Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 2 - Wings 3 (SO)

So the overtime/shootout streak has been broken. Sad, but it was bound to happen. After winning 8 games in either shootout or overtime, this season, the Detroit Red Wings, led by Datsyuk and Zetterberg brought this dramatic night to a close. Looking at this game and the great comeback by the Habs, I really think that if it wasn't for Laraque's useless string of penalties in the 1st, Montreal would likely have won this game. Still though, 3 out of 4 points against Washington and Detroit in a 24 hour period? I'll take it.

1 - Price continues his strong play. For the past 5 games he has let in 2 or less goals per game and again tonight he looked relaxed and confident in the nets. This is a good sign for Montreal, going forward.

2 - Plekanec continues to be the best and most consistent player since the beginning of the season. Not only that, but he seems like he was finally able to wake Andrei Kostitsyn up!

3 - Speaking of AK46....he looks like he is back. Tonight, he was involved in the defensive zone, offensive zone, physically and on the score sheet. There really isn't much more you can ask of him. The timing of his renaissance is perfect considering that we now have no Gionta AND Gomez.

4 - O'Byrne, in his second game back, seems to be a stabilizing force on the blue line. He, like Price, looks calm and poised out there. It is a welcome change from last year. Also, his physical presence was sorely lacking while he was gone.

5 - No Gionta, no Gomez, no Gill, no Markov, no problem. Yesterday and tonight Montreal has been impressing by playing some of their best hockey of the year despite missing a slew of key players.

6 - Laraque lost this game for Montreal. The main storyline in this game was Laraque's 6 mins of penalties that resulted in two Detroit goals, in the first. Montreal had been playing very well until Laraque took two useless penalties in the same shift. That turn the game in Detroits favour and ultimately cost them that extra point. For a guy who has been out of the lineup for a few weeks and who is struggling to show that he has a place in the NHL, Laraque certainly did not help his cause tonight!

I think that, over the last 24(ish) hours, Montreal has shown themselves that they are capable of playing much better hockey than they have over the first 20 games. They have been playing like a well oiled, cohesive team and it has shown with 3 out of 4 points versus two of the best teams in the league. Now, two games does not a season make, but it is a good starting point.

K.

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Friday morning rumblings...

As our Montreal Canadiens get ready to take on the Washington Capitals, in Washington, there are some interesting rumblings that are percolating in the city this Friday morning. Aside from the fact that Montreal will be getting reinforcements in the form of Ryan O'Byrne (yay!) and George Laraque (who cares) back from tonight's game, I am starting to hear a lot of people mention Pierre McGuire's name as a possible candidate for the GM position in Montreal, should it become available.

I think that, barring a miracle turn around, this is going to continue to be a disappointing year and that the Habs will either just make or just miss the playoffs. As such, I think that it is highly likely that Gainey will not be back for another season at the helm of le Club de Hockey Canadien. As such, the natural follow-up question becomes 'Who could be the next GM of this team?' While I am sure that there are no shortage of candidates who would love to be the GM of the Canadiens, one name in particular comes to my mind and that is Pierre McGuire. For those of you who don't know who McGuire is here is a link to his bio on TSN.ca:

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?fid=2457

Aside from his profile, I personally believe that with over ten years working in broadcast and as a TV analyst, McGuire has a great bird's-eye view of the post-lockout game. I believe that seeing so many teams, getting to know so many GM's, learning different organziational philosophy's and just being exposed to so many different views and ways of conducting business, makes Pierre an excellent choice to be the GM of ANY NHL team. However, to become a GM in the NHL one has to be a good fit for the organization and the organization has to be a good fit for the GM. I believe that the siutation in Montreal presents exactly that situation for both McGuire and for the Montreal Canadiens.

Pierre is born and raised in Montreal, he speaks French - even though he is an anglophone - and deep down he bleeds Blue, Blanc and Rouge. The thing that I find interesting is that, while I personally would love to see McGuire running this team, it seems that I am not alone in this thought. Over the last few weeks, on the Team 990 - a local Montreal sports radio station - I have heard Tony Marinaro mention a few times that he thinks McGuire should be, and maybe will become, GM. Also, this morning, I heard the morning show guys - Casavant, Price and Starr - skirting around the same notion. Seems to me that a groundswell is slowly starting to grow.

