Scott Gomez, what have you done for me lately?

I think this is the question a lot of fans have been asking over the last few years. There is no doubt in my mind Scott Gomez has had a rough time in Montreal. There's also no doubt in my mind Scott Gomez would benefit from a change of scenery, however I don't feel the team would benefit from his departure, at least not nearly as much as people think. I also don't believe a change of scenery is a necessity for Gomez to succeed.

I know this is going to be a bit controversial because everyone hates Gomez now.

I'll break it up into sections the first dealing with salary.
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Salary:

Scott Gomez has a massive cap hit but at this point who do you give that salary to? There really isn't anyone available to give it to. I know some will say we should have landed Doan or Semin, but they were never realistic options. Doan is looking to win now and get a big payday, Semin doesn't strike me as a Bergevin type player at all and only took a one year deal anyways.

I believe Bergevin has kicked the tires on a couple of players but realized the payment was too much and didn't want to create any problems down the line. This team is being built for longevity, not just to try and win next year at the expense of competing every year. We aren't going to sign guys like that unless it's a fair deal. If somebody like Malkin or Toews became available you can be sure somebody like Gomez would be moved and an overpayment would be made to acquire such a player. Guys like Doan and Semin come and go, you can draft guys like that and overpaying for them is what got us into this mess in the first place.

We aren't in win now mode, we can make the playoffs but our team doesn't have the depth to go far without a ton of luck. Scott Gomez isn't at fault for that, his play has regressed on the stat sheet but his play on ice is largely the same. He isn't too old or too slow, he isn't too lazy or too much of a jerk in the locker room. He's a victim of bad luck and bad circumstance. He's also a player frequently name dropped by his teammates for being a good locker room guy. He isn't a bad person who is weak willed, it isn't that he isn't making an effort, he cares and I think he may even care too much.

In Short: His salary can't be passed onto another player anyways and even if it was it would be a less than ideal situation. We aren't contenders now anyways so it would be pointless to ruin our reputation burying him just to add a player who isn't an ideal fit. It could do more bad than good in the room.
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History Lesson:

Thomas Plekanec:

Plekanec had 69 points in 2007-08, then in 2008-09 he had 39 points. I'm not trying to compare apples to oranges here, I realize Plekanec was younger and still developing but hear me out.

After the 39 point season people wanted him gone. He came back and put up 70 points. Then followed up by 57 points, and now in our worst season he puts up 52 points playing a shutdown role. After the 2008-09 and 2011-12 seasons a large minority of fans wanted this guy dealt, I'd even dare say a majority after his 39 point season.The first time he wasn't even overpaid so ultimately salary is a non-factor. Media bashing, mob mentality and "what have you done for me lately" syndrome are the prevalent factors here.

People's perception of a player is often skewed by the stat sheet or the media. Anyone who knows hockey can tell you Plekanec was and still is one of the most important players on the team. The players can tell you this too because it's the truth. Let the record show that Plekanec has also had five twenty goal seasons in his last six seasons. The guy is talented at both ends, shows up in the playoffs and gives it his all every shift, but here we are again with the what have you done for me lately talk.

He put up 17 goals 35 assists and 52 points playing against other teams top level players with nobody backing him up on the wings. Does this not sound familiar? Scott Gomez struggled putting up points without any competent scoring wingers as well. I'm a huge Moen fan and I even liked Darche, Pouliot, etc. Is it any surprise that Gomez only put up numbers when Gionta wasn't injured and when the other winger was also on a hot streak? Gomez just needs another consistent winger to put with Gionta and he'll be fine. It isn't rocket science. Play makers need scoring wingers to get points.

Alex Kovalev:

In 2005-06 in his first season with Montreal he put up 65 points. He followed it up with a 47 point campaign and for the record he was a pretty similar age at that time to what Scott Gomez is now. Again, folks wanted him gone after that one bad year. He followed it up with an 84 point season in 2007-08 and in 2008-09 he had a 65 point season. Again, what have you done for me lately kicks in and people want the player gone.

In Short: Plekanec and Kovalev both had bad years where plenty of people wanted them gone. Both came back and had several strong years. Kovalev in particular was around the same age as Gomez when he struggled, then he had a big comeback. Why can't Gomez do the same?
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Reasons for the decline:

Gomez has had one bad season followed up by a year where he was injured. In most cases he was paired up with 3rd and 4th line players. His line mates were often injured, underdeveloped young players or guys he had no chemistry with. Even in the time he put up quality numbers he made Pouliot look like a potential thirty goal guy. Pouliot is an inconsistent player who has a long development path ahead of him. When he's on a streak he can put up quality numbers with a good play maker but for now that's where it ends.

The first question to ask is who are the consistent 20-30+ goal scorers Gomez has had on his line that even make him capable of putting up 40-50 assists in a season, let alone 50 points?

Let's see, there's Pouliot who we've already mentioned, Gionta who is solid but he's only one person and was also injured last season. We have Moen who is a great player but the 3rd line is already a stretch for him. Darche who is a borderline NHL player, Kostitsyn who was inconsistent at times too and also had his worst season last year.

Expecting Gomez to put up his regular production the last two seasons would be similar to expecting Moen or Darche to become 20-25 goal guys, because that's who he played with a lot of the time. Chemistry takes time to build and his set of wingers were a revolving door. I also don't see a time in Gomez's career where he easily produced points with bottom six players, he's always had great success on a line that had good chemistry and guys who can finish. Elias and Gionta are both guys who have had over forty goals in one season. Moen, Pouliot, Darche and Kostitsyn have never even come close.

