Post-Game Talk: Niemi with the worst performance I've ever seen by a Habs goalie in 6-5 loss to Tampa

[Simarino]

So I watched the highlights of this game. I see a bad rebound by Niemi which leads to the fifth goal, but not anything else egregious outside of that. The Tampa goals seemed to mostly be on very well executed plays (they score a ton of goals as it is). Didn’t look like Vasilevsky was that great either.

Do you guys put this more on Niemi just because he wasn’t making huge saves against a strong offense or did you think more goals than I thought were really bad? To me, they just all look like they came on grade A chances.

Just looking for some honest takes (which as we all know are way more possible the day AFTER a loss).

The Stralman’s goal wasnt a good one, a super juicy rebound on a weak shot from the point on the 5th goal, boxing the puck all night, shots we’re going thru him but just missed the net on a few occasions. He’s got a 4.25 GAA and under .870 save%, not even close to be in the nhl standards.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

At some point you have to get a save (aka great save). 0.870 is killing us.

 

[BLONG7]

They are an exciting bunch to watch this year.........score 5 goals and the game should be ours.

Well, next up Dallas, where their 2 best players are pi$$ed off, lucky us...

 

[Kriss E]

You have 3 no5-6 dman on the left side, for me playing the one who’s having the best game the most minutes is just logical and that’s coaching, Julien is almost never making changes inside the game.. Benn played 21Min in Colo and played a good Game, same thing for Kulak when he started playing with Weber its not because their not top 4 D’s that they cant play 20 good minutes on any giving nights but damn if they play like **** adjust!! Schlemko played 20Mins in Colorado when he was having one worst game ever played by a habs d-man!!

Back to my point. Fact that Benn is playing so little is probably why he had a good game. Make Benn play 20-22 min...his game will look differently.
You are making too much out of this. Weber played terrible tonight, should he have been cut in ice time?
I would also argue playing Mete 12 one night and 20 another, then back to 12 because he made some mistakes and didn't play as well is the perfect way to ruin any confidence.
You also make your guys play on their toes all the time if they know...they mess up and their ice time will be almost halved the next game.

No problem if you dislike Julien, but he's not a problem, and playing Mete-Benn-Schlemko...wtv man, none of them should be getting high minutes.

 

[Simarino]

Back to my point. Fact that Benn is playing so little is probably why he had a good game. Make Benn play 20-22 min...his game will look differently.
You are making too much out of this. Weber played terrible tonight, should he have been cut in ice time?
I would also argue playing Mete 12 one night and 20 another, then back to 12 because he made some mistakes and didn't play as well is the perfect way to ruin any confidence.
You also make your guys play on their toes all the time if they know...they mess up and their ice time will be almost halved the next game.

No problem if you dislike Julien, but he's not a problem, and playing Mete-Benn-Schlemko...wtv man, none of them should be getting high minutes.

I dislike the fact that icetime dosnt go accordingly to the way you play. None of the left D should play 20mins, im with you on that one, but someone will have to do it, so might aswell go with the guy who's playing well.

 

[Kriss E]

I dislike the fact that icetime dosnt go accordingly to the way you play. None of the left D should play 20mins, im with you on that one, but someone will have to do it, so might aswell go with the guy who's playing well.

My point is none of them are capable of handling those minutes so whoever you use for those minutes will look worse than the others that get more suitable ice time.

 

[Milhouse40]

I think the coaching staff deserve alot of credit for what they are doing to prepare the team for the game, i like the way the team play 90% of the games, that said there’s another part in coaching, the inside the game coaching, that i think they deserved criticism. They dont adjust, never change lines or dpairing depending on players performance, dosnt cut his bench in the final minutes of a game etc etc

For the MB’s part, i dont want to pay future, picks/prospects to get Duncan Keith or an over 30 dman, pay a premium to get Cam Fowler or Shea Theodore or another 23-26 yrs old left d, not a guy who wont be here when we’re gonna be ready to be a contender in 3 years.

Not saying to sell top prospect and 1st round pick or getting Fowler and Theodore
But something in between is a possibility.
With Armia coming back, we got tons of bodies especially on the wing.....

As for Julien, it's one of he's weakness but no one is perfect....Habs made a lot of late comeback this year, so sticking to his line has some merits too. Players don't usually appreciate being move around, Therrien was good at that but was also criticized for it but some players.

 

[sandysan]

and to think that at some point, people were advocating for trading Price cause Niemi was doing just fine...

every #2 is suggested by some fans to be better than price. the hamburgular, niemi, lindrgen, condon. It's idiotic, but it happens every time.

our cart is tied to carey price, for better or worse because its still better ( by an order of magnitude) better than hitching it to one of those other jabronis.

 

[sampollock]

get rid of auntie now

 

[peate]

What's Alex Auld up to these days?

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Niemi looked quite a bit worse last night than against Florida. Back to back games against two good teams is probably a lot to ask of him. The Habs still gave it a good shot against TB. It is way too bad that that game did not go into OT. Hopefully Niemi bounces back with a big win versus Dallas in a huge matchup Monday. A tough loss last night where the Habs probably deserved a point but TB is a very good team. The Habs have to play tighter D, but at the same time I think they miss Price - hopefully he is back in net soon.

 

[Habaneros]

They are an exciting bunch to watch this year.........score 5 goals and the game should be ours.

Well, next up Dallas, where their 2 best players are pi$$ed off, lucky us...

they played Det last night...Benn 0 points...

Maybe both Benns get on the plane back to Montreal Jan 1st Dallas time..lol

 

[BLONG7]

McNiven should play Dallas.

 

[cactusjack]

what is Domi line (esp. Drouin) doing on the ice with less than 2min left in the game up by one. Is this really bad coaching? We should have the Danault line up there, then Kotka-Lekhonen-Byron and I would even play some mix of the 4th line (Chaput) before Drouin & Domi.

