Let's give credit where credit is due, this team is good.

[CauZuki]

Well he trusts Chaput more than Peca and we're trying to get an upgrade over Chaput here... It won't be Peca.

It's clear that Peca brings a lot more than Chaput in terms of upside but Chaput is more simple and plays a more straight forward game.
I can see why a coach like CJ would prefer what he knows compared to an unknown like Peca.

 

[Belial]

It's clear that Peca brings a lot more than Chaput in terms of upside but Chaput is more simple and plays a more straight forward game.
I can see why a coach like CJ would prefer what he knows compared to an unknown like Peca.

Peca is not good enough defensively that's why Chaput is playing ahead of him.

Even though that 4th line is almost not contributing offensively they don't really get destroyed when they're on the ice but they still suck. We need an upgrade there that's for sure.

That 4th line plus Hudon and Peca are the only forwards on the team with negative GF%...

And Peca is the worst at 30%.

 

[ECWHSWI]

Danault has 38 even strength points and a GF% of 61.80 while starting only 36.91% of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Hayes has 24 even strength points with a GF% of 50.82 while starting 54.82% of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Philip Danault is the better and more complete player!

Danault faces tougher opposition than Hayes also.

But keep thinking that those couple of points Hayes got while playing on the PP make him the better player.

you did say Danault was better in every single stat available. you were wrong. deal with it.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I’m going to say Weber is criminally underrated on HF since he’s been traded to the Habs.

 

[ECWHSWI]

I’m going to say Weber is criminally underrated on HF since he’s been traded to the Habs.

you got a strange definition of underrated, the guy is being praised by pretty much everyone in here.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

you got a strange definition of underrated, the guy is being praised by pretty much everyone in here.

I meant by fans of other teams

 

[GSP2018]

Bergy gets GM of the year!! Can’t wait !!!

 

[ECWHSWI]

I meant by fans of other teams

meh, he's a god around these parts, who cares about the main boards and al.

 

[DAChampion]

meh, he's a god around these parts, who cares about the main boards and al.

I sometimes go to other boards, and for the most part, members of every fanbase claim that the main boards are biased against them.

So of you ever see someone accuse the main boards of having a negative bias, your first reaction should be to roll your eyes.

 

[ottawa]

Team is good 5v5...too bad you need special teams to go the distance.

 

[ECWHSWI]

somewhere @BaseballCoach is busy schredding papers and sketching new plans as the Habs lose to TO in overtime..

 

[BaseballCoach]

somewhere @BaseballCoach is busy schredding papers and sketching new plans as the Habs lose to TO in overtime..

LOL, I said I'd evaluate again after the four games.

 

[ECWHSWI]

LOL, I said I'd evaluate again after the four games.

come on now BC, we know you're busy sketching, no need to hide it!

 

[montreal]

I can't understand how they are this good, I look at the blueline and you have a guy on the top pairing without a goal, a 2nd pairing D in Reilly that's shaky and a average 3rd pairing.

Then you have the terrible PP, no backup goalie, weak 4th line, and yet so many forwards are playing much better then I would have expected. Domi, Tatar, Drouin, Danault, Petry, Shaw, Lekonen, Armia, Mete all on pace for career years, Gallagher on pace for his most goals. I don't think I've ever seen a team where so many players are all having their best season in their career points wise (though that could change of course in the next 2 months)

 

[BaseballCoach]

I can't understand how they are this good, I look at the blueline and you have a guy on the top pairing without a goal, a 2nd pairing D in Reilly that's shaky and a average 3rd pairing.

Then you have the terrible PP, no backup goalie, weak 4th line, and yet so many forwards are playing much better then I would have expected. Domi, Tatar, Drouin, Danault, Petry, Shaw, Lekonen, Armia, Mete all on pace for career years, Gallagher on pace for his most goals. I don't think I've ever seen a team where so many players are all having their best season in their career points wise (though that could change of course in the next 2 months)

I think what is carrying #you (!) since December 1st (20-10-2) are three things:

• the two top D are among the top 3 "duos" in the league, and because they don't play together, you have a #1D on the ice for 48 minutes per game. Only Nashville and San Jose can match or beat that.
• you have three centremen that are a threat and there are probably only four or five teams that have a better trio of centres
• you have a goalie who is not giving up softies and giving you a chance in every game

 

[Scintillating10]

I can't understand how they are this good, I look at the blueline and you have a guy on the top pairing without a goal, a 2nd pairing D in Reilly that's shaky and a average 3rd pairing.

Then you have the terrible PP, no backup goalie, weak 4th line, and yet so many forwards are playing much better then I would have expected. Domi, Tatar, Drouin, Danault, Petry, Shaw, Lekonen, Armia, Mete all on pace for career years, Gallagher on pace for his most goals. I don't think I've ever seen a team where so many players are all having their best season in their career points wise (though that could change of course in the next 2 months)

Speed upsets the timing of so many opponets.

 

[Kriss E]

I can't understand how they are this good, I look at the blueline and you have a guy on the top pairing without a goal, a 2nd pairing D in Reilly that's shaky and a average 3rd pairing.

Then you have the terrible PP, no backup goalie, weak 4th line, and yet so many forwards are playing much better then I would have expected. Domi, Tatar, Drouin, Danault, Petry, Shaw, Lekonen, Armia, Mete all on pace for career years, Gallagher on pace for his most goals. I don't think I've ever seen a team where so many players are all having their best season in their career points wise (though that could change of course in the next 2 months)

Might be hard for some to admit because they love to nitpick, but this is when you can see how impactful a strong tactical coach can be.
Of course, easy to second guess a bunch of things when you lose like ''why was Armia on the PP and not KK!!'' or ''Danault on during OT?!!'' and the likes. Every single play during a game, there's a bunch of coaching decisions you can question, so there will never be a shortage of things to look at and criticize.
Overall though, I have to tip my hat to CJ. I think he's put in place the system Therrien was dreaming about, a strong forechecking team at both end and they play with 5 men in the neutral zone. You can also see their cycle games and set plays are working well in the offense generating chances.
I always said I don't mind having a defensive minded coach so long as he's a cerebral one. A defensive one who's more a cheerleader type like Therrien...that's the worst.

