Post-Game Talk: Habs lose to the A-Hos in shootout

[Capitano]

That was a very enjoyable, early season game to watch. Don't know what to make of this team really.

Petry: it would be tough if the Habs lost him. He drives the play so much.
Weber: looked slow or slower - but probably not slowest yet.
Price: looked pretty sharp for him for the beginning of the year.
Drouin: he definitely had hops.
Domi: was being Domi
Gallagher: was being Gallagher
Suzuki: was mixed about him but he made some good decisions. I'll give the kid another chance. LOL
KK: my favorite forward. Just like the ****ty grin combined with the talent.
More impressed with the group of forwards than the group of D.

Still don't like the GM.

Could be a fun season. Possibly. Maybe. Perhaps. Or not.

hahaha...awesome summary. This team is hard to predict for sure...we lack identity big time.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Weber won't play his best games against a fast team like the Canes, even less on the 1st game of the season. I'm sure his timing we'll get better as the season progresses.

I'm not worried, team showed a lot of speed, KK and Drouin played better than expected. I'll absolutely wait more than 1 game before saying things like I've read here.
Jeez guys, lay the f*** back.

 

[Chippy11]

Fun game! TDG were below their standard.

Drouin played very well. His was going. Too bad Clode didn’t see that.
I didn’t like the 3rd goal, BC should have take the man instead of trying to stop the puck.

 

[sandysan]

Mete is a guy that looked really good the first time he stepped onto the ice as a rookie but his game has quickly eroded. I think he would have benefitted from time in the AHL to learn how to be a QB on defense but that ship has sailed. We completely suck at making the right decisions to develop players to reach their full potential.

The kid has wheels but that is about it. I don't need him to be a monster in front of the net, but both he and kulak are just so maddeningly soft.

We have a goalie who will stop more than his share of shots and breakaway but we let attacking forwards get great chances on tips and scrambles. You knock someone on their backside THERE it's not getting called, and even if it does, so be it.

I'm tired of goals getting scored on us because of second and third packs or pucks that pinball around.

I know we have holes on left defense, but that doesn't mean we can't ask the guys to clear the freaking crease once in a while.

 

[sandysan]

Baby steps!

With the way he played in preseason, it was concerning but he had a lot of jump last night so I gotta give him that before people say that we bash Drouin for no reason.

Let's see if he can continue but like I said, it feels like he wanted to prove something to the media. Let's hope he keeps the same motivation for most season.

I am just tired of the inevitable drouin bait and switch, so pardon me for not jumping onto the drouin train.

And as I said previously, why the hell do we use him at the point on the power play?. Svechnikov turned him out just rolled past him in the first ( Weber didn't do anyone any favors)

 

[Habs178]

So one night is enough to paint the big picture? Literally EVERY good faceoffs centers have bad nights

Ok well I mean you're the one who brought up faceoffs. I get that there are bad nights.....I was pointing out tonight was one of them.

 

[Schwang]

No one can say Julien doesn’t play the young guys. Suzuki was out there in key situations. Domi has an off night which could contribute to Suzuki not creating too much. Chemistry will hopefully come.

What the hell was up with Weber?! He looked bad. Non factor offensively as well.
Good sign that Drouin had a great game.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

The guys who needed to look good, looked good. Drouin and KK are the x factors this year. If they can play like that every night, we suddenly have 3 good lines. Domi showed enough last year where I'm confident he'll get it going.

 

[sandysan]

No one can say Julien doesn’t play the young guys. Suzuki was out there in key situations. Domi has an off night which could contribute to Suzuki not creating too much. Chemistry will hopefully come.

What the hell was up with Weber?! He looked bad. Non factor offensively as well.
Good sign that Drouin had a great game.

its like a hockey version of stockholm syndrome. That wasn't a great game by drouin, he was better than he has been and that's about it. "he wasn't awful tonight" isn't the feather in ones cap that some seem to think.

