THE GOOD
- Alexei Emelin. A beast on the blue line all night. Best game as a Hab. Nine hits, most of them lethal. First NHL point.
- Andrei Kostitsyn. Scoring at a pace a lot of us expect from him. So why'd it take him so long to wrestle power play time away from Mathieu Darche?
- Carey Price. Kept his team close enough to "salvage" a point.
- Mike Cammalleri. Great interception of Columbus clearing attempt (looked like he might have laid down a bunt or two in his younger days) led to Kostitsyn's game tying goal with 1.5 seconds left in first period. Also on ice for Brian Gionta's goal late in 3rd.
- Ryan White telling Sergio Momesso that he'll be ready to play in three weeks. Ryan White said that. Not Pierre Gauthier.
- PK Subban. Originally put him in category below but it didn't look right and wasn't fair. True, he spent a good deal of the night stumbling around and falling down. Maybe his legs buckled because he was tired. He played over 32:00.
- PK Unit. Led by Price.
THE BAD
- Yannick Weber. Badly caught out of position on Montreal killer RJ Umberger's goal in second period. Had ice time drastically cut.
- Hal Gill. -2. Not helped by Weber. Gill remains an elite penalty killer but is struggling 5 on 5.
- Montreal power play. 0 - 3. Not even a sniff.
- Max Pacioretty. Not much going on. Three game suspension or four was the joke in the pressbox. Affected by suspension or not starting with David Desharnais and Erik Cole?
- Habs now in 9th place in Eastern Conference, sandwiched between two teams with new coaches.
- Montreal record in shootouts drops to 1 - 4. Can't pin this one on Price. He allowed a goal by the multi - talented Rick Nash while David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty & Brian Gionta couldn't hit the back of the net. Stoned by Curtis Sanford.
- Louis Leblanc playing 4:48. What's the point? You mean to tell me that Jacques Martin couldn't find 3 - 5 more minutes for an energetic kid who was playing his first ever game on home ice?
THE UGLY
- James Wisniewski's first game back in Montreal. Typical of most of his games since returning from an 8 game suspension to start the season. He played over 28:00 and was -2; now -15 in 19 games.
- The Canadiens effort. How many more times do we have to use the adjective listless? Inexcusable to return from a California trip where they barely managed three out of six points to face the worst team in the league and produce that kind of performance. Losing to a team that had managed just two road victories all season and was backstopped by a Montreal cast off (but as we said two summers ago, wasn't the ideal back up for Carey Price somebody like Sanford who's thrilled to be back in the NHL working for less money than they paid Alex Auld and are currently paying Peter Budaj?) at this stage of the season has got to result in something a little more meaningful than benching Yannick Weber.
So back to our original question. Now what?
When the Carolina Hurricanes played like this in Montreal, they fired Paul Maurice. When the Washington Capitals played like this they fired Bruce Boudreau. When the Anaheim Ducks played like this on home ice recently against the Leafs they decided to fire Stanley Cup winner Randy Carlyle (BTW, as I write this, the only team the Ducks have beaten in their last 10 games? You got it - Jacques Martin's Montreal Canadiens). But when asked by RDS what he'd say to those who are calling for the sacking of Pierre Gauthier and Jacques Martin, Geoff Molson responded this way:
Moi, je reponds que la priorite numero un est de gagner. Je pense que nous avons l'equipe en place qui et capable du gagner
Geoff Molson wasn't speaking in Clintonese, was he?
As far as I understand, in football if a team needs to kick a ball, they call up a kicker on a field.
ReplyDeleteThen, why Mr.Martin&Co don't have a group of specially trained players, who could score a goal even with eyes shut by shooting a pack from Desjardin loge? I mean, spec-ops of shootout. Well rested on a bench and tearing the opposite net into pieces from any positions. Why it's always a dilemma?
As for what Geoff Molson says: you can't take seriously the guy who really thinks that Molson is a beer.
Carey price, Lars Eller, Erik Cole, David Desharnais, Andrei Kostitsyn, Josh Gorges and Alexei Emelin. I noticed them for positive reasons. I've consistently been noticing them for positive reasons. The more I think about it they're all new to the team or playing for a contract so they all have reasons to be motivated every night. Where's the rest of the team?
ReplyDeleteI noticed Mike Cammallerri last night for positive reasons too, but Pacioretty being completely invisible makes me wonder if the line mates had something to do with it.
Alot of teams talk about the Canadiens speed, but last night the Blue Jackets looked to be the faster team. Hab-Killer RJ Umberger's goal with 8:41 to go in the second period happened because of speed. Plekanec loses a face-off at the opposing blue line, the Columbus defenseman sends the puck wide to a waiting Umberger who bursts in on Price with a speed that the Canadiens couldn't match, reminiscent of his time with Philly.
The boo birds could be heard multiple times on the TV screen last night. They are asking for change. Change in personnel, change in style, change in something. Where was the urgency trailing late? Plekanec took a shot off the side of Curtis Sanford's net and Gionta plugged in a rebound on a play that looked more routine than urgent. Columbus has the worst record in the NHL, their starting goalie was deemed to be a #3 by Habs brass the last 2 seasons (he spent them both in Hamilton), and this all happened with the home team booing.
it's time for a change. Pierre Gauthier has been quick to plugs holes in his "leaky roof" before, now it's time to plug a leaky basement before the ship sinks.
http://habshermy11.blogspot.com
Mitch:
ReplyDelete-the uncerimonious dumping of Koivu; acquiring Gomez; throwing in McDonagh; trading PK,Higgins,Plekanec&Gorges for Vinny are all indicative of a Director of Pro Scouting and a GM that is out of his depth
-what bothers me more is that Mr Gauthier still is employed by the CH and that more importantly is indicative of an owner that is out of his depth
Scorching the wort
ReplyDeleteThe 3rd step in the brewing process is the boil. The wort(liquid) is moved into a large tank known as a kettle, where it is boiled w hops, herbs, and sugar.
Overheating the liquid or "scorching the wort" causes the liquid to caramelize. The clean up is long and difficult.
Not good for the brew master.
Step 4
On the job since July of 03, he knows the destination(creek) of his next vacation.