Tag Archives: Travis Moen


 Powered by Max Banner Ads 

Control Yourself

Posted on by

It’s been days since the beginning of free agency, and yet there’s been no shortage of analysis and second-guessing that is now a summertime tradition. When Marc Bergevin took over from Pierre Gauthier, most Habs fans expected big things. Happy things. Splashy things. He’s the white knight that will not only change the way the Habs operated, he would also just as quickly change the face of the team on the ice. In the brief time since he was hired (known as the honeymoon period) he has already managed to show that his operation will vastly improve internal and external communications. That’s fine for now, but nobody will care about either of those things if the team continues to be a doormat if and when the season starts.

For Canadiens fans, the highlights of this past season were (in no particular order):

  • Jacques Martin being fired
  • Pierre Gauthier being fired
  • Looking forward to the draft
  • Looking forward to July 1st
(Bergevin’s hiring, other hirings, the draft and free agency were all after the season ended, so they don’t count.)

Considering sports are all about what happens on the field of play, these off-ice moves, dates and events strongly indicate the type of season the 2011-12 campaign was for the Habs.

Bergevin’s puzzle is coming together. Yes, there are still holes to be plugged and these holes won’t be easy to fill. That said, Habs fans ought to be cut a certain amount of slack for hoping that Bergevin was going wave his wand and fix everything overnight. From pining for Jagr, to crying about Parenteau, Parise and Semin, fans wanted Bergevin to make a statement. They wanted him to snag brand name players that are easily pictured potting 30 goals. The sad reality is that the previous regime wilfully put the Canadiens in to a very large and muddy ditch with reckless, desperate acquisitions dating back to the 2009 retooling, right through until the Bourque acquisition. The Canadiens restoration project is going to take longer than what one weak free agent class can fix; the fruits from what was reportedly a solid 2012 draft for the Habs are years away from drawing cheers at the Bell Center, but Bergevin has been busy laying the groundwork for the type of identity and character he’d like his team to embody. Travis Moen is back. Added to the fold are Brandon Prust, Colby Armstrong and Francis Bouillon. It doesn’t take a genius to see the common traits. Clearly the Canadiens are going to be a tougher, peskier team to play against, and that in itself should bring a sigh of relief and smile to the faces of Habs fans. How this “truculence”, as Brian Burke would say translates to wins is anyone’s guess as truculence by itself doesn’t score goals. But if it sends the opponents home with some loosened teeth and battered bodies, then the Canadiens are a step ahead of where they were. The Bell Center needs to become more inhospitable, and the on-ice product can use a good dose of asshole. Save the ‘classiness’ for pre-game presentations and the handshake line. It’s time for the Habs to give back what other teams have fed them, and it’s time to bring some smashmouth on the road as well.

Bergevin may be more or less finished shopping in the clammy UFA market, but he still needs to find a top-six winger and top-four defenseman, which will now likely come via trade. Does he have the depth and assets to make such big moves? With a glut of second-round picks in 2013, and a number of prospects ready to turn pro, he has enough to address at least one of those glaring holes. Will he move those assets, or should he move those assets will be questions that we kick around as the off-season drags on. There’s also the non-trivial matter of what should be done with the sad-sack contracts of Gomez, Bourque and Kaberle? Bergevin would have to wave a telephone pole-sized wand to make those 3 disappear, and again, thank the previous regime for saddling the Habs with at least 2 horrid contracts.

As an era with a new look is massing its forces, and drawing up plans, it will be important to remain patient all over again. Building a team that is a perennial contender is not done on July 1st. Everyone wants their team to spend big when the free agency season opens, but from what we’ve seen not just in Montreal, but all over the league is that shopping for big names on July 1st often leaves you in cap hell at some point. Proper building is done through the draft. It’s done through shrewd cap management, clever, timely trades and proper asset management. Bergevin has to find a way to navigate the bad contracts that he inherited, while at the same time getting the team back in to the playoffs immediately, and simultaneously building for the future. That’s a triple-whammy mandate that would challenge any General Manager. Right now, we’re asking Marc Bergevin to win the race aboard the league’s oldest, creakiest vessel with no rudder and tons of dead weight in the cargo hold. All the hot air blown throughout Habs land won’t push his ship over the finish line any faster, so let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt and the time needed to make this team his own.

2011-12 Habs Milestone Tracker

Posted on by

As we bake in the hot summer sun, incubating our collective yearning for the return of the hockey season (note: I’m just fine with summer sticking around a good while longer), there is once again no shortage of milestones within reach for most of the players who will don the bleu, blanc et rouge this season. Some will be absolute lay-ups, some will depend on performance, and most will depend on the ultimate of bugaboos: health.

Let’s get the young players out of the way first, since by simply showing up they’ll reach certain low-hanging fruits:

Carey Price: he who just celebrated his 24th birthday will undoubtedly pick up his 100th win of his young career, as he’s only 2 wins shy of that mark today. He may even have that milestone locked up by the end of the first weekend of action. If Price has a season similar to last year, he’ll also have a decent shot at his 20th career shutout. That puts him about 100 behind Martin Brodeur, who hasn’t retired yet, but who’s counting?

