Posts Tagged ‘Guillaume Latendresse’

Montreal vs Florida comments

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.
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Habs call up Benoit Pouliot

We’ll be seeing Benoit Pouliot soon. He was the player who came to Montreal in the Latendresse trade with the Minnesota Wild. It was announced today that he’s been called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs. Pouliot had 3 pts in his last game in Hamilton, 1 goal and 2 assists.

Pouilot was a high pick (4th overall) in the 2005 draft… just ahead of our own Carey Price. He has talent to burn and I think the hope is that the new surroundings, closer to home along with the new coaching staff might be just what the doctor ordered for Benoit.

Here’s the official press release that can be found here:
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=510684

Canadiens recall Benoit Pouliot from the Hamilton Bulldogs
Monday, 21.12.2009 / 10:47 AM / News
Montreal Canadiens
PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens announced today that left winger Benoit Pouliot has been called up from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. Pouliot will join the Canadiens today in Atlanta for tonight’s game against the Thrashers.

Pouliot recorded three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in three games with the Bulldogs. He also maintained a +1 plus/minus rating, registered 11 shots on goal and served four penalty minutes.

Pouliot, 23, was assigned to the Bulldogs on December 10 for conditioning purposes. The 6’03’’, 199 lbs forward has yet to play a game with the Canadiens due to an injury. Pouliot played 14 games with the Wild this season, recording four points (2 goals, 2 assists), serving 12 penalty minutes with a plus/minus rating of 0 and averaging 11:56 minutes of ice time per game.

Guillaume Latendresse traded to the Wild for Benoit Pouliot

Mon Guillaume was probably the guy… or at least one of the guys who was almost always brought up in some kind of media reports.

One part of fans and media may have thought that Guillaume hadn’t been given a fair shot… and others thought that he had been given a shot.

In my opinion, from what I saw and heard this season, I thought a message was sent to Guillaume when the Canadiens signed him to a 1 year deal.

But I don’t think the message passed to him was all negative. Of the players that Jacques Martin met with in the off season, Guillaume was one of them. And through camp and the start of the year, I remember hearing Martin talk about what he wanted and what he expected out of Guillaume… on the top lines.
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Has the season self-destructed??

The constant injuries and lack luster play has certainly been tugging away at the optimism I had coming into the season. A quarter of the way through it’s still pretty hard to read exactly who this team is. But although it is hard to discern it’s not really something that can be faulted on management.

I’m not saying that there haven’t been moves (or “non-moves”) made in the last few years that I think were bad in hindsight leading up to today… but what I am saying is that one can’t honestly measure just how good this team is

We’ve been without our best player and other players who were keyed in as integral parts of this team.

When compared to last year’s team and the “core” that the Habs had prior to this season it still speaks loudly to me that this group is 10-11-0 after 21 games… without Markov… and other pieces of the puzzle also out.

There’s a great article on the numbers without Markov over at Lions in Winter… check it out.

There’s been quite a bit of doom and gloom from what I’ve been hearing in regards to the season and the talk about a “rebuild” has begun. Honestly, I think we’ve just begun “the rebuild”.
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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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Rookie camp 2009 – Martin thinks young players could play key role

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, just because I mean it. I’m excited for this upcoming season and it’s great to see the reports coming out of the rookie camps. It satisfies part of my desire to see some Habs hockey.

Watching a report on RDS, it’s interesting to listen to Jacques Martin and the RDS analysts. Martin really seems to leave the door open for any number of young players…. from Chipchura, D’Agostini, Pacioretty.. to Maxwell, Latendress, the Kostitsyns, Lapierre… he goes on to say that any number of these young players could have an important role in the Montreal Canadiens lineup this year.
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A look at possible player achievements for 2009

The pre-season is almost with us! Just gotta wait a little bit longer to see some “bleu-blanc-rouge” hockey!

I thought I’d take a look at what we could see individual players achieve in 2009. What career achievements could be made by players on the Habs roster. I haven’t listed all the possible numbers…. but listed many.

So here’s my little preview!
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Guillaume Latendresse, the one year deal… here’s your chance

So Guillaume signs the 1 year deal and it’s reported to be slightly less then what he was making this last season.

He obviously didn’t have much bargaining power this year as he was not eligible for salary arbitration. So the fact that he’s making a little less then last season (it’s reported to be slightly over $800k) doesn’t surprise me but the 1 year deal did at first.

Since I’ve thought about it a little more (not a whole lot mind you) I think it makes a little sense. Maybe it does for both parties.

By signing this 1 year deal this will give Guillaume a whole lot to prove this year. Next summer he’ll be eligible for salary arbitration and if he wants a raise then he’ll have to prove that he deserves one. He’s already come out and said that he wants to play a bigger role on this new team so in a sense I think the deal could be good for him. He’ll have more say (probably) in whether he gets a raise or not next year.

For Gainey I think it’s a conservative move going into next season. I think it will allow them to take stock of what they expect out of him and is he living up to the role they want him to play. Does he fit in the current/future plans of the team.

I’m cheering for Latendresse this year. I’m hoping he can find a way to put some more points up. I’m also hoping that he uses his 230 lbs 6′2 frame to play some hard checking hockey.

From what I’ve read, he’s continued to work on his skating and I’m sure he was relieved to make the playoffs last year…. and get that 2nd half of the season out of the way.

Guillaume is still a young player at 22 years old. Won’t be 23 until playoff time next season.

Hoping he fits well with the new lineup.