Speculation: Let's face the truth, this is not a good team.

[Sorinth]

Oh come on and show Parros some love.....but I do agree with you about Murray.

A big majority complain when the habs get beat up so we went and got Parros to make them happy. If you thinking fighting between 2 goons is stupid I agree.......But the view from the hockey management and a lot of fans is very different.
And all polls show that is not going to change soon. So if we got to fight I want someone that can do the job and Parros does that as good as any other goon.

But I am sure you will disagree with me...........NO?

We are second in the league in fights this season, take away Parros' 4 fights and we are still top-5 in total fights.

 

[19VJ17]

It's not my fault you're so stubborn and are deadset on being wrong all the time

funny I was starting to think the same about you....But I would never say that

No... really your opinion does not bother me......you have said things in the past that I agree with you on.

But today is not one of them

Keep up your great post

 

[Joe Cole]

Every season, 29 teams do not win the Stanley Cup.

Does that make them all losers?

The Habs are not a top 5 team in the league, but they are pretty good. They do not get blown out and often are pretty entertaining. They are not stocked with 6'5" 230lb'ers, but they do pretty good.

As much as you would like it to be, not every person on earth is a perfect snow flake. Not every team you root for is going to be beyond reproach.

They are a good team, they are headed in a good direction. Enjoy.

 

[HCH]

Parros has, and will continue to be awful. Just like Murray. When prust and moen get back, I ****ing hope he's locked up in the pressbox.

I cringed when both of them were signed but my optimism got the best of me... for a while. I am cringing once again. The flaws on this team are becoming more apparent as the year wears on... and one of them stands behind the players bench.

 

[LeMAD]

Good offense (especially the special teams), good goaltender, but defense is definitively a problem. And the problem is not Bouillion, Diaz or Murray individually, but the fact they are all in the lineup at the same time.

But then again are we ready to give up a part of our future to get a veteran top-4 dman, to get an outside chance at the cup?

Imo, no need to panic. We won't win the cup this year, but trading our youth or tanking would be Pejorative Slured. The team is going in the right direction, and all we can ask.

Oh and btw, we tend to overrate every top teams. Even the best teams have a bunch of flaws they have to deal with.

Every season, 29 teams do not win the Stanley Cup.

That's something we all forget too easilly. The 24 cups are in the past. We are like every other team now.

 

[TennisMenace]

You guys can see it? This team is small, lacking depth and more fockus on blocking shots. No forward with talent can trow decent check(well almost) and they all play with one hand on their sticks...what is this 5 dman squat?
There no denying that this team has guts but no way management can say this team is hard to play vs. I'm getting so tired at looking at the other team circling in our zone with our player trying to only poke check the puck or getting in the shooting lane. Our Dman are trying the bomb passes all the time and its taking all our speed in the neutral zone. They are always one step awaay from the puck and can't make an accurate chip to the forward with speed...to short but mostly always way to long. Spending 2 minute in ot in your zone controlling the puck is not gonna win you many games, they couldn't even past the blue line...wow. Now our best Daman is in a fluke, our young guns are cold and our vets are just to busy pleasing the coach.
After tonight if I'm the GM, I'm worried. It's not the losses that worries me but the way we did lose. No excuses with the injuries has I can remember the Pens winning without there top player, same with Colorado in the early days.

PS:With a small team, we go out and signed Briere? Ok fine but why keep Gionta, DD, Bouillon and get AHL vet like St-Pierre? Ok with Parros but he's a 13th forward at best.

I completely agree with your analysis. I wish you had some power running our team because the guys running it aren't nearly as astute.

 

[waffledave]

Before the start of the season, I said this team was not very good. I was laughed at, told I was crazy...I was told that a team which finished 2nd the east in a shortened season (and subsequently demolished in the playoffs) could not possibly be bad and that we would obviously be even BETTER this year!

Well, here we are, an inconsistent team that has trouble scoring and a piss poor d-corps. To top it off we have a brutal coach, brutal specialty coaches and no team identity.

Are we a fast team? A skilled team? A tough team? A fighting team? A scoring team? A puck moving team? A defensive team?

I have no idea. I'm not able to say what this team's identity truly is. We aren't really good at any of that stuff.

 

[Hackett]

Before the start of the season, I said this team was not very good. I was laughed at, told I was crazy...I was told that a team which finished 2nd the east in a shortened season (and subsequently demolished in the playoffs) could not possibly be bad and that we would obviously be even BETTER this year!

Well, here we are, an inconsistent team that has trouble scoring and a piss poor d-corps. To top it off we have a brutal coach, brutal specialty coaches and no team identity.

Are we a fast team? A skilled team? A tough team? A fighting team? A scoring team? A puck moving team? A defensive team?

I have no idea. I'm not able to say what this team's identity truly is. We aren't really good at any of that stuff.

Brutal is a little harsh. I thought this was a middle of the pack team that the will fight for 4th/5th.... Playoffs a possibility

I remain with that stance. If anyone went into the season expecting utter domination, they were bound to be disappointed. No team is going to be caught with their pants down against Montreal this year. They had more respect going into this year than they did last year, and with more respect comes tougher opposition.

They have been par for the course as far as I'm concerned

 

[Monctonscout]

Good offense (especially the special teams), good goaltender, but defense is definitively a problem. And the problem is not Bouillion, Diaz or Murray individually, but the fact they are all in the lineup at the same time.

Once Emelin is healthy, Murray and Bouillon won't both be in the lineup unless they dress 7 d-men. there A LOT of worst players than Bouillon as regulars in the NHL, as long as he is a #5-6 he's more than adequate.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

That's something we all forget too easilly. The 24 cups are in the past. We are like every other team now.

Very true.

We can't just blow up the team and hope the dice rolls us a dynasty team the next time. We need to do what we have, which is an average team with some intriguing players and hope for the best trying to enhance that team bit by bit.

Just one or two more players could make the difference, that and/or some of our young guns breaking out. Or currently not-so-high rated prospects becoming stars.

Its usually how teams end up winning the cup. While winning a ''massive steal!'' spectacular huge trade is awesome its unlikely its going to us and even if it does, it doesn't guarantee a cup win.

Once Emelin is healthy, Murray and Bouillon won't both be in the lineup unless they dress 7 d-men. there A LOT of worst players than Bouillon as regulars in the NHL, as long as he is a #5-6 he's more than adequate.

Bouillon is indeed a decent bottom pairing defensemen. I have no problems with him as long as he doesn't get a second of powerplay time. Hopefully Therrien at least tries Emelin on the PP, his offensive game is underrated.

 

[Analyzer*]

Missing key pieces since the start of the season... Yeah.

We're not contenders, but we're not terrible.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

Missing key pieces since the start of the season... Yeah.

We're not contenders, but we're not terrible.

I think we could surprise in the playoff if the team acquires some help at the deadline. Not necessarily superstars, but 1 or 2 players that can fit in.

Unlike previous years I think we at least have some star power now, with Subban, Price and Galchenyuk supported by a bunch of more than decent core players like Eller, Plekanec, Pacioretty, Markov, Prust, ect. We need to build around that and that group could contend. Its much easier to enhance a core than to build it (which imho is when you need to acquire rarities like top2 defensemen, top centermen and franchise goalies, these are things we fortunately have).

 

[Video Coach]

I agree with the op, we could definitely make the playoffs and MIGHT be able to surprise and last a few rounds in the playoffs but we're not a contender. This team is not a lot better right now then it was a few years ago.

But there's a young core coming that's far better than our core from the 2000's. The next 3-5 years will be about finding players to fill roles, either internally through draft and development, or externally through trade and FA.

Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
x - Eller - x
Bournival - Plekanec - x
Prust - White - x

x - Subban
Emelin - x
Gorges -

Price
x

Lots of holes, but the next 3-5 years will tell us how good of a GM MB is.

 

[hockeyman57]

You guys can see it? This team is small, lacking depth and more fockus on blocking shots. No forward with talent can trow decent check(well almost) and they all play with one hand on their sticks...what is this 5 dman squat?
There no denying that this team has guts but no way management can say this team is hard to play vs. I'm getting so tired at looking at the other team circling in our zone with our player trying to only poke check the puck or getting in the shooting lane. Our Dman are trying the bomb passes all the time and its taking all our speed in the neutral zone. They are always one step awaay from the puck and can't make an accurate chip to the forward with speed...to short but mostly always way to long. Spending 2 minute in ot in your zone controlling the puck is not gonna win you many games, they couldn't even past the blue line...wow. Now our best Daman is in a fluke, our young guns are cold and our vets are just to busy pleasing the coach.
After tonight if I'm the GM, I'm worried. It's not the losses that worries me but the way we did lose. No excuses with the injuries has I can remember the Pens winning without there top player, same with Colorado in the early days.

PS:With a small team, we go out and signed Briere? Ok fine but why keep Gionta, DD, Bouillon and get AHL vet like St-Pierre? Ok with Parros but he's a 13th forward at best.

i agree we are pitiful to watch against teams like st.l col and sj we should trade vets like markov, gionta, plekanec,while their value is higher than dd, remember every year at trade deadline a player has a no trade clause but lifts it when he knows he's not wanted anymore

 

[Gamimenos]

"We have injuries" has been a non-stop excuse in Habsistan since 2008-09. We're always blaming our ineffectiveness on injuries to Streit, Koivu, Latendresse, Higgins, Tanguay, Lang, Markov, Kostitsyn, Spacek, Gorges, Markov,Kostitsyn, Pacioretty, Markov, Cammalleri, Gionta, Bourque, Eller, Pacioretty, Emelin, Prust, Moen, Briere... in approximately that order.

Now we are missing Emelin, Briere, Prust, and Moen. It's par for the course and really nothing unusual for Habsistan. It's actually not that bad.

To add to this, when I hear about how "good" a team is, I consider their ability to continue a successful performance through player injuries as part of that criteria. If we can't do that, then we are not a good team yet.

