Pre-Game Talk: Game #1 Habs vs Knights, Monday June 14th 9pm

[Garnet76]

Too me the key is the neutral zone. Need to slow up vegas's speed through the middle of the ice. If not the habs D are in trouble.

 

[cujo1117]

We have to see George Laraque eat meat… please Habs pull this off!!!!

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Interestingly enough, not a word when Habs completed the comeback against the Leafs or the sweep of the Jets about this xenophobic crap.

Not to mention:

1) William Carrier: Sabres sent a 6th round pick to Vegas to ensure they select Carrier.
2) Jonathan Marchessault: Panthers traded Reilly Smith to Vegas to ensure they select Marchesseault.
3) Marc-Andre Fleury: Pens traded their 2nd round pick to Vegas to ensure they select Fleury.
4) Nicolas Roy: Acquired via trade from Hurricanes for Erik Haula.

So aside from Roy, all of their Quebec-born players were selected in the expansion draft with incentive. Hardly something to preach about.


By the way, did any of you see one radio personality wrote that he wished the Habs lose only so they can see that not having enough Quebec-born players is hurting them:

Reading that kind of ignorant garbage makes my blood boil and I'm a French-speaking Québécois. Quelle bande de tarés. Shut your filthy trap Ferrandez you just said it yourself, you don't know shit about hockey nor care about the Habs. Your opinion on the matter is worth less than the dump I took this morning.

 

[yianik]

These 2 teams are more similar to one another, and the Leafs and Avs are more similar to each other.

Fleury and Price, both great goalies.

On the D, they have more talent and have the PMDs we lack. Our D is big.

Similarities abound at forward. The C position does not have any star players. Both teams have good wingers and both have guys with size at forward.

Vegas played a heavy hitting game with the Avs.

Our last 2 games with the Jets we got away from the hitting and toned down a bit on the forecheck. We cant do that with these guys. They have the best PMDs we have faced yet, so we need a strategy to slow them in the transition or else they will be in our zone with the puck real fast. DD needs an answer to that. I like an aggressive forecheck but realize they have the guys to squeeze out of it and attack quickly. But we sure as heck need to hit.

 

[dinodebino]

Reading that kind of ignorant garbage makes my blood boil and I'm a French-speaking Québécois. Quelle bande de tarés. Shut your filthy trap Ferrandez you just said it yourself, you don't know shit about hockey nor care about the Habs. Your opinion on the matter is worth less than the dump I took this morning.

Ferrandez is a putz. He's now a commentator because he couldn't cut it elsewhere. He's the DiBlasio of Montreal. Can't figure out why Lagacé has him on his radio show.

 

[SB164]

 

[Adam Michaels]

Kelly McCrimmon, Vegas' GM, praises Ducharme. Interestingly enough, McCrimmon was an assistant coach on Team Canada when Ducharme was head coach at the WJC. So he knows him well and has been following his coaching career closely. He says he's a great coach and isn't surprised at all about his success with the Habs right now.

 

[ArtPeur]

So. I said Toronto in 5 and Winnipeg in 4. I'm on a good run!

Vegas in 4.

 

[OldCraig71]

God i hope not. Don’t want Bergevin listening to Gainey’s way of building team. He loved to much his smurfs.

 

[Devilsfan2326]

Is Petry okay? Anyone injured?

 

[bobholly39]

I say Habs in 5. I could see it go 6 though, and us winning in Montreal on St Jean Baptiste (wow - can you imagine the riots if that happens )

 

[Dirby Kach]

Per Renaud Lavoie, Ducharme doesn't believe that Petry, Evans or Merrill are going to be available for game 1.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Per Renaud Lavoie, Ducharme doesn't believe that Petry, Evans or Merrill are going to be available for game 1.

2 terrible news and 1 great news.

 

[Devilsfan2326]

Per Renaud Lavoie, Ducharme doesn't believe that Petry, Evans or Merrill are going to be available for game 1.

Thank you. I continue to root for you Habs and Price

 

[bobholly39]

Fleury's career sv% against Habs is 897 and 3.12 GAA. Out of all 30 teams, we're the 2nd worst team in both stats for him.

He doesn't do well against us....I think with the added pressure of playing in Montreal in the playoffs - he will struggle

Price has a bad record against Vegas too - but it's a 3 game sample size in his career, so just random and not really meaningful

 

[Sugi21]

If the forwards can keep up what’s been working and some different guys stepping up like Anderson and Gallagher this should be a very hard fought series and at what time do we deploy the secret weapon… Tatar?

 

[salbutera]

Molsons had ties to Gillette and Boivin?

It was Dan O’Neill (Molson CEO), who poached Boivin from CCM back in 2000 to become Habs Prez.

I recall an article either Bert Raymond or Tremblay whining about the Gainey hire and Savard being pushed aside...after Gainey’s first move as GM was to throw the media off the team charter.

It’s such a cesspool, at that time Molson - Coors deal was happening, and HQ was Colorado where Gillett was from (and lived)....it’s no coincidence Gillett happened to become the owner IMO

 

[Hannibal]

One or two is fine. But 12 is a problem like the Gainey/Gauthier era

 

[salbutera]

Trying to find the tweet:

“This years semi-finals are the same as last years: VGK, TBay, Isles and Corey Perry’s team”

 

[OldCraig71]

One or two is fine. But 12 is a problem like the Gainey/Gauthier era

Everyone says that Bergevin learned from his mistakes, can't others learn from theirs? Bob Gainey is pure class and this organization needs to bring some of that back in any form they can get it.

 

[admiralcadillac]

OK, so now, Ben Brunet mentioned at noon that Price and Patioready don't like each other. Marc Denis had alluded to that too.

First time I hear of this. You guys?

Hard to believe people don’t like max “soda water is spicy” Pacioretty

 

[themilosh]

You obviously never watched Andre 'red light' Racicot play.

Wasnt Steve Penny French?

 

[McGees]

So. I said Toronto in 5 and Winnipeg in 4. I'm on a good run!

Vegas in 4.

Vegas in 3 is the obvious next prediction

 

[hvac412]

I take a deuce every morning

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Wasnt Steve Penny French?

Yes, he was. Steve Penny back stopped the Canadiens last improbable playoff run in 1983/1984 when Montreal upset both Boston and Quebec. The 1983/84 playoffs were the last hurrah for both Guy Lafleur and Danny Gallivan. I can still hear Gallivan's stirring call of Lafleur's last great rush in the game Montreal was eliminated by the then defending champions, the New York Islanders. It was a blazing, heroic effort to hold back time and the inevitability of defeat. Nothing has ever been the same since.

As for Penny, he was exposed as a mediocre goalie over the next year and was replaced by Roy who I actually managed to see in his first pre-season game against the Oilers. In fact, Penny for years became a synonym for a rookie goalie who flashes in the playoffs and is never able to recapture that initial glory.