The only consistent goal scorer that he played with regularly is Gionta. Usually a top line a center consistently plays with two players capable of complimenting them. So for example if they're a play maker they would have at least two 20 goal guys on their line giving them roughly 40 assists and maybe even 10 goals just being in the right places.

In Short: He had nobody to play with, bad chemistry, injuries, many issues that compounded.
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Conclusion:

I'm not saying none of the fault is on Scott, and nobody will tell you more than Scott himself that it's his responsibility. He's always been a competitor. The guy is a professional athlete with numerous elite level seasons under his belt and at the very worst close to point per game production. He was not put in a situation where he could succeed here. You don't take a play maker with a career average of around 12 goals a season and put him with guys who struggle to get 10 goals.

Gomez has always been a passer, he's known as a solid play maker who can skate and gain the zone. If you don't put him with guys who have speed and who can drive the net to score he won't produce. His production is largely dependent on others being that he's a play maker with little finishing ability. This isn't Scott Gomez's fault, this is the fault of management who didn't give him the tools he needed to succeed. Do people honestly think our organization didn't know what they were getting with him? He is what he is, a solid player who is somewhat symbiotic. His wingers need him to make plays as badly as he needs them to finish. It's a two-way street and hockey is a team sport. Unfortunately he had no teammates of good enough skill level to produce at the levels he consistently has for most of his career.

For all his faults, not being Sidney Crosby isn't one of them. We need to put him in a position to succeed. Gomez won't ever blame anyone else for his problems, he has too much pride to make excuses. The truth is there are plenty of valid reasons. Those legitimate reasons accounted for his level of play

He was as fast as he always was, his passes were also just as good as they always were, he entered the zone with that same passion and drive that he always had. He had some injuries and even despite being given offensive zone starts he had nobody to pass to, so now people want to blame him for the lack of production.

If you take apart a carefully maintained machine and instead of putting back the proper parts you replace two of them with cheaply manufactured parts that aren't meant for that type of machine, what do you think will happen? Do you think it won't effect the quality parts as well? Gomez is the quality part but the maintenance guy keeps using a Moen or a Darche to do a quick fix rather than getting another Gionta or Elias which is what the machine actually needs.

In Montreal we consider hockey a team sport, but because Gomez makes a lot of money people hate him and expect more. If you were offered that type of money to be the teams water boy best believe you would take it regardless of the cap implications. Anyone claiming otherwise simply hasn't been given such an opportunity. It's easy to talk about it when you aren't in the position. Sather offered him money and he took it, end of story.

In Short: He's a passer not a shooter, and the sooner people realize expecting him to put up 60 points with Travis Moen and Mathieu Darche on his wings is unrealistic, the better. He isn't Crosby, he won't make a line better on his own, but he's a great compliment to skilled shooters and that's all.
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Final Words:
 
Getting rid of Gomez with his value at an all time low and with nobody in the market worthy of burying him for would be an unmitigated disaster. He is loved in the locker room, has done nothing wrong and is only hated by fans for making the money he makes. He was never a Crosby or a Malkin so expecting him to be is absurd. He is a second line center who needs the right guys in order to get going. Stop blaming Gomez for all the problems our team has faced and start looking at management.

We finally have a management team in place that seems to get it and they aren't mortgaging the future or trying to dump Gomez for a quick fix. Gomez is a part of this team and for all those living in denial he will be in the roster in October. If the new coaching and management team know what they're doing he'll be producing too. This team has a lot of problems but Scott Gomez isn't the biggest one, winger scoring depth and defensive depth are the key issues here.

Plekanec, Gomez, Eller and Desharnais are solid for center depth as long as you have the right amount of scoring wingers. Then we add to this Galchenyuk, we certainly do have an abundance of centers however if we had the right amount of scoring wingers Gomez's salary would be a complete non-issue. Gomez's salary isn't the thing keeping us from those wingers either, bad management and poor player development are much bigger issues here. Instead of people focusing so much of their energy on bashing a guy like Gomez, they need to look to the root of the issue. This is a bad situation and Gomez isn't at fault for one bit of it. Give the guy a break.

Finally, give Gomez another chance and if he doesn't produce after two games with Bourque and a recovering Gionta on his wings get over it. It will take time coming back from an injury and having a new winger but ultimately Bourque is a much better option than Darche.

In Short: Just give the guy a chance.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to make my future blogs as appealing as possible so for those who don't like long reads, keep your eyes open for my "In Short" comments, they briefly summarize my rants... I mean blogs :)

-neogenhabs

Yannick Weber - The Calm Before the Storm

The Montreal Canadiens have a lot of great youth on the team right now and some solid defensive prospects for the future. With guys like Subban, Emelin and Diaz in the pipes one guy is often overlooked. That guy is Yanick Weber who I believe is poised to have a solid year in Montreal.

Weber may have had a slow start offensively but in the three games he played against Boston in the playoffs he really stepped up his game notching two goals in only 26:19 minutes of total ice time. That's less than ten minutes a game. During the season after a slow start offensively Weber learned the defensive side of the game and played better defensively than I believe most people ever expected him to. Posting 1 goal and 11 assists in 41 games as a rookie most of his points were had between January and the end of the season.

Weber scoring on Thomas in the playoffs. Can you imagine how many he'll pot if he plays with Markov on the power play?

