Commandant

Commentators - "leafs are playing great this year... what a team" - 35 pts this season. Commentators - "Habs are playing awful, Martin fired, now Gauthier's job is on the line" - 33 pts this season.

Travis Moen 2:57 of PK time Cole and Pacioretty don''t kill penalties. There is your difference. The 5v5 time is nearly equal; as Cole and Patches only have 1 minute on the pp. Also Cole missed 5 minutes of the first period when he went to the lockerroom, so there is that too.

4 minutes for Louis.

Can't see Calgary wanting Gomez. If there is any move to be made it will be to a team that wants to pay 5.5 and 4.5 in real dollars for a 7.3 cap hit to artificially hit the floor. And even then... no one will make such a trade till after we see the new CBA and what it looks like.

PK bad giveaway but, Gorges not covering his man... on both goals tonight.

7 pts in 8 games for Cammalleri.

Thats just an awful play by either Gorges or Blunden... Whoever was supposed to cover the wing there (probably Gorges).

Rene Bourque gets two games. Just more ammo on the bruins bias.

If the noose is as tight around Gauthier's neck as you are suggesting, there is absolutely no way he will be allowed to make a drastic trade without ownership approval. He will need to get his moves green lighted from above. Aso for this being the roster for the next while... sure, Christmas Roster freeze comes at midnight.

I like White, but he's young and has all of 1/2 a season of NHL experience. I don't see the upside in locking him up to a long term 7 or 8 year deal when he's merely gonna be an RFA for his next contract. He can be locked up then once he proves more. I also don't expect the cost of a fourth liner to go through the roof in the meantime.

I don't know that a small speedy team can ever effectively play a puck possession game. I think they'll be knocked off the puck far too often. I think using the speed to transition and counterattack is the only way Martin could have gone. Now with Eller. Patches, cole added maybe the size is there, but not when the coach first got here. Puck possession without size, puck possession by a soft team (as you characterized it) just isn't gonna happen consistently. People talk about how Tampa attacks with their speed, but you can only attck with speed by creating turnovers and loose pucks. This requires strong D.

its been happening for 25+ years since Bob Berry, and through changes in GMs and even owners. Some GM will be found. But Geoff will decide the policy.

I agree and its bs though because you can say it now, but the same people will still bitch when the team is losing with flair or french, the complaints themselves will just change.

The actual hire may be the GM's decision, but the question of whether the GM would be allowed to break team policy and hire an anglophone is one that falls to Geoff Molson, IMO.

No doubt a unilingual french coach wouldn't work in toronto. But he wouldn't work in Montreal or anywhere else either. The fact remains that the language of lockerrooms in the NHL is English. The leafs aren't limiting the pool of quality experienced candidates as the way we are.

Only because LA would be forced to clear some salary to take on Cammy. That said, I agree, LA would have to sweeten the pot with picks and prospects added.

I can almost guarantee that Roy will not take an assistant job. He turned down the head job in Colorado insisting that he wanted to be coach and GM. I can't see this happening.

You assume Cunneyworth will drastically change the team's defensive schemes. I don't know about that. He might modify it slightly, be a bit more aggresive but I don't see him turning them loose into an all out offensive system that some may want. Let's remember that this is a guy who was JM's disciple, his captain in Ottawa, and a guy hired for Hamilton to have the farm club playing the same way as the big club. While its true he'll put his own stamp on things, this isn't gonna be a firewagon team.

I don't think the Penguins have ever considered trading him to be completely honest with you. And if they did... there would be 25+ teams making a bid.

I've heard Shawinigan and St. John for Ellis. Shawinigan would put him on the same team as Bournival, and as Mem Cup hosts he'd be guaranteed a spot in the tourney. Joining St. John would of course set up a potential Beaulieu - Ellis pairing, and as one of the league's best, if not the best team, would also give him a very good chance at a Mem Cup.

Perhaps I didn't explain well enough. I agree... Plekanec at the point didn't work. Plekanec's points by and large were not being produced on the PP. However the fact remains he had 21 points in 25 games. So he was able to get past the fact that he wasn't being used properly on the PP and still produce. I also agree that Plekanec and Gionta just don't work as a duo. They don't have any chemistry. However when Gionta was on his line Plekanec was still producing points. (Gionta was the one not scoring). So once again he was a guy who was able to overcome that adversity and continue to score. Remember his latest slump has also come as Gio has been hurt in the last 4 games. So I don't think we can look at Plekanec's struggles lately and say that they are being caused by bad coaching. He's struggling at the same time that the moves we agree were bad decisions for him, are no longer being implemented. I think he's much the same as any Very good but not elite player in the NHL... they all seem to have an 8-12 game slump at one point. Lets hope he gets out of it soon though.

Max couldn't accept being a fourth liner and demanded 3rd line ice time or to be traded.

Hard to compare Montreal to Toronto. The reality is that most NHL players speak English... English is the predominant language of the league; so you are never gonna hire someone in Toronto who doesn't speak English. Making English a job requirement doesn't limit the pool of available talent to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Making French a job requirement puts the Habs at a handicap before the search even begins, we eliminate a ton of qualified candidates. It may not be right, but thats the reality of the situation. The political aspects here are costing the team wins. Europe is a country rich in soccer tradition... most european clubs hire the best coaches availble and get translators, but this isn't acceptable in Montreal. It can't be a translation, it has to honour the tradition, culture, and history of the club. (A club whose greatest or 2nd greatest coach is a unilingual anglo in Toe Blake, but I digress).... Still its really bullshit. And I agree any English coach in Montreal is faced with being behind the 8 ball from day one. I don't agree with it; but it is what it is, and it probably isn't changing any time soon. I wish the nords had a club, and they could deal with this bullshit and we could be about trying to win again.

Nah... same reasoning as Malone/campoli.... Larsson lost the puck, was lunging forward to retrieve it and got hit. His head position moved at the last second, and he put himself in a vulnerable position. Personally i think that Malone and Cole both should have been suspended, but at least there is internal consistency, and the hits are pretty similar.

I've been more impressed with roys work in Quebec as a GM than i have been as coach. He's assembled a lot of talent. Not tht I want a rookie put straight into that job; just an observation.