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!

I remember watching this game and when the N.Y. Rangers were up 3-0, 4-0…. 5-0!!! I was demoralized. I was going to turn off the game but I generally always watch every game start to finish no matter what. On this night I did and I went from demoralized to amazed.

It seemed as though “it all went right” for the Rangers for the first half of the game and it just totally switched.

I figured Michael Ryder looked like he could have scored 10 goals in that second half. It was amazing to watch. I also remember that Kovalev goal where he falls to the ice with legs in the air. (Check out Scott Gomez playing for NY)

Classic moment in NHL hockey and a historic game. Coming back from a 5-0 deficit is no light task.

You remember this one?

Watching this video, my memories and even emotions come back…. pretty neat.

What do you remember most about this one?

Never count your chickens before they hatch….

I’m not sure if the Bruins players heard or believed the hype about their chances in winning this series, but if they believed it at all they may have succumb to the danger that follows…. that being a sense of entitlement.

That would just be an assumption on my part. I have no idea what the Bruins players were thinking going into the series. I do have an idea of how they feel after 2 games though…. that being disappointed.

Truth be told, the Canadiens have out played them in 2 games. They’ve been outworked. The Habs have been on so many of the loose pucks and have won so many of the battles along the boards.

There is no substitute for hard work.

Finally, here’s a post-game interview with PK Subban on Versus.

The Montreal Canadiens organization does not agree with the decision taken yesterday by the National Hockey League. We can assure you that we have made our position clear to Commissioner Gary Bettman, and that he has agreed to make this issue a priority at the next General Manager’s meeting, which will be held in Florida on March 14-16.

Our organization believes that the players’ safety in hockey has become a major concern, and that this situation has reached a point of urgency. At risk are some of the greatest professional athletes in the world, our fan base and the health of our sport at all levels. Players’ safety in hockey must become the ultimate priority and the situation must be addressed immediately. As a proud father of three hockey players, I want to help create a healthy and safe experience for them, and I certainly never want any family to go through what the Pacioretty’s are experiencing at this moment.

The entire letter can be read here and I certainly encourage you to read it all.
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=555639

This letter is not written specifically to the Pacioretty incident and mirrors my concerns.

Max came within inches of being permanently paralyzed or even death. Enough is enough.

Even last night, another dangerous hit…. head shot by Kubina on Bolland.

Earlier in the season, another owner came out with strong words for the NHL. That being Mario Lemieux.

To do nothing is to agree that it’s ok to have these dangerous reckless hits.

Reckless hits need to be strongly discouraged.

I applaud you Mr Molson for taking leadership on this issue.

Anyway, here’s Cammalleri on the loss to the Leafs. (courtesy of Habs Inside/Out)

It was a spirited game last night and at times the Habs did play with great intensity. I gotta say that I thought Reimer played well, he made some crucial stops for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal just couldn’t capitalize.

This morning, the Canadiens sit in 6th place and are 9 points ahead of the 9th place Sabres, but with 20 games left to play there are alot of points up for grabs. And this time of year, every game becomes crucial unless you’re sitting in 1st in your conference like Philly is. At 86 points, they’re quite comfortable.

But the 71 point Habs??? Every game is crucial!

Photo by RicLaf, on Flickr

With all that all-star game “fun” out of the way it’s back to the grind… back to the final push towards the end of year funneling process. Playoff time!

But before we get to the playoff funneling process…. there’s another step or hill to climb.

Trade deadline day.

Now I have to admit that I do enjoy this time of year… when it’s quite apparent that (more) literally every game counts and GMs start getting in tactical positions to improve their team for the playoffs. Mind you, while some moves are made it’s always debatable if they’ve actually improved their team or not. Not every move, but some moves aren’t always looking as good on the ice as they did on paper.

This year the Canadiens are in a more favorable position then they were last year and if they manage to stay away from any more major injuries I suspect they’ll make it in the playoffs.

Trade deadline day… I expect to be watching closely, not just the habs, but the entire NHL to see just how the season ending “trading frenzy” turns out. And I’m thinking that this year I’d like to see one move in particular.

One criticism that has always been made has been the lack of size up front in the Habs lineup. They’ve got lot’s of speed and puck moving ability but they’ve always lacked “the power forward”. It’s true that Pacioretty’s recent arrival gives them a bit of a bigger more physical body up front and this year since coming up he does look like he belongs but I wouldn’t expect that he’ll ever turn out to be the type of power forward I’d like to see.

We’ve heard several people in medias and blogs, twitter and facebook…. talk about getting that “big center”. In fact… not so long ago the rumor that wouldn’t die was “Lecavalier is coming to Montreal!”. Anyone remember that? And please, let’s not start that again…. enough.

While the big center would be a great thing to land in Montreal, I’m starting to think I’d be very happy landing a big winger. My first preference would be a really big strong guy with good hands and a real mean streak….. but I’m gonna drop one of those characteristics and suggest who I would try.

Dustin Penner.

I’m sure some of you have heard this scenario and some may agree or disagree. But he fits in my eyes. Really big and strong and does have decent hands to put the puck in the net. The only thing I wouldn’t say he has is that real mean streak. But I can live with that.

Having a guy like Penner live in front of opposing goaltenders would open up a bit more room offensively for smaller line mates to move more freely.

What do you think? Not those Lecavalier rumors again please…

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.

Carey Price continues to look so confident, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec… many players looking good.

Congrats to Lars Eller for scoring his first goal as a Montreal Canadiens player. May the flood gates open for you!

Habs finished the game leading in shots (33 – 25).

Seems as though it was that long ago that every game was a blow out in terms of shots on goal. Seems the numbers are tightening up alot.

Here are the video highlights: