SB Nation - Montreal Canadiens

Price / Halak - The Stats - November 2009

Chris Boyle — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:13:39 -0000

What a difference a month makes.

Thirty days ago the Canadiens were in the middle of a goaltending controversy. Jaroslav Halak's agent was NITWITTERING Carey Price's won/loss record, the fanbase had placed the bus in reverse and were attempting to leave a fresh set of treadmarks on Price's back and the Canadiens were plodding through their schedule at .500.

Outside of the Canadiens still flirting with the .500 mark, the attitude regarding the goaltending situation has changed dramatically. Since this article is a retrospective on November, it is heavily weighted towards Price. Halak's one start didn't offer enough of a sample to legitimately track his monthly progress. What began as an even split in October, turned into a clear separation as Price started 11 of 12 games in November, almost rendering the title of this article, and its point, moot for at least the time being. A solid performance by Halak in Ottawa suggest that the busy month of December may tell a different story.

Surprised by the turn this has taken, maybe you shouldn't be. This has been typical of the story that Price has written over the first two and a half seasons of his career. Somehow, instead of the fanbase observing the roller coaster ride from afar, recognizing that as the roller coaster descends, a peak exists for it to climb, they jump on the roller coaster eyes closed screaming for dear life on its mad descents only to extol the virtues of the ride when they disembark.

Should Price struggle in February again, it is likely that the fresh imagery that exists in everybody's minds right now will once again dissipate in a mad panic

Panic in Montreal is generally followed by the rewriting OR ignoring of history. Even with Price's strong November this controversy is not over, it will continue to bubble just below the surface. Should Price struggle in January, the detractors who are silent right now will re-emerge with the same arguments, their memories will once again be wiped clean. While the starting goaltender in Montreal is one of the most heavily scrutinized positions in sports, the easiest may be the backup goaltender in Montreal. The backup's flaws are always concealed under the their baseball caps, their past transgressions completely ignored. This will never change.

At Eyes On The Prize, we continue try to look past the surface level blame and analyze what is really going on. This month we will compare Price's performance in November to October and also look back and try to clarify the factors that contribute to a team based stat like a win / loss record and how it relates to Price and Halak.

One of the main arguments against Price in October was his inability to win games. With Halak sporting a 5-2 record and Price at 2-5, the most simplistic argument was "Price doesn't make the big saves when he needs to" and "Halak wins games". That argument ignored plenty of factors, most importantly that wins are a team based stat.

While perusing the internet I came across an interesting perspective at Brodeur is a Fraud. While trying to debunk the myth of Brodeur's career, he came up with an interesting statistic that he refers to as Win Threshold. It essentially projects out what a goaltender would have had to do to earn a point (.500) by including the teams performance in front of him. In a 3-1 victory, the assumption would be that to earn a point the goaltender would have to allow no more than 3 goals. Inversely, in a 3-1 loss the goaltender would need to have allowed no more than 1 goal.

We can calculate what I'll call the "win threshold" for the goalies on each team by taking (shots against - goals for) / shots against. This gives us the save percentage that would result in the team ending up with an equal number of goals for and goals against over the course of the season. If the goalie's save percentage is above that number, the team is likely to win more than the lose, while anything below the threshold means that the team should end up sub -.500 (or sub -.550 in the shootout era).

This simple statistic beautifully illustrates the career of Chris Osgood AND his playoff run that allowed the media to begin the "Chris Osgood is a Hall of Famer" nonsense.

In 2008-09, Detroit's win threshold was .873, which was the lowest in the league. The Islanders' win threshold was .928, which was not only the highest mark in the league but also the highest of any team since the lockout......Naturally, comparing win totals on goalies playing on the Islanders to goalies playing on the Red Wings is completely senseless.

Using this as a starting point, I compared how this statistic affected goalies on the same team. Was the Canadiens offense responsible for Halak's inflated win total, or was it his superior goaltending? What would Price have had to do to compensate for the woeful offense in front of him? Was it that Halak was receiving an easier ride?

(Let me preface this by stating that this is judging wins and wins alone. If a goaltender was fantastic and had a .960 SV%, but only needed to produce a .895 SV%, it is not devaluing his performance, only stating that his margin for error was very high. I also understand that early saves can keep a team in a period. Teams play to the score and loosen up when they are up big and that some goals are scored late in a game and alter the margin for the threshold. It is obvious that providing replacement value will never replicate the actual performance that history has provided. This theory is being used only to illustrate that wins are a team statistic and that they are heavily influenced by not only what you save, but what offense your team provides).

To put this in perspective, the league average in save percentage is .910.

In order for Price to gain the majority of his wins, he has had to offer above average goaltending.
His margin for error was slim and when he failed to balance on the high wire, he was open to criticism.
A .915 save percentage is currently good to place 20th in the league.

Halak on the other hand was allowed to navigate with a greater margin of error. He only needed to offer a save percentage of .865 to register his 5 victories. Vesa Toskala's save percentage on the season is .863. So any goaltender slightly more competent than Toskala MAY have registered a similar number of victories as Halak.

Both goaltenders would have had to provide Hall of Fame type performances to avoid the majority of their losses.

How would those statistics translate if you offered up average replacement value? If Jimmy Howard and his .910 SV% replaced Price and Halak, the Canadiens would be in deep trouble. The Canadiens would likely be in the hunt for Taylor Hall, not talking about the importance of their December schedule.

Looking at Price's losses below, it is unlikely that an average goaltender makes any impact on his losses, hell, it's unlikely that Roberto Luongo would have made much of a difference.

Price's threshold in his 11 losses is a SV% of 0.944 and a GAA of 1.69. Numbers that would place him above Ryan Miller as the number one goaltender in the league. Six of those starts would have required a .940+ SV% just to procure a shootout. If the team continues to struggle offensively to this capacity, then it is going to require Jose Theodore 2002 MVP type performances to drag them into the playoffs. With Price and Halak entering their RFA season, THAT is a scary and expensive thought.

You would think with Halak's lack of activity in November, that his stat line would remain unchanged, but with only an 8 game sample, one strong start against the Flames resulted in an 11 point improvement on his save percentage and lopping 1/5th of a goal off his goals against average. In October, Price statistically lagged behind in all the major categories, but with a strong month has lessened the paper gap between himself and Halak. I made the argument in October that Price had a higher ceiling, but was prone to wild swings of inconsistency and the 2009 season has proven that out so far.

Through two months, what has been proven, is that the Canadiens goaltending is in good hands. With the transition of turning over half the team, and the numerous injuries to key personnel, the fact the team came through November at .500 is miraculous. At this moment, Halak's consistency offers the perfect compliment to Price, but due to the idiotic actions of his agent (Halak, Halak it a lot?), it is clear that Halak is eyeing a starting assignment, and will not likely find that in Montreal. You may be reading "Price / Sanford: the numbers" by ~~March~~ December. (note: as I am writing this, Sportsnet has reported that Halak has been placed on the trading block).

