NOT MUCH MORE TO BE SAID

So I'm sitting in the Bell Centre press box halfway through the second period wondering why I was still in the building. I almost never attend Montreal - New Jersey match ups. I was reminded by Mitch Gallo that I showed up to a previous Habs - Devils tilt early in the season. That one capped off a busy Saturday following the firing of Jacques Martin. Sunday night I was there for Gary Carter, nothing else. I left after 40 minutes.

Now I can point out that the Plekanec - Darche - Bourque trio was horrid ( combined -9; dropping Plekanec into Tomas Kaberle territory at -17). And while Bourque has slowly morphed into Aaron Palushaj (0 points last four games) Mike Cammalleri is, for the moment, part of a Calgary team that sits in a playoff position (Cammalleri with 4 points in his last 4 games including 3 goals). I also wonder about Randy Cunneyworth explaining away the line's terrible game by going the "tired, physically and mentally" route. Fatigued? Really? If you want a built - in excuse, perhaps. (Ask the Winnipeg Jets about being "fatigued" at this stage of the season, with all the extra travel miles, as they move into a tie for 8th place in the East. Or virtually any team in the west, especially Vancouver.) But really, my heart's not in it.

Kudos to the Habs for their tribute to Gary Carter. It was simple yet moving. Terrific editing on the scoreboard piece to The Eagles' "New Kid In Town" (lead vocal by Glenn Frey) and the images of Carter's old baseball cards (The Kid was an avid collector himself) and the number eight illuminated on the ice will linger. But so will the pain in my heart.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY TAKE 43

Before moving forward with what's left of this season just another reminder to come up with your own candidate to replace Pierre Gauthier as GM of the Habs. Keep firing in "Comments" section of previous blog about Pierre McGuire. Thanks.

I thought the Habs were dead when I left for South Beach on Super Bowl Sunday. Honestly had no clue what was going on. No internet. No newspapers. No television. And no twitter feed. Late Thursday night (actually past midnight Friday morning) while finishing up a quick foot tour of Duval Street in Key West I hopped into a souvenir shop to buy a couple of t-shirts. The guy who runs the store was wearing a white t-shirt with a badly faded Montreal Canadiens logo in the middle. I asked him what he was doing with that shirt on.  "What's wrong?", he asked. "We won tonight! Pacioretty scored a hat trick. Even Gomez finally scored".  Turns out the guy is Donald "Dino" Meeker, originally from Montreal who moved down south about 25 years ago. He spent the night listening to the Habs win over the NY Islanders on TSN 990. Turns out he listens to every game, home and away. And listens as often as he can to "Melnick In The Afternoon" and most of the other shows on our station. I felt good for Gomez but still didn't know anything about what else the Habs had done since losing on home ice to Washington. I assumed they had lost to Winnipeg and Pittsburgh as well because when I informed Dino that the Canadiens have not finished in last place since the 1930's he didn't say they were not in the basement. Have to admit wondering about the fate of the Habs at least a couple of times on the long drive back to Miami Beach but didn't discover they had actually won both those games until I arrived home this past Friday night. I watched the win over the Leafs live from my living room.

It seemed like the Canadiens were making it interesting again.

Until Eric Staal took control in the third period Monday night, with some help from a former teammate.

THE GOOD

• Alexei Emelin. Picked up from his nine hit performance Saturday in Toronto with a couple of heavy hits early on, including a beauty of a hip check on Anthony Stewart.
• Montreal power play scoring twice in one game for the first time since November. They're certainly moving the puck around a lot quicker.
• Thomas Plekanec beating Cam Ward while using Rene Bourque as a decoy to get the Habs on the board. Hard to imagine another forward in NHL who gets as many breakaways, partial breaks and two on ones as Plekanec. Imagine what his goal total would be if he had just a little more finish. Led all Montreal skaters with 5 shots on goal on a night when the common cry from the stands was "Shoooot!"
• David Desharnais. Two point night pushes him past the 40 point mark for the season. His plus/minus is now at +9, second best on team behind only Josh Gorges (+15). Was 58% in face off circle.
• Erik Cole. Highlight goal to tie game in second period. Again showing off one of best wrist shots in NHL.
• Mathieu Darche. Give him props. He's playing well.
• Kirk Muller. Hard to cheer against proud former Hab in his first NHL head coaching experience against the team that no longer wanted him. Hurricanes have lost only two of their last 15 games in regulation time. Muller has them moving and skating hard. No passive resistance crap in his game plan. Even with a one goal lead late in the game - and on the road - the Hurricanes sent two guys in to forecheck.

