Montreal Canadiens

[ericdaoust]

About last night's game:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/boone...-last-night-49

[ericdaoust]

On Habs' playoff aspirations at the mid-point of the season:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/boone/revisionist-math

[ericdaoust]

Max Pacioretty missed practice today with the flu. Looks like we both got hit with the bug at the same time. I'm also hearing that Scott Gomez will be back soon. With the other two lines intact, should Pacioretty miss tomorrow night's game Gomez might get a golden opportunity back in the top-six next to Desharnais and Cole. Otherwise look for Louis Leblanc to be called back up.

[ericdaoust]

Jaro Halak returns to the Bell Centre tonight. I hope he gets a good reception (he probably will) because he deserves it.

Scott Gomez filled in for Max Pacioretty (flu). Gomez took part in morning skate last Saturday vs. Tampa Bay. - TSN

Monday's Practice Lines

Forwards:
Gomez - Desharnais - Cole
Cammalleri - Plekanec - Moen
Moen - Eller - Kostitsyn
Darche - Nokelainen - Blunden

Defence:
Gorges - Subban
Emelin - Diaz
Gill - Campoli
Kaberle - Weber

Goaltenders:
Price
Budaj

I'll try to find out if Max Pac and/or Gomez will be in the lineup.

[habs83]

No changes tonight. MaxPac in, Weber and Nokelainen out. Gomez is still out.

[ericdaoust]

No changes tonight. MaxPac in, Weber and Nokelainen out. Gomez is still out.

Cool thanks! Pac might have some stamina issues but if he hangs around the net, Cole and Desharnais should be able to find him. Gomez is a heck of a wildcard for the second half, not because I think he deserves a top-6 spot but because he has a lot more talent than Nokelainen, Darche and Blunden combined (not saying much). Any offence that he can potentially add will be needed.

[habs83]

Cool thanks! Pac might have some stamina issues but if he hangs around the net, Cole and Desharnais should be able to find him. Gomez is a heck of a wildcard for the second half, not because I think he deserves a top-6 spot but because he has a lot more talent than Nokelainen, Darche and Blunden combined (not saying much). Any offence that he can potentially add will be needed.

I absolutely agree with the part about Gomez. If he is willing to accept his role, He is a major upgrade over Nokelainen: he wins his faceoffs, he can play shorthanded and is a better option to fill a spot in the top 9 in case of an injury. He is saying all the right things right now, that he would do anything to help the team win, but I am curious to see what he'll say after three or four weeks on the fourth line. Then again, injuries are a key factor in regads to the role that he will have to handle down the road.

[habs83]

Some news on the injury front

http://www.985sports.ca/hockey/nouve...on-118534.html

Gomez will travel with the team to Boston, but the chances he play there are slim. He is a better bet for one of the two week-end games.

White should receive clerance to practice with the rest of the team somewhere next week. A return after the All-Star break seems realistic.

Markov... well... no news. Haven't start to practice yet since his arthroscopy.

[ericdaoust]

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/G...094/story.html

Brendan Gallagher named captain of the Vancouver Giants. Pretty cool!

[ericdaoust]

After winning two straight games, a 12th place team is usually due for a downer. Tonight the Habs made Jaroslav Halak look like a hero by giving him a shutout on just 19 shots. It was not all easy for Halak, but most of the Habs' good chances missed the net.

I thought Carey Price played well but couldn't keep the puck out on a few bad breakdowns. Not much can be said when the team provides no goal support.

The "minus-2" club tonight includes Mike Cammalleri, Alexei Emelin, Hal Gill, Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec.

The Cammy/Plek/Gionta line basically took the night off. Gionta left injured late in the game. Cammy needs to be reminded that he's on skates playing a hockey game.

No player had more than two shots on goal.

Right now on L'Antichambre there's a big discussion about players skipping practices. A ton of players skipped the morning skate and they are speculating that the lack of commitment is making its way onto the ice. Players are losing cardio by not skating as much as other teams as well.

PK Subban played alright offensively but really needs to step it up defensively. I find him very weak working the wall behind his own net. He is better than this. He is still trying to do too much at times.

Subban being beat by Ryan Reaves on the first goal looked very bad though.

The best line was Moen/Eller/Kostitsyn. They showed some spark but ultimately did not score any goals.

Rafael Diaz was by far the best dman tonight. He played with some poise and created some chances.

Sorry for the lack of detail here as I have a pretty nasty cold. My attention span was not 100% during the game. Hopefully I captured the important stuff though. It was not a good game so not much positives can be extracted.

[ericdaoust]

Added bonus: Tomas Plekanec is minus-15 in his last 20 games.

[dyzfunctioned]

Ugh... have turned down so many offers for Subban and Price in one league and Montreal's struggles are killing me.

[ericdaoust]

Ugh... have turned down so many offers for Subban and Price in one league and Montreal's struggles are killing me.

I hope you have been following the thread because I was saying abandon ship before I went on vacation in December. In a one year league, Montreal is a 12th place team. Price/Subban still have a ton of keeper value though.

[dyzfunctioned]

I hope you have been following the thread because I was saying abandon ship before I went on vacation in December. In a one year league, Montreal is a 12th place team. Price/Subban still have a ton of keeper value though.

Yea, its a keeper.

[ericdaoust]

Yea, its a keeper.

They'll be fine in keeper leagues. You just have to suck it up for this year.