You have to admit sammy does seem to be trying out there.He is skating hard and trying to make plays but nothing has seemed to come together for him unfortunatly

lol

I just had an epiphany. Bettman was in the NBA for years. Now the NHL has become the NBA-if you touch a guy it’s a foul(Komasarek’s penalty in the 1st). Penalties are like walks in baseball-I hate them. 4 in the first alone-including Souray costing us a goal by taking a penalty when the team is a man down. No offence against a Penguins team with no defence. It’s just keeps getting worse and worse.

Saw the Van ; Flames game last nite,its like a diffrent league,hitting ,scoring,fighting,fun to watch,no bad Ref calls and just better Hockey period.And I had to be born in MONTREAL,UGGGHHHH!!!

Hey Guy, put Downie in goal, LOL

3-2 Habs, if they can pull this off it will have salvaged that horrible effort yesterday afternoon. If not then the wobbly pops will come in handy ;-}

Bonk my hero of the game

soooouuurraaayyyy!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentleman, Thomas Plekanec has proved me wrong. I said he couldn’t cut it as the second line centre put he’s been the Habs best player over the last month!

He’s just been huge.

Oh yeah, if any complains about Streit again you should go jump off a bridge. He’s been huge for the Habs over the last month.

Please get rid of Sammy or Kovy so that way they’ll have cap room to get Markov and Souray re-signed.

well, if you heard the commentators say: ” the reason the habs don’t score 5 on 5, is because they don’t go to the net”. So, Plekanec and Streit went to the net, and scored as a result. This is what Carbo must scream at the players constantly, in order to win. But don’t expect Samsonov or Kovalev to respond.
Bye bye to those 2 players. You’re gone!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think he was at the right place at the right time. he scores what people call the garbage goals; in other words he gets the easy goals off of rebounds. weren’t these the type of goals Higgins used to score? I’m fine with that.
But in order for him to score, he has to be stationed in front of the net at all times. So who will take the shot, in order to get rebounds?
I’m glad that Crosby got caught trying to carry the puck, hog style.
He thinks if anyone tries to touch him, they should be penalized. he’s a real cry baby, and thinks he’s God. Nice to see the crowd recognize that.
habs need to find a way to stay out of the penalty box; it’s killing them. Boys, try some discipline. watch films of NJ, because they have the lowest penalty minutes in the league.

Guys I’m just floating a thought here!!!

At the risk of sounding too suspecious…It would seem to me that WAY to often you see Calgary, Ott, Vancouver and especially Montreal get shalacked with GARBAGE OFFICIATING>>> Now what I’m getting at is …The one person that could actually have an effect on these games is also the person that would have the most to gain by AMERICAN teams winning over CANADIAN teams! Yes, you guessed it,,Gary Bettman…Mr. HOCKEY AMERICANA with the new uniforms and the flashy Reff’s armbands is all but praying for an american team to compete for the stanley cup… even better 2 american teams in the race…All because of the exposure it would give the failing U.S hockey market….

Think about it EVERYTIME I see the habs play BUFF,Philly,Florida,Tampa,Dallas,NYI and Rangers etc…Were ALWAYS at the losing end of Bullshit penalty calls!! Now generally I would say that I’m looking through my habs colored glasses…But The games that I’ve watched from out west seem to tell THE SAME STORY!!!!!

I hope i’m wrong but the more the season goes on the more i’m convinced I’m on to something….

If someone knows where we could compile some stats I’m sure you’ll see that Im on to something…

Gotta love Crosby getting caught trying to goad a hab into a penalty call, and gets caught in the worst way… I’m surprise they didn’t dissallow the goal!

GO HABS GO!

P.S M.Gainey PLEEEEEASE get us a strong centerman!

Izzy,my wife misread your post”I CAN BE THERE IN AN HOUR” FOR” I TAKE AN HOUR”,I THINK SHE WANT’S YOU BAD ,BUDS!!! “Jeeeesee what does that say about me???I’LL NEED 1 MIN.TO THINK ABOUT THAT.

Bad move I think to scratch Sammy yesterday, Past few games he’s been skating his but off. From what I could see playing with more effort than most guys on the ice.

Habs #1:

I don’t think one can blame Alex Kovalev for everything wrong in Montreal! Kovalev is clearly the most talented player that Montreal has when he plays.

