The uproar soon followed. I must admit, I felt that we were in for a long season. And honestly, we may be. Time will tell.

However, I try to be a “glass half full” kinda guy. An optimist.

When it comes to predicting the outcome of a season by looking at a team’s roster at the start of the year maybe you can, in a general way, assess where the team will finish. When it comes to predicting where a team will finish by looking at a team’s first 10-15-20 games…. you can make certain judgements… sometimes you’ll be right.

But sometimes, you’ll still be dead wrong.

In the last few years, we’ve seen predictions by experts that rated a team at the top of the conference…. the team barely makes it in. A team was rated as being out of the playoffs and they finish in the top spots of the conference.

There are so many variables it’s impossible to tell. Maybe your best guy gets hurt. Maybe a mediocre player has a career year and puts up surprising numbers which really helps raise his linemates production and the team in the overall standings. Maybe your GM makes a move that propels the team on a higher level…. or cuts the heart out of the group.

Just look at the Penguins of just a few years back when they won the cup. Going into the home strech, they weren’t even in the 8th spot. They were out of it. Sure, they had Sid, Malkin etc… But they were struggling big time. The last strech of the season, they hit a different gear and seemed to peak in the playoffs.

That’s not a one time occurance either. 8th seeds, 7th seeds, they occasionally go far. If your team really hits it’s stride at the right time of the year, you’ve got a shot.

So how good can these Habs be?

Well, there are positives for sure.

Erik Cole has been looking like the player they brought him here to be. He now has 6 goals and he’s always going to the net. Montreal has needed players like this for years. A bigger frame guy who goes into the other team’s goaltenders face…. and causes problems. Of course, to start the year, Mr Martin didn’t seem to want to play Cole much. Thankfully, that has changed.

Tomas Plekanec is a hell of a hockey player. We Habs fans have known this for quite some time. He has become much like Markov was a few years back. Our secret weapon.

Markov was quitely in the tops of the league in offensive defensemen. One of the very best.

Plekanec is such a good 2 way player. And it’s almost like it’s a secret because you don’t hear much about him. If it’s 5 on 5, penalty kill or power play, Tomas is on the ice and paying dividends. In fact, on the penalty kill he will sometimes generate offensive opportunities and rarely gives up on a play.

Our defense is depleted but some young guys are settling in. Gorges has been hitting his stride. Not that he’ll lead all defensemen in points or anything like that. But he’s a steady defensive precense. Josh is leading the team in +/- at +10. He wasn’t that strong to start the year but it’s coming together.

PK Subban is starting to settle in. Early in the season he gave up the puck alot and took some pretty bad penalties. Weber has looked really good at times, Emelin had a strong game the other night being quite physical.

Carey Price is looking like he’ll be the same goaltender we had last year. One of the best in the league, he will steal some games for sure.

Scott Gomez started looking alot better in the last game…. while many people expressed their desire to can him right away, if this guy can find it, he can be a heck of a puck mover. He and Gionta were looking like their New Jersey days last night.

Andrei Markov. Certainly, his contract is a risky one at best. If Markov can come back and be reasonably healthy this season, you can be assured that the special teams and the offensive game will be affected quick positively. Even with some diminished production due to his injuries, the guy has an incredible vision and hockey sense. Komisarek should be paying him a good chunk of his contract for making him look good for those Montreal years (I had to!).

Point is, it’s a guessing game. A crap shoot. You never know what can happen. There may not be another major injury this season. Or maybe, they will be decimated with injuries. You can only guess. If you’re “the expert”, the “arm chair gm” or whoever, it’s impossible to be completely accurate without an incredible amount of luck on your part.

My hope is that Montreal hits their stride and really click when the playoffs roll around.

I think they’ll make it in!

Lot’s of talk already just days after the Canadiens playoff run ended.

I know that for some of you the interest in your favorite NHL team doesn’t end. For me, it certainly does not.

While the Habs were on their playoff run I tried to focus on their games. Current line ups, their performance etc…. while trying to leave the impending UFAs, RFAs, salary cap and that question that will keep lingering of which goaltender stays in Montreal??? Or IF they can somehow keep both.

Now that it’s the off-season (ok, not for you Hawks/Flyers fans) I’m starting to think about this stuff a little bit and am reading what other bloggers have to say as well as the media.

Certainly some interesting articles out there. Here are just a few.

NHL 2010 UFA Desert: Habs’ Plekanec Best Center Out There?
by Scott Weldon for Bleacher Report

Decision time for Habs’ GM Gauthier
by Pat Hickey for The Gazette

Price or Halak Could Solve Yzerman’s Problem in Net
by Alan Adams for NHL Fanhouse

There’s lot’s and lot’s to think about, dream about…. maybe even worry about. But hey, I’ll tell you straight up. I won’t worry about it. I’m a die hard fan, but I try to keep this at the “entertainment level”. NHL teams don’t pay my salary. It’s not a job. I love hockey, I love the Habs, I love NHL hockey….. it’s something fun.

However, I will admit that I’m passionate about the Habs.

So just as the playoff run has just ended.. my head is filling with this other stuff….

Tonight…. in just a couple of hours The Montreal Canadiens will play game one against the Washington Capitals.

I suppose one could look at an 8th seed team and automatically write them off as they face such a high powered offense in Washington. Not only Washington’s high powered offense, but the once Habs net minder Jose Theodore who’s been playing VERY well the last few months….. his season started with such tragedy and he’s played some very inspired hockey this year.

I was heartbroken for you Jose…. but I’m glad you’ve had a strong season.

Now going back to the Habs. I don’t really “expect” them to win. The Capitals are clearly the more high powered offense and they also have bigger bodies. I would personally say that both these team’s defense are basically a wash. Neither were among the top in goals against this year.

Montreal finished 13th in goals against and Washington at 16th.

Both teams also boast some very talented offensive defensemen in Andrei Markov and Mike Green.

But I believe there is definitely some hope for the Habs!

There are 2 great young goaltenders who in any given game can steal one for you. Now keep in mind that they’d be stealing one against the most high powered team in the league.

I also think that this team is just now… for the most part generally healthy. Mike Cammalleri is back… This is the time of year you want to click. The Habs have won these Capitals…. Tomas Plekanec performs well against these Caps….

The playoffs are always slightly different. You get to play your opponent at least 4 times in a row. This should give your coach a chance to try some things….. I would be changing it up as needed. Really feel out your opponent.

Now something that I’ve seen the Canadiens do this year and I’m not sure if it’s a true coaching strategy….. is sit on a lead. A 1 goal lead? Try to get through the game from about the second period on to win the game? Not a strategy I’m a fan of. Push for the second goal.

This Capitals team is not the team you want to play against trying to sit on a lead….. they will barbecue you, burn you… and throw you out without eating you.

So please, what I’d love to see is a hard fought game. I wouldn’t say “run and gun”…. there’s just no easy way to win this series if you’re the Canadiens. You’re matched up against a strong team.

But, push offensively as the Caps aren’t the strongest defense….. and play hard…. play hard and try to draw penalties.

The power play COULD become an important asset in this series.

Here’s a great blog article over at Lions in Winter on why the Habs could win this series.

Go Habs Go!

As I mentioned yesterday in the post titled “Has the season self-destructed??” I think it’s been pretty hard to clearly evaluate just how good this team is.

There has been some raunchy performances on the one hand. On the other hand there have been some great performances where they’ve been in the game or have won.

Last night against the Washington Capitals were one such game were I wasn’t filled with optimism before hand but afterwards I certainly was.




So in reference to how good the team is so far? I believe they’re right on pace where they should be, in fact maybe they are even a little better then what I would have predicted being 11-11-0 in the first 22 games of the year with all the changes and without their best player (Andrei Markov)…. and other key injuries.

Listening to Montreal’s talk radio, The Team 990 (which I am a regular listener) I’ve really enjoyed what Randy Tieman has been saying… he’s said something to the effect that it’s just to hard to say how good this team is or can be with all the significant injuries.

I still take the position that this team’s core is better then where we finished last season. So many people last year had voiced the opinion that the team needed a major change in direction. Well, the team’s direction was changed brining in a younger core and so far I don’t think they’ve been pushed around quite as much as they used to despite some of these guys being smaller. Moving forward there is something to build on.

I do believe that it would have been much better to get picks or prospects for some of the players who were let go… but it didn’t happen that way and Gainey opted to try and make a playoff run. Much debate could be made over it being the right or wrong decision. Personally I don’t think it would have gone well to trade everyone and give up on the playoff race at the deadline while they were still positioned to be a playoff team.

There are some real positives coming together for the Canadiens.

Carey Price has been playing with that fire. He’s looking as confident as we all hoped that he would be.

There has been some “Price haters” voicing there opinions that he should be traded… that in my opinion is all rubbish. To be honest at his age there are not many goaltenders who boast the numbers that he does. He’s comparable to a young Roy, Brodeur and Luongo. If anyone out there is expecting him to play like a seasoned St-Patrick 2 or three years in… then either you must not know that Patrick himself didn’t play perfectly in goal and had some real stinkers. But as he aged, he became a real game changer.

