Game #57 Habs Can't Shut the Door Against Hurricanes

Details

Date: 13/02/2012
Opponent: Hurricanes
Location: Montreal

Loss: 3-5

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

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Cole, Desharnais
Opposition goalscorers: Tlusty, Spacek, Staal (2), McBain

Play of the game

In a great example of the heads-up hockey that Plekanec can show us, he read the play well and took off down the ice while collecting a smart pass from Campoli. Bourque joined him to create a 2-on-1 break. Pleks cooly hung on, cut inside just slightly, and fired a quick-release wrister under the skates of Cam Ward. It completely changed the tone of the game and ignited a 3-goal outburst from a Habs squad that had looked pretty sleepy to that point.

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
Continued his impressive points streak against Carolina and ignited a sleeping crowd (and team) with his goal after a disappointing 30 minutes of hockey. More importantly, continued to provide quiet leadership by setting the example and touched off the half-period of strong play we did see from the Habs tonight. Played well in both ends and fired 8 shots, 5 of which made it to the net.

Erik Cole
Erik had basically already made the dome before scoring a great goal in the second on the power play. His physical play through the first period was vital in keeping any offensive hope alive, and he followed through on it with a power-play goal in the second.

David Desharnais
Showed us just how good his hands are on our second power-play goal. Played feisty, creative hockey and helped rekindle some hope that maybe we do, in fact, have a power play that can possibly score. Wish he'd shot on that power play with about 3 minutes left, though, looked like he had a lot of net...

Defencemen

Hall Gill
Played extremely well on the penalty kill and broke up some key scoring opportunities early on to keep it close over the first 30 minutes while the most of the team napped or maybe checked their iPhones or something. With Campoli, 1 of only 2 players that ended up plus-anything on the night.

Josh Gorges
Good old reliable Gorges. On a night where Kaberle is even worse than usual and Subban is making more mistakes than he should, Gorges has to be good. He was even on the plus-minus through almost 22:30 and did a lot to keep the team in this contest. I'm glad we can rely so consistently on him to face long, tough minutes and have him do the most important things: not panic, stick to the plan, and not make dumb mistakes.

Goaltender

Carey Price
The only thing that kept us even close for the first 30 minutes, Price did a lot of things right. The Tlusty goal was a lucky redirect, and Spacek's goal was just a great hockey play and Price never had a chance. He seemed almost nervous at times in the 3rd, which is rare; but given the way the skaters in front of him were playing in their own end and allowing second- and third-chance opportunities it was understandable.

Comments

At the end of the first, I was thinking—hoping—to myself that maybe we were up to our old trick of only playing 2 periods of the hockey game. Then the second period started and I started to lose hope for this one. We seemed to be able to gain the zone, but we never crossed with much momentum and our puck movement was weak. As a result, the Habs mustered few shots on Ward, let alone quality chances. Tlusky's goal was lucky, but Spacek's was a picture-perfect execution of a classic hockey play that it made me wish we'd tried him a couple times as a power play quarterback. That's right, we looked bad enough that I was wishing for the "good old days," when Spacek played with us. I was dreading trying to pick a play of the game.

Then, just after the halfway mark of the 2nd period, Plekanec almost single-handedly turned the game around with a great transition goal. We then proceeded to score 2 goals on the power play, which put us to an astounding 5 goals in our last 13 or 14 power plays. Leading 3-2 going into the dressing room, it seemed like things were looking up.

Unfortunately, we started the 3rd period as if this were a done deal, as if we were up by 4 goals in Toronto on Saturday. We were lazy and overconfident on the power play 3 minutes in, and Kaberle made a soft pass that was intercepted at the blue line. He got caught flat-footed by Eric Staal, who breezed by him easily and scored a short-handed breakaway goal. The wind out of our sails (and Moen for some reason not handing Gorges his stick on a penalty kill), a hard power-play effort secured McBain's game-winner and we never got our momentum back.

Simply put, it was a disappointing effort on a night where we really needed the 2 points. A lot of the team looked flat and just weren't moving their feet or keeping their heads up. The passing was sloppy and we weren't forceful enough in taking and keeping the offensive zone. I think that was a very "winnable" game, but we were completely out-hustled and out-worked by a lowly Hurricanes squad. I get unhappy enough when I see us only playing 2 periods of good hockey, and tonight it felt more like about 8 minutes.

The Soundbytes of US Presidents

Yesterday Mike Boone invoked Sylvester the Cat and Harry Truman to explain his "positive" spin on the Canadiens season thus far.

In reply, I would like to refer to a line appropriated by and sometimes attributed to another US president, Abraham Lincoln.


“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

The Canadiens have proven this line is a fit for them. Pleasing all the people? Well that happened as recently as an Erik Cole against Roberto Luongo. We all know they please some people all the time too.

In the wake of the Kaberle trade, my estimation is that Canadiens have not pleased all the people this time. But they weren't probably aiming for that impossible goal.

Please the media? Good luck, they're too grumpy these days as they realize they might have to find new ways to come up with stories as the press conference gravy train delivers drivel readers don't want to read...

Please those who have their minds made up? Impossible. Might caue an internal rupture causing them to have to do the thing they despise most -- admit they were wrong.

A team can only do what it thinks is best and hope the results they anticipate go about pleasing the people.



My favourite part of all this is how I'm suddenly hearing almost gushing love and admiration for the player that was traded away.

Give me a break.

I have defended Spacek on a few occasions, but I scarcely remember many people joining in. I certainly never remember outward display of this highest regard from those who are otherwise just dying for interesting things to write about.

On the whole, I'd say that Spacek had a lot more trouble pleasing all the people all of the time than did the organization during his tenure. Much maligned, this may be the biggest outpouring for him yet (and he hasn't played in weeks).

Kaberle Deal Is A Big Deal

There have been realistic conversations taking place that Jaroslav Spacek might not find a place on the Canadiens blueline if he ever were to return form injury. Well now it's confirmed, he won't.

He's been traded for Tomas Kaberle.

Make no mistake about it, this is a big deal.

Kaberle is perhaps not what Kaberle was 3 or 4 years ago, but he is a different player to Spacek for whom he was just traded. For years a stalwart of the Toronto PP, he often led that team to have a good one. And this is not distant past either. Last season, Kaberle had 25 assists on the PP.

He is faulted both for his lack of production this season (9 points) and his apparent lack of return on value for the Bruins, but let's not forget he won the Cup with that team. Whatever he did, he didn't hurt the effort too much -- a moderately above average team still won the Cup with this guy.

The key to watching Kaberle will be tempering expectations. he does not shoot, almost cannot shoot. But he is slippery in possession none the less. What's more, he can turn quick plays and move the focus of attack from the point (and keep the darn puck in at the line), all things the Canadiens have been crying out for since they have begun this season without the triumvirate of Markov, Hamrlik and Wisniewski.

Obviously the downside is his salary (or so it was for the Hurricanes).
But that has to be accepted as a way to acquire players that can actually make an impact at this level mid-season. For all the groaning, Kaberle is only signed to make just over $4 million (NHL average salary is now pushing $3 million, remember) and will only cost the Habs a few hundred thousand more than Spacek this season.

If the other downside is that he is untradeable, that seems to have been proven untrue by recent events (namely two trades in 10 months).


Be optimistic

I suggest everyone takes the optimistic view on this. Kaberle probably won't save the team, but acquiring a 33-year-old veteran who scored 47 points when he was 32 from defence is not a bad thing. Hope that his limitations will be covered by those defencemen who will now be freed from having to man the PP as ineptly as they have been.

And though it's tempting to view this as Markov's replacement, as that's been a recent fixation, remember it was for Spacek he was traded and not Markov. If Markov returns, Kaberle will be filling those skates, not Andrei's.