The fact that I can even mention a 2002 Theodore-like season is based on the strong November showing by Price. Playing behind an injury ravaged defense that produced roughly the same amount of shots as the previous month, from roughly the same areas, Price's numbers improved across the board. Price also managed to avoid a major meltdown like the Vancouver game, as well as producing a couple of 40+ shot gems against the Bruins and Predators.

With Halak pushing Price for the starting job in October, by all accounts Price responded to the challenge with hard work, which resulted in plenty of positive signs over the last month. With hard work Price's confidence level soared and his return to a hybrid style has allowed his athleticism to re-surface, because of this, Price managed to produce some miraculous saves during November. His patience has also been on display, particularly in shootouts and breakaways where once again he is using his huge frame to his advantage and refusing to commit before the shooter. With his gap control improving, he has been extremely hard to beat in 1 on 1 situations. This is a huge improvement on the tentative approach he used in late 2008-09. Add in his aggressive puck handling and his tenacity in battling to track the puck and the hope in Montreal is that Price has begun turning the corner.

Price's save percentage's also improved in almost every category in November, with his biggest improvement coming in shorthanded situations where his save percentage improved by over .200. His woefully low special teams percentage in October masked the fact that he was producing an elite level even strength percentage. With an improvement to mediocre powerplay standards, Price's statistics all experienced a significant jump across the board.

The question remains, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Did the Canadiens penalty kill improve in November because of Price, or did Price's numbers improve because of the penalty kill? Halak did not suffer the same special teams meltdown. Could that have had anything to do with the power of the opposition, or his own play?

With so many new faces and the loss of Markov, it is no surprise that the PK got off to a slow start. With the return of O'Byrne and Gill and the emergence of White and Pyatt, the October implosion by Price should be avoidable moving forward.

Interesting to note if Price had managed to produce an .878 powerplay SV% in October, his overall SV% would have improved from .889 to .920.

Price and Halak continue to get bombarded by shots and the Canadiens have once again regressed into becoming over reliant on goaltending to win hockey games. With the early season injury to the Canadiens best player (Markov in 2010, Koivu in 2002) and the continual 30+ shot barrages, this season is becoming eerily reminiscent of the 2002 season when Theodore needed to provide the difference every night.

With Price's numbers improving in November, the assumption would be that the Canadiens settled down and began to limit shots and scoring opportunities. The Canadiens actually surrendered an extra two shot attempts per game. Price still is averaging over a shot attempt against per minute on the ice, a trend that will either lead to a statistical regression or an MVP award.

In 8 of his 11 starts in November, Price faced 30+ shots, including a team record tying 53 saves against the Predators and a 42 save gem that was seconds short of his 1st shutout of the season. Only once in his 11 games did he have less than 50 shots directed at him. Price continued to excel on shots outside of 20+ feet as he only allowed 7 of 257 shots to beat him. His SV% below 20' feet drastically improved and is pushing towards the league average.

Price offered up plenty of spectacular saves in November, but also had some concentration lapses that resulted in some questionable goals, something that had been absent from his game in October (only 5 of 25 came in as questionable, with zero registering at fault). Although his statistics drastically improved over the month of November, with the Canadiens lack of scoring ability (25th in the NHL) and his unbelievably tough win threshold (see above), his margin for error was slim. This can be witnessed by his 0-4 record in the 4 games I credited a bad goal. In two of the games (Detroit and Atlanta) the margin of victory was one goal, the other two (Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh) were decided by two goals. As he matures, these goals should occur less frequently allowing him to become even more of a game changing player. He isn't yet ready to carry a team, but it seems the Canadiens have given him little to no choice in the matter presently.

Looking at the zones where Price has given up goals, his glove hand continues to be much maligned even though he has only been beaten high glove side 11 times through November (11/53). The reason for the questions lies in the amount of bad goals high glove side. Out of the 12 goals categorized as suspect or bad, 6 have been high glove side, making it much easier to understand AND defend the criticism.

Looking at his November chart also gives the impression that he is very vulnerable low stick side, but looking at the video below shows that a lot of those goals came as the result of cross ice passes in which Price was not able to square up and were the result of him in transition. A small concern for me through two months has been his vulnerability through the 5-hole, an area he has not been able to cover with his stick either in transition or static and squared up.

Goals deemed questionable or bad are marked in bold.

26. Rich Peverley feeds it in front and it deflects off Bryan Little by a moving Price beating him 5-hole. 10 ft.
27. Pass from behind the net to a wide open Peverley in the slot, snaps a shot by Price low-stick side. 14 ft
28. Point shot by Mark Popovic that knuckles by Carey Price beating him high glove side. 59 ft.
29. 5 on 4 PP. Cross crease feed to a wide-open Pavel Kubina who directs it pass Price into an empty net. 5 ft.
30. Kane cross crease pass to a wide open Colby Armstrong who beats Price low stick side. 8 ft.
31. 6 on 5. Point shot. Price makes the initial stop, Patrice Bergeron rebound beats Price low-stick side. 5 ft.
32. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble. Price makes 2 saves but cannot stop Ryan Malone as he beats him five-hole. 11 ft.
33. Price, big rebound and Alex Tanguay alone, chips it over Price beating him high glove side. 14 ft.
34. 2 on 1. Scramble. Wright beats Gorges to the puck and slides it into an empty net. 6 ft.
35. Price highsticked in the throat by Mara falls down leaving an open net. Robert Lang puts it top shelf. 15 ft.
36. Point shot wide deflects into an open net off Bissonnette's skate beating Price low glove side. 12 ft.
37. Price makes initial save, Steve Sullivan all alone finishes off his rebound beating Price 5-hole. 7 ft
38. 5 on 3 PP. Point shot stopped, Sullivan at the side of the net beats Price low stick side. 14 ft.
39. Odd man rush, cross ice feed to the slot. Brandon Sutter chips it over Price, high glove side. 14 ft.
40. 3 one 2, cross ice feed one timed by Jussi Jokinen beats Price low glove side. 32 ft.
41. Eric Fehr snaps a shot from the face-off dot beating Price high-glove side. 25 ft.
42. Morrison takes a pass in front and moves opposite to Price's momentum beating him low glove side. 6 ft.
43. 5 on 4 PP. Brad Stuart point shot handcuffs Price and trickles in. 55 ft.
44. 5 on 3 PP. Brian Rafalski point pass tipped home by Pavel Datsyuk at the side of the net. 12 ft.                         45. Nash behind the net finds Vermette who one-times it past Price beating him high blocker side. 11 ft.
46. 5 on 4 PP. Rick Nash centers it, Stralman cheating off the point beats Price low blocker side. 24 ft.
47. 5 on 4 PP. Antoine Vermette's shot stopped, rebound back to him, beats Price low blocker side. 20 ft.
48. Sidney Crosby snap shot from the top of the faceoff circle beating Price high glove side. 38 ft.
49. Bill Guerin from the corner. Price makes initial save, doesn't hold the post as he beats him 5-hole. 8 ft.
50. Crosby with a beautiful pass to a streaking Sergei Gonchar who beats Price 5-hole all alone. 8 ft.
51. Point shot deflected in front by Brooks Laich beats Price low blocker side. 18 ft.
52. Alex Ovechkin one timer from the top of the faceoff circle beats Price low blocker side. 38 ft.
53. 6 on 4 PP. Price stops a one-timer by Ovechkin, Fehr slides home the rebound beating Price 5-hole. 10 ft.

