An important stat, in my mind, that sticks out right away is that Montreal has only picked up 2 penalties. (To Carolina’s 1)

They were so heavily penalized in past games that they would sometimes kill whatever momentum they were building.

Interesting note, Carey Price got an assist on the first goal (Cammalleri scoring, Plekanec with the other assist). While they seemed to need to find the offense just a little while back, who knew it would come from Price.

Scott Gomez and Max Pacioretty and leading the team with 4 shots a piece…. 32 shots after 2!! Limiting Carolina to 12 shots.

That’s my 1 concern…. Price is usually hot when he faces tons of shots…. but with only 12 shots, he may be a little cold.

On to the 3rd!

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I have to start by saying that I actually missed the first period… I know, I know… how could I do such a thing.

Actually, it was my daughter’s Christmas concert.

Despite the 3 game slide that saw Montreal loose against the Red Wings, Leafs and Flyers I was pretty positive going into last night. A Bruins vs Habs matchup is always a worth while affair and a match up that I will certainly never tire from.

A couple of things that I’ll note.

Max Pacioretty. I fully realize that we’ve just seen 2 games from him this year in Montreal but I’m really liking what I’m seeing.

Past seasons, Max had alot of expectation on his shoulders and it seemed as though in so many games he kind of looked as though he just wasn’t quite there. He seemed to get bumped off the puck often and almost seemed as though he was a boy among men at times.

After ripping up the AHL, he looks confident. He’s skating very well, since I can’t say I’ve seen both complete games I can say from what I’ve seen, he’s really improved on his passing and also seems to finish his checks much better. The confidence seems to be there and it’s looking as though he could be a good complement to Gionta and Gomez.

Mike Cammalleri… always love watching him play…. that shot that he has is nothing but a laser. But dropping the gloves? I have to admit when he first dropped them…. I was thinking “Oh no”. My first reaction was to think “Please God… don’t let him hurt hist wrists. But it all turned out ok.

Then there was Mike Milbury’s wonderful comments about the Habs being a bunch of cockroaches. I almost laughed. Almost. Now I certainly do realize that in sports commentary it’s also about entertainment but please. Milbury seems to show the same disrespect in his comments as his accusations of the Habs play. Nice try Mike. Just remember Mike, you were no angel.

I was a little surprised at the Boston Herald’s article today as well. I guess they don’t like the Canadiens there.

So the “despicable and dirty little hockey team that loves to dish out nasty cheap shots, often from behind, often after the whistle” team from Montreal (that was a quote from the Boston Herald article) will move on to face the Avalanche on Sunday night.

Cheers.

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Don Cherry calling out the officiating in last night’s Penguins / Habs game.







Quite a few obvious calls were missed last night.

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I’m not sure how to express it… but I’ll just say that this game 7 was intense! Very intense.

My wonderful little girl (Emily, aged 6) wanted to watch part of the game with me. So we cuddle up and watched some of the first period together. She asked me some questions about the 2 teams. After a little bit she wanted to lie down and before I knew it, she was asleep.

I’d also like to mention that there was a great live chat tonight and thanks to Steven Hindle (@StevenHindle , Capitals coverage) for inviting me to join in.

I was watching the game intensely. The Capitals seemed to push quite a bit to start the game. And in the second period, I was kind of surprised at how flat they came out. At one point I remember thinking that the Capitals must have thought they were on a penalty kill because the Habs players were skating around their zone at will with the puck.

They soon realized they weren’t on the penalty kill… and pressure on Halak and the team’s defense resumed once again.

I’ve been so impressed with a few players in general.

Hal Gill

Again… Gainey took some heat for this signing. From media commentators to fans. I remember PJ Stock on Team 990 talking about Hal Gill being a great locker room guy and how he would fill an important role on this team. I also remember PJ saying that Gill was a shut down man in the playoffs for Pittsburgh’s cup run. PJ took some heat from callers and co-hosts for that.

But Hal Gill has answered the bell. And maybe Gill is made for this time of year somehow. So many times when an attacking Capitals forward would come in Hal would either be positioned to take his man out of the play with his body or he’d be in a spot where he could use his long reach and take the puck away with his stick.