I did not feel a real impending need for a move at this time, but if there was any emotion it was the dread that pressure from others less patient would lead to a vast overpayment for the purposes of placation. This doesn't feel that way at all. In fact, pleasant surprise is the way it feels.


Farewell Spacek

I don't want anyone to mistake my gushing language as an indictment of Spacek. I always felt he was a good addition given the options available and that for the most part he made the defensive corps better. He was a big reason for the playoff push of 2010, and should be remembered fondly for giving us that.

I'm sure he'll be just fine in Carolina until his contract expires. After that, we wish him the best of luck in finding employment with a new team somewhere.

Game #20 Habs Roundhouse Rangers

Details

Date: 19/11/2011
Opponent: Rangers
Location: Montreal

Win: 4-0

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Gionta (2), Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers:

Play of the game

Showing his good hockey sense early in the first, Weber held up the play for a second in his end to clear the ice ahead of him a little and start out from the zone. He spotted a streaking Cole on the right wing and put a pass into his skates. Cole slipped past the defender on the outside and cut into the faceoff circle to unleash a blistering shot over Garon's Biron's right shoulder and pick the top corner. A key power play goal that set the pace for the Habs and established an early lead that they never let go.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
It's nice putting Pleks back in the dome. I feel like the last couple times I've blogged the game haven't been his best performances. Tonight he was a force to be reckoned with—especially on special teams—and logged his 20th point in 20 games.

Brian Gionta
Another player I'm glad to put in the dome tonight, as I think our captain has also been all too quiet lately. Two beauty goals tonight earn him dome status, and it's worth noting that both these goals came off passes from Gomez. Do we dare hope that this is the start of something good?

Erik Cole - Game Puck
Despite a slow start to the season, Cole has become a key piece of the offensive puzzle. He is a consistent source of offensive pressure and no slouch in his own end, either. Tonight was no exception and he set the tone early on for his teammates with a welcome PP goal, and continued a 5-game, 7-point streak with a goal and an assist tonight.

Defencemen

P.K. Subban
With so many of our defense corps injured, we relied on sophomore Subban to play the role of grizzled defensive veteran tonight. He ably shouldered the responsibility and logged workhorse minutes in his own end and on the penalty kill. He kept in the defensive mindset very well and was a key piece of Price's shutout tonight.

Yannick Weber
Weber was another unlikely "veteran" tonight, and it was clear that he was playing the role of puck-moving defender with a green light to shoot. He did that very well and is developing into a strong PP quarterback as well as showing good judgement and defensive sense.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Price wasn't tested as much as he could have been, as overall the team was very good at chasing pucks in their own end, controlling rebounds and keeping any extended pressure from developing. New York still managed some great chances on the run, and his cross-crease save on Gaborik early in the first was spectacular. A flurry of chances in the dying minutes were his toughest test this evening, and he weathered them easily to walk away with a second straight shutout.

Comments

An exciting game to watch, especially through the first period. The Canadiens dominated this one pretty decisively and never really allowed the Rangers to set up shop in the offensive zone. Garon Biron didn't play badly and had some good saves, but ultimately New York couldn't stop us from playing to our strengths. We chased pucks hard and won a lot more than we lost, and we seemed to be able to walk into their zone at will all game. Some solid breakout passing from Diaz and Weber created goals out of nowhere twice tonight, and it was relieving to see our veteran forwards stepping up to take the spotlight off Pacioretty and Desharnais for what feels like the first time in a while.

For once, our power play didn't seem so pathetic as usual. We went 2/6 (compared to 10/72 before tonight) and had convincing offense during all of them (if only for the last 40 seconds on the 5th PP thanks to strong play from Cammalleri and Diaz). It was encouraging to see some sign of our previous dominance, and both Diaz and Weber are developing into able quarterbacks in the absence of Markov and with Subban being asked to play a more stay-at-home role while Gill, Spacek and Campoli are out. I'm impressed with their vision and patience, as frustrating as it can be sometimes during extended passing bouts on the power play.

Overall a solid showing from an offensively fired-up unit. New York let us have a fair amount of space this game, and that allowed us to use our speed and some smart passing from our young defensemen to play our kind of game. When we're given that space and allowed to play that kind of run-and-gun hockey I think this is a tough squad to beat.

Game #18Habs And Price Cruise Against Disorganized 'Canes Squad

Details

Date: 16/11/2011
Opponent: Hurricanes
Location: Montreal

Win: 4-0

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

Habs goalscorers: Cammalleri, Weber, Subban, Moen
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

The game was out of reach for the 'Canes in the third, but with our history, who knows, a goal could have changed things. So, that is why I am choosing a save that Price made. Well, that and the fact that it was our nicest play of the night, bar none. The save came off the stick of Staal after a great pass from Skinner. Price quickly slid left to right to stone the once-dominant (and once non-league worse in +/-) captain.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
Pleks is playing hurt, at least I hope that he is. If he isn't then he must be one weak guy because it seems that once or twice a game he is really shaken up by what seems like the lightest of taps. When he has the puck, however, he is all business and it was he who drove the offence early on with 2 assists to give us the 2-goal cushion that proved to be enough.

Michael Cammalleri
Mike scored a Cammalleri-type goal early on in this game and seemed to feed off of that throughout the rest of the contest. There wasn't much of note in our own zone, but in the offensive zone, where we need him, he was strong and was part of our best line, a line that simply wore Carolina out. He is another guy who may be hurt, but like Tom, he is proving that even hurt he is much better than the alternative.

Travis Moen
I needed a third guy here and had a hard time choosing as my usual selection by process of elimination didn't really get rid of anyone. So, I thought of who I noticed, who stood out on one of the other lines and Moen came to mind. He scored a goal, but I felt did so much more. He played well in the offensive and defensive zones as he played a smart, hard and focused game. I also really enjoyed his hit on Allen in the third, a hit that may not have meant much, but seemed to settle down a player who was running a bit wild on that shift.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges - Game Puck
I don't want to take anything away from Price and you can read about him below, but for me Gorges was the player who really stepped up tonight. This is just a guess (a very educated guess), but I am wiling to say that this was his first NHL game ever in which he was the oldest D-man. That may not sound like much, but let's not forget that he is just 27. He played 10 minutes in the first and set the tone for the whole game in that first frame. He led a very young and extremely inexperienced defensive squad by leading by example. He was an absolute rock in his own end and especially on the PK. The coaches have a lot to be grateful for (as do we fans) as Josh is playing the best hockey of his life right at the time when we desperately need him to.

Alexei Emelin
PK and Weber had great games, but Emelin was the player that I thought was just a bit better than the rest tonight. Maybe it was because he hadn't been put into this role yet and I didn't expect too much, but there was something that really excited me about his play. So far this season, when he has played, he has had limited assignements and usually limited ice-time. Tonight, however, the coaches had no choice and Alexei ran with it. I noticed him on almost all of his shifts as he always seemed involved. Whether it was good, strong break-out passing, winning the puck back, laying hits or blocking shots he was visible. In fact he led the game with 7 blocked-shots and 7 hits. That total of 14 was 7 better than Josh's 7 hits+blocked-shots which says an awful lot about Emelin's game. This is the kind of performance that we had all hoped for; let's hope that it is the kind of preformance that we keep getting.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Carey was great tonight and I never felt that the 'Canes could score a goal let alone win the game. This was his first shutout of the year and quite possibly the easiest game he has played all season. The Habs scored 4 goals for the first time this month and this Carolina team looked to be about the worst competition that we have faced in our first 18 games. A goalie still has to make the saves that he is asked to make and that increased in the third as our 'defensive' system meant more shots for them, more time in our zone. Price has been hot lately and I wouldn't be surprised if this shutout is the first of a few to come in the coming weeks and months.