THE BAD

• Raphal Diaz. Still too many give aways. I don't think he's played very well since his appearance at the All Star game in Ottawa.
• Montreal PK Unit. A rare off night as Carolina went 2 for 5 on PP including game winner by Jamie McBain.
• Andrei Kostitsyn. Or is it Randy Cunneyworth? What's going on here? Just 4:20 for AK46? Odd day all the way around with announcement that Habs had recalled Ryan White and Ian Schultz from Hamilton with both taking pre - game skate. Was it an attempt to light a fire under Kostitsyn? Was a trade about to be completed? Frankly, when the Habs trailed in the third I wondered if Gauthier had again traded a player during a game. Then post game team announced that Schultz had been returned to AHL. Would liked to have seen him against Bruins on Wednesday. But if Cunneyworth is not happy with Kostitsyn's play...
• Scott Gomez. ...why was Gomez getting power play time in the third when the Habs number 11 did not exactly distinguish himself in the whopping 8 minutes of ice time he received? And Gomez, Darche and Aaron Palushaj late in the game trailing by a goal instead of AK46? What am I missing?
• Another third period meltdown. Outscored 3-0 after seemingly taking control of game in second period.
• Habs record at Bell Centre drops to 11-12-7.  Only the Columbus Blue Jackets have a worse record on home ice. Taking control of their own building must be a priority for a new GM.

THE UGLY

• Tomas Kaberle give away that changed the momentum of the game and perhaps the outcome. Soft, half assed turnover against an oncoming opponent, then badly beaten 1 on 1 by a rejuvenated Staal. Kaberle's most embarrassing moment as a Hab. Two more years. 8.5 million dollars.  Bring on the Bruins.

BRING PIERRE HOME

People don't realize Pierre was a hockey person for 10-12 years before he became a media person. He has tremendous work ethic and ambition. He's networked with so many people around the NHL for years. If you look at some people who have done good jobs, some of them, all they needed was an opportunity.


-Scotty Bowman on Pierre McGuire ("Melnick In The Afternoon" TSN 990 Dec 23, 2011)

This one is overdue. I'm not going to step aside over some supposed professional code. I sincerely believe that Pierre McGuire would do a terrific job as an NHL General Manager. And I think it's about bloody time somebody in this town talked to him about the GM post of the Montreal Canadiens.

I believe that Pierre is the best hockey analyst in the business. Almost too good, it turns out, to return to work for an NHL franchise. He revolutionized the way the game is now described on television and more importantly, what hockey fans expect out of a telecast. The energy and passion he possesses is obvious. His knowledge of virtually any player anywhere on the planet, let alone an NHL ice surface, reveals his strong roots as a scout. That knowledge has never wavered from the moment I first met him, sitting in the old balcony at the Montreal Forum during a Canadiens playoff match up that I have since forgotten everything about except for the guy I was sitting next to. Regular members of the hockey beat would moan and groan about being dislodged from their regular press box seats at playoff time when numbers of the working media would swell beyond capacity. I eagerly would give up my seat above center ice and actually request a move to the balcony because I knew that's where a lot of scouts would find their assigned seats. I figured I might learn something. And that's how I discovered Pierre McGuire.

I spent two games in the company of Pierre. I learned more about hockey players in 120 minutes than I had in the previous 12 years. I also realized that after jumping from a "heritage" radio station to a new venture as a drive home host (CIQC Radio) I could use some help during the hockey season. Pierre agreed to come on the air with me, initially on a very occasional basis, while he was an assistant coach with the Hartford Whalers. He did join me the day he became the head coach of the Whalers but we didn't correspond a whole lot again until he lost that job and eventually went to work for the Ottawa Senators as a pro scout and an assistant coach. I remember him showing me around the offices of the new rink in Ottawa and introducing me to a man he later described as his best friend. The guy was Ottawa's assistant GM. His name was Ray Shero.

It got ugly in Ottawa (Pierre Gauthier was around) and Pierre found himself in the hockey hotbed of Baton Rouge, Louisiana as the head coach of the King Fish of the East Coast Hockey League (I vividly remember one off air phone call from Pierre during this time when he told me that Mike Keenan was looking for a centerman - Keenan was coach of the parent St. Louis Blues - and Pierre asked me if Brian Savage was playing the position much with the Canadiens. I said that while I knew that Savage had been drafted as a centermen, he'd been nothing but a winger in Montreal. Didn't handle the puck well enough for a center. Pierre mentioned that Keenan was having issues with Shayne Corson. A short time later the Blues sent Corson and Murray Baron to the Canadiens in exchange for Pierre Turgeon and Rory Fitzpatrick). Pierre started to appear on the air in Montreal on a more regular basis, especially through the NHL playoffs. I explained that although we had no budget I was certain that Ted Blackman at that old heritage station was always listening and would realize Pierre's potential and try to hire him as the radio analyst on Canadiens games. Sure enough, Pierre was back in the NHL, kind of, for the 1997-98 season. By then I was also hosting a television show called "The Habs This Week" and, naturally, used Pierre as our in depth analyst. His star was rising in a hurry. Most of you know that he eventually moved to Toronto to work for TSN full time before coming home again for a few years. But by then, Pierre was also lead analyst at NBC and being pressured to work for them on a full time basis. This past summer he moved to the New York area armed with the assignment to help grow the sport he loves. Only a deep and respectful love of Montreal and especially the Canadiens could bring him back.

