Montreal Canadiens

[ross10019]

Habs lose 4-0 in Winnipeg, 4th consecutive loss under Cunneyworth. Oh boy, where to begin...

- Cunneyworth sits both Subban and Eller. Subban I can understand, he's been bad the last two games, probably gripping the stick too tightly, and his two gaffes arguably cost the Habs two critical games against the Bruins and Hawks. Plus he's the type of player who likely will respond to the benching, especially given that there is now an additional 2-day layoff to think about things, and hopefully he comes back like a man on a mission. But Eller? Sure he's made some mistakes lately that are par for the course for a player his age and experience level, but man, he's been one of the better Habs all year, I just don't understand that move.

- That said, Emelin was back in, finally! And on the left side where he belongs. And he was a bright spot, Even, 2 shots (with 2 attempts blocked), 2 hits, 2 blks. Keep this guy in for the rest of the year, he's part of the core as far as I'm concerned.

- If the move was designed to wake up the team, it didn't. Campoli, who saw greater minutes with Subban out, was pretty bad (-3 overall, and that doesn't tell the whole story) - he's a good offensive Dman but he's definitely prone to brainfarts that result in the red light going on. That said, Gill, Kaberle, Weber, Diaz weren't much better, each had their poor moments.

- There were all kinds of examples where you could plainly see that the Habs players are unmotivated and not working nearly as hard as they should be, especially given that the Habs are at their best when they skate hard and promote fast counterattacks. In particular, Cammy, Pleks and AK looked pretty unmotivated out there, Cammy showed no battle AT ALL. I've always been a fan of his, but he's really looking bad out there and worse thing is he's not even putting us in a position to trade him to a contender at the deadline, who would want this effort for $6M for another 2 years? The guys on AntiChambre/RDS the other night said that he's a really selfish player, comparing him to the old Marc Savard ("If your team loses 4-2 and he scores two goals, he'll have a big smile on his face after the game"), I think that's going a little far but he's certainly not impressing anyone with his lackluster play these days.

- The PP was horrible - the early success when Kaberle first came onboard has whittled down to a semblance of its former ineffective self.

- Price did not get much help, but he has to make some saves - he hasn't been able to steal a game for quite some time now, and it's disconcerting.

- Leblanc was also a bright spot, this kid'll be good, talk about another future "core" member.

We shall see what comes after the Christmas break, but if I'm the Habs brass, I say to hell with the playoffs this year and let's start selling pieces to get back some of those draft picks we've given up in recent years and to lay the groundwork for getting a high 1st rounder next year. In other words, TANK THE HELL OUT OF THIS SEASON. Man, would a Mackinnon or Yakupov look good in a Habs sweater in a few years, next to Gallagher, Beaulieu, etc.

[ross10019]

Watching the WJC Canada/Sweden game, and the Habs prospects are standing out:

- Gallagher so smart with the puck, and he did something that seems like nothing but to me speaks volumes to his maturity beyond his years. He made a play, whistled dead, behind the net and the Swede dman crosschecks him high, nasty, but instead of retaliating he calmly extricates himself, little smile, right back at it. No retaliation. Complete control. Man I like this kid.

- Beaulieu looks good manning the PP point although he did make a little bobbled pass there on that 1st PP. But he showed his BLAZING speed on one play, which Ferraro replayed - breaking out of the zone he was the closest Canadian to his goalie, and by the time the play ended up in front of the Swede goalie he was the closest man there, nice headman and almost had a break, and should have drawn a penalty.

- Bournival showing his speed and forechecking ability, he'll make a great high-end 3rd liner in the NHL some day.

Nice.

[habs83]

With a 5-game losing streak, a lot of line shuffling for the Habs for tonight's game vs Ottawa:

Cole-Eller-Pacioretty
Cammalleri-Desharnais-Leblanc
Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Moen
Darche-Nokelainen-Blunden

Subban-Gorges
Gill-Diaz
Kaberle-Emelin

Desharnais is taken out of the big line as Cunneyworth tries to spark Cammalleri"s production. Eller and Subban are both back in the line-up, with Eller having a chance to put points on the board as the first line center and a presence on the first PP wave:

1st PP: Eller-Pacioretty-Cole-Kaberle-Subban
2nd PP: Cammalleri-Plekanec-Desharnais-Kostitsyn-Diaz

Four forwards on the second wave, but Plekanec is not on D. Their formation is more umbrella-like with Diaz manning the point and Cammalleri and Desharnais on each side.

