Michael Bournival, the revelation so far this season!

[Sorinth]

It wasn't solely Plek and Gio who were anticipating. Bournival's hockey IQ was noticeable even while playing on the fourth line with limited minutes. Intelligence on the ice isn't driven by adrenaline. I think slotting him in the top 2 lines permanently may be premature, but he solidly looks like at least a hardworking, defensively responsible third line player.

I didn't mean to imply that Bournival didn't also have a high hockey IQ. I was just pointing out why I think that line was working so well. It's next to impossible to play such a high intensity game for 82 games a year. There will be a drop off, how big or small that drop off is remains to be seen.

 

[V13]

I don't know about top 6, I mean not sure he can keep this up 82 games a year + playoffs. He could be a hell of a 3rd liner that can chip in from time to time in the top 6

This

I don't see Bournival as a regular top 6 player but more as an excellent two way 3rd liner who can have a shift or two on the top 2 lines if necessary.

Basically i see a Curtis Glencross type in him

 

[Dagistitsyn]

D'ago had a good first year, 12 goals in 53 games isn't bad at all.

Then this happened.

**** that hit and **** Ladd.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

This

I don't see Bournival as a regular top 6 player but more as an excellent two way 3rd liner who can have a shift or two on the top 2 lines if necessary.

Basically i see a Curtis Glencross type in him

Hmm... that's an interesting comparison. I can see what you're saying.

 

[Grant McCagg]

We have to taper down expectations. We saw Hossa look like his brother when he started. Dagostini also looked good. Let's remember that he is barely 21 and allow him time. With that said, I think he is the real deal because of his speed, determination, hockey sense.
Habs have stockpiled some solid young prospects.

You are right on the mark. Additionally, we should also not panic when a prospect/young player on the Habs gets off to a "slow" start production-wise.

Bournival stood out during training camp, and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. DD has struggled, and now finds himself playing behind the kid line and Bournival.

Therrien and Bergevin are taking a lot of heat, but truthfully, I think they have been pretty fair, and for the most part astute in their player assessments and resultant line combinations. Bouillon has perhaps been given too much rope by Therrien..but he has improved as the season has gone on, as his ice time and PP time dissipated.

Unlike many past coach/GM duos...Therrien and MB have shown no reluctance to give and reward young players ice time.

When's the last time three Habs forwards under the age of 22 were playing on the top two lines? When's the last time five Hab prospects under the age of 22 started the season (once Beaulieu returned from injury) with the Habs? Right now the Habs have four forwards under the age of 22 in the lineup....five forwards under the age of 24. Once Patch returns, Holland will be sent down, but it still leaves the team with five forwards 24 or younger, and six forwards 25 or younger.

Bergevin/Therrien are giving young players opportunities and they are succeeding. For the past decade on this forum, posters have repeatedly trashed the organization for playing washed up veterans over burgeoning young prospects....it's finally happening...and yet we see threads and a plethora of posts lambasting Therrien and Bergy..who even was compared to Houle of all people.

You play young players..there are going to be bumps on the road. Some games the team and prospects will look great..others they will struggle. The one thing that is relatively certain though is the team will improve as the season goes on and as the kids get more comfortable, and improve.

 

[Znthnk]

I didn't mean to imply that Bournival didn't also have a high hockey IQ. I was just pointing out why I think that line was working so well. It's next to impossible to play such a high intensity game for 82 games a year. There will be a drop off, how big or small that drop off is remains to be seen.

I agree, yet I think there's more to Bournival's game than intensity and speed. His passing and positioning are also noteworthy. He's not just running around like a chicken without a head.

I don't think many knowledgeable hab fans would expect him to continue scoring at a point-a-game pace, although there are some rose colored one's that get giddy when a rookie gets streaky. Yet only the most cynical would dismiss him as a flash in the pan.

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Bergevin/Therrien are giving young players opportunities and they are succeeding. For the past decade on this forum, posters have repeatedly trashed the organization for playing washed up veterans over burgeoning young prospects....it's finally happening...and yet we see threads and a plethora of posts lambasting Therrien and Bergy..who even was compared to Houle of all people.

Brière is a useless washed up veterans that should be an healthy scratch if the Habs were injury free and he is sign for two years. He brings absolutely nothing to the team and i really doubt he could replicate his past playoff performance at the age of 36.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Brière is a useless washed up veterans that should be an healthy scratch if the Habs were injury free and he is sign for two years. He brings absolutely nothing to the team and i really doubt he could replicate his past playoff performance at the age of 36.

We were told to wait and see. Well, we waited and we saw... ineffective player who's now hurt. No way to predict this at all...

Still no idea why we signed him.

 

[Runner77]

Brière is a useless washed up veterans that should be an healthy scratch if the Habs were injury free and he is sign for two years. He brings absolutely nothing to the team and i really doubt he could replicate his past playoff performance at the age of 36.

With a third concussion in 20 months, who knows, Briere may never see the end of his contract. I don't wish him any harm, however, it may become an issue for him and may force his hand.

 

[Sorinth]

You are right on the mark. Additionally, we should also not panic when a prospect/young player on the Habs gets off to a "slow" start production-wise.

