Ryan White has been returned to the AHL. He didn't play a lot but he showed the grit you expect from a 4th line energy player.
This was a game very similar to a recent game against the Penguins. The Habs got themselves in insane penalty trouble and then didn't give enough effort to get back into the game. Three bad penalty caused back-to-back 5 on 3 goals. Not a good way to get out of the first period. A couple guys stood out and a few guys were awful. I'll try to cover both ends and not keep it all negative.
David Desharnais: I'll give a shameless plug to my article thread about Desharnais (http://www.dobberhockey.com/index.ph...ad.php&t=95235). He was good again tonight. He was the player I noticed the most. He was buzzing all game and came out with a goal. His ice time is up to 16 minutes which includes 6 minutes on the power play. Over the weekend Jacques Martin told him to find a place to live in Montreal because he's sticking around the rest of the way.
Mathieu Darche: The other bright spot tonight. He gives an honest effort and does a great job around the net. Totaled 2 points tonight (goal + assist) and was involved physically. Was also +2.
PK Subban: I hate when he feels like he has to play like superman. He always tries to take the big shot and takes a good 2+ seconds winding up. By the time the shot is taken there's 3 guys ready to block the shot. Way too predictable. I did like his physical involvement and puck movement. His shot selection was bad.
James Wisniewski: Wow he was awful tonight. For some reason he kept throwing soft passes in front of his own net. This led to a handful of Flyers scoring chances. Hopefully he can get back to what he's been doing in other games.
Scott Gomez: Whenever he loses the puck he stops playing. Just stands there an additional 2-3 seconds in disgust before finally starting to backcheck. I mention this because clearly he has the speed to apply pressure on the guy that took the puck from him. But he doesn't. Otherwise he was pretty ordinary and when you're playing the #1 team in the East you need a better showing from Gomez.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Ryan White has been returned to the AHL. He didn't play a lot but he showed the grit you expect from a 4th line energy player.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
PK Subban has been invited to the All-Star game as a rookie. He will take part in the skills competition and maybe something else. My guess is you'll see him in the hard-shot and/or the skating contests. Maybe the shot accuracy contest if they use soccer nets...
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=351139
Here's a decent article by TSN that outlines the changes made in the last two years and how the team has molded itself into a legitimate playoff contender. They also mention that they are 10 points ahead of their pace last season after 50 games (59 points vs 49 last year). Lots of quotes from the coach which is actually a rare thing.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/314208.html
Mike Cammalleri has joined the team in Washington and will practice tomorrow with the team. He could be back as early as this weekend.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
Twitter: @ross10019
CBS Sportsline 14 team H2H keeper (21-man roster, 14 keepers)
Weekly lineup changes (start 9F (3/4C and 6/5W) 5D 2G)
G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%
Angry Little Elves (formerly Montreal Maulers)
2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 League Champions
C: Tavares Hintz Larkin Jenner Seguin Schenn Backlund
W: Panarin Marchand Hyman Keller Forsberg Batherson Rust Moore Smith
D: Josi Hamilton Weegar Montour Ekholm Myers Parayko Pettersson Seeler
G: Vasilevskiy Swayman Kuemper
I've been impressed with how the team has performed with some of the top guys on IR. They are picking up a lot of points lately even thought it's ugly at times. Main credit goes to Price but others have stepped up too. Injuries and inconsistency opened the door for Pacioretty and Desharnais to cement their place in Montreal. Subban and Weber have also played great lately. Finally they are using their farm team correctly!
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
There are 2 seasons, Hockey & Waiting for Hockey
Dynasty, 7 Teams, Pts Only
35 Skaters+3 Goalies
Start:1G,6D,12F
G: 2pt win, 2pt SO, 1pt OTL
5 changes/month
Playoffs run with 1 lineup
G: Price,Fleury,Rinne
D: Green,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Markov,Edler,
Ehrhoff,Carlson,Pitkanen,McBain,OEL
F:Malkin,D.Sedin,Kopitar,Perry,Datsyuk,Spezza,
Cammaleri,Carter,Iginla,Savard,Selanne,Plekanec,
Voracek,Hemsky,Burrows,C.Giroux,Backlund,Filatov,
Couture,Paajarvi,Grabner,Connolly
A bit of a different format moving forward, I thought instead of commenting about the game in general and moving on to individual analysis I'd just comment about the game in general and tie in the players where it's appropriate.
