Rack Em' Up

Another typical Habs/Flyers game: full of goals, fast-paced and chippy hockey. For the third game in a row, the Habs managed to pull through with a win. Not too long ago, we were getting clobbered 6-2, 7-2. I'm telling you, when you've got solid goaltending and productive special teams, wins are hard to miss.

Glen Metropolit, Gainey's latest pickup, sure didn't raise my eyebrows. However, for a 4th line center at 34 years old, I'd say we may have gotten our money's worth out of this guy. While he may not have had the best start with us, he's at least a step up on Chipchura. Plus he's not a UFA at the end of the season which is a fad on the team. He's also a must-needed right hand centerman.

Once again Mathieu Schneider, who's showing us just how much one man can help a team's powerplay, did his job. Mark down 5 points (3G, 2A all on the powerplay) in 5 games. I'd take that from a 39 year old. Heck if he keeps this up, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back next year!

What can I say about Plekanec and Halak? They are the two hottest players on team right now. Plekanec is now 7-5-12 in his last 7 games while Halak has averaged 37 saves in his last 6 starts. I'm not going to repeat myself, so I'll conclude by saying that whatever these two are doing, I highly suggest they don't change it. Kovalev has also been playing well. 11 points in 10 games ain't too shabby. As the trade deadline quickly approaches, Kovy's name will surely come up in trade-talks. TSN is saying that Columbus and Edmonton have shown interest in him. Whether it's true or just trade-talk, you're all welcome to waste x amount of hours of your life watching TSN's TRADECENTRE '09 next Wednesday (yes, all capitals, it's that important).

Breezer was at his best tonight. He, of course assisted on Gagné's game-tying goal. He also pulled a couple needless icings because of those center-ice passes of his. Just a reminder to everyone, he is 3 games away from reaching 1000. Thus CONFIRMING his never coming back after this season. Komisarek is another guy who's getting on my nerves (Breezer's always been on my nerves, Komisarek's still working on it). For whatever reason, he's having so much trouble controlling the puck along the boards which is leading to needless penalties on his part and odd-man rushes for the other team. This is a hole he better dig himself out of, fast.

Basically, another confidence booster for Montreal, which will hopefully turn routine by the time we reach the playoffs. Tanguay's comeback is something I have been looking forward to for the past 3 weeks. Don't be surprised to see minor trades here and there between now and the deadline. Don't expect it to be minutes before it though, Gainey's too smart to buy into that nonsense. Sharks are in town tomorrow night.

Photos: Yahoo! Sports

Halak, Halak, He's Our Man, If He Can't Do It, No One Can!

Finally, 2 W's back-to-back! It's been a while since I've last seen that. It's also been a while since I've believed in this team. It's almost as if the handful of distractions have given these guys a boost. The right pieces are falling into place, finally. Let's begin, shall we?

Let's start with the best. The essential piece to any cup-contender, is a goalie. Jaroslav Halak, who never accepted being backup, has made the absolute most out of his opportunities. In his last 4 starts, which have been his best so far, Jaro's saved 153 of 162 shots, and has a save percentage of .943. Carbo needs to keep playing him and not focus on getting Carey back on track. There is no way that we would have won had it not been for #41.

Next are the special teams. The confidence is definetly there. The puck is moving a lot quicker and there are a lot more cross-ice passes. Before, no one would move and the puck would stay to the outside. Hey, 8 for 19 is good enough for me. Also important, the PK. Koivu especially did very well on this last night. Faceoff wins are key, and they are starting to get them. We've only let in 2 PP goals out of the last 19 chances.

Finally, a top scoring line is getting back into form. Yes, the K-P-K line has been producing. Plekanec has had a season to forget, but he seems to be regaining confidence. 6 points in 10 games!

3 key components: a goalie, a powerplay, and a scoring line are all lights on. However, 16 shots in an entire game will not win you games. Montreal has also allowed too many shots game after game. Tanguay cannot come back soon enough, and Bouillon's injury just adds to the frustration. Next up, Flyers on Friday in Philly.

Photos: Yahoo! Sports

Maybe, There is Hope...

What with all that's been going on in the past week, whether it be Kovy's benching or the criminal inclusions, I was pretty much sold on the fact that all of these distractions would bring us down. On top of that, with a handful of losses on the road trip, I didn't find it necessary to post reviews on them. Nevertheless last night, the boys showed up to play.

