We will be as successful as Carey Price is. If he's hot, we win; if he's lukewarm, we lose.
According to most of the posters here he's been bad all season long and we are still in second place.
With the help of Budaj, too.
he did an outstanding job as a backup goalie, which is what he is, a backup goalie.
All the points he got is what makes the difference between playoffs or fighting to make them at the last minute.
All the points he got is what makes the difference between playoffs or fighting to make them at the last minute.
I love what budaj has done but, that being said, if we went into the playoffs with him carrying the load, I don't know anyone who would not be concerned.
Has price been great this year, no. He's been okay but unlike years past the team is good enough to win games where he does NOT have to be stellar. I dont believe much in the notion that players who are underpreforming are " due" but I dont think price has lost what made him a great goalie.
So I dont think our success in the playoffs is dependent on Price, but I'm pretty sure our ability to go deep is inextricably tied to him.
If he plays like he has been and we get an early exit, he will get more than his fair share of blame. If he goes white hot and the habs go deep, no one is going to remember the regular season performance ( which has not been bad or great, somewhere in between).
Keep in mind that Price's record is better than what it would be since there haven't been any games against the western conference. How would he do against a strong western conference team instead of just against the weaker eastern conference?
In my opinion, all the eastern teams have better records than they would have if crossovers games were allowed.
He's done a great job. Your posts though reminded me of the late 80s when some people started calling for Brian Hayward to get the starting gig.All the points he got is what makes the difference between playoffs or fighting to make them at the last minute.
I just wanna finish 2nd.. want nothing to do with Toronto in the first round.
Tor vs Mtl in the first round would be awesome
So there have been no east west games but you get to presume that the west is better and that the east is therefore worse ?
There are bad teams in both conferences, we will see how good the west is vs the east in the SCF. As good as some of the teams have been, a healthy pittsburg ( unlikely but possible) at the very least is a concern for both chicago or anaheim
Looks like a 401 series shaping up. It would be a rough, tough one for sure.
First series in how long for the Leafs? Toronto would come on like gangbusters. I think their fan base would demand if the Leafs don't win it, at the least a hard fought battle and draw blood.
We need three things to beat the leafs:
1)Fast-paced games: the leafs 4th line can't take a regular shift without geting burned, and we'd have homeice to boot. Gotta tire them out
2)Price to be really strong with our weakened D: he'll get a big workload he's gotta be up to it
3)Well balanced lines that spread Toronto's matchups: We need to exploit homeice and even out the TOI for stamina reasons.
so why isnt Budaj in the net every game then? he's not a #1 goalie and wouldn't have 19 win by now, but he's one of the best backup goalie out there
Glancing at the standings...we are looking at a very realistic scenario, in which montreal will face toronto in the first round.....and if we were to dump them.....we could very well face boston in round 2..that is if the rangers are the 6th seed and eliminate the caps.
Then quite posibly the rangers and blackhawks to follow that...what an original six extravaganza that would be. one can only dream.
who gives a **** who we play? gotta beat the best to move on anyway.
why is everyone terrified of the Leafs? suddenly Mclaren and Orr morph into first line players? where are the leafs so tough outside of their goons? the game will be played on special teams, speed, team D and goaltending.
Toronto's game plan: physical, physical, and even more physical play.