Game #52Komisarek One Ups Rivet in Defencman 'How Not To' Department

The Canadiens Game in Review

Date: Friday February 6th, 2009
Opponent: Buffalo Sabres
Venue: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY

Team Stripes

Final Score: 2-3 - Loss

Habs starting goalie: Carey Price (L)
Opposition starting goalie: Ryan Miller (W)

Habs goalscorers: Saku Koivu, Roman Hamrlik
Opposition goalscorers: Jaroslav Spacek, Nathan Paetsch, Tim Connolly

Play of the game
The play you're straining to see on the press catwalk monitor...

I really liked Saku's goal. On our first PP of the night we were applying all sorts of pressure. After D'Agostini was hit by a wayward Gorges point shot in the face he was replaced by Pacioretty. Max did very well in the corner as he laid a hit and won the puck for the Habs. Koivu collected the puck in the corner and walked right out into the slot. Possibly not wanting to do all he knows how on his best friend (cross check) Rivet let Sak right in on net. The result was Saku's ninth and yet another PP goal for the Habs.

Game puck
Trophies are for the end of the year, play well in the game, you get a lovely puck...

Roman Hamrlik
The Hammer is simply on fire as of late. He has been one of our best players for a few games now and I really like what he is bringing to our team. Unfortunately the rest of the defensive corps (save a couple of exceptions) hasn't been that great recently and neither has our goaltending. Roman is setting an incredible example, but I wish more of his blue-line teammates would follow his lead.


Dome hockey team
We're going into the last minute with these 6 (and they're attached to the ice, so they're not coming off)...

Forwards

Saku Koivu
Once again Saku was our best forward. He was very energetic all night and I felt that his linemates, despite their lack of raw skill, responded very well. Koivu could have easily had a 3 or 4 point night if he had the 1st line wingers we have deprived him of since Recchi's departure. Instead Saku only got the one point, a goal. I felt that he fought all game long and that he constantly won battles against the Sabres' defencemen.

Christopher Higgins
Can you imagine if Higgins scored on just 10% of his chances? Tonight he took 5 shots, missed the net with another 2 and I think fanned on at least 3 more. He was always in the right spot and actually had a good passing game, but he should have not left the ice pointless at the end of this one. I did, however, like the energy that Chris brought to the game and I feel with a proven goal-scorer (Tanguay) on his line with Saku it should fall into place a little easier.

Maxim Lapierre
Max had a great effort tonight. I think he has earned a spot as our 3rd line centre as I find myself looking forward to his shifts. He tries so hard in every situation that I am no longer surprised that he occasionally scores and that he has won a permanent spot on the team. He had a golden chance towards the end, but unfortunately he fell on his potential breakaway. Then Rivet lifted the net off to kill any and all chances of that rush.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
Roman scored a very nice goal late in the third to give the Habs hope. The refs, however, had a different plan as they soon called Kovy on the hold, but overlooked the obstruction against him. Hammer was the only Hab with a positive rating tonight and led the team in blocked-shots with 4. I never saw him out of position and as usual his pinching was bang on.

Andrei Markov
Andrei played another great game offensively as he led the team in shots with 6. He did very well at the blue-line on the PP keeping pucks in the zone. Defensively he played a solid match, but once again his +/- takes a hit thanks to yet another horrible play by Komisarek. Like Koivu longs for a winger I can bet you that Andrei longs for a partner. Can you imagine how impressive a Norris win would be knowing that he didn't play with Pronger, Rafalski or Beauchemin all year. Mike, unfortunately, played more like his ex-mentor, Craig Rivet, than anyone else present tonight.

Goaltender

Jaroslav Halak
The lack of focus after a bad goal and the inability to win us games is getting a bit tiring. How long must I watch the same display in our net before Carbo considers an alternative approach? Price let in 2 (possibly 3) goals that he should have stopped tonight. We were facing a team right behind us in the standings, one that has a goalie who is red-hot, so we needed a big performance. I can't remember the last time a goalie stole us a win and that makes doing anything considerable this year seem like a long shot. I am not saying that Halak is a lock to steal us some games, but right now I know that Price certainly isn't.



