Saturday, February 12, 2011

leafs vs.Habs - Hockey Day Edition

Notes on the third:

-I wonder if Pleks ever calls for the puck in Czech against guys like Kaberle?

-A lot of bounces are landing on Hab sticks for a change.

-The PP has now become an exercise in "keep the puck in the zone." That seems to be the sole goal tonight, with varying degrees of success.

-Gomez has been trying really hard to scrape off some of the shit that's been sticking to him. His pass to Desharnais for the PP goal was a wonder to behold.

-Speaking of which, DD is making a very convincing case for himself in regards to next year's contract.

-Schenn wrecked Pax from behind, and nobody so much as raised a whistle. So much for the blindside hit rule.

-Plekanec has played the best pointless game I've seen in a while.

-Hockey Day in Canada has a very happy ending in Quebec.

-Price earned the shutout like Bob Cratchit earned his shilling. Great job.


Notes on the second:

-Not really great to have a D gone for five minutes, as Subban sits out. That's more Picard, which is never a good thing.

-Desharnais is just a little molotov cocktail.

-The Habs should get credit for a hat trick if any three players score in the same game.

-Spacek's not bad one-on-one, as long as he doesn't have to pivot and chase the guy.

-Nice shot by Pouliot. He'll benefit from playing with a guy who can find him anywhere, like Desharnais. And his size will help open some ice for the little guy.

-And on the instant replay of the Pouliot goal, the captain pots one off a Pax feed from his knees.

-If the Habs are leading the lead in nothing else, they certainly have to be right up there in too many men calls. Jacques the Knife needs an abacus.

-Hee hee...the way Pierre Houde pronounced "Bozak" sounds like "ballsack."

-Much better period. One more, just like that one, please.


Notes on the first:

-Hmmm...RDS or CBC, on which Healey plans to closely analyse Last Pick Kessel's ice time to see why his favourite leaf is slumping?

-Pyatt's face looks like a jigsaw puzzle of a bruise.

-Terrible PP. More disorganized than Mubarak's Thursday.

-Kostitsyn is skating like his feet as well as his head are made of cement.

-Cammalleri's probably taking his time returning, because he knows he'll probably end up on the Gomez doughnut line.

-Picard and Subban in the last minute? Martin *does* have home ice, right?

-Subban gets the decision over Lupul.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huh. Kostitsyn is skating as good as I've seem in weeks. He's been rewarded with shifts beside Pleks.

Anonymous said...

That hit on Max should have drawn a response from somebody on the ice. The Flyers or Bruins would have been lining up to pound Schenn into the ice. That is the only thing I don't like about the Habs. Max is a skilled scoring winger who has to be protected from hits like that. Very disappointing. It doesn't matter if the refs let it go or not, a teammate has to step up in that situation.

Aside from that lots to like. A good effort by all and fifth place too. Not a bad night's work.
Desharnais is a keeper and Cammalleri won't have to play with Gomez when he returns. Things are looking up.

Anonymous said...

I think they cut Gomez' even strength ice. That is the type of decision that wins games.

AK looks terrible sometimes, and Eller does sometimes. If you look closely they most often look out of place when Gomez is centering them. The question may be exactly who is out of place.

I think after 55 games if you aren't sure which line you're on at any given moment it is either a pickup game or the coach is spending too much time trying to create stability around someone who is mouthing platitudes.

Am I on Gomer's case? You bet. I don't like to do that. Scott Gomez paid a lot of dues to get where he is, a nice fat contract, however he stopped paying the moment he signed. He needs a motivational coach to get half a season out of him, or to retire.