It may be a little early to say given the small sample size of half a season and three playoff games but this is what my blog boils down to. Predicting who will boom or who will bust. I personally believe this will be Weber's year to shine. If he makes moves like the above goal on Thomas with Markov playing the point he'll be unstoppable. This year the Montreal Canadiens have all the tools to develop this guy to his maximum potential. Only time will tell if Weber is up to the challenge, I think he'll kill it. Weber after this season should be a lock for the Montreal Canadiens line-up, trading him now would be unwise. 

Weber's other opportunistic goal on Thomas.

This year  should be quite the year for the habs and their prospects but don't count Yannick Weber out, he's already worked wonders on his defensive game and was only truly starting to click on his offensive game towards the second half of last year. If all goes well we should be seeing Weber scoring on the Bruins for years to come.

The Rise of Sophomore Subban

It isn't very often a team picks a superstar defenseman in the 2nd round 43rd overall, but on June 23rd 2007 the Montreal Canadiens did exactly that when they selected PK Subban. Who would have thought on that fateful day that by now we already would have seen the great Subban in action. As the year progressed we only got to see more and more what a diamond in the rough this guy is. From getting under the skin of his opponents to playing an average of 28:51 of ice time a game in the playoffs, this guy truly is a warrior. He is exactly the type of player any team in the league needs to have but hates to play against. Unfortunately people seem to hate him an awful lot more than one would think. That's okay with me, it just tells me PK is doing his job in impeccable fashion.

(PK seen here at the draft after the selection, I bet Gainey doesn't regret this choice.)

Over the course of the year PK took a lot of heat around the league for different situations. Respected players like Mike Richards and Joffrey Lupul had a problem with PK and felt as a rookie he lacked respect for his opponents. PK was a class act in interviews and had nothing but praise for Mike, he even said he was a one of his idols growing up. There is also obvious bad blood between PK and the Bruins Brad Marchand, another solid NHL rookie who plays with an edge and seems to have a knack for getting under his opponents skin. One of the best hits of the year happened in a Boston versus Montreal game at the Bell center.
(Just to clarify something a friend brought it to my attention that Marchand and Subban are actually friends and ex junior Team Canada teammates. They are actually friendly off the ice so no bad blood there. Thanks to CrimsonSkorpion of HFBoards for bringing this to my attention. You can also follow his blog at http://hometownanalysis.blogspot.com)

(The hit that sent Marchand back to the bench in a hurry)

 It wasn't all big hits and big minutes for PK though. At a certain point he messed up a pass in overtime against one of the leagues bottom feeders in Edmonton. The resulting play had Dustin Penner in the slot to put away the overtime winner. A mistake by PK which led to a three game sit. A very controversial topic for fans and the media because many thought Subban shouldn't have been benched for one mistake, others thought it was fine, some thought it was too long. Everyone had their opinion but at the end of the day Subban came back and it was like a fire was ignited inside of him. From then on until the playoffs he played like a man not a rookie.

(The OT goal Penner ended up getting as a result of the PK error)

 Even in the post season a huge part of the reason they were able to give the Bruins such a tough time was PK Subban. There really is no denying this, the guy played over 30 minutes in some games and did so well. He even managed to get the tying goal in game 7 to bring Montreal into overtime and it was a beauty. It wasn't the goal that mattered so much as how great PK was at both ends, we wouldn't have been in game 7 overtime if it weren't for PK playing those minutes. It just would not have happened.

(This one needed a video. It was really a superb goal)

With all of this said Montreal managed to take the future Stanley Cup champions to the breaking point of game 7 and Subban had as much to do with that as the other superstar on the team did, you know who I mean. I'm very optimistic of what this team can do with Price and Subban given the way this team has played with a depleted roster. Don't worry habs fans, our time has come. We finally have the tools to be a cup winner. We will have to rest our faith in management to get things done but ultimately it's become evident no matter how many injuries we get having guys like Price and Subban on your team elevate you to the point of being able to win any game. It would be almost impossible for our coaching staff and management to mess that up.

With the way PK Subban has developed at every level I don't have a doubt in my mind that this guy will be one of the cornerstones of our team for a very long time. This is the beginning of a new era, the era where our youth takes us to the next level. Ladies and gentleman I present to you the rise of sophomore Subban, if my gut is right I think we're in for one hell of a season. 

Allstar Break Habs Report

Here's my report on the habs for the break, hope you enjoy:

Gomez:

I'm not afraid to say that Scott Gomez is one of my favorite players in the NHL. I like the way he plays and just think he's having a tough time right now I really do. But Scott you've gotta wake up. You're capable of so much better and you know it. He just seems to have lost his confidence out there and it's really a shame. I want to see the Gomez of the playoffs, I want to see the Gomez of those Stanley Cup runs in New Jersey. The guy who showed up every night and elevated his play, made his line better and setup some sweet goals. Heck he's never been known as a gifted goal scorer but he has been known as one hell of a play maker.

Gomez just needs a clean slate. He isn't going anywhere fans, sorry I know so many of you want him gone but he isn't going anywhere not only because he's an important part of our team but because with his cap hit no team will take him even if he does get paid less in coming years. I don't want him gone regardless but some people need to understand that. That being said we need to support him but he's gotta support himself too. He needs to get his confidence back and clearly needs fans and media support not to be shunned or hated on. I know he cares about this team and wants be successful. But I also know he isn't playing like Scott Gomez the coveted all star play maker from the New Jersey Devils. They did have a good team but he was a big part of the reason they did. He needs to be a big part of our reason. We have injuries now and the team needs him now more than ever.

He's gotta step up his game right now.

