xXx..CK..xXx

Emelin knocked Pavelski all the way into the Stars 😌 and their locker room

His numbers weren’t great in the KHL but he’s a smoother skater than Emelin and has a better first pass and shot (though Emelin got some pucks through as well) I was going to compare him to someone like Letang who wasn’t a high draft pick but turned out to be offensively gifted but many GMs and scouts have compared Romanov to Doughty and I can see that, especially because of their skating similarities. I actually loved Emelin, but Romanov will be much better.

Romanov is going to be a beaut.

I’m sure he’s not considering coming back for a first round exit. In that, it’s not the way he is thinking. Quite frankly, while I was the most cautious person I know while I had to stay home from work March through June, if he does decide to return and play, it won’t be “foolish” at all. For whatever reason.

😇 It’s also true that Subban’s style was always going to age quicker than Weber’s. Weber’s hard shot, goals by a defenseman, power play points (though I actually expect more from him there), shot blocking, and physicality aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Subban’s speed and mobility should begin taking a hit, though his breakouts and passing should remain strong.

I am not sure why people would want to end an entire season by losing or tanking for a single player. Winning games is something the team can control, where we end up in the draft is something nobody can control. Furthermore, there’s even a chance that a second round player becomes more valuable than a first rounder. It’s never that a single first round draft pick is guaranteed to completely change the future of your entire organization. Unless it’s a 1st or 2nd overall, and even then. The impact of the Habs winning against the Penguins is immeasurable. Perhaps a freak hot streak from a player like Drouin (or Domi) in this play-in and playoff completely change their careers. Perhaps Carey Price has the best playoff of his career. Perhaps Suzuki and KK gain invaluable experience of playoff level hockey which can serve them in the future. I think the positive impact that a long playoff run, or even a play-in win against the Pittsburgh Penguins could outweigh the positive impact of drafting one player. We just drafted players like Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi high in drafts and we are supposed to lose entire seasons for players like that? If we lose, we have the bonus of having a chance at Lafreniere. It will be a nice consolation at that point. Thus the win-win. That’s it, that’s all.

Yes, and they also won versus Pittsburgh in that scenario which is the purpose of hockey.

I’m with you there. I personally don’t like tanking even with 10 games left, if there’s still a chance at making the playoffs. Players and coaches will be thinking that way as well. Truthfully, although I am someone who hibernated for 3 months in relatively strict fashion until work was again available to me, I’d be excited as heck if I were dawning a Habs jersey with this opportunity. We haven’t talked much about the players and their mentality yet, but after this long of a layoff, it truly is like another season in many ways. Meaning, while the Habs are the underdog even still, the opportunity is there for the taking.

I’d imagine you’d want the players to have the best facility available for something like the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whether it be for training, medical needs, anything you can think of. I’ve consistently rolled my eyes whenever people bring up the asterix that will accompany the Stanley Cup winner because while I understand we have a unique circumstance, the winner will have been deserving. What? When Boston wins, Washington or St. Louis repeat, or Colorado finally breaks through, there will still really be an asterix? Or does it only apply when a team like Montreal or Chicago win? Only then, there will be an asterix. 😂 Regardless, despite my rant, the point is that if they were to play in places like Alaska, North West Territories, or St. John’s, Newfoundland, there truly would be an asterix associated with the cup. I’d imagine that the league would want this to look as legitimate and professional as is possible without crowds.

Lafreniere > Winning vs Pittsburgh & losing round after Trying to win vs Pittsburgh and every round thereafter > 12.5% chance at 1st overall

It’s silly. If the Habs are bad (which I’ve been on record saying we’re obviously underdogs against the Penguins) and they lose, then they’ll end up with the potential to have a lottery pick in the situation described. If they go on a run, while unlikely, all the better. A team shouldn’t make themselves worse when they have a shot at the cup, ever. If they’re already as bad as people describe, they’ll earn the pick on their own. I started posting after reading your entire post but see that it is the same conclusion you came up with as well.

