montreal canadiens hockey - habs blog

The Canadiens road losing streak starts again after the Canadiens failed to beat the lowly Florida Panthers in Miami. The team that started the season 6-0-1 on the road has 1 road win since November 4th. The same story continues. Injuries, inconsistent play and a overall lack of effort and desire to win. If you add that your star and most potent weapon fails to score on a penalty shot then your chance of winning is virtually nil.

Trade rumors have been circling all year since the Habs first loss and Theodore’s first bad goal of the season. That’s normal for Montreal but never have the trade rumors been so loud as now. The Canadiens have a scout watching Colorado Avalanche games. Colorado is in need of a better goaltender, Hmmmm. Are the Canadiens just testing the water or is this just a matter of time?

Recall the Patrick Roy trade to Colorado? The trade the gave them a winning team and 2 stanley cups and gave Montreal the glorious journeyman Martin Rucinsky along with the “Russian Tank” Andrei Kovalenko. Definitely among the worst trades of all time. Whenever you mention Montreal and Colorado your thoughts turn to the deal that ruined the Habs.

Bob Gainey wouldn’t pull anything that stupid would he? If the right names come up there could be a deal. What names could they be? Should the Canadiens deal Theo, who would be our starter? David Abeischer? Someone’s gotta go in their to sweeten the pot and my guess would be Jose Theodore and Mike Ribeiro going at the same time. On the other end Alex Tanguay would have to be in the mix and the other name popping up is Joe Sakic. Despite Theo’s average play he is still a fairly hot property in the NHL and a lot of teams are in need of a goalie. A straight up deal for Tanguay probably isn’t enough. Joe Sakic however is the type you’d expect to see in a Nordiques/Avalanche uniform his whole career much like Yzerman in Detroit. Sakic is getting on in age though and commands a high salary. Could it happen?

If the Canadiens don’t do something to stop their slide (and apparently coaching and their current efforts haven’t done anything) then they will almost be forced to make a deal. The clock is ticking.

The Montreal Canadiens will play the first of 5 tonight on the road against the Washington Capitals. We all remember what happend last time the Canadiens and Capitals met and it wasn’t pretty. The Caps are coming off a 6-5 shootout win over Atlanta where Alexander Ovechkin scored 4 points.

The Canadiens are still getting hammered by injuries. Jose Theodore will sit again tonight while Cristobal Huet gets another go. I have no problem with that and the more games he gets under his belt the more we’ll see what kind of goalie he really is. Saku Koivu is still being bothered by a sore groin but Richard Zednik should make his return tonight. All eyes will beon Alex Kovalev again seeing if he can lift the team on his shoulders once again. The Canadiens really have to put away teams like the Capitals. Toronto, Ottawa and Bufallo all lost last night and here is a perfect oppurtunity to gain 2 points on all of them.

In more Olympic news, Alex Kovalev and Andrei Markov will be playing in Italy as they were selected today to be on the Russian National team by Pavel Bure. Jan Bulis was selected for the Czechs as were the Koivu brothers for Finland. The hockey power nation of France will have Cristobal Huet in goal and the Swiss have Mark Streit on their blueline. This is all great news, and hopefully the Habs players will gain some experience while competing overseas. I don’t remember this many Montreal Canadiens taking part in the Olympics at one time. Good luck to them.