saskhab

Weber is 3rd amongst D-men in ice time, averaging over 20 minutes a game. I think he'll be staying in the lineup ahead of Diaz, especially since he and Spacek have been such an effective pairing since last year as well.

That info was made public at the time of operation.

Nokelainen taking some minutes on the PK has helped, so has switching Cammalleri off the top unit and putting Moen back there. Also, Price has improved. I think the PK had more personnel turnover in this time frame than the PP did, to be honest. I mean, we're still using Plekanec on the point on the PP, which was seen as an issue in the early struggles.

Things change over the course of the season. Emelin may be the odd man out right now but he could find his way into the lineup in the future, even after Markov returns. If the Canadiens ever have their top 25 players all healthy at once that would be amazing, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Couldn't tell you off hand, but I know the Habs have done it in the past, usually because of injuries during the year making a trade necessary. I remember when the team traded for Todd Simpson, that he was the 8th D on the team for the playoffs, for example.

Shot rate may not be cited often, but I wouldn't call it advanced... it's the same idea as GAA, taking a common stat (in GAA its goals, in this its shots) and dividing it by ice time. Anyways, if you think about it, the key to good penalty killing is to take away the shooting and passing lanes. A shot on the PP is never a bad thing, and a blocked shot on the PK is a great thing. There are still easy saves on the PK, but most shots are inherently more difficult because they occur by exploiting an opening through puck movement, no matter how far out the shot comes from. I'd say the most important skill on a PP is still passing rather than shooting, but passing well should open up more shooting opportunities. The Habs had a lot of good PP's that just didn't score, especially in games against Calgary, Colorado, Buffalo and Florida.

The team is currently keeping 21 skaters, and is allowed 23. So when Markov returns, and Gomez returns, the team will just add them and carry 3 spares. If one of Campoli or White returns, the team will have to send a player down, and I assume the first will be Blunden. If both return, then one of the D would have to go.

The PP was doing fine, just not scoring. It was generating shots which eventually would lead to goals, it's not Pearn's fault the team couldn't bury their opportunities. The best predictor of future success on the PP is shot rate, not conversion rate, and the Canadiens were 2nd in the NHL in that regard. The best explanation I've seen was from another CBC employee, Garry Galley. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2011/10/galley-firing-perry-pearn-part-of-larger-strategy.html Essentially, Pearn was fired because Martin was leaning on him too much for opinion, as his longtime trusted friend, and inadvertently not taking ideas from Cunneyworth and Ladouceur. The other opinion that may have some stock is the need for more passion behind the bench that you guys have discussed here. If this was a results based decision, it was a foolish one. I don't rule out the possibility it had to do with not using Cole on the PP, as Cole was Gauthier's prized offseason acquisition. It would be a bit petty, but it's not like that hasn't happened before.

Savard helped turn around the scouting department, drafting Komisarek, Perezhogin, and with his 3rd rounder Plekanec that first go around. Combined with the fluke 1998 genius Houle draft (Ribeiro, Beauchemin, Ryder, Markov), we had the basis for the 2003-09 Habs. Savard then hired Timmins and our drafting/scouting really took off. Although very little is left from those periods in terms of players, a lot of the decisions in general starting improving to the point where we are today. You know, 12th in the East! lol

In the last few games of Pearn's tenure, the Canadiens seemed to get discouraged late in the games if things hadn't gone their way. I think the teams were well prepared but there was definitely a let down as the game went on and they weren't winning despite doing a lot of good work. Muller was definitely the more vocal, 'pump 'em up' type back there, and I wonder if that is what Gauthier wanted as much as anything back there. Removing Pearn was another way of making that happen... not sure if Ladouceur will be that guy, though. I don't really know his style.

I'd put Desharnais on the wing. Gomez is better than DD defensively and on faceoffs. Seems like a no-brainer. Of course, Eller has shown he can be a pretty good winger, too. I do generally agree with CC that our best 3 centres are still Plekanec, Gomez, and Eller. I also agree with him that of the two younger guys, Eller is the guy I think can replace Gomez. But I do think Desharnais is a NHL player, I'm convinced at this point. I'm not sure if he can't be more effective on the wing, though, where his faceoffs and defensive misgivings can be sheltered more. I guess until Leblanc (assuming we develop him as a C) is ready Desharnais is our best option... if we decide to move on from Gomez, which wouldn't be until season's end, anyways.

I think you're tied to a long since vanished idea of what 'Bottom 6' means. When you play best on best, essentially your 3rd line just has to be more talented than the other team's 3rd or 4th line. Desharnais can't go head to head with Malkin/Crosby, or even head to head with like, Brandon Sutter, and come out on top. But he can go head to head with guys like Bozak, or Artem Anisimov, or Stephane Da Costa. Plekanec's job is to take on Crosby and other top centres. Eller's job will eventually be to take on the Matthew Lombardi's and Brandon Sutter's of the NHL (what Gomez does currently). Desharnais should be able to be our 3rd centre.

