by Coach K, AllHabs.net
SAINT-LAZARE, QC. – On Thursday, November 11th, the Montreal Canadiens parted ways with defenseman Ryan O’Byrne. The six foot five inch Victoria, British Columbia native was touted to be the second coming of Mike Komisarek. This was, of course, during Komisarek’s first few seasons with the Habs. O’Byrne’s physical prowess was his most impressive asset, because there wasn’t much to be desired offensively. O’Byrne had 16 points (2 G and 14 A) and had a -3 plus/minus rating in 125 regular season games with the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.
Although these numbers suggest he was holding his own, there were a few incidents in his short career with the Canadiens that can be attributed to his decline in the organization’s ranks.
In February 2008, he was charged with grand theft, when he took a woman’s purse from a Tampa Bay nightclub shortly after the Canadiens’ rookie dinner. Subsequent to the investigation, all charges were dropped by the Tampa authorities, leaving O’Byrne with no criminal record .
The following season, on November 24th, 2008, in a game versus the New York Islanders, he scored on his own goal during a delayed penalty. That incident led to O’Byrne’s confidence being questioned, which led to multiple delay of game penalties in subsequent games when clearing the puck over the glass. He never really recovered from that, although in the latter stages of 2009-2010, and as early as this pre-season, he was playing pretty good hockey.
So what was the reason for his trade to Colorado? You can start by looking at the Canadiens’ track record when it comes to insulating their prospects upon their arrival in Montreal. For years now, the Canadiens have notoriously missed the boat when it comes to instilling the proper ideals in young players. Many of these prospects are new to the fast and furious lifestyle that comes with playing in Montreal. Think back to February 2009, when Kostitsyn brothers were linked allegedly linked to the mob, another accusation that was investigated and deemed inaccurate by the RCMP. Or even last season, when pictures surfaced of Carey Price smoking a cigarette and partying hard in Mexico. Protecting your young players is a huge undertaking. Many of them, especially those coming from the junior ranks, are away from home for first time in their lives, and don’t know how to handle the independence.
Another shortcoming of the Habs’ organization is their reluctance to let a player learn from their mistakes. When a player is developing at any level, you can do drills with them until you are blue in the face, but they learn the most during game situations. So, when a player makes a mistake, it’s up to the coaching staff to console the player and send him out for his next regular shift. O’Byrne wasn’t given that luxury. Instead, he was normally pinned to the end of the bench, a glorified spectator. Do you have any idea what that does to someone?
And finally, there is this season, where the Canadiens’ brass kept O’Byrne on the NHL roster to start the season, while having no intention of playing him. Instead of placing him on waivers prior to the start of the season, and allowing him to play in Hamilton under Randy Cunneyworth, they kept him in the press box.
For those of you who think the O’Byrne deal is going to lead to something else, bear in mind that the move only frees up $942,000 on the salary cap. The only thing I can see is that, in order to help the struggling powerplay, GM Pierre Gauthier is going to do something idiotic and resign Marc-Andre Bergeron (Please shoot me now!!)
So now what? Do you think the Canadiens will learn from their mistakes? It doesn’t seem likely. Over the past 15-plus years, this organization has gone from perenial Stanley Cup contenders to playoff wannabees. They have overplayed their best players during the regular season, causing them to lose any vigor when the playoffs rolled around. They’ve taken highly-ranked prospects and destroyed their confidence, thus forcing them to play elsewhere to regain it. When thinking of this, I really fear for Lars Eller, who may be the Habs’ next victim of sub-par organizational standards.
Mediocrity breeds failure. In a city deemed the Mecca of Hockey, our treatment of players has become mediocre. The Canadiens are doomed to failure until such time that the organization’s standard rise from the ashes, and restored to their glory days when Sam Pollock and Frank Selke ran the club. Ownership, now back in the hands of the Molson brothers, need to remember that.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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I always thought O’B would make it, and although I agree he wasn’t given the chance, your constant blaming, botching and whining startsnto really get on my nerves. What do you want – coach them yourself? It’s pretty obvious everything you write is just all over Gaulthier and Martin, and you know what – it’ incredibly boring. The teams doing pretty well in spite of having the worst GM and the most incompetent coach in the league, don’t you think?now imaging which wonders COACH K could do with his magic strategy!
