It may be time to confront a question that the more jaded among us, the scars of last season still fresh, have avoided through 15 games:
Are your Montreal Canadiens a good hockey team?
An unequivocal answer might have to wait – at least 24 hours, which will take in the Canadiens’ visit to Madison Square Garden, and maybe longer.
Beginning next Monday, the Canadiens will play eight of 10 games on the road.
A good team will survive a schedule like that.
So by all means, put a bottle or two of champagne on ice.
But let’s not pop the corks just yet.
OK, enough skepticism from Donald Downer.
Your Canadiens sit atop the Northeast Division and they’re second in the Eastern Conference.
Facing the Flyers and the high-flying Hurricanes with Peter Budaj subbing for a flu-bit Carey Price, the Canadiens gave up 19 shots in each of the games. Budaj surrendered one goal to Philadelphia and hung a goose egg on Carolina.
It was the first time the Hurricanes have been shut out this season.
Was Budaj spectacular in earning First Star honours Monday night?
No. But he didn’t have to be.
The Canadiens played superb team defence, as they have in almost every game this season. Carolina had maybe five good scoring chances. I don’t think they had an odd-man rush all game long.
Not the least important aspect of the superb coaching job Michel Therrien has done this season – c’mon, now, MT-haters. Give the man his props! – is distribution of ice time among his six defenceman. No one plays crazy minutes – Justin Falk’s ToI was a ridiculous 30:33 for Carolina – and everyone, including greybeards Andrei Markov and Francis Bouillon, stays fresh.
Even through a game that was a scoreless nailbiter through 42 minutes, Therrien was able to roll four lines. They didn’t show up on the scoresheet, but the paroled Ryan White, Travis Moen and Colby Armstrong contributed gritty board work and quality minutes in a game that was a grind-it-out affair until Alex Galchenyuk set Brandon Prust up for the Canadiens’ first goal.
Galchenyuk and Prust played with Lars Eller after Therrien made an in-game adjustment. The coach reunited last season’s top line, moving Cole from Galchenyuk’s right wing to replace Eller with David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty. We’ll likely see those lines again in the Big Apple on Tuesday night.
The Tomas Pekanec line stayed intact. Rene Bourque had no hits and gave the puck away a couple times, but Plekanec was customarily excellent and scored his eighth goal on a thunderous shot that shook up Cam Ward sufficiently for the Carolina goaltender to fluff Max Pacioretty’s attempt to channel J.C. Tremblay.
It took 15 games and a weird goal for Max-Pac to get off the schneid this season. The Canadiens will need his production through the imminent period when their schedule becomes hellacious.
My fat ass is still parked on the fence, so I’ll leave it to the Commentariat to weigh in one whether this is a good team or an early-season/soft schedule mirage.
But if you figure 55 points punches a ticket to the post-season dance, the Canadiens need 34 from their remaining 33 games to make the playoffs.
It’s do-able.
And based on what fans have seen so far – which is really all we have to go on – hockey-mad Montreal could enjoy a merry month of May.
• The Canadiens have two four-game winning streaks in their first 15. In 82 games last season, the team had one four-W streak (games 9 through 12, before everything turned to crap) … Eric Staal had five shots on goal, but linemate Alexander Semin was held to one and Jiri Tlusty had none … Josh Gorges had four hits to lead the Canadiens … The Canadiens won 27 of 50 faceoffs. Lars Eller was 5-1, DD 7-5 and Tomas Plekanec 11-8. Alex Galchenyuk didn’t take a draw all night, but he led the team with four SoG … The Canadiens haven’t given up a power-play goal since that Sami Salo buzzer-beater in Tampa. They’ve killed the last nine straight man disadvantages … Conversely, the Canadiens power-play hasn’t scored since Brian Gionta beat Anders Lindback during a 5-on-3 at the end of the first period in Tampa … The Canadiens and New Jersey are tied for fourth in the NHL in shots against per game (26.7).
