Post-Game Talk: Habs played better but lose to Mackinnon, Rantanen et al.

[ECWHSWI]

Of course. But I'm more expectant of that than our franchise player giving away tying goals in close games. Again, Price has mostly played on middling teams. I feel for him and he's had a great career behind them. But he's not old, he's paid a huge amount of money and he's our best player. This is where he needs to step up and bail out his team. This where the difference between him and a 5 million dollars goalie who's a middle-tier starter should be felt. It rarely is nowadays. He's not a 38 year-old goalie at the end of a considerable deal after playing up to it for 6 of the 8 years. He's at the first year of it and he's not doing what he's supposed to do, which is bail your team out more than the average starting goalie.

that's exactly what he did at the beginning of the game, he is the only reason we didnt end the 1st down by 2 or 3...

 

[Monsieur Miz]

Imagine Metropolit / Bonk / Smolinski playing top minutes with the Habs when they were here.

That's Danault right now. I was defending him but 2 goals in 35 games ... yeah, that's gonna be a not good enough for me boys.

 

[The Great Weal]

Exactly. Same with Petry.

Petry isn't going anywhere. That entire defense after Weber and Petry is AHL worthy. Bergevin isn't going to trade him. I also can't see us trading Tatar.

 

[Runner77]

I don't see what's so untouchable about Petry and Tatar. If there is a sizeable return to be had in the summer, they shouldn't be deal breakers.

 

[OldCraig71]

I predicted a 4-2 win for Montreal but it wasn't meant to be. We did have more shots though so we must have run into yet another hot goalie. I admit that I missed the game and am just stat watching here.

 

[Kimota]

So much this. We need a franchise player who is not a D or a goalie.

...although I heard there's a pretty good left D available in the draft this year. If we can get him and then Lafreniere in two years...

I don't see what's so untouchable about Petry and Tatar. If there is a sizeable return to be had in the summer, they shouldn't be deal breakers.

These are two guys that are a must if we are in the compete now championship mode. But if we are not, then yea we can trade them at a good value.

 

[The Great Weal]

I don't see what's so untouchable about Petry and Tatar. If there is a sizeable return to be had in the summer, they shouldn't be deal breakers.

I don't think anyone said that Petry or Tatar are untouchable. Nobody here knows what that kind of return they will get if we decide to trade them. I mean if all we get are meh assets in return I'd rather just keep Petry and Tatar.

You can keep Petry because besides him and Weber, the rest of the defense belongs in the AHL. You can keep Tatar because he would be the best linemate we have for Kotkaniemi once the Habs give him more ice time.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't trade these guys. I'm saying that we shouldn't rush to trade them for meh assets when we don't have anyone to replace them.

 

[Kriss E]

I can't even have this debate with you. It seems absurd to me that Domi could fall off that badly.

That badly?? You mean fall back down to his mean?? How is that ''absurd''??
Domi has 7pts in last 13gp, 3 of which came in one game. It's funny how we are supposed to think that this is just a bad strentch of 13gp...The Real Domi is the one who 15pts in 12gp....even if he never actually ended a season with more than 52pts...?
Again, what is absurd here? I think Domi is going to finsish around the 60pt mark.

 

[Kunta Kinte]

Petry is playing better than Weber. I wouldnt trade Petry, we already have so few NHL quality dman.

Habs need someone not named Shaw/Danault in their top-6.. Both are blackholes offensively.

 

[Runner77]

I don't think anyone said that Petry or Tatar are untouchable. Nobody here knows what that kind of return they will get if we decide to trade them. I mean if all we get are meh assets in return I'd rather just keep Petry and Tatar.

You can keep Petry because besides him and Weber, the rest of the defense belongs in the AHL. You can keep Tatar because he would be the best linemate we have for Kotkaniemi once the Habs give him more ice time.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't trade these guys. I'm saying that we shouldn't rush to trade them for meh assets when we don't have anyone to replace them.

That's the whole idea about Petry and Tatar -- no one is saying they should be given away. However, your position on both of these players was quite categorical:

Petry isn't going anywhere. That entire defense after Weber and Petry is AHL worthy. Bergevin isn't going to trade him. I also can't see us trading Tatar.

If you're saying that Petry "isn't going anywhere", you're making him an untouchable, otherwise, he could be going somewhere under certain conditions.

