It's a Bigger Problem Than Just Jacques Martin

I share the frustration and sense the impending panic (for some they're already there) amongst Habs fans.  Fire Jacques Martin, fire Pierre Gauthier and on and on.  Yes it's true that the front-office has dropped the ball in terms of evaluation and preparation for the start of the season (Andreas Engqvist, really?).  The coaching staff has done even worse to start off as we'll point out below but in all honesty, the worst job so far has come from the players.  And before you start with the "it's the coach's job to get them going" (and I agree), you also need professional athletes making a lot of money to have the ability to self-start.

Andrei Markov Update?

Andrei Markov at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Int'l Airport - All rights reserved - (Please credit website if using picture)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  I guess that can be accurate if you really want to dissect the intricacies of what we're seeing here.  This picture, taken 2 days ago at Pierre-Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, shows Andrei Markov waiting to board a flight to Miami.

A few things come to mind: where is he going, is there any visible swelling, why is he lifting his leg (added comfort or due to discomfort)?

The Injury Hex Continues

It seems the Montreal Canadiens just can't seem to get away from this cloud that has cast a dark shadow on their aspirations of becoming an elite team.  Injuries are a real part of hockey that affect all teams and are impossible to predict.  Your best defense against them is to make sure your team depth is solid but even the deepest of teams are adversely affected when the injury bug hits.

Thank You Paul Holmgren

It's not a secret that I wasn't sold on Andreas Engqvist being the Habs 4th line center.  Which is why I was a happy camper yesterday when I found out that the Montreal Canadiens had acquired Blair Betts off of waivers from the Philadelphia.  Not to be overly critical of Engqvist but in my opinion, a 4th line (also known as your 'energy line') should exhibit just that, energy!  I'm not sure why it appeared so but from my impressions it just seemed as though Andreas lacked intensity.  Was it because this was preseason or did he somehow figure that with the injuries at camp that he would be a lock for the job?  I really don't know, but in either case those are unacceptable excuses for a rookie/prospect trying to earn his way into the NHL.  You can allow for some of that type of attitude from a well established veteran but not from someone in Engqvist's position.

An Exciting Opportunity...

Since starting this blog in June, I have really enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts and views on the Habs with you, my readership.  I've seen the the site grow in popularity and gain more and more readers.

One of those readers happened to be Topham from the well-respected and strongly followed Lions in Winter blog.  As time passed and more articles were written, Topham (after discussing with his team) approached me with the idea of having me help in contributing to their blog.  Considering their excellent reputation and loyal readership, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to join their team and help add my voice to the talented crew at LiW.

This does not mean the end for 'Big T on the Habs'.  In fact, if anything the plan is ramp up the posts on this blog as we go through our first full season.  However, should there be one or two of you that don't already follow LiW, I would hope that you would go ahead and add LiW to your bookmarks and follow both blogs closely.

So, thank you to Topham and the LiW crew for inviting me over to collaborate with you and thank you for this wonderful introduction.

THE SUSPENSION THAT WASN'T

I’m not quite sure why but I didn’t think the Ryan Malone hit on Chris Campoli was a cut and dry suspension.  It was definitely a headshot but I felt that it could possibly fall under one of the exceptions that Brendan Shanahan laid out earlier this year in the video that he sent out to all teams and players, where a player is reaching for the puck and puts himself into a vulnerable position (see video below).

What may have helped my mindset is the fact that I didn’t watch or listen to the game live.  First, my Blackberry started buzzing with messages from some friends that were asking me how many games I thought it would be and with their predictions of about 5 games.  So maybe it was the anticipation of a terrible hit that skewed my perception or maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t influenced by Malone’s apparent recklessness and borderline play leading up to the hit.  I viewed the hit for what it was and to me, it looked somewhat similar to something that I had seen earlier in Shanahan’s video of legal hits.  I’m not saying that it’s identical but it fit in that frame so to speak.