Player Discussion Max Pacioretty Appreciation Thread: Thanks Max!

[WinterLion]

Good luck to Max. Very classy guy and great player. It's too bad things went sour, but I think him leaving was right for the team and for him.

 

[CauZuki]

It's odd to say this when he's hitting 30 years, but I do think with the talent surrounding him in Vegas, he could absolutely hit the 40 goal mark. Whether it's Karlsson, Stastny or even Glass, it's still better than anything he's had to work with in Montreal.

His best production came with a C that at 32 can't make the KHL...

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

With Bergevins Anti-Midas touch Max probably wins the Rocket and Conn Smythe and Tatar and Suzuki bust hard

We call it the ****-ass touch

Cuz everything he does turns to crap

 

[DAChampion]

I first got excited for Max at the 2008 rookie camp, Timmins said that he was the most ready prospect in the Habs farm system. He compared Pacioretty to Shayne Corson, said that he would be reliable to score 20-30 goals every year. Max got to play a pre-season game with Robert Lang and Alex Kovalev, the latter being his childhood idol, and did well.

The following years were hard for Max, and he almost busted. At one point, he was languishing in the Habs' bottom six, he pulled out his balls and said "I'd rather play top-six in Hamilton than bottom-six in Montreal" and he did. He'd eventually emerge as an excellent NHL goal scorer (one of the best even strength goal scorers) as well as being a good playmaker and having good two-way play.

It didn't work out well for Max but it wasn't his fault. The team could have gone places but has been mismanaged. The Habs are now better off without him, and he is better off without the Habs.

Good luck Max !

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Even his autograph looks disinterested.

He better sell the stick before it quickly fades away

 

[rickthegoon]

For his 10 years here, I loved Patches during the 2011-2012 season when he played with Eric Cole.
Cole seemed to have a great influence in his way of playing like a genuine power forward. He was never coasting, regularly cuting in and driving the net, using his speed and body.
I always found 67 to be lazy on the back check ( most of the times was the last man to come back...specially during overtime where he is responsible for more than a few losts )
He has resorted to be a one trick pony, but then again I also noticed that last season, he lost his only tool ; his quick release. Surely I'm not the only one to notice how he was constantly fumbling with passes and could not ' one time' the puck like he used to do.
Anyways, I'm glad to see him go.
I was afraid he would be Scott Gomez 2.0 if he stayed here and had another poor season with a big contract extension.
He might flourish in Vegas playing with a good center......but can't forget how Tortorella hated his lack of commitment

 

[malton]

Always liked Max. He'll do well in Vegas.

Wish he never got suspended for hitting Letang, i feel that is when he lost his aggressiveness.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

For his 10 years here, I loved Patches during the 2011-2012 season when he played with Eric Cole.
Cole seemed to have a great influence in his way of playing like a genuine power forward. He was never coasting, regularly cuting in and driving the net, using his speed and body.
I always found 67 to be lazy on the back check ( most of the times was the last man to come back...specially during overtime where he is responsible for more than a few losts )
He has resorted to be a one trick pony, but then again I also noticed that last season, he lost his only tool ; his quick release. Surely I'm not the only one to notice how he was constantly fumbling with passes and could not ' one time' the puck like he used to do.
Anyways, I'm glad to see him go.
I was afraid he would be Scott Gomez 2.0 if he stayed here and had another poor season with a big contract extension.
He might flourish in Vegas playing with a good center......but can't forget how Tortorella hated his lack of commitment

He didn't lose his quick release. There were many compounding factors which probably lowered his motivation to an all time low, like missing elite playmaking, which he had in all previous seasons and the sorry state of the team, and having to shoulder everything as the captain.

Unless he's injured, he's gonna score 30+ next season.

 

[roy munson]

He looks so happy.

 

[Andrei79]

Class act, well spoken man who never disrespected the jersey.

Liked the person a lot and the player too. His first few years, I really thought he was going to be one of the most dynamic wingers in the game, but the Chara hit and playing with Vanek changed his game.

Still liked him, but I feel it's too bad he was both badly surrounded and thrusted into a captain role he couldn't handle.

Really wish him the best and a cup before he retires.

 

[Harpo]

Liked him as a person. Good luck in Vegas.

