CerebusClone

We're only a quarter into the season, and things can change very quickly. Nonetheless, here are my current picks for the NHL individual awards (most of them): Hart: Patrick Marleau. He’s been a steady force and leader for the best team in the NHL. Marleau has always been capable of being an impact player in the NHL, but has always lacked consistency, and is capable of the worst. Well after a quarter season he’s still going strong, doing everything for the Sharks, logging heavy ice-time, and contributing on the NHL’s most dominant line so far this season with Thornton and Setogushi. Jack Adams: Todd McLellan. He’s doing a superb job with the Sharks this season. This team last year was where the Canadiens are today, a team filled with skilled players that most people saw strong Cup contenders, but that lacked structure and strong team play. This season, the Sharks are finally the hockey machine they were supposed to be, the entire team is playing well instead of relying so much on Thornton, and they control their games. McLellan definitely went to the right school in Detroit. Norris: Shea Weber. He’s been a dominant force this season, not only in the offensive zone as his statistics clearly, but also in his own all this while remaining a physical force. He’s establishing himself as a bonafide top 5 defensemen in the NHL even though he doesn’t get the same recognition as a Phaneuf. Vezina: Nicklas Backstrom. He’s been a model of consistency this season, and like Weber he doesn’t the recognition he deserves. Calder: Derrick Brassard (?). This is a really tough one, and at this point I would put Drew Doughty on par with Brassard. I choose Brassard because he’s been a consistent leader for the Blue Jackets so far this season.

Should the Hart trophy only be awarded to offensive forwards considering that the best defenseman is already awarded the Norris, the best goaltender is awarded the Vezina, and the best defensive forward is awarded the Selke? If not should the NHL introduce a new Wayne Gretzky trophy for the player voted best offensive forward? Or is the Art Ross enough even though it’s only based on statistics?

To be fair it only makes sense for CBC. Toronto is the largest population centre in Canada, the majority of Canadiens fans have access to all Canadiens games through almost basic cable (it's not pay-per-view or even an expansive specialized channel like the Movie Network, Playboy, or NHL centre Ice), and the majority of Canadiens fans also happen to be localized in a francophone province. If anything perhaps they should re-introduce Saturday night games on SRC (French CBC), that would make more sense. The are already plenty of Canadian teams fighting for air time over CBC...

I figure that the following lineup would cost us about 43 millions next season, not including reserve players: Latendresse-Plekanec-A.Kostsitsyn Pacioretty-Maxwell-S.Kostsitsyn Higgins-Chipchura-(D'Agostini/White) Stewart-Lapierre-Laraque Markov-Komisarek Hamrlik-O'Byrne Gorges-(Valentenko/Weber/Carle) Price Halak Obviously this is not what the organization is aiming for, but it’s a pretty good base. That would leave us perhaps 8-12 millions in cap space to sign 1 or 2 more established players to solidify the roster, and make a run at a 26th Stanley Cup with back-to-back championships . The question really is whether we want to resign Kovalev, Koivu, and/or Tanguay. While getting rid of so many key roster players at once is always risky, this is not exactly a strong group of impact players. Personally I do not wish to see Kovalev in Montreal after this season, I’ve explained why several times, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s unreliable, and now aging. I seem to be the only one, but I’m not impressed with Alex Tanguay, he’s pretty much exactly what I was expecting: a follower with very good skills. In my opinion, we have plenty of skilled wingers to complete other players, what we need are leaders on the ice that make these guys look great. As for Koivu, I have a lot of respect for him, but it might be time for a new era in Montreal, although I wouldn’t be against the idea of resigning him for cheaper, and into a reduced role. However there won’t be a whole lot of great free agents next summer, at least not once the best ones such as the Sedins and Zetterberg get extensions before the end of this season. I can see Hossa, Gaborik, and Havlat available, and a few other lesser quality players and/or question such as Cammalleri, Connelly, Cole, and maybe Franzen (would this guy look good outside of Detroit?).

I was in Den Haag a few years ago, and I missed all the games during my stay. I had satelitte television in my room, but no hockey. You might want to try the casino in Scheveningen, perhaps they broadcast sports events from all over the world.

