For th love of God, Play Hockey again!

[Sir_Boagalott]

OK Carbo, its aboot freaking time that the Habs drop the defense 1st trap style. It's been killing them lately. Whenever the Habs play back and forth fast paced all out hockey they generally score 5 goals and get W's.

I still beleive that Habs are 1 of the best teams in the league when playing all out back and forth hockey. They just need to do it more. The last few games Habs won most of the goals were scored on the rush and not when the game is slow.

In the recent Buff game it was 4-1 and then Habs played the fast paced hockey and it was quickly 4-3. Sure the Habs D were made to look useless on a couple of g's, but Habs did same to Buff's D too. Dont forget Buff is #1 and projected to go to the Cup, so. Buff has yet to really blow out the Habs this year. I think the Sabers would make excellent 1st round victums.

Also, the Habs need to get back to basics. In their last loosing streak not only did Habs fail to capitalize on over a half dozen 3 on 1's, they didnt even get a shot off.

Thats just ridiculous. The worst part is in most of those games the Habs were up 2 goals at the time of the missed opportunities to put the game away and they ended up loosing these games. It was like they were winning by 2 so scoring to put em up by 3 wasnt important so best effort wasnt used or something.

I said this in another thread, and I'll say it again: I'm almost think that having Carbo Muller & Jarvis is a hindrance.

They are just way too defensive minded, especially for todays "New NHL". It's seems clear that Carbo needs to get them practising scoring and getting them back to playing a faster paced game. If Carbo does this, I have no worries aboot making the playoffs. However anytime soon would be prefered.

[KoZed]

Back and forth hockey?

AH! The players dont even bother skating to cover their man or race of the puck. And they allow 40+ shots every game. And you'd want them to OPEN things up? 40+ shots allowed per game. More open than that and you're Paris Hilton's legs...

[JLP]

The irony of course is that Quebec is the home of "firewagon" hockey, and the Habs used to be known as the "Flying Frenchmen" . . .

[Naslund/Nilan/Robinson]

Firewagon hockey....what the Habs are playing right now looks more like "ox drawn manure cart" hockey. I think Carbo needs to sit the team down and watch a bunch of grainy black and white films from Richard's era, and say "see, that's how hockey SHOULD be played". The problem with todays's version of hockey is that every player is an entity to himself, focusing only on themselves and their stats and accomplishments. Other than a very few instances (the top teams right now) there is no TRUE team work. Go back to the basics, remember what it was that made the Habs the dynasty they once were..a combination of fierce competitiveness, loyal teamwork, a sense of urgency, and the need to please the pressure cooker that is the fan base in Montreal. The support structure is there with Gainey, Carboneau and players like Plekenac, Souray and Koivu...now Gainey and the management team just need to shore up the holes with some thoughtful trading and draft picks.

I'll agree with a previous poster who said that it is not neccesarily the coach's fault...the players have to start taking some responsibility...perhaps Gainey does need to do a thorough housecleaning this off season.

The potential for greatness is there, they just can't or better yet, WON'T, capitalize on it.

[Punkned]

More back and forth hockey doesn't mean you allow more shots, because you're supposed to spend more time in the offensive zone and with puck control... The best defense is offense. You rarely score from your own zone...

[Chris]

Unfortunately the current Habs are too lazy to care about throwing a body check or working hard to get the puck. The spend about a minute in there own end and if they are lucky enough not to ice the puck they can change lines and do it again.

In case anybody missed it, they have played this way for years. Not the coaches fault the players are lazy and don't care.

Opening up? As much as people complain about the goaltending? They are bad enough defensively, they goalies would really be hung out to dry.

[revin5]

I agree.. if the Buffalo game showed us anything it's that we can keep up and we can score.. what killed us was the two quick goals in teh beginning of the game.. when we were trying to play the same slow plodding style we always do.

[BTH]

Yeah we've got a lot of offensive talent being forced into defensive roles. Every time we play a fast team like Buffalo or Atlanta or Nashville we play a good, exciting game because we skate with them. But when we play a slow team, we play defensively and that's just not our game.

[Athlétique.Canadien]

OK Carbo, its aboot freaking time that the Habs drop the defense 1st trap style. ... it was 4-1 and then Habs played the fast paced hockey and it was quickly 4-3.

Hear you load and clear on that point. I'm not disagreeing with you but in that game I thought it was like Carbo had them on the attack more but their defensive game was awful which is why we got burned. What really had me annoyed was that they seemed to throw their defensive game out the window. I believe it ended up on the sidewalk outside the arena, then somebody's dog ate it.

It was obvious to me that Carbo did not have the defensive game on his mind. Did he underestimate the depleted Sabres?

Boston was just a total vacation for the team.

