Forward momentum is a beautiful thing

credit Habs inside/out

I am a positive guy. Or at least I try to be. And from what I see, we’re close. We’re missing something, but we’re damn close. First off, let me state that the stat sheet is a lot uglier than the game was. 48 shots allowed to a team like Carolina may sound extremely bad but teams like that often shoot from every possible angle and rely on rebounds and deflections. I’m not saying Carey Price wasn’t spectacular tonight, because he was, but I’m simply saying that 48 shots to Carolina doesn’t scare me as much as it sounds.

A team like the Montreal Canadiens will hold onto the puck more and rely on passing and trick plays. I usually prefer to look at scoring opportunities which, for the Habs, doesn’t necessarily translate to shots. But tonight, I must admit I would rather see them play like the Hurricanes. The best moments of the game for the Habs came from shooting at Cam Ward from every angle and going to the net. He often gave rebounds and snipers like Kovalev, Tanguay, Markov, Kostitsyn and many others can zip one in against a goaltender like that. We’re not talking Martin Brodeur here.

Don’t get me wrong. Passes are fine. But look at the third period. Kovalev stopping on a dime to lose his opponent and then go for a cross ice pass to Koivu on the side of the net. Fine. Kostitsyn (both) soft back-passing a puck entering the zone hoping the guy following wears the same jersey as him. Very Wrong. Am I the only one who loved to see him fire that bullet? No, it didn’t score. It was still a better scoring opportunity than giving the puck to Brind’amour. Forward momentum is a beautiful thing.

And this is actually the real big problem with the Habs. How often do they lose 40 seconds of a power play trying to enter the zone? If Bouillon or Brisebois do “the right play” and dump it, it’s predictable and too often the players are idle at the blueline. If Sergei or Plekanec try to keep the puck at the blue line for a couple of seconds, it’s as predictable. The difference is that even if a Carolina player is first on the puck on a Breezer dump, he’s still far from the net with 5 players in front of him. When the Habs lose the puck at the blue line with 3 idle players waiting for the puck to enter... my neighbours think I’m losing my mind.

I’m not advocating dump and chase as the only option, but look how Kovalev tries to enter the puck usually: deke a guy at the blue line, follow the ramp and go deep in the corner. This gives time to your defencemen to enter the zone and give you additional options if Koivu or Tanguay aren’t open in the slot. Forward momentum is a beautiful thing.

This is one of my two real complaints about Carbo’s work (other to follow in next article). I understand he needs to keep 23 players happy but if I was in his place I’d blow a gasket and promise anyone who enter the zone doing a back pass some extra push-ups to be done immediately after the game. When the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge shoot on net, go for rebounds and keep the passing game to honest forward passes, they have their opportunities. Carbo… force them to do it. It’s your job. Oh and a similar threat about bad changes or stretching ice time may be in order. Kovalev is one thing. Sergei doesn’t have the credentials to deserve that special treatment.

But back to the game, The Koivu line doesn’t work. No shots on goal for him and Tanguay. It’s nice to see so much talent on one line but there is something missing. And when did Kostopoulos become a valuable option on the second line? How does it complement the work of Chris Higgins? With Thomas Plekanec who doesn’t seem to know what to do, that’s one screwed up line. The fourth line, despite Habster’s dislike, is a usual highlight for me. They don’t often score, but they work hard every shift and often create chances. Lang and the brothers have some potential but only when they go toward the net and shoot. Forward momentum…

Come on guys, go back to the basics. For the centennial, give us some good old north south hockey. There is enough talent to score with simple play here. Use the trick play when they don’t see it coming, not as an option A.

Look how the Hurricanes beat you tonight. Shoot to the net and go for the rebound. Simple isn’t it?

Leave the tricky play for the All Star game. By the look of the voting, it’ll be the Western Conference against the Sainte-Flanelle anyway.

A game of luck.

There is no real good way to analyze this game. The effort seemed shallow but when you start a game only 20 hours after finishing your last one and have to travel to a city 1100 miles away, you are facing difficult conditions. To help matters, you have one of the weirdest referees in the NHL making sure this game will have absolutely no flow.

