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Two Games Remain

  • The Habs will finish no worse than 2nd in the Eastern Conference.

    How important is it to reach 1st in the Conference?

    Do you rest your men, knowing that the real battle begins April 9th?

    Or, do you go all out to win the regular season Conference title? Guaranteed home ice being the only real spoils it comes with, other than meaningless bragging rights.

    The Sabres will be ready to play, their playoff hopes depending on it. The Habs, coast through or go after the crown?

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78 Comments
  1. #1 Ice Man says:
    April 4, 2008 at 8:42 am

    Thank you STUO11

  2. #2 habby says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:38 am

    awesome video STUO11!!

  3. #3 Xtrahabsfan says:
    April 4, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  4. #4 Christopher says:
    April 4, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    Is anyone else a little worried now that the Capitals have a playoff spot?

    Not sure if as many of you recall as i do how Ovechkin single handedly embarrased us is a four goal affair?

    Or that Cristobal Huet would love nothing more than to steal a series from us?

    It will be interesting to see who will grab that last seed in the East, I have a feeling that Washington will actually finsih with the third seed beating out the Canes for the win of their division, which would drop Carolina to eighth place and possibly missing the playoffs all together.

    Obviously the best case scenario is to face Boston in the first round as we are undefeated against the Bruins all year long. However facing Carolina would be a well deserved pay back to them for stealing the series against us two years ago with their rookie phenom goalie Cam Ward. This time around we have our own young phenom goalie in Carey Price, whom looks like every much of a long term winner to me.

    Alfredson is now done with the Sens which just cements their odds of either missing the playoffs or bowing out very early. Look for the Penguins and Devils (if Brodeur plays his best) to be other contenders in the East.

    The unfortunate part of Montreal’s wonderful season is that even if they get all the way to the Stanley Cup Final (which in itself would be an amazing feat) it is going to be extremely difficult to be the West to win the cup. With teams like Detroit, San Jose, Minnesota, Anaheim, Dallas, Colorado and even Calgary…it goes to show how much stronger the West is than the East….and really the Eastern Conference is wide open…any team could reach the final, which makes Montreal’s odds that much better to be the fourth Canadian team in as many years to reach the Stanley Cup Final

  5. #5 Ice Man says:
    April 4, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    This song will be played in Montreal in June 2008.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCdwARaak1w

  6. #6 STUO11 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    I’m not really worried that the Caps are in. If we’d play them then the habs would win in 6 games, I t would just be a longer first round that’s all. Their best player is a rookie, yes he’s the man, but If montreal’s D plays really good on Ovechkin, the capitals won’t even end up scoring more than 1 goal a game.

  7. #7 Joseph says:
    April 4, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    Washington, Washington, Washington…

    You cannot leave your fate in the hands of others. When Ottawa handles Boston, Carolina the Panthers, and Philadelphia the Devils and Penguins, you are going to be kicking yourselves for not playing better earlier on.

    As to regular season series, I wouldn’t put all that much stock in them as history has shown that they are often meaningless in the playoffs. As I stated before, Ottawa owned the Leafs throughout the regular season for several years, only to lose miserably to them in the playoffs each of those years. On that note, I wouldn’t be begging for a first round match-up against Boston, based on the assumption that the Habs will just roll over them. Don’t get me wrong, the Habs might end up rolling over them, but nothing is guaranteed. After all, there is a lot of history there.

    Anyway, they’ll play who they’ll play, and I, for one, will watch and enjoy! It’s been a great season!

  8. #8 habsalltheway says:
    April 4, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    Just looking at the standings and if OTT. lose tonight and WASH. wins then WASH will get a playoff spot over OTT because of the wins WASH has over OTT.
    (4-0 against OTT this year)And that will leave PHILY. to only need one win in there last two games and OTT is out of the playoffs…. :) A lot of ifs but the way the teams are playing that are involved it can very well happen….
    GO HABS GO :)

  9. #9 Xtrahabsfan says:
    April 4, 2008 at 7:14 pm

    Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…..Woooooooooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  10. #10 Joseph says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    So much for predictions, hey?

  11. #11 hablifer says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    Ottawa is in the playoffs. They backed in, because they lost, and Florida beat Carolina. Looks like we’re playing the Sens. If Boston wins tomorrow at home vs the sabres, (and they will) at we win, it’s the sens. we can beat them, no problem. Without Alfreddson and Fisher they’re not the same, and they lost at home to the bruins. What does that tell you? I think Pitt plays Philly. that will be a blood bath. good! they’ll beat each other up for us.

  12. #12 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    Hey Joseph, I never said that Malkin didn’t make Pittsburgh a better offensive team who wouldn;t like to have either of them ontheir team. Their both great players and that is a fact. I also never said I wouldn’t like Malkin on my team what I said was I would take the Canadian over the European. As for either of them ending up in Washington, you are right Crobsy will never be any place else but Pittsburgh and if we had a chance at Malkin I would certainly take it. One thing you have to understand, I would never run down Malkin but then again it is not in my nature to run down any great player. YOu are right about one other thing this has been a good friendly discussion and I think we should have more of them where two guys can disagree without using deflamatory comments to ridicule the other person. Lets face it we disagree but that is what makes us both great hockey fans.
    Thanks for the discussion, sorry I could not get on the blog earlier.

