Post-Game Talk: Habs lose to the Leafs again.

[Tighthead]

The lack of puck moving d on this team is scary

And not at all surprising.

 

[Rapala]

Roy is my all-time favourite goalie, but a good case can be made for Dryden. Dryden had the misfortune to be one of many superstars on a dynasty. His greatness blended into the background of general greatness that saturated the 1970s roster. On the other hand, Roy was the undisputed star of his Habs teams. He played a bigger role and his accomplishments looked bigger.

I agree and so do many many fans in terms of Patrick's role. His in your face style of goaltending, tics, talking to his posts and who can forget his wink endeared him to that generation of fan for sure. Roy's greatest accomplishment was his ability to take a team who were not necessarily supposed to win it all to the summit. Dryden was supposed to win given that powerhouse and it's very hard to compare them. But that one glaring hole in that dynasty's history continues to speak to me as do his astounding numbers. Who can forget that Epic Red Army vs The Habs game Dryden's greatness was on full display against a club that was probably more of a powerhouse than our Habs were.

 

[Habs Icing]

This needs to be bumped and fully digested. And then we need to book therapy sessions to deal with it. Because unless Danault and Kotkaniemi start producing, the Habs' centre depth is weaker than it was when Desharnais was #1.

By Danault producing, I hope you don't mean goals. And we all know that Danault's point production is more a case of playing with Tatar and Gallagher than anything else. As for KK, I keep repeating I don't know where you guys see an offensive game in this kid. What I see is a bigger, hit-hungry Danault.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Julien out, Gallant in

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

There's no "I told you so" after one game. It was way too soon for people to declare the roster a contender after 10 games, and it's way too soon to declare the opposite after they've gone through a bad week.

The "i told you so" is directed solely towards those calling them the best team in the league and annointing Bergevin GMOTY, so it is definitely legitimate and if you've been paying attention to anything I've said, you know I've called them in the top 3 of the div, so trying to use the other extreme as if that's what I portray is pure spin. Where did I say it makes them bad?

 

[Habs Icing]

We have one two way center in the making. His name is Nick Suzuki. KK is still a possibility despite what you may read here. I somehow get the impression that these kids are being over-coached. I much prefer their instinctive play which Julien seems to frowns upon. I wasn't kidding yesterday when I said too many XXX's and OOO's are slowing us down. We hear a lot of negative talk about Muller but one thing for certain in my mind is that I much prefer his coaching style to Clod the Plod's. I'm also not convinced the PP is strictly his domain given how the deployment was different last year when Julien was out. Ultimately the failings of our special teams plural has to fall on the HEAD coach.

I totally agree with you. I get the sense that the Habs first 8 games scared the bejesus out of Julien and he decided he had to put a stop to that sort of play. He's got them playing a very passive game - especially in the defensive zone.

 

[Habs Icing]

Cup winner to not making the playoffs the following year when he sat out to cup winner when he came back says it all. For such a relatively short career Dryden was completely under-rated by many many fans.
His trademark pose didn't help in that regard but coming up with huge saves after being idle for long stretches is never easy. The best Habs goalie by a landslide IMO his numbers speak for themself.

Totally agree with you. Dryden is the best Habs goalie I've watched play and one of the top three in the world.

 

[BLONG7]

CJ always seems to coach, a game to try not and lose.......rarely does he coach where he tries to win.
The 4 on 4 at the beginning of the 2nd was case and point....he starts Phil and Gally, and the Leafs played Auston and Marner....our two guys were dominated for almost the full 2 minutes, and the leafs scored....
Why did he start the 4 on 4 with Phil and Gally? Because he doesn't try to score during those two minutes, he is trying to not get scored on......bizzarre coaching.

 

[x15Kotkaniemi15x]

Tough loss but I had some thoughts on it to say the least! Check out my post game reactions after every Habs game here, thanks everybody

 

[angusyoung]

Looks like the Habs get up and go approach got up and went!

New strategic coaching system implemented there? Start off pushing the pace and get a BS goal and alter style to a very Buddhist like zen approach,befuddling.

 

[angusyoung]

Very Benny Hill-ish. Maybe the Habs should turn to comedy as they certainly are doing the hockey thing very good.

 

[PaulD]

Not completely false. We don't have a single game breaker and Leafs have 3. Our so called game breaker is in the nets and is aging a bit.
We didn't used our depth last night. Our 3rd and 4th line should have destroyed the Leafs. Can't beleive Spazza was skating all over the place easylly at 82 yrs old.

Yea. So far there is alot of shinny being played in these empty arenas. Spezza is a great example beneficiary of this. Shortened season. Covid restrictions, lack of practice, nobody paying $$ to see the games, and pretty well the same teams every night.
When play offs get closer and then eventually start, we will see much stronger hockey being played. Spezza wont be getting any more hat tricks, the top tougher teams will rise to the top, the leafs will be back to struggling for wins. The gap between how regular season and play off hockey is played has never been greater.
Leaf fans would love it to stay this way thru June. But we know that wont be case.

 

[puckie]

When you think about Habs coaching, think about how well the young players did after being away from CJ in the playoffs. I knew he would coach the success right out of them this year.

Well, on the bright side....at least they are not playing for Torts in hockey Siberia. Max has to be hating life right now.

 

[The Real Timo]

Because it is not my nature to be all negative, I will say this - Armia played well in his return. He was alert, controlled the puck, made some nice plays and was a presence. He came to play - something that cannot be said about 17-18 of his teammates.