Eye-Openers
In this new section we are going to try and shed some light on certain plays or events that would otherwise go unnoticed

This section is supposed to talk about events that would otherwise go unnoticed, so I thought of talking about Laraque's return to the line-up. A lot has been made in the french media ( I wonder why?) about Georges' return as if he was a regular before his 'injury'. Well tonight I felt that he cemented his spot as a press-box observer. He did absolutely nothing all game and it was really painful to watch. RDS may tell a different story, but they are just so desperate for this story to pan out that they will dream up anything. I really don't know why we have him. Is it to fight? Didn't do that. Is it to agitate? It can't be, after all we have about 10 better players at that. Is it to score or skate? God, no. Is it to protect our players? Against who, Kaleta? Maybe it is to be intense and to always be in the middle of scrums? Nope, afraid to fight smaller players. Tonight's game was a glimpse at what Georges has done in his 52-game Habs career: absolutely nothing. I cannot believe we are wasting a roster spot for this guy. Giving up the puck and always being behind the play aren't really great ways for a player to make his mark on a game.

Overall Comments

We have to start scoring the first goal. When we don't, like tonight, we seem to implode. If the opposition also happens to score a weak one (like their first) then not only is our team playing with low-confidence, but our goalie at that point seems to be playing with none. This was a game that we could have won, a game that Buffalo, I felt, invited us to win. They managed 22 shots, 15 less than us, but were still able to hold the momentum for more than half of the game. Miller did play a strong game, but I felt that quality chances weren't really happening for us. We showed quite a bit of spirit along the boards and in the corners against what seemed to be a bit of a wimpy team, but we didn't have that fire around their net, or ours for that matter. It is a shame to lose games that you really could have won without exerting too much effort. The worst part about this loss, of course, is the fact that Buffalo is catching us fast. Eventually we are going to have to start winning more games than we lose (or at least we could start losing some in OT) because we won't be able to hold onto to our playoff spot with play like this for very long.

Laraque BackMany Ask Where, I Ask: Why?

BGL (Big Georges Laraque, or Bob Gainey's Limpet – limpets suck for a living too) is back according to RDS.

This has ignited optimism and debate about how and where BGL will be inserted into the lineup. I don't think there's any doubt he'll be on the fourth line (unless Carbo goes all Therrien on us – Odjick on the first); but the question I suppose is how regular a shift.


As I said, i am not concerned with where and how much he'll play, as I'm still wondering why he'll be playing at all.

The opponents

Are Buffalo so tough that we need the "highly intimidating" figure of Laraque around to keep them honest? Do we fear that they will run amok against our tiny defenders Hamrlik, O'Byrne and Komisarek?

Buffalo have been winning of late (6 in their last 9), but they have been doing it with style, a combination of offence and defence – two shutouts and three games with ≥5 goals (one with 10). Connolly is a danger player, not Peters, and Georges can't touch him, much less keep up with him.

What's more the Sabres have one of those teams where the fourth line can sometimes do the damage. Having a defensive liability stuck 20 yards behind the puck at all times won't help.

I'm sure Buffalo will take the opportunity to trot out their own waste of cap space, Andrew Peters, for his fourth game since they decided he was expendable at the end of December. Probably around the time they realised they needed points not PIMs to make the playoffs.


The omitted

Sure, from a game-to-game outlook, this is BGL for Alex Henry. But in fact, one mistake does not correct another. Henry was brought up to bolster the blueline when Gorges fell, and as Brisebois licks his wounds. No one was promoted to replace the fallen Latendresse and Lang. Henry playing up front worked as a patch against a Pittsburgh with no defensive awareness whatsoever, but is just that – a patch. Sooner or later someone like Chipchura or Stewart must be recalled.

The way I see this whole situation, I am going to be forced to watch the lethargic BGL, when I could be admiring the always excellent Gregory Stewart. All so Peters and Georges can fight about 3 minutes in for no reason whatsoever.


The points

You know that I'm not hell bent on every game ending up a win, but points when they look to be there for the taking should be taken. Buffalo and Toronto back to back are doable wins and playing to our best strengths would e a wise strategy as always.

Obviously I don't think BGL is an asset in a quest for points. Do any of you?


Let's see what happens. At least Carbo is being realistic about the impact this "fighter" can have on the game.

