written by beezee05
guest contributor to All Habs
There is a growing amount of discussion surrounding Jacques Martin’s decision to continue starting Jaroslav Halak over the goaltender most considered to be the Montreal Canadiens’ starting goaltender, Carey Price. To me it appears that coach Martin had a five game block planned to start the season with Carey Price as the starter; his job to lose. Price got the start in the first two games of the season and in my opinion was a significant factor as to why the Habs won. Halak got the nod in Calgary – the first of back to back games in two time zones – and didn’t play well but wasn’t the reason the Canadiens lost.
The start in Vancouver for Price was billed by some to be the opportunity that he didn’t get last season when he and the team were playing poorly and Halak got the start in front of Price’s friends and family. This had followed a sequence of must win games where in hindsight Jaroslav Halak saved the Canadien’s season with some solid performances in wins against some solid opponents such as the Senators, Canucks, Flyers and Sharks. Following Guy Carbonneau’s firing on March 9, 2009, it appeared no matter how poor Price’s performances were, he was destined to be the starter. Many believed Halak deserved to be playing down the stretch both in the media types and fans alike. This culminated in Price’s meltdown/Patrick Roy moment while making a routine save in the Canadiens’ elimination game loss against the Bruins.
This season we have a new coach and a certainly a new philosophy. In this writer’s point of view, the safety blanket that Bob Gainey seemingly provided down the stretch last season, has been removed. Price will not get the starting assignments by divine right. This year he will need to earn them. After some suspect performances by Carey Price and team following a five game losing streak – the team with Halak in goal – has put together a winning streak that they will try to extend to five games tonight against the New York Islanders.
Jaroslav Halak will again get the call. A decision that has caused considerable debate. What will happen should a loss be in the cards tonight? Does Price start against Pittsburgh – which he may regardless of tonight’s outcome – after not having played in 11 days? Will he be rusty against the defending Stanley Cup champions? In my opinion no. For the first time in his career Price will have a challenge and one that I think he may relish. Many are questioning Jacques Martin’s decision. Recall that Jacques Martin stuck with mediocre goaltending in Ottawa with Patrick Lalime and made some questionable decision in managing Jason Spezza’s early career ice time. Let’s see how this plays out.
Nice to see you in more than a 140 characters!
I agree with you – Martin is making it abundantly clear that the starting role is not Price's by divine right. Last season under Gainey the most predictable move was that no matter how poorly he played, he was going to play the next game. For years now people have been whispering in Price's ear about how great he is. The proper thing would be to whisper how great he CAN be. I really like Carey Price, but I feel as though he's regressed since his rookie year. He has been ok this season, but not as good as he needs to, or should be. I find the team also plays differently. A small sampling of games to look at, yes, but Price was hung out to dry most nights, whereas they play tighter with Halak in goal. It's not a coincidence that as they gel, they tighten up, and Halak has been the recipient of this tightening.
That said, a coach's top priority is to win games. Developing young players is somewhere on that list, not too far down, but it's not #1.
I'm not sure what will happen should Halak lose tonight, but I'm sure it will involve Price being in goal. I also wonder if the Habs are trying to give Halak a prolonged showcase to the other teams in the league. I'm not sure what the stats are, but a quick recollection tells me that Halak plays well during the first 2-3 games, then fades in games 4+. That's the point we're at now. Let's see if he can push through and put in another good performance, and deal with Wednesday when it comes.
We've got 2 good goalies, let's use them both to their abilities.
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