 

[The Real Timo]

When you think about Habs coaching, think about how well the young players did after being away from CJ in the playoffs. I knew he would coach the success right out of them this year.

Well, on the bright side....at least they are not playing for Torts in hockey Siberia. Max has to be hating life right now.

Julien is a dinosaur who needs to be put out to pasture.

 

[Yoor]

Price will be the typical scapegoat. The coaching needs to be called into question. We’ve given Julien along enough leash at this point.

I was thinking this, its the same movie every year...come out of the gates flying then teams adjust and poof! Offense dries up. From what I can see just clog the neutral zone and it kills the habs speed, breakouts etc...I hope I am wrong and this year we really do have another gear but the coaching staff needs to be able to adjust this is ridiculous.

 

[Julien LG]

PP is absolutly putrid. we lack puck moving at the blueline. Right now we are killing our own momentum when we get a PP.

Try something different! anything really, play it down low perhaps and when you got back to the blueline it's 1 and BOUM at the net.

We are not taking good shots from the point, the opponents forwards are leaving them alone for that reason and their is no space down low for that reason as well... I mean we actually have to switch side (par la bande ? in english?) just so they dont loose the puck at 5 on 4 because the opponent dont care about the puck going to the blueline...

 

[Sasha Orlov]

CJ always seems to coach, a game to try not and lose.......rarely does he coach where he tries to win.
The 4 on 4 at the beginning of the 2nd was case and point....he starts Phil and Gally, and the Leafs played Auston and Marner....our two guys were dominated for almost the full 2 minutes, and the leafs scored....
Why did he start the 4 on 4 with Phil and Gally? Because he doesn't try to score during those two minutes, he is trying to not get scored on......bizzarre coaching.

Coaching is why we lost this game imo
This happens all the time, like starting 3on3 OT with Danault and Weber out there... smh

 

[The Nightman]

The lack of foot speed on our top 3 lines was extremely apparent last night. Other than Drouin and Anderson it’s a mix of average to below-average skaters looking like they’re skating in mud. That’s another one of the many problems with the “1st” line, the fact that Gally and Tatar are both small, weak and take forever to get their feet going. I mean, of course Danault seemingly giving up on the team is a bigger problem, but that line is just a mess and needs to be split up.

 

[Aces on the road]

As much i was wrong with Anderson and Domi trade , more like the fact that i did not like the long 7 years extension.

Gallagher extension is a brutal and terrible one that will cost this team heavily. He's not worth 6.5m a year. His 5 goals are not a good resume of his season.
The fact Bergevin cried on TV after extending him was just pure cringe. Gallagher is the typical player that will heavily decline and be a deadweight in max 2 years.

First post that I agree with you

 

[Kriss E]

Nah... having followed this team for the past 27 years I'd say the entity is pretty known. We know that we have yet another team that will not win much. Maybe playoffs, maybe even a round of playoffs, but that's about it. It's not a very optimistic view but it is what it is.

I dont think anyone is arguing we have a cup contender here. The point is to determine just how far off we are.

 

[Yoor]

Send this team on the road ffs they look like shit on home ice! They play better when Julien doesn't have the last change which is pretty f***ed up...

Teams have adjusted and CJ doesn't have an answer. I was afraid of this, seems to happen every year. I was hoping that it was because of a less talented roster in the past but this year we definitely have more depth and talent and at first I though "huh, maybe it was just the roster and not the coaching after all" jury is still out on that now...I don't get how we can go from absolutely dominating to being stifled in games.

 

[The Real Timo]

I dont think anyone is arguing we have a cup contender here. The point is to determine just how far off we are.

I wouldn't be so quick... i distinctly remember statements to that effect after first 5-6 games and trouncing of the Canucks.
But we are far. Especially with the coaching stuff we have and a couple of creampuffs that can't be moved for reasons other than hockey.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Teams have adjusted and CJ doesn't have an answer. I was afraid of this, seems to happen every year. I was hoping that it was because of a less talented roster in the past but this year we definitely have more depth and talent and at first I though "huh, maybe it was just the roster and not the coaching after all" jury is still out on that now...I don't get how we can go from absolutely dominating to being stifled in games.

Clod coaches one way and that's all he has in his repertoire; once Boston was no longer than same team from 2011, Clod had nothing for them and was shown the door...Clod coaches to counterpunch, to sit back and wait for opportunity to present instead of grabbing the game off the hop and enforcing your will...it worked soo well for them because they were Big, Mean, & Mobile on the backend; we're not and the mobility we do have, Clod won't use properly...we're always gonna be just another pretender until Clod of someone else uses the D we have properly and/or goes out and gets a legit Top Pairing PMD of the left side...

 

[Yoor]

A well deserved win for the Leafs. Gained a lot of respect for Sheldon Keefe after this one.

With Armia returning, sitting Byron disrupted two lines instead of one. Don't get that decision, especially since Perry has been ineffective.

When Drouin's your best forward, you know you have a problem.

Take away Montreals' rush offence, manage the puck well, so they can't create off turnovers, and you're golden. Habs can't score on the powerplay, or off the cycle.

This team is a pretender, unless proven otherwise. The signs of the wheels falling off were there since the games against Calgary.

The talent is there though, coaching needs to be able to adjust and I don't see that happening at the moment. All teams have to do as you say is clog the neutral zone and move the pucks out along the boards and we are toast. Pretty sad game plan if you ask me...where are the in game adjustments I mean the coaching staff had to know teams would make adjustments to play against the Habs no? I mean didn't CJ say that recently in a presser? Well do somthing about it CJ.