I had seen the Montreal Canadiens get pushed around a bit too much for my liking and I was sure that Laraque would provide some of the much needed toughness that was plaguing the team the few previous years.

But last season was a disappointment for Laraque, something I’m sure he’s aiming at making better this year.

As far as the media and all the noise coming out of Montreal last season, it seemed as though the team was ready to be better then they had in 2007/2008 when they were the best in the Eastern conference… many were claiming that Gainey’s “5 year plan” would come to fruition and we’d see a great parade in Montreal for the summer of 2009.

Something that wasn’t meant to be.

Laraque was injured most of the year and took some heat from media and fans. I’m sure this didn’t sit well with Mr Laraque.

As last season unraveled, it wasn’t just Laraque who had a subpar year, the entire team seemed to spiral downward and while there were a few positives at the end of last season (like Montreal making it into the playoffs) it appeared as though nothing could be done to turn it around.

This year I’m full of optimism looking at this team. Maybe I am every year…. quite honestly…. because I’m a hockey/Habs nut.

The Montreal Canadiens will have a very different look, a different character and for those who seem to think they’re alot smaller I beg to differ. In fact though some of their acquisitions are a bit smaller there are other acquisitions who help balance it out.

I’m sorry, but I have to say this.

In my opinion George Laraque may be like a new acquisition on this team. Last season, only playing in 33 games and being unhealthy all year he had no impact.

I’m excited to see that he’s healthy and weighing in about 20 lbs less then last season at 245 lbs.. he’s changed his diet, he’s been into Yoga…. I believe that he also knows that he needs to put last season behind him.

Laraque can be an asset on this team, there is no doubt in my mind. The eastern conference has changed a fair bit in recent years. While the Flyers seem to always ice a pretty tough team, the Bruins and the Leafs, 2 of the most hated rivals have gotten much tougher to play against in the last few years (Leafs much recently of course).

I think Jacques Martin will be using Georges Laraque in a way where he can be much more effective then he was used under Carbonneau last season. Instead of having Laraque solely act as a “defender” when somebody takes a run at his teammates, I think Laraque will be engaged in delivering some punishing blows to opposing teams…. maybe provoking them.

Jacques Martin will know how to use his players better then Carbonneau.

Carbonneau was and still is one of my all-time favorite Montreal Canadiens players and always will be. It’s just too bad he got the head coaching job with such little experience.

A healthy Georges Laraque in Montreal this year…. do you think he can make an impact? Do you think Montreal are gonna be tougher to play against physically with a healthy Laraque, Travis Moen, Paul Mara, Hal Gill?

What do you think???

A challenge arose, just how do I think Carey will do this upcoming season?

I hadn’t thought about it very much instead I’ve been focused on the Gomez deal, the UFA signings and some of the rumors that have been floating around about more trades.

So I thought I would take some time to think and form at least a first opinion of how I think he’ll fare out.

The 2 last seasons in Montreal certainly were not similar. 2 seasons ago the team was in high gear and managed the season with very little injuries as they finished 1st in the east. Last season a strong start crippled by injuries to so many players and then a total meltdown finishing 8th in the east.

Carey Price was given the reigns of the team in goal 2 seasons ago and had a strong year while last season seemed to be more of a struggle.

Carey Price took alot of heat in some media last season as he entered his 2nd season in Montreal and professional hockey. All kinds of speculation and accusations were made against various team members, that’s not something I care to discuss here. I want to talk about hockey.

Did you know that last season the Montreal Canadiens finished 24th in shots against? 31.7 shots per game is what he (Price) and Halak had to contend with and I dare say that the number was better at the beginning of the season. At the end of the year, I have memories of watching games and continually checking the shots on goal… they were being bombarded. I remember Halak standing on his head to steal a couple of games Montreal should have lost.

Price didn’t have a successful defensive unit in front of him. One part of that problem could be that when Komisarek went down with the injury he was just not the same for the remainder of the season. Komisarek was the big physical presence protecting the crease the year before.

But I won’t blame Komisarek. When the team’s meltdown occurred it seemed like practically nothing was going right. Hamrlik, Gorges…. the defense in general was poor.

Has Price faced adversity before?

This is the next question I came to. So I did a little research.

I had never really looked at his numbers prior to his professional days, hearing all the hype about the young goaltender I had assumed the numbers were spectacular but in fact I saw that he did face playing in a loosing situation.

In his first 2nd and 3rd seasons with the Tri-City Americans Price was below .500 and that 3rd year almost averaged 3 goals per game (2.87) and had a 0.906 goals against average. In his 4th year he won 31 games and lost 13, averaged 2.45 goals per game and 0.917 save percentage.

Some might say “yeah, but that’s not the NHL”. No it’s not. But he knows about playing on a struggling team.

So how will Price do this year? (my opinion…. as of today)

I think Carey Price will bounce back. Last season being his first full season as the main man in goal for Montreal couldn’t have been worse for him really… as so many players got injured and the lineup being put on the ice as a game of musical chairs about every night there was little to no stability in front of him.

All the off-ice issues were compounded by the fact that the team was in melt-down mode.

This season Price has some new faces in front of him. Hal Gill and Paul Mara will provide some big bodies and muscle to clear out the “unwanteds”. Plus I do believe Jacques Martin will attempt to have the team play a much tighter defensive system.

Other factors are the media storm in Montreal and whomever is brewing them. There’s always something a muck. And I keep getting flash backs of some of the crowd and their boos and Carey raising his arms… I’m so reminded of Roy… and then also of Brisebois…

Do these people who get on the players so much… do they want people to actually come and play for Montreal?? (some media + some fans) That’s a subject for another day.

I do believe Carey will be better protected this season and it will reflect in his performances, his numbers and his confidence. Carey Price is a superbly gifted goaltender and he is still quite young.

So how do you think Carey Price will do this season? Bounce back? Fall back?

I swear I was smiling while watching this video. They were all standing in line in their dressing room at the practice facility… Travis Moen, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and Paul Mara.

Then with pictures flashing they put on their new uniforms. Awesome. In fact, I’ve been dying to see some habs hockey and just seeing them put the jerseys on with their names and numbers, it somehow helped satisfy the desire for a game.

They looked good in those uniforms.

Travis Moen to me looked like he could have thrown everyone around without difficulty. Is it just me or does he look big?

Then Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta jumped on the ice to practice with some kids. It’s awesome. They seemed to have fun. I think both Gomez and Cammalleri are gonna be great with the media, well at least when “some” media isn’t trying to make some kind of fuss about something new… now that they can’t blame Koivu for everything under the sun.

Boys look good in their uniforms.

And for anyone who hasn’t watched the video, here it is:

What do you think??

Now I’ll start of by saying that about the only thing that I know about Paul Mara is that he’s played with a few different teams, he play defense and he’s about 6’4.

I haven’t really dug around to much for any information on Paul, but I found this great little video on YouTube and I gotta tell you that after watching this video on Mara.. I’ve grown to like him a bit already.

Plus, being a Habs fan, who can resist a guy that fought Tucker.

I’m really lookin’ forward to seeing that enthusiasm in the upcoming season. He could be a solid pick up in the new Jacques Martin system which I’m sure insulating Carey Price is part of the plan.

So welcome Paul Mara!