Sacrilege!

I am of two minds on this video: Carey Price on the Price is Right

The first is that I think it’s neat that the Habs, and Carey Price in particular, are getting play on the Price is Right. One thing I have liked about that gameshow is that the contestants come from anywhere, and often present Drew Carey (formerly Bob Barker) with paraphernalia from their lives. This is a perfect example.

My second mind is utter disgust with what he does with La Sainte Flanelle. He throws it on the floor! No respect.

So, here’s a challenge I want to issue: someone find out Drew’s favourite team, but that team’s jersey and film yourself burning it. Then, send him that video. See how he likes it to see his team’s jersey desecrated.

Captain Gionta

Well, perhaps the worst-kept secret of the past few days is out: Brian Gionta is the new captain of the Montréal Canadiens.

My first thought is this: It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as Captain Koivu did.

My second thought: I’m kinda disappointed because I thought Mike Cammalleri would have made an excellent captain.

But, all that being said, I think this is an absolutely exceptional choice. From what I saw of Brian this past season, and how he handled the media, I have nothing against this appointment. Brian never seemed to shy away from the media, which in Montréal I am sure many players would love to do.

Now, I don’t think this will be Brian’s team in the same way other captains on other teams seem to monopolize and embody the team. We saw last year when the team had no captain, that it was leadership by committee. I think that will continue here. Brian will be more or less a figurehead, the person to talk to the media on behalf of the team. In the dressing room, the status quo from last year will continue. At least that’s my opinion.

Now, Brian, you better make a token effort to learn French. You don’t need to be fluent, but you had better learn enough so you can talk to kids when you meet them in the street. Things like ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’. That’s all I ask of you relating to language.

“Relax, chill out”

So said Carey Price. And you know what? I agree with him.

I am a huge Habs fan, as you likely know. And I absolutely hate it when the Habs lose.

But that being said, I pretty much ignore the preseason. Preseason results are completely irrelevant. The purpose of the preseason is to sort out who can play and who can’t. Wins and losses don’t matter. What does matter is how well Player A and Player B mesh on the ice.

What matters is how well any changes to the system the coach wants to make actually work on the ice. It matters not that a player (e.g. Carey) might (will?) have a bad game or two.

Now, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Carey had a bad game. Four goals on nine shots? That’s an absolutely atrocious .556 save percentage. It is unacceptable. It gives him a 8.00 GAA (he only played 30 minutes).

But I say this to all those who want to throw Carey away like yesterday’s lunch: Tell me such legends as Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Ken Dryden, Terry Sawchuk or Jaro Halak did not have a game where they put up similar numbers. I dare you. In fact, I would say at least one of these seven goalies had one of these games in the playoffs. Or in the middle of a playoff drive. Goalies are human and will have bad games. Goalies will be pulled.

It is more important that Carey bounce back than it is that he had a bad game.

And please remember, this is Carey’s first game action since May 16, 2010, when he surrendered two goals on 11 shots (2-11, .818, 3.98, 30:07). In relief of Jaro (4-14, .714, 8.03, 29:53).

FYI

Dear Pierre Curzi

Please shut up.

That is all.

Sincerely, All non-xenophobic Habs fans

For reference:

PQ’s Pierre Curzi ‘exposes’ Habs’ plot against francophone players

PMO defends Canadiens in language controversy

I hope the Price is Right

Ok, I truly hate making that pun. But it does write itself.

So, Carey “The Franchise” Price has signed a 2-year, $5.5 million contract with the Habs. I think it’s a fair value and term. It gives the Habs two years to continue to evaluate Price, all the while keeping the cap hit reasonable. So, I like the deal.

I still believe Price is the goalie of the future, and I want him to succeed. But at the same time he does have to prove he is the future. He still needs to improve, both on the ice and mentally. And it’s the mental side of his game I worry about.

Will Price have a strong, >25-win season? I hope so. Is 30+ wins a possibility? Maybe. The kid has the raw talent to make it happen. I won’t go into his track record in the WJHC and AHL, as I think at this point it’s a case of ‘what have you done for me lately?’. But it can’t be forgotten what he has done.

I think in the end, it’s going to be a rough season regardless. I am not going to put too much stock into Price’s win-loss record this year as I am his GAA and save percentage. The lower and higher those are, respectively, will tell me what kind of goalie he is. The win-loss record is dependent in large part on the goal support he receives.

Let’s go Habs.

Alex Auld

On the face of this, I like this signing (one year, $1 M). It’s a cheap backup to Carey Price. And Auld is a veteran goalie, one who has been around the horn a few times and has served as a starter before.

However, we mustn’t forget that Auld’s time as Ottawa’s starter did not quite end well, as he lost his spot to, it appears, Brian Elliott. And seeing as Auld has only 83 wins in 207 games, it’s not like he was playing like gangbusters in his previous stops around the NHL.

In terms of negative thoughts on this signing, I don’t know that much about Auld to be able to say much. It would run counter to my attempts to be rational to speak about that which I do not know too much. So, with that in mind, allow me to link to some people who have a better take on the topic.

Freelance journalist Arpon Basu

J.T., who runs The H Does NOT Stand For Habs

Montréal Gazette reporter Pat Hickey

For the record, as if anyone really cares, I just hope when Auld is called on to play his 20-30 games this season, he pitches at least a .550 winning percentage. What would that record be? Whatever equals 1.1 points per game played. Anything less and the Habs are in trouble.

Farewell SK74

Best line on the trade, courtesy of HabsI/O: The deal ends popular speculation that the Canadiens would happily trade Sergei Kostitsyn for a dog – and shoot the dog.

I like this trade. The Habs rid themselves of an underachieving crybaby, and in the process gain access to a credible backup goalie (Dan Ellis) to Carey Price and a young forward (Dustin Boyd) who *should* be able to replicate the work of the older Glen Metropolit and Dominic Moore.