• Save of the Night: Marc Denis, RDS’s man between the benches, owes Carey Price a dinner:
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ok , so i like this team a hell of a lot more than the last year squad…But they are still too small to go for a long run ! The playoff game like atmosphere against the Leafs last weekend proved that, however they are a lot better … mostly by the fact the everybody is contributing ( a coaches dream ) But the true tell of this season will be once they have all those road games under thier belt!!!!! with out the line change advantage i,m afraid that the Habs skill will neutralized by the other teams coach , and thus exposing once again that for the most part this team is “skilled” yes but not able to handle the riggers of the physical play .
hope i,m wrong
I think so far they look like they’re actually a good team. There have not been many flukey wins whose statsheets indicate the results may have been outliers. They’re playing quality hockey to earn their Ws. Good teams can lose their mojos, of course, so this is no guarantee of future success, but based solely on this season, the results indicate a good team.
I have been saying this the last 2 weeks as us Eller fans have been disappointed that he’s on the 4th line. This is the best thing that could have happened to him!!
Once Galchenyuk is ready to take one of the top 2 spots at center…maybe start of 14/15 season.. then the habs will have to decide between DD or Pleks for the other top O center. (my $ goes on Pleks anyday). Meanwhile Eller will be out of the equation cause he will have made a really important and nice spot in this roster for himself. He will be our 3rd line center. Strong on the D side of things, and if we are deep on the wing, then he will have some O minded wingers too. He will provide strong PK minutes, excellent 3rd line minutes and secondary scoring.
I am not saying that Eller doesn’t have it in him to be a 2 line center. But on this team, he doesnt need to become one. Not with Galchenyuk and one of Pleks/DD also on the roster. Martin always said he didn’t know what he had in Eller. MT said he wanted to see more intensity. Now that he is seeing it, he is using Eller in that fashion, and developing him as a strong D/O minded center. With our depth we don’t need him to become a top 2 center. WOW when was the last time we talked about depth at center.
Bournival, LL who maybe seen as 3 line centers are still a few years away. By then Eller will be known and settled as one of the best 3rd line centers in the league!
Can’t see Kovalchuk surving this short season playing nearly 30 minutes a night…..that is beyond insane for a forward.
Pitts and Boston are the class of the East..after that the Rangers have a team that is buit from the net out which is always a good thing. They are defendable up front though as they have all their eggs in one basket…but Lundqvist can put a team on his back and especialy withat steady young d corps. Do not give them any pp’s once they get their chemistry going though.
After those three….. Montreal is as good as anyone…and deeper than all but Boston. Pittsburgh …poor Crosby has to play with Dupuis,etc….and they have to have him jump on the ice first regardless of position so his ice time crosses occasionally with some talented players…and he still produces…amazing actually.
Slowly but surely the Eller camp is growing
But still not enough of a fan base to make the three stars yesterday. Ridiculous.
If there has been a game since the start of his career that Subban deserved a star for based on his overall play it was last night.
I think he was the best player on the ice.
The three star selection used to be fun, even worth debating at times.
Now it’s just an embarrassment.
Putting it in the hands of the fans was foolish. Now it’s just a popularity contest.
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☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
We have four decent centres yet some people want to trade for O’Reilly and his steep, long term contract demands. I don’t get it.
When was the last time that the Habs were overstocked at one position where good players were fighting for ice time (discounting Halak!)?
Especially at the centre position.
No more Bonk’s. Nor Kapows, Thwomps or Whacks.
The combined views of an actual O’Reilly game probably comes in under the hundreds as well.
Our Western Canadian portion of the commentariat probably sees him most. I watch hockey just about every night with the Centre Ice package and haven’t seen anything special out of him.
His ceiling is probably Plekanec’s level, which is right around where Eller fits in. Not exactly a “must have” player.
1961 Beliveau, Richard, Backstrom, Goyette and Marshall at centre
And if I’m not mistaken the Blackhawks won the Cup that season.
I moving farther into his camp lately for sure. He’s been playing great. He’s finally making the trade for he ‘who shall not be named’ look OK.
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☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
Another note about Allan Walsh. Mike Liut is allegedly Cory Schneider’s agent but Octagon Sports shows the infamous Allan Walsh as his representative.
SHOCKING.
Explains Liuts outburst earlier in the season, probably instructed to do so by King Douchebag.
You read my mind.
Edit: Liut and Walsh work together with Octagon and Liut could well be Schneider’s agent.
