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Louis Leblanc Discussion

GREMLIN

GREMLIN

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Sep 19, 2013
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WeThreeKings said:
The draft was in Montreal.. come on, we all knew what the narrative was going into the draft. The Habs brass were under a ridiculous amount of ridicule for picking americans..

Remember the '07 Draft? RDS had an article calling us the Montreal Americans. Then they had a huge front page article for Fortier.. "Bienevenue a MTL, Olivier Fortier!!"

Funny enough, he was, what the worst selection we made in the draft?

There was criticism for Fisher (rightly in the end but at the time, he was a project and the book was yet to be written).

In 08 we took Kristo.

So, what happened going into 09? Well, we acquired Tanguay the summer before.. Gainey tried to go full ****** to acquire Lecavalier. Which, thankfully, didn't happen. The centennial season was in full swing and after the disastrous end, we had the draft in Montreal.

Leblanc was a quebec player projected 1st round.. and he was playing in the USHL going to the NCAA. The story wrote itself. If he was on the board. The Habs, being enslaved to politics, as they were and still are, could not pass up on Leblanc with him on the board. For **** sakes, they chanted his stupid name when they selected him. The look on his face said it all.. the guy wasn't built for this.

It was a bad pick. Politics played into it. Take politics out of it and it's still a horrendous pick. I'm just tired of people trying to defend the selection, on either side of the debate. Any person with two eyes and watched him play saw that he didn't have a stand out skill. Those guys don't make it very often.
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Gainey, Gauthier, MB, Timmins don't give a flying **** what RDS wants.

Your conspiracy theory is completely ridiculous, you actually think TT and his staff will spend a whole year traveling the world to try and find their next gem and invest all kinds of efforts only to pick a player based on nationality, come on man do you realize how freakin stupid that sounds? You actually think that Trevor Timmins, a scout who's legacy speaks for itself, a scout who picked a goalie 5th overall when he already had a goalie fresh off a Hart trophy, you think that the guy gives a **** what a bunch of hockey fanatics think? You think he'll just scrap a 1st round pick to give a crowd what they want? Like he doesn't know he's the one who's going to pay for it when the kid busts. The hype around Esposito and Giroux was just as big but he always stuck to his list, you even saw his list as the crowd started screaming LOUIS.

Give your head a shake bro TT is a professional and if he really was that baseless and stupid in his decision process he would already be long gone.
 
habs03

habs03

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Jun 21, 2010
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montreal said:
what total BS. Bobby Mac said on the day of he draft that he could be a steal for the Habs and you know he talks to many NHL scouts. I saw him 3 times in the USHL and didn't like his skating but no way would I say that he was never going to be more then a plug. He did fine at every level up until his 2nd pro season. I know you hated the pick but come on that's a bit much.



funny cause it didn't stop him from being named USHL rookie of the Year and leading his team in scoring at 17, Ivy league rookie of the Year, leading his team in scoring as a Freshman, or being one of the top scorers as a 20 year old in Hamilton or being on pace for 20 points in the NHL as a 20 year old rookie.

I know he had a number of holes in his game but the kid did produce everywhere up until his 2nd pro season.



perhaps, I figured it's a number of things that went wrong, mental and lack of confidence being up there. Lack of improvement with his physical abilities (strength, mass, skating, speed) are what I look at the most. But being called up too soon, not being handled properly in the AHL as well are other big factors. Injuries played a part as well.



Well to be fair, at least as of a couple months ago he was still a pro athlete since he was playing pro hockey. I don't know if he will be re-signed, I know he had career highs in games, goals, and points, tied his high in assists but he also started out well and really struggled to score goals as the season went on. I haven't seen him since he was traded, I know the team he played on was bad but we'll see if he ends up back somewhere next year or not.
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But I mean when he first called up under the previous management, he did a really good job, he looked like an NHL, maybe not a top 6 guy, but he played better than the 5 goals and 10 points he had in those 40 games, and even then that wasn't so bad for a 4th line guy.

Its weird he was skinny but I remember him being really good along the boards and winning board battles.

I mean even under a different origination he couldn't get it done, I really think its mainly mental.
 
