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Author Archives: Kyle Roussel

About Kyle Roussel

Born and raised in Montreal, I have unhealthy obsessions with sports, comics Star Wars, and my wife's cooking. Follow me at twitter.com/kyleroussel

Not Good

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Playoff game #1

The game started well enough; the Habs skated hard, forechecked, took their shots at Craig Anderson…and then the Sens scored. Not an awful goal for Price to surrender with Erik Karlsson right on the doorstep, but it was certainly deflating.

But the Habs fought back, kept skating, kept shooting. That Anderson guy kept making saves. All of them. Suddenly, with a backhand shot that would make Vincent Damphousse proud, Rene Bourque tied the score. All seemed fine, and we had ourselves one heck of an entertaining game.

And then came Gryba.

Tattooing a defenseless Lars Eller in the head with his shoulder, leaving the Habs center bloodied and probably concussed, the air and electricity left the building. Sure the Habs scored on the resulting powerplay to take the lead, and continued to rain down shots on Anderson, but he was equal to the task. The Canadiens set a new team record in peppering Anderson with 27 second period shots; 50 for the game, but could only score twice. Amazing what a determined goaltender can do.

Enter Carey Price.

With his team dominating, all he had to do was not surrender any weak goals and game one would be theirs. Instead, he decided not to play the third period. All three goals were awful. The first went right though his legs. He got his glove on the second but it got by him anyway. The third was the result of a rebound that should have been steered in to the corner, but instead was punted directly in to the slot where a crashing Latendresse forced both himself and Subban to push the puck behind Price.

Poor focus. Poor rebound control. Poor resolve.

While certain Canadiens players were absent (hello Gionta, Ryder and Desharnais), the Canadiens were let down by their goaltender, who is paid and relied upon to deliver big saves in big moments. When the team was pouring its guts out (and in Lars Eller’s case – his blood), they needed Price to stand tall, and he simply did not. He failed, full stop. Price will have his share of apologists, who will try to once again pin the blame on everyone else aside from Price. Question their credibility, for they are not being honest with you, or with themselves.

Perhaps it’s for the best that they get right back to work tomorrow night. It leaves them with no time to dwell on this deflating performance from their most important player, but gives them just enough time to take a deep breath after an emotional game that saw one of their best players injured.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

All’s Well That Ends Well

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Regular season game #48

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien decided that resting key players was not as important as going all out to win the division. He did not rest any of his key players except for Carey Price, feeling that going for second place in the conference was the priority. As has been the case for the most part this year, his decision turned out to be the correct one.

Led by Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher once again, the Canadiens regained a measure of confidence against the Leafs, who had inflicted the season’s worst beatings on the Canadiens. If Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul’s claim that the Leafs were the bigger and tougher team riled the Canadiens (despite the validity to the claim), then we can thank the injury prone big mouth for giving the Canadiens something to prove.

The Canadiens were clearly the better team all night, holding a listless Leafs team to just 17 shots in the entire game, including just one shot in the second period while they built a 3-1 lead. Once the Habs took a 4-1 lead early in the third period, the Leafs did what you’d expect. They tried to batter and pummel the Habs. Referees Wes MacAuley and Marc Joannette had to know that was inevitable; they cut off all antics at the pass, issuing game misconducts to both Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur for things that would have otherwise been let go under different circumstances.

Fans always tell themselves whatever they need to in order to feel good about their team’s chances in a given situation. So if the Leafs and Habs do end up playing each other next week, both sides will have supporting arguments that seem entirely valid in their own minds. If you’re a Leafs fan, you tell yourself that you won the season series 3-2, including a 2-1 season-opening game in enemy territory, and two humiliating beatdowns in which they outscored the Canadiens 11-1. You tell yourself that the bigger Leafs will quickly wear down the smaller Canadiens. If you’re a Habs fan, you say that you won the final game of the year in convincing manner, that there is little connection between head-to-head regular season success and playoff success, that the Canadiens were fundamentally sound for most of the season while the Leafs were not, despite their winning record.