For the last twenty or so years, a major problem has been the intense pressure that these guys are under in Montreal from “whack job” fans like Xhabsfan and joshtm (of course, there are many, many others, but there the most obvious on this site anyways.) This is especially true for French players who generally won’t even consider Montreal as a place to play. A lot of these fans still seem to think that we are living in the 1970s even though, it has been 14 years since the Habs won the cup (and even that year, they did it as a dark horse.)

Think about the number of quality players that have played in Montreal in the last twenty years. However, have you ever noticed that they never, ever had their best years while playing in Montreal? (ie. Leeman, Damphousse, Recchi, Leclair, Desjardins, Schneider, Linden, Zubrus, Perrault, etc., etc.) The Canadiens have consistently acquired quality players and turned them into 40-60 point scorers or they give up on a prospect and subsequently watch them become a 50 goal scorer or 100 point scorers elsewhere. Kovalev and Samsanov are just the latest in this trend.

I would bet that no current player really wants to step up to this pressure because of Montreal’s Chicken Little, “Sky is Falling” fans (Still fourth in the Eastern Conference by the way, guys.) will be all over you once start to slump (which is inevitable both as a hockey player and as a team.) For example, look how many guys on this site have already turned on Higgins and Ryder. It is disgusting really, and is the worst trait about the fans in Montreal.

I am not trying to criticize Carbonneau’s tactics (because he is a rookie coach who also needs fan support) but I really don’t think that the constant benchings, line promotions/demotions, verbal outbursts directed at players are a good way to build a player’s confidence. He might get some short term benefit out of these tactics that he is using, but it will be just that, short term. It also plays into the hands of the “whack job” fans because it fuels their inherent right to criticize the players on their own team (ie. consider the Samsanov fiasco — fans quit too early on him, and he quit on you — a lose-lose scenario.) I suspect Carbonneau will put alot of these tactics away as he matures.

Anyways, Pleks and Streit are great this week, but watch how the fans will also turn on them when they stop scoring every single game.

Also, please note that Souray seems to have bucked these trends. He has clearly stepped up this year. He is both performing well on the ice, and has clearly stepped up into a team leadership role. Let’s just pray that he has not done this because he has put the “whack job” Hab fans behind him already (who unbelievably still criticize him for his current season.) I have a gut feeling that he has, and may be thinking of his life after Montreal. I hope not, but I guess we will see.

ROB,GO GET A PENS SHIRT AND A MIRROR SO U CAN KISS YOUR OWN *** ALL DAY,SMUK! ALL FANS SHARE THIER LOVE FOR THE TEAM “HABS”,WHILE YOUR FIXATED WITH A 19 YEAR OLD CHILD WHO PLAYS FOR ANOTHER TEAM!WHY DON’T U FIGURE OUT WHO YOU CHEER FOR BEFORE U POST YOUR VIEWS CAUSE AN ARENA FULL OF HABS FANS ARE LAUGHING AT U RITE NOW.IM EMBARREST FOR YOU ROB!!

Yup, its official. Kovalev’s slump is because of me. In spite of fans Bob Gainey and Gauthier are forced to and they have no choice but to hire these highly talented players to come here and suffer under high taxes and great expectations. Yes it is perfectly okay for the Habs to sign very talented players and not expect them to work for the money they get paid for because ROB says so. There, even Mr. Bettman agrees with Rob. There are you happy now ROB? So when are we going to shut down the Habs ROB? I bet ROB held a party when the expos closed down…..

When are we gonna get solid constant lines instead of Carbo’s constant line tinkering…honestly and Gainey and Gauthier pay him to basically destroy their hard work of drafting talented pros. Well not entirely talented pros, how do you explain Ninny and Downie and Murray? Don’t forget keeping the likes of Rivet way beyond his best before date, it’s time to make Rivet VP of the Canadians Alumni, isn’t that where the habs previous hard worker contributers go when they are ready to be retired?

I know I’ve crapped on Gainey for being an ambulance chaser, which he is, but hey it was great class for Montreal’s Doctor to step up to the plate in the last game…great class. Maybe that’s why Gainey thinks he can resurrect dead and deceased players who really should be selling used cars…..Jesus of Montreal lives in the Habs clinic, Montreal where Lazuras comes to play hockey, too bad we can’t resurrect Ninny, or Downie or Murray, maybe the miracle cure is gone or what?

