Patches needs no DD to win games. 4-3 Habs (SO)

[domiwroze]

1. unFire Therrien
2. unFire Bergevin
3. Extend DD
4. Play moar DD
5. Galchenyuk Scratch Next Game for being too good even with dah system.
6. Play Tokarski
7. Break Price's other leg
8. Trade Gallagher to Boston

 

[Price is Wright]

1. unFire Therrien
2. unFire Bergevin
3. Extend DD
4. Play moar DD
5. Galchenyuk Scratch Next Game for being too good even with dah system.
6. Play Tokarski
7. Break Price's other leg
8. Trade Gallagher to Boston

I'm guessing this was funny to you? Oh dear.

 

[Lshap]

had the same feeling about our AHL level offense or d zone coverage ?

No, not really.

A slumping offence firing at a ridiculously low shooting % is not the same as chronically subpar goaltending. The offence will bounce back somewhat; Condon isn't bouncing back -- this is who he is.

The D is another story. Yes, it's been erratic. There are times during every game when they look as lost and weak as they did three years ago. Part is because they have to play deeper and tighter to protect a puck-scared goalie (unlike Price, who's able to handle the puck), part is because Markov and Subban's heads have been up their *****. Part is inexperienced backchecking from rookie forwards. But again, it's a problem of system and mindset, which is correctable.

 

[domiwroze]

I'm guessing this was funny to you? Oh dear.

Are you scared because most of this could actually happen?

At this point i'm just laughing at how stupid this all is.

75pts(could be) 21years old center playing 14min, cause you know, why not.

 

[ECWHSWI]

No, not really.

A slumping offence firing at a ridiculously low shooting % is not the same as chronically subpar goaltending. The offence will bounce back somewhat; Condon isn't bouncing back -- this is who he is.

The D is another story. Yes, it's been erratic. There are times during every game when they look as lost and weak as they did three years ago. Part is because they have to play deeper and tighter to protect a puck-scared goalie (unlike Price, who's able to handle the puck), part is because Markov and Subban's heads have been up their *****. Part is inexperienced backchecking from rookie forwards. But again, it's a problem of system and mindset, which is correctable.

none has been corrected in a month or so, scary.

 

[BLONG7]

The problem is we dont have the players!!!!!!! Its that ****ing simple. Stop going the easy way out and blaming the coach for every ****ing thing. Your better than that.

Our coach is the only coach in the league that would DD the way he does.........coaches are paid to put the right players on the ice at the right time.........our coach doesn't do this...we are not a great team up front, but we are much better than our Dec record shows, this is on MT.

 

[domiwroze]

No, not really.

A slumping offence firing at a ridiculously low shooting % is not the same as chronically subpar goaltending. The offence will bounce back somewhat; Condon isn't bouncing back -- this is who he is.

The D is another story. Yes, it's been erratic. There are times during every game when they look as lost and weak as they did three years ago. Part is because they have to play deeper and tighter to protect a puck-scared goalie (unlike Price, who's able to handle the puck), part is because Markov and Subban's heads have been up their *****. Part is inexperienced backchecking from rookie forwards. But again, it's a problem of system and mindset, which is correctable.

About the Defense part; You guys actually played Defensemen ? Ask anyone that play D how difficult is to change goalie that often. Carey Price is Top3 for puck movement, all these long shot from outside he can redirect them right on his D stick. When they dump the puck, Price is fast enough to make the first pass instead of letting Subban take a hit behind the net to move the puck to the other side ( which is going to be pressured too ). It's completly another story to enter the zone when Price is there.

Condon is really, really weak for that aspect of the game. Defensemen have to adapt a lot and didn't you realise that habs aren't really playing the fast counter-attack like they were playing early season before Price's injury? Because they dont have the time to anymore without Price moving the puck as a 3rd Defensemen.

So many people underrate or forget that part.

 

[Lshap]

none has been corrected in a month or so, scary.

Scary? Damn right. That's why I've politely avoided the games recently. I just couldn't bear watching my team fall apart like they were. But it's still correctable. You can't tell me that Subban, Pacioretty, Pleks, Fleischmann, Desharnais, Markov have all forgotten how to produce.

I think you underestimate how much of the game is mental. Sure, these guys are pros. But it becomes harder and harder to keep motivation and concentration high when you see your goalie allow diaper-soft goals every frikkin game. It affects players. Hopefully ours will climb out of it. Price and Gallagher returning will be a big mental jolt.

