2010-2011 Montreal Canadiens

[althoma1 575]

Can we just get rid of Pouliot. jesus christ I hate that guy. Waste of a body out there. Put White instead of him. Why the hell would they give him 1M$+? The guy is a joke. He has no hustle, is always on his ass and whenever he shoots, he fans on the puck or just shoots it wide. Did I mention that I hate him?

They should put Eller in his spot on the 2nd line. Get him to play with experienced guys. Eller's playing like 3 minutes per game...that's the amount of time that Pouliot spends on his ass on the ice per game.

Apart from Pouliot, I'm happy with the team for sure. Price is REALLY solid. When markov comes back, it should be even better. Good thing the PK is tops in the league right now!

For the first couple months last year when Pouliot came over he was definitely producing, but he did really tail off in the playoffs and hasn't done much this year (although he hasn't gotten a tonne of playing time either). He does have size and skill so for a little over a million it was worth a gamble - I'd rather have him on the 2nd line over Moen or Pyatt, but obviously Martin disagrees based on what he's seen in the preseason, practice and in limited game situations. Pouliot isn't perfect, but if he plays to his ability he can be an effective 2nd line player. He has been trying to hit this year and I have seen him make a couple nice moves and take shots that didn't end up in goals, but made the opposing goalies come up with big saves.

I do understand being annoyed by one player on the team though. I felt the same way about Turner Stevenson in the 90s. I thought he was a waste of a 1st round draft pick and a waste of roster space. Sure, he could hit and grind, but he was slow for the NHL and didn't seem to have any offensive upside. I was thrilled when he was picked up in the expansion draft and was no longer a Canadien.

I do agree with everyone that Eller should be given more ice time. The effort is there, he has skill and some size so why not give him a shot at the 2nd line? I do like what I've seen of him so far.

I'm definitely looking forward to Markov coming back as long as he's returning at 100%. I'd rather him wait an extra few weeks if necessary than have him rush back and get injured shortly thereafter.

Price has definitely played above my expectations so far and I hope he can keep it up. I'm pretty happy with the team as it is so far with perhaps the exception of Gomez. Yes, he has skill and is a good playmaker, but there's no way in hell he's worth 7 million plus. I know, I know, they signed him to attract Gionta and Cammy....but still, every time I see him on the ice I can't help but think what other players they could've went after for that kind of cash (Gaborik is one that comes to mind...the Rangers were able to pick him up due to the Gomez trade). If Gomez was making 4 million or less that'd certainly sit better.

Picard has been pretty good, he's definitely an upgrade over O'Byrne and he's played better than Spacek so far. If they have to send him down, he should be the first one called up if any of the D is injured. If they can get something for O'Byrne, they should.

[Hidious 0]

Habs doing well...

I want to write about Pouliot. There's one thing i keep noticing about him since the beginning of the season that i don't like to see. Whenever he goes in front of the net to block the goalie's view, he gets out of the way when he sees a shot is coming from the point and tries a deflection. He offers a clear view for the keeper but IMO, he should stay there and not move, Holmstrom style.

There's a clear example of this in tonight's game against the Isles. On Darche's goal, both Pouliot and Darche are in the same spot in front of Rolison. Pouliot sees a shot coming and gets out of there while Darche stays and...scores. I'm not saying they should both have stayed in the same spot in this case but it shows what i'm talking about. Common Ben, grow some balls and stay there, you'll help a lot more. Some many goals are scored when the goalie can't see a think nowadays.

[Habs21 0]

1st in the league right now! Pretty awesome to see!

[RadioGaGa 162]

1st in the league right now! Pretty awesome to see!

Getting scoring from everyone excpet the Gionta line. Gotta think they won't be slumping all year. I just hope it ends soon.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Spacek may be benched for tomorrow's game. I assume Picard will come back in. O'Byrne has sat for quite a while...but I don't see them going back to him. I'm surprised he hasn't been waived to send down.

