The truth about this team

[Nicko999]

I rarely start new threads but decided to do so this time. The truth with this team is that they are not as good on paper. The easy thing to do is to complain about Therrien and DD 24/7 and frankly this has made the forum quite unbearable.
Am I happy with the way DD is playing? No. He pisses me off sometimes. But he is not the reason why we are losing.
Therrien despite some decisions I don't agree with is not a bad coach. Not even close.

When when we look at this team, the main weakness is the lack of offense. I mean other than Pacioretty, name me a first line talent we have. Galchenyuk is getting there but other than that it's pretty sad.

Gallagher, Parenteau, Weise, Sekac, Prust on the wings is simply not good enough. Gally is an "OK" top 6 forward while Parenteau is a "mediocre" one but that's it. We simply don't have the depth on wings and it's a big reason why Galchenyuk is not at center.
At center, we have DD, Plekanec, Eller and Malhotra. I am not gonna comment on DD (you guys will do that I am sure) but having a 4th line center with ZERO point in 29 games is a problem no matter how many faceoffs he wins. Eller is right where he should be at 3rd line center. Plekanec is our most used center and he's playing with 2 of our 3 best wingers (Galchenyuk and Gallagher).

On defense, when you have Alexei Emelin playing 20+ minutes and he is your #3 D, you know you are in deep trouble. This guy can't handle speed at all. But what can you do, what other options Therrien has? Weaver, Gilbert, Gonchar are all #5 and #6 D-man. I also rather have Beaulieu in the AHL. He was awful and I have yet to see ANYTHING from him. Much better for him to be playing a lot of minutes in Hamilton. Tinordi I disagree with the organization I think he should be here playing instead of Emelin. But it's not a bad thing he's playing big minutes in Hamilton as well.

And let's talk about the goalie. According to many here, he is the only reason why our record is still good. Price has been very good but he has not been Vezina caliber. He struggled early in the season and even now he allowed some questionable goals in the last road trip. His 0.919 sv % is good indicator of how good he's been. Great but not Vezina like.

Last year, we were so good because we added another 1st line talent to help Pacioretty in Vanek. No matter how crappy he played, it helped other players because all the attention was on Vanek and Patches.

The team is on the right track... just be patient. We just need more TALENT.

Click to read more...

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I rarely start new threads but decided to do so this time. The truth with this team is that they are not as good on paper.

Absolutely zero reason that a team with as much talent as we have should be 27th in shots and have a dismal PP.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

It's actually the opposite... we have one of the top teams on paper in the East. The system we use, if you can call it a system, just gets destroyed by every other coach in the league, no matter the other team's roster.

 

[Bob b smith]

Absolutely zero reason that a team with as much talent as we have should be 27th in shots and have a dismal PP.

Agreed. This is a much better team than that. There's enough good players to come up with a good offense. We have the AHL's top scorer in the farm... If the coaching stays with tried and true methods of icing the best players and lineup, this team can do great.

 

[dkd]

I rarely start new threads but decided to do so this time. The truth with this team is that they are not as good on paper. The easy thing to do is to complain about Therrien and DD 24/7 and frankly this has made the forum quite unbearable.
Am I happy with the way DD is playing? No. He pisses me off sometimes. But he is not the reason why we are losing.
Therrien despite some decisions I don't agree with is not a bad coach. Not even close.

When when we look at this team, the main weakness is the lack of offense. I mean other than Pacioretty, name me a first line talent we have. Galchenyuk is getting there but other than that it's pretty sad.

Gallagher, Parenteau, Weise, Sekac, Prust on the wings is simply not good enough. Gally is an "OK" top 6 forward while Parenteau is a "mediocre" one but that's it. We simply don't have the depth on wings and it's a big reason why Galchenyuk is not at center.
At center, we have DD, Plekanec, Eller and Malhotra. I am not gonna comment on DD (you guys will do that I am sure) but having a 4th line center with ZERO point in 29 games is a problem no matter how many faceoffs he wins. Eller is right where he should be at 3rd line center. Plekanec is our most used center and he's playing with 2 of our 3 best wingers (Galchenyuk and Gallagher).

