Habs Struggle as the City Watches

Montreal is in the unusual position of trying to rally around an NHL club which continues to flounder near the bottom of the league.  The saga of the 2011-2012 Habs is well known throughout the NHL.

The team has battled internally as some players riled the media with comments illustrating the intensity of the internal conflict.  The biggest prima donna for the Habs now toils in Cow Town  and it seems that the rebuilding process is starting to take hold.

Rene Bourque has added size and grit to the Habs.  Subban is back on track and Price seems to have regained some optimism.  The likely hood of playoff contention is still remote but true Habs diehards have not given up.  Water cooler talk in La Belle Province is all about late a season pushes and a potential miracle ice.

We don't share their blind belief but we do respect the fact that Canadiens management has recognized the issues and we expect that fans will see many changes come the 2013-2014 edition of the club.  Montreal is a temple of hockey and once the Habs get some true hockey people in the front office; the cream will rise to the top once again.

Price, Subban, Georges and others will form the nucleus of a new club which will turn around faster than most people expect.  In a funny twist of fate; the roles were reversed last night as Montreal went into Toronto and beat the Leafs who seem playoff bound.  This kind of role reversal will probably be a one year phenomena.  Toronto might have been ok with their recent playoff skid but that won't be the case in Montreal. Management will recognize this fact and do what needs to be done.  Habs fans may not be smiling come year end but the future looks bright to us after this near death  season for hockey's most storied franchise.  

Are the Habs the Washington Generals of the NHL ?

Everyone who has been lucky enough to see the Harlem Globetrotters play has also seen the Washington Generals in action.  The Washington Generals are the hapless nitwits who chase the Globetrotters around all night but ultimately they always lose.  The Generals may pull ahead in any one game but they always trip, fall, and crash to the much better Globetrotters.  None of the guys on the Generals ever dreamed they would someday be part of a basketball team that is always slated to lose but every night they go out and get their heads kicked in for money.  They draw their salaries , do their best and move on to the next game.    

This pattern which is well known to the Generals is becoming way too familiar to the Montreal Canadiens.  This once proud franchise has been humbled by mismanagement and the players are starting to show the mental fatigue of getting their collective rear ends handed to them on a regular basis.  Blowouts are becoming very common for the Habs. The Habs have slid into a trap of mediocrity and they seem unable to shake the hex.  The youngsters on the team are listless and talented players like Price and Subban are looking average at best. 

If you ask me they look and feel like the Generals.  The Blackhawks made them look stupid recently and games against the Jets and others were not much better. The owners of the Habs need to move and right the ship. Montreal fans deserve better.  Poor management can push a franchise to the brink.  Just ask the Maple Leafs. They dropped out of sight after their last Cup victory in 1967.  It can take a while for a winning spirit to come back once rot has set in.  This team needs to be turned around now or Habs fans will be in store for years of Washington Generals style hockey. This year is a write off.  The habs need to get in there and make some trades in the New Year.  Get what you can for whatever you have that has worth.  Sometime it is hard to bite the bullet but we are afraid that Molson has to get chewing.  Time to rebuild.  The quicker you face the music the quicker Montreal will bounce back.

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Rock bottom in Montreal?

The Habs are now 1-5-2 to start the year. Including a horrendous 0-3-2 record at the Bell center where they have 20,000+ fans on their side. There are literally zero bright spots on this team right now. Sure they have outplayed teams in certain games, look at the Buffalo game as an example, where Montreal carried the play for the majority of the game, but got shut down by Ryan Miller, that game was acceptable, as Miller is one of the best in the league at what he does. However, Montreal just simply hasn’t been able to get any big plays when they need them, and have continued to come up on the losing end of games. But despite heading into tonight’s game with a 1-4-2 record, there was still a lot of games left this season to make up ground. But the Habs needed a win against Florida badly. Florida is far from a powerhouse team, they were starting a goalie of the future, who although is very talented, is not a legitimate #1 goalie at this point, and is far from proven. Not only that but the game was at the Bell Center, and you had no shortage of motivation with the media and fans throughout the city calling out almost every single member of the Canadiens. So you figured tonight was the night that the Habs would get it turned around. But it just wasn’t meant to be, as the Habs lost 2-1 dropping the overall record to 1-5-2. That is only 4 of a possible 16 points! I know we are still in October and that there is a lot of time to make up ground, however, if this whole gets too deep, it will become almost impossible to get out of. Look at the Devils last year, they were the hottest team in the league after the All-Star break, yet still missed the playoffs, because of the whole they dug themselves at the beginning of the year. And it’s not like the Habs were one of the top teams last year, this is a team that finished only 5 points up on 9^th place last year. What is especially concerning about that, is the fact that Montreal only made the playoffs by 5 points, despite starting off last season 5-2-1 in the first 8 games. Clearly, Montreal is going to have to play a lot better than they did the rest of the year last year to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. These points might not seem like much right now, but they add up, just ask teams like New Jersey or Toronto last season.

