Game #38 RDS Dream Team Downs Habs

Details

Date: 30/12/2010
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Tampa Bay
Loss: 1-4

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Desjardins (W)

Habs goalscorers: Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: St. Louis, Kubina, Stamkos (2)

Play of the game

Want to know how worthwhile this game was to watch? The play of the game was our goal. It happened in the first minute. It wasn't a shot on net. Pacioretty did make a nice play by putting in the effort to get a round a defenceman. We'll chalk that up to the element of surprise. Other good plays included the first line change after the two too many men penalties - they got right back on track with the one player on, one player off routine.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Tomas Plekanec
The one piece of good news is that Plekanec's slump may be nearing an end. he looked good at points even. Using speed is key to his success and he's remembered that after a month or so of searching. It was a game with few great chances, but Tomas had 6 shots and 10 attempts on net. He was the best of the forwards for me.

Mike Cammalleri
This may never happen again, but Cammalleri makes the dome over on the strength of his PK duty. Some of the Habs best chances came shorthanded (I guess they had ample time to play down a man) and Mike was at the heart of a few o them. Really, as the offensive leader of the team, he should be better, but I thought he looked like he was trying.

Max Pacioretty
Ultimately, with his single act, Pacioretty did the one thing Canadiens forwards as a group seem to have been unable to do for a couple of weeks now - put a dangerous puck on net. I didn't notice how he played the rest of the game really, but that goal was enough to dome him.

Defencemen

PK Subban - Game Puck
I lied, there's more good news. PK is regaining his mojo. The play of the game apart from the goal was a hit he timed on Thompson. At other times, I noticed him edging in on strong skates to swipe pucks like he used to. He even got a PP shot on net without it being deflected. The pairings need work, and the team misses Gorges, but get PK into more important minutes - he's turned a corner.

James Wisniewski
Puck control on the PP - how refreshing. He's no Markov, but he can handle a hard pass and block a clearing attempt. We didn't really get chance to see much of his shooting (thanks, Weber), but that should come. I'd say this acquisition has pleasant surprise potential. Replacement for Markov right now, and auditioning for Hamrlik's replacement in the future?

Goaltender

Carey Price
Not player of the game material, but Carey did alright. A penalty shot allowed against the best scorer in the league on the best move in the league is no black mark. Nor, to be honest is letting in a goal on a 5-on-3 (2x too many men!). Carey made some big saves and kept his team alive for a long time while they decided whether they were going to try and put their embarrassing "when trailing" records behind them.

Comments

RDS must get pretty excited for these games. A smorgasbord of French Canadiana down there in Baie Tampa. The Habs less so, as they continue their suffereing at the hands of St. Louis and now add Desjardins to the list of goalies they make look NHL calibre (keeping in mind he's a 0.900 AHLer this season). Personally I find this all a bit embarrassing. The fawning over everyone and anyone by the team of "pros" we must watch, but more importantly the way the Canadiens can't anticipate or ever rise to occasion themselves.

I don't have the tally of scoring chances for the Habs yet, but I wasn't lying when I chose the play of the game. I thought there may have been one, and it went in. In the first minute.

The defence on the team is a problem, but there's a solid explanation. Gorges is missed, Weber is teething and Wisniewski is used to treating 4 goals against like a moral victory. The offense on the other hand is a great concern. We'll no doubt be regaled with tales of Kostitsyn's secheresse next game, but Darche, Pouliot, Lapierre, Eller, Halpern, Moen, Gomez, none look like they'll be scoring very soon - or that they're particularly concerned about that. I'd still be looking to find a player who can actually play top line wing minutes, because apart from the art of having bad passes be deflected in, Pacioretty hasn't exactly ignited the goals since his recall. Barring that, I suppose it's a reshuffle. If that must happen, I'd hope that Pouliot is involved in some upward minutes following a session to view video of his play from October to December 1.

Finally discipline. What a shambles. The reffing was atrocious, and maybe even biased. However, the Habs need to adjust. This must mark at least the tenth straight game where more penalties have been yielded than drawn. It's a simple equation for defeat that. Hamrlik in particular just has to be told to cut it out. He's a costly penalty a game now.

Habs can wait till the cold light of day. All the better if they ring in the year with a win. If not, I'm sure it'll pale against the hangovers we're fighting.

Happy New Year everyone. Go Habs Go.

Canadiens Recall Robert Mayer

RDS and others are reporting that the Habs have called up Swiss/Czech goaltender Robert Mayer to stand in for Jaroslav Halak in Canadiens practices this week.

It's not really Canadiens news as such, as Mayer is firmly 5th choice for the big team – as if they ever let it get to that point without trading. However, for the young man, it must be quite an exciting time.

Let's face it, though, this is the biggest Habs news of the past while. And it is more interesting given we haven't spoken about or glanced in Mayer's direction in months.


Who is Mayer?

Mayer is what he is – a depth prospect. He came to the organization as a signing rather than a draft pick following a fairly strong 2007-08 during which he played a decent back-up role on a strong Saint John SeaDogs team and backstopped Switzerland at the World Juniors. One has to think that he really got on Timmins and co.'s radar at the U18 Worlds in 2007, though, where he excelled in posting the top save percentage of his year for the tournament.

His stats don't scream elite prospect, but he did do enough to make the CHL top prospects game ahead of the 2008 draft where he ended up going unselected.

Hockey's future has Mayer as prospect #17 for the Habs, which is either a compliment to Mayer or an indictment of the depth the organization pretends to have. The good news is the reviewer for the site, despite panning Mayer generally, still has something to like in a glove hand and positioning (a rare combination?):

With solid positioning and a great glove hand, Mayer has the potential to be much better then what he has shown so far.

