One of the long-running problems with the Montreal Canadiens is the franchise's impossible association with its past. 24 championships from a time where championships were easier to come by has come again and again to haunt the organization throughout.
Not least among the component problems there is that players once part of such championships take on the belief that championships are easy, and if everyone would just take their advice, they'd tell the team how to get back at multi-year runs. I'm not sure if that comes from honest belief or verbal diarrhea, but whatever it is, RDS's fatal requirement for 12 daily hours of hockey commentary leads the conversation to places that are not useful for the current group of players trying to deal with games every other day.
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Markov Back On Skates
According to CJAD, Markov took to Brossard ice on skates earlier today. This isn't some unfounded rumour, but straight from the horse's (well in this case Cunneyworth's) mouth.
Well, I guess he won't be playing tonight then. But when if at all will he play this season? Here's a little timeline from the last attempted return:
Day 0: Markov returns to skate on his own
Day 7: Markov returns to practice with the team
Day 14: Markov cleared for contact
Day 21: Markov travels with team to Anaheim
Day 22: Markov opts out of Anaheim game
Day 23: Markov heads to LA for further tests on his knee
Day 25: Markov undergoes further knee surgery (with 4-6 week prognosis for recovery.
6 weeks on from Dec 3rd was some time in mid-January. Sitting here on the last day of January, we can surmise that either Markov's knee needed more recovery because it wasn't healing well. Or, much more likely, that he and the team took a more conservative schedule for return this time around.
Last time from first hint of skating to game readiness was about three weeks. 22 days from today would slate Markov for a return against the Stars at home on February 21st with a potential 21 games left in the season.
But let's not ignore the evidence. if the approach is more conservative, I think the timings for each landmark in recovery will be more sparsely spaced this time. Keep an eye on when milestones come up, but let's set early March as the time in our minds. That's my feeling on this.
Should he return at all?
For me this question is a non-starter.
If he is healed properly and as he's followed all precautions this time, his chance of injury this season should be sufficiently low. Certainly, if he is cleared by his own specialist doctors, I would feel comfortable that any increased chance of injury in a game this year is barely detectable versus any future year.
From a team standpoint, the possibility is that by March there will be little to play for but losses. And the thinking goes that keeping Markov out would put him in full fitness for a return to a fully fit and (no doubt we'll build to this summer crescendo again) contending team next fall. But let's not kid ourselves. Injuries can happen any time (remember Markov in August?) and saving something for the future like this is seldom more than blind optimism. Markov would benefit from playing within this 18 month period of his lay off, even if it only reminds him of his passion for the game. That alone will be of enough value to the Canadiens to justify a return to a non-playoff team.
Well, I guess he won't be playing tonight then. But when if at all will he play this season? Here's a little timeline from the last attempted return:
Day 0: Markov returns to skate on his own
Day 7: Markov returns to practice with the team
Day 14: Markov cleared for contact
Day 21: Markov travels with team to Anaheim
Day 22: Markov opts out of Anaheim game
Day 23: Markov heads to LA for further tests on his knee
Day 25: Markov undergoes further knee surgery (with 4-6 week prognosis for recovery.
6 weeks on from Dec 3rd was some time in mid-January. Sitting here on the last day of January, we can surmise that either Markov's knee needed more recovery because it wasn't healing well. Or, much more likely, that he and the team took a more conservative schedule for return this time around.
Last time from first hint of skating to game readiness was about three weeks. 22 days from today would slate Markov for a return against the Stars at home on February 21st with a potential 21 games left in the season.
But let's not ignore the evidence. if the approach is more conservative, I think the timings for each landmark in recovery will be more sparsely spaced this time. Keep an eye on when milestones come up, but let's set early March as the time in our minds. That's my feeling on this.
Should he return at all?
For me this question is a non-starter.
If he is healed properly and as he's followed all precautions this time, his chance of injury this season should be sufficiently low. Certainly, if he is cleared by his own specialist doctors, I would feel comfortable that any increased chance of injury in a game this year is barely detectable versus any future year.