They show no exclusive client listings. All players are shown under the Octagon umbrella.
I still don’t get the Walsh hate here. He is an agent. He was looking out for the best interests of HIS CLIENT (sorry for yelling – not directed at you; for emphasis only), and he actually only spoke the truth, and quoted some stats anyone could have read in the paper. Only in Montreal is this controversial.
That said, I hate agents and lawyers on general principle, but just not for this particular reason.
__________________________
☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
Rating the players Right now I see them this way:
1st liners: Pleks, Bourque, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Gallaghar
2nd liners: Gionta, Desharnais, Eller
3rd liners: Cole, Prust
4th liners: Moen, White, Armstrong,
Pretty good. I wish Bourque and Max would be more physical. No fighting just more hitting on the forecheck. With their size and speed, they should be able to intimidate defencemen more.
I think Max is still a little tender from the appendectomy, you will probably see him play tougher in a week to 10 days.
I look to see him to start filling the net now that he has the monkey off his back.
Like the DODGERS “Wait till next year”
Seems about right, too bad Cole is having such a rough season. I wonder if he is injured?
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Out of shape?
Rumblings in Columbus that Brassard could be on the trade block. He hasn’t put up tremendous numbers in Columbus, but then again who does playing on that team.
I am not at all suggesting we make this trade, but the new GM in Columbus probably likes Eller given he helped draft him.
Columbus needs to add players to roster for low dollars and move out their bigger contracts. Brassard is 3.2million caphit this year and next, then RFA.
If Bergevin knows what’s good for the team he’ll avoid Allan Walsh clients like the plague.
Care to expand?
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Every time a player he represents isn’t getting ice-time(volume or special teams) that he doesn’t approve of he blasts the coach and/or gm on twitter and interviews.
Not exactly good for a dressing room.
Thanks. Was he Halak’s agent?
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Yes.
Walsh is a huge D-bag, I’d avoid his clients if at all possible. Either way, at 3.2M Brassard is overpaid.
“thoroughbred”
I believe, and I may be wrong that Martin Havlat told him he no longer required his services after last year’s dust up.
And also of the Largest D-Bag variety. I think Brassard is overpaid, but also think performing well in Columbus is not easy. I liked Dubinsky a great deal in New York, but isn’t doing much in Columbus either.
Loonie is right, Walsh is a clown.
Didn’t realize that was his agent. You know you bring up a good point Tom. It is pretty sad that when you look at players who you would like to add to a roster, that you need to first check who their agent is.
In fairness he’s the only agent I would openly discriminate against when making personnel decisions.
Eller is cheaper and better. No need to make a trade right now, unless Kaberle or Weber is included.
I was secretly thinking DD for Brassard, that way the language police are okay with it.
Nah, it’s more fun when that crowd gets their baguettes in a bunch.
“thoroughbred”
We need to dump our small guys Gionta included. Enough of being pushed around and we all saw how Gionta, Prust and DD were basically pushed around! Our so called tough midget just was not tough enough against the laffs of all teams!
If we could bundle Eller, DD, Gionta it would be worth it. Get rid of the deadweight because that is all they are against a real NHL team and the laffs are far from a typical NHL team anyway, but to be pushed around by them? Shame on you Bergevin! Get us real NHL players for once!
Kaberle for Brassard I’m down with.
http://calshabsongparodies.weebly.com
I don’t think he is an MB type of player.
I can’t remember seeing him play but Eller is 2 years younger, makes half the salary (plus is a restricted free agent afterwards), same size… To me, I’d stick with Eller.
Eller is not tough enough. You can see that against the bigger teams. He buckles under, like the rest of the team when our mighty mite of a captain ends up on his ass most of the game against equally sized or bigger teams. We need to get rid of Gionta if we hope to make the playoffs and win a cup!
I would not trade Eller for 2 Brassards and I mean that.
Eller is so good at so many things…he really is developing int o a larger Pleks…his defensive awareness and hustle is incredible and the best the Habs have had since the old Carbo/Keane days. Pleks is the “glue guy” but Eller is another glue guy that wins so many battels, maintains possession, breaks up plays, etc..that is so valuable and underappreciated. I want himt o get more chances offensviely but in the meantime I am in complete awe of his all round game of late…reminds me when I first started paying attention to Pleks away fromt he puck….they are just so good and important.
