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Game 62: Habs/Flyers

  • Big weekend.

    The Flyers hold 2 games and 4 points in hand over the Habs and with the league best Sharks on the flip side of a back to back weekend – valuable points won’t be easy to come by.

    Can Halak maintain his excellent play? Can the Habs match the physical intensity of two tough teams?

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12 Comments
  1. #1 Joseph says:
    February 27, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Needless to say, Halak will have to be stellar the next two games. Further, the Habs will have to keep converting their PP chances to have a chance against a team like San Jose.

    That said, as much as I’d like to see two victories this weekend, I would be happy with a split, just as long as they show up for both games.

  2. #2 PACTUM SERVA says:
    February 27, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Metropolit with the hat trick tonight LOL

  3. #3 Joseph says:
    February 27, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    He just might.

  4. #4 Senet1 says:
    February 28, 2009 at 9:38 am

    One thing that has impressed me lately is that Koivu seems to have got better at winning faceoffs. Last year at this time he seemed to loose a lot of faceoffs Carbonneau must have been working with all his centreman because our win percentage seems to be improving. Last night our centreman seemed to control the faceoff circle.

  5. #5 Donnie says:
    February 28, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    Schneider has been complimenting this team so well..great acquisition !! Another 3 points for Kovy last night also…big difference when he wants to play…another well handled job Bob !!
    I’m a little embarassed though…I’m one of those fans, as probably were many of you, who, when we got Price, looked at Halak as expendable….good trade bait. The tables have certainly turned now huh?
    This team is fun to watch again…just keep plugging away and see if we can get 4th…can;t get any higher…so 4th is the goal.
    Anything else is the works Bob? This year…I think so.

  6. #6 Mats Naslund says:
    February 28, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    And that was a huge factor in being able to eventually win the game. I don’t have the stats for the face offs, but Montreal did win almost every face off down the stretch we were able to clear the zone off of draws (so Jaro didn’t have to play the puck), and between the four centers (plus Kovy and Higgins on a few) we were able to control the puck. The powerplay in overtime would have been drastically different had Philly won those draws. The guys never got deflated. they kept firing at the net, and eventually one found its way in. It was a great win for Montreal who desperately needed to continue grabbing two points. This team is not a playoff bubble team. When they play well they belong in the upper tier of NHL clubs.

    Going forward my biggest concern is Carey Price. Don’t get me wrong, if Jaro keeps playing this way he is absolutely the starter. If we could get Carey playing the same way, this team could be deadly. Maybe the competitor in Carey needs to be pushed. We saw it last season at the deadline, so hopefully if Carey gets another chance he plays well. Tonight would be an interesting time to try.. If we win, then we all of a sudden have two confident goalies going toward the playoffs. If we lose, it will be the result that everyone expects and we continue next game with Jaro who doesn’t have to face San Jose. Just a thought, because Jaro definitely deserves to keep playing.

    On to the deals… You really have to believe that Bob gainey is earning his paycheque these days. He is in a terrible position. If his club doesn’t win the Stanley Cup, everyone will think he has failed when in fact he has done nothing but make shrewd deals all year long. I for one do not doubt that whatever happens on the 4th, Montreal will be a better team going forward. Its all that has happened since Gainey took over.

    Lang- Everyone in Habsland was calling for Gainey to land Sundin over the past summer. There wasn’t a day that went by where Montreal wasn’t linked to Sundin, and yet- at a critical point in the off season Gainey said “enough”, and went out and acquired Robert Lang. All Lang did was become the teams leading scoring forward during the time before his injury.

    The Kids- Gainey has no issue calling up his draft picks and trade acquisitions to fill major holes in his roster. It is amazing how well the youth have responded. You look at a guy like Gregory Stewart who is now a fixture on the 4th line and wonder if there is no end to the well of talent in Hamilton? Sergei will be back with the team either for the payoffs this season or to start next year. At that point Gainey will potentially have 11 players under the age of 25 on a team that many believe to be a deep playoff threat. That is good news for the cap and great news for the future.

