Game #49 Habs Kill Off Wings As If They Were A Hooking Penalty

Details

Date: 25/01/2012
Opponent: Red Wings
Location: Montreal

Win: 7-2

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

Habs goalscorers: Bourque, Emelin, Desharnais (2), Plekanec, Pacioretty, Cole
Opposition goalscorers: Hudler (2)

Play of the game

It's rare I'll ever say this, but this game was full of plays worthy of this spot. The Habs completely and utterly dominated when the game was on the line and then forced home the issue after that. The play I ended up selecting was the one I was sure would be the play to describe right from when it happened. The first goal came early and set the tone for what was to come. Gomez got the puck from his all-star teammate (Diaz) and proceeded to take it from goal line to goal line. He was flying by his own blueline and found his way easily around two defenders. Thanks to the wonder of replay, we also got to see what Rene Bourque was doing as this was happening. pacing Gomez to the blueline, he had to put on an amazing burst to make the distance by the time any pass came. He did and ended up scoring a scruffy, but important goal. Why the play of the game? Because the play demonstrates the depth that is there, and how matching players properly makes that depth a factor.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Erik Cole
What can we say that hasn't already been said. He put in a signature effort and game and came out with three points. The all-star of the half season is getting a well-deserved rest instead of making his way to Ottawa. We'll miss his power moves if we watch the game.

David Desharnais - Game Puck
After he dominated the ECHL playoffs to pop up on our radar, I doubt we'd ever consider that the words "commanded the game" would fit his effort against the Red Wings. By his effort, by his vision and by his quick execution he confused the Red Wings leaderless defenders and did indeed command the offensive zone whenever he was in it. I thought the Habs were only continuing the press in the third to get him his goal. That says a lot about how his teammates feel about David.

Andrei Kostitsyn
Speaking of command, was there an ES shift that Eller and Kostitsyn did not hem in their opponents? The pair were outstanding at keeping the momentum going, and of course chipping in on the Emelin goal. I give the edge in the end to Kostitsyn who didn't take the penalty and continues to show determination and discipline this past little while.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Like Cole, he doesn't need much introduction. he put in a good Gorges-like effort and quited player like Zetterberg and Datsyuk all night. The forwards ran the show tonight, but they could do so because their defending colleagues showed the way early. Gorges as their leader did very well again.

Alexei Emelin
The guy was on for 7 goals! OK, 2 were against, but let's not dwell on that. Things happen when Alexei is on the ice because he tends to instigate. Tonight was the first career goal and probably the first game where his shots were more memorable than his hits (and more numerous). I think he showed Montreal management a few things. Heck, I think the whole NHL (on break and perhaps watching) saw a lot on display from number 74.

Goaltender

Carey Price
You could tell he wanted to join in the fun up front. At the very least, he wanted to grab some spotlight for himself, perhaps with a shutout. It didn't happen, but he played well. His steadiness early on and on the PK were a big help to setting the stage for an offensive explosion. He made sure we didn't have to watch a very different team -- the Red Wings with a lead.

Comments

I thought the Habs were the most efficient as team killers as I've seen in recent memory. The tone set in the first was that of a diligent penalty kill all over the ice. For once the Canadiens exercised the determination on display in shorthanded situations to control the puck, not just shepherd it. It paid too, because before a period was killed off, so was the game.

Perhaps even more encouraging was that each subsequent goal came as the result of continued pressure as opposed to satisfied puck concession.

Is this Cunneyworth hockey? Maybe. Perhaps the system that is so drastically different from that of Martin's permanent passive box just took a while to be taken up by players, and then executed with any demonstrable success.

One thing we know is that discipline will be important, and priority of team over self. We know this because Cunneyworth and Ladouceur benched PK Subban throughout a period after his errant elbow followed a $2500 fine. This my friends is a simple but effective coaching method. Ice time as reward. Ice time on merit. The opportunity was there in the circumstance. Will the method remain when PK's skills are required more urgently? We'll have to see. I think I like their approach, however, as Subban seems to get these messages. Rather than sulk, he looked more eager than anyone to hit the ice after 40 minutes and played with a renewed commitment to team cause.

So. 5 points in 3 games and here we are at the All-Star break? Not ideal to be carrying less in the Pts column than in the GP at this point. But in a very strange year (teams close at 8th and no one counted out) who knows what may happen. The Habs aren't in the position they imagined they would be in, yet it's not as dire as it could be. The schedule from next week tightens and important games come thick and fast. It should be a very interesting month going into decision points and trade deadlines.

