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Pre-Season Losing

  • Does it matter?

    Not really.

    You’d love to already see something great from guys like Samsonov and Huet and no one wants to see losses pile up but in the end it means absolutely nothing.

    However, the Canadiens better start getting organized quickly because October should be a pretty rough eye opening month of their schedule.

    Oct 6, 2006 AWAY Sabres
    Oct 7, 2006 AWAY Maple Leafs
    Oct 11, 2006 AWAY Flyers
    Oct 14, 2006 HOME Senators
    Oct 17, 2006 HOME Flames
    Oct 18, 2006 AWAY Blackhawks
    Oct 21, 2006 HOME Avalanche
    Oct 23, 2006 HOME Sabres
    Oct 26, 2006 AWAY Bruins
    Oct 28, 2006 HOME Maple Leafs
    Oct 31, 2006 HOME Senators

    7 Divisonal games in the first month including 2 against the Sens, Sabres and Leafs. The Flyers, Flames and Avalanche are no pushovers either and who knows what the Blackhawks will turn out to be.There should be a fairly clear picture of the Northeast Division already emerging at the end of October.

    If one of those teams really stumble out of the gate it may be too hard to play catchup for the remainder of the season.

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18 Comments
  1. #1 Alestar says:
    September 25, 2006 at 10:29 am

    Until we see the full NHL line-up playing together, there is no reason to panic. Carbo obviously needs to tinker with the lines. Be interesting to see who sticks with the team…Latendresse is doing it again, seems to play better against better players.

    18

  2. #2 Michael Morgan says:
    September 25, 2006 at 11:05 am

    When you look at the player movement in the summer and who wound up where it seems that Gainey didn’t extend himself to improve the Habs. That may be because he has a strategic plan that evolves over several years or it may be that the team reflects his own style of play and coaching which is not star based but rather a conservative small market philosophy of getting the best out of ‘B’players. I agree that it isn’t time to panic but more a time to watch the experiment in chemistry unfold however it sometimes appears that the Habs may have more talent behind the bench than in front of it.
    There were some very attractive players available in the off season from Neidermayer and Pronger to Ed Jovonoski and Todd Bertuzzi, there is a long list, but not one heavy ticket seller was bought and I think Gillette was prepared to spend some money. So it gets back to wait and see if Gainey Carbo and Vinny see something we don’t in the 2007 – 2007 version of the Glorieux.

  3. #3 habs#1fan says:
    September 25, 2006 at 11:48 am

    I have faith in the Habs. Of these 11 games I believe they can rack up 6 or so wins and perhaps a tie or two. 6-4-1 or 6-3-2 doesnt sound that bad does it? I get annoyed by some people saying the first 5 games are gonna be losses. I dont think so.
    1. Buffalo: will be tough, may result in a loss.
    2. Toronto: here’s a win.
    3. Philly: The Habs really gave them all sorts of trouble last year. I say Win
    4,5. Ott and Cgy: Both home games, It is realistic to think the Habbies will win at least one of these games.
    So I say they go 3-2 or 3-1-1, but what the hell do I know, I’m just a fan and an optimist. GO HABS GO

  4. #4 habsland here says:
    September 25, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    Unfortunately, being an optimist, isn’t being a realist! How many times have the habs won in Buffalo, the last few years? almost nil. Also in the last few years, we rarely beat the leafs. I don’t know why, but we just can’t seem to beat them, even tho our team last year, was superior to them. I see the opposite this year. As much as I hate the leafs, I do think they are superior to us, talent wise, and they will the majority of games against us. I think October will a brutal month for us, and I think it will make or break the season. If we get off to a bad start, we will be in real trouble. Remember, all the teams in our division, made substantial improvement. I can’t say the same for the habs.

  5. #5 Habs#1 says:
    September 25, 2006 at 5:25 pm

    Some interesting comments from Chris Higgins in an article at TSN.ca after the loss on Saturday were that he said that the team didn’t put in a full effort and took shifts off. That dosen’t suprise me especially the Europeans because they don’t want to risk hurting themselves. These last four games will tell a lot more than the first four.

