Montreal 1 Carolina 2 (Bell Centre)
Like you, I’m a grumpy Habs’ fan after tonight’s loss.
Shouldn’t this game have been a cakewalk? After all the opponent was the lowly Carolina Hurricanes. Perhaps surprisingly, the Hurricanes have the second best record in the Eastern conference (next to the Washington Capitals) in 2010. It’s also hard to believe that Carolina has not lost in regulation time at the Bell Centre since December 2003.
Those facts should not be read as excuses. A playoff team should beat a non-playoff team with six games to go playing at home. But the Canadiens should not have expected that 25 minutes of effort would suffice for the win.
So, who is to blame?
If you would like to dump on Ryan O’Byrne with a perspective shaped by a year-old off-ice incident, I’m not interested in your nonsense.
If you are here to bash the Kostitsyn brothers, perhaps you would be better served by one of those forums where bigoted comments abound.
If you are one of the morons who booed Carey Price (the best Canadiens’ player tonight), during the announcement of tonight’s three stars, you are not welcome.
In fact, the words of former general manager Bob Gainey are perfectly suited for this occasion. Gainey said, “We don’t need those people. We don’t want those people. I think they’re a bunch of gutless bastards, to be honest.”
Exactly.
Gainey was responding to the booing of Patrice Brisebois during a pre-season game on Sept. 27, 2003. Perhaps the speech should be dusted off. Are you listening, Pierre Gauthier?
O’Byrne, the Kostitsyns, and Price have been lightning rods this season attracting ruthless criticism, with the majority being unwarranted. The unfair treatment of these players has gone well beyond fans expressing an opinion.
Sure, call me grumpy. But I’m tired of the verbal abuse with little attachment to reason. Before we get too far along this tangent, let’s get back to tonight’s game.
For just over a period tonight, the Canadiens attacked and dominated the Hurricanes. The home team won 72 per cent of faceoffs. Shots on goal were 12-to-2 for the Habs and they led 1-to-0 on the scoreboard.
Early in the second period, Brandon Sutter, with a burst of speed blew around Roman Hamrlik and drove to the net. Hamrlik went to the ice and slid into the net carrying the puck with him.
Once Carolina had their first goal, the fragile Canadiens’ confidence bubble burst. Their aggressive play from the first period evaporated.
By the third period, the Canadiens had stopped skating, were losing puck battles and showed little interest in competing. Halfway through the period, they had managed only two shots on goal. By the end of the third, the Habs had allowed 17 shots by the Hurricanes. Those are hardly representative statistics of a team fighting for a playoff position.
Carey Price was the only player keeping the Habs in the game in the third period. 23 of Price’s 26 saves came in the final 35 minutes. A brief flurry by the offense with 30 seconds was too little, too late, and only served to prop up the shot totals. The Habs had squandered yet another fine goaltending effort and an opportunity to secure a playoff spot.
But what about the question of blame?
Coach Jacques Martin seemed to place some of the responsibility on O’Byrne who was benched for most of the third period. O’Byrne was a split-second late on the the coverage of Eric Staal who scored Carolina’s second goal. But was he any more to blame than Max Lapierre who failed to clear the puck on the same play or Mike Cammalleri who was parked waiting for an outlet pass?
Cammalleri had a minus two rating and contributed little offensively. His passing was off the mark, and he made poor decisions. Cammalleri has not had the impact that was expected on his return tallying only two assists in four games.
So why bench O’Byrne? Was he anymore responsible than Hamrlik was on the first goal against? What about Mathieu Darche. Is no shots and one hit a successful night’s work for a player on the energy line?
Cammalleri, Hamrlik and Darche have each received praise on this site in the past. The three are not usual targets but none played well tonight. What else went wrong?
While the Canadiens’ power-play scored in the first, it was dreadful when they needed a goal badly in the third period. In fact, they gave up several short-handed scoring chances to the Hurricanes. Why is there still a reluctance to use a forward on the point?
With three minutes left in the game and the Habs trailing, why was the fourth line on the ice? The same question could be asked about Hal Gill. Another question comes to mind, is the Canadiens’ bench aware of timeouts?
Poor personnel and tactical decisions, and a delicate team psyche point to the incompetence of the coaching staff. While execution is also a problem, coach Martin and his assistants should carve out a large portion of the responsibility for the loss.