Andrei Kostitsyn: If fans want to continue to talk about “potential” with this lad, I’m going to continue putting him in the younguns group. When you take a look at the milestones that are within AK46′s reach this year (in a Habs jersey or not), you can kinda see where fans are feeling impatient with him. He’ll play his 400th career game as the playoff push reaches its peak, but he’ll almost certainly hit 100 career goals, and 100 career assists (and thus 200 career points) well before that. Doesn’t it feel like he has – or should have – scored 100 career goals already?

P.K. Subban: He’ll play his 100th game as the season creeps past the 1/4 pole, and if he avoids the dreaded “Sophomore Jinx” and turns in a Norris candidate season (yes, I know that’s a bit of a reach), he’ll threaten to break 100 career points. If that happens, General Manager Gauthier better grow some long arms because he’ll have to reach deep in to his pockets to keep Subban happy.

Max Pacioretty: Following near decapitation, it will be interesting to see if the Habs young scorer can pick up where he left off last season. An exceptionally healthy and productive 2011-2012 campaign will see Pacioretty breach 200 career games, while threatening the 50 career goals mark as well as the 100 career points plateau.

David Desharnais, Lars Eller, Ryan White and Yannick Weber will all break the “100 career games” barrier. Significant statistical milestones are still way down the road for these four. Establishing themselves as full-time NHLers remains job #1 for them, and they’ll all undoubtedly reach that status this season.

Alexei Emelin, Raphael Diaz and other assorted young hopefuls and farmhands will crack an NHL roster for the first time this year. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

As for the veterans on the team, the milestones are as beefy as their paychecks.

Perhaps the most significant of all of reachable milestones for this Habs bunch will take place (barring injury of course) on October 20th in Pittsburgh, where he won a Stanley Cup ring. Hal Gill will play his 1000th career game. Not bad for a guy who has been the butt of many, many “slow as molasses” jokes for his entire career. He must be doing something right to have stuck around this long, and 1000 games is a LONG time.

Not far behind is Jaroslav Spacek, his 66th match will be the 900th of his successful career.

If his past two seasons are any indication, then these upcoming milestones may have to wait a while longer. But let’s be positive and believe that the worst is behind for
Andrei Markov, who will have to be remarkably healthy if he wants to play his 700th career game. If he hasn’t lost any of his tremendous skill, then he may also flirt with (but probably not reach) his 100th career goal (he sits at 81). He will, however, probably notch his 300th career assist and 400th career point; he only needs 15 and 34 respectively to reach those benchmarks.

Is this season the last in a Habs uniform for Josh Gorges? I sure as hell hope not. He  just celebrated a birthday (his 27th) and will be entering the prime of his career. For a kid who was signed as an undrafted free agent, Gorges has since gone on to play in 364 NHL games. His 36th game of the upcoming season will be his 400th. Not to shabby at all. If you want to consider 10 career goals for a typical stay-at-home defenseman in the middle of his career as as a milestone, then more power to you, as that’s what Gorges is looking at this season. 10 career goals? Eat your heart out, P.J. Stock.

Mike Cammalleri: the proud new father may have other things on his mind right now, but he has a handful of meaningful milestones on the horizon: His 4th game of the year will be  number 500 for his career. His 23rd goal will be his 200th, while his 16th point will be his 400th.

Brian Gionta: even if the Captain plays in every regular season game, he will fall just shy of playing his 700th career game. Gionta will never be confused with Adam Oates, Craig Janney, and other skilled set up men, but his 5th assist of the season will be the 200th of his career, to go along with his 209 career goals.

Scott Gomez: Spacek won’t be the only member of the team to hit 900 career games played. In what everyone, Gomez especially, hopes is a big bounce-back year, he’s also in line to rack up his 700th career point. He only needs to post 25 points to get there, but let’s hope he can get there sooner than later.

Tomas Plekanec: Mr. Everything for the Habs is quietly racking up some impressive longevity numbers. His 30th game of the year will be his 500th career game played, and his 14th assist will be the 200th of his career. Fun game: will Plekanec pick up 14 assists for 200 before Gionta picks up 5 for 200 on his career?

Erik Cole: the Habs prized off-season acquisition will have to prove that he can be durable for more than one full season if he wants to play in his 700th career game. He currently sits at 620 and will have to play in all but 2 regular season games to reach this milestone. Also within reach for Cole is his 200th career goal (16 goals shy), and his 400th point (10 points shy).

Travis Moen: The ultimate plumber has shown he has staying power, as evidenced by his 522 career games; each one of them played in a punishing, rugged style that takes a toll not only on opponents, but on the player himself. He’s been remarkably healthy during the course of his hard-fought career and if he plays in 78 games, that’ll be good enough to put him up to 600 for his career. His 7th goal of the year, should he get there, will represent his 50th career goal, while his 2nd assist will also put him up to 50 for his career. All told, his 9th point will put him in to triple digits for his career.

