If ever there was a poster boy for the saying "it's better to be lucky than good," it was Jaro Halak last night. The Habs' number-one was was far from good in regulation time against the Oilers, and he was certainly lucky to come out with two points. People will say you create your own luck and Halak buckled down in OT and the shootout to create his. That's true. Overall, though, he was pretty bad. Four goals on 25 shots against a team like Edmonton just stinks, even with minimal help from the defence. The fourth goal he gave up was not only dreadful, but it was the kind of demoralizing goal that can kill a team, coming immediately after a great effort to take the lead as it did.
Luck prevailed for the Habs though, and they did get two points that could really have gone either way. So today they're lucky to be tied with sixth-place Philly and two up on Boston; lucky to be at five games over .500 for the first time all season.
Even so, no matter how lucky you get, there have to be a few good things about any win. Last night they were, in order, the gradual return to form of Andrei Kostitsyn, another good game by Sergei Kostitsyn, Plekanec's twentieth goal, a really nice overall game by Markov and Halak's big save in the shootout. The rest of it pretty much sucked.
Of particular concern amonst the suckage was the wretched performance of the pass-first power play. Actually, I should say the pass-first, pass-second, pass-third, pass-fourth power play. I'm not too worried about that because a little more focus on shots and people at the net can improve it pretty quickly. Bergeron's return will help too, bringing back a real threat from the point. That raises the dilemma of who Bergeron will replace in the lineup, but you have to give up something to get something in this case.
A more serious issue highlighted by last night's performance was the defence's response to speed. The veteran defencemen are smart and experienced, but they're not as fast as they used to be. When quick, aggressive forwards, especially ones with some size like Dustin Penner, enter the Habs zone with speed, the defencemen fall back on their heels. Hal Gill in particular, can be easily beaten by fast forwards, as was boldly in evidence on the first two Oilers goals. This is worrisome because Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Ottawa are filled with fast forwards who can expose the Gills and Spaceks of the world with ease. If Martin wants to not only make the playoffs, but make an impression in them, he's going to have to adjust The System to protect the D better. We saw some of that in the Anaheim and Tampa games, when they employed a more aggressive forecheck and challenged the opposition puck carrier in the neutral zone. That has to happen with more consistency.
In the big picture, this game underlined how injuries can really devastate a team. The Oilers, like the Habs, have been dealing with a decimated roster all year. The difference is the Habs have found a way to stay competitive despite it all, while the Oil are last in the league. That, to me, is a tribute to the determination of the team Bob Gainey assembled. How well determination can overcome some of the weaknesses they exhibited last night remains to be seen, but scrounging out a pair of points in a game like that one is a start.
A lot of the rest will depend on luck.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Oilers vs. Habs - Don't Get Caught Edition
Notes on the third and OT:
-Closeup of Pleks on the bench shows a fire in the eyes we don't get to see from a distance.
-Markov embellished like a calligraphy artist on that penalty call.
-That was the most poorly-played 5-on-3 in the history of the universe.
-Does Gomez ever score on a breakaway that's not in the shootout?
-This is what happens when you give a team that's lost its confidence a chance to compete with you.
-Just when you think Sergei Kostitsyn's never going to be a big point producer, he does THAT and you go back to hoping.
-The fourth Oilers goal was the worst goal Halak has allowed all year. Brutal. Deflected or not, it was brutal.
-There's an awful lot of standing around on the Habs' part. Martin needs to inform them there's no bus stop handy.
-On the OT PPs, the only thing they proved was that they can pass the puck too often really quickly. Why does nobody on this team ever shoot the bloody puck?
-Halak on Horcoff was the first in-game breakaway he's stopped in about seven hundred years.
-He saved the game in the end, but Jaro could have made this a LOT easier on us all.
-Way to go, Andrei Kostitsyn with the beautiful SO move. Thank goodness The Game That Wouldn't End didn't drag on any longer.
Notes on the second:
-The Oilers aren't THAT far off being good in the National Parity League. They'll get a great pick this year and add it to some of their really strong prospects. We'll see them improve in two years.
-Gill is getting beaten like an egg by the Oilers' speed. He was on for both goals against and several scary chances already.
-I swear to God I saw Fraser's arm start to go up when a Hab was dumped in the crease, then jerk back down again.
-Gionta slips through the neutral zone like the Bluenose through the Atlantic.
-Two guys in blackface with Subban shirts on in the crowd. That's the crudest thing I've seen at a game in a long while.
-Whenever Martin gets a fresh haircut you really notice he could hang-glide with those ears.
-Moore on the PK: the single greatest bit of penalty-killing I think I've seen since Christmas.
-Habs are getting too fancy with no finish. They're like the high school tease.
-What a difference it makes when the third and fourth lines are contributing. I think the Olympic break was very good for some of these grinders.
-Pat Quinn looks like he's glad his hair is already white.
-With the Bs beating Philly, our guys really need the two points. Hope they remember that in the third.
Notes on the first:
-Plekanec hits 20 for the fourth straight year. Last year wasn't great, but in the goals department, you can't say he's not consistent.
-Ugh. Looks like the defence is looking ahead to Boston. That must be why they're completely blind to the Oilers wide open in front of the net.
-Halak does not look pleased.
-With his hand-eye coordination, Gionta could be a brain surgeon when hockey's over.
