Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 6 - Rangers 0

Game Summary:
What a difference a week makes. Two weekends with back-to-back games with two completely different outcomes. While after last weekend, many of the Habs faithful were ready to throw in the towel, this weekend many are hoping that the Habs have turned a corner. I have to caution that until the Habs get on a roll and start putting some separation between themselves and the 8th and 9th place teams, they will remain a bubble team. Keep in mind that this two game winning streak - and two of the best games that Habs have played this season - are on the heels of two of the worst games they have played this season.

In drubbing the Rangers 6-0 in front of their home crowd, the Habs got revenge and more. With Halak in nets last weekend, the Habs fell 6-2 to the Rangers but returned the favour by spanking their New York rivals to the tune of 6 unanswered goals. In case anyone is counting, that is 9 unanswered goals (3 against the Devils and 6 against the Rangers) for the suddenly offensively magical Habs. While Halak wasn't tested all that much last night, his 1st period heroics kept the Rangers at bay long enough for the Habs to get the 1st goal and run with it. Bad penalties, weak turnovers and poor defensive zone coverage allowed the Habs to run amuck and bury the memory of last weekend’s embarrassing efforts.

Game Notes:
1 - Halak is hitting his stride. Over the course of the first 50 games of this 2010 NHL season, Halak has calmly and quietly asserted himself in nets. In that process he has found and held onto the consistency that his counterpart, Price, has yet to find. While Price seems frustrated and inconsistent, Halak has seemed unflappable. Since asking Gainey to trade him, a few weeks ago, Halak has gone on a tear. Over his last 13 games, Halak has 9 wins including 3 shutouts, has a 2.07 GAA - including the 6-2 loss to Rangers - and a .944 save percentage. Scintillating numbers for any goaltender. While Halak wasn't really tested all that much last night, he definitely made some key saves in the first period to keep his team in the game. After that, the offense took over and that was all she wrote!

2 - Cammalleri is a true sniper. Just when you he starts trailing a little in the stats department, he rips off a 4 point performance, like last night. In scoring two goals and two assists, Cammy was the offensive catalyst for the team last night. In case you were wondering, that gives Cammy 46 points in 53 games - 5 behind Plekanec - with 26 goals, 20 assists and a +10 rating. His 26 goals put him 8th overall for most goals scored and on pace to score 40 on the season. Wow! Not since Stephane Richer have the Habs had such a prolific scorer on their team.

3 - Speaking of prolific scorers, Benoit Pouliot continues to blow the roof off. His goal last night was his 12th of the season (10th in a Habs uniform) and mean that he now has 10 goals, 1 assist, 11 points and a +3 rating in 15 games since joining Montreal. A fabulous ancillary benefit of all of this is that Pouliot is clearly the missing pieces from the Habs' second line. Now if they can just figure out an acceptable replacement for Ak46 on the top line, the Habs might actually be able to do some damage.

4 - The return of Sergei. SK74 made his long awaited return to the Habs lineup, last night, on a line with Maxim Lapierre and MaxPac and they did not look out of place together. That line had a great combination of speed, skill and size and caused havoc for the Rangers defenders every time they were on the ice. Their hard work paid off last night with Maxim Lapierre's 1st goal in his last 29 games. Wow. That was a long time coming!

5 - Speaking of Lapierre, last night was easily his best game of the season. From the start of the game where he was tussling with Sean Avery, to his 2nd period goal, Lapierre was the Energizer Bunny last night. Flashes of 2009. Hopefully Lapierre will keep it up, because when he plays the way he can he becomes an extremely important asset in the Habs lineup.

6 - A few interesting non-game related notes to keep an eye on. Jacques Demers said, on RDS during an intermission, that he spoke to Habs assistant coach Kirk Muller about the Cammalleri/Lapierre incident. He asked Kirk if Cammy was a difficult teammate. Muller, apparently, said that it was quite the opposite and that when he sees a player dogging it or not playing up to their potential he has no problem getting in their face about it. This seems to have been what the fight at practice, the other day, was all about. Well, it seems like it worked because Lapierre looked like a man reborn.