The Price Of DevelopmentRough Patches And Young Teams Go Hand In Hand

In all the hand wringing and fretting about Kovalev during our seemingly interminable losing streak, there was hardly a comment on the youth of the team. It is a major omission in any argument if you consider the makeup of the team.

The Canadiens, unlike teams in more forgiving markets, never actually underwent a full strip down and rebuild process. Nonetheless, through attrition and infiltration, the team has over the last few seasons become much younger – and more importantly the product of Gainey the manager.


I wanted to look at the Price of Development here, remembering that the Habs are still young, still developing and even admitting that last year, not this year is the anomaly in the record books.

Price and Halak – young for cornerstone duties
Last year around this time, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak were given the keys to the Canadiens goals. The (unnecessary) trade of Huet foisted the two of them, and especially Carey Price, into very fresh territory – that of determining whether a game can be won or lost. Their play from that point on was no longer an amusing glance into the future, it was a frank admission of the present.

Both goalies have responded with periods of brilliance and periods of, well, utter disappointment. since Huet’s trade:

Carey Price

2007-08 Regular season: 2.31 GAA, 0.929 S%
2007-08 Playoffs: 2.78 GAA, 0.901 S%
2008-09 Regular season (pre-injury): 2.30 GAA, 0.923 S%
2008-09 Regular season (post-injury): 3.33 GAA, 0.865 S%

Jaroslav Halak

2007-08 Regular season: 2.20 GAA, 0.932 S%
2007-08 Playoffs: 2.33 GAA, 0.889 S%
2008-09 Regular season (pre-injury): 2.44 GAA, 0.916 S%
2008-09 Regular season (post-injury): 3.53 GAA, 0.885 S%


The bad numbers come from a series of bad games, about 4 or so in both players’ cases (Carey in the playoffs and post-injury; and Jaro when Carey was injured).

4 games isn’t so much when you think about a season, but it is in Montreal hockey terms, especially if both goalies choose to fall out of form coincidentally as they just did.

In this world of media frenzy (guilty), perhaps Carey and Jaro get treated a little bit unfairly. A lot is expected of the 73 and 43 game NHL vets, both of whom suited up for Hamilton full-time a mere two years ago and part-time, this time last year. It is rarer for veteran goalies of quality to have spells of futility like this. But for rookies (which for all intents and purposes they almost are), are more prone to this sort of thing. In fact, any sensible GM opting to pin his hopes on a 20-year old would tell you he was planning for this sort of thing:

Call it the price of developing a star goalie.

In thrusting them to the forefront, Gainey opted to shape his young goaltenders in the blast furnace of Montreal, rather than the modest campfire of the AHL. Presumably he was hoping that they could become tempered as the strongest steel in time. Presumably, he, unlike many in the media, had some solid idea that it would take time.


Differing philosophies

Boston, for example, could choose to foster Rask in the very same way. But instead they push on with Tim Thomas. They are reaping the regular season rewards, and may or may not in the playoffs.

But when you’re building for a dynastic run at the top, you need to be a bit more clairvoyant – or so Gainey would have us believe. Whereas, Carey Price is affordable, young and suitable to build around; Cristobal Huet was not. Just so, Tim Thomas.

Gainey gambles with last year’s exit (he foresaw??) that Price learns and becomes better for it. Ultimately, the GM form Gainey’s school gains an ultra-reliable cornerstone on which to build a whole team for a decade. Those in Chiarelli’s school make their runs for the Cup, but then must find replacements down the line. Gainey knows that all players age at the same rate and that if you want a great goaltender for the time Andrei Kostitsyn is popping in 40-50 goals and Gorges has become a playoff workhorse, you must plan. When Kessel’s ready, Thomas may be gone and Rask will still be learning how to tie his pads.


The young core – young being the operative word

If you look beyond the goaltenders to the remaining core players of the team, you also get a feel for how young the critical players are.

The best goalscorer and focal point for our future as an offensive team, Andrei Kostitsyn, is only 24. Experience-wise he’s even younger as this is essentially his second full season in the league. He played his 159th game yesterday.

