Having lost 4 of their last five games the Montreal Canadiens are beginning to look like a complete mess out there. In Saturday night's loss to Nashville the team blew a 4-1 lead with seven minutes to go in the third period and were booed off the ice by their own fans. The Habs are having a lot of trouble scoring five on five, our defense is looking vulnerable for the first time, the coach is juggling his lines every night, and players are looking unmotivated and uninterested on the ice. Early in the season the Habs showed that they are capable of being a contending team in the Eastern Conference, though as this recent slump drags on new weaknesses are coming to light. Bob Gainey has spent the last several years drafting and developing good young players that are taking over as the new core of the team. These players are very solid building blocks (Price, Higgins, Chipchura, Komisarek etc.) and I think the Habs should remain dedicated to to those players. At the same time, the team should be looking to make a deal for a forward that will add some scoring punch to one of the top two lines, preferably a forward with size.Quick Hits:
Does Guy Carbonneau know what he's doing? If you look back at the last several head coaches of the Canadiens you will find a list of men with no NHL head coaching experience, though all of them are able to speak French. It's not to say that these guys are not good coaches because most of them are currently coaching other NHL teams. The point is that all of them made their NHL coaching debuts with the Canadiens. I think Guy Carbonneau is doing the job to the best of his ability, but I believe that the Canadiens eventually need to hire a proven head coach who has a track record of winning in this league. Carbonneau is a great hockey guy and was a very smart player, but I see him more in the role of a top-notch assistant coach. In a city where hockey is everything and the rumour mill is constantly churning, you need a hard nosed, traditional and experienced head coach. Whats Scotty Bowman up to these days?
Size does matter. The Habs must be the only team in the league that has two defenseman playing forward. Why is that? It's because all of our skilled forwards are too small! They're trying to cover up how small the team really is by putting guys in the wrong position. This somehow doesn't seem like a good solution for a team that is having trouble scoring. The Canadiens need to somehow make a trade for a skilled forward with size.
Too many players simply aren't working hard enough. In the Habs last game against Nashville I had a hard time ignoring the laziness of Bryan Smolinski and Patrice Brisebois. Smolinski was just cruising around watching the play as it unfolded and rarely making an effort to get involved if he didn't absolutely have to. Same goes for the Breezer who still looks like he's scared to play the game. Brisebois has the skill to be a solid defenseman but for some reason he still makes the same boneheaded mistakes and refuses to play the body. The bottom line is that if this team wants to be successful with the players it has, each player has to be giving 100% every time they step on the ice.
Trade Idea... The Canadiens should trade Saku Koivu to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Oli Jokinen. I believe that Koivu is a great player and captain, but it seems like it might just be best for both parties to move on. Jokinen is big forward who is also a talented goal scorer. Yes, it would be tough to part with Saku but Jokinen would instantly help us with two of our weakest points (scoring and size).
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