Every ten or so games I'll be doing a review of the team in their last 10. This is the first time and we're 7-1-2 currently sitting 1st in the NHL. Of course it's early in the season and this is not a guaranteed projection of how we will do all year, but it does feel good to see many of my predicted favorites doing so well this early in the season. With that having been said I will choose to rate some of the notable hab players and the management in general.
First of all I'll start by saying I think the coaching has been very good. Last year I have to admit I was weary of the new coaching but by the playoffs a lot of those questions were answered, we went deep for the first time since our last Stanley cup and it felt good. This year I think the team is playing much more offensively and it's paying off in five on five play. Our power play really doesn't look good yet but I think when Markov comes back tonight we may just explode. I know it's a bit cliche to say but he says he's in the best shape of his career, and with the current management being so focused on that it's no wonder some of these guys look the best I've ever seen them. We may all question some of Jacques moves but can we complain about the results? Thus far and even last year, no we cannot. Now we have a team that is playing very well five on five. We have a top line that might one day be one of those dynamite lines you hear about around the league. The Heatley Spezza Alfredson line is an example I could use. So I'm not too worried about our power play and seeing the five on five play I'm seeing, there isn't much doubt in my mind we're a contender this year barring major injuries.
Second of all, I've gotta hand it to my man Price. He's been rock solid and Alex Auld last night proved why he has good stats as a backup goalie in the NHL. So lets please not forget Pierre Gauthier with the Moore move, the Halpern signing, the signing of Auld which thus far seems okay. Going back to Price though, he's been more confident, he's been better on the glove, he's been a total rock thus far and has kept us in every game aside from the New Jersey game where our team couldn't score.
This brings me to my next point. We're one top six winger away from being a dominant force in the east. Whether that winger is Benoit Pouliot, Lars Eller or somebody we trade for is yet to be seen. I believe we will find out over the course of the next twenty games though. Gomez and Gionta really need to get going. To be honest most nights I don't feel Gomez is that bad, he's setup some nice plays and Gionta and company failed to bury their chances. Gionta seems to be a step out of position on many occasions and Gomez can't hold onto the puck forever, he has usually two to three guys chasing him down by the time Gio or anyone else gets into a position to do anything. They need some serious support out there. I think it's time to experiment with Benoit Pouliot for a 5-10 game stint. He had magic with them last year and I think he can regain his confidence if the team shows him the same faith they had in Price. Young players need their team to back them in times like this and I have no doubt with our current squad Pouliot can find his game.
Tomas Plekanec A+ Best we've ever seen Plekanec, clearly capable of breaking the 80pt mark. He's a rock in terms of dependability. The guy really cares about staying in shape, he's a guy who loves the game, comes to the rink three hours early on game night. What a guy, I don't think anyone is complaining about this signing by Gauthier either, incredible deal for the habs on this one. I don't really need to say anything else about him, you all know how beastly he's been.
Andrei Kostitsyn A He's been one of the best players on the team. Even when Andrei was producing in the past we haven't seen him play this good. It's really been a thing of beauty. He's been playing like a player who can get 80+ points and even 40+ goals. I'm not saying he'll achieve it, but I think he will be consistent this year and have a career year. Something along the lines of 60+ points. This is very good news for the habs and they will likely re-sign him if he really does show he's turned a new leaf. I think he has to be honest. I don't think it's because it's a contract year, I think it's because he's on the staying in shape band wagon and now he's a part of the team, he fits in and you can see he's much happier then he's ever been. Something about his game has just been more dominant as well. He's got more confidence, he keeps his head up out there now and he's also going to the right places. Over the summer somebody taught him some things because he has just been spectacular. I really will put my reputation on the line saying this but the guys going to be a star.
Mike Cammalleri B+ He's been the most underrated hab so far this season. He's been doing all the right things, just hasn't been able to finish. Cammy has always been a very streaky player, he'll light them up one after another when he starts to and I know this because he's in all the right places doing all the right things when he's on the ice. People don't realize he had the best +/- in the NHL for a reason, he attracts a lot of attention on the ice giving guys like Kostitsyn and Plekanec a lot of space out there. It shows in his +/- and it shows in their stats. I saw many times where he was being covered leaving people wide open where we got goals. He's a vital part of that line, he cannot be switched to the Gomez and Gionta line, that line needs to figure itself out.
