The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Don't be so sure there won't be takers. MB can always use the old "he did better in the western conference" argument, and - unfortunately - teams always get a hard-on for players with size and fantasize about how great that big body would be filling in gaps in their roster, etc.. It is kind of regrettable that he has one more year on that dumb contract, however. That'll make it harder. But I never underestimate the stupidity of Cup-hungry teams at the deadline, and neither should Bergie. It's also reassuring that he wants to move Bourque. A no-brainer, sure, but it shows that he is indeed in the process of identifying duds and looking to ship 'em out.

I remember a couple of years ago at training camp, it was unanimous - among players too - that Beaulieu was going to be a future star in the NHL. His shine seems to have faded since then as his development has hit some bumps, but I always keep that in the back of my mind with this guy. Just because the mighty Subban has overshadowed him in our collective mind doesn't mean that he doesn't have significant potential of his own. I do like the caveats in the preceding posts, though - he will make mistakes and will be on a substantial learning curve. Don't be shocked if it takes him 3-4 years to really start coming into his own at this level.

Plekanec. No question at all in my mind. He is only a shade less important than Price and Subban, even though his contributions are sadly underrated by fans.

Yeah, I don't see the point in moving Honey Boo Boo either, unless we are right out of the playoff picture by the deadline. He is the type of veteran that teams generally like to acquire when they're adding pieces for a playoff run; so if we're in the mix, we don't move him.

Like I said in the other thread, MT is a generic modern NHL coach and thus eminently replaceable in principle. If the team keeps struggling, especially on D, then I'd rather like to see a Lou Lamiorello special where we dump Therrien down the stretch and bring a new guy in. This is less because I have a bunch of specific grievances about MT - no matter who we have coaching us, they will be second-guessed to death whenever the team struggles - but because the change probably give the team a jolt of energy and excitement that might scrape out a few extra points and maybe even playoff wins, and it'd also send a message that we're now one of those ruthless teams that will not tolerate garbage. Because Therrien is so average, this scenario becomes perfectly plausible IMHO. It's not like we're talking about Joel Quennville or Mike Babcock.

Honestly, I think the real issue in terms of the bottom half of the D is Bouillon. Murray is a classic one-dimensional D-man who does bring a much-needed asset to our blueline (punishing physicality). Bouillon is mediocre in all respects. If it were me, he'd be the odd man out, with Diaz and Murray reliably in the lineup.

Hey, if MB fires Therrien, that's no skin off my nose. But I seriously doubt it'll happen. I enjoyed Habs29's analysis and agree with chunks of it...but I also think that almost ANY coach can be picked apart for his decisions if we're of a mindset to do so. A coach has 20+ moving parts, endless issues to manage during a game, and has to continually choose from a vast menu of options. If the team loses, then you are automatically blamed for choosing wrong even where the other choices might have yielded the same result of worse. They're in a no-win situation in terms of backseat driving and fan analysis. Otherwise put, it doesn't matter who is coaching us; a great chunk of the fan-base will possess an arsenal of arguments opposing their decisions once the team slumps. This isn't to say that all coaches are interchangeable, though. Some are indeed better than others. I see MT, myself, as part of an anonymous army of generic, 'average' NHL coaches who have about a three-year life span behind any particular bench. There's probably 20-30 coaches who could do a comparable job. Anyway, what I really hope is that Bergevin is closely observing what's going on and drawing conclusions about who needs to go, who needs to stay, and what pieces the team needs to win. We can't keep going on with patchwork rosters, crossing our fingers on broken-down vets like Gio, useless human turds like Bourque, washed-up wastes of space like Briere. and 5th defencemen being pencilled in as #4s like Gorges. In the meantime, it IS up to Therrien to get the team playing coherent team defence. I've always believed that D is fundamentally about coaching. If he can't turn around that aspect of our game, then - while it won't happen - I wouldn't mind seeing a Lou Lamoerello coaching switcheroo down the stretch. It would give the team a shot in the arm at the right time, while also signalling a certain ruthless will to win from the top.

Here's a question - maybe THE question. How come (as Marc Denis pointed out) the Habs were excellent defensively up until Dec. 10 (allowing 2.06 goals per game), and since then have averaged 3.01? It's not Price. His excellence has largely continued. It's the team. What's going on? How come they are suddenly porous as Rob Ford's glands on a bender? Is it the FW not pitching in? The D suddenly forgetting its job? A shift in the system? Other teams adjusting? What the crap is up with allowing an extra goal per game over the past month and half???

Yikes!!! Didn't mean to offend. :bonk:My apologies.

