NHL 2008-09 regular season thread!

[Doc Holliday]

Hey Doc how many more wins will it take before you flip flop, abandon your soon the be TavarLESS Leafs, and once again become a Habs fan?

Maybe after Price's shutout win tonight?

I will never again be a Habs fan. Never again!!

Price's shutout?? The boozing goalie will never get another shutout this year!! Mark my words!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Maybe after Price's shutout win tonight?

Ooops!!! Wrong again!!! MONTREAL CANADIENS SLICED UP BY THE IMPROVED BUFFALO SABRES BY A SCORE OF 5-1.

Patrick Lalime (yep, he's still in the league folks!) nearly had a shutout. He allowed 1 goal on 39 shots. The Hab offense made him look like a young Glenn Hall tonight. The terrible Carey Price, on the other hand, allowed 5 goals on only 27 shots. Someone should check that bottle Carey Price has hanging atop his net. Maybe it's not water that's in it. As one of the panelists on 110% said tonight (Jean-Serge....), maybe Marc Denis should have let Price borrow his car after the game & let him drive to Hamilton where he could have sucked back a few cold beers on his way back to Mtl!

I say it again: BORING BOB GAINEY'S INACTIVITY ON TRADE DEADLINE DAY WILL CAUSE THE HABS TO MISS THE PLAYOFFS.

p.s. That big 30 year old stiff who can't skate nor check & has cement hands....George Laraque....he's now on the injury list with a pulled groin muscle (offically a 'lower body injury'). They're paying this bum $1.5 million????

 

[SexyNadya]

The Price is wrong !!!

Ooops!!! Wrong again!!!
I say it again: BORING BOB GAINEY'S INACTIVITY ON TRADE DEADLINE DAY WILL CAUSE THE HABS TO MISS THE PLAYOFFS.

Hello Doc !

I'm not sure about this one Sweetheart ! The Habs will make it in ;
however I agree with you when it comes to Carey Price ...
The C.P. has derailed !

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hello Doc !I'm not sure about this one Sweetheart ! The Habs will make it in ;
however I agree with you when it comes to Carey Price ...
The C.P. has derailed !

I'm hoping you're right, sweetie. Even though the Habs are not my favorite team, the playoffs are never the same without the Habs. It's easy for me to cheer against them, and since Boston will be the team i'll be pulling for in this season's playoffs (along with the other Canadian teams), it would make the playoffs much more interesting for me if the Habs were in.

Mtl nightlife is ruining Carey Price. With 20-year old bonafide future superstars who are the cornerstone of your franchise, you need to surround them with good people & look out for them, which the Habs failed to do in his case. When Guy Lafleur started his career with the Habs, he lived with Jean Beliveau & his wife. When Vincent Lecavalier arrived in Tampa, he lived with Jacques Demers. Same with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh & he's still living with Mario Lemieux & his wife. Mtl must be twice (or more) as difficult to live as compared to most of the NHL's other cities (not counting LA & NYC), so that's why i'm hoping it's not too late to save Price from his own demons.

 

[Special K]

Best thing the Habs could've done before yesterdays trade deadline would have been to trade that dolt Price for bag of pucks and a brand spankin' new aluminum hockey stick. He's fucken awful!!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Best thing the Habs could've done before yesterdays trade deadline would have been to trade that dolt Price for bag of pucks and a brand spankin' new aluminum hockey stick. He's fucken awful!!

I agree that he's awful right now. He's playing with zero confidence. The pressure of playing in Mtl has gotten to him, obviously. But he's salvageable. What the team has to do right now is grab a hold of this kid & shield him from the pressures of living in Mtl. Maybe it's already started. During the all-star break weekend, Price was seen with a bodyguard every place he went. He pretty much kept to himself (with the bodyguard nearby) most of the time, even rejecting (some say running away) from the many babes who came up to him with an obvious offer for companionship. Who knows, maybe that 'bodyguard' was supplied by the team. The team has invested so much in this kid to let him go to waste. He's part of the franchise's future. Great franchises get built with great goaltending & that's where a player of Price's talent comes in.

Yesterday, Boring Bob didn't supply the team with two if it's needs: a big strong centerman & a quality defenceman. I believe he did the right thing by not going after Ollie Jokinen, a very talented player, but also extremely selfish & nearly uncoachable. You think Mike Ryder & Kovalev are selfish? You ain't seen nothing yet until you've see Jokinen! The only person capable of coaching this guy is Mike Keenan, his former coach in Florida whom Jokinen respected. He didn't respect Gretzky in Phoenix. He'll also won't be a player to be counted on for leadership in Calgary, so that'll help. It's Iginla, Regeir & Phaneuf's team & he'll be a follower.

Ryan Smyth would also have been a bad fit in Mtl, mostly due to his huge salary which doesn't expire until the end of next season or so.

The Montreal centerman are known as the smurfs. They're all small, soft players. Whom would i have traded for if i was Gainey? Nik Antropov. He's big, skillful & doesn't back away from anything. He also would have come cheap & who knows, if he would have liked Mtl, he might have signed with them at the end of the season (or earlier). He's a natural centerman who was forced to play on the wing for most of his career with the Leafs. The Leafs got a 2nd rounder & another conditional pick for him from the Rangers. Since the Habs don't have a 2nd rounder anymore, they could have packaged a couple of prospects for him or send a 1st rounder & demand another player from Toronto....maybe Pavel Kubina or someone else to help their defence.

