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l.moustakas

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Posts posted by l.moustakas

  1. I honestly feel that CBC just can't find any good on air talent. Commentators aside, it's no secret that TSN get all the true hockey analysts while CBC goes for shock-jock blow-hards like Cherry, Milbury, Stock and Healy. That network is really quite a joke.

    I find CBC has far too much of an anglophone / right-wing slant in its presentation of hockey. Having said that, I think, by and large, Friedman, Hrudy and Weekes do excellent work. Too bad they are overshadowed by the antics of Milbury, Cherry and Stock.

    Speaking of Stock, am I the only one who feels he rather liberally takes shots at players currently in the NHL, especially when is he on RDS. As someone who was little more than an undersized pugilist in the NHL, perhaps he should tone it down (mind you, I would love if I just had the talent to be that!)

  2. Eller had 4 goals last night but Erik Cole was the best player on the ice. This guy just keeps impressing me more and more and more.

    On a little side note here, we've locked up Gorges and still have a few players to lock up. I would like to see Gauthier start negotiating with Moen right now. There is no way he gets an increase despite his sudden offensive production but I would look to secure his services on another 2-3 year deal in the $1.25-$1.3 million per year range.

    Personally, I loathed Travis Moen in his first two years in Montreal. He was not nearly physical enough for my liking, nevermind the relative absence of support scoring.

    This season he has been a force on the third line, but I am weary of his sudden input. Is it genuine or is it motivated by his contractual status? If it is the former, the Habs should certainly retain him, but I have some doubts.

  3. That was a tough call on the no-goal. Still, the PP should have scored there, they surely had enough chances to bury one. Philly most certainly has the momentum going into the 2nd but the Habs, on the tail end of the 5-on-4, can change that in a hurry.

    Price credited with 3 giveaways in that period, he'll need to shore up the puck handling. So far, the Emelin on the right experiment continues to cause problems, this is why he originally was planned to sit (before Diaz got sick), to give him some experience before throwing him to the wolves. For those watching on TSN, they noted Cammalleri wasn't shooting much at home. I think he got the message with 4 shots in the 1st.

    That no-goal was brutal. Cole's presence was largely without consequence, and the league typically let's players get away with far worse.

    Good point on Price's puck handling, salient statistic as well.

    As for Cammalleri, he is shooting more but he is still skating in half strides, especially when he sets up to challenge the puck carrier on the boards. He looks like he is trying to trick opposing players away from the puck as opposed to forcing a turnover by forechecking hard.

  4. Ben Maxwell. What a dud.

    I will steadfastly defend Trevor Timmins record at the draft table, but let's just say the 2006 draft was not his best. Only Ryan White remains as a viable, full time NHLer. Mathieu Carle, Ben Maxwell and, worst of all, David Fischer are all looong gone.

    On another note, I am so incredibly glad it is the last day of Movember. My razor and my face will spend some quality time together tomorrow.

  5. Still no confirmation that he'll play. I guess the question is does he play tonight, take tomorrow off and then play against LA?

    Again I know he was given the green light and I know we cannot afford to keep him out of the line-up but I would be more inclined to keep him out these 3 games and then start him in Montreal against Columbus.

    An extra week of conditioning may make a world of difference

    On the flip side, after such a long absence, one has to wonder if his conditionning has taken him as far as it will go. At one point, he will need to be thrown into the fire and with the team on a rough California stretch (which, if memory serves, is a trip the team typically struggles on), this seems like a good a time as any.

  6. I feel that, with this, one almost needs to split their mind in two.

    On one hand, the league is wildly incosnsitent. Lucic on Miller, Wolski on Alfie. The list of unpunished offenses goes on. On the other hand, Pacs hit was violent and was to a vulnerable player. It deserved a suspension. As a fan, though, it is frustrating to see the league miss the mark so often and, when they get it right, it just so happens to be on the Habs best winger. Regardless, it is the correct call, in my opinion.

    Until the league sets guidelines defining which infractions warrant what punishment, it will be like throwing darts and we will keep measuring silly things like 'intent' and 'sudden moves'.

  7. Good move. Give the kid some exposure to the NHL, help him understand the challenges before him; at the same time, you may benefit from the burst of youthful energy that a rookie call-up sometimes adds, even if onyl for a game or two. And you buy goodwill from the francophone fan base. The only danger is that Leblanc becomes un héro national and gets spoiled by all the adulation. But I doubt a 3 game call up will have that effect.

    The 'hero' syndrome is always a concern, especially since the team is so devoid of Francophone talent. Were there a more solid core of francophone players, I believe the pressure would be lesser.

    In any event, a three-game trip out west with games at odd times should shield Leblanc from undue media and fan pressure.

    Has anyone seen him play this year? Do you think he is ready to put in NHL minutes?

  8. Carter is not the answer to our woes. Yes he is a big guy and a consistent 30-35 goal scorer but he just doesn;t seem to be a prototypical Martin type of player. The cost t acquire him would be high and the impact of a trade like this may screw up our chemistry really bad.