I will apologize to our readers for this late post and for this bullet point format I’m about to use. I promise to have a better full game review on Tuesday.

• It was ugly, but for far more reasons that the Habs. Yes, they were facing a bottom of the league team but the conditions explained earlier explain some of the fatigue from the players.

• Yes, they were 0-10 on the power play but how many power plays were killed by a weird call? 4 from the Habs and two from St-Louis. Out of 10 power plays, only 4 of them went two minutes.

• Did Keith Tkachuk elbowed three of our players? This is a situation where I would be glad to have Laraque in the lineup. I’d give him a very specific mission. Go talk to Keith, preferable when other players of his team are around, and simply tell him “Next time you elbow one of my players, I’ll elbow one of your superstars”. Granted, with Kariya already injured, there weren’t any superstars left to target but you get my point.

• A good point from my dad (Big Uncle?): Laraque could benefit from losing his mind on the ice once; enough to make sure the rest of the league sees him crush every player on the ice. Enough to scare. Yeah, he’d be suspended. Yes, he’d be fined. I’m sure his teammates would pinch in to pay it.

• I was happy to see how the powerplay reacted. They seemed more involved. Breezer and Markov hit the post after some good setup.

• I usually defend Carbo but the line changes looked extremely weird. Lapierre out? Latendresse on a 4^th line with Kostopoulos on the second line? I’ll give him another game or two hoping this was to shake up everybody but both players played well enough in my opinion to deserve better. Breaking the Plecanek line was a no brainer and Lang seemed to play with added motivation tonight.
• When I said game of luck, I meant it. Kostitsyn was lucky Legace gave him a free goal, Lang was lucky to hit the puck in the air. Hell, Kostitsyn was lucky the St-Louis player didn't steal the puck from him on Lang's goal. But then again, St-Louis was lucky Brisebois and Markov hit the post. Otherwise they could have lost the game in regulation.
  

• Again, too many players were idle tonight. Brisebois standing in the middle of the ice as a penalty was closing. Andrei Kostitsyn doing nothing to help Breezer on at least two attempts to get out of the zone. Bouillon and Gorges waiting for a slow puck to arrive, giving time to St-Louis to apply forecheck, instead of going for it. Lang playing in the offensive zone like nobody would come from behind to steal the puck. I’ll give them a break today and put it on the fatigue but honestly, this is something I see too often.

• Like Carbo said: "Teams are getting ready for us. We have to work harder than that."

Now let's hope this victory will put the team in a better mindset for Carolina.

Raise your hand if you want to win

source habs inside/out

Flyers win 2-1.

I guess we’ll have to stay positive about it. It wasn’t as bad as last Thursday. Not even close to the humiliation against the Maple Leafs. At least I have positive comments for about half the team. The Habs, as a team, worked well in the first period and most of the third but the second period sunk the team.

I refuse to blame Halak tonight who played a good enough game to give his team a chance to win. He wasn’t the problem. Mike Komisarek absence wasn’t a real problem either. Maybe he would have reacted better than O’Byrne on Philadelphia’s second goal but Markov was on the ice and didn’t do anything either to stop Jeff Carter from going all alone in front of Jaroslav. Bouillon was beaten on the first goal but it wasn’t by much.

On the offensive side of the ice, things were much, much uglier. Sergei Kostitsyn will be a very solid hockey player one day but for now, he need to look in the mirror and ask himself if he want to help his team win or if he want to look good. Multiple times tonight he could have sent the puck to a teammate skating hard to the blue line. Instead Sergei tried to deke his way into the offensive zone, forced his teammates to slow down and pretty much killed any good opportunity to take the puck deep in the offensive zone. Hey Serge. This isn’t junior anymore. NHL teams are NOT going to let you simply waltz your way in their zone and give you the blue line. They will protect it. They will create a wall and the only thing you’ll be able to do is to take a shot from 60-80 ft from the goalie.

