PB Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 (edited) Gainey has decided over a dozen games ago to spread his offensive talents over his 4 lines and that worked rather well.....AS LONG AS he kept sending his best players on the power plays FIRST waves. Anyone could appreciate the logic and related benefits........UNTIL that is,.. 3 or 4 games ago,.....when he went illogical and stopped sending his best players on the first PP's waves. There is no debate that Markov should be on the point on the very first seconds of each PP opportunities just as there shouldn't be any about Kovalev being there from the get go as well..........within this team those two are in a class of their own. Kovalev has been used on the first waves only once tonight........do you realise that he can get as low as a meager 15 seconds of ice-time when he get sended on those second waves. It has happened many times in the last few games........its ok to promote Zednick from the Plek line to the Koivu line for the fives on fives,........but how stupid it is to use him (or any other) on the first PP waves as a winger when you have someone like Kovalev sitting his butt on the bench. How can Gainey fails to see that there is only 120 seconds available during a power play is something beyong me......he is not making the best out of those opportunities.... it all seems so blatantly wasfull to me.... I dont think this team can afford being misused without falling back in the standing. Edited March 14, 2006 by PB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I will agree PB. IMO Kovy should decide when he goes on the ice for the pp and when he comes off, that is to say if he wants to play the full two minutes I have no problem with it, he is the most talented Canadiens player and the greatest scoring threat as well. I have noticed Bob trying Bulis & Plex on the PP as of late as well and if he is doing it to send a message to the team and Kovalev then fine but if this is his best idea to generate offence Gainey needs to re think his decisions. All that said the Habs have lost two games in regulation over the past 13 games if they can keep that up I don't really care who BG has on the PP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch_nl Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I will also agree. Maybe Gainey is letting his stomach decide? Maybe it's a feeling? Anyway, Kovalev should be used to play 2 minutes as he was doing it all the time some years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 If Bob is trying to send messages, he should be leaving Koivu on the bench, not Kovalev. As far as experimenting with the PP, I wouldn't mind seeing Kovalev rotate out to the point more often for one-timers, the way the Rangers often do with Jagr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoRvInA Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 LEts not forget a couple of things here! One ... We need to remember DEPTH is a key for any Playoff run! and we cant be a one man show specially PPs either. Second .. we dont really know what goes on during practice.. Maybe Ryder scores with his helmet put on backwards and holding the stick with his teeth! Gainey has to take in account on and off game results and who ever is Hot! otherwise what the hell practice for!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 I love your PP formula JMMR. My worry about the late PP changes by Gainey is that it will affect negatively the successful streak you have correctly mentionned......which, lets not forget have been built for the most part on Huet's performances AND the the correct use of kovalev for 9-10 games out of those 13 games. This rate of success will not last if the PP gets degraded,.. it already has,..and will continue if Gainey keeps using Kovalev as he did in the last few games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMAC Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Does anybody else remember the OLYMPICS?! Kovy and Koivu are tired and Bob wants to keep them fresh for the playoffs, not burn them out by overplaying them on the powerplay. Besides, we need to get some other players going offensively and the best way to do that is by giving them PP time. I see nothing bizarre in that. What I do find bizarre are habs fans who seem to go out of their way to nitpick Bob's decisions. When we are winning everything's fine. Suddenly a loss and Bob's decisions are bizzare, WTF? In case you havent been paying attention, our PP struggles and our team has lost games because as a team the Habs are at the bottom of the conference in goals scored. We are ahead of only WSH, FLA and Bos and are tied with NYI in the goals for category. We're actually very fortunate to be in the playoff hunt given that kind of output. :hlogo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 Does anybody else remember the OLYMPICS?! Kovy and Koivu are tired and Bob wants to keep them fresh for the playoffs, not burn them out by overplaying them on the powerplay. Besides, we need to get some other players going offensively and the best way to do that is by giving them PP time. I see nothing bizarre in that. What I do find bizarre are habs fans who seem to go out of their way to nitpick Bob's decisions. When we are winning everything's fine. Suddenly a loss and Bob's decisions are bizzare, WTF? In case you havent been paying attention, our PP struggles and our team has lost games because as a team the Habs are at the bottom of the conference in goals scored. We are ahead of only WSH, FLA and Bos and are tied with NYI in the goals for category. We're actually very fortunate to be in the playoff hunt given that kind of output. :hlogo: You are right...we are fortunate to be in the play-off run.....despite the lack of our scoring depth.. ........despite being one of the lowest team in the GOALS categorie. What has been saving us from being out of the play-off run unlike the other low scoring team,...is Huet + team cohesion + power play efficiency ( 7th in the league ). Its not an exciting recipe.....winning by a single goal and all... yet it got us the 8th position,..for now. Without Kovalev our PP efficiency would be nil and so would be our position in the standing. Yes I found bizarre that Gainey as started some games ago to deprived the team from the quality PP this team can afford,....one that has been a crucial feature in our relative success this year. We only needed one goal for a tight tonight......all the the PP's first waves, save one, where started by Zednick, Koivu and Higgins......this is no recipe for our team to win.....the PP was already weekened by Markov's absence.......come on.......Kovalev on the second wave......silly if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMAC Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I don't totally disagree with your point, but I found "bizarre" a little too strong a word. Higgins has been hot lately and maybe Bob felt his youthful energy could help stap Koivu out of his post-Olympic funk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I'm worried about our scoring in general. None of the lines are producing