    Mathieu Schneider. When Gainey snagged Schneider for a 2nd rounder (and a conditional 3rd to 5th), he said “We were looking for a defenceman who could contribute offensively. Mathieu, is an experienced player with a lot of offensive upside, will bring depth to our core group of defencemen and will be an asset on our power play.” It turns out Gainey may have an enchanted crystal ball. In the 5 games since coming to Montreal, Schneider has scored 5 points, is logging huge minutes and has brought leadership to a defense corps which had lost its way. The group is back and the book is in: Schneider was an amazing pickup.

    Glen Metropolit- How funny many of the other message boards have been since noon yesterday when it was announced that Montreal had claimed Glen Metropolit off of waivers. A nation of complainers who call the team soft, and young and pine after the Flyers and Bruins of the league with gritty guys who can play both ways (should I mention that Metropolit’s last two teams are Boston and Philly?). Philadelphia waived Metropolit because they needed cap-space to add Briere back to the lineup. Their loss is our gain. You get what you see in Metropolit – he is a rugged, Canadian grinder with the ability to win face offs. He is a decent skater, and while many in Montreal were sad to see Begin leave the team, we found a guy in return who better suited our needs.

    My point in all of this (other than killing a Saturday morning with no games on!) is to say this about the man who will no doubt be damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t on March 4th: He’s done a fantastic job. He has taken 2nd round picks (hello Grabovski and Huet) and turned them into Lang and Schneider. While Lang is currently hurt, if he had continued to play he was on pace for 25 goals and over 50 points. Schneider has almost singlehandedly transformed our bottom feeding powerplay to the league’s best (over his 5 games here). Metropolit gives the team much needed depth at the center position. All of this and Gainey has parted with NONE of the promising youth that this organization is now built upon. If anything he has a glut of young talent waiting to get to the NHL level at both forward and defense. With those prospects, Gainey has all kinds of ammunition to make a deadline deal, but if there is one thing that I’ve come to realize with Gainey – its that he will only make the deal if he thinks it makes his team stronger. It is the kind of responsible management ANY franchise would be lucky to have. Whatever he decides to do at the deadline – I will support it.

  7. #7 Senet1 says:
    February 28, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    Matts. is 100% correct, many people damned Gainey last year for not making the right moves at the deadline,and for not getting enough for Huet, but in the long run you can see he made the right decisions for this team not only now but for the future of the organization. It is not that long ago that we had a GM that totally ruined the current team as well as the future of this team and it has taken us 10 years to overcome all those stupid moves. One also has to remember, that you have to have another GM willing to make a deal in order to actually make a trade. Montreal has always been known for building their team through the draft and being patient with its draft choices to let them develop. For Gainey to be any different would be a disappointment.

  8. #8 Senet1 says:
    February 28, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    As for Price, he seemed to be ready last spring for prime time especially when what Gainey was really doing was preparing him for this years run at the cup. Is it ironic right now that maybe in hind sight Halik was given more time to develop and now appears at least at the present time to be the better goalie. I still have confidence that Price will right the ship, however, I do not see him getting a starting assignment until Halak faulters or unless they think he is tired after to very hard fought wins this week. I guess we will know later tonight.

  9. #9 Senet1 says:
    February 28, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    Metropolit, gave us something else especially if we end up facing Philly in the first round, he gave us the inside track on the Philly team, the coaches theories and general knowledge that could come in handy come playoff time. He also gives us that extra factor of wanting to beat the team that did not want him.

  10. #10 Senet1 says:
    February 28, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    I hope that Gainey can find another experience defenceman before the trading deadline, and maybe even a offensive centreman that fits the team and can take over in Langs position but if he can’t Metropolit at least gives us the depth that we needed.

  11. #11 Mats Naslund says:
    February 28, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    My vote definitely would have been for a Center a couple weeks ago, but if Plex keeps playing like he is now, that becomes less of a team need. Gainey has said that he is using these games to decide what his biggest team need is. Considering Plex has 12 points in his last 7 games Gainey may feel inclined to go after a guy like Kaberle or Morris to bolster the defense rather than the offense. The fact that we don’t have an offensive “superstar” on our team has driven the demand for a premier goal scorer, but the addition of another solid blueliner could make us a VERY difficult playoff team. Either way, I like the position we’re in: the pressure is off as far as the rest of the league is concerned. We’re not on anyone’s radar which is a nice chance from the beginning of the season.