Of course, I don’t have insider’s information, I am not in the dressing room and I haven’t seen any practice but I can guess that the coaching staff asks for one of two things from their players. To use their speed to open the defense and create odd man rushes. This is done by having one or two players going full speed toward the offensive zone and having quick passes to take the defense off balance. If you look at Ottawa’s game, they did it all night long. The second option is to dump the puck deep into the zone, preferably as a player is already skating towards the offensive zone, thus using your speed to get the puck back. None of those strategies will work every times but it sure as hell beat trying to take the offensive zone holding on to the puck as three players are stationed on the blue line. The only player who can make this work is Kovalev, because he scares defensemen enough that they treat him differently. He can then center the puck to a player the defense usually forgot because they didn’t want to look bad to Kovy.

Lang was ugly to watch. Bad decisions combined with bad passes and a worst in team 4 out of 10 in the faceoff circle made him a hindrance tonight. O’Bryne is not ready to play 18 minutes a game. He was shaky, was off balance more than once and was too often immobile.

There is no reason to panic. Most of the team are playing well. Saku is inspired and inspiring. Latendresse is proving to everyone he is ready for a new step in the NHL. Andrei Kostitsyn is progressing nicely and while Plekanec isn’t producing up to last year standard, I see him work hard. Lapierre is playing so well, I’d put him on the third line with Sergei and Higgins, just to see what would happen (and to shake up Lang). As long as his teammates work hard, Tanguay will produce. Kovalev look hurt, but he’s a warrior. He’ll bounce back. The fourth line will keep giving everything they have and will benefit from Kostopoulos return.

And hey, with a 9-4-2 record, the Canadiens can take back the first place in their division by only winning their games in hand. And it had to start tomorrow against the Blues.

THE GAME IS AT 6PM. Don’t forget.

Habs kneel down to the Bruins

source: Habs Inside/Out

Big Brother:

Please someone tell me the Habs were wearing black and gold tonight.

This game review is going to be hard to do without swearing.It was simply ugly. To quote Shaquille O’Neil: “It was Horrawful. It’s horror and awful put together.” While Price was shaky on two goals, he’s hardly to blame. I argued in Rocket’s last article that the Ottawa shutout was a team effort. This 6-1 game was a team gift. Would you believe me if I told you the Bruins had only 3 shots more on Price than Ottawa did two days ago? It didn’t look like it! Nobody played a full game.

Let’s try to find some positive. Andrei Kostitsyn actually played a solid game with Thomas Plekanec. Both worked most of the game, just not hard enough. Kovalev looked a step behind all game long. I am usually a fan of “L’Artiste” but tonight, he looked like a Picasso. And while Lapierre and Dandenault gave everything they had, it clearly wasn’t enough. They did too many costly mistakes. But I feel for those two guys. They have to play PK every shift. Can you imagine what these two could do if there was a third player on that line to help them out?

For the first two periods the L.A. Kola line (Lang, Kostitsyn, Latendresse) was the best one on the ice. Sergei was more involved, Latendresse still impressed me (although I didn’t see his penalty) and Lang played a solid game. It’s the only line that didn’t give an even strength goal. They applied a good forecheck and kept the pressure on the Bruins defense. At least until Kovalev was switched for Kostitsyn. I heard a mention that Kovalev has some knee or leg (let’s call it lower body) injury. It might be a good idea to leave him out of the lineup until he heals to have him back at full strength. Kovalev at half speed isn’t good enough this year. Every single team makes sure he receives special attention.

The Captain worked hard as he usually does but he’ll need his linemates to help. I didn’t see Tanguay all game except for a soft shot that looked so weak Manny Fernandez felt he had to give it back to Saku Koivu. Higgins didn’t do much better and was mostly invisible.

Gorges and Bouillon looked bad most of the night. Komisarek and Markov weren’t close to their usual standards. Hamerlik slept through Lucic goal. O’Byrne was the only defensemen I didn’t find out of place all game long. I still think Brisebois deserve to play Saturday. But based on the last couple of games, I’d send Francis Bouillon in the stands. I’d have Begin play too but I’ll let you guess who I would scratch. (hint: read article below)

Now let’s give some credit to Boston (man that was painful to write). They wanted that game more. They battled and fought for the puck. Stephane Yelle was solid on the PK and managed to score twice. Lucic is becoming a real rivalry player who shines in games like tonight. Hell, even Ryder didn’t look bad defensively. Not that the Habs tried to make him look too bad.