So what exactly is wrong in Montreal? To be quite honest, just about everything! Both special teams were brutal coming into the game against Florida, as the Powerplay was 29^th in the league with the Habs scoring only 10.5% of the time. The penalty kill wasn’t much better as they ranked 20^th, only killing off 81.2% of the penalties. No player has more than 6 points, in fact only 4 players have gotten to the 5 point mark. The only player to even score 3 goals is Travis Moen, as he has scored 4 times so far. When Travis Moen is your leading scorer, that is usually a sign that things aren’t going right! The top off-season acquisition in Erik Cole has only 2 points and is -4, and has been benched on the powerplay to make room for M. Darche…OUCH! PK Subban the teams top player, and a player many believed could be a potential Norris candidate, has no goals, only 2 points, and is a team worst -6! The 2 points is unacceptable considering the fact that PK is averaging a whopping 25 minutes a game. But perhaps, the most concerning player of all is Vezina candidate Carey Price. Price current has a 3.13 GAA, and a brutal .878 save %. Those numbers are a far cry from the stellar performances that we all became accustomed to with Price last year. For the Habs to get out of this funk and climb back into the standings, it’s going to take a team effort. They are going to need more from every single player, because right now there isn’t a single player who should be happy with their performances, and the same could be said for public enemy #1, Head Coach Jacques Martin.

The only good news for Habs fans is that there is a lot of time left in this season, and the team showed last year that they have the talent to be a playoff team. Now it’s just about not panicking, finding a way to stop the bleeding and turn things around. But whatever they do, they better do it quick, because the longer they wait, the tougher it will be to get back into the playoff race. One thing is for sure though, things are not going to get any easier for the Canadiens with the next 3 games coming against the Flyers on Wednesday and then the Bruins twice in a row. It might feel like rock bottom right now, but with tough matchups like that coming up, this could get even worse, unless the Habs find a way to turn things around and quick!

Grant Robinson (@thesportsgrind)

Check out my podcast at www.grantrobinson.podbean.com

LEAFS AND HABS PREPARE TO CLASH - EASTERN CANADA WILL BE GLUED TO THE TV

The Leafs and Habs face off tonight in a game which is critically important to both squads.  We expect a heck of a clash !!!

Montreal is an early season slump which threatens to become a full scale collapse.  The team is in disarray because of early season injuries coupled with the poor play of key players like Subban and Price.  The Habs playing in front of Price seem to have lost confidence in their goalie.  If the Habs fall behind ; it is almost a guaranteed lost.  Tonight; Price will have to be on top of his game and hope and pray that the weak offense of the Habs can get him a couple goals.  

We expect Montreal to fall to Toronto tonight.  The Leafs are not yet a top tier team in the NHL but they are certainly steadier than Montreal at several positions.  Reimer is what price used to be and Phaneuf is the kind of blue liner that PK Subban might become someday.  We should see fireworks from Lupul and Kessel tonight and the Leafs should put the Habs away on their home ice.

A Maple Leafs and Canadiens matchup is always a crowd pleaser.  The teams despise each other and the fans feel the same as well.  We hope for both teams that the intensity generated by this historical rivalry shows up on the ice tonight.  What teams lacks in skill, they can make up with heart.  If Montreal plays with heart they might squeeze thru and beat Toronto.  If Toronto plays with heart; their superior skill will destroy the Habs. 

THE PROBLEM WITH MONTREAL - EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH FOR THE HABS

The pressure with playing for the Canadiens is no secret to any one to have ever set foot in the league or the city. The problem with playing here is not only the fans, but also the team itself. The Montreal Canadiens pride themselves on success. The problem is that the success that is ridden is from a minimum of 18 years ago, in the summer of 1993. The team celebrates continuously the past success of their team, and yet managemnt is quite okay with that. The Canadiens have not had a real superstar since 1989, when Larry Robinson left Montreal, and that’s a stretch. Look at teams such as Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and Chicago. These teams have all had a great past, winning a minimum of two Stanley Cups in each of the teams’ histories. But then each team had a downward spiral, in which they were not able to produce a winner. They sent out most of theyre “key players” but kept the core of their team. From there, the team drafted and traded for superstars. The Penguins now have Crosby (drafted 1^st overall), Malkin (drafted 2^nd overall) and Fleury (drafted 1^st overall). The Oilers have Hall (drafted 1^st overall), Nugent-Hopkins (drafted 1^st overall), Eberle (drafted 22^nd overall). Chicago’s two biggest stars have also come through the draft, with Toews and Kane being picked in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Look at the trades, and the best examples are James Neal and Patrick Sharp being traded to teams that are now Champions. Look around the league, and you’ll see tons of teams doing it. Ottawa’s in the middle of a rebuild, Washington did it to get Ovechkin and company, and even Toronto did it to get Phil Kessel (trade) and Bozak and Kadri (draft). The Canadiens have to open their eyes and realize that this is what works. Either having great GM’s that can pull off great deals come deadline (Bourke) or rebuild through the draft after a disastrous first half of the season. Its time that they out a contender on the ice if they want what the fans want: a Stanley Cup. Here’s how it works:

