Out of Town Thread: Pre-Pre-Season Edition

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Ex-Habs scout suddenly died today. Frank Jay.

RIP

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The list could also go further if you lower the line a bit or think Juulsen/Mete have higher potential too.

It's crazy the D Timmins built over the years. Sure there are some misses, but in the last 14 years there's probably only Nashville that has drafted more talent on D than the Habs.

That's why whatever flaws Timmins has, we should live with them and try to compliment his work with people who are better at drafting forwards, but keep Timmins at all cost.

He's the only reason (along with the two newcomers) I still have a smidgen of hope for the future.

 

[Censored Toad]

While I agree on some points, mostly the "remove helmet part", I don't like the part with hand injuries. Even if it is 50-1, your hands will probably heal faster than heads' injuries, especially concessions. It is very hard to recover from multiple concussions. That's why there are so many studies out there.

I also have a cousin who had multiple little concussions and she now has problems sleeping at night

Hi Art,
That is a fair point, I suppose I was thinking from a lens of a hockey player and sort of like Carl Lolzner that cant even open pickle jars. If you had someone with super slick hands that got them ruined in a fight ( likely that person would not be fighting anyways..) that could be a career ender... however you are correct in that concussions are more serious and are basically a medical engima at this point.

I suppose I was also thinking back to when concussions were basically not even on the radar and now they would be diagnosed way more frequently if the fighting rates were the same now as in the 90's or earlier.

Thank you for your comments, after considering them, I agree with you.

 

[Mrb1p]

It's crazy the D Timmins built over the years. Sure there are some misses, but in the last 14 years there's probably only Nashville that has drafted more talent on D than the Habs.

That's why whatever flaws Timmins has, we should live with them and try to compliment his work with people who are better at drafting forwards, but keep Timmins at all cost.

He's the only reason (along with the two newcomers) I still have a smidgen of hope for the future.

Agree. I might add Minny too with Burns, Dumba, Spurgeon, Brodin... but its absolutely top tier in the league.

Im also not sure if the D vs C thing is because he didnt focus on actually drafting a 1C and went for high upside Ds instead, Kotkanieni is probably the only C hes draft with great upside, the other being Galchenyuk, but thats on MGMT.

 

[mariolemieux66]

It will be a challenge to outtank Detroit, Ottawa, NYI, Arizona, Vancouver, NYR and then you have Buffalo, Carolina and Chicago. The last thing I want is for us to draft around the 9th spot.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

It will be a challenge to outtank Detroit, Ottawa, NYI, Arizona, Vancouver, NYR and then you have Buffalo, Carolina and Chicago. The last thing I want is for us to draft around the 9th spot.

Im willing to bet Buffalo, Caroline, Chicago and Arizona will do better than us, which leaves us around top 6, with a little luck, maybe top 3 over Van, NYR and Detroit, with only Ottawa and the Isles bumping us.

 

[mariolemieux66]

Im willing to bet Buffalo, Caroline, Chicago and Arizona will do better than us, which leaves us around top 6, with a little luck, maybe top 3 over Van, NYR and Detroit, with only Ottawa and the Isles bumping us.

You really think Vancouver without the Sedins and Detroit without Zetterberg will finish ahead of us? They were only 2 points ahead of us last season. We need to somehow get in the top 5 and it looks like luck will need to be on our side.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

You really think Vancouver without the Sedins and Detroit without Zetterberg will finish ahead of us? They were only 2 points ahead of us last season. We need to somehow get in the top 5 and it looks like luck will need to be on our side.

Didn't know Zetts called it quits

Van has better young star power who'll have bigger roles.

Also, not having Weber for a long period is worst than losing Zetts or the Sedins who were already out of gas.

Im feeling confident about a top 5 finish for the draft

 

[mariolemieux66]

Didn't know Zetts called it quits

Van has better young star power who'll have bigger roles.

Also, not having Weber for a long period is worst than losing Zetts or the Sedins who were already out of gas.

Im feeling confident about a top 5 finish for the draft

Detroit still needs to replace Zetterberg 56 points if he retires and Vancouver Sedins 105 points. The Redwings will also be without Tatar 25 goals and UFAs Nyquist, Vanek, Kronwall and Howard might be traded during the season. It will be tough to finish behind them if Price is back to his normal self.

