The Other Wing

Now that it’s been decided that the Habs will power into the playoffs and dominate opponents all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals (it’s been decided, right?), there’s a couple little details that I’d like the team to take care of.

 

Before the regular season comes to an end on April 10th, I’d like to see:

 

1. A big bad blow out. The team has been playing well recently and I’d like to see a strong effort at both ends of the ice. I’d love a confidence booster heading into April, say a 7-1 or 8-2 shellacking of a divisional rival.

 

2. Scott Gomez end the season with 70 points. It’s a bit of stretch (he’d have to play at almost a 1.5 points per game pace) but I think it’s possible and would go a long way to proving that even though he’s got a bloated contract, he does have the skills.

 

3. The brothers click. Both Andrei and Sergei have shown flashes of brilliance this season but usually for only a few shifts or, at most, a single game. I’d love to see the Belarussian brothers have a few multi-point games coupled with some highlight worthy goals. Andrei “Best wristshot in the NHL?” Kostitsyn has lit the lamp only 12 times this season. Sure he’s missed a ton of time due to injury, but 12 goals? He’s getting paid $3.25 million to score a heckuva lot more than 12 goals. Sergei escaped his temporary purgatory in Hamilton and has shown NHL-calibre skill but, like his brother, the results aren’t there. Sergei has 11 points, only 2 of them goals. Glen Metropolit has more goals than the Kostitsyns combined. Seriously. We’ve had high hopes for these two for a while – now is the time for them to perform.

Continue reading "Wish List" »

It was a dreamy 17 days, wasn’t it?

 

Golden rings.

Golden goals.

Olympic sized moments.

 

We Believe became We Accomplished.  

We Overcame Hardships.  We Broke Records.

 

Dreams came true.

 

But as those dreams are replaced by the doldrums of reality – ushered in unmercifully by inflatable beavers and flying moose – we start a new week without our Canadians, but instead with our Canadiens. And while we seem Glorieux only in name and in lore, perhaps our team can take inspiration from our country and persevere during hardship and show its true mettle when it matters most.

Continue reading "Back to Reality" »

Bob Gainey oozes hockey.

He defines dedication, leadership, and loyalty.
In 100 years of history, Bob Gainey stands out as one of the greatest to ever wear the bleu-blanc-rouge.

He captained this team to the Stanley Cup.
He led this team through sacrifice: he's bled, he's fought, he's played with dislocated shoulders.
Gainey wore the CH with pride.

He loves this team and he loves this city.
He stayed with this team through hard times -  both on and off the ice.

Love him or hate him as a GM, having a man like Bob Gainey step away is a sad day for the Habs organization.

I wish him the best and thank him for everything that he has given to this city.

...

Listen live to CBC Daybreak (88.5FM) Tuesday at 7:15AM to hear me talk more about Gainey's resignation.
I'll be representing Habs fans - so leave your comments and let me know what you think about all of this.

Make it stop.

 

During the ancient Olympics, a period of truce was called so that athletes could travel to Greece and compete in safety. Citizens would celebrate the Games, the gods, and good fortune. This time of “ekecheiria” could not come soon enough for your Montreal Canadiens.

…

 

Maybe Bob Gainey forgot to sacrifice a lamb during the off-season.

Perhaps the planets are mis-aligned.

Whatever the cause, the Habs Universe is looking close to collapse.

 

Feb. 02 vs Vancouver

Feb. 04 vs Boston

Feb. 06 vs Pittsburgh

Feb. 07 vs Boston

Feb. 10 vs Washington

Feb. 12 vs Philadelphia

Feb. 13 vs Philadelphia

 

That’s a tough 2 weeks.

Anyone like our odds right now?

Continue reading "In the Name of Zeus!" »

Q: How do you completely destroy any – and all – momentum that was created by huge wins over the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers?

A: You play a complete stinker against the Florida Panthers.

 

…

Did everyone drink too much and pass out on the beach for a couple hours? Did anyone look at the standings and realize the importance of this game? Does anyone know how to play Jacques Martin hockey? (Besides the Florida Panthers?)

Continue reading "Got Stink?" »

Who is this Jacques Martin guy?

Is he the guy who turned around an abysmal Ottawa Senators franchise? Is this the guy who’s the tenth most winningest coach in NHL history?

