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Despite a litany of injuries, the Habs had some
success this past week, taking 3 of their 4 games.  The Bulldogs, decimated
by the call ups, were also successful, losing just 1 game as well.  The
former prospect this week is one who lit up the World Juniors years ago, while
the Final Thought looks at something the Habs seem to be wasting more than in
years past.  This, plus the weekly grades, in the Recap.

 Player
Grades

Note that this week, the grades encompass the
past 2 weeks of games since last week’s grades were strictly Bulldogs related.

8.00 to 10.00:
I) Stars/Superstars playing at or above performance, salary, and role expectations.
II) Above average players producing beyond performance, salary, and role expectations.
III) Average/Role players delivering well beyond performance, salary, and role
expectations.

7.00 to 7.75:
I) Stars/Superstars playing below performance, salary, and role expectations.
II) Above average players producing at performance, salary, and role expectations.
III) Average/Role players delivering beyond performance, salary, and role expectations.

6.00
to 6.75:
I) Stars/Superstars playing far below performance, salary, and role expectations.
II) Above average players producing below performance, salary, and role expectations.
III) Average/Role players delivering at performance, salary, and role expectations.

Under 6.00:
I) Stars/Superstars playing outrageously below performance, salary, and role
expectations.
II) Above average players producing far below performance, salary, and role expectations.
III) Average/Role players delivering below performance, salary, and role
expectations.

Goalies:


Carey Price:
 8.50 
Stole the game in Pittsburgh with his 3rd period heroics and was solid the rest
of the way as well.  (Previous: 7.25   Average:
7.95)

Marc Denis:
 7.00 
Despite the game being 3-1 when he came in, it was pretty much over.  He
made a couple of key saves to give the Habs a chance, I’ll give him that much.  (Previous:
N/A   Average:
7.00)

Jaroslav Halak:
 6.25 
To put it nicely, he had a week to forget – was shaky in a loss in New Jersey,
and just as shaky in his win.  (Previous:
8.25   Average:
7.66)

Defence:

Francis Bouillon:
 7.25 

I know there are some very different opinions out there, but I found his play to
be one of the few positives from the back end this week.  (Previous:
7.00   Average:
7.00)





Josh Gorges:
 7.25 
Was arguably the most consistent defensive d-man,
but even he had some uncharacteristic errors.  (Previous:
7.25   Average:
7.31)

Mike Komisarek:
 7.00 

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not playing poorly, but he seems to just be a shadow of
his former self, even before the injury.  (Previous:
7.25   Average:
7.00)


Roman Hamrlik:
 7.00 
His highlight of the week was the pass that led to
Plekanec’s SH goal vs Florida, but other than that, very little good or bad.   (Previous:
7.50   Average:
7.31)

Patrice Brisebois:
 6.75 
I’ve seen much worse from him defensively, but I ran out of fingers and toes
counting how many times the puck hopped over his stick, especially on the PP.  (Previous:
7.00   Average:
6.50)

Andrei Markov:
 6.75 
The shootout winner notwithstanding, he struggled
mightily at times – the giveaways and gaffes are something we’ve rarely seen
from him in years.  (Previous: 6.75   Average:
7.52)

Forwards:


Maxim Lapierre:
 8.50  If the team could play
with the confidence and intensity he’s had over the past month or so, there
wouldn’t be many negatives to speak of.  A well deserving recipient of the
Molson Cup.  (Previous: 7.75   Average:
7.30)

Guillaume Latendresse:
 7.75  We saw both the aggressive
and the passive Latendresse this week.  Fortunately, we saw more of the
aggressive.  (Previous: 8.00   Average:
7.43)

Andrei Kostitsyn:
 7.50  5 goals in the last 5
games.  His overall play wasn’t the greatest, but it’s hard to argue with
that type of production.  (Previous: 7.00   Average:
7.18)

