Montreal Canadiens

Media responsibility in Montreal

Slow news for the habs lately, the team has been out of the playoffs for some time as we await the draft. It was a fast exit for the habs, it was as if the players just couldn’t wait for it to end. And I imagine that was the case after the type of year the team had, especially on the centennial; one has to wonder what did the organization do to the sporting Gods to deserve this. So now the brothers Kostitsyn and Roman Hamrlik have been cleared of any wrongdoings. Ho hum, once again Montreal fans are left looking like idiots throughout the league after being worked up in a frenzy with how this -at the time it happened- some supposedly respectable reporters were saying this would shake the foundations of the franchise, but all that was said was that they frequented some guy who has links to organized crime. Even Jacques Demers was almost crying on a french sports talkshow. After seeing Jacques Demers worry, I began to worry, because I thought to myself, it’s not like jacques is trying to push some newspapers.

It’s tough for a hockey/sports reporter in Montreal, there’s way too many of them but that’s because the sport sells and the fan demands it. It doesn’t help that the Montreal Expos aren’t here anymore to shift some focus off of the habs. And that causes competition between every writer, so when some news breaks out, every one wants to be on the ship for fear that they be the one that didn’t get on. But now that the ordeal is over, and pending some cover-up, some of these writers were wrong and appeared to go overboard. Perhaps it’s time the NHL works hand in hand with the habs as to who gets media passes, or we may just as well let the National Enquirer cover the habs.

Flying Frenchman’s Alternative standings (Final)

Gainey must be held accountable…

And be fired. Well its been a few days since the bruins made quick work of the habs. And it ended ugly with the fans booing, mocking and jeering. Carey Price got it from the fans as he ended up mimicking Patrick Roy a few years back that fateful game against the Red Wings by raising his arms in the air.

I have nothing against Gainey, he is respected immensely as he should be, but his strategies are perplexing to say the least. How many years has the team gone without a big centreman now? Its this very reason the habs can’t score at even strength, there is no size up the middle. Banking on goals to be scored from the perimeter is folly nowadyas with the size of the goalies and their equipment; gone are the days where a winger could come barrelling down his wing and let one rip a la Guy Lafleur and score…There’s just no room anymore.

In his press conference following his team’s elimination, Gainey said: “in retrospect it wasn’t a good situation to go through the season with
10 potential unrestricted free agents.” Very true and no other GM has put himself in that predicament, so why?

The goalie controversy: After Carbonneau was fired, Gainey stuck with Price through the good and bad. Again, what other team leaves a struggling goalie in while they have a perfectly good backup on the bench, a backup that in essense saved the season and the team would not have made the playoffs without his effort during the big skid. One must not forget it was Halak who stopped the skid and not Price. Carbonneau and goalie coach Roland Melanson both hinted at times that they preferred Halak. But Bob was stubborn to the end. His refusal to play Halak was insulting and demeaning and one has to wonder if Halak will ask to be traded. Its obvious he will not get a fair shake in this town. Like a gambler who has wasted money on  betting on a team on a losing skid; Bob obssessively kept betting that he would eventually win. Bob made the bet and now he must pay up.

Boston again…

Well Montreal limps into the playoffs by acquiring a single point in its last four games, and despite a disappointing season, they will be a popular underdog. A complete reversal from last year where the habs dominated the regular season versus their foes, finished first in the conference.  This year Boston has been lights out, a veritable even strength powerhouse. Last year Detroit was -in my own words- one of the best teams of all time. They were in a class of their own with regards to even strength goal differential, and went on to win the cup. It seems unbelievable that bruins have topped last year’s red wings. Boston has been able to win 46 games inside regulation compared with Montreal’s 30 (San Jose has 43 and Detroit has 42).

So it seems like an uphill battle but the habs have a historical edge, an edge that shouldn’t mean anything and yet it does; the canadiens have won 24 of the previous 31 series between the two clubs. Any slip up early in the series for Boston could have the bruins thinking. The habs have underachieved for the most part, always loads of pressure from the high expectations with the centennial, but now for the first time all year, they won’t be expected to win by anyone, well anyone outside Montreal. An early exit is unacceptable, especially this year, and especially against Boston.

As with anything in the playoffs, the keys to victory will be the goaltenders. Will Jennings trophy winner Tim Thomas get rid of the Montreal monkey off his back as the habs have had his number in the past, as well as his lack of playoff experience despite his age? Will Price have the composure needed to keep the team within striking distance in each of the games, will he be able to steal a game eventhough he rarely exhibited the form he is expected to one day attain?

Fun Quotes (by Pat Burns, who coached both teams):

“Coaching the Bruins is like going bear hunting with a butter knife.”

“At the beginning of the year Montreal fans underestimate their team, and at the beginning of the playoffs they overestimate them.”

Little tweaks paying off.

Been a while since I wrote due to unforeseen events. My wife broke her foot so now I have to add Mr Mom to my list of responsibilities. I’ve updated my 5on5 standings a bit, they will be truly up to date tomorrow I hope. Now about the habs.

