Chris

That stinks about Legace, I heard last night oon there broadcast he was having the surgery. My bad.

Yea, it's like a train wreck, sometimes it's hard to look away know matter how bad it gets.

The weather has been bad here a few nights, so I didn't get to go out or anything. So i had the displeasure of watching Saturday and last night. My hockey league is Thursday so i can miss that game. So yea i couldn't stay away too long. Unfortunately i am usually right when it comes to this team the last few years.

St Louis can use a goalie, knee surgery ending the season. I doubt they will go for toivanon all year. 14 goals against the last 2 games. Huet can go there for a first rounder. Know one very interesting on that team who they would trade.

Yea, if he gets sent down or not playing the next game i would be pretty disappointed. If my calculations are correct, Brisbois had 3 turnovers right in the slot, i actually thought he got benched, Markov had 2 bad ones, Hamrlik 1 and Komi had a couple. So O'Byrne actually didn't look too bad. The only difference is Price made the saves on all the other turnovers. I read 27 turnovers last night, tampa had 5. That is ridiculous.

Also, the played better under BG because it was there boss 2 feet behind them. Everyone who works knows that if the owner was sitting by you all day your behavior would immediately improve. Like posting here on my lunch break.

Everytime i try to defend him he does something crazy to make look like a fool. Dandy is now the RW of the day on the first line. (Read it on another site). Markov and Koivu need some heat for there play. They have been awfull. GC needs to be fair to everyone, stop caling out the 20 year olds when the vets suck worse. His other problem he can't turn a Ford Fiesta into a Ferrari.

don't you notice that ALL goalies look good against the habs? Thibaelt even shut them out. The canes dominated the habs until they backed off. They had like 19 shots after 1 period. The game was over then.

Well unfortunately due to a snow and ice storm i was unable to attend a Xmas party with my girlfriend so i had the night free to watch the game. Boy what a mistake i made. I thought after a few weeks of not watching them something would change but nothing did. Same old stuff different day. So i'll lay it out one more time, this team needs an ENEMA. Iread a few posts to catch up. So here goes: These guys suck, period. No effort, no pride, no heart and no character. Coaching: 3 problems 1, They need a defensive coach 2, GC says he expects hard work and dicipline, however he apparantly only expects it from rookies. He doesn't treat everyone the same, that is his major problem. Only benches Ryder and Lats? That's not a statement. 3. For everyone bitching about GC, may i remind everyone that AV, MT and CJ all coached this team and got the same results. NOTHING. They are all 3 now coaching playoff teams, this doesn't sound like a coaching problem, it's a lazy player problem. Reember, this is the same coach who had this team playing awesome the first 12 games. My guess is the message hasn't changed, the players have. PK: Absolutely pathetic Pk is about hard work so it's no mystery the habs struggle since they don't work hard. They might as well just throw out 4 pilons oout there and see if the goalie makes the stop. Goaltending: Most people like to bash the goaltending, however i'll say it's the teams only strength. I'm a numbers guy so here goes, most NHL goalies stop between 90-95 shots out of 100. Unfortunately for the habs it takes teasm about 2 1/3 games to get to 100 shots, where it takes other teams about 3 1/2 games. Too many shots against. I feel bad for the goalies playing in front of that defensive mess. Defense: Horrid, can they back up any more and be any softer? Carolina went through them like swiss cheese. Forwards: Miserable: Absolutely no clue how to create offense or back check. that's not a good combination. On a team that can't score the solution is dressing 8 defeseman? WTF. The top players are certainly not earning there money, Koivu, Markov have been miserable at best. Good points: Hamrlik +7 on a team full of minus players. Chipchura plays very well. Surprisingly Kovalev has been pretty good. What to do: 3 choices 1. Leave it as is. We all know what that will bring, the same as the last 10 years nothing. 2. Give up some youth to get a great player. I vote NO, the team is not one player away, it's closer to 10 players away. 3. Trade the vets and go to the youth movement. I am in favor of that. Koivu: Has NTC, but could be moved for another struggling centre Kovalev: can fetch you a good young forward and a 1st rounder i think. Ryder: trade him for Torres, similar contracts and Edmonton is looking for a RW scorer. Torres lappiere Kosto looks good to me. Smoke: Also NTC, will be tough to move Bouillon: trade him and Brisby for whatever. This team simply needs to grow some balls, visit the wizard to get some heart and courage. My rec team could out work these guys. Anyway, after watching just one game in the last few weeks i think i need another vacation from these lazy slugs.

