Player Discussion Who Made You Most Nervous Whenever He Touched the Puck

[Estimated_Prophet]

Beaulieu takes this one in a landslide for me.

 

[Doc McKenna]

I really liked him as a hab. I said that Kotkaniemi reminded me of him but I want to put the brakes on that for a while, baby steps. Smith was a great center, great at the position and I hope that KK gets there one day.

I kinda remember loving scrudland and mcpheee. Tough and skilled from that lates 80's early 90's ear.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Eller just went offside constantly. Amazing how he never seemed to use his team mates.

Eller with the Habs was different with Eller with the Caps. He matured with the Caps and plays behind some serious talent where he can capitalize. Eller did have a great playoffs for us though.

I do remember Eller wanting a bigger role with the Habs and they put him on the top 6 as a LW. Maybe Therrien didn't give him enough time there but he struggled and turned the puck over a lot at key times. Part of the maturity process but maybe the Habs are guilty of not tolerating his will to want a bigger role?

 

[Doc McKenna]

Eller with the Habs was different with Eller with the Caps. He matured with the Caps and plays behind some serious talent where he can capitalize. Eller did have a great playoffs for us though.

I do remember Eller wanting a bigger role with the Habs and they put him on the top 6 as a LW. Maybe Therrien didn't give him enough time there but he struggled and turned the puck over a lot at key times. Part of the maturity process but maybe the Habs are guilty of not tolerating his will to want a bigger role?

No, he was never comfortable as a LW. Much like chuck it didn't suit his playing style. SOme guys just can't play an off position. He also played well for us in 2013 so I don't see it as he matured on the caps. I see it as they gave him a CHANCE. Something he never got while here.

 

[Habs Halifax]

No, he was never comfortable as a LW. Much like chuck it didn't suit his playing style. SOme guys just can't play an off position. He also played well for us in 2013 so I don't see it as he matured on the caps. I see it as they gave him a CHANCE. Something he never got while here.

Like I said... Maybe the Habs were guilty of not wanting to tolerate Eller who wanted a bigger role. It's very possible Therrien gave it to him and was waiting for him to fail and then he said... told you so.

Lets face it... Therrien loved DD. Don't misunderstand me. I'm was a Eller fan and we needed his size/skating on our roster. Better move was to get a RW (Shaw or not) and trade DD, not Eller. But I can see why they made their decision.

Back to the main point... Bergevin made several mistakes in the mid span years of his 8 year tenure

 

[HBDay]

I'm surprised there isn't more galchenyuk in here. It hurt my mind, body and soul to watch him try to do a zone entry.

His assignment should have always been skate to the circle wait for the one time. But he probably would have stayed there and forgot about offsides.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm surprised there isn't more galchenyuk in here. It hurt my mind, body and soul to watch him try to do a zone entry.

His assignment should have always been skate to the circle wait for the one time. But he probably would have stayed there and forgot about offsides.

Fair. Galchenyuk is one of them for sure

 

[Schwang]

Eller with the Habs was different with Eller with the Caps. He matured with the Caps and plays behind some serious talent where he can capitalize. Eller did have a great playoffs for us though.

I do remember Eller wanting a bigger role with the Habs and they put him on the top 6 as a LW. Maybe Therrien didn't give him enough time there but he struggled and turned the puck over a lot at key times. Part of the maturity process but maybe the Habs are guilty of not tolerating his will to want a bigger role?

True. He seems to have settled in on the caps. He did have a big playoffs, but the funny thing with him is, what you see is what you get. 15-18 goals seems to be his limit. It’s true that the Habs could’ve used him though.

 

[admiralcadillac]

No, he was never comfortable as a LW. Much like chuck it didn't suit his playing style. SOme guys just can't play an off position. He also played well for us in 2013 so I don't see it as he matured on the caps. I see it as they gave him a CHANCE. Something he never got while here.

It’s a fantastic move for a player to not play well all the while wanting a bigger role on a team. If anything it is indicative of why Eller was not what people here make him out to be.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

Eller got nervous whenever "fancy stats fairy" Diaz touched the puck that's for sure.

 

[Habs Halifax]

True. He seems to have settled in on the caps. He did have a big playoffs, but the funny thing with him is, what you see is what you get. 15-18 goals seems to be his limit. It’s true that the Habs could’ve used him though.

The shitty part is we need guys like Eller... Big boy, skates well, and chips in on offense here and there. Can also step up and fill a top 6 spot in case of injuries. Caps got him on a great contract too. Hopefully we pay Danault the same and maybe a bit more due to inflation

He's a big part of the Caps team as a 3C.

 

[HBDay]

The shitty part is we need guys like Eller... Big boy, skates well, and chips in on offense here and there. Can also step up and fill a top 6 spot in case of injuries. Caps got him on a great contract too. Hopefully we pay Danault the same and maybe a bit more due to inflation

He's a big part of the Caps team as a 3C.

I was going to say, people who hate on Danault and then in the same breath praise eller frustrate me. They fill very similar roles, each having their own strengths of course.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I was going to say, people who hate on Danault and then in the same breath praise eller frustrate me. They fill very similar roles, each having their own strengths of course.

DD was the problem... He produced well with Patch and after Pleky, they had a massive drop at center at that time. They just didn't trust Eller for some reason. They were desperate for a RW after having Weise play in our top 6 and the shuffle of two moves are history now.