Granted, Boyd and Ellis are both UFA come July 1. So there is no guarantee either player will remain in Montréal. But should that happen (unlikely as at least one should be able to be signed), at least Sergei Kostitsyn is gone.

And that’s the best part of this trade.

Plekanec Re-signed

So the rumour going around the interwebs is that Tomas Plekanec has signed a six-year, 30 $ million contract with the Habs.

I am happy to see Plekanec is back in the fold. He was our most consistent player all season (moreso than Brian Gionta, but only because Gionta was injured), and to have him in the system will only help the team.

The only thing that concerns me is the price tag. This is a 5 $ million per year deal. I would have preferred to see Plekanec signed for no more than 4.5 $ million per year. I feel 70 points is not worth 5 $ million.

So, Tomas, it’s time for you to put up career-high numbers in at least three of your next six seasons. I want to see at least one 90+ point season, please.

Halak Traded

I know I’m not breaking any news here. We already know Jaroslav Halak has been shipped to the St. Louis Blues for, in my mind at the moment, two nobodies. Yes, I know in the coming months and years these two men (Lars Eller and Ian Schultz) will become household names in Habs fans’ houses. But for now, I think I echo many of my fellow fans when I ask, “Who are you?”

I cannot say I am surprised that Halak is no longer a Hab. I would have equally been unsurprised had Carey Price been the one traded. I knew there was no way the 2010-2011 season would be starting with both Halak and Price on the roster (unless, of course they both got severely injured in the off-season and were untradeable).

But I am thoroughly disappointed in what Pierre Gauthier received from the Blues in return. He should have held out as long as he could for at least a 6’4″ centre and ‘a bag of pucks,’ or two first round picks. In substitution for those two first-rounders, two players selected in the first round in the previous four drafts would have sufficed.

But, it is what it is. At this point, we can only hope now that Price has matured since his ‘demotion’ to the bench and comes back ready to prove himself. We can only hope both Eller and Schultz can provide the Habs with at least three productive, 50+ point seasons each. We can only hope (and this is being selfish and petty) that Halak proves the past two years were a fluke and that Gauthier managed to hose the Blues.

And at the risk of trotting out a phrase I pretty much detest, we can only hope, in the end, that the Price is right. *groan*

Off-season Thoughts

So I feel that, as a Habs fan, I can make some of my thoughts known on what the team should do this off-season. Or, what I feel about what will or could be done. Either way, this is ultimately just idle chatter. But it’s my idle chatter, which makes it all worthwhile.

So let’s start where it all starts, and that’s in goal. Despite what Jaroslav Halak did for the team, lifting it on his back and dragging it into and through the playoffs, I still believe the future is Carey Price. Price is still young. Very few goalies take the league by storm and then maintain their run. Most do fall into what is commonly referred to as the Sophomore Slump. And Price did. But we have to remember that he has played only 134 games in his career, which is not a large enough sample size for a young goalie. But we can’t place all the blame on Price’s performance thus far in his career solely on his shoulders. He has been mishandled since he was drafted. After his Calder Cup-winning performance, he should have played the next season in the AHL for more seasoning before being brought up. Keeping him on the roster for the 2007-2008 season and then trading Cristobal Huet was a mistake. Price should only now be entering his second season, third at the most. Not readying himself for his fourth season. In terms of Halak, the Habs should try to parlay his strong season into some pieces the team is missing. His trade value has never been higher, and that is something of which the Habs need to take advantage. But don’t think I don’t appreciate what Halak did for the team. He was playing out of this world through the playoffs and down the stretch. But this is an example of managing your assets, I feel. The Habs have a goalie coming off a stellar run, one who will command more than the team can likely afford, and he should be parlayed into something that can help the team going forward. And then there’s the whole pedigree angle. Price is a fifth overall pick. Halak is a 271st overall pick.

I wish I could speak more about the defense corps, but alas I cannot. But I will try. It is pretty clear the P.K. Subban will be on the team come October. And so he should be. And with Subban joining the team, it spells the end for Marc-Andre Bergeron. Bergeron was fairly dynamic on the powerplay, but a gong show off it. We fans don’t need to risk a heart attack every time Bergeron handles the puck, so I have to say good riddance. Plus, Subban can do Bergeron’s work on the powerplay for less, and is a marked improvement as a defenseman and puck handler. Plus, there’s also Yannick Weber in Hamilton who will (should) be given every chance to make the big club. Weber would be similar to Subban, as a cheaper defenseman, replacing the (likely) outgoing Paul Mara. Frankly, that’s about all that needs to be examined on the back end, in my opinion.

Now the forwards. First off, why do we have Scott Gomez at that ridiculous $7.4 million salary? That’s money that could be spent better in other places. Dammit, Bob, what were you thinking? Moving on. The Habs either need to sign Tomas Plekanec to a 3-4 year contract at no more than $4.5 million per year, or trade his rights for something to help the team should he leave. Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta are great players, but the team needs to get larger up front. And not just big, but big and skilled. This is where, it appears, the Habs’ drafting has not been up to par. It’s hard to pick up big, skilled forwards on both the trade and free-agent markets. Teams trading such players will want a king’s ransom. Such free agents will also demand a king’s ransom. And that’s something the Habs don’t quite have at the moment. And what to do about the Kostitsyn brothers (Andrei and Sergei)? AKostitsyn is an underachiever. SKostitsyn is a whiny baby. I think they both need to be removed from the team. What remains to be seen is if they could be packaged for something bigger, or whether it would be better to send them separate ways. But really, this off-season for the forward corps comes down to solving the Plekanec situation, and going from there. And good riddance to Georges Laraque.