Game #36 Habs Accomplish Main Goal, Make Line Changes, Finish Game

Details

Date: 22/12/2011
Opponent: Jets
Location: Winnipeg

Loss: 0-4

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

Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Wheeler (2), Glass, Stapleton

Play of the game

After Kaberle made one of the worst plays of the year, definitely the game, the Thrashers broke in clean on Price shorthanded. Price saved the first shot, gave up a rebound and slid across to preserve the 3-0 deficit for a while. Woo-hoo.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Petteri Nokelainen
This guy had no business being the player showing the most passion. He's not from Montreal, he's not even from Canada. He isn't a Canadiens career player, he's a journeyman likely with no future with this team. He played hard because he's a professional who can't live with the dissonance that losing brings (I presume). he just won little battles and did very little that would be recognized on most nights. It says something when you can sincerely say we need more players like Nokelainen.

Louis Leblanc
Louis has some talent, perhaps not enough to deal with this mess on his own. He had some opportunity to show his instincts at times. But like so many Habs forwards with instincts, it was all for naught on the scoresheet. Still, a dim light on the horizon here.

Tomas Plekanec
You can see it in his face. He is asking why when he is on a slump that no one else is able to fill in. A 60 point guy on 60 point pace. he played OK tonight and got the best honest chances. He's the only player you can look at and begin to suggest bad luck up front.

Defencemen

Alexei Emelin - Game Puck
Same as Nokelainen, he doesn't have the obligation to do what he did in this one. He played hard and at times very smart. He made some of the best breakout passes of the whole game and drew a penalty brilliantly. This is brilliant news for the Habs who cannot go on playing 5 offensive defencemen who have no wherewithal at the back forever. Emelin can find his way around the first two zones and is showing that rare quality on this Habs team - improvement.

Raphael Diaz
Again he was less bad than a few of his peers and makes the cut. He was better on the PP than Weber who played longer minutes and safer in the defensive end than the robotic Gill and Gorges.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Price had his moments, but he also has to do better. In the net, I have little to hold against him, but with a defensive unit as chaotic as this one, there is no excuse for playing the puck the way he has been. He needs to help his weakling partners back there by mkaing things simpler, not more complicated for them. It's not ideal, but for a veteran and leader of this team now, he must lead by compromising on his boredom release tactic.

Comments

What a shambles.

The Canadiens skated into the Christmas holidays with the most lacklustre effort I have had to sit through in a while. How many times do I have to watch a trailing team fight for 20 seconds to win the puck in their own end only to promptly dump the puck back to the opponent so a line change can be made exactly on time. How many times do I have to watch a shot from the outside on goalies who are clearly showing they are not troubled (didn't Martin teach you anything about easy defence and outside shots?).

The team nearly to a man is showing no nuance, no appreciation for the situation's they get themslevs into. How can a team approach the beginning of the third period of a game in which they trial by 3, in a streak that threatens to total 5 losses, within a season that slips through the fingers? The team is disinvested in the process and unmotivated by the outcomes. This has gone beyond slump in finish, to slump in start, follow-through and end. The feet do the talking in this case and most times, like the score board, they are not moving. Nor are the mouths, which is scary for other reasons.

Looking at the positive, this new depth may just prompt more than a patch. Perhaps practices will gain focus. Perhaps players will start to ask serious questions. Perhaps coaches will hold the responsible to some account.

Next game will see the return of two players who have shown they like to take matters into their own hands. With the spur of a benching, perhaps some more focus to the efforts of Subban and Eller is to come. One can only hope.

More importantly, we break now. Enjoy the time off, savour some fine wine and cheese. Enjoy the company of those you love. Merry Christmas to all. We didn't get a win for Christmas, but our team gave us the gift of endless conversation topics for Sunday's meal.

Game #34Habs Fall Short Against Impressive Thomas

Details

Date: 19/12/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 2-3

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

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Cole
Opposition goalscorers: Pouliot, Krejci, Marchand

Play of the game

Price made a fantastic save on Hamill with about 8 minutes to go in the third and it was one of his best this year. We were facing some excellent goaltending throughout this game and it was Carey who answered Thomas with this stellar save to keep the game close. Without that save we would be wondering how that goal happened and who to blame, with it somehow all players are off the hook as Carey again bailed them out.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Max Pacioretty
His line was the best and he competed well tonight. A worse goalie or Thomas on an off night would have meant more than one assist from Max. The goal for him now has to be how to get back to the level that we need him to be at? Will he follow Cole's example?

Erik Cole
Would you be embarrassed if you were Camms, Gionta or Gomez? The answer is likely yes; one of the specific reasons is Erik Cole. He was brought in to be a complimentary player to our 'Big Guns', but instead has been our best. He has shown that it is not impossible to come to Montreal and to excel (even out-do) as you had done elsewhere. Erik continues to be a great role model on this team, but can he inspire?

Mathieu Darche
As Darche did with Martin (initially, not quite this year) he is trying to win a spot in the eyes of his new coach. He has been great (for a 4th-liner) over the past two games and is being rewarded for his efforts. I like when guys like Darche get going, it generally is a good sign for your team; I am hoping that that will become a reality over the next little while.

Defencemen

Raphael Diaz
If you want Emelin back (as I do) don't expect Diaz to be the one to sit. Tonight he logged the second most ice time on the team (Gorges) and was great throughout his 21 minutes. He played well at both ends and was used in all situations. The questions may have to be asked about Camploi or Gill because for now I think that Diaz has a friend in his new coach.

Hal Gill
Gill wasn't on the ice for any goals against during his 19.5 minutes and was a rock on the PK again. He led the team in blocked shots and played well enough otherwise. There were a few bad moments, but I still felt that he deserved this dome over the others.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Price had a better game tonight than against New Jersey, by a lot. Boston, whether we like it or not, are a hard team to beat; a team that can beat you on almost every level. In fact, I think that they are a better team this year than last. So, I was happy enough that the game was close and that was mostly due to Carey.

Comments

Boston played well tonight and we were just OK. We aren't going to win too many times in Boston if that is the case. It isn't surprising given the current situation of the two teams, but it is still upsetting. It looks like the problems of our team may have gone quite a bit beyond coaching as not much (granted it has only been 3 days) has changed. I still want to give the new staff time to work things out, but do hope that they (and our players) can reach their full (or near full) potential in the not too distant future. If we aren't on a better track in about 3 weeks then I think we'll be having to find different things to do this April and a few other people will have to find different things to do come next September.

What Just Happened? The Canadiens Recalibration Project

Jacques Martin was released on Saturday, hours before a game, days before Xmas. The team is still mired in the battle for a bottom playoff spot, but it was also coming off a long series of games in which points were gathered and sometimes hard-earned.

As coaching changes go, this was one was strange. primarily in its timing.

Because it is strange, I think it is important that we step back and ask ourselves some questions.

In our traditional view of things there are several reasons why one would fire a coach:

1) The team's results don't match their potential
2) The players have asked for a change
3) There is a better candidate
4) The GM is grasping at one last straw


The answer to all these questions in this case are slightly unclear.

No one can dispute that the Canadiens are sitting near the bottom of the standings and behind some important benchmark peers. However, all but the blindly optimistic thought there would be periods of sitting outside the playoff list as the team battles to get in. In effect, the team is matching those expectations, and is merely battling back from a slump that happened to occur at the beginning rather than in the midst of a season. Taking into account injuries to some key players over these months, the expectation are even more in line with what reasonable people would expect from this list of talent at the stages they are all in in their careers.

