what (who) do you think worked well these playoffs?

[Slew Foots]

Price
Gallagher
Subban (though not as good as previous times)
Eller
Petry
Mitchell
Beaulieu
Pacioretty improved.

Whoever made the decision to start attacking the middle of the ice in game 4.

It was a very noticeable change. After 82 regular season games and 9 playoff games, they all of a sudden attack the middle of the ice for the first time.

With MacKenzie, Wardo, and McGuire suggesting there is some noise about dissatisfaction with DA SYSTEM (is it from the players or not? who knows...), one can only hope the players took it upon themselves to ignore DA SYSTEM and will have scathing remarks about MT's chip n' chase strategy during their exit interviews.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

I don't know what happens in the locker room, but Gallagher showed the most leadership on the ice these past playoffs.

 

[JayKing]

Gallagher
Subban. Once again leads the team in pts.
Beaulieu
Petry (except for the last game)
Mitchell
Price

 

[smcgreg]

In my opinion once it gets to be playoff time and the going gets tougher you can really see who's who.

Over the last few years Subban has stepped up time and time again, he's what makes the habs go and should be made captain next year.

Gallagher has also taken the next step as a playoff guy.

Although Pacioretty played better in the tampa series he still has yet to duplicate his regular season success in the playoffs. I'd like to see him with a true #1 Center.

Plekanec although better than DD had another disappointing playoffs

DD was even worse than plekanec. Id have him on a one way trip to Hamilton

Galchenyuk showed flashes but overall was unproductive, next year he'll be in his 4th year although still young it'd be nice to see him step up more come crunch time.

Markov is on the decline and it was painfully obvious he's lost a step.

Petry was a great trade deadline acquisition and steady all playoffs . I'd love to have him re-signed/paired with Subban next year.

Weise Mitchell and Prust played well and I'd welcome them all back next year.

Smith Pelley was a disappointment and IMO doesn't belong in the NHL. He has hands of stone and although gifted a golden opportunity (1st line minutes) couldn't keep up.

Carey Price had an up and down playoffs (once again) and has been overrated/hyped since the Olympics. He still has a lot to prove to live up to the lofty/ridiculous expectations people place on him. If the right offer was on the table I'd trade him in a heart beat

I agree with almost everything here except your last point. In particular though, the first sticks out to me. For all those calling for Patches as the C, the playoffs define the leaders and Subban is the one who not only shines in the regular season, but the playoffs as well. I don't see how Patches can be in front of Subban for C after the last two playoff runs.

About your last point, although I'm not as down as you are, it would be nice if Price could carry us to the promised land. That is the tradition in MTL in the modern era,... Dryden, Roy.... Price is a great goalie, but he was beatable in these playoffs and without a better team up front, he can't be beatable. Price made some great saves and was by no means a bust, still, not the God in the playoffs he was in the regular season. Overall though, that's probably good. The weaknesses on the team showed in the playoffs and weren't masked like they were in the regular season. So, for the long run, that's probably a positive.

 

[jordy]

About your last point, although I'm not as down as you are, it would be nice if Price could carry us to the promised land. That is the tradition in MTL in the modern era,... Dryden, Roy.... Price is a great goalie, but he was beatable in these playoffs and without a better team up front, he can't be beatable. Price made some great saves and was by no means a bust, still, not the God in the playoffs he was in the regular season. Overall though, that's probably good. The weaknesses on the team showed in the playoffs and weren't masked like they were in the regular season. So, for the long run, that's probably a positive.[/QUOTE]

Price is a great goalie and he deserves to be recognized in the elite class of goalies. However, he's not as good as what the media make him out to be. He's certainly no Roy, Dryden, Hasek etc. Time for the habs to add some offensive fire power instead of counting on Carey to save their bacon game in game out.

 

[Malreg]

Why do people keep saying we need Petry to replace Markov?

It doesn't work that way. Petry plays RD and Markov plays LD. I absolutely agree that we need to keep Petry at any realistic cost, but it's to anchor the 2nd pairing on the right-side. Sign Petry long-term and we're locked up on the right side for years to come with PK-Petry-Pateryn.

