The Chicoutimi Cucumber
-
Posts
19457 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
483
Posts posted by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
-
-
When you look at that stat sheet, the dismal production from our FWs (apart from the top line) is absolutely glaring. And even the top line...20 goals, 55 points for Caufield is really second-line totals. Slaf is impressive in context - 41 points at age 20, and much of that in the second half.
Bottom line, our FW corps needs major work.
And even on D - subtract Mattheson, and the offence is also pretty bad.
-
14 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
That will come but part of me couldn't give a crap whether he gets respect on TSN (Toronto Sports Network) or not. He is a good goalie.
I really like what is building here, goaltending is coming along, the young defense is only going to get better. As we have discussed and we almost all agree on, just need more secondary scoring.
I wish I had your serenity...it always bugs me when the Habs (either as a team, or as individuals) are unfairly overlooked or dismissed. Like how the Cups of '86 and '93 were systematically devalued ('worst team ever to win a Cup') and the run of 21 is treated as a burp somehow 'caused' by the lockdown. Oh sure. But if it had been TO on those runs, we'd still be hearing about the wonders of those years in granular detail.
Meanwhile, on the rebuild, I'd go a bit further than you on this. We don't just need 'secondary scoring.' We need at least one more impact FW and we need at least one legitimate top-pairing D-man, preferably a PP QB with major offensive chops. The latter might already be in the system in Hutson. The former is nowhere to be seen.
Right now, I don't see a contender in the offing. We'll need more.
-
Still waiting for Monty to get the respect he deserves. Probably the Habs need to become a relevant team again before the experts start noticing.
-
1 hour ago, hab29RETIRED said:
Didn’t Savard make the Leclair trade?
You’re late to the party, brother! I was called out on that gaffe earlier in the thread. Which led to some discussion of Savard’s merits and demerits. (Personally, I defend his overall performance despite his making two of the worst trades in Habs history).
-
47 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:
I agree it is unlikely he will quit any time soon. I'm uncertain if MSL is skilled at bringing along young talent - but that is definitely a possibility. It could be that Marty himself is motivating vs him actually being able to motivate people. There is a big difference between those. i.e. his story is incredibly motivating so that could be what is inspiring to young players. ex: if you were a young player you could be excited and inspired to play for him without him ever having said a word to you.
Plus, there is another factor of how they are not currently punishing rookies for making mistakes like other teams do. Most teams have a fairly toxic environment for young players. The Habs are currently an exception to that mentality of punishing young players for mistakes. The players have the freedom to be themselves without any fear of being held back for any errors they might make.
Yep, everything you say is very fair. We’re in a rebuilding environment where there is no pressure to win, so the coaching staff can focus purely on development and ‘building good habits.’
I am impressed with the way they handled Slaf, though. Despite bringing him up too early - or so I thought - they nicely sheltered him from excessive expectations and seem to have taken an approach of building up his fundamentals, in the faith that he would eventually hit the tipping point and start producing. This seems to be working beautifully.
I don’t know how ‘motivating’ the mere presence of MSL is. I think, after familiarity sets in after a few weeks of exposure, you need more than your rep. He probably does have a good rapport.
-
4 minutes ago, PMAC said:
I don’t think I can be considered part of the younger generation by any metric 😎 Also, dislike Tampa. If you rank Houle as second worst, who is worse, Mike Milbury?
Yeah, Mad Mike Milbury. Oh my Lord, what a clown.
-
Well, that was the first thing I thought of when rumours popped up that it involved his son. “Is he going to want to keep coaching?”
I strongly suspect he will.
From a fan perspective, what I found interesting was my internal dismay at the thought of losing MSL behind the bench. Without commenting on his bench management and tactical skills, he does seem to have a skill in bringing along the young talent.
-
14 minutes ago, HabsWEST said:
With recent play of Primeau, he climbs to amongst the top rookie season save percentage for the Habs.
Solid base heading into 2024/25 season.
Hughes made the right decision.
https://x.com/StatsCentre/status/1773548476330021204?t=ZHES5bSK-WnmcI7U2-LCpg&s=09
Geez, that is some rarified air. Well, except for Plasse, LOL.
-
1
-
-
Really, really stupid. I thought he was smarter than that.
-
I like the concept of trying him on the W. Although surely Carolina must have attempted this? 🤔
-
1 hour ago, DON said:
Matheson with the 3a & up to 51pts, now 10th in NHL d-scoring.
Amazing when you consider that a good portion of Habs fanbase has spent the season crapping on his head.
-
2 hours ago, GHT120 said:
I think by "quiet" he meant in terms of what we old-timers remember form the BBBs and Chelios vs. Hextall.
Jeepers, yes. Those were some serious wars. (I’m not old enough to remember the Bullies heyday - just the tail end of it - but know enough Habs and hockey lore to understand what the dynasty’s first Cup represented). There is zero to compare with it in the 21st century. Closest we’ve come is the Habs-Bruins during the Lucic/Subban eras, which was a hell of a rivalry in its own right.
