Season Preview: Montreal Canadiens

[WhiskeySeven*]

That's where they would "like" to see him means that as soon as he doesn't perform he's going back to the wing. Don't think DD's going anywhere fellas.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Only going to do it through trial and error.

Yup. And knowing Therrien, he'll be itching to pull him back to wing.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Yup. And knowing Therrien, he'll be itching to pull him back to wing.

Knowing therrien.. He'll put him to the wing the first time he loses a face off

 

[Sorinth]

I'm not sure what your arguement is here. I think it's normal that EVERY team expects their younger players to get better every year. This isn't some new concept as very few players peak at 18 or 19. Besides, I said multiple times in previous posts that the Habs success didn't hinge on Galchenyuk scoring 30 goals or geting 70 points as we've never seen him do that in the past, nor is he being put in a position to carry the offensive load (still on wing and not centre). Same can be said for Eller who'll likely continue to play on the 3rd line and Gally who was put on to crash the net on the 1st line, not score goals. Once again, these younger player aren't expected to carry the team but there is most cerntainly an expectation that they will contniue to grow as players and increase their contribution to the team. Nothing contraversal here, I don't think, so I'm not sure why it's a point to debate but I digress.

Unless I misunderstood something, we are depending on the young guys improving in order to replace some of the offence we lost in the offseason. That's a big risk.

Therrian doesn't make trades, Bergevin does. Therrien plays the players he has available. At the time Gorges was our top 4 and hence played in that role. Bergevin obviously saw something he didn't like and didn't think Gorges was worth the $4M in that role. You don't trade a player who's doing his job, is one of the leaders on the team and is a personal best friend of your franchise goalie because you got bored one morning or had too much to drink. Seeing as Emelin was their man over Gorges, leads me to believe that Habs management thought Emelin was a better player than Gorges as was Gilbert. So if one of the top GM's in the game with a finally competant front office thought both Emelin and Gilbert were better in the top 4 than Gorges, I'm inlcined to beleive them. Unlike you or I, they have done much more scouting and know much more about what's what than we will ever know. It was a hard trade to make yet they still made it for a reason.

First I have no doubt Therrien had his input even though Bergevin had final say. But regardless. Choosing Emelin over Gorges tells us nothing about how they felt about Gorges. It doesn't mean they think he wasn't doing his job, or that he's overpaid.

Again, there was a minor change made to our top 4. If our entire defensive corp was being held together by Gorges than we're in much worse shape than I could have imagined. All they've done is swap Gorges for Gilbert and moved Emelin to a side he won't be exposed on. Hardly turning over the corp. As for Beau and Tinner, both are way better options than Murray or Bou. So again, improved defense.

I don't think losing Gorges is a minor change. Will Gilbert adequatly replace him, maybe but it's far from a guarantee.

PK was NOT a core player in 2010 by any extent of the imagination.

8 points in 14 games, led the team in +/-, 3rd in TOI for defenceman (Behind only Markov and Gorges), was put out against guys like Crosby. How in the world was he not a core player.

Again, I'm not sure what your point is. The two were VERY different teams even if they had a handful of the same players. Different coaches, GM's systems etc etc etc. Apples to oranges comparisons. For the players who were there, great more playoff experience. But for players like Gallagher, Beaulieu, Galchenyuk, Bournival, etc who will play for us for a long time, a long playoff run can help with your confidance and show you what it takes to get to the next level. Even for players like Price who had a monkey on his back on whether he could win in the PO's, getting past Boston was a HUGE deal. Same can be said fro PK who elevated his game after an up and down season and lead his team against the bruins and was a huge factor during the playoffs. Patches scoring the series winner in a game 7 was also a great experience for a guy who really played in his first PO sereis after he missed the last one due to injury. These are the guys who are going to get you to the next level and they all got a huge boost of confidance and showed themselves and the world what they're capable of doing. Now they have the ability to continue the momentum with more responsibility and more opportunity than they had previously. I don't see how they don't take this with them into the new season and have a bit more swagger in their game knowing what they can accomplish. Maybe they won't, who knows but I'd say they're all better for their experience.

Let me put it this way, the confidence a guy like Cammalleri gained from a superlative playoffs didn't carry over, so why would it carry over for other players? If it's only young players then what about Kostitsyn(x2), Pouliot, O'Byrne, Lapierre, Maxwell. Did they all fail to learn the things they were supposed to during that run?

They've gained experience during the playoffs, yes that's important but you seem to overrate it. Price for instance has beaten Boston in the playoffs before, why is this time a huge deal?

Look, no one know what will be. The Habs could tank and draft McDavid like the year we finshed last and got Galchenyuk. I'm saying, given the teams in the east, given we've already seen this team succeed so it's not only a matter of potential but actual results, the odds of them being worse than last year after they seemingly, arguably improved, seems like the long shot to me. Now that they're further in the competative window than they were last year, I'd expect steady progression until we become perrenial contenders. Finishing 8th or there abouts for a team that was 2 wins away from a Finals birth would be a failure IMO. I see us amongst the top teams in the east being Tampa, Boston, Pittsburgh, Rangers. I think we're absolutley more in this category than Toronto, Ottawa, Florida etc.

