Keeping an Even Keel

I think the title of this post is some sort of sailing term, whereby a sailboat is kept from rocking to and fro by a steady hand upon the keel. Whatever that is.

A good analogy for all our good friends in Habland, no? Both for those who have been longtime passengers on the bandwagon, and those scrambling to get on.

To be sure, it certainly does look good:

• #1 power play in the land
• #5 in the Hab-hating TSN power ranking
• Points all around, sprinkled like fairy dust upon checking line forward and highly paid sniper alike.
  
• Plekanec and Kovalev making beautiful plays, instead of one mystifying the other like last year.
• Kovalev still on pace for a 40 goal season, 1/8 of the way through the campaign.
  
• Andrei Markov: quite simply, the bargain of the year. Second in scoring, multiple game winning goals, and ice time leader. All for millions less than Zdeno Chara.
  
• Youngsters Grabovski and especially Chipchura looking right at home in the NHL.
  
• Even Kostopolous turning his play around, without benefit of a benching.
• Mathieu Dandenault, opportunistic forechecker extraordinaire? May the surprises never cease, at least of the pleasant variety.
  

But let's not get too giddy. The Habs looked pretty good early last season too. Then came Christmas, and the Habs seemed to take an extended holiday season. All the way through the off-season. Off course, a major injury to Huet and a a flu bug that wouldn't go away didn't help either. Plus Kovalev's vertigo. Chalk last season up to Murphy's Law. Or was it Ironic? Alanis has me all messed up.

But I'll take one small, savory sip from the goblet of satisfaction: maybe those who have called for Carbo's head will give him a reprieve, hopefully for the year. Surely his mixing and matching has worked to a certain extent, even if I'd still like to see Kostitsyn instead of Latendresse night in and night out.

Still, while the offense has been a revelation (especially the distributed nature thereof), I take issue with the defense. Many a game has been either lost or nearly so when the Habs take the early lead and then try to nurse it. They simply don't have the defensive talent to do it, it seems. Some examples:

• Habs blow 3-0 lead over Pittsburgh, before Price puts the entire team on his back and wins in the shootout.
  
• Habs take 5-1 lead over Carolina, but then let them creep back to within two goals before sealing it with the empty netter.
• In Ottawa, they manage to scramble back to tie it at 3-3, but then give it away seconds later with 6 mins left in the game.
• Habs have a slight 1-0 lead over Florida, but are otherwise dominating. They allow a late game tying goal, and then lost in the shootout.
• Habs take 3-1 lead over Toronto, but end up losing in OT to the Leafs of all teams. Ugh.

Some of it I think is due to personnel. As much as I love Mark Streit, we really have four 3rd tier dmen: Streit, Bouillon, Gorges and Brisebois. Not much we can do about that in the short term. They're all doing well enough, but the average ice time is telling. Hamrlik, Komisarek and Markov average between 21-25 minutes. Whereas Brisebois, Streit and Bouillon average 17.5 to 18 minutes.

But we can improve the defense up front. In the Carolina game, Carbo juggled lines late and put Chipchura on the first line between Higgins and Ryder, dropping Koivu back to the fourth line.

But something a little more structural might be needed. To that end, I reiterate my call to bring back Max. He's a hard working, forechecking, get-under-your-skin little bastard, and would be perfect with any combination of Begin, Dandenault, Chipchura, Smolinski and Kostopolous.

Of course, this would boot Kostitsyn, Grabovksi and/or Latendresse from a regular slot. And while Grabovski has added some offensive punch, the rest haven't done a whole lot (although Kostitsyn hasn't gotten much of a chance lately). Plus, we seem to have enough offense to go around lately. Just need to tighten up on the defensive side.

Give that man a raise!

Mark Streit seems to be the underdog hero of the moment, following his unexpected Sheldon Souray impersonation in the Habs' opening night win. Check out the recent articles on his exploits in the Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette.

Of course, we here at Habs GM have always been Mark Streit fans. Well "always" is a little strong, but certainly at least since the 2006 Olympics.

But I guess Marky Mark won't get to have more ice time with the Fun Bunch if Patrice Brisebois keeps up his strong play. Sure it was just one game, but after virtually zero preseason ice time, Brisebois' play was pleasantly uneventful.

So that sets up quite the nice conundrum for Bob and co. All sorts of depth on the blueline, and of the veteran variety as well. Having Gorges sit, after (by all accounts) an impressive preseason shows that Bob might just know what he's doing. Whoever doubted him? Ok, well me, I guess, with just signing Brisebois in the first place.

So the Habs have the luxury of sitting capable dmen, just as they have the luxury of sitting NHL-caliber goaltenders -- and even sending them to the farm. Now Bob can sit back and wait for the fruits of his labors to ripen, and snap up the first good offer from a team desperate for quality dmen and netminders.

Yes, I know, I'm getting way ahead of myself here. After all it was just one game. Brisebois might fall apart, and Streit could get hurt. But there again, depth helps -- in steps Dandenault and Gorges. So not bad, Bob. Not bad at all.

