December 22, 2008
Ah The Christmas Break
Hello all, I am really
sorry for not posting anything for an eternity. There is no
excuse other than being the only lawyer in my department since
July, having a five year old start school, skating lessons,
swimming lessons, Canadian Bar Association responsibilities
etc. Anyway, my New Year’s resolution is to try to be far more
regular in my posts.
Well our boys ended what
is usually considered the first half of the season December 21
with a 3-2 overtime loss and have a record of 18-9-6 for 42
points. That would be pretty decent if not for the fact the
Bruins simply do not lose this year and are ten points ahead of
us. Still, we are firmly in control of a playoff berth and it
would take a choke of monumental proportions to miss the
playoffs this year (knock wood).
We did lose out in the
Sundin sweepstakes but face it; we never get a big name UFA
anyway. The surprising thing is that Vancouver won such a
contest, something they never do. Anyway, our plan B, Robert
Lang has been adequate with 11 goals in 33 games.
Injuries have been a bit
of a problem with Komisarek, Higgins, A Kostitsyn, Koivu, Price
and Laraque missing significant time to date. Mathieu
Dandenault is also out with a broken arm.
So far, none of our
players have been stellar with no one from our first line last
year scoring more than eight goals to date. Plekanec has two
goals since November 1 and Kovalev went twenty games or so
without a goal (although he did score in three straight before
the game against the Hurricanes on December 21. He still leads
the team in scoring and is slowly starting to show last year’s
form. We will need him to play better in the second half.
Plekanec and the Kostitsyn brothers will also have to pick it up
as will Latendresse if we are to achieve our 25th cup
in our 100th season.
A very pleasant surprise
to date has been Matt D’Agostini who has six goals in eleven
games since he was called up from Hamilton. He has size, soft
hands and a nose for the net. Let us hope he is not Marcel
Hossa in sheep’s clothing.
Our defence has been
porous at times with O’Byrne making us long for the days when
Barry Richter, Kent Carlson and Christian Laflamme patrolled our
blue line. Whatever the cause, the man no longer has any
confidence and he hit rock bottom when he put the puck into our
own net while Price was on the bench for an extra attacker on a
delayed penalty call. We led the Islanders 3-2 with about four
minutes to go, about to go on a power play when O’Byrne played
the puck back to Price who had left the net. The Islanders tied
it and ultimately won in a shootout.
Markov and Komisarek
have been solid but the most pleasant surprise to date has been
Josh Gorges. He has quietly become our fourth dman, taking on
extra responsibility when Komisarek went down and even scored
his first goal for us. He is not big but he takes no crap on
the ice, stands up for his teammates and backs down from no
one. Most importantly is that he is a defenceman you rarely
notice, which is a good thing for a defensive guy like him. We
still need an upgrade on defence if we want to be successful and
rumours are Uncle Bob is trying to do just that, whether is
finds his pidgeon remains to be seen.
Our goaltending has
rarely been a problem. Sure there have been games where Price
has not been at his best like the 6-1 drubbing in Boston on
November 13 or against Anaheim in a 6-4 loss in October, but
overall, anyone who complains about Price’s goaltending needs
his head examined. He has rebounded beautifully from the
Flyers’ series last spring when many questioned whether his weak
play then would hamper him this year. Halak has been an
adequate backup and most of his losses were more a result of
little or no goal support rather than his play. However, if
Price goes down for any significant time, we will need a better
backup to Halak than Marc Denis as Halak cannot carry the load.
Overall, the season has
gone pretty well to date. Some surprise wins like in Detroit
and some surprise losses like to Tampa Bay at home. It happens
every year.
From my family and me to
all of you and yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
A la prochaine.