 

Or is he the one who was a mediocre coach of a mediocre Florida Panthers team? A guy who’s fallen behind the times and has lost the edge to be a premier coach in the National Hockey League? When Bob Gainey hired Jacques Martin back in June 2009, I was hoping he’d be the guy who did all that winning. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s who we got.

Continue reading "Jacques Martin" »

"What is going to happen?"

"Something wonderful"

"I'm afraid"

"Don't be. We'll make the playoffs"

"Where will we be?"

"Where we are now, in seventh."

...

 

The 2010 side of the 2009-2010 season holds 39 games for the Montreal Canadiens. We've already lost the first one against Northeast rival Buffalo. Eighteen of the remaining games will be on the road, leaving 20 for the (somewhat) friendly confines of the Bell Centre. Our current record (21-20-3) has us (barely) in 7th place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points.

 

The Habs have played 44 games, or 3 more than the New York Rangers (43 points, 41 games played), the Atlanta Thrashers (42 points, 43GP) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (42 points, 41 GP). The Islanders, Flyers and Panthers are also all within striking distance (3,4 and 4 points, respectively) and all have at least 1 game in hand. At the same time, we’re only a couple wins away from surpassing Ottawa and Boston in the standings.

 

String a few wins together and we’re 5th in the Conference; suffer a couple losses and we’re bumping uglies with Toronto.

Continue reading "My God, It's full of Tough Games!" »

The 2009-2010 Montreal Canadiens.

Gold or garbage?

 

Back at the beginning of this season most pundits, analysts, and fans didn’t know how to evaluate this year’s team. Oh, we’ll need to give them 20 games to gel. Some prognosticators did admit that GM Bob Gainey had upgraded an aging line-up with younger, more consistent and more durable players. And even though that aging roster had made the playoffs two years in a row and had been first in the Eastern Conference in 2007-08, many considered this “upgraded” team a mere assembly of parts.

 

At best they’d be an 8th place team. At worst they’d be in the running for the draft lottery.

 

So - 41 games later - are we in a position to accurately gauge this team? Not really. Andrei Markov, the Habs best player, was lost for almost 3 months during the first game of the season. His absence severely handicapped the Canadiens play in every situation. Because of his injury (and Ryan O'Byrne's), Gainey was forced to sign Marc-Andre Bergeron to bring some defensive depth (sort of) and especially to help on the powerplay. As injured blueliners continued to pile-up, Gainey had to make more moves (hello Jay Leach) and hope and pray that the patchwork would hold up.

 

It did.

 

The Habs are currently 7th in the Eastern Conference and can easily jump into 5th with a few more wins. We're in pretty good shape.

A look at some of the numbers that have made up the Canadiens first 41 games, the reasons why we sit in 6th and what we need to do to improve.

Continue reading "41 Games - By The Numbers" »

"I have heard from a reliable source that there may be a deal brewing between Montreal and Philadelphia. Pleks, Gill, and Halak for Carter and Boucher." – 24 Cups

 

Well, what do you think?

 

The Philadelphia-Montreal rumours have been swirling for the past week or so. Jaroslav Halak wants out, Jeff Carter is available… let’s make a deal, right? We ship out our number one center for their number one center. They get a real solid 5/6th defensemen who gets the job done on the PK. We give them a guy who wants to be a number one goalie for a guy who’s lucky to be a backup.

 

In today’s world of “my capspace is bigger than yours”, GMs have a tough time orchestrating any impact trades until February or March. This season’s deadline is March 3rd and we might see a flurry of activity this year if there are any major injuries during the Olympic Winter Games. Most teams have very little wiggle room right now. They’re up against the cap and can’t make any major moves. Our trades this season have so far involved a contract-for-contract swap (Guillaume Latendresse / Benoit Pouliot) and moving Kyle Chipchura’s minimum contract of $500 000 (or what someone like Vincent Lecavalier made while you were reading this sentence).

Continue reading "Trade Rumours?" »

It’s mid-December and the Habs are still playing .500 hockey. That makes me pretty happy. If you’re wondering why, you can read those reasons here. I think, I believe, I am infinitely confident that our 2009-2010 Montreal Canadiens are doing just fine and will surprise many a critic come springtime.

