Things that have happened since the last Dec 23 Road Win for the Habs

Here's a slice of things that have happened, or how the world looked the last time the Habs had a road win on Dec 23.
It's been a little while since we last won a road game on the 23rd of December. Our last WIN on this date was at home to Pittsburg... in 1995.
I'll stick to the big ones, mostly related to hockey.

- The internet became widespread because of...

- Every powered computer ever developed was manufactured.

- The television gained widespread acceptance, switched to colour, and changed resolutions half a dozen times. It's moved from vaccuum-tube'd implementation with a cathode ray tube display to liquid crystal displays, plasma output screens, and OLED LCDs.

- As an addenum to that, the NHL went from being primarily radio-driven to being televised, with the addition of white ice

- The Montreal Canadiens won 20 more Stanley Cups, while the Leafs won 7.

- The NHL Expanded from 6 to 30 teams.

- Every major Rock, rap, and rnb star's career has occurred since that game.

- It occured during the first season that a player scored 50 goals in 50 games. That very player along with Elmer Lach lead the Habs to a win that night against the Bruins.

- Every retired number in the Bell Centre except Howie Morenz was retired after that game.

- Both Bob Gainey and Jaques Martin were not born when the game took place.

- Since that game only two playersi n the NHL have been goaltenders named captain of their team, Bill Durnan two years later, and Roberto Luongo 63 years later.

- Some players had not yet returned from the Second World War.

- Newfoundland became a Canadian province, Nunavut a Canadian Territory.

- Toronto overtook Montreal as the most populous Canadian city.

- Rosa Parks had not refused to stand, Martin Luther King had not had a dream, Malcolm X had not yet caused controversy, and the civil rights movement had not yet happened.

- The Berlin Wall had not yet fallen.. actually the Berlin Wall had not yet been built.

- Russia was run by Stalin, Spain by Franco, and Cuba by Ramón Grau (also known as "someone not named Castro")

- In the amount of time that has gone by, Hal Gill could complete four full laps around the rink.


1945 was a long, long time ago.

Tuesday Top Ten: Signs Your Team Might Be Falling Out of the Playoffs

Tuesday top ten time, and as we're halfway through the season, it's time to chronicle what might be signs that your team will be golfing at the end of April, so

Top ten signs your team might be falling out of the playoff race:

10: Your goaltender was reminded he is, in fact, Cam Ward

9: Hopes for your team rest at least partly on a goaltender aquired in December.

8: No one in Montreal wants your French-Canadian star centre.

7: Have been blown out this season by the Leafs

6: Contingancy plan on your star player getting injured is a player not good enough for the Leafs.

5: Your playmaking centre has had his size be a trending topic on twitter more times than points he's gotten this year.

4: You traded a former fourth-overall pick for a player you have healthy-scratched in the past week.

3: Your team is allowing Chris Osgood to actually face a few shots a game.

2: After spending $20 million this season on new free agents, the one bailing your team out the most is a $750 000 a year defensemen who injured his own goalie in the stanley cup finals.

1: The league is feeling too much pity to find a reason to suspend Chris Pronger.

I'm Back: The Favourite, part 1

My life has been a bit upside down for the past month-ish, and I haven't been posting as I should. I apologize and am now looking to get back in the swing of things.

We'll get started with what is going to be an eleven part feature The Favourite
Since we lost most of the familiar faces of the franchise this off-season, many people are clamoring to find a player to identify with, to like. Even halfway through the season, the amount of people on Twitter asking what jersey to buy supports this. I'm going to profile eleven players, and advocate all of them as potential 'favourites'. They may not all be the best, but they may have some aspects that just jump out and say "Yes, I'm proud to have his number. I'm proud to cheer for him. He's a favourite".



Favourite Hab: #46 - Andrei Kostitsyn

The Basics:
Andrei will always have a bit of a dark mark on him that's not his fault. We selected him over a few players who've gotten some press time, guys with the last names like Carter and Getslaf. He had an immensly rocky start to this season, and was viewed as nothing special last season (despite a respectable 23 goals), but most remember two seasons ago when he had 26 goals in 78 games. He's spent much of his time with the Habs as being touted as having immense talent we're waiting to have show up. He's got one of the best shots on the team (Cammalleri's is better, and while Bergeron's is certainly harder, Kostitsyn's is more accurate), and it's become clear he's moved out of Kovalev's shadow and works very well with Thomas Plekanec.

The Stats:
AK46 is a proven 20 goal scorer, which is naturally useful on a team with issues with secondary scoring, though since Gionta has gone down there's been nothing secondary about Andrei's role with the team. Andrei Kostitsyn, a six-foot tall winger has 10 goals and 12 assists this season (sitting at +2), putting him on pace for another 20+ goal season on paper, but its important to note he was held to only two goals in the first quarter of the season. He's producing at a much faster rate now and it will be interesting to see where he ends up this season.

Intangibles:
Despite what people may say about his occasional moments of under-performing, he's dealt with immense pressure surrounding him, be it unfair comparisons to Alexei Kovalev, controversy concerning shady Belorussian mobsters, or the drama surrounding his brother early this season. One of his biggest issues had been communications issues with the rest of the team, but since becoming closer talking with Plekanec, his production has ramped up this season. As he becomes more open with the team, we can expect the best out of him. He's also finally discovered exactly what he can do when he puts the puck on the net. Often ignored, while not a heavy hitter by any means, he isn't afraid to take the body at all.

Highlights:
All highlight videos are not my own creation.

An excellent article on our new aquisition

First and foremost, good to see the team rally to a win last night. If someone said in our stretch of games between Washington, Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburg, and Washington that we'd have 5 points total, some would accept that as performing decently - we have that after only three of the five games. We're in Pittsburg tonight and hope we can keep the magic alive.


Everyone has moments in sports that get them a bit misty-eyed and I really think this article about our new aquisition, Benoit Pouliot, needs to be read. It's from ESPN though I found it off of Habs InsideOut

The article

Little brother returns, The golden boy is shipped out of town

Montreal Canadiens call up RW S. Kostitsyn, trade RW G. Latendresse for Centre B. Pouliot.

I assume I'm not the only one who didn't see this coming, despite the fact that I've been dead to the world for the past week. Poulot was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, which makes me wonder if he'll poke some fun at the fifth overall pick from the same round. Though you could just look at this as Montreal trading up 41 spots four years after the fact, while laughing about how people said "Montreal is dumb taking a goalie, Theodore and Huet will always be rock solid for them"

Latender was really getting lashings for underperforming, though his real issue was trying to be a finesse player when every aspect of his build and skillset says "Crash the net you're a power forward". That said, best of luck to him in Minnesota. Good to see members of the Habs playing with a guy named Koivu.

Speaking of which, we really need to get on signing Plekanec. I don't know what the cap implications of this deal were, but we aquired an underperforming centre for an underperforming winger and somehow I doubt this was meant as just a screw you to Kyle Chipchura.

Maybe the real thing here is either our maligned winger (who has 13 points in 16 games in the AHL) is either going to move up to the NHL on a more regular basis or is going to move out of town in the very immediate future. I'm not sure which I prefer so much as I hope we just get solid play. I;d like to see both Kostitsyn's succeed, but I want what's best for the team first. I'm not worried about this callup, I'm just curious about it's implications.

In other news Greg Stewart is finally back in the AHL. Finally.

Mancrush Vindicated

I make no secrets of it. I like Kyle Chipchura. He hasn't been defensively responsible in the past, but he's aggressive, has good leadership qualities, and is strong on the puck. If he could score, he'd be what Guilliame Latendresse is supposed to be. Except Gui! is not. Which is why Chips is getting the nod tonight, and I am immensely happy.