As for the players, I think the core buy what Martin is selling. Any reasonable member still skating from the 2010 playoff team will know that they made a playoff run because of his strategies built to suit their talent deficit. I'm relatively certain that they can still see there's no Lidstrom or Crosby in their midst and are happy to go with the pragmatic approach that Martin employs. I don't think they asked for this move.

Better candidate? Perhaps. But he's not been installed. That alone undercuts this argument.

GM panic? From what I've been hearing and reading, this is the position of most who've run through the other possibilities. It's possible, but I have another set of questions first.



A few weeks ago I read an article by Michael Farber about Louis Leblanc that delved much deeper than that. If you look back at it, it is like a harbinger that signalled the end of Martin and perhaps even Gauthier.

Farber starts predictably enough down the line of francophone vs. other on the team, in the organization. But as his thesis develops, he hones in on something else.

Montreal as a city may or may not have given birth to hockey, but it certainly gave it its upbringing. The earliest hockey leagues were at their most relevant when Montreal teams were involved. Montreal was the home of the Stanley Cup in the beginning and the league's (and game's) decision makers. The rules were written in Montreal and apart from the cosmetic surgery that has been taking place the past few seasons, the rules were perfected there as well. And it's not only been the administration of the game that has mattered. The Montreal teams through the years, and the Canadiens in particular have shaped the game in so many ways. There aren't many rules originating from the problems posed by the New York Rangers, for the Canadiens there have been.

But it's the Canadiens in particular on which the city has settled. And not just the Canadiens come what may. Rather the Canadiens cast as Flying Frenchmen.

In the early years of the franchise, the "Flying Frenchmen" tag was more of a marketing tag than a comment on the hockey. But at some point, the brand infused the team. The Flying Frenchmen became a philosophy. And later still, I think the brand was adopted by this city.

There are those whose constant gaze is fixed on the word Frenchmen, and this is where Farber started. But then he lands on short examination of what I would call the Flying half of this couplet:

The Canadiens' failure is not one of falling short of some mythical quota, but one of imagination.

The players who have most touched the city in recent seasons were not French Canadians but the problematic Alexei Kovalev, an artiste in style and temperament, and defenseman P.K. Subban, whose game is layered with curlicues. Indeed when Martin scratched Subban last season, there was general outrage about his efforts to stifle the player rather than applause that the team, with its dandy rookie exiled to the press box, actually won a few games in a row.

I thought this was an insight at time. Maybe an insight I would write about later. But later is now when people are looking for possible answers to "why?" and "why now?"

Isn't it indeed the "Flying" that defines our love affair with this team?

From rough and tumble beginnings from which a modern Don Cherry might have shielded his view, the Canadiens emerged with Howie Morenz to change hockey with this attacking mentality. The heritage was passed next to the teams of the 50s, 60s and 70s, even 80s -- al the while emblazoning itself on the hearts and minds of its followers.

When Farber notes:

This current iteration of the Canadiens, lagging even the rebuilding Ottawa Senators in the Northeast Division, has not made many new friends and might be in the process of temporarily alienating some old ones.

he suggests the answer could be Louis Leblanc. Perhaps.

But if someone were really asking this question (someone like say Geoff Molson), would his recalibration begin and end with a 20 year-old already comfortable in the ways of deferring to defensive assignment for the win?

I wouldn't have thought so. He might start by identifying the roots of the alienation that has been occuring between once adoring fan and the "Flying Frenchman" brand. He might overhear all the begrudging admissions that Jacques Martin is successful , but somehow just not right; that playing the percentages is sound statistically, but ever so tedious a spectacle.


Clear your minds of preconceived notions for a minute:

- Maybe this firing is not about the Candiens wins and losses of a partial season
- Maybe this has nothing to do with Randy-on-the-spot Cunneyworth (I'll bet money it doesn't)
- Maybe there isn't a hero in the wings

Maybe what we are seeing is some recognition at long last that Montreal so loves not hockey, but their hockey; winning, but not at any cost (not at this cost); that the city if not able to boast about strings of Stanley Cups (and most are realistic to know those days are past) would at least wish to look down their noses on the adherent of trapping and negative tacttics as their team skates for goals.

Maybe what we are seeing is a deep recalibration, not just a superficial one, ten times tried in 20 years.

For me, this is the line of questioning that leads to the best answers. And for that reason, if no other, it's worth asking.

The System Is Down - Martin Out, Cunneyworth In

In what is sure to generate a lot of commentary from a lot of places this weekend, Canadiens management has signaled the end of the Jacques Martin era and have given the reins to Randy Cunneyworth for the interim. JM is a peculiar kind of coach, and his particular style of play (AKA "The System") has generated plenty of praise and ire from commenters here and around the web. I, for one, am not sorry to see him go.

I've never made it much of a secret that I'm no fan of JM and his System. I find it's boring and frustrating to watch, and more importantly, it's predictable to opponents and sometimes stifling for talent. I'm not saying that Gomez putting up garbage numbers is somehow Martin's fault, but I feel like Kostitsyn for one might have developed into an even better player had he seen more time on the ice the last two seasons. I also hate Martin talking about puck possession when he will let opponents have it enough to pepper his goalie with 50 shots while seeming to discourage physical play.

My take is that through most of his tenure, Martin has kept 2 scoring lines, a checking line, and another line consisting of people that had pissed him off lately. Obviously, AK46 spent a lot of time on that line. The emergence of a third scoring line this year has been a welcome surprise to us, but may have confused Martin—how is he supposed to punish players like Kostitsyn when he ends up skating with Eller and Desharnais to become one of the stronger threats we've iced this season?

Well, you could always break up the trio. Martin seems opposed to the whole idea of consistent lines and letting players develop chemistry. I'm not a big fan of this idea. I think players are better as they get to know each other and where each other like to be on the ice. I think physical play is an enormous part of hockey, and that the Canadiens are rightly criticized for being soft on their opponents at times. The System discourages things that aren't collapsing into your zone, like making your man pay the price for crossing your blue line or delivering the kinds of punishing hits Emelin is becoming known for. The lack of physicality allows opponents to take certain liberties, like running Price and and coming across our blue line with their heads down.

This is a better team than last season in my opinion. We have more offensive weight and are just as good in the back. Price is playing well and so are key players like Plekanec, Subban, Gorges, and Kostitsyn. We've had a number of players performing well-above my expectations, like Desharnais, Cole, Pacioretty, Weber, Diaz, and even Emelin. I have a hard time believing a coach can't do more with this squad compared to last season's.

We'd like to see more from Gomez, obviously, and Cammalleri and Gionta haven't been performing to their normal standards. Is this a coaching issue? I have no idea. We don't seem to be able to finish adequately around the net, either. We still seem tired and out of shape at times, and have trouble playing 60 full minutes. After several years of being one of the better power play teams in the league, we've suddenly forgotten how to use the extra man. Are these coaching issues? Obviously we can't tell at this point, but I'm inclined to say 'yes'.

With a new coach we'll find out the answer, and here we can let speculation run wild. Will Cunneyworth be left in charge for the long-term, or will Habs management be on the phone with Bob Hartley all year? Will the team get better without JM, or should we have held on to him for just a little while longer? Does Gauthier regret letting Guy Boucher go to Tampa, or is he still laughing over the Philly incident? How bad will the RDS rants be about Cunneyworth's poor French and his Toronto roots?

