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It’s Clinchin’ Season

  • The Canadiens beat Boston for the 7th time out of 8 games this season but failed to clinch a spot despite the two points. The Habs got off to a great start with a goal twenty seconds in and didn’t look back against a amateurish Boston team.

    Sheldon Souray got undressed for the second conseutive game. There could be a highlight reel composed solely of players beating Souray 1 on 1 this year. That let the Bruins get closer but the Habs held on and got the important win.

    The Leafs won’t die and neither will the Thrashers. 1 more point will do it for the Habs. The interesting story to watch is Tampa and Atlanta battling for that last spot.

    Tampa meets the Hurricanes tonight. A Lightning win and the Canadiens are in. A single Lightning point will be enough to eliminate the Leafs. A Lightning loss will really make it interesting.

    It’s pretty much guaranteed the Habs will face Ottawa or Carolina.

    Pick your poison.

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12 Comments
  1. #1 Gumper says:
    April 14, 2006 at 1:24 pm

    I’m as excited about the playoffs comin’ up as I am curious which Canadiens team will show up for the first round. I’d have to think that, despite lapses in consistency, the Habs will be better prepared than some of the other teams. Factors like being the “underdog” and the mid to late season rush of wins, and of course, coaches who’ve been to the big dance more often than i have fingers and toes – can only translate into total positives for us.

    You mention Souray, which begs a question. Even with this statue impersonations with speedy forewards, do you think his other redeeming qualities like point shot, agressive style and leadership qualities – outweigh this particular defensive weakness? Just curious.
    I happen to think they do. Of course, if it was double overtime – game seven – 30 seconds left and it happens, forget I asked.

  2. #2 kazmojo says:
    April 14, 2006 at 2:07 pm

    Gumper’s right about Souray. Maybe his defensive liabilities would be minimized if the Habs were to sign Larry Robinson as another asst coach for next season.

    For the past few games the rest of the defense looks like they could use the help too. Komisarek, Souray and Streit in particular. Streit was pulled in favour of Simpson last night, but Simpson didn’t fare much better. Markov has committed a few boneheaded turnovers as well.

  3. #3 Joe says:
    April 14, 2006 at 2:49 pm

    The Canadiens’ defense doesn’t concern me so much. In most of the games I’ve been able to watch this season they’ve made smart decisions with the puck in their own end a lot more often than not. But it’s also possible that I’m arriving at this conclusion by comparing the Habs’ defensive play to that of the team I’ve seen the most of this year (living in Toronto) – the Leafs… who are appalling in their own end.

    Anyway, my biggest concern is that Huet stays hot in goal. If he does, he’ll make it very difficult on ANY team they face in the playoffs. My second biggest concern is that the Habs keep scoring goals on a consistent basis. (Huet can play his heart out and still fall short of ‘good enough’ if the team stops finding the net.)

    Habs will clinch very soon.

  4. #4 Gumper says:
    April 14, 2006 at 6:50 pm

    JOE — “My second biggest concern is that the Habs keep scoring goals on a consistent basis. (Huet can play his heart out and still fall short of ‘good enough’ if the team stops finding the net.)”

    HEAR, HEAR ..

  5. #5 John says:
    April 15, 2006 at 9:19 am

    Souray’s statue impersonations can be highlight reel, but his contributions to the team compensate for this: he’ll win far more games than he loses for us. That said, the Habs play in their own end has been a little scary of late. If they can improve the transition out of their own end and capitalise better on their chances… the tools are in place for a good run (is the real Alex Kovalev arriving in time for the playoffs? It seems he’s getting ready — put on your seatbelts!).

  6. #6 Joe says:
    April 15, 2006 at 4:45 pm

    Sigh…

    Can Boston do anything right? A 3-2 lead in the third, and of course, they blew it. Two more enormous points for Atlanta. (And I really thought Boston was going to pull out a victory today, too. (That’ll teach me.))

    Oh, well. I suppose the Habs will have to take care of business themselves by earning at least A SINGLE POINT in one of their last two games. They CAN do this, right? They can get a point from either Buffalo or New Jersey, yes? Well, they sure as hell better because it doesn’t look like Atlanta has any intention of losing another game. And I wouldn’t leave things until the last game against New Jersey to do so either!

    Let’s get it done, Habs!

  7. #7 Joe says:
    April 15, 2006 at 9:47 pm

    Un-f**king-believable!

    Beat New Jersey or golf.

    Perhaps that’s a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, but somehow I doubt it.

