Post-lockout Lineup

[Corncob]

Yep, if Martin and Gauthier didn't do something, surely Therrien and Bergevin won't do the same, got it.

But the main argument for sending Gomez to the minors (saving capspace) is now gone. As it would only save 900k to do so, the question is does he outperform a potential 900k earning centre who could replace him.

 

[MarkovtoSubban]

Tried not to care but winter is long.


Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole-legit top line now

Moen-Plekanec-Gionta - plays against other top lines.

Galchenyuk-Eller-Armstrong - if they find chemistry quickly could be the secondary scoring missing all last year

Prusty-White-Nookie = nasty but leaves you wanting more.


Markov - Gorges - steady at both ends

Bouillon-Subban- Frankie will need to play the tough minutes until Tinordi is ready.

Emelin -Diaz - second pp unit, moves the puck well but can't clear the crease

In the press box sitting on their fat wallets and cracking each other up with imitations of the coach's accent:

Gomez, Bourque and Kaberle.

 

[Mr. Hab]

Please try someone else with DD...we know he can do well with Pacio and Cole...they can always be reunited later after all it's a long season...plenty of time to try new things ).
Watch DD not be able to perform with anyone else...but it'll be too late...we'll be stuck with his near future 4-5mil/year contract...I don't want it (we will need money for Subban, Galchenyuk, Eller, top 4 dman via trade/ufa, etc...).



Bourque/Pacioretty - DD - Cole
Pacioretty/Bourque - Plekanec - Gionta
Moen/Prust - Eller - Armstrong
Prust/Moen - Nokia?/Gomez? - White
------------------- -------------------------
Leblanc
Gallagher
Dumont

---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------


Gorges/Emelin-Subban
Markov-Emelin/Gorges
Bouillon-Diaz/Kaberle
Kaberle
Beaulieu
Tinordi
Weber

 

[PunkinDrublic*]

Tried not to care but winter is long.


Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole-legit top line now

Moen-Plekanec-Gionta - plays against other top lines.

Galchenyuk-Eller-Armstrong - if they find chemistry quickly could be the secondary scoring missing all last year

Prusty-White-Nookie = nasty but leaves you wanting more.


Markov - Gorges - steady at both ends

Bouillon-Subban- Frankie will need to play the tough minutes until Tinordi is ready.

Emelin -Diaz - second pp unit, moves the puck well but can't clear the crease

In the press box sitting on their fat wallets and cracking each other up with imitations of the coach's accent:

Gomez, Bourque and Kaberle.

Please reinsert Gomez and Bourque, they will be starting the season.
And by the way Rene Bourque is a way better player than he showed during his short stint in Montreal. Don't listen to the continual complainers.

PS Nokes is injured.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

What I would like to see but really doubt it happens

Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Gallagher-Plekanec-Gionta
Bourque-Eller-Galchenyuk
Moen-Prust-Armstrong

Extra
Nokelainen, White, Gomez

 

[Kriss E]

Tried not to care but winter is long.


Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole-legit top line now

Moen-Plekanec-Gionta - plays against other top lines.

Galchenyuk-Eller-Armstrong - if they find chemistry quickly could be the secondary scoring missing all last year

Prusty-White-Nookie = nasty but leaves you wanting more.


Markov - Gorges - steady at both ends

Bouillon-Subban- Frankie will need to play the tough minutes until Tinordi is ready.

Emelin -Diaz - second pp unit, moves the puck well but can't clear the crease

In the press box sitting on their fat wallets and cracking each other up with imitations of the coach's accent:

Gomez, Bourque and Kaberle.

1- They are not a legit first line yet. Also, last year they benefited from less defensive duties, and better match ups, they lead us to a 3rd overall pick. Not saying they weren't good, but what's the point of keeping them together when our other lines actually worsened?

2- Absolutely horrendous 2nd line. Moen? Are we serious about this? You are converting two guys that are paid 5M each and offensively very capable into 3rd line shutdown players. Randy Cunneyworth left quite an impression on you.

3- Gally might not even make the team, and Armstrong was horrible in his last season in TO before getting injured.

You're also wasting Bourque. Despite him bring horrible last year, I don't see how a guy like Armstrong is ahead of him. You're talking about a possibly 20-25G scorer, you owe it to yourself to at least try to make him produce.

As for our Dmen, I don't hate those pairings, but I would have Emelin next to Subban. Bouillon has no business being in the top 4.
Markov is still a question mark for the NHL. So, I wouldn't give him top opposition.
I'd likely go with Gorges-PK as the top shutdown role. Then have the two russians play along one another with Markov-Emelin, and Kaberle despite sucking defensively, serves his purpose on the PP (and the PP will be key if we want to score goals considering our lackluster offense), so he comes with Diaz. Bouillon is on the outs.

You lines need some serious remodeling. It's a line up guaranteed to fail with the way you built it.

MaxPac and Cole cannot play together with DD if we're serious about making a strong push. There's no way Bourque will excel next to Plekanec facing top opponents with heavier defensive duties.

