Post-Game Talk: Habs @ Sens

[Minister of Offence]

IMO Cowen's problem is his confidence. He just panics every time he is expected to do something and doesn't know what to do. You would think it has to go away with experience but not much has changed since his injury.
I feel like he is a victim of his quick start in NHL and should've played 1-2 more years in AHL.

There is a lot of overreacting about his game these days. He was fine tonight.

And confidence takes more then two games to build back up to where he was a couple years ago.

Keep saying it, but wait until the games matter and things settle in for better or worse

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Anybody have a video of the scrums? I missed the second half of the game tonight

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Anybody have a video of the scrums? I missed the second half of the game tonight

 

[Caeldan]

Just a friendly reminder to not post inflammatory (or potentially) inflammatory comments in other team boards.

 

[Vaclav Varada]

Just a friendly reminder to not post inflammatory (or potentially) inflammatory comments in other team boards.

Gotta get a louder dinner bell to get all the kids home for dinner.

 

[SenatorArmy*]

I hope Galchenyuk is alright. Guess he'll need a Galcheck-up

 

[Chacal667]

I hope Galchenyuk is alright. Guess he'll need a Galcheck-up

he's alright, they said after the game that he isnt injured

good game, btw

 

[General Zodd]

Nice to beat the ****ing Habnots tonight even though it was only exhibition! What a bunch of ******g *******s panzies! Thanks boys!!!

 

[SenatorArmy*]

i can't believe the conversation going on in the habs PGT...you would think Neil & Boro murdered Pacioretty & Subban in cold blood. Somehow we sent our "goons" out to take out their star players. Saying the NHL needs to do something about this sort of stuff. And now they want to target Karlsson. Not one of them seeming to acknowledge that Pacioretty & Subban instigated the whole fiasco

 

[Fandlauer]

They're just pissed their soft group of traveling midgets was exposed again. I love going on their PGT though. The amount of whining is absolute gold.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Every fanbase has these type of fans. Even the Habs have these type of fans. I wouldn't take it personality and hopefully you don't generalize the whole sens fanbase based off just a couple of sens fans.

Having said that, i hope Galchenyuk is okay. Injuries suck.

Da heck do we care? 90% of their fan base are trolls yo.

 

[EssendonBombers]

Phillips is still awful. Terrible play on the Galchenyuk goal and a horrible turnover for the Pacioretty one. I hope they don't hesitate to put him in the press box if he is constantly responsible for goals against again this season.

 

[SenatorArmy*]

Phillips is so awful we could replace him with a Phillips head screwdriver & actually get better results.

 

[krapsik]

Phillips is still awful. Terrible play on the Galchenyuk goal and a horrible turnover for the Pacioretty one. I hope they don't hesitate to put him in the press box if he is constantly responsible for goals against again this season.

Get over it. Karlsson has at list two bad turnovers too.

Chiasson is clear steel in Spezza deal. Guy is a player. And Ottawa makes second best UFA signing in a row. Legwand is exatlty what this team needed (still hope for #4D before season starts). Best of all our PP looks much more dangerous with this two players.
Little bit dissapointed with Zibby.
That 2 minutes for Karlsson in a third was clearly "2 minutes for being AWESOME"

 

[Icelevel]

I wouldn't get too cocky over this one. Nice to get the win. But not much of a challenge. No offence to Habs. it is preseason. Probably would have lost if this was against another team.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Does anyone remember if his hockey sense was questioned going into the draft? My guess is that his physical ability (gigantic d-man that can skate) blinded everyone to his dumbness.

He will never be consistent, because he has to try very hard to make the fundamentally correct play. My hope is that Murray recognizes this an unloads him with a prospect for something of value.

I think anyone questioning his smarts, or wanting him to be traded is ridiculous. Cowen was a + 1 tonight and played a hell of a lot of PK time. He is 23 years old... Methot was thought to be a dud up until 2 season ago, then all of the sudden team Canada is watching him, etc, etc, etc. Trading Cowen would be a huge mistake.

