State Of The Habs 2008-09

[flames4eva]

I think many of us posters are on the same page. My guess is that BG will be keeping his eye closely on the development of Gorges (in particular) and O'Byrne. If one of them does not make that leap (and it is doubtful, in this one season), then he'll be pulling the trigger on a trade (trade deadline or before) to shore up mostly specifically for the last two rounds of the play-offs. I believe the Habs could get to that point with their current roster, but I don't believe that's the endpoint of BG's plan for this 100th anniversary season of the Club.

This sounds like s good plan

[Devs]

What happened to the Habs being bigger and stronger and not getting pushed around?????

Buffalo knocked them all over and nobody returned the favour.

O'Byrne? no

Komisarek? no

Latendresse, Lapierre, Begin? No, no, no

[77bourque77]

What happened to the Habs being bigger and stronger and not getting pushed around?????

Buffalo knocked them all over and nobody returned the favour.

O'Byrne? no

Komisarek? no

Latendresse, Lapierre, Begin? No, no, no

no need to get fired up.... lats and laps arent tough IMO...

lets get more games under our belt before the chicken little theory comes into play again.

[franck5890]

What we have to remember is that it was Buffalo's home opener; always a highly-emotional, inspiring event for all players, especially a young team that wants to prove they can fight for the playoffs in an increasingly tough division.

[Guest]

What we have to remember is that it was Buffalo's home opener; always a highly-emotional, inspiring event for all players, especially a young team that wants to prove they can fight for the playoffs in an increasingly tough division.

Yup and we have more of the same to expect tonight VS Leafs in their home opener. I'm not expecting any blowouts over there but if Halak plays a decent game we should walk out with the points.

[RicochetII]

Breakdown : The First Three

Goals

2 Sergei Kostitsyn

2 Roman Hamrlik

2 Robert Lang

Assists

4 Saku Koivu

4 Andrei Markov

3 Guillame Latendresse

3 Alex Tanguay

Points

4 Sergei Kostitsyn

4 Guillame Latendresse

4 Alex Tanguay

4 Saku Koivu

4 Andrei Markov

Plus/Minus

+4 Roman Hamrlik

+3 Saku Koivu

+3 Michael Komisarek

+3 Robert Lang

+3 Andrei Markov

+3 Ryan O' Byrne

PIM

7 Tom Kostopoulos

7 Maxim Lapierre

7 Guillame Latendresse

Shots

12 Roman Hamrlik

10 Sergei Kostitsyn

9 Alex Kovalev

Shot %

40% Robert Lang

33% Guillame Latendresse

33% Alex Tanguay

[Innis_Mor]

Breakdown : The First Three

Goals

2 Sergei Kostitsyn

2 Roman Hamrlik

2 Robert Lang

Assists

4 Saku Koivu

4 Andrei Markov

3 Guillame Latendresse

3 Alex Tanguay

Points

4 Sergei Kostitsyn

4 Guillame Latendresse

4 Alex Tanguay

4 Saku Koivu

4 Andrei Markov

Plus/Minus

+4 Roman Hamrlik

+3 Saku Koivu

+3 Michael Komisarek

+3 Robert Lang

+3 Andrei Markov

+3 Ryan O' Byrne

PIM

7 Tom Kostopoulos

7 Maxim Lapierre

7 Guillame Latendresse

Shots

12 Roman Hamrlik

10 Sergei Kostitsyn

9 Alex Kovalev

Shot %

40% Robert Lang

33% Guillame Latendresse

33% Alex Tanguay

Hmmmm ... looks like the makings of a bunch of star players (with no 'superstars') whose only goal is to work hard and win hockey games. My kind of team.

[RicochetII]

I think it's very interesting to see which players are performing out of the gate. Lats for one, Hamrlik for another, Koivu and SK, as well as two of our new acquisitions. Should be interesting if this becomes a trend.

[koreysecord1992]

Hamrlik with 12 shots...that's just what we need him to do. Apart from remaining the rock solid defender he was last year.

[Innis_Mor]

Hamrlik with 12 shots...that's just what we need him to do. Apart from remaining the rock solid defender he was last year.

Yeah, I think 7 of them came in the one game (Buffalo). He's playing really well. By the play-offs, the Habs will need one more like him, Markov and Komisarek to round out the four -- Gorges picking it up (?), or a trade? We'll see.

[Y-ASK-Y]

From the Montreal Gazette:

"But one thing Julien and the Bruins don't want to do tonight is get into a free-for-all with the Canadiens. Montreal has scored 11 goals in its past two games and the team's depth is reflected in the statistics.

After three games, nine Canadiens have scored goals and 14 players have at least one point. The team's leading scorer, with five points, is Sergei Kostitsyn, who plays on the third line."