From a team standpoint, the possibility is that by March there will be little to play for but losses. And the thinking goes that keeping Markov out would put him in full fitness for a return to a fully fit and (no doubt we'll build to this summer crescendo again) contending team next fall. But let's not kid ourselves. Injuries can happen any time (remember Markov in August?) and saving something for the future like this is seldom more than blind optimism. Markov would benefit from playing within this 18 month period of his lay off, even if it only reminds him of his passion for the game. That alone will be of enough value to the Canadiens to justify a return to a non-playoff team.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Latendresse's Summer Regime
Some Tips
I don't know if everyone agrees with me, but I really think this year will be a critical one in the career of young Guillaume Latendresse. And more specifically, this training camp.
I think that it will define for this year and into another summer without a contract whether he will ever be more than a 15-goal man, or whether he'll take last year's trajectory as a third liner.
Guillaume's career
Look at Guillaume Latendresse as a package of skills, it's easy to see where his strengths lie. He has a good head and a great attitude. He has a better feel around the net than the plumbers and can set up and release a shot quickly and with pretty good power and accuracy too. Equally though, his weaknesses are apparent. His skating is sub-par in the NHL, he sometimes wastes energy and is not a top-class playmaker. His defensive play would be OK, but put him against a better skater and he needs a head start – there'll be no making up ground. Many people would put his physical play in the positive column and so would I on some nights. But on other nights, he was Komisarek at the front, hitting for the sake of it and often at the expense of the right play, to be frank.
Third line = way out of NHL
It's clear that Guillaume has some relatively rare skills and the potential to use them, but must do more to establish himself as a scorer. My feeling is that he must find his way onto a scoring line, or at least show some real flourish this season, otherwise risk being a third liner this season and start competing on a line that demands different skills to what he can provide.
It's not that there's anything wrong with being a third liner, but it's just that a) his primary skill (quick and accurate shot) will go to waste and b) he is not a top option as a checker – being slow, prone to putting himself out of position and unused to the remit.
Training camp
With the Canadiens latest additions up front, and specifically on the wings, Latendresse is really looking down the barrel at a battle for the very last top line spot between himself, Sergei Kostitsyn, Matt D'Agostini and Max Pacioretty.
Though people always want to preach patience with Guillaume, I am starting to feel that lifeline is wearing out for him. For one thing, all his rivals for that ice time are as young or younger than him. None have had as much NHL tutoring. None come close in NHL experience. Should he fall to third in the pecking order in the fall, he won't be able to turnaround and say he needs more time, because he's 200 games into an NHL career that may last 600 games at this rate.
If I were Guillaume then, I would be making sure this summer was the most intense summer of training and practicing I had ever undertaken. I would be looking at September 2009 as the make or break point in my young career – because it is.
Because I like Guillaume, I thought I'd offer some tips:
1) Hone that shot
Gui will never be a better skater than any of his rivals at this late point. Instead, he must make his best skill stand out more. He should work on setting up his shots and taking them quicker.
2) Shoot more often, shoot lower
Shooting percentages across the league are remarkably homogeneous. Non one shoots for 35% and no one really shoots for 5% either unless they are really unlucky. If you can count on about 1/10 shots going in, surely then you'd need to take 300 shots to score 30 goals. Last season Gui had 117 shots on target and 165 all told. From 165 releases towards the net he got, lo and behold, 16 goals. Shooting more is a start.
The next thing would be to shoot lower. Latendresse has that tendency to wait for a perfect opportunity to let off a perfect shot. There won't be 300 opportunities for perfect shots, so to reach that lofty total players have to throw more low quality shots at the net. Among low quality shots, I prefer the low shot because of the way goalies defend them – often having to kick the puck straight back. The boon of more lower shots should tell not only in Latendresse's own totals, but those of his linemates as well.
3) Practice cutting inside
The guy can do it, we've seen him. But on that third line he gets into the Kostopoulos rhythm where it seems that wasting time is the goal and touching the backboards is worth more than a goal. A big man like Latendresse has options others like little Sergei do not, such as cutting inside.
4) Rethink offensive zone positioning
Yes Guillaume is big, but playing on a line with Lapierre and Kostopoulos he was also the one player who should have been in front of the net, the only one with anything close to what you might call hands. Instead, he was often seen in the corner (for which he curiously has won much admiration), but which ultimately led to fewer scoring chances for him and even his line. If he finds himself on a line with Plekanec or Gomez he must find a way to hit and then get back to the front/side of the net quickly. I'd recommend watching a couple of games back, watch his hitting and see how much offensive threat came from it – my feeling is not enough.
