Game #67 Someone Had To Win; Habs Lose To Flickering Flames

Details

Date: 06/03/2012
Opponent: Flames
Location: Calgary

Loss: 4-5

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

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Pacioretty (2), Eller
Opposition goalscorers: Moss, Iginla (2), Giordano, Glencross

Play of the game

It was one of those games that made a blogger search for beauty. The defence was loose, the goals were scruffy. In the closing few minutes, the Habs actually were in with a chance to tie the game and get some points. With the goalie out, the virtual PP had just turned the puck over when Kaberle actually intercepted at the blueline (a PP rarity), the next move was a departure from the bleedingly obvious plays made all night long, a simple behind the back push in to a place he knew he had reinforcements. It came to nothing, but represented for me a very rare moment of successful innovation and execution.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Max Pacioretty
I called the goals scruffy, and they were. His first was not destined to be scored a scoring chance until it trickled in. His second was pushed in by the goalie. Still, there's something magical about the same player being the one to get these goals and many of the nice ones, and lead the team by such a large margin. It's called being a goalscorer. He didn't do as well in many of the other areas, but for the goalscoring, I'll give all that up.

Lars Eller
One gets the idea that if placed with the right sidekick, Eller's plays would lead somewhere. I'm not sure the Habs have a player to supplement him in the next few years, but one must hope they figure something out. Occasionally, even in isolation, his vim pays off. Tonight, he was the most energetic looking for long periods and scored a determined goal for reward.

Tomas Plekanec
The guy is having a trying season. But even so, he'll be among the leaders and better than Grabovski in the long haul. Tonight he shrugged off Rene Bourque's indifference and Louis Leblanc's naivete long enough to show real spark and get a goal of his own too.

Defencemen

Tomas Kaberle - Game Puck
Look, before we get too excited, all the Habs were at times pretty terrible tonight. Kaberle was a mess in his own zone occasionally too (as usual), but remarkably wasn't made to pay too heavily. The thing is, he really is half decent at making a pass. I've observed it's often because he does something simple like pass to open space for someone or pass well to an open player. It's sad that this'll get you a game puck. But it needed to be recognized in this game. Note also that each point Kaberle gets is a boon for the Habs, as his contract looks less and less untradeable by the assist. Gauthier (or whoever) might not wrest much for the Czech QB, but it'll be more than a UFA Spacek could have fetched.

Chris Campoli
I thought the defence as a whole were horrible in this game. Even when they weren't being scored on, they were making a meal of simple play. Campoli was no star, but he did not have an off night by his standards.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj
Poor Carey had little help in this game. The goals were not easy saves. But when it adds up as it did tonight to goals on a fair ratio of the complicated chances and a blatant error for another, we need to draw a line in the sand. He passed beyond what a dome selector could call acceptable. Budaj probably would have lost too, but that's not going to be a saving grace this time.

Comments

How can a game full of goals be painful to watch? I suppose if one's team is down early, down soon after tying and only rarely looking competitive, it colours one's opinion. I think primarily, I found the game to be dull for lack of quality chances created. The Habs scored on 3, if not 4, goalmouth mistakes. When even a team's highlight goals show a team content to take shots from low percentage areas, it's a bad sign.

There were minutes of excitement at the end, but no real anticipation thanks to a season of being conditioned to accept exactly what ended up happening. Our bad team faced another team that has little to take away but points from this game.

I truly look forward to the Habs next game, however. The Grigorenko Cup. It will be interesting to see just how interested each side is in winning versus the primary rival for second in the only standings that remain for each. Which goalies will start? Which new line combinations will be deployed?

Knowing the Habs, they should win in convincing fashion. Perhaps the Oilers with their multitude of frontline riches have no eye for this Russian anyway and will happily take the short-sighted win. As I speak, they are locked in a battle to defeat a team that would provide them points and their most dreaded enemy playoff life. Never know.