The November verdict: You have to be encouraged by the performance of Price and Halak through November and the improved penalty kill is a positive sign and a factor in Price's improved numbers. The volume of shots and scoring opportunities remain a major concern. In October I preached patience because of the integration of 10-12 players and the introduction of a new system. With injuries creating a revolving door of players it is likely that this team has still not properly gelled. The Canadiens have fallen into a pattern of struggling to produce offense and relying on Price and Halak to bail them out, and this is a dangerous game to play with developing goaltenders. They have been able to provide some fantastic results through November, but if this continues they will struggle to make the playoffs. To provide room for improvement moving forward, the goaltenders get a B+ for November.

To view the October Price / Halak analysis, click here.

Snapping the trap: Pens outwork Habs and win 3-2

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:07:55 -0000

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

about 16 hours ago: Pittsburgh Penguins' Sergei Gonchar, center, celebrates after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens with teammates Sidney Crosby, right, and Pascal Dupuis during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Browse more photos »

Penguins vs Canadiens coverage - Habs Eyes On The Prize

The Montreal Canadiens seemed content to let the Penguins fire shots off from all angles. The Pens put a barrage of 41 shots on Carey Price, whereas the Habs only got 21 pieces of rubber on Marc-Andre Fleury. Puck possession was another story. Pittsburgh cycled circles in the Montreal zone, a relentless attack that generated a lot of pressure. This can be partially illustrated in the total shots launched. The Penguins attempted 80 shots on goal (39 either got blocked or missed the target), compared to Montreal's total of just 46. When you have the puck in the zone, you work it and you try to shoot. That the Pens did this at almost a 2-1 rate shows the dominance.

Scoring was opened in the first period when, off of a cycling effort (told ya it was key), Bill Guerin flipped a beautiful cross-ice pass to Sergei Gonchar, who was pinching down as Penguin defensemen did all night long. Gonchar drilled it by a helpless Price.

Matt D'Agostini would get the equalizer in the second when he snapped a shot by Fleury. Less than three minutes later, the Habs would take an unlikely 2-1 lead when Roman Hamrlik unleashed a monster shot from afar on a screened Fleury. The goal was scored on a power-play, which is something that the Penguins apparently don't remember that you're allowed to score on those.

Before the period was over the Pens would tie it up, Matt Cooke deflected a Gonchar shot in to tie things up. Then, we see that when you go to the well enough, good things happen. Brooks Orpik threw an awesome stretch pass all the way up the ice for Pascal Dupuis. Dupuis ripped one of his patented slappers, and while Price got 38 of 41, he couldn't get that one.

Montreal would get another goal, if not for another quick whistle that negated a goal. Again, similiar to a situation last week against Colorado, an out of position referee thought Fleury had the puck and blew the whistle. This time it wasn't such a quick whistle, as the puck was tied up (though certaintly not covered) for a little bit which gave the ref reason to blow it dead.

Sergei Gonchar had himself a night: one goal, one assist, six shots hurled at net on a team high of 25:26 of ice-time. A well deserved first star of the night.
Power-play woes continue to dog the Pens. 0 for 5 tonight in another fruitless effort. Sometimes getting things set up is the problem, sometimes not. Sometimes inactivity seems to hurt, sometimes not. Often though, they're just not executing, as perplexing as it seems for a unit that boasts as much talent as they have.
Brooks Orpik had a great night too; not enough can be said about the stretch pass he made to Dupuis on the game winner. He also ended up being a +3 on the night, which is a pretty good sign in a 3-2 game.
The Habs tried to clog up the neutral zone the best they could, often times with only one half-hearted forechecker and four guys holding their real estate. It didn't seem to bother the Penguins, who had no problems dumping, chasing and doing some dirty work down low. It shows in the numbers when you see Tyler Kennedy (5 shots, 1 hit), Ruslan Fedotenko (4 shots, 1 hit), Matt Cooke (1 goal, 2 shots, 3 hits), Craig Adams (2 shots, 4 hits). The pluggers plugged away.
Carey Price was almost the story of the game. He didn't have many idle moments when the Pens weren't pressing him. But his shaky glove hand betrayed him at the end.

So that's the game and another win on the road. The Habs and their fans were smarting over the quick whistle negating a goal, but the fact of the matter is they got out-worked and out-chanced all night and didn't really deserve to win the game.

Up next may be the ultimate trap game. Consider: The Pens embark on a home-and-home against their rivals the Flyers next week, but first they'll be playing in their blue jerseys against a feisty opponent that relishes playing against them in the Florida Panthers. Hopefully they bring the same effort they showed tonight in Montreal, they'll need it.

Up next: Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and the Montreal Canadiens

FrankD — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:19 -0000

[SBN Montreal Canadiens blog - Habs Eyes on the Prize]

The Penguins will look to bounce back from Monday's loss to the Hurricanes with a win tonight over Montreal. So far this season the Pens have a 2-0 series lead over the Habs, allowing only one goal in each of those meetings. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have each started in net against Pittsburgh this season but have yet to really stop Sid and Co. Pittsburgh is out-scoring Montreal 9-2 over two, the first of which brought Sidney Crosby a hat trick on October 28.

As of late it would seem the Canadiens are finding their stride. Winners in three straight, both Price and Halak continue to split duties between the pipes and have since started making some headway into the Top 8 in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday night the Habs skated out of Ottawa with a 4-1 win thanks to goals from Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Andrei Kostitsyn. Halak tallied the win, putting him at 6-4 for the season but just 2-3 in his last five.

Who will the Pens go up against tonight? Hard to say. In the first meeting Halak didn't last very long, giving up four goals in two periods before replaced by Price who let in an additional two. In the last game on November 25, Price started (and finished!) the game, but allowed three goals on 30 shots. If I had to guess I'd say Price gets the nod tonight.

Other guys you want to keep an eye on: Tomas Plekanec (6g, 25a), Mike Cammalleri (17g, 10a) and Scott Gomez (4g, 11a). Brian Gionta remains out of the Montreal lineup since breaking a bone in his foot about a month ago.

Puck and thread drop at 7:30.

Experiencing A Canadiens' Win In Ottawa's (Not So) Rival Rink

Robert L — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:52:53 -0000

It's was early Wednesday morning as I began this, a snowstorm between Ottawa and Montreal, a total whiteout, and it has kept me home from my real world job, which today would have seen me venture back up to the capital city, dropping off Oldtimers Hockey Challenge tickets from Orleans to Kanata.

