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The Chicoutimi Cucumber

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Everything posted by The Chicoutimi Cucumber

  1. To answer Wamsley's post in an informed way, I'd have to have a more comprehensive understanding of where we stand relative to draft picks. It *seems* as though we've been dealing away a fair number since 2008 (remember Gainey's binge in 2008-09 as he geared up for Season 100?). If this is so, then Timmins or no Timmins we should be cautious about trading more of them as a bridge for Gorges. If we're basically breaking even then perhaps it's worth dangling one or two for a strong option on the blueline, if any exist.
  2. Maybe I'm thinking of an MCL tear? A physcial therapist I ain't. Oh well, my romantic illusions about this have been shattered.
  3. WOW. That just might be one of the most astonishing stories of playing through injury I've ever heard. It's up there with Gainey's two separated shoulders. Even more remarkable is that he's been so damned effective playing through that. What a warrior! I just hope he didn't permanently damage himself by doing this.
  4. Well, the main thing is that you and I are on the same page in thinking that Habs are unlikely to make any significant move to fix the blueline via a trade! As for Kostitsyn, I do think there would be teams interested in acquiring him at the deadline as an added weapon. The question remains whether they'd be willing to surrender a #4-5 defenceman for him. I suspect they'd only do so if that defencemen were UFA AND their team has a surplus of defencemen AND they can fit Kostitsyn under the cap. That seems to rule out practically everybody.
  5. Sh*t, how'd I miss that? That ups his trade value for sure. Hmmm. Maybe there's some hope.
  6. In his press conference Gauthier mentioned Carle and Feasterling. I think we'll see the latter up here in particular before any trade is made; at least he doesn't constitute a raw rookie, what with two half-seasons under his belt. Shades here of 2009. With injuries to the blueline, Gainey went out and got Schneider. When Schneider then got hurt, he came under pressure to make yet another move. But he chose not to further mortgage the future to salvage a sinking ship. Gauthier made his move to paper over the loss of Markov when he added Wisniewski. As superlative a deal as that was, he would likely be ill-advised to deal further picks in order to paper over the loss of Gorges (or the playing-through-injuries of Hammer and Spacek). Maybe he could move a guy like Desharnais, but Desharnais likely would not bring back a player of Gorges's quality anyway. I can see the case for adding a legitimate #6 defenceman, but really - how much help is that gonna be? Gorges is one of the best #5 D-men in the league. Desharnais won't bring you that. Another option is to deal Kostitsyn (an impending UFA) for real help on the back end: presumably some decent-quality defenceman who is also a UFA, if there are any. That'd be a pretty fundamental move that would leave us short two top-6 forwards instead of one - but might really stabilize the blueline. If I'm Gauthier, I first see what a Desharnais can bring, then maybe I get serious and start shopping Kostitsyn. But it's an open question whether any team would be interested in trading a #4-5 impending-UFA defenceman for a #6 impending-UFA forward. If you're a seller at the deadline it's because you want to hoard picks and youngsters. If you're a buyer you don't want to give up players. I suppose my point is just that I don't see another 'painless' trade of draft picks being the likely outcome in all this, and any other option will be very difficult to pull off. Hunker down, it's gonna be a long second half.
  7. Well, I like what I saw from Desharnais. He seems to think fast out there. And he also showed no fear in going to the net and behind it. Could just be rookie enthusiasm, but I hope we've found a little pistol out there.
  8. I can readily understand people finding JM's style frustrating, but I don't know why you'd blame him for the dismal offensive performance last night. Nobody was complaining about our inadequate offence in November. The issue I see isn't a 'system' per se. It's two things: first, players whose confidence is so fragile that they can't even make a tape to tape pass, don't trust their instincts, are thinking too much, and are continually hesitant to shoot the puck; and second, a depleted defence. Teams rely on the D to move the puck up ice, and they rely on the D to keep the puck in the attacking zone and kindle plays from the opposition blueline. When you subtract 3 of your top-5 defencemen, you tend to get dodgy offence. The first problem would naturally correct itself, but this process may be undercut by the second problem. Time will tell. When Markov went down, I was worried but retained my basic faith in the team and its system. With Markov and Gorges done for the year and Hamrlik on the limp, I'm no longer optimistic. The most likely outcome for this season is a second-half grind reminiscent of the 2009 meltdown (only not as dramatically catastrophic). You just don't win with half your D missing. Period.
