Quiet Frenzy

Well, it was a rough end to the season. Now that the UFA frenzy is almost upon us, it's a lot easier to be optimistic and have us all jump back on the Habwagon. Given that I managed to call Erik Cole last year, I figured I should give another stab at my dream UFA acquisition for this year. Anybody up for speculating on the roster come fall?

Goalies
Start with the easy part. The Habs have entered salary arbitration with Price, which makes it sound like there might be some bad feelings between him and management. However, this is a canny strategic move that prevents other GMs pulling “gutless” moves (Brian Burke's word) and submitting offer sheets to drive up Price's salary. We have Budaj for another year at $1.15M. Given we need someone to play the 15 or so games Price doesn't start, Budaj is a good fit at a good price.

It's a bit of no-brainer that Price will be signed this year, although I'm having difficulty figuring out for how much. Somewhere near $5M would be my guess. What do you guys think?

Defencemen
There's a good crop of returning defencemen, with a pile of RFAs on the roster as well. The only D-man who goes into unrestricted free agency is Campoli, and I really don't expect to see him back. We have Markov ($5.75M, 2 yrs), Gorges ($3.9M, 6 yr), Weber (850k, 1 yr and then RFA), and sadly, Kaberle (an unbelievable $4.25M for another 2 years). Obviously, we'd love to get rid of him, but there isn't a GM in the league who would take him off our hands. Hopefully the new CBA will allow us to get him off from around the neck of the team, but I don't think we can hold our breaths. On the RFA scene, we have Emelin, Nash, Diaz, Subban, and St.-Denis. 

I could see possibly keeping St.-Denis and Nash for depth, but they aren't big pieces of the puzzle. In my opinion, Subban is second only in terms of Price in terms of priority for team signing. I'm also a huge fan of Emelin, and would love to have him on the CH blueline for years to come from what I've seen from him this season. Also a fan of Diaz, he's got a good sense of what's going on around him and a good shot from the point. I think it would be great to hang on to both him and Weber, both very promising young defencemen that are proven in the league, and trade one (or possibly both) down the line for some more assets up front.

Really not expecting to see much interesting happen in terms of trades or UFA signings on the defence, just hoping to sign most of a great crop of young players.

Forwards
Now for the hard part. Obviously, there's some good talent up front if we can overlook the albatross that is Scott Gomez ($7.36M, 2 yrs). Again, no GM will ever take that contract off of our hands, and we can only hope that the new CBA opens up some kind of door to get rid of him. After that, we have Plekanec ($5M, 4 yrs), Gionta ($5M, 2 yrs), Cole ($4.5M, 3 yrs), Bourque ($3.33M, 4 yrs), Pacioretty ($1.625M, 1 yr then RFA), Leblanc ($1.17M, 2 yrs then RFA), and Desharnais ($850k, 1 yr). I'm pretty happy with that group, and with much of our RFA crop, which includes Eller, Geoffrion, Blunden, and Nokelainen. Our UFAs consist of Moen, Darche, and Staubitz.

Frankly, I could care less about our UFAs. They're entirely replaceable. I'm glad we've signed White, I have a soft spot for the guy. I think Geoffrion showed some promise, but may have some trouble staying on the roster. I'd like to see Eller kept around, he's got potential and may also prove to be attractive trade bait.

The Dream
Outside of our very wildest dreams, we're not going to be able to trade Gomez and Kaberle for Rick Nash. Within our grasp as UFAs are veterans like Doan, Smyth, and Ray Whitney. I'm happy with Cole and Gionta as vets, and think we need to focus on younger players that might take a couple years to peak: we simply can't assemble a cup-worthy squad for at least 2 years.

Semin is on the market, but I'm not super-excited by him. He's kinda fragile, and hasn't re-found his form of the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons. Parise is another high flier, more interesting in my opinion if we can get value for him. He's in an odd spot, as he took a 1-year contract for $6M last season as an RFA on the back of consecutive 94- and 82-point seasons, but “only” scored 69 points this season and is entering his first year of eligibility as a UFA.