The other bit of slightly disturbing news was during l'Anitchambre, also on RDS, where Bob Hartley was talking about Carey Price. He said that during the pregame warm-up, Price was one of the first players off of the ice. He explained that this is a no-no and an unwritten rule that if you are the backup goalie for the night, you are one of the last players to leave the ice. The starter gets to choose who shoots on him, in the warm-up, and then it is the backup’s job to stay in the net and take all the rest of the shots. The team on l'Anitchambre all seemed to be in agreement that this does not show a good attitude on Price's behalf. Moreover, it shows a lack of guidance from the coaching staff as someone should let him know that that is not the way things work.

Now, this could be nothing more than an isolated incident but I somehow doubt it. Either way, it is a data point to keep an eye on going forward.

UPDATE:
Max Pacorietty has been sent to Hamilton. It would seem that the combination of MaxPac spinning his wheels and Mathieu Darche finding his groove has spelled the end of the line (in Montreal) for MaxPac. In reality, this is a great move as far as the development of MaxPac is concerned. There is no question that he took a step back this year and a few months, or even the rest of the year, in Hamilton will make him into the surging power-forward he is destined to be. Can't hurt to play under Guy Boucher either!

Here's the Habs Inside/Out story:
http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/28188

Standings:
With their wins over the Devils and Rangers, the Habs collected 4 well needed points against division rivals. The Habs now have 55 points in 53 games, good for sole possession of the 8th overall spot in the East. The Bruins and Islanders sit one point behind the Habs with 54 each and holding 3 and 1 game in hand, respectively. The Habs are also tied, in points, with the Rangers (55), and Flyers (55) who each have 1 and 3 games in hand, respectively.

Next Game:
The Habs now have two days off before heading to Florida to take on the Panthers and the Lightning in back-to-back games.

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Anatomy of a breakup: Georges Laraque

If you haven't heard by now - and I'm sure you have - the Montreal Canadiens publically announced that they are parting ways with tough guy Georges Laraque, yesterday. While I can't say that this is a completely shocking move by the Canadiens, it did come as a surprise none the less and no one was taken aback more than Laraque himself. When initially - and very quickly I might add - contacted by TSN's Darren Dreger, Laraque was fuming and started taking shots at the Canadiens organization, saying the move was "classless", given all he was going through with Haiti. The Habs, however, were quick to muzzle Laraque and clearly told him what he could and couldn't say while still under contract with the Habs.

To back up a step here, the Canadiens haven't bought out Laraque's contract yet; they simply told him that his services are no longer needed. They will keep Laraque on their roster for the rest of the year and will pay him his full salary, which he will sit at home collecting. At season's end, according to Gainey, they will decide what to do with Laraque going forward but I think it is pretty certain that they will buyout the remaining year of his contract.

For those of you not familiar with how a buyout works, here's the skinny: when buying out a player’s contract, the team - in this case the Habs - get to pay the player 2/3 of their salary versus the full 100% while extricating themselves from the player’s contract. In the Laraque situation, this means that he Habs would pay him $1 Million instead of the $1.5 Million remaining on his contract, next year. In addition, they would get to split that $1 Million over two years of the salary cap. By that I mean that instead of having Laraque at a $1.5 Million cap hit next year, they would instead have him at $500K next year and $500K the following year. So in addition to getting rid of a player that they deem ineffective, there is also a saving against the salary cap.

Ok, so back to the current situation. Given that the Habs are still paying his salary until the end of the season, the Habs feel that they still have the right to be respected in the media by Laraque. This was evidenced by Laraque's press conference at 4pm yesterday in which he was much gentler towards the Habs organization and had nothing disparaging to say. His press conference was, of course, a few hours after Bob Gainey’s press conference. If you haven't seen Gainey’s press conference you need to check it out. Unfortunately, I do not have a direct link to the press conference but you can access it here.

Go to that link, click on "CANADIEN" in the left hand column, then click on the video entitled "Reaction de Gainey au depart de Laraque (1re partie)".

