Back on Track
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The Habs Holiday break was short and they were back to business against Ovechkin and the Capitals last night.
Any doubts of whether they could pick up where they left off were answered with a 4-1 win.
The Habs contained Ovechkin and almost earned a shutout against the Caps until late in the 3rd while down two men.
The Habs got production from unlikely sources Mathieu Dandenault and Aaron Downey to take the lead in the first. 4th liner Latendresse added two helpers.
The contributions from these kinds of players are helping the Canadiens maintain and improve their impressive record.
Cristobal Huet was sharp as ever and deserved to get the shutout.
The one thing you can fault the Habs for is taking penalties, many of them. At inappropriate times. Their special teams usually handle it but it’s a trend you would like to stop.
The Habs play a back to back Friday and Saturday in Florida. The back to back games are another area the Habs have been sub par in, and the last time they played a second game in two nights in Florida they lost 5-1 to the Panthers.
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- Avatar37 : pressure playing in Montreal, since he has problems with the expectations in Washington and Montreal isn't any easier. Then again, the media were very easy on Kovalev, so maybe it's a Russian thing? No idea. Anyway, yeah, it would have to be an established star that gives us an immediate drastic upgrade at forward, that's the only way I'd trade PK, because we'd be giving up a potential QB on our blueline for the next decade.
- Avatar37 : Goalie - Sure, the only player I'd say who is untradeable (meaning I wouldn't trade no matter what) is Carey Price. You build a winning team from the net out, and I don't think there's a better goalie for his age in the NHL than Price, so I wouldn't trade him. Otherwise, every player would be open for offers, but for PK Subban, it would take (for me) an already established star, like Carter or Crosby or Ovechkin. As much as I like Ovechkin, I'm not sure he could handle all the media pre
- goalie : I'm not suggesting at all that we judst dump or get rid of PK. I do however believe that he is a very valued commodity in the NHL adn that the Habs will receive offers for his services. If someone ffers us young, strong, puck handling forwards who can score, I think the Habs have to look at that possible trade.
- Avatar37 : Agreed. It would be a big mistake to trade PK just to move up 2 spots in the draft. PK, Emelin, and Gorges are the bright future of our defense.
- Senet1 : I am with you Avatar, Subban stays, it is not often that you get a stud defenceman who can play 25+ minutes. The mistakes he makes are for the most part not that serious and people forget he is only 23 and been in the league 2 years. He has come a long way in those two years. He has offense, defence and he hits. You cannot bet much better than that. Two more years experience and he has a shot at the Norris. If Markov does anything I hope he teaches PK how to work the PP.
- Avatar37 : «link»
- Avatar37 : go.
- Avatar37 : round exit. Heck, even the year they won the cup we almost took them out in round 1. I believe in the corps of this team, I really think we just need a few tweaks. Adding Larry Robinson to run the defense would be a BIG help, keep Cunneyworth as offensive coach, and get a head coach who can get these guys back on the right path. We need to establish an identity again, a team that won't let itself be pushed around like it was under Martin. A few scrappers on this team and we'll be good to
- Avatar37 : Yeah, the only way I'd trade PK is if we were getting an established star in return, like Carter or Crosby. I don't think we're miles away from competing deep into the playoffs, the NHL has become so competitive because of the salary cap that really there aren't huge differences between the teams. Add into the equation the stupid scoring system (some games worth 2 points, some 3) that the standings don't truly reflect where teams should really be. Look at Boston, cup winners to first rou
- Senet1 : It would have to be something pretty special before I would trade PK. To me he is the #1 building block of our defence. I would trade any other defenceman we have before I would trade PK.
- Senet1 : An improvement in our offense and strengthening our defence. Personally, I do not think we are that far off, five players at best could get us there. One thing that has always been true about the playoffs, Defence wins and you need a strong 3rd and 4th line.
- goalie : I'm more optimistic now about the Habs than I have been for the past three dreadfully long seasons!
- goalie : 2: I think GM Bergevin will make somewhat of a 'blockbuster't rade either before or on the day of the draft adn I believe PK Subban will be in that package. WE have t rememebr we have to give away some talent to get back other talent. No one wants players like Moen to move up in the draft etc.