Honestly, I would like to see NO big, bold, interesting moves come Sunday. The crop of UFAs seems pretty thin, but might yield a good bargain or two. PA Parenteau would be interesting: he's francophone, shoots right-handed, and scored 53 and 67 points in the last 2 seasons (also his first 2 in the NHL). Plus, he only made $1.25M last season. I mentioned Dustin Penner earlier, he could bring some much-needed size and can definitely put the puck in the net. However, he's been having trouble with that lately, and as a result may not be able to match the $4.25M of his last contract.

Who's your reality-tempered dream acquisition? Let us know in the comments.

Acknowledgements and big thanks to CapGeek.com for numbers!

Game #52 Washington Capitalizes on Lazy Habs Performance

Details

Date: 04/02/2012
Opponent: Capitals
Location: Montreal

Loss: 0-3

Habs Goalie: Budaj (L)
Opposition Goalie: Vokoun (W)

Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Wideman, Hendricks, Semin (PS)

Play of the game

Concentrating hard, Josh Gorges uses a Jedi mind trick to convince Alexander Ovechkin that he is actually wearing a Washington jersey. At the end of a long shift, a tired Ovie succumbs to Gorges' will and passes him the puck rather then finding some creative way to score after falling on his arse or something. It was that kind of game.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
A hard night to choose a game puck. Plekanec is really focusing on his back-end play this season and this has been contributing to his offensive drop-off. I really liked his play in our end and some of the great breakout passes he makes. His rush at the net off a great Subban exit pass in the last 30 seconds reminded me of what a competitor he is and how hard he works every shift, even if it doesn't necessarily show on any given scoresheet. One wonders why he wasn't matched more consistently against Ovie.

Erik Cole
One of those nights where you're stretching to fill the dome. Once again, the Cole/Desharnais/Pacioretty line provided the grand majority of our offense. I love the way this line starts periods with huge intensity, and Cole uses his size and speed to create a lot of the chances they get. Bourque can start taking notes.

David Desharnais
Could just as easily have been Pacioretty, but I liked Desharnais a little more. He's a fun player to watch and he goes hard to the net. He's got good speed and great sense, and I hope we can continue to watch him develop over the coming years.

Defencemen

PK Subban
One of Subban's major assignments was to stay on Ovechkin and not let him have a big night. The two were in each others' faces all game, and in my opinion PK definitely looked like the winner in terms of having a greater impact on the game. He seemed like one of the only Habs actually fully awake and into this contest.

Alexei Emelin
I love this player. He brings so much to the back end and really has great hockey sense. His -2 is a little unfortunate, as 1 was the Wideman goal and the other he was actually putting a body onto Laich, who was getting his stick on a rebound right in front of Budaj (while Kaberle disappeared behind the net). Made a lot of great neutral zone plays and took some well-considered shots while posting another 4 hits.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj
Again, a more than satisfactory performance from our backup in just his 3rd appearance in 17 games. The Wideman goal was a bit of a freak occurrence, and the skaters really hung him out to dry by leaving Hendricks all alone. And it doesn't matter who you are, Semin is going to score on a lot of his penalty shots. Of course, I wasn't too impressed with him drawing a penalty shot by throwing his stick at the puck, but at least he came up with the save on Brouwer.

Comments

What a sleeper. Some parts felt a bit like a soccer game, with prolonged bouts in the neutral zone that featured few scoring chances. I would have predicted that circumstances like that favour us, but instead we looked flat and lazy at times: Kaberle being out of position to allow Semin's breakaway and disappearing behind the net on the Hendricks goal, Bourque's lack of physical engagement and being a step or 3 back from Hendricks, Kostitsyn seeming to forget that offense can happen outside a power play...

You have to give the Caps credit for collapsing responsibly around their net and Vokoun for directing the rebounds very well. We never really established any kind of offensive presence despite outshooting Washington, especially through the 2nd period. Instead, Washington shut us out through the 10th consecutive period in our own building, and we frankly looked a little lazy and lackluster.

