For all the Kostitsyn-haters out there (and that includes you, Jacques Martin), I suggest that you not read this article. As they say, the truth hurts.
I deliberately didn’t include a first name, because it’s fair to say, if you hate one brother, you hate them both. I acknowledge that some people can tolerate one slightly more than the other. The comments against them rarely have logic behind them, and often are rooted in a bigotry.
During a pre-game segment in the first round series, when asked about players like the Kostitsyns and Ovechkin, Renaud Lavoie of RDS said, “We have to ask ourselves why Russian [or Belarusian?] players don’t show up in the playoffs. They’re not there mentally. I don’t want to be a racist, but..”
Yes, Renaud. You don’t want to, but..
Imagine if Don Cherry said something similar? Can you say Royal Commission?
Do you remember the night of March 11? The two Kostitsyn brothers lead the Canadiens to a victory over Edmonton. Sergei was selected as first star, and Andrei had the winning goal in the shootout.
On the Habs Inside/Out site, two veteran reporters lamented about having to interview the two Belarussians after the game.
“A game like that,” Pat Hickey sighed, “and now we have to interview the Kostitsyn brothers.” “I didn’t stick around the room long enough to hear clichés tumble out of the mouths of Sergei and Andrei in halting English,” wrote Mike Boone.
That’s three mainstream reporters with a least some level of discrimination. This isn’t intended to pick on Lavoie, Hickey and Boone. They’re only the tip of the iceberg.
Which brings us to today’s game. Andrei Kostitsyn is in a scoring slump, and was relegated to fourth line duty. It’s never worked before to help give back Andrei his scoring touch, but in Jacques Martin’s opinion, that’s a good enough reason to try it again.
Alongside Kostitsyn were two players who have spent the majority of the past month in the press box, Ben Maxwell and Mathieu Darche.
On their first shift this afternoon, Maxwell, Darche and Kostitsyn were victimized for a Penguins’ goal.
Jacques Martin had surprisingly little tolerance for players who had not played together or were poorly matched. The trio were each limited to less than two minutes of ice-time for the remainder of the game following the error.
Analysts, almost universally, pointed the finger of blame at Kostitsyn for not picking up the goal-scorer, Matt Cooke. Given the inherent prejudices, should we be surprised that he was targeted for the goat horns?
The Cooke goal was such a meaningful play in terms of personnel deployment by coach Martin that I decided to have a closer look.
A faceoff took place just outside the Canadiens blueline. It was Maxwell against Maxime Talbot. On Maxwell’s left side was Darche opposing Pascal Dupuis. Kostitsyn was lined up on the right against Penguins’ defenseman Alex Goligoski.
Where was Cooke? In an adept bit of coaching, Dan Bylsma had Cooke occupying the left defensive spot, with Jordan Leopold on the other side. Ryan O’Byrne and Marc-Andre Bergeron were the two Canadiens’ defensemen on the right and left sides respectively.
Contrary to some reports, Maxwell won the draw, sending the puck in the direction of Darche. It got into the feet of Darche, who lost the battle for the puck to Dupuis.
At this point the Habs were still in good defensive position. In a set play, Cooke moved from the defensive spot and took a wide path to the Montreal zone. (Cooke is hiding behind the CBC red logo in the screen shot.)
Dupuis was the puck-carrier. Bergeron was the key to stopping the developing play.
He could have backed up and defended with O’Byrne, and given the Habs’ forwards time to back-check. Bergeron’s other option was to take an inside position, forcing Dupuis along the boards.
Instead, Bergeron made the worst possible choice. He stepped up to challenge Dupuis and got caught flat footed. From there, it was an easy dish by Dupuis to Talbot to eliminate Bergeron from the play.
(Is this what Boone means when he writes, “But since Markov went down, the team’s number 7 Dman [Bergeron] has stepped up?”)
With Bergeron badly out of position, O’Byrne was forced to move into the middle of the ice to play the two-on-one. This opened a path to the goal for Cooke. Talbot made a nice pass to Cooke streaking towards the net. A quick move by Cooke that fooled Halak, and the puck was in the Montreal goal.
The coach blamed the forwards who saw only one more shift for the rest of the game. (Kostitsyn also had 0:49 on the power-play.) Perhaps he blamed O’Byrne too, who had the least amount of ice-time by a Canadiens’ defenseman.
Darche made a mistake by losing the puck, but it should have been recoverable. It was Bergeron who made an awful decision, and was the fatal error.
In addition, Martin has to bear the responsibility for deploying Maxwell and Darche who were rusty, and putting Kostitsyn into an unfamiliar role. A coach with foresight also would have spotted Cooke lined up on defense and alerted his team.
Maxwell was subsequently benched for the game after winning the draw. His ice-time was 1:03.
The coach, media, and fans were only too happy to jump on Kostitsyn for the goal against. The questions is, was it because of their keen analysis or pre-existing prejudice?
Do I think that Andrei Kostitsyn is a charming guy? Do I believe that Sergei would stop to help a stranded motorist after a game a la Brooks Laich? I don’t know, and I don’t care.
It’s not my concern what language they speak or if they are a good interview. I do know that Andrei and Sergei are extremely talented hockey players and have skills unrivaled by anyone on the team.
I would simply appreciate seeing the Kostitsyns work with a coach who has the motivational tools beyond relegating them to the fourth line, exiling them to the press box, or targeting them for blame.