Maybe you can't see the Habs trading Tatar -- however, the Habs's depth is on the wings, so it's definitely envisageable. It's all a matter of return. And surely, nothing prevents the Habs from concurrently exploring replacements for a Petry.

The premise is to find out what they're worth and take it from there. If someone has a sizeable offer, then it behooves you to weigh all aspects -- especially with the quality of upcoming drafts.

There is no "rush" to trade anyone -- but timing as in anything else is important. I don't think Tatar is a headache in terms of replacement. Petry is more valuable, however, the organization has depth on the right side of the D and someone like Brook is close.

 

[Kriss E]

That's the whole idea about Petry and Tatar -- no one is saying they should be given away. However, your position on both of these players was quite categorical:

Petry isn't going anywhere. That entire defense after Weber and Petry is AHL worthy. Bergevin isn't going to trade him. I also can't see us trading Tatar.

If you're saying that Petry "isn't going anywhere", you're making him an untouchable, otherwise, he could be going somewhere under certain conditions.

Maybe you can't see the Habs trading Tatar -- however, the Habs's depth is on the wings, so it's definitely envisageable. It's all a matter of return. And surely, nothing prevents the Habs from concurrently exploring replacements for a Petry.

The premise is to find out what they're worth and take it from there. If someone has a sizeable offer, then it behooves you to weigh all aspects -- especially with the quality of upcoming drafts.

There is no "rush" to trade anyone -- but timing as in anything else is important. I don't think Tatar is a headache in terms of replacement. Petry is more valuable, however, the organization has depth on the right side of the D and someone like Brook is close.

I dont think Petry is going anywhere either, because Bergevin is thinking about POs. He wont trade our 2nd best D.
I expect him to stick with status quo...maybe add depth pieces..that's about it.
Only way that changes is if we see significant improvement or drop in our game.

 

[The Great Weal]

That's the whole idea about Petry and Tatar -- no one is saying they should be given away. However, your position on both of these players was quite categorical:

Petry isn't going anywhere. That entire defense after Weber and Petry is AHL worthy. Bergevin isn't going to trade him. I also can't see us trading Tatar.

If you're saying that Petry "isn't going anywhere", you're making him an untouchable, otherwise, he could be going somewhere under certain conditions.

Maybe you can't see the Habs trading Tatar -- however, the Habs's depth is on the wings, so it's definitely envisageable. It's all a matter of return. And surely, nothing prevents the Habs from concurrently exploring replacements for a Petry.

The premise is to find out what they're worth and take it from there. If someone has a sizeable offer, then it behooves you to weigh all aspects -- especially with the quality of upcoming drafts.

There is no "rush" to trade anyone -- but timing as in anything else is important. I don't think Tatar is a headache in terms of replacement. Petry is more valuable, however, the organization has depth on the right side of the D and someone like Brook is close.

Ya that's not making him untouchable. I clearly said how the defense is AHL worthy without him and Weber. The defense is the biggest issue for the habs at the moment, I cant see us trading a #2 dman when we are already very weak there. I said that I also cant see us trading Tatar. That's different than saying "we should never trade Tatar, he is untouchable". I'm expressing what I believe Bergevin will/will not do.

As for the rest, no I cant see Tatar being easily replaced. I also know for sure that replacing Petry will be very difficult unless we can get our drafting/developing straight. Until Juulsen and/or Brook show something worthwhile at the NHL level, I don't see why we have to trade Petry.

 

[Runner77]

Ya that's not making him untouchable. I clearly said how the defense is AHL worthy without him and Weber. The defense is the biggest issue for the habs at the moment, I cant see us trading a #2 dman when we are already very weak there. I said that I also cant see us trading Tatar. That's different than saying "we should never trade Tatar, he is untouchable". I'm expressing what I believe Bergevin will/will not do.

As for the rest, no I cant see Tatar being easily replaced. I also know for sure that replacing Petry will be very difficult unless we can get our drafting/developing straight. Until Juulsen and/or Brook show something worthwhile at the NHL level, I don't see why we have to trade Petry.

Depends where they assess the team to be at, in their "reset" strategy. If by "reset" they mean more of a rebuild, then all bets are off in respect of these players.

 

[beowulf]

didn't see the game but had to think Domi would cool off some as he was insanely hot. Since that 3 pt game vs the Sens he's cooled off a bit with 3 pts in the last 7 games but the goals have gone from 11 in his first 22 games to 3 in the last 13.