If that's not depth then I don't know what is.

[teststory]

It seems to me that everyone is happy as long as the team is winning generally. The chemistry looks pretty good so far. If the Habs can get a nice win streak going it will do a lot for the players confidence that they really are a deep offensive team.

[CheeseHab]

Folks,...

So glad it has begun again. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to focus on any games yet. What's the 'State' my bretheren? What are your guts telling you?

Can we muster the gumption and dedication that drove the Wings last year?

'Long season ahead' ... 'gotta face adversity' ... injuries ... yep, yep, yep ....

BUT - what say you? (can you help a brother out w/ some legitimate insights?)

[hockey_gal89]

Folks,...

So glad it has begun again. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to focus on any games yet. What's the 'State' my bretheren? What are your guts telling you?

Can we muster the gumption and dedication that drove the Wings last year?

'Long season ahead' ... 'gotta face adversity' ... injuries ... yep, yep, yep ....

BUT - what say you? (can you help a brother out w/ some legitimate insights?)

I think this team is a legitimate contender that is finally catching up with other play-off contenders in the area of size and toughness...Their current combination of size, toughness and skill makes them one of the toughest teams to play against out of the East. Winning early and often is key to success down the road in the playoffs...If they can keep winning with the same consistency this could be a cup WINNING team.

[puckoff1]

Folks,...

So glad it has begun again. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to focus on any games yet. What's the 'State' my bretheren? What are your guts telling you?

Can we muster the gumption and dedication that drove the Wings last year?

'Long season ahead' ... 'gotta face adversity' ... injuries ... yep, yep, yep ....

BUT - what say you? (can you help a brother out w/ some legitimate insights?)

great post, let me do my best for you bro. ive been lucky enough to catch every game so far, and i can honestly say this is the best team we've had since we won the cup. we are DEEP this year.

the state of the habs this year is that we came into this season with a team we knew was good, since it came in first in the conference last year. the big question marks were if we could maintain our consistency from our core, on development of youngsters expected to step up, and if our new additions would pan out and prove to be improvements. i know its only a few games in but so far to my eyes its 3 for 3. we have picked up right where we left off in terms of our top lines, d and o. the kovalev line looks very slick and you can see they havent even hit the groove yet. koivu has started strong which is a great sign. markov and komi...we are criticising them a bit in their threads but the seasons brand new and if yuo look at it, markov has 6 assists in 4 games and komi is bashing people and blocking shots just like he was last year. hammer looks great back there too, so for me our top fwds and d look like they are picking up right where they left off. check mark there.

the youngsters.....price and halak look great. lapierre, latendresse...marked improvement from last year. young sergei.... flying out of the gate. gorges on D is looking very composed and showing his late season surge was no fluke. to me the only question of all the younguns is o byrne, but hes coming along just fine i think, just hasnt been AMAZING. hes taking a regular shift and thats what we want from him this year, all he has to do is keep playing and learning from hammer. so check mark here, which is huge. the biggest reason is price, who if he breaks out this year, which hes showing all indications of doing, is essential for our cup run. second is sergei, this kid looks ready to put up some significant points which is going to factor in HUGE if we want to go all the way. he plays in a lot of situations so if he keeps this up we have a very valuable piece to the puzzle

finally, our new guys. huge check mark. this is whats going to put us over the top. tanguay looks GREAT. super slick passer, looks fantastic with koivu (which has been an issue all through sakus career..no one to play with.) not only will tangs get his points, hes going to help saku put up some really good numbers. then on the third line we have lang, who is also a huge check mark. he didnt show it much in the preseason and had people worried but wow is he useful. slick passer and stickhandler, great touch around the net....MAJOR upgrade over smokes. and hes playing with sergei and they are dangerous. this means that like with koivu and tanguay, not only will lang get his pts, he will help sergei get his. this is what we were hoping for, 3 lines that could score.

we look deep and dangerous on offense, still have the scary PP, still playing a very solid defensive game like last year and now with a very good looking aggressive PK so far, goaltending looks very good....he have the stuff to go all the way, i really believe it. if we can stay healthy we will have a very big year and every chance in the world to win it all. i think the guys know it and thats why i dont think effort and intensity will be a problem over the course of the year. the team looks hungry and excited to be together. and thats the state of the habs

[CheeseHab]

"i think the guys know it and thats why i dont think effort and intensity will be a problem over the course of the year. the team looks hungry and excited to be together. and thats the state of the habs" -jeff33

OOoo that's what I like to hear! Thanks for the post.

What I've been yearning for is that Habness to emerge -that Habness that constituted the vintage Canadiens circa Scotty Bowman. "Those guys just didn't want to lose."

