Montreal Canadiens

[ericdaoust]

Hey Eric,

You probably already read this and may be old news, but a buddy sent me this link to a responsible reporter Re: the Subban/Gill story.

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...MontrealSports

Thanks for posting. I did read this when it first came out but didn't get around to posting it here because the debunking of the initial story made me laugh too much. From joking around to allegations that Subban is disrespecting the equipment staff??? LOL!

If anything PK will learn in time not to let these minor incidents like throwing his jersey on the ground happen because as we saw the media tends to take these stories and create an entirely different situation. It's easier to just be careful and avoid the headaches. In any other city the negative reporting about Subban would've been limited to his trash talking on the ice.

[ericdaoust]

Darche and Gill will miss tonight's game as well.

[LeTrefle]

Darche took part in the morning skate today.
He won't play tonight, but RDS is saying that he could play Tuesday vs Buffalo...
Good news.

[ericdaoust]

Darche took part in the morning skate today.
He won't play tonight, but RDS is saying that he could play Tuesday vs Buffalo...
Good news.

Far better news than what was initially thought. Darche is a very underrated player and the team needs him.

[ericdaoust]

Game Notes:

-This was a strong effort from start to finish. The Habs are a superior team and it really showed tonight. The speed was the difference.

-Carey Price earned his sixth shutout with 27 saves. He was not overly busy but did his job on every shot. He was clearly on his game, when they showed replays of his saves you can see he was already in perfect position before the shot was taken. Never really had to scramble. Also impressive was his stickhandling.

-I missed the fight between Subban and Lupul. I was told it was a pretty even tilt.

-The player of the game is David Desharnais. This guy is a keeper. His best attribute is that he rarely has a bad shift, regardless of the zone where the play is taking place. He assisted on Pouliot's first goal with an outstanding pass from behind the net. He later scored a power play goal by tipping in a Gomez pass to bring the score up to 3-0. He and his linemates Pouliot and White were creating havoc for the Leafs all night.

-Max Pacioretty had another strong game but left the ice in the 3rd after getting hit from behind by Luke Schenn. Not cool. It didn't appear serious as he finished his shift but was in pain on the bench and was probably removed as a precaution. At least I hope it was a precaution.

-Roman Hamrlik had a strong game with two assists and six blocked shots. Very impressive bounce-back game after having a tough recent stretch of games.

-On the Leafs' side, I was interested in seeing Lupul play in blue and white. He was not impressive at all. He has some skill and obviously some size but couldn't use his skill set to create anything good.

[ericdaoust]

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/314997.html

Summary:

-Max Pacioretty will be back tomorrow. Very unlikely that he misses any time. To me it sounds like a bruised elbow where it hurts but you can still play. He practiced today.
-Mathieu Darche could be back tomorrow. He practiced today.
-Sounds like Hal Gill will miss the next game. He practiced alone today.
-Mike Cammalleri will miss the next two games but could be back for the outdoor game next Sunday. He practiced today but didn't take any contact.

[ericdaoust]

The Canadiens have recalled Brendon Nash from the Bulldogs. I don't know much about him other than he's having an outstanding AHL rookie season with 23 points (three goals) in 50 games. Not bad for a guy that never hit 20 points in four years of college hockey.

He's virtually an unknown at this point because even hockeysfuture.com doesn't have a prospect rating for him yet. But at 6-3 205 and with impressive PIM totals in college he appears to have a physical edge and some tools to work with. I'm not going to say that he's the next Chris Pronger but I think he merits a bit of watching over the next year or two.

I'll report news on him here but I'd love to hear from someone that either follows the Bulldogs or saw him play during college.

[ericdaoust]

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552805

Here's a good article about the role of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the success of the Canadiens this year. It also covers the call-up of Brendon Nash.

[MoreCanadianTeams]

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552805

Here's a good article about the role of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the success of the Canadiens this year. It also covers the call-up of Brendon Nash.

Thanks for the link Eric, not sure if I was happier to read the positive reviews of their development program or the fact that Spacek was out

Great article.

[ericdaoust]

Game Notes:

-Decent game overall, where the Habs outshot the Sabres 18-7 in the first. They had a 2-0 lead but blew it as they went into collapse mode. That's one of my pet peeves. Keep doing what gave your team the 2-0 lead in the first place. I missed most of the first half of the game as my parents needed help moving some furniture so I can't really point out anything specific about that portion of the game.

-The shootout was a tough spot, because the Canadiens are not exactly red hot right now offensively. The shootout went 13 rounds and the Sabres finally won the shootout 4-3 after Jochen Hecht. Desharnais, Plekanec and Pacioretty scored in the shootout for the Canadiens.

-Carey Price was solid in goal once again. He's really a big game goaltender as you can see him put in an extra burst of energy when the game is on the line. Made a few key saves to preserve the 2-2 game heading into OT.

-James Wisniewski hasn't been the same since he fell ill a couple weeks ago. I hope it's some kind of virus that's just taking its time to fully go away because he's had some bad stretches. Let's hope he can find his legs soon. It's nice to see him get an assist tonight despite the struggles.

-PK Subban has really turned the corner. He didn't register any points tonight but played 29:22, had six shots on goal, four blocks and two hits. Seeing him with the puck is a real joy when he's on his game. His end-to-end rushes are surprisingly effective considering his "high-risk" reputation.

-Brendon Nash played his first career NHL game because of a Spacek injury. He only played 11:53 but did not look out of place. He appears to have a solid skating burst and makes good decisions with the puck.