5) Practice being the man in front of the net
This is one area the Canadiens have been sorely lacking. And if there is one way that Guillaume could use his size to secure a longer NHL career this could be it. He'll need to think about quick hands in close and ceasing to be afraid to stand there. This could help Gui get on the PP and in one fell swoop change his outlook.
6) Learn to seize the moment
OK, hard to do. But it's often said of good scorers in this league, that they are just in the right place at the right time. If he does nothing else and somehow manages to do this, he may just make it.
Timing certainly comes down to positioning in a lot of ways. But Guillaume must also find a way to look good not just in games when he and his pal Max are together, but also when he gets the golden opportunity to play with a top centre. In the past he's had moments, but fizzled when competition has come along. Last season he started with 10 games on line 1. Though he seemed to be doing OK, he only scored one goal in that time – not a ringing endorsement as a goalscoring option. He did chip in 6 assists, but he clearly was the weaker sister on the line where Koivu and Tanguay had 11 points apiece. His next 5 games, he got another shot at a scoring line but managed only a single goal and not one assist with Lang and Sergei. Consider also that he has been a non-event in the playoffs thus far – this season it was no points and 5 shots in the elimination effort; last season he was benched a few times and did little to offer a remedy to the scoring drought with a lone assist.
Those are my tips for Guillaume. I chose to write about him and not the other options for the top lines, because frankly of the bunch, he could be the best scorer – his best shot is the best shot of the bunch. He offers the fans and the team the biggest upside on his best performances.
And, looking at all four guys he is the one on his last leg.
It's now up to him to show he can deliver those performances with greater frequency.
I think that it will define for this year and into another summer without a contract whether he will ever be more than a 15-goal man, or whether he'll take last year's trajectory as a third liner.
Guillaume's career
Look at Guillaume Latendresse as a package of skills, it's easy to see where his strengths lie. He has a good head and a great attitude. He has a better feel around the net than the plumbers and can set up and release a shot quickly and with pretty good power and accuracy too. Equally though, his weaknesses are apparent. His skating is sub-par in the NHL, he sometimes wastes energy and is not a top-class playmaker. His defensive play would be OK, but put him against a better skater and he needs a head start – there'll be no making up ground. Many people would put his physical play in the positive column and so would I on some nights. But on other nights, he was Komisarek at the front, hitting for the sake of it and often at the expense of the right play, to be frank.
Third line = way out of NHL
It's clear that Guillaume has some relatively rare skills and the potential to use them, but must do more to establish himself as a scorer. My feeling is that he must find his way onto a scoring line, or at least show some real flourish this season, otherwise risk being a third liner this season and start competing on a line that demands different skills to what he can provide.
It's not that there's anything wrong with being a third liner, but it's just that a) his primary skill (quick and accurate shot) will go to waste and b) he is not a top option as a checker – being slow, prone to putting himself out of position and unused to the remit.
Training camp
With the Canadiens latest additions up front, and specifically on the wings, Latendresse is really looking down the barrel at a battle for the very last top line spot between himself, Sergei Kostitsyn, Matt D'Agostini and Max Pacioretty.
Though people always want to preach patience with Guillaume, I am starting to feel that lifeline is wearing out for him. For one thing, all his rivals for that ice time are as young or younger than him. None have had as much NHL tutoring. None come close in NHL experience. Should he fall to third in the pecking order in the fall, he won't be able to turnaround and say he needs more time, because he's 200 games into an NHL career that may last 600 games at this rate.
If I were Guillaume then, I would be making sure this summer was the most intense summer of training and practicing I had ever undertaken. I would be looking at September 2009 as the make or break point in my young career – because it is.
Because I like Guillaume, I thought I'd offer some tips:
1) Hone that shot
Gui will never be a better skater than any of his rivals at this late point. Instead, he must make his best skill stand out more. He should work on setting up his shots and taking them quicker.
2) Shoot more often, shoot lower
Shooting percentages across the league are remarkably homogeneous. Non one shoots for 35% and no one really shoots for 5% either unless they are really unlucky. If you can count on about 1/10 shots going in, surely then you'd need to take 300 shots to score 30 goals. Last season Gui had 117 shots on target and 165 all told. From 165 releases towards the net he got, lo and behold, 16 goals. Shooting more is a start.
