Audio: Halak earns start vs. St. Louis

NJD @ MTL W 38 38 1.000 MTL @ ANA L 37 34 .919 MTL @ PHX W 39 37 .949 MTL @ SJS L 39 33 .846 NJD @ MTL W 32 31 .969 MTL @ BUF W 33 31 .939 MTL @ PHI W 37 34 .919 PHI @ MTL W 34 34 1.000 MTL @ FLA W 36 35 .972 FLA @ MTL L 30 27 .900 MTL @ PHI W 31 30 .968 TBL @ MTL O 31 29 .935 CAR @ MTL L 30 26 .867 DET @ MTL L 34 30 .882 MTL @ TOR W 46 43 .935 MTL @ BUF L 31 28 .903 BOS @ MTL W 36 32 .889 MTL @ TOR W 40 37 .925 ATL @ MTL O 33 31 .939 MTL @ OTT L 33 29 .879 649 saves on 700 shots when Price has faced 30+ shots a game ( a total of 20 games our of his 34 played) gives us a save percentage of .927 to go with 12 wins 8 losses and two OT losses. Talk about a workhorse! "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?" "Halak Price! Do you?"

WOW! when another goalie other than Price makes headlines, the %$@! really hits the fan.

Ok, for everyone jumping on a Halak bandwagon. Here is a question for you. How did Patrick Lalime begin his NHL career? "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?" "Halak Price! Do you?"

Bob McKenzie on TSN: "6 good teams (on top) in the East, no great ones" _______________________ make your opinion count @ http://hiopolls.blogspot.com

Her's my two cents: 1. Halak - hard to disagree with playing someone after a shutout, but Price needs to know he's number one. If they plan to sign Halak, fine. I'll agree with this and give this decision a 60% 2. Benching Lapierre - totally disagree - he was one of the only players who showed uo last Thursday against the Sens and his reward is 2 nights off? Maybe he did something or said something we don't know about. I disagree with the move and give this decision a 25% 3. Benching O'Byrne and playing Brisebois - I completely do not understand this move in the slightest. O'Byrne was good enough to play about ten in a row and now Breezer is better? Breezer is no longer a player we can count on to perform at a high level. I think Carbonneau could have tried Breezer as a big winger earlier this year and maybe he would have been good enough to play a bit, but he is not a good D-man any more. I disagree strongly and give this decision a 10%.

Can't go wrong with Jaro here. He played great last game, perfect record at the Bell Centre, congrats to Halak! Price will start against Ottawa and the boys will have a chance @ redemption!

Halak is awesome and all, I love his play, and I've said it from he beginning that he belonged up here. In other news, have you guys seem this article on TSN about Alex Kovalev creating a DVD (Fitness/Learning Skills) for heart related charities? As well there in Russia they made a film about him! I for one am going to buy it and support what he's trying to do! http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=232257&hubname=nhl

Ok Ian. New Topic: Who would win in a fatal 4-way brawl? Street Rules. Ian, The Teacher, Smart Dog or Suleman? _______________________ "WE WANT VINCE!"

When are some of you clowns going to let these Stanley Cup Champions manage and coach this great young team to another bunch of cups for us . Just look at what they have done for us in such a short time. For you people to use words like stupid, handling them wrong, either dumping on Birsbois, Smoleskie, or comparing two great young kids in net that have at least a couple more years of improvement before they both become brilliant at there position. This is going to be a deadly hockey team in the next couple of years, but these young players have a lot of seasoning to go through yet. Have a little faith and patience and watch each move that these coaches make closely. Try to watch the development of this up and coming dynasty hockey club from a more positive perspective, instead of being so critical. The beauty about winning the cup is in the knowing of how we got there. If your negative and critical all the time, you will have missed out on this whole wonderful ride.

Man I hope this is OK with Price. They both deserve to start every game but since that's impossible, you have to ride the hot hand at home. Halak that guy, Halak him a lot. Halak Price too.

I gotta agree with Smart Dog. Play Price. We are about to play a home and home against Boston. Both goal tenders should each face Boston. There is a good possibility we may face Boston in the playoffs. Both goalies need to be ready for them. I give Halak all the credit in the world. I will always have a sore spot against Carbonneau for playing Huet in the Laff's game last year. It was a game that Halak got us to, and would have gotten us into the playoffs. Furthermore, Carbo refused to pull Huet when it was obvious he was having a worse night than Andrew Raycroft. (Is that Possible?) There was no way Halak would have let in 6 goals. Did I mention I was in the belly of the beast that day; the worst experience I have ever had as a Habs fan. Damn you Carbo! This is one reason I will never get on the Carbo bandwagon, and to call him a genius makes me sick. He is still playing smolinski, Konstopulas, and Brsebois in one game. Big mistake waiting to happen. Scratching Lapierre? Huh? Come back Begin! At least Grabs is playing over Plus/Minus. We win despite Carbo, and it is because we have an amazing bunch of guys who look out for each other. Vive les Habitons! _______________________ With Smolinksi scratched: 10-3-4 With Brisebois scratched: 26-8-4

I'm surprised there is no story here about Alex Kovalev's hockey video that was released today with all proceeds going to hockey. I think that this along with other things like the Kovy's Kids loge that he owns at the Bell Center is another example of Kovy's generosity and leadership within the team as well as in the community.

Results so far: Do you agree with Carbo's decision to start Halak against the Blues? 41% - Yes 6% - No 53% - All the same to me, but why is Brisebois playing!? _______________________ make your opinion count @ http://hiopolls.blogspot.com

Halak has been given the "soft" assignments. The Islanders can't score and the Blues are 1-8-1 their last ten. This gives Price a full week of "rest" before he turns it up for the playoffs. The coach's strategy has been as sound as it has been all season. Halak deserves the start, so why discourage him? The team, though, needs to show up on both ends, allowing a weaker opponent only 20 shots would be a good place to start. Scoring 4 or 5 would be a better way to finish. Gilbert

TSN- As unlikely as it seemed a week ago, the Oilers are in contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference - five points out of eighth place - as they begin a four-game homestand against the Coyotes Tuesday. "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?" "Halak Price! Do you?"

he deserves the start

Habs forward Kovalev says hockey DVD to help kids with heart trouble "The Montreal Canadiens star forward released a two-DVD set on Monday called "Alex Kovalev - My Hockey Tips And Training Methods." All proceeds will go toward helping kids around the world with cardiac problems."

It just so happens that St. Louis is another team like the Islanders are, on the outside looking in. That is another thing Carbo had in mind when deciding who to start tomorrow. Against Boston, a team that we could easily play in the first round of the playoffs, Carbo will start Price. The next four games are against playoff/fighting for the playoffs-type teams and Price will be starting to get the feel of these intense NHL games.

From surprises, to surprises to ...... Who would have thought that our team would be competing for first in the East at this time of the year,.. or that our PP would be first in the league without Sourey,.. and, mother of all surprises,.. that our team would ended up being virtually the highest scoring team in the league ? Who would have thought that the letting go of our veteran goaly at the eve of our last stretch could have possibly been a sensible idea ? Well Price's level of play, which has raised to new hights since Huet's departure has been very reassuring to all who were conscerned about Gainey's tradeline's decision,... and now adding further insurance against disaster we have Halak who has been looking solid as a rock in the couple of games he played..... enought to even provoque a slight change of plan from the coaching strategy and who knows what additional surprises this might lead us to discover down the road,.... in the end surprises is what we are all about this season.

What happens if the habs have an off night, get badly outplayed and Halak steals the game, gets 1st star again, gets a another shutout? Who do we come back with? I realize that most here felt Price was going to be the future #1 goalie but maybe not quite ready yet. Then Huet gets traded and he becomes #1 now. Maybe. What if Halak outplays Price? What if Halak plays so amazingly well that Carbo would be crazy to sit him? Maybe Halak will do what Dryden did.