Game 71: Canadiens keep on tumbling

Montrealer2 I had a Good laugh over your post.......It was great to get away from all the doom & gloom...............there are a few on this post site that should be on the same bench...........Kouv you are great, can't do it alone if only we could get the rest of the team to play at 110%

What's your point again? Oh yeah, you hate Quebec............. Too bad this very provice gave you the greatest habs players of all time.

How dare I disagree with you and stay rational, when you're hitting the panic button and throwing all sense of reality out the window to do so?

I heard that to. Could be true. I don't think the other UFA's should be thinking anything. They should be focusing on playing better, because none of them deserve a contract right now. With exception to Lang and TK (not sure if he is a UFA). Not even sure Koivu deserves one,if it is much more than 3 mil.

I wrote on the boards yesterday. Nobody believed me on this either. Koivu: Communication wasn't his strong point. Carbo: I was doing press conferences everyday since I was hired as head coach. You thought I had communications problems? To have a communication, you need two people. If the other one is not listening..

i don't think everyone wants him fired. i think we are looking for a change.. a consistent effort night it and night (most nights anyway) if we don't make the playoffs there has to be a change. with some players getting a bit older and some bad apples whatever there needs to be some type of character adjustment.who goes who stays have no idea.

I've never seen such a poor effort from Kovy and AK46, taking into consideration the importance of the game. Pleks wasn't much better, but I attribute that more to his linemates rather than his heart. I was already fairly sure we shouldn't resign "King Kovy". After last night, I wouldn't want him anywhere near this team, even for nothing. It's just mindblowing how this could be.

mon concern as well - they each should be good for 3-5 shots a game. lats got 5 if i recall form the box score. also when the habs do get 25 shots on goial i'm guessing 10 are from the defense.

"Kovalev and Saiku getting more ice time than latts and his line is why we are where we are today. The hard working guys do not get rewarded with extra ice time like the power play." Carbonneau did reward the hard workers and he got crapped all over for it. Remember when the workers got more ice time and PP time than the first two lines?

Latendresse was the first breath of fresh air that any skater has brought to this team since Kovalev and Plekanec had a couple of solid games after Kovy's walk with Gainey in February.

I thought he was awesome, along with his linemates. Had a lot of energy and passion. All three were forechecking aggressively and hanging around the net all night. If even ONE of the other lines had played like them, last nights game would have been an easy win. Uh Well....you get my point anyway lol.

Yuuuup. I was the first to break it out on the forum. Nobody believes me though. Koivu: Communication wasn't his strong point. Carbo: I was doing press conferences everyday since I was hired as head coach. You thought I had communications problems? To have a communication, you need two people. If the other one is not listening..

when it comes to organized crime anything is possible. given the fact that players on this team have been linked to these typs of people would suggest that it is possible and more likely than if players were not linked to these types people. when you think about the money involved one must wonder.

Got to agree -- yesterday's loss falls on Gainey's shoulders. Halak should've been in the nets. SChneider has no business playing shorthanded. O'byrne should be playing in place of Brisebois. A couple of players need to be sat down: AK = he's a disaster right now, if he's got to play, keep him away from Kovi- something stinks there. Komisarek = What's up with him? It's as if he never held a hockey stick before this year. Iknow he's not supposed to be an offensive talent, but right now he's making Rick Green look like Bobby Orr. Almost every time he gets the puck he "muffs" it. He's also not hitting anyone, so what's the point of playing a defenceman who doesn;t hit, and can't handle the puck? I'd rather see Dandenault, or even Alex Henry out there. Our biggest problem right now is our inability to get the opuck out of our own zone. The biggest culprits are Komisarek and Brisebois. Hamrlik has not been so hot of late either. He's not the same player he was last season. I know that Gainey just stepped ion as coach 5 games ago, but wasn't he watching the games prior to his moving behind the bench.? If he was, he would know that Halak gives us a better chance to win right now, AK, Brisebois, and Komisarek are hurting us, and we need to work on clearing the zone. I.m not talking about "lobbing" the puck high on the air, but one or two short passes to come out of our zone with speed and puck possession. I thought that when Gainey took over he would "right" the ship. Their weaknesses are obvious. The biggest problem was poor conditioning, (it has gotten better to a certain degree, but the other main problem is lack of fundamental hockey skill. Every team and every coach starting from Bantam age understands that if you cannot move the puck out of your zone quickly and efficiently, your not going to win too many games. One last thing, why does Melancon still have a job? If Price would just stay on his feet more and cut off the angles, he would not be giving up so many bad goals. If the goalie coach doesn't see that, he's in the wrong job. Go Habs Go! 3 points for a win in regulation, or no points for an OT loss. www.GASandGROCERYloyaltyREBATES.com

I think there is still a place for Koivu on this team. However, he is not a #1 center. Never really was. I don't know about him being the heart of the team either. He's made of the right stuff, but I believe from here on in, he's more of a secondary force. From what I see, the 3rd line along with Halak and Markov are the Heart of the team. They have true character and also are producing results when it counts.

