Not to mention the Rangers and Islanders are playing right now, we need both NY clubs to lose. BTW who’s starting tonight?

I hope the leafs lose so we wont have to worry about them anymore. This buffalo home $ Home is like the one with us last year. Gorges should play tonight, he played well with Niinimaa,(or was it Bouillon?)

THEY’VE WON IT. TOO BAD BOSTON SUCK! lol…We vanished their last playoff hopes. Huys trust me, they will nver forget about those two losses we danded them, just like the ones we handed to Toronto last year. I hear talking about those 2 games everywhere. Radio, internet, tv…Yeee baby! That’s how WE do it.

There is no help coming. Unless NYR or NYI lose at least 2 of their remaining games. it’s over. Even if we win both games vs NYR, I doubt it will be enough. Rangers and Islanders play each other twice more, and if NYR wins tomorrow, we could be 3 back of NYR. better for NYI to win tomorrow. Then we need to beat NYR on tuesday and hope they lose 1 of their home games. Either way, it looks very bleak for us. we’re just running out of games. Unfortunately, we screwed up too many games, with no effort,and by not showing up, and it’s costing us big time!

Hey TRICOLOR: I agree with you. I especially feel that Abbyshit lost games, allowing so many soft goals. Dandenault, Ninnimaa, and Bouillon also were brutal on D. Kovalev has been invisible almost every game, and Samsonov’s only claim to fame, is whining to the media in an attempt to get recognition. Maybe he didn’t get enough love from his mommy. who knows?
We definitely should not be in this position. It is inexcusable. They only have themselves to blame for this mess. To little, too late. It will be a long summer without playoffs, and longer if Gainey doesn’t get any DECENT UFA’s, and make moves to rid us of all the NO SHOW players from this underachieving roster. That’s it! I’ve vented, and you know where I stand.

2-0 carolina

With regards to #9 R habs 4 real.

Kovalev is not invisable tonight. Go Kovey Go. Yeah Baby, Yeah.

DIE_HARD_HABS_FAN, I’ve been watching the Habs for 45 fu2kin years and if you think I haven’t learned a thing or two through all that History,well sorry to say it, but your being a sarcastic moron who’s trying too pick a fight. Do I got that right junior???

Yes, set up the meeting. I do have all the answers. But if you get me the job and I screw up, DIE_HARD_HABS_FAN, you will have no one but yourself to blame. Habs are 4-1 victors, by the way. Too bad we gained no ground, but we won 3 “must-win” games in a row; Halak got it done. Another series of games we can’t afford to lose just ahead, but a tad more difficult.

GO HABS!!!

R habs 4 real,don’t worry dude ,were firing on all 12 cylinders,and beating everyone we face,it won’t be us that’s going too choke and I’ll say we have a 70/30 chance of making her ,so hang on there buds.

Awsome game tonight, boys got it back together, I feel that cohesiveness that we lacked after the break. Samsenov seems to have been the bad Mojo, now that he has been removed Kovy is able to be Kovy again and the rookies are adding that spark we needed to get the seniors playing well. As long as the guys keep stepping up then we have a huge chance, I was really hoping for some losses with the other contenders but hey what can ya do.

So, you think you the only player ,die hard habs fan,first of all, shut your punk *** hole stupid. Secondly, it’s a good thing I don’t get to see you on the ice *******,cause after I score 20 goals on ya ,I would take your punk , no nothing *** out!We are the Fans of the Canadiens ON THIS SITE,WHICH IS A BLOG SITE,for opinions and info and if you don’t like it dial out and go to the Laff’s site,I don’t think they have any more room for ******** there,but for you ,they mite make a exception!!Oh ,by the way GOOOO Habs

I would also guess that Tampa Bay (TB) might be a team to catch. Their goaltending is definitely suspect. However, the interesting thing is that TB is only 2 points away from leading the South-East Division as well as 2 points of being out of a playoff position.

