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Wamsley01

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Posts posted by Wamsley01

  1. Lack of puckmoving defencemen is huge on this team.

    A hardworking strong forecheck gives the Habs all kinds of problems.

    Look at the games versus Toronto. Hardworking limited in talent.

    Strong forecheck and we have been badly outshot and have had to battle

    from 2 goal defecits 2 times to salvage points.

    With Streit on the wing we have one solid puck moving defenceman.

    And it is not Souray!!

  2. I have to say just when I finally began to believe this year was different

    they respond with their regular mid season collapse.

    It is definitely frustrating to watch. They get outworked and outshot almost every game

    and they are no longer winning those games.

    We lived off Huet, Higgins, Koivu, Souray, Markov and special teams all year.

    And the second their production dipped nobody else has stepped up.

    Kovalev, Samsonov have done nothing. When the special teams struggle, the 5 on 5 has not

    gotten us off the hook. Aebischer has had ample opportunity to raise his game and push

    Huet and he continues to make 2-3 spectacular saves to offset his 2-3 brutal goals per game.

    They have used up their cushion and now sit 7 points from missing the playoffs.

    They play Atlanta on the road, Buffalo at home and then Ottawa who is flying and Toronto

    who we have struggled with all season.

    This season we are not even competing, during our streak last season we were blowing late

    leads or suffering 3rd period meltdowns but signs of life were there. This season I see no

    fire. No accountability. It definitely worries me. Last season we had the option of firing the coach, and turning over the reins to Huet. This season we will not fire the coach and Abby is not the answer. So either this bunch of players take some responsibility for their actions or Gainey is going to have to make a deal.

    We'll see what happens but this streak is getting to long to ignore.

  3. I agree that there are not many unbiased informed reporters out there.

    Unfortunately living in Toronto I have to sift through utter garbage every day.

    Columnists here are either Leaf lovers or Leaf bashers.

    The only writer I trust in this market is Stephen Brunt, but he is not really a hockey guy.

    Unfortunately most reporters are more interested in web hits than reporting a credible story.

  4. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/columnist.j...107_175712_2916

    According to Jim Kelly. Buffalo writer who works in Toronto commenting on Huet.

    I listen to this guy on Primetime Sports, he is talking out his ass!!

    "but on the road, he's oft-times the reason they lose or aren't even in the contest. See Thursday night's performance in Washington as a case in point."

    LOL, Let's use a game where the whole team was flu ridden and did not show up as a case in point.

  5. The funniest thing about that deal was Pierre Lacroix stepping down

    2 months after saddling the Avs with that $5 Million Contract.

    I hated Abby when the deal was made and I was still happy as hell to

    be out from under that contract!!

    Great deal! It just shows that Bob Gainey knows what the hell is going

    on in the new NHL.

    Not like the drunken sailor running the Leafs tossing out 3-4 year contracts

    to everybody he can.

  6. Exactly BTH

    Everybody gets so negative when we play poorly, and it is frustrating to watch.

    But this is not the same team as the Therrien, Julien teams that were essentialy

    totally overmatched against the top 10 teams in the league and we watched and

    hoped to survive and somehow steal wins.

    This team has alot of talent but is being outworked. But that can and will be fixed.

    Would you rather be Toronto with less talent who works really hard every game and

    does not have the offensive talent to finish and has a sieve blowing easy shots and

    breaking their backs.

    Carbo and the rest of his staff will get it right. We also have tons of chips to play at the

    deadline to improve our roster for the final run.

    If we double up our first half record we would finish with 102 points. That would be our best

    record since 93. I do not understand the expectations of fans expecting 100 point seasons when we have only had 1 since 1989. We have been patient for 10 years and this is the beginning of the ascent

    to the top of the league.

    We have talent on the NHL roster, we have guys playing out of their mind who in October 2005 we had no expectations of in Huet and Higgins. But instead there is whining about what we are not.

    What we are not is as good as Buffalo or Anaheim...yet.

    In 3 months that could change though. A trade, a call up, a hot streak...ya never know.

  7. It is not obvious we are a poor team, WTF??

    Anaheim has lost 5 of 6.

    San Jose is coming of a December stretch where they won 2 of 7.

    Carolina the defending champ was coming off losing 4 of 5 to go with a 4 game losing streak at the beginning of December

    Nashville lost 4 of 5 in early december

    NJ lost 4 in a row in November and lost 4 of 5 in December.

    I guess they are all poor teams as well. Hockey seasons last 82 games.

    You have winning streaks and you have losing streaks. That is what happens.