In the clip, you will see that Bob didn't have anything good to say about Laraque but, in typical Gainey style, you have to read between the lines to get a lot of the golden nuggets! Gainey’s two main points were that Laraque was not productive in the role he was playing and was a destructive force to the team. A distraction. Additionally, Gainey explained that he sees what others around the league do, in Laraque's role, and suggested that Laraque was lacking. He also sarcastically mentioned that he doesn't know what Laraque's code is and that he doesn't have a copy of it, but to him the code is to help your teammates and "...it is not your code it is our code...” Strong words but I can't say I can blame him as Laraque has largely been a bust since joining the Habs in the summer of 2008.

As Randy Tieman said this morning on the Team 990, if a player has three minutes of ice time during a game but is the biggest talker in the room after it, that is a distraction. The Team 990 also pointed out that while none of his teammates said anything bad about Georges, none of them struck down the notion of him being a distraction either. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

As for Laraque himself, I personally am with Gainey on this move. While I was happy to have Laraque come on board two seasons ago, there is no question that he has just not worked out in Montreal. From his chronic back problems to his refusal to take an instigator penalty. From his prolific interviews telling the world that he doesn't like fighting to his insistence on sticking to "the code" that few, if any, other tough guys stick to. Laraque was just ineffective in his role on this team. When the Habs signed him two summers ago, it was to fill the role of fighter and protector of his teammates. Unfortunately for Laraque, he didn't do enough of that.

Laraque's strategy for fighting is to ask players to fight instead of just jumping on them. Now, I am not an advocate of violence in life, but the best way to serve notice is to pound a Chris Neil, for example, and in the process take that instigator penalty. People around the league would notice that. However, if your strategy is to ask Neil to fight, which he wisely declines, and then move on, you are not intimidating anyone. As such, Laraque's "intimidation" was mostly limited to talking. Sorry, but we already have a do-nothing talker on the team. His name is Maxim Lapierre. But I digress...

While Laraque is clearly a great human being and does a lot of humanitarian and volunteer work, this decision by the Habs has nothing to do with his character as a human being. This is about hockey and Laraque's ability to fill the limited role that he is capable of playing. I'm sorry Georges, but if you think you can be anything more than a goon in this league you are sadly mistaken!

While Laraque has size, he is too slow a skater and doesn't have the hands necessary to score. As such, he really doesn't add any value to a team unless he is fighting and intimidating people. I think that Laraque believes/hopes that he will be back in the league playing for another team however I don't think that is a realistic notion. All 30 GM's around the league saw Laraque's body of work, or lack thereof, over the last season and a half, and as such, I believe that he no longer has a place in hockey. I might be wrong, but I doubt it. Laraque is in the latter part of his career anyway and, like many tough guys near the twilight of their career, they don't feel like fighting as much. Over the last few years, Laraque has become a kinder gentler soul and a fighter who no longer wants to fight. So in essence, you have a one dimensional player who no longer wants to play that one dimension. Sorry buddy, but that equals the end of the line.

Now, to address Laraque's comments about the Habs being "classless" with "all he has going on". Ok, George, here's the deal. There is a big difference between business and personal, and this was a business decision. For anyone out there in the workplace, you know that sometimes it is hard to separate business from personal, but at the end of the day it MUST be done for the good of the company. Hockey is no different and while you can't discount the personal side, as an NHL GM, you have to make good business or hockey decisions otherwise your business won't last long. That being said, according to Gainey he DID take the personal side into account.

During his press conference, Gainey explained that his decision was made a week ago but he postponed things after the earthquake in Haiti, out of sensitivity to Laraque. That sounds personal to me. That sounds classy to me. Gainey even offered Laraque a leave of absence to take care of personal business and work on his fundraiser - raising money for Haitian relief - which Laraque turned down because he said he was ok. Hmmm, so why all the talk of "...with all I have going on..."? If you had so much going on, why not take the leave of absence? You can't have it both ways.

Either way, I think Gainey made the right move and did his best to make the timing more palatable. I, for one, don't fault him or think his timing was bad. His timing was what his timing was. Just like in business, I believe that is it important to hire slowly and fire fast. Once you have identified that someone or something is negatively affecting things, you have to cut that cancer out before it spreads. Clearly, Gainey felt that way and took the decision he felt was in the best interest of the team.