    And as for the Leafs, They don’t really have much offensive talent beyond Sundin and possibly Steen. Tucker only scored that much cause he played on Sundin’s line, Peca’s a checker and not an offensive player anymore and the rest of their young guys are future second/third liners. Kubina and Gill are overpaid as well as McCabe and all brutal in their own end and Raycroft was a fluke in 2004.

  6. #6 habs#1fan says:
    September 25, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    I agree with you Habs#1. And I have to disagree with you Habsland, the Leafs arent superior to the Habs. Why would they be? In goal Raycroft (he could be great sure but then again he could be, and probably will be bad) Dmen are not better than ours. MaCabe and Kaberle will never duplicate last years numbers. And they will struggle to score goals in my opinion. I also hate the Leafs so I gotta talk some smack about them.
    GO HABS GO

  7. #7 Jack _Tornton says:
    September 25, 2006 at 9:01 pm

    Montreal Canadiesn have the best ever teeam in their history guys!!!!
    TRUST ME…Its all about our luck now! We got this first line which is formed by KOIVU-HIGGINS-RYDER second: LATENDRESS-RIBS-KOV third: PEREZ-JOHNSON-KOST
    fouth: DOWNEY-BONK-BEGIN

    WE HAVE THE BEST EVER TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    reminder: only if our luck works!!

  8. #8 Jack _Tornton says:
    September 25, 2006 at 9:02 pm

    Guys Im sorry about my spelling mistakes!!! Too exited ’bout the game! Hearing it on radio… lol

  9. #9 Oct.21 - - - - The Return Of THEO!! says:
    September 25, 2006 at 10:56 pm

    Habs just beat ottawa 7-3!!! Finally, the team woke up!! Guillaume Latendresse
    had 2 goals and an assist and Higgins had 2 goals!! GO HABS GO!!

    THIS YEAR, WE GET OUR CUP BACK

  10. #10 sly vester says:
    September 26, 2006 at 3:17 am

    Nice line there jack, but replace perez with Samsonov and kost with pleks… heres how it should look! We didnt spend almost 4 mill to not include sammy in the lineup lol..

    Ryder – Koivu – Higgins
    Kovalev – Ribeiro – Latendresse (hopefully he gets his shot)
    Samsonov – Plekanec – Johnson (these guys all have rockets attached to their skates, its the best line EVER! after the first and second line… nah theyre even!)

    3 scoring lines would be great!

  11. #11 J-Nic says:
    September 26, 2006 at 1:47 pm

    Cmon guys

    don’t tell me we spent 4 millions on a guy who will play in the third line ? Samsonov is surely better than this, if not we are in big trouble.

    I think Samsonov and Kovalev will keep playing together, but Ribeiro will see a third line with Latendresse (if he gets in).

    BTW : Any rumors or something of discussion between Habs and Latendress Agent ? I hope there is.

  12. #12 Razz says:
    September 26, 2006 at 3:40 pm

    Great lines those could be SLy

  13. #13 snake says:
    September 26, 2006 at 6:29 pm

    Sylvester hit the lines right on the nose.

    Latendresse has a connection with Ribeiro. Add Kovy on that line and you have a great dynamic connnection. Sammy playing with Pleks and Johnson is perfect I really like that. HE can play with Kovy on the PP but they do not match well together 5 on 5. The 1st line is flying and with Ryder’s improved endurance this year makes that line great. DOnt start considering 1st, 2nd , 3rd lines cause they will all score. The top teams all have 3 scoring lines and that is what we will have. on the 4th you can through however is playing hardest at the time. Begin, Bonk, Murray and rotate in Prez and Downey. If someone goes down with an injury then Prez can move in on their spot.

    Im sure Carbo is thinking the same thing right now. All depends if Gui can continue to play hard. Hopefully he will not have a game where he is totally dominated phtsically by a bigger opponent.

  14. #14 snake says:
    September 26, 2006 at 6:30 pm

    Kostisyn has already booked his ticket to Hamilton in my opinion. HE will do well with Grabovski and Locke.

