Pre-Game Talk: Habs vs Philly

[hototogisu]

He try to bring back to momentum on our side with that fight.

He did it, because he knew that he was the only one willing to do it on our team. That's sad.

I agree that his intentions were honorable, I just question if it was the smart thing to do, especially if he was already nursing an injury.

At this point I just want to get to the playoffs with a healthy lineup. I don't care about moral victories vs. Toronto.

 

[BernieParent]

Best of luck tonight (which is code for "please win so the Flyers can improve the draft order"). Despite the disparity in the standings, Flyers-Canadiens match-ups are typically entertaining.

 

[HABSonaroll]

Brayden Schenn, another small dude who thinks he's so tough. Still hasn't learned his lesson from getting concussed by Kovalchuk. I hope we rub him out good today.

X2 Like Kadri running around with those Bigger guys back there - Thinks he's Marchant now

 

[Teufelsdreck]

100% disagree. The degree to which they are shaken up would be the question. A few changes could completely spark the team and maximize the use of our assets. And what better time to do it than a statement game after a big loss against a weak opponent. If it fails, at least we see which different arrangements don't work. We go back to the old thing next game. If it seems to work better, continue with the new roster. A non-top heavy team like Montreal has to be open to new alignments because without an elite forward we're more susceptible to cold streaks. Guys like DD, Gionta, Pacioretty and Bourque need to find their game and we can't be afraid to make changes, especially when it's clear things aren't working.

Finishing second in the East is worlds better than finishing fourth or fifth. The Habs have a one point lead over the Bruins and can't afford to lose a single game against non-playoff teams. Do you want them to start new line combinations in tonight's game and risk being scored upon early? Wouldn't you settle for in-game adjustments if need be?

 

[Habssince89]

Finishing second in the East is worlds better than finishing fourth or fifth. The Habs have a one point lead over the Bruins and can't afford to lose a single game against non-playoff teams. Do you want them to start new line combinations in tonight's game and risk being scored upon early? Wouldn't you settle for in-game adjustments if need be?

Id be okay with preparing a second roster alignment and trying it at the right time in game. I get what you're saying about keeping 2nd, but IMO it's pretty clear the effectiveness and chemistry in the current lines are wearing thin. Maybe tonight will help them sort it out and get back on track.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

X2 Like Kadri running around with those Bigger guys back there - Thinks he's Marchant now

Todd Marchant is retired.

(But I know you meant Marchand. )

 

[CrAzYNiNe]

Prust has no choice to fight since Moen not doing nothing and that White as been castrated..

not doing nothing means he does something.

Math, the more you know

double negatives, remember those?

Anyways, it's hockey, impossible to have a full healthy roster. It's the habs, impossible to expect every player to play up to your fictional belief of who they should be.

Oh well, a little under 5 hours before puck drop.

 

[Habssince89]

So should we expect Diaz back next game or the game after?

When he's back I suppose Beaulieu goes down and we'll have:

Markov-Subban
Gorges-Diaz
Boullion-Drewiske

Obviously we're missing grit but Diaz will be such a huge boost. I'm hoping that against the Flyers we see some guys step up and show they can play with/against grit. I don't care if they fight or not, but White and Moen have to put some energy into the lineup tonight. It's their role and they need to prove they can play it. I'm very disappointed in Moen. He seems to have lost his intensity. I'm reserving my judgement til the playoffs, but he needs to start showing his old self. White has been good the last few games he's played, I hope he pushes hard to a roster spot tonight.

 

[sandysan]

Prust had no choice but to fight. It pissed me off.

Blame Bergevin, for not bringing help for Prust and Moen-White for being softies.

Prust is fine middleweight, but moen spins more than a washing machine and white had been told that if he plays the way he has and takes a bad penalty he's going to sit.

We need someone other than prust and boullion aint it. you have to give the green light to white but he is likely going to be outmatched against philly. If white drops them and is in the box, a lot of our team becomes imminently exploitable. its nice to know that we need someone else who can throw but with the trade deadline already passed, that ship has sailed.

 

[bud12]

That's exactly why if I'm Ryan White tonight, I run everywhere after Ronaldo until he gets it. The punishment is over, now we need the old nasty Ryan White back. On wednesday I hope we see a 4th line of Prust-Halpern-White.

Rinaldo is injured.

 

[habtastic]

Just an interesting thought (despite how it may have affected Prust's shoulder):

Boullion kicked Ott's ass

Prust gave Mclarent a decent beatdown

Impressive...most impressive.

Also, don't you think it was the hit on Prust (was it franson?) in the leafs zone behind their net that hurt hit shoulder? Maybe it was already sensitive after the fight, but it was definitely the hit where he went to the bench in pain. Also, it was the OTHER shoulder, not the one he injured going into the boards. So actually he keeps rotating which shoulder is injured. Can we get this guy some bionics?


I would love to see Eller fight Kadri (Eller would mess him up) or actually Gallagher even more (I've hear Gally is a decent scrapper).

Tonight, let's just go with the clean, surgical win. Shutdown "G" and Simmonds and get some freaking goals M. Pacioretty. They are trying to tank. Do them a favour.

Man I hope Diaz is back, but I highly doubt he plays tonight.

Make no mistake, 2nd is very important. We can't be toying with stuff right now. Even if we go on a tear, it will be a huge fail by Boston if they don't overtake us with their sched. They're playing Ott tonight. Decent chance for us to pull 3 pts ahead if Anderson shuts the door. After that...well we better frigging win tonight.

 

[Haburger]

finishing high in the standings is as overrated as the you need fighters to win idea.whether we face the isles ,rangers,leafs etc dont matter.a 7 th or 8th seed can easily take down a top seed.last year proved that .teams who gel and get huge tending will go far.

 

[Alexdaman]

finishing high in the standings is as overrated as the you need fighters to win idea.whether we face the isles ,rangers,leafs etc dont matter.a 7 th or 8th seed can easily take down a top seed.last year proved that .teams who gel and get huge tending will go far.

Not true, Boston finished top of the NE when they won the cup in 2011, Chicago won CEN in 2010, Pittsburgh finished 4th in 2009, Detroit 1st in the NHL in 2008, Anaheim won PAC in 2007, Carolina won SE in 2006... An overwhelming majority of stanley cup winners had won their division in the regular season. It's pretty rare to see teams do what LA did last year, if we don't perform good in the next 7 games and we end up 4th or 5th it does hurt our chances to win.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

finishing high in the standings is as overrated as the you need fighters to win idea.whether we face the isles ,rangers,leafs etc dont matter.a 7 th or 8th seed can easily take down a top seed.last year proved that .teams who gel and get huge tending will go far.

Actually it does help quite a bit. If we win the division we will have good chances of seeing some of the more dangerous teams eliminate and hurt themselves. The later we have to play the top teams, the better. The 7th or 8th seeds fight a uphill battle every series they play, we saw that the year we went to the conference finals. They can only go so far before succumbing to fatigue.

To win the cup a team needs to have some easier series, bringing it to 7th game OT every time is tiring and plays with fire.

 

[Analyzer*]

Best of luck tonight (which is code for "please win so the Flyers can improve the draft order"). Despite the disparity in the standings, Flyers-Canadiens match-ups are typically entertaining.

Nah, we're gonna lose probably.

I'd really like a win to help improve our chances of finishing 2nd, though.

 

[Gamimenos]

I like Price but I hope Budaj starts.

Send him a message that he has to wake up and start playing better.

Pulling him in the first period didn't do that?

 

[le_sean]

I would love to see Eller fight Kadri (Eller would mess him up)

Really? Eller looked hopeless against Giroux. I highly doubt he could "mess" Kadri up. I do, however, believe Gallagher would give Nazem a good go.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

Really? Eller looked hopeless against Giroux. I highly doubt he could "mess" Kadri up. I do, however, believe Gallagher would give Nazem a good go.

Even Giroux who's a pretty good fighter looked lost in that fight, it was just awkward from the beggining. Kadri's not the fighter himself, so I don't know what you're talking about. Plus Eller has about 42 pounds on him.

 

[le_sean]

Even Giroux who's a pretty good fighter looked lost in that fight, it was just awkward from the beggining. Kadri's not the fighter himself, so I don't know what you're talking about. Plus Eller has about 42 pounds on him.

Don't know why you bring size into your argument since Kadri is the same size as Giroux...

 

[poetryinmotion]

I have very low expectations for this game. Which means they will probably win.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

Don't know why you bring size into your argument since Kadri is the same size as Giroux...

Giroux is a good fighter, has proven it in the past. Kadri has proven nothing, anyway why are we talking about this? Who cares?

 

[SB164]

I know it says Habs vs Philly but the game's at the Bell Centre by the way.

 

[JayKing]

Play Budaj.

Price needs a solid few days of heavy practice.

Nah. Price probably should play all but the last game of the season to get his confidence back. Last thing we want is an unmotivated Price or something along those lines coming into the playoffs. Budaj has been great for us, no doubt, but now it's really Price's turn to shine.

 

[bud12]

Giroux is a good fighter, has proven it in the past. Kadri has proven nothing, anyway why are we talking about this? Who cares?

??????????

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

??????????

Please, for his size Giroux is tough as nails. Even fighting Nick Foligno once, he has fought a couple of times in the NHL now.