Some interesting moments, even if they weren't great. I can't remember ever seeing a goalie actually throw his stick at a puck before. The crowd was erupting into cheers every time Gomez laid his stick on the puck—tomorrow marks one year since he last scored a goal (against the Rangers). He looked more than a little embarrassed, I actually felt a little bad for him.

Habs Vs. Caps The Subjective Retrospective

By now you're knee deep in predictions and statistics trying to make sense of the belief you have in these Canadiens.

Statistics are good, and as you know, I like them very much. But it is not for me to trot out more of the same statistics days after they have been treated by those who got there first.

If you want to know about every element of the Canadiens vs. Capitals, 2009-10 edition then you should check out Habs Eyes on the Prize who knits together all the data for you in a few posts. The main analysis talks goals, assists, wins, losses and has the very handy link to video to jog the memory.

Robert has also delved into some of the minutiae of the game, including the very relevant shots, playing with the lead and the less useful Faceoff stats (a firm disbeliever in the importance of that 2% swing am I). All of this can be accessed on his main page today.

If you're looking for more than goals and assists, don't forget Olivier who tracks shooting and scoring chances. Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, and Game 4 vs. the Caps give a lot more food for thought. I'm sure he'll be piping up with an analysis in the coming days too.


Subjectivity to add colour to your day

It's possible to go through life looking only at stats. It makes things very black and white. I think however that most of you enjoy a little colour, else you wouldn't be reading our thoughts after games at all.

Colour is what allows to discern whether Sergei's three assist game was a great one or just a background performance, whether Carey letting in 5 goals in February was a battling time or just an average hurting game.

So for your pleasure, I offer the game reports from all 4 games this season (you can search the archives for the 8 other Washington games if you want), with what we said about players of the game, domes and such. Hopefully it will help you clinch the argument against that annoying Toronto fan who is supporting the Caps out of spite.

Game 1 (3-2 W, Nov 20): Good Start To Tough Weekend; Who Saw That Coming?



All you really need to know:
Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
Dominant again. I wouldn't say that he was more noticeable than Ovechkin, but he was definitely in the same league. He scored a goal, picked up an assist and was once again our best on the PP and the PK. Can someone give this man the 'C'? Please.


Game 2 (3-4 L (SO), Nov 26): Massive 2nd Period Not Enough For Montreal



All you really need to know:
"The second period, however, was probably our best of the week (better than the third against Columbus by a hair I'd say) as we were too much for the Caps to handle. We carried that momentum into the third and drew a couple of penalties thanks to our strong play. We failed to score on a 5-on-3, but did get one before the second man came out of the box. Then we decided to see if we could hold on for the win. Gone was the strong offensive play only to be substituted by 'hope-we-can-stop-Ovechkin' defensive play. Letting a team like Washington see if they can score never seems to be a good plan."


Game 3 (2-4 L, Jan 5): Montreal Struggle To Impose Themselves in D.C.



All you really need to know:
"It was the first time in a long time that I felt the Habs looked smaller than their opponents as we not only were losing battles, but we were often hesitant to even chase loose pucks for fear of being over-powered. I don't know how many times I saw a Hab back down tonight from a Capital. Even our speed was outclassed tonight as we not only were beaten to most pucks, but we also never really seemed to give it our all."


Game 4 (6-5 W (OT), Feb 10): Habs Put An Unlikely End To Caps' Streak



All you really need to know:
"When you break down the Caps you see stunning offence, average D and below-average goaltending. When you make a game-plan against a team like that you must exploit those weaknesses - and that is what the Habs did. They found the chink in the armour and exploited it very well. What the Canadiens realized is that you can't really stop the Caps' offence. You can get up by 3, but you can't stop them. You can have Brodeur in nets, but they will not cease. So, the only way to beat a team like that is to open up and to try and out-score them."