Now, Gainey is not in the clear on this whole Laraque affair, because it was him that hired Laraque two seasons ago. It was Gainey's pro scouting staff, run by Pierre Gauthier, who told Gainey that Laraque would be an excellent addition to the team. This despite the fact that half the league knew he didn't want to fight anymore and that he had a chronically bad back. Pierre Gauthier is the same guy who told Gainey that Gill and Mara and Spacek would be excellent additions to the team. The same guy who told him Streit was a 1-year wonder and that Tanguay was worth a first round pick.

Yes, you guessed it, the Habs have terrible pro scouting but that is the topic for another blog. Suffice it to say that Gainey is the one who assembled his executive team and he must ultimately be held accountable for their shortcomings. If this team continues to slide and misses the playoffs, Gainey will have to pay the piper at season's end. Of that much, I am sure.

K.

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 3 - Blues 4 (OT)

Game Summary:
I can't do it....no wait...maybe I can...I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, ummmm, ya....errr....nope, I can't. That is probably the best way to describe the Habs 3-4 overtime loss to the Blues last night. There were bad, they were good, they were up, they were down, they were losing, they came back but ultimately lost it all on a weak goal in OT. What an emotional roller coaster it was for Habs fans as they went from 1st period cheers as Price tried to fight Janssen, to 2nd period boos as the Habs failed to mount any competition for the Blues, to 3rd period elation as the Habs tied the game with 32 seconds left in the game. Ultimately, however, it was the Habs bad start and lack of effort that again did them in. The Habs are the 30th team in the league for 5 on 5 scoring so if their goaltending is not outstanding - which it wasn't last night - and if they don't score a bunch of PP goals - which they didn't last night - they tend to lose games. Exhibit A: 3 - 4 OTL to the Blues.

Game Notes:
1 - Carey Price has not yet established himself. He started the game off very shaky, got run by Janssen, tried to fight him, settled down and started making some great saves in the 2nd to keep that Habs in the game, but ultimately let in a suspect goal in overtime for the loss. For some reason, game after game, the team in front of Price continuously throws up stinkers. While Price was far from stellar last night, he can definitely not be blamed for the loss. I am at a loss to explain it, but the team tends to put up a much better effort with Halak in nets. When Price is in tending goal, they seem to hang him out to dry. The Habs, for the most part, were outclassed last night. For most of the game, they were running around in their own end and looked disorganized, tired and just plain bad.

Price's shakiness was never more evident than on the play that lead to the Blues second goal of the night. On the play, Price looked non-chalant (I unfortunately cannot find video on this goal) as Kariya skated behind the net and banked the puck off of his back/pad into the net. Price was flopping around, out of position and unable to recover. Flashes of the Roland Melanson era. The horror...the horror.

Also, while the overtime winner by Andy McDonald - top shelf, blocker side - was a bullet of a shot, it is one that Price should have had. For all of his effort, Price is still struggling to find that consistency that Halak seems to have found and you can tell that it is bothering him. But let's not forget that he is only 22 years old and has many years to find his game. The only unfortunate part is that the Habs desperately need points in the standings NOW, as Ottawa and NY Rangers are starting to pull away.

2 - Speaking of Price, the highlight of the night has got to be when the Blues Cam Janssen ran Carey Price, and Price then wanted to fight him. Here see it, and the subsequent Habs pp goal, for yourself:



Nice to see some emotion from Carey but sad to see that no one else fought Janssen. Ok, Hamrlik grabbed and roughed up the guy a bit but what kind of weak message are the Habs sending? Since when is it acceptable for an opposing playing to run your goalie and escape unscathed? Aren't the goalie's teammates supposed to automatically beat anyone to a pulp, who decides to run their goalie? Now, some have suggested that Laraque would have settled the score. Really? This is the Laraque who is telling anyone who will listen that he doesn't like fighting or want to fight. This is the Laraque who spends most of his time studying 'the code' the no other enforcer has been apprised of. This is the Laraque who asks people if they want to fight, and if not simply skates away. No, Laraque would not have made a difference because he doesn't 'attack' people, won't take an instigator penalty and does little more than talk to opposing players. Back in the day, if anyone even glanced Patrick Roy, Larry Robinson would beat them to a pulp. Now, however, the Habs are simply a bunch of pushovers and the word is spreading.

