Montreal Canadiens

[ross10019]

Bad news for Habs fans and Markov owners. He just had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, which was expected, but not instead of 3 weeks it's a 4-6 week recovery period.

On another note, some of you may be aware that Max Pacioretty was pretty upset over Shanahan's alleged comparison of the MaxPac/Letang hit to Cooke/Savard. Shanahan went on Team 990 and denied entirely having ever made such comparison. Pacioretty replied today to a reporter that he sticks by his comments, and told her to talk to MaxPac's agent who was on the call as to what was said during the hearing.

[ross10019]

Bad news for Habs fans and Markov owners. He just had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, which was expected, but not instead of 3 weeks it's a 4-6 week recovery period.

On another note, some of you may be aware that Max Pacioretty was pretty upset over Shanahan's alleged comparison of the MaxPac/Letang hit to Cooke/Savard. Shanahan went on Team 990 and denied entirely having ever made such comparison. Pacioretty replied today to a reporter that he sticks by his comments, and told her to talk to MaxPac's agent who was on the call as to what was said during the hearing.

oops, sorry, saw now that Eric had posted a TSN article on this very story (Pacioretty disputing what shanny said).

[ericdaoust]

I know the score might prove otherwise, but tonight was the most inept offensive performance by the Canadiens all season. There was no chemistry, a ton of turnovers and very little sense or urgency. Both goals scored were basically flukes. The first was off an intercepted pass in the dying seconds of the first period when Mike Cammalleri set up Andrei Kostitsyn for a goal while the second tied the game with just over a minute left in the game after a pass bounced off a Columbus defenceman onto Brian Gionta's stick for an open net.

The first problem was the line combinations. Max Pacioretty missed the last three games due to suspension and Cammalleri took his spot alongside David Desharnais and Erik Cole. This produced very mixed results and with Pacioretty back in the lineup it seemed logical to go back to the combination that has carried the team offensively this season. Apparently Jacques Martin thought otherwise. Cammalleri stayed on the top line while Pacioretty was inserted with Lars Eller and Travis Moen. The big line was re-united for the third period.

Pacioretty for his part was very quiet in his first game back. He has spent a lot of time rebutting Brendan Shanahan's ruling and I just think that it's time for him to start focusing on hockey now that he's back.

Tonight the turnovers were awful. Four players stood out in this department: Cammalleri, Eller, PK Subban and Rafael Diaz. There were a lot of careless blind passes and overall the defencement especially played a rather poor game in terms of holding the offensive blueline while the team is trying to score.

The power play was pretty bad mainly due to the issues outlined above. The turnovers enabled the opposition to dump the puck down the ice without any resistance.

Carey Price allowed a bit of a soft goal on the second one but was overall very good.

Tonight's player of the game goes to Alexei Emelin. He was a beast throwing hits all over the place in the defensive zone and he also recorded his first NHL point as he chipped in an assist on the tying goal. The fact that he was out there with just over a minute left while down a goal speaks volumes. He was credited with nine hits, many of which looked extremely painful. He did not shy to lay the body on the Blue Jackets' tough guys either.

[ericdaoust]

Article on last night's loss:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/boone...-last-night-42

[ddp]

I wish I could puke on Molson/Gauthier/Martin's face.
Young speedy new NHL. If Moen can be tried in the shootout then why the hell can't the kid Leblanc get a go, we can't win one anyway....he gets 5 mins of ice time? wtf? Losing to COLUMBUST on home ice? Unacceptable.

Royally pissed off and fed up habsfan.
When do we trade for an impact player? ie: (Kessel, phaneuf, horton, Chara, Neal etc)
Last one was when? Kirk Muller? Don't think Kovelev people.

when does someone pay for not drafting like Philly over the years? Coutourrier, Carter, Richards, Gangne, Giroux, Van reimsdyk....Read

When does someone pay for continously drafting shutdown stay home american born defenceman in the 1st round? D should never be drafted in the 1st round! Hedman and Eric Johnson....over Toews and Hall? cmon. Hainsey, Komisarek, Mcdonaugh, Tinordi....list goes on and on.

[ericdaoust]

Article on Alexei Emelin:

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=605248

[newper114]

Checking tsns ice chips and it doesn't have Cole listed on the practice lines for today? Is he ok?