 

[Mrb1p]

It will be a challenge to outtank Detroit, Ottawa, NYI, Arizona, Vancouver, NYR and then you have Buffalo, Carolina and Chicago. The last thing I want is for us to draft around the 9th spot.

Arizona will push for the PO this year. They have a good team and they are a PO team if you count from the start of 2018. Adding Galchenyuk and Strome graduating is going to be huge.

Ottawa is 100% worse.
Buffalo has a good xhance to be bubble.
NYR will suck again.
Carolina will push for it too.
I dont.expect Chicago to be that bad again.

 

[Mrb1p]

Id love it for Ottawa to finish first or second.

Man what a blow would that be, plus it makes the Avs better and I like them.

 

[mariolemieux66]

Arizona will push for the PO this year. They have a good team and they are a PO team if you count from the start of 2018. Adding Galchenyuk and Strome graduating is going to be huge.

Ottawa is 100% worse.
Buffalo has a good xhance to be bubble.
NYR will suck again.
Carolina will push for it too.
I dont.expect Chicago to be that bad again.

They will need to have 25+ points this season in order to make the playoffs. I can see them passing us by several points if Chychrun and Hjalmarsson stay healthy all season and Raanta plays like last year.

 

[mariolemieux66]

Id love it for Ottawa to finish first or second.

Man what a blow would that be, plus it makes the Avs better and I like them.

Colorado hit gold with the Duchene trade. Adding Kakko and Foote would be huge.

 

[buddahsmoka1]

Haha, Arizona is a garbage team. Doubt they do any better than last season.

 

[Peanut]

If Vegas has taught us anything, anything/everything can happen.

No AV in NYR is going to be a big bump for them and also theres that Lundqvist fellow.

Detroit has some young studs maybe Blashill will finally let them go out and play.

Ottawa in Boucher system could upset a team every night.

Maybe Barzal goes complete beast mode and Islanders D step up there play and Lehner plays like a man possessed.

Carolina upgraded by getting Dougie Hamilton has probably one of the best top 4 in the league will Svech, Zykov, Aho, TT be enough to take them back to the playoffs

It will be a tough year to gauge until some games are played.

 

[scrubadam]

If Vegas has taught us anything, anything/everything can happen.

No AV in NYR is going to be a big bump for them and also theres that Lundqvist fellow.

Detroit has some young studs maybe Blashill will finally let them go out and play.

Ottawa in Boucher system could upset a team every night.

Maybe Barzal goes complete beast mode and Islanders D step up there play and Lehner plays like a man possessed.

Carolina upgraded by getting Dougie Hamilton has probably one of the best top 4 in the league will Svech, Zykov, Aho, TT be enough to take them back to the playoffs

It will be a tough year to gauge until some games are played.

Its all about who over performs, who under performs, injuries, and drama's around the teams. All you need is a rift in a locker room for a team to turn on a coach and send them in a spiral. How is AM and Babcock's relationship ;-)

NHL has a lot of parity even if we don't see it in cup matches. Loser point means that even teams that aren't that good can still skate by. Its going to be tough for the habs to out tank other teams but no Weber for half the season is going to help. I just don't know if Price is going to be as bad as he was last year again. We also need to remember Price was injured a lot last year and never had a chance to get a rhythm going.

A couple of 2 or less goals per game streaks and Habs are out of the bottom 5 and drafting in the teens :-(

 

[Adam Michaels]

Our boy Sly got a new gig as assistant coach of the San Diego Gulls , Anaheim's AHL affiliate.

 

[The Great Weal]

Our boy Sly got a new gig as assistant coach of the San Diego Gulls , Anaheim's AHL affiliate.

Lol that's ridiculous

 

[PaulD]

I disliked the staged fights... when you'd have the two goons going at each other for no reason other then to fight.

I like the fights that are spontaneous, and speaking from experience.. when the defensman cross checks you over and over in the lower back in front of the net.. right where you have no padding... I start seeing red.