Comments

The Habs needed an easy win, a win that didn't go down to the wire, in which we could play our own way and not have to scramble in the third (and possibly OT) to get the two points. Tonight's opponent offered us the game we dreamed of. A pretty pathetic looking Hurricane team came to play tonight, a team that still is happy to say that they won the cup in 2006, but that hasn't done anything (save one good draft pick) to improve on that unlikely (thanks Justin Williams) win. I don't want to take anything way from Montreal, though. We played a good game and got contribution from all 19 players. This is a team that has 7 points in its last 4 games, a team that is stubbornly playing its type of hockey and is getting the results to back it up. A team, that I can now say with certainty, is back on the right track.

I didn't like the penalties tonight as it seemed like a bit of a return to that start of the season for us. Here we are in a non-rough game and we are taking penalty after penalty, usually of the weak variety. What I did like, however, was the work of our D, our penalty-killers and the PP. Tomorrow we face another weak team on the Island which is good timing considering our defensive-corps situation. A win in that game would put us just one point out of first in our division (just imagine we held on to beat Buffalo in regulation) and would put us into the playoff picture at long last. There is no reason for us to not believe that we can keep winning after watching tonight's game, let's just hope that the players can remember to do tomorrow what they did so well today.

Five Things You May Not Have Noticed

I keep a lot of statistics. I like to share them now and again. If I had more time, I'd share more.

As it is, time is limited, so after poring over my enormous spreadsheet I have chosen a few stats that I thought might catch the eyes and imagination of some of the Habs fans I know.

1. PK Subban Powerplay Efficiency (2.048 GF/60)

PK ended last season 8 minutes after he basically willed the Canadiens into another period of playoff hockey with what was becoming a reliable feature of his game: the PP goal.

This season has been different. Drastically so. Barely over two goals per 60 minutes of PP hockey. If you assume that all powerplays are 2 minutes (which they are not because goals end PPs) then that gives him an efficiency rating of 6.8% on the PP.

More astounding perhaps is that PK is near bottom on the team in this regard. Weber is on while the team clicks at a 5.045 rate and the much maligned Plekanec is doubling Subban's efficiency.


2. Jaroslav Spacek limiting goals against (0.968 GA/60)

Speaking of much maligned, the "fitter" and oft-injured Spacek has made goal prevention his early season highlight. 0.968 GA is much better than the team average and only second to Palushaj who has yet to be on for a goal against of any kind.


3. Lars Eller's crooked shot (45.5% of chances on target)

As you may or may not know by now, a scoring chance is a shot or indeed a missed shot from within a defined area of the ice. Lars Eller has had moments this season where he made everyone think we should have thrown more to St. Louis in that trade. However, this hasn't necessarily been reflected in wins or even goals.

One of the reason may be that Eller has missed the net 12 out of the 22 times he's had the chance to release a shot from the "slot". This is unusual when you compare to players like Plekanec, Cole, Cammalleri and Kostitsyn who all have been putting more than 2/3 of these golden opportunities on target.


4. Carey Price's Win Threshold (0.902)

Remember the old days when people defending one goalie or another would invoke the win threshold -- the save percentage required to win games.

In the past, this was pulled out because sometimes the low scoring and free shot giving Canadiens would be asking a very high percentage of their goalies. I thought it was worth highlighting that the Canadiens now seem to have got this area of their game in order. The average win threshold has been 0.902, which means plenty of games where Carey only needed to post 0.900 to win (He's 2-2-1 in those).


5. Scott Gomez's ghost (0.051 goal created/60)

Frame of reference, we have two players creating more than 1 goal per 60 minutes played, and two more over 0.9. With 122 minutes played (23 of which have been on the PP) over 8 games, one might well expect a player who routinely gets trotted out on a scoring line to have played more than a bit part in one PP goal.

At his current rate, Gomez would have to play 472 more games to duplicate the contribution Pacioretty has made in less than quarter of a season.

Game #17Habs Get To OT, But Let It Slip Till A Shootout

Details

Date: 14/11/2011
Opponent: Sabres
Location: Montreal

Loss: 2-3 (SO)

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Pominville, Roy (Vanek, Boyes - SO)

Play of the game

Pacioretty's goal demonstrates all that is good with his line, with the hottest line on our team. Desharnais, who is playing some fantastic hockey, started the play at the blue-line and put in a nice little pass for Max. Pacs beat two defenders and then got off a weak shot. Not to be outdone, Cole went hard to the net, as usual. The puck trickled in, but one has to think that it would have gone in somehow as Cole and Desharnais were ready to pounce.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

David Desharnais
This line did it again and makes you wish that one or maybe even two of the other three lines would have stepped it up too. Desh was on for both goals and probably should have been asked to take a shootout shot instead of the slumping captain.

Max Pacioretty - Game Puck
Saying he is our best player doesn't even feel weird anymore, it seems kind of right. Players like Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri have made it easy for Max this year as the competition for best forward is really not as hot as it should be. He was all over the Buffalo coverage tonight and could have had a hat-trick had the bounces gone his way. If he keeps playing like he does a 35+ goal and 70+ point season will be reality.

Erik Cole
It was too bad that Erik took that penalty in OT, otherwise it would have been the perfect game from him. Nevertheless, he played very well as he used his speed time and time again against a quick Sabre defence. He isn't scared to stay out on a shift if a chance is there, he isn't scared to go to the net and rough it up and most of all isn't scared to take on any defender on the ice.

Defencemen

Raphael Diaz
No Markov or Campoli, no Gill tonight and we were only halfway through the game when Spacek went down. That means a young D and a win (or point in this case) requires certain guys to step up. I thought that Diaz was one of the best out there as he played with poise, patience and creativity. He was used by his coach in all situations and did a formidable job. When all those guys are back will he have a place? At this rate, who am I kidding? When will we ever have all of them back at once.

Yannick Weber
Yannick was our best defender tonight. One of the best aspects of his play was that it was simple, yet confident. PK, the perennial dome selection, made some poor choices that eventually cost him a selection and in a way the Habs the game. I have no doubt after watching this game, with all of the absnses on D, that Weber has his place as a permanent defender on this team. He is great at even-strength, can play the point nicely on the PP (I am assuming, of course, the results will improve for him and the team when Markov is back) and, boy, can he kill penalties; tonight he was fantastic in that area.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I have certainly been more severe before, but did think that Price played two of his best periods tonight and didn't want to overlook that. He played the puck well and smartly, but more importantly made each and every save and made them look easy. In the third he was average, but that isn't bad considering the first two. He was good again in OT and did enough on our PK to give us a serious chance at the win. In the shootout, however, he was again pathetic. I know that is a harsh word, but he isn't just letting goals in, he is letting in goals that make him look like a much worse goalie than he is. When he moves, he guesses wrong, when he doesn't move he is beaten easily by good shooters. That makes him 0-4 in shootout attempts this year and my suggestion to the Habs would be to win in OT, at all costs. The back-up plan (until Price proves himself against non-Gionta/Plekanec shooters in practice) has to be to put Budaj in if only to confuse opposing shooters who seem to know the book on Carey.

Comments

We played a good first two periods and seemed well on our way to a third straight win and to above-.500 territory. The third period, however, started poorly and since we aren't the best (or a good) team at scoring goals we were playing with fire. Our game-plan is to get the lead and to almost hope that we'll hold on; once again, it almost worked. We had our chances in OT, but when that came and went it seemed like an opportunity at gaining on Buffalo had just slipped through our fingers. This result won't matter in the end (if it does we have a lot more than tonight to blame), so it should be lesson learned and move on. We need points this week and if we can manage to get points in our losses then I suppose it isn't all that bad.