Last night the team looked dominating as ever, sure given their recent play and considering the quality of the last 2 opponents, it’s hard to be optimistic. I’m not going to kid myself, Tampa Bay looked like garbage last night, I rarely seen a team look so disinterested and play as poorly as they did. They have lots of injuries on their defense and that core was mostly up from the AHL. They always had a hard time clearing the puck. But a win is a win and it looks like Gainey is getting through their skulls about playing disciplined hockey.

One of the changes that Gainey made was put his big money guys together and it’s seemingly paying off. Kovalev, Koivu and Tanguay look like a bonafide NHL first line. Its been a while since we could say that. Even legend Guy Lafleur has referred to them as a “bunch of 4th liners”.  The three of them are making 15 million this year. They combined for 11 points against Atlanta and looked dominating as a bonafide NHL 1st line should look. Last night they had a good game too but the fact that the team seems to have such a hard time getting even strength goals is what concerns me as the playoffs near. And any other team could have easily stole that game. But it’s a step in the right direction, at least momentum is going in the right direction.

So if this new line looks like a true number one, Tanguay has to be considered the reason. Substitute him for any other hab on there and it’s a line that looks much different. I’d be tempted to try him out at centre; he was a natural centre prior to ascending to the NHL in the Quebec Major Junior league and has more size than Koivu. Koivu simply cannot outduel the big centremen he faces.

Fun Fact: Alex Tanguay is distantly related to famous Quebec singer Celine Dion.

The habs still faltering

Despite the coaching change, the team still seems unphased by the supposed injection the change should be bringing. Last night’s game against the rangers was the most spirited performance by the habs in a while, but the end result stays the same: a loss, a shootout loss, but a loss nonetheless. These are home games though, had they been on the road; likely it would have been a little less close.

Gainey said beforehand that it was the game of the year, and the players responded but yet again not for a full 60 minutes, the team got outshot badly in the third period as it has been every game, there seems to be a period where there’s full domination by the visiting team. So what is wrong? Is it conditioning? Gainey gave the team a vote of confidence by not making any acquisitions, did the players feel they needed some help? I can’t help but think of the Senators the year they made a cup run, when they’d give post-game interviews while riding on the exercise bikes, maybe the habs need some of that.

Montreal does need help at the centre position and that is no secret, it’s been a dire need for some time now, and watching the tiny Koivu get outmuscled for the puck almost everytime is only proof of that. But Gainey saw no need to pick up Antropov who came dirt cheap. It’s not just Koivu, one can count literally on one hand a Montreal player fighting for the puck and winning it along the boards in one game. Against the Islanders, I saw an Islander fall down and get up with urgency to resume his forechecking, most of the habs don’t have that urgency.  An another major problem, in my opinion has been some players have been given chance and chance again with the same result of failure, whereas some haven’t been given enough chance to succeed. It’s been “You played great, now go sit in the stands”. At the beginning of the year, it was to be healthy competition, the young would push the new, but it hans’t worked because the competition hasn’t been really fair.

One can see that the teams on the bubble who made trade deadline moves are getting rewarded: the Penguins, the Rangers are seemingly gaining flight whereas the habs are slowly working their way out of the playoffs.Time is running out.

Fun Fact: In 1998, he was ranked number 86 on the Hockey news list of the 100 greatest players of all time…Gainey was described as the world’s best all-around player by legendary Soviet national team coach Anatoli Tarasov.

Gainey Axes Carbonneau!

So Bob Gainey gave the axe to the man he called his best move as GM a few weeks ago and takes over as head coach until the remainder of the season. The move perhaps comes as no surprise since the habs have been slowly going downhill since the all-star break but the timing is a little odd. Montreal had won 5 of its last 7, sure thanks in large part to the goaltending, but the team was heading into a long stretch of home games, 10 of its next 11 to be exact.

The season started so well, the team won 8 of its first ten, and at Christmas, it had improved in critical areas like its 5on5 play. The 5on5 play improved so much that it more than offset the regression of the powerplay. In the end, Carbonneau’s system did work, but it doesn’t have the proper players into place. And thats what it essentially came down to. Gainey said some players had expressed their concerns at how they were being used on the ice. It became apparent as the games got tighter as the year went on that some players were playing a game that was not natural to them. That’s not Carbonneau’s fault however. Some will say that last year everything went well, but it has been my opinion that last year’s success was a bit of a mirage: an easier schedule than this year, no serious injuries to major players, and an astounding powerplay that hid a lot of subpar fundamental hockey. Flaws that became apparent in the playoffs when Boston and Philadelphia eventually put the chokehold on the habs’ powerplay and also on their play on the road this year; getting manhandled for the most part.

Gainey holds some blame as well. Why hire a coach when you probably know the players you put into place won’t thrive with his system? Was the clash of philosophy not evident?

So Gainey now heads behind the bench,  and after not making any major trades at the trade deadline, and publically voicing his belief to the players that are in place, despite many pundits saying that the needs help. The problems seem similar year after year: there still isn’t enough hardnosed players and no number one centreman…He is now on the hotseat.