UPDATE: The Habs just bought out George Laraque's contract. He will not play for the rest of the year, but will be paid. His contract will be bought out for next season at 2/3 the cost ($1 Million instead of $1.5 Million) spread over two years. This means the Habs will have a $500K cap hit for the following two years instead of a $1.5 Million cap hit. Nice, and good move!

http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/27984

3 - Pouliot continues to impress. It is rare that both sides of a trade are so joyously happy with the outcome. Usually, one of the two sides is left less than happy. With the Latendresse for Pouliot trade, however, both teams are elated with the results as it becomes more and more clear that both players needed a change of scenery. While Latendresse is ripping it up in Minnesota, Pouliot is also returning the favour in Montreal. After scoring his 7th and 8th goals in a Habs uniform last night, Pouliot now has 8 goals and 9 points in his 12 games with the Habs. Nice. Very nice. Along with Gionta and Cammalleri, he is showing that he playing like a 30 goal scorer. When was the last time the Habs had three 30+ goal scorers? Ya, I don't know either, but I imagine it has been a LOOOOONG time. Keep in mind that Pouliot was a 4th overall selection in the draft and might end up being a steal for the Habs.

4 - Hamrlik and Spacek, what has become of you? Both players were anchors for the Habs and put in yeoman's service while Markov was on the sidelines, but since his return they look every bit the 35 years of age that they are. Watching last night's game was a continuation of a month of mediocre to bad play by both players. I think that at 35, these two guys played too many minutes too early in the season and now look like tired, slow, old guys. This is a big problem, because except for Markov, the Habs defense is pretty damn weak without them. Gorges is all heart but is small. Gill and Mara are both turning out to be busts (except for Gill on the pk)and O'Byrne is playing as a forward - what is Martin thinking? On top of it, the Habs have 4 defensemen in the top 8 WORST defensemen for giveaways. Shocking stat, yes. But the facts are irrefutable:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20102ALLDADAll&sort=giveaways&viewName=rtssPlayerStats

Spacek, Hamrlik, Gill and Gorges are in the top 8 WORST defensemen for giveaways. Kinda explains why the Habs are running around in their own zone so often. So much for a puck possession game.

5 - AK46 is conspicuous by his absence. While the 2nd line of Gomez, Gionta and Pouliot seem to be clicking, the absence of AK46 from the top line is proving to be huge. Plekanec and Cammalleri don't seem to have that same umpf without Andrei and there is no short term help in sight. The only possible replacement will be when SK74 is healthy and ready to go - likely next week. Until then, Martin has little choice but to insert the likes of Mathieu Darche - who was colossally bad last night - or Travis Moen into the vacant role. Sadly, they are poor replacements for Andrei K. Makes you wonder why the Habs didn't grab Peter Sykora off of the waiver wire yesterday to fill that spot. I guess I'll never understand some of Gainey's decisions.

Standings:
With the overtime loss last night, the Canadiens have now lost 3 games in a row, have 51 points in 51 games and sit tied for 11th overall in the East. The Habs are tied with Atlanta (two games in hand) and Philly (three games in hand) while Florida (one game in hand) is 1 point back of the Habs with 50 points.

Next Game:
Things don't get easier for the Habs who now have back-to-back games at New Jersey on Friday and vs. the Rangers in Montreal on Saturday. It is stating the obvious to say that both games are paramount, as the Habs have to play playoff hockey for the rest of the season if they are to make the post-season dance.

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Press Release - Habs Donate to Haitian Relief

THE MONTREAL CANADIENS DONATE $159,553 TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE RELIEF TO HAITI
MONTREAL (January 20, 2010) – The Montreal Canadiens are pleased to announce the results of their fundraising efforts to provide relief to Haiti. The generosity of Montreal Canadiens fans has been overwhelming with a contribution of $59,553 collected on January 14 and 16 at the Bell Centre. In a pre-game message broadcast on January 14, Club president Pierre Boivin indicated that the Montreal Canadiens would match the total amount of donations made by the fans.

