2) Andrei Kostitsyn: Not surprisingly, with Plekanec excelling, he
was the primary beneficiary.  I’m most impressed by his willingness to
shoot, a quality I wish more forwards could have. (Previous:
16  Average: 9.0)

3) Carey Price: He arguably stole a point in the home opener, was
good in Buffalo but did struggle at times against the Sens.  A little
inconsistent but the team earned 5 of 6 points and he was a big part of that.
(Previous: 1  Average:
2.0)

4) Josh Gorges: He has demonstrated once again that he’s willing to
throw his body in front of the puck and even potted a rare goal.  Even
rarer: He leads all Habs’ D in points. (Previous: 9 
Average: 6.5)

5) Mike Cammalleri: He didn’t get any goals this week but it
certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort.  As the case is with many snipers,
keep shooting and eventually they’ll start going in. (Previous:
2  Average: 3.5)

6) Brian Gionta: Though his line struggled for most of the week, he
had some instances where he was still able to make a positive impact, including
scoring an early goal against the Senators. (Previous:
11  Average: 8.5)

7) Jeff Halpern: He continues to be proficient on the draw and is
playing with more of an offensive edge than he has in recent years.  He’s
finally being used in late game situations as well. (Previous:
6  Average: 6.5)

8) Maxim Lapierre: He’s often playing right on the edge and sadly he
went over it against Tampa this week.  That said, he continues to play with
energy while chipping in offensively. (Previous: 3 
Average: 5.5)

9) Hal Gill: He still makes his presence felt on the penalty kill
blocking shots (10 already this year).  What has impressed me the most is
his increased aggression in the offensive end though. (Previous:
13  Average: 11.0)

10) Travis Moen: Though I wasn’t overly in favour of seeing him move
up with Gomez/Gionta, he didn’t look out of place.  He’s clearly not a
long-term solution but he acquitted himself well. (Previous:
18  Average: 14.0)

11) P.K. Subban: There were some good moments and then there were
some clearly awful ones.  To his credit, he hustled back when he realized
his mistake which is a good sign. (Previous: 5 
Average: 8.0)

12) Roman Hamrlik: For being thrown into the fire (3 games in 4
nights), he held up quite nicely.  Once Markov returns, he’ll able to
settle into a support role which will suit him well. (Previous:
N/A  Average: 12.0)

13) Scott Gomez: He has barely been noticeable out there so far – on
some levels, this isn’t terrible as it means he isn’t making mistakes but he
needs to be better offensively.  Although he’s a slow starter, he better
get going soon. (Previous: 10 
Average: 11.5)

14) Lars Eller: You could tell when he was out there a lot…the
problem is, it wasn’t always for the right reasons.  Such is life for a
rookie though, he’ll keep getting better. (Previous:
8  Average: 11.0)

15) Jaroslav Spacek: There were some bad moments but on the whole, he
wasn’t as egregious defensively as most would lead you to believe based on the
comments out there. (Previous: 17 
Average: 16.0)

16) Benoit Pouliot: Though I felt his being bumped to the 4th line
was unwarranted, he didn’t do much while there to justify being moved back up
either. (Previous: 7  Average:
11.5)

17) Alexandre Picard: To be honest, I didn’t think he was any good at
all this week.  But a goal is a goal and so he gets bumped up a couple
spots as a "reward." (Previous: 19 
Average: 18.0)

18) Ryan O’Byrne: I don’t think him being benched was based on his
performance but moreso to allow them some time to evaluate Picard.  He
should be the #7 when Markov returns. (Previous: 15 
Average: 16.5)

19) Dustin Boyd: After being such a factor last week, he was
virtually invisible this week.  I’m sure it’d help if he had the same
linemates for more than 5 or 6 shifts though. (Previous:
4  Average: 11.5)

20) Mathieu Darche: He had some good shifts after being moved up to
the Gomez line on Saturday, you can tell he’s a lot more comfortable in that
role than in a checking one. (Previous: 20 
Average: 20.0)

– Though he isn’t scoring, Benoit Pouliot is getting the job done on the
physical side of things.  His 18 hits leads all Habs and is 7 more than the
next highest (Ryan O’Byrne).

– Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez (1-1-2 each) – several different wingers, similar
results.  Perhaps it’s time to try splitting them up?

This decision has essentially opened the floodgates for such a reputation to
continue.  Like it or not, some fans will simply vote for their favourite
players, creating the potential to turn the 3 Stars into a year long popularity
contest (as if the 6 weeks of ballot stuffing for the 2009 ASG wasn’t bad enough
already).  What’s even worse as this is now ammunition for certain members
of the media to push an agenda when interviewing the voted on stars, discussing
their relative popularity or lack thereof.  Such a discussion already
occurred with Andrei Kostitsyn on Saturday night in what, game 3 of the new
system?  How long before it comes up again?

Look, I get that the team is trying to be proactive; in fact, I sincerely
applaud them for that.  A team with such a rabid fanbase as Montreal’s
could simply rest on their laurels and they’re not which is great.  Some
ideas though should say just that, ideas, and this is one of them.  The
proverbial can of worms could open at any time with this (being ballot stuffing
and/or the selections becoming a point of discussion/contention in the media). 
Given the annual controversies that seem to hit each year, it’s not a question
of if said can will be opened, but when.  Kudos to the voting fans who
basically have gotten it right so far.  I honestly hope this continues and
I can eat my words down the road, but history being what it is, I’m not sure I
should be holding my breath on this one.

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