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Game 56: Habs/Avalanche

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18 Comments
  1. #1 Mats Naslund says:
    February 13, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Having Chipchura up for tonight will definitely relieve the pressure on Koivu and Lapierre. You can’t just keep having wingers in the faceoff circle. It’ll be interesting to see who sits. I’d like to see grinders on the 4th line where they belong, and to see players playing positions they are used to. It has only been since this team has tried to have scoring lines play like grinders that our troubles really began. This team needs to skate. They need to make good plays in the offensive zone, and take the puck to the net instead of always peeling off of the cycle for a point(less) shot from the defense.

  2. #2 habknot says:
    February 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm

    I don’t get it; Koivu, Kovy and…. TomK? AK, Higgins and …. Dandenault?? I don’t care if there is a natural center or not, get some talent on those lines or we’re going nowhere. I hope the boys prove me wrong.

  3. #3 groundworking says:
    February 13, 2009 at 7:08 pm

    I’m thinking I’m going to try out for the Habs next week. Having a 5’9, 155lb Men’s league player on the top line might just give the team the spark that they need.

    If that doesn’t work, maybe they could throw me in nets for the night.

    I’ll work for food.

  4. #4 Joseph says:
    February 13, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    The Replacements. :-)

  5. #5 Joseph says:
    February 13, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    Thank goodness the game is on TSN tonight because RDS is not available to me in HD here in Toronto, and thus the RDS feed sucks because I’ve a silly HD box, and HD boxes make everything not HD look terrible, which is of course entirely on purpose… a lower than low attempt to entice the subscriber into purchasing more HD channels, most of which he’ll never watch! Hey, Ted?

    Sigh. I digress. Thank goodness the game in on TSN tonight as I can watch it in HD and thus get a good, high definition look at my terrible hockey team.

  6. #6 Donnie says:
    February 14, 2009 at 12:51 am

    Thank God that fiasco is over. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to sit through. It was like one of those films they’d show in Vietnamese POW camps to wear down your resistence.
    Is anybody really happy about this win? If you are, you only saw the score and didn’t watch the game. When I think it’s impossible to get worst, our boys prove me wrong. Outshot 34-7 since the 1st period. I don;t even know what we were doing in the 3rd…looked like a 20 min PP for the Avs. Question….does what we are doing even count as “hockey” anymore?
    So miserable, I missed half the 2nd period cuz I was watching the Sharks/Sabres barnburner..then scanned the channels for something else. Nothing else, so, back to the bamboo chutes under the fingernails again.
    It took our BACKUP goalie standing on his head, facing 50 shots, to eke out a win against the 15th place team in the west. Troubles over you think? I think we barely register as an NHL team anymore…and…against almost any other team in this league, thats a 10-2 loss for us. Even McGuire was calling us ridiculous…as harsh a comment as I’ve ever heard from a broadcaster doing an NHL game. P*ss poor decision in the 3rd Guy..sitting back like pylons…must do great things for our confidence levels. Lucky break, got us a goal, to win a game we didn’t deserve. What’s the stragedy against any team with a higher ranking than LAST in their conference Guy?????
    Also, I’m almost positive now that Kovalev is battling a severe NyQuil addiction. Even this guys passes are lazy. Make for wonder he can’t score or set anything up…I’m surprised he has the energy to lace up his own skates.
    Boy oh boy, have we got a fantastic crew here this year boys.
    Maybe set up a game…Habs vs. bantam girls allstars to get the confidence back. All the effords are an utter disgrace to the team, the fans, the jersey and the organization. I think tonights game finally pushed me over the edge. Awful, awful display!!!

  7. #7 groundworking says:
    February 14, 2009 at 2:26 am

    Brutal.

  8. #8 donaldtherocketrichard says:
    February 14, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    Dear Bob,

    You have some talented players playing as individuals. I was at the game in Edmonton and watched the Avs game last night with disgust. Let’s not kid ourselves, Guy (as much as we loved him as a player) is not coaching this team.