- goalie : Some thoughts:The more I see the playoffs it becomes even more obvious that we're miles away from being able to 'compete' dep into the playoffs
- Avatar37 : «link»
- Senet1 : Young Subban might also be an option if the Russian goalie is not available. However, to me I would wait another year and attempt to use my draft 2nd round draft picks to improve out forward situation.
- Senet1 : Although Rinne contact is another example of long term at the wrong time. He is 29 years old. A case could be made with Price that double his money now with bonuses if we win the cup, I think that is still allowed in contracts?
- Senet1 : Problem is he is going to want Pekka Rinne money and term. That is closer to 7M. On the other hand, the contract could have step up clauses in it over the 7 years.
- Avatar37 : With Price, I wouldn't blink twice about offering him a 7 year contract now, especially if he'd be willing to give up dollar value for length. 7 years at $5.5 million a year would be just fine in my book.
- Avatar37 : I think the goaltending void in our current system would push me to draft Vasilevski with our second pick, if he was available. He's young and has lots of potential, but is at least 5-6 years away from starting to be ready to play on an NHL roster.
- Senet1 : Long tern contracts are a risk, but if you have a super star not as much. Luongo's contract was long term but signed too late in his career.
- Avatar37 : Senet - Yes, you were clear in your post, my question was directed at goalie. I'm with you in that I'd be willing to sign him to a 7 year contract. I'd be nervous about anything longer, because every single long term goalie contract I can think of turned out to be a disaster for the team signing it.
- Senet1 : I think that Budaj is a better goalie than many give him credit for, is he a Price no but with a tight defence he could be a good goalie. Many teams have average goalies but have great defence and still win. Look at Detroit, for years they have had average goaltending, but won cups. Goalies can get on a roll in the playoffs, look at Huet as an example, he was not really a good goalie but played great in the playoffs, next year he was a wash. Defence makes the goalie a winner, just ask Price.
- Senet1 : Having a young equivalent goalie in the system right now is not important, three years from now it will be, so we have three years to make that kind of move in the draft. I think we have more pressing needs aat the moment.
- Senet1 : Personally, I do not see this as a negative because of Price's age, you wait to draft a goalie of a Patrick Roy or Brodeur some teams wait a life time. To me we have on so why would we want to not play that out for as long as we can. Bottom line is this, regardless, right now you have a stud goalie, you are either going to pay him the money he deserves for not sign him and lose him. There is no middle of the road here.
- goalie : Avatar made a great point. We don't have an NHL or up adn coming NHL goalies in our system. Another great move by Gauthier. Price is sitting very pretty.
- goalie : WEll Price has us by the nads. I guess I'd have to go as far as a 7 year contract due to his play adn his age.
- Senet1 : Luongo is now 33, he has been a good goaltender for a number of years. I would sign Price for 7 years and at age 31 then we deal with UFA at that time. Hopefully, we could provide him with another 5 years at that time. That is my opinion anyway, I would never risk losing him as a UFA at this point in his career to me that would be a very poor management decision. Even a 10 year contract would put him only at 34 years old. If you are going to sign him to long term now is the time.
- Senet1 : If you have a young stud you have to gamble a little and give him a contract that is worthy of his abilities and his potential. It can have escalation clauses or reducing clauses like Kovalchuk's contract.
- Senet1 : Avatar, I thought I was clear Yes I would sign him long term. My previous post said. The problem is if you have a out in the contract after 5 years then the player also has an out after 5 years. So no self respected lawyer would accept a contract that did not have equal escape clauses. So no I would not sign only for 5 years, if Price was 28 years old yes but not a 24. Seven years still only makes him 31 when the contract is over. If you have a young stud you have to gamble a little and give him
- Avatar37 : Cammalleri trade. Given the fact that we have no NHL starting quality goaltenders in the system currently, aren't we held hostage to having to sign Price?