People are free and to some extend even encouraged to express their opinions to other people and through various media, such as this message board, blogs, open lines on the radio, letters to newspapers, etc. However while there probably is nothing illegal about booing a player, it can be morally interpreted as being a harmful, humiliating, and almost cruel personal attack on an individual. There is a difference between fans showing their discontent about the quality of the show thet paid for (ex, lack of effort, poorly prepeared team, ...) by booing the overall effort, however last night it was a personal attack on Ryan O'Byrne, just like it was in previous years against Brisebois and Rivet. ps. I put the word "probably" in italics because I wouldn't be that surprised, especially in the US, if a player won his case in front of a judge that individuals caught booing that player were in fact performing some kind of harassement. While I would find such ruling a little ridiculous, the American justice system has done much worse...

I completely agree, Montreal fans can be really be classless. I'm not in favor for booing anyone, but I really can't understand why "fans" can boo their own players, especially not a young inexperienced player like Ryan O'Byrne who's already struggling for confidence (which is all he needs to get back on track, we all saw last year that he's more than capable of playing at the NHL level). Booing national anthems, players who decide to sign elsewhere even though they earned the right to choose where they want to play and live (many forget that they are human beings who at that age want stability and a better qaulity of life), their own players such as Brisebois, Rivet, and O'Byrne... is pointless and a huge lack of respect for those players. Unfortunately because they make so much money, players lose all their human rights in the eyes of some people... It's ok to be mad and disspointed in the team and/or some players, and this is why such discussion forums exists on various media. This is the best way to express oneself, and share those feelings with others. If they want people can criticize O'Byrne for his lack of progression, Carbonneau for not giving him the instructions and support he needs, Gainey for perhaps not evaluating his properly, and whoever else they want to point the finger to. However to actually go to the Bell centre, and try to ridiculize him and make him feel worst then he's already feeling is just mean and a complete lack of class.

I've always felt that Stempniak was an ordinary winger playing quality minutes on a weak Blues team, but he's shown that he can complete other good players; since the Leafs are giving up nothing of significant value (maybe they'll do well in St-Louis, but for now they are only depth/reserve players), it's a pretty good trade. If he develiops some interesting chemistry with Jason Blake, the Leafs could find themselves with three pretty good lines... with their decent defensive squad and Toskala, they could really compete for a playoff spot.

Or it might simply be that Kovalev constantly giving puck possesion away with his dumb, unproductive individual plays is making his linemates look pretty bad, including Koivu and Tanguay recently. I've alaways maintained that Kovalev's streaky production is mostly due to a lack of hockey sense, and not a lack of effort as most suggest. The guy has elite physical skills, there's no doubt about it, however he's never learned how to use then efficiently in order to become a genuine, constant impact player.

I agree. In fact I'm thinking that overall, Lang might have been our best centre so far this season.

It's probably a very good thing that the Canadiens are struggling at this point of the season. We finished first in the conference last year despite playing somewhat poor hockey in general, and being saved mostly by our powerplay and Kovalev's individual efforts. We went into the playoffs thinking it was enough... only to find out that we were completely unprepared and nowhere near ready to make a genuine run for the Cup. Unfortunately we came into this season exactly the same way, and our depth and skill level were enough to give us a very strong start. Meanwhile other teams fine tuned their lineup, system, and strategies, and this combined to our luck running out lead to this slump. Hopefully this slump will humble Guy Carbonneau, and make him realize that hockey has changed over the last 12-15 years; skill and strong work ethics are now the norm and no longer a huge factor, the players are much bigger, faster, stronger, and technically better that the main differentiating factor is now how well the players play as a group, and how well prepared a team is against their opponents. The entire team, players and coaches included, needed a wake-up call, and this is the best possible time to get one. I would rather lose a few points and even ranks in the standings during the regular season if it means that this team will bond more, start playing much better as a whole, and be much better prepared for the playoffs.

Kovalev has always been a turnover machine, the difference is that his individual selfish plays haven't rewarded him as well, and therefore are not making us forget everything he does wrong.

So since the Leafs planned that night before the Canadiens did, I guess you must have a lower opinion of the Habs organization, no?