Alexandre Picard B He's been exceptional in more recent games. Another player who seems to do all the right things on the ice, at least lately. He made a couple nifty offensive plays down low as well that didn't translate to goals but easily could have. He's easily a #6-7 defenceman in the NHL, I wouldn't call him an AHLer. He's been a big part of our success defensively too, he plays a great all around game. Don't expect him to be Josh Gorges anytime soon but we might be able to expect a Ryan O'byrne trade shortly. The kid needs to play and this Picard guy truly appears to have stolen his spot. I don't know how many more games its going to take but I believe he will be moved.
PK Subban A First of all he's been great offensively notching 6 assists in ten games, while having numerous chances to score, posts hit, the guy is a natural offensively. I'm excited to see how he plays tonight against Florida with Markov back in the line up. That having been said this guy is the best rookie we've had since Saku Koivu, and I don't mean any disrespect to Andrei Kostitsyn he's a great player too but PK is something special. Why do I think he's something special, because I think he's already great offensively and will one day be an offensive powerhouse like Markov. Why else because I believe he will one day be one of the best defensive defenceman in the NHL as well. He plays physical, he has great speed, great acceleration. On one occasion against the Isles he robbed them from a two on one. On another play he robbed a guy from a breakaway. He's the real deal, the total package. We are insanely lucky to have gotten this kid and I think it speaks wonders about our scouting. He's a superstar and I'm not overrating him, he's that good and anyone who doesn't think so hasn't seen him play or doesn't know the sport. I'm sure there are 29 other general managers right about now who are looking to their scouting departments and shaking their heads.
Eller B- I didn't want to give him a C+ because ultimately for the line mates he's had I think he's fared pretty well. He's done a lot of good things on the ice and given that he's a young player still developing I'm going easy on him admittedly. But if by the next 10 games I don't see more of those good things and some stats to go with we can talk about it then.
Halpern A He's really been consistently good for us. I can see why some fans were disappointed their team didn't sign him. He's been our best face off guy, a good PKer to relieve Plek from full PK duty. He really makes our bottom 6 and PK a lot better and I have to give him credit where it's due he's been great offensively so far too. He's just what we needed and he's exceeding my expectations currently.
Moen B He's been actually pretty good so far this season. He's fought, he's put the puck in the net, he's been pretty reliable I think now that he's in his groove. I hope to see him drop the gloves a lot more this season and hopefully score a couple more goals here and there. What I like about Moen and Halpern is they seem to be very clutch at times. They're the kind of guys who are unsung heroes in the NHL, they do the right things at the right times sometimes and you end up winning a game or two because of them now and then. But in reality you're winning games because of them all the time because they bring something to this team it's been seriously lacking.
Price A He's been a rock keeping us in games, getting a shutout, making the spectacular saves we all saw him make even last season but more often before. He's really playing great and I hope he keeps it up. Enough with the Halak and Price comparisons. Both are great goalies, both have great futures in the NHL, the habs made the right move. Price brings more value to the table if he continues playing like this or better. Halak would have cost 4 million and Price is the type of goalie who can steal games too. As long as Price is still a good goalie whether Halak is better or worse isn't really relevant as long as we're winning games. St. Louis is St. Louis and Montreal is Montreal. There's no telling how well Price would be doing right now if he were in St. Louis and the tables were turned, the comparison simply isn't fair and especially with how well Price has played I think the argument needs to be put to rest. Price is our goalie now so support him.
Gomez C+ I don't feel he's been as bad as people say. Some nights better than others though I'll admit, but honestly he has nobody to pass to and he's a pure passer, what did people honestly expect would happen? He can't play by himself. Once he has steady line mates for 10 games I'll put more emphasis on his stats. So far he's the same old Gomez, he just hasn't been able to get any points because one of his line mates is always a 4th liner and the other is having a really bad start, not being positioned well etc. Personally I just find it hard to blame the guy whose a pure playmaker when it's not like his line mates are scoring.
Gionta D+ I think he's been terrible thus far. Missing many chances, also been robbed too to be fair, but he's not in the right places ever. Part of it isn't his fault, because his other winger is usually a forth liner he and Gomez are repeatedly double covered. The other teams just make the line obsolete right now. The book is out, Gomez and Gio have nobody to pass to. This is why I want the Pouliot experiment to begin again. The kid can shoot so put him on a line with people who will not only benefit from his presence but help him get some goals. I do blame Gio more than Gomez though because in reality he's the shooter and he just hasn't been in the right places, he makes Gomez have to hold onto the puck for too long.