- Avatar37 : There are many bad goalie contracts, just look at Huet. However, your post didn't answer my question as to what you'd do with Price. He's an RFA now, but for argument sake, if he were a UFA, what would you do? If he wanted a 7+ year contract, you know some other team would give him one. Would you risk losing him for nothing because you didn't want to sign a contract over 5 years? And if we lose Price, our goalies are Budaj and Robert Mayer, as we sent Karri Ramo to the Flames in the Cam
- goalie : .. a 5 years contract again based upon the experience he has had AND he likes Bobby Lou!
- goalie : Ditto for Philly, Ther goaltender 'situations' have both become the number 1 story line for both teams, and in Vancouver one could see the exaspiration on Gillis' adn to some extent Vigneault's faces when continously being bombarded by the loooong term contract that the Canucks are stuct with. (Gillis even said last February or so, thank goodness it looks like more than few other teams will be looking for a starting goaltender for 2012-13. He said he would never again do more than a 5 year c
- goalie : I've spent the past four winters in BC thus I am very aware of the Canucks situations. I'd first say I give Gillis adn Vigneault 100% credit for being VERY supportive of Roberto L. even when Corey Schenider has vastly out played him. (I too like Bobby Lou but facts are facts).
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December 28, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Great game lsat night in some ways. Actually thought Washington played harder then us. Rivets penalty was ridiculous.
December 28, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Great game last night! Latendresse is going to be a star for this team, he’s looking better and better every game he plays. Looked very confident out there last night.
Habs did a good job of shutting down the top players in the WSH lineup. Others such as Laich ALMOST stepped it up enough to keep it close for WSH. Looking forward to the games this weekend.
Go Habs!
December 28, 2006 at 4:39 pm
The Habs have the best checking line in the league since the McCarty/Draper/Maltby line were in their prime. Bonk/Johnson/Perogy can shut down anyone in this league.
It almost seemed like Bettman called the refs to tell them they had yet to have a long 5-3 PP in the game so they turn a blind eye to Clark’s elbow on Rivet, only call Rivet in their scuffle, then call a phantom slashing call on Komisarek. That was BS.
Give Latendresse 1-2 more years to work on his skating at an NHL level and he’ll be a smarter Todd Bertuzzi. He’s still a fairly weak skater by NHL standards. But his hands and his size are extremely rare for somone his size. He will be dominant.
I bid you all a happy New Year, and I would like to acknowledge the following acheivements by the National Media and it’s members: completely ignoring the Habs succes, still waiting for Huet to come back to earth(won’t happen), saying Saku wasn’t worth the contract he got, and finally another full year of kissing the Toronto Maple Leafs collective asses. You know who you are:Darren Dreger, Bill Watters, Glenn Healy, Mark Osbourne, Al Strachan, everyone at CBC!
December 28, 2006 at 6:07 pm
OH yeah thats what I meant. Komisarek’s penalty was absoulutely horrific. It was a love tap on his part.
I will personally take the blame for Washingtons goal last night. I said “shutout wiht 4 minutes left about 5 seconds before they started the floatgates towards the Habs penalty box.
December 28, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Great game last night. The unexpected help from Downey and the checking line’s tenacity is part of the reason for the Hab’s success. I’m still anxious to see the second line develop some more offense than what we’ve seen thus far. I understand that Kovy is by far the most talented player but Samsonov’s lackluster play and Pleckanac’s spotty performance leaves much to be desired.
December 28, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Great game last night against a dangerous, but otherwise mediocre team. Huet definately deserved the shutout. I agree with everyone above.
One thing about the second line. As frustrating as they have been (and boy, have they been frustrating!), I get this nagging feeling they will turn it up for the playoffs. It’s not a stretch by any means; certainly Kovy knows when to turn it up a notch (it’s just the damn waiting that kills me!!) and Sammy is starting to look slightly more comfortable. If I’m right (big if), watch out, this team is headed very far. If I’m not, down the stretch and in the playoffs, the clutch goals will have to come from people like Latendresse and Downey, not what I’d like to count on (though I love to see).