Tomorrow I'll be debuting a new feature that'll last ten weeks - Every Sunday I'll profile a Hab as a candidate to be a "favourite player" - It's not leading to a 'decision' or anything, I just figured that the boys could use moments in the spotlight as so many fan favourites slid out of town in the off season, and now that we're 20 games in we can start talking about the character of these folks

Your guide to enjoying the habs at home.

I live in Toronto. It's a rough city to be a habs fan in; as we had the audacity to ship them via free agency a penalty-box timekeeper pretending to be an all-star defenseman.

That said, living in Ontario, or really anywhere outside of la belle Province makes it incredibly challenging to actually enjoy a Habs game. RDS is hard to stumble upon, Hockey Night in Canada coverage is lacking, and six hour commutes are somewhat inconvenient to see your team.

I'm going to try and keep this fairly affordable and vague. Not everyone can commit thousands of dollars to a home theatre.

So here I present: The Essentials to Creating a Home Habs Experience

1: You will need a TV. Not a computer, not a laptop. NHL Gamecentre on their website has some incredibly unfortunate restrictions with blackouts.. and internet connection latency

2: You'll need a cable box or sattelite. This unfortunately is non-negotiable. You simply wont get more than a dozen games without it.

3: Order the channels! If you need english coverage, you'll be shelling out around $140/season for the Center Ice package, which is great. If that seems a bit excessive you can cut the cost in half by simply ordering RDS, which only sets you back $6 a month, though you get no other teams and your games will be in French. If this is a problem to you, pull up a laptop and watch the game while listening to the CJAD feed off the internet:  http://www.cjad.com/

4: Your experience is going to be limited if you don't have good seating. A good couch or big recliner really helps take the edge off of going 0-10 on the man advantage.

5: Beer, scotch, bourbon, or ginger ale. While not openly promoting alcohol, a good sipping beverage really does add to the experience. And if you like your drinks with kick, they can help you forget it after an embarassing home loss. There's also the added subtle team loyalty if you drink Molson, or only drink Molson when the team is leading. The one buddy you could convince to watch the Habs with you will truly understand your committment.

6: Snacks. Both satisfying and an excuse to leave your seat during commercial breaks and embarassing defensive lapses.

7: Either a buddy or twitter. Just so you're not potentially drinking alone in your basement watching a hockey game with commentary that you don't understand. If you're really good at this you might even want to start a hockey blog.

The first week of comparing Kessel to Cammelleri

As I said I would do way back in late September, I'll be comparing Phil Kessel to Michael Cammalleri all year. I've spent the last month learning how to spell "Cammalleri" and it's time to begin. I'll be doing one of these once every week or two weeks, depending on how creative i feel, and at the end of each month I'll see who "won" the month.

I'd love to point out that Cammalleri has 14 points to Kessel's 3, someone would likely point out that comparing one player to another when one spent a month doing nothing is only legitimate when the player doing nothing is actually on the ice, and as this comparison has nothing to do with Jason Blake, we can only look back to Nov 2 for the comparison.

Kessel has three points since then including a game winner; though do game winners really count when your team wins by four goals? Meanwhile Cammalleri has been trying an experiment called "secondary scoring" where his line puts up very few points hoping that Thomas Plekanec is ready for a lot of work. Meanwhile there's the sensation that Cammalleri is actually focused on working with his teammates as he's assisted on goals and clearly can score himself as his shootout winner proved. That said, it might be because Cammalleri actually has NHL quality linemates as opposed to an AHL centre and a creepy albino guy who's patented skills include "going fast", "wrist shot from the blue line", and "ruining my team's cap situation for the foreseeable future"

I won't be declaring a 'winner' this week, it's more that it's good to see the party has begun for this comparison. Besides both players are at basically a point per game pace anyway so they're theoretically neck and neck.

Halak's Agent is an Incompetent Idiot.

I am a Carey Price fan. I've come near the point of being a Carey Price apologist. Sometimes I'm justified - the game against Boston was his 50th win, and it took him 102 games to do so. The only player to do better was Martin Broduer who did it in 93. The other player to do it in 102 was Patrick Roy.  He's had bad moments but he's shown the flashes of brilliance early in his career that he easily has potential to be a star, and we can't abuse this too much. I'm not saying he's the next Roy, but if he's the next [upper mid-tier goaltender] instead are we that bad off? Also, more than Halak, Price has been proven to have a game-stealing ability.

That said, I'm also a Jaroslav Halak fan. He's a hard working player who people had low expectations of, yet has been undeniably strong when given the call in most cases (though in his losses he has been terrible enough to make us briefly forget some of Price's high-glove-side embarrassments). I believe given time he is certainly starter quality. I'd rather him over Cristobal Huet, Vesa Toskala, or Chris Osgood certainly, and I'm sure he offers a better value proposition than say, Evengi Nabokov who's had a strong team hide his actual skill set. He's yet to walk in and steal a game, but I'm sure that will come with time and chances, just look at Atlanta's Pavelec.

The thing to remember though, is these players are teammates. While they would likely have a rivalry for position in starts, the fact is their main goal should be getting wins for the team, as that's the point of being on a team and why they're hockey players and not tennis players. The team -always- comes first. This is the same reason it's frustrating to see players raising their game in a contract year. This is also why it's completely unacceptable for an agent of one player to try to incense the fanbase against the other.

If you're one of the people who missed Hockey Night in Canada last night, here's the story.

Retweeted constantly on the twitter tubes last night:
"Interesting stat of the night....Price is 10W, 32L in last 42 starts. Hmm."

Much more interesting is the fact that the statistic came from Halak's agent, Allan Walsh.

We can't just jump and say "OH THESE STATS ARE WRONG" because, well, they aren't. But throwing that out there seems somewhat malicious for someone who's apparently a professional. Isn't his task supposed to be communicating issues with management and using his actual negotiating ability to turn things in favour for his client, not simply incensing a vocal fanbase against his agent's competitor?

All Habs called him out on twitter with "Not exactly an objective source. That stat came from Halak's agent. Advocacy like that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. @walsha" to which re responded "Sorry you don't like the stat, if the stat was wrong, you may have a point..I was pointing out an interesting stat for fans." which just strikes me as an irritating smear campaign, especially considering despite Halak's strong home stats, has been abysmal on the road during his career. Walsh also stated to All Habs "It's no secret who my client is....and very relevant stat as it relates to my client."; Everyone has pointed out how terrible this is, and how this will divide the fanbase, pit players and fans against each other, and potentially harm both players. But here's something no one seems to be bringing up - HALAK IS INJURED. Is Walsh so ignorant of his own client's status that he's implying that a time where having him play would be a risk to his health is the appropriate time to try and cause controversy? I mean, it's evident he wanted more backlash against Price, but at least pick a logical time to be an unprofessional scumbag.

What's funny is after Hockey Night in Canada spent their Coast-to-Coast segment ostracizing Captain Ignoramus (especially Jeff Marek and former goaltender Kelly Hrudy), Walsh twitted* to Marek "It was a tongue in cheek comment not meant to be taken seriously, forgot it was Montreal and everyone loses a sense of humor." Ignoring the fact that the HNIC staff are not specifically invested in Montreal specifically, wouldn't his prior statements to All Habs blatantly contradict that? Hell, even my attempts at being funny are better than that. And instead of apologizing for a failure at humour as he claims, he instead attacks the entire fanbase of the team. Could this possibly reflect well on his client at this point? This is almost a brazen effort to cause chaos in an already rather.. vocal.. fanbase. What gives?

Jaro, there's no way in hell you read my blog, but I wish you well. Please, for all of us, find better representation. 




* while 'tweeted' is apparently the correct term, twitted seems much more fitting of Allan Walsh

I'm a bad Habs fan.

Guys, I have a confession. I'm a bad Habs fan.

There are a lot of things that make me a bad habs fan, here's a list of the reasons:

I don't think it's appropriate to boo the team I love if they're evidently trying, or to boo a specific player on the team I love if he's had a rough night yet is still trying.

I believe singing songs referring to, or referencing the term "goodbye" should be reserved for when we actually win a playoff series or knock a team out of playoff contention.

I don't think my team's rich and illustrious history needs to have a 30 minute ceremony before every regular season game.

I desire success but I only expect effort

I think the captain of my team should be the leader of the players, not the player who's most fluent in the language of the reporters.

If my team has a rough night and defensively collapses, my mind doesn't immediately jump to "goaltender controversy"

My love of things catching fire and my love of hockey are only connected on playoff series with actual trophies on the line.

When a player is underperforming I don't associate that with media pressure, or ostracize him for his origin, be it French Canadian or Belorussian.

I think, through his time with the team, Bob Gainey has been a good general manager, and calling for his removal every time he makes a move that isn't for Vincent Lecavalier is inappropriate.

Finally, I think 1993 was a long time ago, and I want to get back to that, but I don't think every time we're near the playoffs it's fair to our goaltending staff to start mentioning Patrick Roy.

This makes me a bad Habs fan. Who's with me?

First hockey trending topic on twitter

Well we finally have our first trending topic on twitter of the NHL season and it's....

#KyleWellwoodIsSoFat.

Seriously

Everyone is contributing gems (led by DownGoesBrown and Pension Plan Puppets) and it's a riot.


I contributed (from my twitter account _neverender) #KyleWellwoodisSOfat that he chased Ray Emery assuming he was carrying icing sugar

Oleeeeee

Okay so, looks like its Halak the starter time!


Except that would be dumb as hell. Seriously.
Halak has proved he can stop in two games as many pucks as Carey Price faces in one, against two teams with incompetent offense outside of one star per team, both in the cellar last year, and one of them certainly headed back there this season.
He also demonstrated he can pass to the other team during a powerplay from behind his own net.

Goaltenders certainly contribute to wins but wins do not make average goaltending performances stellar. This is important.

Jacques Martin twitter

It appears Jaques Martin has discovered twitter! And.. is typing in English!

Live Blog and Booze: Thrashers at Canadiens

For my first live blog I will also be testing out the Montreal Canadiens 2009-2010 Drinking Game.
Bare with me, this night could end badly.

Martin predicted this move and decided to start Halak, invalidating all my shots against Price in the game

If you want to play along, the drinking game is here: http://habinhiding.blogspot.com/2009/10/2009-2010-habs-drinking-game.html

Shout outs and liveblogging

Well, my hockey-watching friends are all pre-occupied tonight, which means I will be doing two things
1: First trial run of the Habs Drinking Game
2: First trial run at liveblogging a game.

This could be amazing, or a disaster - odds are it'll be hilarious either way.

I don't like doing blog shoutouts too often because I'm of the belief that most habs fans tend to already read the same blogs I do, but that's not always the case.

I found a blog about someone who began following the Canadiens recently after being a Sabres fan and fell in love with the team; I can relate somewhat as I have a very soft spot in my heart for Columbus and to a much lesser extent Phoenix. That said, he was disenfranchised with our sometimes goon-like behaviour in our first two games, and I found this to be a perspective I hadn't seen before. I also thought it was outright wrong at the time and commented as such, but I can see how someone used to the finesse history of the team and started watching us when we had almost no physical presence may not appreciate the turnaround. It's a perspective I'd legitimately never seen before, and think it deserves attention from all five of my readers.
http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/?p=3572
Its refreshing to see our fanbase make criticisms that have some legitimacy instead of "Gomez doesn't speak French" "Price cant make a glove save" and "Carbo should be fired". I still see that last one, incidentally.


The other post is off of LionsInWinter and I think is perfect in addressing the panic mode some people are in and the issues facing the habs today. I won't steal his thunder and he doesn't need justification for me linking him, so check it out
http://www.lionsinwinter.ca/2009/10/habs-rough-start-was-expected.html

Anyone else remember this?

It's been too long since I've used the Saku tag.





I was considering making an "Obscure moments in Habs History" regular feature but seeing as I steal from Down Goes Brown enough, nor am I familiar enough to know what counts as obscure, I think I'll just share memories here and there without pomp and circumstance.

I remember this bout distinctly, and being remarkably shocked about Saku (almost) fighting. I had forgotten his opponent but suddenly it becomes so much more relevant..

The 2009-2010 Habs Drinking Game!

The 2009-2010 Montreal Canadiens Drinking Game!

How you play is simple. Have a glass with a mixed drink or a beer ready [with spares on the way when you run out] as well as a shot glass with hard liquor for the "Take a shot" category"

Prior to the game you need to choose whether you're Optimistic or Pessimistic. This will matter later, in the "Take a Shot" section

Feel free to come up with your own! I'll add them if you comment.


Sip:

- Neutral zone turnover

- Commentators mention the size of Gionta, Cammelleri, Gomez or Gill, or the speed (or lack thereof) of those players.

- Bad pun involving Carey Price's last name

- Commentators make some form of sentiment towards Markov's absence

- Fans boo a player on the habs

- OLEEE! (with Montreal leading)

- Failed Montreal powerplay attempt

- Spacek shoots wide

- Laraque fight

- Bob Cole makes an obvious error

- Mispronounced names by commentators. Bonus sip if it's an obviously english-rooted name (or Gomez).

-Offensive zone faceoff win for either team.

- Former habs legend involved in puck-drop

- Gorges Laraque on the ice with five minutes left in the game with Montreal trailing by one. Sip for every separate shift he takes.


Two sips

- Carey Price beaten glove-side. Take a bonus sip if it's off of a complete failure of defensive coverage

- Ceremonial faceoff taken by someone on Montreal who's last name doesn't begin with a G and isn't Michael Cammalleri.

- Commentators mention the size of Ryan Obyrne

- Kovalev or Koivu mentioned

- OLEEE! (with Montreal trailing)

- Any fight not featuring Laraque

- A potential goal for either side is sent upstairs to be reviewed (This is added to any additional drinking the goal or non-goal induces, see below)


Pour and down a shot

- Montreal scores on the powerplay

-If you chose Optimism at the beginning of the game, an even strength or shorthanded Montreal goal. If pessimistic, any goal scored by the opponent. Apply the Carey Price gloveside two or three sips if necessary.

- Any predominantly third or fourth line player scores (Metropolit, Moen, D'ags, Chipchura, Moen,Laraque [see also 'chug beverage'], Paciorretti, Stewart, Latendresse, Lapierre)

- Hal Gill scores

- Montreal Loss


Chug your beverage
- Latendresse directly in front of the net

- Gorges Laraque getting a point

- Montreal Win

- Montreal Loss if you're not drinking a Molson beverage.

- A goal for either side is disallowed





BONUS DIVISIONAL RIVAL DRINKS
These are to be used when we face our divisional rivals
Leafs
Sip

- Komisarek penalty

- Commentators mention "1967", Grabovski or Komisarek's leaving the habs,

- You can read something on Ron Wilson's cheat sheet

- Orr or Rosehill fight

Two Sips

- Any mention of the Courtnall / Kordic trade

- Jim Hughston acts condescending towards a fight


Boston
Sip:

- Any time you wish you could see Komisarek get punched by Lucic one more time

Two Sips:

- Marc Savard chooses to shoot instead of pass

Ottawa:
Sip:

- Any Montreal fan reaction to Kovalev

Buffalo
- Sip for every Leafs jersey you see in the stands.

