Montreal Canadiens

[habs83]

I also want to say a word on Lars Eller...boy can that kid play?? He shows us something great every game. In the near future, when he'll add a little consistency to his play, he'll be very fun to watch. His rush where he deked the two D-men and the goalie only to be stopped by the end of the blade of the skate on Montoya ws a beauty. On the following shift, the spim-o-rama was more spectacular than efficient but hey...it looked nice!!

[ericdaoust]

I also want to say a word on Lars Eller...boy can that kid play?? He shows us something great every game. In the near future, when he'll add a little consistency to his play, he'll be very fun to watch. His rush where he deked the two D-men and the goalie only to be stopped by the end of the blade of the skate on Montoya ws a beauty. On the following shift, the spim-o-rama was more spectacular than efficient but hey...it looked nice!!

He does take a lot of dumb penalties in exchange for the great display of skill. I'm just glad the coach is turning him loose and not punishing him. I'd rather see a player bring a bit of bad along with a lot of good than have last year's version of Lars Eller that brought nothing either way.

[ericdaoust]

http://tsn.ca/world_jrs/feature/?id=13609

Team Canada's junior team roster - three Canadiens are on the roster: Brendan Gallagher, Michael Bournival and Nathan Beaulieu. Being on Canada's team is not an easy task. Guys like Ty Rattie, Christian Thomas, Joe Morrow and Ryan Murphy were cut. That goes to show how well the three Habs' prospects have performed.

I know there are bust prospects, but I think this news puts in perspective the real NHL potential of all three players.

[ddp]

Gallagher and Beaulieu are AWESOME.
I can't wait for them to arrive!

[ross10019]

Gallagher and Beaulieu are AWESOME.
I can't wait for them to arrive!

So is Bournival, I think he'll be a long-time NHLer.

But Gallagher and Beaulieu, wow, looking forward to the day when the top PP unit looks something like this:

Gallagher/Eller/Pacioretty
Beaulieu/Subban

[ericdaoust]

Travis Moen is injured. I do not know how long but Mike Blunden has been called up to replace him.

[ericdaoust]

From TSN Ice Chips:

Montreal's scratches on Thursday are Raphael Diaz, Travis Moen (lower-body injury), and Brian Gionta (groin). - TSN

Projected Lines vs. Flyers

Forwards:
Cammalleri - Plekanec - Kostitsyn
Pacioretty - Desharnais - Cole
Darche - Eller - Leblanc
Blunden - Nokelainen - Weber

Defence:
Gorges - Subban
Gill - Campoli
Kaberle - Emelin

Goaltenders:
Price - starting
Budaj

[ericdaoust]

Tonight was a very weird game. Everyone seemed a bit off; the Flyers, Canadiens and officials all had rough evenings. In the end the Flyers stole two points after the Habs shot themselves in the foot for the final time.

I'll start with the officials. I'm not one who blames them for calling too many penalties in a game like Don Cherry does. I believe the players are the ones who decide how many penalties get called. In a game like tonight the entire game should have been spent on special teams one way or the other. The refs decided to call a completely inconsistent game full of make-up calls while ignoring other obvious calls to make sure things are close to even. They should just call the game as it happens. When both teams are complaining about a lack of consistency then there's a problem.

Erik Cole scored his team-leading fifth power-play goal and was once again on top of his game. He had a cheap interference call negate another power play goal by Tomas Plekanec. I call it cheap especially when the Flyers scored two of their goals afterwards with the player just as close to the goalie. Basically Cole nudged Bobrovsky's pad but did not affect the play IMO.

Alexei Emelin was back in the lineup and had six hits. However his minus-2 rating probably means he will sit next game.

I really like what Tomas Kaberle brings in terms of how he handles the play between the blue lines. He is very good at knowing where to put the puck to successfully enter the offensive zone. It has helped the team a lot and has made the power play get more scoring chances.

David Desharnais had an outstanding game with a goal and an assist. He does a lot of little things well and did a great job cutting to the front of the net to score his goal through traffic.