Wow, Mike. You really need to look at things objectively, and not put so much anger into your comments.
I agree that the team is doing very well, at this point in time. And I’m not blaming Jacques Martin and Pierre Gauthier for everything. The player does have a reasonable amount of blame to answer for. In fact, O’Byrne stood up like a man, and took it in the chin in front of the media yesterday.
My opinions aren’t based on just this season or last. I base them on people’s track records. Both Martin’s and Gauthier’s have had their good and bad moments.
Just last week, JM was panicking behind the bench, and Gauthier ticked of Boyd and his agent. My job is to breakdown things that I see in the Canadiens’ organization and write about it. Sugar-coating what I have to say would serve no purpose.
no, I wasn’t looking for sugarcoating, but it seems everything you write is trying to take a bite out of JM. I agree there is a lot of line-juggling that one might just interpret as panic, but let the man do his work for a few games, and then we’ll see.
So, let’s see how the track records of both JM and PG develop, but maybe you could give them some room for now – there are many other things to cover.
Coaching involves patience, Mike. And JM has little of it when things aren’t going his way. The lack of it causes confusion amongst the players, hence the poor play last week.
And PG has a track record. He drafted Radek Bonk and Patrick Traverse, and he was the architect of one of the NHL worst trades while with Anaheim, when he traded Teemu Selanne to San Jose for Steve Shields and a draft pick.
I don’t want his job. I want consistency. This week, he kept his lines together and is getting better results. I give him credit for that. Let’s see if he changes them the next time the Habs lose a game.
Brilliant.
Another great read, Coach K. Many of us prefer your candid objectivity to the blind homerisms of others. Yes, the team is running almost as smoothly as a Harley right now, but one can’t help but wonder how much farther and faster they could go if JM took off the training wheels. He is the wrong coach for this team and always has been, despite the opinions of the francomedia. His treatment of players like O’Byrne, Price, Pacioretty and Sergei Kostitsyn has damaged their confidence and development as players. Like you, I am not optimistic about the futures of Eller or Yannick Weber as long as he is behind the bench.
O’Byrne was a favourite of mine because he was the only defenseman on the roster who was both willing and capable of clearing the front of Price’s net. I’m angry and disappointed in the trade, but I’m happy for O’Byrne. In a backward city that celebrates and deifies slugs like Marc-Andre Bergeron, Max Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse, Alexander Picard and Patrice Brisebois, O’Byrne never stood a chance.
Welcome to AllHabs, Coach K, and keep up your great work.
..his treatment of Price and Sergei?? Are you kidding me?? You really would have liked to keep Sergei? And maybe it’s me, but I find he’s treating Carey quite well…
I don’t disagree with you, Mike. Price is getting the royal treatment now, but where was the backup when the pictures came out? No one stood up for the kid, and that’s what he needed to most at that time.
As far as Sergei is concerned, he may have turned out differently, if the organization insulated their players. Remember what I said about being away from home? Why was it that with the London Knights, he was a model citizen? Because the Hunters were on him like white on rice.
I appreciate the comments, Mike. Good, bad or indifferent. Keep them coming.
No, I’m not kidding you, Mike. I would never do such a thing.
Let’s talk about Price first. First of all, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he’s being treated royally now. He’s just finally getting the ice time and credit he deserves, and, for that, Gauthier gets the credit, not Martin. It was PG that brought in a true back-up for Price to replace the ambitious young kid with the loudmouth agent. Last year, though, Martin treated Price deplorably. JM’s ‘win-and-you’re-in’ goalie rotation brainchild was not a system under which any backstopper, let alone the team’s franchise player, could thrive. And Price had the much shorter leash. Back in November and December of 2009, Price was getting the Washington and Pittsburgh assignments, while Halak faced teams like the Islanders and Leafs. Price had been set up to fail. The next thing you know, Allan Walsh is spouting distorted stats on Twitter, and poisoning the minds of the fans and media. As Coach K noted, JM did not have Price’s back, and a city that hated him for all of the wrong reasons drove Price to the bench. Fortunately, cooler and more sensible heads (Gainey again?) prevailed in the off-season, and Price was again chosen to be the goalie of the present and future…thank God.
