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About Dave Stubbs
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Dave Stubbs
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About
Dave Stubbs has been a sportswriter since 1976, which was roughly a decade after he wore the first of many holes through the knees of his jeans playing nets in road hockey (using a modified butterfly popularized by Hall of Famer Glenn Hall). He still has the welts to show on his shins from that rotten, frozen orange ball.
Stubbs kept thick hockey scrapbooks filled with game summaries and Gazette and Montreal Star stories, collected dozens of Bee Hive Corn Syrup photos and put a fortune of hockey cards through the spokes of his bikes. First book ever owned: Scrubs On Skates, the classic by Scott Young (Neil's dad).
Stubbs's fantasy is to travel back in time to the 1950s and watch the great Canadiens dynasty that won five consecutive Stanley Cups. Or a decade earlier, to watch Elmer Lach centre Rocket Richard and Toe Blake on the fearsome Punch Line. Or at least to get Rogie Vachon into the Hockey Hall of Fame – where he belongs.
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wow I am amazed, never expected so much detail...but he was right on, the goaltending issue is just the cause of many other problems the habs have right now.
go habs go!
The simple truth is that the whole goaltending controversy is a red herring. Goaltending, lack of scoring, lack of size, mediocre defense and no prospects, all true.
The team is NOT very good. Even in the best case scenario with a healthy Markov, you can't gut a team then put it back together with patch work free agents, and expect a top tier team to appear. It was a desperation move by a GM with no fresh ideas and the knowledge his future was in limbo. Bob could have done the correct and gutsy move. Potenially sacrifice his job and iced a team of young players and call ups. It would have given our young players valuable experience and allowed the franchise to stock up on sorely needed draft choices. The fact that Bob allowed TEN free agents to walk for nothing set us back terribly, but that is history now. THIS IS NOT TANKING! This is a prudent strategy that has proven to lead to potential Cup winners.
What is the alternative? Another decade of just making the playoffs, only to be quickly eliminated and a lousy draft pick to follow. Will I witness a Stanley Cup banner in my lifetime? Will the Canadiens become a mirror of the laughable Leafs? Will 1993 be our new battle cry?
Ever since Gaineys been GM, Montreal has been lacking in scoring while at even strength. I know big centremen are hard to come by by trade but Bob has to make this a priority. Next draft, only draft mostly centremen over 6feet and hope one of them becomes a first liner.
Much as I would like to disagree with you, I really can't. Before free agency last summer, I was hoping that if Gainey were not going to do anything major, neither would he sign a bunch of aging veterans; instead, the year would be one for our prospects to get lots of ice-time, for Carey Price to gain experience and start to mature, and for us to land a good draft pick. When Gainey blew the team up, I hoped the one he cobbled together would be good. And there are good things about it, but even if Markov were healthy, we wouldn't be a contender. On the either hand, neither would we tank, which means, as you say, a middle-of-the-pack draft pick, likely another American college player who might never make it to the NHL or else an eventual 3rd or 4th-liner. We won't get a real building block, as they call it, and, since our system is more or less bereft of those, excluding P.K. Subban, Price if he develops, and maybe some of our recent picks, we'll be condemned to remain mediocre.
But I still have to support our team, and I would like to see this year's team winning a lot more. The problem is that it's hard to imagine how, given that in two thirds of our games we've scored two goals or less, our defense is makeshift and neither of our goaltenders is outstanding night after night. Our chances of beating any of the League's offensively powerful teams - Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh among others - are almost non-existent. And Saturday's game showed that we can barely compete with teams whose records are similar to ours. Since Gainey took the radical step of blowing up the team and signing a bunch of free agents, I think he's bound to finish the job and do what it takes to make us competitive. If he's not willing to recall Sergei Kostitsyn and see what the brothers can do playing together, then he has to make a trade and get us some help scoring. At present, the only way we can win is in overtime or if our goaltender steals the game. We have to have more offense. The alternative would be to tank deliberately and secure a high draft pick, but I can't see the organization doing that.
Welcome aboard the reality train!!!