-What a play by Andrei Kostitsyn to get the backhander away! He's strong as a Clydesdale, but without the work ethic.
-Very nice two-on-one play by Spacek. Wily vets really come in handy at this time of year.
-It's almost a crime against nature for a guy as big as Gill to be so soft. It's like a beautiful girl with BO or a sleek racecar with a four-cylinder engine.
-Shot of Gauthier and Lowe speaking animatedly in the pressbox: Gauthier: "Aw, come on! Lapierre for Eberle. You guys are getting Taylor Hall anyway." Lowe: "Um, Pierre? I'm not allowed to have power anymore."
-Nice PP. Darche is that rarest of finds: a big guy who actually goes to the net and stays there.
-Would have been nice to come out of that with the lead, but the Habs are obviously the better team if they don't get too cocky.
-Closeup of Pleks on the bench shows a fire in the eyes we don't get to see from a distance.
-Markov embellished like a calligraphy artist on that penalty call.
-That was the most poorly-played 5-on-3 in the history of the universe.
-Does Gomez ever score on a breakaway that's not in the shootout?
-This is what happens when you give a team that's lost its confidence a chance to compete with you.
-Just when you think Sergei Kostitsyn's never going to be a big point producer, he does THAT and you go back to hoping.
-The fourth Oilers goal was the worst goal Halak has allowed all year. Brutal. Deflected or not, it was brutal.
-There's an awful lot of standing around on the Habs' part. Martin needs to inform them there's no bus stop handy.
-On the OT PPs, the only thing they proved was that they can pass the puck too often really quickly. Why does nobody on this team ever shoot the bloody puck?
-Halak on Horcoff was the first in-game breakaway he's stopped in about seven hundred years.
-He saved the game in the end, but Jaro could have made this a LOT easier on us all.
-Way to go, Andrei Kostitsyn with the beautiful SO move. Thank goodness The Game That Wouldn't End didn't drag on any longer.
Notes on the second:
-The Oilers aren't THAT far off being good in the National Parity League. They'll get a great pick this year and add it to some of their really strong prospects. We'll see them improve in two years.
-Gill is getting beaten like an egg by the Oilers' speed. He was on for both goals against and several scary chances already.
-I swear to God I saw Fraser's arm start to go up when a Hab was dumped in the crease, then jerk back down again.
-Gionta slips through the neutral zone like the Bluenose through the Atlantic.
-Two guys in blackface with Subban shirts on in the crowd. That's the crudest thing I've seen at a game in a long while.
-Whenever Martin gets a fresh haircut you really notice he could hang-glide with those ears.
-Moore on the PK: the single greatest bit of penalty-killing I think I've seen since Christmas.
-Habs are getting too fancy with no finish. They're like the high school tease.
-What a difference it makes when the third and fourth lines are contributing. I think the Olympic break was very good for some of these grinders.
-Pat Quinn looks like he's glad his hair is already white.
-With the Bs beating Philly, our guys really need the two points. Hope they remember that in the third.
Notes on the first:
-Plekanec hits 20 for the fourth straight year. Last year wasn't great, but in the goals department, you can't say he's not consistent.
-Ugh. Looks like the defence is looking ahead to Boston. That must be why they're completely blind to the Oilers wide open in front of the net.
-Halak does not look pleased.
-With his hand-eye coordination, Gionta could be a brain surgeon when hockey's over.
-What a play by Andrei Kostitsyn to get the backhander away! He's strong as a Clydesdale, but without the work ethic.
-Very nice two-on-one play by Spacek. Wily vets really come in handy at this time of year.
-It's almost a crime against nature for a guy as big as Gill to be so soft. It's like a beautiful girl with BO or a sleek racecar with a four-cylinder engine.
-Shot of Gauthier and Lowe speaking animatedly in the pressbox: Gauthier: "Aw, come on! Lapierre for Eberle. You guys are getting Taylor Hall anyway." Lowe: "Um, Pierre? I'm not allowed to have power anymore."
-Nice PP. Darche is that rarest of finds: a big guy who actually goes to the net and stays there.
-Would have been nice to come out of that with the lead, but the Habs are obviously the better team if they don't get too cocky.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Where's Max?
When my kids were really little, they used to watch The Wiggles as religiously as I watch the Habs. For the (fortunately for you) uninitated, The Wiggles are a four-man singing group of Australians with Beatles envy and a bit of an Elvis complex. Kids love them. Part of their act involves Jeff Wiggle falling asleep in strange places while the other Wiggles croon a little ditty called "Where's Jeff?" It goes, in part, "Where's Jeff? Is he sleeping outside? Where's Jeff? Is he gone for a ride? Where's Jeff? Is he in the countryside..." You get the idea. Anyway, as I was watching the last couple of Habs games, "Where's Jeff" started spinning in my head in regards to Max Lapierre. "Where's Max? Is he on the fourth line? Where's Max? Is he riding the pine? Where's Max? Oh yeah, he's paying a fine..."
Seriously, has anyone missed him for the last four games? I haven't. To be honest, I haven't seen replacement Ben Maxwell do anything noticable either, but he still has inexperience in his defence.
Lapierre had a great chance to be a valuable player for the Habs this season and he's blown it. The passion that drove him to fifteen goals and a reputation as an effective agitator last year seems to have completely vanished, with the exceptions of the games immediately after the departures of Guillaume Latendresse and Georges Laraque, and perhaps two other games out of nearly seventy.