CJ knows he doesn't have much of a defense, but he got every forward buying into a team defense attitude, which helps a lot, and let's them a bit more loose on offense, although as I said, they also have set plays.

He's done a marvelous job this year.

 

[montreal]

It's still hard to explain how 7 possibly 8 forwards are going to all have career years plus at least 2 defensemen and that's all with a terrible PP. If not for that their numbers would likely be at least a tick higher if not 2 and this team would likely be close to 2nd overall in the East or even NHL perhaps. That's insane. To go from one of their worst seasons ever to having the bulk of the team having their best season in their in some cases short careers. It's just so odd to see so many doing this, I could see 2 or 3 of course but 9 or 10? Aside from Hudon and a few others that I'd have to look at their numbers hardly anyone is struggling to produce.

I know scoring is up due to the goalie equipment change so perhaps more teams are in a similar situation and i'd have to look up by how much scoring is up though as I just haven't been paying a lot of attention to the NHL lately.

But this certainly makes me wonder about next year, as it doesn't seem very likely that they will have so many players hitting career highs, although with so many young players it's hard to say where they really should be at. Domi, Drouin mostly since they went from a few seasons with one team and are still young. Of course there will be changes to the roster, some more rookies will very likely at least see a handful of games if not more next year and who knows what moves will be made as well.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

 

[TT1]

#CHaracter

Tampa's win % tho..

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

It's still hard to explain how 7 possibly 8 forwards are going to all have career years plus at least 2 defensemen and that's all with a terrible PP. If not for that their numbers would likely be at least a tick higher if not 2 and this team would likely be close to 2nd overall in the East or even NHL perhaps. That's insane. To go from one of their worst seasons ever to having the bulk of the team having their best season in their in some cases short careers. It's just so odd to see so many doing this, I could see 2 or 3 of course but 9 or 10? Aside from Hudon and a few others that I'd have to look at their numbers hardly anyone is struggling to produce.

I know scoring is up due to the goalie equipment change so perhaps more teams are in a similar situation and i'd have to look up by how much scoring is up though as I just haven't been paying a lot of attention to the NHL lately.

But this certainly makes me wonder about next year, as it doesn't seem very likely that they will have so many players hitting career highs, although with so many young players it's hard to say where they really should be at. Domi, Drouin mostly since they went from a few seasons with one team and are still young. Of course there will be changes to the roster, some more rookies will very likely at least see a handful of games if not more next year and who knows what moves will be made as well.

Going from a defensive system to an offensive one makes a huge difference.
Danault and Shaw are the only forwards who really came out of nowhere in terms of production.
Domi and Drouin are both young and were guys who had a lot of potential, so their production this year is not totally unexpected.

 

[26Mats]

Going from a defensive system to an offensive one makes a huge difference.
Danault and Shaw are the only forwards who really came out of nowhere in terms of production.
Domi and Drouin are both young and were guys who had a lot of potential, so their production this year is not totally unexpected.

Tatar also had the offense in him.

It's why I'm big on trying to get Marcus Johansson and/or Derrick Brassard at the TDL, if they're available cheap, and then resigning them. They have talent. Ot just isn't coming out in their current situation. I think it would here. Would love to give up a 3rd and a prospect like Lindgren/Hudon/maybe even Evans for each of them.

 

[sharks9]

Team is good 5v5...too bad you need special teams to go the distance.

The PP is what really needs to be better. Since January 1st the PK is at 86.3%, good for 6th in the league and 0.2% out of 4th. The PP on the other hand is 25th at 13.6% in that same time.

 

[Zack Kelly]

Sloooowwwwww down habs fans. dont freak out. 4 losses in a row I know its rough. with the habs picking up one point in 4 games is rough but it was just a rough patch filled with tough teams. Toronto, Nashville, Tampa and Florida... okay Florida should have been a win. they're not exactly great but it was off of a back to back and not to be mean to Niemi and id say it wasnt ENTIRELY his fault. BUT he definitely should have had at least one of the goals. they played really well against Toronto then 2 rough ones against nashville and tampa. then comes the Florida game i actually enjoyed this game. I saw the habs i was seeing as couple weeks ago. they were fast, domi had a great night and price played well when he came in relief. getting that out of the way, what are we expecting from them at the end of the season? personally at the beginning of the season i wasnt expecting much. but moving into the season seeing this team play i am expecting a wild card spot. it'll be tough because its a tough race for the playoffs and we have a HARD last 5 games of the season right where clutch time starts. Winnepeg, Tampa, Washington, Toronto. The habs are in a decent spot. we are a strong middle of the road team. but we struggle real bad against the top teams. to make it to the playoffs we need to take advantage of playing struggling teams. we CANT afford to lose against teams that are worse then us. no bad games against beatable teams. every game counts. but DONT freak out when we lose to top teams. we have a tough schedule where we play good teams in spurts so we are looking at a streaky end of the season. either way i'm okay with it. there is a deep draft where we can still get a great player middle of the first round. might even see the big french winger Lavoie drop down. This team is a work in progress. we have a bright future. just give it time! we were treated this season as it is massively improved from last year. just be happy we have a fun team!

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

how much Molson paid you to say that