Montreal Canadiens

[Killer67]

Yeah, that would be a terrible trade. Give PK another year or two and he'll be solid.

In other news, did anyone listen to Gauthier's press conference about the french coach thing? He sounds like an idiot and then closes it by blaming the young guys for most of the late game collapses this season. Please fire this guy.

[ericdaoust]

Yeah, that would be a terrible trade. Give PK another year or two and he'll be solid.

In other news, did anyone listen to Gauthier's press conference about the french coach thing? He sounds like an idiot and then closes it by blaming the young guys for most of the late game collapses this season. Please fire this guy.

I was going to mention this. Total idiocy. It further solidifies our concerns about the vets getting a free pass. The young guys have mostly been bright spots this season.

[ericdaoust]

Some audio clips here from Josh Gorges, Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec and Pierre Gauthier:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/...day-practice-2

[ericdaoust]

Further to the Gauthier comments, the more I think about it, the more it's frustrating to watch. The way the organization has treated Randy Cunneyworth is shameful. If you hire a coach, you should back him up. Don't hide behind the 'interim' tag. Gauthier needs to grow a set and stand by his own decisions. The owners should either back up Gauthier's decision or they should get in touch with the team so that they can understand what's going on and help Gauthier make better decisions. The whole organization feels like a joke to me right now. It's a shadow of what I saw in 1993 the year I became a hockey fan.

The Markov situation again is very frustrating. They gave him a three-year deal right before free agency when a bunch of healthy bodies were available to be signed. It's not like Markov took a discount either. If those cap dollars (Markov or someone else) were on the ice and not in the infirmary, maybe this team would be better at protecting leads, among other things.

Gauthier should instead apologize for putting a 13th place team on the ice.

[ericdaoust]

Link to ESPN story regarding Gauthier's promise to hire a French-speaking coach:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/74...-canadian-fans

[ericdaoust]

Gionta returns to practice but will not play tomorrow night vs Jets:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/...-habs-practice

Plus more reading material:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...631/story.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle2288986/

[ross10019]

Further to the Gauthier comments, the more I think about it, the more it's frustrating to watch. The way the organization has treated Randy Cunneyworth is shameful. If you hire a coach, you should back him up. Don't hide behind the 'interim' tag. Gauthier needs to grow a set and stand by his own decisions. The owners should either back up Gauthier's decision or they should get in touch with the team so that they can understand what's going on and help Gauthier make better decisions. The whole organization feels like a joke to me right now. It's a shadow of what I saw in 1993 the year I became a hockey fan.

The Markov situation again is very frustrating. They gave him a three-year deal right before free agency when a bunch of healthy bodies were available to be signed. It's not like Markov took a discount either. If those cap dollars (Markov or someone else) were on the ice and not in the infirmary, maybe this team would be better at protecting leads, among other things.

Gauthier should instead apologize for putting a 13th place team on the ice.

Hear hear. Gauthier has got to go, and soon, bring in Jim Nill or some other guy with solid NHL pedigree, language issue be damned (except for the coach, bring back Carbo).

[ericdaoust]

Hear hear. Gauthier has got to go, and soon, bring in Jim Nill or some other guy with solid NHL pedigree, language issue be damned (except for the coach, bring back Carbo).

You might want to call him "Jean" Nill to avoid offending some people.

[donions]

I've gone from having almost no opinion of Gauthier, to considering him perhaps the worst GM in hockey. From the Pearn fiasco, to the Markov signing, now the ridiculous language drama where Gauthier has done nothing to support the coach he hired. He seems more concerned with covering his own ass and appeasing the fans then supporting the team.

The worst thing is none of these are really hockey decisions, just plain poor management in any business.

Just my view from the outside looking in.

[ericdaoust]

I've gone from having almost no opinion of Gauthier, to considering him perhaps the worst GM in hockey. From the Pearn fiasco, to the Markov signing, now the ridiculous language drama where Gauthier has done nothing to support the coach he hired. He seems more concerned with covering his own ass and appeasing the fans then supporting the team.

The worst thing is none of these are really hockey decisions, just plain poor management in any business.

Just my view from the outside looking in.

That's my thinking too. If I was any business owner (the Molsons obviously own a business) then the Markov situation alone would be enough to get someone fired. All that other stuff just solidifies what is basically the consensus opinion in here.

On the other hand, the Molsons are clearly not plugged in when they allow an english coach and then respond the way they did.

[ericdaoust]

RDS: Gionta may return Saturday (http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/332629.html)

[ericdaoust]

Pretty in-depth article on Canadiens' problems, largely centering around Gauthier and the language issue which has been a hot topic in this thread recently:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...sct=nhl_t11_a1

[ericdaoust]

This game report could be done in one paragraph but I'll try to talk about something other than Lars Eller. Eller had four goals and an assist in under 16 minutes for the best game of his career. The first was a nice wrist shot off of a turnover. His forechecking would be a major factor all night. The second and third goals were one-timers from in front of the net. But the fourth goal will probably be in the top-10 plays of the year as he scored a spin-o-rama goal on a penalty shot (http://eye-on-hockey.blogs.cbssports...94626/34198561).

Eller's linemates Andrei Kostitsyn and Travis Moen also had strong nights. Kostitsyn had two assists including a great individual play to set up Eller's hat trick. This play will be forgotten due to Eller's penalty shot but IMO it is the #1B play of the night. Moen had three assists. Right now in L'Antichambre they're discussing Moen as potential trade bait if the team is a seller at the deadline. With the season he's having he could fetch a solid draft pick or prospect.

I did not see the full game because I was at a family get-together so I can't comment on the little things regarding Price's play. I saw the second and third goals he allowed and honestly both were tough deflections that are nearly impossible to stop.

Erik Cole added two assists to continue his red-hot play.

Tomas Kaberle took his first shot on net in what seems like a decade and sure enough he scored.

Josh Gorges has slowed down offensively but scored a goal tonight. He is on pace to finish close to his career-high of 23 points.

[mister_mcgoo]

But the fourth goal will probably be in the top-10 plays of the year as he scored a spin-o-rama goal on a penalty shot (http://eye-on-hockey.blogs.cbssports...94626/34198561).

wow, that's quite the goal! Thanks for the link Eric, I missed the game too

[ericdaoust]

wow, that's quite the goal! Thanks for the link Eric, I missed the game too

Just the way he stepped in you could tell he was extremely confident at that point. Simply amazing.