Less than a classic

posted by Mike Boone at 12h01 EST on Dec 16


Very strange game.

Once the Canadiens avoided penalties and got some 5-on-5 time, they exerted a measure of pressure on Cam Ward.

But it was too late – and Ward stopped everything.

So another one-goal loss.

NOTE ON THE LIVE BLOG:  The chronology is all balled up. I have no idea why.

 


3P 3:30:

Bad icing, after the forwards do nothing and don't get back

3P 00:00:

A well-deserved L

3P 00:09:

Kovalev is driving me insane

3P 00:40:

Can't get Yaro out

3P Timeout:

No call on Gleason?

3P 2:00:

Kovy isn't fooling them

3P Break:

Carolina is doing a very nice job of eating minutes. And now it's down to seconds

3P 5:00:

Fourth line?

3P 5:30:

Those Halak rebounds!

3P 6:27:

God, I hate those fancy passes

3P 7:26:

Gui! and Sergei test ward, with Maxwell as theircentre

3P 8:20:

Pleks replaces Maxwell and the line heats up

3P Break:

Nice to see the lines rolling

3P 11:00:

Hamrlik saves Breeze's giveaway

3P Break:

Halak robs Scott Walker after a Ben Maxwell giveaway. Ouf!

3P 12:25:

Decent PP

3P 14:27:

Ref's hand went up and Cam Ward started toward the bench .. force of habit

3P 15;00:

Halak is a bad puckhandler

3P 16:00:

The Maxwell line has fresh legs.

3P 18:00:

Pleks sets up Markov for a great chance. Notiwthstanding three goals, PK has been good

3P 19:30:

Sergei to defend 5-on-3

Andrei Kostitsyn:

Nine shifts, six minutes through two periods. Ridiculous game.

3P 20:00:

Joël Bouchard says if Carolina doesn't cash the 5-on-3, the Canadiens will win the game. I'm not so sure.

2P 00:00.1:

Kovalev. Ridiculous

2P 00:00.1:

Kovalev. Ridiculous

2P 00:30:

Markov saves a goal

2P 1:31:

Are you kidding me? That's ludicrous

2P 3:00:

Nice dive, Sutter

2P 3:00:

Nice dive, Sutter

2P Break:

Notice how many red jerseys are within two feet Halak during power plays? I've heard that works.

2P 6:08:

GUI! holds the opponent's stick BEHIND THE CAROLINA NET!!

 Brutal 

2P 6:30:

Ward looks shaky ... but nine shots?

2P 7:30:

Wow! Two shifts at even strength

2P 8;23:

This team can't catch a break

2P 8:49:

Lang is a revelation from the blueline in

2P 9:24:

Lang set up Gui! beautifully ... but no goal

2P 10:30:

Canadiens have seven shots

2P Break:

I don't remember what 5-on-5 hockey looks like.

2P 12:42:

I doubt Halak even saw it through a Staal screen. Corvo.

3-2 

2P 13:04:

O'B commits the most obvious infraction of the night

2P 13:47:

Those Halak rebounds are exciting.

2P 14:00:

26 minutes, seven penalties. Absurd.

2P 14:34:

Scary moment. Staal is laying there and the scrum goes on around him.  A penalty, but not a dirty hit.

2P 16:03:

THE SLUMP IS OVER!

2-2 

2P 16:52:

Another penalty. Six ... or is it seven?

2P 17:25:

Helluva shot!!!

2-1 

2P 17:25:

PENALTY SHOT!!!!

2P 18:35:

This is what it's come to: Kovalev can't deke Joni Pitkonen

2P 19:08:

Ward's first difficult stop

2P 19:32:

Not a good start against Carolina pluggers

2P 20:00:

Suppose we'll see a Canadiens power play tonight? Do we want to?

Samsonov:

A bright guy and always a good interview

Cam Ward:

Has he ever had an easier 20 minutes in his career?

J.T. on the first:


-Plekanec is like the guy who moves rocks for minimum wage. He's the hardest worker on the crew, and reaping the least reward.

-This was really exam time in special ed. It's hard to tell who's slower...the Habs for the dumbass penalties or the 'Canes for playing keepaway on a potential 5-on-3. But in the end I guess that's the difference between the 29th-ranked PP and the 27th. Give the 27th two five-on-threes on three consecutive penalties and they'll manage to pot one eventually. Even the dumbest rat finds the cheese once in a while.

-Hey! Anyone notice O'Byrne has advanced from automatically icing the puck out of his end to just dumping it out ineffectually? Progress!