December 28, 2006 at 8:01 pm
I would really like to see Latendresse on the 2nd line, replacing Samsonov. I think Latendresse has earned that seeding. he’s not going to score alot of goals on the 4th line, and he really deserves to be bumped up to the 2nd unit. By contrast Samsonov was totally invisible against Washington, and has been that way for almost every game. he’s scored 2 goals in the last 25 GAMES ! Shameful! he doesn’t belong on this team. he can’t score, and he’s getting paid about 5 mil/ year! that’s about 1 mil/ goal! Wow did we screw up getting him.If we can unload him, that would save alot of cap room, and then we can go after a 2nd line center. I like this team, but feel we are still 2 pieces away from having a bonafide cup contender. we need: a) 2nd line center, and 2) very good backup goalie. If we can get these 2 pieces, look out! This is the year we need to make it happen, because come July, Souray will be gone, because we can’t afford him. when we lose him, ther goes our powerful PP, and it will become mediocre again. So Bob or Pierre, please bring us the pieces necessary to win it all this year!
December 28, 2006 at 8:36 pm
Look at even strength points before you start knocking the 2nd line too hard. I think that line has played better the past month – which is one of the reasons for our streak. Has anyone also noticed Ryder’s speed? You’d think he’d be a little sluggish with that clunky skating stride. I’m thinking back to that shorthander against Boston – Ryder blew up the ice past 3 Broons defenders.
Rivet deserved a penalty – but so did Clarke on the elbow. The funny thing is the ref was looking directly at the pair when Rivet’s swallowed Clarke’s Jofa. And the Komi on the slash???? Oh My God. I thought this was hockey – not f’in ballet.
December 29, 2006 at 1:50 am
Please don’t trade Souray. We got a guy that doing great on the PP. I’d hate to lose him at the end of the season, but that’s a chance I’d be willing to take if I were in charge. There won’t be any big trades. All other teams want to move their garbage. If the HAbs fair well in the playoffs, that alone could attract a big name player. Until then, enjoy this season. It’s been a long, long, long time since our team has had success like this.
December 29, 2006 at 2:49 am
I just checked out leaf’s blog ,ha ha ha ha ha ha ….One bloger said ” can’t win them all” HA HA HA …
December 29, 2006 at 7:31 am
…who cares….and someone has said that here at some point too!
Let’s play well vs TB and let’s try better at cutting out those penalties and giveaways. I know it’s all about pressure…then skate hard and buy yourself some time. Come on, the Habs have come along way. We need two or three guys motivated enough to energize the team and make the difference. That’s where Lapiere stood out. If Downey’s there in his stead…guess what, that’s what he’s got to do…and Kovalev and Samsonov have to produce…make things happen. If not by scoring, then setting others up or hitting. Forget about the whining. It’s embarassing and taking your focus away. Let’s hold the fort vs Lecavalier and St. Louis and Richards…Go Habs Go!
December 29, 2006 at 11:55 am
This is a team, not just a bunch of individuals. From what I understand they hang out together, eat together, and enjoy each others company. Not like in past years where there were several cliques on the team. Downey recently stated that he feels that there is something special about this team. Gainey, in a relativly short period of time, has turned the team around. I wonder how Theo, Ribs and Dagenais are doing. I hear that Dagenais is tearing up the Austrian league. It’s amazing what competent management can do. Go Habs.
December 29, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Looking forward to tonights showdown against the panthers!
Florida has a very deceptive record…Every time I watch them play, they play VERY HARD and are know to be a very competitive team! I just think it’s one of those seasons (so far) where unfortunately your team doesn’t get many good bounces!That being said it’s always have a great ride against florida!
GO HABS GO!
December 30, 2006 at 4:57 am
Losing to **** teams ?? This is a tough one.
The difference between contenders and pretenders!
Contenders DON’T LOSE to the Florida Panthers, PERIOD!
On paper Florida should not even be on the same ice.
Reality is that this team is a false hope, let’s not get to excited.
December 30, 2006 at 8:47 am
The Florida Panthers are a better team than people think, they never take a night off and have some very key players that can change any game they play in. Did anybody Ed Belfour steal that game last night? He played amazing especially in the 1st period. Who’s Pierre Dagenais? Who’s Mike Ribeiro?? Who’s Jose Theodore???