Kovalevelled

Well Kovalev had a good night setting up the gamewinner as well as adding a second goal last night. The Habs made defensive mistakes but not many. I think our biggest problem now is finish; we need to get pucks in the net - we've only scored more than twice in a game vs Toronto and that's nothing to brag about.

The first seven minutes of last night's game are the best I've seen the habs. Not best I've seen them since early last season, not best I've seen them since we won the conference, best I've seen them period (this of course, coming from someone who was in grade school during the Patrick Roy era, and was more interested in pogs than trying to find a channel carrying the Habs). It's unfortunate that this tempo and ability came off faster than a Jiri Tlusty outfit. While pundits claim "the effort wasn't there", I disagree. What wasn't there was aim, and clever shooting. If a point shot doesn't work the third time you try it, it's still not going to work the ninth time you try it.

Plekanec looked solid all game, and tragically missed a wraparound with an open net. I feel bad for him, but he works damn hard so I'm sure he's in for a good season.

Also I don't think anyone else noticed, but for a brief moment in the first period, Latendresse was.. IN FRONT OF THE NET! For the rest of the game we played Where's Waldo trying to figure out where he actually was on the ice, but for a brief moment he actually looked like he was doing what he was supposed to. In other strange news, Gorges Laraque put in a firm offensive effort, and I think he may actually get a goal or two this season, and thats not one of my half-assed attempts at humour.

We're up against the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday, and while my gut tells me that the Thrashers are supposed to be a terrible team, some strange source tells me they're actually second in their division and have only lost once. Lets hope we end our five game losing skid soon. Every team we've faced has had a fairly good goalie so maybe this could be some light at the end of the tunnel. And, at the very least, at least Boston is losing a fair bit, though at this point I'm not sure losing to Hamilton Phoenix is an embarrassment to any team these days.

In other hockey news, both Alexander Ovechkin and the Nashville Predators scored two goals last night, keeping them neck in neck for who will score more goals this season (Ovechkin currently has nine goals to the Predator's 10).

Bad Officiating: More than just a bad excuse

It was only appropriate to wait a few days for this post, some of the emotion of the 3-2 loss to Colorado has burned out and we're now more focused on facing Alexei Kovalev and the Senators. But it's important to address the biggest issue of discussion following Thursday's game

Complaining about officiating issues goes beyond trying to justify a loss
I feel I made this somewhat clear in my image following the game, showing how the officials failed to call Montreal for having seven players on the ice, but this needs reiterating.
Regardless of who wins or loses, bad officiating hurts the game. The events on ice should be focused on the players and their events, not the referees determined to make this event more of a dramafest based on their interactions with the game. If I wanted a soap opera I would have turned my TV on several hours earlier or gone on LiveJournal.

Be it last nigth's broken-stick agression, or a puck in the netting, the refs and linesmens should be expected to be both professional and competent. We should expect excellence from -everyone- on the ice, members of the Toronto Maple Leafs notwithstanding; but even they had perhaps one of the worst botched calls in history effecting them. While officiating will always be subjective, there should be at very least some form of reprimanding for officials following clearly mis-called games.

Maybe we should take a page out of pro football's book and implement a challenge system.

A picture tells a thousand words

I could write a long post about Martin's screwups last night (Laraque out on the ice with four minutes left needing a goal) and the bad officiating (allowing a goal while someone was checking players with a broken stick) but a picture really does say a thousand words that sums up both problems perfectly

(you'll need to click this for its full width and thus the full impact of the image)

A few random thoughts and the, er, Gainey Group?

Quick edit just after posting; it seems Shawn Belle will be debuting with the Habs this Thursday. Should be interesting.

It's been a long week and a half since I last wrote.
Montreal has gone 0-3 since then, and while it's still great to be ahead of Toronto in the division, I feel much dirtier having conceeded a point to them rather than having gained two at their expense. Having the same record as Boston is some solace, but there's still a long season ahead of us.

On that note, I think it's important we all remember that. As rough as we look now, we showed good drive against Calgary, and we showed we can create a strong offense against Edmonton rebounding after a disgusting embarassment that I can no longer remember due to the quantity of gin it made me reach for. We have seventy-seven games left. If we can get 89 points out of them we'll be on the cusp of the playoffs and that'll have already exceeded the expectations of some. Especially as we showed, while we're not brilliant, we can survive without Andrei Markov.

Laraque asked politely to have Number 27, as he's worn it everywhere he's played that didn't have a Russian star wearing it already. Does BGL really want to be that much more disliked by segments of the fanbase? Somehow I don't think it's occured to him that he's kind of slow, and not very good at hockey compared to last season's leading scorer and primary puck-dangler.

Speaking of ol' Alexei, Ottawa rolls into town this Thursday for our home opener. I wonder who will draw more boos - him or Laraque? (Spoiler: Laraque)



If you've found this blog you probably were linked to it directly by me or via a #habs post on twitter. This is a problem not for my hit counts as I don't care, but because it's really hard for Habs writers to be noticed. If you follow the Leafs blogging network they have what they call the "Barilkosphere" where notable bloggers are linked to each other via sidebar and everyone tends to follow each other's content. This already happens to a certain extent in the Habs world with Habs Inside/Out tending to link to interesting articles they stumble upon; though HI/O is sponsered by The Gazette and I doubt could spearhead any kind of formal initiative for Habs fans if only due to the fact that there may be a commercial liability issue. Eric Engels also gives great shout-outs to other bloggers from time to time. The point is, it would be great if an initiative to 'tighten' the Habs online writing community together started out. I'm not a particularly talented writer and have next to no readerbase so I don't really have a part in pushing myself to be listed, but I'd do anything I can to make something like this happen. If you're a contributor from one of the big Habs blogs out there [Eric Engels, Lions in Winter, Daily Hab-It, the aformentioned HabsInside/Out or any other Habs writer interested in this] just leave a comment and we can talk via email or anything towards a sort of 'network' for us. As my sidebar says, I'm a coder with a lot of time on my hands so I'd be more than willing to do the gruntwork to make something happen, just as long as we have people interested and behind it.

More injuries, but we beat Buffalo

I could not be more upset with Obyrne being injured. Not because Markov's gone, but because he was playing passionately, he was playing competently, and he was making a case to be truly important to the team... a far cry from the Ryan Obyrne of last season. He won't be on the plane to Calgary which means we'll need to borrow someone from the AHL - I'm assuming Yannick Weber, who I think will shine in the absence of Markov, but still isn't an outright replacement.

Glen Metropolit, possibly our best forward on Thursday against Toronto, is out with hurt ribs. I don't expect him to be gone for too long but this might be a chance for Kyle Chipchura to prove he's worth a damn - assuming he's actually recovered from his own upper body injury.

There's not much I can do to make this post funny, so here's a link to my favourite joke.

Last night's game proved we can win without Markov, and that's an important start. Our biggest key now is holding on to the puck more, which we can't use Markov's absence to justify our incompetence on. From that we need to take more shots, as one shot in the third might actually lead us to a loss once we face a team with actual playoff aspirations.