Good goalie movement combined with a puck moving defence will create havoc. Montreal has that, or should . Many have complained about not being able to get the puck out. It's true but it's because they play it so well down low that they get stuck. How many times have we lost a battle along the boards down low resulting in a one timer shot made from the slot?

Of course, the problem with getting bogged down low is fatigue and if the attacker can get it to the point, watch out. It boggles the mind. Their defensive play is brilliant in so many ways and pathetically awful at the same time sometimes. Just get it right guys. That's a new experience as being a fan of Les Canadien.

This team needs to stop with the lousy tic tac toe pass transisition play. The forwards need to grind their way in with speed more. Our transition game should no longer include awry passes that will be poked or blocked away. It bothers me when they try to gain the line and dish it off and the receiver is ahead; offside. Sometimes they gain the zone but the player who receives the pass has a D on him like a cheap suit.

Vicious circle Guy. A lousy transition like this is why we are terrible 5 on 5. It pressures our D more and there's no chance for the forwards. Sometimes they just get too fancy. Bad transition offence results in turnovers and odd man rushes. It's time to fix that. Our defence is good enough that Montreal could be a threat if they would carry it out more. Why don't they? It beats me. Stop chipping it out so much, move it up if you can. But until they figure this out they are humble pie

When is this team going to giftwrap a 4, 5 or 6 run? This is the last opportunity. They have the rest. They will get in some light and heavy practices, have a meeting with video. Run some drills. I just hope that this is just what the doctor ordered. Please.

It's time now for us to really rally behind the team now. They have a great opportunity. With this 4 day rest they can heal up and recover from the black plague. Does Mulder have flu shots?

If they figure it out they can be a good team. Stop playing below your means.

With this last chance I ask you all to take a deep breath and believe one last time. The time is now.

Go Habs Go.

[CHice]

when we play wide open hockey we give up 8 goals when we play defensive hockey we can barely score 1, there is no middle ground

[Sir_Boagalott]

No clue why several of you suggest opening up their game implies greater gains for the other teams. Last time I looked all the Habs G's GAA's were closer to 3 than, lets say 8.

Is there really only a few of us who remember the Habs scoring 5 goals in a game and winning? Has it really been that long?

The Habs D isn't as awefull like some suggest, they just lack faith in their goalie. Abby has been horrible lately so its really not a surprise.

I think some of you forget that the Habs are 1 of the fastest skating teams, so playing a faster style wouldnt give an advantage to many teams.

This team needs to stop with the lousy tic tac toe pass transisition play. The forwards need to grind their way in with speed more. Our transition game should no longer include awry passes that will be poked or blocked away. It bothers me when they try to gain the line and dish it off and the receiver is ahead; offside. Sometimes they gain the zone but the player who receives the pass has a D on him like a cheap suit.

Yep, they definitely do seem to be going offside more often lately. Oddly enough at the begining of the year they did too, but then had it mastered for a couple of months then lost it again in Dec and havent its been missing ever since.

It's wierd. I watch lots of hockey, and most teams have problems with offsides. The general tendacy seems to be for the player with the puck to hold up at the blue line.

I guess its because they pause and look over to see if linemates are over or not. However, their brief pause causes the others to cross the line before they do. It's OK to hold up, but get the bloody puck over the blue line before you pause to set up a play or w/e. Pausing before just puts your linemates offside. It also has to do with players speed when crossing. i.e. player with puck slow moving, 1 winger med speed, the other fast to drive to the net so the guy with the puck cant stop before gettng the puck over.

Bad transition offence results in turnovers and odd man rushes. It's time to fix that. Our defence is good enough that Montreal could be a threat if they would carry it out more. Why don't they? It beats me. Stop chipping it out so much, move it up if you can. But until they figure this out they are humble pie

I agree, and also get right annoyed when they dump and chase. Teams with speed and skill shouldnt need to dump and chase at all. Also I get miffed at when they just dump the puck in the other teams end when they do a shift change. They might as well take a few more strides and take a shot from 50+ ft, or do try something. It's frusterating to see them simply turn the puck over because there is a change in progress. Might as well hold on to the puck or take a shot at least. Flukes can happen. Case in point is ask Cory Stillman if 50 ft long shots can go in.

It's time now for us to really rally behind the team now. They have a great opportunity. With this 4 day rest they can heal up and recover from the black plague.

If they figure it out they can be a good team. Stop playing below your means.

I fully agree. Habs have owned Atl and hopefully that will continue and they can start a winning streak any time now. Most people are freaking right out, but really Habs arent in that bad of shape yet, but thats starting to change and quickly. The Habs havent been playing up to their potentila for to long now.

We are Habs fans, and therefore we arent contempt with crap, so start playing hockey again so ya can make the top seeds look stupid in the playoffs. Dont forget that the Habs do best when the underdog and damn are they ever underdogs right now. Evn most of the Habs fans here beleive Habs have a snowballs chance in hell of making playoffs.