WeThreeKings

WeThreeKings

Habs cup - its in the BAG
Sep 19, 2006
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Galchenyuksnipes said:
Gainey, Gauthier, MB, Timmins don't give a flying **** what RDS wants.

Your conspiracy theory is completely ridiculous, you actually think TT and his staff will spend a whole year traveling the world to try and find their next gem and invest all kinds of efforts only to pick a player based on nationality, come on man do you realize how freakin stupid that sounds? You actually think that Trevor Timmins, a scout who's legacy speaks for itself, a scout who picked a goalie 5th overall when he already had a goalie fresh off a Hart trophy, you think that the guy gives a **** what a bunch of hockey fanatics think? You think he'll just scrap a 1st round pick to give a crowd what they want? Like he doesn't know he's the one who's going to pay for it when the kid busts. The hype around Esposito and Giroux was just as big but he always stuck to his list, you even saw his list as the crowd started screaming LOUIS.

Give your head a shake bro TT is a professional and if he really was that baseless and stupid in his decision process he would already be long gone.
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Alright, yes.. the Habs don't make decisions based off the pressure from the media. That's why we still have francophone coaches, GMs, why Desharnais continually gets preferential treatment on this team..

You can close your eyes to the pressures of that draft and that pick all you want. Strip away the politics if you want. Leblanc was an awful pick and it should have been apparent. The scouting staff, the management team, they all ****ed up, in succumbing to pressure or actually believing there was much upside to this clown player. Brutal, brutal, brutal pick.
 
Habs

Habs

We should have drafted Michkov
Feb 28, 2002
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Galchenyuksnipes said:
Not true at all, Timmins doesnt work like that, explain to me why we didnt draft Keven Veilleux, Esposito, Giroux and company then.

Anybody who knew who Louis Leblanc was and what he did before his draft year would've agreed with the pick, he was one of the most hyped players in Quebec in a long time and the hype was definitely warranted. I played him in Bantam and Midget and he looked like he was going to be a star, I remember seeing Bruins scouts coming to see him play when he was 14, he was easily above a lot of other guys who are NHLers right now, he just wasnt able to keep improving year in year out.
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We all know why they drafted Leblanc, so deal with it.
 

HCH

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Dec 17, 2003
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Galchenyuksnipes said:
Not true at all, Timmins doesnt work like that, explain to me why we didnt draft Keven Veilleux, Esposito, Giroux and company then.

Anybody who knew who Louis Leblanc was and what he did before his draft year would've agreed with the pick, he was one of the most hyped players in Quebec in a long time and the hype was definitely warranted. I played him in Bantam and Midget and he looked like he was going to be a star, I remember seeing Bruins scouts coming to see him play when he was 14, he was easily above a lot of other guys who are NHLers right now, he just wasnt able to keep improving year in year out.
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Not sure why it happened but the Habs may have felt under pressure to draft home grown talent when the draft was being held in Montreal. We also should look at the total draft - out of the next 90 players drafted after Leblanc not many have been impact players.

It was a gamble as drafts always are
 
Bob Cole

Bob Cole

Tom ******* Brady
Oct 30, 2009
9,103
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What is there to discuss he sucks ****ing ass

I remember everyone going nuts when he had a point vs the Kings in LA. Good times lol
 
Whitesnake

Whitesnake

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Jan 5, 2003
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WeThreeKings said:
So bad we traded him away for nothing.. conditional 4th round pick that ended up being... nothing.
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Incredible that we couldn't even get a 7th rounder. When you only trade a guy so that the best is removing a contract out of your list....it does mean how bad you are.
 
calder candidate

calder candidate

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Feb 25, 2003
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WeThreeKings said:
So bad we traded him away for nothing.. conditional 4th round pick that ended up being... nothing.
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I think that was one of MB worst move, I can't see how he wasn't able to get a 7th round pick for him. A conditional pick for a first round pick that actually had played in the NHL, Ana had nothing to lose in the deal. But ultimately he had to go the media, is GF and is familly just to much drama for what he was worth to the team. Still sad to see how quickly and hard he fell.
 
cphabs

cphabs

The 2 stooges….
Dec 21, 2012
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habs03 said:
Sure, but I was talking about the player himself not so much on if we should have drafted him.

