The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Posts posted by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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17 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
I would do that deal because it’s worth the risk to me.
I thought PLD played pretty well last night and I have more hope for a PLD rebound than an Anderson rebound.
7 more years on that contract sure would suck if PLD flatlined though.
Agree. I'd be sorely tempted to make that trade, for sure.
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11 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
Canucks were my Canadian hope. I genuinely hope the team coalesces and gets out of round 1.
Perhaps Demko can return for round 2
Screw Winnipeg, screw Edmonton and screw the leafs twice.
I used to despise the Canucks. Moved to the Vancouver area during the "West Coast Express" era and was appalled when the fan base rallied in support of Bertuzzi when he viciously ended Steve Moore's career. Then I heard endless fan moaning about "the Sedin Sisters" (until 2011, when that garbage finally shut up). I wanted no part of Canuckleheads Nation.
However, I find myself feeling these days that they've suffered enough. This is a traumatized fanbase, rife with pessimism and a sense of perpetual doom and gloom; and to lose the devastating way they did in 2011, to be followed by over a decade of complete managerial ineptitude, has been years of unremitting agony for these fans. Even this year - a magical year by any measure - huge chunks of the fanbase could not bring themselves to even hope that the team was for real. It was almost comical; I made money by betting my friends that the Canucks would make the playoffs. Naturally they couldn't make that bet fast enough. This fanbase is always waiting for the anvil to fall on its head.
This team also has players on it that are right up my alley - particularly Quinn Hughes, who is a real artist. But they have a lot of quality players I either respect or like, including Demko.
So yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing them go all the way this year. It's not going to happen now, IMHO.
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2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
Sources tell @DailyFaceoff: #Canucks Thatcher Demko is out for Game 2. His status for the series is questionable.
What a kick in the face for Vancouver
The only scenario that could be worse would be to lose Hughes.
I had a feeling about the Canucks this year - they look ready for a deep run - but I doubt they can survive more than a couple of games without Demko.
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2 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
Schadenfreude is a miserable trait to have but I will admit to being guilty of this when it comes to a certain hockey team and their fan base. Guilty as charged, maybe I am just a miserable human being?
Nah, you're just a true-bleu-blanc-et-rouge Habs fan 😉 Welcome to the nether regions of the soul, brother!
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I heartily endorse the general sentiment. The Bruins are an authentic rival, and a truly great (and duly hated) opponent over the years; the Leafs are a creation of the TO hype machine. No amount of suffering is too much for them. And I know that if they win, we will NEVER hear the end of it - celebrated over and over on HNIC and the national media as the Greatest Day in Hockey History, universally beloved, blablablablah. Over and over, year after year, until we die.
No thanks.
The two worst things that could possibly happen to me as a hockey fan are these:
1. The Habs fold and leave town.
2. The Leafs win the Cup.
I'm pulling for the Bruins 100% in this series. I'll cheer against them thereafter.
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1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
I think the Leafs superior talent wins out here.
Let's hope not.
EA NHL 24 simulator has the Canucks vs Bruins in the Finals with Vancouver winning in 7 🤪 Naturally this has caused considerable amusement on my Facebook feed.
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17 hours ago, Plutarch said:
I guess i'm curious if they will 'wait and see' in training camp and who takes the spot...
or try and trade guys before that when their value may be higher...
I don't know what the right decision is here at all. I'm attached to so many of these guys.
Also I have no clue what the value of a Jordan Harris or a Justin Barron actually is?
Kovacevic I figure is like a 3rd at absolute very best? So I would just keep him.
That's sort of the trouble, IMHO. We can talk about "flipping a D for a FW" but guys like Harris, Barron, Struble and Kovacevic are unlikely to command a significant return.
The dudes who would bring back a major asset - WiFi, Mailloux, Hutson, Guhle - are the ones we would HATE to see traded.
Perhaps the likeliest outcome is that one of our crown jewels on D is actually what gets moved in order to bring back an impact young FW. And we then trust that our blueline depth will allow us to absorb the blow to our D.
Rebalancing the roster sounds good but it will probably hurt.
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12 hours ago, DON said:
Nice in-depth look at Hutson's 2 games.
Habs Headlines: Montreal locked into fifth-best lottery odds (habseyesontheprize.com)
It will be interesting to see how opposing players adapt once the word gets out about him. But safe to say he bids fair to be, without question, the most electrifying Habs defenceman since PK Subban. His shiftiness in this video is profoundly reminiscent of Quinn Hughes - same kind of player.
The video is also correct that a D-man like this will "open up the entire Habs offence." 100%. Hughes's supremacy has had a cascading effect on the entire Cancuks roster. I am NOT saying Hutson will be Hughes; rather the point is that a D-man that can manage the offence makes everyone better.
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8 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
How wonderful would it be if Anderson returns to a 25 goal pace and plays with speed and power!?!If he doesn’t get his game back then I want Marty to stop coddling him and treat him like any other unproductive player.
