subject: Canadiens Holiday Woes [print this page] Well, the busy holidays are over now, and for the Canadiens, that's probably a good thing. The holidays saw a drastic drop in everyone's point-per-game ratio and Price's save percentage plummeted by about .015%.
Going into the holidays, things were already showing signs of slowing down. In a streak of 4 tough games-the Red Wings, Leafs, Flyers, and Bruins- the Habs only won one game, against the Bruins. Nevertheless, the team had a comfortable lead on the division going into the long road trip. Coming out of it, it's vice versa.
Pierre Gauthier was a busy man on the road trip too. Landing a solid defenceman in Wisniewski(despite some disciplinary issues) was a wise move, and it seems even wiser now that Josh Gorges is out for the rest of the season. Then Gauthier got the lost draft picks back when he shipped Maxime Lapierre to Anaheim. While he didn't do much, he was a fan favorite and it was a little sad to see him go.
Also in the mix of new teammates are Max Pacioretty and David Desharnias. While they got their chances at slightly different times, they have both been impressive and have put some points on the stat sheet. They have every indication of staying with the big dogs(no pun intended) long term, which only leaves the question of what to do with Lars Eller and Tom Pyatt.
They haven't been the only young stars shining recently. Habs fans seemed to have been able to shelter themselves from the losses during the World Junior Championships. First round pick Louis Leblanc had a point per game, including the huge shorthanded goal against the Czechs. All was going well in Buffalo, especially with standouts Schenn and Ellis, who had a record setting tournament.
At least, it WAS going well. Alas, the final period of the World Juniors may have been the most embarrassing period for Canadian hockey in a long, long time, and rightly or wrongly, it turned the whole tournament sour. While the tournament ended better than the disappointing Olympics in Torino 2006, the last impression is the same...
They blew it.
I don't remember being this disappointed in a hockey team since the Canadiens' collapse in late May last year.
And speaking of collapses, Jacques Martin better get the team going with the extra practice time in the next month, because his job will be on thin ice(no pun intended) if he doesn't. Luckily, the Habs seem to be bouncing back, with 5 points in their last 3 games, which all had bright moments.
And any doubts about Price's confidence given his recent cold streak have surely been quieted thanks to his confidence(and smile) inducing postgame pose. As the Americans would(and did) say it, Price got SWAG.
by: Benjamin Twain
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