So.... how can we stop other teams from reading those "weak areas"???
I think the issue is how to get the team to cover the slot. Two years ago Boston saw that the Habs players weren't choking that area and almost took the series from the Habs, while Philly laughed and rolled right over them. Last year Boston didn't even bother to laugh.
The new guys know what they need to do. It just has to rub off on some of the fan favorites who don't like to work there.
The other teams know this stuff all too well. The solution? Both Price and Halak need to work hard on their upper glove-hand side.
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This concludes our broadcast. Goodnight.
I'd bet that if you were to compile the same statistics for every NHL goalie, you'd determine that they all need to work hard on their upper glove-hand side.
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I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
so true..............................
Absolutely great work Chris and Robert L. I really enjoyed reading it.
My site hosts it, Chris did all the work. He's enjoying everyone's kind words I am told.
Thanks everyone for sharing their thoughts. He'll be continuing to chart the progress and Dave has told me that HIO will pimp it next month as well.
I still can't believe that the fact Halak wins mostly at home, and struggles in his road games does not get much more debate. Stats I posted yesterday.
Carey Price: Career-104 Games Played 50 Wins 35 Losses 13 OT/SO Losses with 6 No Decisions 2.77 GAA
Breakdown- Home/Away Home: 23 Wins 14 Losses 10 OT/SO Losses 2.55 GAA
Away: 27 Wins 21 Losses 3 OT/SO Losses 2.97 GAA
Pretty consistant numbers where ever he starts, with only slightly higher road GAA.
Jaroslav Halak: Career 64 Games Played 35 Wins 23 Losses 2 OT/SO Losses with 4 No Decisions 2.81 GAA
Breakdown- Home/Away Home: 24 Wins 6 Losses 1 OT/SO Loss 2.44 GAA
Away: 11 Wins 17 Losses 1 OT/SO Loss 3.35 GAA
Big differnece in his home and away play, with almost a goal against more on the road.
To me Price is the more consistant goalie overall, hence why Bob Gainey and Co. keep going back to him.
The referenced article is a great piece of hockey writing - researched and fresh. It does kind of reinforce the idea that the Habs have two solid goaltenders with considerable upside. I found the shots from distance enlightening. I wish I knew how it compared to what the opposing goalie is facing from our shooters.
BRIAN GIONTA FOR CAPTAIN PETITION!!!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GIONTA4CAP/index.html
it's a very friendly request.
neat.
______________________________________________________ Gionta for Captain.
Didn't we have an undersized second-liner masquerading as a first-liner as our captain for a decade or so?
I can only assume you're joking about having a problem with Gionta as Captain. He seems more outspoken that Saku and he gives it all he's got every shift.
I can't sign any petition because I think there are a few good candidates:
Gomez, Cammalleri, Gionta, Markov, Hamrlik...hell, even Metropolit....and I probably missed someone.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Although I think Cammalleri would make an interesting captain. Metro is a good choice as well.
______________________________________________________ Gionta for Captain.
Gionta or Metropolit for me.
Wow! What an absolutely comphrensive look at our two netminders. Chris did a stunningly amazing job putting that piece together. Tell me he works for the franchise, if not sign him up! It really showcases both players strengths and weaknesses in a way I personally have never seen addressed before. Hopefully this will put some of the controversy to rest.
Thanks Chris! Fantastic job, we all appreciate your level of commitment to our boys in bleu, blanc et rouge!
Who's in the net tomorrow?
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We have a new team!
Mike Komisarek: (-2)-0-(-2)
Gainey Haters bandwagon ---> This way
i know this is crazy but i would be in supprt of an overall TANK if the Molson's actually made that statment. Tank the next several years get a couple of very high draft picks and go from there......any thoughts despite the usual like it would not work in montreal.
No.
Non.
Nyet.
NEJ!
Няма
莫
كلا!
Uh-uh.
No way.
Really MR...not your usual self there. Never give up. Never.
brain cramp..guys ...i take that back.its monday had no coffee to start my morning.