It would be quite nice if the 22% held up strong. 💪🏻

I think there have been many years in the 2000s where the Bruins and/or their fan base looked up to the Canadiens as being at the same level as their organization, if not even higher. This is partially due to miraculous goaltending by Theodore and company, and partially due to other playoff successes against them even if we truly were an underdog, but I know for a fact that there have been years in the 21st century, if not sustained for awhile, that we were superior to the Bruins as an organization. They won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and nothing before then since 1972. We also lost to them in game 7 overtime during the year that they went on to win the cup in 2011. I feel as though they thought we were their toughest opponent during that run. They have admittedly had the ability to sustain a higher standard and the fact that we haven’t is not okay. Again, this overlooks the fact that in the 90s and early 2000s (probably until about 2007-2008) the Bruins were nothing to write home about. It’s not okay that we’re there now and they were there then, but it does demonstrate that they’ve been there as well. Then we finally get to the point that I’ve been debating and that is that in rebuttal someone will claim that while Boston didn’t win another cup between 1972 and 2011, their team was “built” well whereas any single time the Habs lose, it was because we were not an organization that stand with the elite of the world. Again, it’s being missed that indeed we were up there with the elite. When Price was the goalie of the NHL, the Habs were viewed in the manner in which you describe. It was simply the negative nancies or those who were perhaps too smart for their own good who “knew” the Habs weren’t in the same class as the Boston Bruins, as an organization. I believe that if not on other occasions, our core led by Gionta would have been well respected around the league (and we were getting free agents to sign) as well as once again, when Price was at his peak. It’s true that as Habs fans we often felt as though we were “one player away” rather than “fulfilled” as a team. But our team was built from the goaltending out and it just so happens that we’ve never really seen a sustained peak Price during the playoffs, outside of perhaps the season he got injured against the Rangers. This discussion goes hand in hand with those who can’t see that a team can be good, and still not win. Those who oppose this view when it comes to the Habs simply often state that our goaltender shouldn’t be the highest paid player. I don’t believe this view is a fact though. It’s only viewed this way because for the Habs, it hasn’t worked out even when the team was good.

On one hand you state that you weren’t a chronic complainer, which is true during that period of time, but on the other hand you then proceed to downplay how good some of our teams were during the span I noted. The media were never going to give the Habs credit regardless, in that we were always going to be a “surprise” if we did well, but it was only some people on here who labelled the Habs as a “tier two” team, in a way confirming that the Habs indeed would have needed something like “luck” to win it all. No one is saying that getting back to where we were is necessarily enough, but those who were chronically complaining fit in to the category you described when you said some people can’t accept that a good team can be assembled, and still not win. Similar to the fact that you state that you were not a chronic complainer then, I will state that I am not akin to a Leafs fan in the present. I do not accept where we have been for the past few years. With that being said, what you are demanding is unrealistic. Apparently a team had to lose before they win and yet you claim that getting back to where we were in 2015 is not what we want. In fact it is. Because again, the team needs to get to the dance before it can move around. Regardless of the general manager, what you are asking for is almost impossible in the modern NHL. The seasons that Boston or Tampa Bay actually do miss the playoffs are simply overlooked and these teams have Stamkos, Crosby, Ovechkin, etc. I understand that this is exactly the point. The Habs need more talent and we wish they had it. But those who every single season, would rather have the Habs miss the playoffs and get a decently high draft pick rather than “just make it and have a chance” will never be on the same page as myself. It’s not so much that I would be accepting defeat or mediocrity with such an expression. Not at all. I would be expecting and hopeful to win every round. Not blindly either, but if we were at the level that we were a few years ago, then the team actually would once again have a shot. I think where we do agree is that once we get to that point, we would like to see perhaps some deadline moves that favor us, or continual improvement during the off season. That, I do agree with. I don’t however think it is a realistic goal to expect that we are just going to dominate the league head to toe each and every season. Those who wish this, will indeed be negative fans for the foreseeable and indefinite future. With such expectations, I am not sure they realize that they may never again be happy.

Definitely. Plekanec is consistently up there when it comes to stats that would show top performers as a center on the Habs and even during his prime, he could have been an amazing 2nd/3rd line center if used properly. In the present, we need to really hope Kotkaniemi can surpass what Koivu accomplished or even would have accomplished had he not got injured. Koivu was 21st overall draft pick, Kotkaniemi 3rd, and still I would be shocked if Kotkaniemi could surpass Koivu’s career high of 75 points. (Koivu was above ppg average in 96-97 but only played 50 games). If I were a betting man I would say Kotkaniemi may never get 75 points. If his comparisons to players like Kopitar or Barkov are at all accurate though, he should.