Sergei is a player who, for whatever reasons, found himself in Martin’s doghouse and couldn’t get out. Yes, I heard the questions about his attitude and work ethic, but was he the chicken or the egg? Sergei was a very talented player, both in London and Montreal. He was a legitimate sniper in London, and an appreciative Mark Hunter gave him the ice time he deserved. In Montreal, he was one of the team’s best penalty killers, with offensive abilities as well. His talent was undeniable. So why wasn’t JM able to get the best out of him when Hunter could? Because JM couldn’t help himself, and he did to SK what he does to many of his young players: he undermined SK’s confidence with multiple trips to the press box and to Hamilton, and dangled fragments of ice time, on the 3rd and 4th lines, in front of him like an older brother teases his younger sibling with a bag of Cheetos. The way I saw it, SK knew he was more talented than half of the guys in the line-up, certainly more than Latendresse and Lapierre who could do no wrong in the eyes of the fans and media, yet he was on the bench when they were on the ice. His attitude understandably soured.
Now you say, Mike, “You really would have liked to keep Sergei?”
Well, no. That’s not what I said. What I said was that his confidence and development were damaged by JM. When he was finally traded, SK was too far gone. His locker room spat with Price had to be the last straw.
But the question remains: was SK the bad attitude underachiever that JM claims he was, or was SK simply a product of his environment…the environment that JM created??
You suggested that JM be given time to see how his “track record” develops. I would suggest that JM has been coaching in the NHL for 15 odd years, and his track record is very well established.
RO.
Seriously? Come one, people.
First off, Sergei Kostitsyn was nothing but a burden. The Habs wanted Sedin clones, but the talent was never there. Notice how much better Andrei is doing now that Sergei is gone.
O’Byrne is simply nothing more than a mediocre defenseman. There is no room for him on the team, with Subban tearing up the ice and Picard in the wings performing far better than O’Byrne was capable of. O’Byrne was a defensive liability with no offensive firepower. He was indeed the second coming of Komisarek, which is more of a curse than a blessing, and proves that ‘size ain’t everything’.
As for Price, are you kidding me? When you say “Back in November and December of 2009, Price was getting the Washington and Pittsburgh assignments, while Halak faced teams like the Islanders and Leafs. Price had been set up to fail.” – what that really means is that Price was considered the better, starting goalie and therefore was started against the better teams and Halak was considered the backup and was iced against the weaker teams. That was the WHOLE POINT – they did everything they could to cement Price as the #1 and he tanked it.
And yes, Price has established himself this year as a quality starter – after a summer of non-stop workouts and a new goaltending coach. But if you look at the numbers, Halak is still outperforming him (and on a worse team).
Either way, the problem isn’t that the Canadiens are mistreating their prospects, it’s that their prospects are either poor draft picks (Sergei Kostitsyn being a good example) or do not fit the system (Latendresse – who would never be a good fit on the Habs, unrealistic expectations or not). Look at the other players Montreal has unburdened itself from in recent years – Michael Ryder, Francois Boullion, Stephane Robidas, Mike Ribeiro – not to mention the string of goalies who routinely folded under pressure. Do you honestly want any of them back? I sure as hell don’t…and don’t even get me started in the dead weight like Grabovski and Komisarek. Even Souray, who was a great quarterback for us, has proven to be so injury-prone that he can’t keep a lower-tier position on a weak team.
Meanwhile, the recent pickups that Gauthier has made are all performing very well – including Picard, Halpern and Eller – and it’s great to see the young players like Subban and Pouliot thriving and to see Darche finally reaching his own.
And most importantly, the prospect they picked up for O’Byrne looks like a true winner.
The team is gelling and the only real weakness is the power play now that Markov is out again. To be honest, Bergeron would not be a bad addition if they play him 10 minutes a game, almost exclusively on the PP, because we NEED a PP quarterback and there really aren’t a lot of alternatives.