 

[mariolemieux66]

Class act, well spoken man who never disrespected the jersey.

Liked the person a lot and the player too. His first few years, I really thought he was going to be one of the most dynamic wingers in the game, but the Chara hit and playing with Vanek changed his game.

Still liked him, but I feel it's too bad he was both badly surrounded and thrusted into a captain role he couldn't handle.

Really wish him the best and a cup before he retires.

Bergevin failed to bring the necessary skill and leadership to fill the top 2 lines and the captaincy. When Pacioretty is your only offensive threat, you have a problem.
I will say that, he will be hard if not impossible to replace for a few more years.

 

[BPD Habs Fan]

Happy that Max is gone and we got a decent return for him. While I think he'll score 30 this year in Vegas I don't think he was going to score 30 in Montreal. We got out from under an asset at the right time for a change and hope he does well except in games against the Habs.

 

[jaffy27]

Bergevin failed to bring the necessary skill and leadership to fill the top 2 lines and the captaincy. When Pacioretty is your only offensive threat, you have a problem.
I will say that, he will be hard if not impossible to replace for a few more years.

And those were talented centres....we now have some and on the fast track to draft another one in 2019......given our talent at wing and their ages, it’s looking good for us 2-3yrs down the road.

We need another centre (Cozens, Dach, Turcotte) and we need to hit a homerun with a 2nd round pick or higher and develop a top end LHD.

 

[Scintillating10]

The asked for a trade thing has been twisted into a he said/they said thingy. The way the Pacioretty trade when down was during Montreal's crappy start last year. A few teams called and asked if Pacioretty was available. The return was better than they thought they could get. Bergervin then went to Pacioretty and told him several teams were calling about him and strong chance he would be traded. He told Max he never had trade protection but Montreal respected him. He was their captain, a family man with 3 kids, they would try to trade him to an area of his choice. No doubt why Pacioretty has spoken positive about the Canadiens following the trade.

It turned wrong when Max's play went sour. Which affected the trade return. It dragged out much further than they expected and got messy. Hindsight is 20/20. What Bergevin should have done was traded Max back in November to whereever. This has put a messy black mark on the Habs Captain the way it played out.

Pacioretty took quite a hair cut on his present contract with the Habs. He was under the opinion the Habs would take care of him on his next contract. A year ago he thought he was going to be a Habs for life. After the Habs disastrous start to last season, neither Drouin nor Galchenyuk were working out at center. Price and Weber both gone to long term injury. It became apparent the Habs were a long ways off. Montreal was not as fierce as they once were to commit a large, long-term contract. To re-up a 30 year old Pacioretty, only be 2 months shy of 31 at start of a new deal.

Pacioretty said these things really played on his mind and affected his season last year. Along with missing Radulov and Markov.

I give Bergevin some credit; no better place to trade his captain than a Cup Finalist plus Vegas. Bergs set him up. However, Berg's loyalty to his players is proving to be his Achilles heel. This is the third time he has taken less value to please one of his long term stars. He did it with Plekanec, he did it with Subban and now he has done it with Pacioretty.

He could have gotten a little more for Plekanec but chose to trade him to near by Toronto so he had a shot at a Cup and was near his family. Subban he could have banished him to a lowly team like the Oilers or Canucks, both were interested at the time. Hall no doubt, 4th overall in '16, would have been part of that trade. But he did him a favour by trading him to a stacked team and better run organization in Nashville. I know it is class, but man, what we lost oout on in talent?? I really question how he handled these decisions.

 

[Genesis76]

Some of you guys just repeat exactly what you hear on the TV..... since when was Max a class act? He was a cancer in the locker room, he was selfish as a player and always trashed his coaches publicly.

Oh hes a class act because he never said anything bad about the organisation? I mean who talks bad about a sports org any way?

Pacioretty is a douche bag who expects to be treated like a queen.

Pacioretty will not do well in Vegas. His teamates will not like him. Watch.

 

[Cobra Commander]

Agreed. Patch was pretty good 5/5 at scoring goals. But on the PP... he was brutal. Especially this past year where he tried to be a play maker or focal point of our offense.

