tinyzombies
Registered User
I don't agree. Eller didn't look good in the middle. But yes, definitely, Gomez will have to prove he is healthy. Therrien has proven he is good with young players, so I'm not worried about this situation.
TSN: McKenzie's Take On The Habs
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I don't agree. Eller didn't look good in the middle. But yes, definitely, Gomez will have to prove he is healthy. Therrien has proven he is good with young players, so I'm not worried about this situation.
EagleBelfour
Registered User
Gomez will have to prove he can still produce in the NHL. Eller has to be more consistent.
He is a centre, he looks lost on the wing.
tinyzombies
Registered User
Eller is a tweener. We don't know where to play him yet or what he does best, and there's no guarantee he's going to take the next step. But Eller did have shoulder surgery to start the year last year. It will be interesting to see if he's any better in the circle, if they play him there.
Gomez had a torn lat and torn groin last year, otherwise he's a known quantity. And we've never given him decent linemates. He's commented in the past that Gionta doesn't pass the puck, and he had Pouliot on the other side... And we've never had size on the wing until now. We've stupidly tried to play puck possession with small players in the past without the required elite skill to compensate for lack of size. Ironically, we'd be a better puck possession team now.
But now we've stupidly returned to having small players in the middle without compensating with some size on defense. To me, Eller is a soft player, so having him in the middle solves nothing. Unless the problem really was his shoulder.
Signing Bouillon was a mistake imo. We just don't match up against Boston or New York, and we'll likely play one of them in the first round.
But if Markov is healthy, he cleans up a lot of those problems and makes our defense multi-dimensional and able to deal with two scoring lines. He would nullify the Seguin line and then hopefully Subban/Emelin could deal with the Lucic line. Then we could compete.
If that doesn't happen, we could still squeak in, but we'd get crushed when it comes time to sort out the boys and girls.
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cphabs
The 2 stooges….
- Dec 21, 2012
- 7,698
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THIS! (if you're talking about Eller) If I had a wish for the Habs it would not be to win the cup this year, but to stop playing prospects out of their natural position/side. We're not talking emergency situations here. I am more fearful of Gally being groomed as some kind of LW than being a bust when compared to other centers drafted in his class or age. Same goes for Eller. I'm surpised that Leblanc hasn't gone completely insane at this point.
Eller is probably our most physical centre. Doesn't hit often but uses his body pretty well. He's had problems with balance tho', I can give you that. But to say that he's soft is a fallacy.
Gomez's game and numbers are on the decline while Eller is on the rise. You say that Gomez hasn't had good linemates, but Eller hasn't been paired with a guy like Gionta so far in his career with Montreal. He did earn his spot last year, even if Gomez was injured, so it's his spot to lose.
THIS! (if you're talking about Eller) If I had a wish for the Habs it would not be to win the cup this year, but to stop playing prospects out of their natural position/side. We're not talking emergency situations here. I am more fearful of Gally being groomed as some kind of LW than being a bust when compared to other centers drafted in his class or age. Same goes for Eller. I'm surpised that Leblanc hasn't gone completely insane at this point.
I still don't understand to this day why Leblanc was converted to winger. He's a centre and plays better at centre, he looks lost at wing.
This organization seems to think that any player can play anywhere and any given time.
K2MyEverest
Registered User
That's the way I see it too. I have 0 expectations, I'll let them surprise me. The best is yet to come!
If he isn't at center it will only be because he is better on the wing than Gomez. I'm not convinced Gomez will be on the team in a month...but we will see...
Where will he be? Traded? To who? The cap goes down by 6M$ next year, no one is trading for Gomez.
If they don't find him useful here they'll waive and send him to another league and save 900k in cap hit and waive him in the summer. Just because most of his cap hit applies won't stop them from shipping him out if he isn't an asset.
Hackett
BAKAMAN
You have to take the audience for this piece into consideration. It was designed for a national hockey fan audience, not hardcore habs fans.
Hardcore fans already know the state of their team. Those of you expecting more from Bmac should keep this in mind
Hardcore fans already know the state of their team. Those of you expecting more from Bmac should keep this in mind
Its not the fall from Thomas to Rask that hurts them. Its the fall from Rask to his new backup this year. They went from a quality G in every game played to a quality one in likely 5/8ths to 3/4th of the games played.
While this is true, it was the more talented and better coached team of the first 30 games that racked up most of the good goal differential. That was a really good team getting horribly unlucky. The team for the next 50 games was just horrible though. The second half team's paper lineup resembles this Habs team more than the paper strength of the starting lineup. Basically they need Galchenyuk and Bourque to be as good as Cammalleri and Kostitsyn, which is an iffy proposition.
And I don't think Therrien is as good a coach as Martin. Later Martin era teams played a very tight structured game that resulting in very strong puck control at even strength.
Meanwhile Therrien does not have a history of leading strong ES performances in the NHL. Pretty good special teams and goaltending though I doubt he's as incompetent as Cunneyworth.
The X factor is Markov though. If he's a number 1 or number 1b level defenseman and healthy this year, having that and Subban in the lineup forgives a lot of sins elsewhere.
cphabs
The 2 stooges….
- Dec 21, 2012
- 7,698
- 5,167
That's the way I see it too. I have 0 expectations, I'll let them surprise me. The best is yet to come!