Game Pucks

Plekanec, Hamrlik Gionta, S Kostitsyn


Domes

Plekanec (3), Cammalleri (3), A Kostitsyn, Pacioretty, Pouliot, Gionta, S Kostitsyn, Gomez

Hamrlik (3), Markov (2), Mara, Spacek, Gorges

Price (3), Halak (1)

Game #29Caps Win Game of Chance

The Canadiens Game in Review

Date: Saturday December 13th, 2008
Opponent: Washington Capitals
Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

Team Stripes

Final Score: 1-2 - Loss

Habs starting goalie: Jaroslav Halak (L)
Opposition starting goalie: Simeon Varlamov (W)

Habs goalscorers: Patrice Brisebois
Opposition goalscorers: Nicklas Backstrom, Michael Nylander

Play of the game
The play you're straining to see on the press catwalk monitor...

Halak made an incredible save early on in the game which gave me a full indication he was going to be strong in this one. On a 2-on-1 Ovechkin made a great pass to Semin, but there was Halak, with his right pad to slam the door shut.

Game puck
Trophies are for the end of the year, play well in the game, you get a lovely puck...

Jaroslav Halak
I couldn't believe the poor kid's luck when Nylander banked one in off of him late in the third to win it. Jaro had played one heck of a game and was the only reason we were still tied until very late in the third. He did not seem intimidated at all by the talented Capital players as time and time again he stoned them all.



Dome hockey team
We're going into the last minute with these 6 (and they're attached to the ice, so they're not coming off)...

Forwards

Alexei Kovalev
Alex wore the 'C' tonight and I thought that he did a good job as he lead the team well. He had tons of chances and created a lot too. Late in the third he seemed poised to finally score, but alas it was off the post - soon after Nylander scored. At some point a player must score, but let's face it, the effort and intensity are both there for poor Alex. I suppose luck is finally catching up to him as last year it seemed that every bounce went his way.

Andrei Kostitsyn
Kostitsyn looked quite dangerous tonight and I was actually surprised that he didn't score. Like Kovy he also had a glorious chance late in the third, but unfortunately he was robbed. I liked the way he played with his brother, something which was tried towards the end. I didn't see too much happening with him and Maxwell and I think that of all the players Andrei will miss Koivu the most.

Maxim Lapierre
Two things happened tonight - Benoit Brunet proposed to Max, and Max saw some serious PP time. I don't at all agree with Carbo using the 4th line in key situations like that, but I can't fault Lapierre for it. He played a strong game in both ends and added a lot of energy to the building. It would be nice if he or his line could score on a consistent basis though as I think they are seeing way too much ice for what they actually bring.

Defencemen

Patrice Brisebois
No, this isn't a typo. After 2 years of waiting and hoping I can finally say that Breezer played better than 4 of our defencemen. There was the odd lapse, but after watching just how pathetic a player O'Byrne has become I kind of forgave Patrice, fast. He is now the only Hab to score since Tuesday and to boot he stopped Ovechkin on a 1-on-1 late in the third. I really hope, however, for the Habs sake that his appearance in here doesn't become a regularity. I know the best Patrice has to offer and that is way below the standard we need to make the playoffs.

Andrei Markov
Like all of his troupe Andrei had some difficult times tonight, but overall he was our best defenceman. There was a great defensive play on Ovechkin, again late in the third, that stands out. He once again proved that he is of only 2 Habs able to skate with the puck from our zone into the other team's. It is a sad day when you have fewer and fewer players that can gain the zone, but unfortunately that is what seems to be happening.

Goaltender

Jaroslav Halak
This was a third straight start for Halak and thank goodness he played well; the alternative is Marc Denis. I really liked the way he played tonight as he followed the play so well and was able to stay one step ahead of the shooters. Both goals were essentially scored on goal-mouth scrambles and I think it is now painfully obvious that this is an area that the D and goalies need some serious work on.



