BCHabnut

Actually there are. The reason the teams are forechecking us so hard is because our defense can't skate! They are the slowest defense in the league. Guaranteed. The games we lose, the gameplan is always the same. Dump and chase. Hem in the slow D. You watch that puck go to the right boards and that fraction of a second that it takes the defender to switch from the backhand to the forehand is all that's needed or the forechecker to regain possession. Thankfully the team is very deep in defensive prospects. At least one has to turn out good. Add to that a year with a few less injuries than we've had in the last two, and they might be OK in the future. I also see positives in Boucher's coaching. I actually think that if Martin doesn't succeed in 2010/2011, and Boucher continues his impressive resume, you may see him in the big team. Hopefully it works the other way where The depth in developement improves and the organizational strength makes them a contender. Boucher grooming the Dogs and Martin wotking with the Habs. Honestly I have liked the teams work ethic this year.

meh. outcoached again. i've said it before. the coach's tell their forwards to forecheck hard and beat our matrix defense. 2 out of six can actually skate fast TWO! |Then keep the oompa loompas to the outside. Habs got outplayed in every aspect of the game. Tomorrow better be better or 12th place here we come.

uggggh. this is the worst i've seen this team play in a while. No offence. can't hold the line or stop the Ottawa forecheck. it's disgusting.

This game is hard to watch. Very frustrating. I would start Halak in the third. Price has not looked good for the last two games. This jaysix guy is iritating. If he continues this behaviour I recomend he go the way of Lindenfan. Need a strong third. Paccioretty needs to go to the minors. How good has Benny P been?

I really believe that what we see are patterns. It's hard to explain. Reffing is not an exact science. The refs don't want to be the guy to change the game. They don't want that. Maybe in the back of their minds, they are thinking well, this team has had the best power play in the league for 3 out of four years, so i don't want to make a bad call against their opponent and change the game. Also, remember the 07/08 playoffs? Holy dive fest. It was gross. There were Habs diving all over the ice. They want that PP. They are the best at it. It turned out that the Flyers PK owned us and it became a negative, but it wsn't good. You also see patterns where the ref appears to put away the whistle for a while. Then things get blatant and they have to tighten up. When this happens, someone will get stung. Sometimes it is us. I also wonder if the fans are hurting the team, by calling the penalty before the ref. I have experienced myself as well as other co-workers do silly things when they think that someone is questioning their professional competency.

Ya, I know. That's a wierd one. it's like he needs the moral support. Maybe AK doesn't know enough english and SK translates for him. hahaha

Should be a good game. Go habs go

ya, i should have been more specific. the goals were a bit soft, but the real concern was just the way he looked out there.

I watch a lot of Oilers hockey. it's on local sportsnet. Cogliano has potential, but if we are keeping Plek, I would much rather have SK. He is bigger and plays with so much of an edge. I know size doesn't matter that much but have you guys noticed that the team needs one big talented guy on each of the top 2 lines? AK when he warmed up and Benny are critical to our top 2 lines. Cogliano would add depth, but unless one of the oompa loompas get hurt. he would make our top 6 that much smaller. The oilers are a small team up front for top 6 players as well, except Penner. That;s probably why they are shopping him.

Guys...I was born and raised in BC. Carey played against my nephew and they knew each other distantly. He is from a neighboring area to my wife's home town. I have a Price jersey, and I love the kid's potential. I'm not blaming him in any way. The actual goals that were scored on him were not what I was really talking about. The first shot was tricky, like I said. The second shot, Plek cut in front of him and he could see nothing. But you can tell when Price isn't playing well. I was more reffering to his nonchalant puck handling behind the net, bad passes and clears and being way out of position on several plays that thankfully didn't result in any shots on goal. For 30 minutes, he did not look that good. For 30 minutes he did look good. That's more what I was getting at.

