• MORNING AUDIO: Ryan White | Tom Pyatt | Jacques Martin | Martin on Halak | Steve Bégin | Claude Julien | Single file for cell download: White, Pyatt, Martin (2), Bégin, Julien
Jacques Martin isn't wasting any time putting newcomers Ryan White and Tom Pyatt to work. The forwards were called up from Hamilton Wednesday night and they will make their NHL debuts tonight against the Bruins. Pyatt will centre the fourth line with Andrei Kostitsyn on the left wing and White on the right wing. That means Kyle Chipchura and Gregory Stewart will be healthy scratches.
Martin also said Carey Price will get the start in goal. He said he has confidence in Price but he also said that Jaroslav Halak was "not 100 per cent" although he did not elaborate. The Team 990 was reporting groin.
"I have a lot of confidence in Carey, Halak isn't 100 per cent and Carey did good work in Chicago," Martin said, adding that he expects a good effort tonight.
Great game by Price but the d is hurting. Bergeron is not very impressive. Carle played decently. Hopefully, Price can continue this kind of play.
Great game for Price...... what's up with Laps and Lats? Guess they're only on the team for the French media. Burke in the stands...AK getting a bunch of ice time...hmmmmm.
And on the 8th day the Lord said.....let there be the Canadiens
"Carey did good work in Chicago". LOL funny in light of his performance since. Such a joker that Martin character!
I hope the coaches show CP the tape where he holds the stick while giving up those unlucky bounds underneath his pads.Those goals can be momentum changes.
PRICE IS FINISHED....too many accolades too fast and the big money, and now he has lost the edge that brought him here, he has become slow in action and complacent...meanwhile a fellow named HALAK is ready to boil over, but calmly accepts his assignment and has carried this team many times past and over other # 1 pretenders that we've had to suffer through.... Price has lost his vision, his glove hand and his mobility, his dropping to the knees is terrible and reeks of laziness, he will always let in those cheap deflator goals... he is so down on himself and sounds so deflated and slow in speaking, exactly like his play.. it doesn't come easy for a goalie, going against snipers that can whistle the puck by you at 100mph, so you have to be an out of the box thinker... desperate... DESPERATE (like Hasak was every night)
DESPERATE to make the save... That price is not-
what is he?...great at puck handling, great at skating, and great at positional play in letting the puck hit him, but going beyond the unbelievable?...I haven't seen it since Hamilton.
It is time for the HALAK era to begin, Price may be ready in another year or two.
1.The N.A.G. Veteran & Youth Movement will bring us glory...
YOU ARE FINISHED
LOL :)
They call me Shane
Yeah yeah. It was the accolades and too much money that did him in. Or, maybe, just maybe, he just can't compete at the professional level. Success in the minors doesn't necessarily mean success in the pros.
So according to rule number 32 of Habsinsideout.com, Price is therefor still a great prospect and will be excellent, because you've taken the opposite position. Do we need more of an NAG veteran youth movement in goal too?
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
goalies are in another category, and have nothing to do with the proven N.A.G. hypothesis....
again, let Pricey boil over until he is blue in the face, then unleash him, then we'll see what we have, this rotational system is garbage and only produces fear of failure.
The Rock Says: “Why are you contradicting yourself? You said that Price is finished, and then you say he maybe ready in a year or two. Well which is it Jabroni? Come on!”
"If ya smell what The Rock is cookin"
OMG! The frickin' ROCK posts here!
The Rock is a life time Habs fan! The Rocks Dad is from Nova Scotia Canada!
"If ya smell what The Rock is cookin"
Damn right Rock !!! Amherst to be exact !!! The top of Church Street !!
Do you smell what the rock is cooking !!!!!!!!!
OMG.....OMG.....OMG..... Im such a big fan.
