Barry's recap

barry33 · Guru

Barry's recap

MC Girl · Guru

Good post Barry33

Nil d · Guru

As always, great observations, Barry.

However, I must defend Koivu re: faceoffs (and give you a gentle rebuke about abusing stats ).

Koivu was 16 of 27 on the faceoff circle (59.3%) last night. Even using your "8 tosses" rule (and was it really 8, or are you making that up? That seems high.) he would have been 16 of 35 (45.7%); not so bad. When you consider that he was always against one of the best faceoff men in the NHL, I thought he did admirably.

Now before we start another raging Saku debate, I thought he was average in most aspects of his game last night. But he made key plays on the first and last goals.

I agree with you on all other comments (as usual).

barry33 · Guru

Nilsey..you question my integrity? I am hurt lol. Yes the 8 tosses are official..I counted them myself. It is a quirky thing that I do as a coach while watching a game,..drives my wife to be nuts that I sit and take notes. At any rate I will soften my stance on face offs. But I will not say he has been playing anywhere near his capabilities. Nilsey the bottom line is that he got more ice time than any other forward including Kovalev. He registered 0 shots on goal!! He registered 0 hits. In fairness the team as a whole only registered 11 hits which is pretty pathetic. But Koivu, although not a big player, is at his best when he is hitting, banging, going to the net. For whatever reason, he has been unwilling, or unable, to do this.

I have said it before. In this new age of salary caps, it is no longer enough for your top paid player to be average or bring intangibles.

JohnM · Guru

Funny thing is NHL.com doesn't show that Murray even took a faceoff in their stats page, does that mean they put it under Sak's loss colum?

Nil d · Guru

JohnM wrote:

Funny thing is NHL.com doesn't show that Murray even took a faceoff in their stats page, does that mean they put it under Sak's loss colum?

I noticed that too. I went nuts trying to find his name.

Nil d · Guru

barry33 wrote:

Nilsey..you question my integrity? I am hurt lol.

Never, Big Guy! That's why my rebukes are always gentle.

mperra (Admin) · Guru

barry33 wrote:

... Those who felt that CJ was too calm behind the bench must be nearly put to sleep by Gainey! Wow! Does this guy EVER get excited?

Great analysis Barry.

But didn't you notice? Gainey cracked a smile after the game walking on the ice back to the dressing room. Although it was brief.

macneil · Guru

as it goes for saks in the circle barry , he may have been tossed out 8 times but i bet most weren't his fault , sometimes if another player jumps into the circle the center gets tossed , and will the linesmen just drop the puck allready , nevermind with the fake drops . koivu is leading the habs in faceoff % for players with more 20 draws . he is averaging a point agame and is a plus player. if he can keep this up for the rest of the playoffs ill take it , hes not spectacular but steady ,

barry33 · Guru

macneil wrote:

as it goes for saks in the circle barry , he may have been tossed out 8 times but i bet most weren't his fault , sometimes if another player jumps into the circle the center gets tossed , and will the linesmen just drop the puck allready , nevermind with the fake drops . koivu is leading the habs in faceoff % for players with more 20 draws . he is averaging a point agame and is a plus player. if he can keep this up for the rest of the playoffs ill take it , hes not spectacular but steady ,

Actually I do not blame Saks I blame Gainey. Why you ask? Because he did not go out and get a right handed center at the deadline. What does that have to do with it you ask? Everything on a draw, especially in the defensive zone. When Saks, Ribs, or Bonk are trying to win a draw in their own end it makes it twice as tough going against a left handed center. Both Weight and Brind'amour are lefties. It is twice as tough to win a draw back in the defensive zone when you are a leftie facing a leftie. If you are righthanded, you can much more easily tie up a lefthanded center and neutralize him. Because of this, Saks has to cheat to the right side befor ethe puck is dropped, thus getting him booted from the circle. I am sure Gainey and Carbs realize this is a problem and when they go get the big stud center this summer they will do their best to get a righty.

heet_150 · Guru

barry33 wrote:

Huet was very average last night but was the victim of some bad breaks. For the first time I felt that the pressure got to him a bit, especially when Carolina turned it up. However he made some key saves in OT when it counted. He will be fine. Yes Souray makes some mistakes, but is it any coincidence that things started to fall apart behind the habs blueline after Souray got hurt? He is such a stabilizing influence back there. Kudos to guys like Komisarek (best game he has played all year) and the Cube. Dandy on the other hand is just plain scary!

