Leafs land goaltending guru
posted by Mike Boone at 5h10 EST on Jun 11
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Submitted by TorontoHabsFan on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 14:03.
I'm not the most knowledgeable in this area, but isn't Allaire THE Guru of the Butterfly? And isn't Price more of a hybrid goalie and not so much a full-on butterfly goalie? Aren't Vokoun and Anderson also hybrid goalies? Didn't they both have success with a crappy team in front of them this year and last?
Who signed their goalie coach again?
Submitted by Bill J on Sat, 06/13/2009 - 08:43.
I agree with you 100%
Melanson was fired likely because he tried to convert Carey Price from his "proven-to-be-successful" Hybrid style into a full-on Butterfly style.
Price won A LOT with the Hybrid, and Allaire IS indeed a Butterfly specialist.... I also thought Allaire would have made a good fit in MTL - but had not thought about the Butterfly factor... Price needs to have the support of his Goalie Coach in how CAREY plays, not the other way around. & thus I think MTL should go after the Goalie coach in FLA (much like you stated) who I believe is a "Free Agent" as he is available.
Submitted by cautiousoptimist on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:05.
I'm not so worried... Toskala has never been their problem -- the problem in Toronto is that their top line has Ponikarovsky, Stempniak and Grabovski on it. Line #2 is Jason Blake, Stajan and Jamal Mayers. Ouch... No real prospects, either -- Hockeysfuture ranks them 23rd in that department.
1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat
2. Mike Boone: "With Gainey at my side, I'd walk into any dark alley in the world."
Submitted by Haberts on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 11:09.
A goalie is a goalie and a team is a team...regardless of who is coaching.
I;ve seen good teams win with bad coaches...and bad teams win with good coaches...
Nothing will change dramatically in Toronto...even with this supposed god of goaltending.
Submitted by Chris on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:31.
I just deleted my long, stat-laden post by accident. Some of you must have had your prayers answered! ;)
In terms of the the Allaire move, people who criticize the Habs for not targetting Allaire would do well to remember that Roland Melanson was an Allaire acolyte. Allaire is THE butterfly style guru...you know, the style that everybody and their dog felt was totally wrong for Carey Price? So if you were one of the people blasting Melanson for forcing the wrong style on Price, I hope that you will keep it in the front of your mind while criticizing Gainey for not hiring the celebrity goaltending coach.
Not criticizing Allaire in any way...he played a pivotal role in developing star goalies like Patrick Roy and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. But as Showey pointed out, for every Roy or Giguere, there are 10 Jablonskis, Racicots, and Shtalenkovs.
Melanson also had a great run with Montreal, mentoring guys like Jeff Hackett, Jocelyn Thibault, Jose Theodore and Cristobal Huet to some of the best seasons of their careers. We will never really know if he was the problem with Price or if Price's inexperience or possible lack of maturity was the bigger culprit...if Price plays great the next couple of years, the easy decision will be to say that Melanson was the problem. Regardless of who is mentoring him, it is really up to Price to make the leap. If he doesn't, there won't be any shame...other highly touted goalies (Jocelyn Thibault jumps to mind) struggled to reach their vast potential in the pressure-cooker that is Montreal. I think we're pretty much unanimous in the hope that he succeeds.
Submitted by Habsrule1 on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 09:19.
thepriceiswrong,
Gainey has a job because people much smarter than you look at where this team was when he took over and compare it to where it is now.
Critics of Gainey always skip the facts. The team had 77 points the year he took over and had missed the playoffs 4 out of 5 years, AND Hamilton was BARE!!
Gainey helped get this team to #1 in the east last year, and would have continued improving it if it had not been for injuries and slumps. None of us predicted so many of our key players to take a big step backwards this past season, and neither did he. He has left himself a lot of room to decide who he wants to build around and who he wants to try to bring in.
All that being said, this season is his day of reckoning. If you want to bash BOB, wait until this coming December and do it for a good reason!