Not much to say as with most of your posts. Lets give up on another person who has less than two full seasons in (take into account time sent back to the dogs, and injury time).
what are you waiting for some miracle turn around?... he has been faltering since day one that he came up to the Habs and it really showed last season and into the playoffs, why are we so adamant that he is the #1?, he may be that #1 one day, but not right now... he needs to really sit and watch/think... Let HALAK play 15-20 games win or lose, and let Pricey just boil over on the bench until he comes out like a tiger.
it is a strategy that works you know... but telling someone he is #1 without proof! and giving him awards is not the way to greatness.
as for the ROCK above... he is finished right now, and needs time to reevaluate his role and his work.
splitting games with Halak or playing the HOT HAND i think is the wrong approach, not to mention we already tried that with Carb... thats my opinion...screw that hot hand theory in the sense that one bad game and you go back to the other goalie, thats garbage and never allows a goalie to jump back in there and turn it around, instead they sit on the bench supposedly thinking about the mistake then whentheother goalie stinks they get another shot....thats garbage thinking...101.
give them longer spells on the ice... 20 games, then you know what you have.
right now i say its HALAK's turn to be the main guy...time will tell if i'm right, because for some unknown reason (gaineys rep and mouth) Pricey is the annointed one and thats the first problem
That's a selective memory, H-P.
Before his injury prior to the ASG last season, he was among the league's best in all statistical categories. When he came back, maybe too soon, he faltered from then on. Then, the first 2 games of this season (not all that long ago), he was the main reason the Habs won.
think you're totally wrong on this. He has played well, let in a few bad goals, but all in all he has not been to blame for the losses. He's been a victim of very bad defense.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Time to step up to the plate Carey. Leave it all on the floor. You gotta start getting some wins or the HIO mob will be all over you.
Justly so.
Wow -- has anyone else noticed that the Hurricanes have quietly lost 10 games in a row?
Yes, as has one of my fantasy teams that includes Staal, Ward, Corvo, and Whitney.
Ouch -- ballsy picks! Kopitar is lighting it up for me, but Filip Kuba may not have been such a great pick...
In one pool, I have Kopitar, Anderson, Goligoski, Doughty, Penner, Prospal, and Neal
So my luck pretty much balanced out.
Somehow, I picked Neal up off waivers in all three pools I'm in. He's now one of my best players in all of them, what a guy!
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
Chips played a couple of decent games there in a row and otherwise has been invisible as far as positives go......I think that is the problem with Chips...maybe those games were his good games.....I don't know how valuable he has been on the pk as our pk is near the bottom of the league, his plus minus is horrid (I don't like that stat but his is so far worse than many guys it may just have some meaning), faceoffs are another stat that I take witha grain of salt...how do you even tell who won them sometimes? the ones that matter are the ones on the pk or on the pp but an overall percentage doesn't really tellt he whole story for me unless there is a brindamour or Yanic Perrault like difference to me. If we have one faceoff for all the marbles it sure wouldn;t be Chips taking it. I think there are several guys who are getting semi free passes this year....at the top of that list are Chips, Laps, to some extent Lats. At least it can be argued that Laps and Lats kill time inthe other end cycling,etc...Chips? I have been impressed with his willingness to muck it up this year but aside from that he had two really good games (where he still didn't manage a point). He doesnlt have a single point in 13 games is minus 8 and has only managed 8 shots on net. At least Andrei has generated 28 shots, is only minus 3...not flattering at all but his shooting erectage isn;t indicative of his talent and that number eventually rounds out......if he gets 2 shots a game he'll score 25 goals or so about.
Our team thus far is one of the few teamsthat plus/ minus does make a little sense as we are about a .500 team so guys theortically aren't getting punished badly or rewarded falsely for being on a good/bad team. There are still weak goals, linemates, matchups,etc.....but at least I can somewhat relate to the stat with respect to our team right now. If you look at http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/stats.htm there are few guys whose plus minus don't really correlate with our perception. I don't think Mara has been as poor as minus 6, but for the most part the stat is a pretty good refelction of our current status. Top line...all plusses, Pleks a big plus, spacek, hammer and gorges...all plusses.......Metro even and everyone else minus to varying extents.
Well, I don't think Bob can send AK47 to Hamilton without passing waivers, so it looks like he decided to bring Hamilton to AK47. If he leaves Boston by bus after the game, then he's really getting a reminder of AHL life.
You are talking about the real AK47 rifle, AK46 or SK74?
#47 on this team is MAB. AK is 46. SK is 74.
Come on, it ain't rocket science! LOL
----- "Come on, let's keep a little optimism here." -- Han Solo, Return of the Jedi
its AK46
LOL well, I called him AK48 last week, so I am getting closer. Kinda like Kostitsyn is getting closer to a goal?