He blocked about a million shots in that series. Really Mr Gill, you played one heck of a series and you deserve a huge word of thanks from this fan.

Josh Gorges

Josh Gorges is still a young defenseman and if we go back a few years the trade in which we acquired him in was scrutinized….. but I guess you can’t make everyone happy as a GM. Sometimes, no one is happy anyways.

Gorges, paired with Gill, has really looked good. Josh keeps doing the simple things. Clearing pucks off the boards to his forwards… always positioning his body against attacking forwards to take them out of the attack.. or not going into a panic when an Ovechkin or a Semin was at him on offense…. panic means the simple plays usually go out the door. But Gorges has really looked good out there.

Gorges is turning into a leader on this team.

Jaroslav Halak
don’t think enough can be said about Halak’s play. Here’s a guy who’s been an underdog before. A 271st 9th round draft pick who’s always believed in himself and how’s never given up. Anyone think he asked Alex if he was nervous while they were shaking hands??

This season his positioning and movement through the crease has been superb. The commentators keep saying it over and over again… and it’s so true.

You’re not gonna score many goals on him if the puck is going low. He extends himself very well to cover the bottom of the net and is quick to jump on the puck.

Something I hear in game commentary that I don’t really agree with. Some of the guys on TSN were saying that he stepped it up, that he knew he had to put the team on his shoulders to win this game seven…etc.

II enjoyed the coverage. I really did. But, I think that Jaro just went to play. Sure he knew he’d have to play a hell of a game…. after all the entire team and coaching staff knew they were facing the league’s best offense with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. I just don’t think I’d blow it up that much. He a hard worker. I think he went into the series wanting to do his absolute best. Because I honestly believe that’s how he shows up every game.

Very entertaining series

This was a superb series. And I’m not just saying this because the Habs won, although it does make it special obviously, I’m saying this because in pretty much every game I saw I was on the edge of my seat. Game 4 I only saw a bit of on a wide screen TV while I was playing a gig (playing drums).

PK Subban looked pretty good out there. A couple of times though I will admit he made me a little bit nervous. Once when he tried a little between the legs pass in game 6. You just don’t want to get to cute in the playoffs.

But everytime PK would start skating with the puck from his own end I just thought he’d make it right to Washington’s net everytime. Subban has a great skating stride. He’s fast and mobile on his feet, he can handle and move the puck. He’s got a ton of energy and enthusiasm.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sleep…. but I gotta try now.

Go Habs Go!!

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Jacques Martin’s team managed to do something that they haven’t been doing a whole lot of this season… outshoot their opponents. However, the final shot count was as close as you can get. The Habs edged the Panthers 39-38 in shots.

Jaroslav Halak was the game’s first star as he stopped all 38 of Florida’s shots facing off against former Habs pick Tomas Vokoun who was named the game’s 2nd star.

I certainly wasn’t on the edge of my seat watching the game and to be honest I’m surprised at the high shot totals. Maybe it was just me… but I didn’t find it was a spectacular game.

Certainly a bright spot for me has been Benoit Pouliot. His first couple of games I was sure exactly what he would have to bring or how he would fit in with his current linemates Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez. But he’s been picking it up. He scored the winning goal last night, his first on home ice in Montreal.

Something that I’ve noticed is that Pouliot does go to the net. And he’s been doing it enough that I have actually noticed it. Latendresse, whom Pouliot was traded for often spoke about playing in front of the net but more often than not I’d notice he wouldn’t play there!

Pouliot was drafted high because he’s a highly skilled player. He’s got speed and great hands.

In Minnesota the Wild seem to be getting some good hockey out of Latendresse so this trade will hopefully be one of those that gives new life to both guys.

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Here are the game highlights from the Montreal Canadiens vs the Washington Capitals played on January 5th 2010.

Washington won this game 4-2. The Canadiens managed to make it close towards the end by making it 3-2… but in all honesty the only thing that kept them in the game was their goaltender. On this night it was Carey Price.

An all to common theme. Outshot 43-26 by Washington it looked as though the Canadiens were just out-worked all night long. In many of the games battles for the puck the Capitals would just come out on top.