I’ll stop the review right now as I have been able to go that long without going “PG-13” or worst. Now I’ll leave a question to ponder until Saturday. Since the workload of the weekend will probably be divided between Halak and Price, would you put Halak in the net against Philadelphia Saturday or would you keep him for Sunday’s game against St-Louis, giving a chance for Price to redeem himself for tonight’s game and the playoffs?

We could use a heayweight

Can someone please show Laraque the way to the stands? He doesn’t belong on the ice. Not on that team. He is painfully slow, can’t create any type of offense, isn’t a good defensive player and doesn’t want to fight.

Actually, Georges of the Jungle actually received three fighting majors this season. The first one was against Shawn Thornton who actually went right for Laraque, knowing full well he would have to pay for what he did to Steve Begin. In hindsight, maybe Shawn could have skated right next to Big G all day long without having to drop the gloves. But instead, Thornton faced the music and did his best hanging to Laraque, trying not to get hurt too badly.

Then there was this farce in Phoenix. After Kurt Sauer injured our most talented left winger, Tom Kostopoulos had to drop the gloves to avenge his teammate. Then the toughest fighter in the league dropped his gloves and danced with Todd Fedoruk, a guy he owned 5 times already in his career. Again, Fedoruk tried not to die.

And then, the funniest thing happened. In Long Island he faced somebody even bigger than him. Mitch Fritz is 6’8” and on this fight, Big G barely tried not to get hit. He probably didn’t want to mess up his good looks.

This year the Montreal Canadiens were involved in 10 fights. Laraque got three. Didn’t we sign him to make sure guys like Kostopoulos, Lapierre and Begin could do their job without fear? Now Begin fear for his job, Kostopoulos had to drop the gloves twice and Lapierre had to fight too. Add to that the two fights Bouillon was involved in, another fight from Latendresse (???) and tonight’s episode with Komisarek and you have to wonder… WHY did we sign Laraque?

I am not questioning Bob Gainey’s move. I’m wondering about Laraque’s motivation to play. I’m wondering about his “code”. After the Phoenix game, he explained his decision not to fight Kurt Sauer by saying that he would have probably been suspended. Here’s some news for you Georges: NOT having you in the lineup would be an improvement. Begin, Kostopoulos, Dandenault are fighting tooth and nails for their job. You don’t want to? Get your towering frame in the press box. Go have a little talk with Michel Bergeron. You are probably the only male in Montreal who could learn from him anyway.

I would love to have Georges Laraque in the Montreal lineup. If he was ready to drop the gloves to protect his linemates fast enough that Bouillon doesn’t have to do it for him. If he was ready to drop the gloves to change the pace of a game where his whole team looked asleep. If he was ready to drop the gloves to shut up Lucic. NOT if he is ready to fight only a list of 17 players he handpicked before the start of the season. People “in his weight class”. Right now “Big Georges” is only a big #*%?$ waste of ice time. Ice time that could be used by Begin. And I’m pretty sure he’d drop the gloves to protect his teammates.

RDS is even reporting that Komisarek might have injured his hand in the fight. It’s funny because in a conference call last summer, Georges said he was brought in so that a guy like Komisarek wouldn’t have to drop the gloves. “He is too important on the ice to have him in the penalty box for five”. How about on the injury list for a week?

Real game review to come later on.

image taken from www.sportsocracy.org

Sens hit a wall

I am barely coming back from the Bell Center where, for the first time this year, the Tricolore showed us why nearly everyone saw them as favourite in the East. It was a damn near flawless game. And as I mentioned in my article earlier today, the best defense is a good offense. And today, the best offense offered their goaltender a shutout, probably trying to redeem themselves for the lacklustre effort they showed in the past couple of games. And this shutout was well deserved by the entire team.

As soon as the first period started, you could see the message Carbo sent his players was well received. They skated harder, they hit harder and at midpoint were leading 11-2 in shots. The powerplay (0 for 4 if I am not mistaken) managed some solid opportunities but just couldn’t bury the puck. Then again, the penalty killing unit was superb all night long with the winning goal, stopped Heatley and his gang four time also and even managed to receive a standing ovation after being more threatening than Ottawa’s powerplay.