Once more,
I don't care WHO's in nets. As long as we win. And as was proven the other night, we could have Patrick Roy in nets and it won't matter a damn if our defence doesn't clear the slot!
--- Anything less than 82 wins is an outright failure ---
clear the slot?... what about a goalie that drops to his knees lazily thereby putting himself in an IMMOBILE position... sure its an impossible save and MARA followed his man into the corner where MAB already was, but our "goalie" could only turn his head in disgust...but it should be at himself.
Price must not play again for a long time...
Price is fine, H-P. The defense has hung him out to dry way too much. Not saying he's been perfect, but he does need to play to improve. He's made some fantastic saves and let in a couple stinkers but I'd say almost 90% of the goals against him have been due to defensive breakdowns. What I would like to see is a bit more passion...get MAD when one gets by you!
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
yes passion, thats exactly in a nutshell what I'm saying (and posted above).... but lets see that passion before the puck goes by...but i agree, where is the passion.
Not every good player plays with visible passion or anger when things don't go well. The comments here about price not caring are ridiculous. Dryden didn't externally display a lot of passion. Neither did Lemieux. A lot of people used to say that Beliveau floated around because he didn't seem to display a lot of passion. When things are going bad maybe Price's concentration is better if he internalizes his disgust instead of passionately displaying it.
Maybe just a personal preference, but when it comes to goalies there is also a very long list of very good ones that show a lot of passion. I like to see someone who's upset when he lets one in as opposed to looking dejected, dissapointed or sad.
Bottom line though, is he needs to keep the puck out, and he needs help from his friends to do that.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
All-time plus-minus records, from Wikipedia. Wow.
Top 3: Season high
Top 5: Career high
Top 3: Season low
Jack Lynch-yikes. Neat story. My parents(from Windsor) were at a Red Wings/Habs game in Detroit
during the 73/74 season. Jack Lynch and Jim Rutherford were just traded from Pittsburgh(for Ron Stackhouse and Nick libett I think). After the game my parents headed to a popular sports bar called Lindell AC in Detroit. Sure enough all the Habs poured in led by Peter Mahovlich. My parents drank with the Habs until closing time. Lynch and Rutherford were also in the bar. My aunt had an apartment vacant above her home in Windsor. Lynch came over for supper the next night after viewing the apartment and lived above my aunts house until he was traded to Washington. Bernard Road in Windsor-one street over from Francois Street where Don Cherry lived while playing for the Windsor Bulldogs in the 60's. I was 13 at the time.
You know that you were part of a bad team when the top 3 season leaders in worst-ever +/- were on your roster!
_____________________________________
I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
Nicklas Lidstrom isn't far from that top 5 list.
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
According to Wiki, Lidstrom is a +455.
"All you need in hockey is good character, luck and skills" - Ovie
He just got his 1000th point, never had a minus season, and is +416. Geeez, what a player!
_______________________________
Not sure which Gainey bandwagon I'm on right now.
Lidstrom is undeniably fantastic, but he also never played for the 74-75 Caps. : )
Their team GAA that year was 5.54... and their backup goalie, who saw action in 34 games and recorded 0 wins, led the team in GAA at 5.36. They were scored upon an astounding 446 times that season, while only scoring 181. No player on the roster ended the season with a plus rating.
They won 8 games all year. To contrast, a couple of seasons later the Habs would only lose 8.
It took them until their 19th game to get their 2nd win. How long will it take the Leafs? :)
_____________________________________
I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
That is impossibly bad. Even an AHL team would fair better in the NHL today.
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
double
With a little luck and a few more "headers" Komi might make that list at the end of the season ;)
Well, he's a -10 after 13 games, so if he keeps up the pace, he'll end the season at a -63 -- close, but no cigar. :)
As it stands, Komi is tied for 686th place in the plus/minus department, in a 688-player league -- just brutal. Even I'm starting to feel bad for the guy...
If you feel bad for The Traitor. You should leave the site now...Oh wait, this isn't FHF...my bad!
THE INJUSTICE!!!!!!! Komi is a -10, but we bench Chipper whose is only -8....the injustice, I tell you!!!!
PJ Stock blabs that Halak has a minor groin injury.
