Fasten your seat belts folks......

I’m a nervous wreck, I’m stressed at work, and I’m worried about my Habs. It’s all too much, thank God I’m going on vacation in a month, right around the time the boys should be in their first playoff round. I even bought a small flag to put outside our villa as a show of support; they’ll be out of sight but not far from my thoughts. I won’t be a happy camper if the flag has to stay home with the cats. I don’t know what to expect in the next few weeks, I don’t know if Bob Gainey knows either. People are suggesting that the team isn’t as good as we think, some use the word “overachieved.” So in a nutshell, twenty three players all “overachieved” last year, is that even possible? I'm not buying into that, there's still loads of talent on this team, it just needs to be used properly. Player’s performances can vary from season to season. Kovalev is a good example, historically he has a good season followed by a mediocre one, so realistically that could also affect his line mates’ performances. But how do we explain our lack of defense or the goaltending? Our defense, with the exception of Markov has been abysmal. Komisauraus has morphed into Barney, he may be hurt. Carey Price had a meltdown that could have rivaled Chernobyl but he's still in essence a rookie. The team as a whole is a shell of itself, however Murphy’s Law prevails; unfortunately the only consistent player is Chris Higgins, he still can't hit the back of the net for love nor money. Injuries have played a major role and wreaked havoc with the lines; we’ve seen more combinations than a Chinese dinner menu. I’m going with Bob’s theory that Carbo’s misuse of players in certain situations coupled with his lack of defining roles has sucked the confidence and any possible chance of chemistry right out of this team. One thing for sure is the individual talent is still there and that’s a good foundation to build on, but two very big questions still remain, does he have enough time to rebuild this team into a competitor and was Carbo to blame? As Bob himself said, the answers will only be apparent in the next thirty days. In the meantime we wait, we hope and we pray.

Just a little add on…..
I was yakking on about the Habs the other night (as usual) to my poor other half who just grins and bears it (God bless him) and tries to make an effort to appear interested. “Can you believe that some of the idiotic French media would put language first over winning a championship?” “Are you kidding me” he quips, "they put language in front of the economy in 1976.” Good point dear, how silly of me.

Fasten your seat belts folks......

I’m a nervous wreck, I’m stressed at work, and I’m worried about my Habs. It’s all too much, thank God I’m going on vacation in a month, right around the time the boys should be in their first playoff round. I even bought a small flag to put outside our villa as a show of support; they’ll be out of sight but not far from my thoughts. I won’t be a happy camper if the flag has to stay home with the cats. I don’t know what to expect in the next few weeks, I don’t know if Bob Gainey knows either. People are suggesting that the team isn’t as good as we think, some use the word “overachieved.” So in a nutshell, twenty three players all “overachieved” last year, is that even possible? I'm not buying into that, there's still loads of talent on this team, it just needs to be used properly. Player’s performances can vary from season to season. Kovalev is a good example, historically he has a good season followed by a mediocre one, so realistically that could also affect his line mates’ performances. But how do we explain our lack of defense or the goaltending? Our defense, with the exception of Markov has been abysmal. Komisauraus has morphed into Barney, he may be hurt. Carey Price had a meltdown that could have rivaled Chernobyl but he's still in essence a rookie. The team as a whole is a shell of itself, however Murphy’s Law prevails; unfortunately the only consistent player is Chris Higgins, he still can't hit the back of the net for love nor money. Injuries have played a major role and wreaked havoc with the lines; we’ve seen more combinations than a Chinese dinner menu. I’m going with Bob’s theory that Carbo’s misuse of players in certain situations coupled with his lack of defining roles has sucked the confidence and any possible chance of chemistry right out of this team. One thing for sure is the individual talent is still there and that’s a good foundation to build on, but two very big questions still remain, does he have enough time to rebuild this team into a competitor and was Carbo to blame? As Bob himself said, the answers will only be apparent in the next thirty days. In the meantime we wait, we hope and we pray.

Just a little add on…..
I was yakking on about the Habs the other night (as usual) to my poor other half who just grins and bears it (God bless him) and tries to make an effort to appear interested. “Can you believe that some of the idiotic French media would put language first over winning a championship?” “Are you kidding me” he quips, "they put language in front of the economy in 1976.” Good point dear, how silly of me.

Bob gives Kovy a reassuring pet.....I mean pat

Bob Gainey was recently asked to divulge his secret on handling Alex Kovalev, he replied "It's not a big deal really, just some plain old fashioned horse sense."

A horse whisperer is a horse trainer who adopts a sympathetic view of the motives, needs, and desires of the horse, based on natural horsemanship and modern equine psychology. The term goes back to the early nineteenth century when an Irish horseman, Daniel Sullivan, made a name for himself in England by rehabilitating horses that had become vicious and intractable due to abuse or accidental trauma.

Sullivan kept his methods secret, but people who managed to observe him noticed that he would stand face to face with the troubled horse. They seemed to think that he must be saying something to the horse in a way the horse could understand and accept because the horses were quickly gentled by his mysterious techniques.

Bob gives Kovy a reassuring pet.....I mean pat

Bob Gainey was recently asked to divulge his secret on handling Alex Kovalev, he replied "It's not a big deal really, just some plain old fashioned horse sense."