 

[bopeep]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Jyrki Lumme… There was a story that went around after he moved on to the Canucks, where Pat Quinn has a conversation with Pat Burns and he asks him flat out something like, "Pat, 90% of the time Jyrki is fine - it's those other times when he's behind the net and you think, God, just ring it out along the boards - but no, he skates it out in front of the net and bad stuff happens... you've been known as a disciplinarian, what did you do when he'd do these boneheaded moves?" And Burnsie, with his best ex-cop poker face says, "We traded him to you guys..."

 

[Mrb1p]

I was going to say, people who hate on Danault and then in the same breath praise eller frustrate me. They fill very similar roles, each having their own strengths of course.

They fill the same role but one of them was treated like a 1c and the other a 4c

 

[Mrb1p]

Any turnover machines

Benn, Alzner, early Chiarot, Danault, DD, Drouin

 

[Habsruleen]

Barry Richter and Patrick Traverse 'win' this.

 

[Fixxer]

Kovalev was a superstar when he wanted to be

Now that Latendresse/Lapiere talked to Ribeiro, I don't remember how Ribs was with/without the puck, how of a "danger" he was for us. He was more of a danger to himself and he admits could have taken things more serious and possibly be a dominant player. I don't know if he could have been a Superstar, but a Star for sure (By that, I don't mean playing for Dallas )

Anecdote from RDS, which I don't have all the details but you'll get what I mean : Gaston Therrien, IIRC coach and GM of a Q team, asks his staff to find the best player available for the upcoming draft, no matter. So, the draft starts. Ribeiro gets called. Therrien sees a skinny guy with rings on his ears and long hair. He thinks Ribs is not present and that it is someone representing him. He's told that's Ribs and the first thing he told him on the stage, was about getting these ****** rings away and a to cut his hair. lol -- Ribeiro was a fun guy, especially when he did some pro acting, laying down on the middle of the ice. LOL

Can't tell if he was high risk, which is why I'm asking.

 

[Doc McKenna]

It’s a fantastic move for a player to not play well all the while wanting a bigger role on a team. If anything it is indicative of why Eller was not what people here make him out to be.

You are right you have never made him out to be what he is actually is. Must be a coincidence
38 in 81,
36 in 81
39 in 69 games this season

So again even though the season was shortened people will say "He never even hit 40 points"
I remember when some of the wizards around here use to say 30 points was a fluke and he is barely a 25 point guy with no hockey IQ. Some even went as far as "shouldn't even be in the NHL" to counter the DD comparisons.

In this thread someone saying, what you see is what you get at 15-18 goals is his limit, almost entirely from the 3rd line his entire career. While some people are praising Danault who has never had more than 13 goals even while playing top line with the habs.

Line comparison this season.

Guess who has : 1st line minutes, 1st line wingers, and which has 3rd line minutes, 3rd line wingers on each of their team.
Danault

2019-20

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

71

13

34

47

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Eller

2019-20

Washington Capitals

NHL

69

16

23

39

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So was eller playing bad on Montreal or was it just some posters here are biassed against him?

Does anyone wonder why the caps won a cup and seem to be making the playoffs near the top of the standings each year, while we are happy participating in the playins and expecting to lose against the 9th place team?
Having a 3rd line center putting up 39 points while your own teams top center is putting up 47 points might be a pretty big reason. Yeah there is a reason some of think its a problem with Danault as our top line center. Can't wait to see the 7+million we sign danault to while eller will be costing the caps 3.5 million till 2023.

Might as well be a book titled "Building winners and building losers, red white and blue teams in opposite directions"

 

[Fixxer]

Starting with defensemen.

Peter Popovic. Handled the puck like it owed money to one of the Kostitysn brothers shady friends. Anytime he touched it, it was an adventure.

Craig Ludwig. He had two puck related moves. Block the puck and clear the puck. If he wasn’t doing one of those two things, bad things were about to happen.

Mike Komisarek. A modern Ludwig.

Jaro Spacek. Had the IQ of your average turnip,
and it would be touch and go on whether the turnip or Space Man would be the better puck handler.

Forwards:

Turner Stevenson. He had hands of stone, which helped him when he dropped the mitts, but did him no favours the rest of the time. Couldn’t put the puck in the ocean if he was standing on the beach.

Ed Ronan. I don’t think I ever saw Ronan skate more than 8 feet with the puck during his entire NHL career, which is pretty impressive.

Todd Ewen. The Animal’s job wasn’t to handle pucks so I probably shouldn’t be picking on him, but I picked him (barely) over John Kordic in the worst puck handling enforcer category (that I just randomly created myself). There’s a saying that goes “he could stick handle in a phone booth.” That didn’t apply to Todd.

Popovic was on his game here :


One time, Spacek did a backhander from near the blue line, on the PP. I can tell you it didn't go unnoticed... lol

I saw Komisarek play and you are dead on. As for Ed Ronan, I liked the description. lol

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Douglas Murray

This is the correct answer.

 

[groovejuice]

Fair. Galchenyuk is one of them for sure

Galchenyuk's enthusiasm outweighed his hockey sense. It's a shame he had to deal with Therrien most of his career in Montreal while the Habs were in the midst of their "no development" strategy.

 

[barbu]

Ryan O'byrne

 

[nhlfan9191]

Brisebois. He would horrible pucks cross crease in his own end resulting in a turn over like no other.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I was going to say, people who hate on Danault and then in the same breath praise eller frustrate me. They fill very similar roles, each having their own strengths of course.

Danault is easily better than Eller......... much higher IQ.