As for Crosby, what a little bi*ch.

Yes ROB it’s true there is a conspiracy in Montreal, we fans don’t want our superstars to be superstars! It’s true. Yup with our collective ESP powers we mind meld and force Kovalev to play the way he does, we are all Yoda, yes Rob we are all Yoda, its true.

Say Rob did you forget to take your meds today?

Crosby needs to mature professionally before he ever wears the Red, White, and Blue colours of the Montreal Canadiens. He is a baby and he needs to grow up. He is a BOY playing in a MAN’S WORLD. I think, unlike a couple of you people on this site that he will one day play for the Montreal Canadiens. He still likes them, that comment was taken out of context. He has always been a Canadiens fan and he will play for them one day, watch and see. However, a lot of you will agree with me that he will have to mature if the ever wants to play here because Montreal fans will not stand a baby! Anyone agree with some of these points here!

Ziman

Ya’ll listen to Ziman, what was it, three years ago now, wasn’t it? Was that you Ziman, one morning during Habs practice you got on, and the security guys didn’t catch you, including the entire Habs lockerroom, and hey wasn’t that one of the reasons why the last coach prior to Gainey taking over was fired? Was that you Ziman? Now I see why you talk about Crosby wearing a red white and blue, in your dreams, what you musta also overheard the morning call to Gainey, you know the one where Crosby offered his services to Bob, only to have Bob say “call me when you are injured and worn out?”….is that you Ziman? Hey buddy, way to go, since who the hell was that who is now coaching Sidney your bestest buddy there, was fired causa you?

samsonov was scratched? why i’ve watched him play this year despite his poor point totals he always plays hard and backchecks..and i think his lack is scoring is due to the fact that he never gets any icetime or powerplay time…if he got kovalev’s powerplay time he would easily have as many points as him…which isn’t many…why not scratch koivu or kovalev or higgins or ryder…why are they always picking on him..i hope they trade sammy to someone who appreciates his talent….and i don’t care if we won or loss…huet earned the number one job fair and square and is solely responsible for our decent record in the first half of the season..he’s an allstar for god’s sake and he lets in 4 goals a game for a couple games and he loses his job to a guy who lts in the same amount and they win 4-5 or 5-4…raycroft , luongo kipper and brodeur all had worse stats than huet the first half of the season but their coaches stood by them win or lose…thats how you instill confidence in your goalie..the 2 man system never works and if i was huet i would be disgusted….we’ll never go anywhere until he is firmly established as our number one goalie…carbonneau doesn’t have a clue this year…no consistency at all

Well you know it’s all because Rob says because Murray doesn’t get enough ice time, next it’ll be Youpie who doesn’t get enough ice time…Rob you are really out lunch you know that? Tretiak made the same comment about habs fans during Dryden’s retiring of the stinky old number, geezuz Rob what’s wrong with you?

Hey is it the fans who do the trading? No. Blame it on Gauthier and Gainey, they are the ones with the flexibility. You are really out to lunch you know that Rob?

I guess for Rob he is only a fan of the team when they are losing. So hey, Rob’s classic team would be bring back Theo, give him tons of ice time, and hey why not Brisebois while we are at, and trade Koivu, he gets too much ice time and is a fan favourite eh Rob, and Souray, cause hey he gets too much ice time according to Rob, and we’ll stick with Ninny, Downie, any more losers that we can pick for Rob’s classic now win team? You know the one that would rival the Laffs under Eddie Shack and Salming and that afro blonde wonder what’s his name? Oh ya, Rob is a closet Laffs fan of the 70s….heck Rob still probably drives a Gremlin and his other car is a Pacer….hey Rob, did you dada drive a Studdy? LOSER!

We are fans, how dare you **** on us, we believe in this team, it has the basics to get into the playoffs, which is more than you could ever hope for eh?