I'd like to see:

MaxPac-Plek-Gionta
Bourque-DD-Cole
Moen-Eller-Gomez (yes, Gomez will get a shot. He won't be tossed aside from game 1, it just won't happen, so might as well be ready to see it. If it doesn't work, put Armstrong)
Prust-White-Armstrong

Now, there's also another possibility but most probably wouldn't even want to try it. A few years ago, agains Boston in the POs, those three players were placed together and played well. DD-Gomez-Gionta. If that line is reassembled, and plays well, it changes a lot of things.
MaxPac-Plek-Cole - Undeniable talented top line, two of those players are proven veterans capable of facing top opponents.
DD-Gomez-Gionta - If they played as they did in the POs, then they could provide secondary scoring.
Bourque-Eller-Moen - Similar to last year's Ak-Eller-Moen line, they could dominate weaker opposition.
Prust-White-Armstrong - Aggressive grinder line.

This is also with Gally not making the club. It'll be interesting though, but I really hope Therrien experiments a lot in order to maximize our players. Putting DD with MaxPac and Cole is a recipe proven to fail imo.

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

1- They are not a legit first line yet. Also, last year they benefited from less defensive duties, and better match ups, they lead us to a 3rd overall pick. Not saying they weren't good, but what's the point of keeping them together when our other lines actually worsened?

2- Absolutely horrendous 2nd line. Moen? Are we serious about this? You are converting two guys that are paid 5M each and offensively very capable into 3rd line shutdown players. Randy Cunneyworth left quite an impression on you.

3- Gally might not even make the team, and Armstrong was horrible in his last season in TO before getting injured.

You're also wasting Bourque. Despite him bring horrible last year, I don't see how a guy like Armstrong is ahead of him. You're talking about a possibly 20-25G scorer, you owe it to yourself to at least try to make him produce.

As for our Dmen, I don't hate those pairings, but I would have Emelin next to Subban. Bouillon has no business being in the top 4.
Markov is still a question mark for the NHL. So, I wouldn't give him top opposition.
I'd likely go with Gorges-PK as the top shutdown role. Then have the two russians play along one another with Markov-Emelin, and Kaberle despite sucking defensively, serves his purpose on the PP (and the PP will be key if we want to score goals considering our lackluster offense), so he comes with Diaz. Bouillon is on the outs.

You lines need some serious remodeling. It's a line up guaranteed to fail with the way you built it.

A quick comment regarding "... they lead us to a 3rd overall pick...". This argument is often used here and I think it is flawed. What led us to a 3rd overall pick were (1) a very poorly constructed D squad: redundancy + inexperience everywhere - it still is a major problem btw -and (2) a lot of injuries.

That being mentioned, I am all for dismantling our 2011-12 first line because I think Desharnais is our only center who can jumpstart big Bourque. Eller's major woes in the faceoff circle aside, I also think Lars is ready to take some of the defensive work load off of Plekanec's shoulders. That would allow Therrien to use Plekanec in a more offensive role.

Hence I wish for:

Pacioretty – Plekanec – Cole
Galchenyuk – Desharnais – Bourque
Moen – Eller - Gionta
Prust – Nokelainen – White

Gomez/Armstrong

Notes:

Darche – Plekanec – Bourque provided us, during a short stint, with a solid shutdown line contribution last season. Imo Bourque is a defensively responsible player.

I am a huge fan of Gionta so don't be fooled by the 3rd line tag: this line would receive a lot of even strength minutes. These 3 players are solid two ways players.

I think that Nokelainen is currently injured but I hope he recovers quickly because I really like his right handed contribution in the faceoff circle.

This would be a 9 games trial for Galchenyuk followed by a revaluation of his status with the big club.



PS Since Hamrlik's departure, I profoundly dislike our D squad.

 

[tinyzombies]

Though of him, but again like with White, do you think he can play C in the nhl, I watched a few AHL games, he played Centre, but lately has been playing RW, not sure how he is on faceoffs eithers.

So no White at center..Dumont... this changes things... so, first nine games:

Pacioretty - DD - Cole
Galchenyuk - Plekanec - Gionta
Prust - Eller - Bourque
Moen - Gomez - Armstrong
White
Dumont (to scare Gomez)
Nokelainen (injured)

Markov-Gorges
Kaberle (Emelin against Boston?)-Subban?
Emelin-Diaz
Bouillon

 

[PunkinDrublic*]

So is Leblanc going to be the bust many of us predicted him to be ?

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

So is Leblanc going to be the bust many of us predicted him to be ?

I did not include him in my lineup because I am almost sure his ankle injury is still bugging him.

A bust? I think he played well in 2011-12... don't you?

 

[PunkinDrublic*]

I did not include him in my lineup because I am almost sure his ankle injury is still bugging him.

A bust? I think he played well in 2011-12... don't you?

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

High ankle sprain often take months to fully recover.

What about Gomez... was he playing injured last season? That's the first time I read about it... do you have a link?

Leblanc played really well last season but if you expect him to be a saviour, you should reconsider your expectations.