Yet this comes back to Vanek. We were sub .500 for nearly 85% of the season before Vanek came along (54 games out of 64). We haven't replace him, so the starting point is not a team 2 wins from the finals, but a team that was fighting for a playoff spot and struggling to score goals. So how does replacing Gionta/Gorges with PAP/Gilbert change us from that team?

 

[Sterling Archer]

Unless I misunderstood something, we are depending on the young guys improving in order to replace some of the offence we lost in the offseason. That's a big risk.

We're depending on ALL our players to play well, not just the youngsters. The fact they're not being put in a postion to carry the team is a testament to the fact that they're NOT being depended on but rather put in support roles where they can continue to get better so they will eventually be put in larger roles.

Galchenyuk isn't the 1st line centre. Eller isn't the 2nd line centre. Beau and Tinner are not in the top 4, DLR, Ghetto, Sekac etc haven't even earned a roster spot yet. I'm not sure how you're getting that they're the end all and be all of our offense.

As for the other younger core such as PK, Patches, Price, they've already proven their worth and will be expected to continue what they've already shown they can like every other established player.

First I have no doubt Therrien had his input even though Bergevin had final say. But regardless. Choosing Emelin over Gorges tells us nothing about how they felt about Gorges. It doesn't mean they think he wasn't doing his job, or that he's overpaid.

I don't think losing Gorges is a minor change. Will Gilbert adequatly replace him, maybe but it's far from a guarantee.

I think the fact he was traded says it all. Not to mention comments Bergevin made after the trade that speaks to wanting to balance the D etc etc. If he was so good and valuable, why did they trade him and sign Gilbert? Why not just keep the staus quo and not rock the boat? Like I said, players don't get traded for no reason. Just because you feel Gorges was a key part of our team doesn't make it so. Time will tell but like I said, we finally have cometant management who can assess players and are actively making this a better team. They wouldn't make such a difficult trade unless they felt stringely about it.

8 points in 14 games, led the team in +/-, 3rd in TOI for defenceman (Behind only Markov and Gorges), was put out against guys like Crosby. How in the world was he not a core player.

Maybe your definition of a core player is different than mine.

PK had 2 regualr season games under his belt. He played very well but was not a core player. Is Tokarski a core player because he had a monster series against the Rangers? No. Besides, you're still proving my point that these experiences make a player better after they've been in them. Was PK a worse player after he had a great PO series and gained experience? The following year his stats were 2010-11 Montreal NHL 77 14 24 38. Again, it helped him like it should help the other young players on our team.

Let me put it this way, the confidence a guy like Cammalleri gained from a superlative playoffs didn't carry over, so why would it carry over for other players? If it's only young players then what about Kostitsyn(x2), Pouliot, O'Byrne, Lapierre, Maxwell. Did they all fail to learn the things they were supposed to during that run?

They've gained experience during the playoffs, yes that's important but you seem to overrate it. Price for instance has beaten Boston in the playoffs before, why is this time a huge deal?

Look at the relative quality of the players you're mentioning. None have core potential or are players you'd build around so again, let's compare apples to apples. The experience and confidence gained by a young player isn't going to propel them to super stardom so let's not overweight it. When you have a tight team that comes together and the young core can see what it takes to win, it helps get to show them how to get to another level and what it takes to win so that they know what to expect and what's expected of them the next time they're in that position. It's more of a character builder and learning how to be a champion. That type of confidence can help a build a young players confidence and help him grow as a player.

I'm not talking out of school here. This isn't some new crazy theory I'm inventing here so again, I'm not sure what point you're debating. Are you saying a long playoff run has no effect on a team or players?

Yet this comes back to Vanek. We were sub .500 for nearly 85% of the season before Vanek came along (54 games out of 64). We haven't replace him, so the starting point is not a team 2 wins from the finals, but a team that was fighting for a playoff spot and struggling to score goals. So how does replacing Gionta/Gorges with PAP/Gilbert change us from that team?

Vanek had a big impact on the team but I'd say the turning point was the come back win against Ottawa that helped them gel as a team. Vanek had a couple of good games in the PO's but overall, struggled so badly, Bergevin didn't bother to even offer a contract to him so I think you're overstating his importance to the team during crunch time in the playoffs. This is a guy who was playing on the 4th line for a while because he was playing so bad even though he admitted having no injuries. He isn't as big of a lose as you're making it out to be and definately not a reason we won't be making the playoffs or struggling to make them.

Replacing Gio with PAP and getting more production from players like Bork who had a catostophic year will help add more offense alone. Not to mention a more confident, more experienced team that's a little bit older and a little bit more mature.

 

[Scintillating10]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=461407

Nothing earth shattering but a nice little piece on the upcoming season.

Going to be painful at times, but Beaulieu and Tinordi need to make big club

 

[vokiel]

Button's prospect list is as always weird as ****. McCarron isn't even a B prospect and the always injured Lehkonen is in the top 4

Andrigthetto as a bottom 6 forward is also a bit laughable, but I understand he had to slip him in the lists somehow.