Campoli and Weber are healthy scratch

[ross10019]

Cunneyworth's line shuffling, which was reported earlier by Habs83, seemed to light a spark and the Canadiens gave him the first win of his NHL coaching career, besting the Sens 6-2.

Some highlights, starting with the guys who you figured were going to be motivated due to the prior game's benching:

- Eller thrived, playing on a line between MaxPac and Cole, notching a goal and +1 with 3SOG. But that didn't tell the whole story - as he has so many times this year, he was probably the Habs best forward, controlling the puck and making heady plays and skating hard. On one of the Habs PP, there was a puck bobble and Konopka skated out on a break, almost alone, and Eller caught up with him and disrupted the play, knocking Konopka to the ice - Konopka then retaliated later in the shift, getting in Eller's face, but Eller (not a fighter obviously) wisely let him yap and skated away, let the Moens do the fighting Lars! I really love this player, as you may have gathered from previous threads.

- That Eller/Cole/Max line has the potential to be a fantastic big game line, such big bodies concentrated on one line, all with skill.

- Subban made a few gaffes but overall it was the kind of game you want to see from him, especially on his goal, which was broken down by the AntiChambre guys. He makes a defensive play in his own end to help thwart a dangerous Sens attack, wheels back up ice down the center / right side of the ice, but as he crosses the blue line he makes a long pass across the ice to Cole (instead of skating it in himself as he does so often) and THEN skates hard toward the play instead of costing, and the reward was a nice little drop pass from Cole and a little wrister by Subban from the slot in close. Excellent. My guess is this kickstarts him towards a nice finish to the year, think 45-point pace minimum over the last half of the season.

- Leblanc was excellent, playing with Cammy and Desharnais, notching a goal and assist and a +2 with 2SOG. Not afraid to take it to the net, and on his goal he took a nice pass from Cammy and didn't hesitate, wiring a wrister in.

- Cammy, finally, broke through, goal and assist and 4 shots on goal and also a +2. More importantly, he seemed more engaged than he has in months, moving his feet and backchecking effectively. It was more like the Cammy we've seen come playoff time. Now we need him to start wiring in those one knee / one-timer specials on the PP and we'll be just fine.

- Plekanec and Cole with a goal and assist and 4 shots on goal each, very effective.

- MaxPac did not show up on the scoresheet, but he dropped the gloves to energize his team at the 7-minute mark of the 1st period, when at that point the Sens were looking like they were going to run roughshod. A game-changing moment that I'm sure didn't go unnoticed in the room.

- The PP saw some nice puck movement, especially on the goal - PK with the fake slapper, passes crisply to Plekanec at the right side down low, who practically one times a pass in front, deflected by Cole in. Great net-front presence by Cole there.

- Diaz had a 3-assist game and was excellent. Such a nice puck mover - he is still young and needs time to grow, but we are seeing clearly why he was the best defenseman (some say best player) in the Swiss league last year.

- Emelin played 20 minutes and was solid, with 4 hits, although on one hit you see his crazy head-hunting side emerge - in the 3rd period some Sen is skating down the right side when all you see is a flash of blue and red emerge from the right side of the screen like a torpedo, missing the Sen and crashing into the boards, it was something to see. Price singled out Emelin as having played great in front of him, that speaks volumes.

- I had criticized Gorges lately, he hasn't been his usual dominant/dependable self back on the blueline, but this game was back to what we have come to expect. 25 minutes and 3 blocked shots, we need to see more of that.

- Price was great, especially in the 1st when the Sens scored a quick one and then attached in waves (something like 13-6 in shots) and on the several dangerous Ottawa PP chances. In the end, a 34-save performance from the team's most valuable player (by far).

- Finally, a 3rd period that isn't a major letdown - quite the opposite, the Habs largely controlled the play, a great sign (hopefully) of things to come.

Next tilt, the Lightning on Thursday night.

[newper114]

Great to see Cole back up on thescoresheet. Added him as a depth forward to get me sog and he has been so much better than I thought.