The next thing would be to shoot lower. Latendresse has that tendency to wait for a perfect opportunity to let off a perfect shot. There won't be 300 opportunities for perfect shots, so to reach that lofty total players have to throw more low quality shots at the net. Among low quality shots, I prefer the low shot because of the way goalies defend them – often having to kick the puck straight back. The boon of more lower shots should tell not only in Latendresse's own totals, but those of his linemates as well.
3) Practice cutting inside
The guy can do it, we've seen him. But on that third line he gets into the Kostopoulos rhythm where it seems that wasting time is the goal and touching the backboards is worth more than a goal. A big man like Latendresse has options others like little Sergei do not, such as cutting inside.
4) Rethink offensive zone positioning
Yes Guillaume is big, but playing on a line with Lapierre and Kostopoulos he was also the one player who should have been in front of the net, the only one with anything close to what you might call hands. Instead, he was often seen in the corner (for which he curiously has won much admiration), but which ultimately led to fewer scoring chances for him and even his line. If he finds himself on a line with Plekanec or Gomez he must find a way to hit and then get back to the front/side of the net quickly. I'd recommend watching a couple of games back, watch his hitting and see how much offensive threat came from it – my feeling is not enough.
5) Practice being the man in front of the net
This is one area the Canadiens have been sorely lacking. And if there is one way that Guillaume could use his size to secure a longer NHL career this could be it. He'll need to think about quick hands in close and ceasing to be afraid to stand there. This could help Gui get on the PP and in one fell swoop change his outlook.
6) Learn to seize the moment
OK, hard to do. But it's often said of good scorers in this league, that they are just in the right place at the right time. If he does nothing else and somehow manages to do this, he may just make it.
Timing certainly comes down to positioning in a lot of ways. But Guillaume must also find a way to look good not just in games when he and his pal Max are together, but also when he gets the golden opportunity to play with a top centre. In the past he's had moments, but fizzled when competition has come along. Last season he started with 10 games on line 1. Though he seemed to be doing OK, he only scored one goal in that time – not a ringing endorsement as a goalscoring option. He did chip in 6 assists, but he clearly was the weaker sister on the line where Koivu and Tanguay had 11 points apiece. His next 5 games, he got another shot at a scoring line but managed only a single goal and not one assist with Lang and Sergei. Consider also that he has been a non-event in the playoffs thus far – this season it was no points and 5 shots in the elimination effort; last season he was benched a few times and did little to offer a remedy to the scoring drought with a lone assist.
Those are my tips for Guillaume. I chose to write about him and not the other options for the top lines, because frankly of the bunch, he could be the best scorer – his best shot is the best shot of the bunch. He offers the fans and the team the biggest upside on his best performances.
And, looking at all four guys he is the one on his last leg.
It's now up to him to show he can deliver those performances with greater frequency.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Carey Price: Thoroughbred In The Gates?
Getting This Horse Up And Running
Is Carey a thoroughbred? Has Gainey and the team made mistakes with his development?
If the management group have committed to Carey Price in the way it seems they have, then really these points are moot.
Thanks for letting me air my frustrations on them. But now the time has come now to move onto real-world practical scenarios. This closing segment on Carey and his care treats you to some of my ideas on how things can be done better on the Canadiens, assuming a cornerstone named Price.
Back-up goaltender
It all sounds very logical – get a veteran back-up goaltender to help Carey Price develop and act as insurance in case he stumbles again. I do have a problem with this approach, however: it is not worth losing Jaroslav Halak over.
Let me elaborate.
I assume (based on lots of experience now) that Gainey and his new coach will press on with the “development by minutes approach” they have been implementing with Carey Price to this point. That said, to keep with the current progress and build his endurance, I think it would be reasonable to predict that a healthy Carey Price will be favoured for the start in ≥2/3 of Canadiens games in 2009-10.
For a back-up that means 20-odd games over the season. For a mentor, that suits. One could imagine many a graying netminder stepping into such a role. However, we also want this back-up to be reliable (and dare I say it, even good/great).
Now last time I checked good/great veteran goaltenders of the free agent variety don’t like to consign themselves to a back-up role before the head-to-head play has been evaluated, no matter what the salary. Sure, someone like Manny Fernandez played the back-up in Boston, and Huet did in Chicago, but they went in looking to be the starter. In Montreal, the starter role is not on offer. In my mind, that rules out a lot of eligible candidates.