My take is that the team will improve, but more because things aren't about to get much worse. I've been seeing a team that does a lot of things right but just isn't getting the wins. I think they would have started coming in even if JM stayed on, but maybe they'll start coming a little quicker and more often under Cunneyworth. Let us know your take on the firing and what's next for the CH.

Game #13 Remember, Remember The 5th of November, Habs Take Lessons From Rangers Game

Details

Date: 5/11/2011
Opponent: Rangers
Location: New York

Loss: 3-5

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

Habs goalscorers: Pacioretty, Kostitsyn, Gionta
Opposition goalscorers: Christensen, Girardi, Del Zotto, Richards, Callahan (EN)

Play of the game

It ended with a slick passing play and a fairly straightforward tap in (that should happen more often). I can only imagine how this play began, perhaps: Cunneyworth: :Hey Jacques, have you ever thought about trying Andrei Kostitsyn on the PP?". Prior to this game, Kostitsyn was roughly equal to Mathieu Darche in PP time. This despite being among the best forwards for nearly every game since the beginning of the season, and proving in the past that he could score on the PP. Recognizing the passive triangle defence was a good catch by the coaching team, and placing the better equipped Kostitsyn to man it was also good. It may well have been a mistake in deployment looking back, actually, because strangely Andrei didn't get back on the PP again after that.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Erik Cole - Game Puck
Bear with me. The Habs found themselves behind by 3 goals about a quarter of the way through the game. They knew by that point, the refs would not be handing their favours to them (penalty for stopping in front of goalie?). This wasn't going to be a normal game where the normal gameplan would unfold as the past four. To me, Cole recognised this first and ended up being one of only a few who looked beyond lucky bounces to get back. He didn't score a goal or get an assist, but he got the two best chances made from nothing that didn't go in.

Max Pacioretty
Besides ideas, a team behind needs opportunism and instinct to claw back such a big lead. Pacioretty played that role again in this one. Gionta's shot was a brilliant read of a goalie, but it took a player in high form to ensure he'd be in the sweet spot to pounce. He did it a few more times in the game too. 7 shots in all.

Brian Gionta
A last gasp goal and an amazing shot pass are enough to get Gionta recognised here. His play in the crease was also pivotal, as his penalty drawn led to the 5-on-3 and probably the play of the game. I'd have liked more creativity from the captain, but it's hard to ask for everything from the guy who essentially prepared all the goals.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
It wasn't that bad a defensive game for the Habs. But there were a lot of little goofs that ended up costing the team. In general, Josh Gorges looked least likely to give up something too dangerous and made his forays into the offensive zone with the finest calculation.

Hal Gill
Because he was on Gaborik duty, he gets more leeway than others. I should say that generally this year, I think Gill has been worse than last year. I think placing him with Diaz is a big misread of what Gill's role on the team can be. However, in this game, he did well. He wasn't on for any goals against, including 8.5 minutes short-handed. It was a sort of Gill style night on D, lots of battles conceded to control the front of the net area.

Goaltender

Carey Price
We'll call this giving the benefit of the doubt. 4 goals against is not good. First though considering the circumstances it was more like 3 goals, that 5-on-3 would never happen again with semi-competent refs (oh wait, this is still the NHL, I guess it will happen then, probably next game). Then, considering the defence that led to the goals, we could point to a couple of things out of the goalie's control. It was still a plain game from Carey, but I feel that's because the rest of the time he was plainly good in his usual way.

Comments

Remember, remember the 5th of November as they say. I thought this game could be one for the archives and one to review when things get real.

Lesson 1:
Don't count on the refs. Sometimes the refs are going to miss calls, sometimes they are going to err on the side of the opposition. Once it happens, there's no reason to dwell on it. More importantly, recognise that you'll have to do something other than fall over and await the PP to get back into the game. Also recognise when the refs are touchy and back off on the snowing the goalie.

Lesson 2:
It takes effort to get scoring chances. I'm not really talking about "scoring chances" like the ones defined as any shot weak or strong from a defined area of the ice. But scoring chances, the ones that look like they could go in, even to the opposing goalie. As I mentioned Cole got a few because he poured on effort at the right time, Pacioretty got a goal because Gionta remembered to shoot low. It takes more effort from behind. As it should.

Lesson 3:
The third period is long, but not that long. A third goal did come from some pressure, but far too late. Until that point, the third largely looked like a long wait for a happy bounce. If you're behind by two to start the third, most times you'll lose. With this in mind, the pressure should look to last as long as the twenty minutes.


I'm sure there are more lessons. But to this group of slow learners, I think 3 learning objectives are quite sufficient. Remember how you didn't win and why, remember what worked and how it looked for a time like the come back was on, remember to try not to play the whole first period a man down. Then forget points left on the table and move onto the next task.

Game #7More Breakdowns Than On The Side Of The 401

Details

Date: 22/10/2011
Opponent: Maple Leafs
Location: Montreal

Loss: 4-5 (OT)

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Reimer, Gustavsson (W)

Habs goalscorers: Moen (2), Kostitsyn, Cammalleri
Opposition goalscorers: Steckel, Kessel, Phaneuf, Grabovski (2)

Play of the game

I have to hand it to Travis Moen, because of all of the Habs he may be the one that is playing the most above his usual. He covered up another poor play by the team (an opening minutes penalty) with a spectacular effort to get open and score the first goal. On the PK, he an Eller were off. Lars was gone, but could Travis make it a 2-on-1? Yes, he did incredible work to get in front of his man and then did even better once he got the puck. He fought off the D very well and beat Reimer with a perfectly placed backhand shot.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Travis Moen - Game Puck
I didn't think that I would be saying this (and had actually hoped that I wouldn't have to), but Moen was our best player tonight. No offence to Travis, but there are a few players that should be ashamed of themselves because it isn't like Moen is playing like Crosby and that is why he is standing out, no, he is just playing good, solid hockey. Tonight it was 2 goals and a +3 - maybe not my first choice for top-6 winger minutes, but he is certainly earning that time now.

Lars Eller
He played a good game tonight and demonstrated that he is also capable of being a top-2 centre on this team. It may be unclear where he really stands when all are healthy, but if he keeps playing with the energy and passion that he did tonight then I think he'll keep getting his minutes. He had a 2-point night tonight, was very dangerous in the offensive zone and, like his linemate, was +3.

Andrei Kostitsyn
Kostitsyn should feel pretty good about the start that he has had. JM keeps moving people around to try and get others going (and appears to be demoting Kostitsyn each time he does that), but Andrei answers by continuing to be a main part of our best line, night in, night out. He picked up a very nice goal tonight and added an assist on Moen's second (the Gorges shot).

Defencemen

Yannick Weber
Yannick was on for no goals against, was +1 and played 22+ minutes. I didn't notice him much in our end which tonight, was a good thing. He is being used in all situations and is certainly making a case for himself to remain as a defenceman. He has probably been a top-3 D-man for us this year so it will be interesting to see what happens when Spacek, and later Markov, get back.