Not a re-hash of things past or 'we're gettin the band back together,' but that bond that establishes and defines this team, here and now.

From what I gather, it is ALIVE. ...and I'm going to enjoy this season thoroughly.

[RicochetII]

We have a dangerous and potent offense, are explosive and entertaining to watch and have the potential to accomplish great things, the cup among them, from what I have seen.

However.

We have only been truly dominant against one team and that was the Maple Leafs, who are going through a major overhaul this season and while some of our D men have been excellent, some have also been less than stellar and Price has had to be on his game.

Work ethic and teamwork need to improve before we can make a comparison to last year's champion Wings and we have to clamp down on some undisciplined penalties and errors in our zone as well as a number of shots that Price is being forced to contend with. We are also relying mostly on skill and we need to balance that with smart, simple hockey on occasion.

Our individual skill levels and depth are stellar, we are receiving exceptional efforts from a number of players and it should only be a matter of time before we convert this team into a well oiled and dominant machine.

[GreekHockeyCoach]

We have a dangerous and potent offense, are explosive and entertaining to watch and have the potential to accomplish great things, the cup among them, from what I have seen.

However.

We have only been truly dominant against one team and that was the Maple Leafs, who are going through a major overhaul this season and while some of our D men have been excellent, some have also been less than stellar and Price has had to be on his game.

Work ethic and teamwork need to improve before we can make a comparison to last year's champion Wings and we have to clamp down on some undisciplined penalties and errors in our zone as well as a number of shots that Price is being forced to contend with. We are also relying mostly on skill and we need to balance that with smart, simple hockey on occasion.

Our individual skill levels and depth are stellar, we are receiving exceptional efforts from a number of players and it should only be a matter of time before we convert this team into a well oiled and dominant machine.

I just feel, like a lot of you, that we're playing sloppy hockey at times. The chemistry is not there yet and the passes are not as crisp as last year. Most of our goals have been junk goals, which is just fine by me as long as we're winning, but it would be nice to see us getting our passes on the tape and creating some of the offensive plays that we are capable of.

It's only obvious that we'll get better as the season progresses and lines will gel, I just wish we'd do it sooner rather than later. That said, I'm still excited about the start we've have, 7 out of a possible 8 points and most importantly of all, my main concern which was goaltending has not been a concern thus far.

[77bourque77]

I just feel, like a lot of you, that we're playing sloppy hockey at times. The chemistry is not there yet and the passes are not as crisp as last year. Most of our goals have been junk goals, which is just fine by me as long as we're winning, but it would be nice to see us getting our passes on the tape and creating some of the offensive plays that we are capable of.

It's only obvious that we'll get better as the season progresses and lines will gel, I just wish we'd do it sooner rather than later. That said, I'm still excited about the start we've have, 7 out of a possible 8 points and most importantly of all, my main concern which was goaltending has not been a concern thus far.

very good points, and for me, i really didnt like some of our passes during the boston game. just seemed like they were over passing.

when they had a chance to shoot, they passed... and it was really starting to bug me...

and im so glad to see that both our keeps are doing what they are getting paid to do. stoping shots, and giving us a chance to win games.

very good start to the season!

[teststory]

I agree that we haven't seen the best of the Habs forwards yet, but there have been some beautiful plays in the first four games of the season.

[Habsology]

Hi people, I tried to start a new thread but I was told to go talk about it here. So here goes...

What do you guys/gals think would happen to our team if we fail to win the Cup this season? Do you foresee a lot of upheaval and demand for change or do we go on and try winning it next year with (pretty much) the same team that we have?

I know a lot of people would think that this is blasphemy, but it is something to consider. What are your thoughts?

[77bourque77]

Hi people, I tried to start a new thread but I was told to go talk about it here. So here goes...

What do you guys/gals think would happen to our team if we fail to win the Cup this season? Do you foresee a lot of upheaval and demand for change or do we go on and try winning it next year with (pretty much) the same team that we have?

I know a lot of people would think that this is blasphemy, but it is something to consider. What are your thoughts?

i think it all depends on how we do this year. right now i see us following the same path as the pens did. they were eliminated early in 2006-2007 season, we were eliminated early last season. They went to the stanely cup finals last season, and we might be able to this year. but anything can happen. its all about players getting experience, and last season, we barely had any. we are in the same place the pens were in last season. now our players have that experience and it will be able to help them this season.

but we are just going to have to wait and see what this season brings.

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

Hi people, I tried to start a new thread but I was told to go talk about it here. So here goes...

What do you guys/gals think would happen to our team if we fail to win the Cup this season? Do you foresee a lot of upheaval and demand for change or do we go on and try winning it next year with (pretty much) the same team that we have?

I know a lot of people would think that this is blasphemy, but it is something to consider. What are your thoughts?