  8. #8 Gumper says:
    April 15, 2006 at 10:37 pm

    You’d think the Habs would learn something from the last Buffalo meeting but the same disorganised team showed up tonight. I retract my gloss-over of HabsBlog’s assesment that Buffalo was a better team. They are. Particularly in the area of puck possesion. They have more talent too. Kovalev’s a hog. He taught Ribeiro the same thing. Overall, the team is a black and white with no consistency whatsoever. Monday morning Quarter backing aside, Gainey SHOULD have went with Huet. WTF was Abeischer doing on that shorthanded goal? If you weren’t paying attention to it, check the highlight reel at 11. Once again, Buffalo’s speed and persistence on the puck kept Montreal a step behind the play. Unlike the Habs, this Buffalo team was a team doing some REAL playoff prep work!

    Who told them the fire was out?

  9. #9 Joe says:
    April 15, 2006 at 11:22 pm

    There were so many things wrong with tonight’s outcome, I hardly know where to begin.

    OK, first and foremost, I completely agree, what WAS Aebischer doing in net when the team had to earn at least a point to CLINCH a playoff spot? And what kind of message does this send to Huet, your MVP and saviour for the Habs? What does it do to his state of mind, his focus, his attitiude? He sure looked happy sitting on the bench, didn’t he? Gainey, IS there a method to your madness?

    Secondly, when you establish a 2-1 lead after two periods of play, you don’t come out and make high-risk passes out near the blue line DURING A POWERPLAY. No, you secure that 2-1 lead by playing sound hockey, keeping it simple, and making smart decisions with the puck… at BOTH ends of the ice.

    Thirdly, Kovalev. When is he going to realise that it takes a TEAM effort to win? Alexei, while very talented, is NOT Mario Lemieux, and thus cannot single-handedly win a game for the Habs. Well, at least not more than 1% of the time anyway. So where was the playmaking?

    I could go on but I’m already nauseous thinkig about the reality of the Habs situation. So instead I’ll leave this at one word: UNACCEPTABLE.

  10. #10 Joe says:
    April 16, 2006 at 1:50 am

    “The Swiss goalie’s strong play of late leaves Gainey with a difficult choice between Aebischer and Frenchman Cristobal Huet, who has recorded each of his seven shutouts since Feb. 4 after he took over the starting job from Jose Theodore.

    “‘Both of us want to play so we’re going to see what happens,’ Aebischer said.”

    Perhaps Gainey can arrange for BOTH of you to play… together… at Club de Golf.

    Wouldn’t want to upset Davey. Eh, Bobby? Or how about considering this line of thinking instead: Huet earned the job, so it’s his. Aebischer is a back-up to Huet as it stands right now.

  11. #11 Gumper says:
    April 16, 2006 at 11:52 am

    Clinch This!

    season records:

    TB vs WAS
    - TB 4 wins / 3 losses

    ATL vs Was
    - ATL 5 wins / 2 losses

    ATL vs FLA
    - ATL 5 wins / 2 losses
    ________________________

    MTL vs NJ
    - NJ 3 wins / 0 losses

    Science or Mysticism?

  12. #12 Joe says:
    April 16, 2006 at 1:26 pm

    The records speak for themselves, but despite what’s been played out before, this is the time of year when you FIND a way to win, regardless of who your opponent is (i.e. ‘a good team’, ‘a better team’, and so on) on any given night. Ask the Thrashers, who have beaten ‘superior’ clubs repeatedly down the stretch to give themselves the opportunity they now have. Or ask the Leafs, who despite being ousted by a Tampa win last night, tore their opposition to shreds more often than not over the past ten games… and they had the most difficult schedule by far.

    The bottom line is that the Sabres had nothing to play for outside of a playoff ‘tune-up’, while the Habs had their playoff lives to play for last night. They didn’t make it happen. They let it slip away. (I think this says a lot about a team’s character.) So, they are now in an absolute ‘must-win’ or ‘must-lose-in-overtime’ situation to get into the playoffs. As Pat Quinn said yesterday, ‘We are the makers of our own destiny’. So what destiny will the Habs make for themselves Tuesday night?

    That being said, it would be a shame to see them miss the playoffs. This is the year not to miss, as far as I’m concerned. The ‘anything is possible’ cliche seems to apply this year more than most. After all, if anyone is limping into the playoffs, it’s Ottawa and Carolina, despite their respective seedings. The Flyers have been on quite a slide as well.

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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.

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