Ultimately, this will all be up to Geoff Molson et al., to decide. However if there is one thing that I feel is certain, it is that the Molson brothers will not take losing lightly. They have a legacy, in their family, of success and winning with the Montreal Canadiens brand and they didn't take over ownership in order for the Habs to continue being a first round right off. We'll see what the future brings, but my prediction will be that the rumblings that we are hearing, for McGuire, will slowly grow into a deafening din.

We can only hope that Geoff Molson and co. see things the same way that the fans do or at least has a better suggestion in mind.

K.

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 3 - Canes 2 (SO)

Blech. This team is freaking weak. Sorry guys (and gals), but its true. For sure they have the very real excuse of having a boat load of injuries to key guys, but still. This is just a weak team and they are showing that unless their goalie stands on their head - which Price has done the last three games he played - they don't have any chance of winning. Consequently, WHEN their goalie does stand on his head, that doesn't necessarily mean that they WILL win.

Carolina is THE worst team in the league and, until Kostitsyn popped one in, during the third period, Montreal was minutes away from losing to them on home ice. Ouch. Very, very ouch.

1 - Price continues to play strong in nets. I get the feeling that the transition between the Roland Melanson drop and flop technique to the Pierre Groulx stand up for youself method is starting to take shape. Price is a big, imposing goaltender who plays best when he employs the hybrid style rather than the full butterfly. Under Melanson - former Habs goaltending coach - Price was dropping to his knees WAY too early and often getting beat high glove side. Now - at least in the last few games - it looks as if Price is being coached to stand up more, to make himself look big in the net and give the shooter very little to look at....and it seems to be working. Looking at Price in shootouts, last year, he was terrible. He was dropping and flopping like a fish out of water, and was having players deke him out and or go high glove side. Yesterday, he mostly stood up or did that 'one pad down' technique and it resulted in a solid effort.
2 - Andrei K finally scored! It is his first goal in 16 games. Wow. Brutal stretch there for a supposed sniper. But, like Carey Price, maybe the system - and his handling by Jacques Martin - is finally starting to seep into the older Kostitsyn's head. The last two or three games have seen some of the best and most heart felt performances of the season, from Kostitsyn. Granted that up until yesterday, he hadn't been rewarded with any goals. Yesterday, however, skating on a (great looking) line with MaxPac and Pleky, Kostitsyn got the game tying goal in the third. Was it pretty? Hell no! In fact, it was pretty ugly. Kostitsyn skated behind the Carolina net and towards the corner and just threw the puck - with a backhand - on net. It hit the inside of Legace's pad and squeaked into the goal. You could see on his face that he was elated. The goal aside, Kostitsyn played one of his most inspired games, throwing the body around, making moves around defenders and shooting much more than he has recently. Hopefully, last nights game will be a performance he can build on. We all know that the Habs need Kostitsyn to start scoring in order for this team to have any chance of making the playoffs.
3 - Speaking of long over due goals, MaxPac opened the scoring, early in the first, with a bit of a lucky goal himself. Taking the feed in the slot, from Pleks, MaxPac just whiffled the puck past the right pad of Legace. And, just like Kostitsyn, you could see the relief on his face.
4 - IF, and that is a big if, the 2nd line of Andrei K, Pleks and MaxPac can continue to play like they did last night, Montreal will suddenly have two scoring lines and be in a much better position to claim points going forward.
5 - The third line was excellent! Putting Lapierre back at center - on the third line - with Latendresse and Moen on his wings seemed to provide an excellent combination of speed, muscle and grit which was too much for Carolina to handle each time they were on the ice. If you think about it, this line is a logical choice considering how good Lapierre, Latendresse and Kostopolous looked last year on the third line. Not to take any thing away from Kosto, but Moen is an upgrade on the size, skill and grit level, hands down. Here's hoping THAT line can jell too!
6 - O'Byrne can't come back soon enough and we should, hopefully, see him in action by the weekend. I know that Spacek and Hamrlik will benefit immensely from some reduced minutes, and O'Byrne - once he hits his stride again - should be playing about 20 mins a game.