-I like Lapierre since his benching last month. He seems to have caught the hard-work flu.

-I give credit to yeoman's service by Brisebois, but the Canadiens really, really need a proper partner for Hamrlik. Maybe it's Komo. I don't know anymore.

-I was thinking of burning Kovalev in effigy, but I imagine the torch would keep missing the dummy, and even if it lit, it would burn so slowly there'd be no point.

-Newsflash for the Habs: Staal camps on the side of the crease during their PP. Every other team in the league has figured it out already, geniuses.

-I think it's time to put the Kostitsyn brothers together and leave them alone. Someone on this team has to have some chemistry, and it might possibly be the related guys.

-The sad part of this is that in the minimal even-strength time they've played, the Habs have been decent. Not bothering Ward, mind you, but decent.

-That period reminded me of settling in for the night with a much-anticipated novel, only to realize after half a chapter that you've read the book before. Sadly, you also remember the ending.

Woo-hoo!:

Canadiens 12-5 on faceoffs. What a powerhouse.

1P 00:00:

Another O'Byrne turnover ...

1P 1:00:

Carolina: five shots, two goals

1P 2;10:

Kostopoulos intercepted by Pitkanen, who dances around Markov and feeds Staal

2-0 

1P 2:37:

FIVE PENALTIES in less than 18 minutes. Brutal.

1P 2:57:

Another great PK.

1P 4:59:

NO! It's Tanguay, for retaliation

1P 4:59:

Finally, a PP

1P Break:

Great PK work and then Corvo blocks a clearing attempt and bing-bang-boom. Life is not fair.

1P 6:40:

I wish they could bottle Tom the Bomb's hustle. The human Red Bull

1P 8:00:

Been a while since Tanguay did anything, eh?

1P 9:52:

Give Sammy credit: great pass to Staal.

1-0 

1P 11:00:

Another penalty. Unreal

1P 12:00:

Pleks GREAT on the PK.  Good active sticks by everyone. Then Kovalev takes a terrible penalty40

1P 14:35:

Bad penalty for D'Agostini

1P 15:34:

How is Rod Brind'Amour minus-21

1P 16:41:

Sergei's move to get that pass? Sick!

1P 17:45:

Love that Kid line

1P 18:50:

ugly offside by Lang and Tanguay

1P 20:00:

Fourth line to start

Gratuitous shout-out:

To Apple Tech Support, who saved my ass on a frozen-screen situation and didn't charge me for doing so, even though she could have.

PP troubles:

Jacques Demers says the key to improvement is Andrei Markov

My transaction fees at work:

The RBC Centre in Raleigh

Méchant Mardi opening:

Very cool!

Boone reverse jinx:

Should I burn one on this game?

Test:

Something weird happening with the live blog

Paul Maurice:

Nice RDSfeature on one of the league's good guys

Joël Bouchard:

My favourite analyst says the team is playing well. great goaltending, fifth in the league in 5-on-5 scoring, .857 winning percentage when leading after two periods. Says the defenceman playing on the PP point opposite Kovalev tonight – likely Markov – has to be ready to get back ... fast.

Kovalev:

Went 19 games without a goal in 1994-'95 but says broke out of the slump with a hat trick. Reporters checked: totally not true.

Hickey and Rick Moffat:

Hanging out in the hallway behind Carbo in RDS clip

Late start:

Sorry, gang. I mistimed my rice for dinner.

TSN Power Rankings:

Canadiens 10th and sinking

Lemaire on thin ice?:

Wild have lost five straight reg season games for the first time in their history, and McGuire told Melnick that the team may be tuning their coach out since Lemaire teed off on some younger players

Penguins rising:

Pittsburgh surge in All-Star voting

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Comments

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G-Man's picture
Submitted by G-Man on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 07:02.
Two words: horrid officiating. Six more:train the a$$wipes or use guide dogs. The NHL should suspend those two refs. How many times did Gleason punch D'Agostini in the face with no call? What a joke. Gilbert 2008/09 is the season of the Habs

Natrous's picture
Submitted by Natrous on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 13:47.
It's funny, if you watch the replay on that one, the ref behind the net is actually still following the (dead) puck with his eyes that the whistled down, and completely misses the shots from Gleason on D'Ags - TWO FEET TO HIS RIGHT. I'm not sure most of the 11 penalties called weren't deserved, but seriously, they didn't see ONE penalty committed by the 'Canes during the 11 straight against MTL? That's the shocking part of all of this.

fuhgawz's picture
Submitted by fuhgawz on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 02:08.
NONE OF OUR YOUNG GUYS ARE DEVELOPING AS FAST AS YOUNG TALENT ON OTHER TEAMS ...... MAYBE JUST MAYBE OUR YOUNG "TALENT" ISN'T ALL THAT TALENTED? well ..... we can keep Price and Jaro off this list anyway ... they are both gold!

