Speculation: Do the Habs have the toughest defense in the league?

[Habs Halifax]

would much prefer a great puck moving D, you know like Subban. How many tough D men did Pittsburg have?

I feel for you bud and many others who choose to reflect on the past and not move on to the future. It sucks Subban is gone and you can continue to Hate or Love the trade but the Habs have gotten better off with the additions of Weber, Radulov, and Shaw. One more year experience of Gally and Chucky and finally Chucky as 1C playing with top end talent (not Eller and Semin). Don't know about you but I like what I see! How often did Letang rush the puck up the ice? It was mainly the forwards. Move the puck as a team and the results may be better .

Here is something to ponder... What's the difference between trying to skate the puck out the zone (and being successful most of the time like Subban) or passing and/or dumping it out and you lose possession? The answer is one is less risky than the other So many times Subban showed his skill, skated with the puck all over the ice but then dumped in in the zone because he did not rush up the ice with the forwards. Many have pointed this out... its just not me who has noticed this.

Anyways... lets keep to the thread. Toughness on the back end and what we have currently

 

[Le Barron de HF]

This might be a huge problem... mobility on the backend if very important in today's NHL, especially when playing against teams like Tampa and Pittsburgh.

The way I see it, when Barberio plays, it shouldn't be that big of a problem. It's also a good thing that the 'slow' side are not on one specific side (Markov & Emelin are lefties, Pateryn and Weber are righties).

 

[Habs Halifax]

The way I see it, when Barberio plays, it shouldn't be that big of a problem. It's also a good thing that the 'slow' side are not on one specific side (Markov & Emelin are lefties, Pateryn and Weber are righties).

I like Barberio in the line-up due to his mobility instead of Pateryn but who do you think plays the right side between Emelin and Barberio?

 

[David Suzuki]

Man, the disappointment level this year is going to be off the charts.

Agreed. Lot of people on this board will be very disappointed when we make the playoffs and they were wrong.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

I like Barberio in the line-up due to his mobility instead of Pateryn but who do you think plays the right side between Emelin and Barberio?

Emelin has done it in the past. Not sure about Barberio.

 

[E82]

I feel for you bud and many others who choose to reflect on the past and not move on to the future. It sucks Subban is gone and you can continue to Hate or Love the trade but the Habs have gotten better off with the additions of Weber, Radulov, and Shaw. One more year experience of Gally and Chucky and finally Chucky as 1C playing with top end talent (not Eller and Semin). Don't know about you but I like what I see! How often did Letang rush the puck up the ice? It was mainly the forwards. Move the puck as a team and the results may be better .

Here is something to ponder... What's the difference between trying to skate the puck out the zone (and being successful most of the time like Subban) or passing and/or dumping it out and you lose possession? The answer is one is less risky than the other So many times Subban showed his skill, skated with the puck all over the ice but then dumped in in the zone because he did not rush up the ice with the forwards. Many have pointed this out... its just not me who has noticed this.

Anyways... lets keep to the thread. Toughness on the back end and what we have currently

lool the difference is that one is one of the most effective players in the Playoffs you know where it counts the most while the other is not and I am almost certain if we had Subban, Shaw, Radulov the team would have bounced back the same if not better

Agreed. Lot of people on this board will be very disappointed when we make the playoffs and they were wrong.

Pretty sure we made the Playoffs with Subban and actually went further. So no, no one will be disappointed if we made the playoffs. That is absolutely the minimum.

 

[PuckSeparator]

Agreed. Lot of people on this board will be very disappointed when we make the playoffs and they were wrong.

Wishful thinking doesn't win Stanley Cups.

But agreed that they make the POs, that is as long as Price is healthy all year and back to Vezina, Hart, etc. form.

 

[Hackett]

Wishful thinking doesn't win Stanley Cups.

But agreed that they make the POs, that is as long as Price is healthy all year and back to Vezina, Hart, etc. form.

I don't think he has to be healthy all year for the habs to make the playoffs, but he has to play more than he was able to last season.

Last year was pretty much worst case scenario. Along with price, Gallagher had a couple setbacks, pacioretty never seemed totally right after his off season surgery, and the team rolled through about 15 dmen. Granted, these were not all due to injuries.

I'm hoping for more stability within the lineup this year, and chances are, it won't be this bad again.

 

[Mr. Hab]

New NHL (fast/entertaining) :
Doughty (two-way)
Keith (two-way)
PK Subban (two-way)
McDonagh (two-way)
Letang
B.Burns (two-way, most of the time)
Karlsson (no defense, but awesome offense)


We had two of the best in the new NHL, but Therrien is a major ***.

Therrien = VERY depressing/boring hockey.

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

Our blueline is definately tougher with the addition of Weber, toughest in the league though? probably not. Emelins a good hitter, but he wont stop guys from crashing the net, Beaulieu, Weber and Pateryn wont let Guys get away with running Price, but none of those guys will strike fear into opposing forwards.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Our blueline is definately tougher with the addition of Weber, toughest in the league though? probably not. Emelins a good hitter, but he wont stop guys from crashing the net, Beaulieu, Weber and Pateryn wont let Guys get away with running Price, but none of those guys will strike fear into opposing forwards.

Weber is definitely feared......alot more than Emelin is.

 

[The Great Weal]

Beaulieu, Weber and Pateryn wont let Guys get away with running Price, but none of those guys will strike fear into opposing forwards.

