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About the last two nights ...
posted by Mike Boone at 9h14 EST on Dec 29
Yes, Tampa Bay isn't very good right now. And no, Tomas Vokoun wasn't very good last night.
But still ... back-to-back wins by an aggregate score of 10-3? Nine goals at even-strength? 6-for-6 on the PK?
And how about balance? The only players held off the scoresheets in Florida were Francis Bouillon, Mathieu Dandenault and Ryan O'Byrne (who got on the stats sheet for PiM last night).
When Carbonneau announced his new lines for the Tampa Bay game, I thought the coach had finally lost his marbles – a victim, perhaps, of tainted turkey at son-in-law Brenden Morrow's house on Christmas Day.
So what happens?
Guillaume Latendresse adds crease-crowding size to the Saku Koivu-Sergei K line and scores in each game.
Blanked in Tampa Bay with their new centre, Maxim Lapierre, Christopher Higgins and MICHAEL RYDER!!!! scored against Florida. Higgins added two assists.
With Kyle Chipchura in the pressbox and Tom Kostopoulos centring the line, the pluggers continued to contribute quality minutes.
Carbo went with Cristobal Huet in Tampa Bay. Good choice. After a quiet, 26-shot outing against the Lightning, Huet came back on short rest and stopped 40 Florida shots.
But the highlight – and the aspect of Canadiens' game that makes me sanguine about their second-half chances – was the play of the defencemen.
Roman Hamrlik, embarrassed in Dallas, was superb in both games. Andrei Markov was Andrei Markov – and played more than 27 minutes against the Panthers.
Mike Komisarek continues his progress toward elite status. And while I thought it was a bad trade for him to go off for five minutes with a stiff like Gregory Campbell, RDS analysts Jacques Demers and Benoit Brunet agreed it's important for Komisarek to assert himself. And they said he tends to play better when he's scrappy.
Speaking of toughness, Ryan O'Byrne got into it on three separate occasions and did just fine.
What's really encouraging is the solid play of Francis Bouillon and Josh Gorges. The latter made a seeing-eye, off-the-boards pass to start the play that led to Ryder's goal last night, and he and Bouillon look comfortable as a pairing and adept in either lugging the puck out or moving it up ice with crisp first passes.
Regardless of what happens in New York tomorrow night, the road trip has been a roaring success: three Ws, seven of a possible 10 points.
And you have to like the progression: Canadiens played so-so in Washington and were lucky to get a win. They played much better in Atlanta and were unlucky to lose in a shootout. The team was awful in Dallas and more than a few fans thought "Here we go, the holiday swoon ..."
But a funny thing happened on the way to Palookaville.
Canadiens didn't go 0-for-Florida. They swept back-to-back in venues where they've struggled in recent seasons. Beach bitches became sunshine supermen.
Dave Stubbs paraphrased Leonard Cohen. I'll go with Kander & Ebb as the Canadiens head for New York, New York:
If they can make it there, they'll make it anywhere.
Tune in tomorrow.
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The arrival of Sergei, Lapierre and O'Byrne brought some immediate benefits but it took Carbo a while to come up with the lay-out like the one put into place Tampa, which at once redefined our identity as a team.
Carbo's intentions about giving the CH 3 lines with offensive potential had always been there but the pieces werent there with Smolinski, Garbs and Ryder not being as usefull to the cause in the first part of the season as hoped for.
Now that the roster is a better match to the coach's vision and that we know his strategy and vision to be the correct one to have in order to do well in the newNHL ( 3 lines with legitimate fire power ), things are starting to be " tres interessant ".
Our goals average per game has raisen from 2.6 to 3.5 since the arrival of Sergei and the team's scoring depth has been particularly evident in the 2 games following our latest lines configuration,... I like that trend of winning as a result of our team's hability to score,... and getting it done that way now seems more and more a possibility.