For Cathie Dres, often a lone voice against a storm of unjustified criticism towards the brothers, this is for you.
Tell me about it… Bergeron makes errors upon errors and gets a free pass. Rhino, our only physical defenceman, makes one error and gets benched 3 games like Sergei. And OBVIOUSLY the best way to get a slumping sniper out of his slump is to toss him on the Random Line (the fourth line, which would have purpose if actual fourth line role players were on it like a Ryan White or Glen Metropolit and players of his type NOT a Ben Maxwell or Andrei Kostitsyn).
People forget who opened the scoring and closed the scoring in the Boston series that went to 7 games and who was crying on the bench when eliminated by the Flyers (Sergei). People forget who's large body slams people hard, and who's quick hands uses defencemen as screens like Ovechkin and already has a playoff hat trick (Andrei). Motivation: not one of Martin's strong points. He doesn't seem to get it that what might work for one player, doesn't work for another. (Something Guy Boucher takes pride in knowing how to appropriately push his players buttons as they are a group of individuals in a team).
I love how PJ pointed out Muller looking at Martin with a "wtf are you doing look" when the result of that stupid attempt went wrong.
Sergei is an RFA this ear, Andrei is an RFA next year. As I said a couple of days ago, expect to see them making their cases to leave Montreal as soon as possible. That is, of course, unless Jacques Martin is fired. But with a second-round berth being a surprise (I'll admit it is, yet I'm also ashamed that this was once *not* merely a Cinderella team), Martin will likely not be gone from the city so easily. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, "The Kostitsyns and Jacques Martin are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of them has to go." Sadly, it will be the former.
On a second note, I'm teetering on the fence toward whether Price should start Game 3. Series is tied up, going back home, have home ice advantage (whatever that's worth) — rest Halak for a full game.
Bravo. Good job calling out the discrimination in the news reports.
Here's my take on Andrei K, and I suppose it doesn't mesh with everyone's on here.
I acknowledge his skill and talent, and the contributions that he has made. I realize perfectly well that he can dominate a game, and on occasion has done just that. The issue is that he just doesn't do it often enough considering his abilities. His playoffs stats are nothing if not deceptive. He has 7 points, 4 of them coming in one game. Otherwise, he has 3 points in 7 games (I removed game 2 vs the Pens because it's not fair to include). Those numbers aren't good enough, and nobody on God's green earth can claim otherwise.
What I find frustrating is the ongoing justification of AK's slumps. At some point we have to decide if we are willing to wait out the slumps and for the talent to arrive on a permanent basis. Hell, IMO, not even the production. The effort and desire would be enough. But how long is too long? It's all well and good to talk about a guy's potential and amazing skills. But they are both totally useless if there's no execution. Alexandre Daigle had talent. Should the NHL have waited longer for him? The easy thing to do is dump all the blame on Jacques Martin, and certainly he shares in some of it. Sending an offensive force to the 4th line is a useless gesture. Nobody would do squat with 2 minutes of ice time. He's better off in the press box rather than playing for 2 minutes. Better yet, the coach ought to be more creative. But Jacques Martin has not been AK's only coach in the NHL, yet his up-and-down output persists, so we can continue to blame coaching, or we can raise an eyebrow of concern at Andrei.
The trials and tribulations of a young NHL player, or the signpost of his career?
It's even easier to say that even snipers like Cammalleri have slumps. That's true, but we know it's a matter of time before he snaps out of it, as we have seen throughout the playoffs. Cammalleri is always a factor in a game, and nobody ever accuses him of not trying.
The reason why people pick on AK is because we as fans want to see him perform, and know that the Canadiens need his help. And yes, there is that bigoted segment that cruelly pick on him and can't help but mention things that have nothing to do with hockey. They deserve no mention or attention except to show what jerks they are.
As for Sergei, I actually find him a better player overall than I do Andrei. I like his playmaking, his PK skills, his speed and his hockey sense. I like his nastiness, too. Obviously he and Martin do not get along, which is very unfortunate. Martin's continual spiting of the younger sibling is a black mark on the coach. That said, 22 year olds that have been branded (fairly or not) as malcontents do not get much rope in NHL circles. It's up to Sergei to show an exemplary attitude and to perform when given the chance. In my view Sergei fixed what needed to be fixed, and yet his leash remains painfully short. That's also on the coach.
This brings me to the argument that the 2 bros need each other. I get that. I have a younger brother, and we have stuck up for each other over the years. But it's total folly to trot out the logic that the coach has to keep both happy in order to get good work from both. As long as you draw a paycheck as a pro hockey player, you are beholden to the standards of a professional. Although blood runs thicker than water, each player is responsible for his own legacy. We can all look at the Sedins and say that if they need each other, why don't the K bros. I would suggest that the Sedins are unlike any brothers ever seen in the NHL before. If all brothers need each other, then why weren't the Blues of the 80's stacked with all of the Sutters? Yes, I'm exaggerating to make a point!
All this being said, I don't want to see either Kostitsyn brother leave Montreal. I'd love to see both live up to their potential as Canadiens. That can only mean GREAT things for the Habs. But I'm also not willing to wait until these guys hit their late 20's for them to finally make their mark. If either were to be moved, I would pray that it were in a legit "hockey" trade, and not some sort of dumping just to get rid of them. That would be a shame.
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