The Habs have been mostly a 4 man goal scoring team. Gallagher, Domi, Tatar and Drouin. They have 52 goals between them, the rest of the team has 57. Shaw could be in the mix but he seemed to have more of a hot streak with 5 in 5 games and just 4 in 25. Since the hot streak he's got 2 in the last 14 games.

As for the D, the Habs have the worst GA for any team that's currently in a playoff spot with 113 in 35 games. So it's been clear for some time that if Domi, Tatar, Drouin weren't able to keep up the scoring pace that this team would be in trouble.

The problem is that they are too good to get a high pick and the east is weak in the middle as 9 teams have between 14 - 18 wins. Then to make it worse, if they do make the playoffs they likely would only be a wild card and would likely get smoked by TB who is a powerhouse with 143 goals and a +44 diff which is almost twice that the of 2nd best team in the league.

Jackets - 18 wins 33 games
boston - 18 wins 34
NYI - 17 wins 33
Habs - 17 wins 35
Pit - 16 wins 34
NYR - 15 wins 33
Sens - 15 wins 35
Canes - 14 wins 32
Wings - 14 wins 35

You could also add Byron who has 7 goals in only 21 games so seems on pace for another 20 goal season.

 

[beowulf]

Welcome to the last 25 years

Indeed, those of us old enough to have been around for some Cups, I was 17 in 1993, the last two and a half decades have sucked.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I liked Mete's game last night. I've been hard on this young kid but that's the type of game I want to see from him game after game. Skate, skate, skate, and dish the puck to players in open space. Work on that shot too.

PP still sucks bad. No short term solutions either. We lack puck possession type players who are hard to move off the puck. Scoring is starting to dry up and other teams know our weakness which is existing our zone with possession and momentum.

Solid road game by the Habs though. We lost but it was a good rebound game after the one I don't want to talk about

 

[Tuggy]

They played ok, not great, but ok. Game could have gone either way. The effort was there at least.

We'll see what we get tonight.

 

[Tuggy]

Imagine Metropolit / Bonk / Smolinski playing top minutes with the Habs when they were here.

That's Danault right now. I was defending him but 2 goals in 35 games ... yeah, that's gonna be a not good enough for me boys.

He almost brings nothing offensively every game. He makes a nice little pass here or there but he's basically invisible 95% of the time in the offensive zone.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Hilarious that one of the first posts was about how Price needed to win is that game.

It should have been 3-0 before the Habs scored their first goal. He made two really nice saves in tight and one unbelievable save on Calvert.

 

[swimmer77]

I fear the Habs are going to lose their "Anything Can Happen in the Playoffs" playoff spot.

 

[ArtPeur]

I fear the Habs are going to lose their "Anything Can Happen in the Playoffs" playoff spot.

The Habs are not the only team who has been average, so who knows. In any way, the Habs rarely have a succesful trip before Christmas. This is the yearly slump that lasts until February or so

 

[swimmer77]

See my boy Mete looked good. Never thought he wouldn’t. They should be patient and develop him properly.

Is that code for "let's trade him because we don't need no stinkin' good, young, crowd pleasing d-men"?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Hilarious that one of the first posts was about how Price needed to win is that game.

It should have been 3-0 before the Habs scored their first goal. He made two really nice saves in tight and one unbelievable save on Calvert.

Agreed. Price made a few great saves in that first 5 minutes! He was darn good last night!

 

[beowulf]

Hilarious that one of the first posts was about how Price needed to win is that game.

It should have been 3-0 before the Habs scored their first goal. He made two really nice saves in tight and one unbelievable save on Calvert.

There will always be a group that will crap all over him no matter how good he plays during a given game. They will blame him for losses that were not his fault. Crap on him when he deserves it, and generally he is not the problem.

 

[Habs Halifax]

There will always be a group that will crap all over him no matter how good he plays during a given game. They will blame him for losses that were not his fault. Crap on him when he deserves it, and generally he is not the problem.

So true. Hero or Zero mentality.

I was thinking about this last night. I wonder how difficult our GM has in moving players sometimes (Bergevin or the next guy) vs smaller hockey market teams. Heck, even Patch was thrown under the bus and we planted the "he's not good enough" seed of doubt across the league. Not saying we need to move Price but our fan base is very passionate and we do then to jump on players more than most teams fan base.

If you are another GM and you don't really know about our players, No need to talk to your scouts. All you need to do is come to the Habs HF boards and you will find out very quick! lol.