So when you get grumpy, before you follow the mob and pile on the popular targets, stop and think. After all, you are supposed to be the best hockey fans in the NHL. Well, some of you, anyway.
Following the loss, the Canadiens have slipped to eighth place. They play next on Friday night in Philadelphia. Each game remaining should be treated as a playoff match.
“We all understand the urgency,” said Carey Price, “There’s five games left now. Our next game against Philadelphia is obviously a very big game. We just have to forget this one and get ready for that next game, individually and as a team we have to put all our energy and focus into that game.”
Rocket’s three stars
1. Cam Ward
2. Carey Price
3. Brandon Sutter
Player quotes from wire services were used in this report.
(photo credit: Reuters)
It`s funny how you can so easily blame Halak for his " rebound control " yet have nothing to say on the goal last night that Price gave up to a bad rebound. I won`t call it rebound control because there is no such thing. I do know where you got the term now though, I watched the game on TSN.
No more fooling around, Halak in nets for the remainder of the season or the Habs will not see any playoffs this year.
Price just cannot win, Halak can.
I thought that sleeping on it would temper my anger somewhat, but it hasn't.
People can make all the excuses they want, the fact is this team has far too many flaws. Awful 5-on-5 play, fragile psyche, zero killer instinct, defensively soft, and questionable to poor coaching.
I'd invite any Habs fan to take a look at this team's record if you remove the shootout success (and need I remind those fans that there are no shootouts in the playoffs?). I'll bet that if you rearrange the league standings according to regulation wins, the Habs would be a lottery pick team. The Canadiens won a great many times in the shootout and overtime to start the year, and those points have salvaged us.
During the 6-game win streak, we showered Gainey with praise, for we thought that the "real" team that he built was beginning to emerge. A team that could skate with anyone, any time – and beat them. On any given night, sure that could still happen. But with 5 games left, the excuses are gone. The team is healthy now (please don't anyone tell me that losing Metro will be the downfall of this team, or that losing SK74 will crush the team either.), and yet the same old weaknesses persist. So now what do we make of the work Gainey has done? Do we still shower with praise as we did a couple weeks back? I've said that we should hold off on the accolades until the offseason and Pierre Gauthier gets to work on resigning players. Only when we see how much he has (or doesn't have) to work with, will we be fit to praise or condemn Gainey's work. But failing a lengthy playoff run, it appears that given the tight cap for next year, the verdict will be that it was one step forward, and one step back.
Back to last night's action…I understand that a team cannot play the way it did in the first period for 60 minutes. But someone needs to explain to me how the Canadiens completely dominated the 1st period, yet were similarly dominated in the 3rd when they desperately needed a win. Not good enough. That's what this team is. It makes zero difference that the Canes have been playing well lately. It simply should have made it an interesting game. Good teams find a way, and the Habs cannot find ways to win.
As for the complete idiots that booed Price…they should all be taken behind the shed and put out of their misery. Worthless Habs "fans". That's all they are. Elliott Price from the Team990 suggested that the fans were not booing Price, but the decision to start him in the first place.
I get that for whatever reason, the team doesn't win with Price in goal (and it is rarely Price's own doing). That would lead someone to say they should just start Halak forevermore. I can't totally disagree, because I'd rather have wins that I can't explain than losses that I can't explain. But that leaves me in a state of disbelief. While I want the 2 points, I also want my world to make sense. There's no reason why the Habs should be losing to teams at the top and bottom of the standings when Price plays. None.
With 82 points and 5 games left, it's safe to say that 3 wins will be needed to make the playoffs. And as I've said, leaving it until April 10th to secure those last 2 points to make the playoffs is probably not the best idea…which means they'd best win 3 of their next 4 games.
After all, raise your hand if trust the Canadiens to beat the Leafs at home with the playoffs on the line. They couldn't beat the Canes at home…why would they beat the Leafs when the pressure would be exponentially larger? You just know that the Leafs would relish the opportunity to come to town and knock us out of the playoffs. And right now, I would bet on them doing just that.
Actually I still hold the praise on Gainey's work because we know and have seen how good these guys can be when they're on.
Last night they weren't on.
Even when they supposedly dominated, all the shots were low and mostly on the ice. They took too long to shoot. On breakaways they held on and eventually just shoveled the puck at Ward or missed. When they had that room, a simple lifting of the puck would have done them wonders.