2 hours ago, PMAC said:I too, shudder at the mere mention of Houle’s reign of Error as Habs GM but that terrible, destructive trade was the work of Serge Savard. The drooling Jabernowl did the final razing of the’93 championship team with a series of almost inconceivably bad trades, poor drafting and non-existent development. Btw, I also hate the Leafs, apparently not as much as you, the Bruins and to a much lesser degree the Flyers, but number 1 on my list for many years is the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes have definitely been a thorn in the Habs’ flesh. Very much a “this century” thing. Whether it’s the absolute BS call that cost us the series in 2002, or the gouging out of Koivu’s eyeball that similarly turned the series (that made TWO unearned playoff wins against us!!), or the Kotkaniemi nonsense, we’ve had to put up with a whole lot of crap from that quarter. So that is a totally valid choice and probably pretty representative of a younger generation of Habs fans.
Another more contemporary team that has frustrated the crap out of me is Tampa Bay. Even when we had a powerful team in 2014-15, they beat us. And they were there to end the great Run of ‘21. That’s a franchise that just seems to own us, in the same way that the Devils used to own us in the Brodeur era. But there haven’t been a lot of nasty incidents affixed to that ‘rivalry’ which is why it’s hard to *hate* TB.
I actually think Savard’s drafting was underrated because of all the blown 1st rounders. Houle inherited a team that had a lot of strong pieces and some promising young players (Tucker, Conroy, Bure, Koivu, etc.). There was no way the period from 1995-2005 should have been as catastrophic as it was. That’s on the second worst GM in modern NHL history, i.e., Reggie Houle.
-
44 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
He is incredible, he has 60 more assists than Matthews. They say the mark of a great player is that they make those around them better. McDavid does that. Now Matthews is an incredible shooter but does he make those around him better? It seems like 35 assists is not that impressive when you are a center and always surrounded by talented linemates.
Different types of player, playmaker vs shooter.
I have a personal love for playmakers, as a fan. There’s something about that cerebral, high-vision use of the ice, and the unexpected pass that sails through three guys to land on the open man’s stick, that seems magisterial to me. But obviously, a pure shooter is pretty damned great as well.
Matthews is, unfortunately, the best pure goal scorer of his generation and one of the best of all time. But McD is next level, because he has it in him to be an elite goal scorer too; he’s done it. He’s won the Richard Trophy FFS.
If you put McDavid and Matthews side by side and ask who you’d rather build a team around, EVERYONE in hockey except Toronto fans would pick McDavid. That’s not a shot against Matthews; it’s a tribute to McDavid.
-
Based on the Sportsnet recap - which includes hilariously “homer” commentary by the Flyers broadcasting crew - this seems to have been a solid win. Too bad they couldn’t get Primeau a shutout. He seems to just keep rolling along, eh?
-
4 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
I think the only GM's out there that have never made a bad trade are GM's that are either:
1) fairly new to the job
2) have never taken a chance
Yes, but how many GMs have two howlers on that scale on their resume?
The amazing thing to me is that Savard won a Cup AFTER throwing away a Norris-calibre defenceman for a guy who got scratched in the playoffs. That he could pull that off is a testament to the strength of the organization he managed.
Between the Chelios/LeClair/Roy/McDonagh/Sergachev trades, I'm pretty sure the Habs have a disproportionately outsized history of disastrous deals over the past 40 years.
-
26 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
You are right, it was that drooling jabbernowl Savard that made the Leclair trade. Houle became GM later in 1995.
Correct! My bad.
Savard was actually a very good GM, but that trade and the Chelios one -which was even worse - are huge blots on his copybook.
-
I don’t hate the Flyers org in the way I hate Toronto (first with a bullet: hatred and contempt), Boston (hatred tempered with respect for a great opponent), and, a distant third, Ottawa (contempt curdling into intense dislike)…but I don’t like ‘em either.
The Broad Street Bullies were a disgrace to the game and the Habs dynasty had to thump their asses in order to save hockey itself from sheer thuggery.
Then there was the Hextall teams in the 1980s.
Then that drooling jabbernowl Houle gave them Leclair and Desjardins in a disastrous overpay for Recchi, and they owned us for years.
It’s been a pretty quiet 21st century between the two franchises, though, I’ll admit.
-
1
-
-
29 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
How about this old roster?
A.Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev
Higgins-Koivu-Ryder
Latendresse-Lapierre-S.Kostitsyn
Bégin-Smolinski-Dandenault
Chipchura, KostopoulosMarkov-Komisarek
Hamrlik-Streit
Bouillon-Gorges
Brisebois, O’ByrnePrice-Huet
What a dog’s breakfast on defence 💩
Habs are certainly looking MUCH better on defence now.