Blueliners: the second pairing

I better pick up the pace here, seeing as the new season is just around the corner. No more long and rambling introductions; lets get straight to brass tacks (whatever that means): Guy and Bob will go with Hamrlik and Streit for their second pairing. Both are left handed, but the word is that Hamrlik is almost as good on his backhand as on his forehand. So he could play either side. That ought to give Bob and Carbo some options.

We all know Hamrlik is going to make the team and play on the second pairing. No surprise there. He's good, and is probably deserving of his fat contract, but still won't break up the excellent first tandem we have in Markov-Komisarek.

Streit, on the other hand, has been quite a revelation in his short tenure with the Habs. When he broke in a couple of years ago, he looked really nervous and lacked confidence. Then he went to the Olympics. I think he even captained the team. The same team that started off really hot, losing only to Finland in the preliminary round.

He came back seemingly reinvigorated and full of confidence. I remember one game where an opposing forward had an unimpeded breakaway. But Streit caught up, lunged and dove on the ice, deftly swatting the puck off the other guy's stick without touching him. It was brilliant.

I thought he had a chance last year too, but with the experience of Rivet, Souray, Komisarek, Markov, Bouillon and Dandenault all ahead of him, it was a tough lineup to crack. But he stuck with it, eventually playing left wing of all things, even on Saku's line. And he didn't fare too badly, ultimately netting 10 goals and 26 assists.

So this year ought to be his year. He's paid his dues. And Hamrlik is the best partner for him. He's big and he hits -- from what I've heard anyway. Streit can skate and pass as well as anyone, but his size has always been a limitation. Hamrlik, even though left handed, is apparently almost as good on his forehand as his back hand. Streit could then play the left side, with Hamrlik on the right.

Streit's offensive skills set him up to be an ideal PP QB. I wouldn't be surprised if he pairs with Markov on the first unit, as Komisarek might not be quite ready to be setting up Markov's slapshot with some nifty passes. I love big Mike, but O is not his forte.

Another reason to root for Mark Streit? Apparently he took less money to play with the Habs than he would have made had he remained in Europe. He wants to play with and compete against the best. This isn't about money for him.

Now isn't that refreshing?

Blueliners

So word out of training camp is that Mathieu Dandenault is on the hot seat. Much of what is printed in La Presse is complete garbage, at least when it concerns the Habs. Notice that there is no direct quote of what Carbo said regarding Dandenault. But one interesting thing was noted: the Habs would carry 8 dmen this year.

Now that I can believe, and three reasons why:

1. Both Mark Streit and Dandenault can play either forward or D.
2. The forward positions are a little more in flux, given the departures of Bonk, Johnson, Samsonov, Perezhogin and others. Sure, they will be replaced mostly by veterans, but who knows how all that will pan out. I don't think anyone predicted saw Sammy going down quite as badly as he did.
3. The addition of Patrice Brisebois. I doubt he's going to play much, but he didn't sign to shuttle back and forth from Hamilton either.

But Dandenault can't get any worse treatment than Brisebois or Bouillon. These are the three lowest performing veteran blueliners on the team. Bouillon was actually scratched a few times last year, whereas I can't remember Dandenault being scratched once. And we all know of the defensive liabilities of Breeze-by.

But if any or all of these guys play like they are capable of playing, they make for decent 3rd pairing material.

And that, my friends, is one helluva long re-introduction to my ongoing series of the upcoming Habs lineup. We last left with the thrilling episode of who was to man the pipes for the Habs this season. And true to how one builds a winning hockey team, we proceed to the blueliners.

I was going to start with the third line pairings. But given the Habs' aforementioned predisposition to carrying 8 dmen, I'll start with my predictions of the unlucky two who will ride the pine most of the season.

And for the best good-enough-to-make-the-squad-but-not-good-enough-to-play-regularly performance, the awards go to: Patrice Brisebois and Josh Gorges!

Not really going out on a limb there. Given my last post on the importance of balancing right handers and left handers on the blue line, it's no shock that one (Brisebois) is a righty and the other is a lefty. This keeps options open for Bob and Carbo, along with the insurance that Streit and Dandenault bring with their ability to play D or O.

Not to give too much away, but my bets are on the veterans for the entire blueline. Dmen take longer to mature, much like goalies. You have to bring them along slowly, to teach them the finer points of clearing the crease and blasting a shot from the point. You don't want to some awkward rookie being your next-to-last hope with Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson hurtling down the ice.

Brisebois can't be much worse than Niinimaa last year (can he?). And Gorges played decently if unspectacularly last year. I've heard much displeasure about him from Sharks' fans, but I think the Sharks' blueline is far too dependent on youngsters, like Gorges. If you have a youngster in the lineup, you to pair him with a veteran. Many credit Hamrlik's work with Dion Phaneuf as a reason why Phaneuf fared so well in his first few years. So I think Gorges will do (and has done) well with the well-seasoned Montreal blueline.

So the next post will continue this ongoing thrilling saga of how Bob is building a Stanley Cup contender. That is, if other more intriguing developments don't intervene.