Post-Game Talk: Habs on the brink (take 2)

[Habs10Habs]

Yup — and Roy w his agent orchestrated the move out to a contending team...he saw the train wreck coming and understood the luck involved w 93 Cup.

That's part of the reason. But it's not like the team just dropped off all of a sudden. The team drops off soon after 93. Either getting eliminated in the 1st rd or missing the playoffs entirely the three following years. The major problem was Demer's coddled Roy, allowing him to do whatever the hell he wanted. Tremblay came in and that was eliminated. Roy received no more special treatment, he was treated like everyone else. Roy started to pout and cause problems behind the scenes. I'm guessing Tremblay knowing he couldn't bench Roy. Decided to do the next best thing, embarrass him, show him who's boss.

 

[Banjo Cat]

how is this even possible we’ve been stuck doing next to nothing (significant) most of the Bergevin era this is funny

Well, in the Jets defence, they weren't a team in 2005.

The Habs, throughout this long mediocre period, have managed to pull of some stunning upsets. I mean in some cases there were years where the Habs were actually pretty good. 2014 Habs were a pretty decent team. But combined with having a team that was capable of winning a round in many playoff runs, they also beat some teams they were not supposed to.

 

[habsnacks]

Well, in the Jets defence, they weren't a team in 2005.

The Habs, throughout this long mediocre period, have managed to pull of some stunning upsets. I mean in some cases there were years where the Habs were actually pretty good. 2014 Habs were a pretty decent team. But combined with having a team that was capable of winning a round in many playoff runs, they also beat some teams they were not supposed to.

Yup, 2014 was the only good year in recent memory, especially in the regular season. They had their first 50 win season in a long time (decades?) and were close to winning the President’s trophy. They swept Tampa and beat Boston. I still believe they could have beaten the Rangers had Price not been injured. That was prime Carey and that was our window.

 

[JianYang]

Savard traded Desjardins, Schneider and Chelios and that spelled doom for the future.

There's alot more where that came from.

They also traded odelein for Richer. Odelein was on that 1996 world cup roster for Canada.

I don't even remember what Sean hill was traded for.

Lumme was just given away.

Lefevbre was given away for a mid round pick.

They downgraded from Petr Svoboda to Kevin haller.

All of these decisions preceded Roy's trade in the 90s aside from odelein. The destruction of a rich blueline was the first red flag of where the organization was going.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

There's alot more where that came from.

They also traded odelein for Richer. Odelein was on that 1996 world cup roster for Canada.

I don't even remember what Sean hill was traded for.

Lumme was just given away.

Lefevbre was given away for a mid round pick.

They downgraded from Petr Svoboda to Kevin haller.

All of these decisions preceded Roy's trade in the 90s aside from odelein. The destruction of a rich blueline was the first red flag of where the organization was going.

Imo, Savard had started doing tipsy trading. Only way to explain his downward spiral in team building.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Yeah exactly. I'm kind of frustrated with this series, but in reality, anything that happened after round 2 was gravy. Expectations got too high after making the SCF. I'm glad the Habs made the farthest run they have in my lifetime.

For me knocking off the Leafs was our Stanley Cup. Everything since has been gravy.

 

[Deluded Puck]

how is this even possible we’ve been stuck doing next to nothing (significant) most of the Bergevin era this is funny

Because it’s the Habs, and even when we are down bad, the weight of our history can still pull us through. I truly believe that.

whereas the historical burden suffered by the likes of the leafs and the Canucks counts against them in tough moments.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Leaf fans have lost the right to trash talk........they now own the most futile record for years between Cups.....let alone they haven't won a round in 17 years, and we won 3 rounds this year....
I love the fact that they all wanted a Montreal Torranna playoff meeting, and they got it.............choked it all away.
I will not be taking any trash talking from leaf fans without giving a huge dose back.....no matter the results of the Cup Final.....

https://twitter.com/leafsiastcup?lang=en

Nevermind the 50+ years of cup futility.

It's also been:
34 days since blowing a 3-1 series lead.
6,284 days since winning a Playoff series.
497 days since losing to an AHL Zamboni driver.