Our PP may have scored tonight, but it is really painful to watch. It actually sucks all of the excitement out of the game as we slow it right down waiting for that perfect play. The seconds tick by as we work it around looking for a tap-in. 20, 30 even 40 seconds of controlled (contained?) passing can go by before a shot. Buffalo, on the other hand, seem to get a shot off every 5 seconds and maybe they lose the zone more frequently, but they still have more action than we do. For so many years we worked the puck around until that perfect and pretty play presented itself and it worked, it worked well. It can't however, work with this squad. No offense to the current squad, but there are no Kovalevs, Koivus, Markovs, Sourays, Streits, Schneiders, Bergerons, Wisniewskis out there. The coaches have to adapt because we are losing games because we can't score when most teams can. We need a new plan, one designed for the talent that we have now (and I do believe we have talent). Surely there must be a way that Diaz, Gomez, Gionta, Desharnais and Darche can find a way to score with a bit more regularity.

Game #12 Montreal Outlasts Late-Night Sen Storm

Details

Date: 4/11/2011
Opponent: Senators
Location: Montreal

Win: 2-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Kostitsyn
Opposition goalscorers: Smith

Play of the game

Not quite Gorges' come-from-nowhere sprawling takeout of Jason Spezza on a breakaway, but it was close. I'll go with the hard work of Mike Cammalleri behind the net to create a beauty chance on Anderson. He battles for the rebound against the boards and a bouncing puck squirts out, eluding Cole only to have Cammalleri pick it up again and throw it to Desharnais in the slot. As Cammalleri skates hard at the net, Desharnais gives him a great feed that gets sent right to a streaking Cole's tape on the far side of the net, and all that hard work is rewarded with a beautiful and energizing goal for the Habs.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Lars Eller - Game Puck
Eller did it all tonight, and was channeling the brilliance of the less-visible Plekanec tonight. He played very well in both ends tonight, doing a lot of the right things in the right places at the right times, and doing them often. He and Kostitsyn seem to be developing quite the 2-way pairing, and we wonder if Moen will ever be able to keep up...

Mike Cammalleri
Cammalleri worked hard tonight and was a big reason his line looked like the most dangerous one. He had good net presence, great vision and led the team with 5 shots. In short, giving us exactly what we need from him.

Erik Cole
Not that Desharnais had a bad game, but Cole was more in the thick of things more often and to greater effect. Cole's a very well-rounded player, with good hands, speed and a big enough frame to be able to mix it up with most of them. I think his net-charging and crease-battling techniques are setting a good example for a lot of our young forwards.

Defencemen

Hall Gill
Gill was a force tonight. Despite being deked so easily by Spezza on that one play, Gill had a very solid physical and defensive presence, making the Sens pay hard for time in front of the net and getting in the way of a lot of plays.

Jaroslav Spacek
It's becoming quite apparent to me that this is indeed a man who's been playing on his wrong side for the last couple of years. I saw him making a lot of smart plays with the puck in his own end through the first two periods and have noticed that he seems a lot more comfortable and better with the puck so far this season. I like it.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Price certainly had his moments tonight. The pair of saves he made on the Sens' power play in the second period were spectacular, and he kept the score even for the first half of the game while the forwards took their time finding their respective touches. Really noticed him playing the puck quickly and efficiently on many a Sens dump-in, including a spectacular clear during the first penalty kill. Weathered the storm that was the third period with aplomb. Gold star.

Comments

My father and I were on the phone with each other during the first period, and remarking at how this season's Habs look like an almost completely different team as compared to last year's squad. How this team is always looking to play the puck forward, how they follow their shots to the net, and how they consistently have men battling in front and screening the goalie. Even how they don't collapse into their own zone with a 1- or 2-goal lead.

Obviously, that was before the third period. We came out flat in our own zone and were scored on short-handed, and things didn't improve much from there. Outshot 15-4, we looked like the Habs of yesteryear at times; turtling into a defensive shell that sometimes does the the trick and often—like tonight—really doesn't. The penalty we took late in the third was an almost inevitable consequence of allowing too much offensive pressure, but we managed to step up for the last minute and a half of 6-on-4 play with a degree of skill that seemed missing most of the period. It was almost as if we were better on the penalty kill than at even-strength, which wasn't encouraging.

That aside, I liked what I saw for the first two periods: aggressive offense, hard work, and good transition hockey. So I found myself wondering this when my father mentioned it—just where will Gomez fit in the lines, now? We have 3 good centres who I like pretty well right now, and 5 wingers... Given the way Kostitsyn and Eller are playing together I'd like to see what happens if we move Gomez to the wing rather than Eller. Let us know what you think.

Game #10 Habs Extend Championship Hangover For Bruins

Details

Date: 27/10/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 2-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: (Bergeron)

Play of the game

After what was meant to be an inspirational move by young Subban, the Canadiens end up shorthanded to end the second. This is the territory they have been losing games from. Sure enough a bad bounce and a Bruin receives the gift straight on the tape. As if from nowhere, in slide Rafael Diaz like a centreback in the six yard box to block the puck and save the tie. He's on for a lot of good saves thanks to his tendency to pinch, but this was the first and best of his own, I'd say.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Erik Cole
Let's all thanks Jessica Rusnak, shall we? She inadvertently changed the course of the season. The chivalrous Erik Cole, since coming from nowhere to protect the honour of the young reporter was a week ago on his way to booking another trade home to Carolina. Since that time, he has been a fixture in the dome and has been creating chances nearly non-stop. I thought his goal was good, but yet again he had better chances (homemade ones) that were the product of better skill.

Tomas Plekanec
He should be the best player on the team, and in this game he was. The own goal was never his fault. The gamewinner was all his fault. Besides those two scoresheet items he played an all around game with the proficiency we took for granted but haven't really been seeing until this point of this season.

Mike Cammalleri
Who am I to take Mike Cammalleri out of the dome. He didn't score, but he was dangerous again as he paired well with Erik Cole. That breakaway would have been a goal against 9 out of 10 goalies in this league, and his empty scorecard didn't reflect his dangerous presence.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Back in camp I was simply amazed at the way Gorges came into the year. He seemed not to have lost an inch in his game. It's taken a few regular pace games for him to get here, but I could see that coming back this evening. Gorges contributed to the game winning goal with his 6th assist of the season already. It was a simple enough play, but if you didn't know better you'd have seen #79 as the originator of a pass like that. He was the workhorse tonight too and the minutes leader at ES by minutes.

Jaroslav Spacek
Spacek is slowly usurping Hal Gill's role as he shows the other 22 year-old Dman of the future the ropes. He took another important shot (last night too) and ended up kick starting the comeback. Most impressive to me was the sheer amount of shot blocking he did. He was sharp at being in lanes in this one, something that seemed to frustrate the B's and he ended with a scorer's 6 in that column.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
It's not easy to stop every shot the Bruins send at the net (but one, thanks Diaz). I thought he was especially superb late in the game when the Bruins were resorting to any tactic to get that tying goal. Carey stayed calm, eyed the pucks and importantly didn't cough a big rebound to a big scorer like Thomas did. A couple of breakaway saves again, and the team can again think about winning thanks to Carey's leadership.

Comments

Probably should have been watching the Winnipeg game (9-8!?!), but watching this team figure out how to win is fun in itself.

I didn't write that piece on comebacks so the guys could prove me wrong, but that's twice now that the team has done what I said they couldn't. Twice in three games. What else do you guys want me to write about? Gauthier could never trade for Crosby and Malkin? The Leafs are a sure-fire bet for the playoffs? Gomez was a terrible pick in the pool for me? (Oh, wait).

Anyway, the fact that these two wins have been comebacks mean so much more in my opinion. This win, against a goalie that was clearly hot and a good team (champions, remember?) who needed a win as much as the Canadiens was the better and more meaningful of the two.

It's to the team now to go for the high straight with a win in Montreal as the boos rain down on Zdeno. It won't be easy, especially as we witness the tactics the Bruins are willing to employ in the later stages of this one. However, the fans who were robbed of a key player by a vicious maneuver and were forced to watch the smirking brutes at parties all summer deserve as much. And wouldn't it be sweet if the talk about the first coach being fired this season could switch for a few minutes to Claude Julien.

Habs Scoring Chance Breakdown

We now all know what a scoring chance is. We now all understand its potential and are ready to play with stats.

Scoring chances should help us look into the games of Michael Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Andrei Kostitsyn and others in a new way, to get beyond the very helpful but very limited Corsi and to add some new paint to the picture.


Scoring chance analyses

One of the great things about the way the scoring chance trackers do their work is that they build in a timestamp.

Because of this very crucial early decision (and the commitment from trackers to publishing when every scoring chance happened) we have the opportunity to cross reference the whole thing with the NHL time-stamped version of events. From there, we can see not only which shots were scoring chances, but also which scoring chances missed the net or were scored as non-shots by the league.

The composite of the two records is quite exciting because it offers the chance to run calculations that describe the shooting, positioning and offensive decision-making of the players.

I have a nearly full record of the whole 2010-11 season done in this way, but after the very informative Q&A with Olivier of En Attendant les Nordiques, I realised that I needed to go back to the drawing board on some of my analyses. So for now, I give you the analysis if scoring chances in the 2011 playoffs.


Starting from the beginning: the conventional playoff shooting stats.

As you can see below, some players took a lot of shots. Gionta led the team in total shots and shots per 60 minutes, Pouliot was completely AWOL. From these simple numbers, we can also run the simple Scott Cullen 'Josh Gorges' analysis and see that Spacek and Hamrlik could use some time on the practice green.



Moving on, we can look at Olivier's scored chances for the series by player. Gionta still led the team in scoring chances per ice time, but note the fallers. David Desharnais who came out looking like a star on NHL stats, suddenly doesn't look so good. Why? Because 75% of his shots were from outside Olivier's home base.

When people fall, others rise. Kostitsyn and Pyatt jump up because their shots tended to be from within the homebase (and by consensus definition more dangerous) -- though we're having trouble remembering a dangerous Pyat shot just now...



OK, so we knew all that. Or we could have known it if we looked. But the crossrefencing comes in now. Below you will see a column called "Target". Target means a scoring chance (from Olivier's record) that corresponded to a shot (on the NHL's record) -- a shot from within the homeplate area.

This is where it gets interesting, because we can start to see not only who waits to take shots from within the homeplate, but also who can make sure an attempt from there (where coverage is tightest) is on net. The skills of patience, timing, positioning and finally accuracy combined.

Here we see the cream (and Weber) rising to the top. Forwards are now on average better than Dmen and the forwards we thought of as threats at the time show up as the biggest threats in the record. Of greatest note here (apart from Weber who had some very nice shots) is Scott Gomez (half the number of on target attempts per game vs. the elite forwards). Pouliot really did his contract dreams no favours, did he?



So what we'd really like to know is how dangerous were the shots of each player on the team? That way before we go headlong down the Corsi results road we can see if perhaps we'd rather some of those Corsi-helping attempts had been held back in favour of a pass or a dump in.

That's what we can see below. Here are the on-target shots form the homeplate area as percentages of total shots and attempts. Weber again is top, and Andrei Kostitsyn creeps in with some scary accuracy. Scott Gomez, once again, is shown to be a very cheap shot.

If I'm defending this what I see is one player (Kostitsyn), who I'd better stick to like glue and another (Gomez) who I should probably actively open shooting lanes for from the outside boards.



Of course, we could counter by saying that Kostitsyn holds it too much and Gomez is just playing the odds. But is this more than three-fold difference really just a regression to mean waiting to happen? We all watched the games. I don't remember it that way.


Team metrics

Nowadays people who go on too long about individual stats like I just did are eaten by the wolves of Corsi. A player's value you see, can't be shown merely by looking at individual stats alone. i rather agree. And luckily for me, the script that scoring chance trackers use also shoots out all the players that were on the ice at the time the chance occurred.

So now we can see which players were on the ice for the most scoring chances by the team.



This is where things get interesting isn't it?

Scott Gomez, who clearly has no control over or confidence in his own shot is now squarely in the top 5 on the list -- ahead of his linemate Gionta! We aren't at all surprised by those ahead of him (stars of the playoff series that they were), but are a little dismayed that David Desharnais seemed to be a chance sink.


Goals scored

Finally, a look at who converts. So you've won yourself a shot in the slot, Tom Pyatt, what are you going to do with it?



Beyond anomalies Weber and Sopel (and I hesitate to say Subban), we can see that the guys who convert their chances as often as they should (more than 20%) are Cammalleri, Kostitsyn and Gionta. Sopel, who barely played spun some magic as well, because when he was on the ice, the team shot over 20%.


Players of note

So what does all this tell us about the players we wanted to know about?

Brian Gionta: The boy believes in the power of odds, shooting frequently. Fortunately for him, his shot is of above average accuracy

Tomas Plekanec: Mr. Steady. He's up there in most offensive categories. he shoots a lot, but also clearly knows how to make it count.

Mike Cammalleri: Potentiator. Sure his individual record is good, and he scores the goals, but he also is on the ice for the most chances by his teammates. Who said he couldn't pass?

Andrei Kostitsyn: Good positioning, good shot, maybe too patient/picky. Probably a good thing he wasn't let go.

Scott Gomez: Should wait until the teammate becomes free, there seems to be some redeeming bit of magic when he can do that. Anything is better than watching his shot.

Benoit Pouliot: Played himself off the team in perplexing fashion.

David Desharnais/Lars Eller: Our third line might be in trouble once checking gets tight.

PK Subban: What a playoffs.

Will Travis Moen's Value Ever be Higher?

A twist, and suddenly teams may look and Travis Moen and say - hey, he's just what we need. Maybe even teams that have watched him labour on the first/second line.

The focus has naturally turned to Gomez and Spacek on this salary floor story, but it would be irresponsible to leave out Moen, who at his current salary is also a bit of a waste of money (the fighter that can't fight, the big guy who doesn't check, etc, etc.)

I'd suggest that even the mismanaged franchises among those listed in this article know enough to steer clear of G-Love, and probably Spacek too. But for a cool $1.5 million of salary floor relief, the fully playable/moveable/benchable Moen is salary floor magic.

(Note: I like Moen. It's nothing personal, but one has to admit that if a player can provide the same play for league minimum, $1 million is there for the taking. Anyway, I just think you should all check out the article...)

The Curious Case Of Gorges

The Canadiens made a lot of moves this season. Seemingly all on defence. Rookies and minor leaguers showed good signs of progress too. Seemingly all on defence. And the free agents that one would put near the top of a list to re-sign are all on defence.

There's some interesting arithmetic going on in the Candiens organization as they bring in assets before deciding which ones they will need to part with.

After the Emelin signing, it was assumed (probably rightly) that the Russian was going to be in North America to play for NHL dollars.

One can add the courting of Andrei Markov (though as yet unfulfilled) as as a sign that he too is part of Plan A for Martin and Gauthier. I wouldn't disagree with the management there.

Subban is signed and unquestionably on the team.

That's three.

A fourth, like it or not, will likely be Jaroslav Spacek with a signed contract, an NHL education and the coach's trust already in hand.


The rest

The remaining two (really four, if you think about it) places will be taken up by the free agents and minor leaguers.

There are any number of unrestricted free agent defencemen around the league, and there are 5 on the Canadiens: Hamrlik, Wisniewski, Gill, Sopel and Mara.

In the restricted camp, the team has Josh Gorges, Alexandre Picard and Yannick Weber.

Hoping for their chance from Hamilton will be Brendon Nash, Mathieu Carle and even Raphael Diaz with contracts, and possibly more if signed.


From the names above, most sages seem to be coming up with the combination of Gorges, Gill and Weber, with an 8th to be filled by someone cheap I presume (Picard?).

But is this right? Are these the right players from the bottom list to go with the players in the list above?

Gill we know is a right answer. For Subban, for Price, for Martin. He doesn't look pretty doing it, but when the rules are curtailed, Hal Gill puts a pretty wide blanket over some threatening attacks. He's been the main reason that the team can even think about playing the way they do.

Weber started shakily, but made great strides I thought towards the end of the season and in the playoffs. He's versatile, has a good shot and has that underlying offensive side that tempts many a GM to hang on.


The case of Josh Gorges is curious, I think.

A fan favourite to be sure, most assume his place has been cemented for a decade to come by now.

Not that I think the fan admiration is misguided in any way, I'm a big fan myself of Josh. But, and it's a big but, I believe the value of Josh Gorges is intrinsically tied to the cap hit on his contract.

Josh Gorges is a solid defenceman, a very solid one. Having him on the team allowed many of us to see that our previous definitions of solid (Komisarek) were off the mark. For the past three seasons, the Habs have been getting this solid play for a bargain price. At the bargain price, it was inevitable that Gorges would show up in all kinds of lists like most-underrated in the NHL, best cap bargain, etc. That alone made him a big star, the anti-Sather signing.

But while his clockwork proficiency is wanted, needed by the team. Unfortunately the Canadiens have to live in a salary cap reality just like everyone else. And in their salary cap reality they have some pretty hefty salary cap clangers to account for (Gomez, Spacek, Moen, the guy they sign this summer who is meant to be "big"). In this world, the Canadiens need to be aware of more than the ability to make a simple pas safely.

The unknown here, I suppose is the mind of Josh Gorges. He's not a UFA so he can't get whatever he wants, but with RFA status comes a bit a of leverage and the possibility of arbitration. It is not inconceivable to think that he might double, triple or multiply his salary by some big factor.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the Habs are forced to face at least face the threat of arbitration in his case and the salary he ends up with is in the neighbourhood of $3 million. Let's say there's a few years on it. It's not an unreasonable salary for a player like him. It's less than Johnny Oduya.

But at $3 million is Josh Gorges the untouchable cornerstone of the Canadiens backline for years to come? A back line that may already include Subban, Markov, Emelin and Gill?

If Gomez is your benchmark, he'd still be a bargain. But what if Hamrlik does cut his rate in two? What if Sopel would stay for Gorges former salary? What if the team wants to see about Mathieu Carle at some point? What if the team needs those extra two million to address a forward hole?


Trade value
The other very interesting thing about Josh Gorges is that he is one of the few pieces the Canadiens have in their hands right now that has any sort of foreseeable value on the market.

Armchair GMs would all trade Spacek, and I'd applaud them if they could. But in all likelihood his contract is untradeable. The UFAs have no value at all to anyone of course. And Weber for all our praise is still largely unproven.

Gorges signed or unsigned provides a suite the three-fold advantage of age, non-UFa and proven NHL play. If the Canadiens really want to upgrade at forward, and I hope someone has keyed on that need, then a trade has to be in the mix. If a trade's in the mix, I can't see how Josh Gorges isn't on the table.

If I were GM, I wouldn't trade him now or at the draft, or before signing him (cap be damned until fall). I'd keep him and play him and see how the whole corps pans out. But hey, I'm not Gauthier. Sometimes the man makes trades earlier than I would.


Anyway, the point here isn't that I want to see Gorges go. I don't. The point is that based on the order negotiations have taken place, a fan needed to raise the possibility that perhaps the dogma that Josh Gorges is here forever might be in question. It's curious that the log jam on D never really raised a discussion on him and his place.

Game #1-7Great Season Comes To An End

Details

Date: 27/4/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 3-4 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Weber, Plekanec, Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Boychuk, Recchi, Kelly, Horton

Play of the game

We got the ultimate excitement tonight by coming back twice. In the end it looked like scoring first was what did it (ha!), but despite that we sure gave it our best. After Bergeron took a dumb (typical Bruin) penalty we got going on the PP. Cammalleri started the play when he gained the line, but almost gave it away with a weak pass at the blue-line. Gionta, however, took that pass and got it over to Pleks on his right with the subtlest of touches. Tom took the puck into the corner and then fed Subban with an incredible cross-ice pass. PK capped off an incredible season with a rocket of a shot, his second of these playoffs.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Brian Gionta
I liked what Brian did in the offensive zone tonight. Defensively wasn't horrendous, but -3 is never a good stat to carry around. He led the team in shots and came oh so close to scoring one or two. With a linemate to compliment him and Gomez this would have been a different series - I guess Chara's hit really worked out for the B's in the end...

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
I am happy that Pleks played so well tonight as he should be our best forward in most games. His tying goal was crucial and then his pass on PK's goal was world-class. His face-offs will need work over the summer, though as 20% is just bad. I can live with 40%, but when you lose 4 of 5 things can start to get ugly.

Michael Cammalleri
Mike had better games in this series, but tonight wasn't bad by any stretch. He picked up an assist and was instrument on our third goal. Like Gionta, however, he was -3 and that is something that will sting over the summer I am sure. All in all, though, this was another fantastic playoffs for Camms and I look forward to more of that next April, May and June.

Defencemen

PK Subban
Subban wasn't at his best in the defensive zone tonight, but all in all he was still our best defender. He also scored the most important goal of his life late in the third. He will only get better (hopefully no Phaneuf or Schenn for him) and I look forward to having him line-up with Markov and Gorges next year. Who else will be around is yet to be seen, but PK seems like he'll be an asset for years to come. I also like how he played through the boos, because we all know that players with bad attitudes and who are dirty get booed, oh wait, that is why they boo him, right?

Jaroslav Spacek
Spacek got bounced around last night and, less that 20 hours on, came out and played a solid game for the Habs tonight. Only he and Sopel ended up with a positive rating and it was Jaro that led the team in blocked-shots. He didn't have the season nor the playoffs that he did last year, but with time left on his contract I am sure that he will be back. He proved that he can be a 5/6 type guy and can play on both the PP and PK. He should enjoy the summer as I feel that this was a rough year for him physically and he'll do well to get some real rest.

Goaltender

Carey Price
He didn't have his best game of the playoffs, but certainly gave his team a serious chance to win. All in all it was a fantastic season for Price who has shown that he can play a lot of games, win in the regular season and playoffs and shake off bad goals and bad starts. Goaltending like this is what quality teams are built around and I am already looking forward to a healthy, more experienced, more competitive Habs team in 2011/12.

Comments

We started the game poorly and that may have been the difference. It may have been the difference because we could never get a lead, get to our comfort spot. We did well to come back twice, but we are a far harder team to play against when we are leading by a goal or two. It was more of the same for Boston throughout (2 head-shots on Halpern, a spear on the 3rd goal) and I feel that their team is a disgrace to the sport of hockey. They'll move on to face Philly who is as dirty and perhaps dirtier, at least in these playoffs. It is a shame that those teams got through as it will give the media 12 months of saying how teams like Montreal and Buffalo are too small and not tough enough to compete against these forces. The bottom line is that we out-played Boston in this series, not at all times, but over 7 games I do believe we were better. We had better chances, played cleaner, but just didn't get the luck that is so obviously needed to go anywhere in these playoffs (refs are no help whatsoever).