BIG-D's picture
Submitted by BIG-D on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 09:04.
Halak was lucky last night that the Canes could not get to those rebounds. Halak is not starter material. He is back up at best. Rollie needs to work with Halak on his rebound control. He was fighting the puck several times. Yes , he did make one good glove save, but the puck bounced out of his glove all night long. I'm sick of the "Habs leave Halak out to dry" comments. The team has hung Price out to dry more than once this year.....

Gr8stFranchizEvr's picture
Submitted by Gr8stFranchizEvr on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 01:34.
Didn't watch the game realtime, but caught it on Canadiens Express. Two comments: 1. sad play by both teams 2. one of the worst displays of officiating I've seen in a long time Summary: pathetic game all around. I'm not looking forward to facing Philly next. This is painful.

Chris's picture
Submitted by Chris on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 01:01.
Might as well head to bed on a positive: while he doesn't always inspire people with confidence while doing it, Jaroslav Halak has continued to show that he is a good NHL goalie. I'm very, very glad to have him backing up Price, as I think he is good enough to prevent Price from becoming complacent. But before people start using him as a key piece in some of the inevitable trade proposals we're going to be seeing as we get closer and closer to the deadline, please note the following stats: Player, (Record), GAA, SV% Manny Fernandez (BOS), (9-2-1), 2.07, .924 Brian Boucher (SJS), (8-1-1), 1.88, .928 Nikolai Khabibulin (CHI), (8-1-4), 2.50, .919 Scott Clemmensen (NJD), (8-3-1), 2.38, .920 Craig Anderson (FLA), (8-3-3), 2.15, .940 Ty Conklin (DET), (8-4-0), 2.75, .902 Martin Gerber (OTT), (2-6-1), 2.57, .913 Mikael Tellqvist (PHX), (4-2-1), 2.24, .930 Stephen Valiquette (NYR), (3-2-0), 2.49, .912 Jaroslav Halak (MTL), (3-5-1), 2.44, .915 While most of these guys are veterans, the point is that there are lots of back-up goalies out there that are comparable to Halak in terms of their stats. In terms of his trade potential, I would say he doesn't have all that much right now: the elite teams are not looking for young goalies, while most of the rebuilding teams like Los Angeles (Ersberg), Toronto (Toskala), Columbus (Mason), Atlanta (Lehtonen), NY Islanders (DiPietro), Tampa Bay (Smith) and Edmonton (Garon/Drouin-Deslauriers) look pretty set in net. The only teams I could see being even remotely interested would be St. Louis, Ottawa and maybe Colorado. Perhaps a team like Florida (Vokoun) or Dallas (Turco) might be interested in moving a veteran goalie and therefore would be in the market for a young replacement, but that is getting far ahead of ourselves.

BIG-D's picture
Submitted by BIG-D on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 09:06.
You R dreaming about Halak Buddy......... He is avg. at best..

Chris's picture
Submitted by Chris on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 09:18.
Given that he has performed at roughly the same level as Carey Price over their careers, then I can only assume that you also think that Price is merely an average goalie. Judging by your avatar, I think that I am probably mistaken. So I suspect you are slightly biased in your assessment. Halak has done everything he's been asked to do in his short career so far. I don't think he is better than Price or that he has a higher ceiling...but he is good enough to push Price right now.

coachdoug's picture
Submitted by coachdoug on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:36.
Just got back from the game...I lost my shoe...but missed Carbo coming out of the tunnel! (Some of you will get that!) The highlight of the game was Alex Tanguay tapping the glass where my son Luc was standing during warm-up with his Go Habs Go sign. Thanks Alex! There is a dark cloud over Habville and a lot of finger pointing. Watching the game tonight I have a few observations I will share tommorow. The sun will rise tommorow folks...don't give up!!! Probably a good time to purge the bandwagon crowd who are ordering San Jose Sharks jerseys on NHL.com as I write this. Dave I had my sign brother...NHL.coms cameraman got a shot...we'll see

ButJohnnyLovesHockey's picture
Submitted by ButJohnnyLovesHockey on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:31.
I'm not a fan of trades but I think Gainey has to step in. Addition by subtraction. Let's drop our un-motivated and softie players and slightly drop our contender status. We can gun for the cup next year. It won't happen this year, and not because of the slump, since forever we've been a softie team with shoddy determination. We showed flashes of brilliance but we're not there yet. Most teams would wipe the floor with us in the PO's if we don't give 100%. Some of our players just do not do it.