We don’t know who the Habs will play yet, but it has to provide Habs fans with a substantial measure of relief that the Canadiens won their last two games by a combined score of 8-3 when previously to that they were unable to do anything right. They look playoff-ready, which is the most important thing. Now we find out if the Canadiens perceived lack of size will be a problem, or if they will able to dig deeper and buck conventional wisdom.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

The Comforts of Home

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Regular season game #47

Tonight’s game against the Jets had two distinct flavors to it. The first 40 minutes saw the Jets’ larger forwards have their way in the Habs’ end, giving the defense fits. Another collapse looked imminent. As has become recent tradition, the Canadiens D seemed too willing to give up odd-man rushes and full-on breakaways. Indeed, it is a concern when callup Jarred Tinordi was the most effective player in the defensive zone.

With a 2-1 lead heading to the third, and with their playoff hopes on life support, the Jets got the news that they had to know was coming. Both the Rangers and Senators won, dashing their playoff hopes for good. Whether the Jets sagged, or the Habs showed some urgency, aided by some powerplays that allowed the Habs to at least temporarily fire up the scoring machine that had worked so well through 40 games, the game tilted heavily in the Habs favor.

With fourth place in the Eastern Conference now the lowest the Habs can finish, if I were Michel Therrien, I would take a pre-emptive wiz on the CBC’s Habs/Leafs parade and make Saturday’s regular season finale as unimportant as I possibly could. I would take the hype right out of the game. The Habs don’t need it. Regardless of the outcome, the Leafs will win the season series and take that advantage to the bank, and it only brings the possibility that some Habs regulars could get further banged up, or hurt altogether. After all, when a team boasts such hockey luminaries as Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, and Mark Fraser, why allow these glorified goons one last opportunity to take cheap shots at the Habs more important players? They’ll likely play very sparingly, or not at all in the playoffs, so any “discipline” that may be doled out by Shanaban would be totally ineffective. In short, Price, Plekanec, Markov, Ryder, Gorges, Prust, Gionta and Bouillon all get to watch the game from the press box while Bulldogs fill the void.

Tonight’s game saw the Habs show more push-back and spark than they have in a couple of weeks. Good news indeed, but the best news – by far – is that Carey Price looked like Carey Price. He made several big stops when the Jets were up 1-0, and could have given the Habs the confidence they needed to forge ahead without the fear of a softy going in behind them. If Price has indeed reasserted himself and found his game once again, it can be nothing but bad news for whoever the Habs face in the first round. But before we get ahead of ourselves, the defensive coverage that the Habs have been displaying lately was not much better tonight. The Coaching staff still has more work to do, starting with giving some tired legs time to recuperate.

There’s one more game to go, but with any luck it will be but a mere formality.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

You Can Cry if you Want To

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Regular season game #46

If you’re a results-oriented fan, then this game was just another in the recent string of games in which the Canadiens walked away empty-handed. If you’re a glass half-full kind of person, then you’ll say that the Habs took a positive step forward by not being blown out for a change by showing some fight in not imploding when they fell behind 3-0. The only real tangible bit of good news tonight is that the Bruins lost, meaning the Canadiens still have an outside shot at actually winning the division.

But back to the Habs, and that pesky issue of falling behind 3-0 early in the game. Most blamed the refs, but the refs don’t kill penalties. Nor do the Habs for that matter. They need to stop this habit of playing themselves out of games so early. It’s killing them.

The fact is that the Devils were 1-7-6 against the Northeast division this season, and were playing their first game since being eliminated from playoff contention. That didn’t stop them from bottling up the Canadiens and holding them to just 21 shots in a game that the Habs really needed to win. The Canadiens now face a tough road if they want to clinch home ice advantage in the first round; they will need to reel off three out of a possible four points against a desperate Jets team, and the Maple Leafs, who have slapped the Canadiens silly for the most part.

For whatever reason the Canadiens are a heavy-legged bunch, save for  some young players, and on that note, it’s time for Coach Michel Therrien to consistently give Lars Eller more ice time over the sputtering David Desharnais, who has done next to nothing since signing his big contract. Tonight, both Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller had more ice time than Desharnais, and we can only hope that it’s a trend that continues long in to the future. Staying on the ice time beat, somebody needs to explain to me why Andrei Markov was the Habs top minute man tonight, topping even P.K. Subban? Anyone? No? Ok, moving on.

To this point, I’ve been only mildly concerned about their recent slide. While the optics of the last six games are horrid, it is this game that truly has me concerned. After two days of practice, the Habs said all the right things and presented a united front that they were going to be a refocused and tighter group. If tonight’s effort was what they were talking about, then they can feel free to go back to the drawing board any time now.

