Rocket Sports

Islanders-Canadiens: Price Steals a Point, Habs Lose in OT

2009-03-14T18:39:00.001-04:00

Montreal 2 New York Islanders 3 OT (Bell Centre)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

This was one of the games on the home stand that made me nervous. Apparently, I had good reason. The Islanders came into Montreal as one of the league's hottest teams over the past ten games at 6-2-2.

It also marked the return of Yann Danis to the Bell Centre facing his former team. As it turned out, the Isles wouldn't need Danis to be the difference in the game.

The Canadiens started well. Price made some early saves. The forwards were being aggressive. Habs were getting pucks to the net but without players in front to deflect or cash rebounds. And there were a lot of rebounds. Danis was a little shaky to start.

It was a rebound deflected up by Danis that Tomas Plekanec knocked in for what could have been the game's first goal. After review, it was determined that Plekanec's stick was too high and the goal was disallowed.

Plekanec would get that goal back a few minutes later on the power-play. Max Pacioretty provided a perfect screen in front and Danis never saw the shot.

The Islanders tied it up on a missed defensive assignment by Matt D'Agostini. Mike Iggulden's goal extended his four game points streak.

Following the goal, the Habs seemed to stop skating. The period ended with the Canadiens up in shots 12-7.

The second period began with a very passive penalty kill by the Canadiens. The Islanders played an aggressive period and used their speed. Carey Price kept his team in the game. At one point the shots were 10-1 for the Isles with Price making at least six huge saves.

The Canadiens had stopped skating, their passing was erratic and they were losing battles for the puck. Bell Centre fans started getting restless. With about 7 minutes left the Habs started getting some offensive chances to make the shot total a little more respectable at a 12-7 advantage for the Islanders.

The Isles scored a power-play goal in the first minute of the third period. A point shot was tipped by Frans Nielson with Josh Bailey left alone to screen Price

Kostopoulos scored at the mid mark of the period on a perfect feed from Andrei Markov. But the failure of the power-play to score on a full two-minute 5 on 3 would prove to be costly for the Canadiens. The power-play would finish 1 for 6 for the game.

Carey Price was the story of the third period with one spectacular save after another. The Islanders would take 17 shots in the period with most of them being very difficult saves. The Bell Centre fans chanted CA-REY! CA-REY!

The Isles' pressure continued in overtime. They got the winner as Mathieu Schneider could not handle Kyle Okposo in front.

The Canadiens got one very important point. But this was the Islanders, the worst team in the league, and winners of only seven road games this season. With the line-up they iced, a case could be made to call them the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Carey Price was far and away the best player on the ice. He made numerous amazing saves, many with his glove hand. As Kostopoulos said "If it wasn't for Carey, we would have lost two points."

Kostopoulos had a goal and a fight. Both Kostopoulos and Gregory Stewart tried to jump start their team in separate fights. They both should be given credit for going up against much bigger, heavier guys.

Defensive zone coverage was a problem again tonight. Gainey has identified some areas for improvement. It will take practise and trust. Koivu said "Our confidence is not as high as it should be. We need to keep working at the little details."

One Habs fan put it another way, "It will take some time for the team to shake the effects of Carbitis."

Game note

The camera work on RDS was behind the play several times during the game tonight.

Pre-game

Starting lineup: Lapierre, Higgins, Kostopoulos, Markov, Komisarek

Carey Price and Yann Danis started in goal.

Brisebois and Latendresse were scratched from the line-up. Kovalev was ill with the flu. Laraque, Bouillon, and Lang were out with injuries.

Lines:

Plekanec-D'Agostini-Pacioretty
Koivu-Tanguay-Andrei Kostitsyn
Lapierre-Higgins-Kostopoulos
Metropolit-Stewart-Dandenault

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Frans Nielsen
3. Tom Kostopoulos

(photo credit: AP)

Guy Carbonneau: The Weakest Link...The Final Chapter

2009-03-11T18:48:00.003-04:00

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

This is the third and final article in the weakest link series. The first appeared last April as Guy Carbonneau stumbled through his rookie playoff appearance as a coach.

Without rehashing everything from the two previous articles, it was for some, the first time that Guy Carbonneau's coaching deficiencies set off alarm bells. After coasting through a season under the radar and benefiting from a roster relatively free of injuries, Carbonneau's coaching abilities were tested. The rookie playoff coach failed miserably.

When opposition coaches dissected and defended Carbonneau's feared power-play, the coach did not respond. When his pet fourth line center bobbled an exchange, he threw his rookie goaltender to the media wolves.

Carbonneau who had been successful coaching from the gut was left exposed as he had nothing to draw upon. Old wounds were re-opened and exploited: his feud with Kovalev; his disappointment when Huet was traded. As the Canadiens floundered, Carbonneau scuttled the ship but made sure that the media sights were set on Kovalev and Price as the scapegoats.

In truth, the Canadiens were unprepared -- Carbonneau went golfing before the Canadiens final playoff game. The Habs were outcoached in every playoff game. When other teams countered their system, the Canadiens' coaches were slow to make any pre-game or in-game adjustments.

During the playoffs, we did not see the coach as a tactician nor someone who came well-prepared nor someone with the coaching experience to draw upon. Carbonneau isn't a motivator nor a coach who could communicate with his players. Instead, we saw his well documented traits of bitterness and stubbornness.

This season has been a huge disappointment. Carbonneau was given a roster that was significantly better than last year. But, by November, it was already clear that he had lost the team. The team, as a whole, has been under performing.

The Canadiens have lost more man-games to injury this season. Injuries require the coach to make decisions.

The 'how-to-defend-the-Canadiens'-power-play' manual used by Boston and Philadelphia during the playoffs last Spring was copied throughout the league. Devising a new power-play strategy requires coaching skill.

Given their performance last year and publicity of the centennial celebrations, the Canadiens could no longer fly under the radar this season. The team needed to be well prepared for each game with focused practices. An intelligent game plan was required from the coaching staff.

As the team struggled, the players needed a good communicator and motivator. They needed their coach to be a leader who inspired confidence and stability.

Guy Carbonneau did not have the skill, aptitude, experience or interest to be effective in any of those areas. Motivation, communication, preparation were all areas of weakness. Carbonneau's team was unprepared for games because he was unprepared to be a head coach.

When communication with his players was required, Carbonneau painted a bullseye on his players to focus media attention. When he should have been doing an analysis of his opponent and preparing game strategy, he used a roulette wheel to form line combinations. When players needed to trust in the skills of their teammates, he took them bowling. When he realized that his coaching cupboard was bare, Carbonneau turned to a lucky tie.

As a result of Carbonneau's mismanagement, the Montreal Canadiens are now a very fragile team with razor-thin confidence. It has produced inconsistent performances. The players were given a confused set of expectations. Good play often meant a trip to the press box and poor play was rewarded with extra shifts. Third line players were given first line minutes. Fourth line players found themselves on the power-play.

It is clear that Guy Carbonneau had very little respect for his players and vice-versa.

Throughout his coaching tenure, Carbonneau was blessed with a smart and loyal general manager who intervened to clean up his messes. Carbonneau blamed players for the conflicts but there was a such long list: Kovalev, Higgins, Ryder, Price, O'Byrne, Kostitsyn, Dandenault, Begin, Laraque, and others. Finally, it became clear to Gainey that the players had not been the problem.

Guy Carbonneau will likely move on to a front office position with another team. Carbonneau craves the attention and the media spotlight. His cozy relationship and reliance on the Montreal media did not serve him well. One would hope that he has realized that he cannot simply rely on the skills that made him such a successful and adored player. He should be willing to work hard to learn a new craft rather than simply coast on his name.

Carbonneau's coaching legacy should be separated from the greatness that he achieved as a player. He will benefit from a 2007-08 team who surprised people (without the need for a great deal of coaching intervention). He may not be put in the Mario Tremblay category of coaches but his negative effect on the team will take quite some time to reverse.

Related articles:

The Weakest Link...So Far

The Weakest Link...Redux

While Rome Burns...Carbo Plays Golf

Oilers-Canadiens: Koivu & Price Lead Gainey's Habs to Overtime Win

2009-03-11T18:46:00.002-04:00

Montreal 4 Edmonton 3 OT (Bell Centre)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

Did the Canadiens look like a different team tonight? Certainly most of the Bell Centre fans thought so. It was an exciting game with a playoff atmosphere at times.

The Habs played like an abused dog who is finally released from its shackles (not too far from the truth). The first period, they came out flying, full of energy and life. They took a nap in the second, and were ready to play hard again in the third.

The 'Gainey effect' was quickly apparent: shorter shifts, quick outs, and players using the boards. As the game went on, rather than the repetitive rolling of four lines, we were treated to smart deployment of personnel.

Gainey agrees with what has been said on this page many times. The Canadiens have been spending too much time in their own zone. Being more aggressive pressuring the Oiler puck carrier was effective in the first.

Saku Koivu described it this way "We played more with the puck. We're learning to trust each other."

Alex Tanguay gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead after he buried the rebound of a Mathieu Schneider point shot. Given his long injury absence, it was Tanguay's first goal since December 20th.

Carey Price made four great saves in the first period alone. The Habs took a one goal lead to the dressing room after the first.

Edmonton scored three times in the second period outshooting the Habs 17-2. A Josh Gorges stumble allowed Andrew Cogliano to go around him easily for the first goal. The second Oiler goal was scored by Sheldon Souray after his shot deflected off Tomas Plekanec's foot. Two goals, one for each team, near the end of the second period made the score 3-2 Edmonton.

Koivu said "I thought that we played a really strong first period but then really lost our legs in the second and they took over." He added "We had a good intermission and talked about settling things down".

Gainey felt that the players' timing was off in the second period. He said, "We just weren't in synch with each other and the play on the ice." Gainey simply told his team to focus on making better changes to allow them to get into the play in better position. And it worked!

The Canadiens dominated for most of the third period. Koivu scored the tying goal as he knocked in a puck fed by Andrei Kostitsyn. The play was started by a great pass from Roman Hamrlik to Tanguay.

Price made several huge saves as the period ended with frantic action at both ends.

In overtime, Patrick O'Sullivan was assessed a penalty for slashing Andrei Markov. After going 0 for its last 15 power-play opportunities, Koivu tipped a Schneider point shot for the winning goal.

It was a big night for Koivu who led the Canadiens with both the tying and winning goal. Koivu won 73% of his faceoffs. Tanguay had a goal and an assist. Schneider had two assists and was much less exposed playing with Gorges as the third defense pair.

Price had another solid game with several spectacular saves to keep his team in it.

The penalty killing forwards looked a little different: Higgins and Lapierre followed by Dandenault and Metropolis. Both units including the defense played very well. The Oiler power-play was 0 for 3. Higgins also had 6 shots on goal.

Dandenault had one of his best games of the season. He is one of many players who is thrilled that Carbo is gone. He really likes & respects Gainey.

This is still a very fragile Canadiens team after being mishandled for most of the season. Gainey will build team confidence by encouraging them to make the pass that is available. He wants to see players start to trust each other. Gainey feels that confidence will improve execution over time.

Koivu agreed, "You're not going to see all the changes and everything happen in one game or one period and we have to be patient."

It will take some time for Gainey to repair the damage to the team's psyche caused by the previous coach. Tonight's game was a step in the right direction and it showed that the players are fully on board.

Pre-game
Starting lineup: Lapierre, Higgins, Kostopoulos, Markov, Komisarek
Carey Price and Dwayne Roloson started in goal.

New assistant coach Don Lever was upstairs for part of the game. He came down in the third period to join Gainey, Jarvis and Muller behind the bench.

Brisebois and Pacioretty were scratched from the line-up. Laraque, Bouillon, Latendresse, and Lang were out with injuries.

Lines:

Plekanec-Kovalev-D'Agostini
Koivu-Tanguay-Andrei Kostitsyn
Lapierre-Higgins-Kostopoulos
Metropolit-Stewart-Dandenault

Defense pairings:

Markov-Komisarek
Hamrlik-O'Byrne
Schneider-Gorges

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Saku Koivu
2. Carey Price
3. Sheldon Souray

(photo credit:AP)

Don Lever joins Habs' coaching staff

2009-03-11T18:45:00.000-04:00

Don Lever joins Habs' coaching staff
Montreal Canadiens
Mar 10, 2009, 10:18 AM EDT
PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL -- Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced that Don Lever will be joining the Canadiens coaching staff as an assistant coach.

A native of South Porcupine, Ontario, the 56-year old Lever has been Head Coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs since the 2005-06 season. A 17-season NHL player, Lever began his coaching career in the Buffalo Sabres organization back in 1987-88. After two seasons as an assistant to Sabres head coach Ted Sator, Lever was hired to coach the Sabres' farm team in Rochester. In his first season as Head Coach of the Rochester Americans in 1990-91, Lever led his team to the Calder Cup final and was voted AHL Coach-of-the-Year with a regular-season record of 45 wins, 26 losses and 9 ties.

Before taking on the head coaching job of the Hamilton Bulldogs, Lever had spent 14 seasons (1,154 games) as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues. The longest serving coach in Bulldogs history (305 games) has a record of 235 wins, 184 losses, 21 ties and 25 overtime/shootout losses in 465 regular-season games in the AHL.

Since he first stepped behind the Bulldogs bench, Lever has coached 305 games winning 154, losing 127 in regulation and 25 in overtime/shootout. In 2006-07, his second season as head coach of the Bulldogs, he led the Canadiens’ main affiliate to the Calder Cup.

From 1972 to 1987, Lever played in the NHL after being selected third overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1972 NHL Entry Draft. Lever would end up playing for six teams with four NHL franchises and was the first-ever captain of the New Jersey Devils after filling the same leadership role with the Vancouver Canucks. In his 17 NHL seasons as a player, he skated in 1,020 games, recording 680 points, including 313 goals.

Canadiens fire Carbonneau, Gainey takes over as coach

2009-03-11T18:44:00.000-04:00

Canadiens fire Carbonneau, Gainey takes over as coach

TSN.ca Staff

3/9/2009 8:19:33 PM

The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Guy Carbonneau on Monday and replaced him behind the bench with general manager Bob Gainey. Carbonneau, a finalist for the Jack Adams Award last year, was let go after nearly three seasons as Montreal's head coach.

Gainey first appearance behind the bench will be on Tuesday night when the Canadiens host the Edmonton Oilers.

"The last eight weeks of performance have been below average, and I believe a change in the direction at ice level is necessary," Gainey said Monday in a news conference.

"There were certain games when I had a real confusion about the overall ... it showed up as effort, but I felt like it was emotional engagement to a game," said Gainey. "Our team (did) not seem to be emotionally engaged."

After finishing first in the Eastern Conference last year, the Canadiens' 100th anniversary season in 2008-09 has been anything but smooth. Controversy has followed the team throughout the year and they have dealt with several on and off-ice issues.

The team got off to a very strong start, but lately have had their struggles. The team was comfortably in playoff position until the All-Star game in Montreal on Jan. 25, after which they won just three of 15 games to fall back into a group of six teams that are fighting for four playoff spots. Montreal is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, just one point ahead of Florida, the Rangers, and Pittsburgh.

"(Carbonneau) took a very difficult job (as coach) and tried his best to advance the team," said Gainey. "It's never an easy message to deliver to anyone, but it was at a point where I felt it was needed."

"I'm not going to make black-and-white changes, but we need to move toward being a better, stronger, more consistent team defensively and an offensive team that takes advantage of our opportunities," added Gainey.

Associate coach Doug Jarvis, along with assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson will all be staying with the club. In addition, the Canadiens have added Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Don Lever to their staff. Hamilton assistant coach Ron Wilson will take over as bench boss of the AHL club.

This will be Gainey's second stint as head coach of the Canadiens. He previously took over following the dismissal of Claude Julien during the 2005-06 season. He guided the club to a 23-15-3-0 record after the team went 19-16-6-0 under Julien. The Canadiens lost in the first round of the playoffs that season.

Carbonneau originally replaced Gainey as head coach of the Canadiens on May 5, 2006. He had spent part of the season prior to that as an associate coach with the Habs, and was hired to Gainey's staff with the intention that he would become head coach in time for the 2006-07 season.

Carbonneau's coaching record with Montreal was a combined 124-83-23. Montreal missed the playoffs in his first season, and last year were eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. He becomes the seventh NHL head coach to be fired this season.

Canadiens-Stars: Price Leads Penalty-Killers to Extinguish Stars

2009-03-11T18:41:00.002-04:00

Montreal 3 Dallas 1 (American Airlines Center)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

How did that happen? The Canadiens played one of their worst periods of the year yet turned it around for a huge victory in Dallas. Excellent goaltending, solid penalty-killing and opportunistic goals led the way for the comeback.

The entire first period was played in the Canadiens zone. For the first three minutes, the Stars pressured the Habs like they were on a power-play. Then Max Pacioretty took the first of the Canadiens' nine penalties that they would be assessed in the period.

Halfway through the first period, the shots were 8 to 1 for Dallas while they enjoyed a 7 - 0 advantage in scoring chances.

Dallas scored on a five on three advantage. A shot deflected off Mike Komisarek's skate right to Eriksson who buried it. It was an unfortunate bounce for Komisarek but Mike would soon contribute in another way to turn the game around.

Komisarek delivered a big hit on Mike Modano. Steve Ott, looking for retaliation, abused Saku Koivu and Josh Gorges. 'Team toughness' then stepped up. Andrei Kostitsyn hit Ott. Greg Stewart nailed Ott with a big hit (albeit when Ott didn't have the puck.) Stewart grabbed Ott and began landing punches. Ott turtled.

Dallas supporters defended Ott saying that he is suffering from a broken hand. However, that shouldn't give him free rein to take cheap shots and then pull out his ready-made excuse for not being accountable.

'Team toughness' sent a message to Ott and the Stars even though it added to the Canadiens' lengthy list of penalties. And it worked!

One can imagine what may have happened with Georges Laraque in the line-up. Laraque would have politely invited Ott to fight. Ott would have shown Laraque the band-aid on his hand. As per 'the code', Laraque would have suggested that Ott meet him for coffee after the game so that they could discuss scheduling a fight when Ott's hand was feeling better.

Stewart and the rest of the Canadiens handled the situation much more effectively

The Canadiens ended the first period with a total of 3 shots with one coming on a power-play and the remaining two on dump-ins from the neutral zone.

So how did the Canadiens avoid their patented second period collapse? I suppose that they got it over with in the first period.

The second period began with Dallas enjoying a two-man advantage for more than three minutes. Dallas managed only one shot on goal.

With newly found life, the Andrei Kostitsyn tied the game as Marty Turco over-played the puck. Alex Kovalev would put the Canadiens up by a goal with a tremendous wrist shot shortly after their power-play expired.

Carey Price made a huge save to end the second period, and surprisingly, the Canadiens had a lead going into the third period.

The Canadiens were outshot 14 to 7 in the third, but Price came up with big saves. Chris Higgins scored into an open net when Turco couldn't handle Ryan O'Byrne's shootaround to give the Habs a 3-1 lead.

The game star was Carey Price. The Canadiens were outshot 31-19 but Price was brilliant. Price's control of rebounds was crucial to the success of the penalty killers. Price has not allowed an even strength goal in 7 1/2 periods of play. In the last three games, Price has only allowed two even strength goals. After playing well, but being abandoned by his team the past two games, Price was rewarded with a win tonight.

The Canadiens' special teams have not been very good on the road trip. The power-play continued to struggle tonight going 0 for 3. However, the penalty-killing unit was very impressive. The Stars had ten opportunities, going 0 for 6 with one man advantage and 1 for 4 with a two man advantage. They even enjoyed a rare but brief three man advantage (with the goalie pulled). Loui Eriksson had more than ten minutes of ice-time, on the power-play alone!

Tomas Plekanec was a defensive force in short-handed situations. He worked hard on every shift and was the Canadiens leader on faceoffs.

Andrei Kostitsyn played well. Not only did he score, but he was physical and hustled to beat out a key icing call. Credit goes to Carbonneau for moving Andrei to the Koivu line (although that one seemed obvious to many).

Mike Komisarek led the team in hits and was effective in blocking shots.

Ryan O'Byrne is making it hard for the coach to take him out of the line-up. He was very physical, blocked three shots, got an assist and coolly made smart passes to clear the zone.

Max Lapierre has been MIA. Lapierre was having a very good season but he has been invisible for the last month or so coinciding with the injury to Latendresse.

Greg Stewart continues to prove his value to this team. Once Gui Latendresse returns from injury, he will be hard pressed to displace Stewart from the line-up.

To say that this was a must-game for the Canadiens is cliche, but very true. The pressure was intense on Carey Price who played well again, but won tonight. The Habs' scorers who had only one goal in nine periods of play finally gave him some support.

Guy Carbonneau will survive to coach another game behind the Canadiens bench. Carbonneau has never been shy about publicly throwing his players under the bus, but tonight, when they had the chance to return the favor, they bailed him out instead. We will never know what another loss would have meant for Carbonneau, but many in the media were predicting that Carbonneau's coaching tenure in Montreal would not survive it.

The Canadiens now play the next nine of ten games at the Bell Centre. It is a case of the Habs not 'counting their chickens' as none of the games will be easy.

Pre-game

Starting lineup:

Price and Turco started in goal.

Carbonneau cancelled the Sunday morning skate in Dallas.

Brisebois and Dandenault scratched. Laraque, Bouillon, Latendresse, and Lang were out with injuries.

New lines (again):

Plekanec-Kovalev-Pacioretty
Koivu-Tanguay-Andrei Kostitsyn
Lapierre-Higgins-Kostopoulos
Metropolit-Stewart-D'Agostini

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Loui Eriksson

(photo credit: AP)

Carbonneau: Should He Stay or Should He Go?

2009-03-11T18:38:00.001-04:00

I received a comment on the Canadiens-Thrashers game review that was beyond the normal...in a good way! I thought that it was important to move the comment to the main page to allow everyone a chance to read and react to it.

KyleRoussel has taken a good deal of time to share his thoughts and to make his argument. I want to publicly thank him for his contribution to All Habs and for engaging in this debate.

In a point-counterpoint format, we will discuss the merit of the Canadiens ending the coaching tenure of Guy Carbonneau.

POINT: Hold on to him...for now.
by KyleRoussel

I think the time to face facts has just about arrived...Carbo has pretty much lost this team, or so it seems.

They don't respond to line changes, many players (including veterans) have regressed since last season, punishing practices are responded to by getting shut out, days off for team-bonding bowling games are met with another ass-kicking...I don't think we need any more evidence.

So what's the answer at this point? Is it as simple as turfing Carbonneau? Has it come to this point?

When you fire a coach, especially this late in the year, you'd better know that the replacement will have an immediate impact. At this point I think only Gainey can take over the team. And then what? Who is a better replacement? Who's better qualified, given the realities of the Montreal marketplace? I think the only real candidate with the experience, and "requirements" is Bob Hartley. But I don't know if he's open to the opportunity. There's also ramifications for Gainey. He's got a lot of personnel issues to take care of, nevermind the on-ice circus. And how does Gillet factor in to this? Is he paying close attention? Will he have a problem if Gainey fires Carbo? My sense is that he gives Gainey free reign over players and coaching staff, but Gainey can't have a infinite leash can he? I don't know the answer to this, but if Carbo's on a long-term deal, will the organization be willing to pay him to stay home? I'm not so sure, especially given the economy we're mired in.

In the end, I think Gainey has enough faith and friendship with Carbo that he will give him until the end of the year (and playoffs?) to get this back on track. But I think Carbo also has to see this team through at least 1 playoff round if he wants to save his job.

As for the GM, he needs to look at himself in the mirror too. Was letting 10 guys enter this season on the last year of a contract the best idea? The assumed play there was that guys would go all out to post a great season and receive lucrative contract offers. In just about every case, that has not happened. He has to shoulder blame for this too. Could he sleep at night knowing he turfed a friend when he's plenty at fault?

If you dig even deeper, what does firing Carbo send as a message to the rest of the league? For would-be coaches, it says that you are walking in to a pressure cooker with unbelievably high expectations, and should you fail, your leash is so short that you can be out on your rear again in no time flat. For players, and particularly free agents it can say that the franchise is once again in a state of flux and lacks stability. Free agents don't want that, especially in Montreal when there's already enough shit to put up with.

Every coach deserves the chance to coach his way out of a bad situation. This is the worst stretch he's had as coach of the Habs. It would be unfair, and it speaks to the point I made earlier about messages to other coaches: you only get one chance. Don't fall in to a slump because you won't be allowed to see it through.

In Carbo's case, I don't think 20 games can be considered a "fair chance" to fix it, unless the players have truly quit on him. But who really knows the answer to that question? We speculate, but none of us can claim to know for sure.

I think Gainey is going to let it ride and hope that there's enough talent behind and on the bench that they will put it back together before season's end.

So I've waffled a bit in this post, but what I can't stand is a knee-jerk reaction. Does Carbonneau really deserve to be fired? How much of this mess is the players fault? They are pros afterall. They ought to act like it, and this year they have not.

What's my official position right now? Every day I have less faith in the team as a whole, but I have NO faith in knee-jerk moves and firings just for the sake of doing something. If you KNOW that there's a better replacement out there, go for it. If you're doing it because you're trying to squeeze in to the playoffs...the ensuing chaos may not be worth it. This Habs team won't go all the way whether Carbo is behind the bench or Scotty Bowman.

For now I say see the season through, I think elimination is inevitable anyway. But unless some miracle occurs, Carbonneau is on a very, very short leash for '09-'10 regardless of the new faces he gets to coach.

COUNTERPOINT: The clock struck midnight...long ago.
by Rocket

I agree completely with your first two paragraphs. Guy Carbonneau has definitely lost his players. As you say, no further evidence it needed. It is abundantly clear.

There is no mutual respect. Carbo has lost the ability to communicate and motivate the team (if it ever existed at all).

I suppose that we only disagree in the remedy. You list in detail the reasons why it is not the right time to replace Carbonneau. Let me take issue with some of those.

It seems that the biggest objection is that you feel that this is a "knee-jerk reaction" to a recent minor slump. The most disappointing results on the recent road trip are the second major slump of the year. The first was in November which resulted in a myriad of line combinations to know avail. The Canadiens only broke out of that slump when Carbonneau reverted back to the original lines.

The Habs have been inconsistent all season. I think it is fair to say that they have been underperforming as a team. Coaches have been fired already this season for less. I think that Carbonneau has been given more opportunities than most to turn this around given his friendship with Bob Gainey. Carbonneau has had 65 games already to prove himself, and it clearly isn't working. Also, Guy Carbonneau has been outcoached almost every game since he took the reins in Montreal.

The root of the problems are not new. Carbonneau has limited experience and few tools to motivate players. In addition, there are a three seasons of personality clashes to examine: Alex Kovalev (several times), Michael Ryder, Carey Price, Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins, etc. Bob Gainey has intervened in some way to resolve the issues. Communication with players is not Carbo's strength. Even Steve Begin, Mathieu Dandenault and Georges Laraque have complained about that.

I really don't think that there is an economic argument to be made. If the Canadiens play to their potential under a replacement coach, the revenue from one or two playoff rounds will eclipse any salary losses. Having said that, Carbonneau would likely be retained in the organization in another capacity. Guy doesn't have the aptitude nor the experience to coach but neither does he have an interest. He has admitted that it is only the means to an end of a front office job.

There is already many impediments to bringing free agents to Montreal as you suggest: high taxes, education policy, and bigoted media. I don't think that firing Carbonneau would add to that list in a negative way. If anything, I understand it would be seen as a positive thing to rid the team who doesn't always make coaching, line-up or icetime decisions based on merit.

As far as 'turfing a friend'? Frankly I am a little tired of friendship coming before team priorities. Carbonneau has choreographed his lineup so that he could help his friend Brisebois achieve the 1000 game mark while sacrificing points in the standings. Brise has been a huge liability in the line-up.

I'm not so sure that you must have a permanent replacement in hand before the coach is fired. Bob Gainey has gone behind the bench before. He can do it again. Alternatively, Don Lever would be a great choice as an interim coach. He knows how to communicate with and motivate many of these players.

Gainey could take some time to find the best qualified replacement. I advocated some time ago that the Canadiens hire Joel Quenneville when he was available. Quenneville has been good this season at changing the performance of an underachieving team.

Don Lever will certainly be a candidate but there are a number of good unemployed coaches who should be considered: Pat Quinn, Bob Hartley, Tom Renney, Peter Laviolette. Coaches who have positions and have connections to the team could also be considered: Andy Murray and Ken Hitchcock. Whoever is chosen, it is clear that the former-star-player-with-no-coaching-experience experiment is over. The Habs could even look at a young career coach like Pete DeBoer. He has done an amazing job with the Panthers.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. A permanent head coach is a topic for the off-season.

I still think that an interim coach can have an impact for the rest of the season. Having said that, Bob Gainey is far more deliberate in his decision-making (usually to positive results). So I will agree with you that it is unlikely that Gainey will make a move at this time. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't.

Canadiens-Thrashers: Can't Win if You Don't Score

2009-03-11T18:35:00.002-04:00

Montreal 0 Atlanta 2 (Philips Arena)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

Is there anyone who still believes that goaltending is the main problem for the Habs?

The Montreal Canadiens have scored one meaningless goal in the last eight periods of play.

The Habs were out-scored 2-0, out-shot 28-25, and most surprising, out-hit 15-5. This is the best performance that the team could muster after the coach put them through a punishing 28 minute skate on Thursday.

Guy Carbonneau has a short coaching resume and a limited set of tools to try to motivate his team. In addition to the hard skate, Carbonneau has tried different line combinations (endlessly), giving grinders first line ice-time, scapegoating his players in the media, getting his boss to intervene, bowling, and a lucky tie. None of these ideas has worked. It is time to face facts. Guy Carbonneau does not have the respect of this team nor does he have the first clue about how to motivate them.

Some will say, that for Carey Price, it was a statement game. Some will once again anoint him as the No. 1 goalie in Montreal. Some will say that he found his confidence. Many will say, as this commenter did, "i hate price butt i must admitt he played well 2night."(sic)

I think that Price's confidence, in part, comes from a coach who believes in him. That is something that is relatively straightforward for a coach to provide. It is much easier than trying to teach technique to a confident but unskilled goalie.

Price made saves early, and often. He was square to the shooter and controlled rebounds. He showed a great glove hand and handled the puck well. He was there on a short handed breakaway, he made some great pad saves and was his glove hand was flawless. Carey Price was brilliant.

But whether it is Price or Halak in goal, it should be clear that the focus should be on other aspects of the team's play.

