Are the Montreal Canadiens not as bad as people expected them to be?

[ole ole]

I don't care about any of those teams.

Fact #1 - Montreal will likely be bottom 10 this year. Fact #2 Montreal does not have any game breaking talent (unless we count Price's play from a few years ago). Fact #3 Drouin is not a game breaking talent. Most reasonable hockey fans would agree with all of these statements.

Fact 4 Leafs can not win the cup with the worst D in the league.Most hockey fans KNOW that.

 

[ole ole]

What part don't you agree with so I can make a poll.

9 Points in 6 games .Your poll means nothing.I mean you guys can't even score against the Pens.

 

[holy]

Like Kevin Gates they won't get tired. Also if you're a ***** and try grabbing their leg, they'll kick you square in the chest. I like this squad.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Tatar seems to be a big factor on that team. Maybe getting rid of Pacioretty was good for them after all.

But it's still too early to tell. I always wait to judge between December to all-star break.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I don't care about any of those teams.

Fact #1 - Montreal will likely be bottom 10 this year. Fact #2 Montreal does not have any game breaking talent (unless we count Price's play from a few years ago). Fact #3 Drouin is not a game breaking talent. Most reasonable hockey fans would agree with all of these statements.

I can't agree with #1. In fact the use of the word "likely" suggests that it's an opinion.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Or is it just their usual hot start before Price gets tired/injured?

don't know where this ends up but i'll tell you this.
for those saying this isn't a rebuild - they are 2nd youngest team in NHL and hungry.
thye have great depth and speed / quickness on the wing throughout lineup..
julien realized they could compete if he developed a style of play to the guys that are
there, while bergevin went out and made habs even quicker..
juulsen has emerged as a stud (for now anyway. top 5 in hits and +/-) while reilly has been playing well..
maybe they hold the fort until weber comes back.
kotkaniemi is playing well but they'll be exposed at C as season goes along -
however domi and drouin have looked great together.
both goalies have also been very solid...
they won't make playoffs, but will punish teams that take them lightly.

imo, when poehling and suzuki arrive, habs will be very good

 

[HuGo Sham]

How has Domi looked?

terrific. what he lacks in gslchenyuk's skill, he's way more consistent, gritty and tenacious

 

[HuGo Sham]

I would expect a bounce back season from Weber. He has to be healthy and ready though. He is a force. Kind of like a Chara was for Julien. Weber's mind will be the key. He was fine as a PMD for Team Canada for their 2 gold medals. He is slowing but like Chara his mind and his size when surrounded by quicker D men and better 2 way play from the fwds as the Habs have this year will insulate him and hold him in good stead. Which means Alzner may be on the bubble when Weber comes back?

weber's style of play won't suffer. he was never a speed demon. it was always toughness, positioning and shot - and he has that. alzner is already on the bubble. if he had a bad game vs st louis, it's possible he would've been waved

 

[HuGo Sham]

They are set up for sustainable play much better than the sens are. They are deeper and more experienced.

I think most notably its been pretty obvious Dominic Ducharme is a superb coach. They have completely changed their style of play and it has replicated Team Canada at the WJC the last two seasons which played a very similar style to Vegas. They have 4 lines that can absolutely fly, and a mobile d core that as a group attacks the puck all over the ice. No time and space is given to the opponent, by rolling 4 lines and 6 d you can keep playing at this pace.

You have to wonder if teams approach the habs to take Ducharme what they do...

this is a great observation. they're playing a swarm / pack of wolves type of game all over the ice

 

[The Winter Soldier]

weber's style of play won't suffer. he was never a speed demon. it was always toughness, positioning and shot - and he has that. alzner is already on the bubble. if he had a bad game vs st louis, it's possible he would've been waved

I don't think it will either. There is a remarkable irony here with Julien being the coach. I see Weber bouncing back as Chara did in Boston.