Well another disappointing effort last night. The people asking for Lats to be benched either don't know hockey or just have a favourite player they like to pick on. He was not on the ice for any goals, he was hitting and doing great work against the boards. He didn't create much offensively, but KNOWONE on the habs did. They had a breakaway and PP goal. The rest 5 on 5 was hard to watch. The forward lines need a shakeup. They are simply not producing 5 on 5 again. The plus minus is heading right back to last years effort. The defense was awfull on all 3 goals last night. Why is it that other teams ALWAYS have a 2 to 1 advantage in front of the Habs net but the Habs can't figure it out on the other end. The D needs to figure out how to win a battle, lift a stick or even better actually HIT someone. Why no offense? 1. They pass when they should shoot. Always trying to make a perfect play. 2. Know one drives to the net (higgins sometimes) 3. You are suppose to cycle towards the net not away from it. How many frickin turnover happen when a habs, stops, circles back away from the net and try a pass through 5 people. Too many. 4. No player has the stones to make a tough play and get a garbage goal. Coaching: 1. GC has 2 faults: 2. He doesn't treat everyone the same, vets get special treatment they don't deserve. BVenchings are for everyone. 3. He rely's on the vets in crucial situations and normally gets burned. He has not learned that this has NEVER worked in the past 5-6 years. The vets are not defensively responsible. Chipchura, Begin, Kosto and even Dandy should be the players out there in crucial defensive situations. Since Xmas is coming early this year, I beleive the slump is starting already, and yes i am sticking to my prediction of finishing 10th. I have decided not to watch any more habs games or post for a few months. i am not a fan who blindly follows a team or sees it with rose colored glasses. I can't see wasting another 2 1/2 hours of my life for a team who doesn't seem to care about winning. They just float around like lifeless zombies. They haven't really earned my time. Winning and losing happens, as a fan you take the good and the bad but i just can't stand millionares getting a free pass on effort or lack there of. It's been an emabaarasement to the jersey for many years. So I'll take a break for a while. Hopefully for you posters they can prove my predictions wrong. This is an awesome site and i'll be back again sometime late in the year and we'll see what has happened with the team.

Well BTH you are correct, Unfortunately for the Habs brisbois panics as well, Bouillon is poor in his own end as well. So after the top 3, who aren't playing well lately, the team is pretty weak defensively. Why Gorges doesn't warrant more time is beyound me. What the heck was brisbois doing last night, letting players skate by him several times to win icings, outworked and outhit by someone 165 ounds, absolutely redicolous.

While the habs were choking again last night night i watched Michigan and Wisconsin. So i got to see both Pacioretti and Mcdonagh play. Pacioretti is going to be a player. that can can skate. I beleive he had 2 assists and was on the ice all 3 goals. The Eric Cole comparison is a good one. He reminds me more of a young Ryan Smyth who can skate. The college game is played a little different so he doesn't play around the net as much as Smyth does but he certainly works the boards well. He may only be a year or 2 away. The puck just follows this guy around. McDonough is a great skater and passer. His shot is always on the net and makes very good decisions. He didn't lose one battle he was involved in that i saw last night. Very solid in his own end and makes good clearing passes. He is probably a year or 2 away.

Has it been confirmed that Huet is in? They'll definitely have to work hard for points tonight. The Islanders are a hard working physical team.

Thanks Wamsley.

Gotcha, i thought you meant last year to this year.

I don't get emotional about games winning or losing. The only thing i look for is a team that plays hard and does what it takes to win. I mean these guys get thousands of dollars every game, so for them to play hard for 24 minutes or less each night isn't too much to ask for. Your right, i don't know what was said or done behind the scenes. I do know that it doesn't transfer to the ice. 3 playoffs in 8 years isn't good. I don't have a problem with koivu, he's no messier on the leadership front is all i'm saying. The ship is turning around and i like the direction of the team.

If your the leader of a team that never wins, you are not a winner either.

What has he led the Habs too?

Right, Ted Nolan does it too. Here is the difference between them and Carbo, carbo talks about hard work and expects it. The other coaches you mention will bench anyone at anytime, these coaches will call them out publicly. Carbo only seems to bench rookies and replace them with other rookies. Examples: Ryder should have been benched GC didn't , the other coaches you mentioned would have. Markov would have been sat out after taking all those penalties during the one game i forgot which one. GC wouldn't do it. So my omly problem with GC is he needs to treat everyone the same, if Lats had a bad game he'd be sitting, why aren't the vets.

I'll get jumped for this one but Koivu isn't a great leader. he is a great player and person, he just doesn't make his team better with his leadership.

Well Wamsley, i beleive it is the players. Especially the vets. They have been given a free ride for too many years and they developed alot of bad habits. For whatever reason it's takes these guys forever to learn things. They do it for a game or then back to the old ways. I also think they need a real defensive coach, they have all forwards. Now they may have a problem in teaching, like the Gretzky theory, "god given talent" on certain things you can't teach. What drived GC to be the best at what he did, talent and desire. Not everyone has it, you can't teach it, either you have it or you don't. Too many floaters on the team still. I will give some of them credit for picking it up, but unfortunately i still think they are a year or 2 away.

Simonus, I'm not sure hwere your getting your info but fighting is way up this year, More and more GM / teams are pushing to get rid of the instigator rule.

Well as bad as the defense was, the Habs have scored a grand total of 5 goals in 3 games against the sens. Not going to win much doing that. The defense has been mediocre at best since the Philly game. It isn't going to get any easier from here, 3 more games this week and against teams that have better work ethic then the Habs. Well it only took 59 and a half minutes but i did see a body check. The Habs were soft, lazy, and couldn't cover anyone in there own end. The Habs really need to watch the game film on that one, notice the Sens actually drive to the net, score goals around the net. Other then Lats the Habs are pretty much a perimeter team. this why they always have problems scoring. Good news; Chipchura plus 6, Lats had a decent night.

I think Huet is more streaky then Price, but when Huet is on he can win games. It's up to the other 18 players to show up as well.

Yep, when your team only scores 1 goal, you can't really blame the goalie. Maybe Emory will be rusty again and the habs can score some goals. They should come out steaming after the last game. A good team building game after the egg on Friday.