So, let’s say then we forego the "capable stopper" part of the description. We sign up Curtis Joseph or other washed up vet and their now sub 0.700 save percentage and have the guy room with Carey for the season while Price takes on 72 games himself.
It’s a possibility, but not one that I like.
First of all, it undermines the original veteran back-up idea. All we've done is replaced inexperienced Halak with more Carey Price. There's no insurance, and no matter how hood the mentor is, I'm not sold on that. If anyone is ready to bet that Carey Price has undergone his last deep slump, it’s not me. I’m not a fan of burning another season, so I like the idea of insurance.
In that case, let’s forget the mentor – just get a veteran who can come in and be reliable and take over from Carey for a few weeks at a time when things get bumpy. Martin Biron, for example.
Not ideal for me either. I mean, we’re back to where we started aren’t we?
Halak already does that job. Why pay Biron to be an older Halak? It would be foolish to pay $2-3 million more for the mere tag veteran. Nevermind, the chance that Gainey will find a goalie as good as Jaro with the same tolerance for back-up duty (yet more experience) is slim indeed. No, if this vet can’t be a mentor and play with the plan for Price, then I don’t think we pay over the odds to make this type of move. This brings me to my next point…
Goaltending coach
I am not the first, and I won’t be the last to bring up this idea. If mentor is what Carey needs, surely the position of goaltending coach is a place we can park this guy.
Next year would be Roland Melanson’s twelfth season as assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens. And, while I congratulate him on the achievement, it might be time to remind him that “all good things must come to an end”. It may be harsh to criticize him as a coach with so little understanding of what he actually does, but he has now presided over so many goaltending blowouts that one surely must question his tenure.
He has successfully presided over the rise of Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Cristobal Huet and now Price and Halak. But it seems every time one of his pupils begins to ask questions of their game or their confidence, Rollie the goalie doesn’t have the answers. Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t have the answers. Perhaps it’s because they weren’t asking for the type of answers he was giving. Maybe they can't relate to him, who knows.
Carey Price for his part clearly needs to be nurtured. I think we can all agree that the cool, independent image that we were sold two summers ago has been destroyed. He is needy, he is insecure – or in other words, he’s a regular goalie. We all remember Carey’s first season and his first successes. Positioning was the name of the game and rebounds were rare. He once knew how to provide the commodity we were after. In trying to improve, he has lost the above average abilities he had before. I, for one, would take those back and have him stabilize there. Sometimes a mentor is all a young charge needs to find what they once knew. And I don’t think all the calls for a veteran back-up are misguided in that way.
So who can be the man for the job?
Not Rollie.
Francois Allare? Likely the greatest technician available, but probably not the mentor for Carey.
I’d look for someone who’s been through what he has and come out alright. Someone who’s played the mentor before. My target would be Jeff Hackett. Who else could you find that was drafted high, started slow and survived a shocking 0.856 save percentage season to come back and be Canadiens star and teacher to Vezina winner?
Practice culture
Carey was failed this season by his laid-back attitude. He was failed by the laid back attitudes of those around him as well. I remember reading, in the deepest, darkest days of his slump that Carey had been working hard in practice…
It wasn’t the only article talking about lax habits in training.
He wasn’t great that next game as hoped, he was horrible. But practice doesn’t work that way. Practice takes time. So, presumably still in his bucke-down mode, Carey did get the next start and the next and the next and the next. And fuelled by his hard work on off days, it was probably Carey’s most impressive stretch of the season. He got four straight domes from a fed-up Tobalev (which says a lot). He let in a mere 8 goals, got 5 important points for the Habs and kept them in every game.
The connection between practice and success was unfortunately overlooked or forgotten a month later, though as more optional practices were handed down by Gainey and the one player who should have been as motivated as anyone to correct his gaps sat a few out – including during the playoffs.
It’s a simple thing really – practice makes perfect. In Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers, he repeated the estimate that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be great at something. That goes for skating, playing guitar, glove saves, stick-handling (see Kovalev). This recap from the book says it all:
This should be mandatory reading for Halak, Price and all the Canadiens. People often wonder how to emulate the Red Wings (looking for easy things like signing free agents, or getting a big man for the PP), but nothing can replace the hard work in practice that has kept them on top since the Bowman years and continues with Mike Babcock.