LongIslandHabsFan's picture
Submitted by LongIslandHabsFan on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:22.
Well, to sum up, there was good news and bad news ... Good news: The Habs outplayed Carolina 5 on 5 Bad news: There was almost no 5 on 5

Jay in PA's picture
Submitted by Jay in PA on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:22.
I was at the game tonight (just happened to be in Raleigh this week), and have the following thoughts to add to what has already been said: 1. This game featured all of the pure intensity and grittiness of a Doris Day movie. For you younger folks, think Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Actually, Reese would have done a better job of penetrating the offensive zone. 2. The game probably looked slow and disorganized on TV. In person, it was worse. I have never seen a game played so extensively between the blue lines. There were people with seats on the center-ice red line that never moved their heads. 3. Possibly the only good thing to say about this game was that Lats and Kovy got the monkeys off their backs. Two monkeys down, eighteen to go. 4. This game is the answer to the question, "Why doesn't TicketMaster offer a money-back satisfaction guarantee?" 5. I recently turned 40, an age at which one begins to introspect about the things one may never do or see in one's lifetime. I can now confidently say that I will never personally witness a worse hockey game. Not that I'm all that pessimistic about my life span--I don't think it's actually possible for a worse hockey game to occur at the professional level. I'm not complaining about the Habs here, but about both teams' play. This game sucked so hard, it pulled Charlotte 20 miles closer to Raleigh. 6. I will say that the Carolina fans know the game about as well as fans anywhere in the States, including my current home in Pittsburgh. They may have a pig as a mascot (a pig, for crying out loud!), but they do know the game and are fairly gracious about it, unlike, say, Tampa fans. There just aren't a lot of Hurricanes fans--the arena was only 2/3 full and that was on a night when tickets were "buy one, get one free." Hang on... Jim Ballsilie is calling my cell for some reason. 7. I'd take the pig over Youppi. 8. At this point, I'd take the pig over Kovy, if it can execute a dump-in and stay out of the effin' box. 9. If you do ever find yourself at RBC Arena, you'll find the foodservice is actually quite good. After spending $100 for tickets to this debacle (including TicketMaster's mysterious $9.41 "Pastry Transportation Service Charge"), I had a pretty good meal served to me at my seat in the 200s for less than $20 with tip. Yeah, that was about the high point for me, and that says it all.

twocents's picture
Submitted by twocents on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:48.
As Yeats would say, a Suckfestapalooza!

LongIslandHabsFan's picture
Submitted by LongIslandHabsFan on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:25.
Pertaining to #7, I'd take the cheerleaders over the pig or Youppi

Submitted by CH dude on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:19.
if your team takes 11 penalties, doesn't that mean your team isn't playing well? nothing good happens when you take bad penalties.

LongIslandHabsFan's picture
Submitted by LongIslandHabsFan on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:27.
And most were stick penalties, indicative of being lazy and not playing smart positionally.

Submitted by bajd on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:17.
Horrible game tonight. Sure the refs stunk but it's just another example of how unpredictable this team is. You have no idea what you're going to get on any given night. This team had better wake up soon or they'll be night and day to make the playoffs

Chris's picture
Submitted by Chris on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:14.
What the hell happened to Tomas Plekanec? 13 points in 30 games...he's on pace for 36 points this season. I keep reading game after game about how he is working so hard yet every game I watch, he is completely and utterly invisible. Time for him to take his share of the blame: Plekanec came into this season as the team's #1 centre. He averages 15+ minutes per game on the ice. He has been played at various times with all of the Habs top wingers in an effort to break him out of his slump. Admittedly, his recent linemates have not helped him, but Plekanec has 1 assist in 18 games. Subtract away his 2-day scoring binge in early November and he has recorded 3 assists in 28 games. That simply isn't anywhere NEAR good enough for a centre that is supposed to anchor one of the top scoring lines. I can guarantee you that the guy that sits when Koivu gets back if I was the coach (which I'm thankfully not, as I'm sure you'd agree) is Plekanec. He has flat out stunk this season. Carbonneau has tried pretty much every line combination with him to find a spark, and he simply hasn't shown anything. He's not hitting, he's not scoring and he's not making his linemates better. As bad as Latendresse and Sergei Kostitsyn may or may not have been this season, they are third/fourth liners. Plekanec is a top 6 forward, so his prolonged period of terrible play is a much more serious problem than that of Latendresse/Kostitsyn.

