Got Stink?

Is it possible that what is going on is that Bob knows that he doesn`t have the horses to compete with the top teams so he`s going to let things ride out for the next 2 years in the hopes of getting a lottery pick or 2?

Year after year we choose 16th,17th or 18th and never get the top players. The Cap makes it nearly impossible to buy a winner now so what do you do? If the Habs are able to get a top 3 pick over the next 2 years or even better a top pick both years, then Bob will be able to lock the picks up at very low cap hits and use the money saved to fill in any holes needing filling.

Now you have a team that will compete for many years to come. Look at Pittsburg, they are a perfect example of what top picks will do for a team.

Anyway, even if it`s not by design, it is still the best way to build up a top team now.

They win some, they lose some. Unfortunately that isn't what the fans, media, coach, or GM want. Sergei K hasn't yet done anything in the NHL but he is highly touted. When he first came up I thought he was going places. I haven't seen that in the last season and 3/4 out of him. That takes in three coaches. Lapierre, nada. The best guys make buckets of mistakes. The powerplay gets awesome, can't draw penalties. A skating contradiction these Habs. How can your powerplay strike fear into the opposition but not the players themselves? A one trick pony? Of course no one is going to foul you if you aren't beating them.

So what gives? Every year the team has highs and lows. One year it is the flu. Another year it is a playoff meltdown and beatdown by a team it beat consistently all season. But each year it is something. Some little melodrama, some excuse. Some reason to snatch defeat from the gaping jaws of victory. Lats plays like crap, gets traded, plays good. Chips plays crappier, gets traded, continues. Higgins was a rising star, crested, and became what? Nothing? Saku leaves and becomes below average. Kovalev loses his magic. Theodore becomes a journeyman paid like a superstar. Huet gets twice what he was worth, and plays like he is satisfied. The boards are filled with childish bickering about favorite players, perceived slights, inane rumours, and outright made up stuff.

Maybe it isn't the Montreal Canadiens that are all fouled up. Maybe it is us. Dysfunctional expectations cause dysfunctional play. Is our perception of the team so warped that no coach, no player, no team can achieve the balance necessary to succeed? Is an escape to Florida such a welcome break from the continual pressure that the team melts down? Is the history of the team destined to be bipolar from now on? Or do we just expect so much that we overlook the obvious. Is Laps just an AHL player who can skate like the wind and has the puck sense of Nancy kerrigan? Is Sergei just a happy-go-lucky Belarussian leprechaun? Is the front end being held together with five NHL players, the back by three NHL D-men, and a couple young goalies learning the game? That makes 10 and 10. Pretty hard to get by with half a team.

And that seems to be what the Habs give. Some nights one period, some nights two periods, sometimes a whole game, other times nothing. Huet was right about one thing. The team weakness is between the ears.

The answer is of course Boucher, but he is still being built. The media would destroy him now.

Chris - Your last question is what really scares the hell out of me. 

As for last night's game, outside of the Hab PP goal, there wasn't any real time where I was on the edge of my seat (as a Hab fan).  It's one thing to lose, but it's quite another to be boring beyond belief.

Let's start by defining the many problems that we have on this team first and see how old these problems have been around it:

1- Lack of a Big 1st Line Center - Since Damphousse

2- Lack of all around size - Since 1993

3- Lack of Character - Since Patrick Roy

4- Lack of Leadership - Since Patrick Roy

5- Lack of Work Ethics - Since Jaques Demers

6- Lack of Motivation - Since the mountain retreat during the 1993 Playoffs

7- Lack of Commitment - Since 1993

8- Lack of Cups - Since 1993

9- Lack of Good Drafting - Since 1986

10- Lack of Feeling Proud to be a Canadien? Since today!

the short answers are, coaching, coaching, coaching. Except for the last one, which is "the new NHL" or "3 point games" (your pick)

Most/all of what you are questioning emanates directly from coaching. Players don't say no if asked to double shift or switch lines. Yes they can play their way up or down (or off) a lineup, but the actual makeup is, as you well know, all made by coaches. i think JM expected more and nobody could provide it.

I don't think the boys should have had a day off in FLA in the middle of a hot streak. Hindsight, sure, but allowing their focus to shift from hockey clearly showed last night.

I also saw them returning to their horrendous "clear the puck out backwards" routine in the D zone, which made it that much harder to catch FLA by surprise and made any FLA forecheck that much more effective. Bad habits, or a return to normal? who knows.

The last point inre: Change - i think this felling is a result of the constant flux in standings. I used to enjoy games more - not every one was do or die, especially in mid-january (or, for that matter, mid october). Yeah, parity makes things 'exciting' (stressful?) but it is a grind on me as a fan so it must be brutal on players, coaches, and management. Our happiness and satisfaction with our respective team - whether you are a fan of Montreal, Detroit, Calgary, or Pittsburgh - never lasts more than 16 hours after the last game. i'm starting to get a little tired of it myself, and i have to admit that getting away from it over the holidays (not just games but blogs, twitter updates, RDS editorials, and trade rumors) allowed me to enjoy the first games back that much more. That said, i think some stability in lines would actually and ironically be the best change for the team right now.

1. If we’re supposed to be a small, fast team, why is it that we rarely see the Habs hit high gear?

 - Coaching. It's the passive system and no transition game. The Habs back off, circle the wagons in the defensive zone, and chip the puck out when they retrieve it rather than start a rush. Their speed is going completely to waste with this approach. The system is bad all-around but it is singularly unsuited to the team's strength.

2. After the big wins on the weekend – where we relied heavily on the top 2 lines – why did Jacques Martin decide to start rolling all four lines? Tomas Plekanec was on for 18:51, less than his season average of 20:11. Mike Cammalleri played 17:07 – or about 2.5 minutes below his ATOI. Yeah, play the guy on the 7-game point streak less…

  - Lack of power plays. Plus he needs to rest his guns for the 2 nights in 2. That doesn't strike me as a huge deal, to be honest. 5-on-5 time is more taxing than PP time, and without Laraque, Martin has a more credible fourth line.

3. Why is Sergei Kostitsyn being wasted on the fourth line? Asking Travis Moen to overextend himself and then double shifting Brian Gionta does not a first line make.

  - I'm not sure that Sergei is quite ready for top-six duty, but I don't see that Moen is, either. They're really missing that bottom-six guy that can do spot duty on the top six.

4. Why did call-up Ben Maxwell push Maxim Lapierre to the wing? Especially after Laps was finally starting to play some decent hockey?

  - Lappy's game is more suited to the wing than Maxwell's.

5. Why is it so hard for this team to get motivated?

  - Bad preparation from the coach. Their Jekyll-and-Hyde personality can be squarely placed on the shoulders of the coaching staff as their lack of preparation is flagrant -- as their first-period results can attest.

6. Why, with a brand new team, does it feel like a change needs to be made?

  - Because a change really does need to happen but the change that is really needed, won't. The coaching is terrible, and horribly unsuited to the players. Frankly, I feel like I've been conned. Everything the Martin hiring promised -- a puck possession style, a solid transition game, sound defensive play, improved five-on-five -- we've seen the exact opposite of. He's been a disaster and the Habs won't improve unless the coach changes, either because he's replaced or because he completely changes his approach.

The saddest part is that because of Martin's contract, he will be at least two years, so I don't foresee any significant short-term improvement and fully expect the Habs to waste two seasons. A shame because it does seem that the best coach the org has had in a while is coaching the farm team, but then again, maybe giving him 2 years in the AHL and be able to ride in later like the white knight is a better approach.

1.  ...because of 'The System'

2. ...after an 'enlightened exception' to His 'System',  JM decided to return to 'The System'

3. ...see # 1

4. ...see # 2

5. ...because JM is Tony Robbins' anti-matter

6. ...the above are overly simplistic and facetious ...but I believe the talent We have is capable of MORE than Jacques Martin is realizing to this point

...To be fair to Jacques Martin ...this is a coach number 10 in all-time coaching wins ...so Jacques is not a green turnip that fell off the truck on the way to market ...IMO, I also believe He is capable of MORE ...in the sense He should be smart enough to recognize what is NOT working ...go back to the drawing board Jacques ...and develop a 'System' that maximizes the personalities and skill-sets of the Players You have and NOT impose THIS 'System' that diminishes

...a new and improved 'System' may not yet be sufficient to overcome the Detroits, Pittsburghs, Chicagos, Washingtons and Sharks of the NHL ...but it would minimize embarassments like this game against Florida

...like EVERYTHING else in life ...Hockey is all about ADJUSTMENTS

...so ? ...WAKE UP Jacques ! ...and smell the turnips

Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049

Chris,

Most of your questions land directly in the lap of the coaching staff.

Is there a communication issue between the coaches and the team?

Why is there never ever an adjustment other than to play softer and more defensive mid game?

When will these coaches get through their heads that Gill and MAB on the ice at the same time is nothing but simulating a PP for the opposition.

Why after a dump in is there no persuit just a line change?

Why are line changes complete chaos resulting on odd mad rushes?

Lastly:

Why can't Hal Gill shoot he appears to hold his stick so high that he has no leverage whatsoever. Does he need a "Chara Model" superlong stick?

"The three stars as selected by Red Fisher of the Montreal Star: 1st star: Henri Richard 2nd Star: Doug Harvey 3rd Star: Jacques Plante Final score Detroit Red Wings 5 Montreal Canadiens 3"

if we had all the answers Chris, we could turn this ship around but they played lazy margarita-ville hockey tonight.

Our glaring D went back to being awful in our zone, asleep at the wheel. These guys need to get their act together and go on a 9 or 10 game winning streak and fast....too many passengers on the 'suck' bus ce soir.