How does a player go from being plus-nine with fifteen goals one year, to six goals and minus-thirteen the next? I think part of it had to do with being saddled with the likes of Laraque and D'Agostini for so long early in the season. Lapierre is the kind of player who needs similar linemates to succeed. Last year, with Tom Kostopoulos using his speed on the rush and his body in the corners, and Latendresse doing some grinding, Lapierre fit in. His goals came from his and Kostopolous' banging around in the crease. This year, with unsuitable players on his line, Lapierre had to do a lot more of the puck carrying and chasing himself. Last year, if he chased the puck in the corner and threw it in front of the net, one of his linemates would be there to do something with it. That didn't happen this season. Now Lapierre has lost every aspect of the game at which he used to be good. If a guy can't score, he's got to be better defensively. Minus-thirteen says Laps isn't doing that very well. If a guy can't score OR keep the opposition from doing so, he'd better be willing to use his body and his fists to stir things up. Lapierre just uses his mouth and that's getting noticed around the league.
The Canadiens were counting on him to play a big role. They needed his speed, size and gritty play on the third line. They could have used his timely scoring. Fortunately for the Habs, Glen Metropolit has stepped up in the role Lapierre was supposed to fill. Now, though, team management has to figure out whether Max will get another shot, or if some of the teammates who've outplayed him this year will be back next year instead.
If Ryan White and Tom Pyatt are ready for full-time spots next year, and assuming Tomas Plekanec is re-signed, that means there will be six spots for bottom-line forwards next year, and one spare. White, Pyatt, Lapierre, Sergei Kostitsyn, Moen, probably Darche, Metropolit and Moore are all candidates to fill those places. Based on their play this year, and making allowances for fitting in the rookies, Lapierre wouldn't make the team.
I'll take a minority opinion on this though, and say I'm not ready to write him off just yet. I can't help remembering Tomas Plekanec last season, saddled with the wrong linemates, trying, but failing, to live up to his potential. If the Habs had decided to give up on him because of that bad season, we'd be watching him put up a point-per-game for someone else right now...grinding our teeth and pulling our hair in the process. Lapierre can be better. The thing with him though, is he's not got the skill of Plekanec. He's got to rely on energy and aggression to be successful, and that's a lot harder to call up consistently than raw talent. I don't know what it would take to get that spark back in him, but he's got a limited time to find it. He's 25 years old this month, and youthful energy is tougher to maintain when a player matures. Lapierre could get it back, and I'd give him a fresh season, with well-suited linemates, to try. If he's still struggling by next Christmas, I'd trade him then. Maybe we'll be surprised at the way he'll respond to another chance.
I'd like it if by this time next year when someone asks "where's Max?" we can say he's a real third-line centre on a bounce-back season.
Seriously, has anyone missed him for the last four games? I haven't. To be honest, I haven't seen replacement Ben Maxwell do anything noticable either, but he still has inexperience in his defence.
Lapierre had a great chance to be a valuable player for the Habs this season and he's blown it. The passion that drove him to fifteen goals and a reputation as an effective agitator last year seems to have completely vanished, with the exceptions of the games immediately after the departures of Guillaume Latendresse and Georges Laraque, and perhaps two other games out of nearly seventy.
How does a player go from being plus-nine with fifteen goals one year, to six goals and minus-thirteen the next? I think part of it had to do with being saddled with the likes of Laraque and D'Agostini for so long early in the season. Lapierre is the kind of player who needs similar linemates to succeed. Last year, with Tom Kostopoulos using his speed on the rush and his body in the corners, and Latendresse doing some grinding, Lapierre fit in. His goals came from his and Kostopolous' banging around in the crease. This year, with unsuitable players on his line, Lapierre had to do a lot more of the puck carrying and chasing himself. Last year, if he chased the puck in the corner and threw it in front of the net, one of his linemates would be there to do something with it. That didn't happen this season. Now Lapierre has lost every aspect of the game at which he used to be good. If a guy can't score, he's got to be better defensively. Minus-thirteen says Laps isn't doing that very well. If a guy can't score OR keep the opposition from doing so, he'd better be willing to use his body and his fists to stir things up. Lapierre just uses his mouth and that's getting noticed around the league.
The Canadiens were counting on him to play a big role. They needed his speed, size and gritty play on the third line. They could have used his timely scoring. Fortunately for the Habs, Glen Metropolit has stepped up in the role Lapierre was supposed to fill. Now, though, team management has to figure out whether Max will get another shot, or if some of the teammates who've outplayed him this year will be back next year instead.
If Ryan White and Tom Pyatt are ready for full-time spots next year, and assuming Tomas Plekanec is re-signed, that means there will be six spots for bottom-line forwards next year, and one spare. White, Pyatt, Lapierre, Sergei Kostitsyn, Moen, probably Darche, Metropolit and Moore are all candidates to fill those places. Based on their play this year, and making allowances for fitting in the rookies, Lapierre wouldn't make the team.
