Players

A 1 – 2 Goalie punch?

Alot is being said about the goaltenders in Montreal in the media. Will one get traded? When? For who/what? Which one?….etc.

This morning I read this great article on The Hockey News site titled “Top Shelf: Re-packaging the 1-2 goalie punch“.

The author (Ryan Dixon) mentions that there is another team doing a very similar thing that is going on with the Habs as of late. That is, each goaltender has played a substantial number of games.
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Jaroslav Halak named 1st star and Olympian

Jaroslav Halak had been totally on fire coming in to last night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Facing 48.7 shots per game over a 4 game span (and winning each) he showed once again that he can play… and wants to play.

The road to the NHL hasn’t been handed to Jaroslav. He had to play in the AHL with Hamilton and while he had been called up as a young goaltender in Montreal, he was sent back to do time in Hamilton.

Halak always showed up and played.

The young goaltender certainly is making the case for being given a shot as the number 1 goaltender in Montreal. Or if not in Montreal, somewhere else.

This puts Montreal’s management in an interesting position. Having 2 great young goaltenders.

He has earned all the respect he’s getting… NHL 1st star and named to the Slovakian Olympic team!

NHL hands Georges Laraque a 5 game suspension

The NHL ruled on the knee on knee hit or collision between Georges Laraque and Niklas Kronwall.

Laraque is suspended for 5 games without pay.

I expected that the NHL could give Georges anywhere from 5 to 8 games.

Kronwall is expected to miss anywhere between 4 to 8 weeks. Another significant injury in the multitude of injuries in the NHL this season.

You can find all the NHL’s press release here.

Halak getting respect

We’re about 30 minutes away from game time. Montreal faces the Pittsburgh Penguins this evening and once again Yaroslav Halak will be in net.

It’s been a long winding road for Halak as the last couple of years it seemed like no matter what he would do, steal games, stop 50 shots…. he would soon sit. He didn’t see too many games in a row as most times the reigns were always given to Price.

This season, it seems as though Martin might be playing whoever is sharp.

I’m hoping that this is a real opportunity for both young goalies… they’ll both get the games, and they gotta perform.

Is this creating a real competition? Will this essentially push both?

Only time will tell.

Enjoy the game!

We’ve got a couple of Giants

Watching the Canadiens vs the Rangers last night was a treat. It went through all the emotions…. from elation and excitement to uncertainty and slight fear (well ok… maybe no fear… right?). But when the chips were down the Habs managed to come back from 2 goals down (twice they were down by 2 goals) and eventually win the game.

I saw what I began to see ever since these hit the ice in training camp. A play hard attitude, never back down, desire to win…..

But from what I’ve heard from some tv analysts and some writers, you’d swear that this “experiment” of Bob Gainey’s would surely flop. The theme of of some game highlights and video replays have referred to some of them as “the smurf line”…. their physical stature is often referred to…. Even before CBC broke to commercial just before the game was about to start there was a mention of how many inches the Gomez-Cammalleri-Gionta line gave up to their opponents.
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Sergei Kostitsyn – Will he stay or will he go?

I remember when we first saw Sergei in Montreal during the first batch of pre-season games 3 years ago. In that pre-season stint, I was impressed and I remember Carbo saying how it was hard to send him to Hamilton.

We didn’t have to wait long and Sergei was called up to play in Montreal.

Fast forward a few years and here we are.

Sergei Kostitsyn had a place on this roster. There is no doubt. But there’s been this kind of cloud hovering above him since last season.

Last year all the media (well not ALL the media, but some media certainly) were finding new issues every couple of weeks…. Kostitsyn’s name was mentioned along with the word “party”…. and then later on he and brother Andrei were thought to be involved with some shady figures in Montreal (along with Hamrlik).

Sergei had been demoted after all that stuff came about… but even before that the Habs team were sinking fast. I’m not sure if half the team just stopped playing for Carbo or what…. but there had been whispers of attitude problems.
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Shawn Belle gets the call

As many of us were expecting a swift call up of newly acquired Marc-Andre Bergeron it seems as though the Habs feel he needs more time to get it going.

Shawn Belle was called up yesterday to round out the defense as Yannick Weber had been sent down.

Some might not like this move but I don’t mind it at all.
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Letter to Patrice Brisebois

Tomorrow the 2009-2010 season begins and I feel as though I’m shifting gears just a little bit with this as lot’s of stuff is already brewing before the season has begun. But this was something that I wanted to write. I wanted to write this as a letter from a longtime Habs fan to a longtime Habs player.

Here’s my letter to you Mr Brisebois:
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Player feature : Max Pacioretty – Future File

Great little feature on Sportsnet on Max Pacioretty.

There’s not really much to the video as it’s only about 50 seconds long… but it basically highlights that he is a top prospect and is a young, big strong forward that could have a big role on the club in coming years.

Enjoy!

Pre-game thoughts: Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers – First pre-season game

We’re just a few hours away from the first pre-season game for the Montreal Canadiens this season! For some of you, if you’re anything like me, it’s been a long time coming. Since the last playoff game back in the spring I’ve been thinking about these first pre-season games.

Here are a few pre-game and really “pre-season” thoughts.
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