Gauthier and Martin may not be the best in the business, but they’re holding their own – and just be happy we’re not stuck with the travesty that is the Leafs.
Great points. I will say this, though, Sergei’s attitude is a direct result of misuse and mistreatment by Jacques Martin. Not that you can blame him for his decision. Considering he was in his first year on the job, he wanted to win immediately to try and save face with the Habs’ faithful. But again, that’s not a reason to misuse a player. His work ethic, or lack thereof, was a direct result of mistreatment. If you worked your tail off to get somewhere, and got shot down at every turn, wouldn’t you consider mailing it in?
Why did you mention Robidas? As far as I know, he just didn’t factor in to the Canadiens’ plans at the time. He has very good with the Dallas Stars since he joined them. Mike Ryder, as we know, only plays for Claude Julien. And even then, a debate can be had about that fact. And there was nothing wrong with Francis Bouillion. In fact, he was a gamer, dispite his lack of size. The type of player any coach would want to have. The other reason he’s gone is because of his continued trips to the disabled list.
You’re dead wrong, DEAD WRONG, about Sergei. Your “poor draft pick” remark is laughable. He won the OHL’s rookie scoring title in 2006 and was the Rookie of the Year runner-up. In 2007, he finished with 131 points in 59 games (let me say that again: 131 points in 59 games!), good for 3rd in the OHL scoring race AHEAD of Sam Gagner and Steven Stamkos, and only 3 points behind John Tavares. He was also a physical presence every time he stepped on the ice. Just ask NHL tough guy and former OHL rival in Kitchener, Steve Downie. They had some intense physical battles, with SK doing more than holding his own. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, SK was Belarus’ leader and top scorer. To say that he was “a good example” of a “poor draft pick” is irresponsible and uninformed. He SHOULD have been a great addition to the Habs. Unfortunately, JM got a hold of him. SK wasn’t a burden until JM made him a burden. There was always indisputable talent in SK. Unlike Mark Hunter, JM couldn’t get it out of SK. I guess that makes Hunter the better coach.
As for Price, you CAN’T stick him, in 2009, up against the BEST TEAMS IN THE NHL night after night, and then punish him for not having the same W/L record or GAA as Halak, who played routinely against teams like the Islanders, Leafs, Panthers and Oilers. Price didn’t ‘tank it’. He got bombed by 40-50 shots a night from Ovechkin, Crosby and the Sedins. He was set up to fail.
But wow, if that’s really where your head is at, I don’t think more debate will solve anything. Obviously, your planet and mine have vastly different coloured skies.
You claim that O’Byrne was a defensive liability (actually, it was just a matter of his confidence being crushed — good job again, JM), then, in almost the same breath, you dream about a return of Bergeron?! Are we talking about the same M.A. Bergeron who was -18, worst in the NHL, in last year’s playoffs, and didn’t score a goal, PP or otherwise, between January and the end of the season??
I’m going to stop right there. That tells me everything I need to know. I don’t mind a good debate, but it has to be grounded in reality.
The rest of your post runs the gamut from the amusing, ie. comments about Picard, Pouliot and Darche, to the bizarre, ie. O’Byrne’s replacement looking like “a true winner”. His name is Michaël Bournival, by the way, and he is a smallish centre with some offensive talent…as long as he stays in the QMJHL. Maybe I’m mistaken: I thought that Montreal already had a glut of smallish centres and were in need of big, physical defensemen.
Trading O’Byrne away has now opened the floodgates for opposing teams to run over Price even more than they already have been, and CP will likely face even more shots, especially rebounds while Gill and Spacek and your friend, Picard, stand around and watch. CP will be exhausted, mentally and physically, by the time the playoffs arrive.
“You’re dead wrong, DEAD WRONG, about Sergei. Your “poor draft pick” remark is laughable.”
1) I meant that it turned out sour, not that it was necessarily a bad decision at the time. The simple fact is that the Canadiens have a terrible track record with draft picks all the way back to Doug Wickenheiser in 1980. Often they draft players that seem like can’t miss prospects, only to have them fail miserably.