Huet: You mention that this is the first time Huet looked rattled, if I might paraphrase. Does anyone else think that he may be getting frustrared by the way the 'Canes continually dig and slash away at pucks he very clearly has covered, and the refs are not doing anything about it? How many penalties did the Habs take for defending him?

Souray: Personally, I think the fall of the defensive play was a result of the five remaining guys having to play with each other for the first time either ever, or for a long time, in order to spread out the minutes. And I echo the kudos to the defense for taking on the extra time.

barry33 · Guru

heet_150 wrote:

barry33 wrote: Huet was very average last night but was the victim of some bad breaks. For the first time I felt that the pressure got to him a bit, especially when Carolina turned it up. However he made some key saves in OT when it counted. He will be fine. Yes Souray makes some mistakes, but is it any coincidence that things started to fall apart behind the habs blueline after Souray got hurt? He is such a stabilizing influence back there. Kudos to guys like Komisarek (best game he has played all year) and the Cube. Dandy on the other hand is just plain scary! Huet: You mention that this is the first time Huet looked rattled, if I might paraphrase. Does anyone else think that he may be getting frustrared by the way the 'Canes continually dig and slash away at pucks he very clearly has covered, and the refs are not doing anything about it? How many penalties did the Habs take for defending him? Souray: Personally, I think the fall of the defensive play was a result of the five remaining guys having to play with each other for the first time either ever, or for a long time, in order to spread out the minutes. And I echo the kudos to the defense for taking on the extra time.

Heet I agree with you. Certainly Stillman had his ass parked in the blue paint all night. Nothing wrong with that if you can get away with it and, with the new "don't touch anyone" rules, it is quit eeasy to get away with it now. As a goalie I cannot beging to tell you how frustrating it is when you obviously have the puck covered and a guy is wacking away at it waiting for the whistle to blow. For each and ever guy who does that my wish is for him to go between the pipes for a game and put his hand on the puck and let ME hack and whack away at it. Contrary to what many may think, the back of a goalies hand is NOT that well protected when he is covering the puck.

AB Habman · Guru

Saks has to step it up....nuff said.

JohnM · Guru

Sak is the man! Sundin, not so much...

Ando · Guru

Man-oh-Man is John-boy ever steaming that Saku just ain't cutting it here in the "real season" (as he puts it)!!!

...so far today...he has labeled me as being a gay Leaf-fan.

Too funny!!!

Don't fret it too much JohnM...cuz the joke is on all of us...we are stuck with Saku for 3 more years...at wayyyyy too much $$$!

Muller93 · Guru

Ando wrote:

Man-oh-Man is John-boy ever steaming that Saku just ain't cutting it here in the "real season" (as he puts it)!!! ...so far today...he has labeled me as being a gay Leaf-fan. Too funny!!! Don't fret it too much JohnM...cuz the joke is on all of us...we are stuck with Saku for 3 more years...at wayyyyy too much $$$!

You two clowns don't even see how crazy you are coming off. Koivu won that crucial draw leading to that habs goal...and then help set up the OT winner!! Did he have one of his best 60 mins of hockey ever?? I don't think so... and I said so in a number of posts...but he contributed when it counted most. At least admit to that!!

I am not a great fan of Ribby...but even I mention in posts when I think he has done well...and trust me...had he been in on the Ot winner...I would have mentioned it in a positive manner.

Only you two would waste everyone's happy times with nothing but ant-Koivu posts after such a great night in Habdom...Just too much pent up frustration over the fact that the habs are actually ahead 2-0??? makes no sense to me.

