Many Habs fans are quick to point fingers at what went wrong in the playoffs... But what happened to what went right to bring that team in the post-season waltz?
If you order a painting, chances are, you will wait for it to be completely finished to make a judgement. It is easy to criticize the finished product but you have to appreciate the effort that was invested to get to the job done.
At the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, "experts" predicted the Canadiens to be out of the playoffs and not even close to the eighth spot. Well, "experts" have been fooled! Montreal finished champion of not only their division but took the eastern conference title.
The awakening of players like Kovalev, Streit and Plekanec along with the blossoming of the young Kostitsyn brothers not to mention energy line's Bégin, Kostopoulos and Smolinski, were all the right colors used by coach Carbonneau to paint this edition of the Montreal Canadiens masterpiece.
Reaping 104 points in the regular season, most goals scored in the league with 257, combined with the most devastating power play (90 goals) this team has fooled not only the "experts" but also fooled themselves. I don't think, when the season started last October, this team thought they would end it 1st where it counts.
They've done it... and it was a job well done.
The 2nd round playoffs' elimination by the Flyers is just part of the learning process. You have to learn to lose before you learn to win. They just did that in the series against Philadelphia.
Now it is time for GM Bob Gainey and coach Guy Carbonneau to work on a new canvas and perfect their painting skills and most importantly, find some new color mixes to get the perfect masterpiece that would put Leonardo DaVinci to shame and make the Mona Lisa look like a dollar-shop item.
Summer of all summers
This summer will be a busy one for Gainey. We can all say that the team needs a playoff player who will not be afraid to get his hands dirty. The team needs at least 2 excellent forward and needs to buff-up the blue line.
As for the energy lines the players in place right now can easily do the job. Montreal cannot touch Bégin or Kostopoulos. Lapierre is sitting on the fence but he would be a great asset.
Guillaume Latendresse is an enigma. He skates as if he's pulling a grand piano. If he wants to compete in this league, he'll need to take some power skating lessons this summer.
The good news is that the Habs have good young players pushing from the AHL. Carle, D'Agostini, Coté, Ferland and Valentenko to name just a few are rookies that could make the team for the next season.
I give a 9/10 for the overall result of the 2007-2008 season.
DP
Comments (13) Add a comment »
from 9 days ago
9/10 ... that's a lot, but well, they have been through a lot and worked very hard
begin and TK should have their places nice and sweet on their usual lines, and maybe Smoke but I am not sure (he did not sound very enthusiast when he was talking about it so..)
Lapierre is way better than latendresse anyway. the way he skates, the way he hits, Latendresse is like everything looks so hard for him on the ice. it takes him forever to get on the other side. if he could hit more times than he scores (that is not a lot of times at all), he would have a better place in the team.
great post
from 9 days ago
9-10 may be a lot but everybody has to consider that:
1. Last year we didn't make the playoffs
2. We had a lot of young players
3. Price coming in as #1 after Huet was dealt
4. Ending first in the Conference
5. Most goals
6. Best Power Play.
7. Etc...
For all this and more it would be unfair to give them a lesser mark.
DP
from 9 days ago
Gainey will have 13 million dollar cap room. Hopefully he'll make good use of it and sign an impact player. Also Price will need a veteran goaltender who'll be willing to be a back up to him or maybe Price backing him up. I just don't see Price and Halak carry the team for the whole season. Don't get me wrong I like Price,but at his young age he still has a lot to learn.
from 9 days ago
I agree, except on having Price as a backup. I dont think Price will ever be a designed backup anymore after the trade; if they wanted him to be a second goalie, they would have kept Huet or something ...
yeah the duo is kinda scary, but I have a feeling gainey will keep it that way ("I have already defined our goalie situation" he said yesterday)
I dont know ...
from 9 days ago
We never know much with Gainey.
from 9 days ago
that is for sure!! (maybe Huet will come back! haha)
from 9 days ago
or theodore! now that would be a surprise!
what about kolzig?
from 9 days ago
kolzig would be nice or even Curtis Joseph.
from 9 days ago
Cujo would be awesome.
the thing with kolzig is that he is already a big friend of Price, since he own the trycity americans where Price used to play. the bad thing however, how do u ask a 30-something goalie to sit on the bench while the 20 year old guy plays ...
that is how halak is great for this team. with all the respect i have for this guy, he fits the $600,000 per year and the bench sitting during games to give the right space to Price .
it must be hard to be gainey !
from 9 days ago
Gainey needs a vacation before he takes any sort of decision.
from 9 days ago
I need a vacation ;)
from 9 days ago
if u go to mexico, u'll meet carey price and chris higgins there!!
from 9 days ago
9 out of 10 is a good assessment of the team's overall performance, just based on what the pundits predicted before a puck was dropped in October. As I said in another BR topic, the kids will get one more year under their belts, and should remember what got them this far, and didn't cut it once they hit the playoffs. The goalie tandem is great, based on Miah's comments above. Gainey's no fool. He knows he has to get a couple (not one, but two) power forwards to complete the picture. Ones that will have both muscle and speed.
The defence is solid. Even Brisebois was stable.
This season was an warm-up exercise for what will be the 1st winning year in the 21st century, and the centennial year to boot.
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