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Upper Deck blog feature – All Hail Halak

Yves — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:23:56 +0000

I was contacted earlier earlier by Chris Carlin who writes for the Upper Deck blog. He shared an article that featured Halak, talked about playoff hockey, the City of Montreal and of course the Capitals vs Canadiens series that we’ve just witnessed.

I enjoyed the article and thought I’d share it here.

Click here to read “All Hail Halak” from the Upper Deck blog.

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Habs quick links for game day

Yves — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:02:16 +0000

I really can’t wait for tonight’s game. I’m not sure if I should be pessimistic or optimistic to be honest… but, I’m currently leaning more towards the optimistic voice in me.

In recent years, I’ve decided to try and be the most optimistic person I can be. This way, I won’t prematurely close any doors that may be open.

The Washington Capitals can be beat. There is no doubt in my mind. However, the team that’s gonna beat them need to be disciplined. No bad penalties. And they need to play solid defense as a team…. as a unit. Which is something the Canadiens haven’t always done well this season but they have for stretches in this series.

Give the Washington Capitals an inch and they run you over.

Here’s a few quick links I enjoyed this morning.

Eyes on the Prize
Hal the angry caller (via Team990)

HABS Inside/Out
Habs hopes hinged on Halak

Ya! The Habs Rule!
Emotional maturity still a problem for Habs Price

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Habs bits of the week

Yves — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:04:25 +0000

Thought I would highlight a few articles that I read over the last week.

Price/Halak – The Stats – October 2009
by Chris Boyle for Eyes on the Prize

This is a great article on the goaltender statistics and it cuts through to the bare facts.

Chris does a great analysis of the shots both Halak and Price have faced will visual graphs displaying where the shots were taken from as well as the save percentage per area.

Really worth the read!

Hockey Night in Canada Takes Interest in All Habs’ Feud
by Rocket for All Habs
AND
UPDATES: Walsh controversy
by Rocket for All Habs

The night that I wasn’t on Twitter at all (you can find me on twitter at @yves_on_habs) there was a bit of controversy as Halak’s agent Mr Allan Walsh tweeted a comment about Carey Price’s stats. If you want the whole story please read the articles on the All Habs blog!

Well written and described.

Learning to live without Markov
by Topham for Lions in Winter

This article contains some numbers showing just what the team’s play has been like when Markov has been out. Some interesting numbers in this article and if you thought Markov was an important player the team’s most important player this article might provide proof of his value through the last few seasons.

Andrei, I miss you!

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Hockey Buzz Paul McCann previews the 2009/2010 Montreal Canadiens

Yves — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:15:24 +0000

Some bloggers started posting bold predictions and previews for virtually every NHL team back in July and through the summer a few had spelled the doom of the Montreal Canadiens.

Personally, I’ve always felt that speculation is just speculation. Nothing more and nothing less.

Today I saw Paul McCann’s preview of the Montreal Canadiens on the HockeyBuzz website and I was happy to see a sound factual preview of the upcoming season.

McCann mentions what happened last season and he mentions player changes along with both the potential and possible pitfalls of a team full of newcomers trying to find their chemistry.

Well written preview.

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Recent Articles with link to the Montreal Canadiens

Yves — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:34:06 +0000

I found a few articles I thought I’d share in case they fly under the radar. These aren’t necessarily from websites that I’m a daily reader of, but I happened to stumble upon them while “window shopping” on the internet

New England Sports Network:
Ex-Bruin Hal Gill Going Over to Dark Side in Joining Canadiens

This article is an interview with Hal Gill… first question “Why the hell did you sign with Montreal?”. Worth the read.

List of Sports
Looking at One of Hockey’s Greatest Rivalries

The article talks about some of the history in this rivalry. The author also writes a bit about how his family is split… some being loyal to the Leafs and others to the Habs.

National Post
Ex-Habs coach Demers appointed to the Senate

This comes as a total surprise…. I had heard no rumours or anything about this until it fell on my lap. Jacques Demers seems to have been appointed to the Senate.

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Habs over Coyotes and loose Andrei Kostitsyn

Yves — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:12:00 +0000

First off, I was stunned by that hit last night on Andrei Kostitsyn and as they replayed the hit over and over again as the night went on I was horrified at every showing…

As I saw the hit, I thought that Sauer’s arms were definately high.. hitting Andrei in the head. Although I really don’t think it was intended to be quite as malicious as the results of the hit were….

The sport of pro hockey is VERY hard hitting, the guys are so big, so strong…. and the game is so fast…. it can happen so fast.

I hate seeing anyone get hurt. I really feel for both Kostitsyns…. I can’t imagine what Sergei felt as he helped escort his brother off the ice.

The loss of Kostitsyn could definately slow down the Hab’s offense… although I still believe that there is lot’s of skill to compensate.

Of the other things that stood out in the game..

The Koivu-Tanguay-Latendress line seems to be clicking very well. Tanguay is really starting to show what he can bring and Koivu is showing some of the talent he’s always shown. As for Latendress, this a golden opportunity to show what he can do and so far he’s shown lot’s of great hard work, strength on the boards, physical play that really gives good balance along side Koivu and Tanguay… I’m impressed with this line.

Kovalev is truely a magician.. every now and then he “fumbles” the puck… but he always makes up for it. He’s got eyes all around his head and while not going 100 MPH he just twists, turns and dekes through everyone….

I still really love Tom Kostopoulos…. the guy just plain out always plays hard. He usually picks off the puck from the opposition just because of his work ethic.

Robert Lang is great in a Habs uniform. He just looks like he belongs… he’s showing that he’s got that real hockey smarts, good vision. I’m very very happy with the acquisition (as with Tanguay and Laraque).

Last night, Laraque also showed his worth. After the hit stuff started getting a little nastier… Sergei Kostitsyn took on all of the Coyotes line (not sure which line it was) after his bro went down… like how Sergei K plays… he’s got a little jam…. When Laraque came out and went into a skirmish of players… everyone backed off. It happened a couple of times. He demands so much respect. Seems like his presence really calms the “bad vibes” down… because no one really wants to face him. Sauer turned away from Laraque but decided to take on Tom K instead…. which may cosmetic value for Sauer.

Later on, Laraque schooled Fedoruk who could barely get a swing in.

Laraque’s presence makes every Hab 1-2 inchs taller and several pounds heavier.

Carey Price… he’s amazing. And I think he’ll get better as the season goes on. He’s confident.

As for the Coyotes… I think they would have had a shot, if Gretzky could have put his skates on to help his young guns….. I’m sure part of him still wishes he was playing and not coaching.

Habs posts of the day:

Koivu Line Dominates, Andrei Kostitsyn Leaves Early

by Jonathan Releo

Kostitsyn Hit Anything but Legal

by Robert L

Marian Gaborik avec le Canadien?

par Roby St-Gelais

Rocket fuel

by canadiens.com

Who Were Habs Butch Bouchard and Elmer Lach?

by Robert L

Alex Tanguay Shines and Big Georges Flexes His Muscles Against The Not-so-Nice Poenix Coyotes