Halak in, Metro doubtful, AK46 demoted

I was just at the bell centre and saw Metro filling up gas across the street, he was looking just fine and said hes playing tonight. So Look for him in the lineup!

I just don't see Lats finishing this game on the 2nd line by any stretch of the imagination, he'll be lagging behind Matt and Pleky the whole 1st period, granted at least it gives Lapierre a chance to run the 3rd line without the boat anchor that's tied to him whenever he's played next to Gui this season.

I'm okay with Halak starting this, but I would have rather seen Price get a chance to start and win on home ice, the way the team is playing now he could get that without being expected to stand on his head for 60 minutes. But Jaro is the starter right now and Martin is going with it so we'll see what happens.

Not optimistic about seeing Stewart on that 4th line at all though, that 4th line could be a real liability with him on it. Hoepfully AK46 words hard and get himself bumped up a couple of lines during the game, I just don't see secondary scoring happening because Lats is on the 2nd, more likely Moen and Lapierre will combine for a goal.

- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.

Someone below mentioned brother acts. I couldn't help but search quickly on the internet about the stats on the Rockets. Here's what Wikipedia says:

Played together for the Montreal Canadiens from 1955 to 1960. Won the Stanley Cup all five years they played together. Henri won 11 Stanley Cups, a record for a player; combined with Maurice’s 8, they own the record for most Stanley Cups by any combination of brothers.

Imagine that - five years they play together, five Stanley Cups... It must have been nice to be a Habs fan back then.

Halak has played bottom feeders and is getting praised for his efforts. He was lucky to get a W on Saturday night. Halak was very shanky at times and let out big reboundsThe team won the game for him. CP will not be back next season. You heard it first on HI/O. IMO, CP deserves to play tonight. This would have been a tune up game for him and be ready to play against Pittsburgh. But no, Jack (*ss) Martin decides to go win the winning formal. Habs will have their hands full tonight and they will see a different NYI team tonight. Habs better be ready to play cause the NYI are fresh and eager for a win and this game is not BACK TO BACK for NYI. Doug weight should be in the Islanders line up as well. Halak will be tested big time tonight.

Dang, Andy, you need to wake the hell up, boy. This guy's fault, that guy's fault, your fault, my fault, your brother's fault, media's fault, I don't care. Just wake the hell up.

Cuz you could be beautiful, man!..(snif)...friggin beautiful.

Je suis

Sieur Bugs Potter, écuyer. Major-général du dépôt de munitions Fort Gainey, contre-amiral du torpilleur de classe-II Sainte Flanelle, et sous-secrétaire du ministère de la Défense Tricolore.

I like the lines, but I feel for poor Plecky - he's been working hard but has to adjust to different wingers all the time. Both are new to him now. I also thought Laps did okay with them but since Metro's out, Laps has to go back to center.

I would have gone with Price - can't let him get too cold either - but I'm ok with this decision and expect a W.

...We can likely handle the Islanders without Metropolit ...BUT not the Penguins

...to Me ...Met is The One Guy that MAKES Us a legitimate 4 Line Team

...Met, Chipchura, Lapierre ...and a promising Pyatt ...mixing with the Moens, Latendresses, Stewarts, Paciorettis, d'Ags ...AND, possibly One or more of the Potato Head Bros ...makes for some solid mix'n'match depth potential behind the 3 Amigos...to keep opposing coaches off-balance

Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049

Hate these lines: AK on fourth? Put him put of the line-up already! 

After listening to the pre-game audio from Mr Martin, I feel a tiny bit better about AK on the fourth line. I think his logic is that AK needs to learn how to play in this new system, and the 4th line may give him a better chance to learn, by not having to play against the opposition's best players.

Let this be a lesson to Andre, your baby brother Sergei is not around, you are a married man and must socialize with other teammates of yours and grasp the English language more thouroughly.  Your English is pathetic Andre and you have been here for almost 6 years!  Do you care to learn at all or just want that weekly paycheque from the club?

You can be an actor at times along with Sergei but Martin is not stupid, he is demoting you on the 4th line.

If you want a career in the NHL, you better smarten up and change your work ethic or else it will be bye bye to you and your brother and go back to Belarus and play.

"We will win the Cup one day only with a mature Carey Price in the nets"

I thought Carey might get the start tonight, but Martin choosing to go with Halak doesn't surprise nor disappoint me.

I'm a little perplexed about that second line though. AK has been underperforming for some time now, and I'm doubtful this demotion will help. Mostly though I just feel bad for Pleks who has so much skill and is playing so well... now he is stuck with Dags and Lats. They're decent players, but not 2nd line material, and I doubt Pleks will have much to work with.

anyone else worried by the apparent lack of depth upfront?  with AK46 playing so poorly and sergei down on the farm, our wings look vulnerable.

on the upside, the young guys are getting a lot of quality minutes.  they'll have to learn and improve quickly for us to be competitive.

