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hockeyrealist

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Posts posted by hockeyrealist

  1. 20 hours ago, GHT120 said:

    It is an interesting development in terms of CC ... Boldy is not near the goal scorer that CC is, but is a more complete offensive player (33% more assists in 25% fewer games) and is a big, if not perhaps quite power,-forward ... it will also be interesting to see how HuGo and CC each factor in the expected increases in the cap coming in the next few seasons ... will the Habs make an offer than is "painful" in the short-term because of the long-term positive cap outlook ... will CC look for term or bet on himself and look for a bridge deal. 

    Good point, gonna be exciting to see unfold. Hopefully we don’t see the repeat of old mistakes in contract negotiations from past mgmt.

  2. Heard a talking head bring this up and curious as to the response here:

    Interesting to see Matt Boldy sign 7 year deal (incl 2 yrs of ufa I believe) for aav of $7mil.

    same draft year as CC, similar ppg rates (CC has played more games), with CC obv being more of a sniper vs Boldy more assists.     Wondering how much and a comparable they are to one another? 

    I’d be happy if Habs could sign CC to 7x7 f or sure, even 7x8 unless 8yrsx8mil is an option, the kid’s a legit goal scorer but I’d love to see team not break the bank or pass Suzuki numbers for sake of complimentary pieces…

  3. Are guys afraid to hit/fight in front of the mom’s?  Seriously where was the sense of battle and compete, been absent since pre mom trip but c’mon send the moms home and tell the team if they don’t play to win they’re sitting in press box. Bunch of sissies out there.

    Embarrassing play in front of family.   Keep the family trips for a treat when the team is worthy.  Focus on the game y’a bunch of filthy professionals. 
    Walking in with cowboy hats like it’s a vacation, when you suck at your job would piss off this guy if they were my employees. 

  4. 18 minutes ago, sbhatt said:


    I'd like management to loan him to Kladno for the remainder of the season, on the condition that Jagr drags him to the gym and works with him at practice.

     

    Prolly best idea, couldn’t hurt.

    Slaf is showing no improvement since first few games, no idea why they’re keeping him around this tire fire of “professionals”.   I was holding off on judging that decision b/c I thought he’d grow into the speed, decision making but he isn’t and may never.  If this was his draft year, even given he is playing in NHL against that level I still wouldn’t pick him in top 3.

    I honestly see no skills that have improved with him, he continue an to put himself in bad spots and I’ve seen him floating on back  check a few times.   I see no grit, effort. I see complacency and a kid that is just happy to be here.  Not a dig at him, just not good prognosis for growth.

  5. Captain Obvious observations:


    Baron / Edmundson we’re horrible.

    Evans was terrible last night, showed no sense a few times and why he has no offensive upside.  Went for change after this penalty when could ha ve made it a 3 on 1 or at least 3 on 2, nope gonna disrupt my own team and then skate away from play and to the bench.  He needed to step up with Monny down and has not done it at all.  Even his defensive play was “meh”.

    Monty was also terrible, seems

    the regression to the mean is underway.

     

    Suzuki looked tired, easy to contain last night, yes that line created some chances but felt majority were due to PP and Dach working hard to maintain/ retrieve pucks.   The 14/22 dependence is too obvious.

    CC needs to learn some moves besides the shot on the PP, teams know it is coming and he refuses to adapt.    Suzuki has been a negative (+/-) for majority of games the past month (all but one I believe), is it worth being a one-lined team so CC gets goals when the line itself is losing matchups every night?  Padding stats is great and all, but how is that helping the team?  


    Was painful to watch that game and I am at the point I came to last year where my interest in the youth/progress is waning and ability to sit through and watch an entire period/game is almost gone.

    Was at two games pre Xmas and regretted spending the money as it wasn’t the usual treat of seeing Habs live, it made me regret spending money on this team.

    St. Louis doesn’t seem to have the answers, don’t see how he could be expected to but going to be a long rest of season, saw next to no pushback, desire to win from anyone on the Habs. 

     

  6. With his play I don’t see Slaf killing it in AHL.  I don’t think he is benefitting from NHL anymore but also don’t see him performing well in minors either.

    His hands are blocks, he looks claustrophobic out there and doesn’t have the sense/timing to get open when needed instead of being there a second or two early and ends up being covered.