    If the coach was not an ex-hab player he would have been long gone. Fire Guy and the other ex-habs and get someone who can teach these guys to play a puck possession game…not this BS that we’ve been watching where they dump the puck to the other team and then retreat to center ice.

    If a coaching change doesn’t fix it then let’s fix the room, perhaps by signing and playing players that give 100% all of the time.

    Alex we love your skill, but you can learn alot from watching Matthew.

  9. #9 winthemiseaujeux says:
    February 14, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    It started with the announcement at the all star game ‘artificially’ creating excitement and a ‘false standing o’ when he called Lecavalier to the ice and delayed the call for Jeff Carter as long as he could. Tasteless. The fans are NOT that excited about Vinny, we are three years too late on that one.

    We don’t need Lecavalier, the dressing room was just fine before this obvious misjudgement, now relax and let the team be a team again without the distractions from ‘influential’ people trying to be armchair GMs.

    If I were Bob Gainey, I would demand a resignation of Michel Lacroix and let everyone move on.

    Replace him with another star like Bob Cole (kidding, kidding)

    I wonder how Lacroix will handle the announcement on Saturday when Saku cracks the top 10 all time Habs scoring list.

    Saku deserves more than the respect of the entire team and is trying to pull together a group of young, distracted, talented and confused winners. Not whiners.

    Wait and see, these guys will settle down after the trade deadline and we will roll over the East when it matters the most…in April and May.

  10. #10 Joseph says:
    February 14, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    My favourite quote:

    “Kostitsyn scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:16 remaining, helping the Montreal Canadiens snap a seven-game road losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

    ‘I never got one by him before,’ Kostitsyn said. ‘I came in hard on the net, made a good move and got it past him. I got it past him.’

    “That he did, much to Budaj’s dismay.

    ‘I didn’t get it,’ Budaj said. ‘He put a good move on me and I didn’t get it.’”

    I thought that the league was supposed to be doing a better job at drug screening. :-)

  11. #11 Mats Naslund says:
    February 15, 2009 at 1:16 am

    Some rumblings today that the Habs are on the verge of making a deal to set up another.. I’m not sure how much we can read into it, but with 20+ games left on the schedule there is still a lot of time for things to get better in Montreal. It sucks to see the team play poorly, but a couple deals could drastically shake things up.

  12. #12 Senet1 says:
    February 15, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Well here I go with the glass half full again. Someome said that anyone who was happy with the win did not watch the game. Well you couldn’t bew more wrong. A win is 2 points and maybe that is what we really needed. Let’s face, we have some players playing their hearts out while players that should be carrying this team are going through the motions. But what started this mess after we seemed to have righted thes ship just before the allstar game was the return of Price, most of us including myself felt that this was what we needed to take us to the next level. Well Price as good as he will be has simply played poorly. Our defence has not helped him and our offence stopped moving the puck and doing what they do well because of the goaltending. Our problems started in the net. Some of the games that we lost we appeared to get momentum only to loose it with a soft goal or poor defensive play. Simply put Halak stood on his head last night and won a game for us. That is what a team needs when it is going badly. So credit Halak maybe with turning this team around. Now if he can do it again against Vancouver we can salvage a bad road trip and maybe start to play with more confidence. Hopefully, Price will come back eventually and play the way we all know he can but right now Halak ( as much as I hate to admit it) is my goaltender until he proves he does not wan the position.

  13. #13 Senet1 says:
    February 15, 2009 at 11:29 am

    As a follow up to the above, you can have even the best team and loose the game if your goaltender lets in soft goals. Those type of goals change a teams outlook on how they play the game. It was once said by Scotty Bowman that his goaltender had to steel one goal a period for his team to win. That great play by the goaltender can then give the team confidence to play more offensive and play more aggressive. A soft goal does exactly the opposite. So can I be happy with the win YES because it could be the start of something positive that we have lacked since the allstar game. Good goaltending. If you don’t have it don’t expect your team to play well in other areas of the ice.