Carolina and Tampa Bay play twice in TB’s last 6 games so one of those two teams could potentially get hurt before the season is out. However, TB also has 3 games left against both Florida and Washington.

There is no question that the South East Division is the weakest division in hockey this year; also interesting since the last two Stanley Cup winners came from this division. Hopefully, Florida and Washington can help the Habs out by playing the spoilers and beating their divisional rivals (TB).

The Habs cannot afford to lose any of the four point games that they have left in their schedule (2 against NYR and 1 against Toronto)

Go Habs Go.

Agreed, Rob. Though Detroit and Nashville are still benefitting from 24 games vs Chicago, STL, and the straight jackets.

140 Don Carnage
Posted on March 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm. About ‘The Boston 3′.

I am waiting to see our good old #27 put on another great show … GO HABS GO!

Yes you saw it first here , good Old #27 playing like a champ!!!

Odds are against us , but it all depends on how the other teams play , hate to be in that postion where we need the others to loose to make the playoffs but that is not new , nice to see Bob’s future team starting to shine now, funny how no one wants him fired all of a sudden , I said it all along Bob has a long term plan and the future Habs are starting to show there stuff now, giving us a ray of hope for the future.

Well we have Die Hard he is a Pro but he blew out his knee … on the interent we are all Pro’s with blown out knee’s I say its more like Punk with a blow out wanna bee

Good luck guys for the rest of the season.

Helo & good riddins to you Don and the rest of you “KNOW IT ALLS”

I’ve gone over all the other contending team’s schedule, and unless 1 of them lose 1 home game, IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!
WE WOULD HAVE TO WIN EVERY SINGLE REMAINING GAME, AND HOPE FOR HELP FROM PHILLY. There’s just no other way! It was a nice try, but it’s O V E R !
When NYR and NYI each gained at least 1 point as a result of the overtime win by NYR, it became apparent that we have NO chance! Face it, it’s not in the cards, and that should be evidenced by the fact that we’re not getting any help from other teams. We needed that to happen yesterday, and luck is not on our side! Even if we win both games vs NYR, they will still find a way to get in, and keep us out. NYI aren’t able to beat NYR, and lost a 3rd straight game to them today. the almight ‘GAME IN HAND” is the KILLER!
Nice day for golf today. in 2 weeks, the temperature should definitely be warm enough!

Hey, I likw Alexei Kovalev, always have, never bashed him. Would I cry if he were traded or left the Habs? No. I just know the type of guy he is and don’t expect 50 goals from him, I put up with his ‘disappearances’ because I know he more than makes up for it in playoffs or when the heat is on (like now).

I like all the players we have (even that sieve Aebischer but I like him as the number 3 goalie now) but I do not see any upside in Whatshisname Perezhogin.

Just a thought eh.

Know it alls yeah that would be you in a nutshell die hard … I am a pro wanna bee with a blwo out knee whatever !

I have said all along that Bob had a long term plan and we see the real future habs right now the way they are playing …we might not make the playoffs ..but in the end I never bashed the hell out of our GM , Coach or even a single player … I am a die hard Habs fan not a wanna be with a big mouth like some we see around here know it alls for sure !

I hope that I did not start anything. That was my first reply after observing this blog for a while.

CANADIENS-DAWG, NO WORRY’S BRO,you didn’t do nothing wrong and please keep posting,U-2 DIE_HARD,JUST REMEMBER WE FANS HAVE BEEN ROLLER COASTED ALL YEAR,IT’S THE STRESS OF IT ALL!We need positive vibes from every one,GO HABS GOoooo!!!!

Right so someone who never insults the GM the coach or a player is a LAFFS fan, right away you need to attack my mother , it shows who is attacking who, I have never posted and attacked a player or the coach a LAFFS fan would be you. I have watched the HABS float in the 7th to 8th place for too long, thank god we now have a GM that can draft and will get this team back to where it should be, it will take 3-5 years but it will happen. in the meantime we will have to deal with Josh and Die hard bashing players and GM’s and coaches till we get there ….