I'll take a minority opinion on this though, and say I'm not ready to write him off just yet. I can't help remembering Tomas Plekanec last season, saddled with the wrong linemates, trying, but failing, to live up to his potential. If the Habs had decided to give up on him because of that bad season, we'd be watching him put up a point-per-game for someone else right now...grinding our teeth and pulling our hair in the process. Lapierre can be better. The thing with him though, is he's not got the skill of Plekanec. He's got to rely on energy and aggression to be successful, and that's a lot harder to call up consistently than raw talent. I don't know what it would take to get that spark back in him, but he's got a limited time to find it. He's 25 years old this month, and youthful energy is tougher to maintain when a player matures. Lapierre could get it back, and I'd give him a fresh season, with well-suited linemates, to try. If he's still struggling by next Christmas, I'd trade him then. Maybe we'll be surprised at the way he'll respond to another chance.
I'd like it if by this time next year when someone asks "where's Max?" we can say he's a real third-line centre on a bounce-back season.
Not Good Enough
Today I spoke with an ER doctor who researches the long-term impact of head injuries on the victims' health. He told me there's a recent study of the personal histories of prison inmates on death row that shows the vast majority of them have had either a single serious head injury or a series of them at some point in their lives. IT doesn't excuse their criminal behaviour, but doctors are increasingly believing those injuries may have contributed to the personality problems that *did* cause the behaviour. Other studies tie repeated concussion to early-onset dementia, depression and volatile personality changes. In football players, repeated concussion has even been linked to premature death. Some ex-NHLers talk about still getting headaches and bouts of irritability and depression years after they sustained the original injury.
Despite all this though, the NHL general managers are just now coming to the conclusion that perhaps hits to the head should have some official consequence. They've decided blind-side head shots will be penalized with a minor or major at the referee's discretion and will be up for review and possible suspension by the league afterwards. This is where the proposed new rule loses any real power it might have had to change the behaviour of these players.
Matt Cooke blind-sided Marc Savard last weekend, inflicting a grade-two concussion on him. "Concussion" is a euphemism for what really happened, though. What Cooke actually did was slam his shoulder into the skull of Savard, smacking Savard's brain against bone hard enough to make him seriously sick. What he did was cause a brain injury like the ones people get in car crashes or by falling from great heights. The action was no different than deliberately rear-ending someone with your car or pushing them off a second-story ledge. Yet, even though the video showed Cooke driving his shoulder into Savard's head; even though Cooke has already had two previous suspensions for hitting players in the head, Colin Campbell decided not to suspend him this time.
Why? Because Campbell didn't suspend Mike Richards for nearly decapitating David Booth on the same kind of play earlier this year. If there ever was a classic case of two wrongs not making a right, it's this one. Campbell could have, and probably should have, nailed Richards for attempting to injure Booth. He didn't, with the explanation that shoulder-to-head hits are legal. Now he's using that ill-advised precedent to justify letting Cooke off the hook too, on the very day the GMs decided that kind of hit should be banned. You'd think, perhaps, with the winds of change whistling through the league's plush offices, Campbell might have decided to show some guts and punish the guy who just committed a fairly heinous example of the exact kind of hit about which GMs expressed serious concern.
The decision is a poor one and the justification for it even worse. Players like Vincent Lecavalier have spoken out about it. Even Bill Guerin, Cooke's own teammate, has said the NHL is wrong to allow that hit to go unpunished. When a veteran player breaks the unspoken rule that if you can't say anything nice about a teammate you don't say anything at all, you know there's serious concern within the ranks of those whose heads, quite literally, are on the line every night.
What Campbell's refusal to suspend Cooke really does though, is raise questions about how effective the new rule about blind-side hits will really be. A penalty on the ice, even a major, seems a small price to pay for injuring a player the way Savard has been injured. The real teeth of this new rule comes in the mandatory review for suspension by the league. If the Cooke case is anything to go by, however, that provision could end up being more like a newborn's bite than anything that could really hurt an offending player or team. Who's to say Campbell won't review a play and decide that it really wasn't a blindside hit at all; that the victim had seen the offender at the last second and that there should be no suspension?
The problem is that the NHL is dealing with semantics and language when the effect... the devastating, lifelong effect...of these hits is so much bigger than anything abstract. It's players lives and health they're talking about with those imaginary lines in the sand.
GMs want head shots banned. Players are worried they could be next and want something done. The scientific evidence that brain injuries caused by severe impact to the head are responsible for long-term health problems is piling up. The NHL should want to protect its only valuable asset: the talent on the ice. But even though this is a small first step, it doesn't go nearly far enough in keeping players safe.
Despite all this though, the NHL general managers are just now coming to the conclusion that perhaps hits to the head should have some official consequence. They've decided blind-side head shots will be penalized with a minor or major at the referee's discretion and will be up for review and possible suspension by the league afterwards. This is where the proposed new rule loses any real power it might have had to change the behaviour of these players.
Matt Cooke blind-sided Marc Savard last weekend, inflicting a grade-two concussion on him. "Concussion" is a euphemism for what really happened, though. What Cooke actually did was slam his shoulder into the skull of Savard, smacking Savard's brain against bone hard enough to make him seriously sick. What he did was cause a brain injury like the ones people get in car crashes or by falling from great heights. The action was no different than deliberately rear-ending someone with your car or pushing them off a second-story ledge. Yet, even though the video showed Cooke driving his shoulder into Savard's head; even though Cooke has already had two previous suspensions for hitting players in the head, Colin Campbell decided not to suspend him this time.