Weber strikes fear

 

[Habs100]

I really don't care if we have the toughest defense corps in the league.

Speed and skill are what's getting it done in the playoffs.

 

[sandysan]

I really don't care if we have the toughest defense corps in the league.

Speed and skill are what's getting it done in the playoffs.

i think its cyclical and always looking at what worked last time is akin to the tsa only banning things that they catch.

A team with nothing but softie PMD's might do well for a while but it wont take long before people start leveraging this against them. A team of slow crosscheck happy net clearers will more than not get pinned in their zone more of ten than not.

It might be simplistic, but I'm still a big fan of having a balance. no not every pairing has to be one PMD and one SAH, but you need both of these players somewhere in the lineup. Although I didnt like the subban weber trade ( in terms of the long term outlook) the one salve is that we finally have a guy who makes going in front of our biggest asset (price) actually cost something.

We don't need to fight, but we have lacked sandpaper on the back end for oh so long. We have been deprived for so long that some fans have convinced themselves that petry is a gritty player and that beaulieu is some sort of monster. that migh be relatively true, but that's not the comparison.

Alanis said if best " its like 10 000 spoons when all you need is a knife". Weber is our knife. Throw in a fork and we are pretty much set for anything.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

Agreed. Lot of people on this board will be very disappointed when we make the playoffs and they were wrong.

We could've traded PK for nothing and still made the playoffs with a healthy Carey Price. Making the playoffs is nothing to be proud of.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

I really don't care if we have the toughest defense corps in the league.

Speed and skill are what's getting it done in the playoffs.

You would think management watched these past playoffs and watched Letang dominate for the Penguins and said to themselves, hey look, we have one of those great puck moving defenseman's on our team!!!!

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Agreed. Lot of people on this board will be very disappointed when we make the playoffs and they were wrong.

With a healthy Price we make the playoffs last year, so making the playoffs shouldn't be this team's objective year after year, but unfortunately it's been that way for years!

 

[Runner77]

I really don't care if we have the toughest defense corps in the league.

Speed and skill are what's getting it done in the playoffs.

So where does the D now stack in terms of speed and skill?

 

[Justin11]

We could've traded PK for nothing and still made the playoffs with a healthy Carey Price. Making the playoffs is nothing to be proud of.

Exactly. Obviously making the playoffs is imperative, but I have bigger expectations.

 

[G0bias]

In fact, simply ''making the playoffs'' would be a disaster considering everything and would spell the end of MT/MB if this were any other city.

They need to be locks for the third round this year and then seriously compete for the cup as soon as next year.

 

[CapSpace]

Great question. Wonder what's our toughness/60 ratio at now?

That and our high Rel.CharacterFor % should make us feared opponents this year.

Easy. Truculence + how many 6f+ dmen × beards / 60.

 

[S Bah]

It really depends upon what a person considers a tough defence, IMHO. The Habs had a tough defence on their 70's dynasty team, certainly there were some tough customers in Larry Robinson(who rarely fought, but was considered the toughest Dman in the NHL, as is Shea Weber for those same traits,IMHO.) Gilles Lupien, Pierre Bouchard & Rick Chartraw were 3rd pairing Dmen that were extremely tough & were only to happy to drop the gloves for teammates. The Big Three (Robinson, Savard, Lapointe) were really tough to play against, add Bill Nyrop, Brian Engblom, Jimmy Roberts, John Van Boxmeer and that gave the Habs eight Dmen that could play regularly in the NHL. Engblom, Nyrop and Langway could have played 1st pairing for many teams then, the Habs toughness was their team defence, which was so great the offence came from that strength.

The Habs since Bergevin became GM have slowly picked up the best available talents, and he has kept a policy of always signing any Dman that upped the talent level for the Habs without losing draft picks or blowing their salary cap out of alignment. The Habs now have a very good defence, with four RHD's & four LHD's with Sergachev an outstanding Dman that can play either side. There is a balance of physicality & skill that's hard to match in the NHL, + they have some very good prospects that can step into the lineup in case of injuries.

Their defence plays the simple game, exactly as the Habs did under Scotty Bowman in the 70's. Playing the rigid hockey system they are taught on the farm team, the same system the Habs play, team defence which leads to offence, as it's always been played by all those SC Championship teams. This team needs to gel together in the regular season, this year it's different for the Habs, the groundwork is in place and the final pieces are in place also, it's Stanley Cup Finals time in Montreal once again. Barring massive misfortune injury wise, the Habs are going to be the team to beat in the East by Christmas, have no doubt in your mind about that, this team is playing with one goal in mind, Stanley Cup 25th version & 40th Overall for the City of Montreal!!!...

 

[OnTheRun]

We have the best and toughest defense in the league this year... But I can't tell you why.

 

[calder candidate]

We do not have the toughest D in the League...
We might be a bit tougher with Weber but it is not like PK was Soft.

 

[scrubadam]

Like the habs D and I don't get why everyone is worried about PMD. Sure we lost a great one in PK but its not like none of our other D can skate with the puck.

All our D have some mobility and size. None of our D are under 6 Ft and Markov and Barberio are essentially 200 lbs. It might not be the fastest D but it is mobile.

None of these guys compare to PK Subban I am not saying they can replace PK. The team will have to play differently now and its up to the coach and the players to adapt. I just think its a very well rounded D with size, strength and mobility up and down the lineup.