  9. It's shaping up to be "one of those years." :puke: Two of our most reliable defencemen, out for the entire season! That's bullcrap bad luck, man.
  10. I completely agree - all that's worrying me is that injuries may poleaxe the forthcoming winning streak this time, that's all. EDIT: hey presto, Gorges is done for the season! This is the sort of thing I mean.
  11. Nathan Horton went from 22 points to 47 the season JM appeared, and then to 62 points, a level he's maintained since. Olli Jokinen went from 58 to 89 points the season JM took over. And after leaving Martin's tutelage he has never again registered as an elite NHler. Jay Bouwmeester went from 20 to 46 points after JM took over. And a year after leaving Martin's tutelage his totals dropped to 29. Furthermore, the whole analysis requires us to overlook the players he developed in Ottawa. One of these - Wade Redden - began to struggle one year after Martin left, just like the aforementioned. That's three high profile Panthers Martin developed, and three high-profile NHlers who had by far their best production under his coaching. The rest of those Sens stars - Hossa, Havlat, Alfreddson, Phillips, etc. - all were developed under Martin. Spezza struggled under Martin because Martin insisted that he be defensively responsible and respond to instruction. Many hockey people remain convinced that Spezza to this day is a soft, unreliable player who will never win anything because he is not defensively responsible and does not respond to instruction. The above evidence suggests that had Spezza remained under Martin he might have evolved into a truly elite NHLer. Instead he remains pigeonholed as a soft talent. In short: Martin's track record in player development is extremely strong . It is ridiculous to claim otherwise.
  12. Martin is probably trying to communicate a consistent message to his players. 'If you want PP time, GO TO THE F*CKING NET.' Since Darche is the only one who does, he keeps getting PP time. Last two games gave us all the earmarks of a team coming out of its slump. Nevertheless, I'm getting concerned about our playoff chances, because - to state the obvious - few teams have much chance of success with 3 of their most minutes-eating defencemen injured. Unless Hammer and Gorges get healthy soon, big trouble looms. (That Hammer is dressed doesn't mean he's 100%, but hopefully he's close).
  13. I always pull for small players because I think that they are irrationally discriminated against by scouts and GMs and coaches, and I hate the way people fetishize size. So I tend to share Wamsley's view - but within limits. One need only look at the Philly series last playoff to realize that size does count. Our players were unable to establish any sort of presence in the Philly zone, and I think that's partly due to sheer size. No one can accuse Cammy or Gio of not being battlers. It's just that when a 5'8 pit bull comes up against a 6'4 put bull, the latter usually wins. You can have a very good team of 'smurfs.' Combine the speed, skill and character of our core guys with a disciplined team game commited to D and strong goaltending, I still believe that's a recipe for excellence, slump notwithstanding. The question is whether you can go all the way with one. I'd say that it's possible...but we'd really improve the odds if, say, MaxPac became a top-6 forward and we had one or two physically punishing players we could throw out there. I doubt that I'm saying anything too controversial if I propose that a serious top-6 power forward would make a huge difference for this team, or that we might not contend until we get one. (Then again, imagine both a healthy Markov AND the Wiz on the blueline. A man can dream).
  14. Help me out here...how come when MAB plays for us, he is derided as a disaster in his own end and a veritable liability, but when Yzerman signs him, it's a great managerial move - ?
  15. So much of what goes on on this board is deductive reasoning. We start from an axiomatic first principle (usually either 'the Habs suck' or 'the Habs are good') and all subsequent analysis flows from that. If our first principle is that the Habs suck, then when they outshoot the hell out of the opposition, it doesn't count. (But I'll bet when the Pens and Caps were outshooting us, that was a sign of a crap team being carried by its goalie, right?). Same thing with Price, or Jacques Martin - when there are struggles it 'proves' they stink, when things go well it proves nothing. The fact is that this team is nowhere near as bad as it's shown over December. Slumps happen. The last two games indicate a team that is getting its mojo back. While this doesn't mean that we're the Detroit Red Wings, I don't see how anyone who has watched a lot of hockey can fail to see the pattern. The odds are about 90% that, barring further injuries or a mutiny against Martin, the ship is about to right itself. Of course having written that I probably just jinxed it
  16. That's two games in a row where the Habs have unloaded 40+ shots at the opposition. This is how slumps work - you claw your way out of them, but usually you don't get fully rewarded for better play. Expect the team to string off a few Ws fairly soon.
