Yeah, great.
But, the obvious weakness despite the brilliant insights of PJ Stock, Ray Ferraro, and the other geniuses without jobs in hockey, is NOT size; rather, the problem is goal scoring.
We lack, and have for some time, a 40-50 goal scorer--the kind of player who can change a game.
Our team is extremely well-coached, no matter what the tons of Therrien replacements on this and other boards say. We were well-coach under Jacques Martin, as well. That's easy to pinpoint: penalty kill is excellent, power play is excellent and opening periods usually are excellent. These are all down to preparation, coaching and effort. Yet these are the three things that posters here and everywhere--ever wonder why Glenn Healy has no job with a hockey team besides being a master of the obvious, snarky, and talentless--whinge about overwhelmingly, along with size.
Guess what, as games wear on and teams adjust the talent takes over. Our team is sorely lacking in pure talent, especially goal scoring talent!
Want to know why David Desharnais is in the NHL? Look in a mirror! It is our fault. No other team in the league would take a chance on him but our team has no other choice but employ as much talent as they can possibly scrounge, including fringe and, admittedly, small players b/c the Mtl fans and press REGARDLESS OF LANGUAGE would never tolerate a succession of bottom-five finishes, a la Edmonton, Pittsburgh, et al. You can point to Detroit's supposed Euro pipeline but that's a myth. They got lucky twice, and haven't had a decent draft in over a decade. They tanked, got Yzerman and some pieces, signed free agents and got lucky, but that franchise changed b/c of Yzerman and the fruits of sucking for years.
How many of those seasons would we tolerate? We give our team no choice but to scrounge for guys like DD. He wouldn 't exist elsewhere, but it's our fault.