Thank goodness for snow days, eh?

Well not really, as the weather has provided me with more snow to shovel than I want to deal with. Bur ironically, and coincidentally, today's weather has provided me an easy lead-in to story threads from the Habs game last night and my experiences seeing the Canadiens on the road for the first time in my life.

The Canadiens third straight victory, five days into the beginning of their second century, featured a storm of sorts, in that a barrage of shots were fielded by surprise starter Jaroslav Halak, the game's well deserved first star.

The whiteout alludes to Habs' forward Ryan White, called up from Hamilton earlier in the day, only to play four shifts last night, before somehow being declared ineligible for the game, something to do with the Canadiens failing to declare the callup with NHL sources.

With the Habs playing well of late, with back to back wins against the Bruins and Flyers no less, I was real anxious to experience seeing them in Ottawa, where a great multitude of Canadiens fans reside. I've watched Montreal at the ~~Civic Center~~ ~~Palladium~~ ~~Corel Center~~ Scotiabank Place before and seen their fans turn out in droves, but actually being there among them, as I've found out, is a whole other reality.

I won't suggest that the Habs' fans outnumber, or are louder than their Senators fan counterparts, but it is a pretty evenly split room. Together the two sides help bring up the ante and charge up the tempo. From the cheapseats, it's a lively atmosphere, to put it lightly.

Sitting next to a Sens' fan that looked like Ken Hitchcock after dropping 200 pounds, I got on his good side really early by mocking the Senators division title banners just before the drop of the puck. During the game, I further endeared myself to him, all in good fun of course, by pointing out the mass of empty seats in the building and noting everytime a Senators shot was blocked but still registered on the clock count.

His subtle shots directed back to me were almost whispered comments to his friend and they included calling out every Habs player fall as a dive, saying "We're totally dominating" about a dozen times, and suggesting goalie Jaroslav Halak looked nervous while completely stoning Ottawa all game long.

Among the Canadiens fans scattered in Section 323 were a group of Habs Inside Out loyalists along for a mini Habs Fan Summit. Dave Finn (Punkster) was seated next to me. A converted Leafs' fan, Dave is an asute observer of the game, and he spent the evening pointing out all kinds of subtle and interesting game notes to me. It was a pleasure spending time with him.

A few seats away were Chuck Lewis and his girl and Adam Mills (subdoxastic), who's been a commenter at EOTP for a long while now. Other HIOers within reach were Paul Dube (who did a fine job organizing the trip and bringing everyone together), Ian Cobb (who's done the same for two Montreal fan summits now), Dave (DD) Reid, Nate Boisvenue (Natrous) and his brother. Pretty much the entire group had a Sens fans seated next to them.

One good laugh I had was watching Ian, donning his now traditional 1945-46 classic home white jersey, attempting to convince the Senator fans next to him to come over to the Canadiens' side.

The coolest part of being mixed in with the Ottawa fans was leaning over them three times as we'd all high five each other when the Habs scored. We would have had to a fourth time, but by then, all the Sens fans had left to beat the 417 rush home.

One treat of a fan was this guy a couple of rows down from me. Wearing a Marian Hossa jersey, he literally castigated Kovalev at every opportunity. He was in absolute angst each time Kovy hit the ice, yelling "Do something, lazy ass!" and a bunch other obscenities. Kovalev was roundly booed on the evening, a composite hounding from both sides as he floated through the game. I noted to Dave that most of the game, I wasn't even aware he was on the ice.

Overall, the sense I got from Senator supporters is that they are an inhibited bunch among the Habs throng. The "Ole, Ole" chant was omnipresent, from the busride in, to the corridors and throughout the game, and to the tunneling out post game back to the bus.

I was standing in a lineup between the second and third and overheard a snippet of conversation involving a guy with a Carey Price jersey and a man in unidentified colours.

"Who are you going for?" he was asked. "Nevermind," he wilted.

The guy in the Price jersey turned to him friend and they simultaneously nodded "Sens fan!"

One thing I found particularly lame, was when the Canadiens scored, the public address practically mumbled the details as if to neuter the cheering. It caught me off guard, it was so minor league. I was all pumped to scream my head off, and that monotone drone just threw me for a loop.

Late in the contest, when the attendance was announced at eighteen thousand and something, I had to cry "bullshit." The bozos next to me tried to get my ire by mockingly counting the empty seats. My retort was a simple "Wonder how empty this place looks when it's not the Habs playing?"

Scotiabank Place is indeed an old time hockey experience. The musical selections between drops of the puck keep on entertained and amused. For one stoppage we got 30 seconds of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", and for the next we got some cheesy farfisa pump organ playing the "Charge" interlude. You can't help picture a Monty Python skit while listening.

As for the game itself, the Canadiens, backed by a standout performance from Halak, put in a pretty solid road game. The shot margin was high, especially after losing defenseman Jaroslav Spacek at the end of the first. From high up you could see that the Senators were firing from all angles but rarely piercing the perimeter.

The Canadiens made the most of their chances. Mike Cammalleri's goal was a beaut! On the two on one, Tomas Plekanec put a fake on the Sens defender that was a true marvel. The blueliner's stick was properly placed between Plekanec and his winger until a shot was faked and a slip pass made. As the Ottawa rearguard moved his stick to deflect, the pass went the other way. All the streaking Cammalleri had to do was redirect it into the open cage.

Sitting high offers a view in which you can truly appreciate the hardest working players and spot the floaters with ease. The most notable things I took in were how aware Roman Hamrlik is of his surroundings when not in possesion of the puck. You can really begin to understand why there are so few mistakes made from his corner when he does come in contact with the puck or opposing players.

On the Ottawa side, it's clear that Kovalev's teammates haven't a clue what he's about yet. He spent the night eluding any kind of close check, skating arcs and circles outside the perimeter of play. When oportunity arose, he'd streak towards the net from the far board, but linemates weren't looking for him. It gives the impression that he's floating, but that type of evasiveness has always been part of his game. He'd didn't accomplish very much on the night.

I never had much good to say about Jason Spezza and this game didn't change that. As the Senators fell behind, you'd think the team's most talented center would be leading the charge, but I caught Spezza waiting at the Habs blueline for a pass at least four times - in the third period alone.

Another noticable feature of the rink at Scotiabank Place was that the dasher boards are dead. The puck isn't given much bounce when fired off them, which tends to favor a Senators forecheck. The backs of Canadiens defensemen were constantly offered as targets to onrushing Sens forwards. Curiously, Halak rarely got back quick enough to stop the wraparound shoot ins Ottawa employment to break into the zone.

Much credit for the win went to first star Halak, but the work of the penalty killing unit was without fault on seven occasions. A player who is rapidly changing my opinion of him is Hal Gill, who was a tower of strength with a man down. Gill's long stick is always perfectly placed, and after he had broken up a good half dozen plays, the Senators forwards began working away from him as he had completely neutralized any cross ice passed from his side of the rink.