Well, despite the positives, we have to keep things in perspective. And the perspective is that Montreal barely beat the worst team in the league. What does that say about the Habs? Keep that in mind as Montreal now enters a tough 5-game schedule versus Washington twice, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Columbus once each. Apart from potential points - and I do emphasize the word POTENTIAL - against Columbus, does anyone expect Montreal to win any of the other four games (Wash X2, Pitts X1, Detroit X1)?

I didn't think so. Here's hoping I'm wrong.

K.

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 4 - Yotes 2

Montreal was finally able to spin out of their offensive lethargy last night by beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4 - 2 IN REGULATION! Yes, in regulation. For the record and in case anyone is counting, that is only their second regulation win this season. A frightening stat for even those with the most stable hearts. Ok, on with the observations:

1 - Tomas Plekanec has not so quietly become the leading scorer and most consistent player on this team. Even the other night, against Calgary, when Plekanec was clearly being targeted for punsihment by the Flames, Pleky was no shrinking violet. He became aggressive and combative, whereas last year he would have disappeared. Note to Bob Gainey: You can't resign this guy soon enough! DON'T make the same mistake you made last year!
2 - Carey Price is one unlucky guy. You've got to feel bad for the kid because despite his playing his heart out he just has no luck on his side. Both goals last night were unfortunate and unlucky. On this first goal, he was speared in the throat by his own player, Paul Mara and was on lying on his back when the puck went in the net! On the second goal, a harmless shot that was about three feet wide of the net hit Paul Bissonette's skate and deflected behind Price. Poor guy. You'd imagine that luck has to turn around for him at some point!
3 - Montreal's already poreous D took another hit last night and if they keep getting over-worked, more of them are sure to go down with injury too. Last night it was Spacek's turn to leave the game with an injury. This is what happens when you take a 35 year old third or fourth string defenceman and make him play first or second string minutes. I was wondering to myself, just this past week, how long Hamrlik and Spacek, both 35 year olds, could go playing 25+ mins per game before they go down with an injury. Well, as you saw last night, the answer was NOT very long! Yes, O'Byrne is coming back soon, but losing four regulars from your defence corp would severely weaken even the best team in the league. Things are definitely not getting easier for this team.
4 - Tom Pyatt did not look out of place on the second line. While Pleky keeps producing points no matter who he plays with and Andrei K still looks like he is asleep, Pyatt added a nice burst of energy to that second line. He is definitely not a permanenet solution but I think that at least for now, he could be a great fill-in.
5 - Montreal limited Phoenix to 20 shots on goal and very few scoring chances, as they tightened up their defensive play.
6 - Monteal only managed to throw 20 pucks as the Phoenix net and somehow managed to score goals enough to win.

With Phoenix out of the way, Montreal takes their 1-game winning streak into Nashville for a Saturday night tilt against the Preds. With Spacek potentially out of the line up, things could get even more grim for a team that has struggled to play .500 hockey so far.

K.

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Lack of proper player development is killing the Habs

Having been a Habs fan for my entire life and watched the supposed renaissance of the team, under Gainey, it is apparent that something is amiss. Well, many things are amiss, actually, but the thing that stands out the most to me is our seeming lack of proper player development. I don't know if it is because of the media pressure in this city or the nightlife that makes young players lose their mind, but it is evident that Montreal just isn't able to turn raw, talented players, into stars. With the exception of Saku Koivu - who skirted the line between being a star and a non-star for his entire career in Montreal - and Andrei Markov, who has Montreal drafted, molded and turned into a star over the last 10 years? If you answer that question honestly, the response you come up with has to be 'no one'.

When Gainey started his five-year rebuilding plan six years ago, one of the main things he spoke about was rebuilding through the draft and it was about time! If one were to look at the Canadiens farm system, when Gainey took over, one would see a system that was devoid of any top-tier - and largely second-tier - talent. The cupboards were empty as a decade of bad management and managers traded away picks and prospects in an effort to bandaid a winning team together. When Gainey started drafting players like Higgins and Komisarek and Carey Price, it was evident that by holding onto his first rounders, Gainey was in the process of putting together a decent crop of youngsters.