PK Subban
PK has to be better, he needs to. If he doesn't give us more than he has then this Habs team is a lot worse off than we all thought they would be. Right now he is playing one game as a top-2, one game as a solid depth player and another as a rookie. We, whether it was right to do so or not, have put a lot on this kid and I think our season will depend a lot on his progression. Tonight he was a top-2 for us, but that is mainly due to the mistakes of others and his decent puck control on the PP. There are still 75 games left, lets hope he gets it going, and I mean really going, before it is too late.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj
The one player that we need to be better than PK this year is Price. We were good last year, but it is no stretch to say that if we had this goaltending we would not have made the playoffs at all. He has to find ways to win despite the players in front of him because, for the most part it is the same group that he has won behind before. The team is certainly playing worse, no question, but we can't keep losing games in which we score 4+ goals. Expectations are high on this kid because at this point, he is really all we have going for us.

Comments

Just like the team I play on; too many penalties. It is an embarrassment that we got 2 too-many men on the ice penalties today...what is that? I can't stand that we continue to be one of the most penalized teams in the league despite the fact that we have no real dirty or rough players. I don't know how many times I have said this, but penalties must be JM's main concern. I reckon that if this keeps up he may be in his last 2 weeks in the NHL, so he had better find a way to win games and I strongly believe that taking less penalties is the best way to start. So, in my opinion, he must do whatever it takes to get his players to be scared, scared as hell of taking any sort of penalty. Perhaps always siding with your player and always disaggreeing with the ref after a call isn't the way to get your players to change their ways? Just a thought.

Now, penalties aside, we continue to play poorly in our own end and we play an awful lof of hockey in that 1/3 of the rink. We can't get it out with any sort of consistency and our inability to maintain prolonged attacks means that we simply get overwhelmed in our end. I hate this cliche, but I honestly think that we just have to keep things simple, we have to play the most basic and safest type of defensive hockey. It seems that we are able to score despite all of our problems throughout the line-up, so we must focus on defence, full team defence. That means a lot of work for Price and the D-men, but also a big focus on our defensive zone play from our forwards. Until we win I would actually exclusively work on this aspect of the game during practice.

We're probably a few losses away from major moves, so lets hope (unless we want major moves?), we turn it around fast. If we keep this play up for another month the season could be ruined, if we turn it around in the next few days it will simply look like a blip on our overall record.

In a Tweet What To expect From The 2011-12 Canadiens

Big T has done the heavy lifting. I'm adding some top of mind prognostication for the short attention span times we live in.

Forwards
Scoring lines: The production will be similar, the explanations for why it happened the way it did different.

Checking lines: They’ll excite, have their time in the sun. But it’s still 10 goalscorers with PK time.

Line integrity: Same coach? Yup. So none then. 20 minutes into Thursday’s match-up should be it.

Tomas Plekanec: Good on the PK, good on the PP, good at ES, good all around. Will good be good enough?

Erik Cole: Beats goalies with an elite shot. Works hard. Will still disappoint those who confuse 20 goalscorer with goal-a-game man.

Mike Cammalleri: Won’t turn on his playoff magic until the situation requires it. Leading scorer anyway.

Scott Gomez: Rebound year? Yeah, certainly if he can put in a rebound or two this time around, or shoot hard enough to create one.

Brian Gionta: Team shot leader should poach important goals as he always has.

Max Pacioretty: Will be demoted from the scoring lines at some point. How he reacts will determine his long-term success.

Andrei Kostitsyn: Will be promoted to the scoring lines at some point. How he reacts will determine his fate.

Lars Eller: Won’t end atop the scoring pile. To the delight of some, he'll lead in an obscure category.

Mathieu Darche: A promotion to the first line after a good stretch will be end looking a repeat of years past.

Ryan White: The honeymoon will likely end sometime between November and February.

Andreas Engqvist: So long, we hardly knew ye.

David Desharnais: Were all the scouts right or wrong? Montreal fans will decide within the month.

Travis Moen: Will collect his oversized cheque under the welcome shadow of Scott Gomez.

Blair Betts: Once came second in the NHL in GA on the PK.


Defenders

Andrei Markov: Day-to-day. That’s how often the barometer on his contract status will change as well.

PK Subban: Will grow into the best defensive defenceman on the team as well.

Hal Gill: Think happy thoughts. If we make the playoffs all this will be worth it.

Jaroslav Spacek: While tripping over his own feet, he’ll still be on for more goals for than against.

Josh Gorges: If we set our expectations right, he’ll deliver and maybe exceed just a little.

Alexei Yemelin: Expect a rocky ride. Have we seen a check since that scrimmage, he obviously takes new instructions very seriously.

Raphael Diaz: Unless there’s injuries, let’s not hold our breath for a PP run by Markov and Diaz.

Yannick Weber: The forward from the 2011 playoffs sees more time than the D from the 2009 playoffs.

Chris Campoli: Picard with a better shot, and a better shot at sticking around.


Goalies

Carey Price: As his teammates come to know what to expect, reliability may become his new word.

Peter Budaj: How many back-to-back games are there?


Special teams

Powerplay: The goal droughts will be directly proportional to PK's wind-up.

Penalty kill: Our only complaint will be how often they are required.


Trades

Trade deadline wants/needs: Forward with size who can score.

Trade deadline acquistions: Paul Mara.


Ranking

Teams the Habs will beat: NYI, FLA, CAR, WPG, OTT

Teams the Habs won't beat: PIT, WSH, BUF, NYR

Teams the Habs will be watching in March: TOR, BOS, PHA, NJ, TBL

Playoff qualification: Even 4th isn’t safe territory. It’ll be a fight.


Media storylines

Goaltending battle: Carey Price lost 2 games in a row...

Kostitsyn slump: 25 goalscorer totals 62 games without a goal. Again.

Pacioretty on third line: Remember that quote? Well...

Habs need size, grit: It's February, the Habs have just lost their first game to Boston this season...

The 50s Habs were better: When I started as a reporter...

Desharnais benched: How? Why?

Louis Leblanc scored: In Hamilton, ...

PK Subban's ipod: He changed a song...

Markov missed (recurring feature every Saturday)




Think that's enough. Send in your own ideas for tweet previews (they've gotta be better than most of this rubbish).

Aware that you all are very excited and need to read something more substantial to stop your restless legs from disturbing your workmates. Check out these two pieces:

1) Knowing the Enemy (From HEOTP)
A very good run down on the Leafs. Generous but with that realism that you won't find from Leafs fans' own blogs.

2) If it all goes wrong
Hey, at least they said "if". It's a fun portend on what could be written by the analysts if the points in the standings don't match the dreams of the fans.


Hope you all enjoy the game tonight. See you for the aftermath.

Cole Shoulders High Expectations in Montreal

Two somewhat paranormal coincidences to report, one being my comment on Topham's Thursday post about my "dream signing" being Erik Cole; and him being signed hours later. The second is that I apparently agree with Jack Todd, for once. Eerie.

So why Erik Cole?

In my opinion, the biggest need for the Habs up front this off-season was clear: a proven top-6 winger with size. We've all talked before on many occasions about the need for a power forward, preferably a good winger to play with the albatross that is Scott Gomez. Someone who can battle in front of the net, and not have Andrew Leighton simply look over their heads if they set a screen. Someone who can score at least 20 goals a season; the more, the better. Having another RH shot among the forwards would also be a big plus, as only Gionta and Ryan White currently qualify.