Price

Needs his team to stop taking dumb penalties that are costly and momentum shifting. Not kidding you I don't fault this guy one bit in a number of our losses in recent memory. When your team takes 3 penalties at the same time and on top of that takes several too many men penalties in a season (I wonder what the stat is) you really can't be blamed by them throwing away games. I'm not saying he hasn't let in some goals he'd like to have back or mishandled the puck ever, he has. But he's been a good goalie and the team needs to support him and stop ruining him by playing so bad defensively and taking dumb penalties. If it weren't for that Price would be doing a lot better. And another thing, play Auld please, thanks. He's a grown man he knows how to play also.

Jacques Martin

Makes some questionable decisions at times I think we can all agree. Anywhere from not taking a time out to taking a bad time out.  Not pulling the goalie early enough at times. I find the habs this year have a seriously lack of control in the oppositions zone even on the power play and this direly needs to be addressed somehow.

Pierre Gauthier

What can I say, I like this guy. He goes and gets Wis for nothing. But then at the same time gives Lapierre away for nothing. I can only assume he's making cap space in case of a huge trade. Now I'm not saying we're going after Iginla even though it's rumored. But he freed up the Markov cap space, some of Gorges and even traded Lapierre to get rid of his cap room. Added Wisniewski so that adds cap but we could definitely fit Iginla in. We'd be giving up cap room in the process in that deal, not as much as Iginla's probably but some. If he makes the Iginla trade I'll be thrilled personally. Yes Iginla is 34 years old but I figure he has enough good years left. I want him on our team. He played with Cammalleri already. Cammalleri with Plekanec and Iginla would be a #1 line in the NHL that would match up against any other teams very well. I believe they will want Pacioretty in the deal though, that's the only problem I have with it. But you've got to give to get.

O'Byrne

I know he's an ex hab but just because I was speaking about Gauthier I think this trade will look very stupid if the Bournival kid doesn't pan out for us. I knew O'Byrne would be an NHL defense man and I also called the trade on my blog before it happened. It was a no-brainer because  O'Byrne clearly was NHL ready. I'm happy for him that he's playing well and progressing.

Mathieu Darche - Does make the team better.

The other day I was watching the game and RDS posed a question that to be quite honest I think is ridiculous. The question was in French but I'll paraphrase to the best of my abilities.  Basically they were asking if Darche makes the team better or not. To me after 20+ games it's a ridiculous question, in my mind the response is "of course he does".

I'll be the first to admit I had my doubts about the Darche signing, thought maybe it could have been a waste of salary cap space due to it being a depth signing. I don't think I'm too worried about it anymore as Darche is a very hard working player who makes things happen. As a thirteenth forward I don't think it gets much better than Mathieu Darche. I'm not sure if this was a question posed by a fan or RDS but the fact that RDS chose this question above others to me is just crazy.

Darche fills the role he's given by our management on any given night. He has never hurt the team but on many occasions has in fact helped the team a lot. What more could you want from a "thirteenth" forward and I'm beginning to use that word pretty loosely already. The team simply has looked better when he's in the line up then with out. So to the question "Does Darche make the team better" I boldly answer "of course he does!"

The Habs - A Last Ten Story Pt. 2

After the first 10 games of the season I posted a blog about how the Habs were doing as a team and as individuals on the team. We were 7-1-2 in those games and now we're 6-4-0. Funny thing is I think aside from last nights game against Philly I think we've been playing some good hockey in that 10 game span. Still posting an above .500 record and with Markov out once again. We'll find out later this week just how serious the injury is, hopefully it isn't too bad but I have my doubts to say the least. Now being 13-7-1 I can't say I'm complaining and yes I know I'm late in posting this. A slight miscalculation on my part ;)

Again I think the coaching has been good and a big part of the reason we're doing so well on the PK and improving on the PP, though I must admit the PP leaves much to be desired it still isn't in 29th place so that's a huge improvement over the first ten games of the season. Either way talk regarding the team as a whole, we're 3rd in the eastern conference and winning games, enough said on that.

Carey Price A+ - I think it's pretty obvious why he gets the A+. First of all 30% of his wins are shutouts, second of all he's only ever allowed 3 goals in regulation. Third of all he's played 20 games already this season which is a ton of games. He's been solid, he's been making big saves, keeping us in the game and much more. He's been confident in net, probably the most confident we've ever bared witness to. I'm in awe even as a big time Price supporter that he's doing this well. I expected him to be a good goalie this year I really did. I did not expect him to be one of the three best. This year I'd say he's definitely a top 3 goalie so far and I'm not going to be knocking on wood anytime soon. The way Price is playing I don't think voodoo or knocking on wood has anything to do with it, he's proving why he has such a great history of winning.

Tomas Plekanec A+ - Again this is a guy playing above expectations and going into this season they've been the highest of all time for him. People expect no less than a 70pt season out of Tomas, I think Tomas is more interested in 80 to 90 points and I don't doubt he could achieve either. He's been our best forward and often times he's even played like a third defenceman for us. Hard to fault a guy who works so hard and gets results, when you look back to his rookie season and now it's crazy how much this guy has grown as a player and continues to. Now my expectations for he and Price are super high, these two guys are players Stanley Cups are won with.

Andrei Kostitsyn B+ - Last time I gave him an A- and my reasoning was that I wanted to see him produce for a more extended period of time. It isn't that I feel Andrei has become worse it's just that he hasn't produced at the same pace so this time I'm knocking him down a notch. That isn't to say I don't acknowledge his solid play regardless. He's been playing his game still just hasn't been as good in the first 10 games as he has been in the last 10. I attribute this partly to being moved around the line up and don't fault him for that but at the same time I call it how I see it. I don't doubt that in the next 10 games he could go back to being an A- or even become an A.  Remember this is based on their last 10 or so games, in this case 11 because of my mistake. While he's still been great out there he's not producing at the level that he was early on. Still 3 points in his last 5 games isn't too bad considering we got shutout by Nashville.