If Koivu is back, it's only for one reason... Gillett. Makes me sick.... How can Gillett accept that this guy detrone Jean Beliveau as the ultimate captain is beyond me. Unacceptable.

To be fair, the players had played like garbage for two months under Carbo, and they're not playing much better under Gainey. The coaches changed but the play didn't pick up all that much. Does that mean it's just time for another coaching change, or is there a more serious problem with the team? At some point you've gotta look at the players here. Bad coaching does lose games, but it'll never lose as many as painfully inconsistent defense, offense and goaltending will. As long as our D is porous, undisciplined and flailing around the zone wondering who to cover, we're not going to win. Part of that is on the coach's shoulders, since he's crafting the practice drills. But at the end of the day, it's not the coach's fault that Kovalev has 17 goals in 67 games, or that Higgins -- much as I love the guy -- has 9 in 46. Komi, formerly one of the most dominating defencemen in the league, has been nothing short of abysmal in just about every game lately. Our leading scorer, for Pete's sake, has 55 points in 67 games, good for 54th in the league -- and he's a defenceman... Malkin, in 1st place, has 102 points. Our next two leading scorers, Kovy and AK46, are in 85th and 131st place, respectively. The players aren't blaming the coaching for their fustercluck this season -- why are we? 1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat 2. Josh Gorges on Montreal's attack: "They're comin', they're comin' and they keep comin'. Just line after line, wave after wave..."

Darn right! Case CLOSED. 1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat 2. Josh Gorges on Montreal's attack: "They're comin', they're comin' and they keep comin'. Just line after line, wave after wave..."

That's crazy. More likely, aliens have abducted his goldfish and threatened to feed it food pellets until it explodes -- unless AK46 throws every game, that is. On a sidenote, do you work for the Journal de Montreal? 1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat 2. Josh Gorges on Montreal's attack: "They're comin', they're comin' and they keep comin'. Just line after line, wave after wave..."

I'm sure their salaries are high enough that they don't have to resort to that. But who knows.

Hard to disagree with you on that. Just want to point out that as bad as we played, if Price didn't fall asleep in goal last night, we likely win that game. Halak, 1 goal (24 shots); Price, 4 goals (15 shots!). Goaltending is the key, and Halak is the man for the job. __________________ Just as no culture has a monopoly on beauty or value, no religion has a monopoly on truth - Voltaire

couldn't have said it any better myself. lol. Grabovski- please get a decent haircut!

Borrowed from Chevy Chase and the fine folks at National Lampoon that brought us Christmas Vacation ... "I want every player brought in here...with big, red ribbons on their heads, so I can look them in the face and tell them what ... (bad words deliberately deleted) ... they are!"

Apart from last night, Price has played well in his last few starts (since his complete collapse in the new year). What bothers me is why Halak didn't keep getting the start after 4 outstanding wins. The Habs have been on a downward slide ever since pulling him in favour of Price. Not saying this is necessarily Price's fault, since he has been pretty good, but the whole team lost confidence and began playing badly again after the organization showed their obvious bias towards Price. Since the beginning of the season, they've been saying that the number 1 spot is always up for grabs depending on who plays better. Apparently not. Maybe the players are just getting sick of how things are being run, maybe not.

After finally sitting down and seriously watching individuals play, I can say bye bye to all the free agents. Love Koivu for all his heart but his tank is absolutely empty. Loved Komi but he's a different man after the Lucic smack down. Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan

Mods have been asked to look into it but, it's tough to figure out exactly who or where the mods are to get in touch with them. I apologize for my part in the mess, I just left another hockey chat site because various chemically imbalanced users there were stalking other users that disagreed with them, finding their names, addresses, phone numbers and making threats to rape or murder their loved ones with that information. It got to the point that it wasn't worth it to try to discuss hockey with others with all of that going on around it and when these two particular users started the same routine of trying to find my name, and private info so they could try to post it here, it reminded me of the slippery slope that nonsense turned into elsewhere and I responded in a less than pleasant manner. I am sorry for losing my temper at what I felt was a serious violation of my privacy rights on here. I am sure I could have handled it better. I don't feel you should be made to feel intimidated about posting here, just because you don't feel that you have the same knowledge that some other posters may or may not have. It should be an open forum for all opinions to be shared and discussed or debated, without having to risk being persecuted for them.

Better yet next time they have an HIO summit we can have an HIO beer cup game...full contact... Go Habs Go! "Proud home of the now four...sacred cows...Breezer...you may be next"

AMEN!!!!! "Crosby poops in da diaper, Malkin changes it"

I think he and Halak would both appreciate having a chance to have a team play in front of them for a change, right about now. However, if they sent them down, these scores would become 10-1 for the remainder of the season as the flaws of the rest of the team would be more exposed without their two goalies bailing their sorry butts out every night.