The other day Mike Cammalleri was checked from a few feet out from the boards right into them at full tilt. Forgive me for being squeamish, but I won't put a video up. Suffice it to say, the knee is a delicate joint meant to bend one way. He'll be lucky to come out of today's MRI scan with good news.
The result of the scan is rightly being looked at as an important juncture in the Canadiens season. If Cammalleri somehow escapes with a twist, no tears, then it will affect morale and Gainey's maneuvering accordingly. If (and it probably will, odds makers) it goes the other way and the damage is extensive, the effects will be opposite.
What it might tell us
In an unfortunate turn for those who want to book their spring holidays, nothing that happens today will tell us one way or the other what will happen to the Canadiens final tally in the standings, and that of the teams around them. If an injury can happen to Cammalleri, it can happen to any player on any team.
While clearly there's no remedy for the unsatisfying feeling of having to play/watch games to see whether a team will make the playoffs, this scan today should give us some pretty clear indication on what to expect from Cammalleri and what management thinks of this team.
How much will Cammalleri be missed?
A few have tried to put their proverbial fingers on how much Cammalleri will be missed from this lineup. Ya The Habs Rule! gives the statistical impact a good airing. He notes a few things about the Habs stars percentage of total goals, both in terms of his own goals and points.
I can tell you that all of that is true, but sadly for Habs fans, it actually underestimates the impact that Cammalleri has had this season. At Lions in Winter we have been recording each and every goal and scoring goals created for the season. While the points total shows our best goalscorer and second points producer; by goals created Cammalleri is a clear #1 on the team, and leads in many categories. Here's what I mean:
– Cammalleri's been on the ice for 77 GF, 49 at ES, 28 on the PP
– Next in GF is Plekanec at 69 GF and Spacek at ES with 45 GF
– He's been involved in 57 of those goals, scoring or assisting on 48
– Plekanec has been involved in 54 goals, with 54 points
– At any strength, Cammalleri is on for 4.21 GF/60
– Markov is just higher, but the next player is under 4.00 GF/60
– At ES, Cammalleri is on for 3.15 GF/60
– Next is Gionta at 3.11 GF/60
– Cammalleri has created 22.17 goals in total, 17.33 at ES, 4.83 on the PP
– Plekanec is second with 19.46 in total, 11.46 at ES, 7.75 on the PP
– Averaged that's 1.21 GC/60, 1.12 GC/60 at ES and 1.82 GC/60 on the PP
– Plekanec is 1.02 GC/60, 0.84 GC/60 at ES and 3.35 GC/60 on the PP
– By these numbers, Cammalleri is a top 10 offensive force in the league (though we haven't corrected players on other teams with the LIW numbers yet)
In short, he's the engine of this team going forward.
If there's a silver lining in losing Cammalleri, it's that our 5-on-5 game looked terrible with him in the lineup anyway and there must surely be a bottoming out point. What's more, Cammalleri hasn't been driving the PP and should be replaceable there.
But while someone may well jump in and start putting up better numbers in Mike's absence (Gomez? Gionta?), the issue here is that there is no replacing a 4.2 GF/60 player from the extremely weak talent we have in Hamilton, and there's no way a Bulldog jumps in and creates goals at the pace of a top-10 NHLer.
Irreplaceable. What I'd do instead
There's just no replacing Cammalleri. No single player on our team can replace his outputs, neither on the ice or by trade. But winning without Cammalleri should still be possible.
My first move would be to reverse the inane promotion of Matt D'Agostini. I don't need more evidence.
Second, I'd promote AHL 4th leading scorer Brock Trotter (presumably only held back for wont of adding too many small players). In a less obvious move, I'd also make space for David Desharnais and Ben Maxwell. As a line that's formed chemistry and found a way to fire in goals their transplant into the lineup would provide a line 2b.
Plekanec then finds Sergei Kostitsyn and Metropolit for line 2a. Plekanec will suffer in the scoring race (not a bad thing come resignature) but doesn't have to flounder trying to prop up Maxwell or D'Agostni, who on their own have shown little promise at the top level.