Pouliot B- Considering the lines he's been on most of the time, he's at least gotten a couple goals, he's been a hitting machine, playing more physical. Sometimes he makes dumb decisions but he is a young player and we all know what he's capable of. It's all mental with him, he needs to get his confidence back up. I think if Jacques shows a little confidence in him and gives him a 3-5 game stint on the Gomez line he'll find his game and be able to earn the right to stay there. I don't question Jacques decisions though I just give my input, if he thinks Benny isn't ready then in my opinion he isn't.
Lapierre B- He's been alright. Haven't seen him on the scoreboard much but he isn't at all known for that. When he plays at a high level of intensity he's a real treat to watch. As always he plays get under your skin type of game and he's one of the best at doing it. Gomez said it himself, he despised Lapierre before coming here and he didn't even know his name he just knew that he hated him. I think that's pretty funny. Like Halpern and Moen he's just one of those guys you need to have one of on your team. Right now the Canadiens organization is trying to build the perfect team having assets in all areas, when you do that you can beat any team.
Spacek D- I hate to jump on the bandwagon but he's been terrible. I think he's out of shape to be honest. Hopefully at the 20 game mark I have some good things to say about him. He's made a couple nice passes here and there, has maybe once a game won a battle for the puck. He's really not looking great out there, a lot of the time when a goal happens he seems to be there. Somehow though he's a positive plus minus so I'm guessing he's been carried on a couple of goals. He has two assists this year, for a guy that I expected to be a complimentary offensive player, I'm pretty disappointed. In his defense when I've seen him on the left point he's been alright, but it's rare that I see it.
I've gone and written a novel so I won't review any other players thus far, but that's my assessment this far in, we're going great.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Andrei Kostitsyn - A New Beginning pt. 2
So now we're five games into the season and we're getting to see who is having a slow start and who is coming out of the gates and taking the game by the horns. Well clearly with 4 points in 5 games and an even more obvious effort against Ottawa, this kid is headed in the right direction. I had a feeling Andrei was going to have a good year with his brother gone and being on a contract year. Less distractions, all he has to do is play his game and boy is he playing his game. I know it's only five games into the season but the results thus far have been good for Andrei. He's playing his game and he's doing it well.
He's a guy with size and speed, a good shot too. I guess it was only a matter of time before he had a good start. Hopefully we see more of this Andrei going forward, clearly there's been an improvement somewhere in his game, attitude and overall self. He appears to be a lot more focused out there this year. I don't want to blame Sergei but it's tough not to when you see the night and day differences of Andrei after his brothers departure. To me Andrei doesn't seem like the partying type or the type to be a slacker but it's possible his brother Sergei was causing him to lose focus. Injuries certainly didn't help his game throughout his career thus far either. For the most part I think we can all agree that somewhere between being injured, having rocky stretches, dealing with the media and babysitting his brother, Andrei wasn't playing like the player we knew he was capable of being.
I remember when Andrei first came up to the team full time, the hype surrounding the kid was incredible. Much like the Subban hype of right now. I see no reason given his size and skill that he can't be the player we all originally thought he could become. The 25 year old winger is now entering his 4th NHL season, he's shown he's capable of 30 goals having scored 26 goals in 78 games in 2007-08 so no reason to think he can't pull it off now that he's in 2010-11 and playing with that added fire we've all wanted to see him play with for a very long time.
It's only five games in and I'm happy with my player predictions thus far. Plekanec, Andrei and Price have all played well and I had faith that they would. When Markov is back to 100% he will essentially be feeding guys like Plekanec, Andrei and Cammalleri on a regular basis, having him healthy will really help to increase the points totals for guys like this that rely so much on a power play quarterback to be successful. Sure they can win games without him, we've already seen last year how our team can persevere without him, it's something they haven't been able to do in a really long time save last season. When we have him though we become much like an unstoppable force winning 70% of our games with him in the line up. It's almost unheard of for a team to rely on a guy that much and while we might not drop off to 30% wins without him like we used to, we still rely on the guy to get our offensive players on the map. I'm sure guys like Plek and Andrei knows this all to well.
Point is with how well we've been doing without Markov it's going to be really nice to see how far we can go with him when healthy and 100% and furthermore what a guy like Andrei can do to increase his stats or ppg average once Markov is in the lineup. I can see Kostitsyn getting around 30g 30a and 60pt if healthy and with Markov in the lineup. Time will tell but I believe the new beginning is now underway. It's only five games in but five more games will tell, and then another five and so on.