In any case, this is what it's reported to be, and not some prelude to Halak/Price being shipped. The Hamilton Bulldogs are winning and need their goalies, and the Montreal re-Habs need someone else to shoot on.

Robert Mayer, good luck and enjoy yourself...

Canadiens As Canadians Olympic Hockey History

When Steve Yzerman chose to take Patrice Bergeron over Mike Cammalleri, the Canadiens missed a chance to send a player to the Olympics for Canada for the third straight time. There's not even a single former Habs player on the team either, though I'd layoff Ribeiro and Robidas too.

It hasn't always been this way. Thought the Canadiens representation on Team Canada over the years hasn't been vast, there have still been 21 players associated withe the organization to don the Maple Leaf under the Olympic rings. I've found some of them for you:


2010, 2006, 2002

Current Habs: None
One-time Habs: None
Future Habs: None


1998

Current Habs: Mark Recchi, Shayne Corson
One-time Habs: Eric Desjardins, Patrick Roy
Future Habs: Trevor Linden


For Olympics 1994 and earlier, only amateur players were eligible, therefore current Habs were not eligible to compete.


1994

Habs Prospects: Brian Savage
Future Habs: None


1992

One-time Habs: (Patrick Lebeau*)
Habs Prospects: Patrick Lebeau*
Future Habs: Joe Juneau, (Jason Woolley – training camp only)

* Had played 2 games for the Canadiens in 1990-91, but was seen as a prospect.


1988

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: Zarley Zalapski, Andy Moog


1984

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: Russ Courtnall, Kirk Muller, JJ Daigneault


1980

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1976, 1972

Canadian Boycott


1968

Habs Prospects: Fran Huck
Future Habs: None


1964

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1960

Habs Prospects: Bobby Rousseau, (Harry Sinden – never signed pro)
Future Habs: Cliff Pennington


1956, 1952, 1948

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1936

Future Habs: James (Jim) Haggarty


1932, 1928

Future Habs: None


1924

Future Habs: Duncan (Dunc) Munro, Bert McCaffrey



Canadiens Canada Hockey Medals

Gold: 2
Duncan (Dunc) Munro & Bert McCaffrey (1924)

Silver: 6
James (Jim) Haggarty (1936), Bobby Rousseau & Cliff Pennington (1960), Patrick Lebeau & Joe Juneau (1992); Brian Savage (1994)

Bronze: 1
Fran Huck (1968)


[Check out Eyes On The Prize for a good look at some artefacts from the Chamonix Winter Olympics – the inaugural winter games]

Habs Goalie Threatens Bower's Record

No this isn't an article on Carey Price, nor plea to trade Halak.

Merely to inform you all of something that has probably been completely overlooked by most fans.


Last night, the Hamilton Bulldogs won a thrilling contest in which they scored 5 goals, and won by a large margin. However after the final buzzer, coach Guy Boucher had a sour taste in his mouth. He had just been informed that the goal his team allowed was one that prevented Cedrick Desjardins from breaking a record that had stood for more than 52 years, a record of Johnny Bower's:

“Since 1957! Now I’m really ticked,” said Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher when he was told how close his goaltender was to a record that had stood for more than 50 years.

The streak that Desjardins did lay down was a mere 212 minutes and 37 seconds (or 3.5 games in the end). His bumbling teammates were too focused on their own selfish targets for goals for and allowed a breakdown to happen – for shame.

Anyway, in the midst of all this streaking, Desjardins has also managed to vault himself into the second ranking in the entire AHL for GAA and third for S%. And what numbers too, 1.57 and 0.940 respectively.

It bodes well for either the Habs goaltending depth, or the Habs defenders knowing what they need to do to make a goalie look good in the real show. Especially if you consider that Sanfor, who has played in the teams other 16 games is clocking 2.14 and 0.921 himself.

My thoughts do go out to the people who actually watch this league, though, as 14 goalies saving more then 92% of shots and 3 saving more than 94% doesn't say too much for the quality of shooters, nor bode well for the quality of the spectacle...

Top 100 Habs By Decade: 9. 1989-1999

In recognition of the Canadiens Centennial next Friday, we at Lions in Winter have been doing what we like best – making lists. As a precursor to publishing the definitive LIW top 100, we will be counting down the decades from least successful to most successful and naming our LIW top 10 players for the ten-year span. You should expect a few each day for the next few days.

Though this celebration has inevitably lost some steam due to relentless marketing and pre-game ceremonies for all of living memory, it would be a shame to let it pass unnoticed just because Mr. Gillett wanted to cash in before he cashed out.

1989-1999

An objective look reveals what we all fear – that we became fans of this team just as its fortunes began to turn. From a Cup final to end the decade previous, these ten years took the team to its lowest in 1999.

There were good years, of course, and a Stanley Cup. But after that amazing run of 1993, the years were not kind to the Canadiens, as they went from perennial contender for league and playoff crowns to being just one of 24 odd teams.

Thanks to the early years, there were good players on the team and good players to trade for other good players. One trade chain (the Richer chain) provided 4 players for our top 10 from the 1990s.

[Note: Each player only appears in one decade's top 10 – so Brisebois fans, hold on to your hats]


10. Shayne Corson (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1985-2000	662	168	255	423	+70	26	AS
Decade best (Season)	1989-90	76	31	44	75	+33	6	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	2002-06	90	28	35	63	+16	7
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	9	6	15	+5	3

A good solid player from the 1980s who had his best offensive seasons with Richer. Came back for a stint where he was captain and all-star again.