Any team in the NHL could benefit from having Pleks…and a guy like Eller is quickly becoming that valuable.
This is only against the smaller teams. In order to win we need to have Eller show up, but like any Euro player he disappears when the going gets tough! And he comes froma tough Scandanavian background? WTF????and Therrien lets Eller be a wimp? Eller gives the puck away more when he is matched against bigger players. He can’t crash the net as he is too wimpy. Eller doesn’t use his size to his advantage. And having a captain like Gionta only reinforces the wimpy behaviours on this team of real prospects!
WOuld it be wise for the Habs to pick him up with RFA coming up?
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
The new GM in CLB is also the guy that helped trade Eller in St. Louis. For me, Eller is young and cheap & has an upside that Pleks and DD don’t.
Keep him.
“Of course I’m crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
- Robert Anton Wilson
Enough of this going cheap in Montreal. I’m tired of watching us buckle under as fans as we watch an ownership committee basically nickle and dime this team to death while we overpay Gionta to basically play on his arse most of the game cause he’s way too small!
Do you replace the goalie that just got a shutout?
Yes. Price is #1. Budaj is a backup. He knows his job.
Budaj is a Bodhisattva. He understands the Six Perfections.He will be there when called upon. The Mojo continues amigos. Saludos!
As someone else mentioned earlier, that would mean 3 games in 4 nights for Budaj. Too much for a starter never mind the backup.
If Price says he’s ready, then he should get the call. All of the Hab games for the rest of the month are on alternate nights. They then get two days off at the end of the month before going back-to-back with Pittsburgh and Boston. The team could then give Price a three day break by playing Budaj against the Islanders. Budaj’s next game after that could be on the next trip to Florida.
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm?season=20122013&gameType=2
Normally, I’d play Budaj, but in a back-to-back, Price should start if he’s ready.
“thoroughbred”
Never mind Budaj or Price. We need a real NHL goalie that doesn’t buckle under when the going gets tough and Price has shown he doesn’t have the heart to win all the way. We need a real NHL goalie in Montreal that can deliver when it counts. We need a real NHL goalie as backup, how hard would it be to get Halak back?
I think they are a good team. I’ll offer one positive and one negative.
Negative — we don’t have the organizational depth to handle key injuries.
Positive — we’re playing well in tight checking games. Read: playoff hockey. We won’t dominate the league by any stretch, but with Carey in net and the team D, I’m confident we can compete with any team in a seven game series.
I think we’re OK on the D with Kaberle and Weber. I would also add St Denis to that list. Tolarski was a decent pick-up.
I don’t know when Noke will ever play but he is good insurance. Leblanc is probably our best bet in Hamilton. You have to really feel sorry for Geoffrion. I wonder if his career is over.
Stars – Price, Subban, Markov
Good vets – Cole, Gionta, Gorges, Pleks
Tough guys – Prust, White, Bouillon
Young talent – Galchenyuk, Pacioretty, Gallagher, Eller
Underrated – Emelin, Bourque, Desharnais
Depth players – Budaj, Armstrong, Diaz, Weber, Blunden, Moen
Good at knitting: Kaberle
Knitting is somewhat of a lost art, Dr.
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A little Tuesday poem for all our favorite Leaf trolls.
All the little Leaf fans think they will win the cup very soon
Last cup won was two years before man landed on the moon.
You come on this board with the stench of a dirty troll
thirsty for a chance to make impact on the latest habs poll.
OH the pain you must feel just to get out of bed
you should be heading to the doc’s to examine your head.
Your brains all filled with jargon from homers like Cherry
IF you aren’t shaving till the next cup you will be very hairy.
LOL. Good one!
So, is it the same lineup tonight?
Who is in nets?
Larry Brooks talking about Prust coming back to face his teammates tonight. When you read the article, it is pretty evident the team misses him.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers/prust_belt_z2RiQA67nvyIsLinjYBiFO
And perhaps this will be the foe whom Prust challenges tonight.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers/powe_out_mashinter_gets_call_roIYMCDu1YJ8nAFnl3lFcO
We can alway’s trade him back for Nash
Gerald – There are always players who get overpaid on July 1st and Prust is one of them. Considering the sad state of affairs last season, plus the lack of gritty prospects, what other choice did MB have?
