Game Thread : Montreal Canadiens @ Buffalo Sabres

[han_dyl]

WTF, the time never started? Thats a redo, isnt it? How on earth can you call the game?

A redo??? What if the habs had scored? would you be looking for the redo?

[brobin]

LOL I think it's just you. I counted 3 or 4 missed one timers by MAB on that PP.

Yeah, but he hit it 3 times too... Hammer missed every try.

[Sir_Boagalott]

I noticed the clock right when the puck was dropped that it wasnt moving. The smaller screen from the streaming site I was watching it on made it easier to notice.

Ya, unfortunately there are no redos. However if the game was in Buff the Habs might have caught a break, there still might have had the time left on the clock, not sure.

MAB let loose a lot of rockets on the PP. They need to be getting him to do that every game. MAB did hit the net a couple times but he missed more times than he hit. MAB is a lucky charm though. I dont think the Habs have lost a game in regulation in which MAB scores in.

[han_dyl]

The real question has to be why are we taking so many penalties to begin with? Questionable reffing aside, this team has to be more disciplined. Gomez's penalty was inexcusable. Buffalo didn't score on that PP but it is still a stupid penalty to take. And put's more stress on the Penalty killers (Plex and Sergei mainly) Who should be focusing on offense, not killing penalties.

[JoeLassister]

I have a crush on Tyler Myers ! What a beast !!!

[han_dyl]

Fun Fact.

Saku Koivu 27GP 5G 11A 16PTS +4 $3.25 million

Scott Gomez 30GP 4G 12A 16PTS -1 $7.35 million

Hopefully Gionta is ready to go soon because Gomez is on pace for about 40 pts without him.

[jackp]

Still think the refs aren't biased against the Quebecois city? I specifically replayed some of those penalties against us on my pvr in slow motion. 2 of them at least were not penalties at all. Why call a penalty when nothing happened? Could only be if you're looking for an excuse to call a penalty. That NBA ref interviewed by 60 Minutes mentioned that the refs who disliked a team or a player, would look for excuses to call a penalty. (Apparently they actually made bets as to how long it would take a certain ref to call a foul on a certain player.)

And Gill was interfered with on the winning goal. Or maybe putting us 2 men down late in the 3rd period in a 3 - 3 game might convince you. The trend has always been against us but this year is the worst I've ever seen.

We're raised to think that such things don't exist in pro sports. That the refs may be incompetent sometimes, but otherwise they're squeaky clean. You can believe that if you want, but I don't. I think I know enough about human nature to realize that refs are human just like anyone else. They have biases. And if they're English Canadian, they're not crazy about Quebec. (Not all of them, but some.) I've lived out west (where many intensely dislike Eastern Canada, and Quebec in particular) and I've lived in Ontario (where the bias is not nearly as bad). It exists. It's not a comfortable fact, but it is a fact. And I'm not French Canadian. (It even exists among some English Canadians who are from Quebec! Ask anyone who is English and from Montreal - Is this not true? Be honest.)

Anyway, this was an unfairly reffed game and it cost us. JMHO

[bar]

I am so sick of refs calling fringe penalties on the habs and not calling them on the other team...bullshit again!

[han_dyl]

Guys I'm all for getting on the refs when they screw up but every call against us should have been called.

Or maybe putting us 2 men down late in the 3rd period in a 3 - 3 game might convince you.

O'byrne hitting a Sabre in the face with his stick put us down 2 men. Not the refs.

[KoZed]

Just got home from work. Going to have a look at the boxscore. Guess what will be the first thing I look at? Goals? No. Shots? Nope. Penalties? YES.

Ugh... 8 penalties. 3 to O'byrne alone. 2 to Metropolit, even after his horrible penalty that basically cost us a point last game?

Coaches have to do something. Habs are shooting themselves in the foot...

[bar]

I'm not complaining about the habs penalities, I'm complaining about the same infractions not being called FOR the habs. Like the BLATENT interference in the middle of the third when I think it was Moen, chipped the puck past the Sabres D and then 1-2-3 seconds later the Sabres D got in the way of Moen.

I like Halak, but please please teach him more rebound control.