-Carey Price had an issue this morning where his equipment arrived late. He hit the ice when the morning skate was practically over. The announcers said this break in the routine can bother a goaltender. I think it's the goalie's job to overcome these things.
-Price was caught early on a bad angle shot by Mathier Perreault. It was a tough time to allow this kind of goal. But after this goal he quickly settled in and IMO was the difference in picking up the win.
-Gionta was flying tonight. This was his best game in a long time. He lined up with Plekanec and Pacioretty and this trio was the best one all night. Gionta scored both regulation goals, one on a slap shot and the other was a snipe on a breakaway. He also scored the lone shootout goal to seal the victory. I'm suspecting that he healed up a lower body injury during the week off because his skating speed was much improved.
-Gomez lined up with Kostitsyn and Eller. This had mixed results. Gomez was good and involved, creating chances and was skating very well. Eller works hard but is still green as a rookie. Kostitsyn looks lost out there, like his mind is on something else.
-Price stopped all 3 shootout attempts. He looked very good and still covered a lot of net when he was stretched out to make the final save on Ovechkin.
-The final shot total was 38-29 in favor of the Canadiens. They outworked the Caps for most of the game (after the first 10 minutes where they fell behind 2-0). I noticed that the coaches worked on a few things during the time off. One thing I noted was how well they used the boards to complete passes. It's a small thing but something like this can lead to a couple extra chances to score each game.
-Another improvement: set plays where a speedy winger suddenly skates up ice and firing a long pass. Gionta and Pouliot were especially used in this situation. This led to several scoring chances including the second Gionta goal.
-The Canadiens have the lowest goal total of all 16 current playoff teams with 132 after tonight. With the depleted defensive unit this really emphasizes the value of guys like Price, Plekanec, Halpern and Gill to the team.
Edit:
-Some other news: The Hurricanes and Thrashers both lost tonight in regulation, and the Rangers lost in shootout, so this turns out to be a great night for the Canadiens in terms of the playoff race.
Updated playoff race:
5. Capitals (52 games, 64 points)
6. Rangers (53 games, 62 points)
7. Canadiens (51 games, 61 points)
8. Thrashers (53 games, 57 points)
9. Hurricanes (51 games, 56 points)
Last edited by ericdaoust; February 1, 2011 at 11:04 PM.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
-Alex Auld gets the start tonight vs the Panthers. Adjust your rosters accordingly.
-Prospect Danny Kristo suffered some kind of foot/toe injury that appears serious. He was hospitalized and is out indefinitely. I had trouble figuring out the article on RDS but once I find an article in english (or if someone can read french better than I can) I'll post more specific details.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
It's frostbite on his toes on his right foot, which he suffered "while walking in the area near his university campus". Strange. Something tells me he was doing the "21 year old university hockey star gets drunk out of his mind and passes out in the snow for 6 hours" thing.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
Twitter: @ross10019
CBS Sportsline 14 team H2H keeper (21-man roster, 14 keepers)
Weekly lineup changes (start 9F (3/4C and 6/5W) 5D 2G)
G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%
Angry Little Elves (formerly Montreal Maulers)
2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 League Champions
C: Tavares Hintz Larkin Jenner Seguin Schenn Backlund
W: Panarin Marchand Hyman Keller Forsberg Batherson Rust Moore Smith
D: Josi Hamilton Weegar Montour Ekholm Myers Parayko Pettersson Seeler
G: Vasilevskiy Swayman Kuemper
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Game Notes:
-This was a solid effort overall capped off by excellent defensive coverage to keep the game 3-2. The forwards especially stepped it up big time and kept the puck out of the zone.
-Alex Auld had a strong outing with 33 saves on 35 shots. He didn't let in any softies and that's huge in terms of a backup giving confidence to his teammates. His stats overall this season are excellent but he's actually been very hot/cold. Expect to see him again during one of the weekend back-to-back afternoon games.