 

[Habaneros]

What's Alex Auld up to these days?

sign Auld for New Years eve in Dallas...!!!!...and Robert Lang

slightly change the lyrics..AULD LANG SIGN

 

[Schwang]

While the score was close, and Niemi DID LOSE it for us, Vas was complete horse turd last night. Not saying we’d lose for sure, but goaltending on both teams would keep coaches up at night.

True but I think the goals on Vasilevsky overall were better quality plus we outshot them. Certainly a couple good takeaways from the loss. We still should’ve won. I heard Price’s return date is in doubt now, so I really don’t know what they’ll do. No idea when Lindgren will be ready either.

what is Domi line (esp. Drouin) doing on the ice with less than 2min left in the game up by one. Is this really bad coaching? We should have the Danault line up there, then Kotka-Lekhonen-Byron and I would even play some mix of the 4th line (Chaput) before Drouin & Domi.

They played a big part of the third in their own end though. Not sure anyone could have done anything. Mete could take a big part of the blame on the tying goal I think it was. He didn’t tie up his man. I think no matter what, Niemi was determined to lose that game anyway

True but I think the goals on Vasilevsky overall were better quality plus we outshot them. Certainly a couple good takeaways from the loss. We still should’ve won. I heard Price’s return date is in doubt now, so I really don’t know what they’ll do. No idea when Lindgren will be ready either.

This is what happens when you tie up too much in one goalie rather than have 2 solid ones.

 

[Habaneros]

True but I think the goals on Vasilevsky overall were better quality plus we outshot them. Certainly a couple good takeaways from the loss. We still should’ve won. I heard Price’s return date is in doubt now, so I really don’t know what they’ll do. No idea when Lindgren will be ready either.

They can't ride a guy letting in 3 or 6 or 7 every game.
I mean what is that trying to prove??
The last 5 games let in 6 another 6 and 7 more ...like ding dong the bells are ringing here....

..they are goona need to either give the reins to McNevin on a game by game basis and hope... or go find someone else because if they don't the ship goes down fast

 

[Schwang]

They can't ride a guy letting in 3 or 6 or 7 every game.
I mean what is that trying to prove??
The last 5 games let in 6 another 6 and 7 more ...like ding dong the bells are ringing here....

..they are goona need to either give the reins to McNevin on a game by game basis and hope... or go find someone else because if they don't the ship goes down fast

Agreed. Mcniven has to get the next start. At worse, he plays at Niemis level. At best, he rides the high of playing in the nhl and stands on his head. God knows it happens against the Habs all the time!

 

[Megaforce]

Hab fans are so depressing.
Do you ever actually enjoy the game?
The team is playing very well and almost pulled off a win in TB last night. They had just played a hard fought game in a win against Fla. the night before.
I suspect your life is like a big turd in the bowl.

Perhaps what I typed was misinterpreted. I enjoy watching the Habs and am ok with them losing when it's entertaining. My point was that I always find at least one Hab who catches my eye with his great skill, often Drouin, Domi, Petry, Weber or Mete but I was surprised that tonight nobody was catching my attention. Petry was pretty good in retrospect I suppose. Habs were clearly exhausted in the third period and they came close to a great result, so no shame in the performance. Still I found it unusual that no one player really stood out even tho the result was pretty close to brilliant.

 

[Habaneros]

Just to throw it out there...
Carey Price AHL 10 games 2007- 2008
Goals against avg 2.69 ..Save %896
6 wins 4 loses
Then jumped to NHL


Mike McNiven
AHL 10 games
Goals against avg 2.59
Save %884
4-4-1


Put McNiven between the pipes in Dallas..

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Hab fans are so depressing.
Do you ever actually enjoy the game?
The team is playing very well and almost pulled off a win in TB last night. They had just played a hard fought game in a win against Fla. the night before.
I suspect your life is like a big turd in the bowl.

hard to enjoy the games when the product on the ice been shit for 25years
minus Domi and kotka

literally had no franchise forward for 20years

team been finishing mid tier for 25y with no progress . the only reason why we did good 3 times its because the goalies were better than gretzky+lemieux combined.

hard to watch a franchise who drafted no franchise forward in 25years

watching byron shaw and danault on a top6 makes me sick.

my 2cents

 

[le_sean]

They played a big part of the third in their own end though. Not sure anyone could have done anything. Mete could take a big part of the blame on the tying goal I think it was. He didn’t tie up his man. I think no matter what, Niemi was determined to lose that game anyway

I can tell you they weren’t hemmed in the zone when he almost let a slapper from centre ice go in. He struggled all game long and a half competent goaltender would have won that game.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Just to throw it out there...
Carey Price AHL 10 games 2007- 2008
Goals against avg 2.69 ..Save %896
6 wins 4 loses
Then jumped to NHL


Mike McNiven
AHL 10 games
Goals against avg 2.59
Save %884
4-4-1


Put McNiven between the pipes in Dallas..

ahl is known for high scoring games. nothing surprising

 

[Habaneros]

ahl is known for high scoring games. nothing surprising

That what i say..McNiven stats in Ahl are right along Carey Price in Ahl...to start him in Dallas isn't a crazy thing...

He is 21 yrs old...and the time is right ....

 

[le_sean]

That what i say..McNiven stats in Ahl are right along Carey Price in Ahl...to start him in Dallas isn't a crazy thing...
He is 21 yrs old...and the time is right ....

Plus a message needs to be sent. Sick of coaches giving veterans a pass on awful performances just because they are vets. Sorry, but Niemi doesn’t only deserve to sit after the last performance, he deserves to be waived for his season.