Who or what is to blame

[Jabba11]

Just to remind everybody, we are in a transition year. People picking on Bergevin is plain stupid. He's doing a great job so far and the series is not even done. Nobody's to blame but the refs.

 

[CanadiensVault]

I think we are really missing Emelin and Eller in this series.

Eller being arguably our best two-way center and Emelin our best defensive defenseman. Those guys out translates into struggling on the back-end, which we have all series.

 

[GordonGraham]

Once again Andrei markov is a complete non factor in the playoffs
Completelty invisible 0 points in 4 games

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

********. The Canadiens give up almost no odd-man rushes compared to the Senators, and we have a lot less turnovers than the Sens. Our coaching is excellent. This is a classic case of headless chicken arguments.

Do you have eyes? Therrien doesn't coach x's and o's, and our team plays a very simple game (very similar to the Pens actually) that's built on speed and risk-taking. Therrien is getting out coached every game this series and the opposing team has half the established NHL talent we do.

Our depth is excellent, it's our main firepower that has sucked and especially the lack of size on the top 6 that has been evident. It's not like those kind of players grow on trees or anything.

Emelin got injured and our team went to the gutter. DD disappeared and Eller got injured and we have 1 win and 3 losses. Our depth is not excellent and we don't have any firepower.

 

[onemorecup*]

We are not built for the playoffs. It's simple. Players who have a lot of heart and take a beating all game will eventually run out of gas in the third period. It's why we haven't been able to keep leads all year. In my opinion at least.

Get guys who can protect Price's crease.
Get guys who can make the opposing goalie's life miserable in front of the net.

That's what's to blame for me. The makeup of this team.

great post

we overachived this year but we are improving

no bandaid deals MB u know what has to be done here

please dont resign dias he cant play playoff hockey

dd dias moen kabbie webber colby cube gio

get the f out of here , time is up

 

[Licou]

First and foremost, let me just say that I think our team is pretty sympathetic (except during game 3 of this series... what a bunch of *****)

Our biggest problem imo is that we just have a **** team. We are not that good. We overachieved BIG time during the season. Aside from PK and Plekanec, this is a team full of support players. I am sorry but you can't expect to get anything done in the playoffs with such a lineup.

I have no clue why they decided to finish first in the division, but in my mind, an other year in the tank would have done wonders. This was all exciting and stuff, but we shouldn't be there... Big props to the boys, they outplayed themselves and this is is actually not over until it's over but... let's not have high expectation for a team full of journeymen...

 

[WakeUpNHL]

Glass half full or half empty?

The two to blame are the same two that have lead the Habs to success this year.

Therrien - his system has the Habs playing a great puck possession/ forechecking game, however his player management and bush league playoff performance may have cost the Habs the series.

Bergevin - his leadership has turned around and pointed the Habs in the right direction, however, his timidity all year and at the trade deadline to bolster the Habs with some toughness and veteren D may have cost the Habs a deep playoff run.

 

[icerocket]

First and foremost, let me just say that I think our team is pretty sympathetic (except during game 3 of this series... what a bunch of *****)

Our biggest problem imo is that we just have a **** team. We are not that good. We overachieved BIG time during the season. Aside from PK and Plekanec, this is a team full of support players. I am sorry but you can't expect to get anything done in the playoffs with such a lineup.

I have no clue why they decided to finish first in the division, but in my mind, an other year in the tank would have done wonders. This was all exciting and stuff, but we shouldn't be there... Big props to the boys, they outplayed themselves and this is is actually not over until it's over but... let's not have high expectation for a team full of journeymen...

Why they chose? You think team's actually choose how they will perform?

Why didn't they decide to win the Stanley Cup?

 

[Souffle]

1- The lost of Eller and Emelin

Eller was our best offensive center in the second half of the season (19pts in his last 25 games).

Emelin was 1st on the Habs for Hits and Eller was 3rd...both players didn't played all 48 games. Can't loose two of your big guys/Hittters without having problems.

These lost are huge..