The arrival of Sergei, Lapierre and O'Byrne brought some immediate benefits but it took Carbo a while to come up with the lay-out like the one put into place Tampa, which at once redefined our identity as a team.
Carbo's intentions about giving the CH 3 lines with offensive potential had always been there but the pieces werent there with Smolinski, Garbs and Ryder not being as usefull to the cause in the first part of the season as hoped for.
Now that the roster is a better match to the coach's vision and that we know his strategy and vision to be the correct one to have in order to do well in the newNHL ( 3 lines with legitimate fire power ), things are starting to be " tres interessant ".
Our goals average per game has raisen from 2.6 to 3.5 since the arrival of Sergei and the team's scoring depth has been particularly evident in the 2 games following our latest lines configuration,... I like that trend of winning as a result of our team's hability to score,... and getting it done that way now seems more and more a possibility.
I have to disagree with you when you say regardless of what happens in New York, the road trip was a roaring sucess Mr. Boone. Let's go for the kill! The game in New York and all upcoming games are important! Hustle and play hard every game every shift as my old coach would say and ye shall be rewarded!
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Lots of self-awareness there, Mike. I've accused you - wrongly - of not knowing your hockey and the like. It was always your rush to judgment that bothered me: we don't need a flip-flopper depending on whether the Habs are winning or losing. . . we need more positive forces in the Montreal media!
And partly off-topic, and revisiting your earlier comment that "booing is okay given the prices we pay", I think that if there's any evidence we need to show that we put too much pressure on the habs it's our home record. Pay $200, boo the team when they fall behind, lose. . . it's your choice and your right. But support the team - like all the Habs fans who travel to other arenas, most notably on the recent Florida swing - and look what happens. I prefer to be behind the Habs at all times; I may have problems with certain strategies or people (Carbo in both cases), but I don't boo my twin five year old boys at hockey games and I don't boo my Habs, either.
Yah Doug, I like your point about the boo-birds at home. I think this may be part of the reason for the poor home ice record. I think part of the problem though is that fans have very high expectations and are frustrated after so many years of putting up with a losing team. They have lost their patience. I see the same thing on this site. Win 2 straight and everyone is cheering. Lose 2 straight and everyone has their hatchets out and are demanding mass firings/trades. I much prefer to read posts that show a little more insight into where the team is going long term, instead of the knee jerk reaction of others to the lastest loss. A little more vocal support at home when we are down a goal might rally the players and turn the game around. Booing just undermines confidence and leads to a poor effort. In that respect, we get what we deserve.
The Habs have a good chance of finishing this road trip on a winning note if they can carry the Florida heatwave with them to NYC. While the Rangers were demolishing the Leafs' (snicker), the blue blanc rouge were out taking on the town. I hope they did a team oriented activity because the team that plays together, plays together!
What a stroke of genius to have 3 scoring lines! Before we had 2 and if one took the night off we were up a creek without a paddle. Can't argue with success! Nice to see Chips back in tonight but for all the wrong reasons. How's that for depth. Speaking of depth, when will we see the "next one" again? Huet will start tonight and with 3 days rest will likely go against TB on Thursday. Can it be something that Chips and Price are roommates? Both are bright lights of our future and Carbo has to instill confidence in the kidz. That should be the Habs new theme song "The Kids are Allright" by The Who. But, like a gambler I wouldn't change a thing on a winning streak. Heck, I won't even wash my "Ryder" jersey. Go Habs Go!!!
Don't quit your day job.
What was the point of your post, Moey?
Patriots 38 - Giants 35
Rangers 6 - laffs 1
The point is he won't make his money on betting or predictions, so stay with the job he has.
uhhh, he wasn't betting or predicting. He was just updating us. If you don't like it, no need for useless comments that have no positive value to anyone.
Thank you.
Habs 3 Rangers 1
you can make fun of me after if you want.
Have you never heard that line before??? I guess not.
IT WAS A JOKE...I read it late at night, thought it was a prediction. Lighten up already.
