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Layoff

  • The Canadiens have only played 10 games thus far. The lowest amount of games played in the league.

    Can anyone understand why in less than a month, the Habs have had two very long spans of no activity?

    Does this hurt or help the team right now? Are the Habs going to be overwhelmed with games at some later point in the season?

    Is it tough to stay sharp or focused when you are not playing? The team comes from obscurity again tonight and will face the Blue Jackets and then the Maple Leafs 24 hours later.

    The Habs only regulation loss was to the Ducks after the first layoff, a game where they definitely started slow.

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17 Comments
  1. #1 PACTUM SERVA says:
    November 7, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    Just picked up some beer and a couple of movie tickets for my wife and her friend awwwwwwwwwwww yes the world is right tonight. I think we may come out flat in the first period but then find our legs in the second, lets just hope we dont get down in the first.

  2. #2 groundworking says:
    November 7, 2008 at 11:21 pm

    It’s probably best that they lost one–they’d been pushing their luck lately. And I always think Halak looks like an AHLer. I cringe whenever the other team gets a shot. It showed tonight in the shoot-out.

    He might have been rusty too, though, b/c he looked pretty good at the very start of the year.

  3. #3 habfan in van says:
    November 8, 2008 at 2:13 am

    After tonight’s game, you gotta wonder what the schedule makers at NHL HQ were thinking. February’s sked is brutal – 14 games in 28 days, including 4 back to back games and a 6-game road trip out west.

    They didn’t look particularly sharp tonight. Let’s hope they don’t make a habit of coming back from long breaks looking like they’re still on break (e.g. Xmas & All-Star game).

  4. #4 PACTUM SERVA says:
    November 8, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    Even with our great start so far i still think this team has yet to click. We have played good but not to our potential. I cant wait to see the habs running on jet fuel.

  5. #5 Rocq says:
    November 8, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Habs will have trouble with the refs tonight, not the Leafs.
    1 to 3 two man advantages for the Laffs.

  6. #6 Senet1 says:
    November 8, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    I would like to see Plex and the two Kost brothers on a line together. I think Kovalev as served this line well but it is time for him to be moved to a line with Koivu or Lang. This kid line could be a line of the present as well as the future for many years. They seem to have good chemistry and always seem to come up with a big goal when they are put together. Last night was no exception.

  7. #7 Senet1 says:
    November 8, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    Price is being touted as the Olympic goalie replacing Brodeur by 2010. He has the stage tonight against the leafs. Hope he plays well, based on how we did not finish plays off last night we may need him to be sharp.

  8. #8 Senet1 says:
    November 8, 2008 at 2:12 pm

    I would like to see these line combinations for a while to see if they click.
    Tanguay, Koivu, Kovalev
    A.Kost, Plex, Sergie
    Higgins, Lang, Latendresse
    Fourth line remains the same.

    I would also line to see a line with
    Lang, Kovalev and Higgins

  9. #9 Senet1 says:
    November 8, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    ON Halak, I would like to see him traded to the Western Conference sometime later in the season. He needs to start to show his abilities though or he will not be worth much as trade bait. He has had two bad outings recently and does not look like the goalie that we all felt he would be. I would not be surprised if he gets sent down to get some playing time, Mark Denis is playing well and could be brought up. Not sure how the waiver thing works with either of them though? Anyone know?

  10. #10 groundworking says:
    November 8, 2008 at 11:39 pm

    I enjoyed watching the Habs last year much more than I enjoy them this year. All talent, no heart. I hope it changes or this will be a long year, especially as the other teams get hungrier. I think it will change.

  11. #11 Senet1 says:
    November 9, 2008 at 12:30 am

    We need less offence and a lot more defence if we are going to deal with these in your face type teams. Hope Gainey goes out and gets a veteran defencemen (stay at Home). Where was Laraque tonight seemed like he was lost out there. Any Kovalev has really not shown up for two straight games. Is he hurt? Could not fault Price on the goals. Inexperienced defence is our problem.

  12. #12 starkey says:
    November 9, 2008 at 12:56 am

    Sorry, but you navel-gazers are missing the point. This just isn’t a very good team. Their spot in the standings is misleading. There’s little heart, little grit, no discipline. You won’t be watching this crew very deeply into the spring. Maybe next season, dudes.

  13. #13 BIG-D says:
    November 9, 2008 at 12:59 am

    Only Montreal could make Toronto look that good……

    Montreal has alot of work to do.