After a dismal first half to a season, the Canadiens would trade away scoring forwards to a team that has a decent 1^st round pick. Then they trade away what looks to be their best forward (Cammalleri). Then comes the little trades that get you high draft picks (1^st or 2^nd round) and role players that are usually 2^nd and 3^rd line players on other teams. Perfect example is last years Senators. They were able to get draft picks and send away trouble players like Alexei Kovalev and Brian Elliot away to teams for very cheap. The Canadiens would then be left with a core group, who would be role models and lead the team through their success. Those players for Montreal would be Tomas Plekanec, Scott Gomez (contract too big to move), Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges, PK Subban and Carey Price. Through the next 3 years, the Habs would be drafting higher and higher in the league, and developing high quality players. The core of the team would stay the same, and talented players would be brought in. Even though most fans expect the team to be contenders every year, they have to realize that if the team starts losing a lot, this is what they should expect to happen.

Article by Noah Goren

James Reimer: First Leafs’ Home-Opener Shutout Since 2000

Few rivalries in sports are as heated and rich in history as the ongoing feud between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, and October 6, 2011 added another win to the Leafs’ tally.

The goaltenders for the Leafs’ season opener at the Air Canada Centre were the young guns, and the future of NHL goaltending; James Reimer (TOR), and Carey Price (MTL).


While Price made a few excellent saves to keep the game close, his efforts were all for naught, as Montreal lost to Toronto 2-0. Price stopped 16 of 18 Toronto shots in the effort, and was the top performer on Montreal. Defenseman PK Subban also contributed to a strong showing by the Canadiens.

But the real story of the night was the man in the other goal crease, James Reimer. The 23 year-old netminder stopped all 32 Montreal shots for his first win, and shutout, of the season. The Leafs locked Reimer down this summer for the next few years, and he is already earning his keep.


Opening the season with a shutout was just what the Leafs needed to get behind their new number 1 goaltender. The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs opened their season at home with a shutout was in 2000, when Curtis Joseph blanked Habs.

Reimer stayed solid positionally throughout the entire 60 minutes, and showed exceptional athleticism during multiple scrambles in front of the net. His rebound control needed a little work, which would have eliminated the need for his athletic scrambles, but overall, his play to begin the season was statistically flawless.

Reimer, who is arguably the new franchise player on Toronto’s roster, must avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, or risk becoming another Steve Mason (CBJ), who won the Calder Trophy before putting up horrendous numbers that prevented the Blue Jackets from playing past mid-April. Stellar rookie seasons followed by dreadful careers are unfortunately common amongst National Hockey League goaltenders, and Reimer knows what it takes to keep performing at his peak.


The pressure is on the Morweena, MB native to help the Leafs reach the playoffs for the first time since the NHL lockout. Look to Reimer to step into some sort of leadership role throughout the season and influence the team’s confidence and momentum during each matchup. His ability to make huge saves at the right time makes him a game-changer.

Look for the Leafs to be serious contenders for the 8^th playoff seed in the Eastern conference this season, and look to Reimer when dishing out credit.


Greg Summy

P.K. Subban , Evander Kane, and Wayne Simmonds - The new breed of superstar

The NHL is full of superstars.  The TV spotlights them, writers relate their stories and youngsters across the world want to be them. Hockey is a beautiful game.  It crosses borders, countries and yes even color....well at least borders and countries.  It looks like we have still have some work to do to bring down the color barrier in the NHL; for some fans.

Everyone shuddered when Chris Moorehouse threw a banana  at Wayne Simmonds in an exhibition game; last week.  The obvious reference to Simmonds' skin colour made the incident into national and international news.  The dumb bell obviously didn't realize that skill is what defines a hockey player; not skin color. Black hockey players are nothing new for real hockey fans.  There have been many firsts for black hockey players in the NHL.

Jerome Iginla was the first black captain in the NHL.  Under his leadership , the Calgary Flames went to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.  Iginla has very soft hands and he has been a scoring machine and is now the resident hockey god in Cow Town.

Tony McKegney was the first black "impact" hockey player in the NHL. McKegney was a cornerstone for the Buffalo Sabres for many seasons.  He was a solid two way player who netted 40 goals in  his best year.

Grant Fuhr is best known as the anchor for the Oiler teams made famous by Wayne Gretzky and company.  Fuhr stood between the pipes and guarded the paint as Edmonton hosted an Oilers dynasty which won numerous Cups.