The good news about Prust is that he fills a role but is still able to play regular minutes and help out on the PK. So much better than having a 4 minute a game goon.
Add three more guys who fit this job description and the days of the Habs being pussycats are over.
No doubt Steve, we had to pay a premium. But everything i read on this guy from former teammates, coaches etc… is all glowing reviews and talk about what a leader he is. He I am sure is a guy holding players accountable for efforts etc…
Overpaying for a guy who never takes shifts off is far better than overpaying for a talent who shows up when he wants to. MB made a wise calculation in who to give the extra money to.
Three small players up front is one too many. Need a size/grit/in your face upgrade there at some point in time.
Two more of the same are needed on the D.
Rangers are a team that plays better at home, are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now (7-2-1 in last 10) Habs are on back end of back to backs on road. If this team manages a point tonight or even better a win it will be quite the accomplishment …and would be a great message to the team and build some serious energy and chemitry re the evenly distributed ice time. Situations like this in this shortened season are exactly the reason the teams depth and ice distribution should keep the HAbs competitive.
Imagine a team like New Jersey who has a forward plya nearly 30 minutes most nights?The Canadiens have been taking way too many penalties and even that is not as much of a concern with those mintues being more evenly distributed as well.
The PP is struggling, the teams top scorers are not scoring, the back up just won two in a row, Galchenyuk is still learning, PK is getting better by the game…….so many reasons for optimism right now.
As far as I can tell there only really 3 powerhouse teams in the NHL…..Boston, Pittsburgh and Chicago. Every other team is very similar i
What is interesting is all three powerhouses have questionable playoff goaltending. Which Fleury will show up? Rask and Crawford are inexperienced. Curious to see Prust tonight. Didn’t Sather say something about him not being a third liner?
Rob – Who can legitimately win the Cup this year?
East – Pittsburgh or Boston, maybe the Rangers.
West – Chicago or LA, maybe St Louis.
Then there is the ‘anything can happen’ crowd consisting of 10 teams.
The league reaches the 1/3 mark in a day or two. Even though it’s early, a few teams might be close to falling out of the playoff picture. That’s still the real race that the Habs are involved in this year.
I think a realistic high water mark is 4th place and home ice in the first round….witht eh parity in todays game thgouh anything can happen is a lot more likely in past years. No 6,7 and 8 seeeds are not the longshots they once were to take out top teams….
I know you and I have different vies onthe anything can happen but I look at the Habs team right now and I think it is as good as any club they have iced in the last several years.
Pittsburgh is always in dnager of losing one of Crosby /Malkin and that ship sinking, Boston has depth and only Chara could dramatically affect them, the Rangers I think are going to be knocked out in the playoffs as they are a too heavily dependent on that one line.
The West is the West and doesn’t really matter unles syou make it all the way and by that point teams will be running on fumes and it could go either way depending on who has survived the three rounds to get there.
Montreal’s depth is deceiving…we all dramatically understimated the impact of a healthy lineup and noone saw the kids contributing. THe functional toughness of Prust, Bouillon, White, Bourque, ARmstrong,etc go a long way.
We used to complain of a lack of size/skill ……the team now has Patches, Cole, BOurque and Eller……all of whom can skate, score and battle on the wall with the best of them, the team also has
Pleks, GIo, Gallagher who all may be small in stature but are very good puck battlers and good in tight spaces, DD and Galchenyuk can create,etc You add the grinders Prust, Moen,White…that is a pretty complete group of forwards.
The D corps while it would be nice to have Chara, Weber,etc…is not weak like everyone thinks. What they lack in size they make up for in smarts …and while Pk may not be a fighter….but he is as good of a puck battler and as strong on his skates as anyone in the game. Bouillon is tough as nails….
