Montreal Canadiens

[ericdaoust]

Pacioretty is a game-time decision tonight. This guy can really play through pain! Last year he had the incident were he was hospitalized after taking a puck to the ribs and now it appears he will be back early once again.

Seems like the only way to keep him down is to break his neck!

[blayze]

Great article Eric.

I'm in a H2H weekly lineup league and although the Habs had 4 games this week I benched Price. It was a tough decision but they've got a rough schedule.

I really hope they break out soon... their whole line-up from top to bottom is playing like shit with the exception of Pacman who ironically is now hurt. Nobody is stepping it up.

[ross10019]

Pacioretty is a game-time decision tonight. This guy can really play through pain! Last year he had the incident were he was hospitalized after taking a puck to the ribs and now it appears he will be back early once again.

Seems like the only way to keep him down is to break his neck!

Max Paciorietty is incredibly fit and has an UNREAL tolerance for pain. Remember last year, he took a slapper direct to the ribs and I think he ended up cracking one or two, I thought he'd be out a week, but he played THE NEXT NIGHT and took like 9 SOG. Has anyone ever broken or even bruised a rib? It's hurts immensely when you sneeze, breathe get out of bed, certainly when you do anything that involves upper body movement, and here is this guy throwing body checks and rifling slapshots the next day. Freakin' incredible. The guy is an iron man.

[ross10019]

Great article Eric.

I'm in a H2H weekly lineup league and although the Habs had 4 games this week I benched Price. It was a tough decision but they've got a rough schedule.

I really hope they break out soon... their whole line-up from top to bottom is playing like shit with the exception of Pacman who ironically is now hurt. Nobody is stepping it up.

Blayze, I agree the team itself is not performing, but don't agree that they are "top to bottom" playing like shit. I think the following pllayers who are performing well as against expectations:

- MaxPac - shooting a ton and has created lots of chances most games he's played
- Eller - really coming into his own as an NHL centerman, light years from the beginning of last year
- AK46 - yes he still disappears some games, but overall I've liked the intensity he's shown and he's taking some shots (although still not enough)
- Diaz - for his first year, he has played really solidly, love this kid

Then there are the guys who are stinking up the joint:

- Gionta - don't know what's going on with him, bad penalties, not skating as well as last year
- Gomez - the stinker of all stinkers, the definition of SHITEtiness (is that a word?), and this is coming from a habs fan who has given him the benefit of doubt most of the time in the past, I now think he is the greatest albatross this league has seen since Redden was sent to the minors

Then there are the guys in the middle, and I include Price there. If you've seen the games, he's let in goals he should have stopped for sure, but he's also made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game. Still, given the expectations that he's now created (and merited expectations, as I think he's an elite goalie in the league), he has significantly underperformed thus far.

[ericdaoust]

Max Paciorietty is incredibly fit and has an UNREAL tolerance for pain. Remember last year, he took a slapper direct to the ribs and I think he ended up cracking one or two, I thought he'd be out a week, but he played THE NEXT NIGHT and took like 9 SOG. Has anyone ever broken or even bruised a rib? It's hurts immensely when you sneeze, breathe get out of bed, certainly when you do anything that involves upper body movement, and here is this guy throwing body checks and rifling slapshots the next day. Freakin' incredible. The guy is an iron man.

Thankfully Pac has never sneezed, does not need to breathe to live and never sleeps. Therefore he felt no pain.

[blayze]

Blayze, I agree the team itself is not performing, but don't agree that they are "top to bottom" playing like shit. I think the following pllayers who are performing well as against expectations:

- MaxPac - shooting a ton and has created lots of chances most games he's played
- Eller - really coming into his own as an NHL centerman, light years from the beginning of last year
- AK46 - yes he still disappears some games, but overall I've liked the intensity he's shown and he's taking some shots (although still not enough)
- Diaz - for his first year, he has played really solidly, love this kid

Then there are the guys who are stinking up the joint:

- Gionta - don't know what's going on with him, bad penalties, not skating as well as last year
- Gomez - the stinker of all stinkers, the definition of SHITEtiness (is that a word?), and this is coming from a habs fan who has given him the benefit of doubt most of the time in the past, I now think he is the greatest albatross this league has seen since Redden was sent to the minors

Then there are the guys in the middle, and I include Price there. If you've seen the games, he's let in goals he should have stopped for sure, but he's also made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game. Still, given the expectations that he's now created (and merited expectations, as I think he's an elite goalie in the league), he has significantly underperformed thus far.

I agree for the most part with your assessment... here's my assessment (I've copied and pasted it from the goalie forum where we were having a debate on whether Price deserves some blame).

I blame Price as well as the whole team.

Price has been crap... his save % is less than 900 and he's given up a ton of soft goals. Had he played well they would easily have 2 wins right now. I remember his last game when he lost to BUF, MTL outshot the Sabres 40-20, and Miller single handedly stole that game. If you've got a superstar goalie like Price, they have to steal games every now and then for their team. That is the expectation of a stud goalie.

Subban, Plekanec, Gionta and Camo have also been invisible, granted Camo was injured for a few games.

Cole has been a complete bust... it's mindblowing they pay him $4M a year.

And Gomez was always crap to start with so I can't really say anything about him.

The only guys who have stepped up are the Pac/Desharnais line, surprisingly, but other than that, the Habs have sucked big time and their record accurately reflects that.

Yes I am a bitter Price owner.

[ericdaoust]

Simple breakdown: the guys with the highest income have been total non-factors.