-David Desharnais continues to display his magic. This is an amazing story to follow. Make that seven points in his last four games with an assist tonight. He added a shootout goal as he was chosen as one of the first three shooters. I know it's early in his career and he still has a lot to prove but he is starting to look like a suitable replacement for Scott "rich lazy" Gomez.

-Speaking of Gomez, I did a bit of stat digging during the game and noticed that Tomas Plekanec leads the team with a plus-13 rating. Gomez sits at minus-16 after tonight. That kind of tells the story.

-Max Pacioretty continues his strong play as he scored his tenth goal tonight. His 82-game pace is currently 29 goals and 26 assists.

[PriceCrazed]

Interesting comment by dobber about Pouliot in his ramblings. It got me thinking with a healthy cammy. 1st line commy-plek-gionta, 2nd pouliot-desharnais-pacioretty (sorry if spelling off). I think Max Pac and Desharnais had good chemistry in Hamilton plus it might wake up. Gomez and AK the only reason not to do this is Defensive liabilty of AK and Gomez from lazy play

[ericdaoust]

Interesting comment by dobber about Pouliot in his ramblings. It got me thinking with a healthy cammy. 1st line commy-plek-gionta, 2nd pouliot-desharnais-pacioretty (sorry if spelling off). I think Max Pac and Desharnais had good chemistry in Hamilton plus it might wake up. Gomez and AK the only reason not to do this is Defensive liabilty of AK and Gomez from lazy play

It's a good thought, but unfortunately I think for the time being Pacioretty-Plek-Gionta for the time being. I like the idea of mixing in vets with young guys and not always three young guys together. That's just my personal opinion so I'll disagree with Dobber here. I'd like to see Pouliot-Desharnais-Cammalleri with the speed and creativity of Desharnais creating chances for two potent shooters. Unfortunately we are more likely to see Cammalleri-Gomez-Kostitsyn first which is a defensive disaster waiting to happen.

Other than the Gomez line (plus whoever plays at his side) I'd say the coach's defensive system is working marvelously.

More of a personal thing but I'd like to see Desharnais' emergence lead to a Gomez demotion eventually. That is of course if the owners are willing to spend that kind of money on the farm club. It's sad but that contract will really limit this team's ability to grow over the next couple seasons.

[ericdaoust]

According to RDS Spacek is staying home while the team flies out west. He has a LBI so any injury from broken toe nail to ruptured testicle is fair game here. He can't skate at all so I'm guessing it's semi-serious.

Some posters might say it's time to go out and acquire another dman. I generally disagree with band-aid moves (rental players) as they hurt the prospect pool long-term and historically they have not translated into major success. Also remember that Hal Gill should be back soon and Alex Picard has performed admirably. I actually think Picard should take Spacek's spot permanently.

So for now I think Brendon Nash is a fine fill-in for Spacek. If the Habs want to look outside for help I would advise them to wait for the waiver wire to become active. There's always a ton of players waived around the deadline and it's a good way to make an underrated acquisition for free.

I just don't think it's a good idea to start depleting the prospect pool just to fix a season, especially a season where I don't think the team is winning the cup.

[ericdaoust]

The Montreal Canadiens have acquired D Paul Mara from the Anaheim Ducks for a 5th round pick in 2012. Personally, I don't see the point. I believe Brendon Nash is actually a better dman for right now, and I expect either Gill or Spacek back at some point soon. From what I've seen of Mara and his current season numbers he's not a very good dman. Just experienced.

At least they didn't throw away a top draft pick to plug this "hole". A 5th round pick is not very valuable anyway.

[ericdaoust]

Game Notes:

-Even though the shots were 37-27 in favor of the Canadiens, I feel the flow of the game favored the Oilers, especially in the key moments that decided the game. I felt the Oilers did a better job turning scoring chances into quality shots on net (and ultimately some goals).

-The Habs dropped the forwards back farther than usual in the defensive zone to help with the roughed up defense. This helped keep the total shots against down, it created a weird situation (especially in the first) where a forward would break out of the zone with the puck and the two other forwards were still lagging behind from being too involved defensively. This gave the Oilers a chance to quickly get the puck back.

-James Wisniewski was hit in the face with a puck early in the first and did not return. He was bleeding heavily. Apparently he was taken to the hospital for repairs. Welcome aboard Paul Mara!

-The Gomez/Kostitsyn duo was a lot better today. I'd go as far as saying they out-performed the Plekanec line. Kostitsyn nearly scored a highlight-reel goal but was unable to finish after a few spectacular deke moves. Lots of speed and creativity, and had they finished on their chances this game would have been tied in a hurry.

-Carey Price was great for the first 40 minutes. However he allowed a soft goal short-side early in the third and the Oilers scored another quick goal after that. Very poor timing as the train fell off the tracks at that point. The team never recovered. With all the injuries he has to be near-perfect for this team to have a chance to win.

-PK Subban played over 29 minutes but was minus-three. The play that led to Price's soft goal allowed started with Subban incorrectly judging the play at the other end and lunging forward trying to keep the puck in the zone. Again, very poor timing to be doing such a thing because it put him more out of the play than the backchecking forwards. He nearly scored a goal later in the third after stickhandling around a couple Oilers but missed the net.

-Roman Hamrlik appears to be playing hurt. Lower body. He was a slow skater to begin with but he's been as slow as Hal Gill lately. On the empty-net goal you could see the Hamrlik issues pretty clearly as he tried to skate to stop the shot but barely covered any ground.

-Unless Wisniewski misses additional games it appears that Brendon Nash's cup of coffee is over. He only played 8:30 tonight despite the team being down to five healthy dmen and appeared to have trouble with the speed on the other club. The Habs were essentially rolling two pairs of dmen for most of the night.