However, as the needs for assistance in Haiti keep growing, the Montreal Canadiens along with the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation not only chose to match the amount collected, but decided to increase the organization’s overall contribution to reach $100,000. As a result, the total amount donated to UNICEF to support humanitarian assistance and relief efforts for the population in Haiti will reach $159,553.

UNICEF is actively involved in the survival, protection and development of children in more than 150 countries around the world providing health care, food, medical supplies in devastated areas. Through its various aid programs, UNICEF is coordinating emergency assistance with several organizations to provide immediate relief to Haiti, particularly for children and UNICEF is actively involved in the survival, protection and development of children in more than 150 countries around the world providing health care, food, medical supplies in devastated areas. Through its various aid programs, UNICEF is coordinating emergency assistance with several organizations to provide immediate relief to Haiti, particularly for children and women.

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Win 1, Lose 1 Habs back at .500 - Habs system explained

It is Monday morning in the frozen city of Montreal. After a week of decent (for January) weather, it has been colder the last few days, in this city, and not just because of the temperature outside. After two back-to-back 4-point games this weekend, that Habs are no better in the standings. Two games, two losses, two bad efforts - the second worse than the 1st - and your beloved Habs, who looked like they might be turning a corner, are back at .500 - 50GP 23 Wins, 23 Losses, 4 OTL. Even the most optimistic Habs fan out there - and I tend to be one of them - has to see that they are on pace to miss the playoffs. With 50 points in 50 games, they are headed for an 82 point season – about 12 short of what is needed to qualify for the playoffs. The Habs look like a team who are playing an outdated system and don’t have the horses to get it done. As such, they will likely continue to battle for the 8th spot up until the last few games of the season because they are not good enough to do much more.

So that begs that question of why and what is wrong with this team? From watching the first 50 games or so, a few things have become apparent. Firstly, Jacques Martin's coaching style, while allowing the Habs to get through the first 30+ games without Markov, is simply too passive to be a winner in the post-lockout NHL. Martin's style is to match lines 100% of the time and to play what is called a passive-resistance style of hockey. The passive-resistance style means that your team sits back and lets the other team come at them. By playing the trapping 1-2-2 system, Montreal always has four men between the defensive blueline (2) and the offensive blue line (2), with one forechecker (1). This is a system that allows the opposition to gain the neutral zone but then, in theory, they run into a wall of players and there is no room to maneuver so the opposition has to dump the puck in behind the Habs defenders. Here is a link to the Wikipedia explanation of the Neutral Zone Trap:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_zone_trap

Martin’s system then continues by having the Habs players come back down low - below the defensive faceoff circle - where there should be a short quick pass from defenseman to forward to breakout of the zone and down the ice.

This is a quick turnaround, puck possession game where you spend little time in your own zone, keep the opposition at bay in the neutral zone - getting shots from the outside and NOT the slot - and get the puck up and out of your zone to go on the offensive. The problems with this system, in the post-lockout NHL, are numerous especially considering the makeup of the players on the Habs. Firstly, this system worked MUCH better in the pre-lockout NHL where there were no two line passes allowed. In those days, teams could not stretch out your neutral-zone trap, as they HAD to cross the center line before making a pass. Back then, the two defenders and two back-checking forwards could quickly close any gaps and squeeze the offensive player to the outside, taking away their time and space. The result would be an inevitable dump in, which the defending players would quickly grab - also helped by all the pre-lockout clutching and grabbing allowing defending players to slow down the opposition, giving their defenseman more time to get the puck - in order to turn the play from defense to offense.

In today's NHL, however, this system is not as effective. 'Taking out' the red-line/allowing the two-line pass means that opposing teams can stretch a player out - past the two Habs forwards at the offensive blueline all the way to the Habs blueline - for a long pass. This alleviates any potential pressure on the opposition to carry the puck through the neutral - a task that is made very difficult by a 1-2-2 trap system with no two-line passes allowed. Also, given that the Habs are not a physical team and have some slow defensemen on their team (Gill, Mara), they are not always able to be first on the puck and often lose battles in the defensive zone. When the opposition does dump the puck in, they usually have an attacker who is approaching at the Habs blueline, with speed. Dumping the puck into Hal Gill's corner means that he now has to turn and skate back for it. The fast attackers often get to the puck quicker than him, or Mara, and gain offensive zone possession. This completely nullifies Jacques Martin's system.

