xXx..CK..xXx

I once said it may take ~20 years to replace Price, when people were complaining about having Price. Time is-a-ticking. 🙂

If Mackinnon wanted to be reunited with Drouin so badly, we could have at least kept him.

Thanks for the service, Joel. An intergral presence during our 22 game cup run, just a couple of seasons after his 22 game cup run with St. Louis. My first reaction had less to do with how this affects the Habs but more-so that Washington’s been making some nice decisions as of late. Best of luck to you!

Posts like this are dangerous because the entire merit hedges on the reality that Michkov does indeed stay in Russia. It can sway an opinion heavily but what you say may not come to fruition. I believe he’ll come oversees but again it’s simply an opinion. I am rooting for Reinbacher and anyone who dawns a Habs jersey but did not like the pick. He’ll be a good defenseman but I would have preferred Michkov. Hughes was asked what he views as Reinbacher’s ceiling and he responded a #2 D. While he could be saying this to alleviate some pressure from the young man’s shoulders, what would Briere’s response be if asked about Michkov’s ceiling? Even the fact that his name is coming up in this thread has to mean something. I won’t beat a dead horse anymore but this is my opinion and we’ll see how things play out.

The easiest comment is always to turn the sarcasm on and talk about arm chair GMs vs being the real thing. With that being said, Hughes said that part of the reason that Michkov was not picked was because they could not watch Michkov live recently (since the war began), which is a major part of their scouting. Theoretically when it comes to the specific fact that they could only watch video on him for scouting purposes as of late, fans on the internet were in the same boat. I am only going to ever compare Reinbacher to Michkov and not everyone else because I cannot argue that I absolutely wanted someone like Leonard or Benson so if Michkov does not pan out, I will stand corrected. It seems as though from what I have seen, however, that Michkov is the one with more potential.

My main point though admittedly overblown is that the reaction to this pick should not be compared to the Price pick, outside of the fact that it was 5th overall. Price demonstrated much more as a junior than Reinbacher and therefore while people may have overreacted to the Price pick, I don’t see negative comments in this case as being similar to the other case. Price will have been superior to Reinbacher by the end of their careers and it was something that I think could be seen early. As I stated many times in my other post, I do know nothing because it is impossible to predict what will happen with 100% certainty. With that being said, I feel confident enough in this thought to make it public without fear of it being incorrect in the longterm. I personally do not think of this pick as “gut wrenching” nor being a “disaster” but I also don’t think we’ll have had the steal of the draft when all is said and done, like Carey Price. Secondly, I believe that if you think I am setting myself to be a superior scouting talent than Hughes and Gorton, then you are misinterpreting my previous post. I do not see myself as a superior scout to the Habs management. In fact, that is the opposite of what I said. There can be reasons why my thoughts differ from theirs without being superior. It is not hard to imagine that the organization has “higher standards” or “morals” (Russian factor) which they take into consideration that a typical fan like myself won’t care about. Perhaps they don’t want to risk Michkov’s contract situation, etc. whereas a regular fan like myself wouldn’t care about that when compared to the thought of his potential. I wanted Michkov but knew the Habs would not pick him because any of the risks that I mentioned in the last paragraph. They care about the organization’s image, values, and culture more than a fan would. It’s also easy to state that current management are superior to a fan because they should be, however I have had similar situations in the past where people disagree with an opinion of mine like this, and it turns out to be right. On the other hand, this is a draft of kids and so only time will tell. I wanted Zadina (or Tkachuk who was hated by many) instead of KK. I can admit Zadina would not have been a great pick and I thought he would be so I look forward to seeing how this plays out and hopefully Reinbacher does turn out to be a stud, even if I personally have my doubts.

I am not saying I am the best scout out there but I do watch international junior hockey religiously and I personally pair players like Caufield, Subban and Price together because they were players who performed internationally at the junior level prior to the draft. Caufield also broke a lot of scoring records as a junior that made me confident about his transition to the big leagues. I understand that the Price pick was not the most popular choice at the time. Around that time, I myself would have liked taking someone like Kopitar, although I didn’t hate the Price choice. With that being said, while it is indeed a small sample size, him and Jonathan Toews both had extremely memorable moments at the junior level; particularly that shootout versus the United States where Price made multiple key saves and Toews scored multiple goals. Price went 5th and Toews 3rd. He also won championships. Subban isn’t comparable as he went in the second round but I also saw special things from him as a junior that I was excited to see translate to the NHL level. I haven’t watched Reinbacher as much as I watched those players so I don’t have much footing to stand on, but his statistics do not exactly yell out “stud first pairing defenseman”. I am hopeful for Slafkovsky and he had some great junior moments as well but I did not have the same emotion with he or KK as I did with Price, Caufield and Subban in recent memory. I feel the same way with Reinbacher. Felt differently with Price. I will always route for every one of our players so I am cheering Reinbacher on. I also agree that when it comes to the drafts, outside of the top pick or two, and even them, it is such a crap shoot because there will be many unforseen factors that come into play. As a result, none of us know what we are talking about in the present. I can still say publically that I expect better things from Michkov than Reinbacher, even though I do know nothing.

