Pre-Game Talk: Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs | SN | October 8th, 2014 | 7:00PM

[Sam I Am]

Habs aren't a contender. They will be fighting for a playoff spot, and I wouldn't shocked to see them on the outside looking in.

It's debatable to say they are better then us.

We are a deeper team, when Bernier is on his game he is as good as Price (sometimes better), Phaneuf looks rejuvenated.

I'm confident in saying we'll be the better team this season

I like Bernier but any analysis which intimates that Bernier is as good as Price is hard to take seriously. In nets, the advantage goes to Montreal. Not even close.

That said, it seems to me that the Leafs have really improved their defense. Once Franson is back, the top 6 is as good as it's been in a long while. Rielly can only improve at his age and is probably a star in the making but for now the Habs d-line has the higher end talent in PK and Markov. It also has the bigger question marks: Gilbert, Beaulieu, Tinordi, even Emelin to some extent. Draw at best.

At forward, Kessel is a special talent but the Habs' Pacioretty can now match his output. Between the two, I give the nod to Pacioretty for the intangibles he brings along with the points. Otherwise, Habs are deeper and more talented, with more prospects. Kadri is an interesting player, maybe on the cusp of really breaking out. But Galchenyuk is a superstar in waiting, probably the most talented forward on either team. Nod to the Habs.

I think that the Habs might take a step back this year while working in a lot of new young guys into the lineup. I believe they will make the playoffs but not as handily as last season.

I can't help but think that the Leafs' new management will steer a better course than the old. Nonetheless, I see them as a bubble team.

 

[Pyrophorus]

David Alter ‏@dalter 55m55 minutes ago
#leafs new message in the dressing room: Blue Noise, If you are not in the way, sacrifice for each other, succeed together, unite a city.

Tim Leiweke's "they will be responsible and committed to one another, like the Raptors"
paraphrasing.

 

[Cor]

Again, I never said Bernier is better than Price.

When Bernier is on top of his game, he is as good or better then Price.

It's how often he is at that point, that's the difference. And then you need to take into account Price when he is at the top of HIS game.

 

[Paradoc]

Again, I never said Bernier is better than Price.

When Bernier is on top of his game, he is as good or better then Price.

It's how often he is at that point, that's the difference. And then you need to take into account Price when he is at the top of HIS game.

Bernier when his team wins: .942 sv% career wise.

Price when his team wins: .945 sv% career wise.

Not that far off when both are on top of their game. Price gets the nod because he does this on a consistent basis while Bernier just started to get the feel of being an NHL starter.

Also, while the stat doesn't tell the whole story, it give people a general idea of what you except from a goaltender when your team wins. What seperates the elite from the rest is how many times they are on top of their game.

 

[Sam I Am]

Again, I never said Bernier is better than Price.

When Bernier is on top of his game, he is as good or better then Price.

It's how often he is at that point, that's the difference. And then you need to take into account Price when he is at the top of HIS game.

When he is "on top of his game", pretty much any goalie in the NHL can be as good as Price.

What separates the Price (and other elite netminders) from the rest is how much of the season is spent "on top of his game". As you point out.

If Bernier can achieve Price's consistency, he may well carry the Leafs to the playoffs.

 

[zeke]

I like Bernier but any analysis which intimates that Bernier is as good as Price is hard to take seriously. In nets, the advantage goes to Montreal. Not even close.

actually, it's harder to take a "not close" claim seriously.

bernier was one of the best goalies in hockey last year, in his first shot at starting duty.

price may have been better, and may have the more trustworthy trackrecord, but saying its not close, when bernier was a top-5 goalie in hockey last year, is kind of silly.

 

[Paradoc]

Pretty much every goalie in the NHL can be as good as Price on when he is "on top of his game".

What separates the Price (and other elite netminders) from the rest is how much of the season is spent "on top of his game". As you point out.

If Bernier can achieve Price's consistency, he may well carry the Leafs to the playoffs.

