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Round One: Game Two

Where to start?

Honestly.. It was a sickening sight to behold last evening to see a player lying unconscious, unaware that from his face a gush of blood was spurting on to the ice. Regardless of all else that has and will be said on the issue, I hope we can all acknowledge that a promising young player was hurt in a way that no one wants to see. I know that hockey is a fast game and that the play that was made by Eric Gryba was not the sole reason that Eller suffered such horrendous injuries. But I also know that I’ve never seen a player fall face-first to the ice without protecting themselves if they hadn’t been knocked unconscious while on their feet.Whether or not the head was the only or principle point of contact is for Brendan Shannahan to solve. Personally I don’t care whether or not Gryba caught some of Eller’s shoulder. I’ve said the same many times when Habs players were on the other end of the hit.

As has been the case just about every time a Montreal Canadiens player has been involved with a controversial play over the last 5 years – the hockey world has been quick to rush to the court of public opinion to explain away how this was a hockey play, or somehow the Canadiens themselves were to blame for the hit to the head. I find the whole thing exhausting, lame, tired, dishonest, and boring. No punishment that the NHL could hand down will magically insert the Montreal Canadiens’ best centreman back into the lineup.

That really is the worst part in all of this. Going into the game we all understood that if the Habs were going to have a chance at victory in this series, they would need an outstanding performance from Carey Price, and they would need to generate a truck load of scoring chances given how amazing Craig Anderson has been this year. Price wasn’t outstanding, and scoring goals is going to be a lot harder with the Habs missing the player who generated the most offensive chances on the team over the final 15 games of the season.

To add insult to injury, it was disclosed that both Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta will miss tonight’s game with “upper body” injuries. This may explain why Gionta had such an invisible night himself collecting only two shots of the Habs 50, and why Pacioretty was held off of the scoresheet in almost 20 minutes of action. The question is: who will replace them?

Montreal will now be missing Gionta, Eller and Pacioretty, who combined for 37 regular season goals. The assumption was that Colby Armstrong would be the first player into the lineup should a player get hurt, but there is no way the Habs were planning on losing 3 players in the first game of the playoffs. Montreal will certainly not be able to muster 50 shots tonight. They are going to have to try to get back to a game plan that includes puck possession, traffic in front of the net, and defensive hockey that can limit the one-off chances that lately have crippled this hockey team.

I’m cheering for my team – but before game 2 – things look pretty bleak.

Go Habs Go!!

~Mats
Round One: Game One

Oh man can you feel it?

Its that time of year where you can get pre-game jitters at breakfast! Tonight the Habs will face the Ottawa Senators in Game One of their first round playoff series. The fun gets underway in Montreal tonight for a series that has all of the potential to be an epic one.

The rivalry between the Canadiens and the team from “down the street” has always been somewhat underwhelming. This is probably in part due to the phenomenal rivalries that both teams enjoy with other teams in their division. Montreal-Boston IS the rivalry. Toronto-Ottawa has in the past been a close second. Because this is the first time that these two clubs will meet in the post-season, they have never had the chance to develop that special feeling toward one another.

But here it is. Both teams are young. Both teams are hungry. The stage is really set – and if we see a good series, we could have the makings of a very FUN rivalry going forward.

There is enough hyperbole and narrative to fill a hundred newspapers at this point. I’m not going to get into that. Both teams like their chances – and they have every reason to. A quick start in this game could have a big effect on the series – but I’m going to warn for caution at this point regardless of how tonight plays out. We’ve had enough playoff experience in the past few years to know very well that the top seed doesn’t always win and that you don’t win or lose a series in Game 1. A good start can’t hurt though. So let’s get on them!

Go Habs Go!!

~Mats

ShoutBox

Last Message 2 hours, 20 minutes ago

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,
stuo11 : pens have alot of forwaRDS same with us but we have better goaltending
stuo11 : theres styles of play goalie. Sens played us good, but lost games to southeast teams florida and tampa and get crushed by leafs EVERYTIME. sens and leafsd cant beat bruins but we do frequently
stuo11 : Diaz weber and our 1st for their first edm
goalie : SEns beat us 4 games to 1. Pens had last night's game under their control. What does that mean if we were up vs the Pens in a series. I think the Habs have a way to go before we're competing for Lord Stanley's Cup!
Senet1 : If he could score goals like Lucic and we could sign him to a four year contract then I would consider it too. However, NOT if we only have him for one to two years.
Senet1 : So we went from 27th pick to 21st pick.
goalie : Normally I would not trade draft picks BUT if we could get a consistently, solid player (especially forward) who is BIG I'd trade one of our picks.
Senet1 : The good part of this is with both Detroit and Boston moving on to the 2nd round it makes our draft position better, we move up the list by two.
Senet1 : Bruins beat leafs in OT. It was hard but I was hoping the Leafs beat the Bruins. They had a4-1 lead in the third and two goal lead with less than 4 minutes and lost. Sound familiar.