Sadly, one by one, each of the prospects that Gainey has brought on board has either quickly hit a low hanging ceiling, regressed or been traded away for scraps, only to prosper in another city. Umm, Mike Ribiero anyone? He was traded for Janne Ninnema by the way, just in case you were wondering.

How'd that trade work out for us?

If you look at last year's team - before the season started - there were a ton of young, talented prospects on the team and in the minors. Higgins, Plekanec, Komisarek, Price, McDonough and Max Pac, to name a few. However all of them took a step back last year while young guns on other teams seemed to be excelling.

How did Milan Lucic do last year?

Exactly.

It seems that looking around the league, teams are seemingly draft players who get better and better. But not in Montreal. Lapierre was ascending last year. This year he is invisible. Kostitsyn looked like he was a great 10th overall pick, two seasons ago, and this year his is lost out there. Chris Higgins was hitting his stride two years ago, but fell, mightly last season. Carey Price had his sophomore jinx, Komisarek looked like a defensive liability, D'Agostini couldn't put the puck in the net, Latendresse forgot how to hit people and McDonough was traded for Gomez.

Why? Why are other teams able to draft the same calibre players and have them turn into stars? Johan Franzen anyone? What about Thomas Holstrom. What about us? Where are our stars? Where are our Crosby, Stalls and Nash?

I don't know what the answer is, but everything points to some kind of organizational malaise that is deeply imbeded within the Canadiens system and it is causing us to burn our prospects and/or not being able to help them reach their true potential.

Look, I am not saying that this is a team of underperforming stars, but it would take a blindman not to be able to see that Latendresse has an infinitely higher ceiling than where he is currently playing. Whatever the problem is, the blame has to lie squarely at Gainey's feet. This is his system, his ideology and his process in place. The team is running as he has set it up and the results, whether positive or negative are his to bear. He is the guy steering the ship and it is ultimatley his responsibility to fix, and so far, apart from getting rid of everyone, he has yet to show that he has the ability to do so.

The more the hole in this team becomes apparent, the more the spotlight is flashed in Gainey's direction and if he, or any other GM for that matter doesn't see that 'through the draft' is the only sure-fire way to rebuild, then they are missing a large component of the salary cap era. Gainey excelled as a pre-lockout GM, when you could throw as much money at a roster as possible. With the salary cap, GM's have to constantly be producing good, cheap talent through their draft and their farm system in order to keep a good balance on their team of highly paid veterans and lowly paid rookies. It is the only way to put together a winner in this age and if Gainey doesn't realize that by now, then his days with this team are truly numbered.

K.

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 4 - Atlanta 5

Ouch. Groan. Blech. Another day and another weak performance by the Montreal Canadiens. Three days after barely beating the Toronto Maple Leafs, our beloved Habs lost to the Kovalchuk-less Atlanta Thrashers and man was it ugly! From top to bottom, Montreal was disorganized and discombobulated. From sloppy defensive zone coverage to bad turnovers. From inconsistent goaltending to terrible special teams, the Habs were sloppy opposition for the Thrashers even without their superstar player. Ok, enough of my crying about how bad the Canadiens played and on with the observations.