Until then relish a couple of big wins. Enjoy some All-Star fluff. Speak soon.

Go Habs Go.

The Problem With Us

Now that Cammalleri is gone without filling Habs fans appetite for complaining, we have turned our attentions elsewhere.

The unfortunate recipient of the majority of our attentions of late has been PK Subban.

I actually wrote what I thought was a nice piece on why Subban should be suspended but not traded yesterday. Alas, it was lost when I idiotically pressed backspace to set my browser back a page. For some reason it wasn't autosaved at all. Anyway, the gist was he made a dirty hit (at least one) near the boards that was penalized but not harshly enough for my liking. But that this by no means affects his standing as a core member of the team going forward in my eyes. I think I actually noted he was THE core member.

So I wrote it, but you've read the same elsewhere. Let's move on.

Once again my fascination with the team and its players is matched by my fascination with those of us who follow. Incidentally, it was PK who brought this to the fore, this time with a quote:

“I have a great relationship with Randy and I’d hate for you guys to ruin that,” Subban said “I’m a young guy and I need to be coached and that’s what he’s doing. Coaches and players are never going to agree on all things but at the end of the day, I’m 22 years old and so it doesn’t matter what I think. He’s the coach.

“You can’t be messing up drills,” Subban said of the incident Tuesday. “One of the drills I screwed up and he let me know about it. That’s a part of the game. I don’t think that’s a big deal.

“He’s going to tear a strip off me again this year, maybe a couple of times, but if we’re going to make a deal out of it every time, that’s not beneficial to our team,” added Subban. ‘I’m not the only young guy here. He does it for the other young guys. And he doesn’t for the veterans too.”

Fascinating quote really. It cuts as sharply to the bone as one of his sharp defensive end turns (which incidentally I can't perform myself, as Tobalev will attest).

Subban is right you know. Coaches do yell at players all the time. My coaches often yelled at me, shunned me, scowled. Of course they also praised, explained and coached. But this isn't a treatise on coaching methods. It's about observers of that.

What about a coach yelling at a player is newsworthy?

In Subban's mind, the answer is nothing at all. But that's not how the Montreal media work. Subban is part of a running story line right now and this fits into that very nicely. The story goes that the coaches are unhappy with Subban and that his place on a pedestal (again assumed) is no longer available to him. Indeed, from that we must extrapolate that his place on the team is no longer safe. For some more sensational yarnspinners, he's being offered actively around the league.

Subban of course is right. To the coach, this is not news. To the player this is not news. It could only constitute news to those unfamiliar with the workings of a hockey team. Or perhaps those that need pieces to fit a budding narrative.

I liked how he handled the microphones here. Even if he was misquoted by typo "And he doesn’t for the veterans too".


Us vs. them

The other fascinating things about Subban's quote is the way it opens: "I have a great relationship with Randy and I’d hate for you guys to ruin that..."

What did the receivers of this quote think Subban meant by ruining it? Perhaps they might have thought he meant publishing stories about being yelled at in practice? That seems to be in keeping with the rest of his thought.

So precisely what he hoped might not happen is what indeed did happen. This story is on every outlet. Including (and this is important) this one.

Important. I have been reading it. You have been reading it. I just wrote about it and you are reading about it again now. When Subban said "you guys" we shouldn't feel exempt from the statement the way Pat Hickey obviously feels himself exempt from being tarred with the media brush.

We, bloggers, readers, media, fans. We are all part of this ridiculous machine that takes power from its own momentum. It is fascinating and fun to watch and comment on. But you know what? It's nowhere near as fun as a playoff win, or a graduation from from a playoff round.

I think it's high time we take a serious look in the mirror here. While it's fun for armchair GMs to contemplate their power over a team, we must admit that on all evidence the power we wield is mostly disruptive. A positve report on a player or a surprise inclusion in a dome is not news, but a player missing a practice, a bit of hard coaching is.

In reality, the Canadiens and PK wouldn't seek a separation unless there was a real problem lurking under the surface. But real problems might have been patched before, whereas as now under the constant watch of twitter, there's little room to breathe let alone let off the necessary amounts of steam.

If we are putting the team in a position of weakness, we only hurt our own hopes. If we are brining scorn on the city by lapping up this common, yet widely unreported, BS, then we deserve the reputation we are breeding.

Good on PK for putting it so eloquently. He may yet coach us to the slick hockey savvy population we hold as image for ourselves.