Mathieu Darche: The man is all guts and courage, and he’s fought hard to play in each one of his 189 career games spanning 11 years and 5 NHL teams. His 11th game of the year will put him at the 200 games played level; not so impressive for players with “pedigree”, but for this blogger, I can’t think of a sweeter milestone reached for any member of the team this year. He’s well deserving of his new contract, and should have the admiration of all hockey fans.

Peter Budaj: Let’s hope he’s a patient guy. There’s really not a lot for Price’s new backup to look forward to. His 100th loss (currently at 91) and 10th career shutout (currently at 9) are within reach. Let’s just say that if he does hit 100 career losses, his season will be a spectacular failure, or it means that Price gets hurt and Budaj is pressed in to more action than any of us bargained or hoped for.

While the season is still over a month away, and while changes to the roster may still take place, it always helps to stoke the fires of enthusiasm by looking ahead to what the year may hold in store for us and for the Habs. Needless to say, if the majority of the above listed milestones can be hit, the Habs can look forward to a very strong season.

Which milestone do you see as the most important? I look at the potential milestones within reach for Markov, Pacioretty and Cole as important beacons. If those 3 players can remain on the ice, the numbers should follow, and that’s a great omen for fans.

Jacques Martin is at it Again

Posted on by

It certainly didn’t take Jacques Martin long to wake the grump in me up again. Despite posting a happy ‘puppy dogs and ice cream’ entry just the other day, I’m compelled to repeal that positivity and chime in on the Canadiens’ coach latest transgression.

Whether it’s letting the Tampa game slip away by insisting on his passive game, or head scratching line changes, he’s always there to tie one hand behind his team’s back and prevent the best of his charges from shining through.

What’s the problem this time? Besides the fact that he’s still behind the bench? I completely disagree with removing Pouliot from the 2nd line after 3 games.

Before I really get started, let me just preface this article by saying that I’m no fan of Benoit Pouliot. If you read my “If the Habs Were Superheroes” post, you’d know what I mean. I’m highlighting what a piss-poor manager of young talent the Habs head coach is.

So where was I? Right. Demoting a self-conscious, fragile young player after 3 games. What a ludicrous way of handling your team’s youth. Then again, Martin has never been recognized for his adeptness at fostering young talent, so what do I know?

Last season Martin had been accused of hampering Price’s development and confidence by quickly pulling the rug out from under him and inserting Halak with his “win and you’re in” mentality. Anyone subscribing to that line of thought would have no choice but to apply the same logic to what’s happening with Pouliot. Granted, Pouliot has been ineffective since March of last year, but nobody forced Pierre Gauthier to give the kid a new contract, let alone a raise. He could have let him go, and nobody would have blamed him except for those still crying in their pillows over the loss of Latendresse. Armed with a new 1.35M deal for this season, Pouliot’s slate should have been wiped clean by the coaching staff. A 3-game audition on the 2nd line proves nothing and is not a fair chance for him to do much of anything, especially considering that his linemates aren’t exactly burning up the scoring sheet, either. I won’t say that Pouliot has been good (despite the 2 assists and the occasional hit thrown), but he’s not been abyssmal. Some have theorized that the move allows Pouliot to play with less pressure and find his game on the 3rd and 4th lines. What???? The expectation for Pouliot has always been to produce. How’s he going to do that playing scant minutes with guys who wouldn’t know a goal celebration if they watched highlight reels for the next 3 years.

Besides, what’s the point of replacing Pouliot on the 2nd line if you’re not going to replace him with somebody that possesses a similar skill set? Any team’s second line is considered a scoring line, and when nearly 13 million in cap space is tied up in two other players, you better believe that the top priority is to put points on the board!

So what does Martin do? He tries Travis Moen on the line for a couple nights. We all love Moen for his honest, hardworking game, but for goodness sake, he’s not a late-blooming John LeClair! Nor is Tom Pyatt, for all his determination, a legit threat to consistently get points on the board. And guess what happened as a result of the tinkering? Nothing happened, that’s what. The only result is that Pouliot’s confidence sinks lower still, haunted by the fact that if he isn’t lighting the lamp, he’s toast. That’s no way to coax the best out of an already fragile youngster.

So if the end result is no offense, why not leave Pouliot there for an extended time? The worst that can happen is that no offense is produced, same as if Moen or Pyatt occupies the left wing slot on the second line. By leaving Pouliot there, and telling him that he’s going to stay there for a good while, he gets time to find the same groove that saw him score at a torrid pace before being hurt last year, or proves once and for all that he cannot deliver. And if it turns out to be the latter, then you do what you have to do. But 3 games in? All this does is build in another excuse as to why Pouliot couldn’t cut it. Remove the escape routes. Put him in a position to succeed and leave him there. This early season line juggling is utterly laughable from Jacques Martin. I know that the line between playoffs and 9th place is literally as thin as it can get. A line that isn’t producing now may cost the team in April, so it’s critical to optimize production through 82 games. All that said, the line juggling wouldn’t be so bad if he would just make the logical move and replace Pouliot with Lars Eller, who has shown some offensive flair that Moen and Pyatt will never have.

But I guess I should stop expecting decisions that make sense from the Habs’ head coach. On the other hand, he does keep this blog going, so I guess I can’t complain too much.


 Powered by Max Banner Ads