News Article: [The Hockey Guys] Montreal Canadiens News

[JHabs]

As you all know, I've been on these forums a long while, and I've had the pleasure of talking to you folks about hockey, and then some.

I'll be posting my pieces in this thread from here on out regarding the Montreal Canadiens, I'll have interviews, evaluations, game reports, etc...

I hope you all enjoy reading them, and feel free to comment here, on the piece or shoot me a message on twitter I'll be happy to talk puck.

Please keep comments civil, and respectful ;-)

My latest piece -> Douglas Murray, a Wise signing?

Happy reading

J_Habs

Click to read more...

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Good read, Murray actually filled a need and is more consistent than a Hainsey or a Gilbert. Those guys might be bigger than most of our defensive core but they're not more gritty or more physical by any mean. Diaz and Murray are gonna complement each other very well. A bottom pairing version of Markov-Komisarek if you will

 

[JHabs]

Good read, Murray actually filled a need and is more consistent than a Hainsey or a Gilbert. Those guys might be bigger than most of our defensive core but they're not more gritty or more physical by any mean. Diaz and Murray are gonna complement each other very well. A bottom pairing version of Markov-Komisarek if you will

Appreciate the comments, glad you enjoyed it

That is the feel I've had with Murray as well,

so many people on twitter/hf were hitting the panic button, and some reputable writers I know personally were really freaking out, but when you sit back and look at the facts this is a signing to be optimistic about.

 

[yianik]

Appreciate the comments, glad you enjoyed it

That is the feel I've had with Murray as well,

so many people on twitter/hf were hitting the panic button, and some reputable writers I know personally were really freaking out, but when you sit back and look at the facts this is a signing to be optimistic about.

Puzzling to me that any reputable writer would freak out over any one year $1.5M signing, especially when you are getting a very well known player with his pros and cons but whose pros meet clear team needs.

 

[JHabs]

Puzzling to me that any reputable writer would freak out over any one year $1.5M signing, especially when you are getting a very well known player with his pros and cons but whose pros meet clear team needs.

I hear ya, but believe me they are out there

 

[Account Terminated]

Good read James.

One little thing I liked about your piece was the little mention of "General Manager of the Year" when talking about Ray Shero. It adds to how important Murray can be to a team when the GM of the year sought out for his services and payed a premium to get him on board. Very well written and I look forward to more.

 

[JHabs]

Good read James.

One little thing I liked about your piece was the little mention of "General Manager of the Year" when talking about Ray Shero. It adds to how important Murray can be to a team when the GM of the year sought out for his services and payed a premium to get him on board. Very well written and I look forward to more.

Really appreciate the kind words man, they mean a lot.

Yes the GM of the year over paid for the same player we essentially acquired for nothing.

That was the whole reason why he was labeled as a "terrible player" was because Penguins fans were outraged at the price, and it was astronomical - in perspective it would be like trading Diaz for a 1st and a 2nd or something outlandish.

I appreciate the feedback

 

[donghabs98]

Very good read. I enjoyed it and it brought up a good point. Our PK really needs a change of tactics since last season it was pretty ineffective and tough to watch.

 

[overlords]

Really appreciate the kind words man, they mean a lot.

Yes the GM of the year over paid for the same player we essentially acquired for nothing.

That was the whole reason why he was labeled as a "terrible player" was because Penguins fans were outraged at the price, and it was astronomical - in perspective it would be like trading Diaz for a 1st and a 2nd or something outlandish.

I appreciate the feedback

Love you yarf, but that's not at all true. He was labeled as being terrible before the trade deadline even hit because he had a god awful season. Don't want to **** on your thread, so that's as far as I'll go regarding murray, but that one statement couldn't be more wrong.

edit: But I do agree on changing the PK strategy up!

 

[JHabs]

Love you yarf, but that's not at all true. He was labeled as being terrible before the trade deadline even hit because he had a god awful season. Don't want to **** on your thread, so that's as far as I'll go regarding murray, but that one statement couldn't be more wrong.

edit: But I do agree on changing the PK strategy up!

Sharks analysts did admit that he had a weak showing, however he was not a "terrible" player in the sense that people have been labeling him. He may need to shed a few pounds but as I mentioned in my article he no longer had a role on San Jose, and Pittsburgh acquired an asset but didn't use him the way he should be used, so he was very badly exposed for his skating.

But I feel the love all the same

 

[25get]

Good text. No complacency.

Just remembering how many were asking for Murray at trade deadline.
He was indeed, such a good fit to us.
Cost was two second round: Lekhonen + ?. At 1.5M, Murray is a great deal.

For us, he does fills: block shots, hits and toughness.
Since we have lost Gill and Hamrlik, few were able to block shots.
Diaz had a pace of 141 shots blocked back in 2011-12.
So, now we have Gorges, Murray and Diaz who can all block shots.
Emelin is OK at blocking shots but he is more skilled at hitting.