December 30, 2006 at 9:32 am
Hey Steve;
The Sabres also recently lost to the Panthers, does that mean they are not a contender. And if not who is only Anaheim? 1 contender int the league and what happens if they lost to the BLues later on? DOes that mean there are no contenders in the NHL?
Montreal has always struggled in Florida, I think they are 9-14-3 all time. Not good. Gotta feel for all the Habs fans down there, they deserve better. Defeinetely played better then the score indicated.
ANd who was the fool that kept saying SOuray skates into HUet all the time. I think you have SOuray mixed up with Rivet.
December 30, 2006 at 9:34 am
Belfour played well and was the difference. Huet is beginning to let in softies in teh third periods which is concerning since this was not happening before. HE is lettign the puck squeeze through his legs when he is covering up.
I dont think we will be seeing Lats in the shootout anytime soon.
December 30, 2006 at 10:36 am
really sad to see these points slip away…but that’s something that the team can’t shake. There were many opportunities to put this game away. Huet may have let in a couple of soft goals and that too can happen. In the first period, two breakaways by Lat and no goals also many other chances squandered. 4 PP opps and again draw a blank. Not sure but this was the same against the Bruins…no one stepping up and pulling the trigger. We need that killer instinct. Definitely, seems like Belfour has stolen the game. Let’s play better against TB. Need to check their scorers Lecavalier, St.Louis and Richards). Let’s make this a better result. Go Habs Go!
December 30, 2006 at 1:09 pm
….LAPIERRE!.. bet he would of scored twice…,Belfour or anyone for that matter, can stop a puck if it’s shot at him.He’s a 41 year old,broken-back wore out from playing for TORONTO,half the reflex back up that should be goalie coaching,and we need ****** snipers that can take the pressure of Huet, then we will be way past the first round and into the finals,been a long time coming!!! go habs..
December 30, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Guys; Latendresse doesn’t know what to do with the puck, 1 on 1 with the goalie.he needs some target practice. Also, Huet has started to let in some soft goals recently. I told you, he’s getting tired! And we don’t have an adequate backup; that’s why carbo is playing him so much. Also, our PP has gone to sleep recently. We need to get it back into high gear. Last night we had so many opportunities to score, and came up empty handed every time. Target practice, 1 on 1 with the goalie is the answer, because this team is like: “THE GANG THAT COULDN’T SHOOT STRAIGHT!. the shots aren’t even on goal. C’mon habs, learn to shoot at the goalie, and not at his pads, or the glass! Our defence was horrific last night. As a whole team, they didn’t skate, as evidenced by the 3rd goal(soft one). They need to show up tonight, because Boston is breathing down our necks. I’m going to make a prediction: Boston will end the season ahead of us, meet us in the 1st round(because MTL is not finishing higher than 5th),and beat us. They are comung on, and lately we haven’t been playing great. I say, bring up LAPIERRE to infuse our team with energy, something they lacked last night! Also, CUT OUT ALL THOSE STUPID PENALTIES! THEY ARE KILLING US!!
December 30, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Boston ahead of us? HA ……… Either you are a comedian or just one very negative person. Or a BRuins fan. Lets be honest we probably still lose that game if Lapierre was playing. He is not Guy Lafleur. ITs funny how all of a sudden Lapierre is our best player. We lost last night because of the goaltending battle. Bottom line. WE have wn games because of the same reason. The old man played well and that happens. Oh well, at least we wont have to play Florida in the playoffs.
January 2, 2007 at 9:28 am
Still, the problem lies with the fact that we are going to play tougher teams and if we can’t beat these under .500 teams….it doesn’t look good!!
As for the people that can’t see above the forest, we’ve only lost two games which can easily grow to four and five and before you know it we’ll be in fighting for the playoff position…sounds familiar!! No….then check out the last four or five season while the Canadiens try to get that last playoff spot.
It’s time to shake up some of the dead wood on the team….as far as chemistry goes, I think this will come up shortly…either on a good or bad way. Go Habs Go vs Tampa Bay Lightning.