Game #66 Falling Leafs Bury Habs

Details

Date: 3/03/2012
Opponent: Maple Leafs
Location: Montreal

Loss: 1-3

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole
Opposition goalscorers: Frattin, Grabovski (2)

Play of the game

Pacioretty held up his rush and threw in a shot with Desharnais crashing Gustavsson. The centreman grabbed the loose puck and threw it over to the slot, where a waiting Erik Cole buried his 23rd of the year.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Max Pacioretty
He's been the quiet one of his line the last couple games I've watched, but the fact remains that this trio is the only one the Habs have running that can actually score.

Erik Cole
Came through early to put the Habs up in the first period. Had a lot of great rushes at Gustavsson and although I wish he'd been able to put one of those away, there's no one else generating the offense he does every game. Wish he hadn't taken that bone-headed penalty at the end.

David Desharnais
The final cog in what seems to be the entirety of our offensive machine. Desharnais is a smart, tough player with a nose for the net and great hockey sense. A key piece of the team's future.

Defencemen

PK Subban
Hit, shot, played good defence and quarterbacked the power play. Got under the Leafs' skins. What else do you want?

Chris Campoli
Actually liked what I saw from Campoli tonight. Led the team in hits (5) and tied for the lead for blocked shots (3). Liked Weber tonight too, but I gave Campoli the edge.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Made some tremendous saves, even if the 42 shots recorded for the Leafs was a little misleading. I didn't feel like any of the goals was particularly weak, but neither were they particularly spectacular. Still, Price was one of the few positives of the evening.

Comments

A bit of a sleeper, which is a surprise given we were facing the Leafs. We really didn't seem to have much killer instinct, and we missed some serious assignments in our end. Kessel was left wide open in 2nd only to be robbed by Price, but Grabovski buried his opportunity on the PP late in the 3rd. On our side, Gustavsson made plenty of mistakes and we failed to take advantage.

We still didn't see much offense from anyone beyond the Cole/Desharnais/Pacioretty line, although the last 2 or 3 minutes featured a little bit from the Eller and Plekanec lines. We'll need to find some secondary scoring if we expect to improve our record.

Game #65Habs Take Round-About Way To Secure Rare 2 Points

Details

Date: 01/03/2012
Opponent: Wild
Location: Montreal

Win: 5-4 (SO)

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Backstrom, Harding (L)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Eller, Pacioretty, Desharnais (1, SO)
Opposition goalscorers: Kassian (2), Heatley, Setoguchi

Play of the game

The play we have been waiting for all year, the play that may have made us a playoff-bound team came out tonight. It was, of course, PK's PP goal. Last year ended with a reminder of the kid's shot and a warning to the PK units of 2011-2012 to watch out. Well, no one has had anything to worry about all year. If they were worried at this point of the season it would have been because Subban had been blasting shots, like the one he took tonight, by everyone.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

David Desharnais - Game Puck
3 points on the night give him an astonishing 50 on the season. He also scored the lone shootout goal and gave the Habs two points that they so desperately needed and wanted...right? David has to be the biggest surprise of the year, doesn't he? We talk about Emelin and Cole and Pacioretty, but we always had hopes for those three, did anyone ever expect this kid to be leading an NHL team in scoring in March?

Max Pacioretty
Max also had a multiple point night as he picked up goal 26 and points 47 and 48. As good as his line has been and as exciting as it has been to watch these are really numbers of second-line (ideally) players. Max has had to rise up to be a top-2 winger and top-3 forward thanks to the play of Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri. Those are the players that cost us this season, not Gauthier, not Markov and not Martin.

Erik Cole
At -3 and no points I didn't want to put Erik in, I even considered Geoffrion for the single reason of being a Geoffrion, but in the end I had to go with #72. Cole was strong tonight and was better than all the other forwards who, surprisingly in a 5-4 win, didn't really contribute that much at all.

Defencemen

Tomas Kaberle
He is in here mostly for his offensive play as he wasn't too hot in his own end, but, then again, who really was?. He was a big reason why we scored 3 PP goals tonight as he brought a calming presence and manages to find players in space. He now has 2o points (2 tonight) in 36 games since joining the Habs (a 46-point pace) and is the type of player that a team needs and we'd need if he wasn't here. Just think of how bad the PP would be if he never arrived; believe it or not, I think it would probably be worse.