Mike Cammalleri B+ - I haven't seen enough improvement in his game statistically to merit increasing his rating yet. He certainly hasn't been terrible like people are mentioning either. He too has been moved around a bit and has had some close chances but like Andrei simply hasn't been putting up the numbers. In Mike and Tomas' cases reason I keep them the same is because they've proven their consistency at the NHL level already. We all know how Mike is, he'll score 15 goals in 12 games and then he'll score 3 goals in 15 games. Other than that he's been playing the way he normally does which is good, when he's on the ice he creates space for his line mates as they try to cover Mike pretty tightly.

Alexandre Picard - Will give him the pass this time around as he didn't get to play much. Glad he's back in the line up and he hasn't looked too bad yet. He might have been slightly better before he got benched for a bit but I think that's the way the cookie crumbles. He'll be much more solid in the next few games I think once he gets back into his groove. He still wasn't bad even despite that though.

PK Subban A - I can't give him the A+ just yet but I think he's been solid still none the less. He got under a vets skin (Richards) and he's been known to get under peoples skin throughout the league. I love this about PK and I wouldn't ask him to change his game in the slightest. Once he starts banging them in and getting more points and consistently maintains good numbers the A+ won't be too far away. The guy is a superstar, he's magical with and without the puck. He's still maintained a good defensive game while playing well offensively. For me right now the only thing holding me back from A+ is consistency, not saying he isn't consistent but he's a rookie, I'd like to see how he does for most of or an entire season first before deciding but if he manages to find magic on our PP I wouldn't rule out giving him an A+ sooner than later. He brings a lot to the table and if he can manage to quarterback our power play eventually then surely he'll bring enough elements to the table to merit being called an A+. He is our defensive version of Plekanec, he's a star and he plays the game well in many different areas and has only improved since becoming a hab. I know he hasn't even come close to reaching his full potential yet so calling him an A+ now would be detrimental to my rating system :) I know the logic behind it is less than logical but remember I just do this for fun and give my opinion on the matter, I'm no Eklund (lol)

Eller B - Reason I give him a B instead of B- this time is because I find in the last 5 or 6 games especially he's simply been more noticeable on the ice, doing more things and he seems to be gaining the coaches trust. It's tough to rate the guy because he isn't being used in an offensive role in most cases. Considering that I think he's developing fine. I don't think he's being ruined I just think he's being taught the defensive side of the game and the system prior to being put in a position where he can cost us a game. Give the kid some time, he's got a tremendous amount of talent and could be our Subban 2.0 come playoff time this year. He will surprise us all I think but we'll have to wait and see, he might possibly become our secret weapon. The Dane is being developed properly we just need to be a little bit more patient.

Halpern A+ - What can you really say about this guy? He works hard, he produces and he wins games for you. Hardly the Halpern I thought we had acquired in the post season but it just goes to show how looks can sometimes be deceiving. I feel our organization has done a tremendous job over the past couple seasons of finding guys that work well within our team. Metropolit, Moore and now Halpern. All seemed to play a really good game for us when compared with other teams. This guy really is a perfect fit for us though, I just pray he can stay healthy because looking at his stats it seems he does get injured often enough. For a player that I had pegged as a B- to a C+ at most going into the season Halpern has exceeded expectations. He gets the A+ for now but we'll see if he can maintain it.

Moen B - He hasn't been bad but kind of like Halpern this player imo has to produce in order for me to consider him a B+ etc. I wouldn't say Moen is playing beyond his level, he's just playing his typical game which is what we need. However I also wouldn't say he's dominating the physical game/presence entirely. Other guys have really seemed to step up this year even the smaller guys, seems our team is a bit more feisty then in past seasons. A solid B for Moen and deservedly so.

Gomez C- - I'm starting to agree with people that a larger part of the problem might be Gomez. While I still stand by my point that Gomez never really got a true 2nd line to play on he still certainly has to be producing more than he has even despite that. There comes a time where there just aren't any excuses to be used anymore. If he had maybe 1g 4a more I probably wouldn't complain and would have even given him a B- but really he's just been terrible out there. Now I know Scott Gomez isn't the kind of player to carry a line but it would be nice if he could at least get some points now and then. That aside I still think once he's paired up with a true pair of wingers rather than one 4th liner all the time his stats will improve. I just don't think his stats are justified by this reasoning anymore. Like I said if he had 4-5 more points fair enough but he's just been terrible out there. Now he even appears to have lost all confidence where as before he still was and just wasn't getting lucky. We need this guy to wake up and soon but I really do think a trade is in the works for deadline latest, if we start losing even sooner. We need to get this guy a winger to play with and then people are going to see he and Gio will find their magic once again.

Gionta B- - I consider him to be the most improved hab in the last 10 games. Switching him onto the Plekanec line really did help. It's too bad we can't put Gomez on a line with Plekanec as he really seems to make even the coldest or worst players around him look amazing. Gionta started producing which was what we needed him to do and to continue doing. Now all he has to do is take that confidence to the Gomez line and hope it translates into production. He's definitely been burying chances when before he missed many open nets and screwed up several good feeds from Gomez. Not trying to detract from how badly Scott has been don't get me wrong, but if Gionta had put away a few of those feeds I think I'd be telling you all a much different tale right now. I don't know if it's my Koivu fanboyism but I still don't think he's anywhere close to as good a captain as Koivu was but then again Koivu had a lot of time to learn.