It was a great season when you consider all that happened to this team. Losing Halak last summer, Markov for the whole year and Gorges and Pacioretty for a good chunk of the year all seemed like insurmountable obstacles. The Habs, however, played a fantastic regular season and then got to within a goal of the second round. This team is only getting better and I think that we are getting more and more of the right pieces into the right spots. It will be a long summer with a lot to thing about, but at the end of the day we should be happy with our team as they once again proved that they will always be force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.

Game #1-6Montreal Gets Some Bounces And Calls; Off To Boston

Details

Date: 26/4/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Montreal

Win: 2-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Cammalleri, Gionta
Opposition goalscorers: Seidenberg

Play of the game

It has to be the play that Cammalleri made to give us a Power-Play 8:54 into the first. He shot the puck right at the Boston bench with one goal in mind - to get a call. Had he missed it would have been icing, but he made it count. It is another example of a stupid NHL rule (is that really too many men? have you seen some of the changes), but if there is one thing I love it is to take advantage of stupid rules like that.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Brian Gionta
Another great game for the skipper. He scored two goals tonight thanks to great hustle. Whether the NHL likes it or not this was a 3-1 game as far as I am concerned. The sound of a whistle shouldn't be enough to disallow a goal when goalie, defenceman or forward have yet to react to it. This was his first elimination game as the captain of the Habs and I felt that he did a very good job.

Scott Gomez
Gomez played a good, hard game tonight. He caused a lot of turnovers as he was just too quick for the Boston D. He had 5 shots and our dome forwards, in total, had 16 of our 27. The big players stepped up tonight and that is what we need a player like Scott to do. Tomorrow is a new test, let's hope that it is more of the same from #11.

Michael Cammalleri - Game Puck
Mike now leads the NHL with 9 points. Tonight's goal was his 5th game 6 goal for the Habs in just three tries; not too shabby at all. He is a big game player and tonight he played a big game. He played so well, in fact, that Martin used him for an unheard of 25+ minutes. With 20 hours until game 7, however, I just hope that he'll be ready to give us more of the same.

Defencemen

PK Subban
PK did well to get in on both of our goals; an assist and what I'll call a helper. He is very good on the PP as he is patient and timely. Sometimes he can rush it, but tonight, on the 5-on-3's, he waited for the right situation to present itself. In his own end it was more of the same from PK. He backs down from no one, rarely made a mistake and calmed Habs fans around the world right down with his steady play.

Roman Hamrlik
Hammer wanted this one tonight, you could see it on his face. A veteran like Roman knows that there won't be too many more chances like this in his career and, so, he made the most of it. His play in our own end was exemplary as he had 8 blocked-shots (5 more than any other player) and gave us more of what PK did - calm, steady play.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Carey did what he had to tonight, making great saves look easy and giving his team a chance to win it with just two goals. Luck was on his side tonight for the first time in four games and that was certainly a welcome addition in our end of the rink. His trips behind the net, however, continue to be an adventure and as good as he is at controlling the puck I still feel that he takes too many unnecessary risks (like on the Spacek penalty where he was caught behind his own net).

Comments

You'll get your money worth in this series after the Habs had you thinking that it may be done in 5 or less. We were the better team tonight, but we did get some luck and some calls. We did outplay Boston, but it was close to being a loss, that is how important bounces are. It was more of the same from the dirty Bruins as Lucic had no problem face-planting Spacek right into the glass. There was no last-minute back-turn from Jaro, just a good, old-fashioned hit from behind. I am not sure if that play was the reason that we won (I believe that we would have won anyway), but it did make the task easier as it gave us a nice long PP to get things going.

Tomorrow will be more of the same for the Habs as it will be our 3rd road game #7 in 12 months. The last time the Bruins played in a game #7 they blew a 3-0 lead in goals and a 3-0 lead in games. The Habs, of course won both of their's last year. In fact, we have won our last four game #7's and haven't lost since we lost to the Bruins in 1994. But, we all know that history means nothing, it can only support present arguments. So, we have our work to do, but we are all in the same boat with 20 hours off and a flight to Massechusetts. The Habs have been a good team this series, probably the better one, but that means nothing now. Now we have to be the best team tomorrow in one game, that is all that counts, that is what our season has come down to.

Stanley Cup 2011, Round One Key Canadiens Players

Each player matters in a playoff series, but some matter more than others. No offense to Ryan White and David Desharnais, but here are the players I think could make key differences in key areas for the Montreal Canadiens over the next couple of weeks.


Carey Price

I write Carey Price, I could have just written goalie. The goalie is always a key player in a series. A goalie playing well can turn the tide, just as a goalie playing badly can turn the tide (see recent playoff examples).

Carey Price is the goalie, and this is important. It's important because Carey doesn't currently have a playoff record he would want me to share with you. But there is something he would want me to share -- he did once have a great playoff record. He did once have numbers for a playoff career to be proud of. Importantly, those were accumulated vs. the Claude Julien Bruins with their on-again-off-again scoring. As well as that, Carey has a season to his credit now that endorses his lasting improvement. He has a video reel full of glove saves since RJ Umberger last scored on him. He's better.

He'll need to be better than before to help the Canadiens avoid a sweep. He'll need to be as good or better than he's been since January to help his team win in this round.

Now that I've covered the obvious, I can move on...


Tomas Plekanec

The last time the Canadiens faced the Bruins in the playoffs, Plekanec was benched. Despite the lack of a superior option, he was put aside for a game -- that's just how uselessly he was playing.

Last season, Tomas wasn't able to be the man of the hour in the Philly series, but he played a big role in the first two match-ups of the spring as checker and agitator, with occasional offensive contribution.

This year, I think Tomas has to find something more. I think Tomas has to step up and lead the Canadiens top line.

His record against Boston this season (4 second assists in 6 games) doesn't promise that this performance will come for nothing. It will have to come from within Pleks. It'll have to be a triumph of will. Frankly, it's time for the veteran centre to take his best regular season play and implement it into the playoffs, else his contract might not look the steal of 2010 that we'd all been thinking.


Scott Gomez

Gomez is a key. Not because he needs to justify his contract (indeed he should try to at some point), but because the centres after him can't be counted on to deliver in the crunch.

Fortunately for Gomez, his playoff history shows some grit (if not a flood of points). Also, he'll be thankful to face the Bruins. Against this bruising team, Scott scored 2 goals and posted 5 points (acting like a 25 goal, 65 point man -- as opposed to the 32 point scoring 5 goalscorer he was against the other 28 teams).

Gomez will miss Max Pacioretty who exploited the Bruins cement feet like no other Hab. But he'll appreciate Brian Gionta, he of 5 Bruins goals this season, together with whoever else will be receiving his shot-shunning passes.


Benoit Pouliot

I suspect that at some point someone on a line other than the two I've highlighted above will need to score. Last year Dominic Moore picked up the slack for all the support crew with many a timely goal. This year, no Moore.

Pouliot is the most talented of the remaining forwards. he is big and he is the only Habs player to actually beat up a Bruin.

At some point, whether to save his team, his teammate, or his career, Benoit Pouliot is going to have wake up and start dominating the light coverage he receives. He did it for stretches before Jacques Martin tattered his confidence with minor league promotions and Benny-benchings.

He's a big boy now, though. He must realise that no one is going to win the Cup he wants for him, no one is going to stop taking stupid penalties for him. No one is going to turn his nifty starts of plays into fully highlight worthy moments for him.

He'll be a key to this series. If he does wake up, even for a game, the Bruins won't be ready, nor do they have an answer. If he doesn't the Bruins will be able to focus on shutting down the two other key forwards.