I wont even bother bashing the leafs I dont need to bash other teams to make myself feel better, unlike others

Drink, Yeah, I’ll give Ole Donny Boy a drink all right with his Geritol. Then a drink of Prune Juice.

This the best Goalie of all time. No doubt.

Sorry it is so long but I thought that it was a great story.

In NHL annuals, there seems to be an anomaly. There is one player who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ top performer and then won the Calder Trophy as the League’s top rookie the following season.

That player was Ken Dryden who led the Montreal Canadiens to an upset victory over the defending champion Boston Bruins in the opening round of the 1971 playoffs and the Canadiens went on to beat Chicago to win the Cup. The next season, Dryden was the League’s top rookie.

Dryden was called up to the Canadiens in March and played in six games at the end of the ’71 season. Montreal won all six games with Dryden, allowing just 1.65 goals against per game. He was coach Al MacNeil’s surprise choice to start the playoff series against Boston.

The Bruins had Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman and Fred Stanfield. They were a scoring machine. The Bruins also had home ice advantage.

Little of that mattered to Dryden, who in 1964 was drafted by the Bruins. Dryden decided to go to Cornell University and the Bruins traded his rights to Montreal with Alex Campbell for Guy Allen and Paul Reid on June 28, 1964. Almost seven years later, Dryden almost single-handedly beat the team that originally drafted him.

“You top a Conn Smythe with a Stanley Cup,” said Dryden about winning a Conn Smythe Trophy, then the Calder Trophy. “A Stanley Cup trumps everything. But that was great.

“The Stanley Cup is a showcase for goaltending. It is the best occasion that any goaltender can have to play goal in because it is in a Stanley Cup when all energy, all attention is there. And when it isn’t quite there, then the defense suffers.

â€?You can always play offense. In a midseason game, the offense is always there. It’s the defense that suffers. When the playoffs begin, that’s what picks up. So, the goaltender, instead of having the obstructed shot, gets the unobstructed shot. Instead of getting the rebound or the second rebound, he gets the first shot. Instead of getting a shot in front of the net, he has a shot from an angle.

“It is the goaltender’s chance to shine and, happily for me, I had a chance to do it.”

Dryden had a huge opportunity in Game 7 against the Bruins and came up big.

“Sure,” he said before starting his next thought. “The goalie is the most visible guy on the ice. When things are going well, you get more than your share of attention. When they go badly, you get more than your share of abuse. That’s the way it goes.”

Dryden played in all 20 playoff games that spring, including two seventh games — against Boston and in Chicago. Two tough rinks, and he survived both.

The Canadiens were knocked out of the 1972 playoffs by the New York Rangers in six games in the opening round. In 1972-73, Montreal finished first in the East with a 52-10-16 record and beat Buffalo, Philadelphia and Chicago to win the Cup.

Dryden sat out the 1973-74 season in a contract dispute with Montreal management and spent his time as a law clerk in Toronto. He returned the next year and the Canadiens finished 14 points better than the team did without Dryden. Yet, Buffalo beat Montreal in the semifinals.

Dryden would play four more seasons and was part of the last great Montreal Stanley Cup run of four-straight titles between 1976-79.

Oddly enough, Dryden never viewed the 1971 Bruins series or beating Minnesota and Chicago to win the Stanley Cup or the Conn Smythe as his career highlight.

The 1972 Canada-Soviet Summit Series was far more important to him, followed by the 1976 Stanley Cup championship.

“In fact, there was one Stanley Cup, the first of our four that really meant more to me I think than any of them,” he said. “We had not won for a couple of years, the Flyers had and we just decided that we were going to find a way of winning that year.

Dryden never viewed either the Conn Smythe or the Calder Trophy as his career highlight.
â€?We chased (Philadelphia) all year and chased them into the playoffs and beat them four straight and that’s my favorite of all of our Stanley Cups.”