 

Recently, there’s been a lot of chatter on the site about whether or not this team can make the playoffs. Some say yes, many say no.

 

Some are even calling for this team to tank.

Whaaaaat?

 

Yeah, we should be asking for more quit from our hockey team.

Thanks, but no thanks.

 

There’s still some hope for this year’s Habs. This team WILL make the playoffs. That’s right the Montreal Canadiens will make the playoffs. If I’m wrong? Well, you can shoot my TV.

 

Continue reading "Projections" »

Well, that was one way to close out 100 years of hockey. I was planning on writing a blog full of hope and roses and angels... that was before the puck drop...

 

Mothers have always said "If you're not going to say anything nice, then don't say anything at all".

 

Bonne fête, Le Club de Hockey Le Canadien.

And enjoy the Centennial Celebrations everyone.

We could all use a good party.

Is that Kyle Chipchura in the chipper?

 

Five years after Montreal’s selected Kyle Chipchura in the first round of the NHL entry draft, the 6’2”, 205lbs center from Westlock, Alberta is still having trouble keeping pace in the National Hockey League. In Wednesday’s loss to Pittsburgh, Chipchura played for only 5:12. In Tuesday’s win over Columbus, he skated a season low 3:53. Not enough time to play a good game – or even a bad one for that matter.

If Guillaume Latendresse’s diminished ice-time is any indicator, Jacques Martin has lost faith in another young player who’s about to find himself getting used to a new team logo.

 

Has Chipchura disappointed in Montreal? Is it time to go?

Continue reading "Long Hard Fall" »

Oh, poor baby. All that bellyaching. Must be tough.

 

It’s exhausting complaining about players, goaltenders, coaches, minor league players, management, and other fans. There are lots of reasons to be frustrated with your 2009-2010 Montreal Canadiens, but calling for the team to tank, for firesale trades and an organizational deep clean is a little premature.

 

I don’t expect everyone to be happy with the moves that were made this past off-season or with the current level of play but it is too soon to p-a-n-i-c.

 

We’re not the Hurricanes.

We’re not the Leafs.

Thank God for that.

 

Right now we are a middlish of the pack team. We’ve won 10 games, lost 11 and have 20 points in 21 games. Is that good? Plain and simple – no. Last we earned 93 points and only snuck into the playoffs on a technicality. We’re on pace for less than 80 points and an early summer. But is our current level of play and our position in the standings indicative of our team?

 

Plain and simple – no.

Continue reading "Upset Stomach?" »

What would Allan Walsh have tweeted during the Montreal/Phoenix game?

 

 

Habs win 9th game of season when Client Jaroslav Halak wears his lucky Batman underwear… interesting…

…

Interesting stat… 100% of Price’s wins have come when the Habs score goals…hmmm

…

Teams have book on Price – miss the net and deflect puck off skate. Look for it – teams will keep taking advantage.

Continue reading "More Twitter Controversy" »

What's the matter with Andrei Kostitsyn?

The man just cannot put the puck into the net. He's on the 2nd line, the 3rd line, the 1st line, the 7:32 of ice-time line. Many fans, myself included, were expecting Kostitsyn the Elder to have a breakout season.

I envisioned 35 goals and 65 points. I though he'd be a first-line RW playing on the second line, giving the Habs a strong and balanced attack. Right now, the once mighty AK-46 is on pace for 5 tallies and 16 assists. He's got one foot on the 4th line and one in the dog house.

What's a Belarussian to do? Shoot from the red line?

Continue reading "Andrei Kostitsyn - да or нет?" »

Carey “The Franchise” Price will get his first start in almost two weeks. After a great beginning to the regular season in Toronto (0.940 SP) and then Buffalo (0.970 SP), Price was left out to dry by his teammates in Vancouver, where he was shelled for 7 goals (0.781 SP). The 22 year-old netminder then lost his next 3 starts.

The goalie controversy then took off as Jaroslav “I’m no backup” Halak won 4 in a row for the desperate Habs.

