Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Do Habs deserve to make the playoffs?

Its Monday nite 11:58pm. I haven't posted a blog in a while; figured its a good time.

Let me take you back to last Monday. 10:50am: I call PJ Stock and advise him Christobal Huet has been involved in on-ice training at Concordia. PJ, tells me he heard that already and hangs up.....nice guy that PJ. I enter the studio 5 minutes later and say why did you hang up? PJ laughs and says, ''Tony just because he's training doesn't mean he'll be back, he's out for the season.'' I look at him and say, ''No, he's not, I have been told that he'll be back.''

Next day: Tuesday, March 13th. Huet, tells the media at the Bell Centre that he was at Concordia for a few days and didnt face any shots. I know for a fact that Huet trained there for 5 days and faced a lot of shots. I know that because I found out on Monday that a buddy of mine took some shots on him. Anyway, the Montreal Media continues to say Huet is unlikely to come back. At 12:10pm, I say, ''If the Canadiens are still in the playoff hunt, Huet will start vs the NYR on March 27.'' I was sure of that as well because someone close to the situation told me Huet would be 100% by then. Now, Im hearing that a fellow member of the media said over the weekend on the CBC that Huet will probably start Saturday, March 24 vs Washington. Folks, just remember where you heard it first that Huet would play again this season.

Friday nite: I thought the Canadiens blew a great opportunity to make up some ground. After 2 periods of play, Toronto trails Washington 3-1 and Tampa is losing by the same score to Buffalo. Meanwhile, Montreal is tied at 2 with Pittsburgh. The Habs needed to take advantage but gave up 4 goals in the third. Once again, David Aebischer was simply horrendous. He's played his last game for Montreal. Nice young man, awful goaltender.

Saturday nite: Big character win for Montreal beating Toronto 3-2 in a shootout. The catalysts: Everybody. Especially, Francis Bouillon, Jaroslav Halak, Saku Koivu and Andrei Kostitsyn. Bouillon's fight with Darcy Tucker lifted the team. As for goalie Jaroslav Halak if it wasn't for him Montreal would have lost in regulation. And, Koivu and Kostitsyn, got the job done in the shootout. The win was huge, but if the Canadiens want to make the playoffs, they cant give teams they're battling with a point.

9 games to go; Canadiens are 2 points out of the playoffs. Of course, it would be great for the city if they make it to the dance; but to tell you the truth, I dont think the Canadiens deserve to make the playoffs. Why not, you ask? Simple. (a) They have conceded more goals than they have scored. Goal differential of -17. (b) 6 of their top 7 point getters are minus players, accounting for -89 and (c) when you are scoreboard watching this time of year hoping for help its because as a team you didnt get the job done. Add it all up, its not playoff worthy.

Sunday afternoon: I dropped by La Pizzeria Etc in Blainville. Sheldon Souray is one of the owners. Great pizza; check it out. Sheldon was there and so were about 500 Canadiens fans. They were chanting, ''Go Habs Go'' and ''Souray Souray Souray''. It was nuts. Sheldon was there for quite some time and signed hundreds of autographs and took hundreds of pictures. I have seen him do this more than once. He is an awesome person and IMO the ''Real Captain'' of the team. Thats not a shot at Koivu, either. Everywhere I go, people ask me will Souray be back next year? Sheldon has never told me this, but my gut feeling is as much as he loves it here, he's done his time and he will move on. Only time will tell.....