IMO he has the skillset to still be in the NHL if he wasn't mentally soft.
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Here's a new coin, and excuse, for our failing/failed development system. Our first round draft picks were "mentally soft" to begin with... Thank God we came up with that!

LMAO
 
bsl

bsl

Registered User
Oct 9, 2009
10,132
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WeThreeKings said:
Alright, yes.. the Habs don't make decisions based off the pressure from the media. That's why we still have francophone coaches, GMs, why Desharnais continually gets preferential treatment on this team..

You can close your eyes to the pressures of that draft and that pick all you want. Strip away the politics if you want. Leblanc was an awful pick and it should have been apparent. The scouting staff, the management team, they all ****ed up, in succumbing to pressure or actually believing there was much upside to this clown player. Brutal, brutal, brutal pick.
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It was obvious at the time. In 40 years of watching Habs I have never seen a more stupid pick.

Habs should go for great french players, or if they are not there, the best of the rest.

That pick sucked so badly. I hated it because LL was small and weak, and I also hated it because it was political, not hockey .

I think it was one of the lowest points in Habs history.

The kids cheering the pick at the bell, OMG.

Just one of the lowest points I have ever seen from Habs.

Never again. Play politics with coaches all you want, but 1st round draft picks? **** off.

Even Lafleur did not get any such treatment.

BrimStone64 said:
Leblanc was my pick that year...I have outstanding history of success in first round. I liked Kredier also though.
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He was small, weak, and had no NHL strength. The pick sucked. It sucked hard.

habs03 said:
Sure, but I was talking about the player himself not so much on if we should have drafted him.

IMO he has the skillset to still be in the NHL if he wasn't mentally soft.
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He's not mentally soft. He is weak as hell. He had no strength and you need massive strength to play in the NHL.

Stupid stupid pick. And if you care to check, I said it from the start.
 
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Hoople

Registered User
Mar 7, 2011
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bsl said:
He's not mentally soft. He is weak as hell. He had no strength and you need massive strength to play in the NHL.

Stupid stupid pick. And if you care to check, I said it from the start.
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You can attribute mental softness to him though because without the will and desire to improve his strength, well, we see the results.

His demise should not be blamed on "poor organizational" development as some had stated. His attitude sucked and that lies squarely between his ears in his mind.

With that said, I hope he has a solid season with the Ice Dogs and gets some games with the Habs.

Edit.......my mistake. With all the attention he's getting, I thought he was still in our system. :sarcasm:
 
habs03

habs03

Subban #Thoroughbred
Jun 21, 2010
5,999
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cphabs said:
Here's a new coin, and excuse, for our failing/failed development system. Our first round draft picks were "mentally soft" to begin with... Thank God we came up with that!


LMAO
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wtf huh?

bsl said:
He's not mentally soft. He is weak as hell. He had no strength and you need massive strength to play in the NHL.

Stupid stupid pick. And if you care to check, I said it from the start.
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I don't think his weak strength was a major issue, he was a centre and is good enough defensively to a centre but he was good along the boards which is why he was used at RW.

In first season under when he played 40 games in the NHL, he did a decent job, I think everyone was happily surprised by his play.

It was only after Bergvin and Co came in, based on what other posters wrote on here about his first season with Lefebvre hard on him and he would call him out and he couldn't take it..
 
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lou4gehrig

Bedard 2023
Aug 2, 2005
5,711
158
A lot of guys look good on paper, but the first time they are destroy by a huge hit or injured in the NHL, they lose that edge and confidence. It's not something you can predict in players. Some guys like MaxPac come back and are stronger after that happens, other like Leblanc don't have the heart to push through.
 
Lafleurs Guy

Lafleurs Guy

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Jul 20, 2007
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For what it's worth he went right where Mackenzie had forecasted him to go. It didn't seem like a bad pick at the time.
 
Pompeius Magnus

Pompeius Magnus

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May 18, 2014
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Europe will probably be good for him for what it's worth. My guess is he didn't get any indication that a team would offer him more than a two way for next year and decided he had enough of riding buses.
 
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