I said last year that he was my fav D-man on the team, just ahead of Markov. He has done everything to improve my view of him. Keep it up, King Kom!

Habtastic

He is playing solid tough, and very smart. Just think about this, before the game his assignment Keep Iginla off the scoreboard, hmm seems the best way to do that is to keep egging him on so he spends more time in the box than the ice. And the best part is that if a decent ref was reffing we would be seeing power plays for Komisareks play.

Komi should have had 1st star.

And, not to hijack the thread, but how about Souray?

Wow, did he redeem himself or what?

And the Habs proved they can play tough (Bonk being key too in that department). Great work. But another thriller. Could we just have a blowout once?

 I really love the leadership that our big three bring. They can bang with the best of them!

 Komi is and will be solid for many years.

 Gainey has to find a way to keep Rivet. I was critical of him a few years back but this guy is needed big time. He has come into his own late but better late than never.

I think what makes Souray better on penalty killing than at even strength, is that his big liability is mobility, not defensive awareness. He is more susceptible to being beaten on a rish than down low. There are generally very few rushes on power plays, as teams pass the puck around while the defensive players collapse low.

Wednesday 18 October 2006

CANADIEN

Komisarek is Happy

Pierre Ladouceur

La Presse

At that this time last season, Mike Komisarek was making the trip between the press galery and the Montreal bench. There were those who questionned if the Canadiens had not made a mistake by drafting him 7th overall in the 1 st round in 2001. But we are not having that same discussion this season when it comes to this big defenceman who plays over 20 minutes a game.

"I appreciate that the coachs have confidence in me. I am happy to have taken on more responsibilty. Putting it all into context, I am calmer more confident player. I don't think to far in advance. I concentrate now on my execution of the paly in the present", said Komisarek, who with his defensive pairing with Andrei Markov form an excellent duo.

Kovalev

Alex Kovalev can now divert the media attention by talking about everthing and nothing. That was the case Tuesday morning. He recounted during his days in Pittsburgh when he use to drive Tom Barrasso nuts by scoring at will on him during practice. As well, he recalled how Barasso wouldn't tolerate any shots on him above the knees during practice.
"In the end, he found himeslf with only tree or four shooters on him during practice, while the other goalie had 17 shooters on him," recalled Kovalev. Plus, jokingly, he said to reporters: "Since you reported that I was suffering from a charlie-horse, opponents are hitting me more. You'll have to be more discrete about those reports in the future"