This is my pre-Olympic lineup. I then buy myself a ticket to the Games and scout Switzerland, Belarus, Latvia and other teams with unsigned talent. I make coming out of the Olympics with a possible forward a firm goal.
NHL trades? I'd keep ears open, but in losing Cammalleri I've suddenly become exploitable in a trade. I wouldn't want to make a trade I'm not at least initially going to consider a win (short-term and long-term).
It's going to be another tough February. At least this year we have fair warning and a two-week break.
Showing posts with label Mike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike. Show all posts
Monday, February 01, 2010
Friday, August 21, 2009
Mike Who?
The Forgettable Fifth Defender
Just before free agency opened I had set up my RSS feeds to aliment me with news on all the key free agents, both ours and those to be targeted as well. Call it laziness or morbid curiosity, but I've been keeping tabs on the same guys ever since. All Koivu news is served to me daily, same for Kovalev. All this despite not knowing the least about our actual players without some manual searching.
This past month has been a very quite one on many fronts and even the Koivu, Kovalev and Tanguay newsfeeds have started to taper off. But one feed keeps churning out the stories, albeit most unreadable. That feed is good old Mike Komisrek's, our former future captain, untradeable asset and defensive lynchpin – and now a traitor and instant enemy, of course.
As I said most of the stories are about the Leafs, and there's only so much a Canadiens fan can delve into the intricacies of Brian Burke's master "plan". But every now and again there's an article that pops out to file in the very worthwhile box. This week has seen a few on the big oaf.
Olympic camp
The first wave of interesting articles all dealt with the Toronto love triangle of Brian Burke, Ron Wilson and Mike Komisarek transposing their adoration on the stars and stripes. Mike, of course, was one of the invitees to the orientation camp (good article on that here) and had a swell time in Illinois. So swell, in fact, that it led the "ever-reliable" Steve Simmons to extrapolate from two comments that Mike Komisarek is in no danger of missing the Olympic cut:
This interested me greatly because after watching Komisarek in Montreal, there were times where one would question his ability to avoid the NHL cut, let alone play for the elite of his country. At first I thought of nepotism, because after all it is Brian Burke. But then I had a look down the American options and thought again – the team doesn't look good. It can't be nice to look ahead to Komisarek and Scuderi marking Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk or the Canadian equivalent.
From this then two logical steps:
1) Mock the Americans – I quickly decided I couldn't do better than DGB's hilarious expedition
2) Start fretting about Timmins' propensity to take Americans over anyone else – when Scuderi or Komisarek clone is the pinnacle of likely achievement, you can stop ruing the loss of McDonagh
Komisarek on the Leafs
As the flood of articles on Komisarek from July onwards attests to, Leafs fans and writers have a lot to say about Mike. Some of what is being said is neutral, even, dare I say, realistic; but there's a big enough chunk of delusional prose to warrant my nausea.
That's why I was thrilled this morning when an article from The Hockey News: Komisarek More Common Than You Think found its way into my inbox.
This article is probably the article I wanted to write, but never did. It's certainly an idea that's been on the backburner for ages. I recommend you read it either to mash up the sour grapes in your gullet or just to enter into the spirit of mocking the newest of Leafs (I enjoy both). The spirit of the article I would have written can be found in this wonderful THN quote:
I couldn't agree more, nor could I have put it more succinctly. From September 2007 to April 2009, Mike Komisarek went from hopeful to emerging star to dependable to a man seemingly interested only his stats.
It all leads then to the interesting question, one that has nothing to do with how disappointed or pleased his new favourite fans will be: will we miss Mike Komisarek on the Canadiens?
I think I alluded to my answer in the title. Again, I draw a quote from a more inspired author:
Fans of the Habs who hung around for April will know that by that time, will know this feeling well. By that time, Mike was a fifth choice defenceman playing a bigger role than we'd have liked him to. Never close to Markov or even Hamrlik in ability, he also made himself second choice to Gorges and Schneider and even Bouillon at times. His contributions all seemed to be recorded on the appendix stats sheet, as opposed to the win column.