Pouliot B- - Still think he's a B-, he's been playing great but needs to produce a little more consistently. This is a guy that at one point people thought was capable of putting up 30-40 goals and in my opinion with good reason. He has size, speed and a good shot, what more could you want? I'm putting him on hold for now though because like Andrei I think over the next 10 games he might impress me. Both these players have grown tremendously as hockey players this year in my opinion. Something caused by Jacques Martins coaching and coaching staff? I really hope so because if it's the case we'll pretty soon be putting the habs development issues to rest.

Lapierre B - Even though it was a fluke pair of goals that got him some points I still think he's been playing with a bit more kick in the last few games. Maybe he had a wakeup call who knows but one things for sure he shoots the puck and sometimes that's all you need to do and fluke goals can happen. Also you can't really pretend to forget that amazing goal he had against Cam Ward, for that alone I'll give him the bump up to B from B-, he's still capable of much more in my opinion but it remains to be seen. I think he needs to be a bit more feisty out there and a bit more physical but I get the feeling the coach has told him to tone it down, possibly because he's known for getting called on a lot of stupid penalties both legit and BS.

Spacek C- - Most inconsistent habs player bar none. Sure he's improved but he's still not consistent in the slightest. One game he'll look like the Spacek we knew from Buffalo. The next game he looks like crap. One game he's producing offensively and playing defensively sound, the next game he's blowing clear cut opportunities and getting burned. I think if we give him more time he'll work out his game and be a surprise benefit to us this year maybe even in the playoffs. Either way he's a signing I was excited about and I want to like the guy, he just makes it very difficult with his blunders.

So that's my 2nd novel on the habs players this year. Also honorable mentions go to Tom Pyatt (very underrated and solid on the PK) and of course Darche who looked great along side Pouliot and Halpern, though I'm starting to suspect a lot of players would.

Carey Price pt2

So at the start of the preseason I wrote about how Price will gain his confidence back and become the goalie we all know he can be if we're just patient and show him our support. When Price commented about how the preseason is irrelevant the media and fans had a field day saying that Price has everything to prove and should not take any games lightly. So far there has not been a single game this guy didn't keep us in. The only times he didn't were times the team couldn't put the puck in the net 3-0 losses where we just couldn't finish.

It's now 15 games in and Price is a top 10 goalie in the NHL. He has 8 wins and has posted two shutouts already. One against a team like Vancouver none the less. He's 10th in GAA but has played 3 more games than any of his competition. He's 13th in save percentage as well which is pretty impressive again as only Cam Ward has played a comparable number of games thus far. Obviously another shutout or a 5-0 loss would drastically change these numbers but it's always nice to see the guy so many doubted winning games for your team. Obviously it's still very early but if you've seen Price play you can tell not only is he on the ball this year but he's improving.

How do I see Price improving? Well it's actually pretty obvious for me. He's much better on the glove, early on in the season this was a weakness in my opinion. Opponents would go for the glove side, he wouldn't get it up fast enough, sometimes he wasn't really positioned that well to make the save in the first place. I noticed as games went on slowly he started to get confidence in his glove hand. He would still get beat on the glove but he was improving. Now it seems you won't be getting too many shots past Carey's trapper anymore. He really seems to have improved that element of his game and what's crazy is just how drastically it's improved from game 1 until now. The second thing I noticed is that in the past Price wasn't a very good puck handler. When he would get the puck often times he wouldn't be patient enough or even sometimes too patient. He would pass it to a guy whose covered and it would create chances for the other team. He still does it sometimes but I mean, every goalie does now and then. The point is though he's improved this drastically this season. Positionally he's also better and seems to be going down less often or at least less quickly. He plays big in his crease and really makes it tough on the opposition to score. Another thing I found about Price in past years is that he would often times have a good game but then a bad ending. Would let in a goal with a few minutes left. Could have just been bad luck but he seems much more focused out there.

So now that the confidence is rolling in, he's gotten himself into a top 10 position in the league, is it any wonder Price had this tremendous talent and the confidence to back it all along? Sure he was down on himself after last season, any professional athlete in his position would be. The point is though he bounced back. He took his bumps along the way and he grew as a player but more importantly as a human being. Up until now we've seen Carey Price the boy but I think this year we're going to see Carey Price the man, and I think this is just Price playing like Price, if he goes on fire at some point I think we'll really frustrate some teams. Price has all the tools to be a top 10 goalie in the NHL for years to come. Right now he's showing that his first season wasn't a fluke and that the only fluke was last season. We are incredibly lucky as a team to have a guy as gifted as he is in between the pipes. I'm positive by game thirty I'll still be happy with his game, he's getting better and better as time goes on. Now the team has to feed off of his confidence and the fact that they have a guy like him in goal and start putting the puck in the net.

Scott Gomez & Brian Gionta - I Believe in You!

Well we're just eleven games into the season and just like some players are on fire others aren't. It's all part of the game players have slumps, it only becomes so magnified when it happens early on in the season. The interesting thing about the situation though is that Gomez of all people is receiving the blunt of the blame for his lines lack of production. Some say it's because he's paid 7.5 million dollars and should be able to carry a line as a result. What I don't get is why salary has anything to do with the equation. We didn't sign Gomez at 7.5 million, Glen Sather did. It was a stupid signing not because I don't think Gomez is a good player but he's clearly a 4-5 million dollar player. A general manager overpaid him and we were willing to trade for a guy who is overpaid. What I don't get is how it's even an issue.

