Supersonic

Watching the 4 teams left in the playoffs, I think the habs are very far from being contenders. We need at least 2 Point Per Game players and at least 5 or 6 20+ goal scorers. Comparing the Red Wings line up to habs is almost humiliating. 8 players with 50+ pts and 11 with 40+ pts. But the stat that is the most revealing and relevant, in my opinion, is giveaways. Detroit's top 4 Dmen combined for 168 giveaways during the season. Carolina's top 4 Dmen combined for 118 giveaways. Chicago's top 4 Dmen for 125 giveaways. Pittsburgs top 4 Dmen 144 giveaways. Markov, Komisarek, Hamrlik and Gorges: 326 giveaways! in 2007-08: 261 giveaways, slightly better but still far from good. That's puck possesion, I don't see how they can turn that around next season...

I haven't seen Holmstrom play much but I know he has reached the 20 goal mark only 4 times in 12 years in the league. And what I meant to say is that Higgins doesn't have the hands or the shot of a guy like AK46. The numbers he put up last year seem to be the most he'll ever get. I almost never miss a habs game and I've watched Higgins play hard almost every game. Yet the results are almost never there. I'd like to see him as a 3rd line winger who can move up to the top 2 lines only when necessary.

I think Higgins main problem is his lack of finishing. He seems to get a lot of chances but has a hard time finding the back of the net. Truth is, he's not a natural goal scorer. He's got great speed but have you ever seen him try to deek out a goalie on a breakaway?! I don't want to see him on the top 2 lines anymore, unless he's just filling in.

Yeah, I've followed Koivu closely since he's been in the league and he's been our best Centre since the late nineties. Like I said, he has really slowed down and he really dissapointed me the last two seasons. The only way he can continue to put up 50 or 60 pts is if BG puts him between 2 pure goal scorers. For now Tangs, Kovy and Koivu are making each other look pretty good. Let's just hope it'll last...

I love Laps but I think that if we want a shot at being cup contenders we need Lapierre as our 4th line centre. Yes he has offensive potential but I don't think he'll ever be a 50 or 60 pts guy. Even in junior he never scored more than 25 goals and never averaged a point per game. He's got great speed, reasonable size and limited skill. With Plek's ice time he'd have what, 40 pts? He's having a great season he has 25 pts. Let's aim high, we need much more than that on our top 2 lines.

In 2001-2002 Koivu played 3 games due his cancer but still was the best player in the playoffs with 10 pts in 12 games In 2003-2004 he was again the team's leading scorer in the playoffs with 11 pts in 11 games In the 2004-2005 playoffs Montreal did not win a game after Koivu's eye injury Last year he had 9 pts in 7 games and the team probably wouldn't have made it past the first round if it wasn't for him I'm not trying to put him on a pedestal but just saying that he has often been the most useful forward on our team and when it matters the most. Until recently he was always the one who would make his linemates better.Yes he has slowed down, he now needs to play with talented players that will make HIM better. But he's still our captain he can still be our best centerman as he proved it last week.