[ericdaoust]

A huge thank you to ross10019 and everyone else who contributed in my absence. I am back now and slowly getting back into things. Following the posts in here was a nice way to quickly recap the stories of the past week. Huge props for that.

I fear that the coach has also tuned out to an extent following all of this drama surrounding his position on the team. He is making radical changes and I wonder if he is making them just for the sake of making them. Eller going from healthy scratch to the top line is particularly bizarre to me. I've been a big believer that the Habs need to establish a system where good play and effort gets rewarded so obviously I think going from the press box to the top line is the wrong decision. I know Eller had a strong game but I just wonder how the next benching of a lineup regular will be received by the other players.

I arrived in town at 10PM eastern tonight so I did not see the Habs/Lightning game but it's yet another blown lead. The Habs were leading 3-1 in the second before losing 4-3. I suspect the team went into a shell once it had the lead and started coasting like they usually do.

[ross10019]

Welcome back Eric, hope you enjoyed your holiday break.

Only saw the 3rd and part of the 2nd, but here are some thoughts on last night's tilt with the Bolts (should be known as "The Tampa Bay Nordiques" given how many French Canadians are on the team or part of its management staff, something like 12).

Diaz - he has been really impressive, not just the points he's putting up, but he's getting more and more comfortable moving the puck and even playing two-way.

Emelin - another few BONE CRUNCHING hits, this guy is becoming more and more valuable, there is absolutely no one on this team who brings what he brings, a highly aggressive player who wants to punish the puck carrier every chance he gets. There's obviously a downside to it, he can get out of position sometimes, as a result of a hit attempt, and he bobbled a few pucks that led to scoring chances.

Eller - can't say enought about him, and now he seems to be using his size to his advantage more than ever. On one play, he looked remarkably like Jordan Staal, shielding the puck and aggressively checking back a defender who was swooping in.

Pacioretty - this kid should have 5-10 more goals than he has, snakebitten, nothing going in, but he's playing well. On one gorgeous little play, he gave the puck to Eller down low and immediately skated towards the net, Eller gave him a beautiful little backhand pass and MaxPac fired, only to be thwarted by Garon. World-class give and go right there.

Cammalleri - finding his mojo with a nice strike in the 1st, I can see him going on a nice point streak now. Funny, after his goal the Tampa PA guy announces, "Canadiens goal scored by no 13 CammaRELLI, assisted by no 51 DeJArnais, Cammarelli from DeJarnais." Come on man, learn to pronounce player names buddy, just like the broadcasters do before every game.

Subban - he's looking better, especially with his shots from the point, he's starting to find the target with his one timers, which bodes well. He's been lost for awhile in that regard.

So the result was not what any fan wants to see, especially the fact that it's another blown lead in the 3rd. But they played well and signs are there that

[ericdaoust]

There are some good signs within the team but rarely has the entire team been in sync. When one line produces, another falters. When they're clicking offensively, they blow a lead.

I don't mind seeing mistakes from players as long as they are not lazy or careless. If Emelin goes for a big hit (trying to do something positive) and misses, sure it's bad but at least it's proactive. He brings a ton of good to compensate for the bad stuff. Subban on the other hand entered a stage where he was making a lot of careless errors and was not bringing anything to the table to compensate.

[Killer67]

Exhausting. That is the only word I can think of to describe being a fan of this team right now. How long can they middle their way through a season before real changes are brought forth? Relying on 22 yr old PK Subban to run the D core after letting solid vets go, then benching him for not doing it right.

Plekanec is afraid to get dirty. Gomez/Gio/Cammy all on high end deals and providing little to no effort or production. I actually forgot Cammy was on the team for awhile there.

Kostitsyn - Invisible as usual.

Kaberle as your best skater is a major problem.

Carey Price being played into the ground and for what? Let Auld get in there a bit and stop trying to ruin this kid.

I'm no GM and I'm not about to pretend I am but something needs to be done here. I'd rather deal with watching a sub par team that is built with young up and comers, rather than what we are getting right now. Hell, if Columbus could string a few together, we could get into the Yakupov sweepstakes!

/Rant Over.