People will say that this is just another manifestation of my dislike for Drouin. Perhaps it is, but let's be realistic here. one game doesnt get rid of all of those warts. he played like a nhl winger last night, when precisely meeting minimum expectations got translarted into " great" I will never understand.

maybe he strings together a whole lot of games like this, but right now I'm still emphatically taking the under,

 

[azcanuck]

Canes are a better team then us no doubt.

They have a superstar player (Aho) that we dont have. Look at key situations. they got a huge center ,Stall, who killed Danault in the circle in the third.

But I liked our game. We've always had trouble against these guys. Weber does look slow out there and a speedy team like the Canes accentuates that.

I disagree with Suzuki as your last shot. Sounds like a good headline maker but I'm sure he was amped enough about his first NHL game. He didnt need that.

KK was looking very good. Stronger this year on his skates.

Drouin flying around is nothing really. Lets see him do it consistently.

fleury is so much better then Folin it's not funny.

I thought Tatar also played a strong game, along with Domi. Those two should have a good year.

 

[Habs]

Mete and Leks were disappointing, some really bad plays and passes. Gotta give props to Drouin, controlled the play a lot.

Gallagher wasn't his best , Domi was one of the worst offenders for me. Lost the puck a lot, was shoved around and on his but a few times, some really bad passes etc.

Pretty good team, wish Poehling was here though.

 

[Tighthead]

Mete is a guy that looked really good the first time he stepped onto the ice as a rookie but his game has quickly eroded. I think he would have benefitted from time in the AHL to learn how to be a QB on defense but that ship has sailed. We completely suck at making the right decisions to develop players to reach their full potential.

You will never regret keeping a guy down too long, but bringing up too early is fraught with risk.

 

[The Real Timo]

Mete and Leks were disappointing, some really bad plays and passes. Gotta give props to Drouin, controlled the play a lot.

Gallagher wasn't his best , Domi was one of the worst offenders for me. Lost the puck a lot, was shoved around and on his but a few times, some really bad passes etc.

Pretty good team, wish Poehling was here though.

Yes, the Domi-Gallagher line was not good. Leks is a 3-4th line player on the wrong line. I like Armia's puck control... dude cannot be moved off the puck. If Clod isn't going to be Clod, he'd leave Armia-KK-Drouin line for a good number of games together to help them build chemistry. They didn't look terrible last night.

 

[JianYang]

I dont think KK played particularly well though and if it weren't from Mrazek being hit in the shoulder with a stick, theres no way that soft shot goes in.

I only watched the last 10 minutes of the game, so my view is skewed. I thought he looked better in that time than at any point in the preseason, though.

Regardless, my main point here is that I dont put much value at all in trying to prognosticate a full time player's season based on their preseason performance.

 

[Rapala]

Can't believe people think KK ignored Drouin.

Well bully for you.

 

[FrankMTL]

I liked what I saw last night. The team is definitely fast and relentless when all 4 lines are buzzing. We have good depth once again as every line can contribute. We're still missing a pure goal scorer on offence (i'm hoping Caufield can fill that role) and a top 2 defencemen.

 

[Lshap]

its like a hockey version of stockholm syndrome. That wasn't a great game by drouin, he was better than he has been and that's about it. "he wasn't awful tonight" isn't the feather in ones cap that some seem to think.

People aren't saying he wasn't awful. They're saying he was very good.

People will say that this is just another manifestation of my dislike for Drouin.

This is just another manifestation of your dislike for Drouin.

one game doesnt get rid of all of those warts. he played like a nhl winger last night, when precisely meeting minimum expectations got translarted into " great" I will never understand.

maybe he strings together a whole lot of games like this, but right now I'm still emphatically taking the under,

I don't see anyone reaching further than simply acknowledging that he had a really good game. That said, I agree with you in general. If it were up to me, I'd hope for another strong game and trade him while that illusion lasts.

 

[Ozmodiar]

fleury is so much better then Folin it's not funny.

