AB Habman wrote:

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 I dislike Koharshy also but I think that was the right call.....no goal! If you look at the replay, Ryder intentionally pushed at the puck with his waste. Regardless that it did or didn't go off his glove(which I think it may of) he can't do that! The puck can go off his body inadvertently! Also can go off his skate if there's no kicking motion! This may not be what happened but if the puck touches a players glove before entering the net, that's automatically no goal also! It didn't look like the puck hit the stick shaft or they would of called a goal on video replay! Again, I think he pushed at the puck and it either went off his pants or glove hence no goal!  Also the late penalties had to be called! Holding and high sticking were obvious! Too bad the Habs didn't show more patience on the PP! At that point they just tied with an important goal! So what if it went to OT at that point as Sabres one point doesn't hurt us in the playoff race! Bad lazy offensive zone penalty hurts! The Begin penalty was just sheer hard work and trying to hem in the Sabres to kill the clock! That was a mere accident!  The good news is we earn one point from a very good team! Thank Ribs and Kovy for the late goal but also the whole team played decent! We actually matched their speed and had chances!  The sad thing is I don't think we'll see Huet in the next game as Gainey was looking for any excuse to play Theo! It looks like Sabres will take three much needed points from us! I hope I'm wrong!  I think we missed out on cote tonight over Komi! But I did like the line-up and I hope Gainey sticks with it again! The only change I would make is playing Sunny on Bonks line rather than Downey! Sunny would add more as Downey won't scrap anyway!  Again, that was an important point!

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I agree with almost everything you wrote AB.  There was definately a pushing motion from Ryder, and I did not see one replay that conclusively showed the puck hitting the shaft of his stick.  Remember, the call on the ice was no goal, so there had to be irrefutable evidence to overturn it. 

Koivu should know better, although in his defense, I have never played that the high level (NHL) that these guys play, and these guys have to make split second decisions out there, and he only held on to the stick for a brief moment (I am not saying the call shouldn't have been made).  A brief brain cramp, that in the end, cost the Habs the chance for a second point.  As for Begin's penalty, is it just me, or are there alot of guys being shot in the NHL lately?  It seems that every time a stick comes up, someone's head snaps back like JFK in a motorcade (apologies to the American members, I couldn't think of anything else).  And Komisarek did it as well.  I don't remember who Begin hit, but, if he doesn't put on the show that he did, there would not have been a penalty called (again, it was the right call).  All I am trying to say is that there is a culture being created where over reacting is being rewarded. 

I would prefer Huet get the start, but, I'm not totally adverse to Theodore playing in Buffalo.  He's had three games of watching and hearing the crowd chanting "oo-ay, oo-ay".  Hopefully, he remembers what it was like to hear the Hab faithful chanting "hoe-zay, hoe-zay" and his desire to hear it again rekindles the effort and talent that he once had.

I hope they change one aspect of their game.  And that is to have the defensemen playing more aggresively on the offense at the beginning of the game, to get ahead, instead of trying to play catch up.  When the defense was carrying the puck in deep and working the cycling down low, there were scoring chances creared.  A great save here, a bouncing puck there, or a shot going wide or hitting someone is what happened last night, but there were chances nonetheless.

And plouf, I don't care if Downey scraps or not, I wish he would at least give the appearance that he will drop the gloves.  When one of the Canadiens gets pasted, clean hit or not, he should get in there to let the other team know that they will not be taking liberties with his teammates.

And lastly, my new vote for team MVP is Francis Bouillon.  He flew under my radar for most of the year, but I have been making sure to watch him as of late.  He'll hit anything that moves wearing the wrong coloured jersey.  He is always giving every last ounce of effort that he has.  He is starting to make better decisions to get the puck out of his own zone, and his defensive play gets better every game.  Sure, he took a bad penalty last night, but, I think it was more him being careless with his stick, which I can forgive since he was concentrating more on the puck/player.

That is too much thinking for me before 9:00 am.  I usually just coast through work from 7:00 to 9:00.  Where's my coffee, anyway?

-- Edited by heet_150 at 08:34, 2006-02-08

plouf wrote:

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Why is it that Downey won't scrap? If not, we need someone who will.

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 Downey will fight,  he tried to get at the Buffalo tough guy last night (his name slips my memory though) but the ref was holding him.  The chance hasn't really presented itself at the moment.  This guy will not back down, and when push comes to shove he'll answer the bell.  Love his hustle, intensity and the way he goes barreling into players with no fear.

I think we could throw Cote in there for next year too, i said this before but i like to say it again, he came up in the big leagues to play with a hurting team, a team who had problems in alot of areas, and to be honest, he was out there hitting hard and being smart, just what the habs need.  I personally didn't see any big or costly mistakes from this guy.