Honestly...what is both your guys problem?? I am being honest when I ask the question and I think with your non stop negative rants despite such a glorious victory...we deserve some kind of explaination...and not he "sucks" and "he needs to step it up"..he assisted on the OT winner for $@# sakes!!!...exactly how would you like him to "step it up"...maybe pot the 5th and 6th goal in a 6-1 romp... a la Ribeiro?

Step it up...come on now...

-- Edited by Muller93 at 15:43, 2006-04-25

barry33 · Guru

Mulsey if it helps at all, "those 2 clowns" are not the only ones questioning Saks. Today on the team 990 today Marinaro, PJ Stock, And Doug Gilmour were all asking what was wrong with Koivu, claiming he looks tired and is a non-factor. Not saying I agree or disagree, just telling you.

Muller93 · Guru

barry33 wrote:

Mulsey if it helps at all, "those 2 clowns" are not the only ones questioning Saks. Today on the team 990 today Marinaro, PJ Stock, And Doug Gilmour were all asking what was wrong with Koivu, claiming he looks tired and is a non-factor. Not saying I agree or disagree, just telling you.

Hey Barry...I actually have stated that in that last game I thought Koivu looked slow. But I, and many other people I know with pretty solid hockey backgrounds agrre he was stellar defensively in game one.

In any case...yep...game two I was worried...But it's like this I figure...Ribeiro could wear the "youppi" oufit for 4 periods...but as long as he chips into the game winning OT goal in period 5...I'm still proclaiming him a hero. When the chips are down...our captain re-deems himself...nuff said!

plouf · Guru

JohnM wrote:

Funny thing is NHL.com doesn't show that Murray even took a faceoff in their stats page, does that mean they put it under Sak's loss colum?

That's a weird one. Because I'm pretty sure Murray gets most of his faceoffs on kick-outs and he's got quite a few listed on their page in other games. Who knows?

plouf · Guru

barry33 wrote:

Mulsey if it helps at all, "those 2 clowns" are not the only ones questioning Saks. Today on the team 990 today Marinaro, PJ Stock, And Doug Gilmour were all asking what was wrong with Koivu, claiming he looks tired and is a non-factor. Not saying I agree or disagree, just telling you.

I don't think anybody denies Saks has not been his best for around a half-dozen straight games, even if he is still getting assists. Especially because he misses the net on all of his shots lately. He still contributes a lot, more than he gets recognition for from the anti-Saks crew, but yes, it's obvious something's up with confidence, fatigue or injury. Let's hope he comes back in game 3.

There are a lot of great supporting players on this team who have had partial good seasons (Rivet: very solid supporting player all year long, Higgins: phenomenal in last third, Bonk: same, Begin: phenomenal first third, solid the rest of the way, Bouillon: solid supporting player, Bulis: great middle third, Pleks: great middle third, great in the two playoff games, Souray: great final third, etc.....everyone pretty much had their moments, even Dandenault, Ribeiro, etc....and Komisarek really came on, Ryder streaky but chipping in on a regular basis with goals) I think we are developing into a team with a strong supporting cast.

But the bottom line is that the team still revolves around only 4 key players: Kovalev, Koivu, Markov and whoever is in nets. When at least 3 of those guys are clicking we do well. When Markov is out we are usually bad, so I think he may be our most important player. When both Kovalev and Koivu don't contribute at a high level we struggle. Once Huet got there the whole team picked it up. I don't think it's an accident, for example, that Montreal had its worst stretch when Koivu and Kovalev had their worst stretches. Obviously those two need to get more consistent, but sometimes it seems it's a matter of lack of support and the fact that they can be worn out by having people key on them. Especially Koivu, who becomes a mid-level offensive player and concentrates on defense when he's forced to carry too much load. With Kovalev, it really does seem to be a matter of effort a lot of the time.

What we need next is another top D-Man and another top forward, preferably a centre, so everything doesn't depend on a couple players staying healthy and/or hot. We are thin in top-level players, although deep in mid-level players.