We're into the second half of the hockey season, and the push for the playoffs begin!

Bowling For Two Points

Written by: Jesse Michael on 12th February 2009

Bowling For Two Points | read this item

You’re a coach in the NHL. You are currently celebrating 100 years of hockey. Your team has been 2-8-0 in the last 10, and it doesn’t look much better. So the question is, no puck practice? Hmmm nah!. Off-ice meeting with coaches and management, maybe? How about let’s go bowling!

Yes indeed that was the idea Guy Carbonneau had while travelling through the west after a tough 6-2 loss to the Flames on Monday. As I write this they are trailing 6-1 to the Oil. One can only wonder if they ate too many nachos while bowling and lost their legs.

Ok so clearly the Habs have some problems and I think its far too early to see if the bowling was a horrible idea, but one thing I will point out is the following. Upon the Habs coming to Calgary, I had the pleasure of watching the Habs game day skate. Carey Price was not playing that night and therefore took part of an on-ice session with Mathieu Dandenault, Kirk Muller, and Rollie Melanson. For about 10 minutes all they kept working on was trapper high shots. The result I admit was quite surprising. Price let in quite a few shots. I would say more than saving.

The result I admit was quite surprising. Price let in quite a few shots. I would say more than saving.

So, as to the rumours of Price having a wrist injury, I firmly believe this was never the case. However, I have never seen such a flaw in a goalie playing at such a high level. What could it be? Well it continued to puzzle me the more I watched. Price tried everything from moving to the top of the crease to even keeping his trapper a bit higher, but something just wasn’t clicking. Whether Price can come back around and gain the confidence he had upon starting with the Habs remains to be seen. That’s not to say I am not confident of it returning, but the entire team will need to step up if they want to remain in a playoff spot.

On a final note, I also had the pleasure of waiting by the loading dock after the game day skate for the players to leave and board on the bus. Interestingly enough, each Russian boarded the bus without so much acknowledging the crowd. Kudos go out to Roman Hamrlik and Steve Begin. Each player not only acknowledged each fan but also signed each and every piece of Habs memorabilia and also posed for pictures.

For OpenIceHockey.com, I’m Paul Danis

Topics: 100 Anniversary, Carey Price, Montreal Canadians, Montreal Canadiens, Roman Hamrlik, Steve Begin