Fun Fact: Carbonneau’s daughter Anne-Marie is married to his former Dallas teammate Brendan Morrow.

Flying Frenchman’s Alternate Standings

This is my 5on5 Standings. This is what the standings would look like if special teams and overtime didn’t exist. I find this is a good gauge for playoff success. Last year Pittsburgh and Detroit were the top teams in their respective conferences and both went on to the finals.

Outlook On The Stretch Drive

Well it’s been a few days since I wrote something, I was busy at a girls hockey tournament and the girls did very well…The habs are also doing well of late, or maybe it just looks that way with Halak arguably stealing some of the recent games. There are also some good points to build upon as we wait and see if some new additions will join the flock at the trade deadline.

Good point number 1: Laraque did his job well against San Jose on Saturday night. Some punishing forechecking followed by a decisive win in a fight against Shelley which turned the momentum of the game at that point. It was a relief for all concerned especially after he expressed his displeasure at how he had been used so far this year and that Carbonneau doesn’t like the type of player he is. But the whole ordeal is a case where both are at fault; Laraque wants to feel a part of the team and needs to play, but at the same time, when he has played he hasn’t looked interested enough to earn more ice time. Like it or not, Big George has to be a key piece. The habs do hit a lot but its ineffective since most are smallish by today’s standard, hence the hitting doesn’t have the desired effect of wearing down the opponents’ defensive core.

Good point number 2: The powerplay is exploding since the acquisition Mathieu Schneider, clicking at about 40% since his arrival. Also the play of fellow defenseman Andrei Markov has improved substantially. I had been very critical of Markov in the past, noticing how he disappears as the games get tighter and gain in importance, but he has been bringing it offensively, he is still not good enough at being a shut-down defenseman to challenge for the Norris Trophy. Right now, sitting back and stinging the opponent when opportunity is arising is serving the team well.

Points of concern: The canadiens are allowing shots at an alarming rate, around 40 per game. Not just harmless perimeter shots; hard shots from the slot. Seems we back up too much and concede the blueline way too easily. But on the upside though, Halak is well equipped, he is the type that gets hot the more rubber he sees.  Halak does get flack for his lack of rebound control but it ain’t easy when you’re seeing all those pucks coming at you with loads of traffic in front of you. We have to credit the young Slovak, he got the job done, he alone stopped the ship from sinking.

Other point of concern has been the play of Roman Hamrlik and Mike Komisarek. The two have looked buffoonish since being paired together. Komisarek wasn’t looking that great before that either. In Hamrlik’s case it has been a bit surprising

Outlook: With lots of home games left on their schedule, the habs are well positioned to make the playoffs. Most of the home games are against beatable opponents and are void of cruel scheduling. An important 9 out of 10 games stretch are at home. Here they can consolidate their participation in the post season and fine tune the system of play. Right now, sitting back and stinging the opponent when opportunity arises is serving the team well. I suspect the habs will give teams a different look come playoff time… So while things looked rather bleak two weeks ago things are looking up, and with this being the centennial season, we can all say: Phew thank God.

Fun Fact: Big Georges Laraque was a figure skater first! He took figure skating lessons at 4 years of age. It was when he was 5 that he began to play hockey.

Halak it, Halak it, it’s good

(Vancouver Canucks vs Montreal Canadiens game notes.)

In his daily press conference, Coach Carbonneau said he had given all the chances he could give to Price, now its time for Jaro to show what hes got…And the Slovak goes and has a shutout. Halak delivered and in a tough game too. That wasn’t the islanders or the avalanche on the other side. He outdueled Luongo. No one can understate this outing by Halak. Henri Richard told Red Fisher that Halak looked like the legendary Jacques Plante. So it appears the battle for number one goalie is starting.

The team had some hustle for the most part, but this 1-2-2 style of play ain’t going to cut it on the road. I say 1-2-2 but there’s hardly any forechecking going on. The habs got outplayed in the first period, got outplayed even more in the second, and got outplayed worse in the third period. The habs had some incredible bounces go their way, and hence the win, but more work needs to be done and they certainly do need some outside help in post-season success of any kind is to be achieved…The biggest change in this team is how they’ve gone from dictating the tempo with speed to just reaction-style type of play. I, personally, havent seen the habs put on some constant pressure beyond the first period in quite some time.

Another bright spot was the play of hamilton call-up and enforcer Gregory Stewart which is beginning to bring into question the usefulness of Laraque who sat in the pressbox last night. If Laraque doesn’t play in Philadelphia Friday, then…

The powerplay continues to improve since the arrival -or should I say- return of Mathieu Schneider. And that is good news, with the way the habs’ 5 on 5 play has been deteriorating since the Christmas break; great goaltending and an above average powerplay might be the only recipe for the team to stay afloat should there be no trades of impact at the deadline…But more on that at another time.                 

Fun Fact: Last night was the first time since November 30th, 2000 that the habs last beat the canucks; going 0-10 along with 1 old time draw in that period.

Saku Koivu tied Elmer Lach for 10th place on the Canadiens’ all-time scoring list with an assist last night.