There was about five minutes to go in the game when fans started for the gate. I couldn't believe my eyes that people were hitting the exit in a one goal game. The moment the Kostitsyn goal was scored, it was as if the finger was removed from the hole in the dam and a deluge ensued. By the time of Scott Gomez' empty netter, the rink was half empty, nothing left but the Habs' faithful.

That final scene - about 9,000 Habs fans cheering in a rival rink - is my lasting image of this game. I'd head back to Ottawa and do this all over again in a nanosecond.

If anyone is thinking of heading to Ottawa for the December 28 game, there were all kinds of seats available. If you have a hunch of going, do so. I was seated at the 300 level near the blueline, and the sightlines for the whole rink are great.

Kudos to Paul Dube for organizing this fun get together. If you should ever take in a game in the capital, do as Paul did and get everyone together at Local Heroes on St. Laurent Blvd. From there, they have nightly round bus trips to Scotiabank and back for only five bucks.

Sawchuk

Bruce McCurdy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

Terry Sawchuk as he appeared in the March 4, 1966 issue of Life magazine. In a horrifying prequel to Gerry Cheevers' famous "scar mask", the real life scars accumulated by Sawchuk over twelve NHL seasons before he donned facial protection in 1962, were touched up by a make-up artist to make it appear that all had occurred within a single ugly season. The brooding eyes, however, are all Sawchuk.

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Six attackers, frantic to even the score,
the rink tips, bodies piling onto me. Ferguson
hacks my bad elbow, his look says, Here’s bone for your jar.
Hooks my feet from under me, lands on my legs. I punch
at the back of his head and get this whiff of hair cream.
All of this in silence. Nothing personal,
though there may be memories
"Next Time" by Randall Maggs,
from Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems (Brick Books, 2008)

It's probably yet another sign of my advancing years, but when a major record gets tied or broken I always like to reflect on the guy who set the existing standard. In a perfect world the heroes past and present meet at centre ice to congratulate each other, as Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe did in Northlands Coliseum when the Great One smashed Mister Hockey's career points record 20 years ago this fall.

Alas, Terry Sawchuk lived in an imperfect world, and he died in it, two years before the man who would break his most famous record was even born. Today, as Martin Brodeur shares the record that Sawchuk had held alone for almost 46 years, let's reflect on the man who first reached the staggering total of 103 career shutouts. Brodeur will have other days in the limelight; Sawchuk likely won't.

The NHL was half of its current age in the 1963-64 season when Sawchuk surpassed the previous standard, the 94 clean sheets of the great depression-era goalie George Hainsworth. That winter I was a much tinier fraction of my current age, taking in my first full NHL season, and Hockey Night in Canada was appointment viewing, no matter whether my Maple Leafs or the hated Canadiens were playing. My allegiances to American teams and players flipped like a switch depending on which Canadian team they were playing. It so happened that the record-setting game occurred on a Saturday night in the Montreal Forum, so I was unabashedly rooting for Terry Sawchuk when it happened...

Sawchuk loved to torment the Habs, the team he beat in the Finals for all four of his Stanley Cups. Earlier that season he had equalled the mark of Hainsworth, a former Canadien, in a memorable game against Montreal in the Detroit Olympia. Sawchuk made 39 saves in a 3-0 shutout, but played second fiddle to Gordie Howe, whose shorthanded marker in the second period was the 545th of his legendary career, eclipsing the career record of the most famous Canadien of all, Rocket Richard.

Sawchuk and Hainsworth poised together atop the leader board for ten long weeks as Sawchuk battled physical problems and Detroit's latest netminding phenom, Roger Crozier, posted a couple of shutouts in various cameos. On Sat. Dec. 28, 1963, in a televised game at the Forum, Sawchuk nursed a 1-0 lead into the last three minutes before Bobby Rousseau scored a late powerplay goal to earn a 1-1 tie and disappoint us Hab-haters yet again. I remember being upset with the ref who called the late penalty on Detroit rearguard Marcel Pronovost, as well as at the Hab-lovin' host, the odious Frank Selke Jr., who had applied the jinx by constantly mentioning the "SO" word in the game's late stages. Whatever, the record would have to wait.

Well I figured that was it for my chance to see an important record, and like Howe's goal it would probably happen stateside in some game I would hear about on the radio the next morning. Well wouldn't you know it would be just three weeks later that the Wings again visited the Forum to take on the first-place Habs in another nationally-televised game. The record was still on the line, as Selke Jr. reminded us a little more circumspectly this time, and Sawchuk was not to be denied. He was in command throughout and again kept that big 0 on the board into the late stages. A last-minute penalty, again to Pronovost, caused a few anxious moments but ultimately the masked marvel was unbeatable against 36 Montreal shots and had a 2-0 shutout to prove it. A budding young goalkeeper myself, I thrilled to see my first major record set by a custodian of the cord cottage.

At the time I knew about the "how many" -- 95 -- but had little idea about the "how". How Terry Sawchuk was born in the dead of winter in Winnipeg, two months into the Great Depression. How he had lost both of his older brothers to premature deaths in childhood. How he had suffered in silence a serious elbow injury whose improper healing resulted in his right (stick) arm being two inches shorter than his glove side. How he had gone to work in a foundry at 14. How he had been rookie of the year in two minor professional leagues, convincing "Trader Jack" Adams to make room for the young phenom by trading away Harry Lumley, a future Hall of Famer and current Stanley Cup champion. How he won a third rookie award, the Calder Trophy, in his first year with the Red Wings in 1950-51. How Adams had insisted Sawchuk lose 40 pounds after that rookie season, a process that saw the previously-affable young man become sullen and remote. How he had taken the league by storm in his first five seasons, leading the NHL in Wins each year, posting a rock-steady GAA between 1.90 and 1.99 along with 9-12 shutouts in each of those seasons. How the Wings had finished in first place each of those seasons and won three Stanley Cups. How his face, and his back, had taken a cruel beating due to his unique "gorilla crouch" and his unflinching desire to stop every puck. How he had been cast aside at the caprice of Jack Adams in a blockbuster trade/salary dump in the summer of 1955, another Hall of Famer and current Stanley Cup champion traded for "magic beans" to lowly Boston to make room for yet another young phenom, Glenn Hall (who had himself won a "league-cup double" with Detroit's top farm club, the Edmonton Flyers). How this betrayal had embittered him, leading to a nervous breakdown and drinking problems that persisted for the rest of his life. How Adams had traded yet another phenom and Flyers star, forward Johnny Bucyk, to Boston to recover Sawchuk for a second term with the Wings. How both the team and its star goalie had faded from dominant to merely very good as first Montreal, then Toronto ruled the roost. How he played with pain in the one-goalie era and how he struggled with injury, including three operations on his right elbow, an appendectomy, a broken instep, a collapsed lung, ruptured discs in his back, severed tendons in his hand, and countless facial injuries resulting in an estimated 400-600 stitches. How the shutout rate had slowed from a double-digit torrent to a merely respectable stream of 3-5 per season, but how year after year the total continued to mount into Hainsworth territory. How Sawchuk burned with the shame of being traded, of being merely one of the best goalies in the league, of the losing that inevitably ended every season. How Terry Sawchuk drank, and how he raged.