Go Habs Go!!
"I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Submitted by Harditya_CareyPrice on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 12:38.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Bob has helped this team a lot. He's the reason why we actually have any expectations from this team.
Wait from Price to bloom...it's his 'Prime Time' in 3-4 years.
Submitted by JF on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 07:21.
I was really hoping the Habs would land Allaire. I'm beginning to fear that the hiring of Martin and possibly the Florida goaltending coach heralds another decade of mediocrity while Toronto, under Brian Burke, goes on to build a contender. Nothing against Martin; he's a very good coach, but he's never won a Cup. The Panthers did not make the playoffs with him as coach and then GM. I"m sure he'll do better than Carbo did this year; the team we had was better than Carbo made it look. But will Martin be able to turn it into a real contender, or will we make the playoffs regularly, and just as regularly go out in the first round? I wonder why Gainey chose Martin over Bob Hartley, who seemed the obvious candidate and who does have a Cup.
Submitted by punkster on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:56.
Shout out to Mr. Boone (Oh Great and Wise Purveyor of Addictive Game Day Blogging)...understand you have a previously scheduled engagement Friday. Will you open the blog before heading out to the concert?
Submitted by Mike Boone on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 07:01.
I will indeed.
And fans can fill the Comments section with quips, analyses and personal insults ... just as though I were at my post.
I will record the game, just in case it's a classic.
Submitted by RGM on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:55.
You can get Francois Allaire to put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Fear not, friends.
-----
"Come on, let's keep a little optimism here." -- Han Solo, Return of the Jedi
Submitted by showey47 on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:31.
I predict another long day of whining posts from the list of ususals because we did land allaire as our goalie coach. Instead of crediting him for turning roy into a hall of famer maybe we should list the goalies who never mounted to anything under his tutilidge like andre racicot,j.c. bergeron,frederick chabot and one year wonder jose theodore to name a few. If you don't have natural ability as a goalie,it doesn't matter who coaches you.
Submitted by punkster on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:51.
PS...the blackflies were brutal in Killarney this week!!!
Submitted by showey47 on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 16:23.
lmao,yeah the flies are nasty out there but the fish and chips make up or it.
Submitted by punkster on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:49.
Agree showey...the usual suspects will be burning Bob in effigy over this as "an obvious sign of his inability to blah, blah, blah..." Gets tiresome really. You're spot on about natural ability when it comes to the best goalies.
Submitted by Yeats on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 09:48.
It's all very simple. It doesn't matter who the Habs' goaltending coach is. Price has got to start living up to his billing at the NHL level, end of story. Next season should be a "make or break" campaign for him, but you can see the excuse coming that another mediocre season will be the fault of those in front of him.
Submitted by Bill J on Sat, 06/13/2009 - 08:52.
doesn't matter who the coach is ?
WTF....
Yes it DOES matter when the Coach can NOT teach the KID (as he has so often been cited as being) to be BETTER....
When people go to University - why do you think students are typically drawn to Ivy League Schools ? - because they have the best teachers....
Would you rather your Brain Surgeon whose about to crack your skull come from the Harvard Medical school...
or
the Veterinary school in Nunavut ?
You want to have the BEST teachers available to mold your youth and prospects - or else you have much of the same that the habs had for the 10+ years prior to Gainey.
Submitted by sisu on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:09.
I wonder how much Gainey was handcuffed by the fact that the ownership issue is still up in the air.
Submitted by thepriceiswrong on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 06:21.
I wonder why Gainey still has a job.
This is going to be a long summer of waiting for something good to happen but knowing we will watch the same mediocre product next season.
Submitted by Bill J on Sat, 06/13/2009 - 08:47.
If you are so unhappy with the product - why dont you start supporting another product - & go post on their threads.... Just because you like looking at women in CH T-Shirts - does not make you a Hab fan - just makes you fan of Smart women ;)
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