Don't really agree b/c i think it is funny.

 

[Habs Halifax]

hahaha...awesome summary. This team is hard to predict for sure...we lack identity big time.

I don't believe we lack identity, I believe we lack fire power to go along with the solid depth style game we play. Look at how many times we get in scoring areas and decide to force a pass that is not there cause the player does not have a dangerous shot.

This season will be like the last one if we stay healthy... Middle of pack somewhere and we can either make the playoffs as the 3rd seed/one of the wild card spots or we finish in the bottom 10-15 range like last year. If we get injuries to key assets and several of them, we will fall to the bottom 10 IMO.

The Habs are a team with solid vets and very good prospects. Can the prospects reach their ceiling level before our vets are gone or their games has fallen due to age? I think the 21 off season is the fork in the road and the next two seasons are development seasons. Be prepared for more of the same like last year IMO

 

[Ozmodiar]

This team is still 2 players away. LD and LW.

Current LD:
Mete
Chiarot
Kulak

Ideally:
__??___
Chiarot
Kulak or Mete

Current LW:
Tatar
Lehkonen
Drouin
Byron

Ideally:
Tatar
___??___
Drouin
Lehkonen or Byron

 

[Habs Halifax]

I liked what I saw last night. The team is definitely fast and relentless when all 4 lines are buzzing. We have good depth once again as every line can contribute. We're still missing a pure goal scorer on offence (i'm hoping Caufield can fill that role) and a top 2 defencemen.

Agreed and I see it the same way! We have to remember that the Canes are a pretty good team and are ahead of us with their team direction... Sucks we couldn't pull out the 2 pts.

We have a very good team that skates well and rolls the lines. Problem is we have to outwork the other team and we don't get any breaks like other teams who have fire power with several players who can score with their shot. Habs have to win games by outworking the other team each and every time

 

[sandysan]

People aren't saying he wasn't awful. They're saying he was very good.


This is just another manifestation of your dislike for Drouin.


I don't see anyone reaching further than simply acknowledging that he had a really good game. That said, I agree with you in general. If it were up to me, I'd hope for another strong game and trade him while that illusion lasts.

what did he do to play a " really good game" ? not suck as much as he used to ? and you are wrong the post I referenced said he played a "GREAT" game which is nonsense. this guy lives of off his legacy in junior and people who will NEVER critically evaluate his play. anything better than last year is suddenly " great". There are BIG steps between average, good and great and he hasn't taken ANY of them yet.

last night wrt to other third line wingers in the league, it was average. but the enablers never use that as the bar, they use his abysmal play last year and anything above that gets elevated. so the idea is to set the bar so low that he would likely get run out of the NHL on any other team and anything other than that is deemed a success.

 

[Habs Halifax]

This team is still 2 players away. LD and LW.

Current LD:
Mete
Chiarot
Kulak

Ideally:
__??___
Chiarot
Kulak or Mete

Current LW:
Tatar
Lehkonen
Drouin
Byron

Ideally:
Tatar
___??___
Drouin
Lehkonen or Byron

Accurate! We already know we can't address these holes through UFA/RFA offer sheets. So it's either trades or drafting. Can the prospects rise faster than expected?

 

[The Real Timo]

Accurate! We already know we can't address these holes through UFA/RFA offer sheets. So it's either trades or drafting. Can the prospects rise faster than expected?

Is Juulsen a left D or right D?

Btw, what's the status on that guy? I saw a few days ago a quick note (don't recall where) that he started skating...

 

[Habs Halifax]

Is Juulsen a left D or right D?

Btw, what's the status on that guy? I saw a few days ago a quick note (don't recall where) that he started skating...

Juulsen is RD but I don't recall hearing anything from his 2nd opinion yet. It's been a few weeks now right? He likely will have to re prove himself playing in Laval but if he is still the player he was to start the year last season before his injury, he is a fringe top 4D based on that level of play.