A sign the Habs are throwing in the towel?

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 21, 2009 3:01 PM EDT

The day before the Montreal Canadiens face elimination in Game 4 of their opening round playoff series with the Bruins, coach Bob Gainey decided to make today's practice optional. The Habs played hard for most of last night's game and some players probably legitimately needed a breather today, but to have 8 players show up for practice the day before you face elimination to me shows that this team just doesn't care.

Meanwhile, the Bruins had a full practice this afternoon in Montreal with all of their healthy players on the ice. WEEI's Joe Haggerty is reporting via his Twitter page that Andrew Ference skated on his own this morning. Ference is not expected to return to game action in this series.

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NOW THAT

is something worth boo-ing.

by ike6116 on Apr 21, 2009 3:05 PM EDT reply actions

The Boston Globe is reporting that 9 players practiced this morning: Carey Price, Jaroslav Halak, Mike Komisarek, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Gregory Stewart, Yannick Weber, Mike D’Agostini, and Sergei Kostitsyn.

At any rate, it was a small crowd on the ice at the Habs optional skate.

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/04/final_practice_1.html

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Serving of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 21, 2009 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

wow

That’s really small, even for an optional skate (which I know are a bit more “optional” than their football counterparts). But it did mention that the other players worked out in the gym; maybe a change to the routine and just a spark from fresh legs is what they’re looking for. Might be better than trying either a.) the same thing they’ve been doing or b.) trying to shoehorn adjustments to the offensive or defensive scheme in during a single day.

by jctsai12 on Apr 21, 2009 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

fool

obviously never played a sport

by Darlok on Apr 22, 2009 9:56 AM EDT reply actions

I have played sports my whole life. To me it seems like they would want to go over some things in practice before Game 4. I know they have a morning skate this morning, but not much really gets accomplished in a game day morning skate. Ultimately it is up to Gainey and the players. Oh well, they will get plenty of rest this summer.

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Serving of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 22, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions