barry33 wrote:

---

Ok..in the spirit of getting off the Koivu thing (and yes I am sick of it too), let's discuss what we need to get or do down the stretch. The way I see it, we are ion tough for the 8th spot with Atlanta, Toronto, and Boston. The team that worries me the most is Atlanta. They could be the spoiler. They are finally starting to get great goaltending and that was what was really missing in the fall. They have a ton of scoring and their defence is highly underated IMHO. Bob Hartley, in spite of all the "goon coach" accusations, is a very good coach. Of course for the habs to be successful they need Huet and on occassion, Danis, to stand on their heads. And maybe that is too much to ask of 2 unproven goalies. But I remember Steve Penny did it one year so who knows? Much talk here has been about another center. I am gonna shock you and say that I do not think Gainey is shopping for one right now. I think Gainey wants a stud dman, who can play 25 -30 minutes a game and play the PP. I think he will be patient with Pleks and even Ribiero (although if the alleged comments by Ribs regarding Koivu prove to be true..Ribs is gone, and rightly so. For what it is worth, Ribs has denided making these comments..surprise).  We also need Komisarek to continue to improve and cut down on the mistakes. But I really feel that the key will be Souray. If we can get the real Sheldon Souray to show up on a consistent basis, get decent 'tending, and a GOOD work ethic..we stand a chance.  

---

Would agree with most of your comments. To me however on a team that is absolutely starved for goal scoring I think the key to the Habs playoff run is Kovalev and Zednik. At the start of the season those two guys along with Ryder were looked upon to be the leading goal scorers on this team. Given the fact that theBruins,Leafs, and Atlanta are the biggest threats to get the eight seed, Kovalev and Zednik really need to pick it up. Right now the Canadiens are too easy a  team to shut down, Kovalev has the capabilities to be a game breaker and he must come through more frequently down the stretch. Zednik has had a lousy season, but he did show glimpses of being productive at the Olympics, he needs to return to form.

    It would be nice for the Canadiens to acquire a real stud on defence, but those guys don't grow on trees and unless alot of GM's become the next incarnation of Mike Milbury it is difficult to forsee how Gainey could trade for one.