Now, we knew we were fooling ourselves if we even dared think about Jaromir Jagr or Brad Richards; and wonder idly if there was ever any talk from head office to, say, the Sharks about Setoguchi or Pavelski when they were moved. The UFA pool was fairly shallow this year, so Montreal didn't have a lot of great choices. Once Philly wrapped up RFA Claude Giroux, the market consisted basically of Cole, Michael Ryder, and Jamie Langenbrunner.

Michael Ryder
We've been here before. Ryder was a Calder-nominated rookie for us back in 2003-04, scoring 25 goals and 38 assists. He had 2 straight 30-goal campaigns after the lockout, but a sub-par 2007-08 season (likely due to personal issues related to his brother) saw him benched by Carbonneau and left to free agency. He rebounded with Boston, scoring 27 goals and over 50 points again, but since has trailed off to 33 points last season and 41 this year despite around 15 minutes of ice-time. He's a proven scorer, and at 6' and 192 lbs is large for a Habs forward. Somehow I don't know that he'd welcome an offer from Montreal, nor that Montreal fans would be happy to have him back; and there's no guarantee he'll ever return to his 30-goal form. Dallas will pay him $3.5M per year for the next two seasons finding out.

Jamie Langenbrunner
The oldest of the trio at 35, Langenbrunner is a proven 2-way forward that's won two Cups (one with Dallas in 1999, and one with New Jersey in 2003). He fit in well with New Jersey's conservative style of play and Jacques Martin would probably love him for it. He's scored 20+ goals 4 times in 16 NHL seasons and twice came within 2 goals of the mark; and has 6 seasons with 50+ points. He's got good size at 6'1" and 205 lbs. Given that he's still unsigned, I'm left wondering why - he would have likely been a decent addition to many squads and his last contract was only worth $2.8M/yr. I am guessing Pierre Gauthier talked to him, but the fact he's still unsigned makes me think there's something a little fishy.

Erik Cole
At 32 years old and beginning his 10th NHL season, Cole has had his problems with injuries with an astonishing 86 games missed since the lockout. However, he's managed to clear 50 points 4 times in that span, and score 20+ three times (with another 18-goal season). However, he doesn't seem to play well with people who aren't Hurricanes: he had a pretty disastrous 27 points in 63 games with the Oilers in 2008-09 before returning to Carolina to put up 15 points in a mere 17 games. Still, he can be productive while playing tough minutes against hard opposition, and was one of only 5 players to score over 25 goals and deliver over 200 hits last season.

I reasoned that we need a big, RH winger that can hit and score. To me, Cole was the best choice. I think he's the biggest offensive threat of the three, he uses his size and at 6'2" and 205 lbs he's far from small. If he can stay healthy, and he did play 82 games last year, I don't think it's unreasonable to think he can put away another 25 goals and help Gomez pull his numbers up to reasonable levels - but I'm expecting a fair amount of line-juggling from Jacques Martin early on and the lines might not be what we're expecting. I was hoping to sign him for a little less than $4.5M for 2-3 years, but he'll be 37 at the contract's end and not exactly ancient. The reality is that we have to pay a premium to get players from the US that would rather not pay Canadian and Quebec taxes.

Maybe less like a "dream signing," and more like a realistic one. I guess I don't dream very big. But if Cole stays healthy, I think he can be the physical 25-goal scorer we could use so badly; and it least it's a dream that has a chance of coming true.

Let us know in the comments who I missed, and who you would have rather seen putting on the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge this past weekend.

Benching Pouliot A Question Of Priority

Benoit Pouliot took a fateful penalty in Game #3. Following 2 games and a period without a point, Ben charged into Johnny Boychuk as the second man and ended up serving 2 minutes. Although the Bruins didn't technically score on the PP, they did score their 3rd (and gamewinning) goal within 10 seconds of its end while the Habs were still scrambling.

Pouliot played 2 more shifts in that game, and with Halpern's return, none since.

While the penalty was extremely ill-advised, and warrants a lesson of the sort being handed out right now. On the cusp of Game #6, however, the banishment of Pouliot turns into something bigger: a decision on organizational priority.


To bench Pouliot now reinforces the message to Ben and to other young players that the playoffs are a special brand of hockey where concentration has to come before whimsy.

The other side of the coin is that Pouliot represents a better player than many of those in the line up. A player who can break defenses on his own, who can control quick passes, who can score goals under tight checking.

The choice for the Habs, therefore: This year or future years?


This year

To go for it this year, the Canadiens need to answer Claude Julien's defensive adaptations. No longer can the Tom Pyatts of the world just carry down the boards. That avenue of attack has been sealed off. To go for it this year, Martin has to look to increase his goalscoring and the threat of goalscoring (to push Bruins defenders to make mistakes again).

Pouliot isn't going to storm the scene and take over the series, but he does offer a known quantity in terms of offensive know how. This season he scored 13 goals while playing on different lines. Never once was he given the full benefit of Gomez or Plekanec, yet he found ways to make it work for certain periods of the season.

Over the season, Benoit scored 0.856 goals per 60 minutes of play and averaged 1.975 points per 60 minutes. As a goalscorer and point getter this places him in the top 6 on the team. Consider also that he was on the ice for a total of 41 goals this season (36 of which were at ES).

This puts him in good stead vs. the current top 6 players and a good distance ahead of the others. Tom Pyatt, who rarely misses a game, was only on the ice for 12 goals all season long. Pouliot also offers promise over Eller (0.49 G/60 and 1.19 Pts/60), Moen (0.35 G/60 and 0.92 Pts/60) and White (0.50 G/60 and 1.24 Pts/60).

I think adding Ben back in would accomplish a few things like adding a third line that can score (much like the Ryder line that has troubled the Habs so much), giving another option for when Moen dries up production on the 2nd line again and just add a little bit of danger to the minds of Boston defenders who mustn't shudder when they see Pyatt and Weber coming.

I think adding Ben back in would be an indication that the choice to win tonight and to win as much as possible this season represents as big a priority as anything else to the organization.


Future seasons

The choice to defer success now for success later wouldn't be a new choice for the Habs. Three years ago, when the team gave Price his baptism by fire, they did the same.

Benching Pouliot is more than a lesson to Pouliot. It is a signal to everyone, rookie and veteran alike, that straying from the core strategy will not be tolerated - the core strategy of course being discipline under fire.

It's a valid stance. Discipline is valuable based on the season the Habs have just had. The Canadiens worst slip ups and defeats came during moments of indiscipline and largesse. To eliminate silly penalties is to eliminate one of the team's main weaknesses.

It's also valid given the make up of the squad. Price, Eller, Pouliot, Subban, Weber, Pyatt, Desharnais, White. These are all players that will be here for a while. These are all players being molded. It's hard to see it when it's taking place, but some trouble seasons, some dead-end playoff runs are valuable learning grounds. Without losing and the pressure of having to win, the precocious talent often misses being tempered into the steel that can battle through 4 rounds. If the goal is a Cup, and it should be, then hardening the competitors for a Cup run is a vital step.

If Pouliot is benched one more time, with the threat of elimination, it will mark for me the organization's priority for the future. A recognition that the team may not be there yet and lessons gathered now may be more helpful than a second round berth.



Mutually exclusive goals?

If you know our blog, then you know our thinking on this. Losing Markov, recent trades, surges of other teams, these are all lessons that show us chances are precious. Planning for the future is nice, but there are no guarantees there will be a future (at least in the playoffs).