Some will say that his descent in the depth chart was due to playing with injury. Some will say he was a hero for playing hurt. Maybe partly, but that theory dismisses the beginning of the season where he was in fact even less effective than he was when he was supposedly hampered by a shoulder/hand/upper body injury. It also ignores the fact his best stretch was actually post-injury, not pre.
Before his injury, Komisarek was already trailing Markov, Hamrlik, Gorges and Bouillon in the domes department – a deficit he would never recover from. His sorry season, injury or not left him with 8 domes (when most nights the second D spot was up for grabs by anyone who didn't shoot the puck over the glass or into their own net) and no game pucks. I remember several conversations about our lucky escapes, our "play with fire" style defence and Mike Komisarek's slide into 2004 form. Call us on bias if you want, but Komisarek was also a non-entity for the three-star selectors (despite his blocked shot stats) with a single third star to his name all season. The season before he had 26 domes to go with 2 second and 8 third star selections.
Last season he was very near the league in giveaways with 89, but unlike those who surpassed him (Markov, Ovechkin, Derek Roy, Souray, Green and Richards) who are victims of attempted breakout passes and creative plays gone wrong, he managed to get up there without ever trying to do more than pass squarely to Markov. His assist to giveaway ratio is the only thing more embarrassing than his giveaway to takeaway ratio. Add to that the fact he makes Markov a worse defender and attacking threat and the case builds.
So will we miss him? Well not in in 2008-09 form, we won't. Even at the pinnacle of his form (2007-08) Mike left us wanting in the playoffs as teams that saw our lineup on consecutive nights targeted the Komi side of the first defensive pairing with devastating effect. And given the likelihood that he's probably more the average of 2007-08 and 2008-09 than one extreme, I think Gainey's probably replaced him with Paul Mara at a fraction of the price.
Thank goodness for Google Reader, else I might not have got that off my chest.
This past month has been a very quite one on many fronts and even the Koivu, Kovalev and Tanguay newsfeeds have started to taper off. But one feed keeps churning out the stories, albeit most unreadable. That feed is good old Mike Komisrek's, our former future captain, untradeable asset and defensive lynchpin – and now a traitor and instant enemy, of course.
As I said most of the stories are about the Leafs, and there's only so much a Canadiens fan can delve into the intricacies of Brian Burke's master "plan". But every now and again there's an article that pops out to file in the very worthwhile box. This week has seen a few on the big oaf.
Olympic camp
The first wave of interesting articles all dealt with the Toronto love triangle of Brian Burke, Ron Wilson and Mike Komisarek transposing their adoration on the stars and stripes. Mike, of course, was one of the invitees to the orientation camp (good article on that here) and had a swell time in Illinois. So swell, in fact, that it led the "ever-reliable" Steve Simmons to extrapolate from two comments that Mike Komisarek is in no danger of missing the Olympic cut:
Brian Burke admitted yesterday that more than two-thirds of the team has basically been selected and another Team USA source was clear that Komisarek would be on that list of sure things.
This interested me greatly because after watching Komisarek in Montreal, there were times where one would question his ability to avoid the NHL cut, let alone play for the elite of his country. At first I thought of nepotism, because after all it is Brian Burke. But then I had a look down the American options and thought again – the team doesn't look good. It can't be nice to look ahead to Komisarek and Scuderi marking Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk or the Canadian equivalent.
From this then two logical steps:
1) Mock the Americans – I quickly decided I couldn't do better than DGB's hilarious expedition
2) Start fretting about Timmins' propensity to take Americans over anyone else – when Scuderi or Komisarek clone is the pinnacle of likely achievement, you can stop ruing the loss of McDonagh
Komisarek on the Leafs
As the flood of articles on Komisarek from July onwards attests to, Leafs fans and writers have a lot to say about Mike. Some of what is being said is neutral, even, dare I say, realistic; but there's a big enough chunk of delusional prose to warrant my nausea.
That's why I was thrilled this morning when an article from The Hockey News: Komisarek More Common Than You Think found its way into my inbox.