 

With Halak getting pulled after 4 goals and 2 periods in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, Jacques Martin decided that it was time for Price to get a start. There was a lot of rumbling by some fans and pundits on Monday when the hot Slovak got the call in net against the Islanders. Price, they said, needed to get back into it after such a long time on the bench. And who better to play against to get your shaken confidence back than the lowly Islanders?

Well, the mighty Chicago Blackhawks for one.

Continue reading "Something to Prove" »

It took me a while to get back to business on this site. It wasn't for lack of want. So much has happened to this team that I viewed it foolish to write anything along the lines of predictions or impressions about the new mixed bag of treats Bob Gainey assembled over the summer.

There really was no point because I’m neither a scout, a palm reader nor the inventor of a highly efficient hockey team simulator. While the moves Gainey made rested on what he must have assumed was good hockey sense, the reality is that it was and still very much is an educated hunch propelled by hope and wishful thinking.

 

Continue reading "Win or Lose – It’s a Team We Can Like" »

The Montreal Canadiens (5-5-0) are currently sitting in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference. In the Northeast Division the Habs are third, behind a strong Buffalo squad and the competitive Senators.

We all know where the Leafs are in the standings.

The Habs have picked up their play but their stats still show a low-level team. Montreal scores an average of 2.60 goals/game but allows 3.00. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have a combined 0.892 SP which isn’t the worst in the league, but is far from the top. The boys have been short-handed 37 times (20th-NHL), which is much better than the league leading Hurricanes (58), but don’t have the best penalty-kill (78.4%). The powerplay is currently striking at 17.1%, but has definitely been improving over the last couple of games (Marc-Andre Bergeron is on pace for 50 PP goals).

Continue reading "Northeast Round Up" »

The Imperial March?

Or maybe you prefer Thunderstruck? Truth is, both of these songs are pretty cringe-worthy right now. I’d rather have bees sting my ears. Repeatedly. Why would I be so adverse to these cherished classics?

Because the Habs powerplay s u c k s.

Continue reading "Powerless" »

Bob Gainey did not like what he saw at the end of last year. The team that he had carefully assembled over the past 5 years was falling apart at the sub-atomic level. The spectacle of the Centennial celebrations brought too fine a magnifying glass and resurrected the glory – and the (unfair) expectations - of the past. The pressure cooker blew a gasket.

Now, in its 101st year, the Montreal Canadiens are going back to the basics. The team has a clean slate for the 2009-10 season. With new players, a new headcoach, a new assistant coach, a new goaltending coach, a new strength and conditioning trainer, a new coaching staff in Hamilton, and new ownership - everything is brand-spanking new. Everything that is, except for its fans. And boy, do we need to lighten up.

Continue reading "HOCKEY 101" »

It’s been a stunning few days for the fans of the Montreal Canadiens. A few have applauded Bob Gainey for making bold changes to a team that’s been mired in mediocrity for too many years. New faces and new skills will bring a necessary change to a team that had hit it’s ceiling.

Most fans, and many pundits, however, have blasted the Canadiens’ GM for blowing up the team, being impulsive, disloyal, and (almost criminally) inept.

Before the free agency period, Gainey was targeted by fans saying that he wouldn’t do anything. That he was sleeping in on July 1st and had his phone turned off. And even if he tried he couldn’t bring in any talent.

A few cycles of the clock later and Gainey proved those armchair pundits wrong. He made bold moves. Difficult moves.
As the dust settles, BG is being hounded by critics for bringing in 2nd line talent, over-paying for it and missing out on Franchise players.

Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and Mike Cammalleri will be an explosive line. A top line.

But like many fans, I’m hurting right now.

O Captain! My Captain!

Kovy! Kovy! Kovy!

Komisaurus!

Higgy!

I’m definitely going to miss these guys. The Habs are going to be a vastly different team without them. But you know what? We’re going to be a better team. We’re going to be more consistent and we’re going to win more games.

The Habs Centennial year was a disaster. Bob’s 5-year plan was supposed to come to fruition but injuries, a stubborn coach and scandals sunk that celebration. This season we’re back to Hockey 101 – a new class, a new coach, a new spirit in the locker room.