  14. #14 Senet1 says:
    February 15, 2009 at 11:45 am

    As for firing Carbo, you got to be kidding. A coach cannot get into players heads when they are afraid to play because of the goaltending. This whole team has gone into a shell and it will not come out until they have enough confidence in the goaltender to play their game. Our coaching staff is the type of staff we need come playoff time, when motivation should not be a factor all we have to do is get our goaltending playing better and make the playoffs. The only other thing we need is the two things that Gainey went out to get to improve this team, that being Lang and Tanguay. Lets face it without Lang especially, the big centreman we needed. This team has the same problems it had last year in the playoffs. Tanguay was a bonus as well but without them this team has to rely on Kovalev and Koivu so forget it unless we can make a trade for some help up front and a defenceman.

  15. #15 Senet1 says:
    February 15, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    Well there is talk of a Pronger Trade, not sure how accurate these talks are but Pronger would sure look good in a habs jersey. He would stablize our defence, provide strenght and muscle that we need and help our power play as well. He may even light a spark under Kovalev that Laraque did not do. He may even help bring Komy out of his daydreaming play of late.

  16. #16 Senet1 says:
    February 15, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    If we could get Pronger then that would free up Markov so we could go after Vinny.

  17. #17 Joseph says:
    February 15, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    I disagree. The team’s slump did not coincide with the poor play of Price as much as it did the return of Koivu and Higgins. The guys who had rallied in their absence seemed to let up entirely upon their return. But I guess it all depends on how one watches the games.

    As to Friday night’s game, it was undoubtedly the worst display of hockey I’ve ever seen put on in this league. And if it weren’t for Halak having played out of his mind, it would have been a repeat of the slaughter in Edmonton. Is that truly what this team needed, one of its goaltenders to step to the plate? Perhaps. But I’ve never seen such a terrible brand of hockey before, quite honestly, and thus the only positive I can find upon examining that Colorado game is that Jaroslav Halak cared enough to steal the game and save the team from a lopsided blowout.

  18. #18 donaldtherocketrichard says:
    February 16, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    Come on! Let’s be realistic here and starting watching these games with our brains and not our hearts. The facts are: 14 goals for and 24 goals against in the last 5 games alone; that’s 2.8 goals for and 4.8 against or in other words…brutal!; Ok, so thats’ only 5 games…well since Jan 20th – 3 wins and let’s count them 10 loses; or 31 goals for and 49 against. It’s painful to watch. One or two players are not going to make a difference. We may need a nuke!

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  • 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
  • stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year
  • goalie : Markov for Beauchemin - an injury prone d-man for an ;old timer'd-man. Beauchemin is NOT what the Habs need in my opinion. He is a HUGE defensive liability.
  • goalie : Stuo 11 I'd make that trade with Oilers fast BUT I doubt the Oilers will make that. Two marginal d-men at the best for a switch of first round picks - not a chance .
  • stuo11 : markov for beachemin?
  • stuo11 : let moen go
  • stuo11 : maybe try and get steve begin back
  • stuo11 : we wouldve kicked out all other teams but pens, sens,
  • stuo11 : pens have alot of forwaRDS same with us but we have better goaltending
  • stuo11 : theres styles of play goalie. Sens played us good, but lost games to southeast teams florida and tampa and get crushed by leafs EVERYTIME. sens and leafsd cant beat bruins but we do frequently
  • stuo11 : Diaz weber and our 1st for their first edm
  • goalie : SEns beat us 4 games to 1. Pens had last night's game under their control. What does that mean if we were up vs the Pens in a series. I think the Habs have a way to go before we're competing for Lord Stanley's Cup!
  • Senet1 : If he could score goals like Lucic and we could sign him to a four year contract then I would consider it too. However, NOT if we only have him for one to two years.
  • Senet1 : So we went from 27th pick to 21st pick.
  • goalie : Normally I would not trade draft picks BUT if we could get a consistently, solid player (especially forward) who is BIG I'd trade one of our picks.
  • Senet1 : The good part of this is with both Detroit and Boston moving on to the 2nd round it makes our draft position better, we move up the list by two.
  • Senet1 : Bruins beat leafs in OT. It was hard but I was hoping the Leafs beat the Bruins. They had a4-1 lead in the third and two goal lead with less than 4 minutes and lost. Sound familiar.

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