Internal competition
More than a win-you’re-in scheme, I would like to see some serious internal competition. Assuming it’ll be Price/Halak, the seeds are already there.
Here’s an idea of what I might do. From the beginning of the season sit both goalies down. Explain the situation: Carey will play 2/3 of regular season games, Jaro will play 1/3. Here’s where it gets interesting – the goalie who plays best wins the right to the first two playoff games. Stats considered could be saves, wins, giveaways and more. The scoring would be laid out and prorated based on to 2-1 ratio.
The point of the complicated scheme is that these boys have to start caring about being better than each other. That’s the starting point to them caring about exceeding the average level of play across the league. It doesn't have to be this formal (or this complex). Whatever stirs the young men. Hopefully the reward or consequences they can see on a day-to-day basis, with their competition right there will fuel them t work for what they want (one can only hope that's a playoff start...).
Improve communication
On-ice communication, that is.
With a soft-spoken Russian running the D and a couple of shy goalies, it’s no wonder the Canadiens run around following each other all over the defensive zone.
One of the benefits of better practice would be better understanding among players, but also confident leaders will emerge from defensive pairs and goalie teams.
Ultimately one person has to be in charge, otherwise you are just hoping for coverage as a unit...
Upgrade on D
Rather than pouring money into a veteran back-up, it would make more sense to allocate some funds to upgrade the defence at the 1st, 2nd or 3rd D level. That would mean Komisarek could be a comfortable number 4/5 with Gorges and a natural 6th like Bouillon could take his rightful place.
Ultimately, I would like Bouwmeester. He’s young, can skate, can cover the back, has long reach, can shoot and clearly has an understanding of the game. He’s also young and could conceivably still get even better. But Jay may be looking at top top money, and Montreal, handcuffed by the taxes may just not be able to outbid. That’s why I like Johnny Oduya UFA as a target. He’s youngish, from a good system and plays some effective if not spectacular D.
For Price/Halak, the simple addition of a player like Oduya could reduce shots, time in zone and importantly rebounds. It would be a stats enhancer, which in turn could be a big confidence boost to the young goalies.
Defensive coach
Finally, in the same vein, assigning a defencman to coach the defencemen alone could really help overall team defence and by extension the goaltenders.
Nevermind the goalies for a minute. We’ve done nothing but draft defencemen for 4 years – can we really afford to have the brilliant coordinator who came up with the coverage plans we saw this season taking those assets under the wing? I think that answer is clear as day.
–––––––––––––––
If another season is about to get underway with Price pre-selected for important starts, I think it’s high time we start tipping the scales for the boy. Get him a coach who he responds to, get him to practice well and practice hard, light fires under him with competition or whatever fires him up, sort out the defenders and bolster their numbers with people who can defend.
There’s been enough hoping things are going to turn out right. This team mustn’t accept another season launched with hope masqueraded as patience. There are tried and true methods that work.
It’s too late to draft a thoroughbred who comes in and saves the franchise at 19.
It’s too late to develop the most promising prospect the organization has had in a decade in the sensible way.
It’s not too late to install the best coaches possible, sign players that fit the needs and install a work ethic that pays dividends in the spring. It's not too late to take the lessons from the past two seasons on board and apply them to the developing team for the future.
If the management group have committed to Carey Price in the way it seems they have, then really these points are moot.
Thanks for letting me air my frustrations on them. But now the time has come now to move onto real-world practical scenarios. This closing segment on Carey and his care treats you to some of my ideas on how things can be done better on the Canadiens, assuming a cornerstone named Price.
Back-up goaltender
It all sounds very logical – get a veteran back-up goaltender to help Carey Price develop and act as insurance in case he stumbles again. I do have a problem with this approach, however: it is not worth losing Jaroslav Halak over.
Let me elaborate.
I assume (based on lots of experience now) that Gainey and his new coach will press on with the “development by minutes approach” they have been implementing with Carey Price to this point. That said, to keep with the current progress and build his endurance, I think it would be reasonable to predict that a healthy Carey Price will be favoured for the start in ≥2/3 of Canadiens games in 2009-10.
For a back-up that means 20-odd games over the season. For a mentor, that suits. One could imagine many a graying netminder stepping into such a role. However, we also want this back-up to be reliable (and dare I say it, even good/great).