On defense, when you have Alexei Emelin playing 20+ minutes and he is your #3 D, you know you are in deep trouble. This guy can't handle speed at all. But what can you do, what other options Therrien has? Weaver, Gilbert, Gonchar are all #5 and #6 D-man. I also rather have Beaulieu in the AHL. He was awful and I have yet to see ANYTHING from him. Much better for him to be playing a lot of minutes in Hamilton. Tinordi I disagree with the organization I think he should be here playing instead of Emelin. But it's not a bad thing he's playing big minutes in Hamilton as well.

And let's talk about the goalie. According to many here, he is the only reason why our record is still good. Price has been very good but he has not been Vezina caliber. He struggled early in the season and even now he allowed some questionable goals in the last road trip. His 0.919 sv % is good indicator of how good he's been. Great but not Vezina like.

Last year, we were so good because we added another 1st line talent to help Pacioretty in Vanek. No matter how crappy he played, it helped other players because all the attention was on Vanek and Patches.

The team is on the right track... just be patient. We just need more TALENT.

I must agree with you on most of what you've said.

maxpac-xxxxxx-xxxxxx
Chucky-Plekanec-Gallagher
xxxxxx-eller-Sekac (Prust/Weise can fill in on the left here)


These top 3 lines are missing key players. DD would NEVER play as the center for any first line in the NHL, not in Edmonton nor Buffalo. PAP is a good 3rd line winger; has no room on the first line whatsoever.

 

[Bob b smith]

And there's no reason our bottom-3 D is just some assemblage of old broken-down machinery.

 

[clarke19]

I completely disagree, I think we have a great roster in terms of talent. We just play a system that completely stifles it and relies on shot blocking and excellent goaltending to win hockey games.

Our D-men are pretty mobile and can make some good outlet passes and could potentially be very dangerous joining the rush, but our forwards put them in no mans land by giving them no support. This is why a guy like Emelin looks far worse than he actually is on most nights.

Our forwards are quick and nifty and could excel in carrying the puck over the blueline, but I can count on one hand how many times I see that tried in the run of a game. Stretch pass, tip in, chase, fail, repeat. Relying on beating opposing D-men to the puck, fighting it out of the corners, and getting set up in the offensive zone in order to create offense. Those first two things are hard to do when you have Parenteau, Gallagher, Desharnais in those races/battles.

This team doesn't play to it's strength, doesn't control the puck for long periods of time using their speed and quick passes, and that's the issue.

During the lockout year, while we took a lot of penalties as a team, we also drew *i think, I can't find a source for this right now* one of the most penalties in the league as a team. That's because this team was offensively driven that season, little to no dump and chase, carrying the puck, it was great hockey to watch. The team was a little less defensively aware, but the games were always entertaining, unlike the games we see these days where the team seems happy to come out of the first only down by one despite registering 0 shots in the first 10 minutes.

 

[Lions999]

The problem with this team is they should have went with the youth movement like they said they would last year... Tinordi and beaulieu would have been ready to take on bigger roles this year instead of being sent down...

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

I don't dispute holes in the lineup however every team especially in the East has what you would consider 3 major holes on the roster.

The biggest question you always have to ask is if your coach is putting the team in the best position to succeed. If he is not, then he isn't right for your team.

It's hard to even say how much MTL could be as there seems to be no system, structure, or any thought on transition or puck support. This team plays as individuals usually. Everyone is too far away to support and either try individual moves or low risk passes.

I don't know how good the team can be, it impossible to tell because they don't look like a team and this is the second straight year it's been that way.

Goaltending is hiding a lot of flaws in strategy

 

[lo striver]

The team is on the right track... just be patient. We just need more TALENT.

I hear you. This team has been on the 'right track' and fans have been told to 'be patient' since 93.

 

[DAChampion]

Team is a contender on paper.

 

[Sorinth]

I rarely start new threads but decided to do so this time. The truth with this team is that they are not as good on paper. The easy thing to do is to complain about Therrien and DD 24/7 and frankly this has made the forum quite unbearable.
Am I happy with the way DD is playing? No. He pisses me off sometimes. But he is not the reason why we are losing.
Therrien despite some decisions I don't agree with is not a bad coach. Not even close.

When when we look at this team, the main weakness is the lack of offense. I mean other than Pacioretty, name me a first line talent we have. Galchenyuk is getting there but other than that it's pretty sad.