[ericdaoust]

http://www.dobberhockey.com/index.ph...d.php&t=122540

Josh Gorges re-signed 6 years for 23 million (cap hit 3.9 million). This is about what I expect for such a good, but not elite, dman. Gorges is IMO the team's "real" captain with the way he plays the game. I like the signing but just wonder about the term because he missed most of last season with the ACL injury. But quality-wise this is a perfect contract for Gorges.

[ericdaoust]

Exhausting. That is the only word I can think of to describe being a fan of this team right now. How long can they middle their way through a season before real changes are brought forth? Relying on 22 yr old PK Subban to run the D core after letting solid vets go, then benching him for not doing it right.

Plekanec is afraid to get dirty. Gomez/Gio/Cammy all on high end deals and providing little to no effort or production. I actually forgot Cammy was on the team for awhile there.

Kostitsyn - Invisible as usual.

Kaberle as your best skater is a major problem.

Carey Price being played into the ground and for what? Let Auld get in there a bit and stop trying to ruin this kid.

I'm no GM and I'm not about to pretend I am but something needs to be done here. I'd rather deal with watching a sub par team that is built with young up and comers, rather than what we are getting right now. Hell, if Columbus could string a few together, we could get into the Yakupov sweepstakes!

/Rant Over.

Thanks for the game report. I only saw the first period due to NYE plans. I went to my cousin's place and we watched the Canada/USA game. I am limited to highlights for this game so your insight is very helpful.

I feel that the team is a bit of a laughing stock at this point. The french-speaking coach debate has become more of a joke than anything. People are mocking the team and the owners basically announced already that Cunneyworth is a lame duck coach with no chance to stick past the end of this season. It reminds me a lot of the century season in terms of how much the team/organization look foolish.

[ericdaoust]

More on Gorges and the ramifications of the contract on the team's future:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/...-year-contract

In particular:

The Canadiens have 13 players signed for 2012-’13 at a total cap hit of $47.4 million. This leaves them approximately $17.5 million under the cap with a list of unsigned players topped by Carey Price, who can become a restricted free agent. The RFA list also includes P.K. Subban, Lars Eller, Raphael Diaz, Ryan White and Alexei Emelin.

Pending UFA’s include Andrei Kostitsyn, Travis Moen, Mathieu Darche, Hal Gill and Chris Campoli.

Not sure how you guys feel, but I wouldn't be surprised to see all of those UFAs leave this summer. If they want to re-sign Moen and Gill, so be it, as long as it's not an overpayment. Regardless of what they do, they will have to go on the cheap to fill some roster spots.

On D, the Habs can go with Subban/Markov (assuming Markov is finally healthy), Gorges/Kaberle and Diaz/Emelin with either Weber or a cheap vet as #7. Do they really need Gill?

Up front, I like the depth down the middle with Plekanec/Desharnais/Eller. Cole/Pacioretty work extremely well together and have had chemistry with all three centermen. Cammalleri/Gionta are inconsistent but passable for the most part. Could Louis Leblanc and Aaron Palushaj make the jump to close out the top 9? Ryan White should secure one of the 4th line spots, but who else does the team use in those spots? Are Nokelainen and Blunden good enough?

(Of course I assume Gomez is toast after the season and does not figure in the team's plans)

In goal, Price should be an expensive re-sign but what is most important is that he will be there. Budaj is under contract for next year so that part is taken care of already.

As much as the team is a mess right now, I am very intrigued about the changes that will happen between now and the start of next season.

[ericdaoust]

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/hio-at-practice-5

Check out the link for the latest wacky line combinations at practice, as well as news about a Subban/Plekanec scrap behind the net. Didn't these two go at it last year too?

[ddp]

LOVE Georges! so glad he's resigned...don't care the money...he earns EVERY penny.
Now if only a miracle would happen and they trade that punk Subban for E. Staal.
Respect subbans skating ability....and that's about it. Used to like him a lot but now I'm just tired of him.

[ericdaoust]

LOVE Georges! so glad he's resigned...don't care the money...he earns EVERY penny.
Now if only a miracle would happen and they trade that punk Subban for E. Staal.
Respect subbans skating ability....and that's about it. Used to like him a lot but now I'm just tired of him.

8.25 million cap hit... doesn't the team have enough cap problems already?