That's a short leash you're wearing

So, Ryan O'Byrne is going to be watching Saturday night's Habs game against the Ducks from the press box, a victim of the return of Francis Bouillon and the importance of Patrice Brisebois to the power play.

It appears his tough game against the Panthers Monday night is the primary reason he'll be out of the lineup, and in fact it made Guy Carbonneau's decision easier for him. I would think that facing a team like the Ducks, you'd want O'Byrne in the lineup for his physical presence. It's not the type of team against which Brisebois tends to excel.

But with the power play sputtering right now, Brisebois becomes a very important piece of the puzzle.

I just wonder what this will do to O'Byrne's confidence, especially if it starts becoming a regular occurrence. I remember Mike Komisarek's beginnings under Claude Julien, who also tended to punish his young defenceman when he made too many mistakes in a particular game, severely limiting his ice time. In fact, I remain convinced that Julien's use of Komisarek was a determining factor in Bob Gainey firing him, because as soon as he took over behind the bench, Komisarek's ice time increased quite significantly.

Is Carbonneau doing the same thing to O'Byrne? It's too early to tell right now, but the context is also quite different. Gainey was taking over a mediocre squad and could afford to allow Komisarek to learn on the job. This year's team, obviously, is not mediocre, and Carbonneau's number one priority is winning, not development.

But for Carbonneau to win come spring, unless Gainey brings in another quality defenceman to play with Roman Hamrlik, he's going to need O'Byrne to improve significantly over the coming months and the odd poor game is to be expected. I'm not sure if putting him in the press box is the best way to get O'Byrne to a level where he could be an impact player come playoff time.