    What did you think of this team when they ripped off 5 in a row?

    What about last year when they ripped off 9 in a row. The same season in which they

    lost 10 of 14.

    Give me a break. Unless you were misguided enough to belive they were going to finish with 110 pts

    This is reality. They are a flawed team with a bright future.

    We will be watching out for you when you are repairing your ankles long enough to jump back on the wagon.

    Streaks happen, unless you are an elite team like the old Oilers, Habs and Pens.

  8. I can't argue with their effort. It is disappointing to see them outworked regularly.

    And surprising seeing as the management and coaching staff consist of 4 of the hardest working

    players I have ever seen.

    If Abby was our starter we WOULD be fighting for our playoff lives.

    I have faith in Gainey and Carbo though.

    Buffalo up 2-0 on Toronto 6 minutes in.

  9. My point was not to manipulate stats.

    We are slumping, but unless your team is the 80's Oilers or 70's Habs it was inevitable.

    I do not want to finish at .500 either. But that is almost a worse case scenario for us.

    The teams below us cannot afford another losing streak or it will wipe out their season.

    Considering I saw the late 70's and the 80s when the Habs won Cups, put up 100 pts every year

    and essentially owned the Adams division. I have to keep things on an even keel and not

    get to high and to low with every game. I was spoiled then and the last 10 years smacked me with

    a hard dose of reality. Taking shit from the same Leaf fans who I laughed at for 20 years was tough.

    We are in the best position in the present and looking to the future in almost 15 years.

    Even the Leafs came out of their freefall to start playing competitive hockey again.

    We will get the wheels going again. Guaranteed.

  10. Last season

    Ocotober - 8-3-1

    November - 5-8

    December - 4-6-2

    January - 5-8

    February - 4-1-2

    March - 10-5-1

    April - 5-4

    Last season after 41 games

    18-20-3

    This season

    Ocotober - 6-2-3

    November - 8-5

    December - 8-4-2

    January - 1-2

    This season after 41 games

    23-13-5

    I know alot of people are in freefall panic mode right now, but look at the numbers.

    We have not had a full month under .500 yet. We are 12 points ahead of last season's pace.

    If we play .500 for the rest of the season we sit at 92 points, exactly where we finished last season.

    We are

    3 up on NYR with 2 games in hand

    5 up on Ottawa with 2 games in hand

    5 up on Carolina with 2 games in hand

    7 up on Toronto with 1 game in hand

    8 up on Boston who has 2 games in hand on us

    9 up on Pittsburgh who has 2 games in hand on us

    Who would not have taken that in October? Our fast start blurred the view of what the Habs are.

    We are an up and coming team who is probably a couple of years away.

    We hava a good core, but it is flawed. Kovalev does not show up every night, Samsonov has been

    invisible and we are relying on 2 kids (Higgins, Latendresse) who have been great but who are both young.

    Are Special teams have been unbelievable and Huet is the reason we have such a big cushion.

    So you can either predict impending doom, or be happy we have the best record we have had since 1993 at this point in a season. Who thought Bonk and Johnson would be this great?

    Is it frustrating watching them go through a losing streak? Yes. But calling out Carbo, and individual players is ridiculous. The 1993 Champs were 1st overall with 18 games left and got 14 out of a possible 36 points to finish the season. The fans wanted to trade Patrick Roy and let Red Light take over. And we went on to win the Cup. The season is long, Anaheim has lost 5 of 6 and the Sabres are riding a 2 game losing streak going into Toronto tonight.

    The Habs are in 4th comfortably and we just witnessed Grabovsky and Lapierre play great games.

    We have Kostitsyn, Chipchura, Danis and Halak in Hamilton, premier prospects like David Fischer and Alexei Emelin in the wings and we just watched Carey Price, Juraj Mikus, lil' Kostitsyn and Valentenko light up the World Juniors.

    Added to the fact that the future is in the hands of Bob Gainey, Guy Carbonneau, Kirk Muller and Dougie Jarvis. 15 Stanley Cups and 9 Selke trophies. These guys are winners and they know what the hell they are doing.

    This is not the Houle/Tremblay days. Just be glad you are not a Leaf fan!

    So have some P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E.

  11. How is this for perspective....We do have games in hand on most of the East

    Winning Percentage

    1. Buffalo - .763

    2. Atlanta - .643

    3. Montreal - .638

    4. New Jersey - .615

    5. NY Rangers - .547

    6. Ottawa - .547

    7. Boston - .539

    8. Carolina - .535

    9. Pittsburgh - .526

    10. NY Islanders - .525

    11. Toronto - .523

    12. Washington - .500

    13. Tampa Bay - .475

    14. Florida - .441

    15. Philadelphia - .325

    Carbo, Muller, Jarvis and Gainey are all winners. They will figure it out and turn it around.