Edited December 15, 2009 by bar

[JoeLassister]

I'm not complaining about the habs penalities, I'm complaining about the same infractions not being called FOR the habs. Like the BLATENT interference in the middle of the third when I think it was Moen, chipped the puck past the Sabres D and then 1-2-3 seconds later the Sabres D got in the way of Moen.

I like Halak, but please please teach him more rebound control.

Yeah, this one was disgusting.

[Dutch_Habs_Fan]

Plekanec

FOW: 23

FOL: 3

thats insane!

Has he been that good the last 10 games?

[Varlan]

Guys I'm all for getting on the refs when they screw up but every call against us should have been called.

O'byrne hitting a Sabre in the face with his stick put us down 2 men. Not the refs.

Metro gets slashed, slashes back gets in a fight and he gets the extra for the retaliation slash. The slash on him was just a good hockey play, i guess? Really we should have been down 1. But like it's been said here already, seems the refs are just waiting to call a penalty on the habs, and if they can't find one, a ticky tack one will do. Every time the habs get pressure on the other team it's seems one of these incredibly ticky tack calls go against us slowing us down and confusing our players. They don't even know what they're allowed to do anymore. At any moment they can get a penalty for something that happens all game long and goes uncalled. How long did it take the ref to blow the whistle after halak had it covered in the first preiod? would he have waived the goal off if buffalo sdug the puck out and scored?

[han_dyl]

Metro gets slashed, slashes back gets in a fight and he gets the extra for the retaliation slash. The slash on him was just a good hockey play, i guess? Really we should have been down 1. But like it's been said here already, seems the refs are just waiting to call a penalty on the habs, and if they can't find one, a ticky tack one will do. Every time the habs get pressure on the other team it's seems one of these incredibly ticky tack calls go against us slowing us down and confusing our players. They don't even know what they're allowed to do anymore. At any moment they can get a penalty for something that happens all game long and goes uncalled. How long did it take the ref to blow the whistle after halak had it covered in the first preiod? would he have waived the goal off if buffalo sdug the puck out and scored?

Come on, why did Metro have to slash back? Players know the refs will call the retaliation penalty a lot of the time even when the original play was not called. Watch other games, it's not uncommon. Metropolit is a pro, he should have known better, show a little composure, take one for the team you know. Read the message board of any other team after a loss, most times someone will be complaining about the refereeing. I like to do it myself quite frequently. But not because of stupid, lazy plays that should be called.

Look at one of the calls against the Thrashers the other night. Max got tapped with a crosscheck and went down pretty easily (took a dive), and we got a pp out of it. What if that same play happened in reverse? I would be the first one of many yelling calling it a dive.

What about the goal the Habs scored against Colorado earlier this year? The play should have been blown down because the puck hit the netting on the shoot-around. What if that happened to us?

What I'm trying to say is the reffing is shitty both ways most of the time. But the players do know what they are and are not allowed to do. and especially since we seem to be coming out of it on the short end of the stick a lot of the time. They don't need to make it so easy for the refs. If they are looking for something to call against us, they are going to find it much quicker if we high stick someone, or slash someone, than if they were looking for a "ticky tack" penalty.

[jackp]

Metro gets slashed, slashes back gets in a fight and he gets the extra for the retaliation slash. The slash on him was just a good hockey play, i guess? Really we should have been down 1. But like it's been said here already, seems the refs are just waiting to call a penalty on the habs, and if they can't find one, a ticky tack one will do. Every time the habs get pressure on the other team it's seems one of these incredibly ticky tack calls go against us slowing us down and confusing our players. They don't even know what they're allowed to do anymore. At any moment they can get a penalty for something that happens all game long and goes uncalled. How long did it take the ref to blow the whistle after halak had it covered in the first preiod? would he have waived the goal off if buffalo sdug the puck out and scored?

Yeah, I noticed that too. In the late 1980's, we lost an important playoff game to Philly when they practically hacked Roy to death before they finally got the puck free and scored. Roy was besides himself in fury.

[jackp]

I like Halak, but please please teach him more rebound control.

