HabsWorld.net -- 

The Habs won all 3 of their games this week,
and like every other team fighting for a playoff spot, didn’t really go up or
down in the standings.  Meanwhile, the Hamilton Bulldogs had yet another
1-1-1 week, their 4th in the last 5.  We’ll take a look at the standings
and the schedule, plus which junior prospects are in the playoffs, and a final
thought on the craziness that is the Eastern Conference standings, in the Recap.

 Player
Grades

Comparatives in brackets.

Goalies:

Jaroslav Halak
A-  Again, some week goals, but another
strong week from him.  The real test will come with this week’s play. (A-)

Defence:

Mike Komisarek: 
B
 Really shines when he’s in a shadowing role (Ovechkin.)  (B+)

Andrei Markov: 
B  Rock solid week on the defensive
side of things. (B)

Janne Ninnimaa:  B- 
Not as strong as last week, but leaps and bounds beyond where he was a few
months ago.  (B)

Mathieu Dandenault:  B- 
Starting to utilize his speed on a more regular basis. (C+)

Sheldon Souray:  B- 
Played well defensively, and now can’t score…weird. (B)

Francis Bouillon:  C+  

Quiet week after making some progress last week.  (B)

Josh Gorges:
  C  A few too
many mistakes in his one outing, but he is still only 22.
(C)

Forwards:

Guillaume Latendresse: 
A-
  Got a key goal this week, although didn’t look the greatest
on the checking line. (A)

Andrei Kostitsyn:  A-  Points
in each game, the fact his goal-per-game average is worse than Samsonov’s is a
concern.
(A-)

Michael Ryder:  B+  Scored a
couple of goals, however both were virtually meaningless given the status of
each game.  Good to see though. (B+)

Tomas Plekanec:  B  Top scorer
since January is nice in one way, sad in many, many others.
(B)

Saku Koivu:  B-  Passing the
puck off a little too often, he’s still one of the better scorers on the team. (B)

Chris Higgins:   B  
Another quality week, time for him to get back to early-season form.
(B)

Steve Begin:  B 
The offensive intensity on the PK has really picked up since his comeback.
(B)

Radek Bonk:  B-  PK is much
improved when he’s in the lineup.  (N/A)

Maxim Lapierre:
  B-  Bounced
back after a bad start to the week (at least a period). (B-)

Alexei Kovalev:  B-  One good
game, one so-so game, one bad game.  Too inconsistent for a $4.5 M player. (C+)

Mike Johnson:
  C+  Scored a
fluky PP goal, otherwise, another week to forget for the winger. (C-)

Mark Streit:  C  Invisible
for the most part, doesn’t help when he played on 3 different lines either. (B-)

The Dog
Pound

The Bulldogs lost a key game to Rochester
before going 1-1 in shootout action to close the week.

Game-by-Game:

Wednesday,
March 21, 2007
Rochester 4, Hamilton
2
Hamilton Goals:
D’Agostini (20), Ferland (19)
Shots:
28-28
PP:
  0-6  PK: 
3-5

Friday,
March 23, 2007
Hamilton 3, Albany 2
(SO)
Hamilton Goals:
Lambert (10), Manlow (1)
Shootout: 
Grabovski 1/1, Locke 1/1,
Urquhart 0/1, D’Agostini 0/1, Manlow 0/1
Shots:
35-19 Hamilton
PP:
  1-6  PK: 
3-3

Saturday,
March 24, 2007
Toronto 3, Hamilton 2
(SO)
Hamilton Goals: Biron (9), Manlow (2)
Shootout: 
Grabovski 1/1, Locke 0/1,
Urquhart 0/1, D’Agostini 0/1, Manlow 0/1
Shots:
32-32
PP:
  1-5  PK: 
5-7

3 Key Notes:

1) 
 Eric Manlow snaps his season-long goalless drought and is now on a goal scoring
streak, 2 straight games.  Interestingly, he was a selection for the
shootout in those games (and missed both times.)

2)  Next on the goalless drought list: Danny Groulx, 50 games and
counting for the defenceman.

3)  The Edmonton Oilers signed a 3-year affiliation agreement with
the Springfield Falcons franchise, meaning finally an end to the farm-sharing
agreement.

Standings
Synopsis

1 week less in the season, and yet still not
one of the spots has been fully decided.


Rank

Team

Points

GR

This Week’s Schedule
6 NY Rangers 87 6 27th @ MTL, 31st @ PHI, 1st vs
TOR
7 Tampa Bay 86 6 27th vs FLA,
30th @ CAR, 31st vs WSH
8 Carolina 84 7 27th @ TOR, 28th @ PHI, 30th
vs TB, 1st @ FLA
9 NY Islanders 84 7 27th vs NJ,
30th @ BUF, 31st vs OTT
10 Montreal 84 6 27th vs NYR, 30th @ OTT, 31st
vs BUF
11 Toronto 82 7 27th vs CAR,
29th @ ATL, 31st vs PIT, 1st @ NYR

Standings as of afternoon games played on
March 25th.

In the
System

By Jason Brisebois

This week we’ll change things up. With
the CHL season over and the post-season underway, we decided to take a look at
the prospects who will be playing into the spring. There are eight prospects in
the Habs organization playing in the CHL, and surprisingly enough, 7 of them are
moving on. Cameron Cepek is the only one on the outside looking in.

WHL

Tri-City vs Seattle
Series tied 1-1

G Carey Price (Tri-City)

Star goaltender Carey Price and the Americans are taking on Seattle. They
dropped game one only for the team to rebound on Saturday and win game two,
thanks to a 32 save effort by Price.

Kootenay vs Calgary
Series tied 1-1

C Ben Maxwell (Kootenay)
C Ryan White (Calgary)

These two prospects face-off in this quarterfinal match up. Calgary would take
the opener, with Kootenay taking game two. Neither prospect scored a point in
game one, while White would tally a goal, and Maxwell an assist in game two.

OHL

London vs Owen Sound
London leads series 2-0

RW Sergei Kostitsyn (London)

Kostitsyn and his Knights have won their first two games, looking for their 2nd
Memorial Cup in three years. He recorded one assist in those two games.

Oshawa vs Kingston
Oshawa leads series 2-0

G Loic Lacasse (Oshawa)

Lacasse and his Generals have a two games to none lead in their quarterfinal
matchup. He made 29 saves in a game one overtime win. In game two, he was pulled
after the 2nd period, after letting in 6 goals in 16 shots.

QMJHL

Rouyn-Noranda vs Gatineau
Rouyn-Noranda leads series 1-0

D Mathieu Carle (Rouyn-Noranda )

Carle has played one game in the playoffs so far. It was a 6-3 win over Gatineau.
He failed to register a point.

Final
Thought

Although at times this time of the season can
be beyond frustrating for Hab fans, there’s no denying that this playoff battle
is exciting.  Scoreboard watching every night to see if your team is
gaining or dropping spots to other teams, praying games between two teams
fighting for a similar spot end in regulation so the 3-point games are fewer and
further between.  And it seems to be the only time of the season where a
team can go 3-0 and seemingly lose ground in the standings as the Habs did this
week.  Is it frustrating?  Sure, especially when the team seems to be
turning it around, but at the same time, you can’t deny the fact that the last
few weeks have been drawing you closer to the game, and the next few will do the
same as well.  And, win or lose, that’s a great thing to watch and be a
part of.