I love the fans behind Subban on that pic, especially the fat grey-haired guy

Absolutely right that we need to be easing Beaulieu - or at least one of our other young D - into the league, so that we're not stuck with a glut of young guys all at once on the back end, or else forced to leave some to rot in Hamilton just to prevent that. You've got to get a slow-and-steady pipeline of talent coming in from the Pound. Putting Gorges with Beaulieu and Emelin with Diaz creates two pairings that each contain one supposed "stabilizer" and one supposed puck-mover: a classic configuration. Now if Emelin continues to suck, it won't be long before it all falls apart...but it looks good on paper at least.

Machine, I agree that the 'nucks look to be in structural trouble. They lost Ehrhoff, which nothing could have realistically prevented, but then deluded themselves that he was not a key part of the great 2011 run; Gillis also has a tendency to stand pat where he shouldn't. He retained Vigneault long after it was clear that he'd gone stale, hesitated for an eternity before finally resolving the goalie issue, declined to trade Edler before his NTC kicked in and is now stuck with a somewhat overrated player who could have brought back some much-needed help at FW, and seems unrelentingly devoted to his core even though it hasn't come anywhere near success since 2011. And when he did make a bold move, it was to trade a top-6 (Hodgson) in return for an enigma, thus compounding the team's dependence on a moody and oft-injured Ryan Kesler. They are extremely lucky that Santorelli has been so good. Meanwhile, the Sedins have seen their production drop this season despite an increase in ice-time...surely an ominous signal for the future. The Flames are indeed the example that anxious Van fans often invoke, another team that clung to a core that almost won way past its best-by date. They probably should be thinking in terms of bolder moves, and it might actually help them to miss the playoffs this year, since it would provide an incentive to clear the decks.

2011-12 was a freak event for this organization. Going back to 2008, we have consistently been a playoff team, more or less in the top third of the NHL. Even when our regular seasons were mediocre, as in 2010, we tended to have a great playoff run. The problem hasn't been being good - Habs fans still seem traumatized by the Houle era, failing to realize that we've had it pretty good for most of the last decade. The problem has been how to punch through that ceiling and go from good to great. We still haven't figured that out. Funny, I just posted in the 'State of the Habs' thread that Price is ultimately the key to any prospects for contention. He has been incredible, Roy-like, all season. If he can keep that up and carry it into the playoffs, both this season and going forward, then we only need to be a strong team, not a great team, in order to contend. Price will determine the fate of this generation of Montreal Canadiens.

I've been thinking about this. We don't have the Hawks's talent, either now or in the system. But one thing we do have is Carey Price. IF Price can continue to play like he has this season, and carry that level of play into the playoffs on a reliable basis, then we won't need to have the overall talent level of a Chicago, because we can out-goaltend them in any given game or playoff series; thus, if MB's plan unfolds as it should - with extant young players getting better, and upgrades being added in a couple of key spots - we will be able to contend even if our team is a notch below the Chicagos in terms of the five-man position player roster. The 'rebuild' ultimately hinges, then, as it was always ordained to, on whether Carey Price can become a truly dominant goalie from pole to pole, year after year. What a fateful pick that #5 choice was all those years ago. We will live or die by it.

Who rolls their eyes? I love it when they boo Subban. It means he drives them crazy, and I guarantee you that the booing amps Subban up even more. Let's face it, the guy's a superstar and that's all part of the fun that comes with that. Do you know how long it's been since we had a player that every other team worries about? This is awesome. Enjoy every second of the PK Subban Experience, Habs fans.

I think the next six games could be make-or-break for the Canucks. Are they going to rally and use Torts' ejection as motivation? Or is it just going to further derail a train that's already half off the track? I'll give the Canuckleheads this much, year after year they've found ways to rival the Habs for sheer melodrama.

But what if THIS is Montreal's "slump?" It's basically the worst we've played all season, yet we're still solidly in a playoff spot. If the team can tighten up, get back to playing a quick-transition, tight puck-support game, we could come out of it just fine. It's amazing what having stellar netminding can do for a team in terms of helping you to scrape out unmerited points and staying afloat even in the dead zone of January.

That's certainly what he was saying, and it's a valid point - I find myself continually surprised at how well the Habs are doing in the standings, relative to the product I seem to be seeing on the ice. Part of the issue may be that Price is playing so superbly that we end up getting points when our overall play would suggest otherwise; and part of it may be that the cap system has created sufficient parity that all but a few teams have structural weaknesses, as our own does, and we're one of the best of such teams. Finally, we've been healthy. One other thing I've noticed is that teams in today's league tend, for whatever reason, to run in streaks (hot and cold). We seem to have avoided any extended cold spell where we lose (say) 8 of 9, etc., and that is probably a key to our success in the standings. Again, Price + health go a long way to explaining that.