He also adds significant hits to our blueline.
Whereas PK needs to take a few steps to throw his famous hits, Murray just needs to be there: he does the play and the hit follow thru in a continuous motion.
There is a territory that belongs to Murray that extends 6 feet of the boards.

The fighting skills are great but I do not expect him to fight that much.
First, the team approach is not to try to intimidate.
Second, I am pretty sure that Murray will not loose his time with the opponent first line fighters: this is Parros job.

So once you have eliminated the Orr, Neil, Thornton, Scott of this list you are looking at second fighters in the opponent team.

This is where Murray's true value comes in.
Second, third and fourth fighter will have to face: Murray, Prust and Moen.

I am not expecting us to be goonish as the Leafs or Boston.
Point is that they will understand that intimidation will not work.

Ottawa: Neil, Kassian and Smith can face Parros, Murray, Moen, Prust.
Same with Orr, McLaren and Frasier.
As far as Boston is concerned, once Thornton is out, any fight with Parros, Murray, Moen, Prust against McQuaid, Lucic, Campbell and Chara makes us a winner.
Before, fights with Boston was based on toughness, now, almost any fight against the Bruins makes us a winner.
Any fighter in our team who can bring Lucic or Chara to the bench makes us a winner.
So Chara and Lucic won't be able to use intimidation as much as they used to do.
I know many complained about Laraque but when he chased Lucic around, it was bugging him.

No need to worry about Detroit, so Parros probably won't play against them.
Same applies to Florida and TBL and to Buffalo.

In the PO, it is another game and Parros won't be there.
Chara and Lucic had zero major penalties (Chara deserved a game for his sucker punch on Crosby).

 

[MathMan]

Interesting numbers you quoted. Fun fact about blocked shot and hit numbers: you don't need them, and high numbers in these categories tend to correlate with losing. This makes some sense when realizing both mean you don't have the puck.

Also, that arenas are gruesomely inconsistent in recording hits (and giveaways and takeaways).

The team with the fewest hits in the league was Chicago and that's despite a home rink that heavily overcounts hits. Their road hits were 15% lower than 29th-place Detroit and 35% lower than 28th-place Florida. Boston's road hits were 15th, smack dab in the middle of the league.

Both Chicago and Boston were also in the bottom third portion of the league for blocked shots.

Teams just don't need to hit and block shots to win. Blocking and hitting are not inherently bad, but there's no inherent value to adding a guy just to boost these numbers; his value has to come from something else.

(For the curious, Montreal was middling in both road hits and total blocked shots. The Bell Centre scorers undercount hits, and overcount giveaways.)

 

[JHabs]

Interesting numbers you quoted. Fun fact about blocked shot and hit numbers: you don't need them, and high numbers in these categories tend to correlate with losing. This makes some sense when realizing both mean you don't have the puck.

Also, that arenas are gruesomely inconsistent in recording hits (and giveaways and takeaways).

The team with the fewest hits in the league was Chicago and that's despite a home rink that heavily overcounts hits. Their road hits were 15% lower than 29th-place Detroit and 35% lower than 28th-place Florida. Boston's road hits were 15th, smack dab in the middle of the league.

Both Chicago and Boston were also in the bottom third portion of the league for blocked shots.

Teams just don't need to hit and block shots to win. Blocking and hitting are not inherently bad, but there's no inherent value to adding a guy just to boost these numbers; his value has to come from something else.

(For the curious, Montreal was middling in both road hits and total blocked shots. The Bell Centre scorers undercount hits, and overcount giveaways.)

Excellent points

I'm not saying Blocked Shots = Stanley Cup, but it was our bread & butter allowing us to be among the elite on the PK. I'm saying that Murray's contribution will help in those categories which for our system would be a welcome helping hand.

Each system has its niche, and for the price we're paying Murray, what he can potentially add to the team, is a welcome addition to areas where we could use some tweaking.

 

[JHabs]

Montreal Canadiens First Line and Center Prove Elusive

By Matthew Macaskill (@MTLMacaskill)

The Montreal Canadiens started the 2013-14 season with what’s been described as three second lines. Without the star power of a Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, or Alexander Ovechkin among the Habs forwards, the team has fallen back on a system perfected by the Bruins on route to a Stanley Cup in 2011. The Canadiens are hoping a balanced attack from their top nine forwards can carry them through the season and deep in the playoffs.

Triumphant performances will be marked by games during the season where the top three lines each contribute to the scoreboard. However, it’s natural that production will cycle with one line outperforming the others on a game to game basis.

With Montreal’s system in mind, how does one determine the team’s first line and number one center? Is it based on ice time? On salary? On production? Maybe it doesn’t even matter as long as the team is winning, but you bet it will be a topic of discussion during contract talk. This may prove particularly true for Lars Eller, who is scheduled to become a Restricted Free Agent at season’s end and has matured into an important player for the franchise.

Full Story http://thehockeyguys.net/montreal-canadiens-first-line-center-prove-elusive/