  12. #12 Joseph says:
    February 28, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    I don’t doubt Gainey’s ability. Most of my few criticisms of him/his actions have either been in jest or were the result of a thoughtless knee jerk reaction and that’s the truth.

    Coach Carbonneau’s abilities, on the other hand, have been the center of much speculation this season, and I certainly haven’t excluded myself from that speculation. Despite a recent three-game winning streak, we cannot ignore the fact that the wheels completely fell off of this team for such a long stretch of time that it put the club in peril with regard to missing the playoffs altogether. Team morale and therefore team motivation was in the toilet and one could hardly detect a pulse. When this sort of thing happens, it’s almost guaranteed that it’s a result of poor coaching. Perhaps he is a young coach yet, and perhaps he needs to learn from his mistakes, but some of the moves he made during the team’s darkest days this season were more of desperation than than were strategy.

    So, who turned it around? Carbonnueau? No. As has been mentioned by others several times now, Halak has played the role of savior over ther past five or so games. And as has been mentioned, Halak’s solid play has revived confidence in the offensive attack, which leads to the powerplays which Gainey’s recent offensive-defensive acquisition can contribute to. But the negatives are still there. The defense continues to be, well, horrible more often than not, the turnovers persist all over the ice, and the undisciplined pentalites aren’t going away. Coach Carbonneau needs to find a way to right the defensive ship soon or it’ll be doom and gloom all over again as soon as Halak, or Price, has an off day.

    And while it can certainly be pointed out that the defense is hurting, this fact doesn’t excuse the nature of the defensive collapses, which again, are largely mindless turnovers, stupid penalties, and some strange (and unsuccessful) version of the trap which is being executed for a period and a half.

    Much work yet to be done.