PK Subban
I loved the hits and I loved the moves. Desh robbed PK of the game puck tonight as I felt that this was one on Subban's better games. Defensively he wasn't at his best, but I have to look past that as I feel no one on the team really was. His goal was a rocket that I wish we saw more of as it really seems unstoppable when he connects.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I didn't like the clearing attempt (was he going for goal) right up the middle along the ice late in the third. That no-no of a play was picked off and translated into a goal just a few seconds later. I also wasn't a huge fan of 4 goals on 30 shots (.867) and 3 in the last 4 minutes. Had we lost I probably would have gone with Budaj and heading into a shootout I expected a loss (thanks to our inability, this season, to score and to not get scored on). Carey, however, surprised me with a solid shootout and saved his dome and bagged himself a win.

Comments

The Habs have 17 games left and it is becoming hard to know what to hope for at this point because I like to win, but logic says lose. Up until 2 weeks ago I had one thought and that was playoffs. I knew that it would be tough, near impossible really, but I still wanted to get in. Yes, it is good to worry about the future, but worrying about the future hasn't done a whole lot of teams any good in the past, so I worry more about the present. Then came the string of losses and the Kostitsyn trade and I seemed to have all of the hope sucked out of me. Chasing teams like Florida, Toronto and Winnipeg made me think that, as bad as we are, we'll still make it because, boy are they bad teams. Then we went and lost to Florida and Tampa and I realized that we are worse than some bad teams, it had really sunken in. So, now I can see the value in coming bottom 5 (or better yet, bottom 2) as coming 9-12 is more a Toronto kind of thing.

This weekend, however, I will cheer hard for the win. I love the fact that Toronto hasn't made the playoffs in 8 years and hope that the Habs can be a big part of why they won't make it again. Seeing them be as bad as they have been for the past 45 years always bring a smile to my face.

An interesting little piece of trivia that I came across today was the fact that Blake Geoffrion actually had a family member 4 generations back play for the Habs too. That player was Billy Coutu who was a previous captain, won a Stanley Cup in 1924 with the Habs and is considered, by the Hockey News, as one of the 100 best Habs ever. There is no blood relation to speak of (maybe why no one has mentioned it), but Billy was Blake's Great, Great, Great Uncle or Boom-Boom's Great Uncle. This is where it may get complicated. Coutu was married to Howie Morenz's Wife's Mother's Sister, so was an Uncle-in-law to the great #7. In fact, the two played together. Coutu is also known for being the only player ever to be banned for life by the NHL, that happened in 1927 when he attacked an official.

Game #64 Geoffrion's Lineage No Magic Potion for Habs

Details

Date: 28/02/2012
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Tampa Bay

Loss 1-2

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

Habs goalscorers: Desharnais
Opposition goalscorers: Stamkos, Hall

Play of the game

Working alone, a canny Desharnais made a great steal to start a rush down-ice with Cole keeping pace. As a second defender hustled back to get a body on Cole, Desharnais used the struggling pair as a screen and snapped a beautiful shot past Garon.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
Once again showed his desire to win, his impeccable penlty-killing skills, and some smart drives to the net. He actually beat Garon, but the Tampa goaltender got lucky as he managed to deflect the puck just wide.

Erik Cole
Carried a lot of offensive weight once again. Won battles that seemed already lost, and got stoned by an incredibly lucky Garon in the 2nd. Also sent a defender flying into the Tampa goalie for a comical finish to the 3rd period.

David Desharnais - Game Puck
Scored our only goal and did it by himself. Tied up a game that, despite the shots being pretty even, did not feel even at all. With Cole, again created most of the meager offensive threats we had.

Defencemen

PK Subban
Was hard filling out the defenders this evening, as no one really distinguished themselves too strongly. Subban is one of the few things that keeps our top power play unit looking even vaguely competent, and looked good enough in his own end.

Josh Gorges
A bit of a no-brainer. Gorges knows where to be and when. St. Louis looked like he might be breaking free and turned hard to shake Gorges, who just put the body to his opponenet and neutralized the play completely. Made some smart plays at the other blue line and didn't make mistakes behind his own.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Let down once again by the skaters in front of him. The Stamkos goal was a beauty, and so was the the saucer pass to Hall and his top-shelf marker. Price made some good saves, including a pokecheck to strip Stamkos in a dangerous-looking play in the 3rd. Price kept the team in this one the whole way once again, but there simply wasn't enough offense to cash in on his good play.

