Montreal vs. Florida | December 29th, 2013 | 1700 EST

[BCHabnut]

Wow. No goal for getting crosschecked in the back. Need 6 legit goals to win 4_3

[Guest Stogey24]

M.B has to be thinking about what kind of return Markov would bring in. He looks gassed already. Might just be some rust from the break, but yikes.

[sakiqc]

Wow. No goal for getting crosschecked in the back. Need 6 legit goals to win 4_3

Habs 1

Refs 2

Florida 3

[Trizzak]

What a sad, sad team. Limited urgency, no fire.

Shake it up!

[brobin]

Habs were terrible, refs were worse.

[lazy26]

You picked a fun game to do the 3 Stars for. If the 3rd period is another struggle, your creative writing abilities may be put to the test.

Honestly, I always get the worst games!

[Chris]

Please, it wasn't the refs or bad calls that did them in. It was not showing up, turnovers, playing soft and no offense to speak. I believe 7 of the last 8 games they have scored 1 goal or less in regulation. You can't win that way.

I would certainly consider moving many of the vets.

Although I do agree the Briere goal should have counted.

[habs rule]

very very sad. We need some goals. We have too many smurfs. We are tired. It is time for MB to shake the club up. This is not getting better, it is getting worse. we were out hit out hustled out skated and just plain outed as a soft team.

[brobin]

They definitely deserved to lose, but the refs should get a poor grade as well.

A trade is needed if this team is going to improve. What we need is a solid, big, younger player which requires us to trade a vet and a smaller skilled guy. Not easy, but GMs need to find a way.

[Chris]

Tired? They just had a week off. Florida played back to back also. They didn't look tired.

[sbhatt]

Disgusting; they were a soft, lazy bunch going through the motions out there.

[Meller93]

I'm not trying to hop on the trade em all bandwagon but I've actually felt like we needed trades since before the season even began. I wouldn't mind and would actually like in some cases, to see Diaz Gorges Markov, Briere, Desharnais, gionta, And bourque all traded.

Just imagine how different the team could look after that kind of overhaul.

Pacioretty also needs to get more consistent, and boy Emelin really needs to start showin his stuff again. He definitely can be worth 4 mill but right now... He worries me for sure.

[Guest Stogey24]

Diaz is a player that should be in a European league. I honestly think he is too soft for the NHL.

[Chris]

Yep, I would add Pleks to that mix, he will land you the biggest return besides Markov. Move 27 to center.

I would move Emelin back to the LD and pair him with Subban.

[lazy26]

The HW 3 "Stars" are up: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=3287

[dlbalr]

Yep, I would add Pleks to that mix, he will land you the biggest return besides Markov. Move 27 to center.

While I agree that Galchenyuk's eventual position should be centre, his one awful, awful game at C earlier has me hoping that the conversion is still a little ways away.

[PMAC]

I get the frustration with this game. It was, to quote Dave Stubbs (re: a blown call)" bovine manure". What I don't get is that after EVERY loss most of you want to trade half of the team and/or act like this is the beginning of a slow slide out of playoff contention.

Yes the team needs more size and scoring... and no they are not scoring at a rate that will often produce wins.

But in those last 2 games they had about 4 goal posts and 2 disallowed goals. Sometimes the puck bounces for you and the calls go your way...sometimes not. I predict that the team is going to start scoring and then the flood gates will open. Hopefully, they will be able to maintain a decent level of production after that.

I expect Les Boys to bounce back with a great effort next game. Near the top of the conference I will take that and hope MB can do some adjustments--not an overhaul -to spur a decent playoff run.

[dlbalr]

The HW 3 "Stars" are up: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=3287

Permit me to add a stat of the night to the article. 2 - The number of shifts for Alexei Emelin in the 3rd period (a total of 1:07).

Perhaps he gets the night off on Tuesday?

And after some research, it was a right thigh laceration for Briere, the absence was required to get some stitches.

[Chris]

PMAC, people's reactions aren't a loss to the Panthers, they have stunk up the joint for about 10 games in row. Yes they had a couple of 2 -1 OT wins in there.

They are just a few points into the playoffs, the leafs are winning again also.

I don't see this team as a lock for the playoffs, I also haven't seen anything lately that suggests they will show up there next game. But as always, I could certainly be wrong.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Game report!

Yes, I was at tonight's game in sunny (cloudy today) South Florida. The bad news is that they lost in a stinker. The good news is that it's not like i'd been waiting for this game for months.

Some thoughts from the game, looks like you all saw the same crappy game on television, so I won't waste anyone's time on what you could see on TV.