Haha, that seems significantly worse than the 2011-12 roster you (?) shared earlier.
Although if you take a closer look…
Hamrlik was a quality D-man, certainly a legit top-3 guy. Despite a lack of pedigree, Streit proved to be an excellent offensive defenceman who we stupidly threw away. Nothing wrong with that bottom pairing either. The real outlier is Komisarek, a #5 being used in a top-pairing role. Poor Markov, carrying that bag of shite on his back.
FW unit is even more of a mess. Drunken Bum Kostitsyn on the 1st line, Higgins on the 2nd, Fats and Lapierre being bumped a line above where they should be, Other Drunken Bum S. Kostitsyn in a significant role. We basically had two fourth lines and whole lot depending on the mercurial moods of a certain Alexei Kovalev (who I loved, but who should never have been relied on to drive play on the nightly).
What probably made this lineup seem better than it really was, was the youth involved. Guys like the Kostitsyns, Pleks, Higgins, Latendresse, Lapierre, and Komi were all young up-and-comers (Price too). Some, like Price, A. Kostitsyn, Higgins, and Fats, had good pedigree. They were the subject of much fan excitement. Much as our young guns are today.
So as I think about it, this roster is really a cautionary tale. We should keep in mind that our reaction on this very board to this lineup was pretty similar our reaction to our current team: “we have loads of young talent, our window will open soon, just wait 2-3 years!”
Hopefully this rebuild works out better than that one.
-
I wouldn’t be averse to signing KK either, although where he would slot in the lineup is a good question. He’s likely not good enough to be a 3rd C (and we still have that the infinitely-forgettable Dvorak on the roster anyhow), so he’d really need to be used at W. I don’t know how, or whether, he has a track record in that role. It might be an intriguing experiment, though.
My guess is he wouldn’t want to come back here anyhow. It would reek too much of admitting failure and he could probably do without all the attention.
-
44 minutes ago, GHT120 said:
Since KK doesn't turn 25 until July 6, 2025 the 'Canes could give him another season and still benefit from the 33% buyout ... unless they have specific plans for the $3.985M this summer.
As a team with Cup aspirations, they may well have better uses for that dough than sinking it into that piece of crap KK 🤷♂️
-
Drouin was garbage with us, the end.
And excuse me for not thinking he is the second coming of Jaromir Jagr because he's had the great good fortune to be playing on a line with two absolute monsters. I mean sure, he has held up his end well enough to not get demoted; kudos to him for that. But his presence on that line frankly says more about the Avs' lack of depth* than it does Drouin.
*I don't mean they're a bad team, just that apart from their insanely incredible stars they are in that position of filling in holes with spare parts. Like Drouin.
-
Cammy was still a good player. He was just in Player Rebellion mode against JM and the organization. In fact he was leading the rebellion, if memory serves. But he got traded (who could forget 🙄 - for that worthless bum Bourque) and went on to have some good seasons elsewhere.
Gio's regression had begun and Gomez's game had completely and inexplicably collapsed.
The 2011-12 season was a complete, obscene mess and you know why? Because Markov missed the year. It completely wrecked the team and everybody suffered. (In fact, Cammy had come here in part to play with Markov - and when he went down, I suspect that's when Cammy said, "K, I'm outta here").
Plek didn't age out until 2016.
-
56 minutes ago, tomh009 said:
Apart from Markov-Subban and Price-Budaj that made pretty grim reading! 😢
In all fairness, the boldfaced names below were all legit, quality players in their day.
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Cammalleri-Plekanec-Kostitsyn
Moen-Eller-GiontaDarche-Gomez-Leblanc
That 4th line is some scary sh*t. And I agree about the putrid D. Poor Price
-
8 minutes ago, DON said:
Lots of positives...
Habs Weekly: Another Impressive Performance From Primeau – HabsWorld.net
...aside from poor Josh & Joshua for different reasons.
Well, as a Habs rookie, Roy was of course required to go through the mandatory 4-6 week injury.
Josh Anderson…even I gave up defending him months ago. He’s untradeable, so the best we can hope for is that he hits “reboot,” changes his summer regimen to ensure peak fitness, and gets his mojo back next season.
-
1
-
Game 74 Florida at Montreal 7pm April 2
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Just watching this replay Florida Panthers at Montreal Canadiens (sportsnet.ca)
1. Amusing to hear the colour guy basically disagreeing with the play-by-play man and saying Monty sucks
2. The first four goals were all on spectacular moves and/or spectacular defensive breakdowns! Amazing to watch but not really what you expect to see from a Cup finalist.
3. Habs scored two goals of the backbreaker variety: the softie Caufield put in with three seconds left in the second, and Evans' scoring the 5th goal shorthanded.
Based purely on the replays, it looks like a game where Florida was not playing down to the level of the opponent.