Hockeybuzz - Habs won't make the PO

[Habs 4 Life]

Glad to hear, thanks hockeybuzz, I won't waste my time watching this season!!!

 

[RealityBytes]

'the loss of Gerrard Gallant' - Eklund

Let me just... LMAO

That guy responsible for the PP, the guy that wasn't able to adapt from the predictable Markov to Subban one-timer to playmaking down low with DD / Pac / Gallagher ? Yes that coach is supposedly such a genius that now we're doomed without him... And apparently when something stops working because the other teams are countering, you try doing the same again and again and again, and the you get promoted head coach. That's coaching 101 !!!1

Well, let me just ask something ? Are those guys from the TO area ?

Eklund is the main writer and founder of Hockeybuzz.com.

There has been much written about Eklund on the internet. Eklund is an anonymous pseudonym. He exploded onto the hockey scene during the NHL lockout when he created a blog at www.hockeyrumors.blogspot.com which was considered one of the prime sources for insider news and rumors regarding the ongoing labor negotiations.

More details are at: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/faq.php

 

[Devourers]

If they're as accurate about this as they are everything else, we're 99.9% going to make it

 

[Frozenice]

My guess would be we have a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 chance of not making the playoffs.

Things happen, my main concern is the team isn't as sharp as other teams entering the start of the year and we end up having a mediocre 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 first 10 games of the season and we're a couple of points out of a playoff spot. If that happens we'll probably find we really miss Gorges and Gionta veteran's presence, especially if the players have a team meeting and vote MT off the island. My biggest concern would be the interaction between MT and the players because sometimes MT can do questionable things (putting it mildly).

 

[JayKing]

Smells like October

 

[NobleSix]

lol the same garbage every single year.

 

[Burke the Legend]

I think Boston falls back into the pack. Between Chara getting older, loss of Iginla, and probably Rask coming down a bit from Vezina season, they won't be running away with division so easy.

Tampa has bigger question marks than Montreal, leaning on lots of young guys without much NHL time who were great last season, could have an uneven season this year. Bishop included, who they leaned heavily on.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

Comparing the pundit predictions with reality I'm certain the Habs must be a top5 underrated team in the last 10 years. Maybe even the most underrated.

Has there been a year when we've been put in the playoffs? The only year we were highly rated was the centennial season... The only other year were the team performed clearly under expectation was the disaster 27th finish season.

With the East as weak as it is the Habs can easily finish top4 in the conference.

 

[That Habs Fan]

Well if some guy in a striped tshirt sitting in front of a shower curtain bearing all the NHL logos says it, it must be true.

Subban is going to be better than ever, these guys are clowns.

 

[FerrisRox]

I cannot believe a prediction from this clown would actually warrant its own thread.

Does anybody respect or care about Eklund's opinion?

 

[That Habs Fan]

Beaulieu, Tinordi and Galchenyuk getting icetime over...Gionta, Bouillon and I dunno, Murray? Are pointed to as bad things...hahahah

 

[HTTP 400]

When you look at teams on paper, it's really hard to predict who will be in and who will be out.

Despite not having an amazing team on paper, Montreal have shown last 2 seasons that hockey is actually played on the ice. Criticize Bergevin and Therrien all you want, they still achieve to make this team special. The whole is still greater than the sum of its parts.

And I actually think this year's team is built in a better way than last year. No more "I-dont-fit-anywhere Brière" and no more 5-left-dmen-crew.

Only problem : no right-handed center.

 

[Habsawce]

Price gets his leg cut by Markov's skate on a freak play and gets run over by Kreider blowing out his knee. Yeah, such an injury prone player haha. "He's one of the best goalies ..... when he's there" He's barely missed any time and has played through injuries others wouldn't have.

What a joke.

 

[madhi19]

Typical click bait from Eklund. You might as well read the bleacher report. lolll

 

[Wats]

To be fair, before acquiring Vanek Habs were painfully mediocre. After that 10 game hot streak in November they had an under .500 winning% for next 30+ games. Vanek helped push the Habs' record to something much more respectable.

The hope is of course PAP has the same impact as Vanek (who wasn't exactly a world beater with the Habs) while Briere's forgettable tenure is replace by a combination of improving youth/Eller and Sekac.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

How to direct traffic to your site 101...