As Scotty Bowman told me just before Christmas Pierre was a "hockey guy" long before he hit radio and television. Scotty met Pierre at St. Lawrence University in New York in the 1980's. He eventually brought Pierre to Pittsburgh where McGuire worked as a scout and assistant coach helping the Penguins win two Stanley Cups.  He was considered an up and comer, especially after working so closely with the legendary Bowman (living closely as well. They were roommates for a year in Pittsburgh). When the Hartford Whalers hired Pierre as an assistant coach (he also served as assistant GM in Hartford) he was definitely on the fast track. When Pierre replaced Paul Holmgren as coach in November of 1993 he was just 32 years old. To his critics, McGuire "failed" as an NHL head coach. There were certainly well documented issues in Hartford. It didn't work out. You can say he "failed". Most would say that he simply wasn't ready to coach in the NHL at age 32. Who is? But here's something to think about - why was Pierre McGuire so highly thought of that an NHL organization would name him assistant GM and then head coach at the age of 32?

I think Pierre Mcguire should be running an NHL hockey management team. He interviewed for the GM post in Calgary that eventually went to Craig Button. Pierre told the Flames they needed to invest a lot of money to rebuild their infrastructure. The Flames, in the bad old days of the low Canadian dollar, thought otherwise. They're still looking for that second Stanley Cup. Pierre almost became the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yep, I believe it's a matter of record by now. The Leafs wanted to bring Scotty Bowman in as head of hockey operations. Scotty would have named Pierre GM. But the Leafs refused to move John Ferguson Jr. out of the picture. Bowman said no. Ferguson, finally fired by Toronto a year later, now scouts for San Jose. Pierre came very close to getting the Wild GM job in the wonderful hockey market of Minnesota but lost out to Chuck Fletcher. Ironically, if Pierre had agreed to become Ray Shero's assistant in Pittsburgh when his old friend came calling it might have eventually landed him that Minnesota job. The Stars hired Fletcher after he worked under Shero in Pittsburgh.

Pierre McGuire has his detractors. For them, it's not about hockey knowledge. It can't possibly be. It's personal. Or it's based on Pierre's personality. As I said to Pierre when he began in radio, "Be yourself. Say what you believe and say it forcefully. Strong opinions are the lifeblood of talk radio. But as you rise in popularity so will the number of your critics. Stand your ground". Once in a while Pierre can get prickly. He's entitled. He works long hours and literally doesn't stop from the moment he wakes up (with  7 AM appearances on Toronto radio, plus Ottawa and elsewhere before he finally hits the air with us at 5:05) until he shuts it down after the final whistle from the west coast. There are some who believe that Pierre carries a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I don't believe Pierre is envious of anybody - he has a highly successful high profile job that pays him handsomely and, even more importantly, a terrific young family - so he's in a good spot. But I have never met anybody in any pro sport who isn't ultra competitive. And if Pierre does have a chip it's because he sees at least a couple of guys in the NHL, especially the one in his beloved hometown of Montreal, who simply do not know players the way he does. There are some Canadiens fans who believe McGuire hates their team. Because he doesn't work for them. It's actually the complete opposite. I don't know if he'll appreciate me telling this story but here's an example of how much he cares -

June 30, 2009. Having already delivered a well deserved verbal beat down on the radio earlier in the day after the Canadiens announced they had acquired Scott Gomez from the Rangers ("An elite player", said Bob Gainey in the press release. "Did they see him play this season?" asked Pierre. We were both shocked that the Habs had taken the Gomez contract and threw in first round pick Ryan McDonagh in the deal), I was making my way home trying to figure out what Gainey and his head of pro scouting Pierre Gauthier had just done when my cellphone rang.  It was Pierre. "Listen, this is bad. Really bad. I'm concerned. They're lost. They have no clue. Bob Gainey is not being well served here. Somebody had to step up and say we can't do this. If you speak to him tell him I'm willing to help. I'm serious. He needs help, badly". I will always have an enormous amount of respect for Bob Gainey. And while I was tempted I never did make that call. I frankly didn't think it was my place to suggest to the then current GM of the Canadiens that he ought to spend less time listening to some of the people he hired ("The man I trust the most").