Two load bearing centres, Plekanec and Lapierre are young too. Lapierre of course is younger and less experienced, but 4 seasons into an NHL career, Plekanec is young to be an out and out veteran with all the pressure it brings.

Add to those, key scoring cogs Sergei Kostitsyn and Latendresse, both 21 and the rookie forwards who have featured on the top lines since their promotions and you can see why the team sometimes misses assignments for being too enthusiastic up front.

More astounding than that is that the Canadiens defence has been built around a very young core at the same time as the rest of this rebuilding has been going on.

Hamrlik, Markov and Bouillon are out and out veterans. But Josh Gorges, at 24 and 215 games is a very green defender by NHL standards. Ryan O’Byrne, for whom the defensive plan was built this season, is a real rookie, a mere 58 games into NHL life.

As with the goalies, a sensible GM would understand that throwing all these youngsters out on the ice together could lead to some highs and lows. That is just what has happened.


When learning happens – the benefits of development

The struggles of the development approach can be painful as we’ve freshly experienced, but the rewards can come quick and fast.


Just this week, we’ve seen the return of Ryan O’Byrne the shell of a man who is now ready to give Komisarek a clinic on positioning and economy of movement. Maxim Lapierre learned oodles from his demotion and subsequent struggles – now he’s a player anyone would want on their team. Andrei Kostitsyn and Gorges had their comings out last season, but the rewards continue with him.

As we wait for Sergei to learn how defenders take him on; for Latendresse to hit for purpose; and or Carey Price to stop passing to the other team; it is worth remembering how the rewards of a little patience with these guys can be great.

The good news is the conceivable fact that many of the younger guns could learn all these things in the next couple of months.

Game #51Habs' Play is Solid in Much Needed Win

The Canadiens Game in Review

Date: Tuesday February 3rd, 2009
Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins
Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

Team Stripes

Final Score: 4-2 - Win

Habs starting goalie: Carey Price (W)
Opposition starting goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (L)

Habs goalscorers: Roman Hamrlik, Christopher Higgins, Maxim Lapierre, Andrei Kostitsyn
Opposition goalscorers: Luca Caputi, Evgeni Malkin

Play of the game
The play you're straining to see on the press catwalk monitor...

Sometimes a bad game can become a good game in one instant and sometimes a good one can turn sour fast too. With the score at 1-1, while killing a penalty, we were desperately close to falling into the trap that we have been in for about 2 weeks now. We were close to blowing what was a great start to a game as we were giving a very skilled PP a chance to work. Instead, however, on that PP something happened that saved this game from going from good to bad, that something made the game go from good to better.

Letang was at the point and was unable to control the puck. The very efficient PK duo of Higgins and Koivu saw this mistake and pounced. Chris was first there and within 2 strides he was off on a shorthanded breakaway. Close behind was fellow speedster, Saku. Higgins' acceleration was very impressive, it allowed him to get in alone and score. Equally as impressive on the play was the 'obstruction' that Koivu created on Whitney - Pittsburgh's best hope at stopping Higgins. Sak used his speed and body position to ensure Higgs was alone, to ensure he got off his quality shot. It was close to being a penalty, but it wasn't one after all - to me, when you go right up to that grey line you are playing excellent hockey.

Game puck
Trophies are for the end of the year, play well in the game, you get a lovely puck...

Roman Hamrlik
I had stated a few games ago that to go deep (or even to make the playoffs) we needed Hammer to be one of our top 2 defencemen. Tonight he did just that, in fact he was the best player on either team. With a goal and an assist he took his season totals to 18 points. Offensively, however, there was more to his game than just those points. He seemed to be every where in the offensive zone as he added a few more chances of his own and helped to create a few others too.



Dome hockey team
We're going into the last minute with these 6 (and they're attached to the ice, so they're not coming off)...

Forwards

Saku Koivu
If anyone disagrees with this I would love to hear about it, but more importantly I would love to hear why. If you state that there were other forwards who got points tonight and that Saku didn't I will immediately ask you to re-watch the game. After that I think you may have no problem agreeing with this one. Of course Saku would have loved to get a point, but at the same time I am sure all he wants are wins. Well, we got the win and I think the most credit due to any forward is due to Sak. He generated the most chances of any player, aided in Higgins' goal, hit when he had to, skated fast when it was called for, won important face-offs and was our best penalty-killer.