2) That aside, there was a reason why Sergei went in the 7th round (whereas Andrei was a 1st rounder). He was seen as a one-way player who had good hands and speed but relied too heavily on linemates to bail him out. As well, let’s not forget that he was on a line with Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner when he scored all those lovely points – need I remind you of the legacy of Kevin Stevens?
“Unfortunately, JM got a hold of him. SK wasn’t a burden until JM made him a burden. There was always indisputable talent in SK. Unlike Mark Hunter, JM couldn’t get it out of SK. I guess that makes Hunter the better coach.”
I disagree. For one, the Habs didn’t have the kind of linemates for Sergei to feed off of. As well, Sergei was already a wasted talent before JM ever took the reins. Sergei’s benchwarming early last year certainly didn’t help matters, but it’s not like JM took a high scoring superstar (in the NHL, I mean) and pushed him out of the lineup.
“As for Price, you CAN’T stick him, in 2009, up against the BEST TEAMS IN THE NHL night after night, and then punish him for not having the same W/L record or GAA as Halak, who played routinely against teams like the Islanders, Leafs, Panthers and Oilers. Price didn’t ‘tank it’. He got bombed by 40-50 shots a night from Ovechkin, Crosby and the Sedins. He was set up to fail.”
Again, I disagree. The #1 goaltender SHOULD be able to face 40-50 shots a game and persevere. In fact you HAVE to be able to. Halak certainly managed once Price was relegated to backup – and doubly so in the playoffs.
This year, Price is more than holding his own. His recent games against Vancouver and Boston – and a fantastic performance against Carolina on Sat. – prove it. If he had played like that last year, this discussion would never have occurred ;)
“then, in almost the same breath, you dream about a return of Bergeron?!”
WHOOOOAAAA!!! Step back a second. I have no such dream.
What I said was: Bergeron can quarterback the power play. If Markov is out (as expected) for 3-4 months, then we NEED a PP quarterback. The current roster does not have one. O’Byrne sure as hell wouldn’t have been one.
As such, Bergeron would be a sufficient fill-in – AS LONG as he is relegated to PP duty and only plays 10-12 minutes a game, max. We have the money, he has the interest, and we don’t have to give up anyone or any picks to get him.
Sure, I’d much rather have a Top 4 defenseman with a 120 mph shot, but with roughly $2 mill in cap space available, that ain’t gonna happen.
As I said in my above post: we don’t have a lot of alternatives. If you have any in mind, I’d love to hear them (I mean that honestly, not sarcastically), because I really don’t. Because I sure as hell don’t want Souray back.
“His name is Michaël Bournival, by the way, and he is a smallish centre with some offensive talent…as long as he stays in the QMJHL. Maybe I’m mistaken: I thought that Montreal already had a glut of smallish centres and were in need of big, physical defensemen.”
He’s 6 ft., 187 – that’s not ‘smallish’. It’s average size. He def. has talent, and is a long shot to make the world juniors.
Is he a guaranteed superstar? Or course not. But for O’Byrne, who was a bottom 3 defenseman who repeatedly had defensive lapses and had a baker’s dozen points in 125+ games, he’s a solid pick-up.
“Trading O’Byrne away has now opened the floodgates for opposing teams to run over Price even more than they already have been,”
How so? He’s played 3 games this year? His trading has absolutely no effect on price. And at least we won’t have a delay of game penalty every time we try to clear the puck…
“and CP will likely face even more shots, especially rebounds while Gill and Spacek and your friend, Picard, stand around and watch.”
Wow. You clearly have no clue what you’re talking about. Hal Gill may be slow, but he’s also one of the best penalty killers in the league and one of the central reasons why our PK is top 5. And Spacek is a master at knocking pucks off of the sticks of forwards – he’s not on top of his game right now, but even with that he’s still been solid.
No, we have a ton of defensive depth. O’Byrne’s trading doesn’t even ripple the pond.
I am reminded of why I don’t normally participate in discussion board threads. The conversations usually degrade to the point where someone says, “You clearly have no clue what you’re talking about.”
Actually, I do have a clue of what I’m talking about, but I won’t waste my time trying to convince you of that. I’m going to try to avoid debating with you line-for-line because that gets boring and tedious, but it’s going to be difficult. Let’s just say that we have a LOT to disagree about.
