Penguins Hope For Rebound–Montreal Hires New Head Coach.
So here we are, in the early morning when most are sleeping and hopefully having good dreams, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been tossing and turning. Pens superstar forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin probably have not even slept, they’re too busy figuring out a way to put the puck in the net more than just once a game. The two have basically been shut down by a powerful and extremely intelligent Detroit Red Wing team. The Wings who won the Stanley Cup last year have shown no signs of wanting to give it up and being up 2-0 in the series has the Wings feeling pretty good about their chances of repeating. Detroit has been hit with injuries all throughout the playoffs but they’ve done what every coach in the league asks of his players, suck it up and play within yourselves. They have been scoring because they’ve been taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s mistakes. Detroit is a very patient team and will wait until you make a mistake and then BAM, they score.
Detroit’s goaltending has been outstanding. Chris Osgood has been making big saves and is only giving up a goal a game in the series, with this kind of play the Red Wings are virtually unstoppable.
The puck drops in about 19 hours and we’ll find out pretty quick if Pittsburgh is going to make this a series or if they’re just simply playing out the rest of their games. I for one hope that the Penguins come back and force the series to go 7 games.
Montreal Canadiens Hire New Coach
Yesterday the Montreal Canadiens announced that Jacques Martin was hired as the teams new head coach. The 56-year-old Martin replaces Montreal GM Bob Gainey behind the bench. Gainey took over after firing Guy Carbonneau on March 9. This is the first time the Canadiens have hired a coach with previous NHL coaching experience since Jacques Demers was fired four games into the 1995-96 season. Martin has been the Panthers’ GM the past three seasons and coached the team from 2004 to 2008. He also coached St. Louis and Ottawa and was coach of the year in 1999 with the Senators. He has a career record of 517-406-119 for a .551 winning percentage.
GM Bob Gainey said that he was looking for someone who has seen and been in a lot of situations ( good and bad ) and someone who is ready for the demands, expectations and pressures that come with being the Montreal head coach. Obviously Gainey feels that Martin is his man, now only time will tell if Gainey was right. One thing is for sure, if this coaching hire does not work out it Martin won’t be the only one looking for work. Gainey will be right there with him.
Jun 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
Regardless what Detroit coach Mike Babcock about the head hunting between Penguins Sidney Crosby and Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg ,you now have Evgeni Malkin and Zetterberg going at each other. These confrontations will surly continue into the 3rd game tonight in Pittsburgh. To date there have not been to many penalties that have made the difference in the games played. Each team has to be wary of the opposition’s ability to put the puck in the net while enjoying the man advantage. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has to be at the top of his game as well as other Penguins have to show up in the offensive mind, as only 1 goal per game against the Red Wings won’t cut it. Crosby and Malkin can’t rescue their team all by themselves.