-Scott Gomez had the urge to shoot a lot tonight. I imagine this was instructed by the coaches. He had 5 shots and a few others missed the net. He had a strong game overall.
-The newly formed Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gionta line has been excellent. Gionta has found his legs and has become a very dangerous forward. Pacioretty is using his size and reach to create chances around the net. Gionta and Plekanec each had a goal, while Pacioretty assisted on both.
-PK Subban has been playing the best hockey of his career. He logged 24 minutes last night and 23 tonight. He is making some very intelligent decisions with the puck and had two assists tonight. He also had 5 shots on goal.
-David Desharnais was down to 10 minutes tonight. This was the result of his line being on the ice for an early Panther goal in the 1st, combined with a goal by Jeff Halpern. I wouldn't be concerned, the coach went with the hot hand tonight.
-Yannick Weber has been solid. You don't hear much from him but that also means he's not getting beat often. He had one bad giveaway tonight where Auld bailed him out with a solid left pad save but otherwise he's very reliable and has also been involved physically.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Game Notes:
-This was a win that was made difficult because the Habs were coasting for parts of the 3rd. I hate when teams get into "protect the lead" mode, because that's not the style of game they used to get the lead in the first place.
-Carey Price was outstanding. Perfect positioning all game. He was able to make saves look easier than they were. Even the puckhandling was easy, as he calmly moved the puck to the safest outlet and didn't complicate things.
-Alexandre Picard was in the lineup because James Wisniewski is still suffering from the flu that he had a week ago. He played very well with four blocked shots, an assist and a scrap with Sean Avery (to shut him up as he was being his usual moronic self).
-Wisniweski's presence was missed though, as the team failed to score on four power play opportunities. If I remember correctly the announcers said that's no power play goals over the last 22 opportunities overall. This is an area that has to improve.
-David Desharnais was good again today. He did not play much in the third due to the coach shortening the bench but in the first and second he was buzzing all over the place getting chances to score and drew an early Ranger penalty with his hustle.
-Max Pacioretty looked good again. He is an excellent package of speed, checking and skill. He didn't have any points today but was in front of the goal to help create the first goal by Scott Gomez and finished plus-two. That stint in Hamilton did wonders in terms of changing his mindset. Now he thinks like a goal scorer and certainly belongs on the scoring lines.
-Lars Eller is getting time in the top-six with Cammalleri out. He isn't producing yet but I do see some smarter decisions being made. He is very involved physically and doesn't look gun shy anymore. The team appears to be taking the "Red Wings" approach in making the young guy earn his minutes. My guess is it will be a long road to fantasy relevance but he will get there.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Game Notes:
-This was a rough outing, where the team had a poor start and quickly fell behind 2-0. They were able to come back and play well but couldn't translate any of their puck movement into shots on goal. In essence, they did not generate enough quality scoring chances to come back from two goals down.
-The slow starts are a major concern. Lately they have had to come from behind in several games. Even though they have successfully completed a few comebacks, the lack of energy and focus early in games is not good. Today this caught up to them.
-Carey Price was solid. The first goal was iffy (quick wrap-around off of a Hal Gill turnover) but the last two I don't hold against him. He made several key saves to keep the team in reach.
-PK Subban scored the team's only goal but finished the game minus-two along with his partner Hal Gill. The duo was on the ice for three goals against including the final empty netter. They had several key turnovers in the defensive zone. Despite the goal by Subban this was not a good outing for the pair.
-The Canadiens really miss James Wisniewski's puck moving abilities on the back end. They failed once again to score on the power play although they only had one opportunity. Still, his passing could have jump-started additional offensive rushes.
-I must say in the last two games with Alex Picard in the lineup he has outplayed Yannick Weber. He has also outplayed Spacek. I wouldn't remove him from the lineup when Wisniewski returns. Logic would say Spacek should sit but the coach will either bench Weber or put Picard back in the press box. Tough spot for the young blueliners.
-With the early deficit the coach relied on the top two lines more than usual. The trio of Desharnais/Darche/Pyatt all played seven minutes or less. Meanwhile Gomez, Gionta, Pacioretty and Plekanec were each over 20 minutes.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust