montreal canadiens hockey – habs blog RSS

5 on 5

  • The Canadiens struggled badly last season with their 5 on 5 play.

    Early signs indicate they will continue that trend this year.

    The Canadiens have scored 10 goals thus far and only 5 have been even strength goals. Ranking them 28th out the 30 teams.
    Only Columbus and Chicago ranking lower.

    Unless they can count on their special teams to be one of the league’s best, and get excellent goaltending all season long – the numbers suggest they’ll have a hard time making the playoffs. Again.

    What can the Habs do to improve their even strength play?

    Or having once again not signed or traded for a legitimate scorer or scorers, keep them in the basement of even strength scoring?

    Are the Habs just not offensively gifted enough or is it more of a coaching issue?

Leave a Comment Leave a Comment
10 Comments
  1. #1 Jaker1 says:
    October 15, 2007 at 11:00 am

    Most 5 on 5 goals are usually a result of a deflection or the goalie can’t see the puck. Montreal cycles well down low but it seems to me that its always a three man cycle . The way to have success is a rotating two man cycle with one man in front of the net causing havoc on a possible point shot. Right now it seems to me that no one wants to get their hands dirty. You have to challenge the other teams “D” . If you play with fear the goalies will know that 5 on 5 they will see most pucks.

  2. #2 nilan says:
    October 15, 2007 at 11:28 am

    Interesting. I think the only line I’ve seen truly forecheck is the Begin line. The PP line with Kovalev does, but that isn’t 5 on 5 is it? I think the defensive system Carbonneau has in place places a low priority on the forecheck, so breakaways and tips/deflections will be the majority of 5 on 5 scoring. If you guys have watched any of the other games, we are the only NE team that doesn’t seem to crash the net much. Watch what Ottawa does thursday for example.

  3. #3 DTD says:
    October 15, 2007 at 12:33 pm

    I have RDS and I have watched all the games so far. From what I have seen The Habs are getting their fair share of scoring chances. But can’t put it in the net. They are missing the net, can’t get the puck up…..Etc…..

    Now Carbo can’t coach for beans. He could not teach a Dog to Sit….Enough said about that…….

  4. #4 Aurel1 says:
    October 15, 2007 at 3:27 pm

    I have to agree with DTD that the Habs had lots of scoring opportunities, especially in the third period, but could not put them in the net. A lack of size, especially in front of the net, seems to be the problem. Latendresse should be filling this role. Also, is Kostopoulos the best the Habs could come up with. I see that Lapierre has already three goals with the Bulldogs.

  5. #5 habsfreak says:
    October 15, 2007 at 4:19 pm

    lapeire leads the AHL with 8 points(4-4-8).

  6. #6 groundworking says:
    October 15, 2007 at 7:31 pm

    I don’t think it’s a coaching issue, I think it’s a chemistry issue between the top players. Koivu, Ryder and Higgins do not play well with Kovalev–Kovalev does, however, play well with Plekanec, but Plekanec isn’t a big goal scorer. As for the new guys with some flash, they’re just not skilled enough yet to play with Kovalev. Kovalev is looking like the player he can be so far this year, but he’s not a “system player” and he’s more of a creative, on-the-fly talented type (an “east-west” player, rather than a “north-south” player, to use Carbo’s expression). That makes him very hard to utilize to his maximum effectiveness without a top-rate skill player or two on his line. We don’t have that (with the sole exception of Markov).

    Also, it looks like my (our) prediction re: Latendresse is one step closer to coming true. We’ll see how he responds to Carbo’s criticisms in this article:
    http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=340181&page=NewsPage&service=page

    I noticed that he’s had a few good shifts the last couple of games, so maybe he’s coming around from the sophomore jinx. We’ll see.

    As it stands on the goal scoring front, though, I think our problem is simply that we only have 2 players with first-line NHL skill (Kovalev and Markov), and Kovalev’s effort/health hasn’t been a problem so far this year. What has been a problem, though, is that he doesn’t have someone that really complements his skill and creativity (even though Plekanec picks up for some of his slack in the defensive end).

    So about 2 million of his 4.5 million salary is wasted even when he plays well.

  7. #7 Rubberman says:
    October 15, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Coaching is an issue. Carbo is learning as he’s going along. That’s not good enough right now. THink about it, the Habs aren’t coming off great seasons, or have an easy team to coach (meaning superstars that do their jobs and makes the coach look good). I doubt that Carbonneau will get fired but that’s one of many problems. INEXPERIENCE and the NHL is not a place to learn the ropes. Send Carbo down to the Bulldogs!

    I don’t care if the team is rebuilding, they can still trade Huet, Ryder and whoever else for LeCavalier. The Habs have some untouchables (eg Price, Higgins, Komaserik(?)) but everyone else is worthy as tradebait. If you can’t land a big name free agent, trade for one.

    And, if that’s the plan, rebuilding from within, say it to the fans.

    I’m a very frustrated Habs fan. For me personally, the last 4 years have been painful. Gainey seems desperate during the summer. The media blows things out of proportion: makes stars out of average players: Latendress & Lapierre. Je suis canadien-français aussi but get some BIG CANADIANS BOYS who are willing to hit, go to the net, take one for the team, drop the gloves when need be. Look past the Quebec border, western boys play hard. The HAbs are dead in the water with this line up.

    Sorry, done bitching…

  8. #8 jack hab says:
    October 16, 2007 at 1:00 am

    The only way I can see this current team (and system) succeeding is by a total group
    effort every single minute of every single game. Good luck on that.
    Obviously, this team lacks grit in the opponent’s end and scoring touch badly,
    but I’d like to deal with the current roster.
    On the positive side there have been flashes of brilliance, and some great hockey.
    But with this team it seems that no lead is safe, and if they are down by a pair or more
    they seem to get disoriented. So the only logical answer is for the team to outwork
    opponents and really focus on the basics – like forgetting the fancy passes on the
    man advantage and fire more shots at the net.
    Every team has to deal with injury, sickness and bad calls. Some can rise above, others
    can’t. It’s early and hopefully this team can play well enough to win on most occasions.

    Looking forward to tonight’s tilt with Florida – let’s send them packing without a W!

  9. #9 chevy4CH says:
    October 16, 2007 at 9:21 am

    we can’t beat the upper echilon teams, because they out talent us. So We’ll have to be content to beat Boston,Florida, and maybe Atlanta. We’re not beating Ottawa, NYR, NJ,TB,Buff,Tor,Carolina,(fluke win opening night),phil,and Pitt(not again). So, unless Gainey decides to make a trade and get more scoring, we’re dead in the water, AGAIN!!
    Aren’t you guys getting tired of this broken record year after year after year,……forever!!! I personally have had enough!!
    Bring on an experienced coach, one who doesn’t play musical lines every 2 minutes. How can you get any chemistry when the coach doesn’t give you enough time to ESTABLISH CHEMISTRY? And without a PP, and not scoring 5 on 5, WE’RE DEAD! We will end up DEAD LAST IN SCORING! you guys know it, because there isn’t enough talent on this team to score, and win consistently!
    Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s the reality of it!

Leave a Comment
ShoutBox
Last Message 23 hours, 12 minutes ago
1 guest is online.
  • Margahayuland : hi all... sorry add this «link»
  • Senet1 : I want the Bruins to win anyway so that we pick ahead of them in the Draft.
  • Senet1 : Muller you got your wish NYR won game 4. So the Bruins will have to play another game at least.
  • Senet1 : He may just bring all three of the kids up.
  • muller93 : MB is forced to go out and get a big D-man. Missing Emelin for almost half the season is the last thing we needed to hear. Now going out and getting a big D-man is a MUST!!!
  • muller93 : Now for the Fu**en Bruins who have no business even being in the second round are going to get a nice rest. Yes the same goons who took out one of best D-man for 6 more months. There is NO Fu**en justice. Just venting--Ok i feel better now.
  • muller93 : So pissed to see the Rangers lay down and play like total crap. How did the Rangers beat the Caps? This team is playing with no heart--a must win and can only muster 23 shots...PATHETIC !!!
  • muller93 : Senet I did see Galchenyuks goal--Made a great move for the game winner. You can see the kid has so much confidence.
  • goalie : If Rangers get swept I wonder if Tortorella will get his walking papers? Or Glen Sather? They have tons of 'talent' but zero wins in this series.
  • goalie : It's really too bad we lost to the Sens as we would have played the Rangers and the way NYR are playing we would have beat them too. If only. If only!
  • 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.

You must be a registered user to participate in this chat

Archives
Blogroll
RSS
montreal canadiens hockey – habs blog
Copyright © 2010 montreal canadiens hockey - habs blog