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Carbo: More urgency needed in Game 7
posted by Dave Stubbs at 17h54 EST on Apr 20
Carbonneau has plenty of things – problems undoubtedly – to contemplate heading into Monday’s crucial one-game showdown.
His team has allowed four third-period goals in two successive games. Also, rookie goaltender Carey Price has surrendered five goals in each of the last two contests. And the Canadiens’ power-play, lethal during the season, has gone cold in the playoffs, connecting on two of 29 opportunities.
History, if it means anything, is on the Canadiens’ side.
This marks the seven time a series between Montreal and Boston has gone to a seventh game; the Canadiens holding a 4-2 advantage. The Canadiens have been involved in seventh games 18 times in franchise history, going 10-8, including 7-3 on home ice.
The Bruins are 10-6 in Game 7, but have lost three times on the road.
Also, leading 3-1 in a series, the Canadiens have never lost in 26 playoff rounds. But it also marks the first time they’ve been pushed to seven games when winning three of the first four.
“I have to feel confident,” Carbonneau stressed. “We went to a lot of challenges this season. We weren’t supposed to be in the playoffs or finish first overall. We always found another level.
“We always responded well to what’s in front of us, and I don’t think it’ll be different tomorrow."
This marks the first seventh game the Canadiens have hosted since 1992. That season, they defeated Hartford 3-2 in double-overtime at the Forum.
Carbonneau said his team is healthy. That means captain Saku Koivu, defenceman Francis Bouillon and Mark Streit, who can play defence or forward, should all be dressed. The trio all returned from injuries on Saturday.
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I see determination and resolve!
HAHAAH you can't read expressions too well can you?
Corio.... its part of my job... and after last night's showing, I guess I was right!
Gotta tell you, Carbo's face in this pic says it all. He looks like a man without any answers, a man who has had his confidence torn from his loins..
Let's go boys you can do it! Have some heart out there!
One of the things we as armchair coaches forget is that these guys already know how to execute, and now it's all mental. Skating their butts off in a practice at this time of year, when they play every 2nd day will only leave the team more tired and susceptible to injury...you do those types of things during the regular season, when you're trying to build conditioning, when you're trying to get the team to convert to 'a system'.
The players all know that their backs are against the wall, that it's "do or die" time, that things haven't gone the same as the season; they are professionals and do have pride. The best thing the Habs management could have done would have been a light cardio workout (to flush lactic acid from the muscles) then put everybody on a bus and go play mini-putt...take their minds off the game for an hour or two.
HELP !! i dont get it !! we dominate the bruins all year, we play our hearts out with passion and hard work and effort all year long. now we get to the playoffs and fold up like a cheap lawn chair? i dont get it. i blame carbo, he's WAY TO SOFT on the players.ya hes a players coach we know. after that 5-1 loss a few games ago, id have the whole team up at 7am next day skating there azzes off. oh no not carbo, its an optional skate, its a long playoff we need our rest. guess what guy it maybe over tonight!! kick there azzes, scream, yell get there attention !! theres no urgancey here at all, just a bunch of lazy guys goin for a skate out there.drives me fn crazy!!!!! pedal to the medal habs!! WIN THIS GAME!! WE HATE THE BRUINS. go habs gooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! now!!!!!!!! there is no tommorrow.
It's down to the wire, folks. In our previous poll on April 6th, not a single person thought the Habs would need more than 6 games to dispose of the Bruins. Here we are, some 2 weeks later, fighting for our playoff lives in Game 7. Who woulda thunk it?
So here we go: Will the Habs beat the Bruins in Game 7 tonight?
vote here: http://hiopolls.blogspot.com
GO HABS GO
I have been a Habs fan since the 40tys but i think the heavy sleding has got to a lot of the players.They havent the experience to handle it.
I think next year is our year but I certainly quite satisfied with the results of this year .Still hoping for a win tonight
I posted the following on another thread. Maybe it belongs here.
