credit FoxWell, that was an entertaining 24 hours. And we didn’t even have to involve Keifer Sutherland! This is probably why Fox didn’t talk about it but that’s another story for another day.
On Sunday, I wrote a game review titles “Your move Bob” about another hard to swallow loss for the Habs. Instead of taking the usual stance about the game, I took a look at moves that need to be done. Things that have to happen. And three things could be done by Bob Gainey to turn things around for his team.
He could make a trade
He could talk to his players to shake them up
He could fire his head coach
Well, thanks Bob. You heard me and answered the call. And I don’t want to give myself too much credit but two out of three is a lot better than your team win-loss ratio since the All-Star game. Let’s break down what happened since Monday.
The following takes place between 3:34 PM Monday and 3:34 PM Tuesday.
On Monday Montreal ex-coach and always big mouth Jean Perron stated that Christopher Higgins, Carey Price and Sergei Kostitsyn were going out in bars, partying all the time and getting hammered. Normally I wouldn’t think much about it but in this case, I know at least one of these guys does and his play suffered badly from last season to this season.
Pretty much at the same time we also learned that the Montreal Canadiens sent a second and third round draft picks for Mathieu Schneider and a conditional pick depending on their playoffs performances. Schneider is a powerplay specialist and do we ever need one in Montreal right now. With his 717 points he stand in 23rd place in NHL history amongst defensemen but most importantly he is 10th at his position for powerplay goals in history with 94. He should be a calming presence in the locker room as another grizzled veteran who won the Stanley Cup… in Montreal. The man knows his job and I believe he’ll do well. On the flip side it also meant there is now two extra defensemen in the lineup and the most obvious choice was to send back Ryan O’Byrne in Hamilton which was done in the following hour. I liked Ryan recently but this trip down is only temporary and I think he won his spot for the next season. Bob also took some time to explain that his coach was working under hard conditions with all the injuries his team had to face and the young inexperienced players thrown to the wolves.
On Monday night, or maybe even earlier than that, Bob Gainey met with Alex Kovalev to talk about his play and the level of intensity he wasn’t showing. In the end, Gainey decided the team was better off with Kovalev sitting at home watching RDS than playing. Ouch. That had to hurt a man like him. Hopefully it will sting badly enough that Alex will understand he’s not going to win his point, the coach will. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Carbo has been asking for a north-south game without too much fanciness and Kovy couldn’t help but try to deke everybody on the ice, zebras included.
On Tuesday morning Mathieu Schneider dropped in Montreal and made some comments about being happy to be in Montreal, helping the powerplay and the team getting back of the slump they are in right now. His agent trained him well.
Then in the afternoon everybody got together for an afternoon practice in Boisbriand. Everybody but Kovalev and Sergei Kostitsyn who was went down in Hamilton to be replaced by Gregory Stewart. Gainey spent some time talking to his players, explaining why Alex Kovalev was sent home and maybe scare a few others about getting the same treatment. And in practice some good news as Alex Tanguay was on the ice with his teammates and will follow his team in Washington and Pittsburgh.
After the practice the hungry Montreal media was after Price and Higgins about the allegations of partying too much. Mathieu Schneider laughed his ass off as he was trying to chase away flashbacks of the good old days with Chris Chelios and Shane Corson.
Bob Gainey then faced the same people who call themselves journalists to give an update on the Kovalev situation going as far as to say “The team doesn’t need Kovalev the way he is playing right now”. I hope L’Artiste listened to Bob when he asked him to watch RDS for a week. He also mentioned why the younger Kostitsyn was sent to Hamilton and Gregory Stewart called back: the coaching staff wanted Stewart and didn’t know what to do with an unfocused Sergei.
And finally the day ended up with Carbo speaking to the same lunatics where he was a lot keener to Kovalev than Gainey was, said he lost all respect for Jean Perron for saying what he said but didn’t lie about his players going out in bars on their own time. He also added that Tanguay shouldn’t be back before February 28th according to the medical staff.
There you have it: the craziest 24 hours since Jack Bauer had to save the world from terrorists. Some say all of this was done to deflect attention from Guy Carbonneau and I totally disagree. Mathieu Schneider was a trade in the making for quite some time. Gainey said a couple of times in the last two months that his priority was to add depth on defence. He never said add a superstar on defence. Depth. And that’s what Mathieu Schneider is. Also he made a gutsy move sending Kovalev home, one that will have ripple effects on the team. This is a wakeup call for a lot of players from the GM: If you don’t play the way we want you to play, there will be repercussions no matter who you are.
Mark my words: look at Andrei Kostitsyn in the next two games. He will play against the top players in the league with Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him break through with exceptional performances.
Also, since the Schneider trade I’ve been sceptical about the reasoning behind it. It could be as simple as that: a trade to improve your team. But adding a defensemen without sending anything back doesn’t make much sense in that situation… unless something else is brewing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another trade in the near future. After all, not only the Habs have one defensemen too many (or two if you consider Dandenault) but Tanguay should be back one week before trade deadline, Latendresse maybe two weeks after and Max Pac and D’Agostini gave some wiggle room to Gainey to make another move by showing they belong in the NHL. So maybe there is another trade before March 4th
Until then, the clock is still ticking.
After the practice the hungry Montreal media was after Price and Higgins about the allegations of partying too much. Mathieu Schneider laughed his ass off as he was trying to chase away flashbacks of the good old days with Chris Chelios and Shane Corson.
I though this same exact thing this morning. Young pro athletes partying? Ummm… this isn’t a new thing. In fact, some of those older guys can show these whipper-snappers a thing out two about parties.
Happy to see that P.O.S. Kovalev treated the way he deserves to be treated. I hope his absence is a permanent thing. Maybe the Kostitsyns are done in Montreal as well. They don’t have the all round skills of kids like D’Agostini, Pacioretty, and Maxwell, and they really don’t produce enough offense to warrant top two line duty.
I agree Sarah. It’s one of those agenda-driven stories from the media. If it was Lapierre, Latendresse and Begin, we wouldn’t hear about it.
You are right BB, Perron is an idiot.
Good article BB but I have a few points.
Mathieu Schneider has only 10 points this year: 4 goals, 6 assists…and only 3 points on the power-play. So is the $5.75 million for his “calming presence” on the blueline? What about other “grizzled veterans” like Hamrlik, Dandenault and the beloved Brisebois?
As you said, the Schneider trade was in the works for some time. If you read the accounts, it is not coincidence that the trade was completed on Sunday. Gainey had this trade in his back pocket but was looking for something better. So why cash it in on Monday? Because his good buddy Carbonneau was under siege.
Carbonneau going to Kovalev and telling him to play north-south is just a small example of how inept a coach he is. Kovalev can only be magical when he plays his style of game to the best of his ability AND is matched with linemates who understand and can also play that game.
Making Kovy play like Kostopoulos or Begin (and with them as linemates) is exactly why he looked disinterested on the ice.
i agree Rocket!
too much blame going to #27 like he wins the games all by himself, put him with average to belowe average players he will play at there level and there game to help them, where are the teams true leaders the one wearing the “C” and carbo? they should be the ones trying to motivate and excite there players, thats the problem with habs so called fans to make excuses and blame one person who is not performing the way he was last year or the way we wanted him too, but lets keep the token good luck charm #11 and Gainey’s buddy carbo. All i can see is when #11 was missing along with some other fan favorites we were 11-02-1 something tells me there are isues in the dressing room and behind the bench! hope we can turn it around fast, if not there is always next year.
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