1 – Carey Price is simply not ready for primetime. While he started strong and made some great saves in the first period, as soon as Atlanta started putting the puck behind him, he began adopting that all to familiar depressed, confidence-lacking posture. He reverted to the drop and flop technique that is clearly not working for him. There was one play in the third where an Atlanta player broke down the right wing and around Price, only to slide the puck across the crease – but not into the net. Well, you wouldn’t have been able to tell by looking at Price. As soon as the guy had him beat you could see that Price just gave up on the play. Meanwhile, Hamrlik was behind him stopping the puck from going in. That was the Price that we saw at the end of last year, and he seems to come back as soon as a few goals are scored on him. Price simply does not have a lot of confidence and, unfortunately for him, he isn’t getting the breaks either. While he played a solid first period the first Atlanta goal, that deflected off of a skate, was another unlucky break in a string of unlucky breaks for Price. For Price to get his confidence back, he needs to play with the lead for a change. I feel bad for him because the team has simply NOT played well in front on him, so far this season. And all the while, Halak is getting much better team performances in front of him. If only they could have scored the first goal tonight, I believe it would have been a different story.
2 – Tomas Plekanec continues to be the Habs’ best and most consistent player. Plekanec has gone through some kind of psychological metamorphosis this year and is playing at a level even higher than he did two years ago - when he scored 65 points. His challenge still remains showing that he can do it when it counts in the playoffs, but we have plenty of time before that happens.
3 – Mathieu Carle will be a good replacement on the blue line. While he had a bit of a tough 1st game, he didn’t look out of place on the ice. Give him a few games and he will make himself indispensable.
4 – Marc-Andre Bergeron should ONLY play on the power play and the only reason he is not is because we have three regular defensemen injured; Gil, Markov, O’Byrne.
5 – Cammalleri was a GREAT pick up by Gainey. Only 14 games into the season and Cammalleri is showing that he is a point per game guy regardless of whether he plays with Iginla or not.

Overall, this was a bad game. In fact, Montreal is just a bad team. Of course they are not as bad as their losses make them look but if you look at this team honestly, there are a glut of problems that need to be addressed. Bad penalty killing, worse power play, weak/fragile goaltending, poor defensive zone coverage, a lack of size, TOO many turnovers, no secondary scoring, too many lefties on defense, and on and on and on and on. As a GM, I would think that it is challenging enough to try to plug one or two holes or problems, but this team looks more like a brick of swiss cheese! Too many holes and too many problems. Gainey has his hands full and it is all of his own making. While I am sure that he will try to make some changes before Christmas the reality is that it is not easy to make trades in the salary cap era. The bottom line with the Canadiens is that while it is still early(ish) in the season, in all likelihood they are a team that will either just make or just miss the playoffs. To be honest, I would rather they miss the playoffs and at least get a higher draft pick in 2010 but I have a feeling that that won’t happen.

K.

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 5 - Leafs 4 (SO)

Wow. What a game. The usual hype of a Saturday night tilt between the Habs and the Leafs played out, in all its spendor last night. While Montreal should probably have won this game in regulation, going to a shoot out made the end all that much more exciting for the 21,000+ fans in attendance - of which I was one!

A few things I noticed/enjoyed about the game:
1 - Loved the hate that was heaped upon Komisarek. Although it was predictable, it was still enjoyable to watch Habs nation vent their anger towards Komi for his betrayal.
2 - Loved that Komisarek was -3 for the night and is -9 for the season. He is among the worst in that group. I wonder whether this is an adjustment period for him or whether not having Markov as his D partner is exposing his weakness in his own zone.
3 - Metro and Moen continue to contribute and what a pleasant surprise it is!
4 - Habs are getting some secondary scoring. Since, with the exception of Plekanec, the second line is basically not scoring, it is nice to see the Moen's, Metropolit's, and Latendresse's of the world scoring and help get the wins.
5 - Overall, Montreal is NOT a very good team. There is just no depth on this team and the 'secondary' cast is largely underachieving or invisible. Sure, MaxPac will be good in a few years, and so will D'Agostini, but right now they should probably BOTH be back in Hamilton - at Least MaxPac should be.
6 - Hal Gil and Marc-Andre Bergeron are defensive liabilities. Both players are turnover machines and often cause scoring chances and goals against with their glaring mistakes.7 - Plekanec is a man possessed. Since the beginning of the season, Tomas Plekanec has got to be the hardest working most consistent player on this team. He is playing tough, aggressive and is reaping the benefits. Let's hope that Gainey has learned his lesson from last season and signs Plek to an extension DURING the season!

While Montreal can be fun to watch, at least at home where they have the last line change and can put the top line out against whoever they please, they are not a team that will win a ton of games on the road. Granted, they are missing Markov and O'Byrne - both of which cannot come back soon enough - but even with them, this team does not have enough meat to be much of a threat in the playoffs. Until Gainey does something to address the lack of depth on this team, they will continue to be a number 6, 7, or 8th place team at best.

So what about you? Did you watch the game? What did you like the most about it? What did you dislike the most about it?

Thoughts?

K.

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