As bad as we played in the first and third, we're still showing we can battle, and more importantly that we don't give up. Moen's goal was great (look at the replay from angles other than above the net, he was blatantly pushed) and that kind of aggression is what our team needs.. More shocking was Gorges Laraque being involved in the play and keeping up; Big Gorges seeming relevant is an important thing to look out for.

Ten reasons to stay optimistic

Andrei Markov looks to be out somewhere between two and four months with a tendon problem having introduced his leg to Carey Price's skate.

This is, naturally, one of the worst things that can happen to us, but it's important to stay optimistic so here's ten reasons to stay optimistic following last night's game and Markov's injury:


10: Basically impossible for Markov to hurt himself in our next match against the Leafs on Oct 31.

9: Markov will be able to gain stellar insight hanging out with Rick Dipietro, Pascal Leclaire, Tim Connolly and Marian Gaborik. He may also play mentor to Mike Van Ryn.

8: Yannick Weber is actually pretty okay at moving the puck around

7: So offensively deep our fourth line centre can get a powerplay goal

6: We aren't the Atlanta Thrashers

5: Our winger demanding a trade is not actually playing for us anyway

4: Huge advantage over last season, not getting tired out having to stand for so many Centennial celebrations

3: Those new guys are actually pretty good

2: That Price guy seems pretty good

1: At least we can beat the Leafs

Thoughts and observations while I give the habs some money via drinking Molson Ex

this is a somewhat euphoric post so hindsight may hurt it later, but just some initial impressions before looking too in-depth at what actually went down tonight, things I noticed, supplemented by statistics

-Cammelleri and Gionta were perhaps the two most ever-present players on the ice, and I'm glad to see that. Camm just needs a goal now.
-Hal Gill fucked up and cost us a goal, but he wised up afterwards and put in a good solid effort
-While the shot totals were ugly, our first and third periods were great. Our second... not so much.
-Carey Price was brilliant. We needed that more than anything
-I did not expect to see Moen and Metropolit so involved in the game's score.
-Hey Komisarek, you had a great bench to sit on watching us score twice right? (Note: When reached for comment, Komisarek's response was "I love you, you love me.." and trailed off into song)
-I'd take any of our new defensive acquisitions over Beauchamin right now.
- ... we can't phone in the second like that. We were outshot rediculously, and thats how come Carey had to put together 43 saves just to get us an OT win.
-It speaks volumes of our new team that we didn't fall asleep at the switch when down 3-2 near the end of the game; even when we won the conference two years ago we'd still sometimes pass out with a momentum-killing late-game goal.
- and most importantly, our "tiny team" outhit Toronto 47-22....

...Truculence.

Tonight, tonight

So, Stubbs, of habsinsideandout (perhaps the best Habs resource out there), has stolen my nickname of the "Big Three"; that dick ! http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Gainey+blow+Habs+real+good/2053144/story.html
But seriously I'm honoured. Just remember I did it first.



Tonight the regular season starts. I've got a few beers ready to enjoy the game with and a few more if we lose... and a few dozen if Komisarek scores or injures someone.

I considered liveblogging the game but I felt I'd sacrifice journalistic integrity to take in my first full game since game 3 against Boston last season.

Well I called that

Naturally immediately after ordering my Alternate Captain Cammelleri jersey, he's not given an A.

Awesome

Better late than never.

Some news that's causing so much buzz that I'd lose cred for not commenting

1: Sergei Kostitsyn has DEMANDED A TRADE! Considering he has no ability to jump ship to the KHL. I really can't see any team picking up an uppity Belorussian with severe entitlement issues. I wonder if we do trade Sergei, if he'll take it out on an linesman.

The real threat here though, is it effecting his brother any more than the Montreal fanbase attacking him. Andrei is actually a good player, despite what others would have you believe, and it would suck to see him paralyzed by his brother.

2: We won't have the captain named in the immediate future. I've used this as an opportunity to buy a Cammelleri jersey with an A on it. Now that this information is public I'm sure Gainey will be rushing to sew a C onto Camm's jersey.

In April you will say "Woa that Torontonian fuckin' called it!"

So, here's what I think will happen by the end of the year with our new aquisitions, solid numbers this time

Gomez will have 65 points. They will be profoundly helpful, high for the team, and will get him crucified by the media.

Gionta will have 25 goals, all either on breakaways or from in rediculously close. He will be loved.

Cammalleri will be better than Phil Kessel and will light the lamp 35 times this season. He will be one half of the only competent aspect of our powerplay

Spacek will be the other half and will have high jersey sales because he has a single digit number, has never scored on the Montreal net while playing for them, and isn't a relative of Barney the dinosaur.

Moen will make Gorges Laraque being waived or bought out less painful.

Gll will be the anti-Jason Blake. By that I mean he will never go past the defensive blue line, will be responsible in his own end, and never shoot the puck all while sporting a killer tan.

Sanford will be fighting Halak to see who can get a second round pick at the deadline or leading the Hamilton Bulldogs to victory.

Mara will have a pretty cool beard and doesn't afraid of anything. Expect him to be invisible, the way a good D-Man should be.. except his plus minus stat will suggest he needs to actually get better at that.

Wake me up when September ends

A few thoughts as Theo Fleury entertains multiple job offers from teams less likely to respect him than his Calgary fanbase, and I drown myself for using a Green Day song as a blog title.


Oft-injured and now vegan Gorges Laraque is now the Habs rep in the NHLPA, succeeding Mike "I Got the Brains of a Dinosaur Too" Komisarek. He plans to defend the wages of his coworkers, and tearing the face off of anyone who offers him a cheeseburger. This is great news for anyone scared of any NHLPA meetings passing motions like this


I think a good question to raise before the season starts is who's the winner in the Kessel sweeps, Toronto or... Montreal.
Simply put, Toronto's need for Kessel is predicated entirely on Toronto being unable to sign a 35+ goal scorer in the free agency period. As much as Burke's trip to Sweden was almost certainly not just to rouse the Monster, Cammelleri was likely a second pick behind the untampered twins still playing for the Canucks. Because of this there's a little bit of subtext between the two teams that isn't really apparent. Did we beat Toronto concisely, stealing one of their home-town boys, or did we save them from some short dude, allowing them to bid their future on Phil "Totally not the next Dany Heatley in terms of Attitude Problems" Kessel. Because of this, and because I pretend to occasionally have journalistic integrity, I'll be comparing the two often this season; both every few weeks to see how their doing, and more specifically I'll be comparing the two when they face each other to see how confrontation goes.
... I have a sinking feeling Cammelleri is going to perform better than Kessel will on Oct 1.


The pre-season is over for Montreal, which means we can get back to figuring out who our captain will be; I'm waiting intently as I don't want to get the letter wrong when I buy a jersey this season. Despite my scared reaction to one of our losses, we played pretty good, though special teams need some work. Training camp won't feature Sergei Kostitsyn, but that's okay as last season he proved all he was good for was irritating Mikhail Grabovski, which while admirable, I'd rather it be done by someone who can actually inflict pain upon him.

Repeat after me; it's only the pre-season

We've seen all three faces of the Canadiens now.
Their first game was defensively minded, offensively talented, and netted us a win, with Carey Price doing his job.

The second featured our defense not focusing enough but our talent preserving a win.

The third was reminiscent of the last two years when occasionally we just forget to skate defensively.


I guess the priority here is to stay calm. Even at our worst there was silver lining, Spacek got a goal, and there is certainly some talent buried there.

I'll be in the corner my gin. Lots of gin.

But as I drink, at least i know that only half of our team was on the ice, and Martin still has a chance to beat some life into the team if this happens again.