Steve, I am really starting to liek this team…I never had this feeling the alst two years …but I am a becoming more of a believer in this group by the game. I was fortunate enought o have missed the tow Leafs games so I myself have not yet seen the team stink it up ..any team taht is in as many games as this group and has this start and this depth is in really good shape
I like our team. sure they have off nights. name one team that doesn’t. The only one I can think of is Chicago for now and their time is coming.
we have nothing to be ashamed of. we’re holding our own in the eastern division and if we can keep doing so we’ll make the playoffs. although it’s a short season, that in it’s self would be a big improvement over last year.
support our team. They’re having a good year.
This team is pretty good.
Its a long season, and we will see what happens.
But we tend to stray from the idea that this is a decent team with lots of young talent. 4th to 6th is where we should land, if we stay reasonably fit fro injuries and we get decent production from our key players.
I think people simply thought Bourque was useless. He needed to know his role and be coached. He had one poor season.
People quickly forget the importance of a leader like Gionta on the ice, and the effect of Markov.
And just because our PP in the last few games hasn’t been league leading, doesn’t mean teams aren’t worn down concentrating on it, and leaving more chances on ES.
Same thing with Cole, DD and MaxPac. Teams focussing on killing that lines or those players leave openings for Bourque and the rest.
Depth is the key to winning in the NHL.
All that being said, we need to be beating the more physical teams if we are going to stay up high, and make any noise in the playoffs.
I think we should continue to have faith in this team. Injuries killed us last season, and some of the holes we had are filled. We continue to take forward steps, and I am fairly optimistic about the future.
A 40 goal scorer would be great as well.
COunt me among teh people who thought Bourque was useless…that is a little strong but I did not think he would be as good as he is now turning out to be.
We have added Galchenyuk, Markov, Gionta, Bourque, Gallagher, Prust, Bouillon and Armstrong to the lineup…that is pretty significant and this team is nothing like last years team.
You add in that Eller, Diaz, Emelin and PK are all a year more experienced and you have a dramatically improved team that should be expected to contend for a mid playoff spot. Sure things could go wrong but the people waiting for the wheels to fall off should be a aware that several wheels would have to fall off as this team actually has some depth…and the future is looking better too….but I don;t see any signs the record is inflated.
Early on when the team survived on the pp you could make a cse…since then….the pp is in teh tank, team still winning,two top scorers struggling…doesn’t matter others are helping out.
Everyone rants about toughness…..while the team may not win a punch up with the Bruins or Leafs there is enough toughness to get by.
Pleks is on a 40+ goal pace for a full season.
Our speed and great team play kept the big boys from the Carolina hills off balance. We did not just win, we beat a good team last night, that at any time could have turned the game around.
But as Mike says, we have to give Therrien his just dues, he out coached a very good coach last night. He changed lines and the D on the ice nearly every 45 seconds, and used his whole bench more evenly. Yes coaching was the difference last night. The boys are buying in as are the fans.
After all these roses, it is early yet. This year we do not play one game against the west, who have the better teams in the league this year. So it is difficult to gauge how we really fair overall. Except to say that this years hockey team is a heck of a lot more fun to watch than a Jacques Martin or Carboneau team.
Not sure how much more up side other teams are going to improve to, but I know we are going to improve as the season goes along, barring injuries to our key players.
I just might get to see some of my HIO family in Montreal in May. I know I will have very short finger nails by that time!, but I will be able to lift a glass at Hurley’s!
Another test tonight, enjoy!
What?
Are you setting up another mini-summit in May, Ian?
I’ll save you a seat and pay for the first Guinness.
You’ll be on the hook for the rest of the night, however.
Brian, playoff Guinness comes in the form of a keg, we put it in the middle of the row of seats at the Bell Center and we use HOOKA hoses to avoid getting up and missing a play.
After we finish the first one we reverse the hoses to use as a discharge line, while we crack open the second keg with fresh hoses.
Wow. Don’t get anything mixed up.
LMFAO! Too funny.
I find it curious that the theme around HIO is always that we need to get bigger, especially at centre. I’m not saying I disagree I just believe there is some hypocrisy that comes along as well.
Let’s say we get bigger at centre by aquiring a guy like R. O’Reilly, who goes?
Pleks is our best player, Gally is the future, everyone loves DD (plus the cultural angle) which leaves Eller; who is actually the biggest of the centres and not undersized by any NHL standard.