The guy is exaggerating a little bit, there's no doubt anout it, but here's a quote from Minnesota radio host Bruce Ciskie about David Fischer: Schroeder wasn't the only player to put on an impressive performance Saturday in St. Paul. Here is a partial list of the players who caught my eye during the doubleheader: Minnesota defenseman David Fischer (NHL rights: Montreal) scored a power-play goal and tacked on an assist against MSU. Fischer is a big kid (six-three and around 200 pounds) who flashes a big shot and is strong with the puck. I hate making NHL comparisons, but if he continues to develop and puts on a bit more muscle, he could be a Pronger-type player, minus the suspensions (we hope). Obviously no one is expecting Fischer to become anywhere near as dominant as Chris Pronger, arguably one of the top 15/20 best defensemen in NHL history, but the mere fact that fairly knowledgeable people such as Ciskie are making such connections shows that Fischer is right back on track. Also what his coach was saying about him in that cyberpresse article is also very encouraging. I remember that near the time of the draft people were also making comparisons with Scott Niedermayer... again this tells something about his potential and skill set, and why the Canadiens were so eager to draft him.

Drawing hooking/holding penalties usually happen when - as you mentioned - a player is caught out of position. Now perhaps is it because of lack of effort and laziness, which I could agree with if it were one or two individuals. However the way I see things is that pretty much the entire team is playing messy, disorganized hockey, and pretty much everyone is out of position. To me the problem would appear to be more on the coaching side; Carbonneau gets soldiers, and it's up to him to get them to act as a cohesive, efficient unit. As for losing puck battles, I think this could also flow from the lack of preparation; the players have lost that high level of self-confidence they had during the first few games, they're thinking too much, and they're afraid to make mistakes because the coach is having a blast demoting anyone not producing (ex. AK46 played great 2 games ago, then he had an ordinary game, then he ended up with Kostopoulos).

Actually a perhaps risky solution would be for Carbonneau to pair O'Byrne with Andrei Markov, like Gainey did a few years ago with a struggling Komisarek. It wouldn't be the first time Markov made an inexperienced defenseman make strides in his development, he also did it last season with Gorges. Some people like Begin react well to being hit on the head while some others need to be challenged. This could give a huge self-confidence boost to O'Byrne, especially since it is easier to play with a top defenseman like Markov; when in doubt, just give the puck to Markov, and he'll get you out of trouble.

That's what I was saying, I have absolutely nothing against Mike Komisarek dropping the gloves for the right reasons (i.e dirty hits, guys who keep crashing the net ...) however he should not be the one sending messages; that's what our 4th liners should be doing including Laraque, Lapierre, Begin, Kostopoulos, and even Dandeneault (I'm not expecting him to fight, but he should at least something... he has to be the most useless player in NHL history, he doesn't do even one thing well)... Bouillon and O'Byrne should not be above this either... It's almost unbelievable that despite investing over 10 million dollars in 4th liners forwards and bottom pairing defensemen that one of our key core players still has to be the one sending messages...

Exactly what tangible evidence tells you the players are lazy and not working? Can you think of specific plays or examples of this? I ask because it feels to me that most people, including Carbonneau, systematically blame and point to a lack of effort from the players whenever the team loses or isn’t playing well. To me an example of a player not working and not willing to make sacrifices was Jan Bulis a few years ago when he rushed for the puck with Marco Sturm skating in opposite direction. Both players got the puck at just about the same time, and instead of giving/taking a hit to gain puck possession, Bulis wussed out, stopped skating, stepped aside, and basically gave the puck to Sturm… and if I remember correctly Sturm scored on that play, or at least got a great opportunity. To me this is an example where a player should be blamed. However I don’t see anything remotely like this in Montreal right now, to me it looks as of everyone is committed, trying their best, and working hard… the closest I can think of is Alex Kovalev who again last night tripped a player after a hit to satisfy his own personal ego – I say again because he did it twice against Boston in the last playoffs, and all three times it either lead or came very close to lead to a goal at a crucial moment in the game. Again what I saw last night is group of willing, committed individuals just playing terrible, messy, and incoherent hockey. Things look pretty good at the individual level, but as a group they look like a mediocre team. Numerous long passes, giveaways, an awful transition game … and we’re practically never in control of play.

Dropping the gloves will always be part of Komisarek's game, just like it is for Iginla, Thornton, and other large physical players that also happen be top players at their position. After all Komisarek cannot be this intimidating physical without other players knowing that he can back it up, and also he needs to maintain his level of passion and emotion to remain effective... which leads to fighting every once in a while. However it is clear that the team doesn't benefit from losing a top player for 5 minutes (not to mention the risks for injuries), which is why - like Iginla and Thornton - Komisarek needs to learn to pick his fights, and drop the gloves only when necessary (i.e. to defend a teammate after a dirty hit). In my opinion his fight against Lucic was NOT one of those situations, we lost him because his emotions got the best of him.