 

[HuGo Sham]

I don't think it will either. There is a remarkable irony here with Julien being the coach. I see Weber bouncing back as Chara did in Boston.

agreed. they are very similar players. high IQ leaders, with intangibles. Weber will be important for montreal when he's back, as teams will try to grind them in the d-zone because of how small team is. and weber's shot will help PP as none of the d-men have shots which strike fear into opponents - so they ended up loading the box and let habs take lousy point shots

 

[Kamiccolo]

Didn't they start the year with like 10 straight wins the other year only to implode?

 

[Mathew Barzal]

Same shit every year.

The top teams take their time to warm up so they can be hot going into the playoffs while all the clear bottom teams work their ass off from the get-go to try and establish a good work ethic. Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver will be bottom ten teams.

 

[JianYang]

Didn't they start the year with like 10 straight wins the other year only to implode?

They've gone on that 10ish game streak a couple times in recent starts. Only one of those times was an implosion, I think.

This version of the habs is not as good as those ones. Things should start correcting themselves sooner than later, but I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts.

As fun as it is to see an underdog pick up wins, this team needs to be in lottery contention for the sake of the future.

They got some decent peices in the system, but they still lack that high end talent in the pipeline especially on defense.

 

[The Assclown]

Remember when the Leafs were shit but would start the year well? Essentially the same over in Montreal.

 

[Halakitlikethat]

They’re going to come back down to earth. It’s going to be real tough to score goals. If Gallagher and Tatar are your 2 best offensive players that isn’t a good sign

 

[sharks9]

Didn't they start the year with like 10 straight wins the other year only to implode?

Once, when Price got injured. The other time they went on to win the division with 110 points

 

[Michoulicious]

Didn't they start the year with like 10 straight wins the other year only to implode?

The year when Price got injured, yes.

Other recent examples of "implosions" after good October months are the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 Leafs. These things happen, but most of the time a good October month means a playoff berth.

 

[Devonator]

Don't worry...the habs are a terrible team now and going forward and by seasons end they will easily be in the bottom 5...however it is still a nice start and at least something nice for the Hab fans to enjoy for now....it will not last.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Tatar seems to be a big factor on that team. Maybe getting rid of Pacioretty was good for them after all.

But it's still too early to tell. I always wait to judge between December to all-star break.

I'm convinced Pacioretty was way more toxic in there than was initially let on.

 

[Predigree]

I realy like how they play. If Weber is back that can be a very very good Season for the Habs.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Too early to say, but to be honest their start is a pleasant surprise. The way they play, gritty, fast as hell. Dunno if it will last for long but they are so fun to watch.

 

[topshelf15]

Their coach is having the young legs skate hard,and with Price in nets and playing well its not really surprising ...Like us in Ottawa they are playing fast and loose,as we really dont have anything to lose

 

[justafan22]

They don't have many finishers which will hurt them but price means they're ~a 10 seed

 

[Tage2Tuch]

One of Ottawa or Monreal is guaranteed to win tonight so thats going to make the starts look even better for these teams. It will balance out IMO, I think they deserved more respect but at the end of the day that offense over an 82 gme schedule is simply not good enough to compete for even a wildcard. It just isn’t IMO. Good working team that is fast though (which helps today obviously) and between that and their d and goaltending being good that can help let them be better then expected.

Ottawa, well...for one they were never as bad as people made it sound. It was the whole management thing that was the issue and making all the headlines. The loss of karlsson for players who are playing even better then he is thus far has helped, as well as impressive young guys and a goalie who can steal games. But like all three teams I’m talking about here....I expect none to make the playoffs but people expect a lot of things all the time and end up wrong in sports. Look at the surprises that happen every single year.


Thoughts on Van below.

It's early, but neither Montreal, Ottawa, nor Vancouver have been nearly as bad as anyone expected them to be.

Still lots of time to turn it around though!

Canucks started 6-3-1 the last two seasons each.

I could see them upsetting the bruins and the caps tonight and Monday because that’s how van likes to roll and then look, for the third straight year they are 1-0-1 —so two games away from having that same record for the third straight season.

They’ve also been the worst team of the last three years combined, go figure?