Thank God man! I was ready to get in the car, drive down there and have it out with you. Never...ever....EVER...start your day without a strong cup o' joe!!!!!!!!!!
Lose on purpose? That goes against everything these palyers have trained for. Its unthnkable for ANY team to do and if you could prove a team tanked on purpose they should lose their next 3 first round picks (or default them to #30).
______________________________________________________ Gionta for Captain.
What the eff kind of loser loses on purpose? What kind of nonsense is that?
What the heck is the point of sports if it becomes more about strategic losing than actual winning?
Even the Leafs don't do that- the one thing I can find to recommend Burke is that he tried to get the #1 Tavares pick by wheeling and dealing, not tanking.
That's not how the Habs do things. It may have worked for the Pens, but it's not how we do things. I can't speak for the rest of the fans here, but if I ever got ONE WHIFF of the team intentionally tanking, I would be done as a Habs fan.
Well said and I concur. If the CH tanks games they better give the fans a full refund of their ticket price. We expect professional athletes to perform at their highest level. Losing on purpose is fraud and should be made a criminal offense. Thanks but no tanks...
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This concludes our broadcast. Goodnight.
No thanks. I think Bugs wrote it best:
Listen: I know we're all supposed to hold the Pens in awe as a testament to how an NHL club should be built into a champion team, but as I was catching snippets of the game, I didn't feel awe; I just felt anger. Anger and contempt.
Because it occurred to me yet again (and I noticed I'm not alone) that it is only due to Pittsburgher's complete and utter INEPTNESS as a hockey club that made it possible for them to draft titans in CONSECUTIVE years. If that wasn't enough, the dang Crosby LOTTERY jackpot win SURELY was not strategized into their total failure plan. So "building a club"? Don't make me laugh.
Watching these goofballs givin each other high fives after their goals with that stupid smug look on their green faces really stuck in my craw. All I could think was "You disgusting half-men, you should be ashamed of yourselves. You losers, you make me sick. You're built on incompetence and failure; never forget that. I do not respect you. I abhore your ideals. I spit on everything you represent. I flick my fingers underneath my chin in your general direction, you underachieving maggots. The hockey gods will not stand for this so tread lightly. Scumbags."
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Wouldn't it be much better to appreciate how Detroit kept such a strong team for years, always bringing in new and talented players without the benefit of the draw? Or how San Jose always managed to bring up decent talent despite finishing in the upper part of the conference season after season?
Everyone uses detroit as an example but really they are an anomaly. San Jose was bad for a really long time before landing thornton in a terrible trade by boston. New jersey might be another example of a team doing well for a long time without high draft picks. so other than that all the best teams in the league tanked a season or two to get high picks in the past few years. These teams include chicago, washington, pittsburgh, and philadelphia (they did draft well in 2003 and made some good ufa signings). And the next tier of good teams that are a few years away are colorado, st louis and los angeles. Teams that stay in no mans land (struggling to make the playoffs year after year), like the habs, rangers, predators, wild, canucks, sabres and leafs will continue to struggle to build a champion.
Amazing analysis. Thanks!
I find many on this site find it all too convenient to throw folks like Price under the proverbial bus instead of looking at the root cause of the Habs problems. Our beloved Habs on the best of days are a mediocre hockey team. They do not have the depth on defense, and really lack any type of secondary scoring. if price played behind the Flames D do you think he would have a 2-5 record. If the team could score more than one goal, would he lose as many games. When #79 went down it caused a chain effect. Players that are 18-20 minutes a gamer's are playing too much, and when O'Byrne went down they lost more minutes. As for the forwards, if the # one line is easy to key on as #84,#40,#46,#.... are not scoring at all , you can not expect either goalie to hold them in the game.
Blame Price as you may, but when he leaves don't bitch when he succeeds elsewhere.
Give the man who put these stats together the Nobel prize... Pure genius!
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This concludes our broadcast. Goodnight.
softly, as if I played piano in the dark, found a way to channel my anger not to embark
the world's a stage and every body gots to play their part
God works in mysterious ways so when he starts the job of speaking to us,
we be so sincere with this ear,
no partying on St. Catherines, so I can get the signal clear as day
What really grinds my gears is that the same people who say trade Price now are the same people who will be asking for Gainey's head on a platter when he succeeds with a different team 2 or 3 years down the road.
