tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-703672817425686916.post323784729293661248..comments2023-11-03T09:15:38.743-04:00Comments on The Daily Hab-it: Patience has run outArpon Basuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896844844557916169noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-703672817425686916.post-87302940800495520792009-11-10T18:26:31.750-05:002009-11-10T18:26:31.750-05:00perhaps Latendresse's problems over the last f...perhaps Latendresse's problems over the last few games can be traced to the fact that he found out he's on the trading block and that the CH had a deal for him with a western club<br /><br />-all that was reported by Marinaro/Team 990 2 days ago<br /><br />-perhaps his comfort level has been crushed and he's looking over his shoulder..the benching in the Tampa game was a huge messagepfhabshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05116906615296671918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-703672817425686916.post-84173713372148476272009-11-09T12:28:16.934-05:002009-11-09T12:28:16.934-05:00I think you're right about Martin's histor...I think you're right about Martin's historic willingness to sacrifice short-term success for long-term gains but I'm not certain he will be allowed to pursue such a policy with the Habs.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-703672817425686916.post-27408659193111030262009-11-09T10:34:43.565-05:002009-11-09T10:34:43.565-05:00I dunno that Latendresse has a heart problem, so m...I dunno that Latendresse has a heart problem, so much as a confidence problem. He might be confused -- playing under Carbo probably didn't help, but he's been an effective player in the past and yet he's being asked to change his style. He may instinctively be wondering if that's really for the best (and so would I, to be honest, but I'm deferring to the coaches on this). <br /><br />Clearly expectations on him are sky-high and he's being criticized more than any Canadiens player with the exception of Price, but that really masks the fact that he's the poster boy for a worrisome trend about the Habs: the inability of the coaching staff to get the young players going.<br /><br />Now, I want to stress that it's much too early to draw big conclusions and that in general I like the coaching and I feel it has been tremendously improved from previous years. But I keep noticing this and it's something that worries me, what with the Habs being so dang young all over the roster, and will bear watching. To whit:<br /><br />A. Kostitsyn: Fantastic in 2007-2008. A productive forward in 2008-2009, improved his ES goal-scoring despite problems. This year, so far, he's having the worst season of his career.<br /><br />G. Latendresse: Showed physicality and energy, has been scoring since he broke into the league, rivals Andrei Kostitsyn for goal-scoring for all that he did it against weaker opposition. This year, so far, he's having the worst season of his career.<br /><br />M. Lapierre: Energetic, effective defensive forward, been capable of chipping in 10-15 goals. This year, so far, he's having the worst season of his career.<br /><br />C. Price: Broke into the league with elite goaltender numbers including a .920 save percentage in his first season. Started his second season strong, rushed back, had some well-documented troubles. Still... this year, so far, he's having the worst season of his career.<br /><br />J. Halak: Proved to be very strong in relief, has very good numbers and has been winning games for the Habs when they've needed him to. This year, so far, he's having the worst season of his career.<br /><br />Definitely there's a bad pattern in there. Obviously, the players in question have a great deal of individual responsibility in their lack of success, but for ALL of them to underperform? And it's not a matter of them all being not that good, because they've all been better in the past. At some point SOME of it has to be on the coaching staff, especially since the rookies haven't done any better. D'Agostini? Very quiet after a somewhat lucky 10-goal first season. Pacioretty? Barely starting to look like a NHL player. Stewart? "Amorphous" isn't a good quality of an energy player. Chipchura? Disastrous start, showed signs of progress, which promptly earned him press box time. The Habs are a young team and their kids are stagnating or regressing.<br /><br />Martin has a reputation for being a good teacher and good with young players, and this is clearly a long-term project with lots of opportunity for setbacks, shall we say. But the consistency of this trend really has me perplexed, and concerned. Not something to be alarmed with, and I'm not calling for anyone's head or anything (again, IMHO the coaching is much better than what we had prior) but something that bears watching. <br /><br />And I do mean the long-term bit. His handling of the young players has me a little confused, but he's shown himself to be completely willing to sacrifice short-term team success for long-term lessons, and I think we're seeing a lot of that right now. I'm hoping it will be successful in the future.MathMannoreply@blogger.com