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About Mats NaslundA huge fan of the Canadiens since I was brought into the world. I'm named after my earliest childhood hero, the mighty Mats Naslund.

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Game 42: Habs/Lightning

First off I want to say that I hope everyone is having a fun and safe holiday season. I also want to apaulogize for the lack of game blogs on my part which was the result of a death of a computer and my holiday travels which delayed its replacement. I’m going to sync the blog to my phone from now on so that I shouldn’t miss another one.

On to the fun. Filed under the ‘Obvious Move of the Month’ category we find that Tomas Plekanec has been named to the Czech Olympic team. Somewhat suprisingly however is the ommission of both Jaro Spacek and Roman Hamrlik. Plex will join the Kostitsyn bros, Jaro Halak and Andrei Markov as Olympians in Vancouver.

Tonight the Habs face the Lightning who always seem to find a way to elevate their game against us. Since they have won 4 of their last 5, it will be hard for them to elevate any higher. The Habs will have to play a smart defensive game to mitigate the potential danger of the Lightning powerplay that features Lecavalier, St Louis and the unbelievable Stamkos. While Ottawa’s game showed us that the Habs are capable of firing shots on net, we did witness what happens when the goaltending isn’t superhuman. Not that Jaro can be faulted for the loss, but he didn’t steal the game – and the Habs couldn’t bail him out. Tonight Habs fans will again hope for a balanced attack that can allow our own skaters to carry the play, and take some of the pressure off our goaltender.

Go Habs Go!!!
Game 39: Habs/Canes

Just a quick set up for tonight’s game against the Hurricanes. Benoit Pouliot is believed to be making his first start with the big club and will skate with Sergei and Gomez in a “score or you’re out when Gionta comes back” with the younger Kostitsyn. I personally don’t care who it is, but someone on that line needs to kick it into second gear.

The Hurricanes su@k. Lets see if Montreal can take advantage of that. The fear is that we also su@k. A win would go a long way to disproving that hypothesis.

ShoutBox

Last Message 18 hours, 18 minutes ago

Senet1 : Actually I agree it was a good move for them to play a shorter season and get the experience. He could not have played in the minors this year he would have had to play junior or the NHL. However, he now has a year under him and knows what to expect next year and hopefully take a bigger responsibility on the team. Did you see those two goals in the bronze game? Wow.
muller93 : Good move by the Habs not having Galchenyuk play in the minors. Now Galchenyuk has 1 year in the NHL and playoff experience this is going to pay off big time come next year.
Senet1 : Galchenyuk scores to back to back goals in shoot out to help USA win Bronze metal. I did not see the second goal but the first was a beauty.
Senet1 : So we could pick anywhere from 25th to 23rd depending on who wins these quarter final series.
Senet1 : First, is the 14 teams in the lottery. Then there are 12 teams that did not make the semi finals in the order of the seasonal finish, Then there are the four teams in the semi final the first two eliminated pick in the order of the regular season points total and the last two based on who wins and who loses the cup. So as it stand now if say Detroit beats Chicago then Detroit moves up to pick after us. Boston or NYR will move up and pick after us. LA or San Jose will move up and pick after us
Senet1 : Basically, I was wrong about the draft pick situation. There are three groups of drafting teams within the 30 teams.
Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year
goalie : Markov for Beauchemin - an injury prone d-man for an ;old timer'd-man. Beauchemin is NOT what the Habs need in my opinion. He is a HUGE defensive liability.
goalie : Stuo 11 I'd make that trade with Oilers fast BUT I doubt the Oilers will make that. Two marginal d-men at the best for a switch of first round picks - not a chance .
stuo11 : markov for beachemin?
stuo11 : let moen go
stuo11 : maybe try and get steve begin back
stuo11 : we wouldve kicked out all other teams but pens, sens,