Alexei Kovalev
I loved how Alex bounced back tonight. I was never worried about his play and I think after 5 years I can count myself amongst the few who doesn't need proof of his worth after every 3-game goaless stretch. What I was worried about was the fact that he was benched, called out and eaten alive in the media. Regardless, he played an exceptional game. He was very active offensively as he led the team with 6 shots. He also made a great pass-reception on a pass from Plekanec which he turned into a equally superb pass to Andrei for our 4th, and insurance, goal.

Christopher Higgins
The Higgins of old is slowly coming back and I for one am excited. Over the past few games I have seen flashes of brilliance from the former poster-boy of the team. Tonight he played a very solid game in both ends alongside the captain and I believe that this is a duo that will work for us as we move forward. His second breakaway goal in 3 games was another prime example of the raw speed and shooting ability this player has.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
I for one was surprised to see Josh out there tonight. After I saw Gauthier only received 5 games (what a joke) I thought it would be another case of the NHL suspending a player for a lot less time than the amount of games the injured player would miss. Anyway, it showed courage and commitment to the cause and I am thankful he was there as he is a huge piece of our puzzle. He ended the game at +2 (his first positive rating in 4 weeks) and played over 20 minutes - 3rd most of any Hab.

Roman Hamrlik
Did I mention Roman finished the game at +4. He was so key to our success tonight it was crazy. He not only did well in Pittsburgh's zone, but also did great work in our own end. Defensively I think he can be trusted in any situation with absolutely any partner and that, as a fan, is a comforting thought. Hammer has had a rough couple of weeks, much like the Habs, so my theory is that if he plays well, somehow, the team will too.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I am very happy with what I saw tonight from Price. I saw a goalie playing with confidence, with focus and most of all with a desire to win. The second goal was one I am sure he would like back, but I am fine with 1 mistake per game. If we are losing games 0-1 we have much bigger problems than goaltending anyway. He made no real mistakes when handling the puck tonight and even made a few decent full-length clearances on the PK which were surprisingly not even that dangerous.



Eye-Openers
In this new section we are going to try and shed some light on certain plays or events that would otherwise go unnoticed

It is amazing what sustained effort from all 19 players will do. It is also amazing how a lead and some lucky bonces (in both ends) will shape our mentality for a whole game. The most important thing about tonight, however, wasn't something that we did, but was something that the Pens did. Their defensive system is nowhere near as tight as Florida's or Boston's, no, this system is open. They, in fact, play a very similar style to us where they seem to open themselves up in order to create chances. They are a fast team that realizes these chances should be numerous based on their speed and talent alone. What they didn't account for though was the fact that this is our style too. And Therrien, I hate to say it (no I don't - I love it), we are way better at that style than you. Tonight Pittsburgh let us play our game, our way and we were just too much for them. Too many teams have figured out ways to counter our speed and skill, but luckily Pittsburgh isn't one of them as they believe they should hold the edge there. My main concern, however, remains the problem of beating those tighter defensive teams. Until we can impose our style on those teams (like we did against Boston until this year) we aren't going anywhere.

Overall Comments

The coaches knew it, the players knew it and even the fans knew it - we needed a win. Right from the start of the game I think people knew what had to be done and they spent 60 minutes making sure they accomplished it. One thing I really liked was the fact that we didn't let a 0-1 deficit eat us up. Instead we fought back and tied the game up soon after Pittsburgh took the lead. I can imagine that the players are as tired of playing catch-up as I am at watching it. Even better than getting that first goal was our effort after that. We went on to outscore them over the next 55 minutes (3-1) and outshot them in each and every period. The effort was there tonight from minute 0 until minute 60. From Carey Price to Alex Kovaelv, Plekanec to O'Byrne everyone chipped in in his own way and that was the reason we were able to score 4 nice goals and only concede two. This represents a great start to what has to be a great week. Like the way that I try and move on and forget about a loss after the fact I think we must do the same here. I want everyone to enjoy this win, but to quickly forget about it as this week holds far more important challenges.