As far as a declining asset? I think you need to consider his strengths and how this can decline into his 30's. Do we think that he looses his shot and quick release from age 30-35? I think not. What about his skating? Maybe he had modest decline but I don't see him falling off a cliff like Gomez did. Gomez is a good player to measure when it comes to the decline factor. Gomez's game was build on speed and once he lost some of this in his early 30's, he quickly became less effective. As far as Patch, I just don't see him losing what he does best. Shooters are shooters and he won't be a major decling asset. Were talking about a very small year to year decline and almost unnoticeable. I think the biggest question is how Vegas's coach using him. After all, Gallant would know Patch very well.

PK: Yes. He can burn you and he has a long stick with a long reach. He is active with his stick and can cause trouble for the other teams PP.

PP: 2nd unit in front of the net. Not at the point or side wall.

5/5: 2nd or 3rd line is best. Playing on a team with 2 or 3 solid lines is the best situation for Patch. Once he becomes the focal point of your offense and on your top line, he can be shut down. He is best suited like the Pens use Kessel.

5/5: I say it’s 1st or 2nd line only for him

PP: little to zero

PK: as much as possible

 

[76]

I liked him for some seasons but he quickly showed how he is finally just a phony, a whiny and a very bad leader. Im extremely happy that this page with the previous core is over.
Habs wasn't going to win anything with guys like him leading the way. I sure didn't want him to lead the future of this team. Traded to Vegas it's a relief for Max as much as it is for the room and the org.
That being said I wish him the best quand même.

 

[habsgirl5000]

Pacioretty is a *****e bag who expects to be treated like a queen.

kinda like Price?

 

[Genesis76]

kinda like Price?

I don't think so, Price is a very chill and humble guy. His teamates love him cuz hes cool and calm. He freaks out on the media sometimes but they deserve it any way.

Pacioretty whines about everything and expects others to do the dirty work on the ice.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Whew, made it in the first 100 posts. Thanks Max!

 

[Genesis76]

A lot of Pacioretty's production came from a footspeed advantage and his great wrister, scoring on the rush. Players (usually wingers) who depend on those two physical aspects suffer more of a late 20s decline than players who are more cerebral or have solid strength/possession game (boardwork / cycling).

He's entering a pivot point of his career where we find out if he can adapt to this new physical reality or not, where he no longer has the advantages his body's speed from 5 years ago. He'll need to learn to pick his opportunities better and become more of a playmaker. Some players manage it, others just fade.

Vegas has effectively taken on decent risk here, mitigated by the fact that it's just a 4 year contract. Surprised Patches agreed to that after he rejected the 6 year LA offer.

What Happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

 

[HockeyF3ind]

I give Bergevin some credit; no better place to trade his captain than a Cup Finalist plus Vegas. Bergs set him up. However, Berg's loyalty to his players is proving to be his Achilles heel. This is the third time he has taken less value to please one of his long term stars. He did it with Plekanec, he did it with Subban and now he has done it with Pacioretty.

He could have gotten a little more for Plekanec but chose to trade him to near by Toronto so he had a shot at a Cup and was near his family. Subban he could have banished him to a lowly team like the Oilers or Canucks, both were interested at the time. Hall no doubt, 4th overall in '16, would have been part of that trade. But he did him a favour by trading him to a stacked team and better run organization in Nashville. I know it is class, but man, what we lost oout on in talent?? I really question how he handled these decisions.

Um.....what???

Do you seriously Mr. "If you want loyalty get a dog" traded some of his players to better teams at a loss for the players benefit??

Where do you come up with this nonsense?

Bergevin doesn't make bad trades to help out players he is trading, he makes bad trades because he is an idiot and bad GM.

 

[Scintillating10]

Um.....what???

Do you seriously Mr. "If you want loyalty get a dog" traded some of his players to better teams at a loss for the players benefit??

Where do you come up with this nonsense?

Bergevin doesn't make bad trades to help out players he is trading, he makes bad trades because he is an idiot and bad GM.

Engels was on 590 this week. Go listen to it yourself. If you don't know what you are talking about why respond?

 

[GSP2018]

He didn't lose his quick release. There were many compounding factors which probably lowered his motivation to an all time low, like missing elite playmaking, which he had in all previous seasons and the sorry state of the team, and having to shoulder everything as the captain.

Unless he's injured, he's gonna score 30+ next season.

Lmfao. Nice prediction!!