REV-G Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Probably most of us were fairly happy with the way the Habs played for a good part of the first half of the season, but now many of us are probably looking around in desperation trying to figure out what's going wrong. I have a few options...theories.... as to what might be happening. Could one of the following scenarios be what's taking place? 1. Unlike last year when we were incredibly healthy, injuries have caught up with us and we're proving that you can't lose, Koivu, Komisarek, Higgins, Tanguay, Price, Lang, Latendresse and who knows who's next, and not have all those injuries affect chemistry and flow. 2. They're simply in a mid-season slump and it will sort itself out soon. 3. A number of players are in slumps all at the same time [some have been in one for a long time it seems]. 4. They are caught in a wierd situation of a combination of injuries and slumps and over the next two weeks things will begin to work out and we'll be back winning. I believe we have the talent, the players and the coaching, so I think our problem is a combination of injuries and slumps, such as Carey Price. With guys out for a long time, the newer players are unable to make up for the guys who are hurt over a long period of time. I think Price will rebound, defensively we will get back to normal, and offensively we will begin to pick things up. I don't believe we're as bad as what we've shown over the past month. Things will begin to turn around over the nexct week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I believe we have the talent, the players and the coaching, so I think our problem is a combination of injuries and slumps, such as Carey Price. With guys out for a long time, the newer players are unable to make up for the guys who are hurt over a long period of time. I think Price will rebound, defensively we will get back to normal, and offensively we will begin to pick things up. I don't believe we're as bad as what we've shown over the past month. Things will begin to turn around over the nexct week or so. I also believe that Carey Price is going through a slump. He will get back to his good old self soon enough...but even then, Price is not the biggest problem on this team. the lack of character, will to win, drive, aggressiveness is what's missing on this team. These guys have no desire to win. As soon as the opposing team shows some sign of life, our boys die down and we don't see them anymore. And this is precisely what makes it even more frustrating to watch! We all know that the habs are better than this, but just looking at them coasting through these games and knowing that they CAN and SHOULD beat the weaker teams :Buffalo, Toronto, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay etc.etc.etc. is what makes it sooo much more frustrating for me!! They lack heart(not all of them, but more than 1/2 the team!) and without heart and desire to win, you can have all the talent i the world, it won't do yoiu any good. Right now, the only players who can actually look at themselves in the mirror and say that they have been playing well are Tommy K, Max Lapierre, Max Pacioretty, Stevie B., Saku and Hamrlik. Even guys who normally can be reiled upon (ie: Gorges, Komisarek) are struggling lately! I must admit, I've hit the PANIC buttona little while ago. This team is starting to worry me alot. Not to the point of saying that they'll miss the playoffs, but I get the feeling that we will not play more than 5 games in the first round...and that simply sucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycing Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have a tougher questions for you guys: What's right with the Habs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have a tougher questions for you guys: What's right with the Habs? the Kids !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 uniforms are still cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycing Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 the Kids !! Aye - but kids typically turn out like their parents or guardians. Actually, I suppose that's why Carbonneau has them playing with Koivu most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyhasbeen Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 uniforms are still cool Yep. I like the Price will soon be his old self comment. His old self? What? He is going back to Jr hockey? He has yet to be a consistant NHL goalie. Fact is the team has a ton of talent and thinks that is all they need. We are talented, everyone knows it, therefore we will win. That thinking equals us getting blown out by the Leaves. They have to start playing like they have something to prove. That was the difference last season. They were out to prove people wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habs rule Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yep. I like the Price will soon be his old self comment. His old self? What? He is going back to Jr hockey? He has yet to be a consistant NHL goalie. Fact is the team has a ton of talent and thinks that is all they need. We are talented, everyone knows it, therefore we will win. That thinking equals us getting blown out by the Leaves. They have to start playing like they have something to prove. That was the difference last season. They were out to prove people wrong. yeah I agree that maybe they have been reading their press clippings a little too much. They just got their collective asses handed to them by the fing leaves AND the flams Time for some pride to raise it's head and get this team back on track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsaneHABSfan Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 yeah I agree that maybe they have been reading their press clippings a little too much. They just got their collective asses handed to them by the fing leaves AND the flams Time for some pride to raise it's head and get this team back on track Worst thing to happen to the Habs is the injuries. Guys do not come back from injury 100%. Carbo does not set his lines correctly and constantly changing lineups. I am not a fan of Kovalev, however he would have a legitimate complaint that he has no set centre. This team is in 5th place because they played good hockey before the massive injuries