If you admit the first sentence, then his statement is not ridiculous anymore when he mentions in his post that "Bernier on top of his game is as good as Price."

 

[Gramsci]

I like Bernier but any analysis which intimates that Bernier is as good as Price is hard to take seriously. In nets, the advantage goes to Montreal. Not even close.

That said, it seems to me that the Leafs have really improved their defense. Once Franson is back, the top 6 is as good as it's been in a long while. Rielly can only improve at his age and is probably a star in the making but for now the Habs d-line has the higher end talent in PK and Markov. It also has the bigger question marks: Gilbert, Beaulieu, Tinordi, even Emelin to some extent. Draw at best.

At forward, Kessel is a special talent but the Habs' Pacioretty can now match his output. Between the two, I give the nod to Pacioretty for the intangibles he brings along with the points. Otherwise, Habs are deeper and more talented, with more prospects. Kadri is an interesting player, maybe on the cusp of really breaking out. But Galchenyuk is a superstar in waiting, probably the most talented forward on either team. Nod to the Habs.

I think that the Habs might take a step back this year while working in a lot of new young guys into the lineup. I believe they will make the playoffs but not as handily as last season.

I can't help but think that the Leafs' new management will steer a better course than the old. Nonetheless, I see them as a bubble team.

.923 vs. .927 is not even close?

60 pts in 73 games vs. 80 pts in 82 games is matching output?

.5 ppg after two seasons is a superstar in the making?

 

[Cor]

Pretty much every goalie in the NHL can be as good as Price on when he is "on top of his game".

What separates the Price (and other elite netminders) from the rest is how much of the season is spent "on top of his game". As you point out.

If Bernier can achieve Price's consistency, he may well carry the Leafs to the playoffs.

Not too mention last season was Berniers first as a starter and it's already fair to say he's a top 8-10 goalie.

If he performs like he did last season again, he's going to challenge Price and Rask and Lundqvist.

 

[Sam I Am]

If you admit the first sentence, then his statement is not ridiculous anymore when he mentions in his post that "Bernier on top of his game is as good as Price."

Only ridiculous insofar as he was using it to support the contention that goaltending is one of the reasons why the Leafs are the better team.

I like Bernier and think he was a very savvy addition by the old administration, especially considering how well Reimer had been playing prior to the deal. With an improving d-corps in front of him, he may well elevate his play to the top-5 tier. For now, I'd say he's not only behind Rask, Price and Lundqvist but also Bishop, Quick and Bobrovsky. Probably Crawford, Schneider and Lehtonen as well...

 

[Paradoc]

actually, it's harder to take a "not close" claim seriously.

bernier was one of the best goalies in hockey last year, in his first shot at starting duty.

price may have been better, and may have the more trustworthy trackrecord, but saying its not close, when bernier was a top-5 goalie in hockey last year, is kind of silly.

Exactly. Anyone who watched the leafs regularly knew that Bernier was on top of his game on most nights. However, his stats which includes Wins, SO, GAA didn't justify it (which is why I believe those stats are team base stats). Anyone who doesn't watch him play will check Bernier's stats and decides that his season was good, not elite. You gotta watch the team play in order to have better grasp of what the player brings to his team.

 

[FlareKnight]

.923 vs. .927 is not even close?

60 pts in 73 games vs. 80 pts in 82 games is matching output?

.5 ppg after two seasons is a superstar in the making?

If he wanted to say matching goal production that would have been more believable. In terms of pure offensive ability that is the thing that isn't close right now.

 

[Cor]

Only ridiculous insofar as he was using it to support the contention that goaltending is one of the reasons why the Leafs are the better team.

I like Bernier and think he was a very savvy addition by the old administration, especially consider how well Reimer had been playing prior to the deal.

I used it to say that it can't be used to say Montreal is better.

You can't say "Habs are better cause of Price" because we have Bernier, who was just as good as Price last season especially when you take into account the amount of shots he faced

 

[Paradoc]

Only ridiculous insofar as he was using it to support the contention that goaltending is one of the reasons why the Leafs are the better team.