I like that the emotion takes over and you see the raw passion. At the end of the scrap you have two exhausted players who have mutual respect for each other.. I like that.

However I will not ignore the down side of players careers maybe ending or heads smashing into the ice so it does have its risks.


The current state of fighting... I dont really care for it. I mean its against the rules now to remove the helmit? So guys basically just wreck their hands on hitting a helmet. Dumb. I mean I understand they want to remove the head injuries in fighting... but when you consider the instants of how many players got seriously injured during a fight..... I feel like your going to have many more minor hand injuries (say 50:1) vs one serious head injury as a result of fighting.

Fights have a place, its very limited and that is ok. I do not think it should be mandatory for the players to keep the helmets on. If the player wants to take the risk in fighting, they should also be allowed to take the helmet off as well... they choose.

Of course one could say that looking back after a fight once the emotions gone, players may have wished they kept the helmet on but didnt in the heat of the moment....

I am rambling and debating myself here....

20 thousand people on their feet for the entire Domi Probert fights. Anticipated for two months. Shown on highlights for weeks after. Ask anyone who won the game, who scored the winner or who was in net. They wont know.

"Old time hockey"

 

[PaulD]

Our boy Sly got a new gig as assistant coach of the San Diego Gulls , Anaheim's AHL affiliate.

He was a laughing stock here in Hamilton. I actually began to feel sorry for him. He knows nothing about proper coaching. Not a clue. His interviews made that very apparent.

 

[PaulD]

It's called "having standards". If you don't demand better, you never get better. The biggest problem with this organization today is that their stated goal every season isn't to win the Cup but merely to make the playoffs and then "anything can happen". Sorry. Not good enough. Not nearly good enough for the preeminent franchise in the sport. There is only one acceptable standard for this team: championships. Anything less than that is a pathetic failure. You don't aim for the middle. They did that last season and they wound up 4th from the bottom. You always aim for the top. As Vince Lombardi used to say, you aim for perfection, knowing all the while that you'll never achieve it. But in the effort of chasing perfection you will catch up to excellence.

When was the last time this franchise even tried to be excellent? 25 years at least.

Franchise went in the toilet after Serge Savard left.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Assistant coach in the AHL is what Sly should have been all along. Preferably on a team with a real good head coach that doesn't like to delegate much.

 

[mariolemieux66]

20 thousand people on their feet for the entire Domi Probert fights. Anticipated for two months. Shown on highlights for weeks after. Ask anyone who won the game, who scored the winner or who was in net. They wont know.

"Old time hockey"

I taped this game, they played it on every stations. I remember watching it over and over again, counting punches thrown, punches landed and even elbows thrown by both guys.
Not many guys KOed Domi.

 

[Adam Michaels]

He was a laughing stock here in Hamilton. I actually began to feel sorry for him. He knows nothing about proper coaching. Not a clue. His interviews made that very apparent.

For one, I wasn't a fan of Sly, but it really annoyed me when Lebeau was doing his media rounds a few months ago talking about his experience serving as Lefebvre's assistant, and he told the story that one time, Lefebvre told Lebeau that they're priority isn't to win, but to develop the players. He said that to him because Lebeau really cared about winning games. Even if I wasn't a fan of his already, this one truly bothered me.

Which is why it was refreshing to hear Bouchard answer a reporter who asked him about development vs. winning, Joël said his main job is to develop, but as long as there's a scoreboard, he will play to win.

Assistant coach in the AHL is what Sly should have been all along. Preferably on a team with a real good head coach that doesn't like to delegate much.

Since 2015-16, the Gulls' head coach has been Dallas Eakins. I think that IF there's any job Lefebvre will be good at, it would be assistant coach in AHL.

But I'm so happy he's no longer in the Habs' org. Can't wait to see Joël Bouchard and the new-look Rocket this year. I'm stoked.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Id love it for Ottawa to finish first or second.

Man what a blow would that be, plus it makes the Avs better and I like them.

Off topic a bit but Colorado put themselves in a similar spot a few years ago with the Varlamov trade. Traded a second and am unprotected first to Washington for him. Missed the playoffs, that pick ended up being #12 in 2012...none other than filip forsberg.