sbhatt

To date, Koivu hasn't earned that. No way in hell a Canadien should get that honor without a cup to his name. That's not to say he might not get there by the time it's all said and done. (please, God...let there be a cup or two in the near future!!!)

Latendresse is a big forward who forechecks aggressively, and is on pace to score 20 goals as a rookie. What more can you ask for than that? We knew from the get-go that he was no Ovechkin, Malkin, or Crosby; he's certainly living up to my expectations thus far.

I liked Naslund a lot, but he's in the category of all Canadiens 'star' players except Robinson and Patrick Roy that played from the 80's to present: very good maybe, but not great. Retirement of one's jersey is a big deal no matter where you play, but I think the standard is higher (and rightfully should be) in Montreal. When you look at the resumes of the guys who's jerseys are in the rafter, being a very good player isn't anywhere near good enough to warrant consideration. I think to have your number hoisted, you should have a healthy combination of the following behind your name: leadership, long tenure with the Habs, multiple Stanley Cups, and some very impressive stats to boot.

Needed that win badly. I'm hoping what we saw out there from him tonight means that Samsonov is finally comfortable in a Habs jersey. Lapierre looked great, Latendresse too. Bad game for Kovalev...I've seen him play like he wasn't interested at times, but I don't ever think I've seen a game where he struggled to control the puck before.

Nice to see one finally go in for him...hopefully this gives him the confidence to take a run at the net more often.

I am praying for T-bay to bomb the Leafs tonight...which could easily happen if the Leafs take a lot of penalties.

I am in the camp that believes Plekenec is a problem on the second line....the guy just can't finish.

Ok, I sold Kovalev and replaced him with another player in my online hockey pool. This all but guarantees he's going to have a big game against the Bruins, as it seems that every guy I've dropped has gone on a tear right after I do it!!!

Yup...it sucks to lose close ones like the game in Jersey and tonight...but you have to look at the end result of four points out of six. A team that consistently can grab 4 points out of six is going to finish well in the standings.

I think there's some validity to Kovalev not playing all that well with lesser offensive players. But, I can't say that I blame him entirely for that: how many times can you feed a guy like Plekanec a perfect setup only to see him bumble it, before you start to think 'why even bother'? Or have him go offside constantly (Plekanec goes offside A LOT). Surely it's got to be frustrating when you're an offensive player and you're saddled with a linemate who's so offensively inept.

I like the line juggles....lots of offense generated tonight. With solid goaltending, we can definitely beat the Sabres on Saturday.

justintb brings up a good point: even though Kovy and Ribs were hardly a match made in heaven, Kovy always sat beside Ribs on the bench and was chatting it up with him constantly. I just don't see any sort of connection between him and Plekanec.

I agree with some line shuffling...because this is not working right now. The failure to get the second 'insurance' goal killed us tonight.

Hmm...three comments on the fly sex analysis already. Congratulations, shortcat...you're officially the board pervert!

Methinks you have thought through this whole fly sex thing a tad too thoroughly.

Great news...this should get our offensive production up some.

The only move I'm truly pissed off about was a non-move, and that's not signing Perrault for a measly 500K. He'd look pretty damn good centering the second line IMO.

Pretty hard to fault a guy who's crashing the net like he's supposed to that just happens to get hit by the shot.

Other players that stood out for the wrong reasons tonight: Plekanec: was back to looking somewhat lost on the offensive half of the ice tonight. Ryder: CRAP! USELESS! But Carbo was giving him a heckuva lot of ice time?!?! Trying to get him to play through the rough patch maybe? I didn't like the strategy in a close game at all! I found he coughed up the puck a lot and was the reason for several agonizing moments in the defensive zone tonight. He just didn't look confident out there. I wish he could go back to playing like he did in the first few games of the season, when he was playing aggressively and really showing some speed.

Rivet was a darned solid D-man in the old NHL...the new NHL is too fast for him to be anything more than a 5-6 pairing dman seeing spot duty. As for the comment about it not being about the 3hrs we see on TV during games...I don't care how good he may be for the dressing room, you can't pay big bucks for a 'character guy' in the salary cap era. If he can accept a reduced role and less money, then great...I'd be glad to see him back with the Habs. But if not, that money is better spent elsewhere. Oh, and another thing....that little play between Koivu and Kovalev that resulted in a goal tonight....is it just me, or does that look like it has potential to be a set play that they should try often on power plays??? Koivu dishes, Kovy draws attention to him, delays, until Koivu bursts out in front of the net and turns quickly with his stick down for the deflection. I think it could work quite a bit...just like that damn down-low play that Sundin and Tucker run.

I am all for keeping Souray and Markov. But Rivet...unless he's willing to take a pay cut, no way. Sundin blowing around him is just another example of how damn slow he is...there have been far too many instances of that this season.

I can't help but remember that backhand move where Kovalev rang it off the crossbar, and wonder if that going in would have changed the outcome of this game. It was a 'turning point' type moment IMO.

The hell it was...the ref let Souray away with two after the whistle crosschecks, and he went for the third??? Can't blame the ref there.

Souray is an idiot.

The first Cane to run Huet has to get beaten down badly...I don't care if it costs whoever does it five and a game and maybe even another game afterwards. Huet is our season...period.