During this slide, I’ve encouraged fans to remain patient and let the Coaching staff pull the team out of their first real slide of the year, and I’ll continue to do so. With that being said, I’ll no longer hold it against the fan who wants to hit the panic button, for they have been given no reason not to.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

 

Carey Price Is Key to Habs’ Success in 2013

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The Montreal Canadiens have not won a Stanley Cup in two decades, and it’s been a long time since they dominated hockey in the manner they did throughout much of the 104 year history. Last season, the Habs placed dead last in the Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The last place finish is not where the Canadiens should have found themselves last year. They were better than that according to many. This year they have not only recovered, they are currently in fourth place in the conference standings despite a slump that has seen every facet of their game crumble.
They have some legitimately talented veterans in Max Pacioretty, Michael Ryder, Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta and Rene Bourque in their top-six forwards, and the defense is led by emerging Norris candidate P.K.Subban. But the one player who has been the steady force behind the team’s success in recent seasons is none other than goaltender Carey Price. While this year has not been his best season, he has shown that he is capable of lifting his team and carrying them into the post season.Price has his doubters, and more than that, his haters. Many are still upset that Halak was traded in favor of Price. I wonder if those people have bothered to follow’s Halak’s career since heading to St Louis? A strong year behind an air-tight defense, followed by a series of injuries, and now sharing his job with Brian Elliott and Jake Allen. I’m sure that’s exactly what would like Halak-loving Habs fans happy. Price’s haters also don’t like his demeanor. They feel that he’s too nonchalant, and not animated enough. Call it his poker face, which is always on when the cameras are rolling. Sure he has his moments of candidness but by and large, Price has assumed a leader’s role by being stoic and even-keeled, just like the man who brought him in to the Habs organization – Bob Gainey. It’s no surprise that outside of hockey, Carey Price is an avid fan of poker and has participated in celebrity tournaments, both locally and nationally. It’s probably an odd coincidence that poker gained worldwide attention, especially on television, during the lockout that cost hockey fans the 2004-05 season. In the vacuum of that season, major tournaments were shown on television and online poker exploded. What’s that old saying about idle hands? A safe bet that many hockey players, perhaps Price included, honed his poker acumen during that lockout (yes Price was still a junior then, but when not watching NHL games during down time, he was probably playing Texas Hold ‘em with teammates).
Among the leaders when it comes to online gaming is partypoker.com. Partypoker is also known to have sponsored many celebrity poker tournaments which have benefited many charitable institutions. Charity events are a great way for athletes to give back to the community, at the same, it time allows them to enjoy certain activities like poker. With all the money going to charities, it makes everyone, especially the beneficiaries, winners in the end.
Carey Price and the Canadiens are looking forward to a successful post season after a surprise regular season schedule. Some fans may be satisfied with the Habs simply making the playoffs, but it’s clear that this team recognizes the opportunity in front of them. At the very least, a series win in the first round should be bar; anything less would erase much of the good will built up since late January. At the end of the day, however, the Habs will only go as far as Price can take them. At 25 years old, many feel that it is time that he follow in the giant footsteps of Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy. That’s a heavy burden, but Carey Price has the talent to absorb it and thrive in these situations.

Fan Appreciation Fright

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Regular season game #45

If you’ve been watching for the last week then you have seen this movie before, and it ain’t pretty.

Halfway through the third period, the fans who were “being honoured” by the team were halfway home, soured by yet another horrific performance. As it turns out, not so unpredictably, the win against the Lightning was indeed a mirage. The defensive malaise that has wrapped it’s fist around the team has yet to relinquish itself and Habs fans must be asking themselves what can be done to loosen the grip. Falling behind as quickly and deeply as they have done in this week from hell has left a scar on what has been an otherwise outstanding season.

Who is the scapegoat tonight? Carey Price? The defense? You know things are bad when even P.K. Subban looks mortal. The forwards that didn’t score a single goal until late in the third period? The Coach?

It doesn’t really matter.

Sure Price could have stopped a couple of the goals but the defense needed to be roughly 20 times better than it was and scoring a goal or two themselves would have been a good idea at some point before Pacioretty netted one in mop-up time. Whether it’s over confidence from clinching a playoff spot that has since mutated into a crisis of confidence the Canadiens are running out of time to fix their issues. If they aren’t broken then are they coasting? If they are coasting, can they flip the switch once the playoffs start? That’s a dangerous game.

The big question in the immediate future is whether or not the Habs need to practice or need to rest. Have they lost their way, or are they beat? Therrien has probably already made his decision on that.