"With a good performance like this from Carey, unfortunately we can't score goals," Guy Carbonneau said. "It's frustrating for him and us."

Special teams were again a problem. The Canadiens power-play was 0 for 5 including one minute with a two man advantage. Curiously, Glen Metropolit was part of the 5 on 3. The Thrashers are the worst ranked penalty-killing unit in the league. Yet the Canadiens chances were limited. The Thrashers scored a power-play goal.

There were three changes to the line-up. Alex Tanguay played his first game in more than two months. Tanguay got a moderate amount of icetime including power-play shifts. It was easy to see that his timing was off. Tanguay had two minor penalties in otherwise a very quiet night.

In a game that was dominated by special teams, Mathieu Dandenault was not a factor.

Ryan O'Byrne had a solid game. He was physical, defensively responsible, and cleared the zone with a good first pass. In a second period fight, O'Byrne demolished Bogosian. It wasn't even close. Greg Stewart took care of Thorburn in a first period tilt. This was team toughness: fights resulting from hockey plays not pre-arranged boxing demonstrations.

The Canadiens have now been swept this season in Georgia by the Thrashers, one of the worst teams in the conference. It should be an embarrassment for the Habs. Coach Carbonneau saw it differently, "We worked for 60 minutes and gained confidence. We keep working like this, we'll be OK."

Guy Carbonneau has used up his bag of tricks. Bob Gainey has made all the player moves he can this year. There is only one move left. Gainey will be loath to do it, but he must fire the coaching staff to save the season.

Pre-game

Starting lineup: Lapierre, Pacioretty, Kostopoulos, Komisarek, Gorges

Carey Price and Kari Lehtonen started in goal.
Jaroslav Halak backed-up Price. Marc Denis was returned to Hamilton.

It was the first game in 2009 for Tanguay who was back in the line-up after being out with a separated shoulder. He played with Koivu and Higgins.

Mathieu Schneider returned to the Philips Arena as a visitor for the first time since the trade from Atlanta.

Dandenault and O'Byrne played. Brisebois and D'Agostini scratched. Laraque, Bouillon, Latendresse, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Ilya Kovalchuk
3. Kari Lehtonen

(photo credit: Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)

Canadiens-Sabres: Defense & Special Teams Fail Habs

2009-03-11T18:32:00.002-04:00

Montreal 1 Buffalo 5 (HSBC Arena)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

Hockey is a complex game. Sometimes, when you do most everything right, you don't get the fate that you deserve. For the most part, I believe in creating your own breaks. But once or twice in an 82 game schedule, there is a period when the bounces just don't go your way. Tonight was that period.

The Canadiens had a great start. They dominated in most categories including time of possession. Most of the first period was spent in the Sabres zone. The shots at one point were 16-3 for the Canadiens. They also had a 12-6 advantage on faceoffs.

Does this mean that Patrick Lalime was turning in a spectacular goalie performance? Not really. Often times he had no idea where the puck was. Lalime started shaky and it seemed that if he gave up 1 goal, a half dozen would soon follow. There was a good chance that Mikhael Tellqvist would get some game action only hours after being picked up by the Sabres.

Looking at the scoresheet one may think that Buffalo sat back. We saw San Jose dominate a period when the Canadiens sat back. But the Sabres were aggressive with their forecheck sending two and three forwards. The Habs were simply playing well enough to clear their zone.

As pucks bounced near the Buffalo goal , or trickled through the crease the Canadiens shooters began gripping their sticks a little tighter. Even the Canadiens red hot power-play went cold in the first despite some excellent puck movement. The power-play unit was 0 for 3 in the first period.

Buffalo seemed to gather some momentum from the failed Canadiens' power-play opportunities. They started to press but Carey Price was solid. Even when Daniel Paille went in alone, Price stood his ground. As Paille went through the crease, he elbowed Price in the head. There were verbal protests and some pushing but no one on the ice went after Paille. Not even Josh Gorges who was responsible for Paille getting free after a terrible line change.

Shortly after, Mat Schneider went off for a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing Sabre power-play, Jaroslav Spacek fanned on a shot from the point. The bouncing puck when off Lapierre and found its way to Derek Roy who was all alone with an open side of the net. Buffalo had a 1-0 lead on a broken play.

It's rather easy to imagine what Lindy Ruff said to the Sabres in the first intermission. You played a horrible period and are fortunate to have a lead. Now let's makes these adjustments.

We also can imagine what a good coach would say in the Montreal dressing room. The team needed to be encouraged. They had played well but had some bad breaks and a fluky goal against. Guy Carbonneau should have been stoking their confidence.

But we know from various sources that Carbonneau saves his communication skills for his media conferences. We also know that the psyche of the Canadiens is very fragile. Lastly, we know that without coaching adjustments, the Habs have a history of poor performances in the second period this year.

With a power-play to begin the second period for 1:42, the Canadiens should have come out with a plan that would get them back into the game. Instead it was the weakest power-play of the night with little net pressure.

Just over a minute after the power-play expired, Derek Roy made it 2-0 for the Sabres. Gorges was guilty of a giveaway and abandoning his man in front of the net. Again, Carey Price had no chance.

Early in the second period, Price made some good saves to keep his team in the game. Price was square to the shooter and was not allowing rebounds.

Jaroslav Spacek went around Patrice Brisebois with ease and in alone on Price. Spacek made the score 3-0. Commentator Harry Neale said that Brisebois looked like a 90 year old grandmother on the play. Neale was being generous. Brisebois looked worse.

The Canadiens effort in the second period was feeble. Buffalo had made adjustments and had carried the play. The Habs didn't improve in the third.

Early in the period, the Sabre power-play struck again. Josh Gorges was caught out of position in the slot leaving his man alone in front to deflect a point shot past Carey Price. Again Price had no chance on the play.

Later the Sabres scored on a Mathieu Schneider giveaway that sent Gaustad in alone on a breakaway. The Canadiens were on a power-play.

Buffalo dominated on special teams. Their power-play was 2 for 3. The Canadiens power-play was 0 for 5 while giving up a short-handed goal.

The Canadiens defense was awful particularly Brisebois, Gorges and Schneider.

Carey Price will be blamed but shouldn't. He can't be faulted on the goals. While the Canadiens did a good job keeping the shot to the perimeter the past few games, tonight the Sabres had free lanes to the goal.

This would have been a very different game if the Canadiens power-play had scored in the first period; or, if an experienced coach had settled the team between periods; or, if the defense had performed.

What was Guy Carbonneau's assessment? Carbonneau said "This is our playoff spot. we are battling for this and if we're not able to sustain the energy and the focus then there is something wrong. They're either tired or not in shape so again we will go back to the drawing board and talk to them tomorrow and see what we can do to get it better."

We know that other than changing line combinations, there is not much in Carbonneau's "drawing board." In other words, he doesn't have a clue.

Post game

Georges Laraque left the game and did not return with an undisclosed injury.

Pre-game
Starting lineup: Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Kovalev, Schneider, Markov

Carey Price and Patrick Lalime started in goal.
Marc Denis backed-up Price. Newly acquired Mikhael Tellqvist was the back-up goalie for Buffalo.

Dandenault and O'Byrne scratched. Halak out with the flu. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Paul Gaustad
2. Derek Roy
3. Daniel Paille

(photo credit: AP)

Montreal Canadiens Transaction Tracker

2009-03-11T18:30:00.000-04:00

No moves were made on Wednesday by the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline.

Bob Gainey characterized his day, saying we were "not too active today." When asked to explain Gainey said "I don't have any regrets with the players who moved teams today that none of them came to our team. I prefer that we continue to get our group to their potential."

Comments?

2009 NHL trade deadline transactions: Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens receive Mathieu Schneider, D and 2009 conditional pick from Atlanta for 2009 second-round pick and 2010 third-round pick
Canadiens receive Doug Janik, D from Dallas for Steve Begin, C
Canadiens claim Glen Metropolit off waivers from Philadephia

Patrick Roy: Winning. Nothing Else.

2009-03-11T18:29:00.001-04:00

Our friend David Hutchison at InGoal Magazine has just posted an audio interview with Michel Roy. Michel is the author of his son's biography Patrick Roy: Winning. Nothing Else. It's a fascinating look at Patrick's views on a number of issues through the eyes of his father, Michel.

Michel Roy interview

Approaching the Trade Deadline...and Beyond.

2009-03-02T04:02:00.002-05:00

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

It's been a crazy week or two in the world of the Montreal Canadiens. A roller-coaster of emotions complete with drama, intrigue, disappointment and jubilation. Let's take time to look back, and then ahead to the final six weeks of the season.

First there was an article in La Presse and their much-ado-about-nothing allegations. It was accompanied by the sky-is-falling ninnies on L'Antichambre. It seems that it was nothing more than some bad associations along with a pathetic attempt to discredit three players who 'compete' for ice-time against the media's 'chosen few' on the team. Last week, La Presse promised that a boat load of additional allegations would be released involving more Canadiens' players. As the week went on, the spin changed to say that the story was being reviewed by their legal counsel. It says something about the validity of the story when a team of lawyers is required to vet the information.

Then we watched the public spat between my-door-is-always-open coach Guy Carbonneau and I-fight-by-appointment-only Georges Laraque. The two had a meeting where Georges said that he wanted to play more (and would gladly look after Carbo's media interviews.) The coach responded by telling Laraque that he never liked enforcers, the meeting was over, and that he should close the door on his way out.

Having been rebuffed, Laraque decided to take his case to the media. He is not quite a master of spin yet but tried his hand anyway. "It's the most frustrated I've been in my career," said Laraque. "I play hard and I give everything I have when I play," Laraque said. "I fight for my teammates and everything I do for respect."

Laraque's comments were laughable (from a safe distance). He has not played hard this season. Laraque came to training camp out of shape and has contributed very little to the Canadiens. He has not brought a physical game nor provided a deterrent to the opposition.

As Georges has been reluctant to fight anyone outside of his weight class, opponents continue to take liberties with the Canadiens' star players. Saying that he fights for his teammates is pure fiction. Each of Laraque's fights this year has been pre-arranged. Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon have been the ones spontaneously stepping in to defend teammates.

Laraque's public comments drew the ire of a very hypocritical coach Carbonneau. “I don’t like it, definitely. It’s not good for the team. It’s not good for his teammates. I don’t want anyone to be happy when he’s not playing, but that should stay internally.” Apparently, Carbonneau hasn't heard of the phrase "what's good for the goose is good for the gander." (Georges, if you are reading, I'm not calling you a goose or a gander.)

You see, it is Guy Carbonneau who is rather fond of bypassing the usual coach-player communication channels and going right to the media when he wants to toss a player under the bus. Carbonneau has publicly criticized, humiliated, zapped the confidence and painted a bulls-eye on the back of players like Carey Price, Alex Kovalev, Sergei Kostitsyn, Ryan O'Byrne, etc. That list also includes Georges Laraque. Carbonneau publicly questioned Georges Laraque's injury status a few months ago. "They were wondering whether I was faking," said Laraque. Georges was so incensed that he forced the Canadiens to specifically identify his back injury.

Georges Laraque is very good at self-promotion and seems to have one foot already in his next career. As Kelly Hrudey from Hockey Night in Canada says "Laraque is not committed to hockey right now." Georges seems more interested in his own celebrity.

It's interesting that Guy Carbonneau and Georges Laraque share many similar characteristics. They both focus more on their media image rather than the job that they were hired to do. They both have an inflated opinion of their contribution to the team. Guy and Georges both seem to be trying to ride on their reputation of past performance.

Next on the agenda was the trade of Steve Begin to the Dallas Stars for minor league defenseman Doug Janik. Begin had been a healthy scratch in the previous five games. Steve Begin had met with the General Manager, and as Bob Gainey described "in a very mature way asked if I could find a place where he could have a better possibility of playing regularly." In a classy move, Gainey obliged sending him to the Stars.

It was a move that also helped the Canadiens by creating cap space. It allowed Montreal to pick up Glen Metropolit, a much more useful utility player on waivers from Philadelphia the following day.

Steve Begin was a player with lots of heart. He was a fan and media favorite. Begin's contribution to the Canadiens has been recognized and is appreciated. On a personal note, I wish him well in Dallas. But the media reaction to his trade has been ridiculous, and worse. Begin is a 4th line player no more, no less. He is also a high reward, high risk player. He was known for solid, punishing checks. But Begin was also known for taking bad penalties. Sometimes, Steve was overzealous in looking for a big hit which made him a defensive liability. Begin was also reluctant to drop the gloves. Begin had lost his role to players who did it better, such as Tom Kostopoulos and Greg Stewart.

The comments on French radio and TV about Bob Gainey after the trade of Begin were unbelievable. They were discriminatory and bigoted. The commentators were a disgrace to all Quebeckers and they should have been asked to resign.

Steve Begin had spoken about the lack of communication by the head coach. He also had heated discussions at practise with the coaching staff. Georges Laraque would like a trade. Mathieu Dandenault isn't happy with his role. Alex Kovalev situation is well documented. The General Manager was forced to put out Carbonneau's fires.

The interesting part of the Kovalev story is that Bob Gainey communicated Alex's grievances to the coach. Since Kovalev returned to the line-up, he is getting more ice-time, playing with his preferred line-mates and benefiting from a resurgent power-play.

Perhaps another intervention will be required to remind Carbonneau that it is his responsibility to get his No. 1 goaltender ready for the playoffs. Just as the Canadiens would not win with Max Lapierre getting first line center ice-time, neither will it go far in the playoffs with Jaroslav Halak.

Halak is playing with much more confidence and has made improvements to his game, from earlier in the season. His positioning relative to the net is much better, and he no longer plays as deep in the crease. But Halak still has trouble controlling rebounds, which has inflated the shots against recently. Jaro also has trouble holding onto shots into his glove hand, and he is very weak handling the puck.

In the words of Bob Gainey, Carey Price "was our best player for the first 35 games." Gainey added "He was also one of the best goalies in the league." Bob understands that they will need Price for the playoffs. With less than a quarter of the season left, Carbonneau will have to completely reverse the practice of undermining the confidence of his franchise player.

With less than 20 games left in the season, it's time to start preparing for the playoffs. The formula that has provided four Canadiens' wins will not hold up. The good news is that power-play is back on track. Now, it's time to use the Canadiens speed and skill to play a puck pursuit game. Hanging back and trying to defend leads is risky, very taxing on the players, and doesn't match the skill set of the roster.

It is unclear what Bob Gainey will do at the trade deadline. On Saturday, Bob said "this is pretty close to the team that we will enter the playoff race with." Gainey included Ryan O'Byrne and Sergei Kostitsyn in that group. Bob did say that "our phone lines will be open" regarding any potential trades but that hardly sounds like a general manager who will be actively pursuing a big deal. Expect Mathieu Dandenault to be moved, if there are any takers. It could be that other often-mentioned names like Georges Laraque and Jaroslav Halak will only be moved in the off-season.

With the return of Alex Tanguay to the line-up, the Canadiens could, as Gainey described, be close to "running on all cylinders at the same time." Gainey's vision of the playoff version of the Canadiens is "a team who is tough to play against."

Let's hope that Bob is right.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Sharks-Canadiens: Hold On, They're Coming!

2009-02-28T22:15:00.001-05:00

Montreal 3 San Jose 2 (Bell Centre)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

The Montreal Canadiens just beat the best team in hockey. They have now won four straight games. Jaroslav Halak made 46 saves. So why am I feeling uncomfortable?

It was a great first period for the Habs. After withstanding an initial onslaught by the Sharks, the Canadiens used their speed to pressure the opposition. Brian Boucher was not sharp particularly when handling the puck. The Habs made the most of their opportunities scoring three times. Saku Koivu's line was on fire. Andrei Markov had a great first period. The power-play connected again.

But we have seen this movie before. The Canadiens get a lead then Carbonneau advises his club that its full retreat mode beginning the second period. Some think its just good defensive tactics. But the strategy only works for good defensive teams, and the Habs aren't strong defensively. Instead, the Canadiens just desperately hold on, while the opposition forms its firing squad. Perhaps Gainey needs to take Carbonneau for a walk in Old Montreal and let me know he is playing with fire.

The Sharks attacked early in the second period. They scored twice before the period was two minutes old. Then another San Jose shot rang off the post. Jaroslav Halak was having trouble tracking the puck. He looked very awkward on the two goals. The Canadiens were reeling. The period ended with the Sharks outshooting the Canadiens 14 to 4 (not including 3 San Jose shots off the post).

“We stopped skating and stopped shooting the puck and we made turnovers in the neutral zone,” said defenseman Andrei Markov. I would suggest that's what happens when you are instructed to abandon the forecheck.

The next period began with another Shark shot going through Halak and hitting the post. Then a shot by Setoguchi went in and out of his glove. Halak confirmed after the game that he was tired late in the game.

The third period played out much the same as the second. It was desperation hockey on every shift by the Canadiens. For a rare time, Carbonneau even shortened the bench, by two. Patrice Brisebois and Georges Laraque didn't see the ice much in the third. The Canadiens could have used Ryan O'Byrne, who would have been in the line-up if not for an injury the previous night in Hamilton.

To their credit, every Habs player did whatever was necessary to protect their goal, and goaltender. San Jose is an excellent team who is well coached. They outshot Montreal 34-11 in the last two periods.

“We faced a really good team tonight and I don’t think we played our best,” said Koivu. “The first (period) was better but then we became too passive.”

The feeling after the game was that the Canadiens stole one from a superior team. But if the Habs were allowed to play to their strengths, they can intimidate any team. They have speed, skill and offensive firepower. Their personnel suits a puck position game, and they can be very effective when aggressively pressuring the opposition defense.

As some on the Hockey Night in Canada panel said tonight, 'Quit trying to be something that you are not.' Or as Elliotte Friedman said a few weeks ago 'Maybe Guy Carbonneau just doesn't understand this team.'

It was a terrific night for Andrei Markov, Saku Koivu, Jaroslav Halak and Matt D'Agostini. Now, the Canadiens go on the road for three games. Three more wins will greatly help my comfort level.

Pre-game

Starting lineup: Lapierre, Kostopoulos, Pacioretty, Komisarek, Hamrlik
Jaroslav Halak and Brian Boucher started in goal.

Evgeni Nabokov had the flu and was unlikely to play under any circumstance.

Dandenault and Chipchura scratched. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Andrei Markov
2. Jaroslav Halak
3. Joe Thornton

(photo credit: AP)

Canadiens-Flyers: Special Teams are Key to Habs' Win.

2009-02-27T22:19:00.002-05:00

Montreal 4 Philadephia 3 OT (Wachovia Center)

posted by Rocket
theRocketSports.blogspot.com

Imagine the day of Glen Metropolit. During the morning skate, he was a member of the Flyers. Just after lunch, the Canadiens claimed him off waivers as Philadelphia tried to clear cap space. A quick meeting with his new coach and receiving new gear were part of his afternoon.

Just after 7 pm. at the Wachovia Center, Metropolit took the opening faceoff as a member of the Montreal Canadiens wearing number 15. Twenty-eight seconds into the period, he looked somewhat confused with his new linemates. Glen watched former teammate Joffrey Lupul give the Flyers a 1-0 early lead.

His second shift of the night found Metropolit in the penalty box with a hi-sticking penalty. The next time Metropolit touched the ice, he received a breakaway pass coming out of the penalty box, only to be stopped by Antero Nittymaki.

''You know how they say, no friends on the ice,'' Metropolit said. ''I just tried to compete tonight and just worry about the task at hand.''

Welcome to the Montreal Canadiens, Glen. It was an unusual introduction for Metropolit in an equally strange game. It was marked by sloppy play, inconsistent goaltending, and poor defense.

The first period was rather wild. It was a curious decision by Guy Carbonneau to start players that had not played together before. Both goalies struggled. Jaroslav Halak allowed two weak goals; the first as he failed on two attempts to control rebounds. The Flyers had 2 goals on 4 shots. With Nittymaki giving up two soft goals himself, the Canadiens were able to take a 3-2 lead to the dressing room after the first period. The Flyers and Habs missed additional opportunities to score with the goalies out of position. It could have been much worse.

Both goalies would stabilize their play beginning in the second period. The Flyers outshot the Canadiens 18 to 5 due, in part, to six minor penalties for the Habs. Philadelphia was able to tie the game on a horrible giveaway by Patrice Brisebois.

The play was much more even in the third period. The Canadiens would end the game with a power-play goal in overtime.

The penalty-killing unit shone for the second game in a row. Philadelphia, with the league's 4th ranked power-play, were 0 for 8 including two 5 on 3 advantages. The Habs power-play scored twice which is now 10 goals in the last 24 chances. Special teams were the key to tonight's victory.

''Special teams was the difference and they won it,'' Flyers coach John Stevens said.

Tomas Plekanec continued his hot play with a goal, an assist and a team high 5 shots. Alex Kovalev assisted on both power-play goals and scored one of his own. Mathieu Schneider had a 2 point night, including the game winner in overtime.

Saku Koivu dominated on faceoffs including on important special teams draws. Andrei Kostitsyn was held off the scoresheet but contributed by his strong play in front of the net. Glenn Metropolit was 60% on faceoffs and led the team in hits. Andrei Markov led the team with 5 blocked shots.

The pair of Roman Hamrlik and Patrice Brisebois was minus 5. Brisebois had a brutal game and cramming as many errors as one player could in 11:51 ice-time. Brise has been responsible for giveaways at the opposition blueline dozens of times this year. Tonight it resulted in the tying goal by Simon Gagne. Watching Brisebois trying to defend Scottie Upshall in over-time is reason enough alone that he should retire.

Georges Laraque demanded to be in the line-up. He got his wish. Laraque couldn't have been more invisible and insignificant: 7 shifts, 4:20 TOI, 0 fights, 0 hits, 0 shots.

The Canadiens battled back after being down early. It was a very important two points. But defense and goaltending will have to be much better against the Sharks on Saturday night.

Pre-game
Starting lineup: Metropolit, Stewart, Kovalev, Hamrlik, Komisarek
Jaroslav Halak and Antero Nittymaki started in goal.

Halak's road record is dismal: 4-7-1 .895 SV% 3.44 GAA

Dandenault and Chipchura scratched. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:
1. Tomas Plekanec
2. Simon Gagne
3. Alex Kovalev

(photo credit:Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Hipwaders and how the Habs Blanked Sundin & the Canucks

2009-02-24T22:25:00.000-05:00

Montreal 3 Vancouver 0 (Bell Centre)

posted by Rocket
AllHabs.blogspot.com

I have memories of some of the very first backyard boot hockey games. On the small ice surface, it was often my brother and I versus our similar aged neighbour and his Dad. Mr. Webb was a not-very-svelte 250 pound guy who wore hip waders and a baggy army parka. He didn't stray too far from the net preferring to lie on the ice across the goal line. While my brother and I could easily advance past our friend, raising the puck over this hulk with hip waders was an entirely different matter. We hammered away, ran up the shot totals, and usually lost 4 or 5 to nothing. The streak continued for a few years until we learned to raise the puck, and then the hip waders were unavailable to come out to play. More about this later.

The final two periods of tonight's game, the Canadiens were outshot 26 to 11. If you are experiencing deja vu, you aren't alone. Since the game against Detroit, the coaching staff have employed a new strategy. In the first period, the players are allowed to use their skill and speed and employ a forecheck. Hopefully, this yields a lead. In the second and third period, the Canadiens use a different scheme. Sometimes, its a 1-4 or even a 0-5. Some people call it a 1-2-2. More simply, its called 'maximum retreat!' It essentially means abandoning the neutral zone and dropping all five Canadiens behind the blue-line.

This system has limited success until teams realize that they just have to attack with speed and chip the puck past the defenders. As we saw on the recent road trip, the Canadiens don't fare very well when they spend most of the game in their own zone. But for whatever reason, it is the strategy that Guy Carbonneau is comfortable with right now.

This strategy reminds me a little of those early games in the backyard. Maximum defense...everyone back...barricade the goal. But the system can be beat by good teams with skill. It is a scheme designed for a team who is afraid to lose rather than one who wants to win. And perhaps its can be effective to keep the Canadiens in games against bottom feeding teams. It seems that skilled teams will find a way to exploit it while the Habs just try to hang on. Washington proved that to be true.

Back to tonight. Finally, Jaroslav Halak's performance caught up with his press clippings. This season, Jaro has enjoyed the a habit of getting wins even with mediocre efforts. But tonight was Halak's best game of the season. Yes, he still struggled with rebound control and puck handling. Jaro had lots of help tonight from his defense who cleared the rebounds and blocked second shots. For his part, Halak's positioning was much better in the net. He was sharp all game.

But this game was really about special teams, particularly the Canadiens penalty killers. The PK unit was a perfect six for six, which included the defense of a Canuck two-man advantage for a full two minutes. To their credit the Canadien defenders limited the Canucks so that Halak didn't have to make one tough save.

Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec have been the two hardest working Canadiens night in and night out this season. As the Canuck five on three came to an end, Koivu dived to knock the puck out of the Canadiens zone just as Plekanec came out of the penalty box. Plekanec turned on the speed, went in alone, and went top corner on Roberto Luongo. It was the turning point of the game. Plekanec and Koivu were also dominant on faceoffs.

Max Pacioretty continues to be one of the best Habs every game. Pacioretty is a speedy, physical power forward with hands that the Canadiens have been waiting for.

The defense was much better tonight. Andrei Markov was terrific playing twenty-six minutes and scoring a power-play goal on a nice feed from Tomas Plekanec. Mike Komisarek and Josh Gorges combined to block seven shots with Komisarek also getting five hits.

The scouts box at the Bell Centre was filled tonight. Perhaps Halak's performance impressed one of them enough to give Bob Gainey a key bargaining chip to bring in the big center that this team needs going into the playoffs.

The Canadiens got a win and an important two points tonight but they will need a better effort for the upcoming games. The Flyers and Sharks are next on the schedule; two teams who can definitely 'raise the puck'.

Pre-game
Starting lineup: Plekanec, Kovalev, Andre Kostitsyn, Hamrlik, Komisarek
Jaroslav Halak and Roberto Luongo started in goal.

Laraque and Begin scratched. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Tanguay will not be available to play this week. He will be re-evaluated next week.

Happy 36th Birthday to Alex Kovalev.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Canadiens' penalty-killing unit
1. Jaroslav Halak
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Saku Koivu

(photo credit: AP)

Kovalev Won this Battle

2009-02-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

Montreal 5 Ottawa 3 (Bell Centre)

Rocket:

While Alex Kovalev was exiled to the home front this week, we were treated to endless stream of media spin with most agreeing that the #27 sweater would soon be available for the newly-arrived Mathieu Schneider. Either Kovalev had already been traded or would soon be sent packing. Consensus was that Alex had played his final game in Montreal.

The press called Kovalev a humiliated man. Alex didn't react. Even after the French press created covert Russian sources and fictitious quotes. Kovy didn't take the bait. He simply contacted Darren Dreger at TSN and discredited the story.

Some are crediting Bob Gainey's action for properly motivating Kovalev. Gainey's 'work first, talent second' message seems to have hit home. But an under-reported part of the story is that Bob Gainey agreed to deliver Kovalev's concerns to the coach. Gainey confirmed that he did. Perhaps it was the key.

Rather than acting as a disciplinarian, Bob Gainey was a mediator between two parties who have limited communication. Many Canadiens players have complained about a lack of communication from the coach. The most recent was Steve Begin. Perhaps Elliotte Freidman is correct when reporting that Guy Carbonneau just doesn't understand his team.

So what message did Bob Gainey deliver to his friend Guy on behalf of Alex? We don't know. But a few days ago, I examined the factors that contributed to a successful Alex Kovalev. Kovalev is THE problem...isn't he?? They are: compatible linemates, ice time and a successful power-play. (Alex scores approximately 50% of his points on the power-play.) Today, Kovy was reunited with Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. He had more ice-time than Max Lapierre for the first time in many games. Alex had three points with two coming via the power-play.

I would suggest that the 'winning formula' has been available all season. A stubborn coach refused to implement it and an equally stubborn player decided to protest until he got it. Today, the winner of this battle was declared. He was the first star of the game and the man whose named was chanted by the Bell Centre faithful.

When asked about his return to the Canadiens, Kovalev replied “I feel like I’ve just been traded to a new team.”

A linemate of Kovalev was another player who had not experienced a pleasant few days. Despite exaggeration and sensationalism by the media, Andrei Kostitsyn played well, not showing any ill effects. Tomas Plekanec continued his strong play with a goal and dominance at the faceoff dot. Both Plekanec and Kovalev were superb on penalty-killing duty.

Other Canadiens' forwards who had strong efforts were Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu and Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty played with maturity and delivered several solid hits. The only question is why did he only have 9:29 icetime?

Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik were the stars on defense. Mike Komisarek took care of traffic in front of the net particularly when penalty killing. Josh Gorges deserves special mention for coming to the aid of teammate Kyle Chipchura when he was elbowed in the head by Shean Donovan. While Patrice Brisebois scored a power-play goal, he was directly responsible for an Ottawa goal only 53 seconds later. Mathieu Schneider played much better as his ice-time was managed. Schneider's power-play goal was a rocket from the point.

Just as in the Washington game, the Canadiens excelled due to a strong forecheck, quick breakouts and an effective power-play. When the coaches abandoned the forecheck in the third period, the Senators out shot the Canadiens 22 to 4. Jaroslav Halak wasn't challenged often in the first two periods and when he was looked shaky. Ottawa took advantage for their first two goals. In the third period, Jaro had to make several key saves to preserve the win. Halak continues to struggle with rebound control thereby inflating the shot totals.

After the game, Guy Carbonneau mused about other Canadiens taking time off. Many Habs fans are looking forward to Carbo announcing the dates of his vacation.

Post game:

Guy Carbonneau confirmed that Francis Bouillon has a groin tear. Bouillon will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. He is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

Pre-game:

The Canadiens wore their road white sweaters for this home game.

Starting lineup: Lapierre, Kostopoulos, Pacioretty, Hamrlik, Komisarek
Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot started in goal.

Alex Kovalev returned to the lineup with the 'A' on his sweater.
Alfredsson played with a full shield to protect his broken jaw.

Laraque and Begin scratched. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Alex Kovalev
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Dany Heatley

(photo credit: AP)

Guest Article: I'm a Habs fan (with a big goofy grin)

2009-02-20T22:39:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

We meet together on All Habs...both readers and writers. Some are critics, some are optimists, some are realists, and some apologists. This has been a tough few weeks for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans. We now have an opportunity to remind us why we are all fans.