Didn't help that both Plekanec and Sergei got injured. And while Plekanec was able to play with whatever is bugging him, he's not fooling anyone.
I also don't know why Pyatt was scratched…
But the veterans just weren't on last night. Hamr was horrendous and needs to learn the art of sprawling to cover your ass on breakaways like Spacek. Markov left position and his partner on Staal's goal. Frustration creeped into the forwards. Too much passing, looking for perfection.
As for the idiot fans, they can go cheer for the Nordiques. Oh right!
They weren't on last night, nor were they on vs Toronto on the 20th, vs Ottawa on the 22nd, and vs Jersey on the 27th. In between those games, they had a 4-1 win against Florida in which they still were not very good (2 empty netters) and a loss to the Sabres on the 24th where they completely melted down at the end of the game. They haven't been playing well for nearly 2 weeks now, which is why we can't just say that they were not on last night. It goes much deeper than that. And sure, we can go back to the 6 game win streak before that to counter this current stretch, but the net result is a team that is around .500. Like I said…1 step forward, 1 step backwards.
Are your ears burning Anon? They should be. Gainey's words were directed at 'fans' like you.
Your comments are simply asinine.
How is it possible to explain the difference between a puck that was picked up by Staal inches from a screened toe save, and other goaltenders who punt routine shots into the slot when you deny the existence of rebound control?
Could I teach you how to pick the top corner of a net if you claimed there is no such thing as a wrist shot?
Rebound control is a basic element of goaltending and it was learned long before it was a network buzzword.
My advice? Find another sport. Or at the very least, as Number31 suggests, another team.
As far as parroting phrases that one doesn't understand, you must be thinking of P.J. Stock. He's the master.
I feel the same as you do, kyleroussel. My anger hasn't dissipated overnight.
But I agree with Number31. We have seen the potential of this lineup at times during the year.
They can burn an opponent with speed and skill. They should be able to punish with a lethal powerplay. They have superb goaltending.
Perhaps they are still missing a player or two, but have enough components to be an exciting, dynamic team who can do some damage when allowed to play to their strengths.
The problem? They are dragging a huge anchor in the form of an antiquated system designed by their stubborn coach.
In addition, there is a problem with team psyche. How can they go from dominating in the first period to being dominated in the third, you ask? Because they have trouble facing adversity. They panic.
Teams are built and coached with a underlying philosophy. Brian Burke articulated that he wants a team with "pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence."
I like Mike Babcock's philosophy which demands that his team play with "tenacity." (Guy Boucher has copied this approach for Hamilton.)
But in addition to tenacity, I want my team to exhibit resilience.
Both of these are coachable features of a team. And I think it's fair to say that the current Canadiens team has neither tenacity or resilience.
A team can't be tenacious when they are taught to play NOT to lose.
A team cannot be resilient if they lack confidence stemming in part from: being benched for mistakes, line selection roulette, and a goaltender carousel.
This is why the 09-10 Habs are such a frustrating group. In the games that the Canadiens use their assets, they look like they're coached by anyone other than Jacques Martin. Too often, however, they succumb to his stupid strategies and look like the team that plays with hesitance, with reservation and with fear.
For years one of the knocks against the Canadiens has been their lack of resiliency and mental toughness. Even though this team has been gutted, that same pall of despair and panic lingers. What gives? Is the Bell Center built over an ancient burial ground?
Joking aside, how does this get fixed? This is the team we're stuck with for the next few years – coach included. I could be wrong, but I don't think Martin will change his philosophy or style at this point in his career.
I agree that this team has the tools and most of the talent needed to be entertaining and successful. At the end of the day though, the game is played on the ice, and the players will follow the coach's lead. If Martin hampers this team, and if Martin is not going anywhere, where does that leave us fans? To me it means we're only going to see flashes of the team we think we have, as we've witnessed this year. In the end, it's just going to mean more of what we have now: a .500 team give or take a few percentage points and duking it out just to squeeze in to the playoffs.
The worst part about all this, and what we don't talk about enough is that over the past decade, the team has focused so much on marketing and politics, that the bar has been successfully lowered. Fans now see 8th place as the benchmark of success. The Montreal Canadiens now enter each season with the goal of making the 8th spot. As long as fans gobble up the "anything can happen" mentality, we'll get whatever we get.
Actually I got lost in the catacombs of Windsor Station below the Bell Center. Might actually be correct about the burial ground thing ;D Creepy~~~
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