I like Bernier and think he was a very savvy addition by the old administration, especially considering how well Reimer had been playing prior to the deal. With an improving d-corps in front of him, he may well elevate his play to the top-5 tier. For now, I'd say he's not only behind Rask, Price and Lundqvist but also Bishop, Quick and Bobrovsky. Probably Crawford, Schneider and Lehtonen as well...

I think he's saying it in a way that since leafs goalie can offer the same benefit as Price when he is on top his game, the gap between Leafs and Montreal isn't as big as you think it is. Atleast that's how I understood it.

 

[Sam I Am]

I used it to say that it can't be used to say Montreal is better.

You can't say "Habs are better cause of Price" because we have Bernier, who was just as good as Price last season especially when you take into account the amount of shots he faced

You have a good young goalie. He performed admirably on a lousy defensive team. Montreal born and bred! Great, great trade to get him from LA.

Still, Price finished last season as a finalist for the conference, taking out a highly favored Bruins' team in the process. With an Olympic gold medal around his neck.

Let's put it this way: would you consider the Leaf's chances to make the playoffs this season improved by swapping Bernier for Price?

I would.

 

[Swayze*]

Bernier is no price

If he ever gets to that level we'll talk then.

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

Let's put it this way: would you consider the Leaf's chances to make the playoffs this season improved by swapping Bernier for Price?

Marginally.

 

[zeke]

the habs were better than the leafs last year because of team defense and scoring depth. the goaltending was similar enough, and the leafs actually had the superior top end firepower.

we've managed to fix the scoring depth problem.

as for how to catch them defensively, we have to ask ourselves how a team led by the likes of pacioretty, desharnais, galchenyuk, bourque, briere up front and loose cannons like subban and emelin at the back could have been so much better defensiveky.....and the answer to that is the guys in the suits behind the bench.

there's no reason why we can't close the gap with the habs defensively/possession wise, and they showed some signs of figuring it out in the preseason....but i have precious little confidence that randy will actually figure out this year.

 

[zeke]

You have a good young goalie. He performed admirably on a lousy defensive team. Still, Price finished last season as a finalist for the conference, taking out a highly favored Bruins' team in the process. With an Olympic gold medal around his neck.

Let's put it this way: would you consider the Leaf's chances to make the playoffs this season improved by swapping Bernier for Price?

I would.

let's put it another way.

would anyone actually be surprised if bernier had as good or better a year than price this year?

i wouldn't.

 

[Cor]

You have a good young goalie. He performed admirably on a lousy defensive team. Montreal born and bred! Great, great trade to get him from LA.

Still, Price finished last season as a finalist for the conference, taking out a highly favored Bruins' team in the process. With an Olympic gold medal around his neck.

Let's put it this way: would you consider the Leaf's chances to make the playoffs this season improved by swapping Bernier for Price?

I would.

Based on what?

With 14 games remaining we were only behind Boston. If Bernier never got hurt, we are facing you guys on our home ice come in game 1.

How can you say our chances would be better when Bernier has us IN A BETTER POSITION then Price and the Habs were until Bernier got hurt?

It's just nonsensical.

The big difference is Price has years of good top level play, while Bernier has been a starter for 1 year.

 

[Bardown warrior]

Price > Bernier
Kessel > Pacriorietty

stop this now

 

[Swervin81]

Price > Bernier
Kessel > Pacriorietty

stop this now

This... like, please.

 

[Sergei Berezin]

Pacioretty is more closely comparable to JvR than Kessel.

Habs forwards are worse at every position compared to the Leafs except for Plekanec, whether you consider him the #1 or 2 center, and maybe Gallagher, depending on where in the lineup he is.

 

[SprDaVE]

Eh it wouldn't be a Habs VS Leafs opening night game if there wasn't any bickering!

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Subban farts in the net front haha that's a funny revelation. So he stinks defensively literally. To funny.

should be like usual a great tilt tomorrow. The more discipline team will win.