"All you need in hockey is good character, luck and skills" - Ovie
hmmm......wonders never cease......while I consider Stewart and White a wash (and likely a message to Stewy that he should know his role and shut someone elses mouth..that's for The Rock) and Pyatt a possible upgrade on Chips I am still curious as to why AK is playing on the fourth again......especially given who the guys on the fourth are......I thought AK played himself out of that hole the last couple of games but apparently we have officially designated our scapegoats for this season ...anyone named Kostitsyn. What in the world has Lapierre done that is any better than Andrei K? I guess he has mastered that dump in towards the goalie? Gonna be different tonight.......I am really hoping our big line can get something going but being in Boston the Bruins will ensure a Chara matchup at every turn....which would have made me believe we would attempt to give Pleks some tools to go against the Bruins second pairing but I guess not. If Pleks can score a point per game with Lapierre and Lats then I think he deserves a raise and extension immediately......he is a one man show right now. Why? I wish I knew.
White has much more potential than Stewart. White is two years younger and he is much more developed than Stewart was two years ago. White has much more potential. He is currently the Bulldog's 4th leading scorer. A position that Stewart has never had.
AK46 does not go to the net. He is forever on the perimeter, hoping his shot won't be easily blocked or in the letter of the goalie. He needs to see the front of the net up close and personal, not looking on from the corner all by himself.
_________________________________________________________________________
Beliveau- his legend is 600' tall and growing...
Last game onthe one time he got pp time (amybemore but I only remember once)...he stood in front of the net...he was all alone (literally alone....no Thrasher aside from Pavelec within 20 feet) and we didnlt get him the puck. HE has been going to the net lately more...you are right in general but taht can be said of nearly our whole team. There also isn;t much point going to the net when you are the only guy on a line who can get the puck to the net (on the fourth line with Chips and his 8 shots in 13 games). I think when he played with Kovy and Pleks he did go to the net...a lot....but thena gain the puck got to the net for him to pick up and the line coul dpass and generate. Andrei is what he is....we eitehr play to his strengths and utilize him or risk ruining him or trade him. He is a shooter, he has some size and will go to the net when itmakes sense to IMO, he does float at times as all sniper type palyers do but the only problem I have seen at times is a non compete mode...that is what is likely driving the coaches batty and rightfully so...but he has since corrected the non compete thing so let him do his thing and the goals will come IMO.
If AK46 scored 50-60 goals a year, all of us wou;dn't care if he floated the rest of the time....someone please tell him this!
Problem with your logic is that floaters don't score 50-60 goals a year.
During last game, RDS (J. Demer) was very impressed with our 2nd line. This is again typical french thing. They can only see the positive from the french players. I trust Martin. AK is just rediscovering his game. Martin wants to give him time and doesn't want to put too much pressure on him now. But I am sure that he'll get more ice time including PP time.
As for SK, he just recovered from a sickness and shoulder injury. He still has to work on his conditioning.
Any line with Pleks on it deserves some praise and plays well......but he is tied for the team lead in scoring, plus minus, has been working his tail off....he has managed all of those points and that great hockey with rotating wingers....you have to go all the way to 10th on the team in scoring to find anyone who has spent any significant time on his wing. Pleks has been incredible but we NEED someone to help this guy out.....I know it would never happen but I wonder how Pleks would be doing if it were he that were paired with Gionta and Cammallerri.....food for thought.
I agree that AK finally played with some edge and passion last game. I was hoping to see him and Patches be given a chance on Pleks wing.
I think Patches has also earned a promotion the last couple.....not ordinarily but given taht the spots are wide open on our team the logical choices would have been Andrei and PAcioretty or Andrei and LAts to me. Lapierre plays better as a center IMO and has always had chemistry with Lats but with Pleks in the middle it is he who is carrying the play and it pretty well nullifies the chemistry between Lats and Laps as they are 80 feet apart. What Pleks really needs is another give and go type guy to play with and have Andrei be the triggerman...too bad Sergei is in exile.
Full agreement with you on all points. Its about time we give AK another shot. No better opponent than against the Bruins given their struggles thus far. Put him up on line 1 or 2 and give Pleki some support as well. It is amazing that he is able to produce with the stone handed wingers he usually plays with. Pleks is getting the same treatment as Saku in his prime.
