Same Tired Script

If the Habs were a television drama, people would quickly be tuning out. The Habs of the last five to ten years have become so formulaic that they have become mundane. The typical fast start, which leaves the experts shaking their heads, hopping on the Habs bandwagon (which has worn out shocks by now), then oh ya, the holiday season approaches, and whammo, the Habs look like a shell of the team that they were at the 10 to 15 game mark. You can almost set your watch to them.

Why does this happen? Is it a conditioning thing? Are they unable to maintain their legs past game 15? Is it a question of talent? Is this team simply not deep enough to compete for extended periods? Is it coaching, are the Habs simply that easy to figure out?

I could rant, and rant. It looks right now that Koivu is both tired and disinterested. The Habs have to be the worst passing team in the league. They are too small up front, and too dependent on 3 guys on the back end. This team is too easily manhandled. They are not tough enough mentally or physically, and egad how hard is it to shout the God damned puck and drive the net for a rebound, forecheck, and chip the puck off the boards in the defensive end? Hockey basics is sourly lacking on this club.

What can be done? A couple of weeks ago, their arch enemies a few hours up the 401 looked like they were on the verge of blowing everything up. Is this the only option in Montreal? Is it time to erase the play book, rework the whole game plan? Do Gainey and Carbo have a game plan? I am not going to hold my breath, patience at the executive level is about as predictable in Montreal as the inevitable December meltdown. YAWN.

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What is Going on in the North East?

It has been a difficult couple of weeks for the 3 Canadian teams in the North East Division. Much has been made of course of the soap opera that is the Toronto Maple Leafs (don't look now, but they have won 2 in a row), but things are not going all that much better in Montreal or Ottawa. I haven't much to add to the Maple Leaf circus, as a Habs fan it does my heart some good to see the Leaf Nation in turmoil.

It is hard to fathom what is wrong with the Senators, this was a team that was 16-3 to start the season, there were comparisons about two weeks ago to the 1976-77 Habs who only lost 8 games. Oh how things can change, the Sens are in the throws of a 6 game losing streak, some of the demons of years past seem to have sneaked back into their game, namely average goaltending, and the whole question of heart. I believe the Sens will soon straighten things out, they are an elite team in this league, but they are in no way the 1976-77 Habs.

As for Habs, I could go on and on, there are as many negatives as there are positives with their line up. Morale has dipped to a level similar to that of the disastrous December 2006. Carbo can try his best to shake things up (pairing Saku with pluggers like Smokes and Streit, was a bit over the top, me thinks), he can bench this guy or that, nothing seems to work at this point. Could a true shakeup be in order, say maybe a trade, or at the very least a call up from Hamilton? Things are not going to get any easier for the Habs, Detroit comes to town on Tuesday, and if Les Boys come out with the same sort of effort as they did against Nashville, they will be run out of the rink.

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