What's more (and you can probably tell from the undeveloped argument for the future above), lessons don't have to be contained in packages that run over a year. And there are more lessons to be learned than the one Pouliot is supposed to be soaking up in the pressbox. Think for example of the lessons that a young team could learn from a disciplined couple of games from Pouliot, think of the lessons they could learn from adding passion to discipline, think of what they could learn from winning tonight's game, tomorrow's game.

My position (although I can see the other side) is that Pouliot needs to play. As probably the fourth best pure talent on the team in front of the defenders and an unpredictable proposition, he's too important a piece to leave out of the battle plans. I believe that the Habs dearth of scoring and chance generation is a bigger problem now than discipline - particularly in light of the fact referees are taking care of discipline regardless of play by now.

I hope the team of coaches and managers think this through and graps that what may seem like a black and white choice could be a winning compromise where present and future goals are sought and achieved.

Go Habs Go.

Game #1-1 Habs Commit To Bruin Beating Plan

Details

Date: 14/4/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 2-0

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

Habs goalscorers: Gionta (2)
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

Fitting that the game threw a steal our way so we could highlight the puck battle aspect of the game in the play of the game. Milan Lazic skating down the wing was completely and easily stripped of the puck. It became the play of the game because all the actors knew what was to happen next. Gomez took control flush and found his wingers, a simple drop to Gionta became an open chance down the favoured right wing. Soft puck play was followed by soft goaltending as a puck squeezed by Thomas into the net. This ended the game.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
So close to being the player of the game. Aside from missing some glorious chances, he laid down a perfect game. He shadowed Krejci and brought back visions of Koivu on Thornton by not only plugging the offense, but also getting the better chances all night. We asked him to bring something more, he did.

Brian Gionta
This was all for naught if Montreal forwards do what Boston forwards did. They nearly did and maybe would have, but for the 30 goal-man (a season and 3 minutes in anyway). Gionta scored two goalscorer's goals and gave Boston problems all night when he was in their zone.

Scott Gomez
Played the team game and made the only two successful scoring chances of the whole game, for either team. Gomez gets his fair share of criticism, so he should get praise when he deserves it. The value of a player like Gomez goes further than his superficial stats. Every time I see the Canadiens turn back in their own zone, I remember how before Gomez and co. this never happened. This wasn't the perfect puck possession game, but choice moments of calm kept it from being worse. Worth saying after a win.

Defencemen

Hal Gill
Classic playoff game for Gill. He took the looser rules and made his game fit them. At one point I saw him lightly holding a players back until the ref turned his way. Gill played lots against the Bruins "big" line and did the business on Lucic and Horton. It kept shots sensible and saveable.

James Wisniewski
Addition of the year on this team. On any team? Certainly glad we didn't hold out for paying more for Kaberle in this case. James was part of a second excellent pairing that shutout a very good second Bruins unit. Did Recchi play? That's a compliment to Wiz.

Goaltender

Carey Price – Game Puck
The perfect game to start a series from our goalie. There were bad angle shots, hard shots, a couple of what looked like screen shots, easy shots - Carey handled them all. He told us he learned a lot from watching the playoffs last spring, and now we know for sure that's true as he showed the pressure soaking Halak goaltending of last spring in perfect rendition. I wouldn't want to be a Bruins fan watching this goalie, because Price now gives that nauseating impression that he can make quality scoring chances into easy looking saves.

Comments

A slowish end to the season fogs into the memory as the Canadiens came out flying, took a lead and then played the perfect safe game. We heard how the team was getting outshot, we saw how the possession was lengthy at times in the Canadiens end for the opposition, but the team didn't mind. That's because the Bruins were taking the outside shots without asking questions and the Habs were happy to continue on that path - the one they were laying.

The win itself is critical. It at once gives the Canadiens home ice advantage and puts to rest any notion that the Bruins were out to manhandle the Canadiens. yet it is still just a game. Unlike a hockey game, a series win requires more than a single score, and the Bruins will have learned something from this game. Comfort must come from the knowledge that a stubborn vet like Julien might actually feel his team did the right things by outshooting the Habs and might preach sticking with no change. Martin still needs to see the next move when the Bruins do wake-up, as I'm not sure they will surprise another team with the Hal Gill usher out.

Enjoy the lead Habs fans. Your well-coached team won a well-designed victory.

Game #82Habs Play Tight Game; Let The Real Season Begin!

Details

Date: 9/4/2011
Opponent: Maple Leafs
Location: Toronto

Win: 4-1

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

Habs goalscorers: White, Gionta (2), Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Kessel

Play of the game

Price made an incredible save on a goal that wasn't, but could have been. The refs went upstairs on a puck that may well have crossed the line. The official call, however, was that it stayed out and that was because of the work that Carey did. He somehow got his hand on the puck which was rolling on the line and managed to take his hand out of the net as the rest of his body found its way in. It was a truly acrobatic play and one of Price's best saves of the season.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Ryan White
Who knows what role Ryan will play in the playoffs, but he showed his coach that he was ready if needed. He scored an early goal and then went on to get in a fight and make 4 hits (led the game) and did it all with the least amount of ice-time of any player on either team.

Michael Cammalleri
Mike didn't score tonight, but certainly got enough chances to show that he is ready to go. In fact, I think that he got the most quality chances of any Hab other than Gionta. It should be interesting to see if he can elevate his game to the same level that he did last year.

Brian Gionta - Game Puck
Two goals for Brian tonight and I guess the biggest shock was that he didn't have more. That gives him 29 goals on the year which is not only what we expect from the captain, but also what we need. Pleks, Camms and Andrei can all score, but Gionta shouldn't be forgotten as one of, if not the, most potent threat on the team. It was a good first year as captain for Brian, next up is his first playoffs.

Defencemen

PK Subban
PK's ready, don't you think? He is the type of player that lives for big games and I am sure that he can't wait for next week. He played the most of any Hab tonight and his 7 shots led the team by 3. I am positive that he'll be back with Gill, so the question is whether Spacek is in and is so, who is out?

James Wisniewski
I liked the Wiz's play tonight. It was a nice reminder of the type of player that we have on our hands as I think it is a treat to have such a high-quality replacement. I am not sure how many games he has left in a Habs uniform, but 16 wins would sure be nice.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Carey played a good game and made a few great saves. His season wraps up with pretty impressive numbers, the type of numbers that we haven't seen for years. It wasn't all good, however, as his puck-handling almost cost him and the goal was a bit weak. Luckily he has learned to shrug off mistakes, so weak goals don't seem to phase him. If he can keep mistakes down though, then this could be another enjoyable run as I don't see many cracks in him at all.

Comments

Well, that's that, 82 games up, 82 games down. It was a nice way to end the year in that we got a win, Toronto got a loss and we avoided any major knocks. All in all it was a good season, 96 points is a good result. I wouldn't say that we are miles behind the top teams and considering that we are relatively healthy (forget the big 3 injuries) we have a certain amount of depth that I am happy about. It will be a potentially dirty series with Boston, but if we can score and score early on them then they will change their style. When that happens they start trying to score and forget the rough and dirty stuff; that is generally when we can better them. Price is the key, but with players like Subban, Wiz, Gill, Gio, Pleks, Kostitsyn and Cammalleri I feel that we have enough options. It will be good to get a few days rest this week, because we all know how tiring another 2 months of hockey watching can be!