  17. Hammer was overpaid, but he filled a glaring need on our team and has been the heart and soul of the blueline. Without him the magical season of 2008 would never have happened, nor would we have gone so deep in 2010. Frankly I find it strange to read fans acting like that was a bad signing. He may not have been worth the dough in some "objective" sense, but in the context of our team, which had had a crying hole on the blueline for years, he was worth most of those pennies. And I'm with you, I'd re-sign him for two seasons at maybe $2.5 mil. I'll be astounded if Gomer goes anywhere, for all the reasons dlbalr states. In any case, he's playing pretty well now. May as well sit back and enjoy those crazy rushes, we've got another few years of them.
  18. EXACTLY. I'd add, as I have several times before, that JM has a proven track record of developing youth, including several players whose careers tanked after they left his tutleage (Redden, Jokinen). Unfortunately the Martin-haters will never accept this, so one may as well talk to an iguana. As for Kostitsyn, well...I remember seeing an analysis somewhere that did indeed prove that Kostitsyn was statistically an average-to-better-than-average as a #6 forward. I'm sure JM knows this. My impression of Martin is that he punishes players who do not listen and do not follow instruction. Last season he went out of his way to say nice things publicly about AK 46 and proved quite reluctant to yank him from the roster. He may be beginning to turn on the player because he's concluding that the player is not even trying to do what the coaches are asking of him. Incidentally, it's possible that Drache and Moen get top-6 opportunities because the coach is sending a message to the GM about the kind of player he wants/needs. Wouldn't be the first time.
  19. Wiz comes as advertised. A top-4 offensive defenceman Dare I hope that we're already starting to see what I anticipated when we acquired him - i.e., a better all-around game driven from the back end. Really, a strong effort tonight. They had what, 46 shots? Gomez and Gio were playing like their jockstraps were on fire. Let's see more of that!! RDS really f*cked up. What a joke.
  20. But the players actually have to play the frigging system. At present they're not, or at least not effectively. The question remains whether this is a result of JM losing the room, or JM no longer having the horses (given Subban's regression and injuries to Markov and Gorges). If the former, we're in deep doo-doo and the season is basically over. If the latter, then it's a matter of Wisnieski fitting in, Subban finding his game again, and perhaps Gorges coming back. Fingers crossed for door #2.
  21. I suppose the point is that Laps isn't worth much - although I have no idea about Festerling's potential. As for packaging, offhand I don't see too many plausible options, that's all. Hammer, Spacek, Gomez - no one's going to jump at these contracts and it's far from clear that we'd be better off without them. But AK46 is one player who would attract interest IMHO (I assume you're not talking about packaging Gorges, Pleks, or other obviously excellent pieces). In general, I can't see much point in evaluating this as a bad move because it doesn't compares poorly to some hypothetical scenario that might not even be possible. But I may have misread the tone of your post. As you are fairly relentlessly critical of the organization, I took it as another instance of that. If you were just thinking out loud in a mild way, then hey, no harm in that.
  22. +1. However, let's wait and see what goes down, before fulminating against it, shall we? And let's remember that JM has given ample ice time to, among others, Subban (notwithstanding the benchings), Pouliot, Pyatt, and Pacioretty. The idea that he automatically restricts youngsters' ice time is a myth. He only shrinks their ice time if he has lost faith in their abilities (O'Byrne), after they've screwed up repeatedly (Subban/Latendresse) - or if he needs to shorten his bench in order to try to win the game. Desharnais probably won't replace either Gomez or Pleks. As surreal as it seems I wouldn't be shocked to find him in Lapierre's slot. If he shows well, though, then it would be no jaw-dropping surprise to find him starting to eat into Gomez's ice time. I really think that's part of the hope here - that young guys can send a subtle message to the struggling vets about their disposability.
  23. You don't think Wisnewski can help? Can we at least wait a few games before dismissing what most appear to see as a legitimate top-4 defenceman acquired for a 50th overall pick? Packaging...well, what are you gonna get for Kostitsyn/Lapierre, that could both help us AND fit under the cap? There's nothing specific to these moves that warrants any kind of strongly negative reaction.
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