One of the things that most impressed me was the quick start. Finishing the first 2 goals up, both of them created by Kovalev, usually gets the crowd going. Take that critics (and myself)! Kovalev completely showed them up tonight. Maybe he does care and wants to finish his career in Montreal... Gainey definitely has the bragging rights on this move. Kovy played 19:54, more then any other Habs forward, and recorded 3 points and 2 on the powerplay.

Oh, and did I mention the powerplay? We went 3 for 4 last night, and 7 for 11 in the last 3. 7 PPG! About a month ago, you would have to add up 15 games to get 7 PPG. The Schneider effect has really kicked in. 1 point in each of his 3 games played for us, all coming on the powerplay. Money in the bank! Funny what 1 guy will do for you on the powerplay.

Halak had yet another career night. Two shaky first periods led to an unbelievable 3rd one. He made 44 saves (only second to his 46 saves a week ago). As far as I'm concerned, this guy is our number 1 from now on. Sorry Carey, you've failed to keep us in games unlike Jaro.

As games go by, Plekanec is playing less and less like a "little girl". 5 goals in as many games, throw in a point streak (8 points in it) and you've got a real man! Here's hoping that he can only build on this.

Aside from being a wanted criminal, Andrei Kostitsyn has been one of the few consistent players for us. Prior to last night, he was enjoying a four game point streak (7 points, 4 goals). If anyone is going to reach the 30-goal plateau, it'll be him.

But with positives, negatives follow along as well. Komisarek has been one of the worst players since the All-Star break. Remind me why he there in the first place? He took three avoidable penalties that could have easily cost us dearly. I'm not very impressed with this guy.

The Canadiens finished the road trip by getting only 3 of a possible 12 points. However, they need to put all of that behind them and never look back. Last night's effort was a sign of good things to come. Tanguay's aiming for a return next week and our powerplay has never looked better. After a two-day break, they play Vancouver's next on Tuesday at the Bell.

Photos: Yahoo! Sports

Welcome Back, Schneider

Finally! A trade that we've been all waiting for. 39 year old Mathieu Schneider, who started his career off with the Habs, has been acquired by Bob Gainey for a 2nd rounder in 2009 and a 3rd rounder in 2010. On top of that, the Habs also get a conditional draft in 2009.

So he might not bring us back to the top in terms of our powerplay. But as far as I'm concerned, he's at least a step up on Breezer! To make room for him, RDS reports that Ryan O'Byrne has been sent back down to Hamilton. It's too bad for Ryan, I thought his game has really picked up since being recalled. Maybe this is why he was a scratch last night.

Either way, this guy has always been a Tom Brady on the powerplay. I wasn't around when he first was a Hab, but some good sources have shown me thumbs up on him.

Mathieu's on his final year of his contract, which the Canadiens will have to pay the rest of. He brings experience and talent, but is most likely nothing more then a rental. Hopefully, this will be the first of many trades made by BG. Because this alone, is not nearly enough.

Photo courtesy: Geocities.com

A Letter to Mr. Gainey

Dear Bob,

Enough is enough and in the interest of all of your disappointed fans, please make the right decision. Please fire Guy Carbonneau.

Thank you,
Bradley M.

Sorry For the Belated Posts, I Was Throwing Up

Let's start with the better of the two: The 3-2 loss to Buffalo. I was lucky enough to be sitting in section 304, row 8, seat 11 on that awful night. Considered a "gold value" game, the tickets weren't exactly a giveaway but, I consider a ticket to a Habs game as a blessing from the Lord. But, for the second time this season, the team failed to show up when I have. The Buffalo wings I ate before the game were better then the game.

We started the game well by tripling Buffalo's amount of shots, but no goals. So my hopes were high, and so was my belief that we could pull out with a win. Early on in the second, Price let in a weak one. We managed to capitalize on a powerplay and tied it up. However Buffalo retook the lead nearly a minute and a bit later. Here we go again. We're down going into the third, and the next goal ends up deciding the game. Sure enough, Buffalo got that goal because of yet another costly mistake from Mike Komisarek.

All period long was pretty disgraceful to watch, until Hammer pulled one back with 3 and a half to go. After that, we were flying. Shots, pressure and everything needed to score. But Alexei Kovalev, l'Artiste himself, oddly enough as this was VERY rare of him, took a stupid tripping penalty which limited us to any chance of scoring. Thanks Alex, you really know how to ruin a kid's night. I had to sit through all of that crap, to see a comeback canceled by #27? No way. I blew up and probably annoyed some people around me. It took my father to nudge me to shut me up. From that point, until we reached the car, I didn't say a word. Call it silent rage.