Price recently won his 50th game in 102 games, the same amount it took St. Patrick, (not to say he will ever be another Roy) and let me tell you folks Mr. Roy had a little bit better defence in front of him with the likes of Larry Robinson and a young Chris Chelios, yet Habs GM Serge Savard went out and traded Steve Penny for Bryan Hayward to add some veteran experience in goal and take some pressure off Roy. Believe it or not, even St. Patrick had some growing pains after his miraculous cup run in 86 where he won the Conn Symthe. Roy and Hayward played almost 50/50 for the next 3 years, and some people would say Hayward outplayed Roy at times, but St. Pat was able to improve every year and in 89 had a breakout year at the age of 24 only losing 5 games all year, eventually losing in the finals. Hayward became expendable and Roy became a legend with the Habs until he had 1 bad game and fans booed him out of the city, only 2 years removed from almost single handedly bringing cup # 24 to MTL. We all know how that came back to haunt us.
Now I know some of you will say Price will never meet the expectations that are placed on him, but if we bail on him now we may lose out on a future franchise goaltender and receive only mediocre talent in return. Do you think that Mike Milbury thought Roberto Louongo would end being one of the best goaltenders in the world when he traded him along with Olli Jokinen for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha? The Islanders are still feeling the effects of that trade and Milbury is still trying to wipe the egg from his face.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I think it would be easier to live with a so-so Carey Price, than to be known as the latest organization to "pull a milbury".
The last time the leafs won the cup it was still just a bowl!!
I posted this earlier, but it is interesting when you look at it. And really, Montréal is one team that should not have to worry about the net, it is covered by two great budding NHL GOALTENDERS...just the team sucks at managing them both. Toughest market to play? ABSOLUTELY!!!
If you look at Halak's stats, if he continues to play like his career has shown, when he hits the 104 GP mark, he will be above the 50 Games Won...40 more games and if Halak wins 55% of his starts (career avg), then he should win 22 of his next 40 starts, bringing his total to 57 wins in the same amount of GP as Price.
Halak only has to win 51% of his next 29 games to tie Brodeur I think in getting to the 50 Games Won mark...that is pretty damn good
GP = 64
W = 35
L = 23
OT = 2
SO = 4 (same as Price)
Now I am certainly not on the Trade Price Train...I was hoping Martin would start with a tandem. and identify the #1 sometime in Dec. I think MTL is in deep dodo for how these kids are being managed,,,
I believe your misinterpreting the point. I wasn't lobbying Price over Halak, (Actually, I didn't even mention Halak's name) just that we shouldn't make any rash decisions that could come back to hurt us (again). Notice how I mentioned Roy and Hayward played 50/50. I think this would be best for the development of both young goaltenders until 1 emerges as a legitimate star a few years down the road, making the other expendable, hopefully for a good return on the trade market.
I'm a fan of Halak as well as Price and would like to see both succeed and win games. To tear one down to build up the other is only counter-productive the team.
The last time the leafs won the cup it was still just a bowl!!
Not to mention Alexei Yashin to boot!!!! He is still on the Islanders payroll.
That was wonderful! What blows my mind about the whole thing is everyone says High Glove Side on Carey, but you don't hear that against Halak and yet the numbers show that maybe Halak has the bigger problem with HGS. I love them both, but maybe we should ease up on Carey or buckle down on Jaro, to make things fair.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "This kid is going to win a Stanley Cup one day and hopefully I'll be with him when that happens" - Saku Koivu
Excellent read. Good stuff.
Personally I think that Price really overplays the shooter in a lot of situations. This may work well on a team with a strong defense, but what happens with us is that there is always an opposing forward open for a pass who can put it into the open net. This could also explain his extremely poor penalty killing stats. If you overplay the shooter in a 4 on 5 situation, it's not hard for the opposition to make that one good pass for a goal if your goalie is out of position.