Almost three years later Scott Gomez, the NHL rookie of the year and two time Stanley Cup winner has been forgotten. Replaced by an actual joke. The Rangers, using the money freed up by moving Gomez to the Habs, signed Marian Gaborik while McDonagh has already developed into a top end NHL defenseman who averages over 25:00 a game. The Rangers are atop the NHL's Eastern Conference. The Canadiens are trying to stay out of the basement.

Barring the biggest last minute turnaround since Harry Truman beat Tom Dewey to win the U.S. Presidency in 1948 the Montreal Canadiens are going to miss the playoffs under a GM who has already fired two coaches, re-signed an injured defenseman who can barely skate, signed two other veteran defensemen who are softer than marshmallows (one armed with a contract than can be termed Gomez-Lite), only realized halfway through the season that most goals scored these days are from "dirty areas", calls everybody "Mr." and generally acts like he's from a lost galaxy. And Pierre McGuire has to watch this crap after warning anybody who would listen that the Habs were headed down this road? It didn't have to be this way.

I'm not saying Pierre McGuire is the only qualified candidate to become the next GM of the Canadiens. But who else is, like Pierre, perfectly bilingual, has strong ties to the city, married to a French Quebecer, understands this market and knows what it takes to win a championship?

Bring him home.

Don't wait for spring.  Do it now.

Radek Bonk - This move has Pierre Gauthier written all over it. He's not that good.

Cristobal Huet - I remain highly skeptical. He's never been this good at any level. I don't think he can sustain this high level of play.


Sergei Samsanov - Did they not watch the Stanley Cup final? He's a parameter player.


Guillaume Latendresse - Big mistake if he starts in the NHL as an 18 year old. He needs to develop properly. Don't rush him.


Janne Niinimma - Love the guy. Real good player. Great teammate. But I don't know how much he has left. His best days are way behind him.


Sheldon Souray - One trick pony. There isn't much interest around the league. I don't know who's going to sign him. Don't know how effective he can be in post lockout era.


Alexei Emelin - They've got to get him over here. He can play in the NHL.


Kyle Chipchura - I worry about his skating, especially after his knee injury. Might be able to hang on as a 4th line player.


Alex Tanguay - A 1st round pick? Terrible trade.


Robert Lang - Can still play but don't know how much he has left. A lot of miles in that body.


Roman Hamrlik - A good player but I don't know about that 4th year. He'll help but the term is one year too long.


Georges Laraque - You wanted him, you've got him. Why didn't Pittsburgh want him back?


Chris Higgins - He's got to stop talking about being a 30 goal scorer. He's not.


Mike Cammalleri - I don't know how many other teams would have given him a 5th year.


Brian Gionta - A true gamer. Real solid player and teammate. But again, that 5th year might be a killer. Montreal seems to have to add an extra year to get players to sign.


Jaroslav Spacek - Good player but not much left in the tank. Was a healthy scratch for Buffalo last year. I'd rather have Francois Beauchemin.


Scott Gomez - See Above

Travis Moen - Very useful player if you give him a defined role.


Hal Gill - Very effective defensively. Better than people think, especially on the penalty kill.


Benoit Pouliot - First player I would have traded if I had gotten the job in Minnesota.


Dominic Moore - Why did they give up a second round pick when they could have had this player as a free agent?


Marc Andre Bergeron - Good pick up as a fill in for Markov on power play. Serious issues in his own end.


PK Subban - Will be a star player. Maybe more. But manage expectations.


Jeff Halpern - Real smart player. Valuable role guy. But not the same on his skates since ripping up his knee.


Lars Eller - If he ends up playing on the top two lines then the trade is a good one. But I believe they could have and should have gotten more. Coming off the season and playoffs he had you had to drive up the price for Halak. They didn't do that.


Erik Cole - Very good signing. I worry about that 4th year but he's what they need.


Chris Campoli - A depth defenseman at this stage. People think he's a really good skater but he's knock kneed. Prone to mistakes.


Rene Bourque - I like the trade but it really depends on what they do with the money saved on the Cammalleri contract and what they do with that second round pick.


2011-2012 Montreal Canadiens - If they don't finish in the top 5 on the power play they won't make the playoffs.


(Yes, we save everything)

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY TAKE 42

I'd rather listen to Etta James.