This article is probably the article I wanted to write, but never did. It's certainly an idea that's been on the backburner for ages. I recommend you read it either to mash up the sour grapes in your gullet or just to enter into the spirit of mocking the newest of Leafs (I enjoy both). The spirit of the article I would have written can be found in this wonderful THN quote:
Just as Dion Phaneuf’s bombs from the point and bone-crushing hits mask defensive deficiencies, Komisarek’s willingness to tear after opponents and be the face of his team after a win or a loss belie the fact he’s not exactly from the Rod Langway school of defensive proficiency.
I couldn't agree more, nor could I have put it more succinctly. From September 2007 to April 2009, Mike Komisarek went from hopeful to emerging star to dependable to a man seemingly interested only his stats.
It all leads then to the interesting question, one that has nothing to do with how disappointed or pleased his new favourite fans will be: will we miss Mike Komisarek on the Canadiens?
I think I alluded to my answer in the title. Again, I draw a quote from a more inspired author:
Leaf fans could be disappointed to discover Komisarek’s game can often be comprised of more noise than nuance.
Fans of the Habs who hung around for April will know that by that time, will know this feeling well. By that time, Mike was a fifth choice defenceman playing a bigger role than we'd have liked him to. Never close to Markov or even Hamrlik in ability, he also made himself second choice to Gorges and Schneider and even Bouillon at times. His contributions all seemed to be recorded on the appendix stats sheet, as opposed to the win column.
Some will say that his descent in the depth chart was due to playing with injury. Some will say he was a hero for playing hurt. Maybe partly, but that theory dismisses the beginning of the season where he was in fact even less effective than he was when he was supposedly hampered by a shoulder/hand/upper body injury. It also ignores the fact his best stretch was actually post-injury, not pre.
Before his injury, Komisarek was already trailing Markov, Hamrlik, Gorges and Bouillon in the domes department – a deficit he would never recover from. His sorry season, injury or not left him with 8 domes (when most nights the second D spot was up for grabs by anyone who didn't shoot the puck over the glass or into their own net) and no game pucks. I remember several conversations about our lucky escapes, our "play with fire" style defence and Mike Komisarek's slide into 2004 form. Call us on bias if you want, but Komisarek was also a non-entity for the three-star selectors (despite his blocked shot stats) with a single third star to his name all season. The season before he had 26 domes to go with 2 second and 8 third star selections.
Last season he was very near the league in giveaways with 89, but unlike those who surpassed him (Markov, Ovechkin, Derek Roy, Souray, Green and Richards) who are victims of attempted breakout passes and creative plays gone wrong, he managed to get up there without ever trying to do more than pass squarely to Markov. His assist to giveaway ratio is the only thing more embarrassing than his giveaway to takeaway ratio. Add to that the fact he makes Markov a worse defender and attacking threat and the case builds.
So will we miss him? Well not in in 2008-09 form, we won't. Even at the pinnacle of his form (2007-08) Mike left us wanting in the playoffs as teams that saw our lineup on consecutive nights targeted the Komi side of the first defensive pairing with devastating effect. And given the likelihood that he's probably more the average of 2007-08 and 2008-09 than one extreme, I think Gainey's probably replaced him with Paul Mara at a fraction of the price.
Thank goodness for Google Reader, else I might not have got that off my chest.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Habs Review 2007-08:
Mike Komisarek
Habs Review 2007-08:
Mike Komisarek
[Apologies for the miscue with Komi's review. I was a little too excitable it seemed this morning and in changing the publishing order got ahead of our plan – Topham]
The numbers
2007-08
75 GP: 4 G, 13 A, 17 Pts, 101 PIM, +9, 75 Shots
Career best year – 2006-07
82 GP: 4 G, 15 A, 19 Pts, 96 PIM, +7, 78 Shots
2007-08 playoffs
12 GP: 1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, 18 PIM, +3, 18 Shots
Career best playoffs
This season
Plays of the game: 2
Game pucks: 1
Domes: 30
3 Star selections: 3 Second, 8 Third
The story
Where he started the season
Komisarek came into this season with greater expectations on his shoulders than ever. Though his contract was modest, it was expected that Mike would step into the number two defenceman role on a permanent basis. The year before, Mike had been blooming, but was still maturing on some nights. If progress was to be made, and that was the hope from fans if not the expectation from the pundits, a lot would come down to players like Mike (in that critical mid-20s age group) going from young prospects to leaders on the team. The loss of Souray and subsequent replacement with Hamrlik meant that Komi would continue to develop beside Andrei Markov.
