News and Notes

Not much is happening as summer winds down in Habsland, but there have been a few stories this week that have caught my attention. Let's all keep in mind, however, that these are simply of note since there isn't much else to write about. Here are 3 stories that I thought I'd chime in on.

Habs Get Senator; No not Kovalev

On a day when Kovalev, while playing golf in Montreal, revealed that he still hopes to one day play for the Habs there was another story with a Habs-Senator connection. This one involved our last Stanley Cup winning coach and current RDS flip-flopper: Jacques Demers. Stephen Harper (Canada's Prime Minister for the international readers) appointed Demers to the Senate today along with 8 others. Jacques gladly accepted the position and will join Frank Mahovolich as the voice of the Habs on Parliament Hill. I for one am glad for Jacques as I have always quite liked the man. I'll always remember the Stanley Cup (and the McSorley stick), the RDS commentary, but most of all the courage it took for him to tell the world about his illiteracy. I think that as far as the current Habs go he is the closest thing we have to a true champion (in hockey and in life) and I think he'll do a great job in Ottawa. Whether this is a ploy by Harper to win votes in Quebec or maybe from Habs fans is irrelevant as Demers still managed to top a list that would have surely included other Quebecers. Now, we will still see him on TV (although, less than before) where he will likely be high-fiving Brunet, combing Joel Bouchard's hair and talking about 1993, so we haven't entirely lost him to the Nation's Capital quite yet.

No Big O

You can count me among the disappointed to hear that the Habs have canceled their late November game at Montreal's biggest stadium. I for one was looking forward to a night back in my favorite sports venue, watching my favorite team; I was exited at the prospect of feeling the energy of the concrete-bowl one more time. Can you imagine how loud it would be after a goal? Just think to when the Expos were drawing less than 10,000 fans to a game and it was still the loudest park in the majors. I don't know who had the genius idea to schedule the game during Alouette playoff season, but you need just ask U2 to realize that the old stadium cannot play host to two major events in one weekend. This is pretty poor planning when you think of it as the stadium is vacant 51 weeks a year and the Habs have 20+ Saturday games in a season. To me that would have been the marquee event of the centennial; better than hosting an All-Star game which no cares about, better than having the snooze-fest that is the NHL draft at the Bell Centre and even better than wearing a slightly different shirt for a meaningless game. I hope someone gets on re-scheduling this event as I think it would have been quite the memorable game. Maybe if they can't play there though they could play at Molson Stadium...I am pretty sure the Als won't be needing it.

Team (Robidas) Canada

As you may or may not know most Olympic hockey teams are having camps now or over the next little while. This will serve as the only time these players will be together before the Games themselves. I have been reading mostly about Team Canada and what I read sometimes amuses me. Yesterday the lead article on RDS was about Robidas, not about the other, better, 45 players there, no it was about the worst one, Stephane Robidas. Maybe I am missing something, as afterall I am a Quebecer too, but do people only care about players from their own province on the National Team? The article was questioning whether Robidas may be out of his league and may not make the team. MAY BE??? MAY NOT MAKE THE TEAM??? No kidding, RDS, he is out of his league, he has a hard time cracking the top-4 on a non-playoff team. They can certainly write what they want, about whom they want (as I am doing now), but please, get over yourselves. There are 46 players at this camp and believe it or not the National Team includes players from Ottawa, Toronto and beyond. I guess that article served as a reminder of what I'll have to put up with 82 times this year as I sit through 40 Lapierre, Latendresse and Laraque interviews only to be riveted yet again in the second intermission by the voices of Bruno Gervais, Jason Pominville and Daniel Briere.

All this Olympic talk has made me realize that there are no Habs on this 46-man roster. We couldn't even muster one courtesy spot, but then again who could be there? Am I the only one who thinks that the Habs not having a good Canadian player is a crime? Ya we have Price, Lapierre and Cammelleri, but come on, they are all inferior to the players that are there. Is it time the Habs found an elite Canadian player? Is that what we are missing?

Now, I'll take in one step further and present a little survey. Below is the list of the 46 players who are at the camp and from that list the 23-man roster will likely be selected. There is the chance that a player not on the list plays well enough in the first half of the season to get a spot, (or injuries may play a part) , but our team is more than likely contained within. I have had enough with Captains Canada (ie. Captains 'unable-to-ever-lead-your-team-to-the-playoffs) Doan and Smith and there are a few other relics I can do without. I have made my selections in bold and encourage you all to suggest your rosters. I didn't choose players from outside this group, but please feel free to do so if you have a player (or a few) that you feel strongly about.