Rob, or whatever your name is (habhater), who the hell do you think you are? Maybe you should change your name to Carbo, since you think you know more about coaching the habs than he does. When did you ever coach the habs? It’s a real difficult job, and morons like you have no clue what it’s all about.
As far as Crosby is concerned, Downey said exactly like it is. ” Crosby is an immature kid, who thinks he’s God, and wants everyone to roll over for him. the kid FAKES injuries, and then whines because a penalty isn’t called. As I recall, he pulled this **** all last year, and now he has a reputation for doing this crybaby fake routine. All the players in the league have seen it before. Grow up kid, or someone will knock your head off! And the fans have every right to call him a faker. The fans in Montreal are the most knowledgable fans in hockey, so ROB, stop criticizing us! You’re no better.
BTW, fans in other cities act the same way, when their team is losing. It’s called passion, and deep loyalty for your team. You want to win so badly, that you take the losses to heart, but ROB, you wouldn’t understand, BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT A REAL HABS FAN! you’re just pretending.
Guys, let’s trade ROB for a real fan!

Wonder who’ll get the gold medal in diving this year, will it be Sean Avery or Sid Crosby, which way is it Rob, first you praise Sid the Kid and then you agree with Snake that Sid the Kid is a bia*ch, which one is it eh Rob? Hello, I see Rob is not firing on all cylinders here, two pucks shorta hat trick eh Rob?

Thanks kazmojo:

I don’t really even look at his comments anymore — he sort of showed his colours during the Habs’ mini-slump, and they were blue and white — not red, white and blue. I think I will start skipping Xhabsfan’s comments too because they both pretty much say the same thing. Alls good when the Habs win; fire all the players and coaches when they lose.

Do you know when Kovalev really stopped putting in an effort if you ask me? He was playing spectacular hockey in his first playoff series with the Habs against the Bruins, and he made a MISTAKE! Everyone jumped down his throat and boom, he completely put his creativity away. To get to the level of superstar, you have to take risks, but some Hab’s fans can accept any mistake so it is easier for these guys not to take any risks and be function at a mediocre level.

I am sure I will get lambasted again, but I don’t really care. There it is.

Ooopppss! I made the mistake of reading one of joshtm’s postings where he referred to the retiring of Dryden’s “stinky old number!” (post #46)

I take it all back, joshtm. You are clearly not a “whack job.” You are all class and a true Habs fan.

Rob,I had no idea there is internet avalible on the fourth floor where your at,too bad there’s no cable. By the way ,thanks for the spelling,SCHMUCK!!! xtrahabsfan

Wellcome Johnny D.

You’d think Rob really believes its the fans who draft and acquire the team. Rob, its’ not a conspiracy by the Quebec Media to shut down the habs, nor a conspiracy by the Quebec Government to tax it out of existence and most of all it is not the conspiracy of fans out to shut down the team like your type did for the Expos. Fans care, that is why the Bell Centre was built, because we all come. We live at the expense of Gainey and Gauthier’s horrible acquisitions, and their triumphs at bringing in the few talented players they could afford after they squandered the budget with a bunch of broken down vets. You wanna blame the fans for Gainey’s acquisition of Ninny, Sammy and Downie, and keeping Rivet on, or even worse thinking Johnson will stop being the “gentleman hockeyplayer”….or even need I say blowing it all on Saku and Alexei with nothing left over but a few million to acquire those no one wants. And the bleeding continues, Gainey’s acquiring of Butterfly Biron, honestly if that wasn’t a waste of money….but hey we have prospects, and this year they are what we needed to make Markov, Streit and Bonk come out and play and with Plekanec’s leadership, not Kovalev or Koivu, Plekanec, and Souray’s tough backup, we can make it. If we get rid of the deadwood, Ninny, Downie, and dare I say Boully and Dandy too….trade Johnson, Streit for some great centerman. We lose the games when we can’t win the faceoffs. It was that guy, who got us into the last stanley cup appearance by winning faceoffs and helping and we ended up trading him whats his name, starts with a P…anyway, Richer was there too to help win the faceoffs.

Most of all we got to get rid of the five on five defensive strategy, its not working. It only works on power plays. We got to get rid of Kovalev or he’s gonna cost us in some penalty at the key time, honestly, for all the talent he provides, his constant hooks, Koivu is bad for that too, there has to be some consequence to Saku and Alexei hooking all the time.