 

[DylanSensFan]

It's because people are beating the wrong horse... Cowen's problem is not hockey sense but decision making... You can't think too much out there. I know I have read many times that he is literally dumb (joke's on them then), but the problem is that he thinks too much. He needs to let his instincts dictate his play, but to feel that confidence you need to acclimate to the NHL. Must pretty damn hard to play in that league, even if you're really good.

In time, it will come:

 

[Icelevel]

Phillips showing why you just can't put the C on his sweater.

 

[Dysentery]

Good god, I thought I was bad with my homerism..that habs post game thread is on another level!!

Hoping the league will intervene, over a scrum with some roughing minors. What??

Saying we have the refs in our pockets...say what??

Man I think we short circuited the whole Habs organization/fanbase again.

Did Neil or Boro even land a punch?? Lol

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Only ore season but I can't help but think this one set the stage for our approach all year:

1. Capitalize on brutal PK penalties;
2. Capitalize on their powder Puff soffness;
3. Profit.

 

[The King of Town]

The funny bit is that Pacioretty is bigger than Neil. He can handle himself.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Habs are a team that like to counter punch. They like to have 1-2 forwards cheating up the ice and going deep for a quick transition. But, in doing that they leave a large gap in coverage. That's easy pickings for a team that can handle the puck well or a team that is aggressive on the dump and chase. If Montreal keeps playing this system, it will bite them in the butt as it won't take teams long to counter them.

The only thing that keeps them in it is the refs falling for their cheap tricks and dives.


As for Cowen, I haven't lost hope for the kid, but I don't think his ceiling is as a first pairing guy. What he needs to do is keep his game as simple as possible. Keep the front of the net clear, keep close with the guy on your half of the ice, and when you get the puck, chip it up the boards - do the safest play with the puck. He gets into trouble when he tries to act like Karlsson breaking out of the zone. Just keep it simple.


And since we won game 1, I fully expect the Sens to get at least a dozen penalties tonight. Won't be pretty as the Habs will be chippy and pretty much getting away with everything.

 

[NyQuil]

I wouldn't get too cocky over this one. Nice to get the win. But not much of a challenge. No offence to Habs. it is preseason. Probably would have lost if this was against another team.

Exactly.

That's why the amount of vitriol is so bizarre. Over and over again, "the Sens are irrelevant, they don't matter" and then paroxysms of rage. It's like their trying to convince themselves or something.

Just relax Habs fans, it's just pre-season. There's a decent chance that they'll win the next one.

Considering how many regulars were out there for both teams, it's clear that there's still a lot of work in getting some of that rust off.

Both Lehner and Budaj let in softies.

A lot of passes thrown right up the middle of the ice.

 

[SlapJack]

My post game thoughts:

Galchenyuk is really good, glad he's ok. Beaulieu is going to be a good player for the Habs also.

Subban needs to smarten up. He's getting $9M/yr and is bouncing his knuckles off the top of a minimum wage defenceman's head in pre-season.

Lazar was pretty good, but he hasn't shown that beat a player off the roster type of play yet. He's good enough for the NHL, but ultimately I see him going down to junior. Has been impressive on the dot though, and that might be something to consider.

Legwand was a great pickup.

This line scares me defensively, but Ryan/Zibanejad/Chiasson could do some damage physically and on the scoreboard. And Chiasson delivered what I hoped he would when they picked him up - potting a goal on the rebound during the PP. If that becomes a consistent story this year, the loss of Spezza will be completely negated. That's not even hyperbole.

Hoffman was flying.

Turris is better than Plekanec. And not just becauseof the lack of a turtleneck.

Condra played like he's fighting for a job. He's still a very good defensive forward and we'll see how the lineup will be shaped soon enough. Is he an extra forward?

This will likely be the typical type of game we're going to see this year. Tight results and limited even strength scoring. Penalty killing was very good tonight and 3 PP goals is impressive. Too many PP's both ways though, no flow to the game.

Did anyone see if Pacioretty did anything to piss off Neil? Seemed to happen off camera, I never saw what started that.

 

[NyQuil]

I
The tears of Habs fans give me sustenance.

Clearly they don't care.

I can sense their disinterest through my monitor as they spend pages and pages slagging everything there is about Ottawa, its team, its fans and the city itself.