Ten Games We'd Like BackThe Story of 41 to 50

[UPDATED with Fred's Power rankings from En Route Pour La Coupe]

10 games we'd have back. Possibly. But maybe not. We actually squeaked out 8 points and may have even undergone a little purge of bad habits. We certainly wouldn't ask for the first four of the ten back.

I'm a strong believer that every team (bar a very few) has a really bad stretch or two. To think that this team built on last year's rookies and propped up from injuries by this year's rookies, would be a team to rival the consistency of the Sharks was always a stretch.

If these ten games were part of our darkest stretch of the season, surely a look at what happened over the duration should be as interesting if not more so than usual.


Our top team over 10 games (Season dome)

Forward 1: Andrei Kostitsyn
5 times into the dome for Andrei, the most among forwards (which is low for a winner). Before the losing he was streaking and fully excellent, and even within the losing streak only really lost his offensive energy for a few periods. His encouraging play should allow us to absorb the loss of Lang and rebuild a line around him.

Forward 2: Alexei Kovalev
No he's not in here for his all-star MVP performance, or his breakaway trick. He squeaked out 3 domes in ten games (not great), but also wowed enough in two to get the game pucks. When he's bad we hear about it. And, sometimes when he's good, even the best, we hear about how he could be better. Case in point is that he had a good game in Tampa after the All-star game; but it is sexier to say he has been bad since the break (rather than having 3 off games).

Forward 3: Saku Koivu
There were a lot of players with 2 or 3 domes in this stretch, others could garner the mention here, But Saku stands out because he got himself into 2 domes, with 2 game pucks in only half the number of games. While it is fair to say that he is still regaining himself, it would be unfair not to mention that he's jumped right back in as the top centre on the team.

Honourable mention (forwards): Lang (4 domes). He was playing some very nice hockey and benefiting from the love that Andrei K brings to everyone's stats page this season. Unfortunately, Game 50 is where it ends for Lang – for the season, and maybe as a Canadien. He served us well and with grace in true Canadiens fashion.


Defenceman 1: Andrei Markov
A perfect 10 out of 10 domes and a game puck. The 10 games started with an impressive scoring run as well, for Markov, as he vaulted himself into the Habs scoring lead by Game 50. All the while, he has been one of the only defenders capable of putting in 60 minutes of good defensive hockey as well.

Defenceman 2: Roman Hamrlik
4 domes and a game puck for Hammer. It is a major indictment of the team that Hamrlik can have his worst stretch of the season by far and still be the second best defender after all this mess. he had some truly terrible games amongst the ten. So did likely challenger Gorges; and, as usual, Mike Komisarek.

Honourable mention (defenceman): None in this horror show.


Goaltender: Jaroslav Halak
8 domes and one game puck. Halak being here is another major disappointment. He may have started out the ten games as the starter. But he has not played since midway through game 4. Garnering 4 domes from 6 of Carey's starts is very fun for Halak, but not for the Habs. Hopefully Price's nightmare return to "Philadelphia" is over, as he's all we have – no one ever thought of putting Jaro in anyway.


En Route Pour La Coupe Power Rankings

Fred's Power Rankings came in later than I expected. here they are.

The criticisms are not different than the last times, and that's because the players didn't move much over this pretty bad stretch of games.

Ironically, Tanguay looks better near the top of the list just at the moment because he's been absent for the collapse. You all know I think Sergei has been better than Guillaume for the most part. But now, I look at the two of them and wonder how they can both be so high. Certainly if I'm looking at this list and everyone is available, we're a goal down with a minute to go; I'd sooner choose Higgins or Plekanec. I think they're both being judged harshly based on unrealistic expectations.


Three star selectors

When the stars aren't falling for us, then we get a bit of an eclectic list. Especially since there were a lot of road games here too, so the gratuitous extra Canadiens star didn't often make the sheet. Once again the list is funny, but worth a look. Mike Komisarek's star selection, by the way, in that Boston loss is under huge dispute here at LIW. No goalies amongst the few tells a story in itself.