Price has all of that potential. He can be our game changer and has already started to look like a game changer in the short time we’ve had him in the CH.

Tomas Plekanec is also a guy who last year was named in virtually every trade rumour.. this summer was more of the same. He took alot of heat. I questioned openly what his future with the team was.

Well, Tomas has answered the phone…. he’s been the best player in a Habs uniform night in and night out. He’s playing with more bite.. he’s skating hard, making some great passes and creating many scoring chances. He’s even looked really good on the PK.

Andrei Kostitsyn seems to be improving his play and Max Pacioretty seems to be getting it together also. 2 guys who will certainly be asked to step it up with the recent injury to Brian Gionta. They started slow and maybe that’s just what it is… an adjustment to the new coaching staff and system.

It’s always disappointing to see the team you’re passionate about not win and play some bad games… but this is part of the growing pains of having a vastly new lineup… and the normal regular season pain of having multiple key players out with injury.

I look at this as an opportunity for some guys to be put in the position to step up and see what they’re made of. It’s really not all doom and gloom guys. We’ve got some real nice positives in the mix.

It’s a long season, last year Pittsburgh was out of a playoff position after 50+ games played. If your team can hang around, be healthy and peek at the right time.. it can make for a great finish.

So far this week we have 1 win and one loss.

The problems this season seem to go from a game with some bad defense to a good defensive game with bad a offensive game. Is this a really big problem yet? Is it time to wave the white flag?

It’s a consistency problem. But I don’t think it’s huge yet. No white flags here.

The Montreal Canadiens this week have played some decent hockey. Against the Calgary Flames they allowed 31 shots on goal and shot a total of 25. The offense couldn’t get a goal and maybe one the of the best (Kiprusoff) had something to do with it. Montreal only allowed 1 goal against the Flames.

Against the Coyotes each team had 20 shots on goal. The Canadiens won this game 4-2 and I don’t think Carey Price could be faulted for either goal. The first goal came as Price was hit in the throat/face area by Paul Mara’s stick knocking him down…. and the second goal went in deflected from a Phoenix player’s skate.

Although some may think I’m a hater when it comes to Marc-Andre Bergeron I don’t think I am. But so far this season I’m not sure his positives had outweighed his negatives.

On thursday night against the Coyotes I can say that his positives did outweigh his negatives. Bergeron finished the game with 2 assists and 1 goal. He had 3 shots on goal and played a total of 17:15. I noticed at least one defensive laps on his part… but overall a much better game for him.

Bergeron handled the puck well on offense and that’s where he can be effective.

Tomas Plekanec continues to be a shining light on the team. He had a 3 point game on thursday and nearly scored a short handed goal.

I think so far Plekanec is making the case for a contract extention. I would not like seeing him go for nothing like we’ve seen with some of our other guys the last few years. Tomas is having a bounce back year and he’s playing with more of an edge then we’ve seen from him. Keep it up Tomas!

There are a few positives to draw from… and as I finish writing these words we’re only about an hour away from the puck drop vs the Nashville Predators.

Coming into tonight I’ve seen positives and negatives in the previous 5 games. The Avalanche should provide a very formidable opponent. They’ve got some great young talent and their taking off.

Here’s what I’ll be looking for tonight:

Gomez and Gionta
From the line combinations that we saw in the last couple of days it appears that these 2 guys will be paired up together. Trying to get them going together is nothing but a good idea in my opinion. Gionta always seems to find a way to get open for a shot and Gomez can really pass the puck. Should be a good combination.

Travis Moen
I could have added Moen with Gomez and Gionta… as he will likely play on the top line tonight but I didn’t… (hey, it’s my blog!) I thought Moen was rather invisible in the pre-season and so far in the first 5 games I saw the type of player we’ve been lacking in Montreal for some time. Moen will surely be trying to create some space for Scott and Brian as well as going to the net where he could pick up a couple of goals off of Brian Gionta rebounds. And throwing some good hard hits….

I love Moen’s play so far… can be hard nosed, go to the net.. crash the net… throw the hit.. drop the gloves…. Keep it up!

Cammalleri+Plekanec+A.Kostitsyn
Maybe having Cammalleri teamed up with Plekanec will bear fruit tonight…. both of those guys have been working really hard through the first 5 games. Both of them have been putting up decent shots on goal… and I think it’s just a matter of time before we see them net a few together. Andrei Kostitsyn…. I really hope he can find some kind of a groove with both Mike and Tomas… AK is loaded with talent and possesses a killer shot. Hope this line clicks tonight. The Bell Center would explode if this line shines.