    He should have been left in Europe.   Poor kid can’t seem to grasp this opportunity an d looks disengaged on the ice and on the bench, I don’t think he has the mental fortitude to deal with all of this losing and being dominated.  Took another decent hit last night b/c he took to long to decide and distribute the puck.  AHL will hammer him and don’t think he is safe there.  

  7. Random thought as I gander at the lines.

    missing Monahan has been a huge blow, aside from the line shuffling that it has caused it has had multiple other effects that I will not go into.

     

    my thought is:

    it was widely reported Monny was wearing a walking boot for quite a while before being shut down.
    Why did they allow him to play himself into what seems to be a lengthy injury?  Why wasn’t he managed better, he’s got obv injury history and coming off big surgeries (hips, so somewhat unrelated) but the point remains that it appears they played him into the injury becoming a bigger issue than it was.  
    And for what?  Obv not for sale of wins as The team continues to ice a lineup that is not solely built in winning, but on showcasing players (Monny included) so letting him rest, recover, manage his load so to speak would have seemed the smarter play and best for team, player. Chose the games he rests based on opponent.

    He was injured, but minor enough to travel/play and has now become an obviously larger issue, how do professional medical staff and trainers allow that to happen in a meaningless year essentially???

     

    Now his health is a even more of a red flag for any potential trade partner, completely overshadowing his decent production til then.  It was / is far too early in season to play a player until his minor injury is a larger one for the sake of a few more games played.

  8. 49 minutes ago, DON said:

    Holy hit Batman!

     

    Beautiful hit.

    Hate that is appears someone was coming after Romanov, drives me crazy when guys have to fight after a clean hit, although admittedly don’t know that happened here but looks that way.  And can’t stand announcers who act like the hitter should have to fight and praise the attacker for defending teammates who got caught with clean hit.

    Had visions of Slaf getting lit up like this, cutting to middle and head down. Hopefully never happens and player was lucky Romy isn’t a dirty hitter although that one still hurt.

  9. 4 hours ago, DON said:

    Just 6 shifts, 4:50 for Xhekaj, 1 shift in 3rd period?

     

    5 points out of 8, successful west road trip.


    Good catch/comment.  I was also wondering about this, it doesn’t seem MSL style to bench a kid so dramatically so figured it must be a mild injury?

    As in if someone went down with bigger injury he could fill in but didn’t want to aggravate it?  

     

    Since I Am on the road, watched game in a bar w/o sound, with plenty of distractions so figured I’d missed him getting ejected or injured…now just curious as based on your post he was on bench while time..no news today that I’ve seen…???

  10. Have to comment after reading post game article on main page.

    Honourable mention for Monty giving up 7 and taking the L?

    I get that he had great moments, but even his stats were poo.

    Just drop the honourable mention on a night like that. I’m  not sure I can get behind the moral victory of that decision, otherwise was a decent write up.

     

    Dont think Monty deserves any of the hate in this thread tho either. Poor team défense and bad luck had more to do with it than his play, which is only reason Habs had a lead and weren’t blown out early so he deserves some credit.  Not this  crap about him regressing, sucking, blah blah.

    A lot of comments all too happy and too quick to say he is shitting the bed.   He may end up regressing to career averages but too early to call that and he is giving team chance to compete.

     

    Edit to add I was adamantly against keeping Monty in the fold before the season and have never been a fan of his, but am happy to be wrong so far this season and don’t mind recognizing his overall strong play.

  11. 12 minutes ago, DON said:

    At least St Louis & crew seemingly seems to have things in hand and gotta like the message.

     

    https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/st-louis-keeps-things-in-perspective-after-canadiens-blow-four-goal-lead/

     

    "But, as he said, St. Louis never lost his composure.

    “The coaches aren’t really ones to scream or yell on the bench,” Harris added, “but there’s a certain level and standard they expect, and that’s how it should be.”

    St. Louis will address all of it with the Canadiens before they take to the ice on Tuesday, about how they need to be more consistent in every area of the ice.

    But the message will continue to be about building.

    “Our good was really good tonight, and we’ll just try to focus on that,” St. Louis said.

    Practice will be about cleaning up the bad."

     

     

    By all accounts St Louis seems to be great with handling the players, which is partly why I shouldn’t complain of his decisions.    I like his mindset of minimizing the bad, elevating the floor while praising the good.

