Anyone got a plug?

The expectations are high for Carey Price – playing in BC in front of friends and family, a start against the winless Vancouver Canucks, and the opportunity to prove himself in front of everyone that he is an elite caliber goalie. Somewhere along the way, the wheels fell off and the Habs road trip suddenly looked like a clunker on the side of the road. After two standout performances where he was able to stand on his head and keep the team in the game, Carey Price was less than mediocre in the net and it showed.

Despite the lack of help on defense (and offense), Price reverted back to his timid shell, playing shallow in the net, making poor choices in positioning, and letting the faults of the team get to him in a negative manner. The best goalies are able to shake off the negative and turn it into a positive. They learn from poor play and build confidence from it. They are able to carry a team on their back and act as the example – to elevate a player’s game and perform beyond expectation and without excuses.

Price just didn’t have it in him.He looked like he was on a cigarette break on some of the goals.

"A-LOO-ET-TAH... SMOKA CEE-GA-RET-TAH"

Call it the jet-lag. Blame it on the defensive lapses. Do what you will, but at the end of the day, a loss is a loss and an excuse is just a thinly veiled disguise for shifting blame. We don’t need to press the panic button just yet – but we do need to use this loss as an example of what the team is severely lacking in, and that is adapting to the strengths of opponents. Its widely known that we have extremely fast and small forwards. We also have big slow footed defensemen. We also have a hard hitting checking line. But for the first 2-3 games, the Habs were moving – last night it looked like they were skating through mud, and for a guy like Hal Gill who is already slow, he may as well just stood behind Carey Price in goal since he wasn’t moving to begin with.

A late flight from Calgary is apparently to blame for the poor state of the team.

Another excuse. I don’t know about you, but if I’m being paid millions of dollars to perform at a certain level and there’s an expectation, you know I’m going to damn well try to fufill those expectations. Some guys couldn’t be bothered. It may be the start of the season, but losses at the start often come back to bite you in the ass come playoff time.

What?

Get some rest, skate hard and keep your head on straight. Do St Pat proud, because he expects no less.