He's a guy with size and speed, a good shot too. I guess it was only a matter of time before he had a good start. Hopefully we see more of this Andrei going forward, clearly there's been an improvement somewhere in his game, attitude and overall self. He appears to be a lot more focused out there this year. I don't want to blame Sergei but it's tough not to when you see the night and day differences of Andrei after his brothers departure. To me Andrei doesn't seem like the partying type or the type to be a slacker but it's possible his brother Sergei was causing him to lose focus. Injuries certainly didn't help his game throughout his career thus far either. For the most part I think we can all agree that somewhere between being injured, having rocky stretches, dealing with the media and babysitting his brother, Andrei wasn't playing like the player we knew he was capable of being.
I remember when Andrei first came up to the team full time, the hype surrounding the kid was incredible. Much like the Subban hype of right now. I see no reason given his size and skill that he can't be the player we all originally thought he could become. The 25 year old winger is now entering his 4th NHL season, he's shown he's capable of 30 goals having scored 26 goals in 78 games in 2007-08 so no reason to think he can't pull it off now that he's in 2010-11 and playing with that added fire we've all wanted to see him play with for a very long time.
It's only five games in and I'm happy with my player predictions thus far. Plekanec, Andrei and Price have all played well and I had faith that they would. When Markov is back to 100% he will essentially be feeding guys like Plekanec, Andrei and Cammalleri on a regular basis, having him healthy will really help to increase the points totals for guys like this that rely so much on a power play quarterback to be successful. Sure they can win games without him, we've already seen last year how our team can persevere without him, it's something they haven't been able to do in a really long time save last season. When we have him though we become much like an unstoppable force winning 70% of our games with him in the line up. It's almost unheard of for a team to rely on a guy that much and while we might not drop off to 30% wins without him like we used to, we still rely on the guy to get our offensive players on the map. I'm sure guys like Plek and Andrei knows this all to well.
Point is with how well we've been doing without Markov it's going to be really nice to see how far we can go with him when healthy and 100% and furthermore what a guy like Andrei can do to increase his stats or ppg average once Markov is in the lineup. I can see Kostitsyn getting around 30g 30a and 60pt if healthy and with Markov in the lineup. Time will tell but I believe the new beginning is now underway. It's only five games in but five more games will tell, and then another five and so on.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Mathieu Darche - Where's the love?
As all of you probably know by now we've signed Darche to a 1 way contract. People seem to be losing their minds over it already. We've seen a very impressive camp and preseason thus far for many players. I don't think Darche is an exception. He's an unsung hero of sorts in Montreal, it seems lately the guy just can't catch a break. He's our 13th forward and will likely be sitting in the press box for many games this year. Darche knows his role on our team and was more than happy to accept it but still people find reasons to complain.
All I've heard since the beginning of camp was Darche Darche Darche. People complaining that he isn't good enough to be a 13th forward, people complaining that he's taking Ryan White's spot on the team for the 13th spot. What that tells me is that fans just don't have a lot of faith in Gauthier, Darche or Jacques Martin. Our general manager who has been great thus far signed Darche to a 1 year deal. Our coach who has gotten us further in the post season than we've been since our last cup has also chosen to give Darche that 13th spot on our team. Darche himself knows his place on the team as a hard working player who may not get to play a whole lot of games. The point is there is nothing to complain about.
I know Ryan White looked great during preseason and camp but ultimately he's a young player and our new management team appears to be straying away from rushing players. After all the rushed players and complaints from fans and media outlets that we don't develop our players properly, that we ruin them by rushing them, you really can't win in Montreal. Now people are complaining when we give a guy like White some more time. Sure he looked great, sure I think he's going to be great and that he'll add something to the team we really need, that we haven't had in a really long time. Problem is general managers don't build teams based on potential. White had a solid camp and preseason but he still has to earn a spot. If in 10 games he dominates the NHL you can be sure if there is an injury Darche will be in the press box and White will get his first call up. With our team injuries are fairly common, they are with every team for the most part but the point is I wouldn't worry too much.