Scott is the same Gomer we all knew and loved last season. He's still making great passes even though he's covered twice as often now, he's still skating well, he's still putting forth the effort. On some nights he hasn't looked great at all but I find it tough to blame him when he's been playing with half a line. Playing with a forth liner just means he and Brian are covered twice as much. Neither of them are big players and while Gionta plays a big mans game with a ton of heart, he's still not a big guy. The truth is Scott isn't in a slump he's been doing the right things out there. He's never been known for his shot so expecting him to put up 5 goals while Gionta is in a scoring slump is just an unfair expectation. Truth is when you're a pure playmaker you rely on your line mates heavily in order to rack up points.

Gionta can't even get in good scoring position. He's small and doesn't have any back up. Normally he would be able to because the other teams defenders would have to cover he and his line mates about equally. Problem is nobody is really all too concerned with Tom Pyatt scoring goals against them. These two guys are being covered twice as much and being that it's tougher for Gionta to get into a good position as a result, Gomer has to hold onto the puck a lot longer and thus loses the puck. To me it's just common sense these two guys need another top six forward to play with. I can't put the blunt of the blame on Gomez though if he's making plays and guys like Gionta and Pyatt aren't burying their chances. Though it's equally unfair to put the blunt of the blame on Gionta either because how is a guy of his stature supposed to get in a good scoring area with one to two guys covering him at all times? People need to have fair and realistic expectations here, we're only eleven games in and these guys haven't had a line mate all year.

So now you might ask why haven't we seen Pouliot given more chances or Eller? For one Eller plays much better as a center and for the sake of our team going forward needs to be developed as one. He brings much needed size down the middle for us. For two Pouliot is a young player and Martin wants him to earn the spot. He has been earning the spot and he's been gaining a ton of confidence along the way. I think Martin is trying to develop him into a consistent forward, make him earn his spot and produce on lines with far less effective line mates. To me the production of our second line can be attributed to this because our team struggled to develop players for many years once at the NHL level, this is why Martin was brought in to make sure it gets done properly. Unfortunately our second line is suffering as a result but in the long term it's going to pay off. This is a guy who knows how to develop players, who knows how to coach young guys and get them to achieve what they're potentially capable of. In Montreal unfortunately you can't win though, because one year people are complaining we rush our prospects, then when we don't rush them and our top line forwards have nobody to play with, people still complain. Heck people are blaming Gomez for this debacle as we speak, how would you feel in his shoes if you had nobody realistic to play with. Tom Pyatt is great at what he does but he isn't a top 6 forward far from it. I wouldn't even consider him a realistic fill in for a top line. Moen in short spurts has been leaps and bounds better.

This all having been said I believe in Gionta and Gomez, they're doing all the right things they just need the support of a line mate who is close to them in skill level. After a few games of Benny blasting them past the opposition teams will start covering Benoit a lot more, once he gains more confidence and is a fit on that line. He's going to be on that line people just need to be patient and by being there within a week tops you will start to see Gomez and Gionta explode on the stats sheet. Truth is for a line to work you need two people who can put the puck in the net minimum. A bottom six forward can only work in a top 6 role for so long before it starts to fail. All these guys need is a consistent line mate and I believe the reason they are lacking Benoit currently is because Martin is trying to work on Benny's consistency and confidence level.

Our team is in the right hands after so many years, we need to trust how the management will develop our players and we need to be more trusting of the decisions our management makes. You think they don't realize that Gomer and Gio are under performing? They knew it would be that way all along given the situation at hand and are working hard to fix it. This isn't a Gauthier problem, it becomes one July 1st depending on how Pouliot plays, at the very earliest by deadline. Truth is though our team is doing very well despite that second lines production currently and we're getting the added benefit of developing our young players properly during this period. We should be losing games right now and be starting to win them towards the middle of the season, we're very lucky we're doing so well this early on. I knew we would have a hell of a team this year but I never expected us to do so well this early on. Our coaching staff knows what they're doing and we just need to be patient and believe in our players and all will be well.

The Habs - A Last Ten Story Pt. 1

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tomas Plekanec - Bigger, Stronger, Faster

Seeing as how I'm fairly new to the blog scene I doubt a lot of you know I'm a prediction nut. I love making predictions on the team, players, anything to do with the sport. This year is Tomas Plekanec's year and I think you can take that to the bank and cash it. Since the first preseason game I saw him in I could tell something about Tomas was different. Sure it's the preseason and it isn't a fair time to evaluate given the opponents he's been facing. But out there I see a Tomas Plekanec who worked hard over the summer, a Plekanec who took training very seriously and it shows and I believe it will pay off.

My prediction is that Tomas breaks the 80 point mark this year. I think he has all the tools to put up 25 goals and 55 assists. He seems like the best Plekanec I've ever seen out there and yes I've seen him play in the preseason before but something about this year is different. It isn't how he makes opponents look silly that makes me feel this way, it's the way he skates, it's the decisions he makes, it's his puck possession skills. Everything that makes up a quality player this guy has aside from being a physical nightmare to play against but he does a pretty good job of being tough to play against anyways.

Here are Tomas stats for the last four seasons:

2006-07	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	81	20	27	47
2007-08	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	81	29	40	69
2008-09	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	80	20	19	39
2009-10	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	82	25	45	70

We all remember the season he had in 2008-09 but lets face it the Plekanec we saw that season definitely wasn't the Plekanec we all have come to love today. He wasn't playing with that spark in his game that year, something was definitely off. I know everyone that year was calling for a trade, even I'll be the first to admit I wasn't very happy with Tomas performance, even though he did score 20 goals regardless.