The team is going to have a lot of decisions to make regarding free agents, anyways... I am assuming the better the team does (conference finals? cup win?) the more likely we will see our squad return intact for 2009-2010. However, if there are other options out there that Gainey feels strongly about we may see some UFAs departing for different clubs. If the team bows out in the 1st or 2nd round again, I think we may see several changes depending on individual player performances. For instance, if we fail to make it out of round 1, and Gaborik is a viabale option the free agent market, do we throw a ton of money at Gaborik and let Kovalev walk? These will be the interesting questions raised during this season. Who knows what's going to happen?

[Habsology]

The team is going to have a lot of decisions to make regarding free agents, anyways... I am assuming the better the team does (conference finals? cup win?) the more likely we will see our squad return intact for 2009-2010. However, if there are other options out there that Gainey feels strongly about we may see some UFAs departing for different clubs. If the team bows out in the 1st or 2nd round again, I think we may see several changes depending on individual player performances. For instance, if we fail to make it out of round 1, and Gaborik is a viabale option the free agent market, do we throw a ton of money at Gaborik and let Kovalev walk? These will be the interesting questions raised during this season. Who knows what's going to happen?

If it happens as you say, would you do it? Would you blow up the team and try to bring in a superstar?

I would be inclined to do so if I were BG. Only cause you tried to do it one way - through in-house talent, and if it doesn't get you where you want to be then you try a different avenue. I think that if we don't win this year, then we can expect some big changes. There will be a lot of pressure from the fans and media to get something done.

[amp73]

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/519045

Leafs could use a saviour like Habs' Gillett

Looking back just seven years, it's hard to believe the Montreal Canadiens were arguably at the lowest point in their marvellous history.

Nobody wanted to buy the team when Molson put it on the block. Few liked the spacious replacement for the historic Forum, 5,000 to 6,000 seats were unsold most nights and the team was in the midst of missing the playoffs four times in five years.

``It was a low point from a business standpoint. It was a low point from a team standpoint. It was a low point from a fan relevance standpoint,'' said team president Pierre Boivin yesterday. ``People had essentially given up on the team. The team had become complacent and lost its soul.''

Contrast that with today. The Habs have sold out every game for three years, have the team logo on a newly-minted Canadian dollar to celebrate the club's 100th anniversary, are so successful that they contributed $19 million to the league's revenue sharing pool last year, and had a solid squad capable of winning the Stanley Cup.

So what happened?

Well, George Gillett happened. Honoured as sports executive of the year yesterday by Sports Media Canada, Gillett has experienced a remarkable transformation as a public figure, going from conniving American carpetbagger to saviour of Les Glorieux, ``Uncle George'' as he's now known on the streets of Montreal.

While fans of the Maple Leafs try to connect with the soulless corporation that controls the team, Gillett is a populist's billionaire who walks downtown Montreal after games and drops into local pubs to have a beer and talk about his team.

``We are just proxies for the fans,'' said Gillett yesterday. ``We don't see ourselves as owners. We view ourselves as trustees for the fans.''

When Gillett strolled into town, borrowed $240 million and bought the team and arena for $275 million in 2001, he was viewed with a combination of fear and revulsion.

``The reaction was mostly because he wasn't a Quebecer or a Montrealer,'' said Boivin. ``We had just gone through a very tough experience with the Loria family and the Expos. So it was very difficult for Montrealers to accept there was no local group to buy the Canadiens and the team ended up being bought by an American.''

Gillett speaks only four or five words of French, but it's not held against him in the court of Quebec public opinion. He flew into Toronto yesterday on his private jet with his buddy, golfer Andy North, and tried his best to sound bullish on the business of the NHL despite gloomy international economic forecasts.

``I don't know if I'd use the word `concerned' yet,'' said Gillett, who co-owns the Liverpool soccer team and a NASCAR outfit, and now wants to bring Major League Soccer to Montreal. "The general state of the NHL is quite healthy. The six Canadian teams are fundamentally sold out. As far as ticket sales in the U.S., season tickets I'm told are up 4 per cent and game day sales are up 12 per cent.

"That's quite positive. That's an indication of the growing popularity of the sport.''

Interestingly, Boivin argued yesterday that NHL teams should no longer experience competitive booms and busts.

``This sport does not operate in cycles. That used to be the case before the salary cap. Teams would get old, owners would run out of money and there we're all kinds of cycles and sub-cycles,'' Boivin suggested.

``Today, if you recruit and operate well, are well-managed and well-coached, and have strong fan support, there's no reason you can't have a team that's going to contend ... forever.''

That would be a novel concept for Toronto hockey fans, many of whom are increasingly nostalgic for the days when they knew the name of the man who owned the team.