A horse whisperer is a horse trainer who adopts a sympathetic view of the motives, needs, and desires of the horse, based on natural horsemanship and modern equine psychology. The term goes back to the early nineteenth century when an Irish horseman, Daniel Sullivan, made a name for himself in England by rehabilitating horses that had become vicious and intractable due to abuse or accidental trauma.

Sullivan kept his methods secret, but people who managed to observe him noticed that he would stand face to face with the troubled horse. They seemed to think that he must be saying something to the horse in a way the horse could understand and accept because the horses were quickly gentled by his mysterious techniques.

A changing of the guard........

I have to admit that I was shocked when I heard Guy Carbonneau was let go as head coach of the Habs yesterday, simply because I had no idea what was wrong with the team. Unlike a lot of Habs fans I don’t engage in finger pointing, yours truly is under no delusions that she can identify and resolve potential problems before the management and coaching staff catches on. The only thing I was sure of was that the Habs haven’t played to their potential this season. I can count on my one hand how many decent games I’ve seen so far. I’ve kept waiting for them to break out but it just wasn’t happening. Is there anyone out there that thought based on what we’ve seen so far this season that the Habs could win the next ten out of fifteen remaining games required to get us into a playoff spot?

Missing the playoffs this year has never been an option and Gainey would need to make some kind of move to ensure that wouldn’t happen. When Bob stood pat at the trade deadline, he made it clear to his coaching staff that they would live or die by the team as it stands and it would be their responsibility to squeeze the most out of the players. They went on to lose the next two games but the clincher for me was in the first period of the Dallas game, it was by far the worst hockey I’ve seen them play this year. It looked deliberate and that’s when I started to wonder if they wanted rid of their coach. The players aren’t admitting to it, so whether or not that was the intention we’ll never know.

Make no mistake, Bob Gainey had no choice but to do what he did, the teams' success or failure is ultimately his responsibility. Hockey is a business; it’s all about winning and making money, if anyone thinks friendship or favoritism factors into it they just don’t get it. I get it and don’t be too worried about Guy, he gets it too.

A changing of the guard........

I have to admit that I was shocked when I heard Guy Carbonneau was let go as head coach of the Habs yesterday, simply because I had no idea what was wrong with the team. Unlike a lot of Habs fans I don’t engage in finger pointing, yours truly is under no delusions that she can identify and resolve potential problems before the management and coaching staff catches on. The only thing I was sure of was that the Habs haven’t played to their potential this season. I can count on my one hand how many decent games I’ve seen so far. I’ve kept waiting for them to break out but it just wasn’t happening. Is there anyone out there that thought based on what we’ve seen so far this season that the Habs could win the next ten out of fifteen remaining games required to get us into a playoff spot?

Missing the playoffs this year has never been an option and Gainey would need to make some kind of move to ensure that wouldn’t happen. When Bob stood pat at the trade deadline, he made it clear to his coaching staff that they would live or die by the team as it stands and it would be their responsibility to squeeze the most out of the players. They went on to lose the next two games but the clincher for me was in the first period of the Dallas game, it was by far the worst hockey I’ve seen them play this year. It looked deliberate and that’s when I started to wonder if they wanted rid of their coach. The players aren’t admitting to it, so whether or not that was the intention we’ll never know.

Make no mistake, Bob Gainey had no choice but to do what he did, the teams' success or failure is ultimately his responsibility. Hockey is a business; it’s all about winning and making money, if anyone thinks friendship or favoritism factors into it they just don’t get it. I get it and don’t be too worried about Guy, he gets it too.

The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind.......

Note to self: do not read hockey blogs or listen to sports radio when the Habs are losing. I’ll give the “fans” a fools' pardon but what really annoys me are the paid blowhards who encourage them; there’s no limit to the endless drivel that you can read and listen to about the Habs. To make it easier for fans who want decent and insightful opinions, these are Moey’s recommendations, and sadly it’s a short list.

• Red Fisher (Montreal Gazette) please read Red’s article in yesterday’s Gazette, finally a voice of reason and you’re right Red, in the grand scheme of things it’s only a game.

• Pat Hickey (Montreal Gazette)

• Mitch Melnick in the afternoon (The team 990)

• Randy Tieman (CTV news, he also fills in on occasion for P.J. Stock on the Team 990, too bad it wasn’t every day).

• Dave Stubbs (Montreal Gazette – good feature articles)

• Stephen Brunt (Globe and Mail, also does a guest spot on Melnick in the afternoon at 4:30 PM)

• Eric Engels (guest blogger, The Other Wing on Habsinsideout.com)

My apologies to Pierre McGuire, you almost made the list, but I fear that you too are slowly losing the plot. With the exception of Eric Engels, I'm not listing bloggers. The ones I follow are shown on this page.

I was listening to Dickie Moore on the Team 990 yesterday morning, they were broadcasting live for the Irishman of the year breakfast. He was reminiscing about his years with the Habs and more specifically the years he was coached under Toe Blake. When Blake took over as coach, he first met with all of the players in the dressing room. His first words were “ I can’t coach you guys, you’re already too good”. Toe treated them like they were the greatest and that’s how they played. Dickie went on to say that although they had the talent, winning is all about confidence. One can’t argue with the results, five consecutive Stanley Cups, brilliant coaching tactics. I think that’s what Bob Gainey is trying to convey to his team by standing pat at the trade deadline, his vote of confidence, let’s hope it works.