[LeTrefle]

Checking tsns ice chips and it doesn't have Cole listed on the practice lines for today? Is he ok?

He's OK.
Maintenance day.

[ericdaoust]

He's OK.
Maintenance day.

The way he's playing, if he wants a day off he can have one.

[ericdaoust]

I wish I could puke on Molson/Gauthier/Martin's face.
Young speedy new NHL. If Moen can be tried in the shootout then why the hell can't the kid Leblanc get a go, we can't win one anyway....he gets 5 mins of ice time? wtf? Losing to COLUMBUST on home ice? Unacceptable.

Royally pissed off and fed up habsfan.
When do we trade for an impact player? ie: (Kessel, phaneuf, horton, Chara, Neal etc)
Last one was when? Kirk Muller? Don't think Kovelev people.

when does someone pay for not drafting like Philly over the years? Coutourrier, Carter, Richards, Gangne, Giroux, Van reimsdyk....Read

When does someone pay for continously drafting shutdown stay home american born defenceman in the 1st round? D should never be drafted in the 1st round! Hedman and Eric Johnson....over Toews and Hall? cmon. Hainsey, Komisarek, Mcdonaugh, Tinordi....list goes on and on.

I wanted to comment on this... I think the team is still suffering from the Gainey era. That included a lot of draft picks that would develop 75% of the way and hit major walls. Examples include Higgins, Kostitsyn, Kostitsyn, Ryder and Komisarek. The fact that none of them emerged into top players contributing to the team in 2011 is part of the reason for the team's shortcomings. They were forced to rebuild their team over 12 hours and gave long-term deals to players who have mostly produced mediocre results. Hence, we have a mediocre team.

I like the recent draft picks (Tinordi, Leblanc, Beaulieu) a lot so I think better things are around the corner. But that's just what I think. They still have to let the bad contracts expire.

[habs83]

I like the recent draft picks (Tinordi, Leblanc, Beaulieu) a lot so I think better things are around the corner. But that's just what I think. They still have to let the bad contracts expire.

I want to push further this idea. Let's take a look at what the Habs lineup will look like in three years, which is when the vast majority of the lucrative contracts expire:

Pacioretty-(Plekanec)-(Cole)
xx-Desharnais-Gallagher
xx-Eller-Leblanc
xx-Bournival-White

Subban-Gorges
Tinordi-Beaulieu
xx-xx


Price
xx

Plenty of players will be auditioning for the xx spots
Forwards: Avtsin, Kristo, Quailer
Defense: Diaz, Weber, Ellis, Bennett, Pateryn, Emelin

Plekanec and Cole are between brackets because they will have one more year on their contract at that point.

There is no concern over the back-up goaler and fourth line xx.

Some points to highlight:
1) I kind of love the D prospects that are coming soon to maturity. Even if they don't all pan out, the Habs blueline seems in pretty good shape, only with the homegrown talent. I fully wish and expect Gorges to remain a Hab for the remaining of his career. I don't know what to expect from Emelin long term, that is why I did not included his name on the regular line-up. He would be more than welcome if his progression continues the way it is right now.

2) Price in nets for years to come...no problem there.

3) Forwards. Or lack thereof. The minute you remove Plekanec and Cole from that line-up, You have a lot of spots to fill in the top 9, and not a lot of prospects, let alone great propects. It also reaches what ddp stated in his latest post about drafting D-men in the first round. I know that drafting according to organisation needs against drafting the best player available is debatable. But at some point, you have to recognise that there is a glaring weakness there, and that you need to stockpile a quantity of prospects at that position to hope for one or two to breakthrough (a la Claude Giroux).

4) Money. When all these contracts will expire, the Habs should have plenty of cash left. We still don't know what will be in the next CBA, but I don't expect the salary cap to go. Spend wisely, this cap space could help lend an impact player to play on the first line, and to fill the complimentary holes.

What do you guys think of it? What have I miss? What is to add?

[ericdaoust]

From Angus' ramblings:

Montreal wrecking ball defenseman Alexei Emelin is on pace for over 300 hits. To put that total in perspective, Luke Schenn led all NHL defensemen with 251 hits last season. There were only seven defensemen with 200 or more hits in 2010-11.