For starters, i've seen probably 20 warmups in my two years in South Florida, and for what the Canadiens did in the warm up, I knew what was coming. It was actually pretty bizarre. At no point, did what they do anything appearing to be a warm up. Subban diddled around with the puck, took 0! rushes, and engaged in an impressive amount of horseplay for someone who has played like three day old dog shit on your rug for the last month. He was stickhandling between two pucks and in and out of players legs. Prust was the only one who skated. Pacioretty, Desharnais and White didn't wear helmets, which bothers me for some odd reason. The team could barely hit the net, so once again, harbingers. For whatever reason, Budaj barely took any shots, so myself and my friend actually thought Price was starting. Last year, probably owing to the large numbers of Canadiens fans in the crowd, Subban and Eller stayed out late, and Subban hit some one timers. This time, we appeared to be in for a similar treat, but Subban took one shot, and then they promptly skated off. During the "warmup," I was waiting for my JV soccer coach to run out on the ice and tell them to stop screwing around, because that was the level professionalism they displayed.

South Florida Three Stars of Hockey-

3. Scumbag kids in Broward County. Some kids drove up to me and my friend at the TGI Friday's parking lot and asked for a lighter. No one lit a cigarette, and it appeared that they were lighting a blunt before some shopping at Sawgrass Mills. Something went awry, because they asked my friend "hey do you need this?" and then promptly peeled out of the parking lot in their parent's Cadillac Escalade after giving us the finger out the window. I'm sure the girls in the backseat were impressed.

2. The 2nd No Goal- I have never heard the BB and T Center this loud, and the Habs fans did what they do best-boo. I was proud to boo amongst the other Habs fans, and the noise, at least in the balcony was deafening. Therrien, during the explanation, slammed the bench door so hard that you could hear it in row 14 in section of 426.

1. Delusional Panthers Fans- The Panthers went on a five game winning streak a couple of weeks ago. The Christmas holiday had something to do with it, but the thirty bucks that got me tickets ten rows off the glass a year ago got me in the nosebleeds. For ticket prices to increase 300% is ridiculous. Also, I would like to apologize to the dreamers that thought they say the Montreal Canadiens tonight, as this is giving them false hope for a wildcard hunt.

All in all, I was happy to be here, and the Habs fans were by far the best crowd i've seen, size wise, behavior wise, and like I said, the boo birds are the best in the business.

[Commandant]

I think at this point we have a good idea of exactly what we have in the 2013-14 Montreal Canadiens.

The team is a pretty good, but not great club in a league full of parity. They can get on good runs (such as the 10 game point streak), and they can go on bad runs where they cant score but get enough defence and goaltending to hover around 500 during those down spots. Overall, they are an above average team that is just below the glass ceiling of the true NHL contenders.

What do they need to change that? Two players IMO, a true gamebreaker up front, and a 20 minutes per game second pairing defenceman.

Hopefully those two players are also going to develop internally in Alex Galchenyuk and one of our many defensive prospects Tinordi/Beaulieu/etc.... Its just unlikely that its going to happen this year.

So we are what we are. A pretty good team, but one with flaws that will prevent them from winning it all and lead to a first or second round playoff exit.

They are on the right track, but there is still a fair ways to go.

[PMAC]

This is what I was trying to say when I was complaining about what I perceive as over-reaction after almost every loss. As Commandant says, we an above average team with flaws-- that needs one or two upgrades to expect to go on long playoff on a regular basis.

[Meller93]

I love the Habs. I'd honestly call myself more of a Habs fan than hockey fan. When I watch the world juniors, I watch Habs prospects.

Sadly, I really do think the Habs are playing far above their heads. I see flashes of great hockey from the Habs, but them I see flashes of absolute embarrassment. It balances out to still not being content with the team.

I'm calling for trades because I know that as they are, the Habs can't win the cup, barring an absolute tear on top of price playing out of his mind.

Montreal has lovely parts in a young core. Trade to add Add 2-3 more young parts and wait 3 years. Very promising possibilities.

I know it's never that easy but it's better than losing retiring players for nothing of you can't make it

[Neech]

What do they need to change that? Two players IMO, a true gamebreaker up front, and a 20 minutes per game second pairing defenceman.

Hopefully those two players are also going to develop internally in Alex Galchenyuk and one of our many defensive prospects Tinordi/Beaulieu/etc.... Its just unlikely that its going to happen this year.

I'd say we need another top forward as well as Galchenyuk reaching his potential. And that's a big if - despite the wishful prognostications and grandiose statements, we still have little reason to believe that Galchenyuk is better than any of the 2013 top 4. It could be that we tanked the wrong year.

I have hope that at least one of these defensive prospects will turn into the reliable second-pairing guy that we need, but you're right that it won't happen this year, and next year is uncertain as well. It would be nice if they could get some experience with the big club before then.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

This is what I was trying to say when I was complaining about what I perceive as over-reaction after almost every loss. As Commandant says, we an above average team with flaws-- that needs one or two upgrades to expect to go on long playoff on a regular basis.

Agreed. The past 10 games haven't been pretty but we still acquired 10 points through them. Our goals against is still second in the east. Detroit and Toronto have been a lot uglier than us in the past 10, which is why we're still sitting in the top three for the Atlantic. It would take a catastrophic downfall for us to let New York or someone catch us.

There are only five teams in the East that score more goals than they allow. That includes Montreal. That number needs to go up, and it needs a shakeup for it to happen.