Why? Because Campbell didn't suspend Mike Richards for nearly decapitating David Booth on the same kind of play earlier this year. If there ever was a classic case of two wrongs not making a right, it's this one. Campbell could have, and probably should have, nailed Richards for attempting to injure Booth. He didn't, with the explanation that shoulder-to-head hits are legal. Now he's using that ill-advised precedent to justify letting Cooke off the hook too, on the very day the GMs decided that kind of hit should be banned. You'd think, perhaps, with the winds of change whistling through the league's plush offices, Campbell might have decided to show some guts and punish the guy who just committed a fairly heinous example of the exact kind of hit about which GMs expressed serious concern.
The decision is a poor one and the justification for it even worse. Players like Vincent Lecavalier have spoken out about it. Even Bill Guerin, Cooke's own teammate, has said the NHL is wrong to allow that hit to go unpunished. When a veteran player breaks the unspoken rule that if you can't say anything nice about a teammate you don't say anything at all, you know there's serious concern within the ranks of those whose heads, quite literally, are on the line every night.
What Campbell's refusal to suspend Cooke really does though, is raise questions about how effective the new rule about blind-side hits will really be. A penalty on the ice, even a major, seems a small price to pay for injuring a player the way Savard has been injured. The real teeth of this new rule comes in the mandatory review for suspension by the league. If the Cooke case is anything to go by, however, that provision could end up being more like a newborn's bite than anything that could really hurt an offending player or team. Who's to say Campbell won't review a play and decide that it really wasn't a blindside hit at all; that the victim had seen the offender at the last second and that there should be no suspension?
The problem is that the NHL is dealing with semantics and language when the effect... the devastating, lifelong effect...of these hits is so much bigger than anything abstract. It's players lives and health they're talking about with those imaginary lines in the sand.
GMs want head shots banned. Players are worried they could be next and want something done. The scientific evidence that brain injuries caused by severe impact to the head are responsible for long-term health problems is piling up. The NHL should want to protect its only valuable asset: the talent on the ice. But even though this is a small first step, it doesn't go nearly far enough in keeping players safe.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Bolts vs. Habs - Greasy Lightning Edition
Notes on the third:
-I have to hand it to Gomez. If he played like this for an entire year, I'd give him seven million bucks too.
-Darche with the wing goal. Who's got him in their pool?
-I think the refs must have been told by the league to limit Habs PP opportunities because the results are demoralizing to the other team.
-One thing I don't like about Sergei Kostitsyn: Whenever he loses the puck, he always backs off and watches to see what happens next instead of going back after it. Nine times out of ten, what happens is the other team takes it and gets a chance.
-Markov's having his best game in a long while. There's no doubt he was really hurt...maybe not seriously, but naggingly.
-I love how the Habs are finally contesting possession in the neutral zone. They've stopped sitting back and waiting for the play to come to them every single time.
-I'd not compare Halak to Roy without sounding ridiculous, but silly things, like the poppy, slightly crazy eyes and the twitching remind me of him.
-Dummies at the Bell Centre still never learned to not sing Goodbye unless it's up by three with a minute to go. Were they not watching the Anaheim game?
-Nice game. Now to do the same for another fifteen.
Notes on the second:
-Tocchet's gangster mug dressed up in that delicate lavender shirt is like a bulldog in a tutu.
-I think Halak's suddenly handling the puck better than half his defence. Nice assist by Gill on the Stamkos goal.
-Pouliot has better hands than Liberace. He's such a good player.
-We're going to have to pause the Price vs. Halak debate long enough for the Moore vs. Metropolit one. I'm thinking Metro.
-Bad things happen when you can't clear your zone. Worse things happen when players lamely poke their sticks into the shooting lane in an ill-advised attempt to block the shot.
-Maxwell can't score, so he's getting on the official summary any way he can, I guess.
-I love it when good things happen to guys like Darche.
-Great passers are like idiot savants. Savant in that they can put a puck on any blade on the ice. Idiots in that they often don't discriminate between sticks in the clear and sticks surrounded by three opponents.
-Just noticed Martin's wearing a tie that looks like a lab experiment involving alien microbes gone bad.
-The win is there, but the defence has to get a lot tighter and the energy has to be more like the first. They're not out of the woods yet.
Notes on the first:
-Jaro looked about as happy to get the Molson Cup as he'd be to get a case of herpes.
-I'm really liking the new "score in the first minute or bust" philosophy they've adopted.
-You'd think having three out of four officials from Quebec would be a good thing. We forget half of them probably grew up as Nords fans.
-I love Markov's ability to throw the puck cross-ice on the PP, but sometimes I think he does it even when it's not the best play, just because he can.
-I can't help it. I just really like Metropolit. He's like the peanut butter on your cracker or the ice in your lemonade.
-Spacek will go a long way to avoid a hit. He does step up against the superstars, though.
-The only thing Gomez needs to be successful is a guy who goes to the net. He does all the work of dragging the puck into the zone at speed, but half the time has nobody to pass it to in front of the crease.
-Speaking of whom, Gomez' grin after he fanned on the shot that became the second goal was just a little sheepish.
-I saw a look on Muller's face for a split second tonight that made me think he'll be a good head coach some day. The happy-go-lucky mask dropped enough to see the grim competitor underneath.
-If Plekanec is out for any length of time, I will honestly believe this team is under some sort of lingering Centennial curse.
-I have to hand it to Gomez. If he played like this for an entire year, I'd give him seven million bucks too.