The Desharnais-Pacioretty duo

These players are supposed to be our most offensive forward.
They didn't generate any offense, they were pretty much invisible in this series.
They killed our 5 on 3 in game 1, didn't generate nothing on the PP

They had one job to do and they failed to do it


Carey Price

Couple of soft goals here and there.....but still, even with top notch goalie, that serie would probably be 2-2 right now.


Inexperience from the kids

We've asked to much of them, they are rookies and rookies will make mistake.
It's totally normal.

But we can't ask Galchy to be at center while playing wings all year long, normal that the kid is a little lost, but still was pretty good offensively.

Gallagher is a workhorse but needed someone to protect him a little bit.....and playing with softies DD and Pacioretty while trying to carry that line on his back was too much to ask.

I pretty much agree with this. It's hard to overstate the loss of Eller. He took up so much ES space at both ends of the ice, and by doing that made life easier on Desharnais and Plekanec. I think Desharnais' struggles are largely attributable to being left more exposed. The loss of Emelin I don't think was as significant, but it did weaken a defence corps that's not very big and not very deep. I also think that Prust is hurting so badly that he's simply ineffective.

None of those injured players are a reason to lose a series, but each one is irreplaceable in his own way, such that their loss weakened the team in other areas. So, in the way that Eller helped insulate Desharnais, Prust attracts a lot of the physical attention away from other players and allows them to play bigger. Without Emelin, there's no defenceman but Subban and his bee stings who can scare a team with the threat of a bodycheck.

I would add Ryder to the list of Pacioeretty and Desharnais as big disappointments. Never mind Desharnais, the two top scoring forwards haven't showed up. Subtract Eller and the support he radiated from the third line, and you are left with an offensively diminished team that doesn't have the personnel to play a gritty grinding game.

While inexperience has been a factor, I think the rookies have acquitted themselves pretty well. I would also say that some of the veterans have done just fine. But the injuries and the no-shows, combined with some wonky puck luck and capricious officiating, have put the team down. In fact, when we add up the negatives, there's no disgrace in being down 3 - 1 with two of the losses as close as they have been.

I don't expect them to win the series, but I hope they get a few more games in. It all counts as good experience for a team in transition, one year removed from fighting for the 1st overall pick.

 

[ChikN]

People are talking about not BUILT for playoffs and Bergevin not picking depth sound bizarre to me.


4 months ago, we all knew this team had to be REBUILT and that would take several seasons. Stop raging against a young team who already overachieved this season and even gave us the chance to watch some playoff hockey.

Arretez de retourner vos vestes sacrament.

 

[Licou]

Why they chose? You think team's actually choose how they will perform?

Why didn't they decide to win the Stanley Cup?

Sorry, my intentions might have gone lost in translation, it was a figure of speech. They performed well on their own. My point was that they are limited, in my opinion. There's lots of talent in that habs team, but too much second rate talent, not enough game breaking abilities unfortunately

But this ain't over 'till it's over

 

[No More Subban]

I have no clue why they decided to finish first in the division, but in my mind, an other year in the tank would have done wonders. This was all exciting and stuff, but we shouldn't be there... Big props to the boys, they outplayed themselves and this is is actually not over until it's over but... let's not have high expectation for a team full of journeymen...

Lol This really blows my mind. It's not like the team talks about who could they draft in the summer. Imagine Gorges saying stuff like, "Hey guys! The draft this year is very deep! "

On topic, I blame Therrien.

- I don't think he tells the team to always have fun out there no matter what.
- He doesn't have the balls to bench DD.
- He's too dramatic.

 

[HockeyAddict]

no excuses!

 

[wescored]

I think its the fact that they played defence for half the game after they were sitting on a 2-0 lead. If they had pushed hard on the sens it would have been a 2-2 series.

 

[MasterDecoy]

People are talking about not BUILT for playoffs and Bergevin not picking depth sound bizarre to me.


4 months ago, we all knew this team had to be REBUILT and that would take several seasons. Stop raging against a young team who already overachieved this season and even gave us the chance to watch some playoff hockey.