and that is the root cause of the problem. Also, the defense is weaker than we all think. Not bad with the top 4, after that it is pretty depressing... Top 4 D and top centre is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athlétique.Canadien Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Price is alright. When he has made jaw dropping saves or made huge stops in games of the past I made a joke that "he used the force". Right now he's lacking in the steal a game department. His butterfly is confused a little. That is; open versus closed on any particular shot. Under panic he looks a bit shaky. Komisarek is confused for doing too much and over committing IMO. Trying to be super defenceman can lead to doing too much and whoops, your out of position. I find he is attempting plays which are risky and he's panicking under forecheck pressure. Connolly goal anyone? Yikes. I think another big problem is Carbonneau and/or the ability of the players to follow his suggestions. Are there too many responsiblities not gelling with other habits? - Hold the blueline against attack. - Play the blueline to get it out of the zone. - Collapse. - Check. - Shoot - Block - Poke check - Dump the puck and chase. It's almost like the players are jumping around from one aspect of the game to another they get frazzeled. Carbonneau wants all of these things and much more to work like magic in unison. But while the Habs do play a good 5 man tight unit breaking out in the defensive zone, so too does the other team forecheck us relentlessly to keep it inside our zone. Sure it's OK and important to play the blueline. They do it well forcing a tag up by the enemy. But don't surrender puck possession for the sakes of a " play the blueline/clear the zone" because coach says it's a must. I've noticed the opposition usually get these pucks and are immediately attacking again. This is just a theory but it's the only answer I can come up with. It seems like half a strategy is employed due to some of those rules contradicting. If Carbo is coming down on the players for failing certain aspects maybe the players are frustrated. I hope not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Ryder Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 What's wrong is that expectations after one successful regular season became higher than the capacity of this team to play. The chemistry of the power play broke and left the team with no major strenghts. Confidence is at it's peak low and the players do not believe they can come back to win when they trail in the score. They just have to forget about their sorry millionnaire a*ses and start playing like a team. Cheaters should be expelled from that team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I think KoZed said it in one of the game threads: our real problem is that both Price and the offense are slumping at the same time. Even with a rolling powerplay and the league's best offense, we've relied on exceptional goaltending for as long as I can remember. At the start of the season, the team was playing poorly, but Price was backing us up so we were able to win games on talent alone. On other occasions, I can think of a game or two with Halak in goal, we've received poor goaltending but managed to win anyway because the offense was clicking. Now, we've got Price playing like crap and an uncoordinated offense. I think the way out of it is just to wait for Price to start saving our asses again. The other things will start rolling after that happens. The skaters aren't going to pick things up without Price's lead. Look at the Calgary game: we scored the first goal, the team started playing with momentum, Calgary scores, we suck for the rest of the game. If Price is making those big saves, we keep the momentum going and find our way out of this slump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Coaching is the worst I've seen since I've been following hockey. Clearly the guys have stopped playing for him...f*ck them...time to blow those lasy asses away and start with players who seem tocare: -Higgins -Komisarek...if he wants to stay. -Tanguay..if he wants to play -lapierre -Gorges -Price -Halak -Kostopoulos -and all the kids that want a roster spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habstown Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Back to the old school... we'll be fighting our ass for the 8th spot... PANIC BUTTON: ON!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsaneHABSfan Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Back to the old school... we'll be fighting our ass for the 8th spot... PANIC BUTTON: ON!!! Actually, maybe that is what they need to be fighting for 8th spot. I still think the coaching needs an upgrade to make offensive plays and to teach driving to the net. Very few players on this team tough enough to drive the net too. Oh well, go habs go........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 To be in a fight for something you must show up. Clearly the habs don't even show up anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaos Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 The title of this thread it Whats wrong with the Habs? I have no idea. But you know whats really sad. Neither does Guy Carbonneau, Bob Gainey or anybody else associated with this team. I orginally thought maybe a trade to shake the team up would work. Now I'm thinking the coach is just as much or more of the problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well i'm not going to say GC is the main problem, but he certainly isn't much of a soloution right now. Let's be honest, how many coaches has the core of this team had? Too many. GC has been the only coach to get these guys to play an entire year and wound up in first place. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. It's time to eject the vets and start over. If it still lingers, then the coach can be blamed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I don't know what the problem is but I do know that if I was George Gillett and the Habs missed the playoffs heads would roll. Gainey, Carbo, Jarvis, Muller, Melanson all gone. This crap has gone on for years in Montreal. Last year is the only year in recent memory that we didn't see an extended loosing streak. If the people you pay to figure out what the problem is and fix it can't do it then you find someone who can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Anyone prepared to photoshop a picture of Gainey or Carbo as the Iraqi Information Minister? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikz Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) The players don't believe in Carbo anymore The guy keeps changing the lines every night; it's hard to build stability; you have to keep your best lines together, be patient and accept a few losses; switching the lines will make matters worse Our D sucks and he puts Gorges, one of our best D-men, on an offensive line; very smart Edited February 12, 2009 by rafikz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexstream Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well, I dont buy into excuses... but... -Komo was injured, is not the same since comeback. -The magic element for the front lines this season was Robert Lang. Not saying that he was doing it all... Just saying that he was the gelling ingredient. I dont know... e.g. try to do a cake without yeast... He wasn't the cake, but he was the yeast. -The magic element for the rear lines might have just been Latendresse. Lapierre is a shadow of what he was 10 games ago (when Guillaume was still there). I have no idea how true it is (while I strongly believe in the Lang thing, I'm not so sold on Guillaume) but it is clearly a fact that the Lapierre - Latendrese - Kosto line rocked and overperformed while now, those individuals are just plain normal random players on a struggling team. -Markov is trying WAY too hard and makes turnover upon turnover So what's left? Captain K is left alone with the kids... and once again, he can work as hard as he wants... he's not up to the task. Sad but true. IF we had a REAL 1st line center, we'd be struggling way less, cause that 1st line would be producing. I restate that if we get a guy like Pronger right away, it solves 3/4 of the problems. as it gives confidence to the d corp, boosts our PP and brings us a mean streak in our zone. but if we can make 2 moves... one is for a 1st line center, the other is for a top 4 d (not necessarily pronger) and that solves 95 % of the problem. the other 5 % is the leadership problem and the Koivu vs Kovalev issue. The players don't believe in Carbo anymore The guy keeps changing the lines every night; it's hard to build stability; you have to keep your best lines together, be patient and accept a few losses; switching the lines will make matters worse Our D sucks and he puts Gorges, one of our best D-men, on an offensive line; very smart That's bullcrap! They don't believe in themselves and their abilities. Gorges was -4 the game before and he's one of our most versatile Dman... He wanted to sit him but thought he deserved more to play than S. Kost. Probably most of us were fairly happy with the way the Habs played for a good part of the first half of the season, but now many of us are probably looking around in desperation trying to figure out what's going wrong. I have a few options...theories.... as to what might be happening. Could one of the following scenarios be what's taking place? 1. Unlike last year when we were incredibly healthy, injuries have caught up with us and we're proving that you can't lose, Koivu, Komisarek, Higgins, Tanguay, Price, Lang, Latendresse and who knows who's next, and not have all those injuries affect chemistry and flow. 2. They're simply in a mid-season slump and it will sort itself out soon. 3. A number of players are in slumps all at the same time [some have been in one for a long time it seems]. 4. They are caught in a wierd situation of a combination of injuries and slumps and over the next two weeks things will begin to work out and we'll be back winning. I believe we have the talent, the players and the coaching, so I think our problem is a combination of injuries and slumps, such as Carey Price. With guys out for a long time, the newer players are unable to make up for the guys who are hurt over a long period of time. I think Price will rebound, defensively we will get back to normal, and offensively we will begin to pick things up. I don't believe we're as bad as what we've shown over the past month. Things will begin to turn around over the nexct week or so. Wings just had a 5 game losing streak. and now they are on a 5 game winning streak. Tanguay's return. and Komi, Markov and Price finally coming back from the ALL Star game (i heard they are still in vacation ) could change a lot of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 By far the biggest problem is Price, and the biggest reason for Price's struggles is almost certainly the challenge of coming back from a groin injury. Luongo has had a very similar problem in Vancouver after returning from a very similar injury. The difference is that Luongo is a seasoned veteran and Price is a kid who may not yet have the same mental resilience. The best move would be to send Price down for a little while (not going to happen). That elusive 4th defenceman has suddenly become a much more urgent acquisition, but short of someone of Pronger's stature, even a good D-man will not be the magic bullet. More likely he will get sucked into the vortex of failure and mediocrity. The All Star game made me nervous all along for its potential to be a distraction that bumped players off their game. Is it coincidental that we sucked the first two games before the break, and immediately following it? They lost focus and as a result have now lost confidence - a much more serious, harder-to-rectify condition. A coaching change would almost certainly act like shock therapy, jolting us back into the game - which is not to say that it's any sort of solution for whatever the deeper problems are, or that it's fair to Carbo. But in terms of salvaging the season, a coaching change would be the most sensible approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhabs Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Where's BobG... BOB ? u there? < crickets > I think he got fired during the summer and the team hasn't announced it yet. Also, Carbo has been let go but since no GM , nobody has relayed the message. What a mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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