It's a never-ending story with young players...are they mediocre because they're put with the wrong linemates, or because, at this point in their careers, they're mediocre, period? When Koivu came up, they had him with Turner Stevenson. The result was not that his development was impeded; it was that suddenly Stevenson had all sorts of scoring chances and our fourth line was deadly on the cycle down low. In other words, Koivu didn't wait around to be paired with Vincent Damphousse. He made things happen ad forced his way into the top-6. The same thing has happened with Gallagher. That, in my opinion, is how it should be. So I've always been a little bit skeptical about this "blame the linemates" argument. I can see where, if you're playing with a slug like Bourque or a plumber like Moen, you won't put up points because they can't take advantage of what you generate. But that's a different matter from not generating anything. The notion that a young player cannot take personal responsibility for generating things because his linemates suck seems way too forgiving to me. Eller has always been prone to being a passenger rather than a driver. I'm concerned that his play over the last couple of months has less to do with linemates and more to do with this longstanding proclivity of his. Two other players that enjoyed the same sort of excuses were A. Kostitsyn and Fatrendesse. Look how they turned out.

I'd like to see Drew given at least a reasonable shot in that #7 slot, myself. Big, strong, hard-working defender. He must really suck ass if THIS team couldn't find a use for him in that role even with #74 out of the lineup last playoff.

You noticed him out there, which is good...but he also made some dubious decisions, I thought. Whatever. Honey Boo Boo will be gone next season and either Beaulieu or Tinordi added. At some point, though, this organization is going to have to figure out its blueline. Is Emelin's regression permanent? If so that changes the equation considerably, because he is an absolutely crucial cog. Gorges is not a #4 guy, and if we can trade him as part of a package to add a winger up front, and then upgrade to a proper top-4 defenceman over the summer, that'd be some wise GMing. As for the idea that Tinordi would develop better riding the pine behind Boo Boo and Murray, well, suffice it to say I disagree. But are the D being properly developed in Hamilton? It wouldn't surprise me if the answer is no; and perhaps that's what you get for treating your coaching system as an affirmative action program for francophones, rather than always hiring the best candidates, period.

Honestly, I'd like to see a bold move for O'Reilly just because I'm SOOOO tired of this team having exactly the same structural weaknesses year after year. Moving Gorges as part of a package would be OK provided we acquire a legitimate top-4 defender before next September. As for Eller, tough call. But like I say, the fan in me is just fed up with this eternal stasis of needing more size/physicality in the top 6. Enough's enough already.

It was an entertaining game...one of several humdingers the Habs have been involved with in recent weeks. I also thought PK was just dominant. He's really got his mojo back after a few weeks of trying to be a robotic "good boy" to please Yzerman. Over and over, though, we hear the same thing: "the Habs need players who drive the net and play physically in the offensive zone" (Chris). Year after year after year. Three GMs later. It's almost comical. Emelin didn't look good last night and that makes a HUGE difference to our overall configuration on D. I've said before that this team needs another top-4 blueliner, and I stand by that. Two more forwards with size in the top-9 - at least one of which is a credible top-6er - and one top-4 defenceman, add that to the existing roster with its superb netminder, and presto, you've got a genuine contender. Until then - barring some huge steps forward from Eller and Galchenyuk - it'll be the same old same old. Speaking of which, I'm getting a bit worried about Eller. He seems to have stepped back from the take-charge guy he was becoming at the end of last season and the start of this one. Good to play a 200-foot game, but where's the dynamism?

It's part of a double-standard that PK has faced every since the beginning. Benoit Brunet had some good remarks about this on RDS last night, saying that people seem to have a lot of trouble understanding that PK Subban is a superstar in this league, and that no one says boo when guys like Ovechkin and Kane go cowabunga with goal celebrations. Brunet stopped short of saying that the difference boils down to skin colour. I wouldn't. Another difference is that he's not a Leaf or Bruin (the two teams favoured by the CBC commentariat); when guys on those teams do things that are even worse (e.g., Brad Marchand's flipping the bird to the crowd after scoring the 4th goal in Game 7 against the Canucks) they're hailed as good Canadian heroes. I LOVE the fact the opposing rinks are starting to boo PK again. The OT goal against Ottawa was partly a giant "FU" to the crowd and all the sweeter for that I just hope that Habs management FINALLY decides to stand by Subban instead of taking him aside, as they've done before, and urging him to act like a soulless automaton. PK and the Habs against the world: I can handle that. It's the kind of thing that, properly channeled, only makes a team stronger.

Well, Machine, yer preachin' to the choir, in that I always liked Cammy as well. But I can see the virtue in unloading the $6-mil contract.