One down, 81 To Go

The loss to the Leafs was not entirely a surprise; the Habs are coming off a surprisingly successful playoff campaign, and the Leafs are really looking to do better than last year's embarrassment.

Carey Price didn't look bad, but Hal Gill did. But that's Ok, because so did Mike Komisarek ;)  The rest of the team failed to really impress, and although it was great to have hockey back on TV, the game wasn't really that exciting.

And that jam at the net just before regulation ended? Think Toskala or even Gustavson would have let that one in? I do. Giguere is already making a difference for the evil White-and-Blue this year.

Tonight the Habs visit the Penguins. It'll be nice to have Cammalleri back, but I gotta predict a Pens victory on this one. I'd say 4-1 Pens. The reason? Although the team really came together at the end of last season, it seems that they have since split apart a bit. There is a jump to their game that is missing, but you know the Penguins on home ice will be ready to Bring The Noise.

So, good luck Habs! Although its way to early in the season to worry about anything, remember that every game you lose now, is a must win in March.

Season Opener!

Go Habs Go!!! I hope the team has a good outing tonight: it's gonna be a tight game!

I'll be out drinkin and cheering!

The Woes of Carey Price

The season hasn't even started yet and the fans  (and some media) are turning on Carey Price faster than last week's fresh fish. Maybe he deserves it, maybe not (probably not) but one thing is certain; Carey Price brought it on himself.

And I don't say this because of the way Carey has played -- there has been enough press about that already -- I say this because Carey Price has shown, in the last couple years, that people can get to him.

You see, its no fun picking on a guy who doesn't care. Booing a guy like Halak isn't gonna get you anywhere, because he's not gonna react and he's not gonna care. But the fans know that if they boo Price, he is gonna react to them. Maybe he'll wave at you, or his game will change, who knows what will happen! But he will react...

And the opposing players know it now too. If Price lets in a bad goal or 2 because he's a bit nervous or whatever, then you've got him mentally beat for the rest of the game. Maybe he'll flip the puck at you, or start blaming his defense; in any case he'll change his game for the worse, and you can score at will.

The calm, cool, unshakeable kid is now more like a jello cake with a firecracker in the middle; one bad play and KAPOW! Everyone's covered in a green mess.

So now the entire hockey world knows the Carey Price is a vulnerable hothead, they'll crack him open like an egg every game.

And if Carey Price can't shake off a bad goal, a tough play, and (re)learn to keep his cool in bad weather, then this will be the last contract he ever signs.

Good luck Carey Price; no one on earth deserves the shit storm that is brewing in Montreal with your name on it.

Tampa Bay and Simon Gagne?

No surprise here, but I am a huge Simon Gagne fan. big left winger, takes lots of shots, tries hard every night, and was once described by Bob Clarke as one of the smartest players in the league.

So given that he is now playing with another big favourite of mine, Vinny Lecavellier, I cannot but start to wonder what could have been, if the Habs had made the right moves and been lucky enough to get these players.

I'd be so excited if my Montreal Canadiens could have Vinny and Simon playing for them! Amazing home grown talent lighting up the league with speed and skill, razzle and dazzle...

Or would it have been a nightmare? It seems very common for Quebec born players to return to Montreal and then under acheive. A couple games without a goal, heros are turned to goats in the press, the pressure gets to them, they stop having fun and 2 of my favourite hockey icons end up with misery and crushed careers. Montreal is a difficult town to play in, and an albatros to anyone with talent.

So maybe its best that my heros stay down in Florida; enjoy the sunshine and play their hockey stress free. Have a good year here and there, retire as 'quality hockey players'.

Besides, our current team seems to have the right mental state to play in the Mad Montreal Market; no point in cracking that egg prematurely.

I still can't help but wonder what could have been; I haven't had my favourite players play for my favourite team since 1993.

No More Halak Attacks...

So it is done: Jaroslav Halak is out of Montreal, after a solid Olympics, dragging the team into the playoffs, and carrying them to the Conference Finals.

I was expecting a goalie to leave Montreal, but I expected something 'interesting' in return. First, I thought Price would be the one to go. (See my last post.) Price looked tired and frustrated in Montreal, and I figured he was gonna ask for a trade. I suppose this could still happen.

But it was Halak. The Hero Halak. Traded. Ok -- not the end of the franchise, but after hearing rumours that Philly was offering Jeff Carter for one of our goalies... that San Jose was in the mix... Tampa Bay (Lecavellier? hahahaha) was in the mix... We ended up with a couple prospects -- a replacement for  Ryan McDonagh in Lars Eller, and a big forward in Ian Schultz. Prospects can be good trade acquisitions - but I have trouble trusting prospects taken by a team who just fired all its scouts!

Had we lost Halak to free agency, we would have gotten 3 draft picks in return. But Halak was probably due for a big salary upgrade, even if he went to arbitration; so no guarantee another team would have paid the draft-picks. Gauthier had to dump Halak for money reasons I suppose.

