ShortHanded

I agree with almost all your assessment, and where i disagree it's very minor. Great post KoZed. Thanks. On Chips specifically, I wanna add that I've been VERY impressed with how he's playing, and that I suspect he's got more offense in him than anyone thought he'd bring. It's never gonna be the main component of his game, but it's there.

I agree completely. If one of them's gonna go, I'd get rid of Booboo, and play Gorges. He deserves a chance and he won't be worse than Booboo...

JMMR, it seems like you go to EVERY game, or at least most of them! Enjoy, and I hope we win, but the guys have to start really working again. Even though they've only lost 2 in row, they've been playing without consistency or effort for about a week or more now... Like Higgins said after the buffalo game: they don't have a 50 goal scorer, they don't have a hart or norris trophy winner. For them to win, EVERYONE needs to work hard. Now, I hope these aren't just words and they actually come out and DO it.

Well Boo! I for one am going to miss reading your posts Chris. You've always told it like it is, even if it's often a bit harsh... Hopefully the team proves you wrong. They're learning, but it's slow and old habits are hard to break. I hope Carbo does start treating vets and rookies the same. It'll make a difference in the overall learning curve for how long it takes us to really break the "laziness" habit.

I predict a loss. sorry to be so negative, but Buffalo does not bring out our best side... thank God after this game we don't see them for a while!

yeah, but that was his ankle, I remember that. Boone was talking specifically about his hand. Did you guys notice anything about his hand?? thanks for the answer (JMMR too)... so you didn't notice anything about his hand specifically?? That's what Boone was mentioning.

they (kovy, plex, kosty) were put back together at the end. lats was only on that line for a few shifts... Some PLEASE explain: why do people think Higgins is hurt? What happened?

I agree that streit has been disappointing, but I also agree that it probably has a lot to do with who he's playing with. I think if Booboo can be moved, Streit would be good on the last pairing with a bigger guy, preferrably a defensive D. He does help our transition game, and he does help our PP, he's just not better than a 5/6 D (but then neither is Breezer and he gets #4 minutes playing with Hamrlik, mind you, it seems anyone playing iwth hamrlik looks great)

reffing was BRUTAL!!! (I was watching on and off, but I caught the Komi penalty). Boone says on his blog that Higgins looks like he could have injured his hand... anyone know what that's all about??? was he hurt earlier in the game. I saw him playing late...

Awesome. Happy birthday to a great hockey player, great captain, and great humanitarian!

Totally agree... an enforcer just to "enforce" who can't play, no thanks. If he can fight and play, fine, but in case ppl haven't noticed, there's very few of them, and getting them's not that easy. I think we have more pressing needs... Boone has a lot to say about the enforcer issue on habsinsideout.com... He thinks Carbo's more "evolved" (yeah, he actually used the word evolved) than all the coaches who keep sending their goons out when we've locked up the game...

I like Kostosouvlaki A LOT, but I really hope Carbo doesn't use him in situations where I don't think he has the talent to be used. There's no questioning his work ethic and his effort, and you can't blame the guy if he's used improperly, but I don't htink he belongs on the first line or on the PP. Luckily, I think Carbo saw that the First line with Kosto experiment was a failure and hopefully he won't be there again. I like his work on the fourth and on the PK a lot though...

heheh... kostosouvlaki... that is an AWESOME nickname...

First Go Habs Go! Let's make up for our last Buffalo outing. Nice thread spidey.

laraque is crosby's police man. They're not gonna trade him.

wow, so if we had a "least fav habs" section, would lats be yours??

works for me... and i agree that he's gonna be a good player (o'byrne, that is), I just doubt he'll ever be as valuable to us as komi is...

I think O'byrne taking on that role is fine. He's in the organization already, looks like he'll be a decent player, and was in our plans to begin with. I'm against going and getting someone just for it, but bringing up O'byrne and having it be *PART* of his job to let the other team know they can't take cheap shots is fine. I don't want Komi fighting. If he fights some 2 minute a game goon on the other team, and they're both off for 5 or for the rest of the game, we've just lost one of our top 3. Not a good trade for us. If we lose O'byrne for 5 or for the rest of the game, not the end of the world...

I was expecting to be disappointed too. Very very glad they managed such a solid game. And it's great that Begin had 2 and that Higgy scored at home in front of friends and family... Now, I hope we can carry that momentum to a MUCH better game against Buffalo than our last one. We looked just dead the last time we played them.

me either. I think it won't be the end of the world if we lose Huet to UFA status at the end of the season because we couldn't get good value for him on the trade market through out the season. I think IF we get a great offer then go for it. Otherwise, I'd much rather keep him around for the year and lose him for nothing for Price's first season in the league so we can ease Price in. Then, we either sign a cheap back up or play Halak/Danis in that role next year... Resigning him next year for a short term reasonable cost would be fantastic, but totally a dream at best. He may get nothing on the trade market, but he'll get more money than I want to pay our backup as a UFA. if BG can do it, he's even more of a genius than I ever suspected, but I don't think he can. So, long story short: Huet's value for the rest of this year is more important to us than the limited stuff we could get back for him... letting him walk at the end of the season isn't ideal, but it's not as bad as everyone's making it out to be either.

yes, the gazette has confirmed Huet is playing. Carbo's said he's starting him cuz he plays well on Long Island.

Yeah, the Islanders are REALLY defensive, so we need to play tight D. I was also hoping to see price, but it's okay if it's huet... hopefully price gets more starts as the season goes on... Expecting a big game from Higgins and Komi (Mind you, most of Komi's games have been big games lately. The guy's playing pretty well).

I agree with wamsley. we're definitely over-rated as number 2. let's see where we are at the end of the season...

sure, if you're bob. but if you're huet do you sign a one year deal with a team that's gonna give you less and less playing time and turn you into a back up next year, or do you sign a longer term, big bucks deal and cash in on your ufa status this year... I DOUBT BG can convince huet to sign a one year deal...

Lol! That's awesome...