Comments

Credit where credit is due: The Lightning did a lot of things right in this game. Garon made some really spectacular saves, and his team did a good job of getting bodies around him to control rebounds, and to limit the Habs' effectiveness in the offensive zone.

It was fun watching Emelin provoke Malone into a total frenzy and not throw a punch back, but less fun watching the Habs being unable to score over the 5-minute power play that ensued. Frankly, we probably had better chances on the PK. Almost every team we play against seems to work harder and have more discipline, and as a result we lose a lot of those games.

Liked what I saw from Geoffrion, he played about 13 minutes, mostly beside Plekanec. I think Price might have tripped 2 or 3 guys tonight, which I almost like to see as I think a lot of teams take liberties with him. All in all, another hard game to watch as it seems we're just limping through the rest of the season.

Game #63Another Emotionless Habs Snoozer

Details

Date: 26/02/2012
Opponent: Panthers
Location: Florida

Loss: 2-4

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

Habs goalscorers: Desharnais, Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Weiss (2), Bergenheim, Campbell

Play of the game

Desharnais did great work to keep the play alive and then to get into a dangerous position. He ended up scoring a goal, his 12th and the game's first, but it proved, again, to not be enough.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

David Desharnais - Game Puck
He scored a goal and added an assist in the first 7 minutes of the game. There wasn't much more from him after that, but, if everyone was pulling their weight it surely would have been enough. He now has 46 points and leads the Habs. It is a great accomplishment for him, but players like Plekanec, Kostitsyn and Gomez should be quite ashamed. David was undrafted, so maybe that is the way for the Habs to go from now on?.

Erik Cole
Erik played well, but wasn't his best. Regardless, he was a standout on the night. He has a look of frustration on his face, possibly the look of disbelief? Disbelief that he left a bad team for an even worse one, perhaps?

Tomas Plekanec
Why? Because I had to choose someone.

Defencemen

Tomas Kaberle
He got an assist, played nearly 20 minutes and was even on the night. Kaberle has been criticized since he arrived, but his 18 points in 34 games is no joke. That pace is better than that of Kostitsyn, Bourque, Gionta or Gomez - all players that we thought would contribute at a decent rate.

PK Subban
PK scored a goal and led the team is shots by 3. He is ticked at how the season has gone as we all are, but if I were him I would be comforted by the fact that, in his career, it won't get much worse. He is a good player who has been playing better hockey as of late.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj
Can't blame Budaj in this one. Price may have fared a bit better, but this team wasn't going to win tonight, so I can't take this rare dome opportunity away from the Slovak. That said, he looked a bit weak on a couple of the goals and that probably has a little something to do with having not played in three weeks.

Comments

I hope that the Habs don't do anything stupid in the next 24 hours. We have a few players that are key to our future and a few others that should be sold at all costs. So, I don't want to see an Emelin, Plekanec, Price or Subban go, but do think that players like Moen, Campoli, Gomez and Bourque should be moved if possible. There are then players like Darche, Kostitsyn, Eller, Diaz and Kaberle who may very well be part of the future or not. I don't think that now, however, is the time to make the call on players like that.

Kostitsyn, in particular, is a better player than we have seen since January. Early on he was one of the best forwards on the team, but didn't have huge numbers. For some reason he gets limited ice-time and PP time which now proliferates his situation. That said, are we going to get someone better than him or is he someone that, at the right price, we want on our second line? I don't know the answers and, unless those have indeed been answered, I think a hasty move could be regrettable.

Another player that I have an issue with is Bourque. He does not seem to fit into this team, he plays with no passion (granted that no one else presently is, but at least we have see it from everyone else at some point) and does not contribute (6 points in 18 games). This is the problem with trading players like Cammalleri - yes, we shed salary and get a 'similar' player, but at the end of the day this is a player that we did not really want and probably won't really want. If possible he should be moved as I think we'll regret having him as long as he is here.