I was discussing the whole Moorehouse situation with a friend this week and he told me that malice should not be confused with stupidity.  In that spirit I suggest that it might serve Mr.Moorehouse well to hit Google and educate himself.  Black hockey players are common on both sides of the border. Some of the best players in the NHL are black.   

Guys like P.K. Subban, Evander Kane, and Wayne Simmonds are just some of these black superstars.  These guys are super skilled hockey players and deserve the respect of everyone including racist idiots like Moorehouse.  Hopefully we will continue to see more skilled black players in the ranks of the NHL.  Equally so; hopefully we will see less of fans like Mr.Moorehouse.

THE HABS - A TEAM WITH HEART

 The Montréal Canadiens might not have the best team in the league on paper. They might not have the best players on paper, with the most goals and assists in the league. What they have is heart and a motivation to win the big prize. Their goal is the Stanley Cup and they will do anything to win it. They have a team of young players who are developing more and more every season. Their veterans are there to help teach the rookies, making the atmosphere in the dressing room a great one. It almost all starts with the dressing room. If the team is getting along together, they will have a good run. If they are fighting and there is drama in the room, it will show on the ice. The boys on this team work together as a unit, not as individuals. Although they haven't had the best preseason, we see rookies who are putting their all on the ice. Some of them will make the team, some will not. By seeing these rookies, we see that if we get injuries (which happens to every team but even more to this one), we don't have to be worried because the relève (don't know the word in English) is there and ready to go. In nets, we are solid with Carey Price and Peter Budaj. Carey Price had an excellent run last season, after an upsetting one in 2010. Some fans have been saying that he is shaky this preseason but if we look at last season, it was the same thing and he ended up having a stellar year. We have a goalie who could easily be a Vezina contender and we have a second goalie who has had many good seasons in the past. If anything were to happen to Carey, we have a veteran goalie who will be ready to play. Up front, we have some depth, especially with new arrival Erik Cole. Our first line should have a great season and we have other players who can make strong lines. If Scott Gomez and Andrei Kostitsyn decide to really give it their all, it will be amazing. Michael Cammalleri is already showing that he is ready for the start of the regular season and Max Pacioretty has shown us that his injury hasn't had an effect on his play. At the blue line, we have far from the best players in the league but we have players who when they work together can make strong pairs. P.K Subban, who although some people say is arrogant, shows confidence in himself and can play the position well, as well as create some offence. With Josh Gorges back, we have some consistency back. Hal Gill may not be the fastest player out there but he is consistence and plays his position well. Yannick Weber can play both up front and back, which is great. The weaker link of our D would be Jaroslav Spacek but he can be paired up with someone in order to make his line stronger.

This team has depth, motivation and heart. This trio makes a teams chances of winning the big prize a lot bigger. This may not be THE year, but be sure to keep an eye on the Habs because their time will come soon. The fans believe. People say that this team doesn't have a chance but that's what they said in 2010 and look where they got to. If every player puts in the effort, they can make it far. We just need to look at the comments said by players during their annual golf tournament to see that this team is ready for the start of the season and wants the Stanley Cup more than anything.

The Montréal Canadiens have the support of their fans (some of them not always) but those ones who are loyal will support them and cheer them on no matter what. We believe.


Joanne Wafer

WHO WILL BE THIS YEAR'S TIM THOMAS ??

 Last year was especially hard  for some of the "flashy" big boys in the NHL.  We saw Alexander Ovechkin fade fast into the stretch and playoffs causing the favoured Capitals to be sent packing. Brian Boucher also imploded when he was most needed and the Flyers were kicked out of the playoffs.  Their performances were shocking because these guys were key to their clubs at their respective positions. Superstars are supposed to carry the day.  Fans , young and old, look to these guys to give it 100% when all the marbles are in play.  The 2010-2011 season gave us some monumental failures and it will be interesting to see if these superstars can pick it back up and make believers out of their fans once again.

In some instances, the stars do come through and the fans are rewarded with brilliant play and maybe even a Stanley Cup victory.  In 2010-2011, we were treated to big seasons from PK Subban, Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas.  PK was the biggest surprise for the Habs last season and he and Carey Price almost got the Habs to the finish line. Of course, Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas faced off in the Stanley Cup finals before Tim Thomas emerged as victor. Either way you cut it; Subban, Luongo and Thomas made the 2010-2011 NHL season one to remembers.

Here is to an exciting 2011-2012 season !!!  NHL fans want to see less Bouchers and more Subbans.  Luongo and Ovechkin are also expected to perform.  Their teams have paid the big bucks and these boys need to take their teams to the final dance.  The question here is who will be this year's Tim Thomas ?  Buckle up gang.....this is going to be a fun one.