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  • goalie : Didn't get to see the game at all but it's great to see Pacs get a hat trick and fpor Cole to be + 3. When was the last time this team won three games in a row? Great victory -looks like they're giving 100% effort!
  • Senet1 : 4-2 win habs
  • Senet1 : Gomez scores, Yea!!!
  • goalie : As I said yesterday it will be interesting to see what our lame ass GM gets for players he ships out. Bourque is good and he'll help us but I still think we could have gotten more for him and for Halak when he was traded.
  • Avatar37 : round those picks occur (probably 3rd).
  • Avatar37 : An interesting article. If we slip to the 5th or 7th draft pick, a very interesting case could be made for drafting Galchenyuk. If we wind up with the second or third pick, I'm not sure who I'd draft, because clearly Yakupov is going to be drafted first overall. Our second round pick also becomes interesting, I know I'd take Vasilevski if he were still available. It will also be interesting to see if we can turn some of our veteran players (Moen, Gill, Campoli) into draft picks, and what
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Avatar37 : That is why PG should have waited on trading Cammalleri. Right now, there is a high demand for a top 6 forward, we could have gotten much more than Bourque in return. That isn't a knock against Bourque, but a knock against a knee-jerk reaction trade that didn't maximize our return on a top asset.
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Avatar37 : chips fall where they may. After all, the only difference between finishing 17th and 29th is how good a pick you get in the draft.
  • Avatar37 : We currently sit in 26th place in the league. We are 15 points ahead of Columbus, it's safe to bet at this point they will place last. We are, however, only 4 points ahead of Edmonton so it's still wide open as to who is going to finish second last. I still think that it's time to sit the veterans, play the youth, let them get experience, and regroup for next year. I'm not suggesting deliberately tanking like the Penguins, but give all our young players lots of playing time and let the c
  • Avatar37 : goalie - If it were not for the play of Cammalleri, we would never have made it out of round 1. Cammalleri played as big a part, if not bigger, than Halak did. Sure, Halak played well, but remember the team collapsed in front of him, making his job much easier. We had lots of blocked shots and the ones that got through were typically from the outside.
  • Senet1 : Goalie you are absolutely right, of course the one thing we had the two previous years that won the games that we are losing this year was our power play. If you look at say 10 games that we should have won had we had a similar power play, again we would not be having these conversations. When your PP goes from first to last in the league that is a lot of goals.How many games have we lost this year by one goal. Again poor management who did not prepare for Markov's possible absence.
  • goalie : I'll put it another way.... we need more players who are willing to get their noses dirty.
  • goalie : Two years ago when our goaltending stole series adn our players suddenly scored the coaches / GM believed that that was our true team . Well time has proven that was not. Though I was very glad to see the Habs knock off some very good teams we were very fortunate. And fortunate that spring was spelled HALAK!
  • goalie : The wrst mistake management could possibly make I believe is to say, we played well some games and we believe the team can play to that level more often in the future. This team CANNOT adnb DOES NOT play to a high enough level. Please do not kid yourself mamngement. hat is partially why we're in the lace we are.
  • goalie : Senet is correct when he says that if we had more games with a better efort this year we'd likely be in the playoffs. It has been very inconsistent effort but much more than that. We lack big, tough playing and finishing. Never mind fighting for a moment. We did not compete for the pucks nor along the boards nor in front of both nets enough this year. Thus we are in 29th. If the coaching staff doesn't see that then they shouldn't be there.
  • Senet1 : Surely Molson is not going to keep him as the GM?
  • Senet1 : when he knows he will be fired at the end of the season. Nothing really makes since in this whole process.
  • Senet1 : I am not sue why PG has not been fired by now. They could be waiting for another GM to come available at season end, but why would you not set up a committee to manage the team in the short run until a new GM can be named. There is no since in chaning coaches because whoever the GM is he will want to name his own coach. Gainey and a committe of other executives can manage the team through to the trading deadline and onward. What motivation does PG have to making any worthwhile trades when he is
  • Senet1 : I am too mch of a competitor to want my team to tank to. However, If these players played like they ae cabable of playing all year we would not be having this discussion right now, we woud be talking about the playoffs and who we would rather meet in the first round.
  • rocky : Exactly, and Senet nails it when he says we have not had an elite top 5 in the nhl player since lafleur.
  • goalie : I too want the Habs to get the best possible draft this June. We all need SOME hope!
  • rocky : He is persona non grata in habville, and a ghost in every sense of the term.
  • goalie : It remains a miracle how we have heard from our mighty GM twice since Christmas - the trades involving Spacek and Cammy and those comments were extremely brief. PG just does not cut it in my world. Part of a GMs job is to go public from time to time. PG never does that in fact he's a ghost GM!
  • rocky : Its true, there is no honor in that. These guys have only known the ethic of giving it all to win every night. I do not want them to "tank", and they will never do that anyway. I do want them to lose though, as awful as it sounds.
  • goalie : Roicky as a good point. We all want the Habs to get a really good draft pick. However, players, coaches etc. also have a keen desire to compete and win. That's why they're playing at the pro level. Thus we can only hope that the team plays some good games and let the chips fall where they may. After the disasterous season we've had let's not lower ourselves adn get involved in any dscussions about 'tanking' games.
  • rocky : So long.
  • Senet1 : Good discussion rocky, I have to step out for an hour, but may be back later.
  • Senet1 : The only way this team comes back to a team with long term potential is to draft a game breaker. Even all the other bad teams have a Stamkos or a player like him. He have some good player so what we need is a Malkin that we can count on 80% of the time to win a game for us.
  • rocky : I mean winning will only do them harm that is.
  • rocky : It really hurts because my reflexes make me want to cheer like mad, but it will only hurt the team now.
  • Senet1 : Yes I have mixed feeling when watching the game. Last night I say here we go again. with our record of shoot losses I did not expect to win that one. Yet I wanted to win real bad?????
  • rocky : God, so horrible to sit and hope for losses, but here we are.
  • Senet1 : Our problem is we play one out of every 4 games good and therefore, we play well enough to stay on the borderline of a top five pick. If we win three or four in a row we could take ourselves right out of the running.

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