Continue reading "Blood Type? Habs Positive." »

Wingers with potential free agency status on July 1st:

Alex Kovalev (UFA)

Alex Tanguay (UFA)

Chris Higgins (RFA)

Guillaume Latendresse (RFA)

Tom Kostopolous (UFA)

Gregory Stewart (RFA)

Matt D’Agostini (RFA)

Barring any big signings or trades, it’s expected that all RFAs will be made qualifying offers, with everybody receiving a modest raise. Perhaps arbitration will be necessary to settle a deal with Higgins, but after last season he doesn’t have much negotiating leverage. It’s highly unlikely that any other team will try to grab one of our guys with an offer sheet (and equally unlikely that we send out an offer sheets of our own).

That leaves Kovy, Tanguay, and Kostopolous.

Tom the Bomb is a great team guy and a useful grinder, but he can be replaced by a younger, cheaper call-up (i.e. Stewart). If necessary, worry about TK in August.

Kovalev is a fan favorite, but Gainey should look into other options before giving l’Artiste a new deal. He’s 36 and infuriatingly inconsistent. While Kovy can still produce, there won’t be a line-up for his services on July 1.

No need to rush.

It was reported earlier in the week that Gainey has not had much in way of talks with Tanguay or his agent because he has been working on something big. Presumably – and this is a big presumption – that something big is Vincent Lecavalier. (And if we’re to believe Jean Perron, you can also throw Martin St-Louis’ name into that mess of a rumour.)

On Tuesday, league Czar Gary Bettman gave operational control of the Lightning to co-owner Oren Koules, but Len Barrie still holds a veto vote. Any trade involving Lecavalier might have to wait until mid-July when this dysfunctional Tampa ownership (hopefully) gets sorted out. Whether or not that trade involves the Habs remains to be seen.

Continue reading "Wingmen" »

Saku Koivu – Our Captain. The 34-year old Finn is a stalwart of leadership, determination and perseverance. He’s battled through adversity both on and off the ice. He deals well with fans and with the media. He’s made Montreal his home. Unfortunately, he is also a reminder of our failures and our short-comings. We’re an under-sized team and during his tenure, we haven’t made a convincing run in the playoffs.

Saku’s best numbers were in 2006-07 when he notched 22 goals and 53 assists for 75 points. He also had a +/- of -21.
Critics point out that he’s not getting any younger and he’s never been the big number one center that we need. In Koivu’s defense, he’s never claimed to be.

If Gainey doesn’t ink Koivu – and we don’t trade for Lecavalier – then who do we sign to replace him? We could go after Henrik Sedin, but he’s a package deal with Daniel. The purported salary demands of the twins don’t appear exorbitant, but 12-year deals? That’s a long time.

Continue reading "Down the Middle" »

Now that the small distraction of a team-sale is over and done with, GM Bob Gainey can focus on his pressing paperwork.
Signings.
Before reading this, you should go over Pat Hickey's take on the league's cap situation a few days before the draft and a good ten days before unrestricted free agency.
Read on to see a simple list of the Canadiens' UFAs, RFAs, and signed players. Following this posting will be a closer examination of some key positions, UFAs, and potential trades. Continue reading "Down to Business" »

I am officially Alex Kovalev:

 http://www.facebook.com/alexkovalev

Woot! Woot!

Wow. June 12, 2009.

The start of it all - October 4th, 2008 - seems like an eternity ago. A season of (never quite reached) highs and too often, bottom-of-the-barrel lows. A season too short, an enduring disappointment. A Centennial season turned infantile. It was, for our Habs, a year that wasn't.

For either the Wings or the Pens, however, it will be a year to remember. A victory tonight will not be an awkward birthday party but a Championship - a crowning achievement won - not merely by aging - but through battle, determination, skill, vitality and maturity.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7. A good night for hockey fans.

Now 60 war-worthy minutes is all that seperates us from a summer that's already here.

22C, sunny, and  quite humid.

Steak on the BBQ, beers in the fridge.

Cheers.

Enjoy the game everyone.

Lucky Habs shirt. Second lucky Habs shirt on top of the other lucky Habs shirt. Lucky socks. Lucky underwear.
Anyone else? Go Habs Go!