Arretez de retourner vos vestes sacrament.

people got used to winning again. like whiskey blaming bergevin for not picking up depth. depth costs and we don't have the assets - rather, should not trade those assets for short term gain.

don't get depth: he's dooming our season
gets depth: he's ****ing up our future

catch 22

everybody agreed we were rebuilding this year and probably even next, winning doesn't really change that does it? we can enjoy a good run while not margaging our future

 

[hockeyfan2k11]

People are talking about not BUILT for playoffs and Bergevin not picking depth sound bizarre to me.


4 months ago, we all knew this team had to be REBUILT and that would take several seasons. Stop raging against a young team who already overachieved this season and even gave us the chance to watch some playoff hockey.

Arretez de retourner vos vestes sacrament.

That's true, but lets not act like the team was completely dismantled. This is more of a retool than a rebuild.

So what it means is Gauthier and Gainey did not construct teams that were built for the playoffs.

I still think Bergevin could have done more while sticking to his plan. Not getting a little bigger/physical at the deadline (physical forward & dman) was something that I was not pleased with. I said in the deadline thread. I have no issue with Bergy doing nothing. But if D and physicality ends up being an issue in the playoffs, it's on him. Well, it's on him.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Anderson

Bingo

 

[Stylizer1]

I think MacLean gets massively overrated as a coach. Having your goalie stand on his head and stealing games doesn't make you a great coach. If he was that smart we wouldn't have gotten 50 shots in game 1 including 27 in the 2nd period.

Explain then how he managed to get a team missing their #1 center who was 4th overall in scoring the season before, missing the reigning Norris Trophy winner who was 10th overall in league scoring, missing his starting goalie for half the season when at the time he went down was the best goalie in the league, missing our leading goal scorer for half the season, played 14 different rookies throughout the season with 7 of them on the playoff roster then?

It is hard to say that he is overrated. Really it was not like Montreal had 50 scoring chances. Shots on net are just that and if the goalie can see them and is positionally sound he should stop most of them. Keeping games close is what gives you a chance in the end and conserving your best for the third period is what wins games. The Sens aren't good enough to play rope-a-dope but being down in a game doesn't discourage them much. That is coaching.

He benched Conacher for most of the 3rd period in game 4 and when he pulled the goalie at the end it was Conacher who he sent out for the extra attacker and eventually scored the tying goal. That is coaching.

He benched Latendresse for 2 games because he has no heart and replaced him with rookies and we won both games. That is coaching.

Montreal only finished 7 points a head of Ottawa this season with a pretty healthy team compared to Ottawa. That is coaching.

 

[CupInSIX]

This.

People can make all the questions about size, etc right now but Craig Anderson has faced 18 more shots than the next closet goalie.

We're averaging almost 37 shots per game right now. That's crazy. We're averaging 6 shots more per game than we did in the regular season.

That's because they peppered him with like 50 shots game 1. Last 2 games was an average of 31 SOG.

Being stymied by Anderson would be acceptable if they weren't beating good goalies all season by getting in the dirty areas.

 

[Monctonscout]

First let me start out by saying that the season as a whole is a huge positive. If ahabs fan can't take a step back after the season and be VERY happy with the progress made and the steps taken then that person is pretty clueless. Losing tonight will not change that.

Second, in regards to the series, the Habs have shown pretty much every game(except the 3rd period in game 3) that they are the superior team, anybody that doesn't see that has not been watching.

Third, by far the #1 reason Ottawa is up 3-1 is Anderson. He's playing out of his mind, with .945 save%, his WORST game was .912 in game 2. With AVERAGE goaltending we would be up 3-1, maybe 4-0.

Fourth, other than that there are a list of much smaller reasons we have lost games: -Price cost us one.
-Some of the goals given up were due to porous defensive coverage(which happens to every team), overall the defense has been good enough to win IMHO.
-The officials really blew game 4, we head this from non Habs sources and other fans.
-Ottawa has been more physical than us, this is something MB will look at. Obviously missing Emelin and Eller hurts there. 4th line needs to play like they did in game 2.
-we should have more traffic in front of Anderson

 

[Habs13]

Lack of production and garbage hockey from the veterans of this team; Gionta, Desharnais (one shot in 4 games!), Pacioretty, Plekanec, Ryder has been nothing short of awful. These guys are producing sweet **** all, while the youth is battling hard and putting up points.