I'm pretty sure he will stop getting a pass next season. MSL may also have been aware that his own attempts to improve Anderson contributed to getting him off track. If your own meddling results in a player regressing, then you probably are going to give him some leeway. It also helps if you have a dearth of talent at W anyway. It's not as though Josh's ice time came at the expense of some elite prospect we're trying to develop.
But next year will be a new page, and JA had better pull an Armia and come back with his A game.
And I agree with you that Josh Anderson's A-game - while limited - has a lot of value. That player hits, is physical, grinds along the board, carves guys up, drives the net relentlessly with alarming speed and power, and scores 20 goals. I'd love to get him back.
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12 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
Josh Anderson points by months this season:
Oct: 1
Nov: 1
Dec: 9
Jan: 2
Feb: 3
Mar: 2
Apr: 2If Anderson has a similar season next year then I hope he doesn’t see top 6 minutes. I hope he sees fourth line minutes.
Those are terrible stats
He knows he sucked. From HEOTP:
Josh Anderson has no excuses for his play this season.
#Habs Josh Anderson: "at the end of the day I don't really have any excuses for the way I played this year" – Anderson says he now has a lot of time to reflect on this season and has a lot to work on this summer to get back to the player he knows he can be next year.
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) April 17, 2024"It will be a big summer for me, no question." – Josh Anderson
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Seems like a future Armia type? Hopefully "good " Armia, not like the bum we saw prior to January.
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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.
9 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:Nobody saw Newhook or Dach coming.
It will be the same this summer.
Habs are going to add that 21-24 year old forward. No idea who but HuGo are going to get it done.
I HOPE 🤞
The exact timing is impossible to predict but yeah, a big move for an impact FW is surely in the Habs' fairly near future.
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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.
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29 minutes ago, GHT120 said:
AGREED
Their plans for him also impact their draft plans ... at $4.875AAV for the next two seasons he is great value ... both in a trade and for the Habs themselves ... if they plan is to keep him through the end of his contract there is a slightly higher need to draft more LHD the next couple of years to feed the pipeline as keeping MM likely means moving one or two of the better youngsters.
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.
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8 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
Thanks, that is likely what I will do next year.
Yeah, I saved the dough knowing this season would be mostly drudgery, but might make the investment again next season.
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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!
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1 hour ago, Commandant said:
its clearly francophone factor.
1) desharnais was mainly a C during his time, so he'd be the 5th centre.
2) the fifth centre is the only position that has a fifth and weirdly, its Tatar, who was a Left Wing,,, and that line would be the Tatar - Danault - Gallagher a line for years.
I'd also put Ryder ahead of Desharnais.
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...
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On 4/9/2024 at 7:33 AM, Prime Minister Koivu said:
RDS put together an all star roster based on the last 15 years.
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?
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39 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
I'm not sure they can be much worse when it comes to that.
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.
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Good result. But I gotta say, I want to see next year's team be a LOT better at holding leads.
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1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
I could very well be right but I want to be wrong.
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.
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2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
I wouldn't bet on that. The Habs are playing loose right now and giving everybody trouble. Detroit had a very emotional win against the Leafs and may have a letdown or take the Habs lightly. The pressure is all on Detroit. I think the 1st goal is key. If the Habs score first then I think Detroit is in trouble.
If the Habs win tonight then they likely also win tomorrow night as Detroil will be completely demoralized.
You could be right. Supposedly teams love playing spoiler. The Habs might actually be motivated, who knows
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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.
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41 minutes ago, Commandant said:
17 goals, good defensive play. 1 year rental. Rising cap and not many FAs. Someone might bite if they dont have to give much in assets, and struck out on the UFA market
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.
2023/2024 season Playoff discussion
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
For my part, I couldn't care less about the whole "Canadian Cup" thing.
Two of my most hated teams - Great Satan Toronto and minor irritant Ottawa - are Canadian. And I'd prefer that US teams win lots of Cups than that they win anything, ever.
I'm indifferent to Winnipeg (but dislike Scheifle for his savage assault on Evans); and I don't like Calgary because they are from Calgary. Now EDM is OK because of McDavid and their history of winning with speed and talent. Van I've discussed above.
So other than mild support for Van, my attitude to the other teams ranges from indifference to bile-spewing loathing.
That said, I'm no enthusiast of these soulless American expansion markets. But we do see them win an awful lot. Carolina has iced multiple generations of contenders since coming into the league, while the Habs have not built a sustained contender once during that span.
My general expectation in Bettman's NHL the Cup usually goes to the most soulless franchise possible. So by that logic, Dallas will win this year.
Further thoughts on the Canucks series:
1. When Demko went down, the general tone was defiance: "hey, they have a winning record with DeSmith, etc." I told everyone that that was crap and that the Canucks are done. So far, so "good" for my prognostication skills...unfortunately.
2. Nashville plays exactly like the Jacques Martin Habs did. Collapse around the net, block shots like crazy, rely on opportunistic offence. Very frustrating to play against.
3. Mike McCarron has been doing a shockingly good job of neutralizing JT Miller, from what I can see.
4. Noah Julsuun was the worst player on the ice in Game 2. A cardinal example of the old saw about a team's weakest link being what ultimately defines its success or failure.