What a costly injury!

Good thing we have put some points in the bank early on, 'cause it's gunna get tougher to get points now with Kovy gone for probably months.

Theo's going to have to really step up from here on out, but I'd really want to see danis start against Toronto, at least for the next two Mtl/Tor matchups to see how he handles the pressure.  Theo is what 4-11 against the Buds?  Not good at all, hopefully Julien is aware of that stat and does something about it.

look for Perez to move up there and maybe play his off wing. Unfortunately Dagenais will take Perez place and they will probably call Ivanis up.

11rings wrote:

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Any word on how long he'll be out and what kind of surgery it is? Damn I wish Latendresse was up with the club. We could use him right now    

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Best case scenario has him out a month. Apparently he has been playing hurt since training camp and this has stopped him from making the range of motions he would like to. It is a recurrence of a porblem he had in Pittsburgh and he has fluid on the knee. So he is having it scoped then needs 2 weeks of complete rest then he can work his way back into shap and onto the ice. Keep in mind this is the BEST case scenario if all goes well. If not it could be alot longer.

The good news is that the guy has playe dpretty damn good on one leg. I can't wait to see him come back rested and in shape. Time for Perez and Higgins to step it up.

What a topic for my 100th post.

First off, it's apparently maintainance surgery to prevent problems down the line, so even though the car might be in the shop for a while, we'll still be able to drive it to the prom in April.

Having said that, if the habs can't get along, and win games without him, then I'm afraid what we've been seeing is a team that has done well against a league that was in an adjustment period. It seems the more everyone is getting used to defending against unobstructed speed, the more challenging it has been to put together a solid win (or OTL for that matter).

But this could be a bonus in disguise, a chance to have some preventative maintainance that the team badly needs. If CJ uses this opportunity to instill a sense of discipline and nerve in the team, rather than letting them collapse, then we'll have a nice fat cake for the icing to sit on when it comes back.

As much as I don't think he belongs in a Habs jersey (a perfect Ranger maybe?) Ribiero has flashes of real talent, and if he could get some major mental adjustment, could partially fill in the points gap Kovy is going to leave, but he has to stop behaving like he's twelve with all the parents huddling around him saying "oooh, what a little star he's going to be". Wake up Mike, you're actually playing in the NHL, and your teenage fantasy of raising a cup isn't going to come true swanning around the ice, trying to make a SportsCenter moment.

But I think it's Ryder's time to shine, and putting Perez up there would be a mistake. Ryder has the attitude and the love of the game to be a real leader on this team for years to come, and what better way to show it than taking up the place of a fallen teammate. Look for him not just to score points, but to inspire the rest to do the same. Fun is infectious and effective.

We'll just have to see. But don't lose faith, this is not one of those habs teams that is made up of one decent line and a lot of footnotes in hockey history.

They'll be just fine

Ando wrote:

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If...IF...the Habs battle through this stretch and thrive, this could be a blessing in disguise! THINK OF THE CAP MONEY SAVED! (...this makes the OT loss to Toronto even worse though!)

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I think they have to be gone for a certain number of games, like 10 or more before the cap $ gets saved.

On a side note, this could be the end of a good thing in MTL. I expect some big losses coming up. Our PP has sucked with him, how is it gonna be without him???

I think we should keep all of this in perspective.  First, the recent rash of injuries is a helluva lot easier to deal with now (ie - beginning of the season) than in the playoffs.  Imagine Kovalev going down in the first round of the playoffs.  Secondly, take a look at the points that the entire roster has.  Yes, Kovalev is a huge part of the team, however, nearly everyone is contributing.  Look ahead to the schedule.  Ottawa once, Buffalo twice and the Leafs once in the next 10 games (5 weeks worth) which includes six days off in the second week of December.  That is 7 to 9 very winnable games (Ottawa is scary good and who can predict a game with the Leafs).  I'm not ready to write them off.

-- Edited by heet_150 at 14:36, 2005-11-14

Scope. What that means is they have no idea what is causing the knee pain. "fluid on the knee" is really a term for swelling that is contained within the joint capsule. Usually from internal(meniscal) irritation.

It is likely that they find nothing surgical which is actually bad news because that just means he plays the rest of his career with knee pain. The good news is, expect him back in 2-4 weeks if all it is is a scope. Obviously he is still a force despite the knee pain. My worry would be not for this year but rather that 4 year contract!!

Ando wrote:

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If...IF...the Habs battle through this stretch and thrive, this could be a blessing in disguise! THINK OF THE CAP MONEY SAVED! (...this makes the OT loss to Toronto even worse though!)

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this means we play the leafs in two weeks without, Kovalev, things keep bouncing for the leafs.  They may make the playoffs from the points they get from us, if we don't start beating them when we should.  Man i hate the leafs.

-- Edited by ray at 12:32, 2005-11-15