Carey Price
I’m looking for a strong show from Price tonight, home opener, new mask… new beginning really. BUT… Let’s hope the defense looks stronger in front of Carey this evening as a few games seemed to show a slightly confused defensive system…. but we’re only the 6th game of the season.

Shawn Belle
Although I don’t think Belle will score a hat trick or anything miraculous… I believe Belle will provide a different kind of spark then Weber had.

Where Weber almost looked a bit timid at times, like seeing him avoid a hit and loose the puck in the corner…. Belle will play a much more solid defensive game. He should be able to clear a bit of room in front of Carey and I’m looking for him to want to impress with some solid checks, physical play (in general) and also some simple passes out of his own zone.

I was also kind of impressed with an interview by Belle…. you can find the interview here on the HABSInside/Out website.

Kyle Chipchura
Kyle doesn’t have to do a whole lot except play hard and make some nice simple plays while playing physically. And there’s also one other aspect where he has been playing well…. Chipchura’s been doing well on the faceoff. So let’s hope that trend continues.

Those are some of the things I’ll be watchin’ for tonight.

I’m also hoping that the “boo birds” stay home.

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!

Mike Cammalleri

• Needs 34 games played to reach 400 games played in the NHL
• Has 155 career assists, could break the 200 assist mark
• Has 287 career points, will definately break the 300 point mark

Scott Gomez

• Has 578 career points, will break the 600 point mark
• Has 1914 total shots, will break 2000 shots

Brian Gionta

• Has 473 career games, will break the 500 game mark
• Has 160 career assists, could break the 200 assist mark
• Has 1351 career shots, could break 1500 shots

Andrei Kostitsyn

• Has 186 career games, will break the 200 game mark

Tomas Plekanec

• Has 184 career points, will break the 200 point mark

Glen Metropolit

• Has 338 career games, could break the 400 NHL games played mark

Guillaum Latendress

• Has 82 career points, will break the NHL point mark

Georges Laraque

• Has 667 career games, should break the 700 game mark
• Has 98 career assists, will break the 100 mark.

Travis Moen

• Has 362 career games, will break the 400 game mark
• Has 487 PIM, will break the 500 PIM mark

Andrei Markov

• Has 571 career games, will break 600 game mark
• Has 255 career assists, could break 300 assist mark
• Has 945 shots, will break 1000 shot mark

Josh Gorges

• Has 246 career games, will break 300 game mark

Roman Hamrlik

• Has 1157 career games, will break 1200 game mark in the NHL
• Has 564 career points, could break 600 point mark
• Has 58 career PP goals, should break 60 career PP goals
• Has 2694 shots, will break 2700 career shots

Jaroslav Spacek

• Has 33 career PP goals, could break 40 career PP goals

Paul Mara

• Has 639 career games played, should break 700 games played
• Has 943 career shots, will break 1000 career shots

Hal Gill

• Has 851 career games played, should break 900 games played
• Has 985 career shots, will break 1000 career shots

Carey Price

• Has 93 career games played, will break 100 career games

Last year was a disappointment for Plekanec. Hoping that he bounces back this season. It could possibly be a make or break year for him in Montreal if he’s not able to produce points like he did 2 years ago when he showed flashes of brilliance.

Is it possible that Plekanec could still be traded? Likely. But I guess time will tell.

Here’s the press release from the Montreal Canadiens website.

Seems as though Marc De Foy from ruefrontenac.com is reporting that there is interest by a KHL team to make an offer to Plekanec.
(article is here)

The KHL has recently recruited a few NHLers… including Jiri Hudler of the Detroit Red Wings.

I think NHL GMs will likely continue to be a little more weary on picking european players in the drafts because there is a strong possibility and even likelyhood that many young players will opt to play in the KHL.

There are differences for sure between the 2 leagues… and one that could help draw players is taxation on salary. Many contracts I’ve read about for players going to the KHL are tax free. This makes a big difference for the KHL teams in helping them be willing to match or even outbid NHL teams for certain players.

RDS is reporting that Plekanec acknowledged that he did receive offers from the KHL but wished to play in the NHL.
(article is here)

The big slump or whatever you would like to call it has sparked lot’s of emotion by Habs fans… Listening to Team990, I’ve heard lot’s of opinions… lot’s of negativity.

I find interesting that just a few months ago, so much sounded “rosie” because they weren’t doing to badly… just totally injury riddled.

Kovalev has been told to take time… so many people have put blame on him… but listen, the guy is 35 years old… almost 36 (on Feb 24th!!