Carbonneau shows guts
Thursday, May 1, 2008 | 08:57 PM ET
Media members were slack-jawed in shock when Carbonneau revealed his decision for starting goalie in Game 4. Even those who’ve covered the Canadiens for three decades were stunned by the choice.
Very few saw this coming. (The Globe and Mail’s Roy MacGregor was one. He predicted it would happen after Game 3.)
But, as one person said to me after it was announced, maybe we should have considered this more seriously. No one in the Montreal organization wondered aloud about Price’s ascent more than Carbonneau. He admitted before training camp even began that he thought the goalie should begin the season in Hamilton, only to be overruled by Bob Gainey.
When Cristobal Huet was dealt to Washington, the coach didn’t lie about his concern.
All he cares about is winning. And, as Ken Hitchcock says, Guy Carbonneau yanked Carey Price for only one reason: Jaroslav Halak gave his team a better chance to win. That’s it.
By the way, give Carbonneau credit for throwing himself onto a live grenade. He made sure everyone knew this was his choice, saying, “If this doesn’t work, blame me.”
This is not to say he doesn’t like Price. Carbonneau, along with everyone else in the hockey department, have done everything possible to shield and protect Price from the overwhelming expectations. Maybe, as one of Patrick Roy’s best friends, he saw that the two did not compare as 20-year-olds.
So, what does he do now?
Well, in an informal poll of the French reporters flying back to Montreal this morning, predictions are that Price will be back in net Saturday. I wouldn’t bet the (sub-prime) mortgage on it, though. After all, we were all wrong yesterday. I still feel it’s important to throw him back in there since he’s the goaltending future of the franchise, but Thursday afternoon, Carbonneau was noncommittal.
One thing the coach did state conclusively: Price is not injured. The goalie himself admitted to not being 100 per cent, but called his ailments the same bumps and bruises every player has at this time of year. When I saw him after it was over last night, he wasn’t wearing an ice bag or bandages or the mummy outfit Jason Smith basically wears following a game.
“Carey Price is not hurt,” Carbonneau said. “His finger, his hand, his shoulder, his knee, he has no injuries. Right now, his confidence is a little hit, but he has no injuries.”
So there.
Possible Habs changes
Carbonneau – who spent Thursday on the golf course – says he hasn’t decided on further changes, but I wonder if it’s time to give Michael Ryder another shot. The Canadiens have outshot Philadelphia 108-63 over the past three games and have zero wins. The coach clearly isn’t thrilled with Ryder’s all-around game, but the winger knows how to score and that’s what Montreal needs.
Also, there might be some consideration to giving Gregory Stewart a shot. Stewart’s played just one NHL game – the regular-season finale against Toronto – but he was effective and rambunctious. The Canadiens almost played him during the Boston series, but decided against it at the last minute.
It’s a risk because of his inexperience, but his energy is what Montreal needs. Even though they’ve badly outshot Philly, they are losing physical battles in the offensive zone and Stewart can change that.
Finally, there’s Alexei Kovalev, who looks to return from a two-game holiday. The decision to re-unite him with Saku Koivu ignited Montreal in Game 7 of the Bruins’ series, but that’s not working anymore. The chemistry between the two just doesn’t look right.
At his best this year, Kovalev played with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. Might be time to put them back together.
But, as Carbonneau proved before Game 4, he’s not afraid to ignore all of our advice. He’s going to do what he thinks gives Montreal the best chance to win, regardless of what anyone else says. He was a winner on the ice, and eventually, he’ll be a winner behind the bench.
Fine whine
Rarely have I seen/heard/read more crying about officials than in Philadelphia this week. I tried to ask Jason Smith about it in the first intermission the other night, but started laughing because it was so ridiculous.
Let me give you an example: After Game 3, a reporter asked Derian Hatcher how hard it was to play five-on-seven, because “the referees might as well be wearing Canadiens uniforms.”
Regardless of what you thought about Steve Begin’s late penalty Wednesday night, hopefully it will napalm any further discussion of this insane topic.
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Elliotte Friedman is the host of the CFL ON CBC. Prior to being named host in 2006, Friedman worked on the CFL on CBC broadcasts for the three seasons as a sideline reporter. A Toronto native, Friedman is well known for his additional work on Hockey Night in Canada, as well as his presence on the Torino 2006 Winter Games telecasts as a hockey reporter. Prior to joining the CBC, Friedman worked at The Score network and was widely regarded as one of the best reporters in the country. Friedman used his reporting skills to break stories and file feature reports for high profile events including six Stanley Cup Finals, four Grey Cup Championships, two World Series and one Olympic Games. He is also a regular on the nationally syndicated Prime Time Sports radio telecast, hosted by Bob McCown.