The first two playoff games down in Boston have been humbling affairs for our Montreal Canadiens. They were soundly out-muscled and clearly out-played. The Bruins played well in Game 1 and they played damn well in Game 2. The Habs played decently in Game 1 and piss-poor on Saturday. Game 3 will truly show what these 2008-2009 Montreal Canadiens are made of.
We’re down 2-0. We were given a good spanking on Saturday. And now, at home, we can prove that we deserve to still be competing.
We need to redeem ourselves. We need to claw back into this series. We need to take advantage of a Lucic-less Boston team.
Continue reading "From Milan to Montreal" »

I absolutely abhor the way the Canadiens have been coached since a few hours before the puck was dropped on the opening faceoff of this series. Without being the biggest proponent of coaching tactics as means to win a hockey game, one thing will remain abundantly clear when all of this is said and done: Claude Julien will not have made a single move to manufacture four victories over the Habs, but Gainey's, at best, strange decisions will have killed the team.

Gainey made a terrible decision and sent the wrong message to his own players. By catapulting Georges Laraque to the first line, a player who played so rarely and poorly all year, Gainey tells his team that they're going to take on a brand new appearance before the start of the most important sequence of the year. By way of ricochet, he dismantels the only line that was doing anything in the last MONTH of the season. The team is then expected to adjust to this radically different alignment, with a new first line that will now have to play a completely different style. No time to practice, no sense of how it may turn out because it wasn't tried in the regular season for more than, say, 5 minutes. But Game 1 of the playoffs, that's a great time to experiment.

That's not the worst part of it. In moving Laraque to the first and taking Tanguay off it, Gainey is telling the players we're going to play the Boston Bruins and we're not going to do it by playing our game, Montreal Canadiens hockey. Now let's not kid ourselves, Montreal Canadiens hockey hasn't looked like a Rembrandt painting this year, but totally disfiguring the potency of the first line is too far a stretch. Before the puck is dropped, Gainey makes the statement that he's going to stray from the team's identity. You want to put Latendresse on the Koivu line, there won't be an argument here. You want to offer another line Alex Tanguay to create better balance, that's fine.

But how do you take the only sign of life this team has emitted in the last couple of months and completely dilute its strength? I like Georges Laraque. I like his persona, I love his charisma, I find him to be a gentleman who happens to have taken on a less than gentlemanly role in this league, but he's made a career out of doing what will keep him in the NHL. I admire that. But in calling a spade a spade, one cannot debate the fact that Georges cannot skate, shoot and pass with the likes of Alex Kovalev or Saku Koivu. They compute the game from a different motherboard. 

Sure, you can argue that Georges played a solid first game and controlled the play behind the net, but if I'm Claude Julien I love the way it all pans out. Control whatever you want along the boards, as long as you don't get a whiff of the slot. And if you want to call that "control" be my guest.

After having neutralized his own first line, which as a collective unit came up with a lovely goose egg in Game 1, what does Gainey do? He does it again.

And so for Game 3, the incentive to play Laraque in that position again must surely be gone, above and beyond the fact that it's just not working at all. Milan Lucic will sit Game 3 out after a terrible judgment call at the end of the last game. In doing so, he may have opened the door to a reversal that Montreal badly needs. It's a new game plan if it's Boston sans Lucic on the menu.

But win or lose on Monday night, Gainey has to close the book on the Laraque experiment. Of course, Price was ordinary again on Saturday and that will never take you anywhere in the playoffs. And while the total absence of a second line will prove to be just as fatal, and let's face it, how can you blame the GM for players who refuse to manifest any type of interest (yes, you, Andrei Kostistyn and Tomas Plekanec), Gainey's coup d'envoi set the wrong tone and gave the team an allure that may only be described as weird. 

Good thing Bob Gainey cancelled today’s game-day skate. The Habs will need every ounce of available energy for tonight’s game. The Canadiens definitely played a solid game on Thursday, but the physical play took its toll by the third period.
But then, if you’re going to war with the Big Bad Bruins and in your trenches you’ve got 3 defensemen over the age of 35 (Hamrlik – 35; Brisebois – 38; Schneider – 39) a 34 year-old under-sized number 1 center (who is, by the way, a cancer survivor) and an impact forward who is 36, you got to be expecting some huffing and puffing.
If the Habs want to steal one in Beantown, they’re gonna need to load up on the RedBull in between periods. Continue reading "Tonight’s Game Sponsored by RedBull" »