The Canadiens were 58-11-11 that year. The following season, Montreal won 60, lost eight and tied 12. Dryden joked; “We lost 10 or 11 that year, it was a bad year.”

Dryden was a five-time Vezina Trophy winner as the League’s top goaltender, was a first-team All-Star five times and made it once as a second-team All-Star. He rang up some incredible numbers during his career. He won 258, lost 57 and tied 74. He had 46 shutouts and a 2.23 goals-against average. In the playoffs, he won 80 and lost just 32, had 10 shutouts and a 2.40 GAA. In all, he was part of six Cup championship teams.

The 1971 playoff performance and the 1972 season lead to an invite to Team Canada in 1972.

“Really my fondest, most memorable time — the thing that sticks the most — is the 1972 series. That leaves everything else in its dust easily,” said the Hall of Fame goaltender. “You never know that in the context, but as time passes, all of those things became a lot clearer to you. Some memories fade and others don’t. That’s the way 1972 is for me.â€?

Dryden had a mediocre series against the Soviets. He was in goal for Game 8 in Team Canada’s 6-5 victory which gave Canada the Summit Series victory. He played in four games and allowed 19 goals.

Dryden and Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak have been linked for nearly 35 years because of that series, which is probably more responsible for the international growth of North American sports than any other event. It opened the door for the NHL and other sports leagues to bring their game to other parts of the world.

“It’s a nice link,� said Dryden. “It was a tough link at the time. He was a great goalie and was very frustrating to us more often than we would have liked. But that’s one thing that happens over time is that you realize it is those good opponents like Tretiak, like the Soviets, for me on the Canadiens, like those who played on the Bruins.

Those were the good opponents. Those were the people that forced you to be as good as you can be, that brought about your best and worst and most memorable moments. Once a career is over, most of those other moments disappear and it is those that you are left with and you are grateful for having them.�

Dryden’s No. 29 was retired by the Canadiens on Jan. 29, 2007. Of all of his achievements, there is one that will most likely never be topped: Winning the Conn Smythe Trophy and then the Calder Trophy.

Teams rarely call up a rookie in March who becomes so prominent in a Stanley Cup run. But Al MacNeil rolled the dice with a rookie in goal and won a Cup.

Dryden went onto a Hall of Fame career; MacNeil, on the other hand, did not parlay his Stanley Cup into a long coaching career.

MacNeil, who took over from Claude Ruel in the middle of the 1970-71 season, had a falling out with Canadiens star Henri Richard in the finals after he benched Richard. MacNeil resigned after winning the Cup.

He would later coach the Flames to some success, but his biggest contribution to the Canadiens came long after he was gone. Ken Dryden won five more Cups after MacNeil quit as coach.

If we want the Habs to win more in 2007-2008, here’s what I think Gainey has to do:

1) Fire Carbonneau
2) Trade Higgins
3) Trade Koivu
4) Bring a descent goalie (no no-names)
5) Give contracts to the young players
6) Keep Souray
7) Bring a descent or “aggressive” coach

Well boys and girls all of us Habs Fans hate to do this BUT we all have to hope the Leafs beat the Canes on Tuesday night. We need them to in order for us to climb up. We are not getting help which we need so desprately. We probbally not win all of our remaining games (God, I wish that we would) so we need help now.

Isn’t it sad that we need Toronto’s help. A team we dislike with every fibre of our being.

Don’t get me wrong. I will never Cheer for the Laffs. NEVER.

Is hopeing that they win same as cheering for them??????????

NAME, I agree with your #6.

Name:

re. Post #51 - Who wants to bet that none of those things on your list will actually happen (except #5)– nor should they. With Carey Price in the system, it might be dumb to acquire another franchise goaltender at this point. Also, Souray is going to do what Souray is going to do.

Trade Higgins???? Why!

Carbonneau has also done a “decent” job as a rookie and will be back for next season. A “descent” coach would actually hurt the team — That would be Mario Tremblay.