Now that the puck is in the Habs zone, and the opposition is on offense, the Habs smaller forwards - and for a large part defensemen - struggle to out muscle the opposition and win back possession. These lost battles lead to defensive zone break downs, shots on nets, scoring chances against and even player injuries. As a result, the Habs are usually outshot by the opposition and have been hit with a ton of injuries this year. Mara, Gill, Spacek, Hamrlik, Markov, AK46, SK74, D'Agostini, O'Byrne, etc. The vast majority of injuries have been to our defensemen. Losing battles down low and playing too much defense means that the Habs players are expending too much effort to get the puck back. The forwards are playing too much defense and the defensemen are being hit with too many punishing hits. This leads to late game fatigue and defensive breakdowns resulting in scoring chances and goals against, too many shots on net against, injuries and ultimately losses.

Since the Habs do have some skill and speed on their team, they can sometimes prevail, get to the pucks first, go on the quick counter-attack, score goals and win games. That, plus the often spectacular play of their goaltenders and their outstanding special teams is the only way this edition of the Habs wins any games. It is as simple as that. The Habs can't get the puck out of their zone and are too small to grind it out in the corners, so the opposition gets too many shots - a lot from the outside as the Martin's system also stresses protecting the front of the net at the expense of shots from the outside - the Habs goaltenders are forced to make too many saves and the special teams must be successful or the Habs will lose the game. That has become their formula for winning. Scintillating goaltending and special teams makes for low scoring wins. The Habs simply do not score much 5 on 5, and this is why they are a .500 hockey team. If the goaltending is not perfect and if the special teams are not clicking the Habs lose games.

Jacques Martin's obsession with matching lines, his insistence on passive-resistance hockey, the Habs lack of defensive mobility and lack of overall size and grit, the allowance of two-line passes and the disappearance of clutching and grabbing mean that the Canadiens are playing an antiquated style of hockey. In addition, it means that they are always backing up on the ice and allowing the opposition to advance. This is not good and the results, so far, are hit and miss, hence the .500 record.

With players such as Cammalleri, Plekanec, Gionta, Gomez, Andrei Kostitsyn and others, the Habs actually have a lot of skill and speed in their lineup. If they focused more on attacking rather than sitting back, they might have more wins to show for it. Perhaps not enough to be an elite team in the league, but they would likely be higher in the standings than they are now.

Over the weekend Montreal played and lost to Ottawa and the NY Rangers - 4 points that they desperately needed in the standings. In both games, they came out strong but fell apart/asleep in the latter half of the game. And since their goaltending was not perfect - and they were unable to score goals with the man advantage and shutdown the opposition on the PK - they lost. The Habs were simply ground down by the opposition and became slow and tired by the second and third periods. Keep that in mind and watch the Habs system going forward, and you'll see exactly what I am talking about.

Sadly, there is nothing to indicate that either Martin's style or the team 's composition will change any time soon, which means that the Habs will likely continue to win 1, lose 1 for the rest of the season. Unless there is a coaching or personnel change, the Habs seem destined to finish with around 82 - 90 points and out of the playoffs. Sad, but true.

K.

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POLL: How would YOU grade the Habs 1st half of the season?

Habs To The Top has a new poll up...How would you grade the Habs 1st half of the season? A? B? C? D? or F?

Read their mid-season report:
http://www.habsaddict.com/2009/12/habs-mid-season-grades.html

And place your VOTE to tell us what you think the grade should be. The poll closes on Saturday (Jan 17, 2010) during the third period of the game vs. Ottawa. Vote now!

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Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 5 - Stars 3

Game Summary:
After four long days off the Habs finally got back into action last night and defeated the Dallas Stars 5 - 3 in regulation. While they won the game by two goals, they made it much harder on themselves than it needed to be. From the start of the game, the Habs looked like a team playing with the rust of four days of rest. Up and down the lineup - except for maybe the Gomez, Gionta, Pouliot line - the Habs were shaky and disorganized in the defensive zone. This was evidenced by the 11 giveaways that the Habs had on the night - two of which resulted in goals by the Stars. But, despite coming out and playing a shaky first 40(ish) minutes, the Habs settled down and closed the game out in the third for a much needed two points in the standings.