CHsam's picture
Submitted by CHsam on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 01:05.
LOL!!!! Plekanec is a top 6 forward? Bro, he still needs to work on faceoffs. And if ya look at the other top 5 forwards on your list, they need linemates who are in synch together. Kinda tough when A.Kost started slow and Kovy didnt come around

Chris's picture
Submitted by Chris on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 01:17.
When the season started, EVERYBODY had Plekanec as the centre for the top line, so I don't think its a stretch to say he was expected to be a top 6 forward. I agree that it was tough when his linemates started slow. But watching him play right now, Plekanec is not using his linemates so it really doesn't matter if they are playing well or not. He's entering the zone and either losing the puck or taking a very low-percentage shot on net. By the way, Plekanec has won 50.1% of his faceoffs on the season (down after a recent brutal spell). That is still a better success rate than Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Backstrom, Chris Drury, Mike Ribeiro, Ryan Getzlaf, Jeff Carter, Olli Jokinen, Chris Drury and Eric Staal. I think most of those guys qualify as being top 6 forwards despite their faceoff troubles. :P

twocents's picture
Submitted by twocents on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:29.
I agree Chris, he simply has not been up to the task that he has been given. As bad as all the top six guys have been, excepting Koivu(and Tanguay's good start), he and Higgins have been the biggest disappointments. I questioned in the off season if Pleks had what it takes to keep up his level of play from last year and hoped he would would relieve my doubts. But, it ain't looking good. Maybe he really is just what the organization thought he was, a good third line centre who can kill penalties.

Chris's picture
Submitted by Chris on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:34.
I have never been as big a Plekanec fan as some here, but this season is mystifying. Even when he wasn't scoring last season, he usually showed some feistiness and would mix it up physically. This season has just been a big wash. I wonder how much damage his brutal playoff performance did to his psyche. I agree with you that he and Higgins are the two biggest disappointments. The one card Higgins can play was that he came back from a groin injury so he wasn't really in game shape. That explains the slow start, but certainly not the sustained poor play. I really thought these two were going to bring it this year.

twocents's picture
Submitted by twocents on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:43.
I will say I have seen flashes of his former self in the odd game here and there. The only one that seems to stick is the first period against the Islanders the second time. He was really wound up and hyper quick. I will also say that in the first ten games he did seem to be working but not looking good. Other than that, a wash out. I think that playoff loss affected a lot of psyches. Price gladly seems to be fine.

LongIslandHabsFan's picture
Submitted by LongIslandHabsFan on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:29.
Same thing's wrong with Pleks as is wrong with Kovy, which is the same thing wrong with AK ... they're not playing together!!!

ButJohnnyLovesHockey's picture
Submitted by ButJohnnyLovesHockey on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:28.
Excellent post. Plekanec is a softie player who looks great on a team that already has grit and ability. On this weakish team with shoddy motivation, he's like an anchor. There is no spunk to his game, and I wouldn't mind if it weren't for the fact that he is not doing anything at all. I think our slump has to be attributed to him at least partly, his line was suppose to be dominant but he has 13 points so far. Phil effin Kessel has more goals.

MikeL's picture
Submitted by MikeL on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 01:47.
I'm not sure if you realize, but Phil Kessel is way better than any forward on our team. Nobody has his explosive speed or scoring ability. He was a top 5 pick for a reason - it just took him 3 years to show it. He's the real deal.

Submitted by Timo (not verified) on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:08.
So... does anybody begins to see why Calgary let Tanguay go? Man... we already have one Higgins, do we really need another?

MikeL's picture
Submitted by MikeL on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:15.
At least Higgins shoots. I've never been a big Tanguay fan. He's a lot like Kovalev - if his nifty moves work, he's a genious and everyone loves him. When they don't, it's bad news.

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:11.
Tanguay forechecks?

LongIslandHabsFan's picture
Submitted by LongIslandHabsFan on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:33.
Only if an opposing player accidently checks Tanguay into another opposing player

Submitted by CH dude on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:37.
I just heard on the team 990, that Carbo's email address is: gcarbonneau@canadiens.com try it and let us know if it goes thru.

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:40.
why don't you do it? seems odd to ask someone else to. and i don't think that making his email largely ineffective by filling it with stupid suggestions, angry rants, or other forms of immaturity is doing anything for anybody. basically amounts to spam: shame on 990

WestHab's picture
Submitted by WestHab on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:02.
yeah and he's posted it several other places. Komi we miss you.