Wouldn't the "real statistical deal" go back to the 42 games that the agent discussed? Not just October?
No... because it looks better if you only take this season.
But it is a disturbing stat non the less.
--------
We have a new team!
Mike Komisarek: (-2)-0-(-2)
Gainey Haters bandwagon ---> This way
No, because last years' games don't count in this years' standings.
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I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
Price or Halak....hmmmm, let's see. With the exception of the Islanders game, it looks to me that with the missing guys on D, both goalies have had to play exceptionally well to win - as attested by our overtime/shoutout record. Anything less than stellar has been a loss. One could conclude that they are pretty even, win or loss. If your TEAM is better than we are, then you can overcome the average (gusting to good) goaltending.
Sweet Jesus. I thought I was a stats geek. I have so much to learn.
Awesome post, thanks for linking.
Give him another six months, and he'll have the statistical value of the universe defined as x=?
Byt the way, your avatar STILL crack me up!
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I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
Yours is pretty cool. Hypnotic.
You think mine is funny, you should see JasonM's. It expands on the theme- it's called THIS IS OUR SYSTEM. I won't ruin the surprise, but it's unfortunately true, and very funny.
I saw that one last night and almost fell out of my chair laughing hysterically.
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http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
Yeah, you can just picture the three forwards standing at the blueline, tapping their sticks on the ice while the lumbering D turn it over along the boards. It's a great image, even if it makes me wince.
Am I really on the market? Hooray!! they have apples and pies at the market!!
My friend Mikey plays where there is oil and horses. He is happy because he is obscure there (that is a BIG word)
My other friend Mikey plays where there are lots of college girls and nobody uses the letters O and R
I like my home because everyone loves me. But the man with the beak keeps yelling. I ask him why do i have to let them hit me with sticks? i don't want to get in the way. That black cookie HURTS!!!
Lapierre + Latendresse = LaLa
Hmm. Mikey 1 is Ribeiro?
Mikey 2 might be Komisarek, although that description fits Boston or Carolina better.
Im confused, although the getting hit with sticks parts made me laugh.
Go Habs Go!
alot of posters have been saying that the team plays diffrently with Price in nets vs Halak, yes that seems to be true, but what if you look at it from Price's prespective when he plays the team does not score enough so he has to come up big to win and more often then not by trying to do too much he lets in that weak goal of gets an unlucky bounce or gets gets beat by a good goal then the team is playing down a goal or 2 and they cannot win. it must be hard as a goalie knowing that your team usally only puts up 1 o r2 goals when you play adding that pressure to everthing else.
Great analysis Chris,
I wish everyone would stop looking for scapegoats. The whole team is not functioning very well right now. Half the D is injured and the remaining crew are not playing very well, with the exception of Hamrlik, mainly due to having more responsibility than each individual can handle. Neither of the goaltenders are playing at the top of their game. The forwards are simply not producing to their potential, with the exception of Plekanec and Gionta, nor are they playing well defensively.
Having said that, the team is one game below .500. By pre-season predictions this is pretty much where many of us expected them to be, even when we thought Markov would be around.
If the Habs can get 18-22 points in their first 20 games, 22-26 in the next 20, 22-26 in the third quarter, and something like 24-28 in the last quarter, with Markov, the team should make the playoffs. If we take the average of those points totals per quarter, we end up with 94 points, and two games left to play. If we win one of those last two games we finish with 96 points. That should do it. Then, in the playoffs, with some momentum and luck, we might be able to win a round, maybe two, while playing COMPETITIVELY. This will serve as excellent experience for the young base of this team.
I know this sort of patient approach has been mocked by many posters, but that's what I set out expecting this year and so far it's not off by much. Sure it's frustrating, and not exactly inspiring, watching this unfold, but it's realistic under the circumstances.
I see them getting a little worse, not better. They have had a large portion of their games against the worst teams in the conference and have won 7 out of 7 going to extra time. They are still below .500. a stretch against better teams will bury them, unless things take a dramatic and unexpected turn.
Two pennies at a time will get us there my friend!!