Over the summer we had heard about Komisarek's training regimen, including yoga and strength training, to go with mental strength exercises. Although, many athletes go through this kind of psych fluff, you got the idea that it had really changed Komisarek's approach. For me, Mike's quote prior to the season about his career goals was very telling. He stated without flinching that he would like to become the best defenceman in the NHL. No transient numbers, no category-leading BS, better than Lidstrom, better than Phaneuf, better than Markov. Difficult goal, but in striving for this, I was certain we'd be happy even if he ultimatley came up short.
The season
In his way, Mike started the season quietly and reliably. While others came out with flying starts (Higgins, Kovalev), Mike paced himself. And in doing so, he went a bit unnoticed. It was about midway through the season in publishing a list of the biggest surprises of the year, that I started to fully appreciate the contributions that Mike was making to the Canadiens success. He had some very spectacular moments, to be sure: the OT goal against Toronto, some of the most impressive hits in all the NHL and shot-blocking the likes of which we hadn't seen since the days of Carbonneau; but, his main contribution was steadiness. He had improved his puck retrieval and his first pass. He had improved his understanding with Markov and with the goalies. he was starting to be reliable and predictably proficient on nearly a nightly basis. Particularly in the first 60 games, he and Markov provided the foundation and the springboard for great breakouts and offensive movements. And, though he scored less points himself, it was by providing the solid foundation for 20+ minutes a game that the Canadiens were able to become the highest scoring team in the NHL.
Aside from his play, Mike also stepped into the void left by Sheldon Souray as a voice for the English-speaking media. Komisarek provided many a calming take for the TV cameras after both wins and losses as he grew into one of the primary leaders of the team. In fact, though Higgins wears the A on his shirt, I would guess that Komisarek's voice, when he speaks, carries greater weight than Chris' in the dressing room.
Highlights: Boy, he's come a long way from the guy who first stepped on the ice for the Canadiens. One to relish
Komisarek by the numbers: Canadiens.com
Lions' links on Komisarek:
A Sort Of Homecoming: New York Islanders Preview
Grade: A-
For all the reasons we mentioned above and more, Komisarek deserves a top grade for the season he had. The room for improvement he did have was closed gradually over this season. Where he used to look for the biggest hits, now, he seems to restrain himself more and make the hit if it creates an advantage for the team. Similarly for penalties, it seemed that over the season, his tendency to retaliate come what may was tempered by his gains in maturity. An A-, not an A is a reflection of the fact he did use this season to improve and wasn't the player he is now on October 6th. What's more, he, like many of the younger Canadiens, was unable to really elevate his play in any way when the going got tough in the playoffs. Though it was admirable that he came back from injury to play, I fell that some of his lacklustre shifts could not be blamed solely on hips, but also reflected some of those old tendencies of retaliation and the big hit while being baited, particularly by Milan Lucic.
Where we'd have him next season
Back at Markov's side, where else? One constantly hears about defence winning championships, franchise players, untouchable prospects – all these apply to Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov when together. Perhaps as valuable as the two of them individually is the experience and understanding they have built up over many games now, playing together. Komisarek makes Markov into a Norris trophy candidate, while Markov may one day soon see that Mike garners some votes of his own. As far as partnerships go, there aren't many better in the NHL – and is one the Canadiens must hold onto and exploit. I see Komi growing even more this season, and becoming one of the very top defensive defencemen in the league. His competitive nature will ensure that he learns from those mistakes in the playoffs and from his successes in the season. Watch out league.