Mark my words White will get a shot max 20 games into the season. Is this really something to be worried about? Darche isn't exactly a slouch either. He's a good player and a player many teams would be happy to have as a 13th forward. He has the right attitude and for all this talk about 1-way contracts by the Darche haters, he can still be sent down and if he gets claimed I don't see why the haters would care. Point is Darche is a Montreal Canadian, he's one of us and like I think Price should be shown respect from fans I think Darche, Gauthier and Jacques should be shown a little respect too. Before you jump all over the idea of having Darche as a 13th forward stop and realize Gauthier, Darche and Martin all want whats best for the team and have the teams best interests at heart. Saying they're making a mistake by not choosing White is in no way respecting the decisions made by management and it's totally hypocritical considering 2 years ago people would be complaining that we rushed this kid if we brought him up and he struggled, even if he did have a great camp.
Let Darche do his thing and let White do his, if White is indeed the player we all feel he can become then he will prove it by latest half way through the season, my bet is he gets a call up before the 20th regular season game. Darche is there for a reason and fans need to accept this. If he is no longer the best choice for 13th forward and White is consistently playing well at the NHL level you can be sure he will be the 13th forward and if White really plays well enough by deadline to merit being the 12th forward then you can be sure somebody will be traded. The organization obviously wants what's best for the team so sometimes you need to just take a leap of faith and believe in the decisions they're making. I would prefer White over Darche from what I've seen too thus far too, because I find White brings something to the table Darche and many other habs players don't. The difference is I trust management in their decisions and if they want White to gain some more confidence by dominating in the AHL or maybe feel he isn't quite ready, then I respect their decision despite having an opinion about it. The bottom line is I'm the guy who writes a blog about it and they're the people who actually have the knowledge to make an educated decision on the matter not me.
All I've heard since the beginning of camp was Darche Darche Darche. People complaining that he isn't good enough to be a 13th forward, people complaining that he's taking Ryan White's spot on the team for the 13th spot. What that tells me is that fans just don't have a lot of faith in Gauthier, Darche or Jacques Martin. Our general manager who has been great thus far signed Darche to a 1 year deal. Our coach who has gotten us further in the post season than we've been since our last cup has also chosen to give Darche that 13th spot on our team. Darche himself knows his place on the team as a hard working player who may not get to play a whole lot of games. The point is there is nothing to complain about.
I know Ryan White looked great during preseason and camp but ultimately he's a young player and our new management team appears to be straying away from rushing players. After all the rushed players and complaints from fans and media outlets that we don't develop our players properly, that we ruin them by rushing them, you really can't win in Montreal. Now people are complaining when we give a guy like White some more time. Sure he looked great, sure I think he's going to be great and that he'll add something to the team we really need, that we haven't had in a really long time. Problem is general managers don't build teams based on potential. White had a solid camp and preseason but he still has to earn a spot. If in 10 games he dominates the NHL you can be sure if there is an injury Darche will be in the press box and White will get his first call up. With our team injuries are fairly common, they are with every team for the most part but the point is I wouldn't worry too much.
Mark my words White will get a shot max 20 games into the season. Is this really something to be worried about? Darche isn't exactly a slouch either. He's a good player and a player many teams would be happy to have as a 13th forward. He has the right attitude and for all this talk about 1-way contracts by the Darche haters, he can still be sent down and if he gets claimed I don't see why the haters would care. Point is Darche is a Montreal Canadian, he's one of us and like I think Price should be shown respect from fans I think Darche, Gauthier and Jacques should be shown a little respect too. Before you jump all over the idea of having Darche as a 13th forward stop and realize Gauthier, Darche and Martin all want whats best for the team and have the teams best interests at heart. Saying they're making a mistake by not choosing White is in no way respecting the decisions made by management and it's totally hypocritical considering 2 years ago people would be complaining that we rushed this kid if we brought him up and he struggled, even if he did have a great camp.
Let Darche do his thing and let White do his, if White is indeed the player we all feel he can become then he will prove it by latest half way through the season, my bet is he gets a call up before the 20th regular season game. Darche is there for a reason and fans need to accept this. If he is no longer the best choice for 13th forward and White is consistently playing well at the NHL level you can be sure he will be the 13th forward and if White really plays well enough by deadline to merit being the 12th forward then you can be sure somebody will be traded. The organization obviously wants what's best for the team so sometimes you need to just take a leap of faith and believe in the decisions they're making. I would prefer White over Darche from what I've seen too thus far too, because I find White brings something to the table Darche and many other habs players don't. The difference is I trust management in their decisions and if they want White to gain some more confidence by dominating in the AHL or maybe feel he isn't quite ready, then I respect their decision despite having an opinion about it. The bottom line is I'm the guy who writes a blog about it and they're the people who actually have the knowledge to make an educated decision on the matter not me.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Andrei Kostitsyn - A New Beginning
A lot of questions about Andrei have been asked since he's made the team. Will he ever live up to expectations, can he perform consistently, is he a bust? Whoa there, a bust is going a bit too far but it has been said. Andrei has gone through a lot during his time with the habs. He's had ups, he's had downs, he's possibly even been one of the most criticized habs on the team. Over the past three seasons with the habs his production has steadily declined, well what about this season is so different then in the past three?