9. Eric Desjardins (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1988-95	405	43	136	179	+55	7	AS
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	82	13	32	45	+20	1
Habs career (Playoffs)	2002-06	71	9	20	29	+6	1	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	4	10	14	+2	1	SC

A player who would have held his own in the dynasty years, I bet. He saved his best year for when it counted, and his 1 playoff GWG, well we all know that...


8. Denis Savard (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1990-93	210	72	107	179	+6	7	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1991-92	77	28	42	70	+6	5	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1990-93	38	5	25	30	-3	0	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1991-92	11	3	9	12	+1	0

Came to Montreal under immense pressure to be THE star. Wasn't the dominant force, but still a big contributor over his 3 seasons in town.


7. Mathieu Schneider (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1987-2009	383	68	148	216	+36	13
Decade best (Season)	1993-94	75	20	32	52	+15	4
Habs career (Playoffs)	1990-2009	46	5	16	21	+5	0	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	2	7	9	+2	0

Learned to play offense from the back in Montreal. Was a pretty good option for D as well.


6. Pierre Turgeon (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1994-96	104	50	77	127	+35	8	AS
Decade best (Season)	1995-96	80	38	58	96	+19	6	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1995-96	6	2	4	6	+1	0
Decade best (Playoffs)	1995-96	6	2	4	6	+1	0

The best season from a Canadiens player since Naslund, and it still stands.


5. Mark Recchi (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1994-99	346	120	202	322	+23	18	AS
Decade best (Season)	1995-96	82	28	50	78	+20	6
Habs career (Playoffs)	1996-98	21	11	13	24	+5	2
Decade best (Playoffs)	1997-98	10	4	8	12	+2	2

Like clockwork, both in being healthy for games and scoring.


4. Kirk Muller (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1991-95	267	104	143	247	+1	15	AS
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	80	37	57	94	+8	4	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1992-94	38	20	12	32	+3	6	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	10	7	17	+4	3	SC

Could find a new gear in important games and was pivotal in helping the whole team to do just that in several consecutive OTs.


3. Stephane Richer (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1984-98	490	225	196	421	+65	36	AS
Decade best (Season)	1989-90	75	51	40	91	+35	8
Habs career (Playoffs)	1986-97	77	36	21	57	+1	9	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	9	5	14	E	1

The last 50-goal season from a Canadiens player, a link to Lafleur. Richer was a serious threat in the first few years of the decade.


2. Vincent Damphousse (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1992-99	519	184	314	498	+26	35
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	84	39	58	97	+5	8
Habs career (Playoffs)	1993-98	48	19	24	43	E	5	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	11	12	23	+8	3	SC

The most unheralded scoring machine, captain, cup-winning, hometown hero you could imagine. Going out on a low note shouldn't eclipse what he managed in the mid-90s.


1. Patrick Roy (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	W	L	T	GAA	S%	SO	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1984-2005	551	289	175	66	2.78	0.904	29	3 V, 4 WJ, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1991-92	67	36	22	8	2.36	0.914	5	V, WJ, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1986-94	114	70	42	0	2.46	0.914	5	2 SC, 2 CS
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	16	4	0	2.13	0.929	0	SC, CS

He finds himself in the 1990s, but could head the 1980s list. Patrick was the source of most success in this decade – winning most individual honours and taking the team for a nice ride to LA to receive the silverware.


* Awards: V = Vezina trophy; WJ = William Jennings trophy (GA); AS= All-star; HOF = Hall of Fame; SC = Stanley Cup; CS = Conn Smythe.

Canadiens Season Preview Remaining Goalies And Prospects

The more astute among you will have noticed I got overexcited and missed any discussion of outgoing goalie Marc Denis – such is the impression he made on me last season. Well, NHL stats-wise it would have been a waste of time. And now I'm at the end of the line here, I haven't the energy to spend on an AHL journeyman no longer with the team. Today is my last installment of the preview and it encompasses NHL/AHL player Sanford, next in line Desjardins and the goaltending prospects.

Sanford et al


Curtis Sanford

NHL Season	GP	Starts	Pulled	Min	W	L	OTL	GAA	Save %	SO
08-09 (VAN)	19	15	3	973	7	8	0	2.59	0.906	1
07-08 (VAN)	16	9	2	679	4	3	1	2.83	0.898	0
06-07 (STL)	31	26	5	1492	8	12	5	3.18	0.888	0

Personal save profile
	Average save percentage at even strength Made slightly more saves than expected at even strength Was above average on the PK Played behind a well above average defence at ES and on the PK

Legend


Stats notes
I don't know much of Sanford beyond what you see here, so this should be interesting. Here's what I think:

1) As good as his defence
Last season, Curtis put up some nice numbers – better than Price's even. But do not be fooled, that whole right side of the pie shows that he got some very nice defensive help from his teammates. The 0.910 expected save%, particularly, is a very nice starting point to be giving a goalie – it leaves little to do to crack the league top 30 list. By the same token, his stats in St. Louis were poor on a poor team – no heroics then.

2) Don't expect full starts
Last season he played in 19, but only started 15. In 3 of those 15 starts he was pulled. Similarly, the previous year, there were 7 complete games with 9 incomplete ones. That's 19 complete games in 2 years (and 16 partial ones). I wouldn't expect anything different this year, health of the current team permitting. An able back-up to be sure, but not one seen as a starter in this NHL anymore.


3) Settling in
After briefly trying to crack the NHL as starter, and then as top-2 man in St. Louis, it seems that Curtis may be settling now into that third man role where he can thrive. More occasional starts with more regular work on the farm have translated into better stats in both locales.