  13. #13 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:47 pm

    correction I had Washington on the brain I met Montreal.

  14. #14 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    If I understand the tie breaker the team with the most wins is the first fie breaker.Lets assume that Boston, Ottawa and Philly end up tied.Ottawa would be the 6th place then Boston and Philly? If Philly beats Pitts then they would move to 6th if Boston also wins then Ottaw is eigth.

    It looks like Carolina is out unless Washington cannot beat or tie/SO/OT Florida.

    This means we would play any of the three teams Bos, Ott or Philly. If we beat the leafs, and Philly beats Pitts then we are # 1 which changes the mix again. So I guess we are not going to know until Sunday night regardless of who wins on Saturday.

  15. #15 Don Carnage says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    Just looking at the standings and if OTT. lose tonight and WASH. wins then WASH will get a playoff spot over OTT because of the wins WASH has over OTT.
    (4-0 against OTT this year)And that will leave PHILY. to only need one win in there last two games and OTT is out of the playoffs…. A lot of ifs but the way the teams are playing that are involved it can very well happen….
    GO HABS GO

    Dude your way off here … Ott is in Canes are out …

  16. #16 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:11 pm

    Ottawa is already in by virtue of Carolina’s loss tonight

  17. #17 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:14 pm

    I was trying to understand the tie breaker. It looks like Carolina is out unless washington looses tomorrow night. If Washington looses then they are out.

  18. #18 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    I think the only way the Philly gets out of eigth is if they beat Pitts on Sunday.

  19. #19 Senet 1 says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:19 pm

    If Boston loses the then they are 7th unless Philly loses. Bottom line is Ottawa has more wins and Boston and Philly cannot catch them in wins so they have to beat them in points.

  20. #20 patrick says:
    April 5, 2008 at 1:04 am

    the only way we don’t play ottawa is if philly beats pittsburgh, and then we lose to the leafs

  21. #21 STUO11 says:
    April 5, 2008 at 7:50 am

    who would you guys rather play against? The Sens,Flyers or Bruins? Just wondering.

  22. #22 habs4life says:
    April 5, 2008 at 10:06 am

    If D Alfredsson and M Fisher out for “Weeks” was true, Habs would have visible advantage against Ottawa. Without DA and MF, Ottawa just makes no Sense.

    Anyway, whoever to meet, Go Habs Go!!!

  23. #23 Xtrahabsfan says:
    April 5, 2008 at 10:48 am

    First let’s finnaly blow out the Leaf’s and end the regular season on a perfact note”blow them the f@ck up,lol” and then a new season commeth”playoffs!”.The east has got to face our beast…GO HABS GO !!!!!!

  24. #24 PACTUM SERVA says:
    April 5, 2008 at 12:19 pm

    Agreed XTRA, time to put that joke of an organization behind us for good.

  25. #25 Joseph says:
    April 5, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    No problem, Senet 1. I realize that there’s life outside of the internet.

    As to our discussions, they’ll always be healthy, just as long as we respect one another’s opinions. And I re-iterate that these are opinions because I certainly don’t know everything about hockey. (I could easily prove to be wrong about most of what I think I know.)

    Random thoughts…

    All of this talk of match-ups is making my head hurt. Is it any wonder that civilized human beings are by far the most stressed animals on the planet? Analyze this, analyze that. Understand this, understand that. Relax and enjoy! :-)

    The word in Leafsland is that the Leafs are now losing intentionally to impove their draft positioning. If this is the case (unlikely), then perhaps we should thank them in advance for tonight’s victory?

  26. #26 Joseph says:
    April 5, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    Ya, evidently Ottawa didn’t beat them 8-2 two nights ago but rather the Leafs allowed Ottawa to beat them 8-2 two nights ago… for the sake of the draft all of a sudden.

  27. #27 Joseph says:
    April 5, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    Something’s rotten in Toronto (and I think it’s the Leafs):

    http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/410553

  28. #28 Senet 1 says:
    April 5, 2008 at 5:52 pm

    Joseph I enjoyed out discussion and you are right about these match ups. It sort of looks like we play Ottawa because if Philly wins that puts us in 1st and Ottawa in 8th. If Philly loses that leaves them in 8th and Ottawa in 7th. This is all assuming that Boston beats Buffalo. If Boston looses i think that pust Boston in 7th and Ottawa in 6th unless of course Philly loses???? Wow!!!

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4 guests are online.
  • 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.
  • Senet1 : I believe he will as we graducally put better players around him and build this team.
  • Senet1 : Goalie I agree with Avatar. PK is the present and future of this teams defence. I would not even take Staal from Pittsburg unless I had him tied up in a long term contract of a Minimum of 5 years. Also once has to consider the salary difference. Pk is on the move up probably 3M plus for his next contract and then eventually 4-5M if he keeps on improving. He has moved his game up two gears since he came into the league 2 years ago. He now has to move to the next level and I believe he will as w
  • Avatar37 : pressure playing in Montreal, since he has problems with the expectations in Washington and Montreal isn't any easier. Then again, the media were very easy on Kovalev, so maybe it's a Russian thing? No idea. Anyway, yeah, it would have to be an established star that gives us an immediate drastic upgrade at forward, that's the only way I'd trade PK, because we'd be giving up a potential QB on our blueline for the next decade.

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