Alain Vaigneault was another big reason why those teams didn't finish dead last in the NHL. That, and the fact that there were 4 new exapansion rosters in that time frame.

As for Blunden, he's the definition of replacement level. I'm not sweating his minutes, he shouldn't see any special teams time and can only hold his own as a physical presence against other team's bottom lines/D pairs. He'll be out of the lineup when Gomez comes back, and back in the AHL if/when White comes back. I think Martin will roll four lines as soon as Blunden is out of the lineup (especially at home with last change), but he's obviously more focused on running 3 lines for match-up purposes. Nokelainen has some other skills that make him used in more situations, much like Darche. I expect we'll see Nokia get around 10-12 minutes a game, same with Darche, as long as both are on the 4th line at ES.

Pearn could've been the guy who chose Darche over Cole on the PP. Somewhat like how Julien was starting to bench Theodore and Gainey came down, fired Julien and re-installed Theodore as the starter (albeit only briefly). Theo was Gainey's guy, the guy he signed to a contract extension that summer. Cole is Gauthier's guy. Much like coaches, GM's have to have confidence in their decisions. Gauthier and Pearn were on different wavelengths. As for the D, Diaz has not been good at even strength, but he and Gill have not been put in much of a position to succeed. As for putting Gill vs. Jagr, Gill used to give Jagr fits when they were both younger, and Jagr called Gill the toughest d-man in the league to play against. I have a feeling that match-up was based on that past history. But Gill is drowning, getting minutes like he was getting in Toronto, and Diaz is being thrown into the fire. Spacek has been solid since returning from injury. Some people have just made their mind up about him and want him gone and only see what they want to see as a result. I wish he was played more, to be honest. Give Gill a bit of a break.

Weber actually is pretty good at forward. I think he's easily one of our 12 best forwards in a healthy situation.

Or maybe facing a team that presents a different challenge is exactly what the Habs need. That said, with Pronger out, Philly is a lot softer.

Except the Habs are getting more quality scoring chances than their opponents. There are people who track good scoring chances, and while in a given game the scoring chances and shot totals can vary greatly, generally over time more shots = more chances. And the Habs are getting more chances than their opponents for the season. Last night the Habs had 20 scoring chances, 13 at even strength. They gave up 12, 7 at even strength. So it was 13-7 at evens, 7-5 on special teams. And they lost 2-1. The team even has a league average shooting percentage. Opponents are scoring more on fewer chances than the Habs. It's incredibly frustrating. And it's not like Price (or Budaj last night) has given up a ton of softies. We aren't getting those 'seeing eye' goals. We aren't getting the goal to put us up by 2. We aren't getting the goal that deflects off the opposing D's stick or skate and in or right to our open man for the tap in. Every close call, video review, has gone against us. You are right that this is a good team struggling. It's a good team playing generally good hockey that can't catch a break. They earn 1 goal for every 2 that they work for. And the give up goals on the slightest of errors.

I'd rather have signed Hamrlik to 2 years at $3.5m than Gill at 1 year, $2.2m.

To be honest, I assumed he signed there because he lived nearby and wants to stay in shape and play. Hamilton isn't very far away, heck it's closer to Buffalo than Elmira is. He's probably just waiting out, hoping someone will sign him with a ton of defensive injuries... a team not unlike the Canadiens, to be honest.

It'd be great to re-patriate Rivet. Guy has fallen on hard times and if he can't make it back to the big show with us, he could always become a kind of coach-player.

The Canadiens have had one real stinker of a game this year so far (Calgary), and the Toronto game was not a full 60 minutes. They scored early and often against Winnipeg and didn't need a lot of pushback. Other than that, the team has looked good with a bare bones lineup, but right now every mistake, no matter how innocent, seems to be ending up in the back of the net. If they play like they did last night with any sort of regularity, they will win a LOT of games. The defence was generally excellent *(how about that Emelin, who is adjusting very quickly to the angles). The passing was good. The skating was superb. The cycle game was strong, and the scoring chances were plentiful. The PP was inconsistent, but could have easily been 1 for 5 based on the chances. Seriously, how many other breakdowns were there other than the two that ended up in the back of the net? You aren't going to play a perfect 60 minutes. This should have been an easy 2 points, but Miller thwarted the attack just as Halak did to the Capitals.

Reading some old comments here, I actually saw that Patrick Johnson was at Chicago's training camp this year on a tryout. Him being in Wheeling has nothing to do with the Canadiens or the Penguins. He's just looking to catch on somewhere.

Jason Pominville passed through waivers in 2005-06. 30 GM's can be wrong.

Moen is a doesn't hurt, doesn't help player. When he's on the ice, very little good or bad happens. So he won't hurt the Habs by playing against top lines with Plekanec. But yes, the line is less effective because Cammalleri is quite effective. But the reason Moen gets promoted ahead of the Desharnais' and Pouliot's of the world is because those players can get burned by those top line, elite players. Kostitsyn, on the other hand, actually is quite good in that role so Martin is presumably going for balance here... it's an interesting move in this situation. Last year, promoting Moen made more sense than this year in a similar situation, IMO.