Now in the car on the ride back home, my father and I had a lengthy analysis about the joke we had to sit through. First off, Price had another weak night and did not look good at all. But the main topic of conversation that came up, was that of the problem with this team. I complain about Kovalev night after night, but who is it that sends him on the ice? Guy Carbonneau. Management is the biggest of our worries right now. Why in the world was Kovalev even on the ice with 2 minutes to go? He did absolutely NOTHING at all throughout the entire game and even took another idiot penalty halfway through the third. Carbo refuses to get mad at this guy (which is something I would've 2 months ago), and instead gives him more playing time. Are you kidding me? Carbo, instead of making the right decision that would benefit the team, decides to suck up to "l'artiste".

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Now for Saturday's game against the Leafs. I'll be completely honest with you. Going into this one, I had never been more sure in my life that we were going to lose. And the fact that Halak was sick, and that Price would start, made matters even worse. Unfortunately my prediction was dead on. Price let in goals that would've been easy for him to save before his injury. Every time a Leaf would skate up across the blue line, he would go into a butterfly stance, and back into the net leaving many open holes that lead to 5 soft goals. This guy's confidence is at an all time low. He even looked like he was going to cry in an interview after the game. Carey, you're in the big leagues now and this is part of a normal goalie's career. It happens to the best of them, yes even your hero Martin Brodeur. He puts all the pressure of the world on himself and acts like a baby whenever things don't go his way. "Take off your dress and let's end this tea party" - Dane Cook.

Carbo messed up once again by playing Kovalev on the powerplay, 7 times. Montreal scored once (on a 5 on 3) out of the 7 powerplays that we got. Bouillon hit the bar on a WIDE open net. Higgins failed to capitalize on a few chances, including a runaway breakaway. All of these opportunities would have completely changed the outlook of the game. Things that would have been day and night for us last year, are very hard to do now... This is right up there with the worst loss of the season.

To rap it up, these were both brutal games. Just really uninspired play on both nights. Maybe the team is quitting on the coach? Or maybe they just don't care. The team is in a much worse position then I thought and if changes aren't made real soon, things are only going to get worse. The fact of the matter is, we've now lost 7 of our last 9 games. The pressure is now on Gainey to shake up the team. He's got to do something, because with this same team, we aren't going ANYWHERE.

Photos: Yahoo! Sports

Funny What a Fight'll Do For Ya!

Well the title says it all, really. Pittsburgh scored first and the next shift Alex Henry dropped the gloves. This, essentially, woke up the team and inspired them to play. Sure enough, two minutes later, a steal by Sergei lead to Hamrlik's 3rd of the year. And the rest just came naturally, and that's how we played. We played as if it were the 2007-08 season.

For the first time in a while, it'll be hard to cover all standout individual performances. Tonight was a team effort, not only offensively though. The right players stepped up to shut down Crosby and Malkin. Goaltending wasn't half bad either.

Hamrlik play of late has not been the best, but he sure made up for it tonight. He's posted a -9 rating in his last 10 games but tonight had a goal, an assist, 3 shots and a +4 rating. You know, he doesn't do it often enough, but Hammer knows how to get some points. I'd like to see him do a little more of his back-door sneak-ins like at the beginning of the year. Another defenceman who played well is O'Byrne. +1 and 17:53 TOI is all the more encouraging to see from this guy. Honestly, from what he showed tonight, I think he is a better passer than Komisarek. At least twice he sent players on offensive rushes. For a guy who was supposed to be injured, Josh Gorges sure played like he wasn't. He's shown us a warrior side to him. He's come a long way from not being able to stand up!

When everything goes well, everyone chips in. Kovalev's hard work seemed to revive the old trio. How many times has Carbo tried this line together? Personally, I think the chemistry is gone and it's a waste of time. But you never know with these three. They did get a goal tonight, need I remind you.

I'm loving what I'm seeing of Chris Higgins since his return. He's reminded me of the Higgins that had 14 goals in 21 games way back in 06-07. Being the streaky player that he is, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he becomes a regular in the goals column. It's those first few strides that give him the advantage. One on one with Higgy, you might be lucky to poke the puck away before he takes off with it. And his shot? Well, watch the replays, they'll do the talking.

Yes, this was a real refreshing performance that was long overdue. However, let's not get in over our heads here. Pittsburgh is a 2-man show that has now lost 4 of their last 5. This really should be a win either way. It's one thing to win a pretty one, it's another to keep it going. Next, the Habs travel to HSBC Arena to play the Sabres and, yours truly, will be there live in colour. The boys have a 2 day break and should benefit from the time off. They have a busy few weeks ahead of them including a long and demanding road trip. This'll be a test for the team. Here's hoping we can keep this up!