Yes, I have heard that joke before.
I'm just tired of reading comments that are only supposed to be demeaning to other posters and serve no value otherwise.
If a joke was your intention, fine, but it didn't come across that way.
and I am lightened up. The Habs have won two in a row. What a Christmas miracle!!!
I'm 100% with you, Teach.
Mr Boone, do you know if the Canadiens are having their rookie dinner tonight? My understanding is that the team always has their rookie dinner in New York.
Without O'Byrne? So sad :(
An interestng way to get out of footing the bill: break your thumb so that you have to miss the dinner. :)
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"Vote Saku for All-Star... or little Timmy gets it!!!"
Here's hoping that the entire Tronna contingent has a very bad night and a very bad 2008. In no particular order:-
Mats Sundin
Darcy Tucker
Bob Cole
Stephen Walkom
Don Cherry
Andrew Raycroft
Paul Maurice
Wade Belak
Ron MacLean
Colin Campbell
Larry Tanenbaum
John Ferguson Jr.
Nik Antropov
Gary Bettman
Harry Neale
Jason Blake
Kyle Wellwood
Tomas Kaberle
Carlo Colaiacovo
Pavel Kubina
Hal Gill
Bryan McCabe
Ian White
Chad Kilger
Richard Peddie
Keith Acton
Randy Ladouceur
NHL war room employees
Dallas Eakins
Paul Dennis
Steve McKichan
Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund
Wendel Clark
Rick Vaive
George Armstrong
Peter Ihnacak
Clint Malarchuk
John Pohl
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Alex Steen
Matt Stajan
Glenn Healy
Darryl Sittler
Mark Bell
Boyd Devereaux
Andy Wozniewski
Jiri Tlusty
CBC Sports
Vesa Toskala
Elliott Madore
All the cookie-cutter Maple Loaf wannabe referees and linesmen
I agree on all of these except:
-Ron MacLean, who brings a certain dignity to an otherwise bombastic, useless HNIC cast of morons (has there ever been a worse crew than Hotstove)
- Mark Bell, I sincerely wish the guy well, he is a super talented guy whose addictions have cost him so much... this year I hope he continues to stay clean, that he pays the piper with dignity and then comes back and had a great career, except against the Habs.
- Jason Blake, a speedy, complete recovery. When a player struggles against a disease like that, you cheer for him regardless of what team he's on.
- Why CLint Malarchuk? He never played for the Laffs. I'll never forget how close he came to dying right before my eyes, and the courage and humour he displayed in the days following that incident.
with the risk of sounding like Jack Todd, you forgot Jeffrey Loria and David Samson!
Don't knock the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund! They are the perfect owner for the leafs - bought the organization in order to make money, not build a contender. As a teacher in Ontario and a Habs fan, I love the fact that the leafs have owners who only care that the ACC is filled every night with fools spending money, and that it's a great investment for my pension. I have friends who like the leafs and they hate the fact that Teachers owns their team, since there is no incentive to build a winning team - as long as they make money they are happy, and as long as the leafs suck I am happy.
Otherwise I like your list although I always liked Sittler and Wendel.
Kerry Fraser who used to strut his red comb like a rooster, looks ridiculous in a helmet. And he's getting jowls too! Time to retire!
Wow, Canada is just blessed with talent!
Another unrelated note: The Blackhawks put Samsonov on waivers!
It could still be our fault: maybe Carbo broke him!
i guess that pretty much gets carbo off the hook who apparently ruined him as a hab. Safe to say samy will join yashin in russia next season.
Yeah, Perezhogin is doing well too! Really is, check out the Spengler Cup (the Green Team)!
Yeah, I figured as much the first time I saw him benched. Something happened to Samsonov, he simply cannot adapt to the new NHL and his stats look better than they are because of Joe Thornton.
No big surprise there!
Hey Habs-Kat, are you after a job with the site? :P
Haha, nah, I'm just stuck at home and bored.