I'd be careful being so level-headed around here. Someone might try to set their beer on it.
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I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
What I found astounding was the difference in even-strength save percentages. The overall save percentage is balanced out by Price's lower percentage short-handed, but it would have been interesting to see the difference in efficiencies of the power plays that each goalie has faced.
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I have H1N2. Always the bridesmaid...
even a bad team like the leafs have 6 players on their nhl roster who have scored 20 or more goals in the nhl .all together 13 times...they also have players on the roster or in the minors that have scored over 20 goals in pro hockey(non nhl)..i would venture most teams have this type of stats..well most...we have no players who even showed a little scoring ability in non nhl pro hockey...we have forward after forward who had minimal scoring in junior and non in the ahl yet people are posting it takes time to gel and this players will get better...yes better on defense ,forecheck etc but no way they will score...why will they score in the nhl when they have demonstarted minimal scoring ability in the minors..it just does not happen at the nhl level...cammalerri scored 46 goals in the ahl and almost every goal scorer in the nhl had big pre nhl seasons....if you check out our young players stats in junior and in ahl it is very weak on the goal scoring front.
The reason why our forwards have never scored 20 or more goals in AHL is that they all get rushed to play in the NHL before they're ready.
LOL I just noticed the Stubbs profile on the right...ABOUT DAVE STUBBS. Full name Dave Stubbs.
"When I was a baby I wish my first word had been "QUOTE", then right before I die I could say "UNQUOTE" - Stephen Wright
dont forget our defence is mostly injured ,playing hurt like spachek,or green with new comers . if we had markov healthy, gill healthy,spachek not hurt,kept schneider and had more shots blocked,and had a defence first system, maybe we'd be winning more. any goalie whoever it maybe is only as good as the defence in front of him. right now we suck defensively. we have no secondary scoring, only cammy and gionta doing it regularly. lats will never ever develope into what he could have been if not rushed. trade him for someone who doesnt have cement skates. stick with the hott goalie, win and ur in, lose ur out.
Last year we had Team Kovalev versus Team Koivu and this year it's Team Halak versus Team Price. Anybody still on Team Gainey?
Yes, only one team wins the cup and our best chance to do so is probably with BG. Do you have a better alternative? Even Ken Holland doesn't win every year, in fact it look like his jig may be up.
I still think an IGNORE function would make this site better for the the more interesting posters/readers as we could eliminate alot of the trolling and BS that buries the really good/interesting posters. I could do without the 2 line spew from nunacanadien followed by 20 replies calling him a troll which buries the really interesting and informative post from someone like 24cups. Its becoming a lot like panning for gold in a muddy(or is it mud??) stream.
"When I was a baby I wish my first word had been "QUOTE", then right before I die I could say "UNQUOTE" - Stephen Wright
You're just jealous because nuna gets more replies for his outrageous comments than you do. ;-)
Well I must admit I do get a little lonely. Maybe I should go back to pretending I'm a girl!
"When I was a baby I wish my first word had been "QUOTE", then right before I die I could say "UNQUOTE" - Stephen Wright
LOL
Can we stop twisting the stats around? I think we have 2 good goalies, but one is winning and the other is not.
Let's play the winning one please!
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We have a new team!
Mike Komisarek: (-2)-0-(-2)
Gainey Haters bandwagon ---> This way
The problem with that philosophy is that "wins" is the most useless stats for evaluating goaltenders. It measures team performance. Halak having more wins has only marginally to do with Halak's performance...
I like Halak, but the statistical package indicates that Price looks very much like the superior goalie, if only the team in front of him could score some goals and tighten up on the PK.
Regardless who's the better goalie the team performs better in front of Halak. Price seems to find a way to put his team behind the 8 ball. Ever since the all-star game Price has stunk. I for one hope he gets going but i'm not holding my breath.
team 990 says Latendresse is on the market and a deal to a team out west was nixed 2 weeks ago.
try again guys to get the deal done.
also Gomez has played 17 games and has 2 goals. he's getting paid 7.3 mil. at this rate he'll end up with 10 goals, which comes out to $773,000/goal. guess gomez must like that. Gainey@#$%^&*()
We are paying Cammalleri for his goals, we are paying Gomez for his assists...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
Ya but he has 9 assists, making his point total 11. Just behind Cammalleri and Plekanec who are tied with 14 points.