Gallagher, Parenteau, Weise, Sekac, Prust on the wings is simply not good enough. Gally is an "OK" top 6 forward while Parenteau is a "mediocre" one but that's it. We simply don't have the depth on wings and it's a big reason why Galchenyuk is not at center.
At center, we have DD, Plekanec, Eller and Malhotra. I am not gonna comment on DD (you guys will do that I am sure) but having a 4th line center with ZERO point in 29 games is a problem no matter how many faceoffs he wins. Eller is right where he should be at 3rd line center. Plekanec is our most used center and he's playing with 2 of our 3 best wingers (Galchenyuk and Gallagher).

On defense, when you have Alexei Emelin playing 20+ minutes and he is your #3 D, you know you are in deep trouble. This guy can't handle speed at all. But what can you do, what other options Therrien has? Weaver, Gilbert, Gonchar are all #5 and #6 D-man. I also rather have Beaulieu in the AHL. He was awful and I have yet to see ANYTHING from him. Much better for him to be playing a lot of minutes in Hamilton. Tinordi I disagree with the organization I think he should be here playing instead of Emelin. But it's not a bad thing he's playing big minutes in Hamilton as well.

And let's talk about the goalie. According to many here, he is the only reason why our record is still good. Price has been very good but he has not been Vezina caliber. He struggled early in the season and even now he allowed some questionable goals in the last road trip. His 0.919 sv % is good indicator of how good he's been. Great but not Vezina like.

Last year, we were so good because we added another 1st line talent to help Pacioretty in Vanek. No matter how crappy he played, it helped other players because all the attention was on Vanek and Patches.

The team is on the right track... just be patient. We just need more TALENT.

Yet you can trace a lack of offensive directly to decisions Therrien makes, especially how he uses DD. We cater to DD so much that it hurts the production of the other lines enormously. That's why we lack offence, we give the most offensive minutes to our 4th best offensive center. We tie him to our best overall forward which forces him into an exploitation role, which minimizes his impact.

Just look at the PP, a lot of our offensive problems this season have come from the fact that our PP is brutal, yet the only changes Therrien makes is changing the defenceman. We don't lack talent, we simply don't use our talent effectively which is a coaching problem.

 

[Sorinth]

I must agree with you on most of what you've said.

maxpac-xxxxxx-xxxxxx
Chucky-Plekanec-Gallagher
xxxxxx-eller-Sekac (Prust/Weise can fill in on the left here)


These top 3 lines are missing key players. DD would NEVER play as the center for any first line in the NHL, not in Edmonton nor Buffalo. PAP is a good 3rd line winger; has no room on the first line whatsoever.

Yet he's no where in your lineup. If he's a good 3rd liner, then why isn't he on the 3rd line, which means we'd only lack 2 players in this supposed top-9 and not 3?

 

[DAChampion]

Parenteau is adequate in the middle six.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Team is a contender on paper.

Based on what? Missing a #1C and a #1RW.

MB himself has suggested otherwise regarding us being elite.

 

[DAChampion]

Based on what? Missing a #1C and a #1RW.

MB himself has suggested otherwise regarding us being elite.

Find me a team from the past five years that didn't have any holes.

Chicago won the cup without a second line centre. Boston had Kreijci as first line centre and a lack of d depth. Pittsburgh had weak wingers. Etc.

 

[Big Lurk]

Team is a contender on paper.

We have maybe 3 50+ points players in Subban, Plekanec, Pacioretty.

Our bottom 4 looks like this :

Emelin Gonchar/Gilbert
Allen Weaver

Our "1st line center" has 0 5vs5 goals in 50 games.

We play like **** since the beginning of the season.
Stats are against us since last year.

Our coach is Top 5 worst coach in the league.

What paper are you speaking of? Rizlas or Zig Zags?

 

[DAChampion]

On paper DD shouldn't be the first line centre, Beaulieu/Tinordi should be on the team. They were adequate early this season.

This is a good team when healthy.

 

[Bob b smith]

Based on what? Missing a #1C and a #1RW.

MB himself has suggested otherwise regarding us being elite.

I'm not quite sure what he meant by elite, but we're a contender. Everyone agrees that we have a 1G. We also have a 1D that has more in the tank than what he's shown. And yes we absolutely need to fix the 1C issue. Either by prepping Galchenyuk or going out in the market to get one.