Eye-Openers
In this new section we are going to try and shed some light on certain plays or events that would otherwise go unnoticed

You know that way we play at points in the game where we are all over the other team in their end? There is a constant forecheck, a lot of hits, quality shots and it seems like we win all the 1-on1 battles. Those periods are often disturbed by penalties, whether they be ours or the opponents. So the question remains how can we, at times (quite regularly), be so dominant at even-strength and then turn around and be quite dismal on the PP? The answer really is beyond me, but I do have a suggestion. I call this is 'an outsider suggestion' as I imagine it is what someone who knows little about hockey and hockey strategy (but indeed knows sport) may suggest.

My suggestion is forgetting the standard, 30-team, we-have-to-do-it-like-this, PP setup. Why do we need 2 players at the point? Why do we need one on the half-boards, one in front of the net? Why do we have to slow play down to a snail pace to achieve this setup? My guess is we do it because: A - it worked in the past and B - other teams do it. Why don't we just play like we do at even-strength? Get in the zone and just work, work and then work some more. Get the puck towards the net, hit, disturb and create chances. I can't stand waiting 30 seconds (if we're lucky) for a predictable point-shot when all along we could have been applying constant pressure. The added bonuses to this strategy are that the other team wouldn't really be prepared and, with there being one less defender on the ice, space will indeed open up. It will be like even-strength, but only with more space, more chances and essentially more possession. I have been calling for this style of man-up play for years (mostly because it is how other sports do it), but I think now would be the best time to try it. It is obvious that the NHL-taught formula isn't right for us this year, so please let's try something new.

Overall Comments

The game started well with good excitement from both teams, but then 10 minutes in Washigton scored and it seemed to scare us. We stopped playing an exciting brand of hockey for about 20 minutes as we let the Caps run the show. Midway though the second period, however, we started to play better and it was actually us who were dominating Washington. We were getting a lot of decent chances and wouldn't you know it, they led to a goal. The rest of the game seemed about the same to me. We out-chanced and out-shot the Caps, but our 3 posts were simply no match for their 1 goal. Washington are a strong team with a lot of good players and we were unfortunate that not only were Fedorov, Semin, Green and Poti back from injury, but also that they finally played goaltending phenom - Varlamov. He is likely the best of their 3 goalies (Theodore, Johnson) so it was unfortunate that his first NHL game had to be against us. He did play a very good game and, like Halak, was a big reason this was a low-scoring affair.

2 losses in a row and all of a sudden we have work to do. We now have 4 games to go before Christmas and we need 6 points out of those. It is not an impossible feat, but it would have been nice to at least get one point tonight to help us on our way. On Tuesday we play Carolina on the road and I think we all know that that game now is being called a Must-Win.

Newsflash: A North American Pundit Notices Other Leagues

You all know what I think about the KHL – it is for real. I have written about it more than once, most recently in July after the landmark Jagr (not Radulov) signing.

Someone from the Hockey News has finally acknowledged the issue of a rival league. Beginning in an almost self-effacing way, Ken Campbell admits that he (and THN) had been a bit naive recently. Oh, but not too wrong.

Anyway, the article is worth a read, if only for the interesting Semin case and Radulov parallel.

It's nice to see someone else giving this important issue for the NHL the light of day. To say that THN considers european leagues a legitimate threat would be overstatement, as you can see with comments like this one:

The Canadian Hockey League owners make a ton of money on the backs of teenagers who make less per hour than the kid who flips burgers at McDonald’s, but they have found a way to live with the NHL raiding its ranks. Not so with Europe, a body the NHL is quickly finding more like dealing with seven individual federations than one.

I'll say it again. Jagr was no joke. Russian teams are not a joke.

Imagine if Sweden also opened up a competitor league with room for millionaires, then the impact on NHL talent would be felt again. Finland, also. These countries are not the CHL, which is entirely limited to junior and mostly in smaller markets. These leagues are major sporting institutions in the countries they play in, and they are based in some of the metropolises of Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia.

Unless the NHL gets off its high horse and gets some sort of agreement, the transfer madness can only hurt one league – and that's the one monopolising most of the hockey talent at the moment. The depth of the league will be challenged, as will the size of it.