Boone has a bad day...

Yikes! Looks like Mike Boone finally snapped! Poor guy. He was one of the reporters "towing the company line" -- but now it looks like the fans who contribute to the site have finally got to him.

My Super Awesome Genius Solution
Ok, the 'suck bug' went up the 416 from Ottawa and nestled quite nicely into the Bell Centre -- no ghosts are gonna kill this infection. Only one thing to do as a team: sweat it out.

Carbo has got to keep skating his team (90 minute practise with rookie skating drills). They want to play like rookies? Treat them like one. Gainey should try and sign Kovalev to a 2-yr deal, then make a trade for a player to either get the PP in order, or a pride-filled finisher. (who that is, is another post).


Consider Boone's points:

Fire Guy Carbonneau: Come on -- this is not the answer. Carbonneau needs to keeps skating his team; give him a chance to turn it around. He still has a killer winning record with the club -- firing the coach is a ridiculous move -- its not like we're Pittsburgh.

Make a minor trade that will bring in a hard-ass. Nice idea; but not really that easy. We have enough grinders, we have enough underperforming 'skill' -- but you are right, we need a leader, and a finisher. If you bring in a Hard Ass, as you say, you will lose Kovalev and the rest of the Russians for sure. Its why Sourray left the team: he saw the writing on the wall. No one wants to listen to a english Hard Ass in that dressing room. You'd get Ka-chunk and immediately delcare him to be in a slump, where is his form, etc...

Admit that the fifth year ... is an abject failure Last I saw we aren't in last place, and still above .500. Grow up: you can't win them all.


Stand pat: Yup, you're right, its probably what Gainey will do, and it probably won't work.

An entire forward line is missing. But the absence of Alex Tanguay, Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins – touted as the team's number-one line this season – didn't prevent the Canadiens from winning games in December and January.

Doesn't that point to good coaching? If you are gonna crap on the coach when he fails, praise the coach when he succeeds.

Does this team have a forechecking system? If so, why can't the players execute it?

Work work work. Carbo tried the easy route with his injury rattled team; he's got them practising hard now, and if he keeps it up, we'll see results in time to make the playoffs, and win. Players are checking with 1 hand on the stick and taking dumb penalties; they gotta get the lead out. Its a long season, they are tired, but they can only skate it out.

The Power Play: Crap since the Boston and Phladelphia series – when, you may recall, Mark Streit was still playing the right point.

You bet, no question here. Losing Streit hurt a lot, and the young core have not been able to fill the gap. And Markov looks dead.

Mistakes: The same ones over and over and over again.

Goes to confidence, and confidence comes from the legs. The players are surpirsed to get the puck; stop moving and have no ideas. But if they skate they get time with the puck, and their brains starts working. If they have no fear of getting out skated, then they can start playing again.

Grit deficiency: Why do opposing teams' fourth lies pound the snot out of the Canadiens in every game?

Yup. But grit means more than just Tommy K and George Laraque; real grit means finishing the play and scoring goals: like Lucic and Kreijkec and Malone, and Getzlaf...

Too many soft players: Would Tomas Plekanec have made a difference last night?

No, it would have been worse because Higgy might have seen less icetime. Pleks is trying, but having a bad year. Too much energy spent in the wrong places.

The All-Stars: Carey Price, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Alex Kovalev have been horrible since that magical night that ended with Kovy scoring the winner and blowing kisses to his adoring fans.

You bet. The All-Star game is all about coasting and scoring easy goals. Your super-stars get spoiled, your goalie gets shelled.

Centennial BS: Tell the truth now: Didn't you just know the season was lost when the Canadiens wore Cirque de Soleil costumes to play the Boston Bruins?

If it makes you feel better, let's blame a sweater (which they only wore once).

Unsigned players: The pet theory of my guru, Pierre McGuire. It has to weigh on their minds. And as Réjean Tremblay pointed out in a recent column, it turns potential UFAs and RFAs into "PME"s (petites et moyennes entreprises).

Yeah, I'll buy that. Kovalev showed what he can do when he feels like he fits and is part of the puzzle. Dumping Sourray was a clear sign it was his team (despite Koivu wearing the C) -- and maybe he feels like he's done anyway, so he thinking where he's gonna play next year. If thats the case, move him on out! From a hockey pool point of view, players in a contract year usually outperform themselves; but too many uncommitted players might have everyone feeling like its not their team anymore.