Photos: Yahoo! Sports

Robert Lang, You Will Be Missed

For those of you who may not already know, the suspicions on Robert Lang's injury have been confirmed today. Thankfully, he went through successful surgery on his Achilles tendon. He will have to miss the rest of the season to recover from this injury. The 38 year old finishes the season with 39 points (18G, 21A) with a +6 rating in 50 games.

Lang, a native of Czechoslovakia, was drafted 133rd overall by LA in 1990. After shuffling back and forth between the NHL, IHL and Czech, he was signed by Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1997. He settled into a niche and put up solid points throughout his 5 seasons with them. The best season of his career came in the 2000-01 season where he put up 80 points (32G, 48A) in 82 games on a line with Alex Kovalev (that too was Kovy's best season as well).

In 2002, Lang was signed by Washington as a free agent. In 145 games with the Caps, he recorded 143 points. Now at age 33, Robert was truly in his prime, and highly valuable. A struggling and desperate Washington went for broke and traded their star player to Detroit for a T.Fleischmann, a first round pick (Mike Green) and a 4th round pick. He again put up solid points (119 in 159 points) for Detroit and 54 points in one season for Chicago.

With one year left on his contract, Bob Gainey acquired Lang from the Blackhawks in exchange for a 2nd round pick. The plan was for Lang to be a two-way 3rd line center who could contribute every now and then on offense. Also, many believed that he would spend the year in Montreal and then become a free agent at the end of the year. Well, knowing the Canadiens, things never go as planned. When top center Koivu got injured for a lengthy period, a number 1 centerman was needed, and Plekanec wasn't getting the job done. Lang stepped up for the Canadiens, and was a regular on the score sheet. Getting powerplay, shorthanded and 1st line playing time, Lang ended up becoming the leading scorer on the team. He quickly became a fan fave because of his consistent production.

Maybe it's because so much is going wrong for Montreal right now that losing this guy hurts that much more. And maybe it was his smile or his long streaky hair that made him so graceful. Exceeding all expectations, Lang was a discreet leader, a positive energy and a workaholic. Because of all these characteristics, he had me sold on him! Robert Lang, we all wish you a speedy recovery!

Photos: Montreal Canadiens Official Website, Daylife

References: Yahoo! Sports, Wikipedia

Shut Down, Again

It seems that this type of game is turning into a trend when we play the Bruins. They maintain a lead going into the late stages of the game, and go into this shutdown game style. You've really got to hand it to Claude Julien. He's taught his team a good style of play that works, night after night. As much as I hate hearing myself saying this, the Bruins are a much better team then Montreal, this year.

I was not very impressed with the play of a few guys. Now that Captain Koivu is back in the lineup, Kovalev has disappeared from the scoresheet. This confirms that the two cannot play on the same team. If I were Bob Gainey, I would start including one of the two in those trade offers. I may be sounding extreme here but as far as I'm concerned, it's necessary. Hopefully Carbo giving Kovalev only 11:24 TOI will send a message through that thick skull of his. Number 27 is really getting on my nerves, once again. Komisarek has had better nights. I wonder how many giveaways he had tonight, and what his passing percentage was. As far as I'm concerned, he cost us the game because of his idiot mistake at the end of the first.

The two big guys played their roles well. Alex Henry is nothing more than a fighter who lacks the ability to skate. His first shift confirmed that. Thankfully he dropped the gloves with that idiot Thornton. O'Byrne would be my choice to play between the two in games to come. He played 16:42 and was one of only 5 players who weren't in the minuses. He's been steadily hitting more and his passing has improved. With Gorges out, he might take his spot alongside Hamrlik.

As if we already have enough injuries. Our most consistent player, Lang, could very well have played his last game of the season. And hard-worker Latendresse is probably concussed. D'Agostini put up a scare as well. You know, if the team was doing well I wouldn't be so worried, but because we've lost more than we've won lately, it's the worst thing that can happen. We've had trouble scoring goals, now the team-leader is done? Give me a break, how unlucky can we get?

To sum up the game, it was a good effort that was matched and doubled by a more rounded team. Something needs to be done to shake things up, and that's when Big Guns upstairs steps in. It's time to make changes. Boston on the other hand have absolutely nothing to worry about. From lines 1 to 4, they have a team full of players that are hungry for the cup. We need more inspiration like that in Montreal. Kovalev whining about losing the C is not the answer to our problems. God I hate those damn Bruins...

Photo courtesy: Yahoo! Sports