[hamstercaster 2]

Not sure if O'byrne needs to go through waivers or not to be sent back down. If so, it may explain why he's still with the team. Perhaps they still have a glimmer of hope for him and are not willing to lose him to another team just yet.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Not sure if O'byrne needs to go through waivers or not to be sent back down. If so, it may explain why he's still with the team. Perhaps they still have a glimmer of hope for him and are not willing to lose him to another team just yet.

He does have to clear to go down...and at 6'6/230...he would be a project pickup for someone. I think the Habs want him around still if there are injuries.

[hamstercaster 2]

It is hard to give up on him given his size. If only he used it better. Last year he had a good stretch at one point and then he was back to his oldself again.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Max Pacioretty is not long for this organization.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=340010

[chippa13 1844]

I guess folks forgot to tell him that you have to earn top 6 minutes in the NHL.

[hamstercaster 2]

This is a case where he should have kept his mouth shut. You can't continually blame the coach for your woes. Sure coaches will sometimes put rookies on a short leash but if you show up for every game and work hard on every shifts the coaches will usually keep giving you minutes. Saying that you lost your confidence because of the coach is lame, specially when you are a rookie that hasn't proven squat so far. Big minutes are earned, not served on a silver plate, specially not for rookies of Pacioretty's caliber. He's got top six skills, he's got size but he's just not giving a constant effort game after game.

Just watching the game and Halpern just scored his 4th goal of the season which is his 8th point so far!

[althoma1 575]

O'Byrne traded to Colorado

I like the trade for Montreal. O'Byrne wasn't playing well for them and they pick up and 18 year old from the Q who's leading his team in scoring with 24 points in 17 games. Plus, they're pretty deep on D at the moment - if there's an injury they have Picard that can fill in along with other prospects like Weber and Carle.

[17D1998 1]

O'Byrne traded to Colorado

I like the trade for Montreal. O'Byrne wasn't playing well for them and they pick up and 18 year old from the Q who's leading his team in scoring with 24 points in 17 games. Plus, they're pretty deep on D at the moment - if there's an injury they have Picard that can fill in along with other prospects like Weber and Carle.

I don't know who is that Bournival but I hope he's at least 6'5'' ahah

[RadioGaGa 162]

I don't know who is that Bournival but I hope he's at least 6'5'' ahah

6' 187lbs. But he's only 18...so while getting taller is unlikley...he could fill out to 195 or so.

[Habs21 0]

At this point, anything was better than O'Byrne. I feel bad for the guy and I hope he does well in Colorado but there was no way in hell i wanted to see him in a Habs jersey again this year.

As soon as he was in the lineup, it was at least a penalty per game for him. He's too slow and keep holding on to the other players in the defensive zone on the boards. It was the same thing every single game.

At least he's going to Colorado where there's no pressure on him at all.

Man, when Gomez scored last night, he was smiling for the rest of the game...something we haven't seen since the playoffs last year. Hopefully it'll be the spark he needs to get going.

How awesome is PK?

[hamstercaster 2]

There saying a lot of good things about the kid, specially that he has a no quit attitude and that he's able to play in all three zones (as per hockey future) and others that have been interviewed on the trade. His coach was saying that if you put a brick wall in front of him, he will not quit until he's gone through that wall.

On another note, Montreal played a good game yesterday and Price is still getting the job done. Gomez and Gionta finally scored. Here's hoping that this will get them out of their respective slump. We also need Cammi to start putting it in the net.

[RadioGaGa 162]

PK and Carey doing the triple "low five" after the game is awesome. I haven't seen Price having this much fun in 2 years.

[chippa13 1844]

Just wait until he has a rough outing or two at home and the fun will be over.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Just wait until he has a rough outing or two at home and the fun will be over.

I think his start has won him at least enough room for 1 or 2 bad games before the masses turn on him...if he goes into a 4, 5 or 6 game slump, then it will turn into a "we traded the wrong guy" shit storm again.