-Darche with the wing goal. Who's got him in their pool?
-I think the refs must have been told by the league to limit Habs PP opportunities because the results are demoralizing to the other team.
-One thing I don't like about Sergei Kostitsyn: Whenever he loses the puck, he always backs off and watches to see what happens next instead of going back after it. Nine times out of ten, what happens is the other team takes it and gets a chance.
-Markov's having his best game in a long while. There's no doubt he was really hurt...maybe not seriously, but naggingly.
-I love how the Habs are finally contesting possession in the neutral zone. They've stopped sitting back and waiting for the play to come to them every single time.
-I'd not compare Halak to Roy without sounding ridiculous, but silly things, like the poppy, slightly crazy eyes and the twitching remind me of him.
-Dummies at the Bell Centre still never learned to not sing Goodbye unless it's up by three with a minute to go. Were they not watching the Anaheim game?
-Nice game. Now to do the same for another fifteen.
Notes on the second:
-Tocchet's gangster mug dressed up in that delicate lavender shirt is like a bulldog in a tutu.
-I think Halak's suddenly handling the puck better than half his defence. Nice assist by Gill on the Stamkos goal.
-Pouliot has better hands than Liberace. He's such a good player.
-We're going to have to pause the Price vs. Halak debate long enough for the Moore vs. Metropolit one. I'm thinking Metro.
-Bad things happen when you can't clear your zone. Worse things happen when players lamely poke their sticks into the shooting lane in an ill-advised attempt to block the shot.
-Maxwell can't score, so he's getting on the official summary any way he can, I guess.
-I love it when good things happen to guys like Darche.
-Great passers are like idiot savants. Savant in that they can put a puck on any blade on the ice. Idiots in that they often don't discriminate between sticks in the clear and sticks surrounded by three opponents.
-Just noticed Martin's wearing a tie that looks like a lab experiment involving alien microbes gone bad.
-The win is there, but the defence has to get a lot tighter and the energy has to be more like the first. They're not out of the woods yet.
Notes on the first:
-Jaro looked about as happy to get the Molson Cup as he'd be to get a case of herpes.
-I'm really liking the new "score in the first minute or bust" philosophy they've adopted.
-You'd think having three out of four officials from Quebec would be a good thing. We forget half of them probably grew up as Nords fans.
-I love Markov's ability to throw the puck cross-ice on the PP, but sometimes I think he does it even when it's not the best play, just because he can.
-I can't help it. I just really like Metropolit. He's like the peanut butter on your cracker or the ice in your lemonade.
-Spacek will go a long way to avoid a hit. He does step up against the superstars, though.
-The only thing Gomez needs to be successful is a guy who goes to the net. He does all the work of dragging the puck into the zone at speed, but half the time has nobody to pass it to in front of the crease.
-Speaking of whom, Gomez' grin after he fanned on the shot that became the second goal was just a little sheepish.
-I saw a look on Muller's face for a split second tonight that made me think he'll be a good head coach some day. The happy-go-lucky mask dropped enough to see the grim competitor underneath.
-If Plekanec is out for any length of time, I will honestly believe this team is under some sort of lingering Centennial curse.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Aftermath: Oh.My.God.
Mea culpa! Mea culpa! In lieu of actual sackcloth and ashes, is a Centennial barber pole sweater and the ashes of my Stanley Cup dreams appropriate garb for a fan who gave up with six minutes left?
I should have known. Really. I've been seriously tempted to quit on a game only twice since the nineties. In one, the team was down to Jersey in the swamp and came back to win it. As a bonus, Brodeur was furious and Sutter bagskated the Devils right after the game. The second time, the Habs were down to the Rangers 5-0 in the second period. You know what happened there. I stuck it out through both of those games and was intensely glad I did. So, I should have known, when I told myself I'd shut the TV off if they hadn't scored with ten minutes to go in the third and I kept hanging on until there were six minutes left. I finally gave up with five and a half on the clock. Mea culpa!
There are lots of excuses. The Habs were playing badly. The time difference meant that I was getting fewer than five hours of sleep before a big work day. But, as I've said when referring to the team, excuses are just explanations of failure, and I failed to stick with it. I've since made amends and watched the last five-and-a-half minutes on PVR. WOW!
I honestly didn't believe they had it in them last night (mea culpa!). They'd been so listless and so defensively confused for the first 55 minutes of the game. But Gionta gave them a shot and, thanks to Corey Perry and his slash, Markov woke up like an angry Russian bear.
It would be easy to say the team turned it around because of the goaltending change. There's no question they did find a cohesion they didn't have in the first. They still weren't playing great hockey, mind you, but they looked like they were at least familiar with the game in the second period. It's possible that this was just another example of Price's extraordinary bad luck. Maybe the players would have pulled their socks up if #31 had come out to start the second and the result would have been the same. As it stands, the record will show Price gave up three goals on 11 shots and Halak came in and shut the door in the comeback. The reasons for that will undoubtedly be up for debate ad nauseum today. So I'll just say I think it was a combination of bad luck on Price's part for missing the comeback after a shaky start, and the team's response to the arrival of Halak in net. Many times, a goalie change will shake up a team and underline the fact that the players have been performing like crap. I think that might have been a factor in play last night. But there was something else involved too.
