A Montreal Canadiens fan blog
Archive for November, 2008
Habs call up D’Agostini
Nov 27th
The Habs called up D’Agostini.
This should be interesting… D’Agostini is having a great year in Hamilton and this might be his shot at spending some time in Montreal.. or at least getting some attention by management.
According to RDS, it looks that Tanguay AND Kovalev may not play on Friday night while Latendress and D’Agostini should be in the lineup.
So far D’Agostini has 14 goals, 11 assists for 25 points (3rd in the AHL) and is a +7.
The habs have had a hard time putting the puck in the net as of late, so you can imagine that D’Agostini would love to help them out.
Habs over Wings – Thoughts
Nov 27th
Well, I was pleasantly surprised last night. Not that I didn’t think the habs could win or could match up to the wings…. but I was surprised that it went so well. In this string of games where it seems so much went wrong it was surprising to see so much go right against one of the league’s powerhouses..
Carey Price, in my opinion, has been very solid for quite a stretch. Even through the tough losses, while the team in front of him wasn’t playing the best, he’s given them a chance to get in those games.
Last night there was a nice pace to the game… Kovalev showed some jump and some desire to make some stuff happen…. at times, he is really “magical” with the puck.
The 4th line showed up… as they have in pretty much every game this year. Lapierre played very well.
I thought the stint that Tom Kostopoulos played with Koivu and Higgins went well… I just love the way Tom K plays hard and goes to the net…. man, if he had a scoring touch…. look out.
O’Byrne played a good game other then a mistake that resulted in a goal… but you know, it’s this guy’s first full season and his first stint playing major minutes… the guy is learning. And I liked last night’s effort.
There are a few minor injuries pilling up…. Tanguay was hit hard (clean hit) and suffered a bit of a neck injury… which I believe has him day to day… Latendress is still nursing a minor injury… George Laraque is also nursing a minor injury…. Komisarek is still out for a few weeks… Gorges may be day to day after seeming to hurt himself a couple of times last night….
I’m hoping the injury bug doesn’t hit much harder. If Gorges happens to miss some games… I’m wondering if that couldn’t bring a Shawn Belle or Yannick Weber up…. Belle has been playing some solid D in Hamilton. +15 when I checked last….
I guess we’ll see who is in and who is out for Friday’s game.
Habs VS Isles – Who will step up?
Nov 24th
At the start of the season the talk was about how deep the habs were, there was lot’s of talk about a couple of the prospects in Hamilton and talk about being atop the league with whispers of a cup coming to Montreal had become common.
I’m still not sure I would panic at this point but I must say that at this point of the season, we’ve seen both great potential and also some of the things that may need a “tweeking”….
One of the things that sticks out a bit and has been talked about is on the D. Especially now that Komisarek is out. Brisebois is having to be in the lineup full time… O’Byrne is getting prime time…
About Brisebois, I think that playing a certain number of games, he can give some quality. Playing full time, I’m concerned that the quality will surely diminish.
For O’Byrne, I thought he was gonna play a great game against Boston…. he came out being much more physical, which is an important part of his game. Not sure if it’s all psycological, but he’s made quite a few mistakes… some being quite costly.
I’m starting to wonder if playing Dandenault at D wouldn’t help at least in the short term. He’s a guy I think works hard, plays his role and he’s played on D most of his career…
I would love to see a couple of farm “teamers” come up and maybe shake it up a bit… like D’Agostini, Maxwell.. Max Pac.. but I think it’s hard to make those moves because there aren’t very many guys you can move to make room.
I’m sure whatever happens, Gainey isn’t sitting around “hoping for the best”…. if there is a good move to be made, I’m confident he’ll pull the trigger.
Tonight, the Islanders are in town. I really want to see guys play hard…. and EVERY shift. Tonight, they gotta start kicking the monkey off their backs.
Hard hitting, hard skating…. lot’s of shots on goal.
One would hope that this is “the slump” in the season, and that the tides of work ethic (etc..) will bring the habs to peak at the end of the season… what a story that would be.
Peace!
Habs and the monkey
Nov 21st
It has been a while since I’ve posted.
In these last few weeks my total enthousiasm was somewhat stumped… The team that I’ve seen as having great potential and talent seemed to hit an early season wall and most chemistry had flown out the window.
I’m not sure that I’m in panic mode yet. There are new faces and I think they’re facing their first challenge together… some of the young guys are facing new challenges in being on a team that is expected to deliver.
There have been some positive signs.
The 4th line has played well pretty much consistently.
But, there seems to have been a lack of heart for the most part at times and that is what concerns me the most.
On last night’s game, I was very happy to see them rally back…. tie the game… Price stood on his head a few times (almost literally)… I was also very happy to see some enthousiasm coming from the bench when Alex Tanguay scored that shootout goal.
I’m hoping we’ll see lot’s of heart in the next few games. I read that Komisarek is out for a month. That is not good news…. and this team is gonna have to play hard without one of their emotional leaders.
Here’s a chance for some other guys to step it up in the dressing room.. as well as on the ice. I think Komisarek being out another month is a BIG opportunity for O’Byrne….. O’Byrne had a rough game last night. Let’s hope he starts playing the way he should….. responsible on D and physical.
Let’s get the monkey off their back!
Over the Sabres
Nov 30th
Posted by Yves in Game comments
Comments
I thought at times the pace of last night’s game was great and the guys who continue to show up are this team’s “4th” liners (at least we’ll call ‘em that while Carbo changes the lines up)…
Bégin, Tom K, Lapierre…. those guys bring the hustle every night. The Habs need that…. actually every team needs that…. they need the Grinders…. the guys who hit, bring energy and get in the other team’s face on D….
Last night Lapierre made a beautiful pass for a one timer by Bégin…. I’m really glad Bégin is back in the lineup. He’s certainly responded.
There were chances last night… right around Lalime’s net but it seemed pretty hard to finish.. it’s been said before that it’s tough for small forwards to get a handle on the puck right in the goaltender’s face and put it in…. while dealing with D-Men trying to take you out of the play. I’d love to see a little more of George Laraque (when in the lineup) in front of the net…. throw him out there every now in then with a couple of puck moving forwards and shoot on net…. see if Big G can put it in… he was used in that role occasionally in Edmonton.
Andrei Kostitsyn showed some moves last night…. really nice play to put the puck in.
I thought D’Agostini played well.. admittedly I missed the last few minutes of the second and the start of the third….
Sergei Kostitsyn got a little too agressive and took a couple of bad penalties… I really like what Sergei can bring… hope it balances out for him.
Here’s some recent habs articles..
Andrei answers the bell
http://canadiens.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=395223
Carey Price And The Grinders Come Up Big
http://dennis-kane.com/carey-price-and-the-grinders-come-up-big/
La contribution de Steve Bégin
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/264439.html
One Kostitsyn rising, one falling
http://dailyhab-it.blogspot.com/2008/11/one-kostitsyn-rising-one-falling.html
Lapierre plus confiant offensivement
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/264484.html