right now, PP or 5 on 5. Even the chances we are getting are not that often and not that dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBHabs_fan Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi Guys. I haven't posted in a while. I'm too busy biting my nails while I watch every game. But I felt I had to reply to this thread, as I very much agree.. To not have Kovy on the PP for at least 1 minute is inexcusable. You can say all you want about needing depth to win in the playoffs.....but you have to get there first. The way this conference looks, and with our April schedule.. we cannot afford to lose these games. The new NHL is all about the PP....when we struggle there...we lose. This game was a tough one, because we had PP's all night.. I should say though..I have been impressed with the way we are setting up the PP (ie. gaining puck possession) and the movement has been good. Last night there were too many blocked shots though. Not even down low play Here's to Markov coming back and changing all of this! We'll need to win most of the next few games against lesser teams, to secure a spot :hlogo: :hlogo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaos Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Souray and Markov seem to me to be the only defencemen that should be on the ice on the powerplay, which means theres plenty of room for Kovalev on the point, which opens up another spot for another forward up front if you have Markov (when healthy) on the first PP unit and Souray on the second. Souray has that booming shot, but in rarely seems to get through, and Markov adds a totally different dynamic in the way he can move the puck. And the way Kovalev moves so effortlessly out there, theres no reason he cant be out there the whole two minutes. This guy has something like 18 PP assists or something. OTher than that, the forwards are interchangable, use whoever works well together, get the hottest guys out there, although with scoring on average 1 goal a game theres not too many hot playes on this team right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habscout Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 While I agree that Kovalev should have a lot of power play time, I don't believe your claim has any merit. I've been seeing Kovalev a lot on the powerplay units, and I didn't believe he was being shortchanged at all for ice time among the forwards in that situation. Your argument about being on the 'first wave' as being the most important issue of the powerplay is weak, to be frank. There are a lot of issues to consider, the most important of which is how relatively fresh Kovalev is when the power play starts. He may benefit from being sent out on the second wave if he's just come off of a long regular shift. I went to nhl.com and found out I was right about his overall ice time. Here are the stats for the last 4 games; he's clearly in the top 3 in each game: Tampa Bay Game, Habs Forwards PP Time: KOIVU, SAKU 7:56 KOVALEV, ALEX 6:45 RYDER, MICHAEL 7:28 Rangers Game, Habs Forwards PP Time: KOIVU, SAKU 5:26 KOVALEV, ALEX 7:38 RYDER, MICHAEL 5:02 Boston Game, Habs Forwards PP Time: KOVALEV, ALEX 5:29 KOIVU, SAKU 4:45 RIBEIRO, MIKE 4:34 Toronto Game, Habs Forwards PP Time: KOVALEV, ALEX 3:07 KOIVU, SAKU 5:04 RYDER, MICHAEL 4:35 http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/ES020962.HTM http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/ES020945.HTM http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/ES020928.HTM http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/ES020917.HTM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 No doubts that stats brought about by Habscout from the last 4 games cannot point anything undemocratic about Kovalev's ice time during PP time. Against our other top used forwards he came short twice and on top twice......very similar overall. Even when fresh, I had noticed lately that he is not being systematicaly used on the first waves,.... is this usage pertinent or rigorous enought considering the unique prowess he brings along ? this can lead to a shorthanged use of his service,.....something incongruous with our needs when fighting tight and significant games like Tampa Bay. Total CH's PP minute time of that game was 12.57 and kovalev got 6.45, significantly less than Koivu and Ryder,.........and of course much too similar than Zednick's own at 6.09. I am not saying that Kovalev should have a similar PP time portion equalled to the one Jagr had in his last game in Montreal (almost 100& or 6.06 out of 6.19 total minutes) but the TB game had me worry about a possible trend taking place that could potentially derail our chances if kepted on going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalHab Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Here's what bothers me about the recent linup changes....SUNDSTROM!! He looks lost out there, IMO he should not be in the lineup.....Although I love Higgins, for now I'd rather see him on the PK than the PP (enter Kovy), but now BG has Plex playing with Sundstrom...Higgins was doing a great job on the PK, and was actually creating chances short-handed. Also, Sundstrom's insertion into the lineup keeps guys like Downey/Murray in the pressbox.....although these guys don't score, they keep the opposition "D's" head on a swivel, opening up room for others. And I don't recall either of these 2 guys taking stupid penalties....in fact Downey has drawn a few retaliation penalties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I agree 100% SoCalHab Higgy Pop is dynamite on the PK much better than he is on the PP in his young career. The tandem of him and Plex on the PK were amazing it appeared as though they created at least one offensive chance every shift. His removal from the PP units will open more chances for the Canadiens more offensively potent threats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Its difficult not to get traditional with a line-up when it has totally transformed your season's perspective by earning 17 points of 22 available ones in a matter of only 11 games. I remember writing a post about the great new formula Bob had came up with on that same evening. Higgins,Koivu,Ryder Perezhogin,Ribeiro,Kovalev Bulis,Plekanec,Zednick Downey,Bonk,Begin It remained intact until the 11th game against Boston. Gainey brought about the new changes against the Rangers and kept them in the following game against Tampa. Now Downey is out while Sundstrom is in with Plekanec,...Zednick is now with Koivu taking Ryder's spot which now join Bonk and Begin. For now I prefer the original set-up,...I somehow miss Downey on the 4th line,...I prefer Zednick over Sundstrom on the 3th line,.... I missed seing Higgins and Plek on the PK together,....and I am not crazy about Zednick getting more PP time since the new set-up. The original set-up has lasted 11 games and had great success.....It is not easy at a first glance to see what Bob is trying to acheive with those changes but we shall see soon enought as it will all unfold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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