The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Seems like a future Armia type? Hopefully "good " Armia, not like the bum we saw prior to January.

I think "being in the mix" next season is the exact right formulation. After three straight seasons of very high draft picks, the Habs should start becoming a relevant team again next year. Start converting some of those one-goal losses into one-goal wins; or maybe another way to put it is: start learning how to win. But it's obviously quite premature to say "playoffs or bust," or to make "win now" moves. The exact timing is impossible to predict but yeah, a big move for an impact FW is surely in the Habs' fairly near future.

It's not my money, so fine by me. But I would observe that, while MSL has made an excellent case for himself as a developmental coach, we still have zero evidence of how effective he will be in coaching a team that is expected to win hockey games. I love the idea of him as a defining feature of an entire, sustained era of glory, like Babcock in Detroit (minus the pathologies), but the odds strongly suggest that he will be fired long before his term ends.

His contract is brilliant both in number and term. Hopefully two years from now Hutson or some other young D is emerging as his replacement - at which point we ship him out at the deadline for, potentially, significant returns. Trading him for Petry was a catastrophically stupid bit of business by the Pens.

Yeah, I saved the dough knowing this season would be mostly drudgery, but might make the investment again next season.

I regret having missed what seem to have been two electrifying final games. Detroit cannot be a fundamentally strong team if they had to claw back twice and scrape out OT wins against us under those circumstances. Looked to me like Primeau was stinko tonight. A pity to end things that way. Lots to like in Montreal but as many have remarked, we'll need a LOT more to be a serious threat to make the playoffs next year. Could be a lively off-season!

Good stuff. Yes, Ryder should be ahead of him. There's probably one or two others...just can't think of 'em at the moment. I liked DD fine, but...

I don't have time to ponder this question at the moment, but - is Desharnais REALLY worthy of being on there? Or is that a sop to the 'francophone' factor?

Agreed. But I would not be surprised at all if we are, a year from now, rending our garments over key blown leads that were the difference between making and missing the playoffs.

Good result. But I gotta say, I want to see next year's team be a LOT better at holding leads.

So far you're looking pretty right. Just watching some highlights...Hutson's first assist was SWEET. Big nights for Gally and Evans, but it also looks to me like Anderson is having an excellent game.

You could be right. Supposedly teams love playing spoiler. The Habs might actually be motivated, who knows

I can't stand Therrien, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Asked about Drouin, he commented that with him, "there's always something." Some injury, some issue, some problem - some excuse. Same pattern with Armia. When everything goes just so, he can be tremendous. But when it doesn't go just so - when he gets a hang nail or whatever - whoops, he vanishes. Maybe something transformative occurred this year. Anything is possible. But it would be folly to make longer-term decisions based on 6 months of aberrant performance. The plan has to be to trade him - whether now, or later, or at the deadline.

Ever better 👍 Hell, I could see Salt Lake City Beauts/Salt Lickers taking a flyer on him - they'll want to compete off the hop, and will have oodles of cap space and gobs of assets to send back.

Agree 100%. No one will take him now, but IF he can continue into, say, December, then a team might be willing to go for it.

A late bloomer at age 30! Just goes to show, patient development pays off 🤪 No joke, though, he has played like an absolute stud top-9 forward over the second half. If he continues it into next season, we might be able to move that contract and maybe even get something back.

The emergence of 1. Slaf (by a bullet) 2. Suzuki as a legitimate #1C 3. Newhook as a speedy, dangerous 2nd line type 4. Primeau are really the good news stories of this season. They're kind of 2024's equivalent to last season's realization that we had legit young players on D. And 5. the second-half surge by Caufield offers some reassurance that maybe his shoulder surgery really did deflate his production, such that he is closer to a 40-goal guy than a 30-goal guy. (Not that there's anything wrong with being a 30-goal guy, but safe to say most of us harboured hopes that he might be an elite goal scorer. That hope remains credible, and next season will tell the tale). You know me, though - I'm a fretful sort. One thing that worries me a bit about all this is that much of the good news has occurred during "garbage time," with the Habs safely out of the playoffs and all pressure off. The Galchenyuk precedent reminds us to be cautious about reading too much into second-half surges by young players on terrible teams. I think, though, that our hopes in these five factors are well-founded.

Weird gaffe by CC in the SO. Draftists get their win, i.e., a loss. The Habs need to learn how to lock down a lead. They are atrocious in that regard. A surprisingly hard-fought game considering the negligible stakes. These two young teams really don't like each other. If both franchises start to emerge as playoff teams around the same time, we could be seeing the beginning of a major rivalry for years to come.

This OT is insane!

Bad enough I have to listen to Gary Galley...now I gotta put up with this 🙄

Anyone else annoyed by the EA Sports "circle" appearing under the player they're talking about? 💩

Be cool if CC got to 30 despite a comparatively "down" season. That was a laser.

Armia was a beast, if I'm being honest. Interesting to see Suze getting so peeved. The refs are letting a lot of crap go. Entertaining game, though.

Yeah, I thought the challenge was a stretch. Bah.

Meanwhile the ref thinks this in 1996. Judas Priest