 

[salbutera]

There's alot more where that came from.

They also traded odelein for Richer. Odelein was on that 1996 world cup roster for Canada.

I don't even remember what Sean hill was traded for.

Lumme was just given away.

Lefevbre was given away for a mid round pick.

They downgraded from Petr Svoboda to Kevin haller.

All of these decisions preceded Roy's trade in the 90s aside from odelein. The destruction of a rich blueline was the first red flag of where the organization was going.

He wasn’t traded - claimed by Ducks in expansion draft in 1993

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

https://twitter.com/leafsiastcup?lang=en

Nevermind the 50+ years of cup futility.

It's also been:
34 days since blowing a 3-1 series lead.
6,284 days since winning a Playoff series.
497 days since losing to an AHL Zamboni driver.

...and 5, 485 days since they traded Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft...just had to throw that in there...

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

...and 5, 485 days since they traded Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft...just had to throw that in there...

Courtnall for Kordic was the greatest troll trade of all time. I got so much mileage out of that one in high school.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[yianik]

https://twitter.com/leafsiastcup?lang=en

Nevermind the 50+ years of cup futility.

It's also been:
34 days since blowing a 3-1 series lead.
6,284 days since winning a Playoff series.
497 days since losing to an AHL Zamboni driver.

Magnificent.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Courtnall for Kordic was the greatest troll trade of all time. I got so much mileage out of that one in high school.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

...but...but...Kordic added toughness and the soft Laffs needed that...the Norris Division was hard back then...trades happen...


...yup, I remember my Laff buddies twisting themselves into pretzels over that one...

 

[rickthegoon]

Seems reasonable. I find it odd that as much complaining as there is about our management most are silent on opening up the search to English speaking people, I would say that's implicit support of french only candidates.

I think aside a few old timer journalists, the rest of the population does not give a flying squirrel what language coaches ore management speaks, I would bet anything that Gerard Gallant would have been welcomed with open arms.
Bring us back a Scotty Bowman clone any day.
As a middle aged man, I’m still surprised how the Anglo minority in Quebec has no clue what the Franco majority thinks .
I think I speak on behalf of pretty much everybody, we sincerely do not give a phoque

 

[JianYang]

He wasn’t traded - claimed by Ducks in expansion draft in 1993

The expansion draft is a good point though. You wonder if they approach things differently if that expansion wave in California, Florida, and Ottawa wasn't going to happen.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

I think aside a few old timer journalists, the rest of the population does not give a flying squirrel what language coaches ore management speaks, I would bet anything that Gerard Gallant would have been welcomed with open arms.
Bring us back a Scotty Bowman clone any day.
As a middle aged man, I’m still surprised how the Anglo minority in Quebec has no clue what the Franco majority thinks .
I think I speak on behalf of pretty much everybody, we sincerely do not give a phoque

...tell that to your Premiere, please...

 

[azcanuck]

That's part of the reason. But it's not like the team just dropped off all of a sudden. The team drops off soon after 93. Either getting eliminated in the 1st rd or missing the playoffs entirely the three following years. The major problem was Demer's coddled Roy, allowing him to do whatever the hell he wanted. Tremblay came in and that was eliminated. Roy received no more special treatment, he was treated like everyone else. Roy started to pout and cause problems behind the scenes. I'm guessing Tremblay knowing he couldn't bench Roy. Decided to do the next best thing, embarrass him, show him who's boss.

This is what happens when amateurs run your team. You got a coach in Tremblay , who probably would not have gotten a sniff anywhere else coaching. But here no problem, he speaks french.
That whole Roy incident should have been handled differently. You have an asset like Roy, you hang on to him until you get fair value. Just look at how Sakic handled Duchene wanting out. You want out? It will happen on our terms , not yours. Instead they operated like their pants were on fire and traded him way too quick. Look how great Roy still was.