In ending, I want to say what a great time I had when I took part in the 1st ever Bell Centre Challenge courtesy of Molson Export. I thought we had a great team. In goal, Leo Luongo (Roberto's younger brother), Defence Pair 1 was composed of Arduino Patulli and Dennis Kwan, our other pairing was Sean Campbell and Giorgio Porcari. Up front, Line 1: Lucio De Martinis, Ben Raspa and Tony Aversano. The second line had Anthony Giambagno centering Jimmy Papapostolou and Billy Karagiannitis. And, the 3rd line had myself on Left Wing with Aldo Polisena on the right side and Domenic Sollazzo in the middle. Our first game was a hard fought win over PJ Stock's team. PJ, did a lot of trash talking before the game, but I warned him my team would do our talking on the ice and we squeaked out a 3-1 victory. We then played the Morning Show and I picked up a goal. We were up 3 nothing when i was awarded a penalty shot. I dont think too many people expected me to score, but I did my best Jussi Jokinen impersonation and it worked. As a matter of fact, everything went my way in that game. We beat them 5 nothing and I was on for every goal. Unfortunately, we lost our last game to Melnicks team. I wont make escuses BUT I will say that it was our second straight game, meanwhile Melnicks team had just over 30 mins rest before the game. We played hard, we were down 1 nothing with 3 minutes left and eventually lost 3 zip. They were good, but I wouldn't mind playing them again. I have too, I haven't digested that loss.

Getting late, Im going to hit the sack.......big show tomorrow,,,,its Gameday. Boston visits Montreal. Enjoy the game everybody. I will talk to you in a couple of days. Peace.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Habs in trouble...I saw it coming

Friday morning: I'm making breakfast for my youngest son; I will leave for work soon. Past couple of days have been crazy. When the Canadiens lose, the callers can get pretty emotional. However, no solution seems to drastic right now to get the team back on track. The team has been talking the talk for the past week promising to make a push to get them into the playoffs. If you haven't figured it out yet, talk is cheap if you can't back it up. Tomorrow the Canadiens will play Game 5 of their 5 game road trip. After 4 games, 4 losses and outscored 21-8. Ouch, thats really ugly! After the whole Kovalev-LaPresse saga, the team still didn't rebound. Alarming, to say the least. Before we move on, I still would like to hear the tape......

Now, I want to take this opportunity to paste some statements from my previous blogs below.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007
1) Folks, what happened in the first half was a ‘mirage’ because the team overachieved.

Friday, February 9, 2007
2) The dressing room is not what it used to be. IMO, Things started to "unravel" when Guy Carbonneau made Craig Rivet a healthy scratch. That, was a damaging strategy to date. Rivet, was indeed struggling on the ice, but he has alot of credibility in the dressing room. Why? Because he gives you everything he's got every night, night after night, season after season. That means alot to teammates.

3) Im not going to blame just the coach for the Habs struggles. Its time for the leaders to step up and for the guys to pull in the same direction. There is not enough scoring and raw talent on this team for guys to take nites off.......Once again, remember what I have told you since October 1st; this team will battle for a playoff spot.....

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
4) The System: The Transition Game, is non-existent because most of the defencemen can't make a tape to tape pass. As for the forecheck: where is the speed everyone talks about? The problem is the team is playing a 1-2-2 system. Carbonneau, prefers this system because it insulates the defence and better protects the goaltender. However, when you have fast players, you should adopt a 2-1-2 system and be more aggressive on the forecheck. This system will help you create more turnovers and help create offense.

5) Management: Last year when Claude Julien lost 18 of 25; Gainey fired him. One year later, Gainey now knows it wasn't the coaches fault. This team just doesn't have the horses and there are 3 areas the GM needed to improve: Size, Depth at Center and Scoring.....3 years later, those 3 things are still missing.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
6) I guess you are wondering if Bob Gainey is talking to other teams? The answer is YES. Gainey, talked to Minnesota two weeks ago and has been talking with San Jose this week. But, Gainey won't make a deal just to shut people up. If he does pull the trigger, I think it will be with a western conference team.

Thursday, March 1, 2007
7) It's official, Bob Gainey didn't make a move. I wasnt really surprised; but if i was in his shoes, I would have been a seller.

8) In the meantime, the players were all coming down and went outside, where they waited for the team bus, set to leave 15 minutes later.....the players seemed down......they said they didnt expect the team to make a move, but deep down I believe they were hoping GM Bob Gainey would have added a player or two. Outside the players were split up in many groups....the whole time I was thinking where is the team spirit here? The players were talking with the media and the fans and signing autographs. Where is the focus? The guys were on their way to play Game #66 of the season and you would never know it.