Based on 5 points for first star, 3 for second and 1 for third. here's their dome:

Forward 1: Tomas Plekanec (1, 0, 0)
Forward 2: Alexei Kovalev (1, 0, 0)
Forward 3: Chris Higgins(1, 0, 0)

Defenceman 1: Andrei Markov (2, 0, 0)
Defenceman 2: Mike Komisarek (0, 0, 1)

Goaltender: None selected

First Farber, Now ToddAnother Habs Writer Who Throws His Credibility Out The Window

I remember I used to like Jack Todd. I even remember why. He used to be different. See things in the games that no one else did. Express his views more clearly. He used not to write the same old tripe.


Those days, it appears, are gone for the vet reporter. In writing on Lang's injury, he reveals that he really only looks at statistics, and that that standard is good enough for his piece to go across newspapers nationally.

He starts by breaking this news:

Robert Lang, the veteran centre who has been the team's best player all year long...

In giving away, the fact he doesn't actually watch the Canadiens much – by ranking Lang's season ahead of Koivu's, Markov's and Price's – his credibility is flushed when he says something like this:

And that might be the Canadiens' season, not simply Lang's, because unless general manager Bob Gainey can pull off a brilliant trade, his team is perilously thin at centre ice.

The common line from a common piece of unimaginative journalism.

There is no mention of Higgins and Koivu just returning, to conceivably insulate the Canadiens here. Or a thought that adding Tanguay back in could help at all.

One must remember that for a team perilously thin at centre, it sure did OK when losing their captain and best player of the season December, Saku Koivu. Koivu and Lang have only played in a handful of games together since (the three centres all present) – which itself has been the worst stretch of the season. Given a choice between Lang and Koivu, anyone watching the Habs night in, night out would have no trouble telling you who they want.

I guess Jack should try doing that sometime again. For now NHL.com/stats seems to suffice for research.

Game #503 Mistakes, 1 Chance Too Few; Boston Win Another in Montreal

The Canadiens Game in Review

Date: Sunday February 1st, 2009
Opponent: Boston Bruins
Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

Team Stripes
Final Score: 1-3 - Loss

Habs starting goalie: Carey Price (W)
Opposition starting goalie: Tim Thomas (L)

Habs goalscorers: Robert Lang
Opposition goalscorers: Dennis Wideman, Shawn Thornton, Marc Savard

Play of the game
The play you're straining to see on the press catwalk monitor...

Lang's goal was nice, but I think that a later chance by Andrei Kostitsyn was my play of the game. It happened in the second period and could have given us our second goal. Andrei broke into the zone down the right wing and found himself with a clear shot at the net. He unloaded a potent snap-shot that hit the post above Thomas' glove hand. It was a subtle reminder of how the game of hockey is really just a game of inches and of how the Bruins are not, as we seem to believe, immune to defensive mistakes.

Game puck
Trophies are for the end of the year, play well in the game, you get a lovely puck...

Carey Price
I can trace all 3 goals to one player - Komisarek, Latendresse, Andre Kostitsyn - and I never felt that Carey was to blame. I think that he played a very good game considering how average (to way below average) he has been as of late. He only made 20 stops, but I feel that only allowing 2 goals should be enough for our team. For once we let in less than 4, but our offence, unfortunately, didn't play as well as Price.



Dome hockey team
We're going into the last minute with these 6 (and they're attached to the ice, so they're not coming off)...

Forwards

Robert Lang
Late in the first period Lang took one hell of a shot to beat Thomas on the PP. His game started well as he was honoured as our player of the month for January and by scoring his 18th he kept the good times rolling. He played a decent game from there on in, but his game came to an abrupt end with what looked like a knee injury. I can only imagine it won't be good news for the Habs in his case as he was taken to hospital before the game even ended.

Andrei Kostitsyn
Like Brunet and the rest of RDS will tell you (on every shift), Andrei can be better. He has 30+ goal potential, but I must remind people that that means at least 52 games without a goal. We don't pay him to be a leader, to be our best defensive player, no, we pay him to score. I think he is doing just fine in that regard. Yes, he can be better, but he is also consistently one of our best players. It is easy to point the finger when we lose and it seems that certain players (Europeans, Americans, Canadians from west of Ottawa) feel the brunt of the criticism. He assisted on Lang's goal and had our best chance other than that.

