I’m really happy with the way that Andrei Kostitsyn has elevated his game over the past 10. He is slowly becoming the guy we envisioned him being after last year with Kovalev. Now we’re seeing what he can do without relying on Kovy.

I have been really pleased with the team’s play of late, especially Latendresse, Kostopoulos and Lapierre, who are emerging as an amazing secondary scoring unit with a ferocious fore-check. I am a little worried however at Montreal’s play with one goal leads or trailing. They are going to need to learn how to skate to collect pucks for the dump and chase. It killed all of our momentum against Boston. If the dump and chase is going to be our policy against the Bruins going forward, we’re going to need to have people skating quickly through the neutral zone in order to pressure our opponents D into making turnovers, and to support the fore-check.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Carbo is a great coach, and even at the height of our scoring troubles I thought that somehow he would find a way to motivate our squad.. however, while I love the way the Lats, Lapierre, Kost. line has been playing, I think that there is also something to be said for having predictable lines. Everyone on that squad knows who they’re going to play with, and can build on positive momentum from game to game. I hope that Carbo can see this success and apply it when the rest of the lineup returns to action.

I like that idea in theory, however, Carbo has at times used his grinders throughout the 4 lines with skilled players and the result is 4 lines who aren’t very good at either grinding, or skilled play. Laraque is a little different though, and was semi-effective when Carbo matched him up with Milan Lucic against Boston earlier this year. It will depend on his conditioning mainly. If he’s out of shape he won’t even benefit our 4th line. e’ll need to wait and see on that one.

I don’t have a lineup answer for when Tanguay and Higgins return. If a trade doesn’t follow that happening (which in both cases is rumored to be sometime in february), how do you see the lineup shaping up? If Koivu, Tanguay, Higgins, Laraque come back to the forward lines – what 4 guys do they replace? Dandenault will be some needed reinforcement to our defensive lines, but all of a sudden we have WAY too many guys for roster spots barring injury.

What a game! Tainted only by the worst 4-on-3 powerplay I’ve ever seen.

Just a question guys…..anyone worried at all about Price’s ability to stay healthy? The guy has played about 60 games so far in his career, and he’s been out 3 or 4 times already due to injuries. Do we have another Gaborik or Rick Dipietro here?
Just something I’ve been thinking about….when a young guy comes into this league and spend this much time out of the lineup in less than 1 season, it makes one think.
I guess only time will tell, but not a good start health-wise…any comments?

Barring catastrophic oversight by Bob Gainey Andrei Markov isn’t going anywhere. It will be interesting to see what happens as we get closer to the deadline however.. If it looks like the salary cap is going to go down substantially next season there may be a bunch of guys with large contracts who become available. Why have an $8 million 40 goal scorer, when you could have 2 $4million 25 goal scorers and fill the roster easier? Montreal is already going for broke this year in that we won’t be able to keep all of our free agents, so why not grab a superstar player and make it easier to decide who to sign in the off-season!

Admittedly, MN, I wasn’t around for the earlier coverage. And I can understand why such a bias would exist. So perhaps it’s unfair of me to judge based merely upon the current coverage by CBC… which isn’t bad, in my opinion… save Millen who tends to say the dumbest things.

Anyway, more importantly, how realistic is this Lecavalier deal? Has he even shown interest in playing in Montreal? Further, would this move, if it were to happen, be worth it? In my opinion, the Habs definitely need a Lecavalier type of player to go deep in the coming playoffs. Such a player could be the the deciding factor in a series against Boston, or even an earlier round series. However, I wouldn’t be too keen on giving up too much to get him. I wouldn’t want to see Gainey trade away the Habs future for the hopes that Lecavalier will be the one to lead them to the promise land. Bu then, these types of deals are always a roll of the dice I suppose.

I agree Mats, frankly I’d be amazed if anything happens at all with this deal. I believe common sense will guide Gainey in his decision to forget the whole thing. As I said before, VL is an awesome talent but I just don’t think we need him enough to make such a lopsided offer. We’re kicking *** and taking names right now, why would you mess with that?

I started a blog a little while ago in order to write about these ideas a little more thoroughly, if you click on my name it’ll take you there. Essentially though I think Vincent Lecavalier is DEFINITELY available – his decade long contract is not something Tampa’s ownership is eager to get rid of. I think that after rumors surfaced over what Montreal was going to give up (no stars), Tampa got a little gun shy. Asking for a top line defenseman is a way of ensuring that they won’t be a loser in the deal. Not only is the asking price out of line with what the Habs are willing to pay, but Tampa’s boldness may have turned Gainey towards other options. Yes Lecavalier is worth a lot in return. His ten year contract at 7.727 per season is fair only if the Cap stays at 56.7 million per year. If the Cap goes down, Tampa may be in trouble given that they have signed many long term and expensive deals. If I’m Gainey, I lay down a fair offer that I am firm on, and walk away if the insanity continues. There are other players rumored to be available.

Maybe I’m hearing wrong…but apparently Markov is the only thing holding off the Vinnie deal. Again, I agree with you guys…too much to surrender unless Bullion is gonna start scoring goals at an incredible rate, lol.
A gun at the point is something I think we do need though, not that having Vinnie is something we don’t need. So who’s out there for solid, hard-firing blue-liners. People are mentioning Bouwmeester…would be a nice one too…but if Flo keeps winning, he’s not going nowhere as they’ll need him down the stretch. I’m hearing Kaberle…but Toronto, being as dellusional as they are when thinking of their players worth would probably ask for the farm for this guy…so, probably won’t happen. Anyone else available ?

When this Vinnie deal first came up…my thought was, anyone but Komisarek or Price…but now, as well as we are playing that list has grown substantially to include probably 4 or 5 others. Fun to watch again, and getting points also..can’t ask for anything else…except I wanna start making Boston our b*tch again. GO HABS GO !!!

Vinnie’s contract makes him FAR less valuable than Tampa is bargaining for. The key to making a large trade is being reasonable with what your opponent is willing and capable of giving up. Will Markov transform Tampa into a contender? Not a chance. They need draft picks, and prospects, and young players that they can build a team around. Its really just another example of terrible decision making in the Tampa organization. They could have gotten away with highway robbery. They could have made the type of deal that would totally replenish their team for years to come. That would have been the smart choice. I would have asked for Gorges, Higgins, Plex, Subban a first rounder and another high pick (maybe even next years first rounder). They would have gotten our best defenseman, two roster players who are proven playoff quality players, the offensive defenseman that they want, and the opportunity to make good draft choices to complement Stamkos, Malone, Smith, Prospal, St Louis etc. Instead they ask for a defenseman who by the time they are contenders will have left via free agency!