I agree with Dutch_Habs_Fan that Ryan O’Byrne has very little to learn at the AHL level, he’s past that point of his career. We’re seen last season that he can be effective in the NHL, and we need to get him back on the right track. He needs to gain his self-confidence back, and as we’ve discussed before on this board, perhaps some better coaching from a former NHL defenseman on a consultant basis (who could probably also help the rest of the squad). Sending him to the minors would only be a form of punishment, which would probably have the reverse effect while being somewhat undeserved as he’s working very hard; he’s just thinking way too much, and is more pre-occupied with not making mistakes than doing good things on the ice. He’s basically where Komisarek was a few years ago under Claude Julien. I also agree with simonus that the Canadiens will be a better team in the playoffs with a confident Ryan O’Byrne, as were the Bulldogs during their run for the Calder Cup; O’Byrne was a dominating physical force, and was a key player for them along with Price and Chipchura.

Great post, I agree with pretty much evertything. Koivu is a good leader, although perhaps a silent one liek Yzerman or Sakic (although he's not an impact player liek they were). Some of the young players need to step up, and take control of the team; Koivu is aging, and it's time for the young blood to gradually begin the next era. And the team lacks structure, looks unprepared, improvises too much, and all this gets exposed when we're under pressure.

Maybe if Lucic wanted to drop the gloves as well, however I doubt that Laraque brutally attacking a unwilling Lucic and getting thrown out of the game would do any good for the Canadiens. After all Shawn Thornton didn't exactly the the Bruins fired up during the pre-season when he went after Steve Bégin... what's funny is that the fans who criticized Thornton now want Laraque to do the same (at least Thornton had a reason)...

I completely disagree with that, first of all Lucic has done nothing to deserve such retaliation, beating him up for playing a great clean game is only misdirected anger. Sure the guy was a little cocky, so what… he’s a young emotional kid trying to prove his worth in the NHL. I personally wish some of our young guys, for example Latendresse, Lapierre, and even the Kostsitsyn brothers had this kind of self-confidence and passion for the game. Laraque’s job is to protect our players, pound on guys who take cheap shots and/or abuse our core players like Koivu, Kovalev, Markov, and Tanguay … and not to beat up every player who plays well againsts us. With this said, it doesn’t mean he can’t be a physical force out there, and intimidate players like Lucic, Savard, Bergeron, and other key players. Besides guys like Lucic, Iginla, Morrow … only get better when you go after them, the worst thing you can do about these emotional players is to get them fired up. If Lucic feels like he’s a target and that he matters, he’ll only have more energy and be even better.

Unfortunately we can forget about Chipchura or even Weber unless we have injuries or Gainey gets rids of one or two useless veterans; Carbonneau has made it very clear that he gives priority to players under NHL 1-way contracts. It's too bad because we could really use a guy like Chipchura, especially for playoffs. He's known for his leadership (although of course it would take him some time to establish it at this point of his career), for being a clutch player, for winning battles for the puck, for doing the dirty work and picking up garbage goals, for picking up the occasional fight to defend a teammate, and for basically doing everything Carbonneau keeps asking his players... all this while still being capable of providing some level offense with strong passing skills and hockey sense. In comparison Dandeneault does absolutely none of this... and provides nothing else... With that said a second-year player who can't really be expected to be much more than a depth player at this very moment should never counted on to boost a NHL team, if he did then it would indicate a much deeper problem, and would thus only be temporary. Regardless of what we think it is (i.e. coaching, leadership, work ethic, effort), there is a problem with the Canadiens, and it needs to be fixed before we even think of making a trade or calling up some kids... that could only pacth things up temporarily...

The role of the 4th line is to be a non-factor in games? I agree you can't expect much offense out of Begin and Dandeneault, but to reward them for doing nothing more than the other three lines is pointless in my opinion. At least there's always a good chance the other lines will score a goal with all their talent, but you'll need a really lucky break to see the 4th line put one behind the net. If our forth line was Lapierre-Chipchura and either Kostopoulos or Laraque, then maybe you could play them a little more since there's some talent there, but there was no point to increase the ice-time of Begin and Dandeneault last night when we were trailing by one goal. I think a better idea would have been to put Guillaume Latendresse on a scoring line since he played well, but was useless with some skilled players around him.