Frustrating to see this scenario play out again and again. We have the luxury of having 2 great young goaltenders at the moment. Both Price and Halak have played great, but you can’t expect the Habs to win too many if they continue to be so badly outshot. Team defense is a biggie.

You can also find the game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Capitals

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

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The Canadiens won the game 4-3 in Overtime (which was predicted with little time to play in the 3rd on Twitter by Arpon Basu). It wasn’t the prettiest of games. Montreal were again outshot by a very large margin. Overall team defensive play has to be improved to cut down on the shots that make it to either Jaroslav Halak or Carey Price.

You can’t expect to win very many games in the NHL if your opponent is in your zone firing rubber at your goaltender most of the evening. Although I will say that in the case of the Montreal Canadiens at least Jacques Martin has 2 very capable young goalies to rely upon. But they won’t steal every game.

Jaroslav Halak was, in the end, left to face 53 shots (that made it through to him) stopping 50 of them. Is that not scary? If I was coaching this team that would be one of the most frightening numbers that I would have to face…. never mind they somehow won the game. The last several years the Montreal Canadiens were outshot alot and though this year it seemed that it was getting a bit better early on it’s pretty much back to where it was in terms of these shot totals.

Nik Antropov was around Halak’s net last night and was effective for the Thrashers. He had 2 goals. It’s something the Thrashers did in an earlier game too…. if you can put big bodies in front of the net and throw the puck out there… good things happen.

Hope the Habs adopt that style a bit more at some point…..

One of the bright spots this year has been Tomas Plekanec. Last night he fired a terrific shot to score Montreal’s first goal and then he assisted on the next 3 Habs goals to finish the game with 4 points! Plekanec now has 40 points on the year in 38 games played. That ties Tomas with Zach Parise, Nicklas Backstrom, Brad Richards and Martin St Louis…. tied for 6th in the league in points.

VERY good Tomas!

Marc-André Bergeron scored 2 goals last night. At times Bergeron is a defensive liability. He gets pushed off the puck when he’s on defense and sometimes looks like he struggles to move the puck up to his forwards out of Montreal’s defensive zone.

But put Bergeron on the point on the PowerPlay… or have him join the rush… and he’s been pretty effective. He seems to move the puck much better while entering or while in the offensive zone. And he’s got one heck of a shot.

Bergeron scored the overtime winner last night and it was really a beautiful goal.

Finally… I’m sure mostly everyone has notice Andrei Markov is back in the lineup which is truely one of the best Christmas gifts the Canadiens could have received. Andrei looked rusty in his first game back… for about 2 shifts. Since then he’s looked pretty good. Markov has looked really good moving the puck… Bergeron’s frist goal last night came off the quick puck moving of Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov. Just beautiful to watch.

And now… the highlights and stats!

You can also find the game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Thrashers

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

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Here are the game highlights from the Montreal Canadiens vs the New Jersey Devils played on December 17th 2009.

I missed the first period of play as I was at my daughter’s Christmas concert. (She did very well!)

Something the Canadiens have to improve on is the penalties they take. Again last night they took bad penalties which always puts them behind the 8 ball. While their penalty kill has been good this year (currently 8th in the league) it’s certainly not a reason to play shorthanded. Even when your only goal comes short handed (Travis Moen scored Montreal’s goal shorthanded).

Last night wasn’t the most exciting hockey in the world…. lot’s of shut down style defense. In the end though the one thing that sticks in my mind is New Jersey’s first goal. A long shot that was going way over the net…. Price puts his glove up…. the puck hits his glove, goes directly on the right side post…. bounces up to his feet…. where the puck then hits Carey’s skate as he skates back…. and the puck goes into the net.

Bad.

Here are the game highlights:

But I suppose that even though Price did let in a stinker… every goaltender will occasionally let one in. Even the great Patrick Roy let in the occasional stinker.

You can also find the game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Devils

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

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The Penguins won the game 3 – 2, but the Canadiens did score a goal which was disallowed late in the game. Upon seeing the replays it was my opinion the goal should have stood. Fleury never had possession of the puck. But in the end, the refs call stands.