The Winners of the Kessel Deal

The real winners of the Kessel trade are Montreal, Ottawa, and Buffalo.
Boston loses a 20 goal scorer for prospects in some of the weakest drafts since the mid-90s, Toronto gains a player who thrived next to a great set-up man... something the Leafs don't have.

There's always Jason Allison?



I didn't watch the pre-season game last night as I was too busy pretending my employment is relevant nor do I actually get RDS, but it's good to see Gionta producing. Apparently he worked well with Pleks too. Good to know the habs can make us even more anxious for Oct 1 to roll around

Something about a rivalry

So as Brian Burke decides mortaging two first rounders is apparently worth a sixty point player... when playing next to the number one setup guy in the league, it's effectively hockey time.

Last night's game resembled a PR stunt for Bob Gainey; his new pickups got points, Carey Price looked good, and Curtis Sanford looked like a sieve showing why we can't trade Halak. At time of writing we're losing to the Senators so maybe this propaganda is illsuited... except that 2/3s of the Big Three and Price are not dressed.


Back on topic of Sir Truculent, one thing I'm looking for this season, even more than a post-season position or the competition between Pascal Leclaire and Marian Gaborik on who can play the most games, is a hopeful revival of the habs / leafs rivalry. Sure roughing up Grabo was fun and all, especially when he decides to retaliate against his fierce opponent, the NHL linesman, but really this year I think will be the most exciting series between the two teams. And lets face it, if we're not fighting, the Leafs need to pretend the Battle of Ontario has relevance, and no one wants that.

So here's why the Leafs / Habs rivalry may actually pick up again this year

Size vs Skill: While the Habs aren't nearly as small as we'd like every other team in the league to pretend, we very much are a quick, agile team, next to the pugnastic assault of the Leafs. Our speedy forwards dancing around theirs only to be then rocked by three checking lines will be fun as hell to watch, and is a legitimately different dynamic.

We both actually have players that can fight: Laraque being the de-facto heavyweight is standard by now, but adding Travis Moen is useful if BGL's crippling vegetarianism or back problems stop him from dropping the gloves against Colton Orr, as well as deflecting fists from Grabovski away from the officiating staff. If that fails, at least we can dazzle them with Mara's beard?

Burke and Gainey's UFA pissing contest: Didn't the entire month of July feel like Burke and Gainey moving to grab attention? Be it Burke's microphone magnetism or Gainey's "he seriously signed gionta?" moves, it seemed like the entire off-season was them changing their dynamic and making people think "Those guys are going to suck". Ignoring the negative reaction to team changes depending on where you live, it's kept both the Leafs and the Habs in the limelight all summer, with The Big Three drama, Komisarek deciding one Belarussian mobster teammate was enough, Moen, Mara, and Gill crouching to get in team pictures with Cammalleri and Gionta, and this whole Kessel traded for the Leafs foreseeable future drama, these two teams have not faded. Means that opening night they both get to strut so much more than everyone else.

Komisarek is a backstabbing dick with no tact, who's mouth emits a constant array of untrustworthy bile: Also bears shit in the woods

Montreal's best french player can actually take the body: Though Guilliame is also likely Montreal's ONLY french player, I'm sure this matters when he erases whatever AHL callup winds up in the neutral zone with his head down.

They'll both be fighting for second in the division: Ottawa's yo-yoing positioning notwithstanding, their division is tight, and that means all six meetings actually matter for once, instead of being a curbstomp battle by the conference leader and everyone else middle of the pack, the rest of the conference is likely going to be deflecting much of eastern Canada from the playoffs, making every loss to a divisional rival that much more frustrating... and more fun to watch




We'll find out Oct 1


... Oh and good for theo fleury on the shootout winner. I hate to admit it but that may be his last big moment in the NHL and at least it was in front of thousands of fans who love him.

Less than a month until I run out of excuses for not updating

Well, I'm sure all six of my loyal readers are as let down as Brian Gionta learning he couldn't ride the rollercoasters when the carnival is in town, but I'm getting ready to buckle down and write blogs with actual content and not just jokes gleaned from hockeybuzz comments and DownGoesBrown articles.


I'm not well-connected enough to have the scoop on prospect events and training camp, I'll leave that for people who are actually connected, have real contacts, or pretend to and ask for people to give them money to avoid autoplay videos. That said, we're less than a month away from the season so it's time to see how the conference may play out.

I won't give a seeded rank, I'll just say whether a team will likely be in the postseason or not.

Boston - Boston had an outstanding run last year! They managed to make both Tim Thomas and Paul Maurice look good in one season, which is an outstanding goal. I think though, they'll do what Montreal did last season and drop from first to middle of the pack. Their competition is tougher, their backup is less solid, it's unlikely they'll still have Kessel, they're broke, and Milan Lucic may get serious arm strain after six more thrashings of Mike Komisarek. Expect them middle of the post-season pack. Which, by the way, is where Montreal will be. Here we go again.


Washington - Doing all they can to prove you can win without ever actually using a goaltender, expect Washington to be just as strong as last year. Jose Theodore suffered a terrible loss which will likely effect his playing time. Expect Washington to do better than last season.


New Jersey - Their talented goaltender is aging, their offense that wasnt there is now.. less there.. their coach is more defensive without a whole lot of real defensive tract. Expect them to fall faster than Marty Turco after making a dramatic save.


Pittsburg - They still have Crosby and Malkin. They have less defensemen. Expect them to either finish embarassingly out of the playoffs as it seemed last season and to do their best Carolina Hurricanes impression, or to shock no one and still be a contender.


Philidelphia - If Chelios doesn't resign anywhere, these guys will likely be where I direct aging-defensemen jokes all season. That said it's not as if they've really changed more than that except for adding a goalie with a suspiciously runny nose. Will make the playoffs for sure.


Carolina - Paul Maurice will remember he's actually a bad coach, Cam Ward will realize again he's not good enough to hold a lackluster team afloat. Martin Broduer will cry.


New York Rangers - They lost a playmaking centre and added two wingers; one of which couldn't score on a shootout with an empty net the other is professionally imitating Samuel L Jackson from the movie Unbreakable. Don't expect a long playoff run.


Montreal - Our forwards can get points but can't get on rides at an amusment park. Our defense is tall and slow. Plan the parade. We'll make the post-season in the middle of the pack


Florida - Florida gave up a good D-man for an average one and a good goalie for nothing. Which is exactly what they can expect from this season outside of a high draft pick.


Ottawa - Currently employing two wingers who'd rather be playing elsewhere (thanks for the shout-out by the way, Alex), they nonetheless have at least three players who can light the lamp, and a goaltender who is solid when he's not hanging out with Marian Gaborik and Rick Dipietro in a hospital ward. I honestly can't predict how they'll do considering how different their results with the same group of players are.


Toronto - Proud employer of half the defensemen in the conference, Toronto will be a pain in the ass to face assuming you're a team without a goalie. Look out Washington! Expect them to injure the rest of the division, helpng every other team make the playoffs.


Atlanta - Now with the more threatening additions of Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov, Atlanta looks to for the first time in recent memory, finish tenth overall.


Tampa Bay - Improved all around, but still have too many question marks for me to assess or come up with something witty about. How is Tanguay making less than Plekanec/


Kansas New York Islanders - Have a star of the future and more backup goalies than anyone should rightly need. Expect them to finish 14th overall to find a winger for Tavares

Dany, Pleks vs Saks, and Laziness

The dog days of summer are where most hockey bloggers dig through their extensive resources to come up with something deep or introspective... and completely irrelevant. I'm sure we're all concerned as to why Gorges Laraque wasn't at Lapierre's golf tournament (ignoring the racial subtext maybe he didn't feel like chumming around with skinny white guys he has nothing in common with and instead was more focused on his own charities) or that Patrice Brisebois is racing in a NASCAR-esque race, I'd rather be posting something directly about the team with my failed attempts at being witty or not be posting at all.