 

[Lshap]

About the Defense part; You guys actually played Defensemen ? Ask anyone that play D how difficult is to change goalie that often. Carey Price is Top3 for puck movement, all these long shot from outside he can redirect them right on his D stick. When they dump the puck, Price is fast enough to make the first pass instead of letting Subban take a hit behind the net to move the puck to the other side ( which is going to be pressured too ). It's completly another story to enter the zone when Price is there.

Condon is really, really weak for that aspect of the game. Defensemen have to adapt a lot and didn't you realise that habs aren't really playing the fast counter-attack like they were playing early season before Price's injury? Because they dont have the time to anymore without Price moving the puck as a 3rd Defensemen.

So many people underrate or forget that part.

Exactly what I'm saying. Agree 100%.

 

[Price is Wright]

Are you scared because most of this could actually happen?

At this point i'm just laughing at how stupid this all is.

75pts(could be) 21years old center playing 14min, cause you know, why not.

I don't watch hockey to be scared?

 

[blarneylad]

Was at the game last night (yes, you can thank me and my wife for the winning vibe). First of all, Amalie Arena is one of the nicest arenas I've seen. Clean, classy, everything first-rate from the scoreboard to the pregame to the music. One of the nicer areas outside the arena too -- restaurants and bars aplenty.

Post-game summary:

The Good: Eller played a strong game, even if much didn't show up on the scoreboard. Barberio was surprisingly good -- strong D and some nice passing. Pateryn was solid, taking Emelin's place as our physical dman. Plekanec was great, although I'm still trying to figure out the chemistry between him and Ghetto/Carr. Weise was very good.

The Bad: Markov needs a rest... like seriously... he needs a battery recharge, unless we want to see worn-out playoff Markov as soon as January. Desharnais couldn't win a single puck battle. Condon... was Condon. The first two Tampa goals were awful. I had this visceral need to keep explaining to the guys sitting next to me how tough it was watching my team being torpedoed by subpar goaltending each night.

Going to drive around Tampa later this morning and head east for tonight's Panthers game. Have to admit going to back-to-back Florida games had lost much of its appeal compared to when I got the tickets months ago. After last night... it was more relief than joy.

I always love going to games in Tampa! Plus they have a Tim Horton's in the arena and when you are in Florida for over a month you miss a crappy cup!

Hope you and your wife enjoy the weather and the game tonight. I've never been to a panthers game.

Go Habs Go

 

[Smokey Thompson]

Forgot to mention Galchenyuk -- yes, he was moving really well, and that laser for the 2nd goal was awesome. He still needs to improve at slowing down the play and setting up linemates, rather than attempting to stickhandle through a crowd.

That is one area that he can work on. However, I've noticed that if he has a linemate who's open and in a shooting position, he'll often find him.

 

[ECWHSWI]

Scary? Damn right. That's why I've politely avoided the games recently. I just couldn't bear watching my team fall apart like they were. But it's still correctable. You can't tell me that Subban, Pacioretty, Pleks, Fleischmann, Desharnais, Markov have all forgotten how to produce.

I think you underestimate how much of the game is mental. Sure, these guys are pros. But it becomes harder and harder to keep motivation and concentration high when you see your goalie allow diaper-soft goals every frikkin game. It affects players. Hopefully ours will climb out of it. Price and Gallagher returning will be a big mental jolt.

thing is, it goes both ways, while they gave up a few softies, our goalies also saw a few of our players send an opponent on a breakway, so to speak...

and to top it off, not only do our goalies have to watch the players give ayway the puck to an opponent all alone in the slot a few times a game, they also have to pray the players will feel like scoring more than 2 like they did yesterday, dec 28th, for the 2nd time this month...

 

[smcgreg]

Understood but you understanding if we piss a year away we're not closer to being a contender? #1 It's a tough league and you're pissing away a year of Price/Max's discount rates. #2 The replacement coach may not be great either.

This. Part of me wants a an extended losing run to get rid of MT, but MB would likely gut the team before kicking MT to the curb. Further, with the constraints on coach selection, who knows who the replacement would be? Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. The main thing is that Price needs to come back 100% healthy. Once that happens, the team will walk through fire for him and hopefully MT will go back to early season lines. I was fairly satisfied with MT as a coach in the early season. DD is a good exploitation center,... etc, etc...