I think Bob has to pull some magic like the Sharks did. If they hadn't made that trade with Vancouver, they would have never signed Heatly. The same needs to happen hear. BGL and Hammer's contracts need to go in order to sign plek.

cogliano is 5'10" and 184 pounds. If Plek can't be signed, I guess he could be an option, but man I wish we could be attached to some rumours for bigger forwards. I would sooner see a straight across trade for Smid. I think he is still developing and could be a top 4 D for sure. He is a left hander though. This doesn't bother me too much knowing that Subaan, Weber, and Carle are all right handers, and NHL almost ready. Smid's salary is also around 800000, i think.

What a weird game. So many giveaways. 2 softies by Price. That 1st one was tricky though. He didn't look until after he shot. His head was turned quite sharp to the left. The second he was way too deep in his net, but all he could see was number 14. Anyway. Price looked rusty. He scares me sometimes. How good is benny P? I love the way he plays. Gio with a couple. Nice to see Cammy get on the board. This team needs to stop giving the puck away. Get possession. protect the puck. take a look make the safe pass and support the puck carrier with speed. isn't that the martin system? we sure didn't play it today. too many fast long passes. Hey a win is a win. now can we please beat a contender this year?

I don't see why this conversation is occurring. Did everyone think the team would be in first right now? New coaches up and down, new core, half a new team, their best player out for 3 months. at least one top 2 D or top 3 forward out from the begining of the year. I'm confused by all of this. let's see how th eteam does in the second half.

You will continue to see this throughout the league. The cap will really affect how many high quality players a team can have. Once they hit UFA, they are gone! Get used to it. You guys like to talk about money so much. Streit and Souray were PP specialists. Bob signed MAB for a fraction of either of those guys. Bob's a genius. hahahahaha

Exactly. In a cap era, the contract matters a bit more, but to be honest, i liked Gomez from the beginning. He is a huge upgrade on Kovy for carrying the puck into the zone. He enters the zone untouched almost every time. He does it with such speed that it is very fun to watch. I like watching Gomez play hockey. The only time I care what he earns is when we lose players because of the cap.

I like Price. He is from my wife's hometown. He has so much talent and great technique, but bottom line is Halak is playing awesome. I don't think we can trade either of them. In fact, if we make the playoffs I want to see the hotter goalie in net. That might be Halak, and it might not be. For now, Halak has earned the bulk of the work.

Ready to finish the season in the AHL and get more experience before coming up and seeing how the big dogs do it. Trotter and Desharnais are doing really well this year too. Doesn't mean they are ready. We ain't winning the cup this year. Why risk hurting his developement during a nothing year.

ya why not!

I think Metro could if Whyte were called up. He's a C isn't he?

Halak will get the start. Martin has been playing the hot hand all year. He gave Price a little more leeway because he was the starter, but Halak has gotten consistent starts all year/

wow. this team is actually cursed. this is ######ed.

There is a reason Price has the most wins of all goalies in the league for his age. He started extremely young. 23 or 24 IS the age when goalies break into the league. 24 IS too young to back up an inconsistent starter. You need a vet backing up a kid. Look at the breakdown of the careers of Brodeur, Fleury, Luongo, and so many others and you will see that. I don't think it is wise to trade Halak and expect Cedrick to fill in for Price if he faulters. The reason that the Habs were so dominant for so many years is that they didn't have to do this sort of thing before. Thye left the talented guys in the minors and let them develope fully. I think Price, Max, SK, Dagostini could all have benifitted with some time in the minors. But especially Price.

Subaan?

This team has sucked since 95 MK1. I cheer for them. So I guess I have been celebrating mediocrity for 15years. I like good players. I am not a GM, so what they earn really means nothing to me. Get enough good players to entertain me and give me a reason to cheer for you. We traded Higgins for Gomez. Gomez is good. Cammy and Gionta came because of Gomez. I don't argue that he is overpaid, but it is what it is. It won't change. I personaly like the work ethic of our new core, way more than the last 10 years. The business side of sports tends to consume us. In the end if the team can afford it, great. You can say they can't and he is the reason and blah blah blah, but there are a at least 10 teams in the same position. Bob couldn't develope a top line C, so he went out and signed one. The best available was Gomez. That's it.