barry33 wrote:

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Some news and views. Komi has been suffering from a touch of the flu this week for all of you wondering why Julien has not been playing him (by the way why is it ok for Sutter, teh coach of Team Canada Jrs, to bench guys like  Latendress for half a game for making one bad play, yet CJ does it and he is taking away the confidence of young players? Maybe you can disagree with WHO is being benched, but we cannot have our cake and eat it too. Just because you may not like Ribiero, you cannot condemn the coaching staff for benching guys like Perez yet holler for them to bench Ribs) Now this is where all you laugh at me. I actually like Streit. He is growing on me. I feel he is turning into a decent dman. Aside from Markov, he is the only guy we have back there that can skate with the puck. Yes Dandenuealt can wehn he wants to but he has not shown much confidence in doing that. Streit is making smarter plays now and I would be doing what the habs are and using him on the PP too. If you watch the habs defence closely, we have alot of big and slow guys who are not very mobile. Komisarek, Souray, Rivet are reliable mostly but slow and the opposition gets on them very quickly. And I like the cube but let's face it, skating and carrying the puck are not his thing. If Streit can get to be a bit more reliable (and he has been) I think he adds a much needed dimension back there. And for those of you on here who have made the assumption that "julien has put the shackles on the defencemen", need to watch Markov and Streit. Do the appear to be held back? And let's be fair to Theo. 43 Shots and 3 goals. I read some comments here that he "played alright". I know he is being paid good money but geesh guys, he is at the point where every little rebound is being anylized as well as how he drinks from the water bottle. Is it any wonder that alot of players do not want to play in Montreal? I thought he played very well last night. I think it is fair to say that if Huet played last night, we lose. By the way, rumour has it that both Bertuzzi and/or Doug Weight were inquired about by Gainey in a trade. Both said they did not want to play in Montreal. Gee, I wonder why? I wonder at times who is going to want to replace Julien when he goes? Probably a coach who has a strong masochistic side he wants to explore.-- Edited by barry33 at 12:08, 2005-12-29

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Thanks Barry for enlightening me on Komo.  Didn't know he had the flu.  In any event, we are talking about two different situations here.  Sutter's team is involved in the "playoffs" and it is imperative that the team win as many games as possible if Canada hopes to bring home the gold therefore, it is necessary for all players to perform at their best all the time.  Latendress apparently has been 'hanging the dog' in practices and Sutter has not been very pleased with him therefore he has been sitting him.  In the case of the Habs, they are only 3 months into the season and should be playing players such as Komo to gain the necessary experience to become a better player and hopefully contribute much more when it comes playoff time.  Habs also need Souray, Markov and Rivet for the playoff stretch and if they are being played 25-30 minutes a game, I think we all know they will be tired players at the end of the season plus tired players are more prone to injury.

According to the Gazette, Komi was benched and did not have the flu. Rivet had the flu and was doubtful for the game.