The numbers
2007-08
75 GP: 4 G, 13 A, 17 Pts, 101 PIM, +9, 75 Shots
Career best year – 2006-07
82 GP: 4 G, 15 A, 19 Pts, 96 PIM, +7, 78 Shots
2007-08 playoffs
12 GP: 1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, 18 PIM, +3, 18 Shots
Career best playoffs
This season
Plays of the game: 2
Game pucks: 1
Domes: 30
3 Star selections: 3 Second, 8 Third
The story
Where he started the season
Komisarek came into this season with greater expectations on his shoulders than ever. Though his contract was modest, it was expected that Mike would step into the number two defenceman role on a permanent basis. The year before, Mike had been blooming, but was still maturing on some nights. If progress was to be made, and that was the hope from fans if not the expectation from the pundits, a lot would come down to players like Mike (in that critical mid-20s age group) going from young prospects to leaders on the team. The loss of Souray and subsequent replacement with Hamrlik meant that Komi would continue to develop beside Andrei Markov.
Over the summer we had heard about Komisarek's training regimen, including yoga and strength training, to go with mental strength exercises. Although, many athletes go through this kind of psych fluff, you got the idea that it had really changed Komisarek's approach. For me, Mike's quote prior to the season about his career goals was very telling. He stated without flinching that he would like to become the best defenceman in the NHL. No transient numbers, no category-leading BS, better than Lidstrom, better than Phaneuf, better than Markov. Difficult goal, but in striving for this, I was certain we'd be happy even if he ultimatley came up short.
The season
In his way, Mike started the season quietly and reliably. While others came out with flying starts (Higgins, Kovalev), Mike paced himself. And in doing so, he went a bit unnoticed. It was about midway through the season in publishing a list of the biggest surprises of the year, that I started to fully appreciate the contributions that Mike was making to the Canadiens success. He had some very spectacular moments, to be sure: the OT goal against Toronto, some of the most impressive hits in all the NHL and shot-blocking the likes of which we hadn't seen since the days of Carbonneau; but, his main contribution was steadiness. He had improved his puck retrieval and his first pass. He had improved his understanding with Markov and with the goalies. he was starting to be reliable and predictably proficient on nearly a nightly basis. Particularly in the first 60 games, he and Markov provided the foundation and the springboard for great breakouts and offensive movements. And, though he scored less points himself, it was by providing the solid foundation for 20+ minutes a game that the Canadiens were able to become the highest scoring team in the NHL.
Aside from his play, Mike also stepped into the void left by Sheldon Souray as a voice for the English-speaking media. Komisarek provided many a calming take for the TV cameras after both wins and losses as he grew into one of the primary leaders of the team. In fact, though Higgins wears the A on his shirt, I would guess that Komisarek's voice, when he speaks, carries greater weight than Chris' in the dressing room.
Highlights: Boy, he's come a long way from the guy who first stepped on the ice for the Canadiens. One to relish
Komisarek by the numbers: Canadiens.com
Lions' links on Komisarek:
A Sort Of Homecoming: New York Islanders Preview
Grade: A-
For all the reasons we mentioned above and more, Komisarek deserves a top grade for the season he had. The room for improvement he did have was closed gradually over this season. Where he used to look for the biggest hits, now, he seems to restrain himself more and make the hit if it creates an advantage for the team. Similarly for penalties, it seemed that over the season, his tendency to retaliate come what may was tempered by his gains in maturity. An A-, not an A is a reflection of the fact he did use this season to improve and wasn't the player he is now on October 6th. What's more, he, like many of the younger Canadiens, was unable to really elevate his play in any way when the going got tough in the playoffs. Though it was admirable that he came back from injury to play, I fell that some of his lacklustre shifts could not be blamed solely on hips, but also reflected some of those old tendencies of retaliation and the big hit while being baited, particularly by Milan Lucic.
Where we'd have him next season
Back at Markov's side, where else? One constantly hears about defence winning championships, franchise players, untouchable prospects – all these apply to Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov when together. Perhaps as valuable as the two of them individually is the experience and understanding they have built up over many games now, playing together. Komisarek makes Markov into a Norris trophy candidate, while Markov may one day soon see that Mike garners some votes of his own. As far as partnerships go, there aren't many better in the NHL – and is one the Canadiens must hold onto and exploit. I see Komi growing even more this season, and becoming one of the very top defensive defencemen in the league. His competitive nature will ensure that he learns from those mistakes in the playoffs and from his successes in the season. Watch out league.
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