Roman Hamrlik:
 7.25 

He made some costly mistakes, but he was the top defensive defender for the
majority of the final 2 games.  (Previous:
7.25   Average:
7.25)

Josh Gorges:
 7.25 

Played way too much and the kinks showed themselves a few times.  However,
given the pressure put on him, he certainly met the expectations.  (Previous:
7.00   Average:
7.13)

Mathieu Dandenault:
 7.00 
Took a bit of a beating physically, but his mobility bailed the team out on
more than one occasion.  (Previous:
7.25   Average: 7.13)

Ryan O’Byrne:
 7.00 

Considering he was pressed into the lineup after sitting for over a week, I was
happy to see that he didn’t kill the team too often.  Expectations really
have decreased…  (Previous: N/A   Average:
7.00)

Chris Higgins:
 7.00 
It may have been a lucky goal, but given the team’s lack of ability to
score, I certainly didn’t care how pretty it was.  (Previous:
7.00   Average:
7.00)

Georges Laraque:
 7.00 
It was nice to see the cut in ice time; unfortunately his effectiveness
dropped with the cut as well.  (Previous: 7.25   Average:
7.13)

Saku Koivu:
 6.75 
Any doubters who thought he could still be a #1 option at C are probably
silenced now, he’s a strong #2 but his best days are surely behind him.  (Previous:
7.25   Average:
7.00)

Glen Metropolit:
 6.75 
Played a lot better on the PK, but was unable to generate much offense like
he had in previous weeks.  (Previous: 6.75   Average:
6.75)

Andrei Kostitsyn:
 6.75 
One of only 2 forwards to score this week, but considering his linemates, I
think everyone was hoping and expecting him to do more.  (Previous:
6.50   Average:
6.63)

Matt D’Agostini:
 6.50 
Essentially the lone offensive threat with a right hand shot, and he didn’t
deliver.  If it wasn’t for the fact he was stuck with Plekanec, this
would’ve been lower.  (Previous: 7.00   Average:
6.75)

Gregory Stewart:
 6.50 
Seemed to get way too overanxious every time the puck was within 10 feet of
him, which really limited his usefulness (which was limited to begin with).  (Previous:
N/A   Average:
6.50)

Guillaume Latendresse:
 6.50 
Became more assertive as the series went on, but the goalless drought in the
postseason continues.  (Previous: 6.25   Average:
6.38)

Tom Kostopoulos:
 6.50 
Like Latendresse, he looked more comfortable as the series progressed, but
his play was still off compared to his regular season performance.  (Previous:
6.25   Average:
6.38)

Maxim Lapierre:
 6.25  I sensed a lot of immaturity in
his play to be honest, although in his defence he is still a youngster.  (Previous:
6.00   Average:
6.13)

Olivier Fortier: Rimouski (QMJHL), host for upcoming Memorial Cup
Jaroslav Halak: Team Slovakia, World Championships
Chris Higgins: Team USA, World Championships
Dany Massé: Drummondville (QMJHL), league finals
Alexander Perezhogin: Team Russia, World Championships
Tomas Plekanec: Team Czech Republic, World Championships

By this, I’m not even referring to the booing of the US Anthem, although that
was beyond stupid.  Seeing people admit that they did this to show
that Boston was unwanted and to make Montreal seem like a tough place to play is
simply asinine and makes me crave for some small caveat on the back of tickets
for ushers to be able to throw out patrons for acts of extreme stupidity. 
It’ll never happen, but boy wouldn’t it be nice.

And no, I’m not talking about the ridiculous booing of Carey Price in a game
where he had no help whatsoever defensively and more often than not was hung out
to dry.  Tradition dictated that it was going to happen, justified or not. 
And the chants of Carbo, Carbo from many of the same people who wanted him fired
just months ago?  Again, not the smartest, but I’m not going to go on a
tirade for every stupid thing that fans have done over the past few weeks – I
don’t think you want to be reading that long.

Instead, I’d like to focus on the overall reaction to this year’s sweep at the
hands of Boston.  When Schneider and Markov were taken out, all I read were
infinite posts saying, "We’re done in 4" as well as lots of comments vowing
death to all things blue and white.  In those same posts, I read lots of
people saying that Gainey needs a pass on the season because of all the bad luck
with injuries, "If we were healthy, we’d get them."  The playoffs start and
lo and behold, the Habs go down in 4, just as a lot of people expected. 
Now, all I see are these same people calling for Gainey’s head as if there were
no injuries to begin with.  What did you people expect?  The 8th
seeded team, mired with injuries, who used no fewer than 5 players who skated in
the AHL this year to take out a relatively healthy Conference champion? 
And because this didn’t happen, we need to blow everything up? 

I’m sorry, I just don’t get it.  I think back to the disastrous situation
the Habs were in when Gainey took over, and how much better off the team (and
the organization) is since then.  It is beneficial for the organization to
return to this state why?  I know some fans can be shortsighted, but this
seems even worse than normal.  All season long, we’ve heard the problems
with having so many pending UFA’s, but now we get to see the benefits that come
along with the risks.  With the ownership uncertainties, I want some
stability in the organization, and Bob Gainey is the epitome of stability. 
I’m also a big proponent of letting someone finish what they started.  The
team was built this way for a reason, with the ability to make a quick fix if
things didn’t pan out as they didn’t. 

Those of you calling for swift changes to the team will surely get their way, as
the personnel that departed the Bell Centre ice on Wednesday night will more
certainly be different than the group that takes to the ice for the home opener
next October.  But the changes need to stop there.  I hope that those
of you who feel otherwise take a bit of time and consider this and start to
realize that things could still be a lot worse than they are now.  For
everyone’s sake, I sure hope we don’t have to learn this the hard way.