The 1RW is not an issue. If you have MaxPac and Galchenyuk on the top line you have as good a top line as the other contenders. On the PP, you put our top 3 best forwards and/or a classic Shooter (Max), Half-Wall QB (Galchenyuk) and Screen (one of our big guys-not Gallagher, Plekanec, Andrighetto or anyone else Under 6').

 

[Markov4Captain]

On paper I think we are just as good as some of the top teams in the East. And when I say "on paper" I'm including Tinordi, Beaulieu, Bournival. Problem is our system... How many times a game can you try the stretch pass which results in an icing 99.9% of the time before realizing it doesn't work? OR how many times can you put DD on the ice for the first wave of the PP when the guy has like 2 points in 200+ minutes? How can you WILLINGLY employ Allen as an NHL dman? The list goes on and on.

The coaching decisions over the past 2 years have been absolutely baffling. To pick up as many points as we have is a testament to the talent of Carey Price. Therrien changed his system after 2012-2013 because we got embarrassed physically by the Senators. We outplayed them and if it weren't for a crazy performance by Anderson and bad luck I genuinely think we don't lose in 5. Now we're stuck playing a worse version of Jacques Martin hockey. We have a #1 C in Chuckie, a #1 D in PK and arguably the best goalie in the world. Yet our system brings us down and will probably cause us to fight for a wild card spot.

 

[Ubercron9000*]

Based on what? Missing a #1C and a #1RW.

MB himself has suggested otherwise regarding us being elite.

i think the coach has a lot to do with our problems.

But we have dd who shouldnt be a 1st line player. Also as much as i love gallagher there is a reason why he only got 3.75 million. He shouldnt be on the top 2 lines unless we have injuries. He works hard but isnt exactly a skilled player. I dont think he has that next gear to really be that top player we need.

The coach and fanbase love him so do i but i just dont see the stats and skills to see him on the top 2 lines.

Our defense is pretty old right now and i definitely do not like how subban is being used on the pp.

Markov is showing his age, emelin is an average defenseman making 4.1 million and the rest are old vets.

We still have a decent team but not as strong as we think. But bad coaching especially the horrendous use of the powerplay doesn't help.

 

[Sorinth]

We have maybe 3 50+ points players in Subban, Plekanec, Pacioretty.

Our bottom 4 looks like this :

Emelin Gonchar/Gilbert
Allen Weaver

Our "1st line center" has 0 5vs5 goals in 50 games.

We play like **** since the beginning of the season.
Stats are against us since last year.

Our coach is Top 5 worst coach in the league.

What paper are you speaking of? Rizlas or Zig Zags?

If healthy Galchenyuk will likely hit 50 points.

With better coaching Desharnais isn't our 1st line center, Allen doesn't get a sniff of ice time, and likely one of Gilbert/Weaver are #7 guys.

What is meant by on paper is looking at the roster and not how the coach uses them. We have a crappy coach who makes this team worse then it truly is. So on paper we have a much better team. I'm not sure I'd say contender, unless talking just about the East.

EDIT: By the way LA has 2 players on pace for more than 50 points this season, so I'm not sure that's a good measure of if a team is a contender or not.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

All the talent in the world will not change the lazy perimeter play. Our guys don't want to check or pay the price so this is what you get.

 

[Bob b smith]

For the PP we'll be OK with a simple forward setup on the 1st wave:

-The Shooter (MaxPac or another forward with a good one timer)
-The Half-Wall QB (Needs to be 1-Very mobile, 2-Good passer, 3-Also be a shooting threat)... Galchenyuk
-The Screen (aka Chara on the Bruins or Simmons on the Flyers)... If MaxPac has enough toughness in him he could play this role or we need any big guy willing to take some abuse, and with enough eye-hand coordination to pick up garbage and get the odd deflection)

For the Face-Off, it doesn't matter who takes the draw (Gretzky or Stamkos set up anywhere, even switching with a D who would go on the wing for the faceoff, and switching back after the draw with the D to their usual PP setup to confuse the PKers). Stamkos even sometimes very slowly taking the long way behind the net from the right to the left circle to divert the Ds attention.

 

[Habs100]

I think some vets need a fire lit under them.

Calling up guys with fast legs and hunger like Andrighetto, Hudon, and Bournival may push them, or just steal their spots.