So is it the MVP, the Future, the only French guy or the skilled bigger guy we move to get bigger?
My answer, nobody. These are the Habs’ centres, at least until Bournival or Dumont can take the place of DD; or the local culture can accept having no French-Canadians on the Habs
“man, I love winnin’; you know, it’s like better than losin’?”-
Ebby Calvin “Nuke” Laloosh
I think we all confuse size with strength, AB. I agree that Eller and Galchenyuk go a long way in mitigating that concern. Fir me I think the higher priority might be a big crease clearing dman. Hopefully Tinordi will fill that need shortly but in the meantime it is what it is I suppose.
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I think Eller would be going in the package for O’Reilly. Even so, the Habs would have to change to a 3 line attack+ 1 energy line formation to keep DD. If they want to go to 2 line attack+1 shut down+1 energy line formation, DD has to go.
everyone loves DD? HA! Not a chance. Many do not.
http://allaboutthehabs.ca/
twitter: @Mike_Habs
I don’t think Bournival or Dumont will ever put up offensive numbers in the NHL.
I would easily minus Desharnias or Eller for O’Reilly.
I would like Dumont on the fourth line. Not big but very gritty. Can kill penalties and is right handed. Even drops the gloves sometimes. A real sh@!@%t disturber.
I agree. That is his goal.
What hypocracy? Plekanec is a good center, but on the back half of his career. Galchenyuk is a handful of games into his career. It is hard to call him the future of the franchise. O’Reilly is an obvious upgrade over both Eller and DD. Were the team to sign O’Reilly, then in a few years the top two centers would be him and Galchenyuk. This would make the team big, strong and skilled up the middle.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
11 games for maxpac.
Trade Cole
ERIC COLE IS GOOD FunkyCrabChairNF
Lucas Roche
Who is Eric? Erik*
http://allaboutthehabs.ca/
twitter: @Mike_Habs
Everybody keeps throwing in DD names in trade suggestions but is it realistic? DD seems to be a player that has more value here (due to the market). Unless he puts up the same type of numbers as last year, I just don’t see anybody being interested. Eller, with his $1.3mill salary, should draw more interest. Am I missing something?
I’d rather keep Eller and we should’ve traded DD when his value was at the highest point. Eller is the better player and it sucks that he probably will be moved.
http://allaboutthehabs.ca/
twitter: @Mike_Habs
With a marketing owner running the team, a French Quebecer will never get dealt before he worsens. I know it is not hockey savy but it makes business sense. If I paid $650 million for a team, I would be inclined to think the same way too.
DD could be the next PA Parenteau. Or the next Oleg Petrov.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
Balanced team, strong start, lots of confidence. Won with PK sitting. Won with Pax injured. Won with Price suffering from flu.
They just won four in a row. I doubt they win 10 in a row. So maybe they lose a few games on the road. What I think matters most is that no one player is having an unsustainably strong career year. Diaz’s 11 assists are a big surprise, but he seems more a beneficiary of the team’s success than the prime driver of that success. The team can be this good or better next season.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
Shades of Gomez and Kaberle.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2013/02/19/maple_leafs_no_longer_dress_players_because_they_have_big_contracts_cox.html
Yes indeed, however, not sure I understand the need to bring Oscar Pistorius in to the story. Seems like Cox trying to be controversial. (as he is want to do)
Tampa Bay has a Defence/Goaltending problem if they could fix that. they’d be the best team in the eastern division.
That’s a lot of fixing to do for a team against the cap, huh?
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That live chat tool launched last night by HIO was pretty cool. Better than hitting the refresh button….
Gave HIO users the ability to chat effectively during the game.
Good job HIO!
Now figure out a way to get rid of the trolls and children and it would be perfect, Hobie. Someone, it may have even been you, suggested that a 6 month waiting period for new members before they can post. That would end the trolls.
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Now now Jim.
Everyone has a right to an opinion.
No matter how asinine, narrow-minded, blinders-on, obtuse, childish or trollish it is.
Not that anyone here ever acts this way.
….just sayin’.
I’ll go back to hiding now.
Ya there was some jackass on there last night, that’s for sure. typing comments every second and ruining it for everyone else.