Topham on Sanford:

When I heard we had signed Curtis Sanford, my mind immediately went back to the pitiful St Louis Blues. The first I heard of Sanford was when he wrested the starting job form Patrick Lalime in St Louis back in 2005. That season was effectively his NHL rookie season and he put up some good numbers. But ever wanting to fit the mould of future Habs goalie, the next year when given his golden ticket, he stumbled (that'd be that 0.888 season you can see above). From that moment it seems the league has said thanks but no thanks to Curtis Sanford as starter or even backup starter.

But since then, he's also pulled his game together. 2 seasons in the NHL were spotted with fewer games but improvement. Parts of a season in the AHL were marked by absolute dominance. Consider then, when Gainey was looking for a goalie to help Cedrick Desjardins and possibly stand in for some minutes if an NHL guy went down, that Curtis Sanford was not such a daft choice.

I expect this season will be a mirror of Marc Denis' season last year, with pretty much the entirety of a season spent in Hamilton, shining for the most part, with a brief if any call-up to the Bell Centre. His experience of being part of the league winning, and always ambitious, Moose franchise should aid and abet the morale in Hamilton – a reminder that though dreams lie in the NHL, winning in the AHL while being paid hundreds thousands to do it ain't half bad. Any mentoring of Cedrick Desjardins at this point would be a big bonus, because the Habs are staring down the barrel of a gun with goalie prospects at the moment. I think over the season he will be asked to pass the torch to Desjardins, something that may spell the end to another brief veteran goaltending career in Hamilton.


Where Sanford will start 2009-10: Starting goalie in Hamilton

Where Sanford will end 2009-10: Co-starter in Hamilton

Key (NHL) stats: 5 GP, 0 GS



Potential call-up

1) Cedrick Desjardins

Just who is this Cedrick Desjardins that we are meant to be trusting with our fortunes if disaster strikes? You can be excused for not knowing the answer.

Cedrick is an undrafted youngster who has taken the road less travelled to get to where he is in the depth chart. From very very humble beginnings as a 1-game winner (20 starts) on the 11-game, Crosby-targeting, tanking specialists that were the 2002-03 Rimouski Oceanic he steadily improved as a goalie in junior. 2003-04 was OK, but it was 2004-05 and 2005-06 where he shone. In 04-05, he backstopped a Crosby led team to the Memorial Cup finals (though they lost to a stacked Knights squad). The next year, with equally impressive stats for the Q, he took Quebec (with Radulov and Esposito) to the Memorial Cup finals again – this time to win.

From there, he had a training camp invite but nothing more from the Chicago Blackhawks. And then, though the stingy Montreal media would never give Gainey credit for it, the French Canadian (NB, to be exact) goalie was scoped by the Habs organization. With Halak and Danis in the picture, Cedrick was to offer depth, and that first season he did (in Cincinnati), where once again his numbers improved. The following year, 2007-08, he was to be called up to the Bulldogs for an extended stint and performed very well (0.909 in the AHL). he'd end the season in style by starring in the Cyclones' capture of the Kelly Cup – a third championship final in four years. That brings us to last season where Desjardins was chief deputy to Marc Denis all season long. In 30 games, he once again improved his numbers (0.919 and 2.55 this time) to mark another season of progress. In the end, it was probably his strong play that sealed Denis' fate and paved the way for a Sanford/Desjardins tandem.

I note that he is a possible call up because his numbers in the AHL so far are very credible. We've seen him in camp against NHLers now too, and he fared well enough to keep that credibility. With other young goalies at the top level, it doesn't seem like Desjardins is here for the Canadiens. However, if he takes another step forward, he could well make things interesting by the trade deadline – making himself, Sanford or one of the NHLers bait for organizational improvements.


2) [Fill in blank]

If 3 goalies sustain injuries, Gainey will need to move as there is nothing looking anything like an NHL player beyond Desjardins in this system.

Loic Lacasse might have had a place here, but the 2004 draft pick, who put up some nice stats in his first stint in Hamilton showed the patience of Jaroslav Halak's agent and has committed careericide in the first degree by signing a contract with the NAHL. Oh, heady days.



The next wave

1) Robert Mayer

Though born in Czech, he represents the Swiss, and with a name like Mayer it's not hard to fathom why. The Canadiens signed Mayer during the summer of 2008 after his first season with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. His 2008-09 was once again spent in new Brunswick, and while his personal stats took a leap in the right direction, the Sea Dogs he was leading were left disappointed in their quest for silverware.

It says the Canadiens assigned Mayer to Hamilton after his sojourn in Montreal for training camp, but that was only temporary. He should be the top goalie the next level down – a replacement for the departed Lacasse. Hopefully he'll get the lion's share of the work in Cincy, so he can take the next step in development and provide us with a bit of proper depth at this position.


2) Jason Missiaen

Perhaps in the future we will get a chance to witness Missiaen skating up to "The Monster" after a sweep of Toronto in the playoffs (OK, sweep of the Marlies?). The sooner the 6'3" Swede is made to look like a dwarf and not a troll, the better – then we can put that stupid nickname to bed.

As for Missiaen, there isn't really much more to say than that he is very big (6'8" by most accounts). Drafted by the Canadiens in 2008, probably on a bit of a flyer, he is still playing junior hockey this season. After taking what seemed to be backwards steps with the Petes last year, Missiaen seems to have started well this season as their new full-time starter. As with Mayer, any improvement will be welcomed. But it's hard to see him unseating Price, Halak or even Desjardins at any point in the future. Still, where there's a limb, there's a way – and he has lots of limb, his pads must make Giguere's look like toys.


