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Posts Tagged mike cammalleri

NHL Photo of the Day

Jan 26

Posted by EB in Media, News, NHL Photo of the Day | No Comments

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson

Montreal Canadiens’ Rene Bourque celebrates with Tomas Plekanec after netting a goal in the first period. Bourque was recently acquired in a highly publicized trade that saw Mike Cammalleri being traded after making negative comments about the club.

The Canadiens won by a landslide, a 7 – 2 final score that ran Red Wings’ netminder Jimmy Howard from the net. The win ended the Red Wings 7 game winning streak and has given the Canadiens a little lift as the NHL breaks for the All-Star weekend. Currently sitting in 11th spot in the Eastern Conference, 8 points out of 8th seed, more wins like this one are needed if they hope to make the playoffs.

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Photo of the Day

Jan 13

Posted by EB in Media, News, NHL Photo of the Day | No Comments

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 12: Mike Cammalleri #13 of the Montreal Canadiens Calgary Flames skates with the puck against the Boston Bruins. Cammalleri was pulled out of the game after two periods, sent to the hotel for later instructions, and then notified he was traded. The trade between Montreal and Calgary sees Cammalleri, netminder Karri Rammo and a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft going to Calgary in exchange for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a second-round pick in 2013 going to Montreal. The trade came a day after Cammalleri made negative comments about the club, most notably that the Canadiens, “play like losers.” The Montreal Canadiens’ circus continues…

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How Stiff is Your Shaft?

Aug 20

Posted by EB in Gear, Reviews | 2 Comments

Just the other day I was getting my skates sharpened, and to kill the time, I headed over to the stick rack to check out some twigs. I haven’t really paid much attention to sticks over the last year and a half, I’ve had the opportunity to put the Blue Ice Nano Pro through the rigors which is holding up great, as well as having an old Easton that used to be a one piece turned into an indestructible two piece. While looking, my interest was peaked in seeing staff stiffness range in three increments; mid 70′s, high 80′s and low 100′s (depending on the brand). Of being of the knowledge stiffer is better, I have done some research to share with you.

Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning with some wicked flex on his shot.

In simple terms, hockey sticks are what we use to launch the puck into a particular direction. A little more complex, a better, stronger shot comes from utilizing the flex of the stick to bend and snap the puck; much like pulling back on a ruler’s end and hitting someone in the forehead. The questions that arises though, how much flex should you have?

The ideal flex will vary for each player, but you want the stiffest flex you can bend completely to take full advantage of the stick recoil to snap the puck. If the stick is too stiff, the player loses out on the mechanical advantage of the stick. On the other hand, if the stick is to flexible, shot accuracy will suffer.

Stick length plays an important role in staff stiffness as well. In a senior stick at 85 flex, if you are to cut it down 2 inches, the stiffness will jump to about a 95 flex. Cutting down another 2 inches (4 inches total) and you’ll end up with about a 103 flex. Looking at those jumps at a beginning flex of 100, 2 inches takes it up to 106 and 4 inches puts you at a 113 flex.

According to Mike Cammalleri in an older Calgary Flames instructional video, he uses an 80 flex and the average around the NHL is about 100. A few general rules of thumb is for heavier guys to use stiffer shafts because of their weight’s ease of bending the stick. Also, for defenseman to use a stiffer shaft to generate harder slapshots. And lastly, for forwards to use less stiff shafts to better their snap and wrist shots.

Still though, these are general rules of thumb and not rule of law. I’ve always bought a 100 flex and have cut it down a few inches for better stick-handling. It is great to take the big slapshots, but I’ve dissected my game and realize I rarely take any slapshots anymore. In knowing what I know now, and playing more forward instead of defense, I am looking forward to picking up an 85 flex and seeing how my snap and wrist shots improve.

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Hockey World Blog Season Previews 2010: Montreal Canadiens

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | No Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Jaroslav Halak, Sergei Kostitsyn, Glen Metropolit, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Paul Mara, Georges Laraque

Key Offseason Additions: Dustin Boyd, Alex Auld, Lars Eller

Last Season Ranking: 8th, East

Offense: Montreal returns its top four offensive threats. Included in that are top line of Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta. They have a top line that isn’t as flashy as some of the other teams in the East, but they do have the ability to carry the Canadiens. Their main issue last season was staying healthy. They each were effective when they played, but they don’t have the depth necessary to survive if the injuries start to climb. Tomas Plekanec returns to anchor the second line, and should be able to come close to matching his team-leading 70 points from a year ago. Further down the depth chart is where it could become cloudy. Benoit Pouliot is the top returning scorer not from the top two lines, and he posted a 15-goal, nine assist season last year. If he can improve on those numbers, it could help give Montreal the depth down the roster needed to compete. Look for new additions Dustin Boyd and Lars Eller to make contributions to the third and fourth lines.