For their defensive needs, they could have tried to pick up the guys Boston & Calgary got (Leopold & the other guy). They would have helped the Habs. Forget Bouwmeester & Derek Morris (or even Kaberle)....asking price was way too much.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Well, much to my dismay, the Leafs continued their winning ways last night by beating the Washington Capitals 2-1. Surprise-surprise, this game didn't end in overtime. This was goalie Martin Gerber's first game with the Leafs & he came within 30-something seconds of registering a shutout against the highly favored hometown team. By trading away two of the team's top scorers at trade deadline day, i figured it would be smooth sailing towards the bottom of the standings from now on. But no! These stubborn Leafs think they still have a chance of making the playoffs (they don't!!) and have become one of the hardest working teams in the entire NHL. Too bad Habs fans can't say the same thing about their bunch of lousy underachievers!!

On the Habs' front, George Laraque's season with the blue-blanc-rouge appears to be over due to a chronic back problem. We'll see. But let's just say that Carbo & Boring Bob are probably not shedding any tears right now. Laraque is not only the team's top enforcer (who can't check, though), but also its top cry-baby. However, unlike Begin, they couldn't ship him out since his contract for a player in his position is way too high to attract any interest (and he's a liability whenver he steps onto the ice) and other teams know he'll start whining as soon as he doesn't get the playing time he feels he's owed. Halak is scheduled to be in the nets tonight after being out with the flu (that's the official reason....the real reason was that he was burnt out from facing 40-50 shots on a consistent basis). It was discovered that the team doctors actually told Alex Tanguay last week that he could return to the lineup. It's not known why Tanguay didn't want to play until likely this weekend's games. His arrival might finally bring a bit of punch to the team's anemic attack. Finally, the fans are finally starting to realize why their current messiah, Mathieu Schneider, has been tossed around pretty much to every team in the league over his long career. He's a tremendous defensive liability on the ice. He makes Sheldon Souray look like Doug Harvey at times.

After last night's games, the Habs now stand only 1 point from 8th place, and only 4 pts from being out of the playoffs picture. Once again, i'll repeat it:

THE HABS WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS !!!!!

 

[JustBob]

....the real reason was that he was burnt out from facing 40-50 shots on a consistent basis.

The guy played 28 games this year and he's burned out? lollll...

 

[Doc Holliday]

The guy played 28 games this year and he's burned out? lollll...

Yep. Playing 4-5 games behind these bums & being put in front of a firing squad night after night by facing 40-50 shots per game will do this, even if let's say he would have played a total of only 10 games all season long. I was a goalie once many years ago & let me tell you that facing 40+ shots a game isn't the same as facing just 20 or so.

However, Slava is now rested & ready to go tonight.

 

[JustBob]

Most goalies would rather face 40 shots a game than 20 simply because it keeps them sharp. And guess what, I was a goalie too... Not that this is relevant since we are talking about professional athletes here. Your statement that Halak somehow burned out after 4-5 games with 40+ shots is ridiculous.

 

[Doc Holliday]

And guess what, I was a goalie too... Not that this is relevant since we are talking about professional athletes here. Your statement that Halak somehow burned out after 4-5 games with 40+ shots is ridiculous.

Who ever told you that i didn't play professionally?
Some of the biggest johns in the Mtl hobbying community happen to be professional athletes, you know....

I was listening to 110% (TQS) the other night & some of the experts on the panel also are of the same advice as i am in regards to Halak's supposed 'cold'. It's possibly more likely a case of burnout. I stand by my comment.

 

[Techman]

Who ever told you that i didn't play professionally?

Hey!!! I always wondered what happened to Red Light Racicot!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hey!!! I always wondered what happened to Red Light Racicot!

He's Price's personal goaltending coach.

 

[DUMPTHEPUCK]

too funny

He's Price's personal goaltending coach.

hey Doc, your tooo funny. i see you have some crazy fans here....



dtp

 

[Techman]

He's Price's personal goaltending coach.

Well he would probably be an improvement over who they have at the moment! Certainly couldn't be worse.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Well he would probably be an improvement over who they have at the moment! Certainly couldn't be worse.

It's is true that Rolly Melanson's been criticized for Price's subpar performance this season. However, Halak's been playing much higher than expectations, so Melanson should get credit for this also.

Price's problem isn't with technique. The problem lies between his ears.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Habs lose AGAIN !!!!

Yep, the Habs managed to be shutout by one of the league's worse teams, the Atlanta Trashers. The Thrashers shut them out 2-0. Carey Price was in the nets but can't be blamed for the loss, allowing just one goal.

With this loss, the Habs are only 2 points ahead of the 9th & 10th teams, meaning they might be out of a playoff position come Monday. Now there's talk about Carbo possibly getting fired next week if the team keeps on losing. If this happens, the Habs might have a record for highest number of coaches in a short period. It seems just like yesterday that the likes of Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien & Claude Julien were behind the bench. All of these 3 french-canadian coaches went on to better & bigger things elsewhere.

THE HABS WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS !!!!

 

[joelcairo]

If this happens, the Habs might have a record for highest number of coaches in a short period. It seems just like yesterday that the likes of Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien & Claude Julien were behind the bench. All of these 3 french-canadian coaches went on to better & bigger things elsewhere.

THE HABS WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS !!!!

Good riddance to Therrien. Vigneault was/is okay but nothing special. Julien however deserved a lot better and also got jobbed in Jersey. I'm no Boston fan but it's nice that Claude is finally getting the respect he deserves.

 

[joelcairo]

By the way on the subject of coaches don't invite Mike Keenan and Valeri Bure to the same party.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Good riddance to Therrien. Vigneault was/is okay but nothing special. Julien however deserved a lot better and also got jobbed in Jersey. I'm no Boston fan but it's nice that Claude is finally getting the respect he deserves.

Well, Therrien brought his team to the Stanley Cup final. I agree in regards to Julien, especially after the way both the Habs organization & Lou Lamoriello treated him in the past.