Finally... some fairness.

AK aka Hollow Man (I know, i'm a real joker) will go think about his future on the 4th line.

I think he will score tonight or have amazing shifts.

I wish the 2nd line was more like Cammy, Plek, Gui!

I'm happy for Halak.  JM knows what he is doing.  Price will start against the Pens... He's good against them.

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We have a new team!

Mike Komisarek: (-2)-0-0

Gainey Haters bandwagon ---> This way

I wonder with all that is going on with Sergei in Hamilton if it is starting to affect Andrei.  He's been in JM dog house a few times now, and down to the 4th line for tonight.  If that doesn't get the message across to him then nothing will.  So I wonder if they should trade Sergei if that will help Andrei or make matters worse.  I personally never liked brother tandems on a team.  Look at Koivu he could have gone to the Wild but he choose elsewhere.  I know that people are going to say look at the Sudins twins, but I think that is an anomaly.  They even a clause that they have to be traded together I believe.  Either way it's going to be interesting as to what plays out for the brothers on this team in the near future. 

My God you people are hard to please. I've been on HI/O for a long time and this damn goaltender controversy thing just keeps getting worse. My advice to you all is try to find some happiness in life. Get out and go for a walk in the sunshine. Drop a few coins in the hand of a panhandler. Contribute a few bucks to a worthy charity. Do something to make you feel better about yourself. People, the Habs are winning, they're getting better, they have heart and soul and a good first line. As per Monty Python, "Always look on the bright side of life".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ

And also, am I the only one who wishes that Gomez would finish his rushes????

He has fantastic speed -reminds me of Guy Lafleur, the way he starts deep in our zone, and flies through the neutral zone, terrifying backpedalling defenders... but he always seems to pass it off, often onto a stick or into a play that breaks down!

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the way he plays, he's exciting and talented, and is putting up points, but I want to see him challenge the defenders! Break through between them, and at least get a tripping call as they jam their sticks between his legs! Put a shot between their legs a la Ovie! Keep driving to the net and use that speed to push them back instead of fading to the sides!!

That's what I'd like to see. :)

the hot hand will get the start, that is how you run a tandem of goalies.  Playing Price wouldn't be good if he is struggling when you have a goalie who is in the groove right now.  Why are we even arguing about who should start and who should sit.  I thought the main thing for us fans is that our teams wins.  I don't care who is in the net or who scores the goals.  The point is that we win as a team and hopefully have some success along the way!!!! GO HABS GO!!

"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be it yours to hold high."

Yep, I'm with JM...

And the whole idea of 'not being ready for games because you haven't played' is overrated. The goalies practice with the team, they prepare themselves. If that old adage actually had any truth in it, EVERY team would lose their first games of the season.

If Halak doesn't play well, Price will be hungry for the start against Pittsburgh. If Halak plays well, stick with him.

I like the posters on here who can look beyond their own favourites and as the team as a whole. Good point, avatar_58, as long as we win I don't care if it's Doug Soetaert playing in goal!!!

pleks is playing better but looks like has lost his ability to put the puck in the net and still loses too many faceoffs when on for pk...secondary scoring will continue to be an issue unless one of our young forwards becomes a consistent scorer but as i said before none of them were scorers in any level before nhl...ak46 and his brother were counted on before the season to be the secondary scorers ..if they cannot do that ..we will need to pick up a scorer.

I predict Price will play in the next game Martin feels he should play in... how is that for going out on a limb. What I am really saying is 'don't worry about it'. We have a good man running the team who is all over it.

Can't get too excited about the proposed lines. They could change before the game and if they don't work, Martin will juggle them until they do. I am impressed with his performance so far - plans and adapts well - and I had high expectations.

Not a fan of keeping Price out of action. He has a good game against a weak team tonight and we have 2 goalies beaming with confidence. I'm not an NHL coach, so I have to believe JM is doing what he thinks is right. I simply disagree.

As for Pleks playing with AHL'ers, I disagree about Lats. The guy deserves a REAL shot as a top 6 forward. Give him 5 games and if he doesn't do the trick, put him back, but he's scored a fair amount of goals over his career on the 3rd line. I thought he played really well against the Rangers, and I'm glad JM saw that too.

Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy

Halak deserves the start. I'm glad Martin isn't succumbing to the pressures and politics of Montreal. There is no controversy. Get over it.

http://nailaj.blogspot.com

Martin has to play Halak against The Pens. He can't sit Price & then put him in against the best team in the league.

dont think this is right at all with halak , carey won us our 2 first games he was sat for calgary so he could have no support in vancouver and i am willing to bet carey couldve handled playing in calgary and vancouver back to back so this martin bringing in the philosphy you win your in shouldve been done  with our western road trip as i see halak played prety crappy sat night the team got the win not just the goalie as he looked sloppy and  price is supposed to be the number 1 goalie and shouldnt be sitting  for so long

metro would be a bigger loss than CP not getting the start. where's the tamiflu at?