By 1963-64 the face was covered but no mask could hide those blazing eyes. That season would be his last in Detroit, as he guided his team within a fluke Bob Baun goal of a surprise Cup but didn't win it. Not that that would have saved him given the club's history. That fall Sawchuk wound up with "my" Leafs in Toronto, where he formed half of a venerable tandem that included the ageless Johnny Bower. For the next three seasons I watched both men as intently as is possible for a young wannabe goaltender to do. All on TV, unfortunately; to my regret I never did see Terry Sawchuk live. But I got an eyeful over the airwaves.

Terry Sawchuk was a "gamer". His work habits were so poor that teammate Dave Keon described his practice net as being so full of pucks it looked like a coal bin. He didn't care, unless and until practice ended with a shootout with money on the line. But come game time he battled with everything he had, bringing a nasty edge that might go off at any time on an opponent, a referee, a fan. The closest modern goalie to him in my opinion is Ed Belfour.

In his first year in Toronto Sawchuk and Bower split duties equally and became the first tandem to share the Vezina Trophy, then the equivalent of the modern Jennings Trophy (fewest GA), the fourth of Sawchuk's career. Two years later the duo shared another, sweeter fourth, as both would win their fourth and most improbable Stanley Cup. First order of business occurred late in the regular season as Sawchuk posted his milestone 100th shutout, in another Hockey Night in Canada affair that it was my privilege to watch. That night Sawchuk's victims were the Chicago Black Hawks, on their way to a league record for goals but held off the sheet by the venerable shutout master on this night.

It seemed unlikely at the time, but that game foreshadowed the playoffs where Sawchuk contributed 6 of Toronto's 8 wins, allowing just 5 goals in those wins but, paradoxically, recording no shutouts in the process. Five one-goal games and the greatest job of relief goaltending I've ever seen, in which Sawchuk replaced an injured Bower after the first period of Game 5 at hostile Chicago Stadium, series tied 2-2, game tied 2-2. For the next 40 minutes the powerful Hawks peppered Sawchuk with 37 shots, some 14 of them by Bobby Hull, but nary a one found a crack in his armour. 5 times the awesome Hawks powerplay (Bobby Hull, Dennis Hull, Phil Esposito, Stan Mikita, Kenny Wharram, Doug Mohns, Pierre Pilote) got an opportunity, and 5 times it was denied by the masked man's magic. The Leafs popped a couple of third-period markers against the flow of play and stole away with a 4-2 victory. Three nights later Sawchuk would flummox the Hawks one final time, this time by a 3-1 count, and the Prince of Wales Trophy winners and record-breaking Stanley Cup favourites were down for the count.

That set the stage for an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Finals, utterly appropriate in Centennial Year. To a Leaf-lovin' Hab-hatin' Canadian boy of eleven, that series meant everything: the only two possible outcomes were joy and despair. After Sawchuk got smoked in Game 1, Bower became the early series hero with a shutout and a thrilling 60-save, double-overtime win, but reaggravated his injury and was lost for the series. Into the breach once more stepped Sawchuk, and after getting lit up a second time in Game 4 he bounced back with a pair of goaltending gems as the Leafs toppled the mighty Habs 4-1 and 3-1 to take the Cup. Sawchuk ended his Jekyll-and-Hyde playoff run with a record of 0-4, 5.33 on Thursdays and 6-0, 0.82 on the other days of the week. His overall stats were middling (6-4, 2.65 GAA) enough that he got overlooked for the Conn Smythe, but he could well have won it on the strength of the several individual games that he stole.

That was the last hurrah. That fall the NHL expanded to twelve teams and both Terry Sawchuk and the Stanley Cup left Toronto forever. The aging great found himself in Los Angeles for a year, where he posted 2 more shutouts, the 19th consecutive season he had recorded at least one whitewash. After that came a third tour of duty in Detroit (just 13 GP) and then a final season at age 40 in New York backing up Eddie Giacomin. Just 8 GP, but in one of them Sawchuk recorded his 500th NHL victory (regular season and playoffs), and in another he posted his 103rd and last shutout, setting a standard that I frankly thought would never be approached let alone equalled and, presumably, broken.

That spring Terry Sawchuk died. The story has never been entirely clear, but he had a blow-up with his teammate and roommate Ron Stewart over some unpaid bills. Punches were thrown, and Sawchuk reportedly fell into a barbecue pit, injuring himself seriously. He was hospitalized for some weeks before news filtered out of his sudden passing from liver complications.

Although his death somewhat mirrored the celebrated in-career passings of famous netminders Georges Vezina and Charlie Gardiner, in more ways it resembled that of Howie Morenz who was facing the end of the line square in the face when he just let go and died. As Morenz was born to skate, Terry Sawchuk was born to tend goal. When he finally reached his "best before" date, he simply expired.

Wednesday Links: Pretending the game tonight is in Sweden edition

averagejoe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

by Tom Gannam - AP

Listen Polak, the puck goes in the net, not the player. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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All games are exciting, but games against the Red Wings carry that little something extra. That something? Pure, unfiltered hate. I won't be wearing anything red tomorrow. Let's go Blues.

Blues news

For your viewing pleasure: Blues vs. Wings. Tonight. Hopefully, there will be blood. [CBS Sports]
Unreal: "You get a chance and you start thinking about it and trying to pick a spot. That's when you get into trouble." -- Brad Boyes about the Blues struggling offense. Shockingly, the team is going to try putting the puck ON net tonight. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Columbus and the Blues made a trade yesterday. In case you missed it, the Blues have acquired the new Trent Whitfield. Odds Pascal Pelletier even sniffs this NHL this year? [Belleville News-Democrat]
Kick-ass read on Wendy Pleau and her battle with cancer. Only downside to this argument, I kind of think less of Larry Pleau. How do you not know how to use the microwave or washing machine? Come on, man. [ESPN]

Scouting the Enemy

Detroit forward Valtteri Filppula got his wrist cast off, but is still a few weeks away from coming back. [Freep]
Even though he's a Wing, I gotta admit Justin Abdelkader has a cool name. He's playing a bigger role for the Wings. Oh and Ville Leino will be scratched tonight. [MLive]
To find more about the Wings, feel free to check out Winging it in Motown. If you want to fit in, just say things like "Steve Yzerman is a god." or "Our goaltending sucks." Or, you could just say nothing at all since that seems to be the norm over there. [Winging It In Motown]

Hockey news

Results from Tuesday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Oh, Wednesday is another full slate of games. [Yahoo! Sports]
In an investigation that won't change shit, Marc Savard' contract is being looked at by the NHL. Just like Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa before him. What happened to those guys? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
The Hurricanes Cam Ward is back. [ESPN]
Montreal forward Ryan White was called up from the AHL, but the Canadiens didn't report it properly forcing his removal from the game. [ESPN]
Team Canada (hockey) will be announced on Dec. 30. [CTV Olympics]
Brendan Witt is a bad, bad man. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

I have a good friend whose facebook updates 80 percent of the time about how awesome he is. He is, a facebrager. [facebraggers]
MTV has a new show called "Jersey Shore" that has some of the most incredible (and not in a good way) people. Anyway, apparently (I don't watch the show) the characters all have some stupid nickname. If I were on this site, my name would be DJ Douchebag. What's yours? [Unlikely Words]

Video

This video is simply amazing. This is sexism at its finest, and by the I mean holy shit is this sexist.