Petry is slotted perfectly on the 2nd pairing. Emelin's play drastically improved when playing alongside him as well. Markov-PK, Emelin-Petry, and Beaulieu-Pateryn are three well balanced pairs. Starting next year, you slowly start to take more minutes away from Markov and give them to Beaulieu. Example, every 3rd or 4th shift for the top-pairing give it to Beaulieu-PK.

 

[LaP]

agreed, dont think he was great by any stretch, but he produced a more than last year, and also played better overall (even though he wasnt visible much in some games).

we can only hope he keep improving his playoffs play/production!

Let's not forget Patch is a winger though. Few wingers in this league can produce when the center is not.

There's maybe Kane. Ovechkin and the like.

Yes we would like Patch to be a playoffs warrior, a power forward and a leader. But he is not and he is not paid like one either.

Patch could do more in playoffs but he still has 10 goals in 33 games. That's 25 goals over 82 games while playing with second line centers.

That's not great but that's not terrible either imo. With a real first line center the guy would have easily 2-3 more goals which would give him a rate of around 30 goals over 82 games. Let's not forget his stats in games where mtl face elimination are great too.

 

[Natey]

Petry.

Price.

Gallagher.

Somewhat Eller.

Somewhat Subban.

The 2 games were where played aggressive.

That's about it.

 

[Natey]

Let's not forget Patch is a winger though. Few wingers in this league can produce when the center is not.

There's maybe Kane. Ovechkin and the like.

Yes we would like Patch to be a playoffs warrior, a power forward and a leader. But he is not and he is not paid like one either.

Patch could do more in playoffs but he still has 10 goals in 33 games. That's 25 goals over 82 games while playing with second line centers.

That's not great but that's not terrible either imo. With a real first line center the guy would have easily 2-3 more goals which would give him a rate of around 30 goals over 82 games. Let's not forget his stats in games where mtl face elimination are great too.

So that's an okay argument for Pacioretty but not Desharnais?

FACT: They both suck.
FACT: Gallagher is paid less and works 3 times as hard as Pacioretty.

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

Not much to be honest.

Gallagher was the same Gallagher in the regular season. Always a warrior.
Like people said, Petry was pretty good and I really hope it's amongst MB's priority to re-sign him.
Price was really good too but unfortunetely not god-like.
Eller for me, did his job as a third center pretty well too. He didn't get the same production he got last year but he was great at everything else.

The rest of the team failed at their mission. Standards should be higher when the playoffs come, playing ok is far from enough.

 

[LaP]

So that's an okay argument for Pacioretty but not Desharnais?

FACT: They both suck.
FACT: Gallagher is paid less and works 3 times as hard as Pacioretty.

Why do I need to repeat that?

Nobody complains about DD the guy. People complain about HOW HE IS USED BY MT. Hope it's the last time i have to say that.

1st and 2nd line centers are arguably the most important pieces of a forward group.

 

[Hoople]

The biggest positive is that there are no excuses beyond Bergevins control this season. No injuries like there were against Ottawa. No injury to Price like against the Rangers.

This was reality. And it showed that without two legit Top 6 forwards to complement Pacioretty, this team will never play for a Cup.

It's up to him to fix it.

The brightest spot was Gallagher and Pacioretty.

 

[DJ Breadman]

Petry and subban at times, that's about it

 

[Hope Of Glory]

Petry.

Price.

Gallagher.

Somewhat Eller.

Somewhat Subban.

The 2 games were where played aggressive.

That's about it.

First round Eller was our best player (after Price). Now we're learning that he injured himself early in the Tampa series so that explains the difference in his intensity between the two series.

Honestly, I liked the way we played too. Good forecheck, good transition (finally!!), dominating most of the games. If it wasn't for the worse special teams ever, there wouldn't be a "bilan de saison" today imo. Still, some guys needs to take a page of Eller/PK/Price's book and show some intensity in the playoffs.

 

[Bob b smith]

Price, Gallagher