6 GP, 0G, 0Pts, -2. What are you going to do about that?


Jaroslav Spacek

The Bruins can't have missed Subban, they'll know he's coming. Hamrlik and Wisniewski are a top pairing that has an excellent record, but it may be how the third pairing anchored by Jaroslav Spacek fares that tips the defensive balance.

Last playoffs Spacek took on Alexander Ovechkin and won. With a lesser assignment, he must do the same again. The Canadiens can't afford to have Bruins pluggers doing anything other than wasting time on the clock while being on for Habs goals.

If Spacek is healthy (and we think he is), then he is also rested. His haphazard approach to defending is still effective because he can use a partner well and play a system. If Jaro can put in some minutes to take the Michael Ryders of this series out of the picture, then the Bruins have the scoring crunch -- something which should distract them plenty from physical play and punishment and all that.

Why The Habs Might Look The Same At The End Of Today

Most Habs fans are not fools. Most know a thing or two about hockey. They should from watching 80+ games of hockey each year.

So when we at LIW polled Habs fans for the players they would like to move, I have some confidence that the results reflect something pretty close to the feelings of members of the Canadiens organization with a say in these matters.

Untradeables
G: Price
D: Subban, Gorges
F: Plekanec, Gionta, Pacioretty, Cammalleri
B: Avtsin
P: Leblanc
E: 1st rounders


Proposed trade pieces
G: Auld
D: Picard, Spacek
F: Gomez, Pyatt, Kostitsyn, Moen
B: Depth forwards, defencemen and goalies
P:
E: 5th, 6th, 7th rounders


As well as the lists of everything Canadiens fans want and don't want, these lists could also substitute for lists of what other GMs would want and not want from the Canadiens system. Interest in Price and Subban would be high, whereas interest in Auld, Spacek, Gomez or 6th rounders isn't going to make Gauthier the popular phone number of the day.

The clever fans know this, so they have keyed on Andrei Kostitsyn. He is on the list of discards, but fond memories loom close enough that peopl think he has value on the trade market. After all, he is big, he can shoot better than 98% of players in the league and he has done things worthy of note in the past. Most hopeful pundits seem to hope that other GMs might not have noticed his MO, that is scoring 20 goals each season in clusters, instead paying for him like they would a clockwork 40-goalscorer.

This isn't going to happen and it won't take too many phone calls for Gauthier to assess this information. If he intends to trade Andrei Kostitsyn, he is likely to get a player very much like Andrei Kostitsyn in return. The problem of course being that familiarity with Andrei lets us know he's already OK on defensive assignments, that he can ignore the Montreal hoopla better than many and his high points can be very high, even on a low scoring outfit like the Habs.

The alternative is an unknown.

Many would suggest the unknown is potential. It is, but it is potentially worse, just as it would be potentially better.

I think Gauthier will see what he can get for his more valuable bargaining chips and realise that he's better hoping for turnarounds in form than for integration and turnaround in form.

To those that cling to the hope that Nashville has more sentimentality than memory, consider the Predators are consistently in contention on a tight budget. This isn't because they reunite pairs that didn't really work in the past at great cost to their future plans.


The other scenario

The other scenario is that Gauthier takes the sudden view that his team will not be a big-time contender this year and looks for this year's "Ville Leino".

In this case, he'd have to loosen the hold on those middle range players (not in the Trade Now bracket) like Pouliot or Eller in order to find an upgrade.

It's also possible that a player like Hamrlik or Gill, who is key to the team's fortunes at present, and has value to a team that can fit a salary and needs a top-4 defender for some reason to make a Cup run, could be moved.

In both cases, he'd expose himself to backlash from those who think that Cinderella runs are owed to this city again. Personally, I don't think he'd be willing to face the backlash. Nor do I think he's got the eye to spot the Leino deal from the mess of other things going on today. He didn't last year.


So, with half the TSN talkfest over, a single trade to speak of and a few hours to go, I'd be pretty comfortable in sticking with the poll results together with my case here and say that the Canadiens won't be moving anything worth talking about this afternoon.

(That said, the moment I publish this, Murphy and his law might kick the smug blogger to the curb and send Gomez to Dallas for Richards).

Game #62Habs Play Well, Leafs Refs Play Better

Details

Date: 24/2/2011
Opponent: Maple Leafs
Location: Montreal

Loss: 4-5

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

Habs goalscorers: Halpern, Cammalleri, Wisniewski, Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Kessel (2), Lebda, Bozak (2)

Play of the game

Cammalleri's goal was a beaut, and boy did we need a goal from Mike. It started when PK made a great play to gain the zone and then attack it. Most players would have given up on the play, but Subban kept it going. He couldn't get to the goal, but just before rounding it left the puck for Kostitsyn. Andrei then made a great pass to Mike who was able to place a perfect shot by Reimer.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Jeff Halpern - Game Puck
I haven't seen Jeff play this well since early in the season. I wonder if the trade deadline makes a journeyman veteran pick it up a bit? Proving he wants to stay? Proving why another team wants him? Nah, I don't really think it was that, but he did play a fantastic game. Towards the end he seemed to be very active around the Leaf goal and I wasn't surprised that he was in on Pacioretty's marker.

Tomas Plekanec
Pleks is certainly picking it up of late. Tonight was another great example of how good of a player he is as he, at times, dominated in both ends. He was on the ice for three of our goals, but did so much more than that. His best stuff was his one-on-ones that he seemed to be winning with fairly good regularity. Making Komisarek look like a fool, even though it isn't that hard, is always welcome with me.

Max Pacioretty
If there is one thing that has been bothering me of late with Max it is that he always tries to go inside then outside on every defender he faces. It isn't working for him and, unfortunately, often ends in a turn-over. That, however, isn't enough to deter me tonight. In fact, I do quite like that he at least is getting the puck and trying stuff with it. What I did like was that he wanted to be at the net all game long and he wanted to take shots, as many as he could. In all he took 9 and it, therefore, isn't surprising that one finally went in.

Defencemen

James Wisniewski
James probably wants to make sure that he is still with this team in a week and what better way to do that than score your first of 2011. He did very well on the PP and laid some nice hits too. It will be interesting to see what our D will be next week (it looks like Spacek it out long-term), but I am hoping that James is a part of it because he adds an element that when we don't have it, we all complain that we need it; so much so some even wanted MAB back.

Roman Hamrlik
This was another fantastic game from Roman. He played 28+ minutes which may seem like too much, but for all the assumptions about him getting tired, he isn't really showing it. He has had some down times over the season, but, for the most part, has been very reliable in every aspect of play. Like the Wis, I hope that Hammer is part of this team next week and I think that he is making a very good case to be on it next year too.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Not too much to choose tonight. Both goalies played and Price played better. Auld got unlucky, but so did Price. I would like to say that had Price started we would have won, but that is taking the blame off the refs and putting it on Auld. Tonight I really don't think that either goalie was a major deciding factor.

Comments

4 refs to supervise 12 players. 4! How on earth they can get the majority of calls wrong, I'll never know. The refs in this league are horrible, we all know that, but tonight they went beyond their usual farce, they were putrid. This game would have been so different had Gionta not been called for lifting a stick and having a Leaf player catch an edge. For starters we should have been given a PP on that very play and, the real kicker, Gionta could have scored as he had a 2-0n-1 going when that call was made. Two quick PP goals by Toronto gave them a lead that they really had no business taking. We played better than the Leafs tonight and deserved a better result. I felt that we played some of our most intense, chance-ridden hockey late in the third period; a type of hockey that would overwhelm any team. It is upsetting that we didn't come out of this with a point and I can only hope that the coaches saw the same thing that I did and side with the players, and not against them, in this case. Carolina is never easy for us, but with them so close behind us I feel that we really need a regulation win, no if, and or refs about it.