Dangerous underdogs
According to a THN (The Hockey News) player poll, the Canadiens are the third most feared "underdog" team to face in the playoffs this year. Ahead of them are only New Jersey and Edmonton.
Congratulations to Chris Higgins for scoring his 20th goal of the season, becoming the only Canadiens rookie drafted in the first round to do so since Saku Koivu in 1995-'96. With his 29th of the season last night, Michael Ryder is on the verge of becoming only the 5th Canadiens player to score 30 goals or more since that same season, the others being Richard Zednik (2002-'03), Mark Recchi (1996-'97 and 1997-'98), and Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse (both 1995-'96). An honourable mention should go out to Koivu, who scored the game-tying goal and assisted on Higgins' winner last night.
Jan Bulis scored a goal after being inserted back into the lineup tonight, which begs the question, Can GM/Coach Bob Gainey really justify continually scratching Bulis, when the man who normally plays instead of him, Richard Zednik, has been completely flat offensively? Bulis is going to be a UFA at the end of the season and currently has 18 goals. He's obviously going to want to rack up his totals to score big in his next contract, and Gainey should take advantage of that, because it certainly helps the team. What of Zednik, you ask? Let him watch and learn.
posted by d b @ 1:14 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I wonder if Zednik would be better off in a checking line role? Although he can't score, he can still skate and forecheck and he has some size too.
I agree that keeping a player of Zednik's calibre on the sidelines is a waste, but, as Gainey has said, there are players on the team better suited for the checking role than Zednik. It just wouldn't be good for the team to put him there.
Could you really justify scratching Garth Murray, or even Aaron Downey, at this point? Not the way they've been playing, and certainly not the way Zednik's been playing. Remember - he is a minus-4.
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