Line Combos: Therrien Puts Juggling Lessons into Practice

[waffledave]

Michel Therrien is not a good enough coach to rehabilitate Desharnais, and this team does not have the talent necessary to carry him.

 

[Milhouse40]

It's pretty crazy what's happening....
Therrien keep breaking up good lines in order to get others guys going.

First
Kids line were on fire, Therrien breaks it up and put Eller with Pacio and the Gally with Plek. Desharnais needed to be put out of the top 6.

Second
Plek with Bourni and Gio were doing fine, and we're on a good streak. Therrien break that up also to jumpstart Desharnais with Bournival

Third
In 1 period, Pacioretty-Briere-Bourque produced offensively....Therrien break that up too to put Desharnais at center.

Fourth
The kids struggle when they gat back together.....But the last couple of game, Eller had 4 points in his last 4 games, Gally got 2pts in his last 3 games and Glachneyuk also is 4pts in 4 games!

And He breaks that up.....AGAIN TO RESTART DESHARNAIS.
It's crazy....totally crazy.

Desharnais (even if some argue that he played good recently) still got 0 points in his last 13 games. Didn't produce one single point on the powerplay in his last 25 games but he's still getting some.

Therrien is breaking everything that is working and keep trying the things that don't work.

DD never been constant under Therrien...NEVER....but he keeps trying him.
Bouillon got 1 point on the PP...in his last 3 years....but he keep trying him.
Pacioretty-DD didn't worked last year, in the PO, this year...but he keep putting them together.

WTF is going on here????????????????

 

[Kriss E]

Listen guys, I am not a huge fan of DD either but you gotta accept that DD is going to be on this team a while longer, at least 10-20 games even if MB does have some trade lined up. The Habs are built on 3 offensive lines and there's big problems when just 2 are clicking. DD has some talent (scored 60 points in NHL), and until management officially gives up on him (trade, demotion, buy out) it's the job of the coaches to try their hardest to get him scoring again even if it could mean a potential ugly result. The team is a lot better with DD producing than not, him failing increases the chances of the whole team failing, so even the guys who hate him here should hope MT can nurse some hockey mojo back into him.

Sure, this team is better with DD producing, if it means the rest also are. I remember DD producing a couple years back, people loved him with MaxPac-Cole, yet they lead us to a 28th place finish.
So ya, DD producing would be nice, but it isn't key, not when we have Plek-Gio-MaxPac-Briere-Eller-Gally-Galla-Bourque-Bournival-Prust. We have enough depth and talent up front to be producing, so maybe it's more than just switching lines.
A key factor for us last year was the production coming from the defense. Markov has dropped his production a bit, Diaz saw his cut in half, nobody replaced Emelin's production this year thus far, so ya, that definitely hurts us.

Another thing is the Plekanec line is used as a checking line. He's our most used center, but gets the most defensive zone starts, he also faces the tougher opponents, and he keeps his shifts short at 43 sec on average.
That's not a lot of time to create some offense, especially with his linemates.
In other words, we're making our checking line our most used one. No wonder we have issues scoring..

The kids line should be getting more minutes, that's what Therrien should have done. He also should place Plekanec in more offensive roles, he's still our best center at the moment.
He also should have used camp to determine a good 4th line for when we need Parros to sit out. If we could have a pretty decent defensive 4th line, that would do wonders.


Switching lines is an easy cop out, that's why most of the time, it changes very little.

We should stick to what works. EGG line does, keep them together. Plek with Gio-Bourny does, keep them together. After that, you can mix the rest up if you want, but DB at center has yielded more results than when on the wing and is better than DD thus far.

 

[Redux91]

MT does suck at line mgmt... but so did Martin and so did Carbo...

Pretty much everyone agrees that it should be something like this:

EGG
Pac Plec Bournival
Bourque Briere Gionta
White Moen Prust

With DD out.

Enough already... just ****ing put the lines together as they should be. Just put Subban out when it's important... this is common sense. It's like Martin's fascination with Darche.

Does every coach in the league **** up lines like this or is it only in Montreal? Why is it that our coaches can't seem to just use common sense in putting these lines together?

Instead we get a Rubik's cube kind of mixup. You mixup the lines and STILL don't put Galchenyuk at center?

??????

I just don't get this guy at all.

Glad you bring this up LG , it always seems like every habs coach simply has NO idea how to construct decent lines for this team ,..i find its the ONE thing HF is good at, .. not ridiculous trade scenarios, not ridiculous far fetched "what would our team look like if we had this free agent at XX dollars",
..if theres one thing HF is good at that ive seen over the years is unbelievably our Line Combinations, i swear if they would just listen to us for THIS aspect, im sure we'd help the team, its very frustrating lol...

 

[arterydonor]

I think Subban and Markov should be split up, paired with Gorges and Emelin respectively. Bouillon is slightly less terrible than Murray but the latter might be a better partner for Diaz—I say alternate between the two depending on the team we're facing. As for the forwards, here's a fairly conservative approach:

Bournival-Plekanec-Gionta
Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
Pacioretty-Brière-Bourque
Moen-Desharnais/White-Prust

I still consider Desharnais a better option than White, but that's not saying much. If I were to really mix things up though I would go with something like this:

Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gallagher
Bournival-Eller-Brière
Bourque-Galchenyuk-Gionta
Moen-Desharnais/White-Prust

I believe it's crucial that no line have more than a single midget. Also, play Emelin on the PP instead of Bouillon for God's sake.

 

[The Gal Pals]

It's official...this is Desharnais' team. MT should just give him the C at this point.

 

[lo striver]

It's official...this is Desharnais' team. MT should just give him the C at this point.

there should be another pre-game torch passing ceremony too. Briere passing it to DD... crowd goes wild...5 minutes long SO....

 

[waffledave]

If it were me...

Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
- This doesn't need to be explained

Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gionta
- Pleks is a strong puck mover, and Pacioretty will take 10 shots per game. Gionta is a net crasher and will convert some of those shots.

Bournival-Briere-Bourque
- Put Bourque and Briere back to their natural positions and they will start to produce. This line will work because Bournival is an absolute MONSTER and has a wicked snap shot.

White-Prust-Moen
- Doesn't really matter. Prust can fill in on a top 9 line depending on the matchup. Parros fills in for White as needed.

 

[Picaroon]

Just cut the crap with DD right now.. it's time to cut our losses. There is better options on the team..

Pacioretty-Briere-Gallagher
Galchenyuk-Eller-Bourque
Bournival-Plekanec-Gionta
Prust-White-Moen

You can switch Gallagher and Bourque if you want to keep the EGG line together but Galchenyuk and Bourque have had good chemistry the few shifts in the past.

Bouillon should be scratched for Murray.. PP1 should be Pacioretty-Eller-Galchenyuk with Markov-Subban.. PP2 should be Briere-Plekanec-Gallagher with Emelin and Diaz.

You're hired!

 

[nyhabsfan]

If it were me...

Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
- This doesn't need to be explained

Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gionta
- Pleks is a strong puck mover, and Pacioretty will take 10 shots per game. Gionta is a net crasher and will convert some of those shots.

Bournival-Briere-Bourque
- Put Bourque and Briere back to their natural positions and they will start to produce. This line will work because Bournival is an absolute MONSTER and has a wicked snap shot.

White-Prust-Moen
- Doesn't really matter. Prust can fill in on a top 9 line depending on the matchup. Parros fills in for White as needed.

If it were me, I'd give you 4 years @ 2 million per...could you start before the Minny game tomorrow?

 

[Haaabs]

Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
Bournival-Plekanec-Gionta
Pacioretty-Briere-Bourque
Moen-Desharnais/White-Prust

I hope we see this, but I know we won't because

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

lol I guess a shootout goal makes up for being the worst player on this team, ****ing midget deserves to be in the stands.

 

[Picaroon]

Bournival------Plekanec-----Gionta (Proven line that works)
Galchenyuk---Eller----------Gallagher (Proven line that works)
Pacioretty-----Briere--------Bourque (Small creative centre, big wingers, Proven to work)
Prust----------White---------Moen (Proven line that works)
Parros

Gorges-----Subban (Proven line that works)
Markov-----Emelin (Proven line that works)
Murray-----Diaz (Mobile guy + Stay at home, Proven to work)
Bouillon


This just doesn't seem that hard....

 

[WeThreeKings]

Bournival------Plekanec-----Gionta (Proven line that works)
Galchenyuk---Eller----------Gallagher (Proven line that works)
Pacioretty-----Briere--------Bourque (Small creative centre, big wingers, Proven to work)
Prust----------White---------Moen (Proven line that works)
Parros

Gorges-----Subban (Proven line that works)
Markov-----Emelin (Proven line that works)
Murray-----Diaz (Mobile guy + Stay at home, Proven to work)
Bouillon


This just doesn't seem that hard....

you have to earn respekt from your teammates before you can win da games. it doesnt matter what lines youre on you must practiss hard earn respekt and be strong on puck.

 

[Analyzer*]

The Montroullon Deshanadiens.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

This whole situation is just sickening. Is this organization even trying to fix the team's problems (isn't our struggling offense obvious enough)? It doesn't look like it...

Favoritism and obscure PR strategies come first, once again.

Disgusting

How stubborn is MT? Need we look further?

 

[TheGoalJudge]

He is basically just randomizing the lines. Which anyone can do.

 

[BLONG7]

He is basically just randomizing the lines. Which anyone can do.

He is an idiot...

 

[la25ecoupe]

Chucky Eller Gally
Pax Plek Bourn
BBQ Brie Gio
Moen White Prust

y u not do dis

Weakest line being the turd.

 

[Hope Of Glory]

I was (and still am) really patient with this management, but the favoritism is too much. I get that they want to get DD going and that they have big egos, but at least don't try to sell your system as a meritocracy. **** off.

 

[Bill McNeal]

Counting down the days until Diaz is on the 4th line.

 

[ourobouros]

Michel Therrien is not a good enough coach to rehabilitate Desharnais, and this team does not have the talent necessary to carry him.

Maybe this year is not good enough for Desharnais, but last year he was good enough to rehabilitate Subban.

 

[LouisJCloutier]

Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
Bournival-Plekanec-Gionta
Pacioretty-Briere-Bourque
Moen-Desharnais/White-Prust

I hope we see this, but I know we won't because

I would take you over Therrien as head coach. Much better line !

 

[rafal majka]

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/11/18/5119200/montreal-canadiens-scoring-chances-after-20-games

Excellent post on Habs scoring chances after 20 games. Breaking up the EGG line is just idiotic. Of interest is how incredibly bad Boullion, Murray and Parros are.

 

[HTTP 400]

pro-french for me is giving him a 3.5 million $ contract, to a fringe NHL player. Other than that, him getting ice time is more of a "I cant make my GM look stupid" issue.

But it still wasn't "pro-french". It was just bad management. Just like Gorges and Moen were bad management contracts. They didn't pay him 3.5M because he was french, they paid him that much because they though he'd be a 60+ points scorer in the NHL and that he'd be a steal in 3 years. They failed.

You could argue Briere was signed because he speaks french, but we have to remember the top free agent last summer was "no goal in 10 games" Clarkson. Bergevin tried to sign Lecavalier, ended up with Briere. Maybe he should'nt have signed anyone, but seriously, does it change anything?