    There will be no Stanley Cup for Montreal in 2009. Not a remote chance at that………

  14. #14 groundworking says:
    November 9, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    I wouldn’t throw in the towel quite yet. The Habs enough skill, and enough good coaching and management, to turn things around. On the plus side, Koivu and Tanguay are looking good. Plekanec and Katstitsyn are struggling, which is adding to Kovalev’s troubles. Markov is also doing well, though Komisarek hasn’t been as strong as he was last year.

    Lang is a good addition, and Lapierre is working hard. But let’s face it, Montreal’s #1 line isn’t clicking, and I’m picking up hints of attitude issues with some of the youngtier players who are, for the first time, comfortable in the roster spot.

    And if the league is going to review Kostopolous for his hit when Van Ryn turned away from him at the last second, are they going to look at Grabovski for his blatant attempt to injure (spear) Price? That little **** need a good beating.

  15. #15 Ganz says:
    November 9, 2008 at 9:42 pm

    Sensible post groundworking (#14). Let’s not panic. For the disaster that was last night and the less than impressive play lately, there are more pluses than minuses.

    I’d also like to see Carbo shake things up a bit: Begin should take Lats place for a few games (then we’ll see some effort — from both!!); maybe risk sending Sergei K to Hamilton (I doubt he’d bolt back to Russia with bro here and a good sit-down with Bob about life). Maybe let Shawn Belle, Matt D’Agostini or Yannick Weber have a few games with the big team… just a thought. To me it’s just as logical as sending Price to Hamilton was last year.

    I agree with many: we’re vulnerable on defence with only Breeze-by and O’Byrne as the fall-back when Hammer gets hurt. Play Dandenault on defense. Hell, if he plays OK he’d improve his trade value (which has gotta be low with his salary and press-box time).

    We should be fair, the lackadaisical play may be due to the stupid schedule, but PICK IT UP BOYS… LET’S SEE SOME SUSTAINED (60 mins) EFFORT!!!

  16. #16 Senet1 says:
    November 10, 2008 at 8:15 pm

    To me we saw a team that took two teams for granted and did not prepare to play against these two teams. Lets face it we have trouble with teams that play in your face type of hocket and if we are not prepared then a team that works are like Toronto and Columbus are going to beat you many times. Hammer was sure missed on defence and as I have said a hundred times that is our weakest position on our team. I know that you all like Obryne and I do too but he played very badly against the leafs. We certainly could not fault Price on any of the goals in hind sight had Price played against Columbus we would have won that game and Halik just is not playing well right now. I may be because he is not getting enough playing time but hey that is what happens with a back up goalie. He probably should be in Hamilton and bring up Denis.

    I would do three things:
    I would move Kovy on a line with Lang.
    I would move Sergie on a line with his brother and Plex.
    Koivu and Tanguay seem to be playing well, but we need another player on that line who wants to play hockey. Not sure who I would play unless it would be Kovy and keep Lang’s line in tack.
    Bob we need an experience defenceman, stay at home but moves the puck well.

  17. #17 Senet1 says:
    November 10, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    One other Change, Price plays the next five games in a row. Let see what he is made of, this week will be like the playoffs, every other night.

