Healthy Habs
The Hockey News
It has taken a while, but things are finally looking happier in Habland.
The Montreal Canadiens have been an inconsistent bunch this season, both in terms of results and who is in the lineup thanks to a fairly significant string of injuries.
Right now the Habs are a healed Mike Cammalleri away from icing the best team they’ve had since opening night. Cammalleri is expected back from a knee-injury in mid-March, a month in which Montreal will play seven of its 10 remaining games at home after taking six of eight points on a recent four-game road trip.
The top line of Scott Gomez between Brian Gionta and Benoit Pouliot is firing right now, with Gomez getting his totals closer to respectability thanks to 12 points in his past 10 contests.
Put out a second line of Cammalleri with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn and you’ve got something cooking.
The guy who put this team together, former GM Bob Gainey, stepped down before the Olympic break because he felt his heart wasn’t in the job the way it needed to be.
Ironically, he may have moved out just before his plan for the Habs started to come into fruition.
RK. | TEAM | OVERALL | L10 | THE SCOOP |
1 |
| 44-13-8 | 7-1-2 | Two goals for Scott Walker since joining the Caps, but none for Ovie since the Olympic break |
2 |
| 42-14-9 | 6-4-0 | Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley got the gold, but can they get the silver? |
3 |
| 40-23-2 | 6-4-0 | Canucks fans – who haven't seen their team at home since Jan. 27 – can finally give Roberto Luongo a golden ovation when he returns to General Motors Place Saturday |
4 |
| 40-22-4 | 6-1-3 | Will the acquisition of Alexei Ponikarovsky work out the way getting Bill Guerin at last year's deadline did? |
5 |
| 43-17-5 | 6-3-1 | Things like giving up five second-period goals in a loss to Detroit make this team seem fallible |
6 |
| 39-22-5 | 6-4-0 | Wojtek Wolski takes to desert life with goals in his first two games as a Coyote |
7 |
| 38-22-4 | 6-3-1 | Fredrik Modin picked up a goal in his second game as a King |
8 |
| 37-22-6 | 6-4-0 | Chris Stewart – who notched a hat trick Saturday – is becoming a real force for the Avs |
9 |
| 31-22-12 | 5-3-2 | Top line of Pavel Datsyuk between Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom has got it going right now |
10 |
| 36-25-5 | 5-4-1 | We get the sense the goaltending reins are very much up for grabs |
11 |
| 35-20-9 | 3-5-2 | March is Buffalo's busiest month with 16 games on the slate |
12 |
| 35-25-5 | 5-4-1 | After missing Sunday's game against Vancouver, it sounds like Shea Weber could miss Tuesday's game – but not many more – with an upper-body injury |
13 |
| 38-23-3 | 3-6-1 | We know Martin Brodeur is Martin Brodeur, but things just don't look quite right there these days |
14 |
| 32-24-9 | 5-4-1 | One start, one win for Vesa Toskala in his Flames career |
15 |
| 34-26-4 | 6-3-1 | We're all going to find out if Michael Leighton is for real very soon |
16 |
| 32-29-6 | 6-4-0 | Dominic Moore proving he can be a useful player, notching two goals and four points in six outings as a Hab |
17 |
| 30-26-9 | 6-4-0 | Just 12 wins at home all year; only Toronto has less with 11 |
18 |
| 27-31-7 | 8-2-0 | Wonder how many other teams have had a 14-game losing streak and seven-game winning stretch in the same season |
19 |
| 30-27-8 | 5-4-1 | Winless in three contests since Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Scott Niedermayer returned to Cali with gold medals |
20 |
| 29-24-11 | 6-2-2 | Get ready for the great head shot debate to return in lieu of Matt Cooke nailing Marc Savard |
21 |
| 28-26-10 | 4-4-2 | Niclas Bergfors has six goals as a Thrasher, double the three Ilya Kovalchuk has as a Devil |
22 |
| 28-24-12 | 4-5-1 | Kari Lehtonen has allowed eight goals in a 97-minute career with Dallas |
23 |
| 31-28-5 | 4-5-1 | Minny has three more sets of back-to-back road games this month after going 1-0-1 in Alberta |
24 |
| 29-28-9 | 4-4-2 | Coach John Tortorella called out his top players after Rangers score one goal in two games |
25 |
| 25-29-11 | 4-4-2 | Columbus is losing, but at least it's not by much and to good teams; how's that for a positive spin? |
26 |
| 27-26-11 | 5-5-0 | Need to get better on the road to make a real post-season push |
27 |
| 26-28-10 | 3-6-1 | After going 16 games without a goal, Michael Frolik snaps the sophomore slump with three in two contests |
28 |
| 26-31-8 | 3-7-0 | Looking more and more like the Isles will draft within the top three this June |
29 |
| 20-33-12 | 3-6-1 | After a complete overhaul of the team, the Leaf kids are getting a chance to prove they are capable of playing in the big leagues |
30 |
| 21-38-6 | 3-7-0 | Jeff Deslauriers provides a rare reason to smile by blanking Brodeur and the Devils |
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
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