Ryder sits, younger Kostitsyn on the first line

cournoyer12, the poster in question that you're referring to is "habsguy". Please stop typing his name incorrectly in an effort bait/insult him. . . . ______________________________________________ "Vote Saku for All-Star... or little Timmy gets it!!!"

I am not in agreement with the rising sentiment to fire the coaches. All it would do is lead, perhaps, to a few games where the players put out their full efforts, but then the players will revert back to the way they are playing now. The negative message to the players will be this: they are not accountable for their play on the ice--just blame the coaches. As much as I love and admire Robinson, he simply could not handle the emotional wear and tear of being a head coach in Montreal. Robinson had a meltdown as head coach in Los Angeles for heaven's sake! Indeed he is even more inclined than Carbo to call out his players publicly. I would love to see Robinson at some future point as an assistant coach, but he definitely cannot be a head coach in this league. _________________________________________________________ "How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?" --Jacques Plante

I like the idea of Demers, but I also think Hartley would do a great job here. Both of these guys are proven winners with much experience and coaching excellence.

Seriously, Kovalev should get 22-24 minutes per game.

excellent post. If the Habs are going to struggle to make the play-offs, let's do it with prospects, not two Defenseman as forwards and a couple of questionable FA pickups.

Sitting O'Byrne is moronic. Brisbois must have made a deal with the Devil. Doesn't matter how much he screws up or how stupidly... he gets to play. It's the only answer. _________________________________________________ My favorite player is Grab-ARF!-ski

Ryder (I believe) had scored 17 of his 30 goals last year on PP. My opinion is that then, we had Souray (and Kovy and Saku as well) on the PP and the opposition was trying to cover them because of especially Shelly's boomer shot, thus leaving Ryder in the open very often. That's when he scored his PP goals. And when the opposition turned to Ryder or the others, then Shelly was able to shoot and score. That situation no longer exists and that's why Ryder can not score on 5 on 5 or on PP, because he is too slow i.e., taking an extra second to position himself to shoot and by then the defence and the goalie are ready for his shot. If he tries to shoot one timers on the fly, as he has tried a lot lately, he can't find the ocean or aims at the goalie's chest. If you take out 17 from 30, you're left with 13 goals. As I said before, Ryder may end up scoring 10-13 goals this year with Habs or another team. But the point then becomes: Does any team want a 10-13 goal scorer who tries hard but can not skate fast, win one on one's, doesn't go in front of the goal for scraps and at best an average passer and looses the puck more often than not and who's paid 3 mil a year? He's a nice kid, who tries hard but IMO, his playing abilities are falling short in MTL where, now, there seems to be more pressure and demand on the players to perform better. He may be successful with some other teams. Last but not least, he's not the only one to blame. Most of the team is not playing to their full potential and that's the reason for failure. Carbo can show them how to win face-offs, one-on-one's etc but if the players don't execute, it's not his fault. A bunch of posters are blaming his "system" or lack of it thereof. That's total BS and nonsense. It was the same coach during the first 20 games when the team was doing fine. It was the same coach when the team plays fine for 50 minutes and then loses. When the team is winning we are fine and then we turn around and pile on the coach when the team loses. Furthermore, fans, media et al., have run so many coaches out of town for similar reasons, and where are they now? They are coaching winning teams and winning themselves coaching honours (Julien, Vignault etc). I also admit that Carbo's criticising Price was not right. It's OK to call on the veterans but any goalie, including Luongo or Brodeur couldn't have done any better than Price when the team in front of them plays lousy like that. Let's look into the mirror collectively first, if we want to know who's to blame. This is my 2 minute rant. Ali B.

Flash? _________________________________________________ My favorite player is Grab-ARF!-ski

Who would you put as a coach? Whatever coach we have, we are going to complain. _______________________________________ CH is for Chris Higgins

Steiner... you need to get your priorities straight! You can always re-write your exam... i am sure they would understand. Just kidding! good luck to you and the Habs tonight.