[ross10019]

I agree for the most part with your assessment... here's my assessment (I've copied and pasted it from the goalie forum where we were having a debate on whether Price deserves some blame).

I blame Price as well as the whole team.

Price has been crap... his save % is less than 900 and he's given up a ton of soft goals. Had he played well they would easily have 2 wins right now. I remember his last game when he lost to BUF, MTL outshot the Sabres 40-20, and Miller single handedly stole that game. If you've got a superstar goalie like Price, they have to steal games every now and then for their team. That is the expectation of a stud goalie.

Subban, Plekanec, Gionta and Camo have also been invisible, granted Camo was injured for a few games.

Cole has been a complete bust... it's mindblowing they pay him $4M a year.

And Gomez was always crap to start with so I can't really say anything about him.

The only guys who have stepped up are the Pac/Desharnais line, surprisingly, but other than that, the Habs have sucked big time and their record accurately reflects that.

Yes I am a bitter Price owner.

Mostly agree, a few comments:

- Price, I was at that Sabres game, no way he sucked in that game, in fact he made some great saves, don't be misled by the 20 SOG thing. Miller just overshadowed him completely. But I do agree he hasn't stolen any games, and we ABSOLUTELY need that even more than most teams if we are to both make the playoffs and have any success in the playoffs.

- Cole, it has admittedly taken some time for him to get going, but for the life of me I don't know why Martin is making it hard on him by severely limiting his PP time and until last game even his ES time. I was sure he was going to put Cole/Cammy/Pleks and MaxPac/Gomez/Gionta but he's chosen to give AK46 that top 6 spots in many cases. Anyway, you saw what Cole could do with some decent ice time last game, he should be a factor like that the majority of games.

[Akkei]

With the injury of Gomez, I was really hoping that Gionta would be clicking with whoever he would be playing with. I am disappointed that this has not happen yet. I think that both Eller and Desharnais have showed that they are better options at center right now than Gomez, so I'm crossing my fingers that coach Martin will force Gomez to earn his play time when he returns instead of giving it to him as if he deserved it.

I am quite disappointed by Emelin as well. I thought the transition to the NHL would be easier for him given that he plays a physical game.

On a side note, I don't hear much about the Habs right now and the dissatisfaction with the team's performance seems to be mostly limited to the media (I live in Montreal). I don't hear about them at work, or in the metro or when I am waiting in line to buy my lunch. I have the feeling that the media are trying to make a big deal out of this situation, but that casual fans don't really care right now.

[ericdaoust]

With the injury of Gomez, I was really hoping that Gionta would be clicking with whoever he would be playing with. I am disappointed that this has not happen yet. I think that both Eller and Desharnais have showed that they are better options at center right now than Gomez, so I'm crossing my fingers that coach Martin will force Gomez to earn his play time when he returns instead of giving it to him as if he deserved it.

I am quite disappointed by Emelin as well. I thought the transition to the NHL would be easier for him given that he plays a physical game.

On a side note, I don't hear much about the Habs right now and the dissatisfaction with the team's performance seems to be mostly limited to the media (I live in Montreal). I don't hear about them at work, or in the metro or when I am waiting in line to buy my lunch. I have the feeling that the media are trying to make a big deal out of this situation, but that casual fans don't really care right now.

That's what happens when a city with this level of expectation has no championship since 1993 and only a bunch of teases to show for it. The level of outrage erodes over time.

[ridinryan44]

Price has been fantastic every game I've seen him I'm. Couple of weak goals here and there maybe, one stinker of a game, but for the most part Price has been their best player. There have been some pretty horrible defensive breakdowns and tough luck goals. Price hasn't been the issue, far from it. Stats don't tell the whole story

[ericdaoust]

Canadiens fire assistant coach Perry Pearn. They promoted Randy Cunneyworth and Randy Ladouceur this offseason so maybe the coaches just thought it was too crowded back there. Otherwise I don't know the significance of the firing.

[blayze]

Alrighty.... everyone back on the bandwagon

[ericdaoust]

Alrighty.... everyone back on the bandwagon

I'm making plans for the parade as we speak...

[ericdaoust]

A rare victory for the Canadiens tonight. Yes I just wrote that. It's good to get back in the win column for a change. Price gets win #100 and the Habs are in the clear, for now.

Seems like Max Pacioretty only need a functional spine to play. He has played through some pretty significant injuries dating back to last year when a puck fractured a rib or two. Each time he is back on the ice despite early reports indicating that he will need time to recover. The best part is that he continues going to the traffic areas where he excels. He scored two goals tonight and earned the first star.

Carey Price was star #2 and it was well deserved. The numbers (21 saves) indicate that he was not busy but when the Flyers were ahead 1-0 and when the game was tied Price made a few key saves that prevented further damage.

Erik Cole earned the third star. He is really starting to make his mark on the team. Clearly the coach's research has some flaws. Maybe that's why Perry Pearn was fired. Anyway, Cole had an assist and six shots while being a significant presence down low.

The roto stat line of the night goes to Josh Gorges: two assists, plus-3, 2 PIM, SOG, three blocked shots and four hits.

Tomas Plekanec just doesn't look comfortable out there. My assumption is that he's playing hurt. He did get two assists tonight and won 10/18 draws, but something is wrong here.

Yannick Weber's PPG with two seconds left in the first was a game changer. The Habs were looking like their usual selves up until that point. Once the second began they were a completely different team.

Kudos to the team for the way they handled the frustrated Flyers, particularly Wayne Simmonds. They did a great job clearing the net and all five players would converge to clear whatever trouble was being caused.

Next up: Bruins x2.