It’s time to forget the notion of coveting second place over fourth place. The Bruins have two games in hand and are tied with the Habs. Even with a punishing five games in seven nights to close the season, the Bruins have the inside track on the Northeast division crown. The priority should now be taking baby steps to get back on track before April 30th. Every facet of the game has gone belly-up in the last week and the answers lie in the room, or it’s an early tee-time. It still isn’t time for panic. Strange, but true. That said, if the Habs do not look noticeably better on Tuesday after two days of practice or two days of rest, or a little bit of both before facing the punchless, non-playoff bound Devils then feel free to take to the streets.

Hey, at least Ribeiro didn’t score. Oh, he had three assists. Never mind then.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Ugly, but Effective

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Regular season game #44

Well I’m glad that’s over. The losing streak that is.

While beating Tampa Bay is hardly reason to doll up Ste-Catherine street for a Cup parade, or even declare that all is well, the two points were paramount. Though it’s been less than a week since their last win, the Canadiens badly needed to remember what it feels like to win a game at this point of the season.

Credit is spread far and wide tonight, starting with Carey Price’s goalposts, which sent no less than four resonating “PINGS!” throughout the Bell Center. For his part, Carey Price had a number of huge saves, several of the game saving variety. He looked like himself, not a moment too soon. Galchenyuk scored a goal for the fifth consecutive game, and Gallagher picked up an assist on the play. Still it is rather odd that Galchenyuk’s ice time was the lowest on the team given his recent productivity; this defies logic, as does David Desharnais’ 5:44 of powerplay time. As a side note, it was a pleasant surprise to see the game begin with Pacioretty alongside Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta. David Desharnais has had more than enough time to reestablish chemistry with the big winger. Tonight, however, the biggest pat on the back goes to the aforementioned Brian Gionta, who has been feeling heat recently. It was his ability to finish that finally put the stop to a gushing wound. For someone who is either criticized for his size, his production and his “leadership qualities”, Gionta once again showed how to answer all three of those criticisms.

Not all has been set right, however, as the defensive side of the game still plays to the tune of Yakety Sax, and special teams have been especially bad, winning goal notwithstanding. There is still a lot of work to do, and a lot of question marks surrounding the defense. Markov looks horrendous, and Bouillon, bless his heart, cannot hack top-four minutes. Diaz is reported to be a possibility for Saturday night, but he’s no Hal Gill. If and when the defensive game gets tightened up, the Habs will be alright. Until then, fans will be bambi-legged, even if the team will sleep very soundly tonight. Won’t you? After all, a fourth consecutive loss with the smoking Capitals coming to town on Saturday wouldn’t leave you feeling cozy, would it?

Before we sign off, let’s remember that this was the team’s fourth game in six nights, and they have had very little practice time recently. For a team that needs structure in order to thrive, this cannot be overlooked. The tight schedule is punishing the Habs, but they still sit in first place in the Northeast division.

No harm, no foul….right?

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Flightless Birds, Flightless Habs

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Regular season game #43

Tick tock tick tock.

That sound you hear is the clock winding down on the regular season that has seen the Canadiens go from a well balanced, disciplined and resilient team to an impotent, wayward and fragile bunch. What gives? Is this more than just a simple slump?. Recently the Canadiens have been out of games in the first period, so perhaps some questions from Habs Nation are justified.

It was another all around rough night for everyone, including Norris trophy contender P.K. Subban, who looked out of sorts and eventually found himself tossed from the game in the third period. Conversely, two bright spots were Lars Eller, who had a pair of assists, and Alex Galchenyuk, who eased the pain of yet another beat down with a beauty goal from in-close on Fleury. While the vets look to keep the pace up, these two youngsters have turned on the jets.

This mini losing skid has been so surreal in the way that the Canadiens have completely imploded on defense, and on a compete level that you get the sense that there’s some sick joke at play from the hockey gods; teams that have played as well as the Habs have all year don’t suddenly forget who to play hockey. Unless you prefer to panic, or denigrate the team’s work to this point, then it’s important to note that the Habs success through 38 games was not a fluke nor an accident. They won games by being great at even strength, and not relying on goaltending to keep their even-strength dominance afloat. That they’ve given up 22 goals since losing Emelin is certainly a concern but I believe his loss is felt more in the domino effect of having to create new pairings, and ask more of older bodies more than the loss of the player himself. Let’s not forget that Emelin was struggling mightily on his own before tearing his ACL. So while the Habs are better with his physicality on the roster than without him, to suggest that this three-game slide is solely due to his absence is ludicrous.

