The Canadiens once again wound up with 4 of a
possible 6 points this week, but it certainly could’ve been much worse, with a
0-goal victory, an ugly loss to Carolina, and a mostly ugly win vs Toronto.
Meanwhile, in Hamilton, the Bulldogs continued their recent pace, also winning 2
of 3. We’ll also take a look at Carey Price, as well as the performances
of Habs prospects in the ADT Canada/Russia challenge, plus a final thought on
the play of Alexei Kovalev in the Recap.
|
Player |
Previous week’s grades in italics.
|
Goalies: |
Cristobal Huet: B+
Played well overall, 4th goal vs Carolina was an iffy deflator though. (A-)
David Aebischer: N/A Did not play. (C-)
|
Defence: |
Mike Komisarek: B+ Quickly becoming team’s most
reliable defensive defender, great job shadowing Sundin on Saturday. (B)
Mathieu Dandenault: B Played 4th line RW above
average, easily shifted back and played well on D. (B-)
Sheldon Souray: B- Pretty shootout goal, not much else
overall. (B+)
Craig Rivet: B-
Steady before getting injured with shot to the wrist. (B)
Andrei Markov: B- Something is missing from him, it’s
been 2 months, and I still can’t find exactly what on a game-to-game basis. (C+)
Mark Streit: C+ There’s a reason he was scratched for
a game this week. (B-)
Francis Bouillon: C+ Still looks a tad slow,
understandable given his injury. And why is he on the PP? (C+)
Janne Ninnimaa: N/A Did not play. (B-)
|
Forwards: |
Saku Koivu: A Another strong week, took the team on
his shoulders and single handedly got them points vs the Leafs. (A)
Alexander Perezhogin: A Didn’t produce much, but was
all over both ends of the ice, great to see. (B-)
Mike Johnson: B Strong defensively, but needs to get a
point here and there as well.
(B-)
Radek Bonk: B Aside from seemingly losing almost every
faceoff, decent if anything. (B)
Guillaume Latendresse: B Some playmaking skills shone
through this week, accuracy went AWOL though. (C+)
Steve Begin: C+ Didn’t have his normal momentous
impact this week. (B-)
Garth Murray: C+ Decent week overall, more
in-your-face, 0/2 on easy goal opportunities though. (C-)
Sergei Samsonov: C Unlike Kovalev, he looks like he’s
trying out there, but needs to do something more soon. (C)
Tomas Plekanec: C- Someone needs to remind him of what
the offside rule is. (C-)
Aaron Downey: C- More time in the box then on the ice
in his lone game. (N/A)
Michael Ryder: D+ Awful, simply awful, at least he
remembered to aim long enough to tip a puck into an empty net in Carolina. (C-)
Alexei Kovalev: F Absolutely unacceptable, again.
See final thought for more details. (B)
|
Bulldogs |
For the second straight week, the Bulldogs went
2-1, and remain 2nd in the division, despite still having a point total that
wouldn’t make the playoffs in any other division.
|
Game-by-Game: |
Tuesday, November
28,
2006 – Hamilton 3, Milwaukee 0
Hamilton Goals: Kostitsyn 2 (4/5), Roy (3)
Shots: 32-24 Milwaukee
PP: 0/4 PK:
6/6
Wednesday, November
29, 2006 – Hamilton 3, Grand Rapids 2 (SO)
Hamilton Goals: Roy 2 (4/5)
Shootout: Kostitsyn 2/2, Milroy 0/1,
Lapierre 0/1, Grabovski 0/1, Locke 0/1
Shots: 40-34 Hamilton
PP: 0/6 PK:
4/4
Friday, December
1, 2006 – Toronto 3, Hamilton 2
Hamilton Goals: Kostitsyn (6), Grabovski (5)
Shots: 29-28 Toronto
PP: 0/8 PK:
3/5
|
3 Key Notes: |
1) G
Jaroslav Halak was named AHL Goalie of the Month for November.
2) C Mikhail Grabovski has 10 points in his last 6 games.
3) D Patrick Traverse has 0 goals in 22 games so far this season.
Let the goal watch begin.
|
In the |
By: Jason Brisebois
Goaltender Carey Price is this week’s feature.
Price, a native of Williams Lake BC was selected in the 1st round of the 05
draft, 5th overall. Carey took over the starting job with the Tri-City Americans
in 2004, when current starter Tyler Weiman turned pro. Price who was cut from
the 2005 Canada World Juniors team is one of the leading candidates to start for
Canada in the 2006 tournament. He was also the starter for the ADT WHL-Russian
Selects prospect game. Price is a very mobile goalie, but at the same time
covers much of the net. He also is very consistent. On the other hand, Price
tends to go down early, exposing the top of the net. In general though, Price
has lots of potential. He could very well be the starter in Montreal one day.
WHL Stats
Season |
GP |
MINS |
GA |
SO |
GAA |
| 05-06 | 55 | 3072 | 147 | 3 | 2.87 |
| 04-05 | 63 | 3712 | 145 | 8 | 2.34 |
| 03-04 | 28 | 1363 | 54 | 1 | 2.38 |
| 02-03 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 6.00 |
Next Week: To be determined
|
ADT |
Below are the stats for the Canadiens prospects
at the recently completed ADT Canada/Russia Challenge:
Skaters:
Player |
Team |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
PIMS |
| Ryan White | WHL | 1 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 0 |
| Ben Maxwell | WHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | E | 2 |
| Mathieu Carle | QMJHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Goalies:
Player |
Team |
GP |
GA |
Saves |
SA |
GAA |
| Carey Price | WHL | 1 | 1 | 22 | 23 | 1.00 |
There were no representatives from the
Canadiens on Team OHL.
|
Final |
To say that I’ve simply had enough of Alexei
Kovalev as a Hab would be irrational of me, so I’ll restrain myself in that
regard. However, I’m coming very close to that declaration. It is
unacceptable to take yapping penalties, especially twice in a 3-week span.
It is unacceptable to fail to complete several simple passes to teammates,
rather making them to opponents instead. It is unacceptable to give up on
a check in the defensive zone…more than once in a week, let alone once in a
game. It is unacceptable to be making $4.5 million and be doing these
things, and I haven’t even mentioned the fact that he’s not scoring. But
the real kicker is his criticism of Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau, for his
seemingly restrictive offensive system. He claims he doesn’t have enough
freedom on the ice. Given the way he’s been playing as of late, I shudder
to think of what would happen if he had more freedom out there. Kovalev
needs to realize that despite what he thinks, he, nor anyone else, is above the
team, and has the right to criticize the coach, especially when one is playing
like he is. Memo to Alexei: You’re on thin ice, and the crack is
beginning, time to get your head in the game and skate away before it’s too
late.