3) Petteri Simila

The Canadiens scouting of goalies seems to have become a little lax, wouldn't you say? I mean, I know it's good we have two guys under the age of 25 in the NHL. And that if all goes well the goaltending position could be sealed and delivered for a decade and a half; but perhaps one criteria on top of height?

Petteri Simila is the midge of the Canadiens junior goalies, a mere 78" tall. What we do know about him is that he was drafted with the very last pick in the NHL draft (basically a free agent signing if you ask me). Someone somewhere must have caught one of the Karpat back-up's games and decided he was worth a look. Still, let's not assume too much, the scout didn't bother to mention it until the draft was basically over.

I look at Simila as a try-out really, no different than Desjardins or Mayer – the fact he was drafted being irrelevant. This season's try-out for the big man will be in the Niagara Falls area with the IceDogs. Though he'll wear the logo which enshrines Don Cherry's pitbull for the year, we can rest assured that the luminary himself won't be interfering with our prospect, since he sold the team a while back.

Simila has an uphill battle to prove himself to IceDogs brass, let alone Habs brass. The season has started with him in the back-up role. If he can wriggle into starting position and do something of note, another camp might be in his future. Then again, Canadiens prospects are so thin on the ground at his position merely being able to tie skates by next summer might be enough.

Patrice Brisebois999 Not Out

[RE-POST OF THE EARLIER BRISEBOIS RETROSPECTIVE]

I'm not sure whether you'd call this a tribute, perhaps more of a synopsis.

I am not qualified to do a Brisebois tribute, you see, and I would only mess it up. So, instead I will tell you about my 19 years with Patrice Brisebois – with my memories, my interpretations and my feelings.


Early days

Blue chip beginnings
It must be said that Patrice Brisebois was one more in a long line of bluechip defenceman prospects to come through the Montreal Canadiens system back in 1990. That is the reason, Serge Savard and staff must be forgiven for overlooking no less than 3 superstars in Pavel Bure, Sergei fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom to get Patrice.

In 1989, Patrice was the Canadiens dream come true: a French Canadian, goalscoring defenceman who was winning competitions. By the end of that season, he had racked up 30 goals and 109 points in 98 junior games and had competed for the Memorial Cup for the first time with the Laval Titan.

I have to admit that even I was a big fan back then, and I still have his QMJHL rookie card signed in a case somewhere, I think.


Excellent progression

The good times didn't stop at the draft for Patrice, as he would go on to play for Team Canada twice in the next two years, winning 2 gold medals – beating Jagr's Czech team and Pavel Bure's USSR no less. After the two stints for Canada, he also played in 10 NHL games as a 19-year old (which, if you remember Serge Savard's model of player development, was quite a feat). To top it off, there were two Memorial Cup finals in 2 years, the second one with him as a tournament all-star. If that's not enough to impress the socks off any scout, he raked in the CHL defenceman of the year award in 1991 as well. Just a quick run-down for those who prefer bullets:

– 2 WJC gold medals
– 3 Memorial Cup finals
– 1 CHL defenceman of the year
– 1 Memorial Cup All-Star team
– 65 goals and 258 points in 208 junior games
– 11 points at both WJCs and Memorial Cups in 13 and 14 games, respectively

This guy was the Carey Price of his age – a shoe in to be a star...

NHL debuts
Following his tour with Montreal in 1990-91, he saw a bit more replacement work in 1991-92. In all, there were 26 regular season games, and more importantly, Patrice featured in all 11 playoff games that spring for the Habs as they lost to the Bruins in round 2. As the Canadiens 6th scorer that post-season, it seemed as if he was about to leap-frog Mathieu Schneider and JJ Daigneault in the depth chart.

The next season, Patrice did make the team and had a good season. However, he did not make the immediate jump into the limelight, as Schneider and Eric Desjardins became the pair to carry the Canadiens when the going got tough. Nonetheless, Brisebois played 70 games in 1992-93, chipping in 10 goals and 21 assists. He was an integral player in the Cup run (playing in all 20 playoff games), taking his new backseat role in stride, it seemed.


The graduation

The Stanley Cup run of 1993 (in Patrice's rookie season) has been the pinnacle of his NHL achievements to date. As so many a veteran will tell you – the thought that Cups would be so hard to come by after that first one didn't cross the mind at the time. It was perhaps fitting, that Patrice was at his best though, at that time, in a system where he could use his talents without being overstretched. On a team with 4 defencemen ahead of him in playing time, a goalie that could stop seemingly anything – Patrice could play at forward from the back as he had done so well in junior.


As things started to go wrong for the Canadiens, things looked quite rosy for Patrice. He played a lot, despite some injuries. A pivotal moment in his career would come in the spring of 1995. February 9th of that year, Serge Savard made an infamous trade that sent Eric Desjardins, John Leclair and Gilbert Dionne away for Mark Recchi. April 5th, Savard would trade his other defensive stud as Mathieu Schneider and Muller were swapped for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov. Those trades had two impacts for Brisebois. Out Desjardins, Schneider and Haller (summer 1994) in Malakhov, Racine and other spare parts meant that Brisebois was being entrusted with a new brief as top 3 defender. He handled the brief OK for a while. But it was a lot to ask of a forward playing on D (essentially) to fill out major minutes after what happened that next December – when the man who masked so many defensive deficiencies was traded for Jocelyn Thibault, Rucinsky and Kovalenko.

Once Patrick Roy departs, the Canadiens become a bit of a mish mash for the next few years. They still had the offensive firepower with Damphousse, Turgeon, Recchi and belatedly Koivu, to carry some wins – and there were good seasons in 1996 and 1998; but their defence was buckling. Brisebois continued to contribute offensively, but began to struggle to protect a net not filled by Patrick Roy.