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:36.
Agree - the Canes were absolutely pathetic in the first two periods, and just hanging on in the third save for a couple of odd man rushes. They are a horrible, horrible team. . . to not have been up by at least two after having a man advantage for more than 20 of the first 40 minutes was ridiculous. And their PP, notwithstanding a couple of goals after we'd been shorthanded forever, was every bit as weak as ours is on its worst nights. It's not just stats - most of the PPs we looked like we were playing them even, and we'd completely dominated until they scored on the third one. That's what gets me so angry about the people who watched this game and just called it another deserved loss. We are far, FAR better than that team tonight. . . if this is the way they normally play Carolina ain't making the playoffs.

Norm0770's picture
Submitted by Norm0770 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:49.
Basically the Canes burried every chance they had tonight, all three of them. Each one was on a mistake too, so three mistakes, three goals against and Halak didn't have a chance on any of them.

MikeL's picture
Submitted by MikeL on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:39.
I agree. I really don't understand why everyone is saying how much of poor effort it was. They killed penalties for 20 mins...a whole periods length! And somehow, the score was still 3-2. Most of the chances even strength were from the Habs, and I felt they played well considering the current injuries, penalties, and recent play. You have to put the loss into perspective. Yes, no loss is fun - but there can certainly be positives and rally points from this game.

WestHab's picture
Submitted by WestHab on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:04.
Plek was amazing at times tonight on the PK. Komi we miss you.

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:32.
Yes

Ian Cobb's picture
Submitted by Ian Cobb on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:25.
The Habs were awesome tonight, they worked their little tails off chasing the puck all over the ice. Even when they got it once in a while, they worked very quickly to find the fastest way possible to give the puck back. So they could chase it again. And when they chased the puck with huge effort, the mean referee would give us cheap penalties for chasing to vigorously. Then we would become much more disciplined and just let the Hurricanes keep the puck on their sticks for many min.at a time,having great fun with it. Yes we are a quality hockey team this year, Lord Stanley's cup will be ours because we are having our 100th birthday and our players are playing very well for being 100 years old, and they are making millions for their fine efforts.

CanadianPGA's picture
Submitted by CanadianPGA on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:00.
Bravo! There is nothing fancy about playing with that much heart and that's when talent shines. Kovy's shot was invisisble-fast; off balance to boot. Breezer step out of the Freezer. Time to let up on Patrice. Rest, rejuvinate and renew your passion boys; your fans are ready for a run in 2009. Have a Merry Christmas and make room on the bandwagon. Doubters welcome in the New Year. GO HABS GO!

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:27.
Two questions/theories: a. Who hacked your account? b. Who spiked your drink?

Ayan_SB's picture
Submitted by Ayan_SB on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:25.
I'm expecting a reporter to throw shoes at Carbo at a press conference any day now.

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:28.
More than 1000 posts on a Tuesday night game. . . Newsflash to Boone: the masses didn't log in because they had to get their fix of out of sequence blogging - it was the anger from the officiating and widespread disagreement that this was "another deserved L", at least among those of us who are sober and/or don't suffer from histrionic personality disorder.

RiverviewCanadien's picture
Submitted by RiverviewCanadien on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:24.
Sorry I did post this on the other column but it looks like this is place to rant and rave :) ok, everyone complains about reffing watching their own team play (and sometimes it is a little biased by the fan)...but tonight... Tonight I was turned off of hockey...Their are limits imposed by some refs, yes our Habs took some penalties...but so did CAR...unfortunatley, they went un-noticed. It is hard as a hockey fan to watch a good game anymore, when the pace is set, it is good, exciting. But when Refs intervene and slow it down to the pace of the weaker team...F@#$ING BS!!! As you can see I am upset with that part of tonight's game. I was away on business last week and could not get the games, but still listened in on CJAD.com, so yes I am dedicated, but tonight I wanted to shut it down. BUt to support the guys, I left it on, and glad I did because they played a great 3rd period. So what do you think as a fan. I think the team played an awesome game. Shots were 27 for CAR and 24 and for MTL, after 13 penalties (to CAR's 5), three or four 5 on 3s, great job on the PK. Enjoyed the game by "Les Boys". So I will leave you all on this note, and agree or disagree...Kovalev showed he can do it and get the guys motivated, and yes he is back, mark it down on your calendar, as today is the day that Captain Kovy is back and like he always says... "When they start, they come in bunches" GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO!