I've been talking to a lot of goalies and defencemen in a sort of informal opinion poll lately. The overwhelming consensus is, yeah, teams play differently for different goalies. It's all...like so many things in sport...about confidence. If a team feels its goalie is struggling, it will try to help him out. What that means is an instinctual game becomes a thinking game, and when hockey players start thinking, that's a bad thing. Thinking too much means players end up in awkward positions and make slow decisions that result in bad plays. On the other hand, having confidence the goalie is okay back there frees up the players to go with their instincts. The Habs saw Price struggle as he has on a lot of goals this year, and they changed their game to help him out. They just ended up making things worse because changing their game meant they made a lot more mistakes. Thankfully though, Martin recognized what was happening and made the switch before it was too late.
Plekanec was great. Absolutely great. His performance underlined the undeniable necessity of signing him as soon as possible. If the guy was going to score one shootout goal in his last fourteen attempts, that was the one to score.
I thought Sergei Kostitsyn looked really strong as well. Now, if can only get his brother up for a little sibling rivalry, it'd really help. I worried about this with Andrei. It always takes him about fifteen games to get his mojo going at the beginning of the year, and I was afraid his long layoff would reset his intensity clock to zero. So far, it looks like that's happening.
A lot of people think five million bucks a year for Gionta is too much. It may be true, when you look at his overall numbers. But I think what Bob Gainey had in mind when he hired the little guy was his ability to come through in the clutch. Gionta's a big-game performer; the guy who steps up when the going gets impossible. He's the kind of player who, if he only scored five goals a year, would have five game-winners. If the Habs are to make the playoffs he'll be a big part of it, and he'll step up in the tough post-season as well.
Having now watched all of the game, I can say my absolute favourite moment was Markov giving Perry the "in yo face sucka" gesture after the tying goal. Pleky's game winner was a close second, as was his breakaway goal to get things going. The most heart-stopping moment was when Ryan missed the empty net just before Markov scored. Honourable mention on the heart attack scale goes to Gionta's shootout goal barely trickling through.
I should have learned by now never to quit on a Habs game. No excuses. Mea culpa!
I should have known. Really. I've been seriously tempted to quit on a game only twice since the nineties. In one, the team was down to Jersey in the swamp and came back to win it. As a bonus, Brodeur was furious and Sutter bagskated the Devils right after the game. The second time, the Habs were down to the Rangers 5-0 in the second period. You know what happened there. I stuck it out through both of those games and was intensely glad I did. So, I should have known, when I told myself I'd shut the TV off if they hadn't scored with ten minutes to go in the third and I kept hanging on until there were six minutes left. I finally gave up with five and a half on the clock. Mea culpa!
There are lots of excuses. The Habs were playing badly. The time difference meant that I was getting fewer than five hours of sleep before a big work day. But, as I've said when referring to the team, excuses are just explanations of failure, and I failed to stick with it. I've since made amends and watched the last five-and-a-half minutes on PVR. WOW!
I honestly didn't believe they had it in them last night (mea culpa!). They'd been so listless and so defensively confused for the first 55 minutes of the game. But Gionta gave them a shot and, thanks to Corey Perry and his slash, Markov woke up like an angry Russian bear.
It would be easy to say the team turned it around because of the goaltending change. There's no question they did find a cohesion they didn't have in the first. They still weren't playing great hockey, mind you, but they looked like they were at least familiar with the game in the second period. It's possible that this was just another example of Price's extraordinary bad luck. Maybe the players would have pulled their socks up if #31 had come out to start the second and the result would have been the same. As it stands, the record will show Price gave up three goals on 11 shots and Halak came in and shut the door in the comeback. The reasons for that will undoubtedly be up for debate ad nauseum today. So I'll just say I think it was a combination of bad luck on Price's part for missing the comeback after a shaky start, and the team's response to the arrival of Halak in net. Many times, a goalie change will shake up a team and underline the fact that the players have been performing like crap. I think that might have been a factor in play last night. But there was something else involved too.
I've been talking to a lot of goalies and defencemen in a sort of informal opinion poll lately. The overwhelming consensus is, yeah, teams play differently for different goalies. It's all...like so many things in sport...about confidence. If a team feels its goalie is struggling, it will try to help him out. What that means is an instinctual game becomes a thinking game, and when hockey players start thinking, that's a bad thing. Thinking too much means players end up in awkward positions and make slow decisions that result in bad plays. On the other hand, having confidence the goalie is okay back there frees up the players to go with their instincts. The Habs saw Price struggle as he has on a lot of goals this year, and they changed their game to help him out. They just ended up making things worse because changing their game meant they made a lot more mistakes. Thankfully though, Martin recognized what was happening and made the switch before it was too late.
Plekanec was great. Absolutely great. His performance underlined the undeniable necessity of signing him as soon as possible. If the guy was going to score one shootout goal in his last fourteen attempts, that was the one to score.
I thought Sergei Kostitsyn looked really strong as well. Now, if can only get his brother up for a little sibling rivalry, it'd really help. I worried about this with Andrei. It always takes him about fifteen games to get his mojo going at the beginning of the year, and I was afraid his long layoff would reset his intensity clock to zero. So far, it looks like that's happening.
A lot of people think five million bucks a year for Gionta is too much. It may be true, when you look at his overall numbers. But I think what Bob Gainey had in mind when he hired the little guy was his ability to come through in the clutch. Gionta's a big-game performer; the guy who steps up when the going gets impossible. He's the kind of player who, if he only scored five goals a year, would have five game-winners. If the Habs are to make the playoffs he'll be a big part of it, and he'll step up in the tough post-season as well.