 

[Alexdaman]

Lets all take it to this guy when we clinch the atlantic division at the end of the year... Sorry im drunk.

 

[StayFrosty]

I think it's a fairly big joke to say the Habs won't make the playoffs. They got a better chance than many teams. I do think there's a couple holes to fill if they can realistically contend for a Cup.

LOL, I actually have a friend who thinks the Habs are about to collapse like the Oilers did after the 06 Final.

 

[CGG]

Price gets his leg cut by Markov's skate on a freak play and gets run over by Kreider blowing out his knee. Yeah, such an injury prone player haha. "He's one of the best goalies ..... when he's there" He's barely missed any time and has played through injuries others wouldn't have.

What a joke.

I can't believe Eklund is using that as some kind of reason for Montreal to miss the playoffs.

2013-14 Price was 9th in games played (not including the Olympics)
2012-13 Price was 10th in games played
2011-12 Price was 10th in games played

And if Montreal is going to miss the playoffs, presumably Boston, Tampa, Detroit and one of Ottawa-Toronto all have to finish in front of them. (Sorry, Buffalo and Florida). The "Price gets injured" excuse is hilarious, specifically compared to those other teams. Let's take a look back at last season:

Tampa - Bishop's first season as a starter ended by injury.
Detroit - Howard missed at least 13 games from 4 separate injuries
Toronto - Bernier suffers an injury late in his first season as a starter, Leafs promptly go into the toilet.
Ottawa - Anderson aged 10 years overnight, lost all his talent, and missed a bunch of games from injuries too.

I'll take Price and his "injury" track record over any of these teams thank you very much.

 

[MasterDecoy]

Price gets his leg cut by Markov's skate on a freak play and gets run over by Kreider blowing out his knee. Yeah, such an injury prone player haha. "He's one of the best goalies ..... when he's there" He's barely missed any time and has played through injuries others wouldn't have.

What a joke.

Wait, he actually said that???

What a ****ing ass clown

 

[Joe Cole]

I think Tampa wins the division with Boston in second. Not sure where the Habs finish.

Not picking on you here, but Tampa is commonly touted as the division top dog everywhere, TSN, RDS, etc.

I want to see 10 games before I give them that spot. They are still the same team in my eyes. Sure they get Stamkos back, but they still that that D and that goaltender. Plus, I think the subtraction of Teddy Purcell takes a scoring threat off the team.

Does that make them #1?

 

[FerrisRox]

Not picking on you here, but Tampa is commonly touted as the division top dog everywhere, TSN, RDS, etc.

I want to see 10 games before I give them that spot. They are still the same team in my eyes. Sure they get Stamkos back, but they still that that D and that goaltender. Plus, I think the subtraction of Teddy Purcell takes a scoring threat off the team.

Does that make them #1?

Well, they don't still have that D, they made two pick-ups in the off-season to bolster their D bringing in Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison. And I'm not sure what you mean by "that goaltender." Do you mean Ben Bishop, who was nominated for the Vezina?

As for Purcell taking away a scoring threat ... doesn't adding Joanthan Drouin add a scoring threat? Who do you think will have more points this season, Drouin or Purcell?

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

To be fair, before acquiring Vanek Habs were painfully mediocre. After that 10 game hot streak in November they had an under .500 winning% for next 30+ games. Vanek helped push the Habs' record to something much more respectable.

The hope is of course PAP has the same impact as Vanek (who wasn't exactly a world beater with the Habs) while Briere's forgettable tenure is replace by a combination of improving youth/Eller and Sekac.

Price's remarkable play leading to the playoffs is probably THE main reason why this team started climbing up that standings. Let's get real here. Vanek had an impact, but his first few games with Plekanec weren't successful.

 

[Hannibal]

I won't make my predictions right now, but i won't be suprised if we miss playoffs and MB won't be suprised either.

As MB said in his PC this summer, with the roster changed he made this summer, he wanted to make more room for younger players. A journalist asked him if he was willing to take a step back next year and make 2 steps forward the year after. His answer was: Yes.

So, hockeybuzz has every reason to put us out of playoffs as anybody who thinks we will be in.

50/50

 

[Price is Wright]

Tampa will be top three in the Atlantic if everyone progresses and Ben Bishop doesn't have a Craig Anderson style fall to earth. We know this story.