Hey Habs - There's No "I" in Team...

For the third time this week, I proudly donned my bleu/blanc/rouge to support the Habs, this time at the Phone Booth in Washington. Also for the third time this week, the Habs fell in a disappointing effort. The Caps season holder in me was totally pleased that they finally delivered 60 minutes of solid, near-perfect hockey and that José Theodore looked like a $4 million goalie for the first time this season; the Habs fan in me was utterly crushed.

The Habs' defense is holding steady and did an adequate job, by and large, last night; they blocked a number of shots and probably kept the game from being a total blowout. This is no slam on Jaroslav Halak, by the way; he made some excellent saves but, while defense may win championships, it can't win without some kind of offense, and that, my friends, is where the Habs are sorely lacking. To go 9 minutes into the game before registering the first shot on goal is scary, to say the least.

Since I saw them lose two games with Tanguay in the lineup, I'm not willing to attribute the complete lack of scoring last night to his absence. As I've written previously this week, Kovalev is there in body only (5 goals so far this year); neither of the Kostitsyns have done much yet this year (7 pts total for Andrei; 9 pts total for Sergei); and Chris Higgins doesn't seem to be fully back from his injury, just to cite a few problems. To me, though, the biggest worry by far is the power play, or absence thereof. I know others have said it before me, but I think that letting Mark Streit go was a big mistake on the part of the Canadiens; no one else has stepped up to take the kind of leadership role on the power play that he provided last year in particular.

Finally, in the great old Habs tradition many people have been throwing Guy Carbonneau under the bus for the current slump. Perhaps he has some responsibility; perhaps not. Not being in the locker room, I'm not willing to venture a guess one way or the other. I will say, however, that the Canadiens I saw this week against the Bruins, Islanders, and Capitals were not playing as a team. I recognize that slumps happen, but unless these guys come together as a team and start playing consistently (say, like they did on Wednesday against the Red Wings), the Habs might be in for a disappointment at the end of this 100th season.

BTW, from the Caps part of me, snaps to the Hershey guys once again, particularly Sami Lepisto for his second assist in two games, Karl Alzner for some great defense, and Chris Bourque for some fiery play. This is the great thing about being a season ticket holder for both the Caps and the Hershey Bears - we don't miss out on these great guys regardless of where they play. :-)

And a final note to the Habs - go out tonight, play like you did Wednesday, and show the Sabres how it's done, please.

It All Started in 1985...

Nearly twenty-four years ago, I fell in love with a game called hockey and especially a team called the Montréal Canadiens courtesy of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, which I was able to watch via a huge satellite dish in our Kansas backyard. My parents thought I was absolutely insane but gave up a lot of Saturday night television for my addiction, even buying me a Habs jersey as a Christmas present.

This past weekend, I finally saw my beloved Habs play at home in the Bell Centre and was able to scream "Go Habs Go!" along with 21,000+ similarly addicted people. Even better, the weekend we chose for our hockey excursion was the one during which Patrick Roy's jersey was retired, in an emotional (and beautifully done) pre-game ceremony. The fact that this was a player that I had actually watched and followed made it especially meaningful for me, and I was grateful that Patrick read the French portions of his speech slowly enough that I could pick up quite a bit of what he was saying. :-)

The game itself, an Original Six matchup against the Bruins, was a bit of a disappointment in that the Habs simply did not look sharp. Granted, the Bruins have been on a streak of late, but the sheer numbers of missed passes and botched defensive matchups cannot be attributed solely to the Bruins' skill. As much as I enjoyed the play of Alex Kovalev last year, his play so far this year leaves much to be desired. It's as if he is simply a shell of himself, or simply marking time, I'm not sure which.

We also attended Monday's game against the Islanders, and since so many have already harped on poor Ryan O'Byrne, I won't follow suit. The fact is that the Habs had plenty of chances to win that game and failed to capitalize on the majority of them. As big a mistake as O'Byrne made, it's equally foolish to pin the loss on him.

On our way out of Montréal Tuesday, we caught some of the morning discussion on the Team 990, and I have to agree with the commentators, most of whom agree that the Habs are not playing as a team but as a group of individuals. What is the reason for this? Ego? Poor guidance from their coach? Believing too much of their own press?

Since we were at the Capitals/Thrashers game last night (and I'll let Hubs tell you about that one - it was a goody), we didn't catch most of the Habs' win over the Red Wings last night, but I'm very pleased that they were able to take that kind of a win on the road. Tomorrow night we will be a divided household as I represent Habs Nation at the Phone Booth and Hubs supports the Caps - hopefully it will be a happy ending for le Canadien!