Injuries: Not an excuse, They are a reality

A lot of people are complaining about our back to back loss against the Flyers Feb 12th and 13th. In my opinion, people need to tone down their complaining considering that we were missing Andrei Kostitsyn, Cammalleri, Pouliot, Markov and Marc-Andre Bergeron during those games. To calm down the masses I think it's time we put things into perspective.

Montreal this season has scored 164 goals as a team. Of all those goals, 64 of them were scored by the players mentioned above, which accounts for 39% of those 164 goals. In addition, the habs as a team are averaging 2.6 goals per game(gpg). Of those 2.6 gpg, 1.01 goals is scored per game by the combined efforts of the five players.

What this means is that without these players Montreal is averaging only 1.59 gpg. So if the opposing team scored 2 goals in a game(which we did against the flyers), we're pretty much behind the count considering that it's going to(according to averages) pretty hard to score goals.

Now this might be a good enough excuse for the back to back losses against the Flyers, but some might say that this doesn't account for the inconsistent play of the previous 61 games. Well let's examine a bit further.

For the last 5 games we've been playing with a minimum of four players who have played less than 50 games in the nhl. We've been playing with a minimum of six players who've started the year in hamilton and of those six, three of them were on the top two lines.

Also, the Montreal Canadiens have played a grand total of 2 games with a healthy top 6(which includes Andrei Kostitsyn, Plekanec, Cammalleri, Gionta, Gomez and Pouliot). Considering that we play a more conservative style of hockey; any blow to our top 6 will make it hard for us to score goals. Considering that we've loss 25% of all our games by one goal makes all these statistics even more relevant.

Also, don't forget that Andrei Markov has played only 26 of 63 games. Important to note here is that without him in the lineup we are well below .500 in our winning% and well above it with him the lineup. I think it's pretty safe to say that had Markov not been injured for the majority of the year, we would have atleast a couple of more wins, which would have put us in a very comfortable spot in the standings.

If you still think injuries are a lame excuse, well look at other teams that have been plagues by injuries. The Boston Bruins last year finished with the best record in the eastern conference and are currently fighting for a playoff spot. The Detroit Red-Wings who made the Stanley Cup finals last year are also fighting for a playoff spot and have also been plagues by injuries.

I am very confident in saying that we will have an easy time securing a playoff spot if this team is healthy after the break. I think a little patience from the fan base and media will go a long way because it will take some pressure off of guys who clearly can't carry the load(Pyatt, Darche, Sergei, Spacek) and who have enough pressure as it is.

I think the complaining needs to stop and that there should be more fan support for this team that hasn't given up despite all these injuries.

As Always feel free to comment!

Be Skeptical of Radio:Tony Marinaro

People in this city love to regurgitate what they hear on the radio, but most of the time what is said on the radio is crap in order to get ratings. A good example of this is Tony Marinaro.

Early on this year, Tony would challenge callers who would complain about Scott Gomez's contract. He would mention to everyone how Gainey had no choice to get Gomez because he wouldn't have been able to sign any free agents(Cammalleri and Gionta) with Metropolit and Lapierre as his top two centers. But around Christmas time, Tony Marinaro suddenly had a change of heart and went on a month long rant about how Bob Gainey was an idiot for trading for Gomez because his contract will ruin the Canadiens for years. What's even funnier about this hypocracy is that it came at the exact same time that Tony was promoting Pierre Mcguire as a possible candidate for the GM position in Montreal. It also came at a time where people began to question Gomez's play, so it's pretty obvious that the team990 did this order to add fuel to the fire in order to get more ratings for their station. In fact, I even called Tony Marinaro after the Minnesotta game to point out his sudden change of heart and he defended himself stating: "If I ever supported the Scott Gomez trade, then I must have been on medication that day." That's a pretty lame excuse if you ask me.

Another example of adding fuel the fire to get ratings comes with the goalie situation. Tony Marinaro for two years defended criticisms against Carey Price from callers and P.J Stock. Now that it's "cool" to hate Carey Price(until he has 10 good games and everyone jumps on the bandwagon again, as usual), Tony Marinaro has joined in on the bash fest. Not only does he bash Carey Price, but also exaggerates reports about his behavior and relations with his teammates (i.e The Markov-Price story which turned out to be nothing more than a family argument which happens in every household).

The point of this article is not to bash Tony Marinaro, rather it's to point out the stupidity that is said on the radio in order to boost their ratings. Radio hosts do this because there are people out there who can't form their own opinion on hockey games so they need these so called "analysts" to do it for them. The same goes for television shows such as "L'attaque a cinq" and "L'antichambre". The more you listen when controversy is spread, the more these journalists will make up controversies in order to get their station's ratings boosted.

Be skeptical of what you here on the radio because the majority of the time it's to cause controversy in order for you to phone in and listen rather than actual comment and spread hockey knowledge. The media is part of the problem in Montreal and the fans don't help that problem by listening to these clowns spread so called "truths".

Halak and Price: The Great debate

Following last night's loss (Februart 13th) against the Flyers, I think it's pretty clear that the problems in Montreal are not the goaltender, but the team in front of them as well as injuries.

Regarding the trade discussion that surrounds this debate, I think it's pretty evident that trading either goalie at this time would be a stupid move. Given Halak's descent back to earth in the past few games, it is safe to say that he is not yet ready to handle the starting job and it is for this reason why trading Price or either goalie for that matter would be stupid move given that both are clearly not ready to be a number one goalie. Yes this point is repetative, but it needs to be stressed.

This last point was made clear by Tsn analyst Bob Mackenzie as well as former GM Bobby Clarke. Niether goalie has proven anything in the league other than hot streaks and niether is worthy to be a. the number one goaltender or b. in a position to demand a trade. As Bobby Clarke said, both should stop acting as though they are entitlted to something and should keep their mouth shut and play.

Price is still young and rather inconsistent and Halak has many flaws in his game that make you wonder if he can be a steady number one(rebound control and lateral movement). Last night like the Buffalo game early in the season, Halak's rebound control got him into trouble. He's been rather lucky with his rebounds in the past two months, but after playing a team that crashes the net, such as the Flyers, it is quite clear that this is a problem. In fact this problem will be highlighted if the Habs make the playoffs given that this is the exact style of game teams play in the post season.

The point of this entry is clear: Give up the goalie debate because 1. It's really annoying 2. Both goalies have fundamental flaws that are preventing them from being number netminders in this league and 3. It's quite clear that neither is getting traded.

Goalies are not the problem of the team, this last point cannot be stressed enough. Lastly, I am going to put this out there because it needs to be said, especially to those fans who watch the team because it's "cool" and "hip" to do so....

...When you don't know hockey, the easiest thing to do is blame the goaltenders.

My advice: continue to play Halak, to actually see if he's the real deal. Stop the win and your in motto and play Halak as though he was your actual number one because it is the only way to determine whether or not Halak is ready. Price is still very young and can be dealt with later.

Introduction

The purpose of this website is not to provide breaking news or the latest trade rumors, rather it's about debunking the daily myths and controversies that surround the Montreal Canadiens. My intention is not to promote one player over the other, but to point the biases and the stupidity that exist amongst the fan base and media. Moreover, I intend to highlight the fact that most of the support that exists in the city is a result of the fact the Canadiens have become a brand and that this causes the spread of false controversies, trade rumors and biases.

Lastly, this blog is a place for habs fans to share their opinions as this will not be a dialogue, but a place of discussion.

Enjoy it and Go Habs Go!