I knew it would be Briere who picked Michkov.

Hopefully next year everyone on the board will once again be excited to tank for someone of Reinbacher’s skill level.

At this point, I’d be going for him. Not sure how the organization feels.

Happy for Hoffman and Dadonov

I was indeed content when I saw that Allen was still in the net at 2-9.

I haven’t been the only one to comment on the timing of some of the goalie pulls this season. Some games have been alright, some games the timing has been off, whether it has been because of our positioning on the ice at the time of the pull, or another reason. From my standpoint, there’s a reason I am discussing this topic this season and never have before, even though Patrick Roy started a trend years ago.

Habs looking like Austria out there 🇦🇹

Exactly my point.

Analytics also show that the Habs are top 5 worst in terms of success rate when it comes to playing with an empty net, and have allowed the second most goals against in the same situation. Perhaps the coach should make an adjustment based on the specific team he is working with, rather than follow a general trend.

Not talking about this instance specifically but St. Louis has been terrible at deciding when to pull the goalie. Not pulling your goalie with 3-4 minutes left is not giving up on the game, and there have been many instances where he has done something of the like. We go from having a chance, to not having a chance. This also doesn’t really change your point as Lehkonen was indeed generally used in a defensive role, but just as recently as our last playoff appearance, Lehkonen was used on the top line with Danault and Gallagher. He was also used earlier in his career to replace Tatar on the top line with Pacioretty and Drouin. Regardless, not his primary use, and not much of a comparison talent wise to what he’s playing with now In Colorado.

As I’ve stated before, we are really good at letting in empty net goals.

My perspective as well. I always go back to thinking about having a child and watching the game with them. A fictional example, but seeing the child sad after a loss and telling them “it’s okay Jimmy, the Habs are trying to lose this year”. I don’t think I would have become a fan of the Habs or sport if I grew up wishing the Habs would lose at any point. I’ve always wanted them to win every game. One could argue that a child is naive and “adults know better”, but I also think that a losing mentality goes against the grain when it comes to sport that it is so unrealistic to actively cheer for it, because there is not a single player on the team that are actively trying to achieve that result. That type of mentality has to stem from someone who has not faced mental adversity in sport before, and the players we should want on the team need to be mentally strong and keep competing when faced with adversity. For the myriad of reasons mentioned already, I cannot be on the same page. But alas, you summed it up very well, and I agree.

Nice win in OT! 🚨

I’m not here to change anyone’s mind but there are key differences. 1) I don’t equate fighting for a playoff spot as the same as fighting for last place in the league 1a) fighting for a playoff spot is good for the team. 1b) fighting for the tank is good to get 1 player, who will likely only have a slight impact on any future championship, relative to the reality that there are 18 other players on the ice in any given game. This, in addition to the fact that a losing culture is bad for the current players, especially the youth, whereas winning develops our youth in a positive environment. 2) For all we know, Arizona goes on a 10 game winning streak immediately after this game. 4 point game? Whoopdy do. Perhaps if the game were in April and we actually saw that it made a difference. 3) The Habs are the team we cheer for. It’s much different to cheer for the team against a division rival so we can make a playoff spot, rather than root for our team to lose for the opposite reason. Personally, I don’t equate the two, but realize that some people do.

It’s probably so rare that the game that people wish the Habs lose because of the reasons stated actually make a difference come the end of the year.

Some points people will agree with, some points people won’t like. 1) Anaheim’s 2nd regulation win of the season after 31 games. 👏 2) Drouin has had some decent spells since being back. I thought he had a good game the other day until he had a huge gaffe at the offensive blue line which led to an empty netter. With that being said, he also had an assist and caused a penalty which was a borderline penalty shot due to his hustle. It is what it is in terms of fan perception, but I actually expect him to go on a decent run. Unfortunately for Drouin and the fanbase, a decent run for him could mean 10 points in 15 games along with a -11 total. 3) Only a small annoyance, but I am getting tired, and have already been tired of padding the other team’s stats with poor goaltender pulling tactics. Sometimes it has potentially cost us the game as well.

After watching it a few times (as I only caught the 3rd period) I agree that it’s a penalty.

3-0 🚨🚨🚨 make that 4 🚨🚨🚨🚨 Pezzetta 🚨