As I mentioned, it was a near flawless game. I spotted three things that bugged me. The first one was the younger Kostitsyn. He seemed slower than usual which may be caused by Carbo’s decision to have him play on the fourth line a couple of shifts early in the game. Dandenault, who replaced him on the third line early and took back his spot later, played one of his best game this year.

Consequently, the fourth line bugged me. While I’ll admit Laraque is playing his best hockey has a Habs, he still is a huge downgrade from Kostopoulos, Begin or Dandenault. It’s a shame to see him eat ice time that could go to faster, more reliable players. If at least he was the guy protecting his players instead of Bouillon. I’ll give him that, I didn’t see Chris Neil too often trying to play with Carey Price. MAYBE he is a good deterrent.

Last but not least, Komisarek. I love the guy, but his penalty late in the third was pointless and stupid. He was getting away roughing Dany Heatley but tried to see how much further he could go. It reminded me of a kid in class, trying to see how much it took to piss of his teacher. He does it too often for my tastes.

Beside those three minor complaints it was a great game. Solid from start to finish, the Habs showed they can control the pace and flow, create their chances and limit the opposition. Yes, they allowed 28 shots but very few presented any kind of danger to Carey Price.

I couldn’t ask for tickets to a better game. Now bring on Boston…

Random notes:

• My tickets were 38$. While I didn’t expect great seats, I didn’t expect a ladder and a map to a lamppost.

• I swear too much for the family section.

• How many hot babes wearing bleu-blanc-rouge can you fit in a building? Apparently: a lot. I just replaced Angelina Jolie as my no 1 fantasy.

• The worst thing in the family section wasn’t the kids, but the “entertainers” the Montreal Canadiens put in every section. No. I don’t want to dance. I want to watch hockey.

Until next game…

A good defense is a good offense

Hello everyone. I’m Big Brother, the newest addition to the All Habs family. Allow me to take the first couple of lines for personal mentions. First off, thanks Habster for the opportunity to write here and Rocket, I’m looking forward to have our first official head to head game review later tonight.

Some of you may know me on other various websites, I wrote as Big Brother on a multitude of subjects. If you are a long time reader, please drop a line.

Now, as Habster already mentioned in my introduction, I have a good knowledge (and big love) for statistics. I read them all the time, devour them you could say, and try to understand even more about my team, my coach and the sport I love.

Looking at the year so far, the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge is, on paper, impressive. 8-2-2 for 18 points in 12 games is more than I was asking for. Markov, Kovalev, Koivu and Tanguay are all playing for a point per game or better. So why on earth am I cringing every time I watch the Sainte-Flanelle?

Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against an offensive minded team if you have enough talent. And the Habs happen to have that. They can win games against two thirds of the league by relying on their talent only. But they have to rely on talent more than 20 minutes per game. Right now, they rely on talent… and luck.

As much as it pains me to admit, I enjoyed the humiliating loss to the Lafs on Saturday. A team who rely on Grabovski as second center clearly shouldn’t beat the powerful Centennial team, right? Well as it was showed last weekend, the team who work harder will get the puck more often and get more scoring chances.

Early this season Guillaume Latendresse was working hard to prove to his coach that while Higgins was injured, he belonged on the second line. Higgins replaced him well on that line. Tom Kostopoulos rewarded Carbo’s decision to put him on the third line by offering some of his best effort. None of them have the stat sheet to prove how good they were, but they made their teammates look better by applying good forecheck and creating turnovers.

And even when talking about the dizzying KPK line, goals come with hard work. Kovalev’s goal against Boston early this season was created by Andrei pushing Zdeno Chara from the front of the net. His own goal against Philly was created by flattening Mike Richards. (see video)

Tonight things have to change. Not that the team has to stop being a menacing offense, on the contrary. The reason this team was so succesfull last year was because they were thinking offense as soon as they got the puck, creating odd man rushes. But starting tonight, they have to be more aggressive. They have to be an offense that controls the game. Not one that wait for their opportunities, one that creates them. A team whose forecheck is feared. A team that give it all.

Sometimes I wonder if they don’t need another coach. One that comes from curling. Just to hear him scream.

Hurry. Hard. HARDER!