9) Canadiens lose 4 nothing vs NYR. The guys werent very happy, especially Koivu. He was still disappointed that Rivet left.....it will take a while for him to get over that one. I can understand his disappointment, but at the same time, he's the Captain and he has to lead the team.

10) I asked another player if he was confident the team could finish strong. The player said, ''We are batttling for our playoff lives. There is pressure from the city, the fans and pressure we put on ourselves. Some players can handle it, it's obvious other players cannot.''

Ok, let's recap my 10 points above from my previous blogs.
1) No question; the 1st half was definitely a mirage.
2) The dressing room did start to crumble when Rivet was scratched.
3) The Canadiens best players have to be their best. It hasn't happened and thats why they're losing.
4) They still play the 1-2-2 and don't impose their footspeed or their rythm at all.
5) GM Bob Gainey didnt address the weaknesses of his club and they are paying for it.
6) Gainey did talk to San Jose, he traded Rivet there.
7) I definitely would have been a seller and would have tried to move Souray, Markov, Bonk and Kovalev. The first 3 are UFA's and you still have a chance to sign them if you want them back. As for Kovalev: they could do better things with the money. And, I would buy out Samsonov's contract at 66%.
8) The players were dejected and have been for a while. And, the focus clearly is not there.
9) Koivu hasnt been the same since Rivet left; it's about time he steps up. But, he'll need some help.
10) It's obvious this team has a lot of players that either dont care or cant play under pressure.

I am not here to toot my own horn, but I think it's obvious my points have been, as Pierre McGuire says, ''Bang On.'' The only mistake I made was when I said, ''This team will battle for a playoff spot.'' Sure, they are still in the hunt, but they are definitely not, ''Battling.'' Pretty sad, if you ask me. Be well everybody.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

My New York Road trip

This past Monday, I was on-air between 11am and 3pm. After work, I ran a few errands and watched the Canadiens-Leafs game at nite. Following the game, I co-hosted the Habs PostGame Show with Picard. I then took a 90 minute nap. At 12:30am I left my house to pickup Noel Butler and we were off to New York. If i wanted too, I could have gone by plane, but Im not crazy about flying; so i drove instead. The only thing I asked of Noel was to stay awake and talk to me because I was scared to fall asleep at the wheel. Noel said it would be no problem. We were ready. We had chips, chocolate and energy drinks. On the can it said consumption was 2 cans per day. By the time we reached the U.S. Border, Noel Butler had already drank 3 of them. I have tried many energy drinks, but this one tastes great. It's called Beaver Buzz......ok, ok.....don't laugh....Anyway, if you want to pick some up call my friends at Q-Bec Cafe, they are the distributors in Montreal. (514) 365-2111.

We finally left Montreal at 1am and checked in to the Doubletree Guest Suites at 9am. The Hotel is on Broadway and W47, the Montreal Canadiens were staying at the same hotel. I was on the 22nd floor, the players were on the 27th. I washed up and went to the 6th floor about half an hour later. The players were to meet for breakfast at 10am in a meeting room on the 6th floor. There were about 7-8 players there, one of which was newly acquired d-man Josh Gorges. Josh, is a great kid. He approached every guy and introduced himself. Almost every guy, shook his hand and 1 second later, they either turned to their left or their right, or placed a call on their cell. It wasn't the warmest of greetings. Now, I didn't see all the players meet him. Like I said, I only saw 7-8 players meet him; I can't tell you who they were, but I will say it Koivu and Souray weren't there when I was. Those two are leaders, I imagine they greeted him well. Of the 7-8 that were there, the warmest welcome came courtesy of Janne Niinimaa. He went over and said, ''Hi Josh, Im Janne. Welcome to the team. I think you will like Montreal. The whole process bothered me. When a player joins a new team, what great organizations do is: send his wife flowers, help them find a home, make sure the fridge is full, the groceries done, etc.....Now, as far as Josh is concerned, he's not married and doesn't have any kids. In that case, IMO the Canadiens should have sent a team rep to NY and that person should have introduced Josh to the guys........it all just didn't seem right. A former NHL executive, told me this is a management issue and management should make sure these situations are handled better in the future.

