan since: 1980
Favorite current player: Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov, Alexei Kovalev
All-time favorite player: Mats Naslund

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Recent Comments

• Comment on About last night ...
  

  The biggest problem I see with this team is exactly what MB pointed out, the inability to close out games.  I wish that I would've made a note of the number of games in which the opposition scored to either tie the game or take a one-goal lead.  Does someone with time on their hands want to review the 82 game season to see how many points were given up in the final five minutes.  I just assume they are going to let in a goal in the last few minutes. Contrast this with the Eastern Conference champs from two years ago when they scored numerous times to win games they had no business winning.  This is the difference between a top team and a team struggling to make the playoffs.  

• Comment on A Cup contender
  

  Pouliot is playing far too soft for the last few games.  Since he started wearing the new skates (like Kovalev) he has been playing like he doesn't want to get his nose dirty.

• Comment on An epic collapse
  Well, the boys have to treat this one as a learning experience, otherwise reflection on this game will be too depressing. They need to learn that when it gets 3-0 with 14 minutes to go in the third they need to go for the jugular. They did not. My turning point of the game was after Sergei Kostitsyn's goal to go up 3-0. Montreal was still on the PP and Koivu took another one of his lovely offensive zone penalties on Gomez. It was clear that the NYR might score on the ensuing penalty (which they did), and all of a sudden it was time for a momentum shift. Dubinsky, followed by Gomez's goal. 3-3 anyone's game. What further irks me is Hamrlik's oversight on the Drury GWG, how could he not pickup Drury coming from his side. On the positive: -Montreal matched the NYR in the toughness and hitting categories -The kids played well -The organization is on the rise -Komisarek is a monster. Sign him for as long as he will sign On the Negative -After his PP goal Kovalev was invisible and turned the puck over numerous time in the offensive and neutral zones. -Every time we play poorly it is because we allow the other team across the blueline too easily (like we did in the end of the second and third) -Koivu has got to cut out the O-Zone penalties. They are backbreakers.
• Comment on The Boston stranglers
  Fully agree with previous post re: resigning both Komisarek and Streit now. The time to negotiate with Mark Streit on a two or three year deal is right now. He is getting better and better, and you cannot say enough about his versatility. The pass to Kovalev tonight was a thing of beauty. Our 1st line is not as good as most teams in the NHL, but our 3rd and 4th are miles better. The longer Gainey waits, the more money he will have to spend. I would think 3 years for 4.5 million would be reasonable for Streit, but I really have no clue how much he is really worth. I would give Komisarek a Mike Richards like contract.
• Comment on Game 23: Sabres blank, sweep Canadiens
  Wow, is that Kovalev out there throwing his weight around? He seems to be one of the few players moving tonight. Defence is absolutely allowing all Buffalo forwards to gain the line and wait for a reasonable play. They've been hard to watch lately. I hope they are not pulling a similar ploy to last year (or the year before).
• Comment on Humiliation
  I don't know if I agree with Mike Boone's Game Blog, Kovalev is clearly not regressing. He is skating better than last year, and I have never seen him throw his considerable size around as much. Unfortuantely, everyone else is invisible and a step slow.