Submitted by mprdft on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:45.
I second this post. Pretty much my sentiment. Habs weren't much better than the Canes but they never got the chance to try to be.

Submitted by CH dude on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 00:22.
are you basing that on 1 period of hockey? because habs only played 1 period. the rest of the time they were in the box.

100HABS's picture
Submitted by 100HABS on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:24.
Take Tanguay off the Lang-line, he can't do what he does best and we need another line to work. AK is working hard but Maxwell is not ready. Put AK with Lang and Kovy. About the penalties the first one and Lat's second were definitely not deserved. The Canes deserved at least 2 if not 3 more. That wall bull-s**t! ___________________________ 'tis the season to be jolly

rp25's picture
Submitted by rp25 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:18.
I reffed over 2500 games mostly in E Ontario and this sort of game is rare indeed.It's not very often you call the first 3 penalties on one team but it happens .After 3 the offending team thinks the ref owes them so they will continue to push it .If you let them go the game will get out of control!A diciplined team will bare down ,weather the storm and get back on track.An undiciplined team will continue to dare the refs to keep calling them.Todays refs are not allowed to have the olde school feel for the game .They are robots and hot dogs.They recognize a team that can't keep it's cool and they WILL ruin your day. We deserved most of those calls but certainly not all.I also think they could have found a few for us in there.That punch on Dags should've been called. The rollercoaster ride continues..

the_larry's picture
Submitted by the_larry on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:18.
At least the Habs can take some positive out of this by looking at the one-goal margin and the PP minute margin. The few 5-on-5 that was played, the Habs seem to outplay Carolina.

showey47's picture
Submitted by showey47 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:17.
I wonder if there has ever been a nhl game in history where the powerplays were so lopsided? Here is another question. Do you think there would of been a 11-1 pp ratio had this been a home game? Not likely, this shows how fans influence officiating.

Norm0770's picture
Submitted by Norm0770 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:19.
Fans influence? Not really, did you see all of the empty seats there ;)

likehoy's picture
Submitted by likehoy on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:15.
we lost cause kovy couldn't score two.

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:12.
Well we haven't experienced this in two years: 3 losses in a row.

Gary320's picture
Submitted by Gary320 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:18.
Didnt we experience it last year?..

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:20.
Nope. At least not three straight regulation losses.

Gary320's picture
Submitted by Gary320 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:35.
Regulation? I'm not sure.. but I am sure we lost 3 games straight atleast once last season..

showey47's picture
Submitted by showey47 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:19.
yes, i believe 3 times during the regular season and our only 4 straight loses were in the playoffs

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:11.
I'm only getting 10 posts per page when i usually get 25. . . is this happening to anybody else or did i inadvertently change a setting?

Norm0770's picture
Submitted by Norm0770 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:16.
Same here. Others commented about too.

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:12.
Same here.

Harani's picture
Submitted by Harani on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:11.
Does anyone know if like RDS or someone can do a POINT DE PRESSE with the refs? I mean...ask em' some questions, explanations maybe!

oshawahabsfan's picture
Submitted by oshawahabsfan on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:10.
Since Boone likes to rag on Kovy here's one for this game: Thanks Kostopolous, your idiotic clearing gave them a 2-0 lead we very well may have won this game if you just chipped it out on the side of the ice you were playing on.

100HABS's picture
Submitted by 100HABS on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:26.
Agree - I couldn't believe Carbo played TK more short-handed. I'd like to see Laraque back, at least he could hold the puck in their zone and make the odd pass. ___________________________ 'tis the season to be jolly

showey47's picture
Submitted by showey47 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:12.
I only wish t.k. could pass to our own players like that

Dougie's picture
Submitted by Dougie on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:08.
The disallowed goal was crap. The penalty shot was also crap (it was worth 2min in the box). The 10 penalties in a row, when added all up, were also crap. This was a bullshit game, with bullshit officiating that wasn't worth of Junior B. Let them play? sure. But let's make sure the ice surface is a level playing field.

Submitted by HabsFreak (not verified) on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:05.
Piss poor officiating aside, we still couldnt manufacturer a goal when we needed one in the third which is our biggest problem.

Submitted by Barts on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:13.
One goal five on five in the last three games. That isn't going to get it done.

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:12.
this is a valid point. this is the one downside of the game. after 40 i was completely content albeit frustrated. . . by 60 i felt disappointment for the reasons you cite

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:06.
Lats had the trying goal in front of him, if Tanguay didn't take the puck away and try a weak backhander.

MikeL's picture
Submitted by MikeL on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:04.
Why is the comment section so small? Comments are getting pushed to the next page within minutes.