I could see if they were worthwhile penalties but in the middle of the ice when we have the puck? Honestly. This individualism is huring the habs. We have to take the hard decision and threaten these two ******** from Eastern Europe and Russia with the fear of God, threaten them with trades to Phoenix…..that might smarten them up….

Last comment before I go! Hard to get the last word in on joshtm because he keeps coming back with more ad nauseum!

Joshtm, you obviously have the mentality of a twelve year old, and I apologize that I have obviously shattered your world on the effects that you, fair-weather, “whack job” fans like Xhabsfan and yourself have on this team. You love ‘em when they win, and throw temper tantrums, demanding the firing squad for everyone when they lose. No Habs’ player is allowed to make a single mistake or you can be damned sure that they will be smeared in the pages of “The Gazette” and “La Presse.” The players’ creativity suffers because they are forced into a conservative style to avoid any potential embarrasment.

When the Rolling Stones say in their shows that it is really to great to be in X, they don’t always mean it! What else can Tretiak say in a speech in Montreal? That doesn’t prove anything! A lot of hockey players have actually spoken out about the difficulty in playing in a gold fish bowl where hockey takes on a religious importance. If I am being too obtuse for you, joshtm, I am speaking about Montreal here!

Why do you think that the top French Canadian players won’t even consider playing with Montreal? Why did high quality players like Mark Recchi, Denis Savard, Pierre Turgeon, Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Trevor Linden, Danius Zubrus, Vinnie Damphousse, John Leclair, Yanic Perrault all have their best years outside of Montreal?

You don’t want to answer these questions because you are scared to. You want to speak with platitudes, and want to blame Bob Gainey for everything (who happens to be one of the few world class, quality players that the Habs have at any of their positions.) You want to attack me personally because you cannot do so with any logical basis.

Once Gainey and Kovalev, Koivu, Souray, Samsanov, Markov, Rivet, Ninnimaa etc., etc. (and everyone else that you want fired from the team) are all gone, who exactly is going to play for the Habs? You are part of the problem, dude. Look in the mirror before you start lashing out at everyone else.

That’s it for now; I am done.

Hey Rob, prove it boy! Prove how the media shuts down the world’s greatest players in your opinion….

And Mick does love Montreal, who doesn’t? Honestly Rob, you have this thing, what the hell is with you? Hey didn’t the Rocket in spite of all the adversity that he faced, Anglos like you maybe Rob, maybe you were one of them, the French Media, heck he made it. Dryden made it, the Mahovolichs made it, heck even Lafleur in spite of his complaints about the media in the end said it was his own damn fault that he couldn’t make the best of it at times.

If you look at what Recchi, Savard, Turgeon and company had to put up with, was a slew of wretched coaches and trades like Brashear of all people, honestly, you are only as good as your team. By the way, the long list of successful players you mentioned were drafted into the USA league where just putting on skates and shooting the puck to the other end will mean it goes in. A totally different division to what the Habs have to put up with.

Up here in Canada its called real hockey, not the Fast Food and Gear Oil leagues of the southern USA where one eyed men are Kings….Giants…

What is it, the habs are no good anymore, and as fans because we believe the habs can do it once more? That we are wrong to assume that they have a chance? By the way I didn’t say fire Souray, Kovalev or Koivu you *******! You are a real miserable piece of whatever aren’t you? Go to Toronto won’t you already?

Rob, your points would work except for fact that other Fans”LEAF” have backed their team since 1967 unconditionly and look what it’s done for them,so drop it Bro and feel the passion.

The montreal media will never be a positive to the Habs organization. We just have to hope it wont get any worse.

There is no excuse for Rob, and hey Snake, the Laffs have the whole national media on their butts but hey it doesn’t stop big names from going there either, so what gives? HUH? Both you and Rob are on a real nasty man drip man, like pop another tampon boys cause hey, its that time of the month for the both of you.

I meant stinky old number in reference to Dryden’s jersey symbolically being retired you old fool! Talk about being picky and you never did answer the Question Rob, in one post you say Crosby is great and then in another you agree with Snake that Crosby is a “bi*ch” well which one is it Rob?

Give up already there ain’t no way you are having the last word on crapping on the habs brother, you got a whole province and nation, not to mention Montreal who’ll step up to the plate to knock down your negativity man, shut up and go quietly you old ****.