cmac34

I have to say, I have questioned alot of Carbo's moves throughout the season and I'm starting to think that he's not doing a very good job. I think the players have tuned him out. They seem ill-prepared and not fired up at all for most of the games.

Anybody who thinks it should have been Kovalev on waivers really doesnt know their hockey. He may not score, but he's one of the few players we have who can carry the puck into the offensive zone without having to dump it all the time. If you really watch closely, the other teams target him on that line. Without him, many of the other facets of our offensive game would be much worse. For example by drawing the D to the wing on the PP, he opens up the lanes for Souray and opens up some space down below. I think he is getting old and just isnt what he used to be. He is still quite effective for us though. Sure, Id rather have IGINLA than Kovalev, but he is still very valuable to us.

Its funny, I was just about to make a post like this myself last night. I think its too early at this point to pass judgement on him. BUT, I agree there have been some unusual decisions. The timing of Sammy's benching seemed way off. We arent in the locker room so we dont know and can only speculate as to what is going on behind the scenes. In his post game interview on Habsinsideout.com Carbo, when talking about the Samsonov issue does appear rather defensive. Anyways, despite all this its still too early. I have faith in Gainey, and if he had faith in Carbo then thats good enough for me.

Yeah, he'll be picked up FOR SURE. I hope its cuz Gainey is preparing for something big (Forsberg) because Im sure we couldve gotten SOMETHING for Samsonov.

I prefer any of the Canadian teams (except Toronto) over any American team. So that means that I would love to see Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa in there with us. Obviously the Habs are my number 1 team all the way. But I have love for the other Canadian teams as well.

Ya, Kovalev is a veteran. He doesnt have that youthful energy and adrenaline driving him every game. But he chooses when to turn it up a notch. He certainly did against buffalo. He will do it in the playoffs. He isnt going anwhere until the final year of his contract.

I dont think the team would be that affected if we traded Niinimaa. He just got here and doesnt play much so it wouldnt affect team chemistry nor the defensive combos. If the right deal came along, Id say why not. Cap space is valuable in the my new nhl especially with all the UFAs we have coming up.

As much as Im loving the Habs run right now. And they are playing solid hockey, as Red Fischer wrote, all of the pre-season questions have been answered. Still, is anyone else concerned about their 5 on 5 play? Im not nitpicking, its just constructive criticism. It's really our only major weakness. It should still be looked at though. (And Im sure it is being looked at very closely by the coaching staff). What do you guys think we can do to improve? Is it a line chemistry thing? I find in 5 on 5 situations we are often on our heels. We are able to win because our defensive zone coverage is solid, we dont give up quality chances and we've got good goaltending. Still, this is the reason why we are in the negative in goal differential 5 on 5. If we improve this we'll have a heck of a team. If not though, we could be one souray or kovalev injury away from a slide because our power play goes cold. On a completely other note: Those Fedorov rumors are the biggest BALONEY ever. That writer knows NOTHING about the Canadiens this year.

Ive been a die-hard Habs fan ever since I was little. Mostly because of my father. I only moved to Montreal 4 years ago. Anyways, I had always been looking for a site like this for the past year. There are a few others but this one is certainly the best. I discovered it this summer and I didnt actually post something until a couple months ago. Anyways, Im glad to be a member of this habs loving community.

I think Lapierre should be kept up, I was at the game yesterday and he REALLY impressed me. As for the lines this would lead to: higgins-koivu-kovalev latendresse-plex-samsonov perezhogin-bonk-johnson begin-lapierre-ryder Thats my vote. First line: I really think kovalev and sammy should be split up as I dont think Plex is the problem at all. Kovalev and Koivu worked well together last year. Second line: I know its weird putting latendresse up here instead of ryder but for some reason this is the combination that I think would work best based on style of play. Plex and Sammy are damn fast and Latendresse crashes and does alot of good work along the boards. Third line: in my opinion this is our most effective line. the first goal we scored on the pp yesterday was because of the work of this line which drew the penalty. Fourth line: Lapierred play GREAT last game. I think if he continues to play like that there is NO REASON for him to leave. Hes big, hes fast, hes defensively responsible and hes dangerous offensively. With him and begin creating havoc and Ryder capitalizing on other teams mistakes, blasting away I could see this working. I dont think Ryder is any worse defensively than Latendresse. One line I would really like to see in the future would be: lapierre-plekanec-kostitsyn. That would be exciting.

I think he will come around. I mean, the guy has been around a while and he has produced at a certain level consistently. Once he gells with his line itll be good. Whats exciting is that they are still winning without much production from him. If he gets going right towards the end of the season, come playoff time, we'll have that much more dangerous a team.

This is a good topic post. I have been thinking about this issue for the past couple of weeks myself. The thing is, Souray really is incredibly valuable to our team. Our powerplay wouldnt be anywhere near as good as it is statistically without him. He has scored alot of key or game winning goals as well. I disagree however, that just because this team is "in the hunt for the Cup" it means we shouldnt consider trading him. These situations need to be looked at long-term. We are still an upcoming team in my opinion and wont legitimately compete for the cup for a year or two but we're close. No one is denying that. Even if we do happen to win the cup this year, the GM should always look at the team from a bigger picture longer term perspective. You always want to be good and be competing for the cup. By trading Souray while his value is high, we might really be able to get something good from a long-term perspective. If there are some good possibilities out there from a long term perspective, the ideas should at least be entertained. However, given that we rely on him so much right now, and given that making the playoffs even this season is still an uncertainty (although it would be a massive disappointment if we didnt) this wont happen for a while. But i think if the right deal comes along, Say Samsonov and Souray for a more mobile, and younger offensive defensemen and a 2nd line center. Why not take it? Sometimes you have to take 1 step back to take 2 steps forward. Still, if he would accept a low salary to stay, I would vote to keep him. I like him alot.

Can someone post a link when or if they find a clip of Bouillon smacking Tucker. Id LOVE to see it (I wasnt able to watch the game yesterday. Boy am I glad that happened, its exactly what he deserves.

Good job for starting up the recognition. I like his skating ability and his work ethic as well. He quietly just does his thing (I guess it helps him stay quiety that he doesnt really speak english ) But seriously, he deserves credit, he has a bright future ahead of him and is playing so well, on what I think has clearly been our most effective line.

Thats a good question. As much as I like Souray, I dont know if Id agree with paying him 5 mill. The problem with trading him is what will we get in return? He makes such a difference for the team offensively and on the power play because of the threat he provides from the point. Thats hard to find. Still, I would rather trade him before the end of the year and get SOMETHING rather than lose him to free agency. We can let niniimaa go but as for Rivet, hopefully he'll resign for less. He really likes montreal, if he wants to stay he'll have to resign for less. And I like him and his work ethic, hes definitely not worth 2 mill tho. This off season will be alot more tricky and likely alot more active for Gainey and Co.