 

[mrcontractor*]

I'm also pretty sure that when MB said that firing MT never crossed his mind, he also said that it wasn't open to interpretation, which means it won't happen. So we can forget the firing of MT no matter how many we lose and we can expect the same garbage trades for 3rd and 4th line players, if any. He wants to build through the draft but we don't really have anything in the AHL as far as premier players go.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I don't think Desharnais has been good at all lately but he also isn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that for all the production of Pacioretty and Desharnais over the years, the best forward on their line is Dale Weise. They need to get out of the funk and need to do it separately.

This misses the point though. It's not just that DD has been mostly useless... it's the fact that we haven't given icetime to Galchenyuk. Another poster (I think it was MCG) pointed out yesterday that Larkin is averaging about 19 minutes per game of icetime in Detroit. They do it the right way and give their young best players all the ice they can handle. We're on year four with Galchenyuk and it's his first year full time center (dumb to begin with) and he's STILL only getting 14 minutes of icetime per game.

Then I read here about how we have no offensive talent. It's absolutely freaking ridiculous.

 

[expy]

Historically DD is good in OT and the SO so I get that but right now that line is crap. They should've got a kick in the butt and played less, max included.

3 on 3 OT shows how awful DD is as a player, he's useless, he created absolutely nothing and only gave the puck away constantly. His small size makes him look like a child out there being manhandled by the opposition and easily stripped of the puck every time. Heck even RDS' scaregoat Lars Eller created more in OT than DD did, although the 2 on 1 failed, at least it had some resemblance of an offensive rush.

Historically DD only appears to be decent because his linemates are over-performing and as a consequence he obtains points. Good example were Weise and Flashes' hot streaks at the start of the season -- All a product of Weise and Flashes' performances but DD happened to accumulate points because of that.

I can't wait for DD to be gone.

 

[Rapala]

That is one area that he can work on. However, I've noticed that if he has a linemate who's open and in a shooting position, he'll often find him.

I have often wondered about the fact that very few of our players seem to control tempo.
It must be the play fast dump and chase game we practice.
Some of them certainly have the ability.

 

[le_sean]

That is one area that he can work on. However, I've noticed that if he has a linemate who's open and in a shooting position, he'll often find him.

He also has one of the best saucer passes I've seen.

I've been hard on him but he's turning a corner and trying to put the team on his back offensively. Give him more icetime.

 

[Lshap]

I always love going to games in Tampa! Plus they have a Tim Horton's in the arena and when you are in Florida for over a month you miss a crappy cup!

Hope you and your wife enjoy the weather and the game tonight. I've never been to a panthers game.

Go Habs Go

Thanks man! The Tim Hortons kiosk was right near our seats; couldn't help smiling.

Been to the Panthers arena plenty of times (Bank Atlantic/BBT) and while it's decent, Tampa's is much nicer in almost every area. The annual New Years Habs/Panthers games have a malaise about them, like they've given up their barn to vacationing Montrealers and simply don't give a damn. The announcers seem to resent the many visiting Montrealers, the in-between period antics are cheesy. Meh.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

He also has one of the best saucer passes I've seen.

I've been hard on him but he's turning a corner and trying to put the team on his back offensively. Give him more icetime.

Agreed. I really don't know how he pulls those saucer passes off. He can lob the puck over 2-3 opposing sticks only to have it land right on his team mates tape.

 

[BigMacAttack*]

Galchenyuk will become our second best player after Price. It's a shame the coach and DD is holding him back.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

3 on 3 OT shows how awful DD is as a player, he's useless, he created absolutely nothing and only gave the puck away constantly. His small size makes him look like a child out there being manhandled by the opposition and easily stripped of the puck every time. Heck even RDS' scaregoat Lars Eller created more in OT than DD did, although the 2 on 1 failed, at least it had some resemblance of an offensive rush.

Historically DD only appears to be decent because his linemates are over-performing and as a consequence he obtains points. Good example were Weise and Flashes' hot streaks at the start of the season -- All a product of Weise and Flashes' performances but DD happened to accumulate points because of that.

I can't wait for DD to be gone.

I hope he gets extended just because I know you'll have nothing left to post about if he's gone. It's a package deal

 

[David Suzuki]

Can't believe they gave up on their coach smh

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Can't believe they gave up on their coach smh

Conspiracy theory replacement: They did give up on the coach but Bergevin had a talk with them and said coach was safe. As such players have no choice. Don't worry though, behind the scenes players will be asking MB for a trade.