Now, back to the playoff race… Here’s my theory. There are six teams left for three spots. 92 points will likely get you in. There are two contenders from each division in those six teams. With the play becoming mostly inter-divisional now, the chances are that one representative of the two from each division will make the post season.

Carolina-Tampa Bay: face each other twice — If there is a clear winner of these two games, they are in and the other is likely out.

NYI-NYR: face each other twice — clear winner of those two should advance while a clear loser is likely out

Montreal-Toronto: April 7 — this game might be very important for the post-season.

However, the Habs will need to win almost all of their remaining four point games to advance to the post-season. (NYR X 2, Toronto X 1)

I still believe that they can do it.

the second half collape is now starting to take affect on this situation. If we had just won even 4 more of those games, this would not even be a discussed issue

fan4066, in order to win those 4 extra or more games during the mid season was ,if you remember not possible with the play of Huet”backup”, Abby”bush league backup”,Samsonov”egotistical midget puck hawg with crossed eye’s”, Kovalev”a shark that only feeds at the very end of the season”,Niinimaa,”???????!!!”,Dandy and Boullion”NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR THE D ,to bad so sad”,Koivu” where my team go,man I’m beatup!”and Garth Murray-Downey”Go ahead ,punch me out first!” Even The Canadian Institute For The Blind saw that coming!

I have a feeling Tampas not going to make it.

Snake, there’s no doubt in my mind ,that if Ryan Smyth was a Hab at the start of the year till now instead of Kovalev,we would have as many points as the Sabres! Don’t forget the fact that the Habs tried to build a productive 1st or 2nd line with Kovalev,”Fools Gold” idea, while Smyth can play great with anybody and is an inspiration to all he plays with!Just look at what happened to the Oilers after he was traded!lol…..

This just in — because I just made it up.

According to my latest calculations which factor in both a team’s last 10 games and their current records, here are the final standings at the end of the season:

#6) New York Rangers — 96.6 points
#7) Carolina Hurricanes — 91.8 points
#8) Montreal Canadiens — 91.2 points

The also rans:

#9) Tampa Bay Lightning — 90.8 points
#10) New York Islanders — 90.3 points
#11) Toronto Maple Leafs — 89.7 points

I hope that these calculations which are accurate to within 1.0 point 19 times out of 20 will help to alleviate any feelings of tension that might be starting to be felt by some Habs fans out there.

Rob, I hope you are right. What are you, a Mathematician or some thing ??? LOL…..

it would be nice to meet them in that final game of the year, and drive that last nail in their coffin

I didn’t look at it that way.

But, if Tampa should beat the Canes ?????

Some interesting notes on the recent habs success.

Souray is even on the +/- scale in the last 6 Wins.
Saku has not taken a penalty in the last 4 Wins.
Halak playing like a #1 NHL goalie since his return from the Atlanta exit.

It’s great to see for a team’s key players stepping it up in this Playoff hunt.
And the young guns with specail thanks coming from the insertion of Kostitsyn.

I hope these games have been a real confidence builder because the real test comes now with the remainder of the schedule is with the majority of the matches are with playoff caliber teams.

Notes;
~Last team we beat currently in the Playoffs: Feb. 22 Predators
~Last Eastern Playoff contender, currently in the Playoff standings: Feb. 2 against Pitt.
~We have had success with bubble teams TB, NYI and TOR… not so good against NYR which we have yet to beat this season in the previous 2 meetings and will face 2 more times.

Our fate is not soley dependant on how we react but how other teams react to this photo-finish eastern battle. Only 1 of our remaining battles is against a team not fighting for a playoff spot or home ice supremacy or Presidents trophy. Even Boston game will be tough after the embarrassment we dished out last week in their building. This back and forth jumping favors teams with a game in hand but if we can continue to play Habs hockey those games against us eliminates games in Hand!

It should be a Fight to the bitter end…

Go Habs Go