  15. #15 Jack _Tornton says:
    September 26, 2006 at 8:17 pm

    Thats the perfect lineups guys!!!!!!!

    The only thing left is the cup……WE got the team and this time its not a dream!
    Am I rapping right now lol! WE got the team and its not a dream lol

  16. #16 Jack _Tornton says:
    September 26, 2006 at 8:18 pm

    I hope Latendress becomes a super star player and there Canadiens go for another 5 cups in a row…

  17. #17 Habs#1 says:
    September 26, 2006 at 10:20 pm

    Habs 4, T-Bay 3!!! Like I said earlier in this blog the last four games will tell us more than the first four. These last two games I think are a better beromiter about how good the Habs will be.

    The past two games they’ve scored a lot more goals and I think they will continue to in the regular season, and they’ve responded well to adversity.

    And boy did Perezhogin take advantage of his oppurtunity. And did Latendresse make a big mistake. He looked really good again but when he got kicked out of the game Perezhogin really took advantage, getting an assist and the OT winner may have been enough to pull him out of the minors.

  18. #18 Habs#1 says:
    September 26, 2006 at 11:13 pm

    I forgot to add that the Habs need to become more disciplined and stop taking so many penalty’s. The Lightning had what, 11 powerplays! That’s ridiculous and it needs to be fixed.