THE GOOD

• Max Pacioretty. Got right into it after Erik Cole was sent flying.
• Erik Cole. Best player on ice for 40 minutes. Seemed to get really frustrated by referees Kevin Pollock & Francois St. Laurent. Took two bad penalties in 3rd and was stripped of puck by Kris Letang deep in Pittsburgh zone which eventually led to an Evgeny Malkin slapper that tied game late in the third.
• Andrei Kostitsyn. One of his better games of the season. Scored on the power play where he should be getting more ice time.
• Tomas Kaberle. Two assists, including the one to set up the Kostitsyn goal. Played 18:00 instead of 8. Will somebody please get him a real hockey stick?
• David Desharnais. Ho hum. Usual heady performance and only Montreal centerman to win the majority of his draws (60%).
• Only 35 games left to play.

THE BAD

• Thomas Plekanec. Seems his only legit scoring chances of late come when he's killing a penalty. Not that long ago (November) he was considered one of best two way centers in NHL. No clue what's happened. Must have been Mike Cammalleri's fault.
• Rene Bourque. Did he play? ("Cammalleri is a one trick pony. If he doesn't score what else does he do for you? Bourque gives you another element or two") Bourque had 0 hits and 0 shots on goal.
• Randy Cunneyworth. Had Plekanec & Travis Moen out for a good chunk of the overtime in an effort, I suppose, to counter Evgeni Malkin & James Neal. Habs are 10 points out of a playoff spot, having already blown a two goal lead and he's worried about not losing in overtime so he can take his chances in the shootout? This is precisely the attitude Cammalleri was trying to articulate. Then, in the shootout he plays another hunch and goes with Scott Gomez. Is it asking too much for the Habs to practice this skills competition a little more often and/or use their best offensive players instead of playing a game of blindfolded darts?
• Another 3rd period lead flushed down the playoff toilet. How is it that the Habs have struggled so mightily in the third period all season, especially against teams that have played the night before? They're either too fat or too weak.  Maybe both.

THE UGLY

• Another PK Subban brain fart. Blindly giving the puck away while the Habs enjoyed a man advantage and an opportunity to take a 4-1 lead. What's worse was his reaction. First on the ice, waving his left arm as if to say to Scott Gomez "Where did you go, Gomer?!" and then on the bench trying to sell his version of "it wasn't my fault" to assistant coach Randy Ladouceur who had to tell Subban to zip it.
• All of this drama giving more ammunition to those who believe Subban is too self centered to develop into a top flight defenseman. The idiocy of the "let's trade PK (and Price)" brigade embarrasses this market more than Pierre Gauthier does. Subban is in his second NHL season. What's Drew Doughty doing in LA? Ok, I'll tell you. In 43 games Doughty is 3-17-20 pts +1. Subban, in 46 games, is 3-16-19 pts -1. Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers has 8 points in 27 games this season, has been a healthy scratch, and is -8. In his 2nd NHL season Jack Johnson had 11 points and was -18. Second year defenseman Cam Fowler has played 45 games this season. He's 3-15-18 pts -13. And to save us both a lot of time I'll just jump ahead to Zdeno Chara who, in his second full season, played 65 games and was 2-9-11 pts -27. Chara had a similar third full season before his imbecile of a GM lost his patience and dealt him to Ottawa. What's that old saying about history? 
• Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

• 
  

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY TAKE 41

Not much to say other than this is not fun. I started blogging after games because I thought it would be fun. I get paid to do a daily radio show. This blog has been helpful in reaching and reacting to the blogosphere/twitter. Even on bad nights there has usually been something to discuss. I think there was one instance earlier in the season when I nodded off watching the Habs and couldn't really say anything about the game other than it truthfully put me to sleep. But it's been a treat to be able to share my thoughts with fellow hockey fans. But I don't think I can keep this up. Not because I'm looking for added incentive but I can think of better things to do on nights like this than to tap away on the keyboard to describe another miserable night. It's just not fun.

So, when the inspiration hits - perhaps as early as Friday night in Pittsburgh - I'll follow the muse. But expect more of what might be happening elsewhere, whether its a meltdown by Ryan Miller and the Sabres or the NHLPA vs NHL or the NFL playoffs or Ryan Braun proclaiming his innocence. I'm restless by nature. But the 2011-2012 edition of the Canadiens already has me looking elsewhere. I can only hope Geoff Molson feels the same way.


THE GOOD

• Scott Gomez. Skated well all night. Actually fired 5 shots on goal. His game looks ok. But then again, he's well rested. On the other hand, Gomez was -2 and a pathetic 2 for 9 on face offs.
• Rene Bourque. Challenged on his first shift by Matt Hendricks and became the first member of the Canadiens since - who? - to decisively beat an opposing fighter. Three minutes later Mathieu Perrault scored on a screen and it was game over. Why did Washington gain momentum from a scrap their fighter lost?