Carey Price showed once again that he is capable of being a stellar goaltender. He’s looking really good out there and always seems to give his team a chance to win no matter who they are playing.

You can also find the game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Penguins

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

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I got to watch a good chunk of Thursday’s game. I missed some of it so I’m not going to write a game recap or anything like that. But there were a few things that I did notice that I thought were worthy of a comment.

I can remember last season, and the season before and etc…. The Montreal Canadiens had a core of players for a good number of years, the veteran guys who weren’t brought back…. some who just up and left.

One thing I found interesting on Thursday night were the penalties. And for the Habs of last year and a few years before… 3 names instantly came to mind.

First off though… I gotta partially ask this question.

Were there any bad penalties for the Canadiens??

I gotta ask that for 2 reasons, 1 if you noticed some, please feel free to comment about them. Because as I mentioned, I did miss a good chunk of the game. 2, it relates to previous seasons.

So, one thing that did come to mind Thursday night watching the Canadiens vs the Leafs was the penalties… Komisarek in particular got me thinking about it.

There were 3 guys who I remember would frustrate me at times with taking bad penalties.

1. Mike Komisarek – I’m not sure if you guys remember, but I seem to remember watching some games where Komisarek would sometimes try to be aggressive, just like he was doing for the Leafs the other night and he would take untimely penalties…. just like he did for the Leafs. But Thursday, it didn’t frustrate me at all… I rather enjoyed it. I was also reminded of some times where he would pinch in the blueline and get beaten to the puck and the result was a bad 2 on 1.

I loved Mike Komisarek in Montreal. But one aspect of his game was when he would take bad penalties.

2. Alex Kovalev – How many times do I remember Alex taking a bad penalty?? Using his stick to slow down an opponent?? Even at the end of a game with the Habs needing to score??? To man times. So frustrating.

3. Sergei Kostitsyn – I seem to remember Sergei taking bad penalties ala Kovalev on several occasions too.

One of the reasons these names came to mind was that none of them were playing for the Habs. 2 are no longer with the team and the 3rd… well… we’re not sure what he’s thinking.

I saw one bad penalty that I remember the other night. Paul Mara taking a penalty while the Habs were already on the PK… resulting on a 5 on 3. Luckily though, the Leafs played with the puck for about 35-40 seconds instead of giving the puck to Montreal….. which would have given them a near 2 minute 5 on 3. But thankfully, Toronto wasn’t paying attention.

If anyone noticed any other bad penalties (by the Habs) please feel free to comment.

There were some good penalties.

Georges Laraque fought Orr. It did send a brief message. And funny enough, Laraque was used effectively in the game while Orr didn’t really play afterwards. Orr only played a total of 1:28. Laraque didn’t play a ton. But he was out there a few shifts in the 3rd.

Travis Moen. Good penalties. Fought Rosehill…. then, Moen was also used throughout the game. Rosehill only played a total of 2:13.

Moen also fought Komisarek… although it would have been nicer to see them square off cleanly… as Komisarek was grappling Travis while he was trying to get up.

The extra penalty on Moen was goaltender interference. That was a good penalty in my opinion. Komisarek bumped Moen as he was skating towards Toskala…. Moen bumps Toskala.

Remember 2 years ago? The Flyers won the Canadiens in the second round…. they were running Price.

Having guys who will go to the net hard is a good thing. It sometimes creates opportunities and it can get the other team’s goaltender off his game. Grit and toughness was one of the criticisms on this team for too long. In that respect, there were some good signs.

Some things that concern me about that first game? Well, it was the first game. But, the biggest concern was the amount of shots on goal.

46-27 for Toronto. That is way way too much. It resembles last season’s numbers and that is bad. But, it’s only game one. So, it’s ok for now.

A positive has to be the play of Carey Price. I thought at the very start he could have been shaky. But as the game went on, Price played very well.

Price is gonna have to be good this year for the Canadiens to have success…. but that also has to be coupled with the team defense being much better then they showed on Thursday.

I’ll bet Martin had that on his list of things to “talk about”.

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