     

  12. 1 minute ago, TurdBurglar said:

    Sure, if you only look at advanced stats.  I’m not sure we were watching the same game either.  He was responsible for 2 goals against off the top of my head.  Sure, he had 2 assists, if Montembeault had 6 assists, it wouldn’t mean he was the best player on either team.  
     

    Forgive me if I believe a defenseman should be weighted more on defensive metrics rather than offensive ones.  


    Good point, and defensive strategies are proven to be effective, which is why most teams focus on not allowing more than 2 goals when they win.

    With the relatively recent shift in style of popular defender (mobile, “puck mover”) it will be interesting to see if average scores , goals per game trend up in coming 3-4 seasons.


    I want Harris to get those two assists, but also be minimum +2 at end of game, not hear his name mentioned related to give aways, icings, poor pinches.

    He is going to be very good and am not complaining at this point, just have high (unrealistic? ) hopes.

  13. 7 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

     

    Good Lord, I sure did. Up there in the nose-bleeds, surrounded by red sweaters, watching that madness unfold as two dubious teams basically played road hockey. Yowza!

     

    I was so happy when Caufield scored that opening goal. He was on my side of the rink, so I had a direct line of sight to witness first-hand what may become one of the iconic sights of the next decade of Habs' history, i.e., Caufield blasting one in from the left hashmarks. 

     

    This is a game that defied rational analysis. Complete carnage out there. However, it was interesting to see the Habs live, something I haven't done since well before Covid.

     

    Random observations:

     

    • Habs made a LOT of "young team" mistakes. I mean things like pointless icings, where you miscalculate where you're shooting the puck from so it crosses multiple lines; multiple breakdowns on the same play; sloppy plays around the team's blueline to fumble a clearing pass; that sort of thing. They also fell down a lot at key moments (my God, Mattheson in OT was comically brutal), which may have had to do with the ice, I dunno. 
    • Anderson is a better player live than on TV. He does a lot of positional and physical things out there that you don't necessarily notice on the telecast. A tough player to play against. I guarantee you his teammates love what he brings, and opponents hate him, even if fans don't always appreciate it.
    • Dach looked very strong on his skates, an impressive-looking player.
    • Edmundson looked just terrible for much of the night. Sort of Anderson in reverse - a guy who seems to be a lot worse live than on the broadcast. Ugh. Or maybe he just had a bad game. But watching him caused me to rethink my previously-staunch belief in his value.
    • I enjoyed the running commentary from the Habs fans around me. One pointed out that Armia never, ever shoots. A pertinent observation, even if the Armia line was fairly strong on the forecheck much of the night. He also poked holes in Evans's game. Evans was a mixed bag for sure.  He shouldn't be expected to play too many minutes.
    • Slaf: I was relieved he wasn't injured on the hit. He plays the game in an "aw shucks" way that may just be part of who he is as a player, but he worries me. He does some good things, is strong and a good skater, but (1) I don't think he protects himself properly - he's already suffered 3 or 4 explosive hits this season, and I would expect that eventually he will suffer serious injury; and (2) he has that early Kotkaniemi "gee, I'm just happy to be here" vibe where he doesn't seem to feel a need to drive anything or impose himself on the game. Understandable, but I don't want that settling in as a habit for him. It's something I've seen from too many Habs prospects over the years - and when they wake up 3-4 years later and realize they're expected to manufacture things, it's often too late to flip the switch. For both reasons, he should be down in Laval: learning to play with his head up and anticipate being a target in the North American environment, and learning to be the take-charge guy who drives a team. I do not understand what the Habs are doing with him.

    I wore the Doug Harvey last night. Ironically, that game was the antithesis of what I understand Doug Harvey's play to be, i.e., cerebral, controlling, masterful. Oh well. One thing these young Habs are is never boring!

     

      


    Good points, and completely agree about the differences one can notice watching live versus on tv.

    Being able to see the entire ice, watch plays develop, watch how players breakup plays positionally, and the high intensity/speed are some common things for me to still need a live game to fully appreciate. 

  14. 11 hours ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:

    Not victim blaming but he has to keep his head up a little more and anticipate that other people are out there trying to hit him. It’s been a few times now where similar hits have happened to Slaf. Anderson was skating the same path just before and I was thinking to myself what if someone were to hit him as he streaked behind the net, but he had his head up the whole time and maintained his speed. A few seconds later, bam, the hit on Slaf. 