By 1998, after all Rejean Houle's other inane moves, Brisbois was left as the major star player from La Belle Province. This pressure brought pressure sure, but perhaps more significantly it brought ego to the year-on, year-off Brisebois.

Highlights of the rest of the decade for Brisebois included several 30+ point seasons (every other year, really) and numerous game-winning goals, despite few meaningful wins. Patrice was a plus player over this time as well, no small feat.

Of these ten years, this is all the NHLPA Legends site had to say:

"As the franchise struggled in the late 1990s, Brisebois was a constant on the defensive brigade. He set a personal high with 15 goals in 2000-01 and was an integral part of the club's playoff hopes in 2001-02."

It's a telling quote, given the site is trying to position each player in the most positive light. There's just not much to say. Not much we'd like to recall... In preparation for this piece, I also read some of the books I have on the shelf. One, Canadiens Legends, even has an entry for Brisebois. After reading it, I almost felt sorry for the guy as it showcased how the sweet ride of his career was over after year one, and has been filled with trouble ever since.

If you think about it, though, Serge Savard drafted Brisebois to fit in behind Desjardins, Schneider and other solid defenceman; and he had the best goaltender to ever play the game. Things looked solid, and a gamble on a defenceman who was much better going forward than skating backwards was a worthwhile gamble. Who knew he would be the last man standing on this defence stood in front of two projects learning to play goal?

Based on a mercurial junior career and rise to success in the big league, there was hope that Brisebois could fill in the position of top defenceman on a top team. Alas, he was never able to reach those heights. He probably should never have been asked or expected to do so.


The contract

No discussion of Brisebois' career would be complete without talk of the contract that came late in his first Montreal stint.

It was the winter of 2001, that new GM Andre Savard decided to make his mark on the Montreal Canadiens for brand new owner George Gillett. Patrice was taken aside and offered an extension on his current offer. probably surprised enough to receive any offer after his -31 season, Patrice jumped on a fully out-of-whack biggest Canadiens contract offer in history ($12 million over 3 years). At the time it was an absurd move for a defenceman that had just been given a raise to $2.5 million a year the spring before following his worst ever season. To add insult to fans' injury, he was also given a no-trade clause.

If ego was a problem before, it was getting out of control not long after. There were incidents off the ice (like urinating at the Canadiens golf tournament and nearly running over Jack Todd), but on the ice Patrice seemed to lord his money over people. Mistakes he made were met with shrugs, and mistakes from others with scolding.

Patrice played out 2002 as more of a bit-part player once Jose Theodore took over. 2002 will certainly never be remembered for defensive play and his 2 goals in the 24-game final push showed how the Canadiens had learned to live with him in the defensive zone and without his contributions up front. So when Patrice came back the next season with less than stellar play, and his customary year off in his 2-year cycle; people were starting to be a little less than impressed with the highest paid player on the team.

By this point, Patrice was being booed every game. Whether it was the booing or the years catching up with him, one thing was abundantly clear – the offensive defence star from 1991 was gone. By February, the pressure had taken its toll. Brisebois took leave for heart problems brought on by stress. No one could forget his ill-advised trip to France against doctor's orders in that time.

The final year of his no-trade clause opened with a condemnation of the general booing from Bob Gainey. It initially stopped the booing and seemed to lift a weight from Patrice's shoulders. I wouldn't say he suddenly fulfilled all the promise of 15 years earlier; but in the least he proved less of a constant distraction and managed to minimise the damage he did so the Canadiens could make the playoffs.

Those playoffs would be the last time (or so we thought) that Patrice would step on the ice for the Canadiens. In a rather anti-climactic end, Patrice was told the Canadiens would rather not pick up their option for the next season. The untradeable defenceman was gone, for a while anyway.

The Canadiens dollar
More Canadiens dollars have ended up in Patrice Brisebois' garage than probably should have. In fact, he is among the best compensated (by the Canadiens) players of all time. If estimates from 2004 are to be trusted (and I don't see why they wouldn't be), together with his $2.9 million from the past two seasons, Brisebois will have cost the Habs over $22 million for a career. Only Saku Koivu has made more.


The returns

A more recent history of the Patrice Brisebois stories is highlighted by his re-signing and re-signing again with his Canadiens. In fact, the Canadiens rescued him from outright retirement as another team had run out of patience and use for him in 2006.


It has been a nice story for the player, but I think many of us wonder whether the Canadiens exist to please the alums of the team, or indeed to win. Signed both times ahead of younger and more intriguing options, he was sold to us as a cheap 8th defenceman. Yet both times, he was given bonuses to negate any notion of value for money. And both times he has been deployed as a 5th or 6th when push came to shove.

Last season, this was met with stoicism – one season, we can bear it. This season, I can't tell you how many times I've read "1000 games, can we get it over with?", or "Can we get this retirement pushed forward?".

In fairness to the player, he has done what the coaches asked and can't be blamed for their weaknesses. He has also tried his utmost (I think) to keep his game simpler and limit the flashbacks of 1996-2004 to a minimum. One highlight was a playoff game with a timely winning goal. There have been lowlights too.


The booing

It is a very common misconception nowadays that Brisebois started getting booed after he was awarded the biggest (and most ridiculously out of whack) contract in Montreal Canadiens history. This is simply untrue. And it does nothing but attempt to gloss over the fact that people were booing Brisebois for his mistakes (presumably in hopes that a GM might trade him?) long before he made $4 million a year. The booing began before that point, for certain, in a futile effort to get incapable GMs to do something about our number one defenceman position. It was only intensified by that ridiculous contract.

