Montreal 0 Atlanta 2 (Philips Arena)
posted by Rocket
AllHabs.blogspot.com
Is there anyone who still believes that goaltending is the main problem for the Habs?
The Montreal Canadiens have scored one meaningless goal in the last eight periods of play.
The Habs were out-scored 2-0, out-shot 28-25, and most surprising, out-hit 15-5. This is the best performance that the team could muster after the coach put them through a punishing 28 minute skate on Thursday.
Guy Carbonneau has a short coaching resume and a limited set of tools to try to motivate his team. In addition to the hard skate, Carbonneau has tried different line combinations (endlessly), giving grinders first line ice-time, scapegoating his players in the media, getting his boss to intervene, bowling, and a lucky tie. None of these ideas has worked. It is time to face facts. Guy Carbonneau does not have the respect of this team nor does he have the first clue about how to motivate them.
Some will say, that for Carey Price, it was a statement game. Some will once again anoint him as the No. 1 goalie in Montreal. Some will say that he found his confidence. Many will say, as this commenter did, “i hate price butt i must admitt he played well 2night.”(sic)
I think that Price’s confidence, in part, comes from a coach who believes in him. That is something that is relatively straightforward for a coach to provide. It is much easier than trying to teach technique to a confident but unskilled goalie.
Price made saves early, and often. He was square to the shooter and controlled rebounds. He showed a great glove hand and handled the puck well. He was there on a short handed breakaway, he made some great pad saves and was his glove hand was flawless. Carey Price was brilliant.
But whether it is Price or Halak in goal, it should be clear that the focus should be on other aspects of the team’s play.
“With a good performance like this from Carey, unfortunately we can’t score goals,” Guy Carbonneau said. “It’s frustrating for him and us.”
Special teams were again a problem. The Canadiens power-play was 0 for 5 including one minute with a two man advantage. Curiously, Glen Metropolit was part of the 5 on 3. The Thrashers are the worst ranked penalty-killing unit in the league. Yet the Canadiens chances were limited. The Thrashers scored a power-play goal.
There were three changes to the line-up. Alex Tanguay played his first game in more than two months. Tanguay got a moderate amount of icetime including power-play shifts. It was easy to see that his timing was off. Tanguay had two minor penalties in otherwise a very quiet night.
In a game that was dominated by special teams, Mathieu Dandenault was not a factor.
Ryan O’Byrne had a solid game. He was physical, defensively responsible, and cleared the zone with a good first pass. In a second period fight, O’Byrne demolished Bogosian. It wasn’t even close. Greg Stewart took care of Thorburn in a first period tilt. This was team toughness: fights resulting from hockey plays not pre-arranged boxing demonstrations.
The Canadiens have now been swept this season in Georgia by the Thrashers, one of the worst teams in the conference. It should be an embarrassment for the Habs. Coach Carbonneau saw it differently, “We worked for 60 minutes and gained confidence. We keep working like this, we’ll be OK.”
Guy Carbonneau has used up his bag of tricks. Bob Gainey has made all the player moves he can this year. There is only one move left. Gainey will be loath to do it, but he must fire the coaching staff to save the season.
Pre-game
Starting lineup: Lapierre, Pacioretty, Kostopoulos, Komisarek, Gorges
Carey Price and Kari Lehtonen started in goal.
Jaroslav Halak backed-up Price. Marc Denis was returned to Hamilton.
It was the first game in 2009 for Tanguay who was back in the line-up after being out with a separated shoulder. He played with Koivu and Higgins.
Mathieu Schneider returned to the Philips Arena as a visitor for the first time since the trade from Atlanta.
Dandenault and O’Byrne played. Brisebois and D’Agostini scratched. Laraque, Bouillon, Latendresse, and Lang were out with injuries.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Carey Price
2. Ilya Kovalchuk
3. Kari Lehtonen
(photo credit: Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
I think the time to face facts has just about arrived…Carbo has pretty much lost this team, or so it seems.
They don’t respond to line changes, many players (including veterans) have regressed since last season, punishing practices are responded to by getting shut out, days off for team-bonding bowling games are met with another ass-kicking…I don’t think we need any more evidence.