For starters it's going to be Andrei's 4th NHL season and in order to impress management he needs to have a career year. This is important for Andrei to continue making good money at the NHL level. Furthermore his 4th NHL season (despite having a decline in production leading up to it) is still his 4th NHL season, he's got experience to go with his skill set now. That all having been said though I think the things that have held Andrei back up until this point in his career are injuries (slowing him down) and of course distractions off ice. It didn't help that he Sergei and Hammer were all part of a debacle that we'd all probably like to forget about now. Whether or not there was any truth to it simply isn't relevant, what is relevant is that for a young developing player in the NHL this is a recipe for disaster.
Whenever people had a problem with Sergei they would look to Andrei to solve the problem. This simply could not have helped either, especially if Sergei was as bad behind the scenes as he's made himself out to be. Andrei and his brother seem a lot more different then a lot of people think. Andrei seems more like the quiet Markov type player where as Sergei is more of the crap disturbing type. Andrei seems calm where as Sergei seems like the wild type. I'm sure Andrei felt he could not babysit a grown man and I'm sure Sergei didn't want to have it when he tried to. The strain it likely put on their relationship likely didn't help his on ice performance. With the injuries he's had slowing him down, the off ice media circus surrounding him and the fans burning him for every little thing is it any wonder that a young player from Belarus has had trouble adapting to the NHL? In my mind there's no question that it all adds up.
I think this year will be different though. For starters Plekanec his line mate appears to be playing with a spark. Mike Cammalleri will always be Mike Cammalleri, difference this year is though that they've had time to develop that chemistry, Sergei is no longer in the picture and Andrei is on a contract year. Barring injuries I see this kid having a season more comparable to his first season with us. We all know what a healthy clear minded Andrei is capable of even when he's raw and undeveloped, time to see what he's capable of this year where everything is in place for him to have a solid season. I know I haven't given up on this tremendously talented kid and hopefully he proves why he was the high upside pick he was in 2003.
For starters it's going to be Andrei's 4th NHL season and in order to impress management he needs to have a career year. This is important for Andrei to continue making good money at the NHL level. Furthermore his 4th NHL season (despite having a decline in production leading up to it) is still his 4th NHL season, he's got experience to go with his skill set now. That all having been said though I think the things that have held Andrei back up until this point in his career are injuries (slowing him down) and of course distractions off ice. It didn't help that he Sergei and Hammer were all part of a debacle that we'd all probably like to forget about now. Whether or not there was any truth to it simply isn't relevant, what is relevant is that for a young developing player in the NHL this is a recipe for disaster.
Whenever people had a problem with Sergei they would look to Andrei to solve the problem. This simply could not have helped either, especially if Sergei was as bad behind the scenes as he's made himself out to be. Andrei and his brother seem a lot more different then a lot of people think. Andrei seems more like the quiet Markov type player where as Sergei is more of the crap disturbing type. Andrei seems calm where as Sergei seems like the wild type. I'm sure Andrei felt he could not babysit a grown man and I'm sure Sergei didn't want to have it when he tried to. The strain it likely put on their relationship likely didn't help his on ice performance. With the injuries he's had slowing him down, the off ice media circus surrounding him and the fans burning him for every little thing is it any wonder that a young player from Belarus has had trouble adapting to the NHL? In my mind there's no question that it all adds up.
I think this year will be different though. For starters Plekanec his line mate appears to be playing with a spark. Mike Cammalleri will always be Mike Cammalleri, difference this year is though that they've had time to develop that chemistry, Sergei is no longer in the picture and Andrei is on a contract year. Barring injuries I see this kid having a season more comparable to his first season with us. We all know what a healthy clear minded Andrei is capable of even when he's raw and undeveloped, time to see what he's capable of this year where everything is in place for him to have a solid season. I know I haven't given up on this tremendously talented kid and hopefully he proves why he was the high upside pick he was in 2003.
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