This is a must-win for the Habs.The Bruins are a weak team right now...Kessel's gone; no savard, no kreicji, no lucic. If they can't grab these 2 points tonight, after the effort they showed against Atlanta, then I think this isn't a playoff team.
Price shouldn't have to be heroic tonight. Merely solid should be enough for a win.
As usual, havin' a hard time accepting what Eklund has to offer...the Kostitsyns for Ray Whitney. Who in their rightful mind would trade two "talented" and not yet in their prime belarussians for a 37-year old smurf who is 5'10. I say NO DEAL!
"All you need in hockey is good character, luck and skills" - Ovie
completely ridiculous. If we trade them it either needs to be for picks or a young big winger.
he'd be the tallest on our first line if he played on it.
Go Habs Go!
Gomez is 11cm taller!
"All you need in hockey is good character, luck and skills" - Ovie
wouldn't that make Gomez like 6'2"
Great, I was hoping Pyatt would get a look while White's style of play is well suited to the Bruins. If Pyatt wasn't concussed prior to the start of the reg. season, he may very well have made the team.
Anyone think there's a chance Chips will be sent to the Oil along with SK74 for some help on D? If I'm not mistaken, the Oilers have always coveted Chipchura and SK74 could be reunited with Gagner. Depending on what came back in the deal, this trade could be good for both teams. Hate to trade away a leader like Chips. Seems to be able to take his game to a new level when the chips are on the line.
Hopefully Grebeshkov coming back the other way if that deal happened.
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
Depends which D we would get, but that seems plausible. Though if we do get a D and don't send one over, we'll very soon have waaaaay to many D.
Oh lord. What happened to Halak? Hopefully just a mild illness and not an injury.
PJ stock is saying slight groin injury-he COULD play, but they want to rest it
If that's true I hope he doesn't play. We can't afford to lose anyone else. If Price slips up this game it might make sense to let Sanford play a few games.
Eklund is floating out a kostisyns sisters for whitney rumour...
Having at least one Hab's related rumour a week is critical to HockeyBuzz's and Eklund's success. That trade would be a steal for the Hurricanes, although I wouldn't mind the team picking up Whitney for draft choices prior to the trade deadline. The guy's a winner, but he is 37 yrs. old and UFA next year. Would have to be a desperation move to get done and I don't see the Habs as being that desperate to move the Bros. K at this point. In fact, the opposite is probably true of the Canes. Perhaps there's another player (likely a D-man) involved if there's any semblance of truth to Eklund's ramblings.
Forgot to add that with young players like Patrick Sharp probably becoming available in the near future, why Whitney? I realize that AK46 couldn't be packaged in that deal, but there's lots of ways the Habs could pull it off.
Eklund must be getting low on Habs posters. I am pretty sure that since this whole Kost bros trading thing has been started, Bob has had beter offes than this for the boys. If Whitney is the best he got I rather keep them and wait or hope they get it together and play like true professionals.
i always love the 'i can't say who but habs will love it' rumors. price for luongo, markov for vinny, etc. What's next, Plucky for Iginla? Engels gets more comments than any other blogger, maybe eklund is just jealous.
In fairness, there's just pages of blather in Engels' threads, which are usually pretty hilarious though rarely safe-for-work.
----- "Come on, let's keep a little optimism here." -- Han Solo, Return of the Jedi
Anybody else think that Patches should get a shot along Pleks. He's been playing well lately and should bring more offense than Lats or Laps.
That wouldn't be a bad idea, now if we could only put a sniper on the other side. We then at least have the makings of a decent second line, hopefully capable of scoring.
The Rock says: "Can you hear it? Tick tock- tick tock- tick tock. Only a matter of time til the Habs start clickin!
"If ya smell what The Rock is cookin"
You sure the sound you're hearing isn't an improvised explosive device?
You made The Rock spit out his protein shake yeats!
"If ya smell what The Rock is cookin"
Can't wait for tonight's game.
Curious to see how Pyatt will play... I thought he had a strong camp.
- Yves -
Blog - http://yvesonhabs.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/yves_on_habs
Tony has a massive one...
Knowing is Half the Battle...
Do you guys know if Stewart can be sent down to AHL?
He needs to play, right? Why sitting him in the press-box?