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.

From the Girl's Point of View...

First of all, I agree with everyone Hubs said below - I think Hershey played a fabulous game last night and coming away with a 7-1 win was a terrific feeling. I think, though, what most impressed me was the grit, perseverance, and quickness the Bears displayed - all qualities that were only occasionally present last year. I've written before of how frustrated I occasionally got last year when the Bears would play 1-1/2 to 2 great periods of hockey and be mediocre the rest of the game. Not so last night. We saw 60 minutes of intense, high-energy, never-say-die hockey from the Bears, even when they had a significant lead and could have slacked off a bit. That is what I've been waiting to see from them, and I think this year is going to be a fabulous year.

On a side note, here's hoping Andrei Kostitsyn of the Habs doesn't miss significant ice time following his injuries last night against Phoenix. I haven't yet watched the recording of the game but from the picture in the Montreal Gazette, he looked pretty shaken up. Still, I was pleased to see the Habs win again. Latendresse continues to surprise, earning another assist last night, and if he keeps this up I may have to eat my words about his place on the line with Koivu and Tanguay...

Procrastination Comes Back to Bite You Sooner or Later...

My thoughts about last night's Caps/Pens game are largely in line with those of my wise Hubs, but I do have a couple of additional thoughts. Last year, I was somewhat frustrated with Hershey's tendency to play 2 periods (or even 1-1/2) instead of 3. What has made me acutely nervous in the games against the Blackhawks and the Pens has been the necessity of coming back after digging oneself in a great, big, fat hole; I'm not sure I'm seeing three consecutive periods of consistent, full-out hockey from the Caps yet, and that does bug me a bit. Still, it's early in the season, and it does appear that Theodore has settled down a bit, so hopefully I'm just picking nits.

On the Habs, I'm thrilled at the possibility that Christopher Higgins might be back in the lineup tomorrow night - we desperately need him back. Latendresse has shown improvement, but I still don't think he's right for a line with Koivu and Tanguay; he's faster, but not fast enough.

And did anyone besides us think that Malkin should have been given a 5-minute major for his hit on Semin last night????