In fact, in 1998-99, when awarded a whopping $1.8 million a year, he was already the second best compensated defenceman on the team. That contract was three years in length at a nice $6 million in all. If being overpaid was the source of the boos, it had its origin in that contract of 1998.

As I pointed to above, Brisebois' play and his ego were on separate courses from about 1995 (post-Roy). It could be said that he was thrust unfairly into both ice time and spotlight he couldn't handle. And perhaps it would have been something to be forgiven given a show of a little humility. No show was ever forthcoming, not back then anyway. The booing he received was as much due to the response he gave to errors (both his and others) as it was to his play.

The situation as it currently stands is completely different. Brisebois to his credit has been knocked down a few notches. Humility is now part of his vocabulary, at least some of the time. Any booing (or hand wringing at this blog, for example) is probably more frustration for Bob Gainey at having signed the veteran in place of other more attractive or forward-looking options.


Awaiting the 1000th

It was clever how Carbonneau sat Brisebois for this road trip. How clever will it be to bring him back just when O'Byrne has started to play well? He'll be back though, as sure as Carey Price will be the only one to reap the benefit of the win-you're in policy...

When he plays in Montreal, he will receive thunderous cheers. Why not? His achievement is monumental (consider this player and then consider how few players reach 1000 games – monumental doesn't even do it justice).

Many will be cheering in hope that it will be the end. However, I think we're deluded if we think that. Has he already played his last playoff game? Will he be satisfied with 1000 regular season games, when 1000 with the Canadiens is so close? (he's at 974 right now!)

If he reaches that milestone he will be the 12th player in the history of the team to do so. His company would include 9 players whose numbers are retired along with 2 whose were not:

1436 – Henri Richard
1405 – Larry Robinson
1342 – Bob Gainey
1287 – Jean Beliveau
1131 – Claude Provost
1115 – Yvan Cournoyer
1111 – Maurice Richard
1073 – Guy Carbonneau
1040 – Serge Savard
1025 – Guy Lafleur
1013 – Doug Harvey


Will I cheer Brisebois? Probably. 1000 games is nothing to sneeze at. Oh, go on, you'll cheer too. It'll be a strange feeling...

1/4 Inch Away Illegal Curves And Illegitimate Claims

While I was browsing around trying to locate former Habs defencemen who would be better coaches than, well, no one; I came across an article in the LA Times. It caught my eye and piqued my interest. The story is about as topical as reflections on Houle's Dykhuis signing or the Andrew Cassels trade; but LA brought it up, so I'll duly respond.

You see, they're still smarting over there on the left coast – from the sting of Game 2, Stanley Cup Final, 1993.

Now call me a stickler Barry Melrose, but I just don't agree with you here:

"I think it cost us the Stanley Cup," says Melrose, back in coaching with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season after 13 years at ESPN. "I don't think anyone doubts that. We won Game 1 handily, we were dominating Game 2. . . .

"If you're up, 2-0, going back to your building, the numbers show that you're going to win the Cup, so without a doubt I think it cost us the Stanley Cup."

I think Barry's case might have held some water had the Kings won another game, but alas, they did not. Indeed, the stats would show that the team with home ice going into Game 3 would also put you in the driver's seat. He went on (as he tends to):

"It's the type of thing that should be in the Hall of Fame," Melrose says, "because it probably determined who won a Stanley Cup. I would think they'd have it."

It's pretty clear to me that that call cost them Game 2. But not the Cup, buddy. In fact, a better coach might have coaxed a better start in OT from his team that just lost the lead in the final minutes.

Remembering back to the time, the series did not turn at that juncture, as the article implies. There was elation that the Habs managed to rescue a win at home, but there was also the feeling of being in a hole – especially after a month of cruising through games. If I wanted to pinpoint where the series turned, I would say it didn't really go for the Habs until that second OT goals from John Leclair in LA.

A more lucid Luc Robitaille (a player I always wished could have finished up with us) recognises the reality better than melodramatic Melrose:

"It cost us that one game," says the Kings' president of business operations, who in 1992-93 was their leading scorer. "The next two games were probably the best two games the Kings have ever played, but we lost both in overtime."

The second interesting element of the story talks about the whereabouts of the stick itself. Apparently, if you want to catch a glimpse of the cheater's curve, you can see it at Wayne Gretzky's in Toronto, but only when Marty McSorley is far enough away.

It's funny that in LA Marty McSorley will probably live on in infamy forever because of his illegal blade. Quite nice, considering how much worse it could be: he could be remembered as the goon who tomahawked Donald Brashear across the skull, or perhaps just as the mediocre player he was.

Now at least, there's a story that people want to hear.

Brett Clark RumourHabs Task Is Abundantly Clear

Jaroslav Halak for Brett Clark? You have to be joking...

I say this even as someone who has Brett Clark in his hockey pool, someone who (probably misguidedly) thinks he can reproduce his 30-point form this year. I wouldn't trade for Brett Clark if it were Cedrick Desjardins.

The progress of rumours is an interesting barometer on how the press thinks a team is doing. Clearly the last 2 rumours did not come to fruition, but both had us shipping some combination of Halak and Higgins (or thereabouts) for bona fide scorers Gaborik or Kovalchuk. Times were good back then.

Two bad games on, the rumour-mongers have us shipping Halak out for Brett Clark? I know Halak's stock has tumbled a lot, but we're not that desperate are we. Pressure's up, stormy weather.