 

[cjbhab*]

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

2009 was a poor draft and we simply picked him because he was french.

I would be furious if the players after him weren't junk too.. although I do like Kreider.

I'm very low on Leblanc right now.. I don't see him being a top 6 player

 

[Mue]

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

In all honesty, I always found the buzz/expectations regarding Leblanc to be fairly moderate (esp. given where he was born and drafted).

I like Leblanc; he's a smart player, works hard, and understands the game well - I think this will get him to the NHL in a 3rd line role (although he could complement a 2nd line as well) - and unless I have just missed it somehow, I felt most had similar expectations.

Hmm, maybe I'm getting better at ignoring it...but I noticed with Latendresse.

 

[PunkinDrublic*]

High ankle sprain often take months to fully recover.

What about Gomez... was he playing injured last season? That's the first time I read about it... do you have a link?

Leblanc played really well last season but if you expect him to be a saviour, you should reconsider your expectations.

Wasn't me that said he would be a saviour it was the french media.

Gomez had a concussion amongst other things. I mean if you do watch the Habs surely you saw the Myers hit right ?

 

[Uber Coca]

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

He was a saviour when you listened to irrational people, but most objective posters saw a potentially good 2nd or 3rd line center when drafted. Leblanc wasn't supposed to be a superstar and never will be. I thought he played pretty good last season and you can notice that the kid has some nice tools.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Post that was probably made in spring 2010:

Is Pacioretty going to become the bust some people expected?

Patience with young players is required. Leblanc was put in a bad situation last year by inept management as he was kept up to barely play and often yo-yo'd between Montreal and Hamilton and the effects of that on his confidence are likely being shown now, along with battling this injury. His skating is just nowhere near what it was last year due to the ankle sprain.

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

Wasn't me that said he would be a saviour it was the french media.

Gomez had a concussion amongst other things. I mean if you do watch the Habs surely you saw the Myers hit right ?

Leblanc injured himself on October 20. At the time he had 2 goals in 3 games played. And yes, high ankle sprain often take months to fully recover... especially if the player is trying to "play through it".

The Myers hit happened in mid March... it can't explain Gomez's woes in 2011-12. Pay attention.

 

[FloJack]

Post that was probably made in spring 2010:

Is Pacioretty going to become the bust some people expected?

Patience with young players is required. Leblanc was put in a bad situation last year by inept management as he was kept up to barely play and often yo-yo'd between Montreal and Hamilton and the effects of that on his confidence are likely being shown now, along with battling this injury. His skating is just nowhere near what it was last year due to the ankle sprain.

Was about to simply just write that there's still lots of time for Leblanc but you explained that perfectly here.

 

[Hope Of Glory]

After all the media hype...no. Wasn't he suppose to be some saviour ? Look at his stats in Hamilton. And before you mention his injury, couldn't we use this excuse for say, guys like Gomez and Bourque ? Maybe they had bad seasons because of injuries ?

If you thought Leblanc was going to be a savior, than by those standard he will almost for sure "bust".

As far as I know, he was always seen as a future 2nd line complementary winger or a very good/elite 3rd liner. He still has time to meet those expectations, imo.

 

[FloJack]

If you thought Leblanc was going to be a savior, than by those standard he will almost for sure "bust".

As far as I know, he was always seen as a future 2nd line complementary winger or a very good/elite 3rd liner. He still has time to meet those expectations, imo.

Wasn't Guy Carbonneau a comparable?

Anyway, Leblanc's hustle alone has me far from writing him off at this point, it's not like he has work ethic or attitude problems. He's had some bad luck and has been in so many different situations since his draft year, these last two years have been his only 2 in a row with the same team/organization since his draft year.

 

[durojean]

Here's a long shot line up

Cole Plekanec Pacioretty
Bourque Gomez Gionta
Desharnais Eller White
Moen Armstrong Prust

Markov Subban
Kaberle Gorges
Emelin Bouillion
Diaz Weber

We were groomed to beleive last uear that Gomez is the problem but he did not play last year and we were pretty bad. I say give him responsabilities.

 

[Hope Of Glory]

Wasn't Guy Carbonneau a comparable?

Anyway, Leblanc's hustle alone has me far from writing him off at this point, it's not like he has work ethic or attitude problems. He's had some bad luck and has been in so many different situations since his draft year, these last two years have been his only 2 in a row with the same team/organization since his draft year.

Yeah, it is a good comparison if Leblanc ends up as a 3rd liner. Maybe not as good as Carbonneau who was one of the best defensive player in the game at some point, but he will be pretty useful if he becomes that type of player.

 

[zzoo]

So disappointed in Leblanc. He got 3 goals (1 empty-net goal I think), 2 assists in 22 games.

 

[Monctonscout]

Wasn't me that said he would be a saviour it was the french media.

Gomez had a concussion amongst other things. I mean if you do watch the Habs surely you saw the Myers hit right ?

Gomez had a concussion in March 2012. How does that explain his play in 10-11 and most of 11-12.