Above: Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.
Facing the possibility of going down 3-1 to the Flyers tonight, Carbonneau is replacing 20 year-old wunderkind Carey Price between the pipes with backup Jaroslav Halak. This takes balls. With the deadline day deal of veteran Christobal Huet, Price was officially anointed the Habs' goalie of today. His play in helping the Canadiens to a first place finish in the East seemed to justify that decision, but Price has been erratic in the post season and downright gawdawful in two straight losses to the Flyers. Halak has played all of 6 games with the big club this year and has all of 19 minutes of playoff experience.
I like these types of high risk/high reward moves. It's not like the playoffs give struggling players (especially starting goaltenders) a lot of chances to play through a funk. And if the Habs continue to outshoot and outchance the Flyers the way they have in the last two games, then Halak will just have to be good enough.
Go Habs.
Posts
3 comments:
It's one of those hit-or-miss moves.
The Habs win tonight: "Genius coaching"
The Habs lose tonight: "What was he thinking?"
Personally, I think trading Huet was a mistake. Price is good, but you need a backup plan after throwing a rookie to the wolves.
I'm not sure Halak qualifies as a solid backup plan.
I've heard rumblings that Price has a bum hand, which explains a lot. And Halak crapped the bed on Brier's winner tonight, so coach's decision is easier for next game, not that it matters.
On a side note, barring a miracle, Steve Begin has now personally cost the Habs two consecutive playoff berths. That's gotta be a record.
I think we ran into one of those "high risk/high reward" dealies during our cup run.
Fucking Cam Ward.
Post a Comment