I sincerely hope the Habs can pull this out. Unfortuantely my confidence is not what it was at the beginning of this series. I am not pointing fingers at any one player or coach but I will say that unless we counter that two man forecheck and curtail the Bruins diagonal cross ice outlet passes we are dead. For some reason we played the last period of Game 6 like we played earlier in the season. I hope Carbo and the players have found an answer. My solution would be to counter their two man forecheck with our own. If we sit back like we did in the last period of game 6 we could be in trouble. Good luck.
mjames
The habs have looked awful, and really no hockey expert can be thrilled with Montreals chances tonight. I dont like Carbonneau but I dont think this can be all pinned on him; coaching in Montreal seems to be more of a consensus effort (Gainey, Jarvis, Muller etc) than in say a place like Calgary... For the habs to win: Koivu will have to be the hero and begin cementing his place in Montreal folklore, and I will be the first one to say that I have been wrong about him.
ahhhh...urgency, so there's our secret weapon
good strategy, wait till possible elimination to motivate your team.....brilliant!!!
Hey, you know what the nice thing about finishing first is? We get to play at home in Game 7. Habs are winning tomorrow, mainly cause we have the better team.
I appreciate the effort that everyone has put in with their reverse jinxes... muttering about early exits and no more hope. It's a good effort, guys, but unnecessary. We will win on merit. Koivu will win the faceoffs, Higgins will bury the rebounds, and Kovalev will find his game tomorrow. GHG.
Canadiens have been the worst team since game 1 (minus game 3). If anyone deserves the win on merit alone, it's Boston.
our D needs to play a strong game.
Everyone please say a prayer for the habs
Some players like the Kostistyns are great regular season players, but not meant for the playoffs. If you're not willing to pay the price, and get hit, then you can't win in the playoffs. It has absolutely nothing to do with experience. It's all about heart and grit. Just ask all the inexperienced bruin players with very little talent, but loads of heart and grit. Boston is going to be better than the habs next year, and I think we'll slide behind them.
You are so far base that you are in another zip code or postal code (whatever you call it in Canada). The two K's did not lose the game. Nor did Kovelev or Streit or Brisbois, etc. Boston beat us with a two man forecheck in the third period. This forced our D men to sit back and chase the puck in our end. If the same happens in Game 7 we are in deep trouble. The two K can play like superstars but if we sit back Boston will beat us.
Instead of calling out players post something that has something to do with the game.
mjames
Go back to the drawing board...the Kostitsyns may have fallen off...but they scored the first two goals of the playoffs for us...Sergei has 2g's and 2 a's....Andrei setup Brisebois's game winner in the shutout....If theres a player to be called out on this team (one whom i traditionally worship) is Alex Kovalev. He was the leader all year, he was checked hard all year because he was the most dangerous on the Canadiens. Boston didn't just figure this out. History means little in this situaion...but Kovy is 7-0 in game sevens, im sure he'll come to play.
If you honestly are a habs fan and you believe that Boston will slide ahead of the Candiens next year with 'very little talent'...you need to go back to the drawing board, you're upset, we all are. Tomorrow night after the series has been wrapped up you will be an excited habs fan again.
We can do this. To the 21,273 going to the game tomorrow night: Be positive and cheer as loud as you can, those habs are going to make us proud.
This is a great week for the NHL. Three of the teams that most exemplified the boring neutral trap style of play were eliminated. The Ducks, Devils and Wild are thankfully gone from the Stanley Cup playoffs, and good riddance. Hopefully this is the burgeoning of a new era, where skill, speed and offense become the new mantra of the NHL. It especially looks good on Burke, Lamoreillo and our old friend Lemaire.
Hopefully we'll soon be able to add the Bruins to that list!
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"All bow down before the Komisaurus Rex!"
I hope the habs watch the tape from tonights game between Anaheim and Dallas. Dallas played super defensively and eliminated Anaheim. If the habs defence could play like that, habs will win.
You know what worries me? Next season habs will have in their lineup, AGAIN, both Kostistyns and Plekanec. So how can I get excited about the future of this team?
It's not like to can teach heart, grit, or effort Either you have it or you don't. It's INBORN!
So I'm quite worried about the same thing happening next year.
Although I have never been shy about criticizing either the coach or specific players, I think your comments are a bit misguided. The players you have mentioned, are exactly what they are. In the sense that they are skilled, finesse players on the small side, basically your perimeter type. They were never the type of players that would go into traffic and muck it up.
I agree the team is lacking, it is lacking the same component that has plagued the Habs for as long as I can remember. A big prototype POWER FORWARD, someone like an Iginla. Of course a player like Iginla is rare indeed, but GM after GM have failed to acquire a big guy up front.
We already have a "power forward" in the making, but we insist on turning him into a defensive specialist. Latendresse (yes, he of 'slow skating' ability, who actually keeps up with almost everybody on the team) will NEVER, I repeat NEVER be a checker like Lapierre, and that's NOT why we drafted him; he's big, he's strong (both along the boards and in front of the net), has soft hands and a heavy shot...so use those abilities.
I agree with you that we NEED a power forward but they're hard to come by. Iginla is in a class of his own. Not many teams can claim to have a player of his calibre. As much as I hate the guy, Lucic is gonna be the next big power forward. Nobody should knock the habs. We've far exceeded expectations and who knows, maybe now we'll be able to obtain a big power forward via free agency or trade. But the way us Montreal fans call for all of our players heads who you've praised when we are WINNING, no wonder nobody wants to come here. Sure we have rich history on our side, blah blah blah, but that was another generation ago for most of us. The point I'm trying to make is when are we ever going to enjoy the club and support them? Even if we won the cup this year, when if we get into a funk next season? We will all turn on them again. When will we ever be satisfied? We can't win the cup every year! We have a young club. Sure its frustrating to watch this series unfold to this. Show some class, people! We have a solid nucleus to work with here in the years to come. I feel like I'm alone here saying carbonneau did a hell of a job this year. Its way too easy being a backseat driver fan and looking in hindsite. I think carbonneau knows a thing or two about hockey and winning. Trust and support him and our team. Go habs go!
I am totally with you. When the going is good, there aren't enough great things that can be said about the team. When things turn sour, it's time for a fire sale. Everyone is useless! The coach is an idiot! Trade them! Fire them!
You're right, with an attitude like that, it's hard to find people who want to play here because they know that if they have a couple of bad games and they are toast.
I've said it before, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Some might think I've got my head in the clouds and am not realistic. "These guys are paid millions of dollars for what they do" - is that an excuse to berate and call for their heads when they don't meet our very high expectations?
I think that everyone deserves a fair chance if they at least try.
I'm sorry but I disagree with you. This team would not have even reached the playoffs, much less first in the Eastern conference, without the players you named.
This is the first full season for Andrei Kostitsyn (he played 34 games in the previous 2 seasons) and is only 23 years old. Sergei Kostitsyn is 20 years old, a rookie and fresh out of junior hockey. Plekanec is 25 years old and had his first break out season.
We weren't supposed to even make the playofs according to most. We have the 6th youngest team in the NHL. The pipeline is stocked full of prospects.
We may lose to Boston and that would indeed stink. But to our future looks very bright given the masterful job by Gainey and Timmins. And the three players you mention are very much part of that future.
We need a new coach.
Then you obviously cant differentiate between talented rookies and experienced yet untalented veterans. Thank god you arent GM.
S Kots is trying, Plekanec is getting better. A Kots has some work to do.
Young players get better. Veterans get older. Crucial difference that is often overlooked.
If you cant see that S Kots and his brother are going to be stars very soon and that Plekanec has evolved into a front line center its too bad that you cant recognize talent.
Kosto will never be more than a fourth line guts guy, same for Begin.
Lapierre is never going to be more than a journeyman third liner.
If the Kostitsyn's and Plekanec weren't Habs, we'd probably not have been in the playoffs.
dandy and breezby better be benched this game!
Lapierre needs to get the press conference treatment and join his buddy Latendresse, and why don't we send Bouillon up there as well (pretty bad on Kessel's goal).
Insert Ryder, O'Byrne, and Grabovski/Stewart.