So on the note of talking about my team, how about..er... Dany Heatley. Why is everyone so agitated at this dude? I mean, he said he wanted a trade; he has every right to do that. Sure he pulled a dick move saying "I don't want to go to edmonton", but really, it doesn't change the fact there's a 50-goal scorer on the market who has tons of proven experience at lighting up the World Championships.

Here's something to think about. Saku Koivu is playing for 3.25 million dollars. Thomas Plekanec is playing for 2.75 million dollars. Anyone else think the habs desperately need that $500 000? Or rather, Saku's 54 points in 65 games vs Plekanec's 39 points in 80 games?

Theoren Fleury

Theoren Fleury applied for reinstatement today, marking a recovery from alcoholism, and a huge effort from the 41 year old former champion to get into game shape. All the best luck to him, his honest outlook is... sobering... I hope to see him back, though at 41, his game wont be nearly as high.



At 5'6, Gainey is probably watching him closely.

Zherdev, unsubstantiated rumors, and Olympic camp

So Nikolai Zherdev is on the market. Apparently 3.9 million dollars is too much for 60 points a season... these are the same people who set up Scott Gomez's contract right? Seeing as he's 6'2 however, I doubt Gainey would be interested even if we could afford him.

Apparently there's a three way trade being set up with San Jose, ignoring the fact we cant fit any player that would be useful to us under the cap and don't have a lot to offer, of course.

Aside from the fact that there are plenty of aging UFAs available (including a large swedish man that thankfully no one is talking about right now), the main news seems to stem largely on the olympics, with many embracing the potential of Crosby and Nash working together. I'm curious if Stills and Young will be working the blue line. Beyond that everyone who isn't Canadian is hoping Cam Ward gets the nod for Canada.

Nothing to see here, move along

Not much to talk about Habs-wise. While Montreal is an interesting place, I don't live there so I can't remark on it

http://habsinsideout.com/main/20958
Apparently S.Kost and Mikhail Grabovski are all friendly again. Gives us more time for most of our lineup to do Milan Lucic impressions to Komisarek, but otherwise somewhat 'meh' news.

Goalies, second line centres, and trade bait.

To the chargin of much of the fanbase, we've signed Thomas Plekanec for 2.75 million dollars. out of around 240 players in that price range, he puts up better numbers than about 200 of them. Not too shabby. Now if only he were Finnish, and wore number eleven.

In the past few days we've picked up Curtis Sanford. He's already gotten in touch with Rick Dipietro and Pascal Leclaire on cool things to do in the Eastern Conference while injured.

With a new backup goalie (and somehow, also with Plekanec's one year deal) rumours are flying everywhere that Gainey is getting ready to trade for Lecavalier, Marleau a big centre, because we totally have that kind of money, what with a whole three million in cap space and Gregory Steward and Matt D'ags to resign. I think we've come to grips with the fact we don't need any more centres, as we only have one year to finally start using Chipchura anyway (who, go figure, is a big centre). But even then, who would want Halak right now anyway? Biron certainly has more experience and exposure and could only get less than two million backing up a backup (though with Rick Dipietro's glasslike status he could still see a lot of exposure), and Andrew Raycroft has already found work so it's not like people are desperate to avoid calls from his agent. If anything, Halak may be moved some time in the mid-season, around the deadline, if it begins to look like the big three are floundering, and we're being run over by Buffalo a listless team out of playoff contention.

Leafs logo and captainacy

So there's a petition going around to change the leaf's logo back to the original 31 point leaf. Good idea, getting rid of all the brand reconition they've gotten over the past 42 years, ruin kids abilities to sketch their teams logo on their belongings, and use the excuse of a "curse" to raise hype for that logo (ignoring that they won a cup with it).

In other news I'm sure the habs don't want to go back to the CA logo.


So the multimillion dollar question in habsland is WHO GETS CAPTAIN!
Now, the answer of course is Saku Koivu hard to answer in this environment.

I think it's important to mention that speaking french should not be relevant, and shame on you if you think it should be. We want this person to be the leader of our team, to keep us organized and successful, not to just be a front to the media.

Here's the contenders
Any member of the big 3 - Cam, Gionta, or Gomez. I only think Gomez is ready here, but here's the problem, he's too new.

Andrei Markov - Markov has been our best player for the last couple of years, and its beautiful to see him out of Rivet and Souray's shadows. However many seem to get the impression he'd be too aloof or quiet. I think this is really on him

Maxim Lapierre - He was the heart and sole of the team for a lot of last year, bringing work ethic to the rink every day, that everyone was lacking. Two problems here. One is that work ethic should be expected, and handing him a C would be sorta daft. A bigger issue is that he's too young and hasn't had enough firsthand experience with the team.

Matthieu Schneider - I like this pick. He's a strong leadership player. Problem is we already have way too many defensemen and haven't resigned him.

Robert Lang - We SHOULD resign Lang. Ditch Plekanec and his whiney underproducing ways, and use this season to have Lang as a leader while our younger centres [like Chipchura] get ready for the main stage (ignoring that Chipchura should already be here).


As you can tell so far, i support...
Actually, I don't support any candidate via speculation. I support the player the team thinks can best lead them. I do think Lapierre has earned an A, but beyond that, let the team find its own leadership. We cant judge that by meer speculation

Martin and Advertising Fail

One last post about our pickups. Jacky Martin, as well as a different kind of scam.

Jaques Martin. Solid coach. No, really.
He turned an incompetent Ottawa team into a conference leader, and turned some decent though not stellar talent into superstars. While some would argue his brand is not exciting, I'd disagree, especially given he has a speedy front line to work with and, trying to avoid the cliche, knows what it takes to win. He was strong with Ottawa and St Louis, and.. er.. lets not talk about Florida, but Florida doesn't have the player pool Montreal has.




Now kids, I'm going to talk to you about a special kind of scam.

You all may be familiar with hockeybuzz.com?
No, this isn't a "EKLUND LIES!!1111" post.

I read hockeybuzz. I'm a huge fan of Eric Engels, and Howard Berger is at the very least entertaining.
I do not like the autoplay videos. I actually realize I spend so much time there I paid for a season ticket to avoid them.
But Eklund, please do not pretend they are necessary for anything more than selling season tickets.

Eklund claims he needs the autoplaying videos to pay for his site. Advertisements do not work that way - there is no premium for having the ad play automatically, and seeing how high Hockeybuzz is on alexa [coupled with how weak the server is judging by how it crashes on important dates], he should have no trouble "keeping his site afloat" (ignoring the fact that hockeybuzz makes frankly hilarious amounts of cash).

Hey, feel free to beg for money, but please don't pretend the inconveniences you give us are out of any kind of necessity other than trying to get us to pay you $20.

Pickups part two: The Big D, Moen, some Swedish dude, and a bag of chips that isn't being sniped by Kyle Wellwood

Time to look at the defense, as our fearless GM plans to add truculence, belligerence.. wait, that's Brian Burke. That said, Burke and Gainey both seem to be playing the "Who can make a bigger splash in Free Agency" game of one-upping each other.

Both also seem to think that having a dozen defensemen is a good idea.