Tracy Lee lives in Vancouver. She is a very good writer and author of an entertaining blog about her life: tracy-lee.com But more importantly to this story, Tracy is Canadiens fan. She is a new friend to All Habs. And Tracy now has a special connection to Carey Price.

I'm pleased that Tracy has agreed to write a guest article for All Habs. After reading, I hope that it will help you remember why you are a passionate fan of the Montreal Canadiens. If you want to share, please leave a comment.

I'm a Habs fan (with a big goofy grin)
by Tracy Lee

Jean Beliveau, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur and, of course, Maurice “Rocket” Richard. These are just a few of the many great men who have played for the Montreal Canadiens. As any Habs fan would know, I could go on and on with the great talent the team has seen over the past 100 years.

I am a Habs fan. I have been since I was a small child (I even have pictures of me as a baby wearing the Canadiens logo). I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about the club, as it’s only been the past few years that I’ve really gotten in to hockey. But it’s great to sit back and research how truly great the organization is. Everyone has their favourite players, mine happens to be Carey Price. From British Columbia, like myself, Carey is the goaltender and has done some wonderful things for the team. Excuse the recent slump he’s been in- everyone is entitled to their ups and downs, including him.

Back during the summer when the 2008/2009 NHL schedule was released I finally was able to find the date when the Habs would be taking on the Canucks. February 15th. I was determined to go, I knew it might not happen seeing as they haven’t battled each other in over three years. I managed to scoop up two tickets; I planned on going with my father- the reason why I am a Canadiens fan. You see, he grew up watching them along with his father. It’s sort of been passed down through the family.

Game day finally arrived. I woke up at 7:30 and got ready to head down to GM Place. I knew that they had to do a morning skate, so I grabbed my Price jersey off my wall (yes, it hangs on my wall) and made my way over to The Garage. Thankfully I live within walking distance so it only took me about 20 minutes. I got there just after 9:30 and was thankful when I saw other fans there with their jerseys. I hadn’t missed them. The bus pulled up shortly after ten and I felt like a small child on Christmas morning. One by one the team walked off the bus and, sadly, walked straight into the building. No autographs. No waves or smiles. Carey came out and was the only one to take the time to sign hats, jerseys, hockey pucks and pictures. He is a BC boy playing his first game as a Canadien in his home town, after all. He made his way around the half circle towards me and I must have had the biggest goofy smile on my face. But I didn’t care he was there, in front of me and impossibly cuter than on tv (hey I am a 21 year old girl- cut me some slack).

Around five that night my father and I walked down to GM Place proudly in our Canadiens jerseys. Mine, red. His, white. After standing around for what felt like hours they let us in the building. I quickly made my way down to the Montreal bench and held my spot against the glass and waited. We chatted with other fans and were having a great time. Suddenly the music turned up. The lights dimmed and the Canucks came racing out for the pre skate. I look to my left and see blur after blur of white racing past me. Can you believe I actually found myself getting emotional? I didn’t cry, but I was overwhelmed with joy. I was finally seeing the team that I had been routing for since I was little. Then I saw him. Decked out in red, white and blue. mostly white with a little red, but you know what I mean. The pre skate seemed to speed by, I wish it could have been longer. It was so exciting to see all the team. Koivu, Kovalev, Higgins, Halak and the rest of my team. I had my camera out and was snapping away at everything I could. Of course, the lens seemed to magically follow Price. Which may have helped pay off in the end. Two minutes were all that remained, the blurs of white became fewer and fewer. “Tracy look, Price is skating this way!” my Dad called out. I managed to get one shot before chaos happened. Standing in front of me Carey lifted his arms and goalie stick up and tossed it over the glass- to me. I can’t tell you exactly what happened after that because it was such a blur of pushing and grabbing but somehow I ended up with the stick. It was mine. All mine. Thanks to my Dad mainly. You see when the stick came over the glass it landed between my Dad and I. He grabbed the blade of it and sat down in an empty seat, he had a death grip and wasn’t going to let go. Hands were all over it, pulling this way and that. I had one hand on it, the other held my camera (which I’m thankful didn’t smash to the ground). There was lots of pushing “It’s mine! It’s mine! It’s mine!” I called, it was the only thing that was coming out of my mouth. After everything subsided, I was queen. Queen in a sea full of men and boys adorned in white and red. I didn’t see Carey leave the ice, but I had his goalie stick. My Dad hugged me and kissed the side of my head. I started to cry. Yes. I cried. Only a few tears, but I was so overcome with happiness that I couldn’t help it. It stopped as suddenly as it had started. Everyone was patting my Dad on the back, congratulating me and one guy offered me 200 dollars for it on the spot. “Are you kidding me” I thought “Sorry, I won’t ever be selling this” I said. The game, as you all know, didn’t go as well as I’d hoped but I couldn’t be horribly upset. I did have one hell of a souvenir.

The next morning at work, still slightly on cloud nine, I began flipping through The Province newspaper (one of Vancouver’s most popular and widely read papers). I was hoping for some half decent pictures from the game, but what I got instead far surpassed my hopes. There was Carey, arms raised, lifting the stick to toss it over the glass and me standing in front of him, one arm raised, and mouth open with a shocked expression on my face. A photographer at the game captured the moment I couldn’t completely remember. I had proof he was giving the stick to me, not the kid next to me, he was standing in front of me. This put me back up in the clouds.

Six days after the fact and I still can’t believe what happened and the amazing luck that was with me on Sunday. Not only did I get my first ever player jersey signed, it was signed by my favourite player and later on he gave me his goalie stick. I look at the picture or at the goalie stick and have the same big goofy grin as I did when Carey signed my jersey. It’s a moment that neither I nor my Dad will ever, ever forget.

(Photo credit: Ric Ernst, The Province)

Breaking News: Hamrilik & Kostitsyn brothers named as associates of man arrested in police sting.

2009-02-20T01:42:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Let's just take a deep breath. The initial reports are sensational...intentionally so. The comments by the gossiping grannies on L'Antichambre were over the top. Nothing that we have seen so far suggests that the named players have been involved in any illegal activity.

It is reported that the players are acquaintances of Mr. Mangiola but they have not been directly linked publicly to the offences for which he has been arrested. It is reported that Andrei Kostitsyn was questioned by police after the Pens game.

At this point, nothing is known with certainty. It would be unfair and unethical to make any judgements or implications.

As Habs fans, let's resist overreacting until the full story is revealed.

Embarrassment
Friday, 20 February 2009
translated version from RDS.ca

La Presse newspaper today published a dossier on embarrassing brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn who have links with a suspected member of organized crime who was arrested under the police Operation Axis.

This alleged criminal Pasquale Mangiola, 38, was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and he served as an intermediary between various criminal groups.

During the police investigation that led to Operation Axis, the police recorded several telephone conversations Mangiola without his knowledge. Several of these conversations have taken place with the Kostitsyn brothers.

Canadiens players have returned to Pittsburgh around midnight and no arrests have been made.

According to La Presse, Mangiola is a great friend of the brothers Kostitsyn.

A man of 38 years would make a number of services to both Canadiens players on their outings in the bars, girls and luxury cars.

Defenseman Roman Hamrlik also has links with Mangiola, according to the newspaper of the rue St-Jacques. Hamrlik was seen in the company of Mangiola, Kostitsyn and bars in Montreal.

La Presse questioned Andrei Kostitsyn on his relationship with Mangiola after the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The eldest of the brothers Kostitsyn confirmed Mangiola he knew, but he knew nothing about him.

Don Meehan acted as agents for the two Kostitsyn brothers and he said he did not know this individual.

Furthermore, Meehan and direction of Canadiens held to clarify that the return of Sergei Kostitsyn to Hamilton was merely due to hockey.

from L'Antichambre (translated):

Jacques Demers: "Honestly, there are things I know, and what looks like what's going to come out [in the papers] tomorrow, I swear to you, I thought about Mr. Beliveau tonight ... and I just hope I'm dreaming. I'm a proud Canadien, the Canadiens are my life, and I hope I'm dreaming but I don't think I am."

Michel Bergeron: "I feel the same way. It's unbelievable. Tomorrow, hockey will be second. I don't like at all what I've heard today."

Bob Hartley: "If everything we've been told is true, I've never seen that in my life. If it's true, I'm going back to Atlanta [joking]"

Michel Bergeron: "The Canadiens are my roots, and my idols, like you guys...and it looks like the foundation is going to be shaken. Not just for the Quebecois but for anyone who wears the Canadiens sweater around the country. To me, what's happened, it's unacceptable".

Alain Crete: "We can't go into many details but something has happened that will implicate not just one Canadiens player but many. You'll be hearing more tomorrow."

Pens get past Passive Habs

2009-02-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

Montreal 4 Pittsburgh 5 (Mellon Arena)

Rocket:

Hands up if you liked the way the Canadiens played against Washington. Yeah, me too. I mentioned in last night's game review that the Habs were effective because they spent less time in their own zone. This stemmed from an active forecheck and efficient breakouts.

So, imagine my surprise watching the first period of tonight's game in Pittsburgh. The Canadiens spent most of the period skating backwards. There was little or no forechecking, with the Habs vacating the neutral zone. The result: the Canadiens spent most of the period bottled up in their own zone. The Penguins outshot the Canadiens 8 to 3.

What happened? According to Doug Jarvis, it was by design. The coaching staff wanted all players back to protect against odd man rushes. His take on the first period: he was happy. I thought the period was slow and dull.

By mid-way in the second period, the Pens were dominating and leading in shots 15-6. Are the coaches still happy with pulling the players back into their own zone?

The Canadiens are much more effective when they forecheck aggressively and pressure the puck carrier in the neutral zone. Tomas Plekanec had a great game, and is a terrific two-way player. He is particularly good at backchecking, creating a turnover and then leading a rush. He did just that on the Canadiens first goal. Pleks finished the play by scoring frm a Andrei Kostitsyn feed. Plekanec scored his second goal of the game on the transition from a Pacioretty takeaway.

Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Pacioretty were clearly the Canadiens best line tonight with 7 points.

The Canadiens power-play was less effective last night with one 5 on 3 goal in 4 PP opportunities. Mathieu Schneider finally tamed his erratic point shot enough to catch the corner for his first goal since the trade. That was the lone bright spot for Schneider who was very weak defensively finishing the game at -4. Perhaps the blame should lie with the coaching staff who saw fit to have the 39 year old on the ice for 27 minutes in the Washington game. Schneider and Bouillon miscommunicated and both ended up out of the play on the Pens 3rd goal. On the 4th, Staal muscled Schneider into Price.

It is curious that Markov and Schneider, two guys who love to pinch are paired together, and the two defensive rearguards, Hamrlik and Komisarek, are partners. I would much rather see Komo and Marky reunited.

Saku Koivu was an impressive 78% on faceoffs. But his line was a combined -9 tonight. Koivu, Higgins and D'Agostini looked fatigued.

Max Lapierre had his worst game in quite some time. He was guilty of several giveaways and managed to win only 22% of his faceoffs. Lapierre is only credited with 2 faceoff wins, and that includes one when the puck was dropped before Malkin was set. The Pens first goal was made possible when Laps failed to execute a flashy hip check rather than just taking his man.

George Laraque played less than 4 minutes. He had a forgettable staged fight with Eric Godard. It's time to pull the plug on this failed experiment.

Francis Bouillon left the game with an ankle injury and didn't return.

Dan Bylsma got his first win as head coach of the Penguins. Bylsma alternated Malkin and Crosby every second shift in the third period. The Pens won by playing their best players. How does Guy Carbonneau get outcoached by Dan Bylsma?

A disastrous road trip ends with the Canadiens earning only 3 points. After the distractions of early in the week, the problems remain.

Pre-game:

Starting line-up: Koivu, Higgins, D'Agostini, Markov, Schneider
Carey Price will start in goal. Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins.

Brisebois and Begin scratched. Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Evgeni Malkin
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Andrei Kostitsyn

(photo credit: AP)

Message Received and Answered

2009-02-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

Montreal 3 Washington 4 SO (Verizon Center)

Rocket:

Coming into this game, most of the sports talking heads hoped that the Canadiens wouldn't be blown out too badly by a very hot Washington Capitals team. Suffice to say, expectations were extremely low for the Habs given the turmoil of the past few days.

I have been generally supportive of the moves made by Bob Gainey, but one must wonder, was the circus really necessary? Without question, the criticism surrounding Guy Carbonneau quickly moved to Alex Kovalev and the rest of the team.

To their credit, the team really responded tonight.

Andrei Markov had 3 assists. Andrei Kostitsyn had a goal, an assist and looked like a sniper. Chris Higgins had a goal, and won puck battles. Tomas Plekanec had a goal, 6 shots and played excellent two-way hockey. Saku Koivu won important faceoffs. Max Pacioretty and Matt D'Agostini played with energy. Carey Price was superb.

Mathieu Schneider fit in quite well. He tallied an assist and moved the puck effectively. His defensive flaws were evident especially when Semin walked around him with ease. Matt is an upgrade over Bouillon, Gorges and Brisebois. And he logged the most minutes of any Habs player. But, is he a $6 million defenseman? That's another story.

The biggest change tonight is that the Canadiens actually had a forecheck. That coupled with the ability to move the puck from their own end was the biggest impact. Spend less time in your own end and the team gives up fewer chances. It's that simple.

The Habs power-play produced all 3 goals on 4 chances. The PP success had little to do with Schneider but instead was a result of players going to the crease.

After being the Canadiens best defenseman for several games, Roman Hamrlik took a step backwards. He was out of position, soft on the puck and guilty of giveaways. It may simply be a coincidence but why does he play so much better with O'Byrne.

Again tonight, I was puzzled by the bench management. Max Lapierre had much more even-strength TOI than Tomas Plekanec and Saku Koivu. Lapierre lost an important face-off in the third that led to the tying goal. Greg Stewart had more even-strength ice time than Andrei Kostitsyn and Chris Higgins. Stewart had 5.5 minutes more than Pacioretty. Stewart was unimpressive. Tom Kostopoulos and Lapierre were the two Canadiens forwards with the most ice-time. Does that make sense? Georges Laraque took a dumb penalty and was a wasted line-up spot.

In the battle behind the benches, Carbonneau seemed thrilled to dress two 4th lines. Boudreau tactically waited for Carbonneau's predictable roll of the lines, and then attacked with Ovechkin. Carbo was probably really good at paint-by-number art. Slam dunk, Boudreau.

This was a very good hockey game...exciting and entertaining. This week, Bob Gainey sent the team a message. Tonight, the team sent one back: hey, it's not us.

Pre-game:

Tom Kostopoulos will wear the alternate captain 'A' in place of Kovalev.

Starting line-up: Koivu, Higgins, D'Agostini, Schneider, Markov
Carey Price will start in goal. Jose Theodore for the Capitals.

Mathieu Schneider will play his first game after the trade. Greg Stewart will be in the line-up. Patrice Brisebois, Alex Kovalev and Steve Begin are healthy scratches.

Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Tomas Plekanec
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Andrei Markov

(photo credit:

Kovalev is THE problem...isn't he??

2009-02-18T18:54:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Alex Kovalev is playing the worst hockey of any of the Montreal Canadiens. It must be true. I've heard that so many times in the past few days. Alex Kovalev has no heart. Kovy is lazy. Alex is a "cancer in the dressing room". That's the phrase I've heard most so, for sure, that must be true.

I've even heard a respectable sports analyst join the kick-Kovy-when-he's-down party. He finished by saying that the Canadiens had "gone the extra mile with him."

But are those comments really true? If so, there are a few things that don't make sense.

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Apparently, having consistent, compatible linemates for Kovalev to play with is way beyond 'going the extra mile'. Tom Kostopoulos and Steve Begin are simple, hard working, north-south players but is there a coach on earth that thinks they are a good match for Kovalev's style of play? Oh. I guess there is one...Guy Carbonneau.

Does 'going the extra mile' mean giving the team's best players more ice-time to help get the team out of their funk? No, apparently not. On this team 3rd and sometimes 4th line players get more even strength ice-time than the most talented players. So Max Lapierre plays more 5 on 5 hockey than Alex Kovalev. As much as we appreciate the improvement in Lapierre, if he is getting 1st line TOI, the Canadiens won't be winning.

Since the lockout, there is only one player in the NHL who gets a higher percentage of his points on the power-play than Alex Kovalev. It is just shy of 50%. So if the Canadiens power-play isn't working, that would mean that 1/2 of his points would be drastically reduced. So, in that light, maybe his point totals aren't so surprising. If we know this fact, surely the Canadiens coaching staff knows it too. Don't they??

So, if the team has 'gone the extra mile', what have they done to improve the power-play? Gainey: nothing (until the Schneider trade) Carbonneau: absolutely nothing.

If power-play scoring is such a concern, was it a smart move to send Sergei Kostitsyn to Hamilton. Going into tonight's game, SK74 was tied for the team lead in power-play goals (excluding Lang who is on injured reserve).

And let's set aside the 'if we only had Mark Streit' nonsense. Mark Streit did not play well the last month of last season and struggled in the playoffs. In the playoffs, the Flyers and Bruins analyzed the Habs power-play scheme and designed a way to defend it. The Canadiens coaching staff did nothing to adjust during the playoffs...they did nothing over the summer...and have sat by and watched as this season's power-play has plummeted to one of the worst in the league.

Now there is a report from a covert Russian source to journalist Marc de Foy through RDS that Kovalev has broken his silence. (Let's take all of this with a grain of salt given that it is being reported via the dual filters of a notoriously unreliable Russian press and an agenda-driven French press.) RDS is focusing on Kovalev's alleged comments about off-ice activities. But Kovalev apparently also talked about the confusion caused by bizarre line combinations and the poor communication by the coach.

Alex Kovalev has categorically denied that he spoke about his teammates. He says he would never do that. Kovalev spoke directly to Darren Dreger at TSN. (In the other report RDS says they talked to de Foy, who talked to an unnamed Russian source, who talked to Kovy. So who do you believe?)

Line shuffling has already been addressed. Communication by the head coach seems non-existent until he wants to toss one of his players to the vultures of his press buddies. This isn't a new issue. Clearly Guy Carbonneau doesn't understand Alex Kovalev. Or perhaps Elliotte Friedman is correct, Carbonneau doesn't understand this team.

This article shouldn't be misinterpreted as an attempt to defend or exonerate Alex Kovalev. I am simply posing questions about shared responsibility, and the possible reasons behind Kovy's behaviour. Alex has been slow, predictable and looked disinterested. But should Kovalev 'bear the cross' alone? Has everything been done to motivate him?

When the 'cancer' has been excised, what happens when the patient is still sick?

And when does the coach take some responsibility for the team's problems? When does the coach start to become accountable? When is he going to face some scrutiny for his actions and for his lack of action?

So what's the next move? Here are the words of Alex Kovalev, "I'm nobody. I don't control anything here. All I can promise is hopefully I can come back and play better and help my team. I have no choice."

from Habs Inside/Out
posted by Kevin Mio at 17h20 EST on Feb 18
According to RDS, citing Russian newspaper sources, Alex Kovalev does not expect to play another game for the Canadiens this season and has decided he will definitely not return to the team next year.

Kovalev also blames the actions of the younger players away from the ice for the team's problems and says the information that was revealed recently is onlt the tip of the iceberg.

Kovalev also said he wouldn't be surprised if he is traded soon by the Canadiens.

Get to know Mathieu Schneider...again!

2009-02-18T02:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a guest article by a good friend to All Habs who knows everything there is to know about Mathieu Schneider. She's also a fan of Brad Richards (if not for the wrist injury, wouldn't he look good in a Habs uniform!)

Enjoy the article and then visit her excellent blog The Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Home Page

Get to know Mathieu Schneider...again!
by schtimpy27

When Mathieu Schneider last played for the Montreal Canadiens, Jean Chretien was Prime Minister, Bill Clinton was in his first term as President, and Mississippi had just abolished slavery.

A lot has happened in the world since, and a lot has happened in Mathieu Schneider's career. Now that he's back in town, here is a quick primer to help catch you up on some things you may have missed. Over the last 14 years, he has

*played with 7 other NHL teams
*suited up for 3 more of the "original six"
*been selected in an expansion draft (but never signed)
*appeared in career NHL regular season game 1,200
*scored career goal #200
*registered career assist #500
*tallied career point #700
*taken his 1,000th career PIM
*represented the U.S. in 2 Olympic games
*been selected to 2 All-Star games
*won a World Cup of Hockey championship
*had 2 fighting majors
*been suspended twice
*served as alternate captain for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, and Atlanta Thrashers (and as a fill-in with Detroit)
*had groin surgery
*had hernia surgery
*broken a wrist
*broken an ankle
*replaced half of his teeth
*scored two hat tricks
*had a 12 game point streak
*spent at least 10 summers training under the tutelage of renowned trainer T.R. Goodman (most known for his work with Chris Chelios)
*placed as high as 7th in Norris Trophy voting
*served on the NHL's competition committee
*been appointed an executive vice-president of the NHLPA
*had a 32-game streak of being rated a + or even in the ever controversial +/- statistic
*recorded an assist on Wane Gretzky's last NHL point
*been inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
*been married twice
*divorced once
*became a father of 6,

*and has proudly worn both leather pants and zebra print shoes. In public. And not on Halloween.

He returns to his original team as the 6th oldest player in the NHL, one of two remaining 1993 Stanley Cup champions, the only current NHL defenseman with multiple hat tricks, and one of the best power play specialists available. But he doesn't return to Montreal as a miraculous cure for what ails the Habs. He's got a set of well noted liabilities (i.e. defensive positioning, speed, injury concerns), and would never conceivably solve many defensive woes. Always a "high-risk / high-reward" player, his value is almost purely offensive, often at the expense of defensiveness.

As someone who has followed Mathieu Schneider for going on 16 years, I am today as I always am when he begins a new chapter: cautiously optimistic. He has proven time and again to have the skill and the will for great things, and he has been blessed with success in La belle province once before. He would love nothing more than to do it again.

Lost Identity

2009-02-16T02:40:00.000-05:00

Montreal 2 Vancouver 4 (GM Place)

Rocket:

The Montreal Canadiens have always been known as one of the best break-out teams in hockey. I also remember them be called 'the fastest skating team' or 'the best passing team' in the league.

Who are the Montreal Canadiens in 2009? There is far too much talent on this team for them to look so confused night after night.

Since January 20th, the Canadiens have lost 10 games and won 3. As far as the wins, we remember just how fortunate they were to get a win against the Kings. It's also safe to say that the Habs didn't play well enough to win against the Avalanche. The truth is that the Canadiens have one solid effort in 13 games over the past month.

So what happened?

Let's look at it another way. There are times this season that line pairings played well together. Lapierre and Kostopoulos (with Latendresse) played a simple yet very effective game. The Kostitsyn brothers (with Lang) were the team's top line for a few weeks. D'Agostini was on fire with Koivu. Koivu has definite chemistry with Higgins. Kovalev played his best games of the year with Pacioretty.

So why aren't the combinations together today? They all have one thing in common: they were dismantled before they started playing poorly. Does that make any sense?

Tonight we watched Kovalev with Kostopoulos and Sergei Kostitsyn with Laraque. Remember the line of Gorges, Dandenault and D'Agostini from a few games ago? Putting together players with such differing styles only leads to confusion and ineffectiveness. Why should we expect any better?

I don't have much to write about tonight's game. The positive moments came from good individual play. The rest of the time the team looked bewildered.

I actually thought that Jaroslav Halak played better tonight than in Colorado. But as I have been saying for some time, goaltending is not a problem area for this team.

Matt D'Agostini, Tom Kostopoulos and Saku Koivu were the best players for the Canadiens tonight.

I have no idea what Ryan O'Byrne did to deserve two games in the press box. O'Byrne and Roman Hamrlik formed the Canadiens strongest defense pairing for several games prior to his banishment. O'Byrne has certainly played well enough to be in the line-up, and to withhold him from a game in his home province raises questions.

I'm interested to read how my good friend, Big Brother, will spin Patrice Brisebois' performance tonight. Every time Brise makes a bad decision to pinch, it seems to end up in the Canadiens net. It happened again tonight making it hard to understand why Brise was in the line-up and equally difficult to put a positive face on his game. As my grandmother said "It's hard to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

I'm afraid that the Canadiens will continue to look like a team in disarray until the coaching staff gets serious about addressing major issues...or until Bob Gainey finds someone who will.

Pre-game:

Starting line-up: Lapierre, D'Agostini, Pacioretty, Gorges, Bouillon
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Roberto Luongo for the Canucks.

Chipchura will play. O'Byrne and Begin scratched. Plekanec serving the 2nd game of his two game suspension.

Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Henrik Sedin
2. Daniel Sedin
3. Ryan Kesler

(photo credit: AP)

Winning Ugly

2009-02-13T21:38:00.000-05:00

Montreal 4 Colorado 2 (Pepsi Center)

Rocket:

What is George Gillett thinking? He'll take the win. He knows that his team needs one. But Gillette is a smart and successful business guy. He knows that his team got away with one.

The bottom line is that the Canadiens got a win and 2 points. Sports reports will highlight Jaroslav Halak's 46 saves, Andrei Kostitsyn's winning goal and Patrice Brisebois 'fight' with Darcy Tucker.

Maybe it's best to leave at that. The Canadiens need to focus on the win for their collective confidence. The city wants to cling to the hope that their team is back! But if you scratch just a little below the surface, and past the facade of a win, fans have to be very concerned about their Montreal Canadiens. George Gillett and Bob Gainey should be terrified.

The Colorado Avalanche is the LAST place team in the Western conference. Coming into tonight's game, they had won only 2 of their last 10; and lost 4 in a row. As a team, they can't score. Yet for the last 40 minutes of this game, the Avs dominated the Canadiens; outshooting them 36-9. That's astounding!

After the Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period, Guy Carbonneau barricaded his team in its own end and let them face the Avs barrage. Even a coach like Tony Granato was able to figure out how to penetrate the 1-4 (sometimes 0-5) system that Carbo was running.

Jaroslav Halak deserves credit for a gutsy performance. Although, at times, Jaro looked like a 8 year old boy learning how to play shortstop. Everything that went into his glove popped back out, and the shots that hit him rebounded in front. Like a young shortstop, Halak just made sure that the puck stayed in front of him. He battled and scrambled and kept the puck out. It helped that he was facing a team who couldn't shoot straight.

Andre Kostitsyn, like so many Canadiens, was ineffective most of the night. But with 2 minutes and 16 seconds left in the game, Andrei got his first shot on goal. It was a terrific move and proved to be the winning goal. Apparently, one good play would be enough on this very strange night. After all, it was Friday the 13th.

Another player contributing to the mirage was Patrice Brisebois. Brise was left wide open, received a nice pass from Kovalev and scored a power-play goal. But Brisebois showed why he deserves to be in the press box on Colorado's first goal. He stumbled and didn't have the legs to get back in the play. Brise watched as Leopold scored for the Avs. There was some comic relief when the always-weasel-like Darcy Tucker decided to exchange sweater tugs with Brisebois. A fight? Well, only according to the scoresheet.

In my opinion, the players who did have a solid game were Saku Koivu, Max Pacioretty, Matt D'Agostini, Mathieu Dandenault, and Chris Higgins. Koivu showed heart and leadership all game. He won important faceoffs, blocked shots, and tallied 2 assists. Pacioretty played a physical game and made a terrific pass to set up Bouillon's goal. Dandenault and D'Agostini had an assist each. Higgins battled for the puck and blocked 4 shots.

The line combinations and the forecheck system generated few scoring chances for the Canadiens tonight. The Habs will only get their confidence back when they play to win, rather than playing not to lose.

Enjoy this win, Habs fans. But, be careful. There was nothing in this game to suggest that your Canadiens have regained their winning ways yet.

Pre-game:

Starting line-up: Koivi, Kovalev. Kostopoulos, Georges, Bouillon
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Peter Budaj for the Avalanche.

O'Byrne and Chipchua scratched.

Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Saku Koivu
2. Tyler Arnason
3. Jaroslav Halak
3. Andrei Kostitsyn

(photo credit: AP)

Free Fall

2009-02-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

Montreal 2 Edmonton 7 (Rexall Place)

Rocket:

A team bowling outing is a bonding experience in pre-season. As a mid-season substitute for practise, it is simply a gimmick. Dressing 8 defensemen and playing two of them as forwards is not serious way to address your team's lack of scoring. Line combinations assembled as though picked out of a hat is a joke.

This is the NHL. If the coach is serious, should we see a forward line of D'Agostini, Gorges and Dandenault? How about a power-play unit that includes Laraque, Kostopoulos, and Brisebois?

After the game, Guy Carbonneau said that the next step would be for him to sit with Bob Gainey to see if they could make a deal. Someone should remind Carbo that he is NOT the assistant GM of this team. He should be focusing on the mess on the ice.

The Canadiens are in disarray. A player or two added to the roster via a trade will not turn this team around.

Two things are clear: 1. the head coach has run out of ideas. 2. the players have stopped playing for this coaching staff.

Weaknesses that were identified in November have not been addressed in the video room nor in practise. Defensive zone coverage has been a problem all season, and was exposed again tonight. The Oilers went to the net at will.

Special teams continue to be a problem. The Canadiens gave up 3 power-play goals to the Oilers. Their own power-play went 0 for 6 and surrendered a short-handed goal.

After the game the coach gave a familiar response when asked about a solution. Carbonneau said "I don't know, really."

Did Guy Carbonneau ever have answers for the problems? His remedies appear as nothing more than 'shots in the dark.' Players are afraid to play (his words). No one seems to know their role. It is the responsibility of the coach to instill confidence and communicate expectations. Carbo has not done either. His lack of personnel management skills has undermined the stability of the team.

As for positives, there obviously weren't many. Tomas Plekanec was the best Hab forward. Mathieu Dandenault had a goal and a assist. The line of Koivu, Pacioretty and D'Agostini had some energetic shifts. Ryan O'Byrne led the team with 4 hits, and logged the most even strength minutes of ice-time of any Canadiens player.

That makes 7 straight road losses. As Saku Koivu said after the game "We're being humiliated right now, and it's not a fun feeling."

Pre-game:

Starting line-up:
Plekanec, Kovalev, Dandenault, Komisarek, Markov

Carey Price will start in goal. Dwayne Roloson for the Oilers.

Carbonneau will dress 8 defenseman with two playing forward. Dandenault will play his first game since breaking his arm. Gorges will play on the 4th line with Lapierre and Laraque.

Begin and Sergei Kostitsyn scratched.

Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Dustin Penner
2. Tom Gilbert
3. Ales Hemsky

(photo credit: AP)

Different Goalie, Similar Result

2009-02-09T22:52:00.001-05:00

Montreal 2 Calgary 6 (Pengrowth Saddledome)

Rocket:

41 shots, 6 goals against. How can that be? I seem to remember that after the 41 shot, 5 goal against game against the Leafs, fans, media and Guy Carbonneau were pointing fingers at the franchise player. They all said it was Carey Price's fault. So what a surprise when changing goaltenders produces the same result.

It's not a surprise at all to those who have been paying attention.

We have been treated to a whole litany of excuses this season. Let's recap. We were told that line combinations were the problem so every possible permutation was tried without success until the original lines were re-united. We were told that defense was a problem so the team played a prevent scheme for awhile (1-4 and even 0-5) but then the team struggled to score. We were told that (in order) these players were the problem: Sergei Kostitsyn, Guillaume Latendresse, Alex Kovalev and lately Carey Price (to name a few). And we have been told many times that the team was not prepared to play.

Where do these excuses all originate from? Head coach Guy Carbonneau.

Yet 54 games into the season the team seems in disarray. Players are not motivated nor performing at their best. Practises are unfocused. Game strategy is weak. In-game adjustments are non-existent. Schemes for forechecking, breakouts and special teams are simple (perhaps juvenile is a better word) and ineffective. Defensive zone coverage is erratic and the power play is pitiful. The team is fragile and plays without confidence. All of these items are within the scope of coaching.

It is futile to analyze the game in great detail.

Jaroslav Halak was no more, and no less to blame for tonight's loss. Halak made some key saves but was also giving up huge rebounds. The Canadiens got the first goal due to hard work by Chris Higgins. He battled for the puck and then set up Matt D'Agostini. A weak dump-in from the point by Adam Pardy trickled through some legs and past Halak for the tying goal by Calgary. Mike Cammalleri was given credit.

Tomas Plekanec scored on a 2 on 1 break with Alex Kovalev. The only otherbright spot for the Habs was the play of Roman Hamrlik. He had 2 assists. Hamrlik has been rejuvenated playing with Ryan O'Byrne.

The rest of the game was spent watching a team that is becoming more distant from its coach. Bob Gainey must step in soon before the situation unravels too far and divisions begin appearing between the players. There is talent on this team, much more than last year. The team held a 30 minute players-only meeting immediately following the game to air concerns and offer solutions. Canadiens' scouts were at a Phoenix Coyotes game, assessing the play (and fit) of Derek Morris and Olli Jokinen. But more importantly, it's time that the head coach was responsible and accountable for the fact that the Canadiens are gross underachievers this season.

Pre-game:

Starting line-up: Koivu, D'Agostini, Higgins, Markov, Komisarek
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Miikka Kiprusoff for the Flames.

Dandenault, Brisebois scratched.

Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Matthew Lombardi
2. Mike Cammalleri
3. Corey Sarich

(photo credit: AP)

A Convenient Untruth

2009-02-09T20:47:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

"Playing goal for the Montreal Canadiens is the toughest position in sports" -- Pierre McGuire.

Well Habs fans, there's no shortage of opinions today on what's wrong with the Canadiens..but most of them revolve around Carey Price. "Price is still injured" "Fire Rollie Melanson" "Carey lost too much weight" Some of these bizarre comments make my head spin. Carey Price is a convenient target but he is not the source of problems for the Canadiens.

It seems that fans have completely blanked out the first period of the Leafs game. Price faced 18 shots and allowed 1 goal Even Boone said "Price is exceptionally sharp". So how did Price go from standing on his head in the first to supposedly losing his technique in the 2nd and 3rd?

I was talking to a knowledgeable hockey person about the game. He offered this observation: "Carey Price keeps second guessing his reads on plays because he doesn't trust his teammates to be there." Exactly! While some are saying that Carey Price has lost confidence in himself, I believe that he has lost confidence in his teammates, specifically some of the defensemen in front of him.

Craig Simpson mentioned a few times that Price was playing deep in his crease. Jaroslav Halak normally plays deep but Carey does not. So when do goalies play deep? Remember the All-Star game? All goalies said they played deeper in the crease due to a lack of defense. The all-star goalies had to protect against the cross-ice pass. So there seems to be a parallel when Price does not trust his defensemen.

A prime example is Jason Blake's goal that beat Price glove side high on a 2 on 1. Normally Price would challenge the shooter, but doing so Carey would have to be confident that his defensemen would take away the pass/the second attacker. Josh Gorges was the defenseman on the play. Josh was -4 on Saturday night. Price had to stay deep, and in fact was leaning towards the long side to protect against the pass. As result, the short side was exposed to a great shot by Blake.

This explanation also fits with Carey Price playing so well in the first period.

So rather than focus on Price, Canadiens fans should look at the defensive corps that has struggled all season long. The addition of a quality defenseman with power-play ability will help at both ends of the ice.

Media Darling Needs to Drop the Mic (and Gloves)

2009-02-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

George Laraque was a magnet for the kids during the opening of the Montreal Canadiens first community rink at Francois-Perrault park in the borough of Villeray/St. Michel/Parc Extension. Georges Laraque has received awards from previous teams for his fine work in the community. It continues with the Canadiens.

Laraque appeared on TSN's Off the Record during the All-Star break. Laraque is a favorite of Michael Lansberg and has even guest hosted the show in the past. Laraque can be a very entertaining.

Laraque was very outspoken during the U.S. presidential election race. The Gazette's article was titled "Laraque drops his gloves for Obama."

"The Rock's Last Word" was Laraque's final blog for Sportsnet.ca. It appeared in early January and was, in part, a response to the tragic death of Don Sanderson. Laraque defended the place of fighting within the game of hockey.

Last week, NHLPA's Executive Director, Paul Kelly announced that he supported a review of the one-dimensional enforcer in the NHL. Georges Laraque called Kelly and then granted an interview to TSN's Daren Dreger to air his views about this issue.

George Laraque clearly loves the media spotlight. And they love him..as they say he is 'a good interview.' But Laraque is being paid $4.5 million over the next three years to play hockey for the Montreal Canadiens. And all of the above distractions have some wondering if Laraque has lost his focus.

Bob Gainey was quite clear when announcing the signing of Laraque. Gainey was tired of his skilled players being abused by other teams. Laraque is a member of the Montreal Canadiens for the sole reason of protecting his teammates.

George Laraque was in the line-up the night that Kurt Sauer, Phoenix Coyotes delivered a headshot to Andrei Kostitsyn. Andrei's concussion caused him to miss several games. Laraque chose not to challenge Sauer, as he said it was against the code to fight a smaller player. Sauer is 6'4", 220 lbs.

Laraque was also in the line-up when opposition skaters were running Carey Price on numerous occasions. Laraque did nothing to deter the opposition from harassing his goalie.

The role of standing up for their teammates has been taken on by Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon. They never shy away from a challenge no matter the size of their opponent.

This year, Georges Laraque has played only 19 games for the Canadiens. He came to training camp out of shape and as a result, got hurt. Laraque has 38 minutes in penalties. All of his fights have been of the pre-arranged variety. The fights are exciting for George's fans, are forgotten by the next shift, and have little or no impact on the game.

Laraque also has 2 points, 7 shots and a few hits but generally has been too slow to keep up to the play and his linemates. Parking Laraque in the crease on the power-play in the Toronto game was simply as act of desperation by coach Guy Carbonneau.

Georges Laraque has had too many excuses for not defending his teammates and spent too much time postulating about fighting in hockey. He needs to get his head in the game and work hard to be physically able to compete. And Georges has to refrain from getting so caught up in the media. His teammates need him.

Is it Over Yet?

2009-02-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

Montreal 2 Toronto 5 (Bell Centre)

Rocket:

Jump on Carey Price. Go ahead. Just pile on. You will have plenty of company. In fact if you hold an 'I-hate-Carey-Price' party, you are guaranteed that Craig Simpson, PJ Stock and Murray Wilson will show up.

But before you send out the invitations, consider a few things.

Luke Schenn scored the Leafs first goal (and his first in the NHL) with 5:23 left in the first. Up to that point in the game, Toronto was outshooting Montreal 16-2. Price was standing on his head to keep his team in the game including two point blank chances for Nik Antropov. The Leafs ended the period with 18 shots on goal and 27 directed at Price. Overall Carey Price faced 41 Leaf shots.

The Canadiens had 5 shots in the first period. A weak effort against Vesa Toskala who was playing with shattered confidence as a result of poor play and being criticized publicly by his coach and GM. The Leafs are last in the league in goals surrendered and save percentage.

Josh Gorges and Francis Bouillon were a combined -7. Both played awful. Gorges deflected a shot into his net for the second night in a row. Bouillon failed to bury a puck with an open net early in the first, hitting the crossbar instead. It could have been a turning point. The Canadiens are a much different team when playing with a lead.

The Canadiens power-play was 0 for 7 with a five on four advantage. The Maple Leafs are 30th in the league in penalty-killing. Guy Carbonneau experimented with George Laraque on the power-play with less than favorable results.

Alex Kovalev started the game with an energetic hit on Jeff Finger. After, their play went in opposite directions. Things went downhill for Kovy. Finger scored a goal and was +3.

Georges Laraque took two dumb penalties including a head shot to Grabovski just after Kostopoulos had scored and the Canadiens were gaining momentum. Laraque won a pre-arranged fight against 37 year old Brad May. It was simply a sideshow with zero effect on the game. He is a waste of a line-up spot.

So criticize Carey Price if you wish. He is an easy target. Craig Simpson knows that. Guy Carbonneau also knows that. Because to identify what is really wrong with the Montreal Canadiens is something that is beyond the capabilities of Carbonneau.

For his part, Carey Price knows that he carried the team alone in the first period when his teammates didn't show up. Price knows which goals eluded him with the help of poor defensive play and which ones he should have stopped. And Price will be harder on himself than anyone else. As Carey said after the game "It's just not going the way I planned. I have to find a way around it." Mike Komisarek added "It's just not one guy. Pricey has carried this team long enough."

A few Canadiens did show up to play tonight. Matt D'Agostini and Max Pacioretty continue to impress. D'Agostini had a goal and 5 shots while Pacioretty created scoring chances. Tom Kostopoulos works hard every shift and scored tonight while diving to knock the puck past Toskala.

Roman Hamrlik's play was on the decline for over a month until reunited with Ryan O'Byrne a few games ago. The defensive pair have been solid over the past 3 games and were placed in the starting line-up tonight. Hamrlik had 4 shots on goal. On a team that was a collective -20, Hamrlik and O'Byrne were the only plus players for the Canadiens, each finishing the game at +1.

The much-hyped bout between Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski was a non-event with coaches Wilson and Carbonneau not facilitating an opportunity.

The Canadiens now embark on a 6 game road trip which will decide which direction the team is headed.

Pre-game:

Starting line-up: Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Alex Kovalev, Ryan O'Byrne, Roman Hamrlik, Carey Price

Vesa Toskala in goal for the Leafs.

Laraque will play, Dandenault scratched.

Brisebois, Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Jason Blake
2. Niklas Hagman
3. Matt D'Agostini

(photo credit: AP)

Miller Steals Win for Sabres

2009-02-06T22:28:00.000-05:00

Montreal 2 Buffalo 3 (HSBC Arena)

Rocket:

"Habs can't hit the net." "Carey plays better in white pads." "The ice was bad." "Habs looked disinterested again" "Waive Kovalev" "Don't resign Komisarek"

Those aren't my words...but comments of Habs 'fans'. While I understand their passion and relate to their distaste for losing, I have to say Nonsense! None of the comments are accurate nor the reason that the Canadiens lost in Buffalo.

Do you recall the short Florida road trip? And the horrible performances by the Canadiens, particularly the Florida game? Tonight was the 5th consecutive road loss but a completely different effort by the Habs.

The Canadiens played a great first period where they dominated the Sabres 14-5. They were skating well. As Pierre McGuire said during the broadcast, they had "pop in their game." The Sabres allowed 4 odd man rushes in the first period. Ryan Miller continued his superb play. Miller is 10-2 since January 1st.

In a familiar road pattern, the home team dictated the play in the 2nd period. Lindy Ruff noticed that the Canadiens were falling back and stacking the blueline. His team was creating too many turnovers. Ruff made adjustments telling his team to build speed in the neutral zone and dump the puck past the defenders. Carbonneau seems to have difficulty making in-game adjustments. The Canadiens were too passive in the second.

Saku Koivu and Matt D'Agostini were the best Canadiens tonight. Koivu showed determination as he stole the puck from Chris Butler and then drove to the net for his goal. Matt D'Agostini was very good in his own end all night. D'Agostini escaped with only a bloody nose as an eye-high Gorges' shot went right off his visor. Chris Higgins had 5 shots.

The Max line with Lapierre, Pacioretty and Sergei Kostitsyn was very effective again. Sergei made a behind the back pass to set up Roman Hamrlik for his goal (for the second game in a row). Pacioretty played physical. Lapierre was very good at the faceoff dot.

Alex Kovalev had a decent first period. He was working hard and was especially strong along the boards. He drew a penalty. But that all changed once the Canadiens were behind. Kovalev wasn't skating as well. He didn't register a shot on goal. And he took two penalties, one with only 1:57 left in the game.

Georges Laraque didn't play well probably providing an opportunity for Mathieu Dandenault against the Leafs. Laraque looked slow and only delivered 2 hits...one on a 40 year old Teppo Numminen.

Andrei Markov again had a terrific game at both ends of the ice. He lead the team with 6 shots. Roman Hamrlik has picked up his game scoring again tonight. Both he and Mike Komisarek had 3 shots on goal and 4 blocked shots each. In the third period, Komisarek tried a bounce pass off the back boards to Markov. The boards react differently than the Bell Centre and the puck came back out in front. Tim Connolly attacked with speed and the score was 3-1.

Ryan O'Byrne played well again including some time on the PK unit. His composure was evident when he was on the receiving end of a huge hit by super-pest Patrick Kaleta. O'Byrne picked himself up, tracked the puck and cleared it out of danger.

Josh Gorges and Francis Bouillon both struggled tonight. Whether a deflection or screen by Gorges, Price was clearly surprised by Jaroslav Spacek's shot. Later Gorges would give the puck to Jochen Hecht. On a breakaway, Hecht was stopped on a great save by Price. Bouillon lost puck behind the net and Nathan Paetsch scored. Bouillon was a -2.

Carey Price will get some unfair criticism for tonight's performance. While bothered on the first goal, it is a shot he should stop. Other than the first goal, Price was solid.

There are many positives to take out this road game. The Habs ran into a red-hot goaltender. With a few adjustments the Canadiens could have been in a position to win.

Pre-game:

Laraque will play, Dandenault scratched.

Brisebois, Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries. Latendresse out 4-6 weeks.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Ryan Miller
2. Tim Connolly
3. Saku Koivu

(photo credit: AP photo)

Habs Upend Pens with Solid Team Effort

2009-02-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

Montreal 4 Pittsburgh 2 (Bell Centre)

Rocket:

"It's about building confidence and consistency" said Saku Koivu after the game. When Chris Higgins also echoed those words, it was clear that the team had talked about those two qualities. Higgins also added the word "intensity".

The Canadiens were a fragile team coming into this game, having lost 5 of 6 games. Divisions had appeared between the coach and his players. Things were said publicly. For all parties to get back on the same page and focused for tonight's game is quite commendable.

Tonight, the Canadiens top line of Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev played first line minutes. The 4th line played 4th line minutes. Bench management was somewhat better. Line stability and roles that were more clear helped the Habs to play with more confidence. All lines contributed tonight.

Alex Kovalev led the team with 6 shots. He skated much better tonight. It seemed that the Plekanec line had not been apart. The three-way passing play leading to Andrei Kostitsyn's goal was a thing of beauty.

Chris Higgins short-handed goal was the turning point of the game. Higgins worked hard to create a turnover. On the breakaway, his quick release beat Fleury. Saku Koivu skated with the play and was effective in screening Ryan Whitney away from Higgins. Matt D'Agostini played hard particularly in his own zone.

The wild card was the Lapierre/Sergei Kostitsyn/Pacioretty line. Despite just over 10 minutes of even-strength ice-time, Sergei was on fire tonight. His aggressive forecheck, steal of the puck from Fleury and set-up of Hamrlik was amazing. Max Pacioretty was very physical, was great on the boards and seemed to have some good chemistry with Max Lapierre.

Steve Begin, Tom Kostopoulos and Alex Henry were the least effective line, but physical when on the ice. They looked rather confused standing around the crease as the Penguins first goal was scored. Alex Henry had his second consecutive fight as he took on Penguin heavyweight Eric Godard.

The Canadiens defense was most impressive. As a group they shut down Sidney Crosby who had been hot over the past 10 games. Roman Hamrlik who has been playing sub-par for at least a month had a great game. Hamrlik had a goal, an assist and was +4. Ryan O'Byrne was a major force on defense tonight. O'Byrne was physical, moved the puck exceptionally well and made good decisions. Even 1 on 1, O'Byrne handled the very skilled Luca Caputi. Mike Komisarek proved his worth as he matched up against Evgeni Malkin most shifts. Only Bouillon and Gorges were shaky on defense tonight.

Carey Price was solid. This was a complete team win with a group that played a full 60 minutes. The Canadiens needed this win for their confidence. Now it's time to focus on consistency.

Pre-game:

Plekanec--Kovalev--Andrei Kostitsyn
Koivu--Higgins--D'Agostini
Lapierre--Sergei Kostitsyn--Pacioretty
Bégin--Kostopoulos--Henry

Brisebois, Dandenault, Laraque, Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries. Alex Henry will play forward on the 4th line tonight.

Touted Penguins prospect Luca Caputi will be in the line-up while Tyler Kennedy serves a one-game suspension for leaving the bench to fight the Leaf's Luke Schenn.

Dandenault and Laraque will be ready to play by Friday. Latendresse with upper body injury will be out "weeks". Lang's injury, while not career ending, will be out at least 3 months.

Alex Kovalev said that Robert Lang didn't get any sleep in hospital after his surgery. Nurses kept him up all night signing autographs.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Sergei Kostitsyn
2. Chris Higgins
3. Evgeni Malkin
3. Max Pacioretty
3. Roman Hamrlik
3. Ryan O'Byrne

(photo credit: AP photo)

The NHL’s Soft Response to Head Shots

2009-02-03T15:10:00.000-05:00

The NHL’s Soft Response to Head Shots

By Stu Hackel

Slap Shot - News from the World of Hockey
New York Times
February 3, 2009, 12:37 pm

The Kings’ best defensive effort of the season must have taken place at the N.H.L. office yesterday during the hearing on Denis Gauthier’s head shot that left Montreal’s Josh Georges with a concussion. Helene Elliott reports in today’s L.A. Times that “Jeff Solomon, the Kings’ vice president of hockey operations and legal affairs, argued that Gauthier’s elbow was down when he hit Gorges and that Gauthier’s feet didn’t leave the ice until after the hit.”

Elliott also quotes Kings G.M. Dean Lombardi, who said, “We didn’t think it was a penalty at all. It wasn’t one where the guy jumps up, which is my understanding of what we’re after. He hits the guy with his shoulder and we felt there was no penalty.”

No penalty? Didn’t leave his feet? What does Gauther have to do for this to be called a jump? Fly like Dr. J used to do and land on top of the guy? Let’s look at it again, with more angles than we had yesterday. Here’s a clip from the RDS telecast, with the most telling replay coming about 1:30 in:

You can freeze the action and see his feet for yourself. Lombardi told the L.A. media yesterday that Gauthier’s hit could not have been a charge because his feet were on the ice at the point of impact. But when you stop the action that back foot is off the ice, meaning it was a charge. It was the right call on the ice.

So if, as Lombardi says, that’s “what we’re after,” well, that’s what they got. It demanded stern action from the N.H.L. but to assess only a five-game ban means the league is as dizzy as Josh Georges was and did not respond appropriately. When the N.H.L. decided in November it was going to come down progressively harder on hits to the head, the first suspension issued was for five games. Now, four head shots later, we get another five-game suspension — and to a guy who has three priors.

We can’t know what was said or decided that lessen the severity of the suspension Gauthier received. We do know, as Elliott reports, that Gauthier’s “absence comes at a dicey time for a team that’s about to play the second game of a five-game trip and try to make up a six-point gap to the final West playoff spot.” They’ve got injuries to their defense corps.

These are points Solomon was likely to have brought up in the hearing. He also represents one of the most powerful owners of the N.H.L., Philip Anschutz. In the olden days, powerful owners would call league execs and lean heavily on them if a particular suspension would put their teams in dicey situations. Presumably that sort of stuff doesn’t happen any longer.

The bottom line, however, is that the guys on the ice wearing stripes did their job, but the guys in suits did not. You want to stamp out what Mike Milbury calls “pansyfication” in hockey? Start by showing some guts in suspending players for as long as it takes to reduce head shots, so that we don’t have to see another one at least once a month.

Let’s review the memo Colin Campbell himself sent out on head shots:

“We cannot and will not tolerate blows to the head that are deliberate, avoidable and illegal. Furthermore, both the history and status of the offender (first time versus repeat) and the nature of the injury caused (if any) will be taken into consideration as they have been in the past. The length of suspensions for illegal blows to the head will be increased if these incidents persist across the League. Taking steps to maintain the safest on-ice environment possible for the Players remains our most important priority.”

1. Deliberate, avoidable and illegal? Check.

2. The history and status of the offender (first time versus repeat)? Check.

3. The nature of the injury? Check.

4. Have these incidents persisted across the league? Check.

5. So was the length of suspensions for an illegal blow to the head increased? Is the league really taking steps to maintain the safest on-ice environment possible for the players? Does it remain their most important priority? Fail.

There should have been no mystery here. But instead, the mystery is what somebody might have said to convince league officials that their eyes were lying to them.

Bulldogs Announce Signing of Conboy

2009-02-03T12:08:00.000-05:00

As reported by All Habs last week, the Hamilton Bulldogs have announced that they signed suspended NCAA player Andrew Conboy.

BULLDOGS SIGN LEFT WING ANDREW CONBOY TO AN AHL CONTRACT

2009-02-02 17:26:00

HAMILTON, ON - Hamilton Bulldogs General Manager Julien BriseBois announced today that the club has signed left wing Andrew Conboy to an American Hockey League contract for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season. As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Conboy, 20, played for the Michigan State Spartans for 21 games this season accumulating five points (three goals, two assists) while leading the team in penalty minutes with 76. In 2007-2008, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound left winger won the Clark Cup with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. The native of Rosemount, Minnesota ranked fifth on the team in points with 38 (17 goals, 21 assists) and second on the team in penalty minutes with 188. Conboy was drafted by Montreal in the 5th round, 142nd overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Conboy will be ineligble to play for the Bulldogs until Wednesday, February 11th when the 'Dogs travel to Hershey to battle the Bears.

Gauthier Gets a 5 Game Suspension

2009-02-02T20:06:00.000-05:00

Ron McLean said Denis Gauthier deserved a 20 game suspension for his vicious elbow to the head of Josh Gorges. Pierre McGuire said Gauthier should sit the rest of the season. I expected at least 10 games.

The NHL decided that a 5 game suspension was enough. Clearly the NHL is not serious about removing head shots from the league.

When McGuire heard the news release from the NHL about the suspension he said "You got to be kidding me! I'd give him the year! Are you wondering why there is no respect among NHL players? Here is exhibit A. Gauthier has a track record as long as my arm!"

Video clip:
Gauthiers Vicious Elbow on Gorges

TORONTO (February 2, 2009) --Los Angeles Kings defenseman Denis Gauthier has been suspended for five games, without pay, as a result of a blow to the head delivered during NHL Game #732, Jan. 31 against the Montreal Canadiens, the National Hockey League announced.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Gauthier will forfeit $56,451.61. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Gauthier was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct for hitting Canadiens’ defenseman Josh Gorges at 3:50 of the second period.

Gauthier will miss games at Ottawa on Feb. 3, at Washington on Feb. 5, at New Jersey on Feb. 7, at New York Islanders on Feb. 10 and against Calgary on Feb. 12. He will be eligible to return on Feb. 14 against Edmonton.

Photo credits: (Reuters & AP)

A 3-1 loss...the Aftermath may get Ugly

2009-02-01T19:53:00.000-05:00

Montreal 1 Boston 3 (Bell Centre)

Rocket:

Early on, there was a playoff atmosphere in the Bell Centre. Both teams were cautious, physical and tight checking. The Canadiens got the first goal..for the first time in six games. It was a power-play goal from Robert Lang made possible by an Andrei Kostitsyn setting the perfect screen right in front of Tim Thomas. It was also a nice read by Andrei Markov to set up Lang.

Boston tied the game with only 0.6 seconds left in the period when a Komisarek clearing pass was intercepted by Dennis Wideman. Komo should have just turned with the puck , taken it behind the net and run out clock.

In a first intermission interview, Claude Julien noted that the Canadiens were playing very defensive employing a 1-4 system without any stretch passes to challenge his defense. In the second, Julien made adjustments, Carbonneau didn't.

All season the Canadiens' Achilles heel has been defensive zone coverage. Weak positional play by the Candiens was evident in the 2nd period. The Habs spent too much time running around in their own zone chasing Bruins.

Turnovers would hurt again with a Latendresse giveaway up the middle leading to the winning goal for the Bruins.
The Canadiens power-play was too tentative even when they had a 5 on 3 advantage. The Habs are not confident in their PP scheme and it showed.

Boston is 24-0-2 when leading after two periods. An uninspired second period meant that the Canadiens didn't have much chance in the third. Julien set his team in lockdown mode and the game was over.

A good game today from: Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Koivu, Pacioretty, Sergei Kostitsyn, Kostopoulos, Price, Markov, O'Byrne, Bouillon and Komisarek. The problem is that the Canadiens did not play like a team. The ridiculous line combinations must go!

Just a few words on Ryan O'Byrne: He had his second solid game since being recalled from Hamilton. O'Byrne was a physical presence all game and was responsible defensively. O'Byrne contributes as much in a game as Brisebois does all season.

My disgust is for a segment of Canadiens fans who sat on the edge of their seats waiting to boo O'Byrne at his first stumble. (This extreme treatment is exactly the opposite of the tolerance shown to Patrice Brisebois when he is on the ice.) This type of behaviour towards O'Byrne is unwarranted, ignorant and perhaps even bigoted. It does nothing to support this team.

Guillaume Latendresse left late in the game with a shoulder injury. The news is much worse for Robert Lang who suffered a severed tendon.

The game within a game:

Guy Carbonneau made a decision to insert Sergei Kostitsyn, Ryan O'Byrne and Alex Henry into the line-up today. All good decisions.

Choosing to humiliate Alex Kovalev on national TV was not a good decision. Whatever message Carbonneau wanted to send could have been done elsewhere. In addition, the phrase 'cutting off your nose to spite your face' comes to mind. At the time, the Canadiens were only down one goal to the Boston Bruins. Sitting your most talented offensive player for the third period doesn't make much sense. Replacing Kovalev with Kostopoulos in the final minute with the goalie pulled makes no sense at all.

As there are consequences for the players, so should there be for coaches. So far, Carbonneau has received a free pass from his friends in the media.

Carbonneau's job is to find a way to motivate each player. Kovalev is a veteran and wants to win. He realizes that Carbo's line combination gimmicks are at best a smokescreen. Kovalev knows that his coach is not putting the team in its best position to win.

Guy Carbonneau didn't stop there. After the game, Carbo was asked whether Kovalev's play has declined since the return of Saku Koivu. He could have diffused the situation. Instead, he inflamed it. Carbonneau said "I hope that's not the truth or we're in trouble because I'm not taking the C off Saku - that's the bottom line. If anyone needs a letter to perform on the ice, I have trouble with that. That's not professional at all."

Carbonneau did two things with his statement. He divided the dressing room refusing to deny that there is a rift between Kovalev and Koivu. Carbo ensured that his attack dog buddies in the media will make the next few days very uncomfortable for Alex Kovalev.

A colleague commented to me that he is glad that Guy Carbonneau is not the coach of his favorite team. When I inquired why, he said that he has never seen Carbo defend one of his non-francophone players in the media.

Guy Carbonneau continues to throw his players under the bus: Ryder, Higgins, Koivu, Price, O'Byrne and Kovalev to mention a few. Carbo ensures that any negative attention remains focused on his players and not on himself.

As far as Alex Kovalev, if he was only playing at half speed for the past week, does anyone think the situation will improve after Carbonneau's actions? I have a feeling that this is about to get worse before it gets better.

1912-13 CAC sweaters:

You are welcome to join All Habs on Twitter during every Canadiens game to share comments with other Habs fans.

Today, one follower commented that the barber pole jerseys were so ugly that they were awesome! Strangely, I understood exactly what he meant.

The striped socks were too much, but I have a feeling that the 1912-13 sweaters will be the biggest seller of the retro jerseys.

Pre-game:

Gorges, Tanguay, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. Ryan O'Byrne, Sergei Kostitsyn and Alex Henry will play. Patrice Brisebois and Steve Begin are scratched.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Dennis Wideman
2. Tomas Plekanec
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Zdeno Chara

(photo credit: AP photo)

Bruins vs. Habs - Sunday at 2 pm

2009-02-01T03:51:00.000-05:00

In this original six matchup with the Boston Bruins, the Canadiens will wear sweaters dating from the 1912-13 team. They are affectionately known as the barber pole jerseys. CAC on the crest refers to Club Athletique Canadien.

Gauthier's Vicious Elbow on Gorges

2009-02-01T02:13:00.000-05:00

Here's another look at the vicious elbow on Josh Gorges delivered by Denis Gauthier in today's game with the Kings. At 3:50 into the second period with the game tied 1-1, Gorges was carrying the puck into the LA zone. As Gorges cut towards the left-wing boards, Gauthier went head-hunting.

The league needs to take a stand on head shots. Denis Gauthier is a repeat offender and an infamous dirty hockey player. Gauthier left his skates, led with his elbow, and connected directly with Gorges head.

On HNIC, all agreed it was one of the most vicious hits of the year. Ron McLean suggested that Gauthier should be suspended for 20 games. I think it will be closer to 10 games.

How many games do you think that Denis Gauthier will be suspended by the NHL?

We Needed That!

2009-01-31T18:53:00.001-05:00

Montreal 4 Los Angeles 3 (Bell Centre)

Rocket:

What a finish! Two goals by the Canadiens in the final two minutes of the game. The players that made it happen : Koivu, Higgins, Markov simply refused to lose another game. The Habs were in a position to come back due to the stellar goaltending of Carey Price. It was a win that the Canadiens really needed...and it was a win because the Habs star players went out and got it.