THE BAD

• Too many to single out. Carey Price looked weak on the second goal (And to those who say he should have stopped the first one I can't agree. The Caps entered Montreal territory with a lot of speed and way too much room while Josh Gorges found himself backing up almost at full speed. Perreault showed a veteran goal scorer's touch by firing the puck through Gorges' feet. That is a very tough shot for a goaltender to pick up. He has to guess.) and made just 13 saves. The way the Canadiens are playing right now they need Price to stop almost everything. He might just be too gassed to provide that kind of elite goaltending. 
• Andrei Kostitsyn. Had his man Marcus Johansson tied up. No he didn't.
• Lars Eller. In a zone right now. A no fly zone. Seems distracted. Just 3 for 12 on face offs (25%).
• 10 points out of a playoff spot.  Two points out of last place.
• Darren Dreger's list of potential new GM's. Nothing wrong with compiling a list. But Jacques Martin? John Ferguson Jr? Doug Risebrough is one of my all time favourite players but under which scenario could he possibly become the Habs go-to guy? (If Bob Gainey has something to say.) Marc Bergevin? Claude Loiselle? (Can't help but wonder if any of these guys are "sources".) Two most legit names on Dreger's list - from the outside looking in to Montreal - are Julien Brisebois (not happening) and Pierre McGuire (An entire blog on Pierre coming up soon). See a much earlier blog for my own "outside the box" list.  ***(TAKE 25 See COMMENTS)***

THE UGLY

• Montreal power play. 0-7. It stinks. The worst I've seen. I've been watching since 1965. Seriously. I cannot remember a Canadiens team with a power play percentage as low as under 13%. Can't pin this on Mike Cammalleri.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY TAKES 39 & 40

Just like you figured. The Habs would lose to Ottawa and then beat the top team in the conference. Following a near perfect victory in Toronto Saturday night the Rangers didn't seem prepared to deal with the Canadiens' top line. And once Montreal put the game away in the second period, New York showed nothing other then a couple of bursts while killing a penalty with just over two minutes to play. Frankly, it looked like the Rangers scattered directly to their favourite late Saturday night Montreal hang-outs instead of heading directly to their hotel rooms. Even John Tortorella might admit in a quiet moment that they had earned it. Taking nothing away from the 12th place Canadiens of course who were and are the more desperate team.  Away we go.

THE GOOD

• David Desharnais, Eric Cole & Max Pacioretty. Brilliant night as the trio combined for 9 points and were +9. Excellent production as they needed just 5 shots on goal to score their 3 goals. And credit Randy Cunneyworth for getting them on the ice when the likes of Kris Newbury and Wojtek Wolski were out there for the Rangers.
• Scott Gomez. He's alive! Best game since, when, last February against the Rangers when he scored his last goal? He sure is smiling a lot for a guy who hasn't scored in nearly a year. Maybe he's just that happy to be playing again. But it would be nice to see more of a fire-in-the-belly attitude instead of yukking it up with opposing centermen.  Still on pace for a 0 goal season.
• Peter Budaj. Doesn't play in nearly a month and is asked to help beat the number one team in the conference. Thankless job. He was razor sharp.
• Michael Blunden. If the HBO cameras were still around the Rangers we might have been treated to something like this from Tortorella: "Michael Fucking Blunden? Jesus Effin' Christ! Who's man is that? Rupper-bury that fucking mic where the sun don't shine! We're making Michael fucking Blunden look like he belongs in that fucking all star game I'm coaching! Michael Blunden! This is fucking ridiculous! What the hell am I supposed to say to Brooksie about Blunden? Fuck!"
• Josh Gorges & PK Subban. Both played a very strong 25:00.
• Hal Gill. Heroic shift midway through the second when the Rangers had Habs hemmed in for what seemed like two full minutes. There was Gill sprawling to finally knock the puck out of his zone but he still couldn't get off the ice until Budaj froze it. Impressive 16:30 for a 36 year old in a back to back situation.
• Thomas Plekanec. Followed up terrific game Saturday by winning 10 of 13 face offs. Is 40-31 in last three games in face off department to raise his season percentage to nearly 51%.
• Rene Bourque. Good start. Noticed him right off the bat with a strong burst of speed on his off wing testing Henrik Lundqvist with a backhand shot. Went to the net. And hit rookie Carl Hagelin with a strong check into the boards. Apparently not the selfish type.
• Montreal's 2nd Period. Outscored NYR 3-0. When was the last time the Habs outscored their opponents 3-0 in one period, especially at home?
• Montreal's 3rd period. Didn't back off. Even when the bench dropped to 10 forwards when Travis Moen didn't come back after suffering what looked like a knee injury and then down to 9 when Plekanec was clipped and left with over nine minutes to play.
• Randy Cunneyworth. It's all about accountability. Lars Eller screwed up on the Rangers goal so he didn't play in the second period. Head coaches have to send messages without destroying their players. Eller was back in the third. Andrei Kostitsyn also sat out much of the second period but he might have been guilty by association.
• Habs' record with Rene Bourque is 1-0. Without Mike Cammalleri it's 1-0-1.

