Game 2: Habs/Sabres

First off: Devastating news – Markov out for 3-4 months. He was the only bright spot during last year. He was probably the only irreplacable player on the squad. Only Lidstrom has more points as a defenseman since the lockout. Look for Shawn Belle or Carle to make their way into a few games in the next little while (once the dogs are home from Europe). I don’t think Gainey will want Weber or Subban just yet. The other possibility is that Gainey will try to exchange a few younger guys for an NHL ready guy in the 2-3 million range in order to solidify a now VERY shaky defense corps.

I have tickets to the game against the Sabres. I WAS excited to watch Markov QB the PP which has looked quick and dangerous. Now I’ll be watching to see if Spacek can stick it to his former squad. Go Habs Go!

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#1 Senet1 says:
October 2, 2009 at 11:06 pm

I tried to find out who is still available as far as free agent defenceman are concerned. One come to mind but I am not sure if he has been signed, Mark Andre Bergeron, he is a good offensive PP defenceman and could help us move the puck out of our end and on the PP.

Not sure if there are any other experience defencemen that are still available.

#2 habknot says:
October 2, 2009 at 11:59 pm

Senet, Mats; relax! I think our D is the strength of our team. Hamrlik, Spacek, Mara, Gill, Gorges, O’Byrne are all solid, and I think both Belle and Carle are able to play good NHL calibre D. Gorges, Spacek will be adequate on the PP.

I am concerned about our forwards’ defensive positioning. In our zone, when TO defense had control, we had nobody close to the opposite defense. A quick pass along the blueline and there was an open lane for a shot/pass/ drive toward the net. It didn’t end up costing us directly (thank you Carey and a weak Toronto D), but against talented teams it could lead to trouble. Still two points will do for now!!

#3 Mats Naslund says:
October 3, 2009 at 9:24 am

The honeymoon with the Habs defense is over for me. We’re now talking about either Hamrlik or Gorges in the top pairing which is bad news. Gorges has been terrible thus far, and Hamrlik has been too ill to play yet. Mara has been alright, but he’s been a bubble top 4 defenseman his entire career. He’s not a top pairing guy. Gill showed everyone why he is a bubble top 6 defenseman. Toronto exposed him, and I shudder to think of what he’ll give away if we play a contender with decent forwards.

Maybe Montreal can weather tyhe storm. Maybe a young guy steps up and fills a role – but replacing Markov is not like replacing anyone else on the team. Its only when he’s gone that you notice how heavily the Habs rely on him. Last season was a perfect example. We didn’t win a game.

Oh well – what is done is done. Gainey will probably be on the phone a lot in the next little while, but for now it will be the guys we have that will need to fill Markov’s enormous skates.

#4 habknot says:
October 4, 2009 at 10:38 am

Well now we’re winning ugly instead of losing pretty; which do you prefer?
The D is solid, as long as its Carle or Belle we use, not Weber. I don’t think Weber is ready for the physical play of the NHL yet.

As for last night’s game; I enjoyed our patience and calmness. Buffalo were running around like crazy and we stayed focussed on the job at hand. I didn’t see penetration into the hot scoring area until the very last shot. Their goal was a fluke bounce of a D who stopped the shot from the point. Lots of shots but not really much danger.

Martin corrected the point coverage, the cross ice passes they tried to make in our zone went nowhere.

As for Price getting all the credit, I still have a feeling he is our second best goalie right now. (nobody stops that first goal though; and he made two great stops last night, and showed great rebound control on one of them to save a goal)

#5 Mats Naslund says:
October 4, 2009 at 1:24 pm

Habknot: I agree with you that Buffalo was contained last night. They had lots of shots, but they were relatively harmless. Montreal had few shots but had the much better chances in the 2nd and 3rd. One thing that I noticed last night was how much Carey Price looks (as far as the first two games) like the Carey that Won the Mem. Cup etc a few years back. He was SO calm and relaxed last night. He wasn’t over playing the puck which is what got him in so much trouble last season. He’s back to his strong, stable, big style which got him here. While I think Halak is a very good goaltender, if Price plays to his potential there is no doubt in my mind that he can steal us a playoff spot. 80 stops in 2 games is solid. .951 save percentage and 1.89 GAA are very good even if its only 2 games we’re talking about.

O’Byrne and Metropolit are both injured from last night’s victory. Metro will likely be replaced by Chipchura. I imagine that as soon as possible either Carle or Belle (who I prefer) will be with the club. We are now offically very thin at defense. On a side note – the first two games only serve to highlight how badly Sergei/his agent/people have handled their situation. We’re now talking about a situation in which Sergei could have been brought up to man the point on the powerplay (as a fill in for Markov) which is how he was able to put up 160 points in junior while in London. Poor judgement in over-reacting to s non-situation has now ensured that he will not be called up as soon as injury made it likely.

#6 Senet1 says:
October 4, 2009 at 9:18 pm

Price looked bad last year because he had no support from his defence and yes he gradually tried to do it all himself which made him makes mistakes and over play the puck. Now it is early but I said this last year and I am saying it again as long as his defence do not allow players to run the net and get the rebounds he will play great. Will he have a bad game once in a while? Yes. But for the most part he should be a much better goaltender this year.

As far as our defence is concerned Weber will be brought up first because we need him for the power play now that we do not have Markow, unfortunately he is going to have to learn while on the job. With Obryne hurt too we may end up bring up two D men.

#7 Avatar37 says:
October 5, 2009 at 4:16 pm

Well, as I stated in the off season, Gill is a really tall pylon. He reminds me of Brisbois, in that he has a high probability of costing us 1 goal/game. The difference is, Brisebois could put points up on the other end. Mara isn’t bad, shame it’s Gill with the 2 year contract. I understand wanting size, but size isn’t everything (as Gionta and Cammalleri are quickly proving). I’m glad to see Price getting better, he’ll be our franchise goalie if people get off his back and let him develop.

Gionta… wow is all I can say. What hand/eye coordination. What heart. What effort. It’s everything Kovalev was lacking. I’m really liking the new energy this team has, the new heart, the new effort. I’m really liking the Moen/Metropolit/Stewart line. What an effort to keep fighting for territory, fighting for the front of the net, doing all the right things, especially from your third line. I’m more optimistic about this team than I have been in a very long time. I’m lovin being a Habs fan right now!

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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.