Tomas Plekanec:
 7.50  There was spark in his
game for the first time in a long time.  It didn’t lead to a lot of
production, but it’s a start.  (Previous: 6.50   Average:
6.94)

Max Pacioretty:
 7.25  Hasn’t been a major force, but
has made a positive impact on the lineup.  Showed some early chemistry with
his linemates.  (Previous: N/A   Average:
7.25)

Kyle Chipchura:
 7.25  His hockey sense is where he
shone for me this week – he may not be the fleetest of foot but knows where to
go and when.  It’s hard to teach that.  (Previous:
N/A   Average:
7.25)

Tom Kostopoulos:
 7.25  Wasn’t as big a factor
offensively as his linemates, but still played well.  I give him full
credit for sticking up for his teammates, even if the end result wasn’t pretty.  (Previous:
7.00   Average:
7.17)

Robert Lang:
 7.00  Aside from a strong game
over the weekend vs Florida, it was a quiet week from him.  He’s showing
he’s a strong complementary scorer, but can’t be counted on regularly as a
primary one.  (Previous:
7.75   Average:
7.31)

Steve Begin:
 7.00  After being separated from
Lapierre, his effectiveness just wasn’t there as much.  Far from a poor
showing though.  (Previous: 7.50   Average:
7.18)

Alexei Kovalev:
 7.00  The head scratching moves
are slowly coming back, which detract from a week where I did like his drive in
the offensive zone.  (Previous: 7.50   Average:
6.79)

Sergei Kostitsyn:
 6.75  There were moments that
reminded you why he was a threat for the Habs last year, and others that
explained why he was a 7th rounder.  (Previous:
7.50   Average:
6.95)

Ben Maxwell:
 6.75  In his last couple of
games before he was sent down, he was starting to get some confidence and it
showed.  This bodes well for the future if nothing else.  (Previous:
6.25   Average:
6.50)

Alex Tanguay:
 6.75  Before his injury, he (and
his line for that matter) were playing some of their quietest hockey all season.  (Previous:
8.00   Average:
7.58)

Matt D’Agostini:
 6.50  His play has reverted back
to the style that saw him spending multiple seasons in Hamilton.  Where’s
the hustle?  (Previous:
7.75   Average:
7.55)

Week’s Average:
7.20
Season Average:
7.16

The Dog
Pound

Despite having 4 of their top 9 scorers in the
NHL and an ECHL goalie in net, the Bulldogs managed to take 2 of their 3
contests this week to keep pace in the North Division.

 Results:

December 30
1		 2 3
Tot
PP
SOG
Toronto 3 0 0 3 1/4 24
Hamilton 0 4 0 4 3/7 39

Attendance:  6,139
3 Stars:  1) Jancevski – HAM  2) Denis – HAM  3) Pacioretty –
HAM

January 2
1		 2 3
Tot
PP
SOG
Syracuse 3 0 0 3 0/6 21
Hamilton 2 2 0 4 1/6 25

Attendance:  4,041
3 Stars:  1) Beauregard – HAM  2) Carle – HAM  3) White – HAM

January 3
1		 2 3
Tot
PP
SOG
Iowa 1 1 1 3 3/8 30
Hamilton 1 0 1 2 0/2 19

Attendance:  3,952
3 Stars:  1) Salcido – IOW  2) Latendresse – HAM  3) Beleskey
– IOW

 Stats:

With so many of their scorers with the Habs, a
few of the lesser known Bulldogs stepped up and made their presence felt this
week.