It was also nice to see Laraque score his first goal in a Habs uniform - on only his second shot of the season - a goal which he dedicated to the people of Haiti who are in deep crisis.

Game Notes:
1 - Price looked shaky most of the night but made some great saves including a "TSN turning point" save with about 15 minutes left in the third. With the score tied 3-3, Price stoned Neal with his glove from the low slot. Two minutes later the Habs scored - Gionta's second powerplay goal of the night - to go ahead 4-3 and that was all she wrote. While Price was unstable through the first two periods, he too settled down to close out the game in the third period. And for a rare occasion the team in front of him filled the opposing nets. He has been cursed this season with great play but little to no offense in front of him. Nice to see the change and nice to see his team score more than 2 goals in front of him.

2 - Pouliot continues to impress. When he came to Montreal in the Latendresse trade, I don't think anyone really expected very much from Pouliot. While he was a 4th overall pick in 2005 - one spot ahead of Carey Price - he has been floundering in Minnesota and generally seemed like a bust. Like Latendresse, the knock against Pouliot was that he was not willing to go to the net and pay the price on a consistent basis. Fast forward a month or so, and Pouliot has 6 points (5G, 1A) and is a +1 over 10 games since joining the Habs. Like Latendresse, Pouliot seems like a player that was in a need of a change of scenery and, so far, he is thriving in Montreal. Not only that, but he filled the second line left wing void that he been there since the beginning of the season. It is unfortunate that AK46 is out for 6 weeks, because for a moment there the Habs had TWO good scoring lines.

Pouliot, to his credit, is using his size and skill to get shots away, to grind it out in the corners and to crash the net. If you don't know where to find Pouliot, look to the opposing net...he is always headed towards it or hovering around it. This is skill that has been sorely lacking on the Habs for years. It seems like the change of scenery is working for Pouliot and as such, he might end up being a steal for the Habs. Remember that he was drafted 4th overall and has the potential to be an elite winger. Time will tell.

3 - The 2nd line is firing on all cylinders. With the return of Gionta and the addition of Pouliot, Scott Gomez has got two wingers the perfectly compliment his style and it is showing for all three on the scoreboard. That line finished with 5 points on the evening (Gionta 2 PP goals - in the 500th game of his career - Pouliot had 1G, 1A, and Gomez finished with 1A). Its nice to have secondary scoring on this team, for a change. Now all they need is to find a suitable replacement for AK46 on the top line. Damn the injuries!

4 - Speaking of Gionta's powerplay goals, the Habs finally scored with the advantage at home last night. While the Habs have the #1 pp in the league - clicking at 24.6% - their home PP percentage has been much less effective at 18.6% (including last night 2 goals).

5 - George Laraque, understandably, played his most inspired hockey game of the season and scored his first goal in a Habs uniform. And man was he happy! In case you don't know, George Laraque is Haitian and in case you have been living under a rock you know that Haiti is in the grips of destruction after a massive earthquake decimated the country. That being said, you could see how happy Big Georgie was to score as he mouthed "Finally! F-ck!" on TV. After the game, he told the media scrum that he dedicates his goal to the people of Haiti. Right on man, they need all the positive vibes they can get! Here's the goal in case you missed it:


This goal seemed to give the Habs the emotional lift they needed to get over the hump and win the game.

Standings:
The Habs looked sloppy in the defensive zone last night leading to turnovers, too many rebounds and allowing the Stars to stay in the game when they could have put it out of reach in the 2nd period. While Montreal struggled to get the rust off after 4 days rest, they ultimately pulled it out in the third and earn a well needed two points in the standings to leave them tied for 8th overall in the East with 50 points.

Next Game:
The Habs have the day off before taking on the Sens in Montreal on Saturday night. With the Sens tied with Montreal for points (50), wins (23), losses (21) overtime losses (4) and games played (48), this is another four-point, must-win game for the Habs. Saturday's game is the first of two back to back games, the other against the Rangers on Sunday.

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