THE BAD

• Rangers goal by John Mitchell. It started when Eller had the puck in his own zone but softly turned it over to Derek Stepan. Then he made a half assed attempt to check Mitchell.

THE UGLY

• Got my first look at those ugly back of the net billboards apparently exclusive to RDS broadcasts. I get the cash grab. Major League Baseball started using rotating TV-only billboards behind the catcher years ago. But what I saw last night was beyond intrusive. Do they really have to be that big?
• Packers performance in Green Bay.

And A Quick Trip Through Saturday's Loss To Ottawa:

THE GOOD

• Thomas Plekanec. Rebounded from an awful 5 game stretch, especially after being stopped again on a shorthanded breakaway, before finally nailing his first shorthanded goal of the season to get Montreal going. Had 5 shots on goal, finished +2 and played nearly 26:00. 
• Josh Gorges. Shortly after Jason Spezza's power play goal RDS had a great shot of Gorges on the ice talking to his teammates on the bench imploring them not to give up; that there was still enough time to tie up the game. True leader.
• Max Pacioretty's goal to tie up the game with 39 seconds left with some help from David Deshrnais and Chris Campoli. Yes Campoli, whose shot from the blue line bounced to Pacioretty giving Campoli his first assist of the season.
• Montreal PK Unit. Again. Yes Spezza's blast from inside the blue line past a screened Carey Price was a PP goal but overall Montreal held Ottawa to a 1 for 8 night with the man advantage. A Canadiens - like 12.5%.
• San Fransisco 49ers - New Orleans Saints amazing NFL playoff match up at Candlestick Park. Made watching Ottawa - Montreal very, very difficult.

THE BAD

• Randy Cunneyworth. Did he morph into Jacques Martin? Thomas Kaberle in the shootout, as one of the first 3 shooters? If he was looking for an extra special dramatic and redemptive ending why not Scott Gomez? But Kaberle instead of Andrei Kostitsyn, Desharnais, Erik Cole, PK Subban or Plekanec is beyond a head scratcher. When you go out on a limb like that it had better work.
• Paul Devorski. For years I've heard about what a great ref and great guy Devorski is. I don't know him. But as long as I've heard that he was about the best in the NHL I've noticed how often he takes a crap on the ice during a game, especially at the Bell Centre. I understand the league has become ultra sensitive about protecting its goaltenders but that was a terribly bogus penalty he gave Kostitsyn who was clearly pushed into the crease by Milan Michalek.

THE UGLY

• Montreal power play. 0-5. How can it be so bad? Maybe part of the answer is...
• Montreal shootout record. Drops to 1-6, 0-5 on home ice. Carey Price has an issue or two (though he did make a save to his stick side) but Montreal shooters keep firing blanks. Where's Alex Kovalev when you need him?
• Mike Milbury. Anybody see his hatchet job on Geoff Molson & Pierre Gauthier on NBC earlier in the day (he was strong but not as forceful on HNIC several hours later)? Gauthier is fair game (see below) but I don't recall seeing or hearing Milbury blasting NHL owners through the years let alone one who's last name reverberates as much as Molson's. Milbury's dripping hatred of the Canadiens is obvious at moments like this. I was hoping Pierre McGuire would take his shoe off and stuff it in Milbury's mouth (U.S. TV being what it is McGuire had to follow Milbury's rant by focusing on the Rangers. The NBC intermission was previewing the Montreal - NYR match up). I also believe Milbury gave up his right to dump on any NHL GM anywhere at any time considering how badly he failed in that department. (Next thing you know Doug MacLean will wind up in a TV studio talking about how crappy a certain NHL GM is. Oh wait.) There's a huge credibility gap. Except perhaps for U.S. hockey fans under the age of 30 who never heard of Alexei Yashin. 

THE UGLY TRUTH (As Recommended By @montrealdesign)

• It's one thing for some NHL GM's to complain they had no idea that Mike Cammalleri was available. It's quite another when - as I'm told by somebody based out west - at least one general manager specifically asked Pierre Gauthier last Wednesday if he was trading Cammalleri. Gauthier told him absolutely not. Less than 24 hours later Cammalleri was traded to Calgary.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY TAKE 39

Mike Cammalleri had to know it was coming. I don't know that for a fact but when a veteran free agent signee is being shopped (Pierre Gauthier said "about a month" (didn't he say that about Andrei Markov?) but a Flames executive said three months), especially if, like Cammalleri, he has a limited no movement clause, then one can easily assume their agents keep them duly informed. And maybe that's what Cammalleri meant when he told Francois Gagnon & Arpon Basu to "read between the lines" following his "losing attitude" rant. It was perhaps understandable to think that Cammalleri was trying to talk his way out of town or just expanding on a recent trade request but it appears the exact opposite is true. My initial gut instinct was that Cammalleri knew the Canadiens had been trying to trade him and was hurt by it. A victim of a bad season to be sure but also the victim of a poorly constructed team.