Max Pacioretty
I liked the way the kid played tonight. He skated, won battles along the boards and had a vision that created chances for him and his linemates. Unfortunately Carbo preferred players like Kostopoulos and Lapierre to Max tonight which of course limited his chances and, in effect, the Habs' chances to score.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
Our defence played a decent enough game. Apart from Komisarek's brutal give-away right up the middle at the end of the first we were more or less blemish free. Hamrlik, I thought, was the best of the crew in our own end. He once again played with all sorts of partners, including Alex Henry, but didn't let it affect his game. He and O'Byrne were the only players without a minus rating, but, unlike Ryan, Roman was able to stay out of the box.

Andrei Markov
This again wasn't Andrei's best game, but he was still better than 4 other defencemen today. He picked up an assist on Lang's goal and now has 40 points. He is leading NHL defencemen in points, leading our team in points and now has 13 points in his last 12 games. All I can say is that it is nice to have at least one player who isn't affected by our current skid.

Goaltender

Carey Price
If I am Guy Carbonneau I start Halak in this one. I probably would have split the weekend and gone with Jaro yesterday, but considering Price played I would have given the reins to the Slovak today. Despite all of that Carey played well. For me it was important to see how he would play in a 'playoff' type game and I thought he did well. Beating Boston is proving to be harder than we ever thought, but today Price gave us a very good chance at pulling it off.



Eye-Openers
In this new section we are going to try and shed some light on certain plays or events that would otherwise go unnoticed

Are people mad that Kovalev won MVP last week? Are they wondering why he can't play like that in each and every game? I bet they are. The problem is that he isn't Gretzky, Lemieux or Ovechkin. Kovalev is a great player, but he shouldn't be expected to do it all, all of the time. Yes his numbers are down this year, but I don't believe the effort is. We all know that during his long goaless stint he was playing very good hockey. It is easy for reporters to forget that now, however, and claim he played badly during that period. If any of you are athletes that are good but aren't necessarily the best ever you will realize how hard it is to be excellent in each and every game. It isn't hard for Lapierre to hit and chase in each game (and I bet Kovalev could do it better if those were his only skills), but let's face it, that takes no skill. It takes effort and heart, but I believe that Kovalev has played with both of these all year. He is being punished for not being excellent, for not taking charge of games when in reality that shouldn't be his responsibility. In fact, that is no one player's job. We are the type of team that must play well together to win. So, why take our best option off the ice, why bench him again? Why play players like Kostopoulos and Latendresse in critical situations? I think Carbo is just wasting opportunities in the present and the future. By telling Alex that effort and heart aren't good enough, that he must score to play, we aren't really being fair to the team or fans. I always love when Kovy pulls a trick out of his hat and wins us a game, but I realize that that is what makes him special. It's his ability to win us games. The key word there is his 'ability'. He can't do it every time, even if he tries, because hockey isn't that simple, it takes a lot more than one player to win at this level.

Overall Comments

If Komisarek ices the puck instead of sending it along the ice in the slot with 2 seconds left or if Andrei's shot hits the inside of the post, not the outside, or if Latendresse doesn't leave his position to give Bouillon (after coughing it up at the blue-line) his stick then we could have won the game. Everyone, even the media, would be talking about how well we played, about how we are back on track and about how the Bruins aren't really that imposing after all. None of that happened, however, and now all I hear is negativity and the footsteps of people getting off the bandwagon. What I look for in each game is a sustained effort, an appropriate amount of quality chances and I look to see if we could have actually won the game if one or two things went differently. Today I saw all of that and so I think this was a decent game. It doesn't make up for some poor performances last week, but on its own it was OK. The Bruins are, for some reason, an incredible team this year and while I don't believe that they are unbeatable, I do believe that they are a very competitive team and that a win against them will always be hard. Today they showed that they likely have the best goalie in the league and they also played with a very high level of dedication to their defensive system. They realize that a strong defensive team who plays responsibly and patiently will be rewarded for their efforts by their less defensively-responsible opponents. Today that is exactly what happened. They never really looked too threatening offensively, but they did take advantage of 3 of our brutal mistakes. All 3 of those plays were things that could be easily avoided, but I think that it shows that we aren't quite there yet, we aren't quite a great team.

We have a chance this week to beat up on some less fortunate teams and I think it would be an ideal time to start a new winning streak. If we do, however, get ready to let a whole lot of fans back on board.