Let’s start with an item on which we can agree. Yes, drafting Sergei turned out sour. But the fact that he’s no longer with the team is the only thing that makes that obvious. I maintain that that was not Sergei’s fault, it was JM’s fault. JM should’ve found himself in Nashville, not Sergei.
I also agree that Sergei racked up 131 points in 59 games on a good line, just like all good junior players do. The same could’ve been said about Kane. But Sergei’s linemates hardly bailed him out. I’m not even sure what the hell that means or how it applies to be honest. And I disagree that Montreal didn’t have appropriate linemates for SK. With a regular shift on the 2nd line, he may have found them. But sticking him on the 4th line with Georges Laraque and Skippy the 3-legged dog was hardly a fair way of determining his worth. He was far more talented than Latendresse and Lapierre and he deserved a better look.
As for Price vs. Halak, JH “managed” in the playoffs, all right…when the entire team bought into the concept of playing for each other, and played desperate defense. Have you ever seen so many different players on one team diving to block shots? As our own Ken Dryden once said, “There’s no easier time to be an NHL goaltender than in the playoffs.” Price has played well this year because the Sword of Damocles that once dangled above his head has been removed. He has been allowed to lose a game without fear of losing his job.
In your very disagreeable post, you asked a legitimate, non-sarcastic question with respect to the PP QB: “As I said in my above post: we don’t have a lot of alternatives. If you have any in mind, I’d love to hear them (I mean that honestly, not sarcastically), because I really don’t.”
Okay, well, it was SORT OF a question. Fortunately, I have a non-sarcastic answer, and the alternative that you seek. He is young, more talented than any free agent, and has a very cap-friendly salary. His name is Yannick Weber, and he’s down on the farm just waiting for a call-up. He is quick and has decent size. Moreover, he has keen PP sense, and possesses an absolute bomb of a slapshot from the point. With the Bulldogs, he has 8 goals in 14 games this year, with 8 of those on the PP. He would be an ideal cure for what ails Montreal’s PP. He could be given lots of PP minutes, and slowly ease his way into the regular defensive rotation. That’s just how you envisioned it, right? The catch? He is young and inexperienced, and JM hates that because young and inexperienced players require coaching.
Now to your “no clue” remark, which, I must say, I don’t appreciate.
You say that Hal Gill is slow. I say that he is big and a very nice fella. You say that Jaro Spacek is a puck-swattin’ maniac. I say that he is a very nice fella. You say that Alex Picard is performing well. I don’t know much about him, but I’m guessing that he is a very nice fella.
The problem is that I DON’T WANT MONTREAL’S DEFENSEMEN TO BE NICE FELLAS, PUCK-SWATTING SKILLS BE DAMNED!! I want them, and undoubtedly so does Price, to CLEAR THE HELL OUT OF THE FRONT OF THE NET, not just occupy space like Gill, or swat pucks like Spacek! Even if there were just ONE bad-ass d-man who was willing to engage the opposing forwards, I could live with that. But, with the trade of Ryan O’Byrne, there are none. Obie was also one of the few who came to Price’s defense when the other team took liberties. Gill? Good lord, I have never seen such a soft big defenseman in my life! Brisebois was the softest d-man under 6’7″, but Gill, for all of his 250 lbs got beat up by little (relatively speaking) Mike Foligno twice in the same night!
Spacek and Hamrlik don’t take the body. Gorges, God love ‘im, doesn’t, either. He tries sometimes, yes, but he’s just not big enough. Subban shows promise, but he is more of a yapper than a banger. When it comes to protecting Price and giving him a view of the puck, the best thing Subban does is make the opponents want to beat the crap out of him instead of Carey.
I realize that the rules have changed so that clearing the front of the net, and therefore, cutting down on the number of 2nd, 3rd and 4th rebounds that CP has to face, isn’t like it used to be. But, as much as I dislike Dion Phaneuf, he and guys like him seem to do pretty well. Phaneuf is feared is his own end as someone who will make you pay for cozying up to his goaltender.
