Habster:
I’ll let Big Brother and Rocket break down the Canadiens 2-1 loss to the Flyers as they are better at game reviews than myself. I do want to ponder and answer some questions about tonight’s game though in less details than BB and Rocky will…..here we go:
- The Canadiens were getting away with playing only 20-30 minutes of a game earlier in the season against inferior opponents. It’s starting to catch up with them now. They aren’t working hard enough and are giving up tons of neutral zone turnovers (insert Kovalev here).
- Is it me or does it seem like every other team has a better, harder working fourth line than the Habs? They get a jolt of energy from their fourth line while the Canadiens get players constantly moving in and out of the lineup.
- When Big Georges Laraque isn’t throwing punches, shouldn’t he at least be throwing more body checks? BG just seems to be floating out on the ice these days…..no rhythm or reason.
- Will the real AK-27 please stand up!!?? After watching the first 15 games of the 2008-09 season, I’m starting to believe the Alex Kovalev from the disastrous 2006-07 season has started to creep back into the “great” AK-27 from last season. Kovy is once again overhandling the puck, making far too many turnovers and looking more like a figure skater or Chubby Checker doing the twist than the great stickhandler we’ve come to appreciate. He needs to go south/north instead of east/west and get Plekanec and AK-46 more involved in the play……Don’t reach for the 2006-07 season light, Kovy…..don’t reach for it!!!!
- Does Guy Carbonneau really understand how to make in game adjustments? I sometimes think my All Habs co-collaborator, Rocket can be too hard on dear old Carbo, but with that being said, I have to agree with him when he says Carbo isn’t very good at making these adjustments during a game. How hard is it to break down a neutral zone/left wing lock system which most teams like the Flyers utilize. Maybe this team simply can’t play a dump and chase type of game or have forwards who are willing to help their defensemen with puck support and quick breakout speed needed to break a trap system.
- Do you think Pavel left too early? With Mike Komisarek potentially out of the Canadiens lineup for an extended period of time and no defenseman with a tough/physical edge to his game in the system ( please don’t say Shawn Belle, Chad Anderson, Dan Jancevski or Alex Henry), wouldn’t it have been interesting to see what Pavel Valentenko could have done if he was still in Hamilton. I’m not insinuating he would have replaced Komisarek, far from it, but he could have replaced Komy’s physical play on the third pairing instead a timid Brisebois.