Now last time I checked good/great veteran goaltenders of the free agent variety don’t like to consign themselves to a back-up role before the head-to-head play has been evaluated, no matter what the salary. Sure, someone like Manny Fernandez played the back-up in Boston, and Huet did in Chicago, but they went in looking to be the starter. In Montreal, the starter role is not on offer. In my mind, that rules out a lot of eligible candidates.
So, let’s say then we forego the "capable stopper" part of the description. We sign up Curtis Joseph or other washed up vet and their now sub 0.700 save percentage and have the guy room with Carey for the season while Price takes on 72 games himself.
It’s a possibility, but not one that I like.
First of all, it undermines the original veteran back-up idea. All we've done is replaced inexperienced Halak with more Carey Price. There's no insurance, and no matter how hood the mentor is, I'm not sold on that. If anyone is ready to bet that Carey Price has undergone his last deep slump, it’s not me. I’m not a fan of burning another season, so I like the idea of insurance.
In that case, let’s forget the mentor – just get a veteran who can come in and be reliable and take over from Carey for a few weeks at a time when things get bumpy. Martin Biron, for example.
Not ideal for me either. I mean, we’re back to where we started aren’t we?
Halak already does that job. Why pay Biron to be an older Halak? It would be foolish to pay $2-3 million more for the mere tag veteran. Nevermind, the chance that Gainey will find a goalie as good as Jaro with the same tolerance for back-up duty (yet more experience) is slim indeed. No, if this vet can’t be a mentor and play with the plan for Price, then I don’t think we pay over the odds to make this type of move. This brings me to my next point…
Goaltending coach
I am not the first, and I won’t be the last to bring up this idea. If mentor is what Carey needs, surely the position of goaltending coach is a place we can park this guy.
Next year would be Roland Melanson’s twelfth season as assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens. And, while I congratulate him on the achievement, it might be time to remind him that “all good things must come to an end”. It may be harsh to criticize him as a coach with so little understanding of what he actually does, but he has now presided over so many goaltending blowouts that one surely must question his tenure.
He has successfully presided over the rise of Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Cristobal Huet and now Price and Halak. But it seems every time one of his pupils begins to ask questions of their game or their confidence, Rollie the goalie doesn’t have the answers. Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t have the answers. Perhaps it’s because they weren’t asking for the type of answers he was giving. Maybe they can't relate to him, who knows.
Carey Price for his part clearly needs to be nurtured. I think we can all agree that the cool, independent image that we were sold two summers ago has been destroyed. He is needy, he is insecure – or in other words, he’s a regular goalie. We all remember Carey’s first season and his first successes. Positioning was the name of the game and rebounds were rare. He once knew how to provide the commodity we were after. In trying to improve, he has lost the above average abilities he had before. I, for one, would take those back and have him stabilize there. Sometimes a mentor is all a young charge needs to find what they once knew. And I don’t think all the calls for a veteran back-up are misguided in that way.
So who can be the man for the job?
Not Rollie.
Francois Allare? Likely the greatest technician available, but probably not the mentor for Carey.
I’d look for someone who’s been through what he has and come out alright. Someone who’s played the mentor before. My target would be Jeff Hackett. Who else could you find that was drafted high, started slow and survived a shocking 0.856 save percentage season to come back and be Canadiens star and teacher to Vezina winner?
Practice culture
Carey was failed this season by his laid-back attitude. He was failed by the laid back attitudes of those around him as well. I remember reading, in the deepest, darkest days of his slump that Carey had been working hard in practice…
“On CKAC this afternoon, Martin McGuire reported Price has been working very hard in practice. He's the first one on the ice with the injured guys and often the last to leave.
Implicit in McGuire's praise is the notion that Price's work habits have not always been exemplary.”
It wasn’t the only article talking about lax habits in training.
He wasn’t great that next game as hoped, he was horrible. But practice doesn’t work that way. Practice takes time. So, presumably still in his bucke-down mode, Carey did get the next start and the next and the next and the next. And fuelled by his hard work on off days, it was probably Carey’s most impressive stretch of the season. He got four straight domes from a fed-up Tobalev (which says a lot). He let in a mere 8 goals, got 5 important points for the Habs and kept them in every game.