Forwards (13 of 25)

Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan Smyth, Los Angeles Kings
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes
Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
Dan Cleary, Detroit Red Wings
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Andy McDonald, St. Louis Blues
Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres
Patrick Sharp, Chicago Blackhawks
Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

Defence (7 of 16)

Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary Flames
Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
Francois Beauchemin,Toronto Maple Leafs
Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks
Brent Burns, Minnesota Wild
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Mike Green, Washington Capitals
Dan Hamhuis, Nashville Predators
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Stephane Robidas, Dallas Stars
Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks
Marc Staal, New York Rangers
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Goaltenders (3 of 5)

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes

The Brisebois FileThe Player And Where He Fits

I have been very restrained on our friend this year I think. Last summer I was livid about the re-welcoming of Brisebois into the fold. That event alone kept this blog alive when it could have died out over a first August. But since then, I think I have been more restrained.

I can tell you I felt just as physically ill when we signed the Breezer this summer as I did last, but I kept it too myself. For one thing, I thought why rehash the same old stuff? For another, I thought – this is now a team with depth, how much harm can Brisbois do as an 8th D?

After Saturday night's win, and Tobalev's interesting game review, a comment from Dishonest John brought all the feelings welling up to the surface again. Now, I know Tobes explained his ire and this may have been done before; but for the my well-being and the benefit of new readers I would like to explain what it is that infuriates me (us) about:

a) Brisebois the player
b) The GM that keeps signing him
c) The coach that plays him more than would seem prudent

The player
Tobalev has admitted he is not unbiased, and I should do the same. There are players I like better than others. Some play the way I like hockey to be played, others less so. I don't think bias is a problem in editorial "journalism" like blogging. In fact, i feel it is an asset. If we had no opinions and biases, none of you would have any reason to visit us like you do.

When it comes to Brisebois, it would be fair to say I am biased. But, conversely, it would be unfair to say that I jumped to a conclusion about Brisebois or didn't give him a fair shake. In fact, back in 1991, Brisebois was a prospect I longed to see in the Habs lineup. I had his Laval Titan card. I knew his birthday. I could have told you all his stats. No, the fall of Brisebois was long and painful. It coincided with the fall of the Canadiens and the realization that Stanley Cup finals every 3 or 4 years were not normal – quite the opposite.


Whether it's fair or unfair that Brisebois was thrust into the number one defenceman role or not is up for debate. But, it was during this period (and also those 4 years where he would be the highest paid Montreal Canadien in the history of the team!?!) that his plummet would accelerate. Being thrust into the limelight and onto the ice for greater lengths of time exposed the fact that Brisebois could not compete with the best NHL forwards physically

At first, I was most frustrated by his weakness and misjudgments. But over time, my ire was reserved for his response to mistakes. For me the shoulder shrug and glare at the bewildered goalie of the day was enough to ruin an evening at the time. When you extrapolated his indifference to mistakes in game over a season and over many seasons, the frustration as a fan was mounting.

In fairness to the player, he has seemed to at the very least relent in his quest for headlines. He seems to want to do his job in a simple and straightforward manner now, and this certainly seems to be limiting his most obvious gaffes. There has been much more feeling of relief as his shifts end in line changes rather than faceoffs early this season than there ever used to be. And with regard to the simmering of the summer , one can hardly fault the player himself for signing an NHL contract when someone is offering (but please don't ask me to call $700,000 a pittance or call him a bargain).


Expecting (hoping for) more from management
It was commonplace for Breezer, our "number one" defenceman, to be overtaken by rookies and up and comers in the old days. There were many: Rivet, Bouillon, Robidas, Souray, Markov, Komisarek, Streit. It was frustrating to see. More frustrating was his reserved place at the top of the ice-time leaderboard amidst all the other progress around him.

It is this once again that frustrates a fan. A team of managers that had no qualms about benching and ostracizing our best even-strength goalscorer last year is now digging their heels in for this guy.

I don't think I'm alone when I say I just don't see why.

Mistakes
I fully understand the benefit of riding out mistakes with young players. I understand and endorse that approach. I would have once advocated it for this very young man. I have seen enough hockey to know that the best players are born out of the fires of their own worst crashes. It is imperative to let players fail to see if they emerge out the other side.

But if they don't emerge from the other side? If they've crashed hundreds of times and never learn? This is a puzzle. I personally don't see the benefit of riding out rookie mistakes when they are a result of the play from a player one year away from retirement (or more if he swindles the Canadiens again).

My view is that we could get the same efficacy with the same mistakes out of a youngster, say Shawn Belle or Yannick Weber (O'Byrne even) and the risk could lead to benefit. But I emplore management not to take the risk for nothing. It is akin to buying stock in GM at the moment.


I think that this frustration with management, more than anything directed at Brisebois himself (who for after most games I have been happily indifferent towards this season) is the primary source of editorial energy at the moment. I think that this too was Tobalev's impetus on Saturday. Because though he slighted Brisebois, his conclusion was that the Habs should be promoting from within – decisions which are out of Brisebois' control.

We started this summer asking to become a Stanley Cup contender. And the hope that was built over last season was a good foundation. But hope of gettng there by anyway other than luck is waning as management simply plays out the minutes. At current pace we are well past the point of asking Gainey to be proactive about reassembling a decent defensive 6. We can only hope that his reaction to Komisarek's injury will not take a further 9 games.