It's fun talking about Gaborik and Kovalchuk, but when names like Brett Clark get thrown into the mix (and are getting discussed in a serious way by fans), one thing starts to become very clear to me:

We cannot enter a culture of trading to solve our problems. We cannot abandon our successful course of draft, develop, wait (patiently), succeed to become the 2001 Leafs, the 2003 Flyers or the Rangers. Trading in this way rarely works and is definitely not the way to multiple years of Cup contention. Not anymore, not with a salary cap and vulnerability of restricted free agents.


We must not look to trades to solve all our little problems (like Philly always do). Patience has to become part of our game as fans (and coaches). On top of that, someone needs to start taking an interest in solving the problems we actually do have – coaching the defencemen.


Defence coach
The Canadiens have operated for some time now without a coach for the defencemen. It's a puzzling move considering the team is in profit, can afford the help and has room under the cap for an extra coach. Contrast us to the New Jersey Devils, who operate at a loss, are frequently up against the cap and still find the funds to hoard most of the good defencemen from the past 40 years as coaches – and have generally speaking succeeded with this approach.


Defencemen who need coaching
The Canadiens, in fact, don't have a defenceman to be seen almost throughout the entire organisation (coaches or otherwise).

The odd thing about this is that the Canadiens are actually carrying quite a young defence by their standards. Gorges is young, and O'Byrne is half a year into an NHL career. Plan B we all know, but Plans C, D, E and beyond would all be rookies as well – none of whom are being coached by a defenceman at either AHL or NHL level.

Through the whole Bouwmeester, then Clark, and now probably any player with a face as our "fourth" defenceman, it has become clear that trading will not be an adequate response to our problems. It will merely be a stop-gap.

I presumed when we let NHL-experienced defenceman Mark Streit – who for all his faults would look mighty good beside Hamrlik right now – go, Gainey was committing to O'Byrne, McDonagh, Weber, Carle, Subban and whoever else might ignore KHL dollars to wait for an NHL place. I presumed we were committing to a patient approach that paid such high dividends with the forwards – Plekanec, Higgins, Kostitsyn, Lapierre. To be honest, I was happy with the approach, in as much, that it would maximise the chances of the young players fulfilling their potential. It would also leave us financially flexible in the years we ramp up for true contention.

Fast forward to October, Carbonneau benches O'Byrne every time he slips up, favouring a reliably faulty veteran in his place.

What does this teach O'Byrne? Not much. Maybe, the impossible: Be a veteran, then you'll be judged by lower standards..

In my eyes, it's a lot of inconsistent behaviour through the organisation. Gainey drafts and stockpiles young defencemen and lets established defencemen go (2 years running); but Carbonneau is uncomfortable using young defencemen. It certainly speaks to their different goals and the way each will be judged: Gainey's being long-term success and Carbonneau's short-term (i.e., day-to-day).

The last time this happened, it was Claude Julien and it was with the forwards. Julien, so focused on saving his own neck deployed the Bonks and Sundstroms far too frequently, where Higgins and Plekanec were left at the end of the bench. That time Gainey stepped in, relieving the coach and taking player deployment decisions into his own hands.


Medium-term goals
I would not suggest such a drastic approach this time. But Gainey could take matters into his own hands by emphasising the need for patience and care with Komisarek, O'Byrne and Gorges. He could also hire a defensive coach to help with the actual day-to-day of that task.

Where Gainey and Carbonneau can meet is is the medium term. The time has clearly come for this organisation, though to stop scrapping for every 2 points over 6 months and to build a team with a view to winning a few rounds in the playoffs. Look around the league and show me a 4th defenceman you would like to have on our team, and I'll show you O'Byrne after some seasoning.

With ice time, a mentor and even a coach to help him, he will be better than Brett Clark come April – of that, there's no doubt in my mind. He has already shown the kernels of consistency in this league, with his finish last season. A little patience and prodding will help to pry it out of him again. There will be tough times, I'm sure. But I for one see the value in committing to this strategy – especially if the forwards can continue to bail the defence out in more than 50% of games.

Possible coaches
Luckily for the Canadiens, despite their dearth of defensive strategists, they already have some top mentors in the system. Markov is becoming as calm as a defenceman as you will see in this league, and Hamrlik makes his job look routine. Between the two of them, there must be tips to give the youngsters (and I include the suddenly inept Komisarek in that group). My lone suggestion in the mentor game is that it might now be time for them to switch proteges for a while (Markov and O'Byrne, Hamrlik and Komisarek) if things continue to go awry at the back.

Even with that adjustment, it would still be a sensible move to reach out for a consultant coach, I think. Maybe not one to stand behind the bench at game time, necessarily, but one like the Devils clearly have in Laperriere or Robinson. It seems to me, in watching our group of coaches for a while now, that there is a little gap in strategy when it comes to defensive forwards, and it's this gap that's been rearing its ugly head this past week. Getting a new ideas man in couldn't hurt.

Scouring the list of former Habs alone, I came up with some people I thought could offer a hand:

- Eric Desjardins (though it might take a special offer to lure him form Philly)
- Sylvain Lefebvre (currently coaching in Colorado's farm system)
- Craig Ludwig (Gainey teammate, coaching low-level in Texas)
- Lyle Odelein (never coached, but played under Burns/Laperrirere and Lemaire/Robinson)
- Eric Weinrich (smart guy, needs help getting over being out of the NHL)


There would be countless other examples of players from other NHL teams that might be willing to come and consult in Montreal (I'm not holding my breath for Ray Bourque, though).


Madness sets in
Finally, it occurred to me that another crazy idea might work. Why not make Patrice Brisebois a player/coach. We could phase him out of play as O'Byrne gets phased in. Even if Brisebois didn't help O'Byrne improve, the defence as a whole would improve by default as a result of his eventual omission...