The problem is not losing Halak - I'm sad to see him go, but not shocked - the problem is what we got back in return. Having both Price and Halak was like having money to burn - wrap one of them up with even something else (like a Kostitsyn maybe) and there should have been an opportunity to really make this team better. Instead, we've just lost a good goalie who showed he can really steal games.

This trade feels like the kind of trades that were made in the late 90s ... talent for saving money ... not a good hockey decision. It seems like we just flushed a good player. No offence to our new prospects, but lets face it: they have a long way to go before they make it to The Show.

I like Carey Price; I hope he bounces back after last year. I also hope he wins his team's confidence back, and they'll play for him. Because if there is no chemistry between the guys on the ice and the guy in the net, then Gauthier is gonna have to dump some more players... and that will just be bad.

Price v. Leighton

I'm not sure if a lot of Habs fans noticed, but there were a lot of similarities between 'journeyman goalie turn hero' Michael Leighton and our very own Carey Price: Big goalie, calm and collected, lets in unlucky and untimely goals.

These 2 play a similar style in net: they rely on their size and positioning to be there to make the saves. They also rely on the defence to make life difficult for the shooters, so when the shots do show up there isn't much to shoot at. They both play their best in a calm, collected manner; not letting the pressure crack them (this is not so true of Carey Price lately, I'll admit.) And finally they both seem to let in the same type of goals; tip shots find holes, and then a moment of weakness on their part will send a puck to the back of the net.

So, who would you rather have: Stanley Cup Finalist Michael Leighton, who collected himself after letting in 3 goals to beat the Bruins in game 7, all but shutout the Canadiens, only to fall to the Blackhawks: or Price, who rode the bench to the conference finals, never impressing when he was on the ice (and uncharacteristically showing a lack of composure against Washington) ?

Well, I suppose the hope is that Price, being younger and showing great promise early on, can rebound to form. Leighton's performance should certainly give Price fans hope that given the right situation, Price can shine. Price isn't as dynamic as Luongo in net, for example, but on the right team should be able to provide the solid goaltending a team needs to win.

I am not sure this can happen in Montreal. Price seems to have been cracked in Montreal; rattled to his core. He is trying, for sure, but his calm confidence seems to have turned to detached apathy - he seems almost too removed from the game at times. And you can see it in everyone's body language when Price lets in a goal; he slumps, looks helplessly at his defence, who slump, who look to their coach, who shakes his head -- the crowd tearing up their tickets and heading for the exits. He doesn't get a lot of support out there, perhaps because he doesn't command it.

Anyhow, I liked the way Price played in 2008. I was sad to see him stumble in 2009. I'm disappointed he looks to be gone in 2010. But given Leighton's performance, I think Price, given the same room to make mistakes and support to succeed, will do well. Hopefully other GMs see the same thing, and Montreal won't lose him for a song.

I don't see a way back to success for Price in Montreal.

Phili Frustration

Its one thing to lose. Its another to get embarrassed.

In games 1 and 2, the Canadiens were embarrassed. Chased out of Philidelphia without a goal, mocked, beaten and left for dead, this Montreal Miracle team looked about as tough as a brown paper bag left out in the rain.

But they gave us their best in game 3. You could say Phili played poorly; I say the Canadiens played great! They dug deep and brought out the fire -- one last time it seems. By the end of game 3 you could tell the lads were running out of juice.

Come game 4: still a do-or-die. It's a sleepy Saturday afternoon, the ice is soft and the puck is rolling. And the Canadiens needed to bring the fire -- but all they had left was smoke. A cautious start turned to the Flyer's favour as the Orange built momentum, and the Bleu Blanc Rouge burned out.

There was no reason to get frustrated after Giroux's goal. The Flyers were bound to score; but Subban's attempt at 'getting something going' was just simmered in wrong sauce, and no one was left to catch Leino (?!) whose's breakaway move was "be taller than the goalie, and fall on him." (seriously though, it was a good playoff style goal.) Subban had an aweful afternoon. But he's new; the veterans on and behind the bench should have been able to settle him down.

The Habs generated their pressure with 10 minutes left in the game; far too late against a shick brit house like the Flyers.

The keys to victory sound simple: get to the puck first, make them pay for every inch on defence. But it seems that the Habs burned up the last of their fumes on Thursday. It wasn't a bad game on Saturday, despite the score, but certainly nothing that is gonna make Philidephia think twice.

And now our brave soldiers have to go back to the Dungeon to be tied to a rack and torn limb from limb by crazed Flyers fans, frothing at the mouth. A tough way to go for a team that battled so well.

Here's hoping they find a reserve tank. Here's hoping there is some fight left in this warrior. Here's hoping we can get 1 more game at the Bell Centre, to properly thank these players for such a wonderful playoffs.

Go Habs Go!