 

[Bieber fever]

people are little bit unfair with Parros . He's not a very good hockey player but MT is freaking exposing him.Of course if he's matched agaisnt the first line with the murray and boullion at Dvhe will look bad

 

[billy piton]

We are only few pieces away from being contender.

A solid goalie, great top 4 (when emelin returns) and diaz would be one of the best #5 in the league. We don't have a superstar forward, but there is a solid depth up front. If bergevin brought legitimate top 6 winger and fourth line center instead o wasting 7.5m on dd and briere, we would've been already there.

Let's say:

pacioretty galchenyuk gallagher
bournival plekanec gionta
bourque eller horton
prust gordon moen

markov subban
emelin gorges
murray diaz

price
budaj

easily contender, imo.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

i agree we are pitiful to watch against teams like st.l col and sj we should trade vets like markov, gionta, plekanec,while their value is higher than dd, remember every year at trade deadline a player has a no trade clause but lifts it when he knows he's not wanted anymore

So we had three bad games, therefore we should trade all our veterans. Lol what are they waiting for to make you the GM?

 

[sharks9]

I disagree, this is a good team who lost a few games in a row to some of the hottest teams in the league while missing several important players from our team.

 

[otto bond]

We are only few pieces away from being contender.

A solid goalie, great top 4 (when emelin returns) and diaz would be one of the best #5 in the league. We don't have a superstar forward, but there is a solid depth up front. If bergevin brought legitimate top 6 winger and fourth line center instead o wasting 7.5m on dd and briere, we would've been already there.

Let's say:

pacioretty galchenyuk gallagher
bournival plekanec gionta
bourque eller horton
prust gordon moen

markov subban
emelin gorges
murray diaz

price
budaj

easily contender, imo.

I think not. I love Galchenyuk but in no way he's ready to play center on the first line. That Dcore is ok but for me Gorges should be on the 3rd pairing moving eater Diaz or Murray out. Gordon is a nice addition and Horton on the 3rd line?Also I;m not sure if we make the cap.IMO, we need a stud center and another top 4 D.

So we had three bad games, therefore we should trade all our veterans. Lol what are they waiting for to make you the GM?

Lose 3 game is one thing but getting dominated down low all season aside from the first 3-4 games is something that scares me.

 

[LePoche69]

Before the start of the season, I said this team was not very good. I was laughed at, told I was crazy...I was told that a team which finished 2nd the east in a shortened season (and subsequently demolished in the playoffs) could not possibly be bad and that we would obviously be even BETTER this year!

Well, here we are, an inconsistent team that has trouble scoring and a piss poor d-corps. To top it off we have a brutal coach, brutal specialty coaches and no team identity.

Are we a fast team? A skilled team? A tough team? A fighting team? A scoring team? A puck moving team? A defensive team?

I have no idea. I'm not able to say what this team's identity truly is. We aren't really good at any of that stuff.

We're a shot blocking team, I guess.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If we'd added a big shut down number three blueliner and gone after say Jagr or Morrow instead of Briere, Parros and Murray I think this team would be a lot closer to where we'd want it to be than we are now. A solid blueliner to help out would be a world of difference and a REAL stopgap upfront would've really helped

We've weathered the storm from the first month against some of the best teams in the league now and are still sitting in 8th... that's not bad. I still think we're a playoff team at the end of the day. But Subban must play more.

 

[otto bond]

We're a shot blocking team, I guess.

I hate this. Don't get me wrong, guys blocking shot is nice but having the puck is much better.

If we'd added a big shut down number three blueliner and gone after say Jagr or Morrow instead of Briere, Parros and Murray I think this team would be a lot closer to where we'd want it to be than we are now. A solid blueliner to help out would be a world of difference and a REAL stopgap upfront would've really helped

We've weathered the storm from the first month against some of the best teams in the league now and are still sitting in 8th... that's not bad. I still think we're a playoff team at the end of the day. But Subban must play more.

Well I do agree that we played some good teams and getting different UFA could make this team look much better. I would have loved Morrow more then the Briere signing. Parros was and is a need so I don't have a problem with that. Jagr would have been nice 4 years ago, still I take him over Briere any day of the week, even on Sunday.
In all honesty, wen I say we are not a good team, I mean top 10 in the league maybe top 15. IMO we sit in the middle of the pack with the boat leaning toward the buttom. We don't have the depth to make this team better and a trade is what could make us better sort and long term.
Our bigest need is a top notch center and another top pairing Dman. They don't grow on trees but they are there.
Team I would scout would be NJ, Carolina, Buffalo, CLB, LA, Dallas, Forida and Nashville. All team in need of movement IMO

 

[LePoche69]

I hate this. Don't get me wrong, guys blocking shot is nice but having the puck is much better.

Oh I know, me neither. I was being ironic.

Being first in league for blocked shots means you don't have the puck pretty often, and/or that you're unable to press efficiently the puck carriers.

 

[djpass]

This is a middle of the pack kind of team with its best players being young ones and their best years ahead of them.