Big, mean, physical and willing to engage. THAT’S what I want from someone…ANYone…on the Habs D, and that’s why the O’Byrne trade pisses me off. JM’s short leash (unless your last name is ‘Latendresse’), and negative reinforcement style of coaching is chasing off a lot of serviceable young talents.
As for the defensive depth, look again, Mike. It’s gone. It used to be there, but not anymore. Losing Valentenko AND McDonagh in the same trade saw to that. Weber is good, but the rest of the kids in Hamilton are far from blue-chippers, and Jarred Tinordi is still years away. I’d feel better about them if Alexei Yemelin was still in the North American system somewhere.
*Typo: 4 of Weber’s 8 goals have come on the power play.*
With Sergei, I’m not saying he was treated admirably, but he never really performed even when given the chance – even before JM became coach. Andrei Kostitsyn has always been streaky – and he’s proven time and again that he performs better when he has a solid playmaker at his side (Kovalev always brought the best out of him, for example) – but when he’s on, he’s ON. Sergei was never ‘on’. He was tepid at best.
The reason I mentioned Robidas wasn’t to criticize his ability, but to notes that he was not a good fit in the Mtl. system – he fit in quite well in Dallas because their system was more suited to his style of play.
Several players have come and gone over the years who were like that. For example, I don’t think John LeClair would ever have become the star he was with Philly if he had remained in Montreal. He was a sub-par underachiever here and would have remained the same.
And I think that Latendresse will thrive in Minnesota where as he would have stumbled in Montreal. And vice-versa for Pouliot.
The problem with Boullion is that he is a go-getter with little to back it up. We had a ton of ‘100% effort’ guys at the time, but were lacking in depth of quality. Heart and effort are an integral part of the game, but they are only part of the overall picture.
*sigh* I miss Doug Gilmour :)
…and Kirk Muller – maybe we can convince him to come out of retirement? ;)
I’m only half kidding.
I do want to say, however, that Muller is a good buffer for Martin. I think he will help to keep Martin in check and that he makes Martin a better head coach.
Let me just tweak that a bit: Muller will make a better head coach than Martin.
Eventually you could well be correct – but let’s not rush him. The NHL has a history of ruining strong potential coaches because they were handed the reins too early.
True, but there are other strong potential candidates that were lost to other teams because the Habs waited too long, ie. Guy Boucher.
Fair enough – but you can’t make every assistant you have into a head coach.
On the flip side, my real issue with the recent Habs coaching history is that they have fired certain coaches far too quickly – like Vigneault, for example.
And Pat Burns. Others, like Mario Tremblay, were not fired fast enough.
Ive read some of the bickering comments and thought I should give my input weather its good or not.
First of all I believe that the O’byrne situation is a smart move on both teams parts, O’byrne was given a chance and a half with the Habs and yes sure he is young and all but he didn’t fit in like he did when Koivu was leading the team. And all he was doing was causing bad penaltys which was one of his bad traits with the habs, so they traded him to Colorado for a decent prospect who many believe will contribute more than O’byrne while Colorado is in need for a bigger D-man who can help their needs with all their Injurys so far.
As for the Sergei Kostitsyn situation, S Kostitsyn was Immature and he was a major problem in the locker room and was holding some players back because of his cocky attitude, now that he is gone Andrei no longer has to worry about his lil brother getting into trouble and can focus on proving how good of a player he really is, and other players dont have to hear a lil punk telling them what to do.
And as for Price? sure people thought PG trading Halak was like Armageden for the habs but see what having faith does when you give it a chance? Sure Price had Rollarcoaster career so far, but now he seems to have found his true potential. who would of thought price would have a shutout at this point of the season? let alone 4? people just need to have faith in him, he has alot better rebound control this season, he has the support from his team mates, he is one of the leading goalies of all of NHL, what more could you ask from a young goalie like him.
I know that people might dissagree with me which I couldnt care less because isn’t everyone entitled to their own opinion? I just say don’t give up on what will turn out to be a great outcome come playoff time for the Habs, because I trully believe that even though it might be labeled as Bob Gainys team, but Pierre Gauthier is doing a good job, ex; Halpern, Eller, Picard, Auld are all doing great in their rolls imo.
Sorry about my spelling.
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