Umm, having no expectations kind of leads to being surprised... a lot.
tinyzombies
Registered User
Regular season doesn't mean squat. You build your team for the playoffs (something Montreal doesn't do). Boston will have to find scoring if they want to beat New York though (and maybe us, if we stay healthy).
tinyzombies
Registered User
We don't need someone physical, like you say, just someone who can take a hit and keep the puck in the playoffs. Not convinced Eller is that guy. He's only 200 lbs. But if he IS that guy, he's not going to be third line center, he'll be #2 center and someone will have to drop. But I don't see Jordan Staal here.
If Galchenyuk proves himself better than Eller right away, do you put him in as third line center? he didn't look like a man amongst boys at the WJC, so I'm not expecting it.
If this team is going to win the Cup, Galchenyuk is going to have to be a #1 center in two years, Eller #2 and playing like Staal, and Plekanec #3 in a two-way role (with Markov in top form, Subban, Max and Bourque all peaking...yes, BOURQUE), but that doesn't mean Eller is going to beat out Gomez right now or that he's a natural NHL centerman. I guess we could still win with Pleks at #2 and Eller being a very effective #3.
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Protest the Hero
Registered User
This is an organization that regularly places soft defencemen on the fourth line.
Yes, although the real issue is that our bottom 6 hasn't had an identity for such a long time. At least we have Prust and Moen.
Habs
We should have drafted Michkov
- Feb 28, 2002
- 21,203
- 14,650
I like Bob as an insider, never liked him as an analyst... nothing to do with how he rates the Habs this year either. He over-values this team on most years, when clearly they shouldn't be, and should stick to breaking news and other hockey tidbits.
Totally disagree. Rask is a decent goalie who has proven nothing beyond one good half-season and a couple of solid backup seasons. He has never shouldered an entire full season as the starter and was in nets in the 2010 playoffs for the Bruins massive choke to the Flyers.
On the other hand, without Thomas Boston never would have gotten past us in 2011, let alone go on to win a Cup. There is nothing to suggest Rask could come close to replacing him.
It's easier to evaluate individual players than the teams on which they play. By no means are the Habs in stasis. Some posters focus on the younger players on the opponents while contending that the Habs' new recruits are unprepared. That remains to be seen. A few dark horses could make their mark in the NHL as early as this abbreviated season.
Let's look at the veterans. Take Boston, for example. Does anyone deny that the Bruins will be weakened by the absence of Tim Thomas or the Flyers by the absence of Pronger? Of course the Rangers have Rick Nash, but they were already stronger than the Habs. The same goes for the Penguins, who will have Crosby. Markov's return will be a plus, as well as that of Gionta. Bergevin picked up some free agents who, although not scoring machines, will stiiffen the spine. The major losses have been Gill (it was time to replace him anyway) and AKost (the only one who might be missed if he isn't satisfactorily replaced).
Where does this leave the Habs? No worse than where they were last season in terms of personne but with a more stable organization from top to bottom and a fresh outlook. Their only major concern in the disposition of Subban, and that could be resolved within days. Even if Subban were to depart the Habs would receive players and/or draft picks because he isn't a UFA.
Are the Habs assured of making the playoffs? I can't say, but it's highly unlikely they'll finish 15th in the East once again. And, as we saw lat June, there are compensations even for that disappointing turn of events. I also can't wait to see the extra second rounders they'll acquire in the deep 2013 draft.
Things can go wrong but they can also go right. (Hmm, that's a platitude, isn't it?)
Let's look at the veterans. Take Boston, for example. Does anyone deny that the Bruins will be weakened by the absence of Tim Thomas or the Flyers by the absence of Pronger? Of course the Rangers have Rick Nash, but they were already stronger than the Habs. The same goes for the Penguins, who will have Crosby. Markov's return will be a plus, as well as that of Gionta. Bergevin picked up some free agents who, although not scoring machines, will stiiffen the spine. The major losses have been Gill (it was time to replace him anyway) and AKost (the only one who might be missed if he isn't satisfactorily replaced).
Where does this leave the Habs? No worse than where they were last season in terms of personne but with a more stable organization from top to bottom and a fresh outlook. Their only major concern in the disposition of Subban, and that could be resolved within days. Even if Subban were to depart the Habs would receive players and/or draft picks because he isn't a UFA.
Are the Habs assured of making the playoffs? I can't say, but it's highly unlikely they'll finish 15th in the East once again. And, as we saw lat June, there are compensations even for that disappointing turn of events. I also can't wait to see the extra second rounders they'll acquire in the deep 2013 draft.
Things can go wrong but they can also go right. (Hmm, that's a platitude, isn't it?)
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Jay Wolf
Registered User
- Jun 14, 2011
- 827
- 39
Gomez has to prove a damn sight more than just being healthy! He has 2 goals in his last 118 games played! 2!! If water turns to wine and he shows that he can be a relevant and competent player again in the NHL - something I seriously doubt - then I guess Therrien has no choice but to shuffle the deck. Barring that, Eller is the 3rd-line center on this team. Period. He has the hands, build and drive to be a very useful player and I sincerely hope Therrien doesn't pull him in favor of Scott "gimme another chance" Gomez.
To be honest, I think (and pray) we've seen the last of Scotty on this team.
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