10am: I setup my laptop on the 3rd floor, in the lobby area. Some players (Johnson, Bouillon and Komisarek) came by and asked if any trades were made. Most of the guys however went out for a walk.

1:30pm: Some guys are still going out for walks....i thought they would be taking a nap instead.

4PM: the deadline ended at 3pm, but some trades were announced as late as 4pm. It's official, Bob Gainey didn't make a move. I wasnt really surprised; but if i was in his shoes, I would have been a seller. Moments later, I get word that Gainey will not answer questions from the Media at the Bell Center. Personally, I don't think thats right. Gainey, is like a CEO of a big company and the fans are the investors. The fans pay the players salaries,,,,,they had the right to know why the GM didn't improve the team. I believe it was part of Gainey's GM responsibilities to talk and I find it unfortunate that he didn't.

4:30pm: Guy Carbonneau shows up in the lobby area and takes a seat next to Pat Hickey and myself. Guy, told us they didn't make a move because the management team and coaching staff decided to give the players a vote of confidence. Carbo, went on to mention that in the East, besides Martin Brodeur, all the other goalies were equivalent. He said if the Habs make the playoffs, anything is possible. YEAH....YEAH....YEAH.....the team said the same thing last year.

In the meantime, the players were all coming down and went outside, where they waited for the team bus, set to leave 15 minutes later.....the players seemed down......they said they didnt expect the team to make a move, but deep down I believe they were hoping GM Bob Gainey would have added a player or two. Outside the players were split up in many groups....the whole time I was thinking where is the team spirit here? The players were talking with the media and the fans and signing autographs. Where is the focus? The guys were on their way to play Game #66 of the season and you would never know it. I talked to a former NHL Coach this morning about these issues. He told me that unfortunately cell phones and ipods are the story of the new NHL. However, he did say that the Coaching Staff can change all of this if they want. Think of it, you meet in the lobby at 4:30pm; you dont talk to anybody and when the bus is set to leave, the players are then escorted out by security. Honestly, the minute the players left for the rink, I knew they were going to lose...and lose big.....The guys need to be a team again. They need to get their game faces back on. Things have to change,.,,,I find it sad that The Montreal Canadiens, considered to be the best organization in all of hockey, are in reality very far from it.

Game over, Canadiens lose 4 nothing. Enter the room and 5 players are available: Halak, Streit, Komisarek, Souray and Koivu. The guys werent very happy, especially Koivu. He was still disappointed that Rivet left.....it will take a while for him to get over that one. I can understand his disappointment, but at the same time, he's the Captain and he has to lead the team.

Wednesday morning: a lot of players go for walks. I cross paths with many of them. Its on off day, the guys are relaxed and when that happens, you can get some good stuff off the record.

I asked one player if the team played badly because they were disappointed they didnt add a player at the deadline. I was told No; it was more a matter of the team being tired because they checked in at 2:3oam on Tuesday, following the Toronto game....

I asked another player if he was confident the team could finish strong. The player said, ''We are batttling for our playoff lives. There is pressure from the city, the fans and pressure we put on ourselves. Some players can handle it, it's obvious other players cannot.''

12:45pm: I am about ready to leave NY to come back home. I make my way to the Business Center, to print some directions; there I meet up with Chris Higgins. He's a true professional. He was on the TSN website, taking a look at all the trades and analyzing them. Chris and I had a great conversation. He told me he loves Montreal, he loves playing for the Habs and he hopes to be here for a very long time. Finally, some good news....

Here's the bad news, it's 1pm and I am ready to leave to come back home. But, I have to wait until 3pm before doing so because Noel Butler had to send emails and text messages. At which point, I look at him and say, ''Great Noel, it's 3pm and now we're stuck in traffic.'' He looks back at me and says, ''It's NY mate, there's traffic 24 hours a day.'' You can never win with this guy....

I am happy to be home! I was gone for only 45 hours, but I missed my 2 boys a lot...... and before my wife freaks out.....YES Honey, I missed you too. Hopefully, I can talk her into watching the Rangers-Penguins with me and the kids tonite on TSN.

Talk to you later......