Submitted by CH dude on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:03.
the habs deserved all the penalties they received. just a very undisciplined team, and it's not the first time they've taken bad penalties, and I doubt it will the last. Tho I think once Kovalev is gone, it will ease up.

twilighthours's picture
Submitted by twilighthours on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:09.
Perhaps they did - although I strongly disagreed with Lats' tripping call and Kovy's slash. Point being though, if the refs are going to call a close game, call it at both ends. There were at least two interference calls where Georges was knocked down that were not called.

mjames's picture
Submitted by mjames on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:01.
Well I believe we gave another 2 points away. I agree, after the penalties, we carried the play. If we could only bury some of our chances. No point in signalling out any players in a positive or negative sense. A little more discipline would be in order. Oh one other thing I did not think Markov's stick was over the cross bar. From the replays I saw his stick was below the CH when he made contact. mjames

Kevin's picture
Submitted by Kevin on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:09.
Funny that people love to bash Kovalev, and yet the highest paid forward on the team (Tanguay) does not have to bear any of the responsibility for the lack of offense.

twilighthours's picture
Submitted by twilighthours on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:16.
Not that it matters to anyone else, but I hold Tanguay accountable. He's actually a terrible hockey player right now, and maybe he's always been. -never ever shoots, and so is no threat to opposing defensemen. -is really soft in the corners -sees a hit coming and bails out -doesn't really skate hard or use his speed At 5.5 mil per season, he's an overpaid buffoon.

showey47's picture
Submitted by showey47 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:04.
I agree, it did look like markov's stick was low enough for the goal to count. But considering where these decisions are made i wasn't surprised when they announced no goal. Wasn't also great how the refs decided to put the whistles away in the third while d'agostini was getting punched in the face repeatedly?

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:14.
i place zero belief in the conspiracy theory that mike murphy and colin campbell and the rest of the people watching games in toronto are calling ones for their favorites. i think that's paranoia speaking, showey.

Larry's picture
Submitted by Larry on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:56.
Kovalev is starting to remind me of Peter Mahovlich at the end of his time in Montreal. Carry the puck, carry, carry, lose it.

BIG-D's picture
Submitted by BIG-D on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:56.
Get used to 8th spot Boys............If the Habs R lucky. Please tell me again, other than "Price", how "Bob the Builder" made this team better.

Submitted by oliv (not verified) on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:00.
We are still mediocre, now however we have the -potential- of the players he's drafted while he's been there. Most of his trades/signings have been embarassing messes.

Submitted by Koivu12 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:58.
Pardon me, but are you a troll?

BIG-D's picture
Submitted by BIG-D on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:04.
NO I AM NOT. I am a pissed of Habs fan..........

Dougie's picture
Submitted by Dougie on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:56.
This L was not deserved. Maybe a SO L, but not an L. I haven't seen such one-sided refereeing since the Soviets in the Olympics in the 1970s. It was bullroar, plain and simple.

Submitted by vic on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:55.
I don't Kovy will get any better this year.Keeps tring to be the hero and keeps wasting the other's trying to set up in theo zone. He's older and can't fool anyone with his slow moves

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:54.
3P 00:00: A well-deserved L Wholeheartedly disagree, Boone.

TripleX's picture
Submitted by TripleX on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:59.
You are a voice of reason Mr. Boone. The team is just not very good at this point and I fear we have not hit bottom yet. Surprising how so many people prefer to blame the refs for the on ice performance.

t1tan5's picture
Submitted by t1tan5 on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:00.
Did you watch the game? The refs were beyond ridiculous. They literally affected the outcome of the game with their bs.

TripleX's picture
Submitted by TripleX on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:05.
I refuse to sink to the level of fans of perennial door mat teams like the Leafs. WAAAAHHHH WE WAS ROBBED! Face it the team stunk. Blaming forces beyond your control is the last refuge of the weak of spirit and mind. The Habs and it's fans are far too classy to resort to such childish antics.

doug's picture
Submitted by doug on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:02.
I agree. . . I think sometimes people get depressed and end up having binary emotions: win = happy and lose = mad. This was frustrating because of the refs. They could have played a better third but that was it.

Submitted by rswinter (not verified) on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 22:54.
I would like add on a positive note that I get very emotional after these games and my anger sometimes gets the best of me. But this site always allows me to remember that I'm not alone in my suffering. I feel a lot better now then I did 20 minutes ago. Thank you all. Now on a angrier note, the refs should eat sh$t and die.

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