SKATERS
# Player GP G A +/- SH PIMS
3 Ryan O’Byrne 2 0 0 E 2 4
4 Dan Jancevski 3 0 3 +3 2 8
5 Alex Henry 3 0 0 -1 0 6
6 Chad Anderson 3 0 0 E 4 2
7 Yannick Weber 1 0 0 E 1 2
10 J.T. Wyman 3 0 0 +1 2 0
15 Mike Glumac 3 1 0 E 7 0
16 Greg Stewart 3 0 0 +1 5 13
17 Kyle Chipchura 1 1 0 +1 4 0
19 Brock Trotter 3 0 1 E 3 0
20 Ryan Russell 3 1 1 +2 6 0
21 Thomas Beauregard 2 2 0 E 5 0
23 Max Pacioretty 1 1 0 +1 7 0
28 Ryan White 3 1 0 +2 4 4
32 Frederic St. Denis 1 1 0 +1 1 2
36 David Desharnais 3 0 4 +2 3 0
42 Olivier Latendresse 3 1 1 +1 8 2
44 Shawn Belle 3 0 1 +1 4 2
49 Ryan Flinn 3 0 0 E 1 7
72 Mathieu Carle 2 1 2 +3 7 0
85 Yanick Lehoux 3 0 1 E 4 0
91 Ben Maxwell 2 0 1 -1 3 2

GOALIES
# Player Record SV% GAA
29 Loic Lacasse 1-1-0 .889 3.01
38 Marc Denis 1-0-0 1.000 0.00


Leaders:

Goals:  D’Agostini/Glumac (14)
Assists:  Lehoux (24)
Points:  Lehoux (32)
+/-:  Belle (+17)
PIMS:  Stewart (129)

Italicized players are not on the current Hamilton roster.


This Week:

January 6:  Philadelphia vs Hamilton
January 9:  Lake Erie vs Hamilton
January 10:  Hamilton vs Lake Erie

Remember
him?

With a lot of focus going towards Team Canada’s
John Tavares and how he’s now top-5 in Canadian goals in the WJHC’s, another
name on that same list caught my attention that had a cup of coffee with the
Habs.

Martin Gendron was originally a draft pick of the Washington Capitals – a 3rd
rounder (71st overall) in 1992.  He spent a quartet of pro seasons with the
franchise before moving on to Chicago, where he played in his final 2 of his 30
NHL games.  The Habs acquired him in March of 1998 in exchange for David
Ling, and assigned him to the AHL.  His time with the franchise was short
lived though, as despite a successful 98-99 campaign, the team let him walk as a
free agent.

To say he has bounced around since then is an understatement to say the least. 
Since he left the Habs, he has played in 5 different countries, and still plays
today, in the LNAH.  Rather than going through each individual team as I’ve
done normally, a summary will work well enough (and save you lots of reading). 
Since turning pro in 1994, he’s bounced around with 4 AHL teams, 3 IHL teams, 2
Swiss teams, 2 LNAH teams, a German team, an Italian team, and of course, 2 NHL
teams.  I’m sure there’s a stuffed photo album lying around his household
somewhere.

Final
Thought

In the past, both the coaching and managerial
staff have stated on multiple occasions that if they’re going to bring up their
prospects, it’ll only be to play them.  Somehow, this seems to have been
forgotten this year.  Despite being called up 2 games ago, Yannick Weber
has yet to see action.  Ben Maxwell was twice a healthy scratch in his
brief stint with the Habs.  Kyle Chipchura was a healthy scratch to start
the season, and both he and Max Pacioretty were recalled in late December but
never saw action at that time.  There are two things wrong with this. 
First off, this is wasting cap space.  Individually, it doesn’t seem like a
major impact, but the wasted space is near $50,000 already.  Although it’s
not a mind numbing sum, it may be the difference of the quality of a call up
down the road when the injury bug strikes again. 

That’s only the small issue though.  It’s also hurting the Bulldogs who, if
you haven’t noticed, have put together a strong season after some major issues
last year.  Bringing these guys up and not using them not only hurts the
prospects’ development (playing is obviously better than not), but lowers
Hamilton’s chance at winning.  After doing so much to develop several
prospects over the past few years, it seems the least the Habs could do is throw
them a bone.  And at that, it doesn’t even have to be too much, just stick
to what you’ve said in the past.  If you’re going to use them in Montreal,
take them, but if not, let them play – it works out best for everyone in the
end.