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  • Senet1 : It will be interesting to see how Sutter does because to me the Oilers are not his kind of team, but then again neither were the Flames.
  • goalie : I don't know when they'll announce it but the Oilers will be signing Sutter (Flames ex-coach) to coach their team - that's why Kevin Lowe chose him to coach in the World's. That was the world's worst kept secret.
  • Senet1 : I guess I wish we could get it done so all the speculating was over and we can get to building out team.
  • goalie : I can't type.... what a faux pas on my behalf...
  • goalie : I just realized what I said adn didn't say yesterday. What a fayx as on my behalf. Regarding coaching Randy Cunnyworth MUSDT stay as an assistant- he deserves at least that after the tremendous job he did in the latter part of this past season. I'd still mlike to have Robinson, Carbo adn Allard on the staff also.
  • Avatar37 : I agree Senet, my choice if we can't have Cunneyworth would be Crawford, Robinson on defense, Cunneyworth for offense, and Carbo as offense/faceoffs .
  • Senet1 : I think if I had my choice it would be Crawford and see if he could get Carbo and Robinson as assistants. That would be my idea coaching team.
  • goalie : I witnesed Marc Crawford MANY times when the Avs, etc. played against Oilers and let me tell you - he is constantly on the referees asses virtually game after game. He is the complete OPPOSITE of J. Martin. Crawford is calm on TSN but he is one excited coach behind the bench. A friend of mine who was an NHL linesman for 26 years said they dreaded Crawford he was so tough on the officials!
  • goalie : You know, I've bee thinking about the coaching situation. I'd be really excited if the Habs had Hartley as head coach and Carbo adn Robinson as his assistants. I also read it somewhere about a month ago that Toronto's goalie coach Allard (?) wants to relocate back to Montreal where he has his goaltending school/business. Add him to the mix and I'd say the Habs would be in great shape coaching wise.
  • Avatar37 : Well, from what I recall, Hartley didn't do all that well with the Thrashers. But, I don't know enough about him to judge one way or the other. Crawford I do know, and he always seemed to be a good, level headed coach to me.
  • Senet1 : even Pacioretty two years ago did not impress any of us. Younger players have to play and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If they sit in the press box they are learning nothing.
  • Senet1 : Of course if he have some good assistants like a Larry Robinson to teach the young defence and someone like Carbo to teach faceoffs etc. then your coach does not have to be as good at teaching. If Hartley fits the bill you get no argument from me. My only previous point is that if he is impatient with your younger players to the point that he does not play them, then we are right back where we were with Martin. Martin was a good coach too, but how he handled Emelin, PK and even Pacioretty two
  • goalie : I would like to see the Habs sign a coach who realizes that our team isn't tough enough (we need to get bigger and somewhat more nastier),the coach needs t be a great TEACHER and be a coach who can get the players to understand and buy into his system. Other than that I couldn't care what lingo he speaks. I wnat to see our team become a ligitimate contender fast!
  • HabsLoseAgain : Well we dont know if he is or is not a teaching coach. I woukd just hate to paint Hartley something that he is not. There will always be questions but if Hartley was hired as the habs new bench boss i for one would not be overly upset.
  • Senet1 : My thoughts are not that he is or is not a good coach but rather that when he won the cup he had an experience team of superstars on that team. Where as we have a group of young inexperienced players, is he a teaching coach or a tactical coach or both? I am not question whether he is a good coach, but my question therefore is he the coach for us at this point in the deveopment of our team?? Not sure we are all purely speculating at the moment?
  • Senet1 : Something happened to my first post. I will try again.
  • Senet1 : That is why I said I am not sure he is the coach for us at this time? Right now we are all speculating including yourself, because non of us know for sure?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Crawford also won a cup with Patrick Roy so would you say he is a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best goaltenders of alltime?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Senrt so please give me some reasons why you think Hartley is not the coach the habs need right now. What is it that you do not like about him or his coaching style?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Well all great coaches had great players playing for them so i guess you you add a a pile of other coaches to that list including Bowan......
  • Senet1 : Hartley, was he a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best altime goaltenders of all time. I am not sure that he is the type of coach that this organization needs right now. Unless of course we sign a ton of free agents.
  • Avatar37 : However, my feelings may completely be wrong, Hartley may turn out to be a good fit.
  • Avatar37 : I didn't say Hartley was unknown, I said we demoted a good coach in Cunneyworth and now have an unknown quantity because we don't have a coach. I don't have that great a feeling about Hartley, I'd be much more comfortable with Crawford.
  • HabsLoseAgain : In my opinion i think he might be a good fit in montreal. Oh and he also likes to have a tough team.
  • HabsLoseAgain : Also this year he coached the ZSC Lions to the swiss championship title.
  • HabsLoseAgain : lol the so called "unknown" won a cup in 2000-2001 with the colarado avalanch.
  • HabsLoseAgain : lol Bob Hartley is not an unknown lol.....sheesh.
  • Senet1 : I think he has until the trading deadline to show us that he deserves to be on this team. If he does not get back on track then he could be simply a 2nd round draft pick to whoever we can trade him to.
  • Avatar37 : Bourque reminds me of Pouliot, size, skill, and invisible. He needs to get back to playing a physical game and bang people around and maybe he'll start getting some of those garbage goals again. Need to get to the front of the net. I hope he can find his game again.
  • Avatar37 : We had a good coach in Randy Cunneyworth. Now we have an unknown, with Bob Hartley rumoured to be the front runner. I'd rather have Cunneyworth.
  • goalie : A player like Rene Bourwue has al the physical attributes of what would be a beter than average player. Hwever, he certainly didn't play that well especially after being in Montreal about three weeks. We NEED players like Rene to play hard AND produce points on a REGULAR BASIS in order for us to be competitive.
  • Senet1 : MONTREAL – Rene Bourque had a rocky start to his career as a Hab, but he’s planning on using the next four years to make up for it. After arriving in Montreal under less-than-ideal circumstances in January, Bourque spent the following 38 games hoping to find the spark he needed to rekindle his offensive production. Despite flanking Tomas Plekanec on the team’s second line to close out the season, the 30-year-old sniper suddenly found himself firing blanks in his new NHL home.
  • Senet1 : I think we have to be patient and not expect too much too soon. Let's get a strong management team in place, make a good choices in the draft get a good coach and then see what we need at the free agent market. I will not be too disapointed if we miss the playoffs again next year if it means a long term team success. We have the opportunity to make some major strides over the next two years at the draft table. Then we fill in the holes.
  • goalie : I certainly agree that we need to get some impact forwards who will sign for 5 years, not for a season then walk away. That's not going to help us.
  • goalie : I wouldn't trade PK for Ovetchkin no matter what. He is a coach's NIGHTMARE and a poor team player.

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