He's a set-up man, so it makes sense he has 2 goals with 9 assists.
Plus, it's not like the Habs as a team are scoring more than 1 to 2 goals a game.
Gomez plays hard every game. Higgins meanwhile has been a healthy scratch. Do you want to revoke the trade and get Higgins back?
Well Gomez is the only 16 goal a year superstar in the whole of the NHL. Only in Montreal do we rank a 16 goal a year player as a superstar. Mind you we think in Montreal that a superstar goalie is hot when he pots a .888 goals against average in a playoff series, only in Montreal.
Well Gomez is the only 16 goal a year superstar in the whole of the NHL. Only in Montreal do we rank a 16 goal a year player as a superstar. Mind you we think in Montreal that a superstar goalie is hot when he pots a .888 goals against average in a playoff series, only in Montreal.
But he averages 70 points per season, which is good for top 20-40 in the League... By the way, Price's stats are better than Patrick Roy in his first 2 seasons... So Do you not consider ROY a superstar goalie???? We are just so fricken knowledgable we know BEFORE they become superstars, and treat them accordingly...
Oh yeah, 07-08 MARC SAVARD 15 goals... Played in the All Star game...
Henrik Sedin 15 goals...Nicklas Lidstrom 10 goals, Paul Kariya, 16 goals... ALL SUPERSTARS...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
What about the horrible stats of basically losing all of your playoff series as the number 1 goalie? What kind of stats is that? Price a thoroughbred? More like a thoroughbred loser if yo ask me.
Politically I can't see them ever trading LaLa.
It would make little sense from a hockey standpoint either. He may be having the worst season of his career but a 22-year NHLer who can be an effective goal-scorer from the third line with almost no PP production is pure gold.
If they do, the next day french headlines will read... "Gainey hates Quebec". And it will just spiral out of control from there. Lawless anarchy will reign in MTL for the next 100 years. :P
Then both Lats and Gainey are gone? That's Win-Win! lol
There is a lot of talk about Bob Gainey and his 5 year plan and how he is a failure for supporting Price/etc.
A lot of organizations and leaders use a '5 year plan'. It's what they teach people. I don't think its unreasonable to state that you have a plan to succeed in 5 years. That's just what people say to show that they have a focus. In reality, people don't always reach their goals. There are 29 other teams out there with similar goals. Philly and San Jose have had WAY more talent then us and have come up short year after year. Not everyone can win. I wouldn't say Brian Burke or the GM's in Carolina or Pittsburgh are amazing GM's. It takes a great deal of luck in addition to skill to be the GM of a cup winning team.
So Gainey had a 5 year plan. It was lofty, 'win a cup'. What was he going to say: "In 5 years we plan on making the playoffs every year". A more realistic goal (although still difficult), but a goal that would not sit well in Montreal, where winning the cup is the only reason to think your season is a success.
Let's sit back and let the real talent manage and play for the team (coaches, GM, players), and enjoy watching the recreation that we call hockey. All this BS about which goalie should play and who should get fired, etc. is not a good use of time.
It's just hard to see a "plan" after what happened in the offseason. It looked more like panic.
Exactly. Its just a game and pass time for me.... with all of this Price and Halak junk, I feel like its taking the fun away from watching our midgets play good and fun hockey.
shoot the damn puck and crash the damn net. they know it works because the other teams have done it to us every night. ugly goals win games. i love gomer but enough with the cross-ice passes from the boards - make like plucky and drive the net, draw a penalty, shove that disk under the pads, fight to get that puck in there. lappy and lats have to grow a pair AND take more than seven strides once they enter the opposing zone. Ryan Malone was a one-man show on Saturday, they need Moen/Lats/Ak to play that kind of game.
And score already!!
Lapierre + Latendresse = LaLa