    I think if the habs are to make a move it is going to be either for a D-man or some 4th line roll players.

    Besdies, if he did really request a trade, should that not be a red-flag? Carter, who has played just around 10 games in Columbus already wants out. Meanwhile, Rick Nash, who has endured the perpetual mediocrity of the same franchise, is willing to stick it out. What is wrong with this picture?

    Jeff Carter is well within his rights to be upset at the Flyers. But he is not so much withing his rights to request a trade. He certainly does not own the moral high ground to do so.

  9. For those who were excited that the game would be on Versus, they elected to drop this game and broadcast the Isles-Pens one instead. Those watching on Centre Ice or in the States will likely get the usual Boston feed now.

    Ah, what a treat for Centre Ice watchers. The NESN duo are not the most ridiculously biased broadcast team in the league. Noooo.

    We end that Bruin streak tonight. 4-2, with an empty netter. It's the Carey Price show tonight, he'll be first star!

    As we say in French (and in English, but I feel like saying it in French): "Ils sont du pour perdre".

    In any event, I have back-to-back floor hockey games tonight. So whoever writes our recap best do darn good job!

  10. Emelin didn't look good out there either. A couple of plays where he was in the wrong place, covered the wrong guy, was looking the wrong way.

    Gotta love Martin as well. Hmmmmmmm we need a goal with under 2 mins to play. Hmmmmmm should I use Pacioretty or Cole......Na......let's go with Gomez who has not scored a goal in the NHL since February.

    Emelin looked a bit off, indeed. When he took his holding penalty on Tavares, is it just me or did he seem like he had him in a good position for a hit just moments before?

    As for Gomez, I am literally pulling my hair out watching him take so many shots from dead angles. Not only that, be he shoots quite high, limiting rebound potential. Argh.

    However, with last night's sleepy performance, there is plenty of blame to go around.

  11. If Montreal were to acquire any big name player (Carter, Nash, Ignla, etc) then we all know that cap-space would be needed. And, short of burying Gomez in the minors (which, at this point, I'm all for), that cap space will be hard to come by.

    Look at me bringing up the salary cap. You would think I was Brian or something. Sheesh.

  12. @Brian - I could hardly imagine how this could not be the first time four Swiss players are in the same game. Especially not four Swiss skaters! Who could have been there before? Luca Cereda, Reto Von Arx, Goran Bezina and Julien Vauclair (I swear, I did not even use wikipedia to find those names!)

    Glad the Habs gave the nod to Budaj. Between having back-to-back contests and his good showing thus far, its hard to argue with the decision.

    In any event, shameless self promo, but just whipped up a preview: http://habsworld.net/article.php?id=2643

  13. Why don't we just sign Fleischmann as a UFA and skip all the fooforah?

    The real point of this post is that Fleischmann would be a good fit. I agree - his game is very much in the mould of this team.

    Louis Moustakas's article on the home page is excellent, and most of the players he lists in the 'Scorers' and 'Pluggers' categories would be useful additions to the Habs in my book. Fleischmann, Cole and Gagné, yes; Belanger and Talbot, yes. The first three in particular could represent exciting 'missing pieces' for us. And I can see Gauthier being interested, especially in Fleischman, Cole, and Talbot.

    Why thank you.

  14. Kostitsyn has been upgraded to probable for tonight, he is skating in practice on his usual line. As for Halpern, he too is skating, alternating with Desharnais. This is leading to some speculation that Desharnais may be scratched tonight. Interestingly enough, this is exactly what I called for in yesterday's HW Recap.

    Not sure why you said that would be an unpopular decision, Brian. Frankly, I thought it made total sense. As much as I am a Desharnais supporter, at this point Halpern's veteran saavy outweighs Desharnais' youthful enthusiasm (and pointless streak). Having said that, should Pouliot sit instead and Martin opt to dress the two centres down the road, it would not be a horrible option either.

  15. What's galling to fans who know their stuff is that the Bruins are not even losing to a good team.

    Sometimes I wonder if all of these so-called experts (from this article and others) are even paying attention. Montreal has an edge in the season series, in the past decade and lifetime versus Boston. Last year, the Habs went to the conference finals and vanquished two of the top contenders in the East. The Bruins blew a 3-0 seires lead in the second round. Yet, in spite of all of that, Boston, who only has two more regular season wins than Montreal, enters as the overwhelming favourite according to most analysts. Really? Am I missing something here? I am not saying my predictions are gold, but I am able to recognize freakin' facts when they hit me in the face.

  16. Whew...glad we figured out the pitfalls of relying on the Hockey media. How about a round of clapping smilies for all who participated 1clap.gif1clap.gif1clap.gif

    Finally we can put this Blackhawks vs Habs thread to rest.

    Well played everyone.

    Maybe to get this train wreck back on course and give this topic a proper burial we can end with:

    1gohabs.gif

    Wait wait wait. End this topic? Not quite. You did not think all this wonderful ranting would go unnoticed in ATB: http://habsworld.net/article.php?id=2452

    Come on. You guys made my weekly piece both easy and entertaining.

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