Mike Cammalleri had seven shots on goal which is good but he still makes a ton of bad plays. His effort level is improved though. The Habs need whatever they can get out of him. He still finished minus-2.

Louis Leblanc scored his first NHL goal by tapping in a deflected shot going to the net. The crowd gave him a long standing ovation as one of their own has made his mark in the NHL. Great moment.

Anderi Kostitsyn was a ghost tonight.

Max Pacioretty had two assists.

Michael Blunden had an assist on Leblanc's goal. This may be his only point this season so make sure you save that youtube clip!

[ted dibiase]

I went to the game last night. This was incredible, in case you missed it.

Leblanc scores his first NHL goal to tie the game 2-2 midway through the 2nd period. The crowd goes bananas, they were still chanting his name 5 minutes later, no exaggeration.

Then Jack Martin proceeds to give Leblanc exactly one more shift (50 seconds) for the entire rest of the game.

I thought the Desharnais line was the only line that had any pressure or chances 5-on-5. And I have to admit, Kaberle looked great for the most part last night.

[robmyatt]

Jaques Martin has got to go.
That is how you strip the confidence of your top prospect, bench him after he scores his first NHL goal.

**** JM

[ericdaoust]

Jaques Martin has got to go.
That is how you strip the confidence of your top prospect, bench him after he scores his first NHL goal.

**** JM

JM is a real mixed bag. On one hand, the GM work above him has been absolutely terrible so it's like trying to win at Poker with a 2 and 3 in hand. He has put below-average teams into playoff spots which is a plus. On the other hand, his game management is terrible. He always shuffles lines and ALWAYS favors vets over young guys. Young guys get punished for minor mistakes while older players can give lackluster effort for long stretches and not see a dip in ice time. This is what will ultimately lead to his firing. When Gomez returns you already know Eller's ice time will drop significantly as the older player gets back to top-6 ice time without deserving it.

[ericdaoust]

I went to the game last night. This was incredible, in case you missed it.

Leblanc scores his first NHL goal to tie the game 2-2 midway through the 2nd period. The crowd goes bananas, they were still chanting his name 5 minutes later, no exaggeration.

Then Jack Martin proceeds to give Leblanc exactly one more shift (50 seconds) for the entire rest of the game.

I thought the Desharnais line was the only line that had any pressure or chances 5-on-5. And I have to admit, Kaberle looked great for the most part last night.

Thanks for the update. The concerns I raised in my prior reply about young guys losing ice time applies to Leblanc too. When Gomez returns Leblanc will be shipped back to Hamilton. No questions asked, that's what will happen.

The Desharnais line produces chances every night. The other three lines are hit-or-miss for the most part.

[ericdaoust]

Diaz and Moen to miss tomorrow's game while Carey Price is the confirmed starter.

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/331888.html

[ross10019]

Yeah, I've been a defender of Jacques Martin in the past but am really really tiring of his decisions.

The latest, obviously the Leblanc benching after he scored his first goal.

Before that, sitting Emelin after he had really started to come into his own.

I don't even want to think of how I feel if Gomez comes back and gets 18 minutes a game and Eller is reduced to 14 and Leblanc is sent down.

NEWSFLASH: Eller is,without a shred of doubt in my mind, a better NHL centerman than Gomez right now and forever, it's just a fact. I'm not saying Eller doesn't have room for improvement, he's young, but he is definitely better and more valuable right now than Gomez. GET RID OF FREAKIN' GOMEZ!!!

[ted dibiase]

I'm not a Canadiens fan, but living here I've pretty much come to empathize with Habs fans about Martin. I just can't understand the decisions he keeps making.

The time on ice may not completely support this, but he relied on Gill-Campoli for every important even-strength shift last night. Kaberle was pretty protected, he didn't play any hard minutes, but as I said he looked really confident. Emelin threw pretty much the only hits they had all game, and gets rewarded with the least ice time. I know it's a running joke about JM's love for Darche, but Eller looks visible improved and he keeps throwing him out there with plugs.