Having now watched all of the game, I can say my absolute favourite moment was Markov giving Perry the "in yo face sucka" gesture after the tying goal. Pleky's game winner was a close second, as was his breakaway goal to get things going. The most heart-stopping moment was when Ryan missed the empty net just before Markov scored. Honourable mention on the heart attack scale goes to Gionta's shootout goal barely trickling through.
I should have learned by now never to quit on a Habs game. No excuses. Mea culpa!
Habs vs. Ducks - Swimming In Circles Edition
Notes on the third:
-Halak really gave Spacek a ride. The old guy saw stars while he gasped for air.
-Sergei Kostitsyn looked like a bull moose in rutting season on that break. The only way Blake could stop him was by taking him down.
-I wonder if it's possible to reprogram Habs forwards to shoot the puck? Maybe if they have drill after drill of nothing but shooting it'll become muscle memory and they'll start doing it in games.
-If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the Habs are only as strong as Ben Maxwell. Uh oh.
-Markov is really pretty out of it. You'd think Halak nailed him rather than Spacek.
-I hate it when they dump the puck in, then weakly bat at it when it's time to retrieve it. What's the point of lugging it through the neutral zone, only to hand it over without a protest?
-Okay, ten minutes to go in the third and an early rise for me. Hiller's playing really well and I'm not expecting the impotent Habs offence to bury two just to get it to OT. So, that's it for me. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow to find they pulled off a point, but I'm not expecting it. If that makes me a disloyal fan, then too bad.
Notes on the second:
-I think there should be a Habs drinking song, and the chorus should be "Aaaaaannnnd Spacek misses the net."
-You know the defence is having a bad night when Chipchura is wheeling around them, and we all know Chipchura's wheels came off Fred Flinstone's car.
-From a buddy who can't believe people quibble about Halak's rebounds: "Price doesn't give up rebounds because the first shot goes in." Not nice, but made me laugh. Through my tears.
-Plekanec got some mojo back with that empty netter last night. Great to see him cash a breakaway at last. Nice pass by Gorges too.
-If Koivu was a food, he'd be spicy wings. Hal Gill would be a big bowl of custard.
-They managed to stanch the bleeding at least. Now I have to give them the third.
Notes on the first:
-Saku just looks...wrong...in a Ducks sweater.
-Hiller is an Olympic goalie and looks it. Price is not an Olympic goalie and he looks it too.
-Speaking of which, whatever excuses you use, it comes down to Halak winning games and Price not. Sometimes the goalie has to be the best guy on the ice. Price isn't that guy a lot of the time.
-Habs look as worn out as a pair of WWII nylons.
-I hope whatever is wrong with Markov isn't permanent.
-What a backbreaker that third goal was for an already-brokeback team.
-The internal debate now is whether I should give up and go to bed or stick around for another period. Maybe I'll compromise on the first ten minutes.
-Halak really gave Spacek a ride. The old guy saw stars while he gasped for air.
-Sergei Kostitsyn looked like a bull moose in rutting season on that break. The only way Blake could stop him was by taking him down.
-I wonder if it's possible to reprogram Habs forwards to shoot the puck? Maybe if they have drill after drill of nothing but shooting it'll become muscle memory and they'll start doing it in games.
-If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the Habs are only as strong as Ben Maxwell. Uh oh.
-Markov is really pretty out of it. You'd think Halak nailed him rather than Spacek.
-I hate it when they dump the puck in, then weakly bat at it when it's time to retrieve it. What's the point of lugging it through the neutral zone, only to hand it over without a protest?
-Okay, ten minutes to go in the third and an early rise for me. Hiller's playing really well and I'm not expecting the impotent Habs offence to bury two just to get it to OT. So, that's it for me. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow to find they pulled off a point, but I'm not expecting it. If that makes me a disloyal fan, then too bad.
Notes on the second:
-I think there should be a Habs drinking song, and the chorus should be "Aaaaaannnnd Spacek misses the net."
-You know the defence is having a bad night when Chipchura is wheeling around them, and we all know Chipchura's wheels came off Fred Flinstone's car.
-From a buddy who can't believe people quibble about Halak's rebounds: "Price doesn't give up rebounds because the first shot goes in." Not nice, but made me laugh. Through my tears.
-Plekanec got some mojo back with that empty netter last night. Great to see him cash a breakaway at last. Nice pass by Gorges too.
-If Koivu was a food, he'd be spicy wings. Hal Gill would be a big bowl of custard.
-They managed to stanch the bleeding at least. Now I have to give them the third.
Notes on the first:
-Saku just looks...wrong...in a Ducks sweater.
-Hiller is an Olympic goalie and looks it. Price is not an Olympic goalie and he looks it too.
-Speaking of which, whatever excuses you use, it comes down to Halak winning games and Price not. Sometimes the goalie has to be the best guy on the ice. Price isn't that guy a lot of the time.
-Habs look as worn out as a pair of WWII nylons.
-I hope whatever is wrong with Markov isn't permanent.
-What a backbreaker that third goal was for an already-brokeback team.
-The internal debate now is whether I should give up and go to bed or stick around for another period. Maybe I'll compromise on the first ten minutes.
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