The connection between practice and success was unfortunately overlooked or forgotten a month later, though as more optional practices were handed down by Gainey and the one player who should have been as motivated as anyone to correct his gaps sat a few out – including during the playoffs.
It’s a simple thing really – practice makes perfect. In Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers, he repeated the estimate that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be great at something. That goes for skating, playing guitar, glove saves, stick-handling (see Kovalev). This recap from the book says it all:
“The Story of Success challenges assumptions about innate genius and natural-born talent. Through a series of detailed examples, Gladwell explains away these gifts by attributing them to practice, timing, circumstance, upbringing, culture, and opportunity. In other words, those really smart, successful people we admire – Mozart, Bill Gates, the Beatles – weren’t born with natural talent. Instead, they had the right upbringing, were in the right place at the right time, and through 10,000 hours of hard work and a few lucky opportunities, landed success.”
This should be mandatory reading for Halak, Price and all the Canadiens. People often wonder how to emulate the Red Wings (looking for easy things like signing free agents, or getting a big man for the PP), but nothing can replace the hard work in practice that has kept them on top since the Bowman years and continues with Mike Babcock.
Internal competition
More than a win-you’re-in scheme, I would like to see some serious internal competition. Assuming it’ll be Price/Halak, the seeds are already there.
Here’s an idea of what I might do. From the beginning of the season sit both goalies down. Explain the situation: Carey will play 2/3 of regular season games, Jaro will play 1/3. Here’s where it gets interesting – the goalie who plays best wins the right to the first two playoff games. Stats considered could be saves, wins, giveaways and more. The scoring would be laid out and prorated based on to 2-1 ratio.
The point of the complicated scheme is that these boys have to start caring about being better than each other. That’s the starting point to them caring about exceeding the average level of play across the league. It doesn't have to be this formal (or this complex). Whatever stirs the young men. Hopefully the reward or consequences they can see on a day-to-day basis, with their competition right there will fuel them t work for what they want (one can only hope that's a playoff start...).
Improve communication
On-ice communication, that is.
With a soft-spoken Russian running the D and a couple of shy goalies, it’s no wonder the Canadiens run around following each other all over the defensive zone.
One of the benefits of better practice would be better understanding among players, but also confident leaders will emerge from defensive pairs and goalie teams.
Ultimately one person has to be in charge, otherwise you are just hoping for coverage as a unit...
Upgrade on D
Rather than pouring money into a veteran back-up, it would make more sense to allocate some funds to upgrade the defence at the 1st, 2nd or 3rd D level. That would mean Komisarek could be a comfortable number 4/5 with Gorges and a natural 6th like Bouillon could take his rightful place.
Ultimately, I would like Bouwmeester. He’s young, can skate, can cover the back, has long reach, can shoot and clearly has an understanding of the game. He’s also young and could conceivably still get even better. But Jay may be looking at top top money, and Montreal, handcuffed by the taxes may just not be able to outbid. That’s why I like Johnny Oduya UFA as a target. He’s youngish, from a good system and plays some effective if not spectacular D.
For Price/Halak, the simple addition of a player like Oduya could reduce shots, time in zone and importantly rebounds. It would be a stats enhancer, which in turn could be a big confidence boost to the young goalies.
Defensive coach
Finally, in the same vein, assigning a defencman to coach the defencemen alone could really help overall team defence and by extension the goaltenders.
Nevermind the goalies for a minute. We’ve done nothing but draft defencemen for 4 years – can we really afford to have the brilliant coordinator who came up with the coverage plans we saw this season taking those assets under the wing? I think that answer is clear as day.
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If another season is about to get underway with Price pre-selected for important starts, I think it’s high time we start tipping the scales for the boy. Get him a coach who he responds to, get him to practice well and practice hard, light fires under him with competition or whatever fires him up, sort out the defenders and bolster their numbers with people who can defend.
There’s been enough hoping things are going to turn out right. This team mustn’t accept another season launched with hope masqueraded as patience. There are tried and true methods that work.
It’s too late to draft a thoroughbred who comes in and saves the franchise at 19.
It’s too late to develop the most promising prospect the organization has had in a decade in the sensible way.
It’s not too late to install the best coaches possible, sign players that fit the needs and install a work ethic that pays dividends in the spring. It's not too late to take the lessons from the past two seasons on board and apply them to the developing team for the future.
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