That being said--our Habbies are going to start the year in what I would call the grey-zone. The core of the team that brought our city to its feet last april and may remains, albeit with the absence of one major contributor. I won't get into the Halak vs. Price tirade in this post(oops nevermind), but you can most likely expect vents of anger later on if Price plays sub-par (or as some would say: like Price). I am human. I am also a habs fan. This city is the cooker of the NHL. And most fans can be said to be fickle. (that could sometimes be a SERIOUS understatement). Gauthier's career is riding on this transaction, and he will either go down a hero or find his head on the chopping block. However, he remains behind the scenes, only having to face the throngs of reporters after games. Price, on the other hand, is starting tonight--after an abysmal game 1 and a record that has him letting in 10 goals in 90 minutes of play. He will have to face the crowds... and we all know the bell centre is not the most accommodating of buildings when you're having an off-season.
ANYWAYS. I will say this here and now. Price? in the words of my good friend Sheir: OVER-Priced. Or perhaps Gauthier got CAREY-ed AWAY? A lot of people will harangue me on being too critical of the young goaltender... that he's bigger than Halak, has to grow into his skin, has to change his work ethic, and will then reach his potential. That Halak proved nothing through his run, and that he'll never repeat that performance again. WHATEVER. All those points are speculations, but Halak has already proven himself time and time again, for LONG periods of time. Price has been spotty at best, with amazingly spectacular saves followed by stretches where he couldn't stop a beach ball. Had I been given the chance to choose, wouldn't have even thought twice. HALAK it all the way.
oh and PS: Halak has one thing i doubt Carey will ever grow into: CLASS. as by the words of Dr. DRE: "You can pay for school but you can't buy class." put that in your pipe, carey, and smoke it. (kinda eery that this phrase fits, isn't it?)
But I digress. The pre season is coming to an end, and October looms over the horizon. The question of our ability to compete between the pipes is one of the major issues this team will face this year. Granted, pre-season is like pond hockey and shouldn't be taken too seriously... but I don't think that the poor show put on by our goalies is solely to be blamed on the status of the game. As long as we have no discernible number 1 goaltender (BS to whatever you see on paper--make your own decision), we will NOT be a team that can compete in the long run.
I'm hoping that Markov makes it back for the start of the season. This team just isn't the same without good ol' #79.
As for the PP and PK, the PP seems to have suffered a LOT in this preseason, but I wouldn't expect it to be stellar as these are guys that have been thrown in together and have yet to figure out how to work the ropes around the key/along the blue line.
CANT wait to see my Habs take on the Panthers tonight.
Here are some of the key points I would like to see the Habs either keep doing or improve on from last year:
1) PP: our PP wasn't as well known as our PK, but that's not surprising given Jacques Martin's coaching style. Fans would sometimes become impatient with the PP unit... either because they'd constantly dump-and-chase (A HABS FAVORITE!) or simply shoot the puck from an impossible angle. This greatly improved as the season progressed, and we saw a lot more cycling of the puck around the edges, waiting for a more opportune moment to shoot.
2) bodies in front of the net: This also ties into the PP, but given the habs size we've never been able to seriously put a dent in most other Ds. (ummmm hello big fwds?) Remember the conference finals against Philly? Trying to stand up and screen the net was like putting a six pack in front of an alcoholic and telling him not to drink it. It just doesn't really work.
I will add more... time to watch THIS GAME!
No comments:
Post a Comment