This week was one to forget for the Montreal
Canadiens, on more levels than one. The virus that is ravaging the team is
bad enough, let alone the subpar performances that came as a result. The
struggles also found their way to Hamilton, as the team also only won 1 game
this week. We’ll also take a look back at the World Juniors, as well as a
closer look at Francis Lemieux, plus mid-term grades in the Recap.
|
Player |
Current week’s grade in parentheses, players
must have 12 or more games played in the season to have a mid-term grade (in
bold). Comments for players with an N/A will be related to this week’s
performance.
|
Goalies: |
Cristobal Huet: B+
Numbers aren’t as strong as they were a few weeks ago, but still strong. (C)
David Aebischer: B- Strong start and quality play of
late, iffy performances in between bring his grade down. (B-)
|
Defence: |
Sheldon Souray: A- Defensive play improving noticeably
as of late to go with the awe-inspiring offensive stats. (B-)
Mike Komisarek: B Continues to be one of the most
reliable defensive defencemen.
(B-)
Andrei Markov: B The numbers are there, but there’s been
a few too many times when his head hasn’t been. (C+)
Francis Bouillon: B- Slowly getting better, but where are
the momentum changing hits? (C)
Craig Rivet: B- Has looked out of place the last 10 games
or so. (B-)
Mathieu Dandenault: C+ Decent, but overall not as
effective as last season. (B-)
Janne Ninnimaa: C Better play as of late, hard to
forget the awful start though. (C)
|
Forwards: |
Saku Koivu: A- Pretty
much a career year on the scoresheet, does anyone even remember the fact he
needs eye surgery in the offseason? (B-)
Chris Higgins: B+ Has come crashing back to earth after
an unbelievable start. (C)
Guillaume Latendresse: B Has picked it up nicely after a
very slow start. (B)
Alexander Perezhogin: B More of an all-around game, it’d
be nice if he’d pop an extra one here and there though, he has the skills.
(B)
Mark Streit: B His offensive game seems to be better put
to use on the wing. (B)
Michael Ryder: B- Still a little too streaky for most
people’s likings. (B-)
Radek Bonk: B- Offensive game starting to resemble that
of last season’s. (B-)
Tomas Plekanec: B- Not enough offence given that he’s on
a scoring line.
(B+)
Alexei Kovalev: C+ Oh how he frustrates me,
consistency in his play (and his thinking) drives me bananas. (D-)
Mike Johnson: C+ Offensive production has flat out
disappeared. (C)
Aaron Downey: C He’s done his job, nothing more than that
really. (C)
Garth Murray: C Much better this quarter of the season. (N/A)
Sergei Samsonov: D+ Unacceptable production, effort is
only worth so much in this day and age. (D-)
Exempt from mid-term grades (current grade in bold):
Mikhail Grabovski: B+ Very creative with the puck,
got ripped off for a goal vs the Rangers (at least they scored on the ensuing
PP, so all was right with the world.)
Maxim Lapierre: C+ Not as strong as during his original
callup, but decent regardless.
Andrei Kostitsyn: Did not play this week either, no grade
available.
|
The Dog |
The Bulldogs, like the Habs, had a shaky week,
winning just 1 of 3 contests. As a result, the team has slipped to 3rd in
the North Division standings, a point behind the Manitoba Moose.
|
Game-by-Game: |
Wednesday,
January 3, 2007 – Hamilton 4, Iowa 3
(OT)
Hamilton Goals:
Milroy (16), Kostitsyn (12), Grabovski (10), Lapierre (9)
Shots: 25-22 Hamilton
PP: 0-6 PK:
3-4
Friday,
January 5, 2007 – Iowa 2,
Hamilton 0
Shots: 32-30 Hamilton
PP: 0-5 PK:
5-6
Saturday,
January 6, 2007 – Rochester 4, Hamilton
1
Hamilton Goal:
Stortini (9)
Shots: 33-30 Hamilton
PP: 0-8 PK:
4-5
|
3 Key Notes: |
1)
Hamilton’s shutout loss vs Iowa came against a goalie making his AHL debut,
Steve Silverthorn. Interestingly enough, Silverthorn had another shutout
the following night in Toronto.
2) Jonathan Ferland has struggled as of late, pointless in his last
6 games, with a -6 rating in that span.
3) There’s a reason the Bulldogs offence went dry this week, 3 of
their top 7 point getters now find themselves in the NHL (Lapierre, Grabovski,
Roy).
|
WJC |
The 2007 World Junior Hockey Championships have
wrapped up, and Canadiens fans are quite excited about a few of the prospects
who represented the team. Here is a small recap on each, with a grade for
the tournament:
Carey Price – Canada: A+ How can you not give an
A-plus to the tournament MVP?
GP |
Record |
MINS |
GA |
SVS |
GAA |
SV% |
| 6 | 6-0-0 | 370 | 7 | 172 | 1.14 | 0.961 |
Juraj Mikus – Slovakia: B+
Pretty much the lone consistent offensive threat for the Slovaks in the tourney.
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
PIMS |
+/- |
SOG |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | -1 | 17 |
Pavel Valentenko – Russia: B+
Really a wildcard, saw more ice as the games progressed, used in all situations.
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
PIMS |
+/- |
SOG |
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | +3 | 13 |
Sergei Kostitsyn – Belarus:
B Didn’t produce the offence Belarus sorely needed to stick around
for next season.
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
PIMS |
+/- |
SOG |
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 33 | -6 | 23 |
The 2008 WJC’s will be held in the Czech
Republic.
|
In the |
By Jason Brisebois
Francis Lemieux:
Francis Lemieux was born on February 22nd, 1984. Signed as a free agent
in December 2005 by the Canadiens/Bulldogs, Lemieux has been playing a key role
with the Dogs ever since. Lemieux is fairly average player. He is not
overly skilled or talented, but he does have heart. He is a hard worker, a
fierce competitor and will always come to play. He is also coming off a fairly
good rookie season, and is looking good this season, but at the same time,
struggling to find the scoreboard. Though he will never play an overly
important role within the Canadiens organization, if he continues to work hard
in the AHL, he very well some day make the NHL.
Season |
Team |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
| 2001-02 | Chicoutimi Sagueneens |
66 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 44 |
2002-03 |
Chicoutimi Sagueneens |
66 | 28 | 35 | 63 | 36 |
| 2003-04 | Chicoutimi Sagueneens |
70 | 22 | 44 | 66 | 49 |
2004-05 |
Chicoutimi Sagueneens |
70 | 32 | 50 | 82 | 52 |
| 2005-06 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 67 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 76 |
2006-07 |
Hamilton Bulldogs | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
Next week: To be determined.
|
Final |
Typically, only the eternal optimist could find
a potential positive out of what the Montreal Canadiens are going through right
now. I, am not one of these, but yet, I’ve found something.
Recently, the discussion about potential line changes has been bandied about,
with the main sticking point being the fact that a couple of the lines had some
chemistry that ideally shouldn’t be toyed with. But with the iffy health
status, why not try now? In the last two games, the lines were shuffed
almost constantly because some of the players weren’t able to take a regular
shift. If Guy Carbonneau has a theory or two about who could play well
with who, perhaps now is the time to try, given that pretty much every line is
all out of whack anyways. What’s the worst that could happen?
Another non-goal game? More struggles from the offence? Wouldn’t be
much different than what we’re seeing now, why not give it a go?