Bonus video

Anyone know the weather forecast for tonight in Detroit?

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. I'll be working tonight so I won't be at the GDT, but you guys should still kick ass without me.

Did you find the hidden message in today's links?

Senators can't convert powerplays, lose 4-1 to Canadiens

PeterR — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:03:21 -0000

More photos » by Adrian Wyld - AP

2 days ago: Montreal Canadiens' Josh Gorges tries to clear Ottawa Senators right wing Daniel Alfredsson away from the puck in front of Montreal Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak and defenceman Hal Gill during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Adrian Wyld)

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In another frustratingly effete effort, the Ottawa Senators made Jaroslav Halak look like an all-star and made their powerplay look like the feeblest in the league, walking out of the rink with a very disappointing 4-1 loss against the Montreal Canadiens. After the loss, Montreal pulled even with Ottawa in the standings, a very tough-to-swallow fact despite the fact that the Sens still have two games on hand. Most disappointing was the Senators impotent powerplay, which went 0-for-7 on the night despite 13 shots--which hearkens back to the criticisms of Bryan Murray earlier this week, when he said the Senators lack the grit to drive to the front of the net, force rebounds, and score some dirty goals.

Although there have been calls for Mike 'Not Martin' Brodeur to see some action one of these days, little blame can be placed at the feet of Brian Elliott for the loss. The first goal came after a linesman accidentally (or was it?) kicked the puck around Chris Phillips and right to Tomas Plekanec, leading to a two-on-one that Anton Volchenkov misplayed; Elliott was square to the shooter (Plekanec), while Volchenkov left Mike Cammalleri wide open to tap in the cross-ice pass. And the second was a doubly-tipped powerplay goal (which, apparently, are possible).

On to some finer points of the game...

Sens heroes: Mike Fisher-Milan Michalek-Daniel Alfredsson
The Senators' top line was dominant for much of the game. Fisher had the lone Senators goal early in the second period, and also had four hits and seven shots--second only to Alfredsson on the night, as the captain fired eight at Golden Jaro. Michalek had three shots, meaning that the three had 18 of Ottawa's 46 shots on the night. They also combined for four takeaways. Long story short, they brought it.

Sens zeroes: Alex Kovalev
Kovy did one good thing tonight: He injured Jaroslav Spacek with a shot late in the first period (Ed.: I'm joking, Kovalev didn't do anything good Tuesday night. And I hope Spacek is back in the lineup for next game, he's a well-respected person and a solid player). After that, he did little else: He floated either just inside the offensive or defensive ends, rarely venturing deep enough to contribute to the play, and didn't meaningfully contribute to the game in any way. Which you may say is characteristic of Kovalev, but most expected he'd at least bring some intensity to the team that let him walk for nothing. More unfortunate was that, since it was a one-goal game for most of the night, Kovalev could have made even just one play that would have had the chance to completely turn the tables, and he had plenty of powerplays to do it on. But he just didn't.

(Read plenty more... )

Sens killers: Jaroslav Halak, Sens' powerplay
Whether or not Halak was actually great isn't the point; he looked great. Look at the chart below (from CBSSports.com), which shows you where Ottawa had most of their shots from, and you'll notice one thing in particular: Little to no shots from the slot. The bulk of the shots are low-percentage ones from awkward angles at either side of the net. That has as much to do with the Senators' unwillingness or inability to get to that part of the ice and not have their shots blocked as it does the Canadiens' ability to clog up the area.

As for the Senators powerplay, it was just not pretty. I was actually surprised to see Ottawa had 13 shots on the powerplay, but they seemed unable to really get much going on it--unfortunate, because the PP had been clicking for quite a while leading up to this game. Ottawa was unable to get the puck off the perimeter and into the centre of the ice, where key scoring opportunities are truly generated. We complain about not getting powerplays some games, but when you can't score on them anyway, it's basically a moot point.

Credit goes to: Erik Karlsson, Chris Campoli
You've really got to handle it to Campoli after his scratching: He's taken it as a constructive criticism rather than a personal insult, and his play has improved as a result. And he's earned the trust of Cory Clouston, given 21:24 in ice time--the second-most on Ottawa after only Filip Kuba. You might think the PP opportunities had a lot to do with that, but more than 15 of those minutes were at even strength. He was -1 tonight, but he had a shot on net, three more fired toward the net, and looked like the player Murray was expecting when he traded a first-round draft pick for him last season.

Similarly, since being recalled from Binghamton, Karlsson has really looked strong. He had some strong poise in the first period, particularly of note being a confident play to use his glove to settle the puck and another to use his body to protect it--all in the defensive end. His confidence to play very high in the offensive zone can be nerve-wracking at times, but it hasn't yet cost him big time. But defensive play isn't what Ottawa needs from him, and that's not all he provided tonight: He had five shots on net, third best on the team, and played 21:12 on the night--fourth-highest on the team.

Big Hitter: Jesse Winchester
With Chris Neil and Shean Donovan out of the lineup, the supporting cast needs to step up and fill the void in the grit department. Although few seem willing to muck it up in front of the net, Winchester is stepping up his physical game. He had a team-high five hits in only 11:32 tonight, including a very impressive hit on Max Pacioretty behind the Canadiens' net. His line with Peter Regin and Chris Kelly was pretty strong in the first period, but didn't get a shot to generate momentum or dirty goals in the third--something Clouston might need to address, because I've noticed he's falling to the John Paddock-esque failing of consistently looking to the stars to provide all the offence, while making the players who are "on" to ride the pine.

Point: Blame the refs
The linesman gift-wrapped Montreal's first goal

Counterpoint: We can't blame the refs
The Senators had seven damn powerplays.

Endnote: It was definitely the kind of game the Senators need to shrug off, and they need to do so quickly; as bad as thePhiladelphia Flyers have been for the last couple months, they're still a good team. Ottawa can't play them lightly when they meet up on Thursday.

Is Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec A Legitimate Number One Center?