    Keep the Faith!

  12. People are overreacting because we have seen this show before.

    When this happened in 1995 it took everybody until they were out of the playoffs to realize they were not going to make the playoffs.

    But that was because the Habs made the playoffs every year, won the Adams 10-15 times and the Cup 6 times in the previous 20 years.

    The last 10 years have had alot of false hope that were dashed by weak teams that were playing over their heads.

    But this team is different. But the Habs win games with special teams and great goaltending and get outshot regularly. So everybody who is afraid of a collapse flies off the wagon when things go wrong.

    This team is not a Stanley Cup contender, but you never know in the new NHL.

    But the Leafs are pasting the Bruins right now with a terrible roster getting goals from Battaglia, Steen, Pohl and Kris Newbury.

    When was the last time the Habs pasted someone?

    Put the game out of hand early and just dominated play?

    They start terribly and hope to get out of the first tight, then let Huet make big stops and let the Special teams takeover. Same story most nights.

    They are on the right track but they are still growing as a team. Sometimes it is hard to be patient...but we have waited for 10 years for a good team, I can be patient for a while longer.

  13. I joined a couple of years ago but I forgot my password so I went from Wamsley to Wamsley01.

    I usually read the board everyday and only post if I have something to say that has not already been said.

    Living in Leafland is pretty painful so this is a huge escape. They are the best team in the world again after beating Carolina.

  14. Well we are certainly going to be putting our string of zero back to back losses to the test against New Jersey.

    Seeing as we have only won 3 of our last 15 with them.

    The Ryder call was brutal, the hook lasted for a good 4-5 seconds and directly led to an odd man rush the other way. But the Bruins caught the luck tonight, a banker behind the net, a dribbler that Huet stops 95% of the time and a point shot that hit Souray and went in.

    The habs probably should not have snaked a point on Saturday so it all evens out.

    The main problem still remains 4 lines playing a solid 60 minutes. Until that happens, nothing will change.

  15. I don't believe anybody has a problem with the material they choose to use.

    But the lame side swooshes and the lack of the solid bar across the arms is a major makeover

    to a classic instantly recognizable icon that has existed for 80 years.

    Obviously we do not expect anybody to wear wool jerseys. No more than we expect Huet

    to go out the next game with no mask wearing 17lb leatherpads.

    Change the fabric as technology dictates, but don't mess with the classic design.

    That is fine for the Nashville Predators, not the Montreal Canadiens.

    I like the idea of updating the look of hockey players.

    Everyone is writing as if the jerseys have been the same since the Habs came into being. Lets not forgot orginally the uniforms were made of wool. Anyone care to go back to that? Of course not, the uniform was changed to create a more effective game. Allow the players to not have to worry about weight and water. Progress.

    Perhaps just change the look slowly as not to shock the jersey consertives.

  16. Please tell me this is a comp for their practice jersey.

    Can you say cash grab! The Canadiens jersey is like the Yankee Pinstripes,

    you do not mess with history. Check out this site.

    http://www.nhluniforms.com/

    You have to go to 1924-25 to find any substantial change. They have changed their Number font

    and their logo has been altered slighty (probably more to do with with technology than anything)

    but it has remained the same.

    The audacity for Bettman and Reebok to even consider it is unbelievable.

  17. I think the answer to this question is simply that the Habs' teams of recent years haven't been terribly good. A limited team can get hot and all that, but when the other teams really, truly goes desperate on their asses, they tend to collapse, because the weaknesses get exposed in moments of maximum stress. This doesn't tend to happen to truly strong teams like the Devils or even the Leafs prior to this season.

    It's noteworthy, then, that THIS edition of the CH pulled out a win in the end, not a loss; and also that the Habs were in that position partly due to the fact that they were down to five D due to Souray's balls injury. This team is stronger than the Habs have been in about a decade, so they're more likely to avoid crucial collapses and/or to be able to recover from them and still win.

    I totally agree and the fact that they pulled out a win helps tremendously.

    Just personal frustration. The last 5 years have been torturous for somebody who has watched the Habs always find a way to win and go into lockdown mode once they had a lead. Some people call it spoiled.

    But from 1979 to 1998 I don't think the Habs blew as many games as they have in the last 5 years.

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