Regarding Halak - I wish we'd play Price - needs to stay sharp. But ok, Martin hopefully knows what he's doing.. But then why did he play Jaro against Calgary when CP was clearly hot? Maybe he could have stolen a point or two there.

As for AK46, I don't understand why would we sent him to AHL as some of the posters suggest. Are you completely out of your mind? We'd lose him on waivers in a hartbeat. He's an asset - an invisible asset who still could be traded for something else. But waiving him??? Are you all 16 years old?

Regards Metro - too bad! I'd rather have Laps on the wing on the 2nd line than Lats, but now we needs Lapierre centering our 3rd line.. And Metro is a class act and a very very useful player, I think we can all agree.

But suggesting Lats will never develop is another nonsense. Check out how many goals Franzen scored in a season in Sweden when he was 22. He scored 2 goals. Power forwards need time. Lats will be fantastic when he's 26, I believe.

sucks that plekanec has to play with two AHLers...

- we need a MARKOV.

Shame to break up the 4th line, considering how well it did last game.

Ex nihilo nihil fit

Title should read "AK46 Traded"

As well as Halak has been playing I would have tested Price against the Islanders. 

Of course we shouldn't take them for granted, but the Isles are not the Penguins or the Blackhawks, and Price still needs games. Halak has earned the big games, no doubt, but why create a problem where there is none. I don't really give two hoots who starts tonight as I think that as long as the defense system does it's job tonight it'll be tough again for NYI, but from a player conditioning, motivation and management perspective it seems like a no brainer to me.

As for AK46, blech. He'll be back on the 2nd line by 10:00 of the 1st period.

Much to my chagrin.

It pains me to see a guy with his size, speed and moves play like little red riding hood.

With Metro out, does that mean that BGL is back? Or did I miss something?

I totally don't agree with the "if the goalie wins keep playing him philosophy". If the goalie plays real well and wins then yes, but if the goalie wins 7-6, then no.

The opposite is true...if the goalie loses 1-0 and plays great, why sit him?

Jaro deserves the start. He may not hove stole the show but he made key saves at key times and gave the boys a chance. This team plays totaly differend in front of Jaro. I don't know what it is but if i'm nervous when Price is in net imagine how the rest of the team must feel. Finally we have a coach. We're not getting out coached anymore and if the hard work continues we'll be a tough team to play against. I know it's early but we finally have something to be excited about.

WOW.

Hmm just wow.

Im happy that Halak is in, regardless of wehater you think he deserves it or not... He was part of our 3 game winning streak, keep him in anyway..

Honestly, if this was Carbo.. Price would have gotten the start vs NYR or tonight.

But the second line is ???  I'm very interested to see what happens with Latendresse and Dagostini on the wing.

My post from the weekend...it's prophetic.

If Martin goes with Price on Monday he really is a moron.  Do you think Torts will pull Lunquist for the next game....he let in 5 !!!  Halak got the win and from where I was sitting had little to no chance on the goals that went in.  No one can stop every odd man rush.

Chips had a fantastic game.  I hope he keeps it up.  AK46 should join his brother in Hamilton or start playing the 4th line on Monday.

Great game by the "little three".  Cammellarie was awsome.  Gionta's second effort is second only to Crosby

 Go Habs Go

WOW, JM is the boss!

Did AK even play on Saturday? He was invisible on the ice. If he doesn't wake up he will soon find a home in the press box.

Elmer Lach's #16 jersey should be raised to the rafters.

So after Halak starts 4 straight game, in which he was either never challenged or let in a goal every time the other team had a great chance (against the Rangers), is this the end of the Halak fanboys saying he's been treated unfairly? I ask because the last game I was very nervous with the way Jaro was playing. He was extremely jittery and looked uncomfortable under pressure. I have no doubt that he'll beat the Islanders, because it is the Islanders after all. But to say he's "earned" this start after he would have had a big L on any other night of the season when our offense wasn't clicking.... What a joke.

For all those who said Price was playing bad, he's let in more than 3 goals ONCE this season. In a game where our team played terrible and abandoned defense. Halak has already let in more than 3 twice in 4 starts. If the tables were turned here, we'd have 100 people calling for Carey's head and screaming about how unfairly Halak is being treated.

I'm assuming Halak gets the start against the Penguins because he'll win tonight. So then does Price start against the Hawks after sitting for almost 2 weeks? I see that as setting him up for failure. Does Halak start again against the Hawks no matter what? And then Price plays the Leafs in the back to back? Sitting Price for 7 games would be understandable if he was playing terrible, but he wasn't. This is such a bad decision by Martin.

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http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/