He did not have a good game - 4 goals on 27 shots. Please, don't let both goalies go south at the same time!

(At least Markov's coming back.)

[jrhabs]

It's a good thing they only have two refs on the ice < sarcasm> . Wasn't this supposed to make officiating better ?

What a joke, they can put one ref for each player and it would stay terrible.

Freaking garage league

[Chris]

As i say over and over again, penalties and turnovers are killing this team. It has been like this just about every game this year.

Where is all that great coaching by Martin, he needs to sit some chronic offeners, O'Byrne to name one.

Again, the defense as a whole is too slow, soft to compete with the good teams.

The good news i guess is AK46 has woken up from his slumber. It will be nice to see Gionta and Pouliot together to see if they can get 2 lines going.

For the poster who through out the fun koivu fact. What was the teams record without Markov under Koivu's leadership? It wasn't 1 game under 500.

[bar]

I know this is going to sound silly, but I feel better about this loss, than I do about some wins we had. Some players are in not their forte roles, Laps on the 2nd line, D getting more minutes than needed.

Gomez looks lost with his current crop of wingers. Maybe try Pacs with Sergei and Gomez, put laps with Moen/Metro.

It's hard to not complain about refereeing, it's the so called 'losers way', it serves to make us feel better, but doesn't change that the habs didn't get two points. I've been terrible guilty of it, I'm going to turn over a new leaf, and not do it anymore.

[rafikz]

Metropolit again with a timely retaliation penalty

I have the feeling he will be a healthy scratch soon

[v-hab]

I am not trying to add gasoline to a issue that is becoming a more obvious a problem. In the last 4-5 years I have questioned Bettman’s quest for US coverage from the major networks. They want guarantees that American teams will be in the cup finals before they commit to even limited coverage.

I have often wondered if the Ref’s get the message ‘indirectly’ for Canada’s teams that are the financial backstop for the NHL. I can remember when the NHL head office was in Montreal , The Sun life bLdg.

If pro ref’s in BB can have grudges and openly admit to biased, crooked officiating then why not the NHL, here is the 60 minutes interview, part #1 and #2 of Tim Donaghy and how he acknowledged most Ref’s officiate a game based on their personal bias.( Think Chris Lee )

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=591...ain;contentBody

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=591...ain;contentBody

[Fanpuck33]

It's a good thing they only have two refs on the ice < sarcasm> . Wasn't this supposed to make officiating better ?

What a joke, they can put one ref for each player and it would stay terrible.

Freaking garage league

Have you watched other sports? Basketball is almost unwatchable because of the reffing. There are fouls on pretty much every single play in football and the refs just pick and choose when to call them. Baseball umpires all have a different strike zone. Soccer officials still can barely tell when a guy is acting. MMA judges are often all over the place. Hockey refs are far from the worst in sports.

[rafikz]

I am not trying to add gasoline to a issue that is becoming a more obvious a problem. In the last 4-5 years I have questioned Bettman’s quest for US coverage from the major networks. They want guarantees that American teams will be in the cup finals before they commit to even limited coverage.

I have often wondered if the Ref’s get the message ‘indirectly’ for Canada’s teams that are the financial backstop for the NHL. I can remember when the NHL head office was in Montreal , The Sun life bLdg.

If pro ref’s in BB can have grudges and openly admit to biased, crooked officiating then why not the NHL, here is the 60 minutes interview, part #1 and #2 of Tim Donaghy and how he acknowledged most Ref’s officiate a game based on their personal bias.( Think Chris Lee )

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=591...ain;contentBody

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=591...ain;contentBody

Thanks for reminding me of game 6 of the Lakers-Kings series (2002)

[kenadian]

[Most] penalties we've taken all year are because we're not;

1) in position to play the man (poor positioning/reading of the play catching us a step or 2 away from the player)

2) skating full out (too many guys coasting)

3) retaliation (just plain stupid)

4) conditioning/too long of shifts? (we get tired and hook/grab on to slow the opposition down)

Time to start benching players who are taking these kinds of penalties!

Lack of intensity/skating/digging along the boards for those pucks!

Edited December 15, 2009 by kenadian