He averages approximately 25 goals a season so I don't think the 25 goal mark is too far fetched. He's averaged approximately 33 assists per season in his last 4 seasons. Take out the bad year and it's more like 37. We already know he's hit the 45 assist mark though. Taking that fluke bad season into account, the fact that he will have more chemistry with line mate Mike Cammelleri to start the season, I think he'll do better than usual if he remains healthy (Another thing he's great at doing). Once you add in the fact that he's the best we've ever seen him and the fact that we have more depth to plug the holes of our top six, it's all pretty understandable why I feel this might be Tomas' year. If Cammalleri stays healthy the whole season too I believe we could be a wild card this year for the division and honestly we could possibly have an offense that is a nightmare to play against in the coming weeks, once all the kinks are worked out and we have our line up fully in tact.

For a guy who not long ago many people wanted to run out of town, he's quickly become a fan favorite and a beast on our team. I don't think I have to say anything here with regard to my Price article, I think anyone who got this far into my blog probably has the intelligence to put two and two together. We're on the verge of being serious contenders and Plekanec is largely part of the reason why.

Carey Price

After last night we all know the pessimists now have their bread and butter. Price didn't do too well in a preseason game. It's the end of the world as we know it. All kidding aside I'd just like to start by saying that I've been a long time Halak fan since day one. That isn't to say I don't like Price but I've always loved Jaro Halak. The point is though that Jaro is now a new member of the St. Louis Blues and Carey Price is still our goalie, I don't wish Halak anything but the best of luck but now that I know who our #1 goalie is I support him one-hundred percent and I believe the rest of the fans should be the same.

Look I know some people out there are bitter about Halak being traded because I wasn't too happy with it either. But on the plus side we got some pretty nice pieces out of the trade and Price will now get time to develop into the goalie he is supposed to be. How can we expect him to develop if people are just going to give up on the kid after a couple soft or bad goals though? People don't realize just how young he is, just how quickly he was brought up. Players take time to develop and we can't drive Carey out of town, plus how can we expect him to succeed and have confidence if the first moment he makes a mistake we all show no confidence in him ourselves?

He's very mature for his age despite what hear say will tell you and he's come to compete. Nobody who dedicated their entire life into being a top goalie just decides all of the sudden 20 years in that they aren't going to try. It's a matter of confidence and giving him sarcastic claps and cheers when he makes an easy save as a result of letting in a softy in a preseason game, that isn't going to help Price or the team. I know a lot of you out there may disagree with me here but one thing we can both agree on is that we all love the habs, and if you're reading this blog and you don't I appreciate the interest but I have to say it confuses me a little bit. Point though being: if you're a fan of the team, show the teams number one goaltender a bit more respect and give him time to work out his game. No amount of booing or sarcastic cheering is going to help Carey gain more confidence. We as a fan base need to be behind Carey one-hundred percent whether or not we like the Halak trade, whether or not we even like Carey. Why because he's our teams number one goalie and I don't care if that goalie is Alex Auld, Rick Dipietro or Carey Price, whether he's playing amazing or poorly, he deserves to be treated with respect and no amount of booing is going to make him play better or fix his confidence.

I'm sure to the people who read my blog, being that I'm an optimist I'm probably preaching to the choir, but it needs to be said and even if Carey himself doesn't know it there's at least one fan out there who, like the Halak trade or not still supports him and believes he has the tools to be the number one goalie on our team our organization feels he can be. Lastly I'd like to address how this lack of respect for Carey is simply petty and disrespectful not only to him but our great organization. Sometimes you have to be a little more trusting and though I do believe our organization has made a few mistakes in the past so has every organization even Detroit. Gauthier isn't put in place to ruin our team, he has pure intentions and wants us to succeed, he and the rest of our organization believe in and are behind Price one-hundred percent. If you consider yourself a true fan of the Canadiens then you should not be booing Carey Price plain and simple. It isn't due to lack of effort or because he doesn't care, it's because he needs our support and we aren't giving him any.

My Story

My story is that I'm a "diehard" Habs fan from Montreal. Simply put for the longest time I've been an HF poster who now decided why not make a blog. We all have our opinions on the Habs, some of us are optimists and others are pessimistic. I consider myself an optimist and I feel we have something special on our team, a certain "je ne sais quoi". This blog is my perspective on the current Montreal Canadiens and their prospects.

From a young age my dad introduced me to hockey, whether it was playing hockey on the street, watching it in the evening or idolizing guys like Kirk Muller and Vincent Damphousse. They were always my guys and they still are today. There's something special about this sport and something even more special about this organization. From 1993 on I knew what it was like to see the glory of my team winning and it gave me a thirst for victory like no other. Since 1993 as you all know that thirst has never quite been satisfied that is up until recently. We all got a taste recently, enough to quench the thirst but not for long.

That all having been said I didn't feel there were enough quality English Habs bloggers out there and I figured I'd give it a shot and try to be one. I came to the conclusion that I should start a blog when I realized through a thread on HF that there really are tons of quality French bloggers and journalists but very few English ones on the subject. In Quebec that's quite understandable and though I may not have too big a following as a result I figure if I can open a few peoples minds why not give it a shot. Like I said I'm an optimist and I try to give other people reasons to be optimistic about our team as well, but I'll get to that in my next post.

There is no sport quite like hockey, no team quite like the Canadiens in all of sports. What better way to spend your time then blogging about how great it is to be a fan in this day in age. A new era is born, the Neo Habs Generation has begun.