Commandant

Sounds like Eller - Plekanec - Cole Moen - Gomez - Gionta Pacioretty - Desharnais - Kostitsyn Darche - Engqvist - Palushaj Gorges - Subban Gill - Diaz Emelin - Weber Price vs Lindstrom - Duchene - Hejduk Jones - Stastny - Kobasew Landeskog - O'Reilly - Winnik McLeod - McClement - Galiardi O'Brien - Quincey E. Johnson - Hejda Wilson - O'Byrne Varlamov

Dany Kristo one assist in 3-1 win for UND. Brendan Gallagher one assist in a 3-2 Vancouver loss. Nathan Beaulieu one assist in a 9-4 Saint John vicotry Steve Quailer one assist in a 4-0 victory for Northeastern.

I agree, I hate the rule... but it is what it is... and as long as its in place, there isn't a replacement for JM available.... unless you want Marc "I benched Gretzky and Yzerman in a shootout at the Olympics in favour of Ray Bourque" Crawford or yet another rookie from the QMJHL.

I'd play Gorges - Subban Gill - Diaz Emelin - Weber

Palush had 2 points in his only AHL game... and was the better player by far in training camp and preseason. He earned first callup status.

One thing to remember about the D, is its very hard to put a RH shot like Diaz, Weber, Subban on the left side. A guy like Emelin or Gorges can easily move over, but not the righties. Why? Quite simply there are many more lefties than righties at all levels of hockey, so coming up, chances are a good defenceman will end up on a team with 4 or 5 left handed dmen, and will be forced try to play on the opposite side. But righties never face that problem. So you are asking one of Diaz and Weber to play a position they most likely have never played in their lives. Being on the wrong side changes everything about playing D..... it changes your containment (think about when the other team has the puck in the corner or on the boards and you are containing him there, if you are a righty on the left side, you stick doesn't cover the pass to the slot, rather it covers the pass behind the net).... it changes how you play dump ins, as you have to turn your back to the play to retrieve the puck in your corner. It creates a number of defensive problems. Thats why Gill, Gorges, and Yemelin all have to play on the left... .and Subban, Weber, Diaz on the right.... at least until we start getting Markov or Spacek back.

no, his AHL salary is below the limit.

Last night Michigan beat St. Lawerence 10-3 Mac Bennett had 3 assists Greg Pateryn had 1 goal 2 assists.

Yeah, JM was saying full practice with contact before the end of the month on Hockey Central.

7 pts in 1.5 games for Trotter. Unreal.

Makes more sense... I like that.

Well here are the actual lines from practice this morning Eller - Plekanec - Cole Moen - Gomez - Gionta Pacioretty - Desharnais - AK Darche - Engqvist - Palushaj I don't mind that to be honest.... though I'd switch Eller and Patches... (so Eller would be at centre)... this isn't that bad though.

We have that guy... unfortunately he was pressing way too hard last night and made a ton of silly, uncharacteristic mistakes because of it. I want to see Subban settle down and play the game we saw from late in the season and the Playoffs last year, because that guy was a game changer. The guy last night.... he sucked.

Shot blocking also ensures you are always putting yourself between your opponent and the net. Its part of the defensive strategy that keeps the opponents shots to the perimeter. With your positioning you ensure that the opponent can't just walk in. Think about it, if you move out of the way of shots (to let price see them)... then all the opponent is gonna do is fake the shot... get you moving out of the way, and then walk past you and into a better scoring area, and a better position to take a shot one on one with the goalie.

Okay, I'll include those 2 games as well + the Dryden Night (win)... Now the 1-6 Home opener record + gainey + roy + robinson. The Habs are usually a good home team... but are 4-9 by my count in these Ceremony games..... that seems like more than just a small sample size... thats a trend that their usually good home winning percentage is way lower in these games. Think about it.... the only difference for Calgary is that they sit around in the dressing room for an extra 15 or 20 minutes.... they prepare for a normal game, but one that starts at 7:50-7:55 instead of 7:35. Since they are in a new time zone anyway, there is no change to the routine. Meanwhile the Habs have to stand around and do nothing while all the introductions are made. They are just sitting there. They have a good warmup, and then everything slows to a crawl while they stand around, and then boom, game starts and its go, go, go. Yeah we got an early goal, but it was capitalizing on a turnover, its not like we were controlling the game; and then Calgary got it right back and dominated the period. Considering it was 3-1 buy the end of the first period.... I think it had an effect.

Engqvist is 24 years old, its now or never for him. I don't think he'll ever be an offensive force so I don't see the point of sending him down. His upside is what it is. He has to win faceoffs, and play good Defence or there is no place for him. He hasn't been that bad in the regular season to be honest.

I said it before but I still wanna see the team through a stretch without all the pregame BS before I push the panic button. 1-6in the last 7 home openers.... for a team thats good at home generally... its more than just a trend... and even the win was shootout. Add that with the other disappointing performances in the ceremony games and there is something to be said for the home team having to stand and watch the hoopla, while the visitors just prepare for a normal game with a later puck drop in their lockerroom.

3 PP Goals last season.... maybe there is a reason Cole isn't on the PP, and its not being benched.

Honestly.... its not the D.... the forwards are giving the D no support.

I'm really starting to think the pregame ceremonies have an effect. We look flat. Only 1 win in a home opener since the lockout. Plus we looked awful on Gainey Retirement night, Robinson Retirement night, Patrick Roy night.

Just an awful, awful shift by Cole and its 4-1.

Analysis: The Forwards really need to show better support to the dmen.. Its 3 on 2 down low all the time, and the late forward is killing them. Interesting fact: Habs have won exactly 1 home opener since the lockout (beat Bruins 3-2 in shootout 2009).

Again the fwd (Patches that time) let Moss go. But Carey bailed him out.

Forwards caught watching..... Subban had his man, gill had his... and moss sneaks in and scores. Gio or Gomez has to take the trailer.

Lack of Discipline comes back to bite them.