He's had good looks at open nets in the last 2 games...I know scoring is the last thing he needs to be worried about, but I think he will be the next goalie to score. I've even seen him do shootout drills with a goal stick...he's got a decent shot.

[Hidious 0]

Seems like this trade is universally acclaimed, in Montreal at least. I personally never believed in O'byrne despite his size, he just lacks talent IMHO. Sounds like he had a lot of very close friends in this locker room though.

On another note, i've learned some interesting things about Gill's leadership. Apparently, he's the type of guy that will ease the atmosphere anytime; the one story that made me laugh is about how he calms Subban down. He'll go to him between periods and say: "So did you learn something in the 1st kid?". :D

Also, i liked Jacques Martin's call on Gomez which i think was in french. Something like "Gomez scored this goal because he went in heavy traffic...for once" Get the message Scott?

[RadioGaGa 162]

Seems like this trade is universally acclaimed, in Montreal at least. I personally never believed in O'byrne despite his size, he just lacks talent IMHO. Sounds like he had a lot of very close friends in this locker room though.

On another note, i've learned some interesting things about Gill's leadership. Apparently, he's the type of guy that will ease the atmosphere anytime; the one story that made me laugh is about how he calms Subban down. He'll go to him between periods and say: "So did you learn something in the 1st kid?". :D

Also, i liked Jacques Martin's call on Gomez which i think was in french. Something like "Gomez scored this goal because he went in heavy traffic...for once" Get the message Scott?

That's what starts trouble in Montreal. Sometimes the translations don't make a comment sound fair. Now, I'm not saying that isn't what Martin said...but, the ACTUAL quote could have been: "Once you go into the traffic areas you score goals like the one Gomez scored" and the point gets changed in translation.

As I said...there is a real possibility that the quote got translated exactly the way Jacques said it...but in a city/media that communicates in 2 languages, it's going to happen.

Not to dwell too heavily on the point, but this is why Saku Koivu was so reluctant to speak French to reporters. He knew more than enough French to get by day to day in his private life...but considering that English was his second language...and French was his third, he choose to speak in his most comforatbale language, so that he wouldn't accidently mis-speak, or translate an answer wrong and cause a shit storm.

[Hidious 0]

Well you make a good point. I did say it was something like but i heard it again and i now have the exact quote: "Gomez's goal was no accident, he scored because he went in traffic instead of going on the outside of the play..." This one pretty much means the same thing in both languages but i agree with you that some translations aren't always very accurate.

[hamstercaster 2]

He was indeed calling out Gomez to get in traffic no matter how you translate it. He didn't say it as to make him look bad or anything he just said that when you get in traffic you have more scoring chances. That's the answer he gave when asked about Gomez' first goal in like 14 games or so.

If tonight's game is any indication, Gomez and Gionta seemed to have come out of their respective slump. An overall good team effort tonight and Price once again made a few good save at oppportune times that kep the team in the game. After his nice save where he dove to make the glove save the players on the ice went to him and "congratulated" him and you could see the big smile on his face. Price is playing well, he's happy, the guys are starting to play better and better in front of him and most importantly, his body language is so much better after he lets in a goal even on bad goals.

As for O'Byrne, he's got size but doesn't use it nearly enough like many other big guys in the league. Is not particularly good in any aspect of the game but he's not particularly bad either, maybe except for offence. He will get a fair chance in Colorado because of all the injuries and he's got to take the ball and run with because it's pretty much his last chance. If he doesn't do well I believe he will not get a chance anywhere else but I'm probably wrong as worst players have had many chances.

[Habs21 0]

Ugh, they're saying probably 3 months for Markov. Brutal.

Staal's play was retarded AND then he flicks Markov's glove at him. But hey who knows, maybe next time he plays Pittsburgh he'll be going against Cooke and this thing will go full circle.

only video I could find was on the rds website for now:

Markov injury

[SouthpawTRK 1]

What the hell was Staal thinking? It looked like he was trying to throw a muy thai knee to Markov. Hopefully Markov recovers sooner than later.