Rocket:

I acknowledge that a coach sometimes feels the need to fine-tune his lines in order to create more offensive production. Some good coaches even make those adjustments during a game. Isn’t it unfortunate that it didn’t occur to Carbonneau to double shift Kovalev to get him away from the (frustrating) shadow of Schubert during the Ottawa game? Truth is that Carbo was thoroughly outcoached during that game by one of the league’s merely ordinary coaches…but I digress.

Carbonneau intends to make changes to his forward lines for Saturday’s game to provide better balance. Whatever the intent, (in fact whatever the question) the definitive answer is not Guillaume Latendresse.

Bob Gainey claims that Carbonneau has a philosophy that 3rd or 4th line forwards must be productive. We are told that’s why Carbo has no interest in an enforcer who would only play 3-5 minutes a night yet occupy a roster spot. Yet what about the lack of production (detailed elsewhere in this blog) by Latendresse? It would appear that Latendresse has figuratively skated himself perfectly into Carbonneau’s blind spot. Guillaume continues to underachieve yet has avoided a trip to Hamilton and rarely has been a healthy scratch.

On Thursday night, it was truly amazing how long Carbonneau continued to bark at the officials after Latendresse’s 4 minute highsticking penalty. Friday, in his press conference when asked about Latendresse’s penalty, Carbonneau said “I didn’t understand it”. Even for a Habs fan, it seemed rather straight forward. Guillaume was careless with his stick. Spezza required stitches. 4 minute minor. Case closed. Yet the coach, who only sees #84 through rose-coloured glasses, was baffled and still complaining the day after the game.

But it gets worse. When asked about the effect of a player taking a 4 minute penalty in the third period, Carbo responded “Who cares? It was already 3-0.” So is the coach admitting that he threw in the towel with more than 12 minutes remaining in a very important game with a divisional opponent? This begs the question: when a rookie-ish coach is struggling in certain aspects of his game, can he be sent to Hamilton for a few games of ‘seasoning’?

One of Carbonneau’s new lines will have Koivu centering Ryder and Latendresse. There is no question that Ryder has really picked up his game since the trade deadline. As far as Latendresse, it has been status quo. Which is to say, not so good. When Guillaume was asked about the change, he responded “I have to crash hard to the net and play physical”. Bravo! I hope that he walks (skates) the talk on Saturday night. It will be a departure from the way that he has played the previous 67 games, but a positive first step.

Latendresse’s next comment was a little more concerning: “I’ve had ups and downs this season but I’ve always been working hard and I think that the coach sees that”. Latendresse’s on-ice effort has been suspect on many nights and his lack of production is evident. Yet, Carbonneau continues to insert him in the line-up while forcing other players to work hard and perform to gain a spot. It seems that this has warped Latendresse’s opinion of himself and his effort and also has noticed that the coach has, more than a small, man-crush on him.

Tonight, Latendresse gets the umpteenth time to prove his potential on the 2nd line, 3rd line? Which is it? The lines are Grabovski centering Sergei Kostitsyn and Chris (Carbo called him “Cristobal” in the news conference…oops!) Higgins; and the aforementioned Koivu, Ryder and Latendresse. Has Saku Koivu, the captain of the team, been demoted to the 3rd line? Or will Sergei K., one of the team’s hottest players recently, find himself with less ice-time?

What about Lapierre? He has battled problems with inconsistency all season and difficulties in the faceoff circle. However, in recent games, he has played with energy and shown flashes of the defensive shutdown player that we have been waiting to emerge. He has also developed some good chemistry with Ryder. Now if they only had a winger who could keep up with them!

Does the reported change to the defensive pairings even require comment? Brisebois in the line-up for a now healthy O’Byrne is just plain silly. O’Byrne is very physical, moves the puck well and is a good compliment to Hamrlik. It’s true that Ryan has been known to make a rookie mistake or two. Before Carbo holds that against him, he should review the tape of the Anaheim game. Brisebois looked lost especially when he was covering Getzlaf!

Just a line or two about one change that I fully support: Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Carey Price has been terrific since the trade deadline and wasn’t to blame on any of the Senators goals on Thursday. It is, however, smart to keep him fresh for the playoffs. A night off for Price, when the Canadiens are facing a team who are at the bottom of the league in goals for, seems like a good idea.

I really hope that Carbonneau’s experiment pays off tonight. I just happen to believe that he is missing the point. The problems against Ottawa were a lack of discipline, special teams’ failures, defensive lapses in front of the net, and a coach who was deliquent to make in-game adjustments. None of these issues are addressed by Carbo’s simplistic line juggling remedy.