Bournival stood out during training camp, and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. DD has struggled, and now finds himself playing behind the kid line and Bournival.

Therrien and Bergevin are taking a lot of heat, but truthfully, I think they have been pretty fair, and for the most part astute in their player assessments and resultant line combinations. Bouillon has perhaps been given too much rope by Therrien..but he has improved as the season has gone on, as his ice time and PP time dissipated.

Unlike many past coach/GM duos...Therrien and MB have shown no reluctance to give and reward young players ice time.

When's the last time three Habs forwards under the age of 22 were playing on the top two lines? When's the last time five Hab prospects under the age of 22 started the season (once Beaulieu returned from injury) with the Habs? Right now the Habs have four forwards under the age of 22 in the lineup....five forwards under the age of 24. Once Patch returns, Holland will be sent down, but it still leaves the team with five forwards 24 or younger, and six forwards 25 or younger.

Bergevin/Therrien are giving young players opportunities and they are succeeding. For the past decade on this forum, posters have repeatedly trashed the organization for playing washed up veterans over burgeoning young prospects....it's finally happening...and yet we see threads and a plethora of posts lambasting Therrien and Bergy..who even was compared to Houle of all people.

You play young players..there are going to be bumps on the road. Some games the team and prospects will look great..others they will struggle. The one thing that is relatively certain though is the team will improve as the season goes on and as the kids get more comfortable, and improve.

When was the last time our young players deserved those spots? It's not like young players were wasting away in the AHL/Juniors before. Did Gallagher get a better opportunity then Sergei Kostitsyn? They both finished juniors, played less than half a season in the AHL and got top-6 roles in the NHL. I fail to see the difference in terms of opportunity.

Pacioretty, Eller, Subban, Latendresse, Price, S. Kostitsyn, Leblanc were all brought up to the NHL by previous GMs at a relatively young age. Some succeeded and some failed, but I don't see where the lack of opportunity is.

Also what choice do MB/MT really have, those numbers are based on the fact that we have a large number of injuries. Yes it's an opportunity, but it's not one that the coach/GM is giving the player. In fact there's plenty of evidence that it wasn't by choice. Subban is again averaging less minutes than Markov even though he's the reigning Norris winner and having another stellar year. Eller was treated exactly the same way by Martin until Eller basically forced his way into the top-6 (And even then it took Desharnais sucking badly and injuries to Pacioretty and now Briere) for it to happen. We have 8 defenceman signed on 1-way deals, it's only because of injuries that guys like Tinordi/Beaulieu have an opportunity in the NHL.

 

[Grant McCagg]

Brière is a useless washed up veterans that should be an healthy scratch if the Habs were injury free and he is sign for two years. He brings absolutely nothing to the team and i really doubt he could replicate his past playoff performance at the age of 36.

Five glasses are half full, but you are focusing on the one glass that is half empty eh? ;-)


Not sure what this has to do with giving young players opportunities and rewarding the best players...before his injury had Briere not been dropped from a top 6 role to a third and fourth line role? Had Therrien and his staff not properly assessed the situation? You don't bench the guy after a couple of games - he had proven pedigree and was given a half dozen games or so, but when it was obvious he was still struggling, Briere was demoted.

There are many positives to glean from this team right now...why focus solely on a free agent signing that to date has gone wrong? You think he's the first free agent veteran to ever have struggles? It did not cost the team draft picks or players a to sign Briere..you'd think his struggles were the end of the world. Did the Briere signing hamper our young players getting opportunities? Galchenyuk, Eller, Gally, and Bournival have all been given ample opportunity..the Kid line moved ahead of Briere relatively quickly..for me it's proof that Bergy isn't holding a gun to MT's head and dictating to MT who should and shouldn't play in any manner.

Of course Briere was going to get some games at the start of the season in the top 6 - he's a proven NHL scorer while Bournival had zero NHL goals going into this campaign. And it's not like the season is over either...don't understand why people are so hasty to judge a player...hell Markov was thought by many to be washed up as early as three weeks ago.

Get back to me after the playoffs on Briere when it wiill be fair to judge him....not 8 games into his Habs career.

 

[Sorinth]

I agree, yet I think there's more to Bournival's game than intensity and speed. His passing and positioning are also noteworthy. He's not just running around like a chicken without a head.

I don't think many knowledgeable hab fans would expect him to continue scoring at a point-a-game pace, although there are some rose colored one's that get giddy when a rookie gets streaky. Yet only the most cynical would dismiss him as a flash in the pan.

Like I said he's going to slow down, how much is anyones guess. If it's only a little then he's a potential top-6 player instead of the potential top-9 player he was seen as before. There are a lot of fundamentals to like in his game, we are just going to have wait and see.

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Five glasses are half full, but you are focusing on the one glass that is half empty eh? ;-)

There are many positives to glean from this team right now...why focus solely on a free agent signing that to date has gone wrong? You think he's the first free agent veteran to ever have struggles? It did not cost the team draft picks or players a to sign Briere..you'd think his struggles were the end of the world.