Pierre Gauthier can't find anybody to take Scott Gomez and even if he could he would not get an NHL ready player in return. Brian Gionta is a salt of the earth character kind of player that is universally respected. Thomas Plekanec was just locked up. Max Pacioretty, PK Subban and Carey Price are not going anywhere. So, if the Habs were going to trade a top shelf player in an effort to get bigger and stronger physically I suppose it had to be Cammalleri.

Rene Bourque will score more ugly goals than Cammalleri. He'll hit more people. And maybe an old lunch pail captain like Randy Cunneyworth will get the most out of him because while on the surface Bourque's numbers look good, what's not seen on a stat sheet is work ethic. In that area Bourque has a less than stellar reputation. Gauthier might have just acquired Dustin Penner Light.

To be fair I like the money saved and I like the 2nd round draft choice but I don't think there's a scenario that will convince me that Pierre Gauthier is the right guy to be pulling the trigger for the Canadiens and their fan base. He just realized that the team he helped put together is too small?  He just realized that the Boston Bruins are that rare beast in this era - a defending stanley cup champion that has actually improved?  Did he just wake up to see his old team the Ottawa Senators running away from his current team? Did he really think that Chris Campoli at a salary of nearly two million dollars would help?  Does he not realize that in acquiring Campoli and Thomas Kaberle for the blue line he made things so much worse for his franchise goaltender?  Did he not think it might be wise, prior to introducing his new head coach that it might have been worth the effort to get him to say, at the very least, "bonjour"? Yes, Gauthier sure has been pushing a lot of buttons this season. But none bigger than the one labeled "panic".

THE GOOD

• Yannick Weber. One day after telling reporters that he thinks he should be in the line up because he knows he's "better than some of the guys playing" Weber scored a late power play goal to give the Canadiens a chance to tie the game in Boston. It was Weber's 4th goal of the season which leads all Montreal defensemen. All four of his goals have been on the power play. Only Erik Cole (7) has scored more. Geez, if you're going to dress 7 defensemen and you have the worst power play in the entire NHL then wouldn't it make sense to dress a power play specialist?
• Carey Price. Another strong outing in Boston. Unless you believe it's Price's fault that Zdeno Chara's dump in hit a stanchion and bounced in front of an empty net.
• The Canadiens overall effort but especially in the third period when they were short a man and down to just 10 forwards after Cammalleri was informed that he had been traded. An NHL player traded during a game is something most of us had never seen.
• PK Subban going nose to nose with Milan Lucic. Let me rephrase that. Subban not backing down while continuing to play the body whether it was Lucic or later on David Krecji. The hit on Krecji brought the usual response from Boston with Andrew Ferrence grabbing Subban by the collar. And PK was naturally slammed after the game for not swinging with Ferrence but he got a Montreal power play out of it which produced a goal.
• Three big offensive wingers for Montreal - Cole, Max Pacioretty & Andrei Kostitsyn combined for 15 shots on goal but couldn't beat Tim Thomas. 
• The Canadiens PK unit led by the NHL's leading shot blocker Josh Gorges was perfect again (5 for 5).

THE BAD

• Carey Price named to the Eastern Conference All Star team. He's played more minutes than anybody in the NHL this season. He needs the time off.
• Twitterville exploding with erroneous reports of where Cammalleri was headed.  At least nobody died.
• The Bruins can thank Montreal for turning their season around. After losing back to back games to the Habs in November Boston has gone 25-4-1. I saw them at their dumbest vs Vancouver last Saturday. But how'd they lose the other three?

THE UGLY

• With everybody's favourite whipping boy now back in Calgary (just in time for Scott Gomez to return to the line up) where is the microscope on what has been a terrible season for Thomas Plekanec? When exactly did he start playing like "a little girl" again? He's now a team worst -13 while recently generating next to no offense. With the schedule and his teams' playoff hopes slipping away Plekanec has managed one assist in his last five games. In Boston he failed to get a single shot on goal, was terribly soft on Boston's second goal by Lucic and picked up a stupid, lazy holding the stick penalty in the Boston zone with just 1:12 to play and the Habs pressing for the equalizer.