[ericdaoust]

I want to push further this idea. Let's take a look at what the Habs lineup will look like in three years, which is when the vast majority of the lucrative contracts expire:

Pacioretty-(Plekanec)-(Cole)
xx-Desharnais-Gallagher
xx-Eller-Leblanc
xx-Bournival-White

Subban-Gorges
Tinordi-Beaulieu
xx-xx


Price
xx

Plenty of players will be auditioning for the xx spots
Forwards: Avtsin, Kristo, Quailer
Defense: Diaz, Weber, Ellis, Bennett, Pateryn, Emelin

Plekanec and Cole are between brackets because they will have one more year on their contract at that point.

There is no concern over the back-up goaler and fourth line xx.

Some points to highlight:
1) I kind of love the D prospects that are coming soon to maturity. Even if they don't all pan out, the Habs blueline seems in pretty good shape, only with the homegrown talent. I fully wish and expect Gorges to remain a Hab for the remaining of his career. I don't know what to expect from Emelin long term, that is why I did not included his name on the regular line-up. He would be more than welcome if his progression continues the way it is right now.

2) Price in nets for years to come...no problem there.

3) Forwards. Or lack thereof. The minute you remove Plekanec and Cole from that line-up, You have a lot of spots to fill in the top 9, and not a lot of prospects, let alone great propects. It also reaches what ddp stated in his latest post about drafting D-men in the first round. I know that drafting according to organisation needs against drafting the best player available is debatable. But at some point, you have to recognise that there is a glaring weakness there, and that you need to stockpile a quantity of prospects at that position to hope for one or two to breakthrough (a la Claude Giroux).

4) Money. When all these contracts will expire, the Habs should have plenty of cash left. We still don't know what will be in the next CBA, but I don't expect the salary cap to go. Spend wisely, this cap space could help lend an impact player to play on the first line, and to fill the complimentary holes.

What do you guys think of it? What have I miss? What is to add?

The free agent game is tough because it's an even more costly investment than a draft pick. But you need them sprinkled throughout the lineup to have the proper mix. Guys like Hossa and Chara played big roles on Stanley Cup teams but you also don't want to end up with Jay Bouwmeester.

I think that guys like Desharnais and Eller can carry the team at C in the future. Eller especially is showing a dynamic talent that will be amazing to watch once he gets full confidence in himself.

To add to your list, I think Ian Schultz will be a fourth line guy in the NHL. You also forgot about Aaron Palushaj.

I just hope the team can sign a top dman so that Subban isn't stuck doing it all by himself. I like the idea of building from the crease-out and with that in mind there is a lack of an all-purpose dman who excels at both ends.

[habs83]

The free agent game is tough because it's an even more costly investment than a draft pick. But you need them sprinkled throughout the lineup to have the proper mix. Guys like Hossa and Chara played big roles on Stanley Cup teams but you also don't want to end up with Jay Bouwmeester.

I think that guys like Desharnais and Eller can carry the team at C in the future. Eller especially is showing a dynamic talent that will be amazing to watch once he gets full confidence in himself.

To add to your list, I think Ian Schultz will be a fourth line guy in the NHL. You also forgot about Aaron Palushaj.

I just hope the team can sign a top dman so that Subban isn't stuck doing it all by himself. I like the idea of building from the crease-out and with that in mind there is a lack of an all-purpose dman who excels at both ends.

I did not forgot Palushaj and Schultz, I just wrote them off!! I do not see either of them helping the habs in the near or distant future. I have more hope that Quailer will help the 3rd/fourth line than Schultz. And the 4th line tough guy is slot of the line-up that I really don't care if it is occupied by a guy drafted from the organisation or not, which is why I left it out of the analysis.

I totally agree that free agent signings have to be wise, but if the opportunity present itself to add a top tier talent, you have to seize it. I also think that Eller and Desharnais will do a very decent job in years to come, but recent history shows that you need to be stong and deep at center position to win a Cup. That is why my main target would be a star center. It is crapshoot to speculate at who will be available at that time, so I don't think it is a good idea to discuss names.

Also agree that another stud D would help. You never have enough of them, and the 4 D-men listed, except for Gorges, will be fairly young. They could use some veteran experience.

Is it 2014 yet?

[newper114]

Tsn ice chips is reporting projected lines as same from yesterday's practice. Cole missing again? I know u said he is fine but anyway to confirm he is playing tonight ?