I know the feeling...goddamn! _______________________________________ CH is for Chris Higgins

Good luck! I wrote my last Dec. exam this morning so I can enjoy tonight's game:) I hope we'll see a good effort from the boys...Richards new contract, S. Kost getting his chance...should be a good game

@Steiner That's why they have "RDS Express" at 11:30PM I think it is. They play the compressed version of the game, it's awesome!

buy a DVD recorder...you'll never miss another game. --------- until the problem in my picture is solved...we will not be Champions.

I wouldnt worry about missing the game, they way they are playing right now, it wont be a good one. Goodluck on your exam.

FYI - Gainey's coaching stats: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=1819

????? "Higgins isn't tearing up the league with something like 2 goals in the last 18 games..." Where did that come from? Here are the facts. Higgins last 10 games: 5 goals, 3 assists, +2. 6 of those 8 points were at even strength. He had 28 shots for a shooting percentage of 17.8%. He did this over about 18 1/2 minutes of ice time per game. On the contrary, Higgins has been one of the top producing Habs during the recent nosedive. He has been carrying his linemates. If you are to slam anyone on the top line, it has to be (gulp - I hate to say this) Koivu. Koivu over that same 10 game stretch has only 3 assists and is -3. One assist was on the power play, the other two even strength. He has 22 shots on net with no goals. Koivu averages about 18 minutes of ice time per game. The third member of the top line has varied, but your message mentioned Latendresse, so let's look at him. He also has 3 points over the last 10, though they are all goals. He is also only -1. All were even strength, and accomplished with 15 shots for a shooting percentage of 20%. And unlike Koivu, he has accomplished this while averaging only 12 1/2 minutes of ice time. A lot of that time was spent on the third or fourth line. Shockingly, at least in the raw (and limited) calculus of gaols and assists, Latendresse has been a more effective player than Koivu over the last 10 games.

I agree with the sentiment that he seems to be the one being single out when most of the team is playing poorly. If I was going to mention names, Higgins and Lats wouldn't be the ones I was complaining about.

Judging by the number of Ryder supporters in here, I would think there has to be at least one GM who would be as bright as Ryder's supporters and recognize that it is all Carbonneau's fault that Michael is not scoring. Anyway, [taking tongue out of cheek], seriously, I think there are GMs out there who would take a chance on Ryder, but maybe closer to the deadline. Most players of that type rediscover their scoring touch after a trade. Sometimes a change is what is needed. Change of coach, change of teammates, and a change of style.

I would just hope that the lines Carbo picks for tonight stay intact for the remainder of the game. The over-kill of line changing that goes on through the game really hasn't helped the team. Now, if we're getting killed by the third period, OK try something new at that point. All things considered folks, despite the recent slide, we're in the playoffs at this point. So, let's not be so hasty at the "Off with his head" remarks. This time will find it's stride WITH Carbo at the helm!

Any wagers on when gainey steps back behind the bench? Cause this can't go on much longer. I would like to see it before saturdays game against the laffs

sweet!!! So we have PK Subban on team Canada and Max Pacioretty and Ryan McDonaugh on team USA.

This has got too make us one of the youngest teams in the league.

yeah sorry it was a bad joke. I actually like tonight's line up, I just don't agree with how Carbo distributes ice time. Let the first two lines play 20+ min each and then the remainder can be split between the 3rd and 4th line. Guaranteed we would score more goals. Hejduk would be a good pickup though, he's got a wicked shot.

I am hoping there is a trade pending too. It only amkes sense but the way things have gone lately in the Bizarro world...I am still venting like crazy so I can go home happy enough to watch the game. TradeRyder where have you been??? Your wish is coming true I beleive.

Higgins might get tired if he's double-shifting the whole game

Completely agree - Mr Beliveau said that our veteran leaders are the ones responsible for turning the ship around, not youngsters like Lapierre, O'Byrne, or S.Kostitsyn. Koivu hasn't done his fair share of bringing us out of this funk - he bears his responsibility regardless of who plays on his right side. He still has a very capable player on his left.

Both Higgins and Koivu would have more points if they had a decent right winger. Streit, Kostopoulos, Dandenault will never be mistaken for goal scorers in the NHL. Hopefully Sergei is the answer.