Get back to me after the playoffs on Briere when it wiill be fair to judge him....not 8 games into his Habs career.

In a salarial cap era every penny count. Brière was not a player that the Habs needed especially with Desharnais, Gionta and Gallagher already in the top 9. He is not a two way player, he doesn't play on the pk and he is not a goon. His cap hit could have been use on a big physical top 9 players or on a top 4 d-man.

Brière was bought out because his play wasn't close to be good enough for his salarial cap. This UFA signing remind me a lot of the Samsonov one. Two UFA players sign by the Habs despite clear decline in their plays the season before.

It's a rookie mistake from Bergevin who failes to identify the team needs. Hopefully, he will learn from that mistake.

I am still hoping Brière proves me wrong but i really don't expect this to happen.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

For those comparing his success to D'Agostini, I don't see it at all. Bournival's production is a nice surprise since he was always expected to be a 3rd line center as his ceiling (and I still believe that's his ceiling). The only two qualities D'Agostini and Bournival have are that they both share speed as one of their strength. But D'Agostini has a much better wrister (release, accuracy) and that's it. After that Bournival beats him in every category: hustle, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, physicality, leadership, defensive play, heart (we never saw D'Agostini block shots).

D'Agostini was already playing bad before the Ladd hit BTW. Bournival is closer to a Higgins than a D'Agostini/Marian Hossa.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Someone should do some digging back to 2010 and bring up all the people who went nuts over O'Byrne trade (and kept bringing it up over the course of the year).

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Someone should do some digging back to 2010 and bring up all the people who went nuts over O'Byrne trade (and kept bringing it up over the course of the year).

Enjoy the laughs! My post 42 and 47

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=840553

 

[Redux91]

Enjoy the laughs! My post 42 and 47

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=840553

lol and reading my post, i was saying similar things but what freaked me out was my prediction that Obyrne would be OUT of the NHL in 3 years possibly... now i kinda feel guilty lmao

 

[OneSharpMarble]

. Bourque is better to keep playing like tonight cause when the injured guys are back, his spot in the line-up is far from guarenteed..

On a team with midget plugs like Briere and DD Bourques place is guaranteed. He has played excellently for us and at times carried the offence.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

On a team with midget plugs like Briere and DD Bourques place is guaranteed. He has played excellently for us and at times carried the offence.

Yeah... I don't think so.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Yeah... I don't think so.

True, Bergevin might trade him for a non physical winger that only shows up when it doesn't matter.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

True, Bergevin might trade him for a non physical winger that only shows up when it doesn't matter.

Or we could just keep Bourque. 'Cause he fills this role very nicely.

 

[No More Subban]

I remember how excited the fanbase was when D'Agostini scored 4 goals in his first 5 games. Rookies often start hot, I'll wait and see on Bournival.

This. Not being negative but the reason why Bournival is playing well is because there is no pressure. He knows he's still fighting for his job.

Im happy he's helping out the team, though.

 

[RC51]

Bournival, so far is doing great. The Best is if he continues just like this.
First he is helping that line a lot.
Second he is upping his value if Habs need to make a trade, small trade or part of a bigger trade.
Maybe someone will take Desharnais if Bournival is the added value if Desharnais continues to do this bad and the trade value coming back might be a good one. but all that is for way down the line if needed.

 

[Locks]

For those comparing his success to D'Agostini, I don't see it at all. Bournival's production is a nice surprise since he was always expected to be a 3rd line center as his ceiling (and I still believe that's his ceiling). The only two qualities D'Agostini and Bournival have are that they both share speed as one of their strength. But D'Agostini has a much better wrister (release, accuracy) and that's it. After that Bournival beats him in every category: hustle, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, physicality, leadership, defensive play, heart (we never saw D'Agostini block shots).

D'Agostini was already playing bad before the Ladd hit BTW. Bournival is closer to a Higgins than a D'Agostini/Marian Hossa.

That's a very good assesment. I understand that posters brought up D'Ago as an example of a hot rookie who cooled off but the biggest problem with D'Ago was his lack of hockey IQ hence that early performance could not be sustained. Had he had that offensive hockey sense, he could have become a decent second line scorer like Savage. D'Ago had similar problems as former leaf Matt Frattin.

And I agree with Higgins comparison, they have quite a bit in common, although I think Higgs had somewhat better hands while Bourny is faster and better defensivly.

While I thought that Bourny could become a great third liner who can fill in on any line like Benoit Brunet did, with what he has shown, he could be that great puck retriever on a scoring line - he can compliment highly skilled forwards. In fact, I would love to see a line of MaxPac-Plek-Bourny when Max is back.

But the real question is do we have another O'Byrne we can trade?

 

[Dharvey33]

The pascal Dupuis comparaisons are correct, both were tagged as 3rd liners with 40 points potential and good penalty killers. Bournival could become a does it all 2nd liner line Dupuis. Obviously he won't be playing with Crosby but still without Crosby Dupuis proved to be a 55-60 points player.

He has more offensive talent than Talbot IMO and really great speed. When i saw him play in the juniors i tought he would be a future 3rd liner. I was happy when the habs grabbed him.