Expect Mile Cammalleri to carry a large chunk of the offensive workload for Montreal this season.

Expect Mike Cammalleri to carry a large chunk of the offensive workload for Montreal this season.

Defense: This is the area where they lost significant at the top. In addition to Halak in goal, the Canadiens lost Marc-Andree Bergeron. This is significant because he was one of 22 defensemen who scored double-digit goals on the season. Defensive scoring the way Bergeron could is hard to come by, but they do return Andrei Markov. Markov won’t be ready until at least Thanksgiving as he underwent surgery to repair an ACL he injured in game one of the Pittsburgh series. Habsinsideout.com reported last week he resumed skating on his own, but he is still behind his teammates in terms of being in top condition for training camp. Look for top prospect P.K. Subban to make a big impact in his first full season. Subban litthe lamp several times last season in the AHL with Hamilton, and continued to do so when Markov went down in the playoffs. He finished second in team playoff points for defensemen with eight. He’s their top defensive prospect and could contend for the Calder Trophy if he can contribute the way he did in the playoffs.

Goaltending: With Halak gone, it’s do or die time for Carey Price. Price has been given the keys to the car and it’s his job to perform in net. He has to rid his inconsistency and play the entire season the way he does when he’s on his game. Because if he struggles, Alex Auld is not the goalie Halak was. Price was 13-20-5 last season. Those are the numbers you don’t expect from the goalie you signed to a two-year, 5.5 Million dollar contract last week. Just to add a little pressure on Price, top minor league goalie Cedrick Desjardins was traded to Tampa Bay last week for Karri Ramo. And Ramo will remain in the KHL this season and honor his contract before returning to the NHL in 2011.

Season Outlook: Montreal has a chance to win the division and have an encore performance to last season’s magical run to the East finals. If they can surprise everyone and improve on the defensive side of the puck, expect them to make a deep run to the playoffs. In the flipside, if Carey Price struggles, so could the rest of the team.

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Overhaul in Montreal

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 2 Comments

It’s been 16 years since the Montreal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup. It’s also  been 16 years since a franchise north of the border has raised a championship banner. Unfortunately for Hab’s fans, they will have to wait another year.

After backing into the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference last season when they lost 10 of its last 15 games, Montreal GM Bob Gainey had to make changes. And changes he made as 11 players departed including Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang. Gainey did add an all-new first line with center Scott Gomez and wingers Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. It will be interesting to see how can Cammalleri produce an a more pressure-packed environment and without Jerome Iginla.

The main strength the Gomez-Cammalleri-Giontaline line will offer is speed. They have a lot of skill and talent, but with that they are sacrificing toughness and physicality. The depth of the forwards more top-heavy than other teams. After the first line, players such as Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, and Travis Moen need to increase their scoring from last season to help compensate the offense that departed.

Another strength the Canadiens posses is defenseman Andrei Markov. Markov was second on the team in points with 64 last season.  Markov will also be looked upon to lead the power play and penalty kill units, which ranked 13th and 11th respectively in the league last season. Other defensemen that can be expected to contribute this season include Hal Gill and rookies Yannick Weber and P.K. Subban.

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

One big question mark the Canadiens will have is in goal. They have two young, still developing goaltenders in Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak. Expectations will be high for Price and deservingly so. After a stellar rookie season in 2007-08, Price struggled down the stretch and recorded only 1 shutout all season long in 2008-09. They did make a goaltending coach change during the off-season, and we can only hope new goaltending coach Pierre Grolux can teach Price to cut down shooting angles and allow less soft goals this season.

Overall, I can expect Montreal to still be a few steps behind Boston in the division. The Canadiens will have a shot to make the playoffs, but that’s not good enough to the Montreal fanbase. If they play to their potential, they can finish anywhere between fourth-sixth in the conference. But if they stumble down the stretch like they did last season, expect them to miss the playoffs or suffer another sweep at the hands of the Eastern Conference powers: Washington, Boston, or Pittsburgh.

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