Robert L — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:50:34 -0000

A couple of quick thoughts before I head off to Ottawa for tonight's game against the Senators concerning Habs center Tomas Plekanec.

After repeatedly watching highlights of last night's game against the Flyers, it started to really catch my eye when they showed replays of Andrei Kostitsyn's goal. On the play, Plekanec was poised behind the Flyers goal, looking for someone to feed a pass to. Simultaneously, Kostitsyn found the slot just as a Flyers' defender approached, and Plekanec saucered a short eight foot pass over the defender's stick for Kostitsyn to essentially bat a blooper into the net.

On RDS, Benoit Brunet termed the play Gretzky-like, which is always a stretch.

Once I had seen it over again, on a closeup, it's apparent what a smart play it was. It tied the game up, and sent the Habs off to victory.

In Montreal, it's been ballyhood since forever that the team has not had a legitimate number center for ages. Saku Koivu didn't quite fit the description, and Scott Gomez definitely ain't it.

So what exactly would be the criteria for a top line or number one center?

Plekanec's play this season has gotten me thinking about this. Being that there are 30 teams in the league, hence there should be theoretically 30 number one centers. Of course, that all sounds a little too round numbered for me.

I thought I would look at today's current NHL stats to see where he fits in and what I found is quite revealing.

Plekanec is 25th in the league in scoring, and 13th among centers.

His 22 assists in 30 games are 9th in the NHL and 6th among centers.

Sounds like a top line center to me. What do you folks think?

Update: With 3 assists against Ottawa, Plekanec is now 16th in league scoring, 10th among centers for points, and his 25 assists place him fourth overall, tied with Nicklas Lidstrom.

Silver Nuggets: Elliott starts again; Senators' goon tactics

PeterR — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:13:10 -0000

Are you ready for this? ARE YOU READY FOR THE WEB'S OTTAWA SENATORS HEADLINES, COMPILED INTO AN EASY-TO-READ LIST? I hope so. Here goes:

Brian Elliott starts in goal tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Not Martin's debut will have to wait at least one more game. (Twitter)
Line combinations at this morning's practice were the same as they were for last game: Michalek-Fisher-Alfredsson; Foligno-Spezza-Kovalev; Ruutu-Kelly-Chechoo; Regin-Winchester-Shannon, with Keller as a spare. (Twitter)
Prediction panel for tonight: How will Peter top being the only panellist who predicted correctly last game? (Citizen)
According to Bryan Murray, fear is what's holding the Senators back this season. The fear to get your nose dirty. (Citizen)

The Sens made Wyshynski's top-ten list of goonish moves. Twice. First for their part in the line brawl against the Sabres a few years back (tenth), and second for the Dean McAmmond/Steve Downie incident (sixth). Jarkko Ruutu was on the list, too, for the foot-stomp he took from Chris Simon (eighth), but he was with Pittsburgh at the time. (Puck Daddy)
After a knee-injury scare this past weekend, Sens prospect Patrick Wiercioch has been cleared and will likely return to his college team for this weekend. Which is good, because he's also in contention for Team Canada's junior team. (WCHB)
It's also been a while since the last B-Sens update: Third in the East division with a record of 12-10-3, including a 4-2 clip in the last six games. Martin St. Pierre has taken over the scoring lead with 26P (10G, 16A) in 25GP, while callup CHRIS HOLT! is lighting it up in the crease with two wins in three games, a GAA of 1.01, and a SP of .964.
Remember Christoph Schubert? He's climbing up the depth chart for the Atlanta Thrashers, and it looks like he's solidly taken their fifth D spot. (Bird Watchers Anonymous)

As Many As Five Canadiens Hopefuls Vying For Spots On World Junior Teams

Robert L — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:11:28 -0000

Translated from an article by Mattias Brunet in Monday's La Presse

Much was made of the fact last week when Louis Leblanc, the Canadiens first choice in the 2009 Entry Draft was invited to the Canadian World Junior camp for the upcoming tournament.

On a more discreet note, barely a rumble was caused be the announcement that the Canadiens' second choice in 2008, Danny Kristo, received the same from the American junior squad.

While Leblanc is far from guaranteed a spot on the team, it is said that his chances are good. In regards to Kristo, who played for the American juniors in last season's tournament, there is little doubt. He will definitely be on the team and according to Habs head scout Trevor Timmins, "there are chances he could be named captain."

Coach of the American team, Dean Blais noted at the term of the team's development camp in June that Kristo would be given serious consideration for the role.

Last season, Kristo caused a bit of a surprise, makinh the clun while still playing high school hockey. He was the only such player on the team to do so.

His progress as a player this year has been nothing short of stunning. Playing for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, who play in the top NCAA division, and despite his rookie status, he leads the team in scoring with 14 points in 16 games.

Kristo might not be a large specimen at 5' 11'' and 180 pounds, but he is hyper fast, energetic and a constant threat around opposing goals.

"I watched him play in this weekend's Subway Classic, and he was named tournament MVP," states Timmins. "He plays the point on the first unit of the power play at North Dakota. He's a excellent skater with a strong shot who plays with a lot of energy and heart, but it is his defensive game that has most impressed. His play without the puck is at a level I did not foresee at this stage of his career."

The Canadiens' prospect, who was selected late in the second round, was also named the WCHA division rookie of the week for the past seven days. If, as predicted, he does make the U.S. squad, he'll become the ninth player from North Dakota University to play in the World Juniors following players such as Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, Drew Stafford, James Patrick and Brian Lee.

Among other Canadiens prospect hopefuls vying for a place in the tournament will be Russian Maxim Trunev, a fifth round pick in 2008. Despite his yound age, Trunev plays a regular role with Cherepovets of the KHL, having scored two goals and an assist in 23 games.

"Trunev has a good shot at making it, but during the last team tournament in November, he bowed out due to an injury," recalled Timmins.

Another Russian talent belonging to the team is Alexander Avtsin, a fourth round pick in 2009. Avtsin is alsoplaying in the KHL, but has not been invited. Timmins finds the scenario a bit strange.

The Finnish team could see two Canadiens' prospects make the grade. Joonas Nattinen, a 6' 3'' center drafted by Montreal in the third round this past June played in last year's tournament, counting three points in six games. He's said to be a slam dunk for this season's edition, and is currently playing in the Finnish Elite League.

"He's having a strong season, although he suffered a concussions this past week," says Timmins.

Petteri Simila, a 6' 6'' goalie drafted with the very last pick in 2009 may join Nattinen.

"Scouts for the Finnish nationals were in Niagara Falls recently, taking a look at him," notes the Canadiens' head scout. "We'll see what their decision is."

At last season's WJC, the Canadiens were represented by four players, P.K. Subban for Canada), Kristo et Ryan McDonagh with the U.S. team and Nichlas Torp with Sweden. The right to Torp, a sixth round pick of the Canadiens in 2007, still belong to the organization. He's currently playing in the Swedish Elite League.