Gam #72 Habs Make Most Of 40 Minutes After Meltdown

Details

Date: 18/3/2011
Opponent: Rangers
Location: New York

Loss:3-6

Habs Goalie: Price (L), Auld
Opposition Goalie: Lundqvist (W)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Wisniewski, Gionta
Opposition goalscorers: Anisimov, Girardi, Callahan, Gaborik, Boyle, Prospal

Play of the game

The coach made the play of the game in this one. The decision to start Carey Price was the right call, but after a fluke goal and a bad minute, it was right also to pull him. Auld coming in didn't turn the tide right away, but did eventually have that effect. In addition, it provided the comical moment of the game as the large goalie had to get on the ice without the benefit of a door, clambering over the boards in his pads. A close second must be whatever Martin and his leaders said in the room during the first intermission - since those words salvaged 40 minutes from the contest.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

David Desharnais
David did a nice job, but he really does look better going against lesser defenders, especially against playoff level teams with organized defence. We hope Plekanec comes back soon for the sake of the overall attack, and so the Canadiens can complicate the lives of opposing coaches as they struggle to deal with a 3rd/4th line centered by this tricky attacking centre.

Brian Gionta
Gionta played a nice game and had another goalscorer's tally. TSN hit the nail on the head (unlikely as that sounds) when they recognized the importance of Gionta in the Canadiens never-say-die attitude in this one. The captain's determination both troubles and surprises his opponents and will be a major key in the Canadiens future hopes.

Scott Gomez
It's really too bad Gomez can't score. That's because it would be the final complement to his play. He really does do so many of the other things just right. Most noticeable for me tonight was his stickwork in boardlong battles. Gomez should deliver a clinic to his teammates, as winning the puck with a quick burst and clever stick check seem to be the norm of late for him.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
Clear villain of the first act. His crosschecking penalty was just about unforgivable and certainly unnecessary. The confusion of the penalty unravelled all the good from the Subban goal and rally. In a game of redemption, however, Hamrlik was central. He looked good on the PP and began to look confident at the back again too. Usually, we aren't too forgiving of veteran mistakes, but in a 5-goal meltdown, most had mess on their hands.

PK Subban – Game Puck
What a goal. What a player. Pierre McGuire is not a man I find much opportunity to agree with, but in the case of Subban, I find no dispute. After yet another rush, Pierre affirmed we were watching the first year of a superstar's career. Like Hamrlik, he was not unscathed in this contest, no defender was, but he availed himself well when down, never giving more ground.

Goaltender

Alex Auld
Embodiment of the resilience of the Habs. Alex looked determined to leave it at 5 and to lead his team from the back. There were several decent saves in his 18. What's more, he outperformed his rival against the same opposition. As simple as it gets for dome goalie calls.

Comments

Those who thought I was harsh after the Washington loss will certainly have reason to question tonight (or not). The nature of this loss, being so different, leaves me feeling another set of emotions. The lows came in the first, and resignation of a loss was turned into hope.

Part of this was playing an opponent with a 4-goal lead. But I also thought the depleted Habs showed a lot of will and spirit as the refused to relent in their task. The win was never going to be in reach, but the moral victory, the team-building endnote was. It's worthy of note then that the Canadiens stuck with it and won the second two periods and led the hopeful to believe their hope was reasonable.

Important stuff at playoff time. Important stuff for the players tasting their first action in the NHL and important for those coming back. A loss is a loss, but this loss had some victory in it. For that, there's reason to be positive.

Game #69 Canadiens Play Penguins To Perfection

Details

Date: 12/3/2011
Opponent: Penguins
Location: Pittsburgh

Win: 3-0

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Fleury (L), Johnson

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Moen, Cammalleri
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

Some great saves and some very pretty goals to go with all the little things done right. The play that reflected the Canadiens resolve in this game more than any other was the patience that Carey Price showed on his save on the very first Pittsburgh PP. Carey dealt with the bad bounce, trusted his positioning and reactions and just waited out James Neal. A goal would have changed the game. The save ensured the Canadiens could just stick to details and run out the clock.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Mike Cammalleri – Game Puck
Cammalleri was on and focused. You could see that from the moment they showed him stepping on for warm up. This was the Cammalleri of the 2010 playoffs again. Quick to react to loose pucks and usually to them first. He really set the tone for the quick put down in this game. His pass on the Pleks goal was outstanding, his own goal was pretty too. Besides that, he was always backchecking and often slowing the play down in his own end before creating the outlets from the zone.

Tomas Plekanec
See Cammalleri above. Tomas played just as well as his partner in most aspects of the game today. His goal should bring hope that he's returning to his dynamic best, as it was a slick goalscorer vintage. He too was a defensive pest and key to ushering Pittsburgh into dead ends.

Scott Gomez
This game was won early and so early plays have big significance. Early on, Gomez was on the ball (puck actually, I guess) as he zipped around the Pittsburgh zone winning and keeping possession. His play on Goal #2, the tipping point goal was just classic Gomez – a puck battle won and a pass to space he knew his player would reach before anyone else. A good game for Scott, together with his linemates.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
I thought the whole team played well. But Hamrlik and Wisniewski played the bulk of the minutes against Pittsburgh's remaining star, Jordan Staal. I thought the Staal line did stall tonight and that's largely because they took ill advised outside shots instead of showing patience. Credit to Hamrlik and Wisniewski for being tight on them all the time. Credit to Hammer for blocking 7 shots all himself.

PK Subban
Don't ask me why Pittsburgh's players and fans suddenly took interest in targeting Subban when they realised they had slept through 30 minutes of play. I may have missed the reason. Subban, though, didn't take the bait (unless you count rushing the length of the ice and being penalized for carrying too much momentum). Earlier in the season he would have been baited. Subban growing up has been a big story of the season and the mature PK gives the Habs a formidable defensive player at the back – another reason the Pens looked to have nothing going.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Never in question (except maybe for a split second before the post did its job). Carey played calmly and gelled seamlessly with his defence once again. There were a couple of big saves, but most of the difference came from the calm he created for his partners on the team. Pittsburgh had no answer for this.

Comments

This game wasn't a "classic", or so Ron MacLean signed off. But you know what, this game was the classic item on every Canadiens fan's wish list. Most times the team wins by taking an early lead, fans complain about sitting back and letting the other team come on. If the team wins with a comeback, the complaint is about a bad start. This game offers no room for complaints. The team started well, scored early, scored again, then again, didn't take penalties, defended well, let up few shots of consequence, shut out the opposition, never had a late scare, and so on.

The CBC crew insinuated that Montreal had perfected this art, but for me this might be the first evidence of them playing this solid a game against a team that's still trying to win (sorry Florida). I think the team has been building to a game like this, but it's nice to see it. I was also happy to see that Pittsburgh thought better of making this a Bostonian nightmare by playing hockey right to the end. There was a brief period where I thought Subban might be punched with gloved fists for the last 20 minutes.

On the CBC coverage of the Pacioretty hit: I am a little underwhelmed. I know they are saving their party line for Donald S (?!?) Cherry, but they could have shared an opinion. Bylsma's interview was interesting, as he's always worth listening to. Ron Wilson's interview was predictable and only reinforced the need for the NHL to turn away from dinosaurs in positions of consequence. I guess we'll see where they really stand after the Leafs go down to the Sabres in the first.

Jacques Martin Gotta Go?

Every few days bloggers like myself receive comments about the team, its players, its management. Since Jacques Martin was hired, it's a pretty good bet that comments about him having to go come along just as frequently.

