Hockey - The Fontanetta Way is back with another posting as only Mike Fontanetta can do. Today, Font tackles two underachieving teams, the Canadiens and the Islanders and sees striking similarities. Enjoy!
All Things Look Similar:
Yup, it's time for a little hockey talk. my team, the Canadiens, look frighteningly similar to those bumbling Isles. That's why they are both very close in the standings... and on the OUTSIDE looking IN with regards to the playoffs. Want some similarities? Let's start with both teams recently losing 3 straight... Montreal got nipped 3-2 at calgary, whipped 6-2 (was 6-0 after 1) in Vancouver, only to get squashed by the Hurricanes 7-3 two days later! Nice going. The Isles, losers of their previous two, just got hammered by the Devils last night, 4-0. I was in attendence for last night's debacle, and will be at the Wacchovia Centre in Philly tonight to see the Habs try to avoid losing their 4th straight... YIKES!
More similarities? Both teams recently fired their
head coaches, and while both may have been deserved, you can't say that changing
the coaches has changed either team's fortunes! Last 6 games for these 2 teams
combined have produced NO WINS! So, maybe it wasn't the coaching but ROTTEN,
underachieving players.
More comparisons: BOTH teams have good, young
goalies that were expected to carry some of the load for their respective
teams. BOTH goalies have been BRUTAL disappointments. I'll go out on a limb
and say Theodore has been worse than DP (Rick DiPietro), if for no other reason than i think Montreal has a better D than the Isles. Markov, Rivet, Boullion, Souray, Dandenault, Komisarek, and Streit are certainly not stirring memories of Robinson/Lapointe/Savard, but as a group, they are better than the collection
of trash the Isles seem to suit-up every night. Yes, they have breakdowns
(Streit/Komisarek have NOT been good & Markov is out another 2-3 weeks), but
i'd rather have those guys in front of me than what DP gets to see every 3rd
day.
Still, we are looking at 2 goalies who are CONSTANTLY outplayed by their opponent's keepers. Any shame in being outdueled by Luongo (I'll get to LUONGO later), Brodeur, or Kiprusoff? NO, but Theodore/DP are being embarrassed by guys like Miller, Auld, and Ward (WHO)?!? Each team has played Vancouver in the past 7 days, and BOTH theodore/DP were pulled as both teams went down 6-0 to the AULD-led canucks!
Montreal and the Isles have also lost their share of close, 1 goal games. These are the real killers. DP and Theodore are not expected to make every save, but don't they get paid to steal a game once in a while? Don't they get paid to stop 28 of 30 shots every-so-often and WIN a game 3-2? Shouldn't they stop some quality chances, some point-blank shots, some 5-3 situations, some flurries at the buzzer? YES, THEY SHOULD!
These are two players that their respective teams have placed a lot confidence in and have built around... Theodore (who unlike DP has already done it before, carrying his team to a few playoff upsets on his young-shoulders) was given a juicy contract and is among the league's highest paid netminders. DP was taken after the Isles dealt away Luongo to make room for him (the same deal that sent Jokkinen packing)! The Isles take DP in the draft, passing on both Heatley and Gaborik! Like to have that one back, Mike, Charles, Sanjay!?
Alright, enough on these two... you get the picture... BOTH guys are young and may bounce back, but so far, NEITHER is worth his paycheck. both are BRUTAL underachievers in 2005/2006: 3.37/.892 for DP, 3.37/.885 for Theo! To give you an idea of how BAD these numbers are... the 50th goalie in the league, by goals against, is at 3.11... Both teams have fans that now cheer the backups coming into the game: DOOBIE for the Isles with snow hurt, and Huet or danis for the Habs, depending on which minor league goalie is showing-up Theodore that particular night!
Still, we are looking at 2 goalies who are CONSTANTLY outplayed by their opponent's keepers. Any shame in being outdueled by Luongo (I'll get to LUONGO later), Brodeur, or Kiprusoff? NO, but Theodore/DP are being embarrassed by guys like Miller, Auld, and Ward (WHO)?!? Each team has played Vancouver in the past 7 days, and BOTH theodore/DP were pulled as both teams went down 6-0 to the AULD-led canucks!
Montreal and the Isles have also lost their share of close, 1 goal games. These are the real killers. DP and Theodore are not expected to make every save, but don't they get paid to steal a game once in a while? Don't they get paid to stop 28 of 30 shots every-so-often and WIN a game 3-2? Shouldn't they stop some quality chances, some point-blank shots, some 5-3 situations, some flurries at the buzzer? YES, THEY SHOULD!
These are two players that their respective teams have placed a lot confidence in and have built around... Theodore (who unlike DP has already done it before, carrying his team to a few playoff upsets on his young-shoulders) was given a juicy contract and is among the league's highest paid netminders. DP was taken after the Isles dealt away Luongo to make room for him (the same deal that sent Jokkinen packing)! The Isles take DP in the draft, passing on both Heatley and Gaborik! Like to have that one back, Mike, Charles, Sanjay!?
Alright, enough on these two... you get the picture... BOTH guys are young and may bounce back, but so far, NEITHER is worth his paycheck. both are BRUTAL underachievers in 2005/2006: 3.37/.892 for DP, 3.37/.885 for Theo! To give you an idea of how BAD these numbers are... the 50th goalie in the league, by goals against, is at 3.11... Both teams have fans that now cheer the backups coming into the game: DOOBIE for the Isles with snow hurt, and Huet or danis for the Habs, depending on which minor league goalie is showing-up Theodore that particular night!
More similarities? Some small, fast forwards
(Blake/Koivu), good PURE goal scorers (Parrish/Ryder), good russian playmakers
making significant coin (Yashin/Kovalev), good rookies with success in the
minors that has YET to translate into major NHL success (Weinhandl/Hamilton... Perezhogin/Plekanec), etc, etc, etc! Both teams struggle on special teams, both
teams give up late goals in big spots, both teams have more talent than their
record shows, both teams have guys that, under the new rules, have been SEVERE
disappointments (Hunter/Ribiero).
Yup, these are two teams headed in the WRONG direction, and that's why they are 10th and 13th in the conference, and both have HUGE negatives in goal differential (Montreal is almost -20, while the isles are about -30). Last, they are BOTH outworked on a nightly basis, something that will hopefully change with the coming of new coaches!
Yup, these are two teams headed in the WRONG direction, and that's why they are 10th and 13th in the conference, and both have HUGE negatives in goal differential (Montreal is almost -20, while the isles are about -30). Last, they are BOTH outworked on a nightly basis, something that will hopefully change with the coming of new coaches!
The Isles seem burried pretty good and will need a
big winning streak to get close and jump over so many teams. They will have a chance as they are finished with
the west and now play ONLY conference games over the last 30. Montreal only needs a small spurt, as they are
within 5 points of a bunch of teams and have games in hand on all of them. However, LOSING those games in hand doesn't help... they need points badly. A
win tonight in Philly would be a nice surprise, but i'd settle for a point!
Mike Fontanetta
Hockey - The Fontanetta Way
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