Game 40: Habs/Trashers

Late game blog for this one as life is getting in the way of my hockey watching schedule! The Thrashers have scored first on a defensive breakdown in the Montreal zone. Lots of push back from the Canadiens, but as usual – goals are tough to come by.

Go Habs Go!!!

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#1 Donnie says:
January 4, 2011 at 12:20 am

Hey there guys. I don’t coome on here very much anymore, however, I’m still a loyal, yet, a little less than proud Habs fan. I thought I’d come on here to give an update on the year so far and see who agrees or disagrees with certain details. So here we go :

Seems like the Halak deal seemed to be the right one SO FAR. Pricey has stepped it up, however, he has be less than reptuable in the last 10 games or so. Is the old Carey returning or is he just beat out from not having the stamina yet to be playing so many games? Is he the future in Montreal….we’ll have to wait and see I guess.

Our D as a whole is still pretty brutal. Although Subban and the recently attained Wiesnewski are bumping it up some. Hamrlik, Gill and Spacek are still the same old, slow and soft D-men they have been for the past few years. They are hurting the team as a whole, because of their lack of hitting, pisspoor puck movement, and giveaways, giveaways, giveaways. If there’s a God we will not be resigning Hamrlik again next season when his contract is up…this point should be a given, but this is Montreal we’re talking about and I have butterflies thinking about it. Gill not coming back would be a bonus as all he really is is a hunk of meat that blocks pucks….something alot of guys can do, and yet they can also bring other elements to the game as well…where Gill cannot. Please use these guys money to lock in PK and Weiser.

Oh the forwards…where to start. Glad to see Lapierre gonzo. As he is one of about 6 seemingly cloned players we presently have on the 3rd and 4th lines. Pyatt, Darche, Halpern, Pouliot and even Moen as of late. We have a surplus of these guys…please don’t bring in any more of these guys Gauthier.
Andre is still lazy and should have joined his brother…but it’s so frustrating to know that this guy can play when he wants to. Sort of a mini Kovalev syndrome.
Our “top” for guys are really not performing up to par…as of late especially. I am happiest with Gionta as he is a great captain and leads the teams very well, including the goal category. Gomez is a major flub…even with the few points he is recording lately, he is still averaging just over a point every 2 games. Is that really worth the 8M he’s getting this season…that question is retorical, as we all know the answer. The mighty sniper Cammalleri hase only 12 goals…thats on pace for less than 30…again, underachieving, and Plekanec plays well at times, and at other times I cringe that we gave him 5M. All in all, about 25M tied up in these 4 guys, and not one of them averaging even 1 point per game…just not good enough !

I am still on the fence however as to why this is. Is it lack of effort, the coach’s style, or a combo of both. I believe it is mostly Martin, and would still like to see him gone more than anyone…wrong type of players for this boring, outdated style. Let our forwards loose and lets see who the problem is huh? Muller is ready…give him the helm.
You need to score goals to win and have success….need proof ? How about Crosby and Pit, the Sedins and Van, the boys in Detroit…just to name 3.

Guys, as well as we started, playing under the Martin regime, when it all comes out in the wash, we are just gonna end up in the same spot yet again. An average team, just around .500, and battling for the 8th spot. Bring in all the players you want…until we get a coach these guys wanna play for, one who will let them showcase their talents..we are just gonna be the same average team. Offense is missing in Montreal and it starts with the coach….howver, having said that, the players are not off the hook…they have to start earning their money and play hard every game. Lets get some pride back to the bleu, blanc, et rouge.

#2 Senet1 says:
January 8, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Donnie wish you would post more often I enjoy your comments. One thing I don;t necessarily agree with you is the play of Hamrlik and Gil

First Hamrlik, basically carried this defence again for the first 25 games of the season. However, he is not able to play 25 min a game and was not met to play that much 17-19 min max. However, just like last year Markov’s injury has taken its toll on our defence and force JM to play Hamrlik and Spacek those 5 or 6 more minutes a game. So I do not see how we can blame Hammer he simply is doing his best based on what he is asked to do. If we can sign him again next year for less money I believe he will be back.

To me Gil has done everything we have asked him to do and he and Gorges have made a good pairing. Unfortumately, if you look at the defence that have been costing us games it has been PK, Picard and Spacek and Weber to a lesser degree. Gil was our best defenceman last year in the playoffs and is still doing things that no other D-man can do for us. He is the reason we have such a highly rated PK.

I think the addition of Wiesinski will help take up some of the extra ice time on the PP from Hamrlik and PK seems to be playing smart lately and should also see more ice time. That should help Hamrlik and Spacek and reduce their ice time to what they can handle.

Again you have to expect PK and Weber to make rookie mistakes and both are playing better as the season goes on. Picard played well early but started making serious mistakes and therefore was sat for quite a few games.

I expect both Gil and Hamrlik to be resigned next year as long as we do not have more than 4 M tied up in them in total.

The extra money that we have left over needs to go to Wysinski.

Our forwards are just not producing, however, every team keys on them because they know they are going to stay on the outside. That is why we have needed a couple of big power forwards for the last two years, it seems management just cannot find the help we really need. As far as Plex is concerned he has been our best player all year and although he seems to be struggling of late he may be over worked too. I am disappointed in Cammy, Gomez and to a lesser extend Gionta.

I agree with you about AK46, I have never liked him, he plays good for 10 games then disappears. If I could trade him for a power forward he would be gone.

As far as Price is concerned, he is the reason we have the record we have, he has played terrific. There was never any doubt in my mind who was the better goalie. Halak has been exposed to the league now and is not playing nearly as good as Price now. There is also one thing everyone keeps forgetting when comparing the two. Price is still only 23, where was Halak when he was 23, in the minors with the odd call up. Price will be the better goalie for the next number of years and when Halak goes back to Europe, Price will be still playing.

That is how I see it anyway.

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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