Just yesterday, a Guest posted this:

JM has to go ...he is a dinosaur holding back a fast team in the name of the almighty trap....he says nothing when we get jobbed by refs....dump him...etc., etc.

It was a comment among many similar comments seen at LIW and HI/O and FHF, and any Canadiens discussion forum. Usually I would respond to this comment in place. but as it seems to be a recurring theme, I thought a more lasting form of response was fitting.


The complaint

As far as I can tell, the common elements of the complaint against Martin are that:

a) He is boring
b) He employs a boring system of hockey (sometimes named "the trap")
c) He is stifling the team's talent
d) He doesn't yell enough behind the bench
e) This is costing the team wins
f) He has never won anything


These are very fair points. He is quite a boring interviewee (Personally, I deal with that by not listening to any of his interviews). He does favour some defensive responsibility, a variation on the trap. And he certainly never yells at the referees. All true.

Where I start to take issue is with the notion that we extrapolate these things into our personal conclusions. That defensive play is stifling the talent, that this is costing the team wins. That not ranting over calls is costing points and wins.

I think some of these stretch the imagination. Don't you?


To those who really believe he is stifling the team. I ask you to consider an honest assessment of the talent on the team. What sets this group apart from the 9 teams ahead of the Canadiens that they should supposedly be putting points over on?

I think an honest look shows that we don't have a Crosby, Zetterberg, Datsyuk or Ovechkin, or even a Gaborik, Backstrom, Richards, Carter, Chara, Thomas, etc. Right now the team is being led by Plekanec, who works at a formidable rate, but still paces well below a point a game (a pace that would be lower if he played defences as good as Philly's game in, game out). An honest assessment would show that the Habs are doing just as they should with the group they have. Probably even better considering their injuries.


Complaints about the system are just as porous. Necessity is the mother of invention and necessity has created this system.

When Jacques Martin was in Ottawa he coached a team that scored more goals than anyone, because he had the goalscorers to carry the strategy. In Florida he didn't. In Montreal he hasn't. Necessity in Montreal is a young (and, until recently, fragile) goaltender starting all games. Necessity is 3 veterans who can't skate all that fast, but who can compete when a system allows them to. Necessity is having two rookies make up the other defensive numbers. necessity is playing to Gomez and Gionta's strengths, which include a grounding in New Jersey hockey. Necessity is the absence of people to pick up any real slack beyond the top 6 forwards.

What other system would we have him employ? Opening up the ice doesn't look great on Hamrlik and Gill. Nor does it seem to suit forwards who despite being named fast, somehow always manage to find their coverage before the blueline. We'd all love to be Detroit, but years of good as well as lucky drafting aren't yet behind this team.


Finally, can we give a rest to the notion that Jacques Martin hasn't won anything?

What we mean is that he hasn't won a Stanley Cup. How many coaches have? A handful. How many have won with a team like these Canadiens? Less. Martin has won well over 600 NHL games. He's won the league, the division, the race to the playoffs more times than not. He's won something. he's won a Memorial Cup (one more than Guy Boucher).

No he's not Scotty Bowman, but Scotty's not coaching anymore.


It's fine to criticise the coach. I 'll do it in the future, I'm sure. In fact, criticise all you want. But if you alternatives enough can't be found to list against the complaints, consider before posting that maybe that's because there might not be very many.

And if your team sits well above the position of the year before and the one before that, consider that maybe the coaches are doing something right in amongst all their wrongs.

The Three Pillars Of Habs Defence

When you want to build something right, you want to be using pillars. Ancient buildings, even the religions they were built for are more often than not founded on pillars, stone or metaphoric.

The 1970s Canadiens were built on three big important pillars: The Big Three. The current Canadiens too are built on three important and often underappreciated pillars: Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek.

Reasonable fans everywhere set realistic expectation of impending disaster this last summer. A team that had struggled to keep shots down without Markov had lost the reason most of those shots did not pierce the armour. Without Halak, and Markov on extended rehab, the feeling was dour enough, had these fans known that Markov would play but 7 games of the season and be rehabbing a second injury by December, I think the mood would have gone south rather than anywhere else.

But reasonable fans have been wrong before. They were wrong about this. Nearly three months after losing Markov (again), and nearly two month after losing Gorges as well, the Canadiens are still well placed among the defensive standard bearers of the league.

With a 2.42 GAA they sit 6th in the league. 30.0 shots against places them 15th. And their 84.2% on the PK is seventh best. This may not blow your minds, but know that these are both the best numbers and ranks that any Canadiens team since the lockout has posted – in every category. This is the best defensive edition of the Canadiens in some time.

Every time people drool over defences a couple of discussion topics rise to the top: coaching and goaltending. Jacques Martin’s system must deserve some credit, and Carey price has found a way to dominate at times, yet they must not get all the credit. Because for all the simple game plans, the players have to execute and commit to execution, and all the goaltending talent in the world still oozes goals behind a porous defensive line.

Some credit has to go to the Three Pillars: Gill, Hamrlik and Spacek.
In recent game reviews, we have alluded to their importance, but never really drilled to the point. In recognition of their lack of recognition generally, I want to remind everyone why we should still all be thankful that these three pillars prop up the structure in which Weber and Subban can learn, and based on which the Canadiens have been amassing wins.


1) They offer a first piece for building a unit
These three players have the highest minutes played at even strength of all Montreal Canadiens. On this team, without Markov and Gorges, it is clear the Jacques Martin considers the two defenders he will have on the ice and starts by putting one of each of the pillars at all times. Between the three of them, they probably offer coverage for the entire game, save a few powerplay minutes.

This is a great value to Martin, because he can be sure that at all times he’ll have a veteran player who has played in the vast majority of situations before. A system cannot be built on uncertainty, and while they have their occasional slips, Gill Hamrlik and Spacek at least provide some certainty that a system will be understood and applied throughout the games.


2) They do the complementary work, whatever it is
More than anything what impresses me about these three players has been the adaptability and their willingness to concede their previous duties to accept mundane ones, all in aid of the team. In an age where it’s not uncommon to have locker room rifts over ice time, it’s surely a relief to see Spacek taking his reduced minutes in stride, to see Gill happily in and out of first shadow pairs role and Hamrlik to concede lots of offensive opportunities to his new partner.

Rather than making their new partners change to fit with them, the vets are changing to make the best partnership on common strengths. The dividends are being paid by all three of Wisniewski, Subban and Weber, who talented themselves, would still struggle if made to play entirely unfamiliar hockey to accommodate another.

The pride of the Pillars seems to be entirely now in the winning and less in the minutiae of making breakout passes themselves or getting first PP minutes. This, I suggest, is not a pervasive virtue in the NHL these days. Certainly not on teams with lesser defensive records.


3) They offer a good example
All of that which I mentioned is good example. More than that, these three seem to be relishing their roles as mentors and guides to their young partners. Gill can be seen talking with Subban and Weber seems to be learning from Spacek. One can only assume that this would extend at least as far as the locker room, if not further off the ice.


While it is right that we continue to get excited about Subban and what promise he represents to the team, that we mention Weber’s improvement every game and how Wisniewski has been a great addition; it is also good to remember the other half of the equation. Those solid, sometimes boring, Dmen that are allowing this bloom to happen. To Gill, Hamrlik and Spacek, three pillars this team could not do without.

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.