So what’s the answer at this point? Is it as simple as turfing Carbonneau? Has it come to this point?
When you fire a coach, especially this late in the year, you’d better know that the replacement will have an immediate impact. At this point I think only Gainey can take over the team. And then what? Who is a better replacement? Who’s better qualified, given the realities of the Montreal marketplace? I think the only real candidate with the experience, and “requirements” is Bob Hartley. But I don’t know if he’s open to the opportunity. There’s also ramifications for Gainey. He’s got a lot of personnel issues to take care of, nevermind the on-ice circus. And how does Gillet factor in to this? Is he paying close attention? Will he have a problem if Gainey fires Carbo? My sense is that he gives Gainey free reign over players and coaching staff, but Gainey can’t have a infinite leash can he? I don’t know the answer to this, but if Carbo’s on a long-term deal, will the organization be willing to pay him to stay home? I’m not so sure, especially given the economy we’re mired in.
In the end, I think Gainey has enough faith and friendship with Carbo that he will give him until the end of the year (and playoffs?) to get this back on track. But I think Carbo also has to see this team through at least 1 playoff round if he wants to save his job.
As for the GM, he needs to look at himself in the mirror too. Was letting 10 guys enter this season on the last year of a contract the best idea? The assumed play there was that guys would go all out to post a great season and receive lucrative contract offers. In just about every case, that has not happened. He has to shoulder blame for this too. Could he sleep at night knowing he turfed a friend when he’s plenty at fault?
If you dig even deeper, what does firing Carbo send as a message to the rest of the league? For would-be coaches, it says that you are walking in to a pressure cooker with unbelievably high expectations, and should you fail, your leash is so short that you can be out on your rear again in no time flat. For players, and particularly free agents it can say that the franchise is once again in a state of flux and lacks stability. Free agents don’t want that, especially in Montreal when there’s already enough shit to put up with.
Every coach deserves the chance to coach his way out of a bad situation. This is the worst stretch he’s had as coach of the Habs. It would be unfair, and it speaks to the point I made earlier about messages to other coaches: you only get one chance. Don’t fall in to a slump because you won’t be allowed to see it through.
In Carbo’s case, I don’t think 20 games can be considered a “fair chance” to fix it, unless the players have truly quit on him. But who really knows the answer to that question? We speculate, but none of us can claim to know for sure.
I think Gainey is going to let it ride and hope that there’s enough talent behind and on the bench that they will put it back together before season’s end.
So I’ve waffled a bit in this post, but what I can’t stand is a knee-jerk reaction. Does Carbonneau really deserve to be fired? How much of this mess is the players fault? They are pros afterall. They ought to act like it, and this year they have not.
What’s my official position right now? Every day I have less faith in the team as a whole, but I have NO faith in knee-jerk moves and firings just for the sake of doing something. If you KNOW that there’s a better replacement out there, go for it. If you’re doing it because you’re trying to squeeze in to the playoffs…the ensuing chaos may not be worth it. This Habs team won’t go all the way whether Carbo is behind the bench or Scotty Bowman.
For now I say see the season through, I think elimination is inevitable anyway. But unless some miracle occurs, Carbonneau is on a very, very short leash for ’09-’10 regardless of the new faces he gets to coach.
Holy crap. Is the comment on a post supposed to be five time longer than the original post?
Just kidding, good points.
And Rocket….let’s not go anointing the purse snatcher as some great fighter. He picked an 18 year old kid who isn’t a fighter. O’Byrne’s only other fight this year? Brooks Laich, who has no other fights on his resume’. Common theme?
But to your point, at least it was better than anything Laraque managed to stage all year (“Stage” being the key word)
Kynch, I took your message to heart and moved the lengthy comment from kyleroussel to the main page. Write a few more paragraphs, and yours could be next. :)
I am glad that you got my point. O’Byrne doesn’t have to be a great fighter, but he stepped up when it was required. Just like some other non-fighters: Kostopoulos and Bouillon. The difference is that O’Byrne won his fight decisively.
But your understanding is correct. My point is that team toughness via hockey players trumps staged boxing exhibitions from enforcers every time.
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