Goaltender of the Future

With Slovakia's tight win based on Jaroslav Halak's tight goaltending versus Russia, the goaltending debate for the Habs is picking up so much steam its beginning to scald. The problem is most armchair observers seem to be using logic reminiscent of a certain San Jose Sharks pro scout.

The Montreal Canadiens are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Tampa Bay (who have two games in hand) and two ahead of the New York Rangers who hold one game in hand. We may just make the playoffs this year, and if we do, we'd likely want the strong goalie we had for much of the season to try and keep us in against Washington, New Jersey, or whoever we get seeded against.
Reality however, states we'll likely make a first round exit unless we perform a miraculous upset. Our team has been too up and down to really be consistent - our longest winning streak all season is only three games. In that case we need to be focused as much on the future of the franchise, and which goaltender we hold on to. No matter what Pierre Gauthier thinks, both of our goalies are RFA at the end of the season and we really can't afford to have them both alongside a resigned Thomas Plekanec.

And this is why we need to resign Carey Price and trade Jaroslav Halak.
I'm sure right now there's coffee hitting your monitor not unlike a Jason Blake wrist shot to the chest of a goaltender on those words, but hear me out. Price has had certain flashes of brilliance this year, and is statistically better in save% than Olympian Marc-Andre Fleury, Ottawa savior Brian Elliot, LA starter Jonathan Quick, and most other hyped up underachievers (I'm looking at you, both Philedelphia goaltenders, all three goaltenders to suit up for the Maple Leafs this season, Nicklas Backstrom, and both Nashville goalies). Admitted Halak's .923 is nicer than Price's .911 but it's not like Price is making a huge gap of less saves - especially as he's generally been put in following a Halak loss, suggesting the team wasn't bringing much effort anyway (further proven by Price's GAA being higher than goaltenders with worse save percentages, though still a reasonable though not outstanding 2.81).
So Price can compete, he just isn't playing as well as Halak right now. But here's where the future comes in.

Halak is a positionally sound goalie, will be 25 at the end of the season, has calm emotions and fast reflexes. His weaknesses are controlling the puck, and his size ( 5'11 is short for a goaltender). While reflexes don't degrade quickly, it's unlikely they will ever improve noticeably, and as he's already positionally sound there's not a whole lot of upward motion. Halak can practice with the puck but he's never going to get four inches taller.

Price, 22, is excellent with the puck (can you name four goaltenders better than him with the puck?), 6'3, and has just as sharp reflexes. His biggest issues are a weak glove hand (that is nonetheless greatly overplayed), some positional awareness issues, and having some difficulty dealing with the emotional stress of working in the Montreal environment. In short he's immature. Funny thing is, in the league, there aren't a whole lot of mature 22 year old goaltenders - let alone 22 year old goaltenders to begin with. He calms down and works on his positioning, and he's got a clear advantage on Jaroslav, who has effectively reached his ceiling. Is it really a gamble to say that Price will be a different player at 24 than he is at 22?

Can we risk giving up that potential to try to hold on to our eighth place seed this season?
Can we risk not getting any return for our current hot goaltender?

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

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.

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.

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.