Any analysis beyond the 4-3 final score is not as rosy. But there were some impressive individual efforts to acknowledge first.

Saku Koivu is a terrific leader, the hardest working player, and the heart and soul of this team. Koivu had a goal (the winner), an assist and was 63% on faceoffs. Koivu won a big faceoff to get the puck to Andrei Kostitsyn for a power-play goal. On the winning goal, Koivu didn't move from the top of the crease even though he was getting hammered by Matt Greene.

Tomas Plekanec is another player who works hard every shift, every game. It was nice to see his effort rewarded with a goal today. Plekanec, like a few others on the team, has been receiving unwarranted criticism.

Christopher Higgins has been stripped of his 'A', has been the target of almost every trade rumour, yet played well at both ends of the ice today and scored a huge goal. The Kings will argue that Higgins stiff arm on Drew Doughty should have been a penalty, and they may have a point. But more importantly, I was impressed with the will, determination and quick release by Higgins to tie the game.

Carey Price is the Canadiens' franchise player. He is not only an amazing talent on the ice but has emerged as a leader. When a team is struggling, often, good coaches deflect media attention on something else. Given the void in Montreal, Price has taken on that role. He was in no way to blame for any of the past four losses yet focused the media attention on himself sparing his struggling coach and defense. And today, Price shut the door on the Kings making several spectacular saves including 3 on Alexander Frolov.

Andrei Kostistyn can skate, is aggressive and has a laser shot. He displayed his release and accuracy on his power-play goal today. He simply needs much more ice-time. Another player who inexplicably is getting too much bench-time is Max Pacioretty. Credit to Max who had his first NHL fight with Wayne Simmonds.

Individual efforts won the game today because the lines looked like they hadn't played together before. Truth is, they hadn't! And that should not be happening in game #49 of the season.

Players have different styles and mesh better with players who understand their style. Here's an interesting example. During the post-game interview, Chris Higgins described the play of his tying goal. Higgins said that he finally received a pass up the middle. He said that he had been instructing his linemates all game to feed him that way.

Carbonneau's rationale...'I want a worker on every line'...is just juvenile. The insinuation is that the pluggers (like Carbo, I suppose) will teach the skilled players about work ethic. The result is predictable: a mess! And it leads to situations where players have to learn about playing a different way, as explained by Higgins. This isn't the time of the season for irresponsible experimentation by the coach.

And what does Alex Kovalev think about 'being taught' by Steve Begin? The answer was on the ice. The Lang/Kovalev/Begin line was the Canadiens' worst this afternoon. If the coaches motive is to punish Kovalev or make him angry, then I suppose Carbo succeeded. But good coaches are supposed to find ways of getting the best out of their players...even struggling players. It's clear that Carbonneau has been a colossal failure in that regard this season.

I have been critical of Kovalev as well. I look forward to the first time this season when Kovy skates at full speed. But Kovalev should also be acknowledged for his good plays. On the Canadiens 2nd goal, Koivu won the draw, but it was Kovalev who tied up the King defenseman so that Andrei Kostitsyn's shot had a clear path to the net.

Guy Carbonneau isn't doing Gui Latendresse any favors moving him to a line with two speedy forwards like AK-46 and Plekanec. Latendresse looked out of place today. He doesn't have the footspeed to keep up. Gui had at least 3 wide open chances but was erratic in his shooting. Perhaps the puck is coming to him when he is not expecting it. Latendresse really plays much better with north-south line-mates like Lapierre and Kostopoulos. Max and TK were ineffective today too.

This is a simple message to Guy Carbonneau. To borrow (and slightly change) a slogan: It's the defense, stupid! While Carbo is mindlessly tinkering with forward lines, the defensive zone coverage remains terrible. Even Kirk Muller acknowledged that it is the defensive giveaways that are killing the Canadiens.

Let Patrice Brisebois have his 1000 games and then never slot him in the line-up again. Brise was just brutal on the Kings 2nd goal, mishandling the puck before turning it over and then just waving his stick. That was a huge goal for LA coming after the Canadiens had a 5 on 3.

Josh Gorges giveaway was costly giving the Kings a 3-2 lead at the end of the second period. But Gorges should have never been on the ice. It was a poor coaching decision to allow Gorges to play after the dirty Gauthier hit. Still a little foggy, Gorges not only gave up the puck for a goal but was hit again.

Individual will and effort will not be enough to win against the Bruins tomorrow. It's time that the coach gets on board with a better effort too.

Pre-game:

Tanguay, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. O'Byrne and Sergei Kostitsyn are scratched.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Andrei Markov
2. Saku Koivu
2. Chris Higgins
3. Carey Price

(photo credit: AP Photo)

EXCLUSIVE: Conboy signs with Hamilton Bulldogs

2009-01-30T13:43:00.000-05:00

All Habs has learned that former NCAA player Andrew Conboy has signed with AHL Hamilton Bulldogs for remainder of season. Conboy is now on his way to Hamilton. The report also speculates that Conboy will sign multi-year NHL deal in March.

~more to follow~

previous story:

Habs Prospect Quits College Team

Price Expresses his Frustration

2009-01-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

Carey Price's teammates abandoned him on Thursday night, and Price was not in a good mood after the game. To his credit, Carey said that it was not the time for pointing fingers. The players must pull together.

As Pierre McGuire said yesterday, "Playing goal in Montreal is the toughest in hockey. Goaltending is second guessed more than any other position."

Guy Carbonneau, suggested that his team lacked character against Florida. Carbo should have acknowledged that his comment didn't apply to Carey Price who obviously shows character and is passionate competitor.

Habs Swept in Florida

2009-01-29T21:56:00.001-05:00

What do you think when you hear about a hockey game that was filled with odd man rushes, no defensive play, and a goaltender who stands on his head but gives up 5 goals? All-Star Game 2009 part 2 in Sunrise, Florida?

Seriously, it could have been a 12-1 game, but for a 31 save performance by Price, with at least a dozen being spectacular stops.

After the game, Price was clearly frustrated: "You go from having the best time of your life, to having the f@#$% worst time of your life..."

The head coach surmised that he could turn the offense around by simply changing line combinations. The result: zero even-strength goals for the Canadiens.

It is somewhat amusing that fans and media alike are screaming for a superstar center. VL will be the answer to our prayers and the solution to all the problems that ail the Habs, they say.

But look across the ice tonight. The Panther centers are: Horton, Weiss, Campbell and Kreps. No superstars there. No one can argue that the Panthers have superior talent. Yet, tonight the game wasn't even close. So what is the difference?

Look behind the bench. Peter DeBoer has done an amazing job turning around the fortunes of the Florida Panthers. DeBoer took the Kitchener Rangers to the Memorial Cup last year. Ask Yannick Weber what kind of coach he is. DeBoer has been a career coach for the past 15 years much in the mould of Mike Babcock. DeBoer came to the NHL after honing his craft in the minor leagues. Quite a contrast to a former NHL star who is parachuted into the role of head coach, makes decisions based on emotion and is content to rest on his success as a player.

Earlier in the season, Pierre McGuire said that the Canadiens practises were lacking focus and purpose. Today, McGuire mentioned that there is too much talk in the Canadiens meeting room and not enough teaching of fundamentals on the practise ice.

Clearly, Pete DeBoer is getting the best out of his players and Guy Carbonneau is not. While the Canadiens could use a extra defenseman, the players on the present roster are underachieving, and that is the responsibility of the coach.

Guy Carbonneau once again chose to go with his favorites tonight. Max Lapierre played the most even strength minutes of any Canadiens' center. As Pierre McGuire said during the game, "If Lapierre is getting first line center minutes, you aren't going to win a lot."

When the Lapierre / Latendresse / Kostopoulos line plays a third or fourth line rotation, they know their role. They play a simple, straight-line, hard-nosed and very effective game. Yet when they are given extra minutes, their role is not as clear. Are they expected to score? At that point, the defensive play of the line suffers. They don't forecheck effectively and are soft in their own zone.

Patrice Brisebois was a train wreck tonight, one of the worst games by a Canadiens defenseman in memory, yet he played 17 minutes. While Brise was committing giveaways all over the ice and getting beat with speed, it was left to Price to bail him out.

Josh Gorges and Francis Bouillon were both -2. Gorges began the night with a bad penalty crosschecking Holik in the head. Bouwmeester scored on the ensuing power-play and the Canadiens trailed 1-0 for the 4th game in a row. Later, Zednik cruised around Gorges while Bouillon stood and watched, and the Panthers went up 3-1. Bouillon and Gorges would also be on the ice for Florida's 5th goal.

So who played well besides Price? Well not many Canadiens. Plekanec, Sergei Kostitsyn, Koivu and Higgins were probably the best forwards. A sniper like Andrei Kostitsyn simply can't be effective when he's on the bench for long stretches of the game. He and the other skilled players need ice-time to get into the flow of the game.

A 4th straight loss for the Canadiens and it is time for the head coach to take some responsibility for turning this team around. Right now, the Habs need focused practices, a strategic game plan, better bench management and effective player motivation.

Pre-game:

Koivu wears the 'C', Kovalev and Komisarek with 'A's tonight. (Although, I can't disagree with the decision to recognize Komisarek, it seems odd to me that Higgins lost his 'A' due to injury.)

Tanguay, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. Brisebois and Begin will play. O'Byrne and Pacioretty are scratches.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Stephen Weiss
2. Jay Bouwmeester
3. Carey Price

(photo credit: AP photo)

Whining to the Ref is not a Game Plan

2009-01-27T23:08:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

The Canadiens played a first period as might be expected tonight. They were full of jump and dominated the Lightning in shots on goal 20-7. They were also playing rather loose and unfocused. The Habs could not bear down to take advantage of a 5 on 3 power-play t go up by two goals. On a 3 on 1 Robert Lang just flipped the puck towards the goaltender rather than burying it in the back of the net.

All of the above are characteristics of a team who is playing without a coach. Even Carbo kool-aid drinkers have to be wondering about a team who has difficulty beating the bottom feeders of the league. It is clearly not a lack of talent in those games. It seems that there is poor preparation, an ineffective game plan, and the inability to make in-game adjustments, and to get the most out of all players.

Canadiens bench management is puzzling. Andrei Kostitsyn came into the game as the Habs' hottest sniper. Yet, he only had 9 minutes of even strength ice-time. If Andrei went several games without a point after getting an abundance of time of the ice, then reduce it. But why do that when presently he gives the team the best chance to score.

And I have no idea what Carbonneau said after the first period to his team, but he should trash that speech. After dominating the first, the Canadiens came out flat in the second. The Habs only managed 5 shots and gave up 3 goals. They looked like an undisciplined team.

The defense struggled again tonight particularly Hamrlik, Gorges and Bouillon. Hamrlik and Bouillon were on the ice for 2 Tampa goals and Gorges for 3 goals.

On the first Lightning goal, both Gorges and Hamrlik chased Artyukhin leaving Malone all alone to score. On the second, Bouillon left Lecavalier by himself for his goal. Bouillon was also guilty on the third Tampa goal with a giveaway right up the middle.

Max Lapierre can be such a frustrating player to watch. He can look very good as he did tonight going to the front of the opposition net which led to two goals. But Max's checking game makes one wish for the return of Kyle Chipchura. Lapierre doesn't play the body enough and it cost the Canadiens a goal tonight. Max had Steve Downie behind the Canadiens net and could have separated him from the puck with a stiff check. Instead, Lapierre waved at Downie with his stick. Downie was able to center the puck which then deflected off Hamrlik into the Canadiens net.

Robert Lang was completely in a fog tonight. From face-offs to his offense, it seemed like he was just going through the motions.

Special teams were not very special. The power-play was 0 for 7 including a long 5 on 3. Penalty killers gave up two goals.

Saku Koivu played well as usual even delivering 3 solid hits. Chris Higgins had his moments but will take a game or to to find his timing. Strangely enough, the line didn't play as well when Kovalev was added in the third.

Alex Kovalev really seems to like to play with Max Pacioretty. Alex had a goal on 7 shots. Pacioretty really seems to be the complete package. He has speed and good hands but also delivers big hits and goes to the front of the net.

Both Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov played well. The All-Stars teamed up on the Canadiens first goal when MK made a great play to knock the puck down at the blue line and then get it over to Markov for a blast from the point.

Ryan O'Byrne had a solid game. He played just over twelve and a half minutes including some shorthanded time. O'Byrne was confident moving the puck, made good decisions and was very physical. O'Byrne and Komisarek were the only ones who could handle 6'5", 255lb., Evgeny Artyukhin. O'Byrne was one of the top three defenseman on this night and certainly earned his way back and should be in the line-up on Thursday.

The Lightning capitalized on some poor defensive play and some quirky bounces to beat Carey Price tonight. He was not to blame despite allowing 5 goals. Price made a good save on Recchi on the penalty shot.

Carbonneau had to fore go his Florida vacation to attend the All-Star game. Let's hope that he passes on golf tomorrow and makes game preparation his focus prior to the math against Florida.

Pre-game:

Higgins will play after missing 19 games with a shoulder injury. O'Byrne will be in the line-up after being recalled from Hamilton.

Tanguay, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. Brisebois and Begin are scratches.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Vincent Lecavalier
2. Martin St. Louis
3. Andrei Markov

(photo credit: AP photo)

Photos: Habs Shine at All-Star Skills Night

2009-01-25T02:16:00.000-05:00

Carey Price makes a pad save on Michael Frolik

Alex Kovalev scores on Tim Thomas in elimination shootout

Mike Komisarek slapshot registers 98.5 mph

Canadiens all-stars in East jerseys

(Photo credits: Mike Stobe/Getty Images & Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

Jersey Cruises to Win over Passive Habs

2009-01-21T23:00:00.004-05:00

Passive defense: 9 goals against on a two-game road trip

Passive physical game: only 13 hits delivered...for the second game in a row.

Passive coaching: 1-4 forecheck system when Canadiens are two goals down in the third period.

This is not the way the Canadiens wanted to go into the All-Star break. Two games in which the Habs looked lethargic and unprepared and the coach could only shrug behind the bench and continue to roll four lines.

What was with Alex Kovalev? He looked completely disinterested while skating at half-speed all night. Max Pacioretty seemed to be playing alone at times. He attacked the Devil zone with speed and was strong along the boards. Max also wasn't afraid to go to the front of the net. But until he was moved to play with Koivu and D'Agostini, he wasn't able to be effective.

The Lapierre \ Latendresse \ Kostopoulos line has been awful for the past few games. Their checks are nothing more than stick-waving fly-bys. They have abandoned their physical game. Their only interest seems to be in after-whistle scrums. In the two game road trip, the Laps line have only 8 hits total and they were a collective -8.

Tomas Plekanec and Max Lapierre both struggled in the face-off circle hovering around 30%. Only Robert Lang won more faceoffs than he lost at 83%.

The Canadiens defense continues to be a major point of weakness. Francis Bouillon and Patrice Brisebois both played poorly tonight. Brisebois was -3.

The best Canadiens line was led by Saku Koivu. While his timing wasn't top notch, he was solid at both ends of the ice. Matt D'Agostini played very well against Atlanta but seemed to have even more jump in his step tonight playing with Koivu. Gregory Stewart had a few good shifts and did some good work in front of the net on Gorges goal. But the Koivu line really came to life when Stewart was replaced by Pacioretty.

Carey Price allowed 4 goals on 34 New Jersey shots but he had little help from his defense. Price looked focused and sharp in the first period and made some spectacular saves in the third.

Perhaps during the All-Star break Guy Carbonneau will have an opportunity to see how an NHL coach motivates and prepares his team for a game.

Pre-game:

Koivu will play after missing 17 games with a high ankle sprain.

Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. Chipchura and Begin are scratches.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Zach Parise
2. Johnny Oduya
3. Matt D'Agostini

(photo credit: AP photo)

Tim Thomas: Smoke & Mirrors 2

2009-01-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

Subsequent to my recent article on Boston's Tim Thomas (Tim Thomas: Smoke & Mirrors?) , there was an interesting discussion with our friends from various Bruins blog sites.

Recent photo evidence suggests that Tim Thomas may have ulterior motives other than stopping the puck which may explain his awkward movements.

So the question is:

Is Thomas' unorthodox goaltending style due to a lack of technique... or is he just lonely?

Halak & Thrasher Fans are No-Shows in Atlanta

2009-01-20T21:03:00.004-05:00

So this is Gary Bettman's NHL. A Georgia-based team beats an original six franchise in a half-empty arena. So why is he so opposed to relocating to Hamilton, Kitchener, Winnipeg or Quebec City?

The Thrashers have been averaging just over 14,000 fans per home game. Tonight's announced attendance was 13,076. But that number is paid attendance not turnstile count. The lower bowl was about one third empty. There's more excitement at a Canadiens practise in Brossard.

The crowd was small and quiet. The teams responded accordingly in a slow-skating, no-hitting affair.

Look at the names on the scoring summary: Christensen, Thorburn, Peverley, Bogosian, Pacioretty and Begin. Believe it or not, Steve Begin is the highest goal scorer on that list with 6 for the season. That should give you a good idea about the tempo of tonight's game.

The Canadiens actually got off to a good start with a dominating shift from the Lang line. Shortly after Jaroslav Halak gave up his first soft goal. Jaro was again caught deep in his crease. The puck found its way between his body and his arm. Francis Bouillon and Patice Brisebois were on the the ice for the goal. It was the beginning of a bad night for the bottom four defenseman on the Canadiens.

Roman Hamrlik was probably the worst of the bunch. Hamrlik had an awful first period. He made bad decisions, was prone to bad decisions and most surprisingly, was outmuscled for the puck at times. Gorges, Bouillon and Brisebois also struggled all game long.

All three goals given up by Halak were stoppable. Jaro really needs to work on his poor technique. Halak's won-loss record during Price's injury is not reflective of his play. Jaro has benefited from the Canadiens scoring almost 4 goals a game during a 14 game stretch.

Carey Price came into the game early in the second period after Halak gave up the third Atlanta goal. Carey looked good, in both a hockey and style sense, sporting his new all-red pads and making some solid saves. His only goal against resulted from a puck that was going wide of the net and deflected off Thorburn. Josh Gorges couldn't handle the Atlanta player.

Max Pacioretty was the best Canadiens forward. Max had a couple of big hits, was creating scoring chances and drawing penalties. Pacioretty scored when he was in perfect position parked in front of the crease to sweep in a rebound from a Markov point shot. I also thought that Matt D'Agostini played very well.

Mike Komisarek blocked three shots including a goal-saver against Kovalchuk. Andrei Markov registered an assist.

This was a real disappointing effort particularly by Jaroslav Halak and the defensive corps. Guy Carbonneau will have to do a better job getting his team ready for tomorrow's game in New Jersey.

Pre-game:

The Canadiens unveiled a new NHL-size outdoor rink as a gift to the community of Villeray / Saint-Michel / Parc Extension. Kudos to George Gillett and Pierre Boivin.

Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Chipchura is a healthy scratch. Price will back-up Halak.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Chris Thorburn
2. Max Pacioretty
3. Zach Bogosian

(photo credit: AP photo)

Tim Thomas: Smoke & Mirrors?

2009-01-19T23:06:00.002-05:00

It's not a game day for the Canadiens, so I had one eye on the division rival Boston Bruins and their game versus St. Louis. I wasn't too hopeful for the Bruins opponent today. The Blues are last in the West, and don't often win on the road. St. Louis had lost 9 of the past 10 road games. The Bruins rarely lose at home.

So, when the Bruins took a two goal lead with 3 minutes left against the team that is 26th overall in the league, it was over. Right? Well, I'm sure that you know the story by now.

St. Louis scored a power-play goal with just over a minute left and then David Backes tied the game with 0.8 seconds left. TJ Oshie (now, there's a sniper!) and Brad Boyes scored in the shootout to give the Blues an upset win!

I visited one of the blog sites of our Bruin friends to read their reaction to the game. One commenter wrote that the problem did not lie with the offense nor the defense. The inference was that the Bruins have a problem in goal. Bingo!

Tim Thomas stats were not pretty today: 3.69 GAA .871 SV%. In addition, he did not look good during the shootout. Do the Bruin fans feel comfortable going to the playoffs with a team led by Tim Thomas in goal?

There is no doubt that Thomas is riding wave of confidence mainly provided by a defense-first system mandated by Claude Julien. But at some point the fairy tale has to end. Can a goalie who relies on acrobatics as a substitute for a lack of technique continue this charade all season?

Will we see the real Tim Thomas, the 'man behind the curtain' at some point?

"The Great Oz has spoken. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain....the...Great...er...Oz has spoken." A great quote which will perhaps be applicable to Tim Thomas. Here are a few more:

Kynch of Kynch's BB Korner:
"Just what, exactly, do Habs fans need for 'proof' that Tim Thomas, IS in fact, an All-Star caliber goalie?"

Rocket of All Habs:
"Tim Thomas is the Inspector Clouseau of the NHL. He gets the job done, but often, it is completely by accident."

Pierre McGuire of TSN & NBC:
"Tim Thomas? I have never seen a goalie that clumsy in my life. He gives every ball-hockey goalie hope!"

So what do you have to say about Tim Thomas? I look forward to hearing from Habs fans and our dear friends who support the Bruins.

Woeful Senators Make it Close

2009-01-17T22:09:00.002-05:00

Kovalev and Lapierre both scored in the shootout! Yay! The Canadiens won the game! Yes! They picked up another two points. Woo hoo! The Habs and are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games and are now only 10 back of Boston. (loud voice now) Ole--Ole, Ole--Ole!

If you are only looking for superlatives about your Montreal Canadiens, you can stop reading now. Because frankly, I really wasn't happy watching this game.

You will hear elsewhere about Jaroslav Halak saving the game in the shootout. Truth is that Spezza shot high over the net, and Alfredsson shot right into his pads. Halak finished the game with 3.70 goals against average and .852 save percentage That's not good enough against the 28th team in the league.

Over the past month, the Canadiens have helped Halak to look good with 7 wins. But over that span, he has an unimpressive 3.07 GAA and .904 SV%.

Guy Carbonneau often says how well his team is playing defensively. Yet tonight, they gave up two 2-goal leads and surrendered 3 goals on 7 shots in the third to the Senators. This is the same Ottawa team who has not won three games in a row all season. But they came close tonight against the Habs. Bouillon and Gorges each struggled defensively at times. Brisebois was nothing more than a spectator.

The Canadiens power play is back, say some. The power play did register a goal again tonight. Looking closer, the goal came on a 5 on 3 advantage. While the Lang line looked good on the PP with tape to tape passes, they couldn't finish while one man up. And the second wave of the power play looked awful not registering a shot despite being given plenty of ice time. Does it make sense to continue to send out the 4th line (3rd line only due to injuries) for PP shifts?

The Canadiens are a quick team but didn't use their speed effectively against a weak Senators defense. Ottawa out hit the Habs 29-15. The guys that are expected to play physical, Komisarek, Begin and Lapierre only had one hit each.

OK...now the good:

Robert Lang. He picked up 2 assists, the first when he made a great pass to set up Kovalev's goal. He is leading the top line on the team right now.

Andrei Kostitsyn is on fire and is becoming the go-to sniper.

Andrei Markov moved the puck well and led the team with 6 shots.

Matt D'Agostini had a goal and played well enough to get a few more even with limited ice time.

Greg Stewart was inconsistent but made two good plays to create turnovers on D'Agostini's goal.

The last two Canadiens' wins are best forgotten. Two more road wins before the All Star break would be a big boost to this team.

Pre-game:

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Chipchura is a healthy scratch. Gregory Stewart is in the line-up.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Robert Lang
2. Dany Heatley
3. Andrei Markov

Habs Inside/Out Audio (from Pat Hickey in Ottawa): Maxim Lapierre Mike Komisarek Tom Kostopoulos Gregory Stewart Matt D'Agostini

(photo credit: AP photo)

Habs Sleepwalk to Win over Preds

2009-01-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, I received an email from one of our readers saying that he was making a road trip to Canada and had tickets for the Nashville - Montreal game. Sean received many excellent suggestions from you about places to eat and drink. Sean also asked if there was a player that he should watch.

Habster suggested keeping an eye on the Kostitsyns. Big Brother said that Andrei Markov is one of the most under-rated defenseman in the league. I mentioned that Gui Latendresse had elevated his game recently.

Checking the game summary, you will see that Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov and Guillaume Latendresse all scored tonight for the Canadiens. Well done partners! Shall we get some lottery tickets?

Oh, there was one more recommendation for Sean. Here's what one of us wrote (I think you can guess who it was): "As far as Brise, just watch when the puck comes near him, cause soon after, Nashville will get a scoring chance." Brisebois had a typical game. That is, Patrice took a bad penalty and he was on the ice for (and played a role in) both Nashville goals.

The Canadiens came out strong in this game. They had a number of scoring chances in the first. Just before the end of the period Josh Gorges made a nice play as Latendresse shot made it through a screen past goaltender Pekka Rinne. The Canadiens outshot the Predators 12-6 in the first.

Steve Begin paired off early with Jordin Tootoo. It was a very rare tilt for Begin. Perhaps Steve was hearing Greg Stewart footsteps. Credit Begin for dropping the gloves although this was a clear decision for Tootoo.

After that, the Habs seemed to go to sleep (and the Bell Centre crowd with them). The Predators outshot the Canadiens 19-8 in the final two periods. The Habs only managed two shots in the 2nd. One of those shots was a laser off the stick of Andrei Kostitsyn after a great cross-ice pass from Andrei Markov. Good puck retrieval on the play by Robert Lang.

Robert Lang with the Kostitsyns were dangerous to score again tonight on most shifts. In the third, good pressure from the Lang line led to Andrei Markov's goal from a point shot with Andrei Kostitsyn screening in front. AK-46 led the Canadiens with 4 shots.

Alex Kovalev had a great first period but the effects of the flu seemed to catch up with him after that. Tomas Plekanec was dominant in face-offs going 7-0 at one point ending the night at 63%.

Jaroslav Halak didn't look especially good on Nashville's first goal but couldn't be faulted on the second. Halak's teammates helped him out blocking 26 shots, led by Mike Komisarek with 6 blocks.

Nashville should have been put away earlier as Kovalev, Markov, Plekanec and Lang all had chances to score into an empty net in the last minute and a half.

This game may have been a letdown for the Canadiens as it didn't come close to the intensity of the Bruin game. In the end it was a win but the Habs will have to play better in Ottawa on Saturday.

Pre-game:

Alex Kovalev will play despite battling the effects of the flu.

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Stewart is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Andrei Markov
2. Robert Lang
3. Jordin Tootoo

(photo credit: AP photo)

Kostitsyn Checks Ward; Thomas Decks Kostitsyn

2009-01-14T16:17:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

To be fair, here's the full clip (posted to YouTube by a Boston fan, no less) and called by Versus.

I still can't see anything in Kostitsyn's hit on Ward that is worthy of a five minute major.

Bruins Team up with Refs to Beat Habs

2009-01-14T02:19:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

After the game, Guy Carbonneau said, "I thought we were dominating them and then they called the penalty. I didn't think it should have been a major; in fact, I've looked at it and I don't think it was a penalty." Are you sitting down? I'm going to agree with Guy Carbonneau.

THE penalty changed the game. You know, the five minute major for boarding to Andrei Kostitsyn. Was it a penalty at all? To me, it looked like a rather solid hit by AK-46 on a very fragile Aaron Ward. After the hit, I doubt that either Chris Lee (not THIS guy again!) nor Wes McCauley had 'major penalty' in their minds. Seems that they changed their minds after Tim Thomas cross-checked Kostitsyn in the head. I suppose that the Lee/McCauley tandem figured that Thomas wouldn't act like a crazy man unless Kostitsyn had done something seriously wrong so they decided to assess the 5 minute major. The more vicious blow to the head from Thomas was only assessed 2 minutes.

Shortly after, Roman Hamrlik was called for and the Bruins had a 5 on 3 advantage for a full two minutes. Chara scored his second power-play goal of the game and that was all the Bruins needed. Boston had a 21-0-2 record when leading after two periods and are due full marks for limiting the Canadiens chances in the third. Credit goes to Claude Julien and his in-game adjustments for that!

The Canadiens had a great start to the game dominating the first period and outshooting the Bruins 17-9.

Tim Thomas was giving up big rebounds, flopping around in his crease but somehow stopping the puck. A number of Canadien shots got by Thomas but ended up trickling through the crease. Thomas did make several key saves on good scoring chances by the Habs. The Bruins also came to the aid of Thomas blocking 13 shots.

Jaroslav Halak played well while he was in his crease. Outside his crease? Well, let's just say it was an adventure! Halak had great difficulty handling the puck. He was a little slow reacting to the Krejci goal but otherwise he couldn't be faulted. Halak also benefited from a less than accurate Bruins offense that had 12 missed shots.

Komisarek was very physical tonight totalling a whopping 11 hits in all. It was a thing of beauty watching Bruins step over the blue line only to be launched into the air by a solid Komo hip check.

Robert Lang with Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn were once again the best line for the Canadiens. Andrei had good body position and took a big hit in front of the net to score the Canadiens goal on the power-play, set up by Sergei's shot to the net. I really enjoyed Sergei battling with Chara with and without the puck on several occasions to create chances. Andrei had a chance to tie the game with about 5 minutes left on a nice feed by Markov but Thomas made a great glove save.

Although Max Pacioretty seemed nervous early on, he drew two Bruin penalties by using his speed. Tomas Plekanec was superb. Alex Kovalev was disappointing tonight only occasionally being effective.

Let's add Kyle Chipchura to the list of great team guys with Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon. Chipchura stepped in when Matt D'Agostini was hit from behind by Blake Wheeler. Chipchura ended up fighting Mark Stuart.

The Lapierre line is playing very well, doing its job. But enough with time on the power-play! That's over-extending their role and one that they don't excel at.

Patrice Brisebois could not skate with PJ Axelsson so hooked him and took a horrible neutral zone penalty. Chara scored on the ensuing Bruins power-play to tie the game. The Canadiens penalty killers gave up two goals tonight, although the second came on a two man advantage. In the first, Brise was very fortunate that a bad Bruin pass hit his stick as he sprawled out in a lame attempt to defend a 2 on 1. In the second, Wheeler couldn't handle a Krejci pass for a short-handed goal. Brisebois was back but could only watch. In the third, Brisebois huge giveaway to Krejci, no less, could have meant game-over. The Brise-apologists may disagree but his play is a huge liability to the team.