 

[MSSLYNX]

I think aside a few old timer journalists, the rest of the population does not give a flying squirrel what language coaches ore management speaks, I would bet anything that Gerard Gallant would have been welcomed with open arms.
Bring us back a Scotty Bowman clone any day.
As a middle aged man, I’m still surprised how the Anglo minority in Quebec has no clue what the Franco majority thinks .
I think I speak on behalf of pretty much everybody, we sincerely do not give a phoque

I’m with you.
Molson and Molson only gets to decide who is coaching, managing his team. The French (declining ) majority cannot be blamed for his decisions.
When things go wrong, the language stuff is added to the list of excuses. Its mostly political imo.
We get Julien, Ducharme, Bergevin, even Drouin « only » because they speak French and we « missed » on better choices because of their ability to speak French.
With Danault and Drouin about to leave, the situation is not ideal for the Canadiens, especially when opponents play 2-3 Quebecers.
I would draft more Quebecers but i’m not Timmins.

 

[MSSLYNX]

This is what happens when amateurs run your team. You got a coach in Tremblay , who probably would not have gotten a sniff anywhere else coaching. But here no problem, he speaks french.
That whole Roy incident should have been handled differently. You have an asset like Roy, you hang on to him until you get fair value. Just look at how Sakic handled Duchene wanting out. You want out? It will happen on our terms , not yours. Instead they operated like their pants were on fire and traded him way too quick. Look how great Roy still was.

Tremblay also coached 7 yrs Minny and in NJ because he spoke French…
Julien, martin, Vigneault, Therien, Demers, Lemaire, all coached elsewhere even if they spoke French, most of them Head coaches.
Some miss Randy Cunneywortyh i guess. Where did he coach after his Mtl stint? 1 year in AHL, no playoffs.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

I’m with you.
Molson and Molson only gets to decide who is coaching, managing his team. The French (declining ) majority cannot be blamed for his decisions.
When things go wrong, the language stuff is added to the list of excuses. Its mostly political imo.
We get Julien, Ducharme, Bergevin, even Drouin « only » because they speak French and we « missed » on better choices because of their ability to speak French.
With Danault and Drouin about to leave, the situation is not ideal for the Canadiens, especially when opponents play 2-3 Quebecers.
I would draft more Quebecers but i’m not Timmins.

...I don't think anyone blames the Quebecois people for Molson's decisions, do they??...they blame Molson for letting politics make his decisions...

 

[optimus2861]

how is this even possible we’ve been stuck doing next to nothing (significant) most of the Bergevin era this is funny

The Habs won a round in 08 and two in 10 that predated Bergevin. And 10 was the Halak steal show.

14 (2 series wins) & 15 (1) were the only two years where the Habs looked like they could have been contenders, if Bergevin had not been so married to his BFF Therrien as coach, and if he had been willing to make significant moves to bolster the roster instead of dumpster diving (his 15 deadline was particularly egregious in this respect other than the Petry acquisition). However in hindsight it's difficult if not impossible to see how those Habs could ever have defeated either the Kings or Blackhawks anyway, so any Cup aspirations in those years were naught but mirages.

 

[JianYang]

The Habs won a round in 08 and two in 10 that predated Bergevin. And 10 was the Halak steal show.

14 (2 series wins) & 15 (1) were the only two years where the Habs looked like they could have been contenders, if Bergevin had not been so married to his BFF Therrien as coach, and if he had been willing to make significant moves to bolster the roster instead of dumpster diving (his 15 deadline was particularly egregious in this respect other than the Petry acquisition). However in hindsight it's difficult if not impossible to see how those Habs could ever have defeated either the Kings or Blackhawks anyway, so any Cup aspirations in those years were naught but mirages.

You could make an argument that the 07-08 team was better than the 2014 and 2015 teams.

I think the the big difference was that there was less expectation on the habs coming into the 07-08 season, but as the season wore on, you could see that the habs had something good.

Kovalev was one of the best forwards in the league that season, and it turned out to be the career peak for andrei markov. They had alot of skill on that team, but I think there was also alot of playoff inexperience, and at the end of the day, it didn't quite mix in the playoffs.

But that season, combined with gainey's aggressive moves in the summer put alot of hype on the 08-09 roster, which ultimately did nothing, but it goes to show how the 07-08 team had completely changed the perception of the franchise.