Game #62Habs in Last; But Rejoice, They Scored On The Caps This Year

Details

Date: 24/02/2012
Opponent: Capitals
Location: Washington

Loss: 1-4

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

Habs goalscorers: Bourque
Opposition goalscorers: Perreault, Chimera, Ovechkin, Ward

Play of the game

You'll only see the type of goal that we scored tonight at the only game more boring than our game was tonight: the All-Star game. Don't expect, however, to ever see multiple Habs at the All-Star game, at least not from this squad. So, tonight's goal was unique, maybe a one-off. On the PK Plekanec started a great tick-tack-toe play with Emelin and Bourque. It was Rene who finished up with his 17th.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Rene Bourque - Game Puck
A goal and two other decent chances was enough for this third-line, mid-season pick-up (slash Calgary cast-off) to take the game-puck. When a bad game by Bourque stands out our problems don't even have words.

Tomas Plekanec
Sadly an assist and only -1 isn't bad compared to the rest. If you don't believe me check the stats or re-watch the game.

David Desharnais
He had a rare sign of passion tonight. What will it take for others to catch this? Ca we build a team that cares? A team where all 20 players care every game? Sadly, looking around the league, I feel that 10 guys caring 50% of the time would be enough in the East to make the playoffs.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Was solid on the PK and was the best of a bunch that had a few real duds. Is he key to our future though? Will he be here after Tuesday? Does he want to be? I hope that he stays, but it is clear he isn't a #1 and if he is then it is of a 25-30 team. Whether it be Markov or someone else, our D needs help.

Alexei Emelin
Alexei had a great pass on our good play of the night and I certainly took notice (there was little to make me forget that moment). Emelin can be better though, but is still better than we all thought he would be at this point.

Goaltender

Carey Price
No goalie is going to win behind the team that played tonight. It could have been 1-10 and the dome would be his. If Budaj was in and let in 10, likewise, the dome would belong to Peter. I am not one of those who never blames goalies, but come on Habs, how did you think we were going to win this game? Pathetic.

Comments

This was painful. Yes, we needed the points and this was a 4-point game, but beyond the standings it was still not an easy one to watch. That has been the Habs lately, though. They have been a bad team all year and have been hard to watch on more nights than not. I now have a deeper appreciation for real fans of teams like the Islanders and Jackets as those guys must have watched hundreds of games like this over the past few seasons.

We have 20 games to go and a trade deadline. I am not sure what if there will be much excitement left in the season, but it would be nice if we put on a few good shows as it will help keep those of of us who watch 3 games a week sane.

Belated Trade Thoughts

People have been asking me what I thought of the Gill for Geoffrion trade. Being busy, I didn't have time to post. But with a free minute, thought I'd save future questions by providing my answer here.

What to think?

I liked the trade.

What the Canadiens gave up in Hal Gill was little. And, let's be clear, Gill was no longer of great use the team. When he arrived, Gill was a new leader who could be used for a team in pressure games and pressure situations to deliver some impressive defensive minutes.

With his contract expiring, and the Canadiens unlikely to face a game of the magnitude of those from Gill's first season for quite some time, the team gave up a solid penalty killer.

And the timing was good. Because Gill can still be that valuable specialist that he was for the Canadiens for someone else, for a team where one PK makes the difference between winning and losing something important.


The return

I also liked the trade because of the return. I think prior to the trade it would have been sensible to suggest that Gill might land a second round pick plus something else. He did, but then somehow the Canadiens also pried Blake Geoffrion from the Nashville organization.

I think all of us who recently watched the year of ceremonies probably felt a moment or two of nostalgic romance when we heard this trade. Son of a player, grandson and namesake of an all-time hero, great-grandson of one of the first superstars of the game.

Of course, Blake Gefrrion is a player in his own right too. A Hobey Baker award as captain of the Badgers attests to that. It is foolhardy to think he's here to put the Morenz-Geoffrion treatment on the current Habs, yet his play suggest that he could easily make the lineup of the current team.

That's something. And quite something for Hal Gill to return in a trade.


Yes, overall, a good trade. Not the trade that spells massive overhaul, but one of those nice incremental moves that when accumulated show a move in the right direction.


I came across this piece yesetrday on Geoffrion. Many of you will probably enjoy giving it a quick read.