Message to the NHL: We assumed that you were serious when you said you wanted to reduce hits to the head. Two vicious head shots tonight: Thomas on Andrei Kostitsyn and Krejci on Plekanec. Yet I doubt there will be any supplementary discipline.

Message #2 to the NHL: Boston vs Montreal. This was a huge 4 point divisional game. Next time you might want to send the 'A' officials. Chris Lee just doesn't cut it.

This was a good game despite key injuries on both sides: Price, Koivu, Higgins, Tanguay for the Habs; Lucic, Bergeron, Kessel and Fernandez for the Bruins. The Bruins are now 3-0-1 versus the Canadiens this year. Montreal trails Boston by 12 points in the standings.

Pre-game:

Next time Claude and Guy will see each other is at the All-Star game. Carbonneau will be Julien's assistant as head coach to the East All Stars. That's got to be a blow to Guy's massive ego.

Tuukka Rask and Marc Denis will be the backups.

Lucic out for Boston. St. Pierre will play in his place.

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Weber is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Zdeno Chara
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Tim Thomas

(photo credit: AP photo)

The (almost) Untouchable

2009-01-13T02:22:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Here's an article about the Lecavalier situation from the Tampa Bay side. I found a few statements interesting. There seems to be a feeling that Mike Komisarek must be included in the deal. Hopefully that is a deal-breaker for Gainey. I was amused that Lecav is glad that he is away from the media spotlight of Montreal during the rumour frenzy. Sounds like he isn't really interested in the scrutiny of the Montreal media on a daily basis during the season. It should be interesting to see his reaction to the media during All-Star weekend.

The (almost) Untouchable
By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times

Monday, January 12, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier will not be untouchable as the March 4 trade deadline approaches.

But don't read too much into that, general manager Brian Lawton said. On a team fighting to stay out of the league cellar, "There are no players who are untouchable."

"And that has nothing to do with Vinny Lecavalier," Lawton said before Monday night's game with the Kings at the Staples Center. "That has to do with the status of any team I'm managing. It has to do with our macro goal of being committed to winning, being committed to giving our fans a winner. No player supersedes the goals of any team I'm working on."

Still, simply acknowledging that Lecavalier, 28, the face of the franchise and recently voted in a Times poll the Tampa Bay area's most popular athlete, is not off limits is a show stopper.

It makes it reasonable to assume teams are inquiring — Montreal, anyone? — the Lightning is at least listening and internal discussions are taking place as to whether the team would be better off long-term with the superstar center or the windfall of assets he would bring in a deal.

At the very least it will reinforce a firestorm of speculation around the league that will intensify as the deadline approaches.

"I'm just glad we're in California and not Canada," Lecavalier joked.

"I haven't even looked at the Internet."

Lawton was adamant, though, Lecavalier is not being shopped.

"To suggest we're engaging in conversations to trade him or we're shopping him to all teams in the National Hockey League is completely inaccurate," he said. "It's false, egregious and it's abusive toward the player.

"I can tell you if a player of that stature were ever going to be traded, I would go meet with him, face to face, and discuss the situation," Lawton added. "That has never happened."

Lecavalier, whose "no-move" clause, which is part of his 11-year, $85-million contract extension, doesn't kick in until July 1, confirmed he has not been approached.

So, here is what I think is happening. Teams, sensing an opening, are no doubt calling. The Lightning is listening, and it is safe to assume there have been internal discussions as to whether the team, long-term, would be better off with Lecavalier or the assets he would bring in a deal.

In the meantime, the rumor mill will churn. Canada's TSN already has a trade mapped out having to do with the Canadiens, though it does not include shut-down defenseman Mike Komisarek, who, logic says, would have to be included in any deal of this magnitude.

It is a busy time for Lightning officials, who last week met with league brass and Tom Wilson, CEO of former owner Palace Sports & Entertainment, to restructure the $70-million finance agreement with Palace Sports on the $200-million sale of the team.

Lawton admitted the drooping economy has had an adverse effect on the team's finances.

"No different than most of the business around the world right now," he said. "We are not recession proof. Are we going out of business? Can we meet our payroll? Has coach (Rick) Tocchet been paid? All these ludicrous things I've heard are totally false.

"That is the root of where this discussion is coming from," Lawton added. "People are saying, 'Well, they're going out of business. They're going to have to trade their expensive players, and they're starting with their most expensive player.' "

Lawton said his starting point in evaluating the roster is the same used by every team.

"The clarity for me is unless a team is performing at a championship level, there are no players who are untouchable," he said. "We're looking at every player on our team, all the time until we win a Stanley Cup."

Lecavalier, the Rocket Richard Trophy winner in 2007 for his league-high 52 goals, has struggled this season. He entered Monday tied for the team lead with 16 goals, but his 36 points put him well behind his pace the past two seasons in which he had 108 and 92, respectively.

What has been consistent are trade rumors, especially to his hometown Canadiens, which have followed him almost his entire career.

"I guess you get used to it," Lecavalier said. "You've got to insulate yourself from it, for sure."

Good luck.

Meet Yannick Weber

2009-01-11T02:25:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

I'm pleased to introduce an article about Canadiens rookie defenseman Yannick Weber appearing exclusively on All Habs by guest writer Swiss Chris. You can read more by Swiss Chris on his superb website: http://swisshockey.net/

Meet Yannick Weber
by Swiss Chris

What can we tell you about Yannick Weber? Beyond the basics (size, weight, date of birth, etc.) you can look up yourself?
Unfortunately we don't know Weber personally. Switzerland is a small country, but it's not that small. Nevertheless, being as intimately familiar with the country as we are, we can lend some insight. So here goes:

Weber was born in a little town called Morges, near Lausanne in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. He grew up in Berne, Switzerland's capital city. After hearing an interview with him, it sounds like German is definitely his first language, though he could also be perfectly bilingual (French-German). Many Swiss people are. Expect him to at the very least speak French passably, which should endear him to the Francophone press--at least initially. (As a quick aside: Former Hab Mark Streit's home canton is also Berne.)

But enough with the ethnography. What about his hockey DNA? Weber came through the ranks at SC Bern's highly-rated youth program. He started playing hockey at age 7, winning the junior national championship at age 16. He made his debut with the first team at age 17 in 2006. Previously he played for an affiliate club in Switzerland's second division. He was the youngest Swiss player at the 2005 World Juniors in Vancouver, when he first caught the eye of current Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, at the time in charge of the OHL's Kitchener Rangers. DeBoer and the Rangers drafted Weber to the team the following year. He joined them that fall and later was named assistant captain by DeBoer, who was impressed with his maturity. DeBoer has compared Weber to Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell.

Speaking of the Blackhawks, Weber has named them as his favorite NHL team, with Chris Chelios his favorite player. But don't hold that against him.

Weber is obviously skilled at producing points, having 41 in 51 games for Kitchener last season. He also led all defensemen in points as captain of the Swiss team at the U-20 world championship in 2007. His slapshot is his greatest weapon, which is why you saw him at the point of the Habs powerplay the other night. But he knows he needs to improve defensively to have a chance at becoming a regular contributor in the NHL. Will he be able to do it? I think so, though I'm admittedly biased. Players like Streit and Luca Sbisa at Philadelphia have proven that Swiss players can make it as something other than goaltenders (you know about David Aebischer of course but we also have Jonas Hiller in Anaheim, Martin Gerber in Ottawa and Tobias Stephan in Dallas). I think their solid fundamentals, discipline and maturity (which comes from playing with grown men as teenagers back home) gives them the "soft skills" necessary to do it. (Can they be wingers and centers? That's another topic for another day).

The only concern is that in Montreal Weber will be thrust into the limelight and scrutinized to a far stronger degree than he would nearly anywhere else. Remember that Streit was a lot older when he came to the NHL. Weber looked really nervous in his debut, though that is of course to be expected of anybody (and using him at forward as Carbo did was, uh, a little unconventional). Just don't be too harsh on him at first, ok? :)

Now, That's a Hockey Game!!

2009-01-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Matts Sundin played his third game tonight with Vancouver. Brendan Shanahan agreed to terms with the New Jersey Devils today. And tonight, the Montreal Canadiens had one of their best games of the year. Coincidence? Yes, probably! But, it is fun to speculate that the Habs players are happy that the daily rumours about Sundin and Shanny are over and their play reflected it.

It was a terrific game from both teams, probably the best at the Bell Centre this season. Three goals were scored in the first two periods followed by a six goal explosion in the third. Despite all the goals, both goaltenders made key saves. It was Jaroslav Halak's best game in more than a month. Halak still had trouble with his glove hand and occasionally overplayed the puck which left him scrambling. But Halak was much improved and solid in his play down low.

What a great game for Tomas Plekanec! He continues to be the hardest working Hab (and most under-rated) on a nightly basis. Pleks is effective at both ends of the ice and his point production is now catching up with his level of play as Kovalev's game has improved. Plekanec had two goals. Max Pacioretty fits perfectly with Kovy and Pleks. Max made a great pass to set up Plekanec for the Canadiens 4th goal.

Once again, Robert Lang centered the best line for the Habs with 3 goals and 5 points. Lang, AK-46 and SK-74 each had a goal for the Canadiens with Sergei getting the winner with only 21 seconds left.

Mike Komisarek was solid in his own zone with 10 blocked shots.

Special teams were good again with 1 shorthanded goal and 2 powerplay goals. It was the third straight game that the Canadiens scored 2 goals on the power play. The Canadiens penalty killers held the 6th ranked Washington power-play to only 1 goal on 4 chances.

After several solid efforts, Roman Hamrlik had a tough game. Hamrlik was caught running around on the Capitals first goal while Josh Gorges couldn't handle Semin in front of the net. Josh was caught out of position on the Fleischmann goal. Gorges struggled with the bigger Capital forwards all game. On the night, Hamrlik and Gorges were a combined -5.

The ECHL-calibre defenseman, Patrice Brisebois, committed a brutal giveaway to Alexander Semin. Semin scored easily on the play and had two goals in the game. Semin and Ovechkin had 14 of Washington's 35 shots.

Guy Carbonneau continues to make curious personnel decisions. Lapierre, Latendresse and Kostopoulos continue to do a good job as the Canadiens 3rd line. Once Koivu, Tanguay and Higgins are back, I'm sure that the Lapierre line will be an effective 4th line. While Lapierre's line plays well, it is still the Lang and Plekanec lines that give the Canadiens the best opportunity to win. Lang's line was terrific again tonight yet did so with limited icetime. Lapierre had 4 1/2 more minutes of even strength icetime than Lang. Laps also had more even strength ice-time than Plekanec. (Even strength ice-time in minutes: Lapierre 13 / Latendresse 11 / Kostopoulos 11 Lang 8 / Andrei K 10 / Sergei K 9 ) It does not seem to be an effective way to manage the bench when the Canadiens best players are not on the ice.

The Habs are on a roll with 4 straight wins. Next up is a visit to the conference leading Bruins on Tuesday. It should be good!

Pre-game:

Winning coach of this game goes to the All-Star game as Claude Julien's assistant.

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Weber is a healthy scratch. Begin back in the line-up

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Tomas Plekanec
2. Alexander Semin
3. Sergei Kostitsyn

(photo credit: AP photo)

Ask Us: Yannick Weber

2009-01-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

We're proud to unveil a new feature of the blog called "Ask All Habs". We will feature a reader's question and post our answers. Of course, you are all welcome to comment. Send your questions to allhabs@gmail.com

This week's question comes from SwissChris:

What did you guys think of Weber's debut last night? Do you think he's going to stay with the big club?

Hey SwissChris,

Thanks for the question. I thought he handled a difficult situation reasonably well, considering he hasn't really played forward throughout his young hockey career.

It was nice to see him playing on the blueline along side Roman Hamrlik in the third period and he played well.I love his skill set, breakout passes and that heavy, quick shot from the point. The Habs are missing a good point shot and Weber certainly can fill that need.

Unless there is an injury, I think Yannick Weber will return to the Bulldogs where he will certainly continue to develop his all-round game.I would be a bit concern if they kept him on the NHL roster without playing him on defense. It doesn't help his development as a defenseman if Carbo continues to use him as a forward with PP duties.

In my humble opinion, he would be better served playing a few more games in Hamilton. With that being said, Weber has already shown improvement in the defensive part of his game and doesn't look out of place in his first year in the AHL.In my opinion, he has played better than another Hab prospect, Mathieu Carle who is in his second pro season.If he progresses as expected, Weber will be given a fair chance to make the Canadiens roster next season, if not towards the end of this season with other prospects (similar to what they did last year when they kept numerous prospects during the playoff run)

Weber will only get better so have faith SwissChris, have faith!!!!

Habster

Hello SwissChris,

That's a very good question. As Habster said, Yannick Weber was put in a very difficult position being asked to play forward last night. Weber was interviewed after the first period and he said that playing forward "is very new to me". He also said that he was told just before the game that he would be on the 4th line. I happen to believe that it was unfair to ask him to assume that role. He was noticeably nervous, given that it was his first NHL game, and that was made worse putting him at an unfamiliar position.
The game conditions also made it difficult to assess any performances last night. Toronto seemed to be interested in scrums after every whistle. Interestingly, Weber said he was excited to face the Leafs as he had watched them so often while he was in Kitchener.

Having said all that, I think that Weber handled himself very well. He looked much better in the third period playing defense and got more comfortable on the point of the power-play as the game went on.

I agree with Habster that the best path for Weber's development is returning him to Hamilton. It doesn't do him any good to watch from the press box nor get sporadic shifts as a forward on the 4th line.

I think that Weber is a solid prospect and ahead of Mathieu Carle on the depth chart. Weber has obvious offensive talent. He has a terrific shot and knows how to get it to the net through traffic. He is also defensively responsible. He just needs to improve his physical game. I also really like his temperament. He is a calm, cool player.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I have feeling that Weber is another area of disagreement between Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau. A few weeks ago, Carbo was very firm in his position that Weber was not yet ready for his NHL debut but Yannick got the call-up anyway.

Thanks for your question SwissChris!

Ugly Game, Important Win

2009-01-08T22:27:00.001-05:00

Rocket:

Mikhail Grabovski will be hearing from the league office. A fine (perhaps a suspension?) is in order for Grabs for shoving the linesmen late in the game when Mikhail lost it. Much earlier than that, the refs had lost control of the game. If Stephen Walkom, the NHL's director of officiating is doing his job, he will be issuing pink slips to referees Tim Peel and Chris Ciamaga. What an absolute mess they made tonight. Their work certainly exacerbated an already chippy game. There was a total of 150 minutes of penalties.

After the game Grabovski had this to say about Sergie Kostitsyn: ''I think he is not Belarussian now, he is French because I never fight with Belarussian guys,'' Grabovski said. ''I don't know why he wants to fight with me. If he wants to fight, we'll go in the street and every minute of every day I'll wait for him and we'll fight.''

Tonight's game was just ugly. Toronto is a lousy team. Brian Burke will eventually make the Maple Leafs better. But since his arrival, Toronto was bound to get worse before they get better. For a group of players on the team, the writing is on the wall. They will be moved by the trade deadline and these guys have stopped playing. The young Leafs just look disorganized right now. Most are playing as individuals trying to impress the new GM enough to stay with the club.

Vesa Toskala was just awful. He allowed 4 goals on the first 15 shots and 5 goals in total. Curtis Joseph replaced him in net for the third period.
This had all of the feel of a minor league game. So it was quite appropriate that Patrice Brisebois had 3 assists against AHL calibre competition. Even at that, Brise didn't contribute, in any significant way, to the 3 goals. Patrice's pathetic defensive play was on display for the Leafs' second goal. Who knows why Brise was on the ice with a minute and a half left in a 6-1 game?

Being up 5-1 heading into the third period allowed Guy Carbonneau the luxury of giving additional ice-time to a player like Matt D'Agostini, who has seen his shifts drastically reduced over the past few weeks. This has resulted in a drop-off in offensive production. It was also a chance to say to Brisebois: 'Hey grey beard, we're going with the kid for the third period'. But that didn't happen! Carbonneau did give Yannick Weber time on defense but to do so and to maintain (his lover) Brisebois' shifts, Josh Gorges was shifted to forward. Gorges is a good skater but the experiment was almost a train wreck. Why risk injury to a key player putting him an unfamiliar position? And for what purpose?

I don't understand Guy Carbonneau's obsession with playing a defenseman on the 4th line as a forward. It hasn't been successful before. Streit hated it. Dandenault, a veteran, said that it is a difficult thing to do. So why throw a rookie defenseman, playing his first NHL game into an unfamiliar position? Weber looked and played nervous, often finding himself out of position. Give him credit though that he does have the skating ability to get back into the play. Playing nervous as a forward seemed to affect his confidence on the power-play. Weber did get better as the game went on.

It was a great game for Andrei Kostitsyn. He had a goal and 2 assists and again was a co-leader on the team in hits. Alex Kovalev had a goal (off a great pass by AK-46) and an assist. Robert Lang had another strong outing. Max Lapierre also had a goal and an assist and led the team in shots with 5. However, Max again was dreadful in the faceoff circle at 33%. Perhaps another Carbo clinic is in order.

As far as team guys with heart there is none better than Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon. Good work by TK to set up Latendresse's goal. Huge respect to both Kosto and Frankie for dropping the gloves when they had to and for taking their lumps. Laraque doesn't have a fraction of the courage that these two guys have.

It was an uneventful night for Jaroslav Halak. He really wasn't tested at all by the Leafs. Halak didn't look good on the Kaberle goal but he may have been partially screened. I would have liked to see Ryan O'Byrne in the line-up tonight to help clear guys like Brad May and Nik Antropov out of Halak's crease.

The Leaf-Canadiens match-up is the most long-standing rivalry. It was good to see the former players introduced prior to the match. As the game went on, I wondered what the legends thought of the sloppy play, poor officiating and buffoonery at the end. Let's hope a few of them will be in attendance to enjoy a real hockey game on Saturday night against the Capitals.

Pre-game:

A ceremony to honour original six rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The crowd responded with a huge ovation when Jean Beliveau was introduced.

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Begin is a healthy scratch.

Yannick Weber gets his first NHL start.

Brad May will play his first game as a Leaf.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Andrei Kostitsyn
2. Alex Kovalev
3. Tom Kostopoulos / Francis Bouillon

(photo credit: AP photo)

Lang Scores 3; Reminds Fans 'Who Needs Sundin?'

2009-01-07T22:54:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Was the play of the Canadiens evidence of a game plan tonight? Perhaps!

The strategy seemed to be borrowed from the NFL. With Jaroslav Halak coming off two horrible performances, the Canadiens went into lockdown mode, employing a 'prevent defense'. Even with help from his mates, Halak struggled for the first two periods. On the Rangers first goal, Halak turned awkwardly to make the initial save and couldn't control the puck. Drury scored on the rebound. In the 2nd period, Halak was caught very deep in his crease (again) and couldn't stop Callahan's shot on the glove side. He continued to give up big rebounds.

But Jaro picked his game up in the third. He played his best period in quite some time when the Rangers outshot the Canadiens 18-8.

At the other end, Henrik Lundqvist has a rough outing. Early in the first, he gave away the puck behind the net right to Max Pacioretty who made a perfect pass to Alex Kovalev for the game's first goal. Late in the same period, Lundqvist was surprised by a shot from center ice by Roman Hamrlik. He game up a huge rebound. Gui Latentresse partially fanned on a rolling puck but the floater beat Lundqvist high.

While the Habs were committed to defense, they made the most of their opportunities to score. For the second game in a row, Robert Lang withe the two Kostitsyns was the best line for the Canadiens. Lang had his second career hat trick. Andrei Kostitsyn was a wrecking ball with 4 hits and an assist. It is bizarre that the line got so little ice time; only about 10 minutes of 5 on 5 play.

The Plekanec line was rather good too. Alex Kovalev had a goal with Pacioretty and Plekanec getting an assist. Max Lapierre played well defensively, logging a huge amount of icetime. Laps had a miserable time at the faceoff dot winning only 23%.

Coming into the game, the Canadiens were ranked 27th on the power-play with the Rangers ranked 1st in penalty killing. Surprise! Surprise! The Habs scored 2 power-play goals (and a short handed goal). Amazingly, the Rangers got their first power-play with just under 4 minutes left in the game. Kudos for some disciplined play by the Canadiens tonight (assisted by a missed call or two).

The defensive corps overall had a good game and were helped by forwards coming back. Andrei Markov was great at both ends of the ice and on the power-play. Roman Hamrlik had 3 assists and 4 hits. Francis Bouillon also had 4 hits.

Lastly, it is time for Patrice Brisebois to retire or be sent to the Cincinnati Cyclones. Brise's play has regressed from awful to horrific! He contributes little and his passes were all over the ice tonight including a McGuire-described "egregious giveaway". (Before you run for the Oxford, that means shockingly bad!) Bring on Yannick Weber, Ryan O'Byrne, PK Subban, or anyone! I venture to wager that even Charles Prevost Linton is an upgrade over Brisebois.

Very few hard hits tonight (other than by Andrei Kostitsyn and Francis Bouillon), few penalties and few whistles but still an entertaining game. It was a good defensive road effort by the Habs to protect their shaky goaltender. Robert Lang is turning out to be a very astute 'Plan B' for Bob Gainey.

Pre-game:

Best quote of the pre-game interviews was by Alex Kovalev: "MSG ice is like skating in a potato field."

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Weber is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Robert Lang
2. Andrei Markov
3. Chris Drury

(photo credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

The Rock's last word

2009-01-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Below you will find an article from Sportsnet.ca written by Georges Laraque. First, let me warn you that it is rather lengthy. But I thought it was important for our readers to see it in its entirety.

Not that Georges is a good writer...because he isn't. But it does give his insight into fighting in general, and how he views his role on the Montreal Canadiens.

My conclusion is that Laraque is not a good fit for the Canadiens. I knew this prior to reading his blog article but it was certainly confirmed afterwards.

It is interesting to see what an over-inflated view he has of himself and fighting in the NHL. In my opinion, fighting as described by Laraque is little more than a circus sideshow.

Laraque tries to make the case that fighting is popular. You have heard the argument before: 'no one in the stands sits during a hockey fight'. That may be true but fans also spring to their feet during race car crashes. And I don't think that NASCAR is doing everything possible to make the cars less safe to facilitate more accidents.

It is amusing that Laraque describes fighting as "not just the toughest job in hockey, but in all professional sports". Hmmm...how about a goaltender facing an opposition player in a shootout? or a batter trying to hit a 100 mph fastball? Fighting on ice is no picnic but it doesn't exactly take a lot of skill. Hell, if PJ Stock used fighting as his admission to the NHL, it can't be that hard (and Stock wasn't even that good at it!)

Also, curious is Laraque's list of code rules. I much prefer Tom Kostopoulos or Francis Bouillon's code: 'Run our goaltender or take liberties with our skilled players and I will be in your face!' And Kosto and Frankie don't care how big or small their opponents are.

It's also interesting that Laraque says that once a fighter builds his reputation, he may not fight that much. So why exactly is he on the team?

Laraque doesn't defend his teammates. He doesn't play a tough physical game (mainly because he can't keep up). And he only fights when the weight class and code conditions are met!

So Laraque isn't fulfilling his designated role with the Canadiens. He came to the team slow, out of shape, and perhaps concealing a pre-existing injury. And, he takes an important roster spot and pockets $1.5 million (similar salary numbers to Plekanec and Higgins). I think he should have little to complain about.

A truly interesting part of the article is who Laraque considers as the toughest players in the league.

This is Georges last blog article. Team rules prevent him from doing any more (which I completely agree with).

Enjoy the article. It's worth a read!

The Rock's last word
Monday, January 5, 2009
Georges Laraque
Sportsnet.ca

Take it from a tough guy: Every team needs a heavyweight if it wants to stay competitive. Before starting this blog, I just want to let everyone know that this will be my last one. It's unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects. As you can imagine, when you're a French-Canadian playing in Montréal you get a lot of requests so I agree with the team's decision because this makes it fair for everyone.

I want first to offer my condolences to Don Sanderson's family. Don is the 21-year-old man who passed away on Friday after hitting his head on the ice in a hockey fight on Dec. 14. He was a defenceman for the Whitby Dunlops in the Senior AAA Ontario Hockey Association. Reportedly, the injury happened because both fighters took their helmets off and when they fell, Sanderson hit his head and then fell into a coma.

This incident brings up an interesting debate: Should we let fighters take off their helmets? What should we do with players with visors who have to take their helmets off? What would happen in the American Hockey League where everyone wears a visor? Do the referees come in to stop the fight as soon as one guy loses his helmet? Of course, all this probably won't change, but when an incident like this happens we have to learn from it and see what we can do so it never happens again. And since I consider every fighter in any league a fellow brother, this deeply saddens me and I hope this is an incident that will never happen again.

So this incident brings the first subject that I wanted to talk about and that's simply that fighting is not just the toughest job in hockey, but in all professional sports. Fighting is not easy, not easy physically nor mentally. During a fight, you pretty much fight for your life because as you know, many things can happen and on top of that, you are being watched by millions of people. And whether or not someone watches your game live, your fight will end up on YouTube forever.

In fighting you risk many injuries; the broken nose is an obvious one, but a broken orbital bone is something else and the thing people have to realize is that there is a life after hockey. So while you do this job, you have to make sure you take care of yourself.
I don't want to look like the Elephant Man when I retire if you know what I mean.

What might surprise some people is that the mental part of fighting can sometimes be tougher than the physical part. A lot of the time, fighting starts a couple days before the actual game. You look at the schedule and get really worked up because you have a game against a team that has a top tough guy and mentally that's tough. You think about the guy, you watch his fight on YouTube, you try to tell yourself it's going to be okay but it's not. No one can ever understand this pressure unless you're a fighter yourself.

While he used to be nervous before fights, now Georges Laraque is confident enough to laugh about it.

I used to feel that way in my first couple years. I used to not be able to sleep before games and I would sweat in the afternoon. It was not a good feeling. Sometimes I was even praying that the other guy -- or even me -- would be scratched so the fight wouldn't happen. It was like this for me for about three years, but after a while you gain a reputation, you do well and get confident, and things turn around.

Now I laugh about it and I'm not nervous at all. I just know how the other guy feels before, let's say, facing me and this reassures me that it's no big deal. My old coach, Craig MacTavish in Edmonton, used to even say that when I was fighting, my heart rate wouldn't change. He couldn't be more right about that. Now I smile and I'm really calm, but it takes a lot of years to get there, and a lot of wins to be that confident.

The way it all started for me is actually quite ironic considering the type of job I have today in the NHL. All through my youth I had to fight and defend myself because of racism, and now that I'm in the NHL, it's kind of just natural for me. But don't get me wrong -- I would love to be a skilled guy, make $10 million a year and ask my team to get me a guy to defend me that makes 10 times less, but unfortunately I was not talented enough and will never be! lol!

I fight because it's my job, not because I like it. How many fighters like fighting anyway? I've talked to many tough guys and I can't even name you one. We do it because it's our job; that's it.

I never talk about fights; I never look at my fights or get revved up about it. I often wish my opponent good luck and always talk to the guy in the penalty box after the fight to ask him if he's okay or say good job. I never fight mad and maybe that's an advantage in a way because you're more in control of what you're doing. I also never wish for anyone to get hurt in a fight because I respect all my fellow brothers and when did winning a fight become not enough? You don't need to embarrass the guy and if you want respect from your peers, there is a lot of stuff you have to do.

THE CODE

Which brings me to the next subject: The Code. The Code is unwritten -- everyone knows it, but not everyone follows it, and those who don't are not respected. When you retire, respect is all you have left, and you want people to say that you were honourable at all times. At least I do.

The Code says things like:
not fighting a guy at the end of his shift

not jumping guys to get a head start

never punch a guy when he's down (that's the most important thing for me; players -- and referees -- know I never do)

and, especially, don't celebrate after a fight. You see that stuff a lot in junior hockey, but for guys who do it in the NHL, it's embarrassing and shows no respect for the other guy. Remember that everything you do comes back to you; you do that, it will happen to you because everyone is watching and talking!
You have to have a strong character to be a fighter. By that I mean when you're a tough guy, you're always an easy target. When your team loses a few games and they have to make a change, they scratch the fighter. A lot of fighters skate in the warmups all the time just so the coaches can see if the other tough guy is playing. Otherwise you're scratched. You fight for your team all season long but come playoff time, your season is done and that's the toughest thing to take because playoff hockey is the best part of hockey.

Georges Laraque has fought some of the best, including who he calls the all-time best, Bob Probert.

One of the best stories that I will never forget is when the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1990 and the first guy Mark Messier gave the Cup to was Dave Brown, even though he hadn't played one playoff game. But all season long Brown made sure guys like Mark had all the room they needed, and trust me they did. That was just another reason why Mark Messier will always be my all-time favourite player.

Another story about Dave Brown that I will never forget is during my first Oilers training camp when I was a rookie, I played my first exhibition game and Brown was facing me. All I could think about is when he broke Stu Grimson's face and I was terrified. I looked down so much that I could see my goalie between my legs, lol! So I did one of the smartest things I have ever done -- I fought some other guy they had so I can still be alive today!

I also remember my first two fights in the American Hockey League didn't go so well. I lost to Rocky Thompson and Sasha Lakovic one after another. I was just coming out of the Quebec junior league with a big reputation, which just shows you a junior reputation doesn't mean a thing. But since then I have fought legends like Tony Twist, Jim McKenzie, Stu Grimson, Rob Ray, Tie Domi, and the all-time best Bob Probert. Again, against those guys I was just hoping to come out alive! lol! Then my reputation was established. That's also another reason why when an up-and-coming fighter asks a guy to fight to make a name for himself, you kind of have to agree because if guys didn't do it to you, you wouldn't have that respect. It has to be like a turning wheel.

FIGHTING HAS CHANGED

Fighting has changed a lot over the years. A lot of guys are lucky they weren't in the league 15 years ago. In those days, everyone was tough, everyone fought, and everyone was held accountable. Now, there's no policing, players are getting slashed in the face, guys are getting elbowed and hit in the head, and more and more guys are getting hit from behind.

Speaking of which, it's a real joke now how guys are turning their back to checks. For a physical player, it makes the job harder because you always have to be ready to stop in case the player turns his back to you. It's a joke how some players turn around at the last moment to draw a penalty. In the past, nobody turned and if you did, too bad. But hitting from behind wasn't a problem then. Guys were always ready, so there's simple way to fix it by taking away the instigator rule. Let's do an experiment and take it out for a year and see how many fewer cheap shots we would see. Of course, there would be more fights but hey, isn't fighting popular? Who are the most loved players of every team in general? Fighters! We want to grow the game; fighting would certainly help.

