Game 10: Habs/Rangers

Saturday night. Rangers in town. Return of Higgins. What a good test for the Canadiens to see just how they stack up against a team that has had a good start. Gomez should be pretty pumped. Halak to start.

GO HABS GO!!!

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8 Comments

#1 Senet1 says:
October 24, 2009 at 11:33 pm

The Smurf line look like they are really having fun out their and they seem to dominate most shifts. So what does martin do about the second line? One thing I have notice is that Plex and Cammalleri seem to have pretty good chemistry together as well so although I hate to break up that first line if we could find a good fit on it maybe we could move Camy to the second line with Plex. I think Moen might work well on the line and maybe Cammy could get AK 46 going because he just looks like he is out for a skate?

Maybe it is time to trade both SK and AK and get a couple of front liner to replace them. Although I would still like to see Sk up here for a few game with his brother to see what they can to with Plex. If we could get that line going I think we got a good chance of moving up into the upper five or six teams.

#2 Senet1 says:
October 24, 2009 at 11:38 pm

Well so far Higgins has not scored a goal, and so far he is making BG look pretty good with the trade we made.

#3 habknot says:
October 25, 2009 at 11:14 am

Fun game to watch, Bergeron redeems himself after a major defensive blunder. Gionta’s pass on his belly is as nice a play as I’ve seen.

Still looking for a top six. I can see why Martin is reluctant to trust Lats with it.

Senet, I think Plek and two Kots is too much like our number one line. Moen is wasted on the second line unless you match him against a big winger (hello, Lucik).

Top six guys don’t fall out of trees. Last night Dags impressed me, but again is too shy to be with Plek and Kots. Frolov might work, say Plek, Dags and Frolov (if we give up Andrei). But maybe this is all about BG trying to develop a hungry committed Sergei.

BTW, Plek led all forwards in icetime with 22. The smurfs had twenty, then a bunch at 12-14 with Andrei the lowest of that group. I wish the stats broke down PP and PK minutes as well. The only guy with considerably less was MaxPac with 8.5 min.

Hamrlik is getting tons of icetime with Markov gone and I hope he doesn’t fatigue.

#4 habknot says:
October 25, 2009 at 11:17 am

Price gets the next start, even with Halaks 3 in a row and good record against the Isles. If he doesn’t absolutely shine watch for #41 as #1.

#5 Senet1 says:
October 25, 2009 at 12:12 pm

I agree Habnot about Price, we can’t sit him too long because he will lose his edge. Let’s face it he has played well but had some unfortunately breaks and some poor defence in front of him along with no offence to help make up for the defensive blunders.

As far as our second line looking like our first line, I do not see that as a problem because after all your centre has to have complementary forwards with speed with him and although him and Gomez are not totally the same they are similar enough in the type of game they play. To me there is nothing wrong with having two speed lines as long as they are producing and with two lines the opposition have to have two other lines that can check them, one line opens up space for the other line. So with due respect I disagree with that being a problem. I would gladly have two lines that could dominate the play as much as our first line has been doing and now they are scoring too.

It is only a matter of time before our defence start to play together, lets face it we have six defenseman that have never played together before and it takes time to get use to your partner. Also Bergeron has never been know of his great defensive play but he does move the puck well at times and with more time should improve his play. I really like the way Mara has fit in and Hammer is playing well but as you say hopefully Martin does not ware him out. Not sure he is up to 25 minutes a game over the long haul.

Anyway, that is how I see it.

#6 Mats Naslund says:
October 25, 2009 at 4:16 pm

What is it about the Rangers that makes epic comebacks a normal occurance for the Canadiens!? You have to love the fight that the Habs have shown to start the season. While its hard to get too excited about a .500 team who have won only one game in regulation, there is undeniably something about the Smurfs that makes you believe they will silence the critics by season’s end.

When you look at this team’s stats its easy to see where the problems begin and end. The smurfs have been clutch. Cammy has 11 points. Gomez has 7. Gionta has 6. They’re producing not only in numbers but also in critical situations. Plekanec has been fantastic. Most saw him as the weak link heading into the season, but you cant say that now. The problems for this team start with Andrei Kostitsyn, and whomever finds himself on the opposite wing. Kostitsyn is tied with Metropolit with 4 points. The problem is he’s played 10 games and Metro has played 4. I believe that Kostitsyn can be effective, but he’ll have to find his touch with whoever else is playing with he and Plex if the Canadiens are going to move into the top of the conference.

#7 Senet1 says:
October 25, 2009 at 6:23 pm

I agree Matt’s about AK so what is the answer, is he having trouble because of his brother and is attempting to get the habs to trade him with his brother. It just seems to me that he is not really trying but is just out for the skate. Last year he went into the same funk when Sergie got in trouble and was sent to the minors. He finally came out of it but can we wait for him to get straigthened out this year. Plex is playing well this year and needs someone on his line, he cannot do it all himself. As I stated earlier I hate to break up the smurf line but Cammy seems to have a chemistry with Plex and so maybe that is an option as long as we can find someone to move to the first line that can contribute.

#8 Senet1 says:
October 25, 2009 at 8:50 pm

I do not think that Halak will ever be No.1 there is no question Price is the better goal tender, If price gets a team that scores 5 goals a game he would have won all but one game. Price did not have the same team in front of him that Halak had, so no one can convince me that Halak is the better goalie.

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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.
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