If you’re glass half-full (and there’s no reason not to be), then chalk this up to a team that is going through what every team does at some point during the season. This team needs a break, and then it needs to get some quality practice time in, and in between it needs a players-only meeting to clear the air. While this is not a disaster yet, it hasn’t stopped Habs nation from plunging in to full-blown panic mode before the losing streak has really even heated up. Given the embarrassing the results of the last three games, giving in to panic might feel justified, but things won’t be allowed to fester for much longer. With a game tomorrow night against the saggy Lightning, the down time and the practice will have to wait at least another day.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Weird or What

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Regular season game #42

If Carey Price was solely at fault for Saturday’s embarrassing loss to the Leafs, then he only shares an equal piece of the blame with the six defensemen in front of him tonight.

“But they left Pricey high and dry!”

Yes they did. They were truly awful, top to bottom, but there’s no sane parallel dimension where a goalie gets entirely let off the hook when giving up six goals in two periods, or nine goals in his last 50 minutes of play. Accountability matters. For the first time this season, Therrien has not found the right button after a humiliating loss. So where do they go from here? For one thing, the coaching staff needs to find solutions for what ails the backend. It would be easy to pin this on Emelin’s absence, but the truth is that even he was looking mighty shaky before ripping up his knee.

This is Therrien’s first real bit of turmoil in season that has been one unending rainbow. With just six games left before the real fun begins, he has precious little time to figure it out, and with the rules governing practice time in a compressed schedule, he won’t have many opportunities to iron out the big kink that is currently crippling the team. We may not have noticed during this season of surprise, but the Habs are 7-7 in their last 14 games. Not the way they want to be playing as they head in to the playoffs. Apolgists may want brush this game under the rug along with the Leafs game, but those are two huge dust bunnies under the rug, and they plainly visible even when you try to stomp it flat. Their early season success is propping them up through the stretch, and that’s fine, but they need to start getting their game back in order, pronto.

On a day of tragedy in Boston, it seems trivial to nitpick a game like this, or any game for that matter, so we’ll end it here and hope for better on Wednesday.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

New Equipment, Same Pain

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Regular season game #41

This game was over before it began, and there’s no need to search high and low for the reason. Carey Price was not prepared to start this game. Let’s shelve any talk about unfamiliarity with new equipment; Price chose to wear new equipment in a big game. It is incumbent upon him to make sure that the new gear does not compromise his performance. Whatever the reason, surrendering three goals on four shots is inexcusable considering that two of the three goals were as soft as soft gets.

Just two night after clinching a playoff spot, it would be a little unreasonable to blow a gasket and suggest that Therrien panic by putting the team through a bag skate at his first opportunity. What he does have to do is take a breather on Sunday and spend the day questioning why his team can’t consistently put forth a good effort against the Leafs. If we want to cling to the idea that once the playoffs begin that the slate is wiped clean, that would be convenient. But the fact is now the Canadiens have given the Leafs as much confidence as they’ll need in a potential first round matchup. Should the Habs and Leafs meet in the first round, Montreal has one more chance on April 27th to grab back a measure of confidence.

There’s not a lot of sense in picking apart individual performances tonight, aside from the one that cost the team the game before the first period was halfway over. Once the Habs were behind by three goals, they went for broke in trying to claw their way back, to no avail. More mistakes were made as a result, and the gap only widened after briefly being shrunk to two goals. Lots of guys played terrible games, but under the circumstances none of it mattered much given the situation that Price left them in. With only seven games left before the playoffs begin, Price is running out of time to get his act together. As good as he’s been this season, he has not been great, and no amount of smoke from his exonerators can change that. Fact: three of his last seven starts have been hard to watch.

Everyone and their dead dog knows that a Leafs – Habs first round matchup is a distinct possibility, and although the Habs are a demonstrably better team in nearly every statistical category than the Leafs, it has to be a little bit of a concern that the Habs have laid three eggs of different size and shape in four games against this Toronto team.

We could sweep all of this under the rug and look at what happened the last time the Habs were embarrassed by the Leafs. The Canadiens went on to get points in 11 straight games, and put a stamp on this season. If that were to happen again, we’d all welcome that.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel


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