Jody Shelley has been providing the physical spark for the West-leading Sharks.

I remember back in the day, people would show up three hours before the game because they knew that Probert and Domi were going to get into a fight. Isn't that excitement? Now times have changed. My theory was always that the fan who worked 9 to 5, who worked his ass off and got dirty at work, identified more with a fighter because just like them we don't have it easy and have to get dirty too. Interesting theory, huh? And in blue-collar towns, it's definitely the case!

Now the big question: do we need a heavyweight? Yes, and here's tons of reasons why: The top team in the West is San Jose, leading the charge with Jody Shelley. They have a team to go to war with if you look at their lineup and also with all the skills they have. I think they skated quite freely out there. And the top team in the East is Boston, leading the charge with Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara. Those teams are not just doing great this year but are built for the physicality of the playoffs. We can talk about the Ducks that won the Cup and led the league in fighting. When you have a heavyweight on your team, that presence makes the other team accountable and could save your star player from getting hurt.

So many teams and many examples have happened in the past where teams had been suffering because they didn't have a tough guy and if some of you are still not convinced and still think I don't know what I'm talking about, ask the guys who sweat and play the game. Ask them how big of a difference they see when they play on a team that has a heavyweight compared to a team that does not have one. You'll get your response there and that from quite elite players!

For example, we can talk about how last summer, all the tough guys were signed quite quickly and before any other player, other than the obvious nine or 10 megastars. Who is the first player Pittsburgh signed this summer? Eric Goddard, three-year contract, figure it out. As much as you need a fighter, a good one that can play is hard to find and the teams that have them won't let them go, in general! lol! A sniper is easy to get: you wait for the trading deadline when pending unrestricted guys will be available and you take your pick. But at that time, all the tough guys are taken and not available, also probably because a lot of us are not making big money and are easy on the salary cap! lol!

For the fighter himself, well there are tons of different types of fighters and that's normal considering the size of some of these guys. Some guys are 6-foot-8 and some guys weigh 275 pounds. I can't complain too much since I'm 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, but for some other guys, it's another story. So when you see a guy hanging on a bit more than others, that's normal also; fighting toe-to-toe is exciting to watch but it's not necessarily the best thing for you and will give you a short career when you fight a guy with a bigger reach. Guys need to get on the inside. Showing up is what's important, not always the result.

FIGHTING IS POPULAR

A lot of people hate hockey but love the fights, so really a heavyweight also helps to sell the game. Fighting is so popular they made a fighting league in Quebec. lol! Even when you have a heavyweight who doesn't play every game, it makes a difference with your team. Guys will respect the team and won't do anything cheap, otherwise they know that even if the guy isn't playing, he will the next game and you will have to account for your actions. The only bad thing about getting a guy who doesn't play every game in the season is that he won't play in the playoffs and since it's more physical, they will miss that guy's presence.

Six-foot-eight winger Derek Boogaard is a force to be reckoned with when the gloves are dropped.

For big guys like Brash or Boogaard, if they get in a fight and don't beat the guy, automatically people assume that they're done. But people are just smarter about how they fight and sometimes a Riley Cote fighting a bigger guy, even if he loses he gives a bigger boost to his team because of his courage, because everyone always expects the bigger guy to win. That's why showing up is the key; that you were there for your team is what matters.

There are lots of different types of tough guys. There are the ones who love to initiate and others who just get in there if they have to, and I'm one of those. When you're younger and want to prove yourself you might start more stuff, but when you get older this stuff gets old and you don't want to fight just for fun anymore. But we do if the team needs it or if, of course, the other teams are starting to take liberties. And also the tougher you are, the less you have to fight. Do you think you would ever see one of the toughest fighters in the NHL at the end of a season with 25 fights? No chance; teams respect you even more and leave you alone.

So if you're a big fan of fighting and you have one of those guys, well, sorry buddy but your guy is just too tough so you won't see many fights! lol! But hey, that's good for your team. A lot of times it depends on who you are, anyway. The coach could tell his fighters to leave certain guys alone so they don't change the momentum. Sometimes when you play on the road and fight a top guy, the crowd gets into it and that can really lift a team -- momentum in a hockey game is everything. Smart coaches know how to use it! A coach will never tell you to fight someone -- you should know your job and know when to do it. But they will tell you when NOT to fight, and sometimes that's a smart decision. Trust me on that! lol!

WHO ARE THE TOUGHEST GUYS?

OK, so to finish (because I can really go on and on with this blog -- I will have write a book when I retire about all this) but here's the answer to the question people ask me all the time: Who are the toughest guys in the league? I'll go by conference.

The toughest guy in the East is Donald Brashear, hands down. He's the king and has been for years. Pound for pound the toughest guys are Riley Cote and Chris Neil.

And in the West, the toughest guy is Derek Boogaard and the toughest pound for pound is hands down Cam Janssen. When I'm mentioning pound-for-pound guys, I've always been impressed with those guys who weigh around 210 pounds and are fighting monsters and doing pretty well, winning their fair share of fights. Any close fight is a win for them since they're giving inches and weight. Talking about pound-for-pound guys, Tie Domi was the ultimate pound-for-pound fighter in my time with great consideration to Darren Langdon. That guy was tough and didn't care about the size of the other guy.

Donald Brashear has been the king of the tough guys for years.

That's how I see it and probably just like 90 per cent of all the tough guys, I don't care about all those polls I read where people vote. And it's not just because the rankings change when one of these guy loses a fight. (For example, put Boogaard against the same guy 10 times and see how many he wins!) If you really want to know who the toughest guys are, just ask the players who play the game. Ask the guys who do the job, who actually fight and know their stuff. Not some know-it-all couch potato guy, frustrated about life who just likes criticizing everything and especially tough guys.

One of the stupidest things is when you read about those guys commenting on other guys' fights like it was the easiest thing in the world. For some people, a fight should be toe-to-toe, you each take turns punching the other guy in the face, but if you don't and are too defensive, you're a chicken, ha ha ha! There are 750 NHL players in the world, maybe about 40 tough guys. The toughest guys of any league (who can also play the game) and some people find ways to criticize them? Just comedy!

For me, I have over 120 NHL fights and when I think about that I am always surprised. This is not my personality. I like to laugh and joke around all the time, and take much more pleasure doing stuff in the community and helping kids than getting in hockey fights. I take more pleasure in scoring a goal then a big fight (which is obvious since fighting for me is much easier than scoring! lol!) But I will always be proud to say that I had a hat trick in the NHL. I have played 651 NHL regular-season games so far, but I take more pride in the 53 playoff games that I have played; for a tough guy to have played that many games in the post-season shows how much more than a one-dimensional player I became. For that I have to thank Ron Low, Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish for making me a better player and giving me more ice time than most guys doing this job, because for some of my fellow brothers, ice time is a much bigger fight. But stay strong my brothers, they still need you guys!

Thank for reading my blogs. I hope you enjoyed them and they were all written by me with all my honesty. This is your new NHL! Happy New Year to everyone, I wish you all the best. God bless!

10 Goal Shootout Ends with a SO Win

2009-01-04T02:18:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

A few weeks ago, Ron Wilson, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was asked about the number of Marlies in the line-up. Wilson responded that it didn't make sense to call up a player, only to have him watch from the press box. Indeed! Apparently, Guy Carbonneau didn't get that memo.

Yannick Weber may or may not be ready for NHL-calibre competition. But apparently Carbo believed in Weber enough to agree to the call-up. So why not insert him in the line-up in a home game against the Florida Panthers? How about in place of a struggling Francis Bouillon? And certainly, Weber has to be an upgrade over the worst defenseman in the NHL, Patrice Brisebois.

Will Carbonneau start Weber on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Gardens? Perhaps on Thursday versus Toronto, a rival who always plays the Canadiens tough? And if Weber watches those two additional games from the press box, then what was the point of the call-up? A good coach creates conditions for his players to succeed. That would have meant starting Weber today against a mediocre Florida team.

It was an odd game this afternoon. In the second period, the Canadiens showed how they can and should play against a team like Florida. Montreal out shot Florida 19-5 and scored 4 goals Unfortunately, the Habs coasted for the other two periods and they didn't get key saves from their goaltender.

Jaroslav Halak played with more confidence this afternoon compared to the last disastrous outing. His positioning relative to the net was better too. Unfortunately Jaro is still playing far too deeply in the net. He is not challenging the shooters. Halak continues to have problems with his glove hand. As a result, Halak gave up 5 goals today.

On the Panther's 1st goal, Halak looked surprised at McLean's backhand after Bouillon failed to take the body behind the Montreal goal. On Florida's 5th goal to tie the game, Halak could not freeze the puck, and then could not hang on as the puck went in and out of his glove.

The good news is that all 5 Canadiens' goals came while at even strength. On the other hand, the Canadiens' special teams did not play well. Both the power play and penalty killing units gave up goals to Florida. Florida's power play connected on a 5 on 3 when Maxim Lapierre took a dumb penalty. With an array of good penalty killers to choose from, it defies reason that Carbo deploys Lapierre. While Lapierre was chosen as the Molson Cup winner for December, it was not for his defensive play.

Lang with the brothers Kostitsyn was the best line on the ice. Sergei brilliant passes drawing penalties with his speed. Andrei, best shot on the team. Lang had one of his better games of the season. Yet, bench management was an issue again. Lapierre had more icetime than Lang. Kostopoulos had more icetime than Andrei Kostitsyn. Lapierre, Kostopoulos and Latendresse are doing their job as a third line. It was great work by Kosto on the Canadiens third goal. But Carbonneau sending them out for several power play opportunities is just plain stupid!

Just an observation: Jassen Cullimore's buyout counts $639,667 towards this year's Canadiens cap. Having an player on your payroll who plays (and scores) for the opposition hurts!

It will be interesting to see if Yannick Weber will be in the line-up for games later this week but it will be crucial to have Carey Price back on the ice given the way his backup has been playing.

Pre-game:

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Weber is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Andrei Markov
2. Radek Dvorak
3. Sergei Kostitsyn / Andrei Kostitsyn / Robert Lang

(photo credit: AP photo)

Halak Humbled in Loss to Devils

2009-01-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

It's mildly amusing to hear a certain segment of the media try to diminish Carey Price's importance to the Montreal Canadiens. Some speak about Price and Jaroslav Halak as being 1A and 1B. Price-haters such as PJ Stock and Murray Wilson are regularly overzealous in their enthusiasm for Halak's play. While Guy Carbonneau rarely says anything positive about the performance of Price, Carbo goes out of his way to praise Jaro.

Recently, some speculated about a Canadiens roster that did not include Carey Price. Instead, they suggest, Bob Gainey should have chosen Anze Kopitar with their first round pick in 2005. They concluded that Marc Denis and Cristobal Huet could be an effective tandem. This is pure nonsense and would be a nightmare scenario for the Canadiens. With all due respect to Kopitar, I have to agree with Bob McKenzie who said that Carey Price will rival Sidney Crosby as the player from the 2005 draft who makes the biggest impact in the league.

Which brings us to tonight's game. Carey Price has an undisclosed lower body injury. It is not known how long he will be sidelined. Jaroslav Halak started the game against the New Jersey, a team who was struggling to score before Christmas. But tonight, Halak would gift wrap a victory for the Devils.

Some will blame the loss on the long list of injured Canadiens. Others may simply chalk it up to a bad night for Jaro. The truth is that Halak has not played well all season. At times, he has played with confidence but his technical game has been weak. His stats actually flatter the way he has played. Halak is having trouble tracking the puck, suffers from poor positioning, has a weak glove hand and has difficulty controlling rebounds. In addition, he doesn't handle the puck well outside the crease.

Tonight the wheels fell off for Jaro. Both New Jersey first period goals were very weak, a stoppable stick side shot by Gionta and a slow shot along the ice by Parise. Despite outplaying the Devils, the Canadiens trailed after one.

Guy Carbonneau elected to let Halak continue in net to start the second period but it was clear that things were not going to get better. While killing a penalty, the Devils cleared the puck down the ice. Jaro looked very shaky having to make a kick save to salvage a little pride. Throughout the period, Halak gave up big rebounds and pucks danced in and out of his glove hand.

After a horrible pinch by Patrice Brisebois created a two on one, Halak gave up his 3rd soft goal of the game on a glove side shot by John Madden. Later in the period a shot from the blueline hit Halak. He spun around looking for the rebound. He had no idea where the puck had gone. He looked lost. His confidence was severely shaken.

Marc Denis would start the third period. Last season Denis played in 10 games with Tampa Bay. He only finished 6 games and posted a 1-5-0 record with a .859 save percentage and a 4.05 goals-against average. Reports are that he has played well with the Bulldogs this season in an attempt to resurrect his career.

Unfortunately, Denis' play would more closely resemble last season, against NHL-calibre competition tonight. The first Devil shot of the period by Zajac rang off the post as Denis was slow to react. Denis seemed to be battling the puck and stumbled outside the crease even though the Devils only managed 7 shots in the period. Marc looked very awkward trying to stop a chance by Patrik Elias as the puck squirted through the crease. Denis was very deep in the goal as he allowed a soft goal to Jamie Langenbrunner.
At the other end, the Devil goalie was the game's first star. And Martin Brodeur was in the press box! Scott Clemmensen was solid in making 33 saves.

The rest of the Canadiens played well enough to win. With less than 4 minutes left in the first period, the Canadiens were outshooting the Devils 12-5 but were losing 0-1. Kovalev, the Kostitsyns, Plekanec, D'Agostini, Latendresse and Lang all had multiple shots on goal but couldn't get one past the Devil goalie.

Max Pacioretty got his first NHL goal on his first shot; a laser that was the only one to beat Clemmensen. Pacioretty showed his speed and in a game that wasn't very physical, delivered a big hit on Andy Greene. Kyle Chipchura had jump in his play and was winning battles for the puck. Chipchura picked up an assist on Pacioretty's goal, and had his own chance to score while killing a penalty.

Tom Kostopoulos deserves mention for taking on heavyweight David Clarkson and holding his own.

With neither goalie looking sharp, Guy Carbonneau will have a tough decision to make for the next game. Let's all hope that Carey Price will be ready for Sunday's game against Florida.

Pre-game:

Condolences to the family of Don Sanderson of the Whitby Dunlops who passed away this morning due to a head injury suffered in a game three weeks ago.

Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries.

O'Byrne and Maxwell to Hamilton. Bulldog call-ups: Pacioretty, Chipchura, Weber, Denis.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Scott Clemmensen
2. Zach Parise
3. Jamie Langenbrunner

(photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Price Stops Bolts to Give Habs Shootout Win

2008-12-30T22:06:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Three wins on a short post-Christmas road trip is cause for celebration, but perhaps only polite applause. I don't want to be a wet blanket but the Canadiens haven't been very impressive in the past two games against two teams at the bottom of the conference standings.

I want to give full credit to the play of the Lapierre/Kostopoulos/Latendresse line. Lapierre is playing with confidence and energy. Latendresse is much better with linemates who play a very simple north/south game. Kostopoulos works hard every game and is the best 'team guy' on the Habs.

Kosto's 'team first' attitude was particularly evident after Evgeny Artyukhin hit Tanguay into the boards with force enough to dislodge a pane of glass. Tanguay sustained an upper body injury and didn't return. On his next shift Kostopoulos hit Artyukhin hard in the Tampa zone. As they came back up ice, Kostopoulos fought Artyukhin. It may have been a clear decision for a much bigger Artyukhin, but Kostopoulos delivered a message on behalf of his injured teammate.

Lapierre is dangerous to score as a penalty killer but his defensive play is still rather suspect. On Tampa's first goal on the power-play Lapierre left his man, Malone, to chase the puck into the corner. When the puck got back to Malone, he was wide open to take a shot which was defected in by Prospal.

It is important that the 3rd line has finally come together but the Canadiens will not win against better opposition if the first two lines are not playing to their potential. Guy Carbonneau must do a much better job in his bench management to make sure that his top skilled players are getting more ice time.

Case in point is Matt D'Agostini. After being the top offensive threat for the Canadiens prior to the break, his production has dropped off. Some will argue that it is natural for a young player to plateau after an initial call-up spurt. But that is not what happened in D'Ags case. Seems that D'Agostini is following Carey Price's pattern from last season.

Carbonneau's massive ego doesn't allow for any player to be getting more media attention than the coach, particularly a young non-francophone player. So as was the case last year with Price, Carbonneau set the conditions to ensure that the player didn't have the opportunity to shine. In D'Agostini's case, it's a lack of ice-time, and juggling hi linemates, even though he remains a threat to score on every shift.

The Canadiens take far too many bad penalties to be a top tier team. A team lack of discipline is reflective of coaching. The first period of this game was penalty-filled and didn't allow the Habs to get on track. The referees have to be partly responsible for calling the game so closely that it disturbed the flow.

While there was a lack of offensive production, the Canadiens played well defensively particularly the tandem of Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov. Komisarek plays a strong physical (and mental) game on the opposition's top forwards. Markov uses his skating ability, positioning and hockey sense to defend effectively. Markov made a brilliant defensive play to break up a 3 on 1 chance for Tampa early in the second period.

The biggest reason for the Canadiens strong defensive play is Carey Price. Price made a game saving stop in overtime on Artyukhin and was terrific in the shootout on Prospal and LeCavalier.

It should be noted that Patrice Brisebois delivered his first body check of the season in the third period behind the Tampa net on goalie Mike Smith.

The next few days will determine how long Alex Tanguay will be sidelined. Guy Carbonneau will have to earn his pay cheque redesigning his lines to effectively use their skills.

Pre-game:

Tampa Bay signed Team Canada Juniors goalie Dustin Tokarski to a 3 year entry level contract.

No line-up changes. Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch for 6th straight game.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Vaclav Prospal
3. Mike Komisarek

(photo credit: AP photo)

Win #3000

2008-12-30T02:01:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

The 3000th regular season win for the Montreal Canadiens is yet another special milestone achieved during the centennial year. A 5-2 victory over the Panthers, but this wasn't a memorable game. It won't be included on any Habs DVD set in the future.

The last game in Pittsburgh had the feeling of a playoff game at times. This one had all of the intensity of an Old-Timers game. However, there certainly was a festive mood courtesy of the boisterous Canadiens fans who invaded the Bank Atlantic Center. Sounds of 'Ole Ole' and 'CA-REY, CA-REY' filled the arena.

Tomas Plekanec centred the Canadiens best line, had 5 shots on goal, and scored a shorthanded breakaway goal that put the Habs up 2-1. Andrei Kostitsyn had one assist but had chances to score with 4 shots. Plekanec also came to the aid of Carey Price after he was slashed on the hand by Gregory Campbell. It's about time a teammate showed that kind of enthusiasm to protect Carey Price.

Max Lapierre notched his first career hat trick through his usual hard work and a sub par night for Panther goalie Craig Anderson. After Anderson allowed another soft goal on a shot by Lapierre early in the third, he was replaced by Tomas Vokoun. Lapierre struggled in the faceoff circle at only 39% but otherwise was rewarded for his high energy effort.

Roman Hamrlik had a strong defensive game, and made a breakaway pass to set up Plekanec's goal.

The Canadiens did their best to give the Panthers a chance. The Habs penalty box was standing room only in the second period. The PK unit deserves special mention for a 5 for 5 night including killing off a Panther 5 on 3 power-play.

Expectations for Patrice Brisebois' performance are extremely low but somehow Brise continues to lower the bar. Currently Florida is not a playoff team, yet Panthers were able to wheel around Brisebois all game long. It is a mystery why Carbonneau continues to use him on the power-play. Again tonight, Brise gave up the puck a few times at the blue line to provide the opposition with short handed chances.

Ryan O'Byrne can make one mistake in a game and it is magnified beyond belief overshadowing his otherwise good play. Brisebois struggles on every shift yet somehow escapes scrutiny of the press and the coach.

Ben Maxwell has certainly not made an impact like Matt D'Agostini but he has not cost his team either...until tonight. Maxwell's miscue skating out of the way of a Sergei Kostitsyn pass led to Booth scoring the second Panther goal.

He doesn't deserve to be punished for his mistake but it is time to add Kyle Chipchura in his place.

A yawner tonight but an important two points. The Canadiens must continue their winning ways in Tampa tomorrow night against another one of the league's bottom feeders.

Pre-game:

No line-up changes. Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Tomas Plekanec
2. Maxim Lapierre
3. Roman Hamrlik

(photo credit: AP Photo)

Price & Kostitsyn Carry Habs to Win

2008-12-27T21:57:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

A rainy, icy day in Montreal. Sidewalks and mall parking lots were best negotiated with skates. Whatever the conditions, it was a perfect night for watching Habs hockey.

The Canadiens showed some signs of the long layoff but overall played well. With both teams skating at a high pace, the game was quite entertaining.

Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec provided the offense and Carey Price was simply spectacular in goal. The elder Kostitsyn had his first career hat trick on 6 shots. Plekanec showed patience and great passing in setting up the first two Canadien goals. Price made 17 saves alone in the third period (32 in total) including multiple game-saving stops when the Penguins were pressing for the tie.

On the second goal, Plekanec was able to find Andrei Kostitsyn in the slot. Andrei made a perfect shot as Fleury was surrounded by 5 Penguins who had collapsed down around the crease.

The Canadiens made the most of the opportunities but only had 19 shots on goal with only 5 shots in the third period. I again question the strategy of lining up 5 players across their own blueline. It allowed the Penguins to build momentum through the neutral zone unchallenged and attack the Canadiens zone with speed.

The Canadiens also ran into penalty trouble with 5 minors. The PK unit was good but Carey Price was the best penalty killer. With only 3 minutes left, Alex Tanguay took a lazy penalty with a stick to the face of Dupuis. Price preserved the win by making enormous saves on Malkin and Crosby.

It was a quiet night for the 3rd and 4th lines. Tom Kostopoulos led the team with 4 hits. Sergei Kostitsyn played well on the PK unit.

Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek were each above 26 minutes in ice-time. Markov was particularly effective at defending Crosby. Komisarek had 5 of the Canadiens 23 blocked shots.

Some struggles for Francis Bouillon tonight. He lost track of Sidney Crosby on the Penguins second goal. After several giveaways Patrice Brisebois' ice-time was limited.

A good start to the road trip. Continuing the winning streak will require more of a team effort by the Canadiens.

Pre-game:

Chipchura and Pacioretty called up from Hamilton briefly but returned as Andrei Kostitsyn was cleared to play.

AK-46 will play with Plekanec and Kovalev. Koivu, Higgins, Dandenault, and Laraques are injured. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Tomas Plekanec

(photo credit: Dave Sandford / Getty Images)

Refs Play Grinch; Habs Lose in OT

2008-12-21T23:54:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Let's be honest. The Canadiens didn't deserve to win the game based on their effort. Actually, there was a lack of intensity by both teams.

Having said that right up front, the Habs were still in this game, but the standby officials were just horrendous tonight. Snow, blowing snow, bitter cold and last minute Christmas shopping prevented the regular crew from getting to Montreal. So we were treated to a real gem from the subs, led by Francois St Laurent and Marc Joannette (I'm really not impressed by this guy's work).

In addition to some inconsistent penalty calls, the Canadiens had two goals waved off. The first was in the second period. Mike Komisarek's wrist shot hit Cam Ward in the chest and dropped. He never had possession of the puck. Tom Kostopoulos knocked in the rebound. However, the goal was disallowed as there was a quick whistle. The ref thought that Ward had caught the puck. Bad call.

Later, the puck was banged in after a goal mouth scramble with Kostopoulos and Latendresse right in the middle of it. The referee was calling a delayed penalty on Carolina and claimed that the whistle had gone even though Carolina had not gained possession of the puck.

Justin Williams was also the recipient of a gift from the officials as he tripped Serge Kostitsyn in full flight. No penalty call was made.

Though it wasn't a popular decision with the Bell Centre crowd, I have to say that the slashing call on Max Lapierre was deserved. Lapierre is a high risk, high reward type player on the penalty kill as he tends to look for short handed offensive opportunities. His penalty put the Canadiens two men down and the Hurricanes scored on the long 5 on 3 power-play.

Beyond the officiating, it was a listless effort by the Canadiens. For the first two and a half periods, they weren't skating or pressuring the puck. The hit totals flattered the Habs. The official scorer seemed to be in a generous Christmas mood.

For the first 10 minutes of the third period, the Canadiens only managed two shots on goal. Sensing that the could still get their week off with a win, the team came to life in the last half of the period directing 10 shots at Cam Ward.

Robert Lang tied the game on one of those shots; a one-timer with Matt D'Agostini creating havoc in front of the net. D'Agostini scored the first Canadiens goal after a nice play by Lang. Tanguay picked up to assists and this line was responsible for all of the Canadiens scoring this night. D'Ags led the team with 6 shots.

With the Lang line playing so well, it was disappointing that poor bench management meant that their ice-time was limited. Lapierre's line, with Latendresse and Kostopoulos, played the type of game they needed to, but should have had fewer shifts.

Roman Hamrlik and Francis Bouillon were paired up tonight and the combination was not good for either player. Whether from a lack of communication or an unfamiliarity, both struggled at times. On the Hurricanes first goal, Samsonov entered the Montreal zone on a 1 on 2 with both Bouillon and Hamrlik back. It would become a 1 on 3 as Lapierre was there to backcheck. After Carey Price made the initial save on Samsonov's shot, neither Bouillon nor Hamrlik got the rebound nor did they stay with the former Hab. Samsonov scored on the rebound.

Carey Price's timing was not sharp in the first 10 minutes after missing 6 games but played well the rest of the way and was outstanding in the third period. He made two huge saves, on Larose and Staal with a few minutes left.

It was a disappointing night at the Bell Centre after two strong games previously where the Habs worked hard for 60 minutes. This was the type of game that we saw early in the season where the Canadiens would coast for a few periods and then turn it on for the win. They couldn't quite create the miracle tonight, in part, due to some costly mistakes by the guys in stripes.

Pre-game:

Price will start in goal after missing 6 games with injury. Halak will be the back-up. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch. Higgins, Koivu and Dandenault injured.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Matt D'Agostini
2. Eric Staal
3. Robert Lang

(photo credit: AP)

Habs Battle Back and Win in OT

2008-12-21T01:50:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

A frigid night in Montreal. Weather advisories are posted. Snow storm and the 'Hurricanes' on their way and due tomorrow.

But tonight it was Ryan Miller and the Sabres. The Buffalo goaltender was coming off a 40 shot shutout against the Kings last night. Tonight Miller made 42 saves but it wasn't enough as the Canadiens scored 4.

The Canadiens had to overcome 3 Sabre leads. The reunited KPK line had the younger Kostistyn in place of an injured Andrei. But Sergei was a terrific substitute and was the game's first star.

A preview of the game came in the first two shifts. Sergei used his speed to beat a Sabre defenseman to the puck to set up Alex Kovalev for a good chance. Jaroslav Halak left his crease to get the puck and fell down. The puck rebounded through the blue paint.

Sergei K scored 2 goals and was very effective again playing the point on the power-play. Kovalev had an up and down game. Kovy set up the tieing goal, scored the winner, and had 8 shots on goal. But his two penalties led to two Sabre goals.

Jaroslav Halak had another game full of adventure. He was out of position a number of times and surprised by Sabre shots. Three goals beat him on the glove side. But Jaro was also there to make timely saves.

After the line combinations had worked so well against the Flyers, Carbonneau went back to tinkering again. Tanguay and Lang played well but really missed Matt D'Agostini. For too many shifts, Carbo substituted Georges Laraque in D'Agostini's place. To my shock Laraque was sent out on that line with 3 minutes to go in a tied game. When D'Ags was reunited with Tanguay and Lang, the line had 2 good scoring chances in the last 30 seconds of the 3rd period.

Tanguay had a goal and an assist. Plekanec, Lang and Lapierre were dominant at the face-off dot. Josh Gorges is getting more comfortable and looks like a good candidate to replace Brisebois on the 2nd unit of the power-play. Gorges is also playing much better since being moved off the 1st defense pairing.

Laraque had a meaningless fight on his first shift of the game. I suppose that Peters met Laraque's code but it was nothing more than a sideshow. 32 games into the season and we are still waiting for Georges to come to the aid of his teammates. Laraque did help to provide a screen on the Canadiens 2nd goal but it was Tanguay deflecting Hamrlik's shot from the point.

Ben Maxwell had his best game with the big club. He had several good shift and seems much more comfortable. He probably should have been centering the third line.

Steve Begin led the team with 7 hits but was also on the ice for two goals against. Begin is not a good penalty killer and should have taken the point man on Sekera's goal.

Patrice Brisebois was also on the ice for two Sabre goals. Brise screened Halak on Derek Roy's goal. On the Sabres second goal, Brisebois took neither the man nor the pass as Pominville set up MacArthur.

The referees and the NHL war room completely blew the call on what would have been Lang's goal in overtime. He was set up with a great pass by Tomas Plekanec. The official ruling "after review, the net was dislodged by the attacking player before the puck crossed the line." Actually the net was bumped by Lang but came down on its pegs. It was only then that Tallinder used his stick to push the net back.

Another full game effort by the Habs. One more win tomorrow night and the Canadiens will get the week off promised by the coach. They will be motivated and should get a boost if Carey Price returns to the line-up.

Pre-game:

Halak will start his 6th straight game. Price will be the back-up. Denis was returned to Hamilton. Higgins, Koivu, Dandenault out with injuries. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch.

Dave Jackson will referee his 1000th game in the NHL.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Sergei Kostitsyn
2. Ryan Miller
3. Andrei Markov

(photo credit: AP)

Happier Habs Rediscover Talent & Winning Ways

2008-12-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to your 2008-09 Montreal Canadiens. For a multitude of reasons (most of which stem from coaching), the Habs have been MIA for about 20 games or so.

For fans, writers, media, coaches and others who have been trying to convince the rest of us that the Canadiens have been playing well but haven't won for a variety of reasons, we will try to refrain from saying 'we told you so'. We will gladly forgive you if you admit that tonight's version of the Habs is closer to their potential than what we have been forced to put up with for the past month.

The difference tonight was dramatic. The Canadiens looked motivated. But why?

Was it because the KPK line was reunited?

Was it because Mike Komisarek was in the line-up for the first time since November 22nd?

Was it because Guy Carbonneau promised next week off if the team earned it through effort?

I'm not sure.