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  • goalie : Any thoughts out there? I watched the Oilers - Red Wings. THAT was excitement.
  • Senet1 : Gomez Buyout cap hi Scott Gomez buyout from CapGeek.com ◦ 2012-13: $3,523,810 ◦ 2013-14: $4,523,810 ◦ 2014-15: $1,666,667 ◦ 2015-16: $1,666,667 t.
  • Senet1 : Well I never thought he would see February but here we are and he is still there. The problem is and most people are like this they hate to admit that they made a mistake. A mistake of hiring PG.
  • goalie : Habs MUST announce that PG is fired well before the trading deadline. The trouble is is that we know we have to change players, we have a lame GM and the new GM coming in will then inherit players that Gauthier gets. FIRE his ass now! I am wondering, do Molson's know how to run an organization. Doesn't seem like it to me at this time.
  • HabsLoseAgain : Keep it french and keep it real lol
  • HabsLoseAgain : PG must be blowing jeff molson hard if he still has a job at this point.
  • HabsLoseAgain : Ans just think guys PG is gonna lead us to the trade deadline bahahahaha Scary eh?
  • goalie : One could go on adn on about our woes. Get in a new GM whow knows what it takes to win in the NHL (that would be size, skating and puck control Pierre)and try step by step to rebuild. and ... with a new coaching staff also.
  • goalie : Nice to see you also look at the stats as they don't usually lie. Unfortunately the |Gomez contract absolutely tied the GM's hands. We essentially have a cap of $7 M bveloew the other teams as Gomez may as well be tanning in Mexico. Gionat has NOT been a successful captain. Gill is aging (but at leats he gives 100%) Campoli adn Kaberle have not played as wella s I thought they would.
  • Senet1 : We need to draft a couple of star forwards who can score and become game breakers. It is hard to get these types of players in trades although Parise is available, so is Bobby Ryan. There is 60 goals a year. Gomez has now gone a full year without scoring a goal. So how much is that $7+ M per goal. So $7M divided by 0 is zero. So you see math does not lie. That is pretty good stat???????
  • Senet1 : You cannot win games unless with a team like this unless all 20 players I playing well. Even if you have 20 players playing well they still need guidance from the coaches.
  • Senet1 : PK played a H_ell of a game today Eller played well but had two wingers that were pretty useless on his line. To me there are a lot of positives on this team, put when you do not have any super star scorer like most teams then you need to play as a 20 man team.
  • Senet1 : We I have to disagree a little, I admit things do not look good, but until the second goal we were outplaying them but not finishing anything, when you look how hard some of the guys were working in the corners to get the puck out front and when they did no body was there to shoot it or deflect it. I thought that our #1 line played really well but when a team only has to worry about shutting down one line it usually is easy. Budia played well, could not fault him on any of the goals. PK played
  • goalie : is sinking!!!
  • goalie : ...and that boat
  • goalie : In other years there would be lots of partivipants on this blog. Our team's performance this season has been a total turn-off even for the bloggers. Mark my words.... we will NEVER know but I would bet my last cent that it will not be easy to sign a new coach in Montreal. This franchise is in deep deep trouble. Ther eare essentially no good veternas to build around, so we;re going to have to try and build using 20 year olds. Oilers tried that and were a complete failure. We're in the same boat
  • goalie : Can anyone come up with anything positive about our perforance today? I honestly cannot!
  • goalie : Even laayers like Cole, Pacs. Bourque seemed totally frustrated today. What we are seeng is the result of poor management over the past 5 or so seasons. The job wasnt dopne now we have a team that is probably the easiest team in the NHL to play against!
  • goalie : At least Deharnais is trying BUTR he is not and never will be a number 1 or even 2 center. When he goes up gainst bigger players he simply can't get anything done offensively. Thisis not to question his effort!
  • Senet1 : Basically we have one line and Washington was able to shut them down. We need a game breaker, even the other worse teams in the league have a game breaker we do not. Someone to bury the puck.
  • Senet1 : If you can score goals then eventually the defence and goalies will take care of the other end.
  • Senet1 : We need to go after goal scorers I would rather lose a game 6-5 and 1-0.
  • Senet1 : Well if you cannot score which has been our problem all year you cannot win games.
  • Mats Naslund : sorry - on replay he didn't touch the puck - which is an issue as well, but still as soft as can be in his own end. terrible play that probably does it.
  • Mats Naslund : BRUTAL giveaway by Kaberle kills the game.. soft as tissue.
  • Mats Naslund : Cole - dangerous shot.. but blocked again.
  • Mats Naslund : 18 blocks for WAS today.. all offense has been pretty chippy.
  • Senet1 : On the day before the trading deadline, I would put Gomez on waivers and see if someone selects him.
  • Senet1 : Oh better coaching and better attitude with some of the players. Some players like Plekanec seem to be working hard but not accomplishing anything.
  • Senet1 : Itn't it amazing how a coach has turned that team around. At one time Montreal had more points than they did. I have said it all year, if we could get a coach who could get these guys playing as a team we are a lot better team than we are showing. That is why I do not think that we have to do a lot to turn this team around, it is a matter of better scoring and better defensive systems 5-5. Lets face it you do not have a real bad defence when you have the top PK in the league. The kids are mat
  • goalie : In our rebuilding for nect year the FIRST things I would work toward is a new power play alignment - even if that means trading a guy like Plex. We need layers who can control the puck and do that thing called score. Then we go from there. Our PP has been the basis of player frustration that has now grown to virtually every apsect of the game.
  • goalie : Unfortunately for Budaj that was the correct call. Great save. Gomez must be totally embarrassed just like his play has been for the past year.--Yes the Blues are better than the Habs because they are COACHED BETTER not because they have vastly better talent.
  • Mats Naslund : no shots on that powerplay - if you can call it that.
  • Mats Naslund : 2 more chances after a brutal PP but they are blocked again.
  • Mats Naslund : More plekanec on the point?? come on!

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