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Comments
Daniel
Barrie
I understand that people want to support their team and putting down the opposition's team and the referees is the traditional way of doing it. But as a society we, as fans and citizens in general need to grow up and perhaps one day it will be reflected in the way the game is played on the ice.
The referees, players and coaches are keeping within the spirit of the game that fans dictate. That is why officiating is so inconsistent. I will never be convinced that there is bias on the part of game officials. It is simply that the teams involved and their fans are biased and usually ignore or support a bad call in their team's favour.
Of course there will be mistakes but a hockey lover should always put the game first. I am a Habs fan and will state for the record that Begin deserved that penalty. It was a mistake he will be seeing in his dreams for many nights.
So let's bring class back to the game fans. Think of Jean Rattelle or Jean Beliveau. These gentlemen were winners because they would never resort to insults or injury to prevail over an opponent.
Posted May 3, 2008 07:33 AM
Ben
Lets face it. There has been a lot of pressure put on Price and I don't care who you are that type of pressure is going to get you at some point. Just remember he is 20 years old I think that he has done well considering. A lot of goals have been scored through screens when he didn’t have a chance. Montreal is struggling with scoring as mentioned. However, if they would have scored half of the post that they have hit this series, things could be the other way around. As far as the penalty situation goes. The playoffs in general are bad. There is no consistency among the refs in any series. No wonder people are complaining. Also in regards to the comment about Begin being dirty, you quickly forget how many times this season Philly has left people injured or left in the hospital.
Posted May 3, 2008 01:58 AM
Derrick
Montreal
Regardless of who plays in net for the habs tomorrow night, The flyers have figured out the way to beat the habs. So lets all forget about the Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden days, history will not repeat itself. The habs are faced with a much more experienced and dynamic team. I kind of blame the inexperience of both habs goal tenders for this, maybe in the future boys!!
Posted May 2, 2008 04:20 PM
Lou
Philadelphia
Trevor said it best
Posted May 2, 2008 02:48 PM
Jim
Philly
Begin should have gotten more of a penalty for the vicious hit on Kappenen. He has been getting away with excess violence all season, especially against the Flyers earlier in the year when he gave a leaping forearm shivver to the head of Denis Tolpeko who was knocked out, suffered a concussion and hasn't played in a game since. I suppose Carbonneau justified it by thinking that Tolpeko "deserved" it the way Timmonen deserved the sucker punch from Kostopoulos in game 2. Approving players taking these kinds of liberties is a form of encouragement and is a coach's way of starting down the slippery slope of out-of-control violence that ends up with a Todd Bertuzzi type incident.
Posted May 2, 2008 01:25 PM
Trevor
Calgary
Lets face it Montreal cheated and got caught. Dont cheat Begin and you wont get penalized. Lets face it this series should be over. Brutal call in game one with 30 something seconds left or it would be. Philly has got twice as many penalties and Montreal is a bunch of cheap shot artists. Europeans place soft and take cheap shots when they get pounded on. North Americans are the reason Philly is winning this series. So Habs fans quit wining and go back to rioting.
Posted May 2, 2008 12:23 PM
Brian
Alberta
Why must the Habs and their fans continue to dream of duplicating the hayday of a Patrick Roy or further back a Ken Dryden? Ride the hot goalie to the Stanley Cup. Each time the new Joan D'arc between the pipes fails and shows his mortality, the wheels come off their Cup dream. If the team was playing well enough, they would win, Price or sans Price.
Posted May 2, 2008 12:12 PM
DJD
Kamloops,B.C.
I'm glad i'm not a gambler and rely on "expert" opinions.I'd be broke.Once again they prove why they're still working and not rich and retired.
Posted May 2, 2008 11:37 AM
Mark
Price needed a game off to shake him out of the losing patern. There's no doubt in my mind that if he was kept in he would have have lost the game and the one after it in my mind. He needed a reset. He's obviously a good goalie but his mind and play wasn't up to it of late.
As for Montreal needing to score more, well I don't think that's the problem. The problem is they need Philly to score less. They've gotten 2 goals in the last three games which is alright but it's hard to keep motivated when your last defender is letting in so many goals on less shots. It's seems like the effort is futile. Unless they get a goaltender to hold them in the game and keep the momentum, hope and morale there the whole 60 minutes they don't stand a chance.
And I agree about the penalties. Of course it's pretty much a given that people are going to complain about the reffing especially when they have nothing else to complain about.
Posted May 2, 2008 06:57 AM
John
Vancouver
Members of the media apparently worked long and hard to get the plumb positions many hockey fans would long to hold. Granted the writers and broadcasters are at least of average intelligence, one would think they could come up with superlatives other than "shock", "stunned", "devastated", blah...blah...blah when talking about sports. What would they substitute in the
future in describing something truly shocking, stunning, or devastating such as (insert tragedy here).
Posted May 2, 2008 01:37 AM