What I do know, is the following:

Tomas Plekanec has played hard all season, but he is much more valuable to the team as a 1st line center than a 3rd line center. Plekanec was terrific tonight (including faceoffs).

The power-play still needs work but is much better when using skilled players and set lines. As I have been saying for some time, Sergei Kostitsyn is a viable point option. Josh Gorges was serviceable too.

Someone should tell Carbonneau that it is not a good idea to have the team's hottest scorer, Matt D'Agostini, on the bench for the power-play. After 9 games, D'Agostini is the Canadiens impact forward. He makes things happen and is always involved in the action.

Josh Gorges is more comfortable and effective when used on the third defense pairing.

Alex Kovalev is more inspired to play well when he has chemistry with his linemates. Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn are more effective when they play with skilled players.

Guillaume Latendresse plays his best games as a 4th line winger. Kelly Hrudey agrees "Latendresse plays better with simple linemates. It makes his game (role) really easy to understand."

The game didn't start well for the Canadiens. Halak bobbled the puck. Jaro gave the puck to Gagne. Laraque's giveaway went right to Richards. Damn. It wasn't looking good.

But then an energetic shift for D'Agostini. He used his speed to penetrate the Philly zone and made a shot to the net. Tanguay had a chance on the rebound. Later, D'Agostini drew a penalty as Alberts went for interference. The KPK line came over the boards with Gorges and Markov on the point. No goal but some chances on the power-play with much better puck movement.

Then Kovalev took a penalty. Had we seen this movie before? But this time, on the 4 on 4, D'Agostini used his great speed to go in alone and with a good shot made the score 1-0. D'Ags was set up by a nice pass from Max Lapierre.

On their next power-play the Canadiens took a 2 goal lead on an accurate shot from the point by Sergei Kostitsyn. The team seemed to gain confidence and played very well after that.

Some kudos:

Matt D'Agostini provided a spark on every shift and was the Canadiens best forward for the first two periods. D'Ags had several chances for a second goal. He showed great patience followed a quick release ringing one off the post after Alex Tanguay had created a turnover in the Philly zone.

Mike Komisarek provided leadership, protected Halak, blocked shots and made solid hits.

Sergei Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist and looked very good when substituting for his injured brother on the 1st line.

Each member of the KPK line played well. Andrei Kostitsyn was playing a good, aggressive game with 4 hits until he left with an injury.

Steve Begin in addition to 5 hits, made two skilled plays, a deflection for the Canadiens third goal and a terrific stretch pass to spring Alex Kovalev for their 4th goal. It was Kovy's 900th career point.

Robert Lang played well with 2 assists.

Guillaume Latendresse had a goal, an assist and 6 shots. As mentioned earlier, this was one of his better games playing with north-south linemates. He still needs to work on his defensive game as he was on the ice for both Flyer goals.

Guy Carbonneau deserves mention for using a timeout strategically in the third period.

I almost had the opportunity to add Patrice Brisebois to this list. He made a very good play to keep the puck in at the Flyer blueline during a power-play, but then immediately turned over the puck to create a shorthanded chance for Hartnell. Truth is that Brise was out of place in this game. He was knocked around all night. O'Byrne would have been a much wiser choice.

As far as Jaroslav Halak, using a positive spin, I can say that the puck hit him 29 times tonight. Everytime the Flyers shot the puck near the net, they had an opportunity to score. It wasn't pretty but Jaro got the win. He really struggled with rebound control, his glove hand and seemed to have a hard time tracking the puck. He should handle the puck as little as possible outside his crease. Get well soon Carey!

The Flyers were 12-1-2 in their last 15 games coming into tonight. This was a huge victory and a statement game for the Canadiens. In upcoming games, they need to remember what it took to win.

Comic Relief:

Mike Milbury, the hands-down winner as the worst GM in NHL history let HNIC viewers know the players he would and wouldn't build a team around.

Pet Peeve:

My favorite anthem singer of all time is Roger Doucet. Not only for the Canadiens, but league-wide...probably my favorite in any sport. When I heard his voice a few weeks ago, it brought back some fond memories.

Having said that, enough with the Roger video. Bring back Prevost-Linton. Nikki Yanovsky would be even better. The problem is that there isn't a recording with Doucet singing the Canadian National anthem. What is being played is the goofy version with a 1970's variation on the words.

Pre-game:

Koivu, Price, Higgins, and Dandenault are injured. Komisarek and Laraque return to the line-up. O'Byrne is a healthy scratch. Maxwell is returned to Hamilton.

Andrei Kostitsyn, Plekanec and Kovalev are reunited.

Kovalev will wear the 'C'. Komisarek and Markov get the 'A's.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Mike Komisarek
2. Matt D'Agostini
3. Sergei Kostitsyn

(photo credit: AP photo)

Hurricanes Over the Canadiens

2008-12-17T11:12:00.002-05:00

Rocket:

This was a very strange game.

Even by the numbers it was odd:

First period shots = 8 total for both teams. 3 for Montreal and 5 for Carolina and the Hurricanes scored twice.

11 penalties for Montreal. 1 penalty for Carolina.

Guillaume Latendresse got his first point in 10 games...a penalty shot goal.

Alex Kovalev finally scored after going 19 games without a goal....shorthanded.

Carolina had the 27th best power play in the league...and scored 3 PP goals.

Joe Corvo played almost 31 minutes.

Rod Brind'Amour won only 52% of his faceoffs. Josh Gorges was 0 for 1 on faceoffs.

Watching the game was almost painful at times. The Canadiens looked in disarray with small spurts of pressure. Carolina wasn't much better but the Hurricanes had 11 power play chances. Both goalies looked rather shaky.

I was watching on RDS. Somehow, Guy Carbonneau was watching a completely different game from behind the bench. Afterward he said, "I thought we played better than them. We were all over them. They had nothing going unless they had a power play. So, I'm happy with the way we played." Too much cough syrup Guy?

Despite the Canadiens not being on the same page, there were some good efforts. Tomas Plekanec had another strong game. It is amazing to me that he continues to work so hard without having the support of his linemates. His penalty killing was superb. Matt D'Agostini is a threat to score every time he is on the ice. Matt led the Habs with 5 shots. Problem was that he only 13 minutes of ice time. Andrei Kostitsyn had fewer minutes than that.

Max Lapierre had another energetic game and was very good on faceoffs . The 4th line is still getting too much ice time especially on penalty killing. Members of the 4th line were victimized for each of Carolina's first two goals.

The Canadiens earned most of their 11 penalties but the performance of the referees was as bad as the two teams tonight. The refs were generous in making a marginal penalty shot call in favor of Latendresse. But they would fix their mistake by assessing two minutes to Lats even though he wasn't near Pitkanen. Joni simply fell down. And I'm not sure why Markov's goal was called back. From the replays it seemed that his stick was crest high when it contacted the puck.

It was an undisciplined effort from a team who just wasn't into the game. Bad penalties, sloppy play, giveaways and questionable goaltending. Halak can't be faulted on the first two Carolina goals. But it was an adventure all night as he struggled with his net positioning and glove hand. Halak did make a good glove save on Scott Walker but it was one of the few. It seemed that Carolina was testing him. On more than one occasion Pitkanen flipped the puck toward the net. Halak couldn't hold on and it led to a scramble.

Cam Ward wasn't tested too often but he didn't look much better. Latendresse placed his shot perfectly while Kovalev just threw his shot at the net yet both seemed to surprise Ward and find the top corner. Like Halak, Ward was giving up big rebounds. When Begin shot the puck to the net, Ward couldn't control it which led to Markov's called back goal.

Due to some poor play by the Hurricanes, amazingly enough, the Canadiens were in it until the end. Guillaume Latendresse had a chance to be the hero. With time running out and Gui standing in the slot, a soft short pass to Kovalev who was alone with an empty side to shoot at could have tied the game. Unfortunately a rushed shot was right at Ward.

It was a slow, disjointed game with little entertainment value. The Canadiens have now lost three straight. Fans are certainly upset. The players don't seem to be enjoying themselves. And while coach Carbonneau wasn't complimentary about the officiating, he is pleased with the team's level of play. Well, at least someone's happy.

Pre-game:

Same line-up tonight. Higgins, Komisarek, Dandenault, Price, Koivu all out with injuries. Laraque is scratched. Marc Denis will back-up Halak.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Eric Staal
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Joe Corvo

(photo credit: Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Habs Fall to Capitals

2008-12-14T00:28:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

The Canadiens are struggling. That's not news. The fact is that they have been underachieving all season. There is no shortage of opinion on the remedies. 'Kovalchuk is the answer. We need a sniper' say some. Others think that a puck-moving defenseman like Bouwmeester will change the Habs fortunes. Some are yet still enamoured with the Sundin soap opera.

Often those proposing the remedies do not consider the cost of acquiring these assets. And there should be no confusion that the price will be substantial. But let's leave that part of the discussion for another day.

The expectation is that the Canadiens would add Kovalchuk, Bouwmeester, Marleau, Koistinen, Kaberle or any of the other names mentioned and they would immediately begin playing at a top level. But who on the current roster is playing their best hockey for the Habs right now?

It is the responsibility of the head coach to extract the very best from his players. In this regard, does it seem like Guy Carbonneau is having any success?

After the game, Carbonneau spoke with envy about the offensive talent of the Washington Capitals: "They got Ovechkin on the other side and they got Semin, and they got Green and Nylander. They got guys that can put the puck in the net." What about the rather impressive list of offensive talent on the roster of the guys in red: Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay, Higgins, Lang, Andrei Kostitsyn, Plekanec, Markov?

Carbonneau conveniently forgot that the Capitals were scoring and winning when they had an injury-depleted line-up. I suppose that's what happens when the team is coached by a Jack Adams award winner, Bruce Boudreau. That's different than a Jack Adams nominee who was only given consideration due to en masse voting by the french media.

It is clear (and has been for some time) that Guy Carbonneau has lost the players on this team. He is not getting the best from his players. A Guy Carbonneau team is one that isn't prepared for each game, does not have a strategic game plan, has poor bench management, and lacks effective special teams schemes.

The Canadiens power-play is now 6 for 77 in its last 17 games. Tonight the power-play was 0 for 7. After the game, Guy Carbonneau said "Right now, our power-play is non-existent because we get out-worked by the opposition." Lapierre, Begin and Kostopoulos had a substantial amount of power-play time. I didn't notice an occasion when the 4th line was outworked on the PP. They banged and crashed and buzzed around. They didn't score, not because they were outworked, but because they aren't the team's best skilled players. Those three players do not give the Canadiens the best chance to score.

This is not a criticism of the 4th line. They played well but they should be left to excel within their role on the team. Carbonneau wasn't using ice time as a reward for their good play but as a bludgeon to punish the rest of his players. And putting the Lapierre line in situations beyond their capabilities isn't good for them either. They didn't score on the power-play and came very close to giving up a shorthanded goal when Begin tried a back pass. The 4th line was also on the ice for Washington's game-winning goal. Should a coach be sending out his 4th line in the last 3 minutes of a tied game?

Alex Kovalev is clearly a frustrated player. He shows flashes of exceptional skill followed by dumb, selfish or undisciplined play. Alex Tanguay created some chances but too often is soft on the puck.

Ben Maxwell started the game very tentative. It seemed that he didn't want to make a mistake. He just didn't match the energy of D'Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn in the first period. After his nervousness faded, Maxwell played better as the game went on. In retrospect, it probably would have been a better decision for Plekanec to center D'Agostini and Kostitsyn. Once again, Pleks, D'Ags and AK-46 had a good game. At times, the Canadiens used their speed and took advantage of a weak Caps defense.

In the second period there was a glimpse of the player that Latendresse could be. Gui protected the puck by using his size to fend off the Caps defenseman and then fed the puck to Plekanec for a chance.

Jaroslav Halak played better tonight but still had issues with positioning and his glove. On Washington's first goal while on the power-play, Bouillon left Backstrom all alone in front of Halak. On the second, Halak probably should have grabbed it with his glove before it got to Nylander. Credit to Nylander who never gave up and put it in after being knocked down by Hamrlik. Carbonneau's comments were curious. "It's frustrating for [Halak] because I'm sure that he would like to get that first goal back and til the end it's just a bad bounce." Carbonneau was asked if anything was said on the bench when Semin ran over Halak. "No, not really" was the response.

Here's another one of those meaningless 'statistics': When Brisebois scores, the Canadiens lose.

No matter who Bob Gainey adds to this team, it won't make as big an impact in the win column as a deletion would: coach Guy Carbonneau.

Pre-game:

Carbonneau on Kovalev: "I can't say that he has been playing well. We expect him to score goals."

Kovalev will wear the 'C'. Markov and Brisebois will wear an 'A'.

Higgins, Komisarek, Dandenault, Price, Koivu all out with injuries. Ben Maxwell gets his 1st NHL star. Marc Denis will back-up Halak.

Simeon Varlamov gets his first NHL start in goal for Washington.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Simeon Varlamov
2. Michael Nylander
3. Andrei Markov

(photo credit: AP)

Lightning Crush Habs' Spirit

2008-12-12T01:14:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

This isn't quite Don't Forget the Lyrics. Instead let's play "Identify the Quote". If you have to Google it, you just haven't been paying attention.

Quote #1: "I just don't understand."
Quote #2: "...trying to find answers."
Quote #3: "We're scratching out heads."
Quote #4: "...not ready to play this game."

You get full marks if you answered Guy Carbonneau for all four quotes. Bonus points are given to those who added to their answer: "the befuddled head coach of the Montreal Canadiens." And for recognizing that Carbonneau not only said all four quotes after tonight's game, but after most Canadien's losses, you get an autographed All Habs t-shirt!

Let's actually review what Carbonneau said tonight. On the Montreal Canadiens, who is paid to understand, to devise solutions, and to get the team ready to play? The head coach, of course!

It is true that the team is responsible for executing a game plan. But, it's not good enough for Carbonneau to say, 'we told them, but they just didn't listen.' It is the coaches' responsibility to find a way to get through to the players.

Losing a home game to the last place team in the league should not happen. But it is worse than that. The Lightning had lost 9 straight games. There was an ongoing feud with a former coach as a distraction. As well, hotel and plane problems meant they missed their game day skate. And from my vantage point, beyond St. Louis, Lecavalier, Meszaros and Kolzig, the Lightning really didn't offer much tonight.

It all starts with goaltending and Jaroslav Halak did not play well. He has struggled with his glove hand most of the season and it was most apparent tonight. He also suffered from poor positioning and shaky play behind the net. He finished the game with only 19 saves.

But many on the team share the blame for the poor result.

As for the positives, I give considerable credit to Matt D'Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn. They were a threat to score all night and the pair were responsible for drawing at least 3 Tampa Bay penalties. Saku Koivu played a strong game for 8 minutes of ice-time but was forced to leave with a "lower body injury."

Tomas Plekanec worked hard and had a good game but did not have much support from his linemates. Sergei Kostitsyn had his most effective shifts as a penalty killer. Guillaume Latendresse tried to play physical at times but was mostly ineffective. Hits by forwards should be used as a tool to turn the puck over not just for fan reaction. A better measure of his play will be his next game on the road but, for now, the lessons learned aren't being put into practise.

Maxim Lapierre played rather well. He was tenacious in his puck pursuit and much improved in faceoffs. With all due respect to Max, there's something wrong when the 4th line center has more than 17 minutes of ice-time. That's as much ice-time as Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn, more minutes than Tanguay, and 3 more minutes than the team's hottest goal scorer, D'Agostini.

In my opinion, it is poor bench management by the coach. Carbonneau was determined to match Lapierre against Lecavalier and St. Louis. And with Tampa's first line gobbling up huge amounts of ice-time, Carbo continued to send out Lapierre et al. even in the third period as the Canadiens trailed by 2 goals.

The line combinations for the power-play were also very questionable. As result the power-play struggled once again going 1 for 8 and giving up a short-handed goal. The stat could have been worse given that the one goal credited to the power play was a bad goal given up by Kolzig on a weak wrist shot. After that Kolzig played very well with 31 saves.

Rick Tocchet also made some odd decisions behind the Lightning bench particularly when he decided to go with 4 forwards on the Tampa power-play with a 3-1 lead near the end of the third period. Alex Kovalev has taken another late game penalty.

I also have to mention that I was astonished that Carbonneau would give the 'A' to Brisebois tonight, given his extremely poor play recently. This giant Carbo man-crush for Brise is out of control! (The 'A' was available given that Higgins was out of the line-up with an injury). Using the same criteria, perhaps Carbonneau will suggest that Gilbert Delorme's sweater be retired and that Andre Racicot be considered for a lifetime Vezina.

Strangely enough, I feel compelled to comment on the referees for the second game in a row. There seemed to be two sets of rules tonight. Lecavalier slashed and speared Plekanec in the faceoff circle but nothing was called. The two were tossed and on the subsequent faceoff Sergei Kostitsyn was assessed a penalty on a phantom call as Recchi took a dive. Later, Lecav cross-checked Lapierre in the faceoff circle but again escaped a penalty call. Just brutal!

The Canadiens must be disciplined but they are letting teams bully them. Matt D'Agostini was knocked head first into the boards last game and it didn't even draw a crowd. Tonight, Downie went around Brisebois and headed for the net. Brise gave him a shove after the fact that Downie used as an excuse to launch himself into Halak. Even the guilt of the mistake couldn't bring Brise to challenge Downie. And it's be proven that Georges Laraques isn't the answer. If in the line-up tonight Laraque's non-combatant excuse would have been that Downie isn't in his weight class.

It's one third of the way through the season and coach Carbonneau has not yet found a way of effectively communicating with and motivating his players. Let's use the coach's favorite word to describe his performance tonight: embarrassing.

It's scary to think that the team could become further unhinged if their true leader, Saku Koivu is out for an extended period of time.

Pre-game:

Latendresse and O'Byrne in. Laraque is a healthy scratch. Higgins, Komisarek and Dandenault are out with injuries.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Martin St. Louis
2. Olaf Kolzig
3. Vincent Lecavalier

(photo credit: AP Photo)

Hard Work for 60 Yields Win

2008-12-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Winter arrived in Montreal today. When it's all fallen and measured, the guy who stands in front of the chroma key said we will have 15-20 cms. of snow. Many Montrealers put in a full day and then broke out a shovel when they got home. Hard work!

So why wouldn't Canadiens' fans expect the same from their beloved hockey team?

Tonight, the Habs met expectations. It was a good effort, start to finish.

Robert Lang is quietly having a good season. Lang had 2 goals and a assist for his best game as a Hab. The only negative was his faceoff performance at 38%. Andrei Markov showed no ill effects from his puck in the face from last game. Markov with a goal and an assist took over the NHL scoring lead for defensemen. Matt D'Agostini got his 4th goal in his 4th game with a beautiful move on a breakaway. D'Ags had chances for a few more and was the spark on a much improved power play.

Tonight was also a good confidence booster for Jaroslav Halak. Jaro had stuggled his previous three starts. He was solid most of the night and showed a better glove hand. Halak had a little trouble corralling rebounds which led to some scrambly play but overall, it was a good game.

Alex Kovalev had flashes of dominance on special teams, and it looked like he had broken his goal-less streak, but the goal was credited to Markov. Alex Tanguay had 2 assists in facing his former team (and coach).

The Canadiens two top lines are really clicking right now. Tomas Plekanec works hard every night and he and Higgins had some chances early on. Unfortunately, Chris Higgins sustained an upper body injury and left the game after only 4 shifts. Mathieu Dandenault suffered a suspected arm injury and also left the game. Credit to Dandenault for staying at his post despite being in obvious pain.

Sergei Kostitsyn had a good return after a few games in the press box. He had solid shifts on both the 3rd and 4th lines and strong penalty-killing play.

Patrice Brisebois. Wow..could it get any worse? The official scorer was extremely kind in only assessing 4 giveaways. Truly, it was closer to 14.

A final word reserved for Rooney and Devorski. As you know, I rarely comment on the refereeing. How did they miss Giordano purposely dislodging his won net when Kovalev had a chance? And Markov's penalty for tripping when he delivered a great hip check to Phaneuf was just silly. Clearly, they didn't earn all 60 minutes of their pay tonight.

Snow, hard work, and a Canadiens win...not a bad start to winter! Now where are the plows?

Pre-game:

Contrary to earlier reports, Tomas Plekanec will be in the line-up. Sergei Kostitsyn is back. Laraque, Latendresse and O'Byrne will sit. Halak in goal.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Robert Lang
2. Andrei Markov
3. Matt D'Agostini

(photo credit: Canadian Press)

Defensive Lapses Limit Offense

2008-12-07T01:46:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

Major league fantasy camps are very popular. For about $5,000 U.S., an average beer league player can get the 'chance of a lifetime' to play alongside the pros. You can get an authentic team uniform personalized with your name and number. Some teams offer DVDs to take home to re-live the experience.

Sitting near the glass at a game, one marvels at just how fast the game of hockey is at the NHL level. Do you ever wonder what it would be like on the ice? If you are having trouble imagining, just ask Patrice Brisebois. It would seem that Brisebois is having the ultimate fantasy experience. Standing still watching the play whiz past him; having a ice-level view of Carey Price making a tremendous save, and then gliding over and tapping Price on the pads. Not a bad way to earn $750,000. (I think that Brise can safely say goodbye to the other $750k in bonus money that is part of the contract. It's not happening.)

As Bob Cole said in the third period of tonight's game in his typical 'articulate' way "Fast game this hockey, isn't it?" Yes, it is a fast game. Too fast for Cole and Brisebois, both about 5 years past their best-before date. The game started with a giveaway for #71 on his first shift and it got worse as the game went on. There are just too many times that Brisebois doesn't take the body, nor block the pass, he is purely a spectator.

Perhaps Patrice should just endorse his full cheque over to Carey Price who is often left to clean-up Brise's messes. Carey Price was superb tonight. He made several spectacular saves off Elias, Parise and Rolston. Yes, Price gave up a questionable goal to Langenbrunner but more than made up for it with his stellar play especially in last two periods when the Canadiens were outshot 22-13.

It was a strong first period for the Canadiens. The Habs moved the puck well. D'Agostini got his 3rd goal of the season due to some hard work along the boards initially, and then heading for the front of the net where he cashed in the rebound of a shot on net by Markov. Canadiens outshot the Devils 13-7 in the first.

Some familiar problems were the Habs undoing tonight. There were undisciplined penalties by Tanguay, Bouillon and Kovalev. Running around in the defensive zone was also a concern. Time spent chasing a Devil was time the Habs weren't in the offensive zone. And lastly, there was poor special teams play. As Koivu said afterwards, "Special teams are a big part of the game. It's a big step from creating chances to scoring on the PP." The powerplay was 0-5. Robert Lang is not the answer on the point. Neither is Brisebois whose passes were painfully slow trying to set up a one-timer. (The only two who have shown that they can be a compliment to Markov are Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn.) Carbonneau inserting Laraque on the powerplay in the third was moronic tonight.

Alex Kovalev's streak remains intact, now 16 games without a goal. Andrei Markov has a cut lip, and lost 2 teeth from a shot to the face in the third period. Mathieu Dandenault was injured when he blocked a shot.

Despite a terrific effort, Carey Price was in a grim mood after the game. When asked to explain, Price said "It's pretty simple. I just don't like losing." The Canadiens need more players with that attitude, rather than those, who, like fantasy camp participants, are just happy to be there.

Pre-game:

Line-up remains the same for the Canadiens. Clemmensen in net for the Devils with Brodeur out.

Matt D'Agostini's parents made the trip from Sault Ste. Marie to watch their son.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Carey Price
2. Zach Parise
3. Patrik Elias

(photo credit: Canadian Press)

Happy 99th Birthday Habs!

2008-12-05T01:37:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

A big shout-out to all my 'friends' at Quebec Hydro. They stopped playing with their nuts and got back on the little exercise wheels just before the puck drop tonight. I'm talking about the trained squirrels that apparently power the fragile electrical system we have here. Yes, regular power outages over the past two years have left us just a little sarcastic.

No shortage of offense for the Canadiens tonight. Was it the ghosts of past victories during the last 99 years? Or the inspiration of Roger Doucet singing the anthem? Perhaps the vintage sweaters? Maybe it was Coach "K" making another appearance behind the bench.

No. It was the 2008-09 Canadiens. The ones we were excited about at the start of the season. The talented offensive group that we have been waiting for. Tonight, in game #25 of the season, they arrived and almost played a full 60 minute game. Even more impressive when you consider that the Rangers are the best team in the East. Tom Renney is a great coach. And Henrik Lundqvist is one of the best goaltenders the Canadiens have faced.

Lots of positives to talk about but right now Matt D' Agostini is the feel good story. Hard work, speed, winning battles for the puck and going to the front of the net. It's a formula that's working and it seems to be infectious. We also found out that he has a great wrist shot. D'Agostini had a goal, an assist and led the team with 6 shots. He also plays a defensive game and had 2 blocked shots.

Koivu, D'Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn were dangerous all night. Andrei skated hard to the net and chipped it in as he was being dragged down.

Tom Kostopoulos had a terrific game. He seemed to be everywhere creating chances. Kosto with Tanguay and Plekanec have been a real pleasant surprise. Kostopoulos created turnovers which led to some give and go between Plekanec and Tanguay. Really nice to see.

Kovalev extended his goal-less streak, and had an assist and just one shot. But there are signs that the Lang, Kovalev, Higgins is starting to gel. All the lines did a good job attacking the Rangers blue-line with speed.

The 4th line played well too. I really liked Max Lapierre's patience to pull the puck back before he fed Begin for the 2nd Canadiens goal. He also had his own goal. Steve Begin also had a goal, an assist and 5 shots. George Laraque made a nice play to keep the puck in on Begin's goal and had two assists. Later GL did a good job protecting the puck on the boards.

The Canadiens limited the Rangers to only 20 shots. Mathieu Dandenault had 5 blocked shots. Andrei Markov had 2 assists. Markov made a terrific pass on Lang's goal.

Carey Price was solid wearing his retro-looking pads and gloves. He didn't have to be the best player on the ice tonight but made some great saves when he had to.

6 even strength goals means that the power play was shut out again tonight. I don't think that Robert Lang is the solution on the point. He's reluctant to shoot the puck.

Steve Begin took a bad penalty. Max Lapierre couldn't cover Dawes who scored the second Ranger goal. Patrice Brisebois struggled in every zone. He fired his best backhand of the year at Price who had to make an alert save to end the 1st period.

Josh Gorges still seems in over his head. On the stats sheet, he was +4, but was beaten several times by Ranger forwards. He also reached out to try to block a Ranger point shot and deflected it into his own goal. Gorges plays much better when his minutes are limited and he doesn't have to be part of the top defense pairing. And I was surprised that Gorges didn't come to the aid of Koivu. Koivu and Gomez were jostling all the way down the ice into the Ranger end. When Gomez cross-checked Koivu to the ground, Gorges was right there but didn't step in. Koivu got up and fought Gomez.

Which brings us to Georges Laraque. After his MIA routine against Atlanta, I was shocked to see him in the line-up. Laraque was invisible until the Begin goal and then played better. But why did Kostopoulos have to step up when Colton Orr hassled Price? Why did Laraque do nothing after his captain was forced to fight. And with no reaction on Georges part, Gomez took the liberty to cross-check Andrei Markov to the face near the end of the third period. It seems that teams have caught on that Laraque has a very narrow criteria to fill his dance card. So how exactly is he protecting the skilled players as promised?

As the game ended, Carbonneau smiled and flashed 3 fingers at Mike Komisarek. Yes, coach 'K' is 3-0.

Pre-game:

99th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens

Centennial Plaza unveiled today with statues of Beliveau, Lafleur, Morenz and Richard

Roget Doucet via video sings the anthems (complete with his own version of O' Canada)

Latendresse, Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan O'Byrne are healthy scratches.

Komisarek will be behind the bench again.

Rocket's 3 stars:

1. Matt D'Agostini
2. Tom Kostopoulos
3. Maxim Lapierre

(photo credit:

Latendresse is not Happy? Look in the Mirror

2008-12-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

Rocket:

As many of you do, I play fantasy hockey. I was really disappointed to see a negative advisory posted regarding Guillaume Latendresse this morning. Here it is:

Cyberpresse.ca reports that Canadiens RW Guillaume Latendresse is not happy with being a healthy scratch lately. "It is not a situation I was expecting, but I have no choice; I have to live with it," said the 21-year-old. "I really don't know what more (coach Guy Carbonneau) wants. It came as a surprise, I really didn't understand 100 percent. He may be expecting me to bring more to the offense. I must just carry on and try, despite my lack of confidence."

It is a translated passage taken from an article in La Presse written by Marc Antoine Godin. (Perhaps BB will have more on it later.) My disappointment is that elements of the poor attitude and sense of entitlement (explained in a previous article) are appearing again from Gui.

How in the world can Latendresse be surprised? And saying that he doesn't know what more he can contribute to the team is just plain silly.

So if Gui needs it to be spelled out, so be it. Latendresse has 1 goal in his last 10 games. He has 2 points in his last 15 games. Including last season, Lats has 4 goals in his last 46 regular season games.

Are you sure that you are doing all you can Gui? Because if that is true, maybe you will never live up to the potential that was promised.

At times, Latendresse has played better this season, but it seems that he is only willing to put in a few good shifts at the beginning of the game, and then sits back and listens to the cheers from his adoring fans (wonder if Demers voice can be heard at ice level?) Also, when he does play well for part of a game, he expects to be promoted to the first line.

Latendresse has made a marginal improvement but remains as a slow skater who has difficulty keeping up to his linemates and cannot get back to his zone for defensive responsibilities. Hence, he is not a two-way player. And Gui still has a reluctance to go to the front of the net. (According to Carbonneau, he has spoken to Latendresse about all these things.) Despite his size, Latendresse prefers being a perimeter player.

BB and I both mentioned in the last game review that we hoped that Latendresse was paying attention to the play of Matt D'Agostini. D'Agostini plays aggressive, wins battles for the puck, has good vision on the ice, and goes hard to the front of the net. This is a perfect template for Latendresse to follow but unfortunately, for Gui and the Canadiens, it seems that his attitude may get in the way.

from La Presse:
Latendresse: «Je ne sais pas vraiment ce qu'il veut de plus...»
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey/200812/03/01-807049-latendresse-je-ne-sais-pas-vraiment-ce-quil-veut-de-plus.php

a previous related article:
Latendresse as a Power Forward: Myth or Potential?
http://allhabs.blogspot.com/2008/11/latendresse-as-power-forward-myth-or.html

(Photo credit: Bernard Brault, La Presse)