I'm going to be forward - I like the Habs defense this season more than last. While we lost the uppity traitor who isn't worthy of a second of our excuse me we lost the towering presence of Mike Komisarek (who occasionally has given the puck to his teammates and not the opposition, I've heard), we've gained the second biggest player in the league, and unlike most Toronto Maple Leafs players, was actually introduced to this strange foreign concept called "the Cup"; plus we grabbed someone with a hell of a shot, as well as a guy who can move, shoot, and grow an amazing beard.

Oh and Travis Moen, who doesn't play defense, but he can run people over, so it's close enough.

Also a lot of people are pointing out that everyone is a left-handed shot. Who cares? I don't think this will be truly adverse as the main time the D is attacking is on the powerplay anyway, and that slight adjustment wont lead to a huge defensive liability.

Gill - I'm not ashamed to admit this, but I've always been a Hal Gill fan. You don't hear much about him, but doesn't that just mean he's doing his job well? He's slow, but that's less relevant when one stride takes you halfway across the rink. I also can't see him turtling on the ground after a random encounter with a wild Lucic. On his own he's not really a Komisarek replacement, but people wouldn't be criticizing our GM for wasting all our money if he hadn't actually spent all our money

Spacek - Ignoring the fact that I desperately want to call him Sissy, Spacey put up 45 points last season. Sure it's not Striet or Souray numbers, but is realistically only ten behind that. He fills the role of helping make the puck go behind the goalie on powerplays, and is hardly a burden on even strength. Good pickup.

Mara - Man that guy has an awesome beard. I won't lie, I don' know what this guy does. He has 21 points so he can clearly help us there, but that's not jump-out amazing numbers. I don't have anything witty or clever to say so instead I'll just leave the same beard comment every other blogger and commentator has made and move on with my life.

These acquisitions are a lot better than they look, while they dont have the brand power of Brian Burke's pickups, the fact that the Leafs opponent's biggest challenge will be stopping Jason Blake is hardly a cause for concern. It's clear to see what role Gill and Spacek fill, and Mara can hopefully do a bit of both of those roles to clear the inconsistancy and the fact that Gill is about as quick as Kyle Wellwood* getting ready to train.

We put some size up front too though

Travis Moen - Hey another cup ring! And he was on corner gas! Moen is a big player to abuse people who try to obstruct... the big three (see previous entry). This sets up great fights for fourth line positions, but I like him on Line 3 working with Lapierre and Latendress. That line has some real talent and will most certainly be giving out some serious bruises.

Engqvist - Unknown quantity. We have him for three years. He's a huge centre, but, as said, unknown quantity. And who knows where he fits on our depth chart? Excluding Cammalleri (who is in reality a centre), our centres are Scott Gomez, TradebaitTomas Plekanec, Maxim Lapierre, Glenn Metropolit, Kyle Chipchura, TooLazytoGoogleYourFirstName Enqvist, and any other random prospect we run into who is BIG CENTRE. Which leads to the signing I'm both happy and confused about

Chipchura - I love Kyle Chipchura. He's a strong leader, he helps keep the Bulldogs in line, and we have him, likely at most for one more year. The problem is he's played like, a dozen games in the NHL, tops. When talking big centres we really should be giving him more of a chance. He can't replace Pleks if he gets moved either, and Lapierre is way too strong to open that up, so hey, lets put him on a wing, trade Metropolit, something. Let Chips out there - Hell, last time he played in an important role was at the world juniors and maybe that might be a kick in the pants to motivate another certain WJC alum who really needs bloggers (and Bob Cole) to stop making comparisons between his name and a Bob Barker Drew Carey hosted show.



So we're big [outside of the first line] with new aquisitions, and overextended at centre. But there's another problem. We're overextended at D as well

Markov was our leading scorer before he missed three games at the end of the season. He's firmly in
Mara, Gil and Spacek will play. They're new, and high paid.
Hamrlik while having rough patches is still very much a strong part of this team
Gorges is fairly talented, and I don't see why we'd shun competence

But here's the problem:
We have Janik Weber, PK Subban, and Ryan Obyrne as well.
Subban should be invalidated right away. Let him play in the AHL at least a while to gain a level of professional exposure. That said, he should be up sooner than later.

Obyrne is incompetent, but he still has that RIGHT HANDED SHOT... and is, recurring theme here, huge. If he worked with Hal Gill we may have the slowest yet largest D pairing in the league. We cant just shun him.

Weber is pretty much good on every level, and is actually ready to play for us. But where do we PUT HIM?

This is an organizational nightmare, and now there's talk about bringing back Matthieu Schneider too; because that totally makes sense. I love Schneider, and think he'd be a great leader, but we really cant have eleven players fighting for six positions. Luckily Eklund reported it so I'm sure it wont happen. Till next time.














* Yes, I know Kyle Wellwood jokes are popularized by down goes brown; great blog, I suggest you all read it. That said I'm sure everyone was making them before reading them there, and I don't plan on stopping.

Gainey's pickups part one: The big three

So most free agents that matter are off the market, lets look at who Gainey actually grabbed while trying to not make short jokes or incredibly lazy puns.

The big three:
... too late on the incredibly lazy puns.

Gomez - Gomez is overpaid! What a cunning observation by the entire media and fanbase. It doesn't change the fact that, in his worst season ever (last year, incidentally) he still amassed more points than anyone on the Canadiens roster last year. I wouldn't expect him to bring a huge [sorry] physical presence to the game, but I can't see a 5'11 centre putting up 60+ points hurting the team, seeing as one just mysteriously disappeared.

Cammalleri - No I cannot spell his name. Cammalleri's biggest issue is everyone saying he can only put up numbers next to Iginla; I didn't know Iginla was on the Kings three years ago, as I could have sworn he was too busy making a first round exit against the Red Wings. He flip flops between having good and bad seasons it seems, which means we wont miss Kovalev (except, looking at patterns, Cam is up for a bad season while Kovalev is up for a good one). He's fast, he can put the puck in the net, and will presumably have Gomez to help with that, though at 5'9 he risks being pushed around by any large defenseman who isn't recovering from a broken jaw via Milan Lucic, just put some size next to hi- oh wait.

Gionta - Montreal managed to draft both the second tallest and second shortest player in the league this draft, though Gionta is, at very least, quick enough to be effective. It's clear there's going to be an attempt to recreate some magic with Gomez as these three will likely form Montreal's first forward line - they may be small but they're quick and have some chemistry already. While I hope to get off the size bandwagon soon it is important to note that while Gomez and Gionta succeeded with a 6'1 Elias, using a 5'9 forward in their place may not be the greatest call. That said, it's not like we have to put these three together, it's just being reported everywhere else. I'd expect him to at the very least be better at actually hitting the net than Chris Higgins, which is always a plus.

So if you took Koivu and put in someone with more points and twice as much cash, Kovalev with more speed [and far less entertaining puckhandling], and Higgins with someone short but actually competent, you have these three. While Gionta hasn't really been that solid since he last worked with Gomez, it's not like we have anyone else putting up 60 point seasons that aren't named Andrei, let alone players who are said to be having a bad season after 60 points (except Kovalev). Just a quick reminder, point structure last year was Kovalev with 65 (getting a whole one more goal than Toronto's 'lets shoot from the blue line' Jason Blake), Markov with 64 (and the honor of having the team never win a game he didn't play in) , Koivu with 50, then jumping down to Tanguay's 41 - and you know you're in bad shape when you're fourth highest point-getter only played 50 games. I'd say by sheer production alone the habs are in good shape, and while we lost some first line size, Gainey seems to be trying to remedy this by getting in a race with Brian Burke over who can hire the most defensemen

Up next; remembering it's 12 forwards and six defense not the other way around, and why no one cares who shoots left.