Moen, who was a pivotal cog for Anaheim, is only slightly better than his crap season. Armstrong is a plug.

The Defense lacks grit and can't clear a good damn crease to save its life. Diaz should have been benched after game one.

We have hardly anybody, besides Bourque, Gallagher, Gally, White and Prust that will go to the net and we are making Anderson, who is a great keeper, look even better by putting 30 pucks a night at his chest from the far side of the hash marks.

Our passing is horrid. Desharnais and Ryder haven't realized the playoffs have started.

I like Therrien, a lot actually, but we've blown leads by sitting back and why on earth would he continue to play Desharnais and Diaz and bench Galchenyuk??

The Refs have been the WORST thing on the ice despite all this. Crap calls, mind-boggling non-calls and the soccer goal in game 4, the two icings, and the disallowed goal in game one.

Hey les gars.... NO ****ING EXCUSES!!

 

[Monctonscout]

Lack of production and garbage hockey from the veterans of this team; Gionta, Desharnais (one shot in 4 games!), Pacioretty, Plekanec, Ryder has been nothing short of awful. These guys are producing sweet **** all, while the youth is battling hard and putting up points.

Moen, who was a pivotal cog for Anaheim, is only slightly better than his crap season. Armstrong is a plug.

The Defense lacks grit and can't clear a good damn crease to save its life. Diaz should have been benched after game one.

We have hardly anybody, besides Bourque, Gallagher, Gally, White and Prust that will go to the net and we are making Anderson, who is a great keeper, look even better by putting 30 pucks a night at his chest from the far side of the hash marks.

Our passing is horrid. Desharnais and Ryder haven't realized the playoffs have started.

I like Therrien, a lot actually, but we've blown leads by sitting back and why on earth would he continue to play Desharnais and Diaz and bench Galchenyuk??

The Refs have been the WORST thing on the ice despite all this. Crap calls, mind-boggling non-calls and the soccer goal in game 4, the two icings, and the disallowed goal in game one.

Hey les gars.... NO ****ING EXCUSES!!

Calling Plekanec awful I have to question if you actually watched the games?

It's easy to **** on the veterans and parise the kids, but the kids get the favorable matchups because the vets take the tough ones. I don't see Gallagher or Galchenyuk on the top PK, on late defensize zone draws or against the opposing top line.

The reason Galchenyuk was sitting the last 5 minutes is he is 18 and pretty much our worst defensive player. Doesn't take a genius to figure that. He's shown flashes of high end skill but is still -2 even with easier matchups. Tinordi was lost on the kicked in goal, if he was covering/intercepting Zibanejad then we are probably not talking abouta bad call by the replay officials.

 

[habdynasty]

Our top 2 centre man are in major goal scoring slumps , pleks 2 goals in 23 games. D.D 2 goals in his last 26 games . It just seems like this team can't score goals

 

[onebighockeyfan]

I say Max Pac has to take a big chunk of the blame. He's one of the few guys we have built for the playoff. Yet he's invisible. No hitting, not crashing to the net. Nothing. Maybe he's badly injured, but after is "want to prove I'm an elite player in the playoffs" chatter before the 1st playoff game he's been disappointing to say the least. I'm sure many on hear will blame DD for Max Pac's poor play but at least he could get involved physically.

 

[onebighockeyfan]

Calling Plekanec awful I have to question if you actually watched the games?

It's easy to **** on the veterans and parise the kids, but the kids get the favorable matchups because the vets take the tough ones. I don't see Gallagher or Galchenyuk on the top PK, on late defensize zone draws or against the opposing top line.

The reason Galchenyuk was sitting the last 5 minutes is he is 18 and pretty much our worst defensive player. Doesn't take a genius to figure that. He's shown flashes of high end skill but is still -2 even with easier matchups. Tinordi was lost on the kicked in goal, if he was covering/intercepting Zibanejad then we are probably not talking abouta bad call by the replay officials.

Yeah, he's so bad defensively the kid's +14....he's not that bad. Ryder is bad defensively. Give your head a shake.