    He does continue to put himself in vulnerable positions be it along boards or cutting into middle.

    I’m happy and amazed he was able to get himself up and wasn’t held out for rest of game but he does need to learn some self-preservation skills.

    This time it was a dirty, late hit but he has been caught with solid, clean hits too often for my liking as well.

  15. 17 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

    Ok game, good result.

     

    Matheson is a lefty Petry, why did they go get him?


    I hope Harris learned lots tonight.  
     

    The Monahan line should have played more than Suzuki’s , they played better 

     

    That good shift from the 4th line in the 3rd makes me wonder if this was not a game where they could have changed the momentum 


    … but what do I know ?!


    I saw a poorly played game with botched passes on both sides.   Not a good result imo, getting shut out isn’t helping develop players nor build trade value.


     

    Regarding Petry, He wanted out and was well documented about that, but was valuable player so if Matheson becomes Petry number two I’m fine with that. Petry is still a solid top four player and was easily a top three or top two dman for Habs.

    He is about the become top right handed dman for Penguins and is having a good season already, expect his stats are going to take a big jump with L’étang unfortunately being out.

  16. Like seeing Suzuki used less on PK, don’t like seeing him out there for these.  Anderson has good reach, speed for this and looked good the few times he was used for this last night.

     

    CC needs to do better finding shooting lanes, he gets blocked far too often, is far too predictable and isn’t changing up his angles enough/using feints to break defender ankles and either open up lane for  a shot for himself or a pass through a seam.

     

    The shine of Guhle is diminishing somewhat, seems to be frequently burned by stretch passes, making some poor pinching choices, but still overall good first season.   Think Edmundson is not a very good partner for him, and don’t like seeing Guhle having to play his wrong side on top of playing too many minutes.

     

    Harris seems to be slipping and if not getting chance to help PP I don’t understand why not send him down as he is physically overwhelmed too often and if not being given chance to contribute offensively I think his development will suffer.  Think he could benefit most from a top paring, all situations role in Laval as think he could be a PP QB down the road.

     

    PP needs more shooting threats, the wind up for Suzuki to come down strong side is slow developing and obvious. The set up for CC is also too obvious and easy to defend when no slot/down low/point shot threats are present. It is a two prong attack, but only two prongs and too easy to defend without more threats.

    I don’t get why Gallagher continues to get PP time, would rather see Evans, Pezzetta get a chance at this point as well as Harris as mentioned.   Saw Guhle for some PP time but wasn’t impressed.  Against a top PK team like the Sharks (surprisingly enough they are) the Habs needed to simplify and generate shots, traffic, rebounds to eventually set up the perimeter play / seam pass layer on. They never established an inside not shooting threat and therefore were relatively easy to manage.

     

     

    Slaf deserves and should be given a longer look with Monaghan and Anderson, Armia had his chance and aside from cycling has no offense. Slaf needs to be gone a chance to play with some more  skilled players in a more offensive role, and brings high

    energy to that line which has been the frequent game/period starting line and obv helps kick things off well with high energy opening.

     

    Also believe Wideman should have played, needing the PP help and Sharks are not overly physical team.  Also would balance the right/left handedness of back end.

    Got to keep all players game ready and he hasn’t played much lately.

     

  17. This thread is stupid.

    There is obviously no tank in this team.

    No professional athlete, coach is going to play that way.

    Management has shown they are building this team, not tearing it apart for scrap.  
     

    There has never been any evidence to support that this team is tanking, the idea is ridiculous and lacks class that a franchise like the Habs has earned with success and history.

     

    Hate to even comment on this thread and keep it alive but it pisses me off.  There has been no evidence to support this asinine theory nor any evidence that tanking helps you win a cup. 
     

    If any of my friends embraced this theory they’d no longer be watching games with me.

     

  18. 8 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

    no HATTY for Caufield, but it was an entertaining game that they lost :)

    Gallagher and Suzuki played well. Finally, Anderson scored and had a string game. Dvorak and Dadonov generated chances.

     

    image.png

     


    Anderson scored recently as well and has been one of the better secondary scoring options, isn’t that big of a surprise especially given playing his former team.

     

    Harris and Kova both sucked defensively.  
    All of D had questionable game for that matter.

     

  19. Gallagher looked tired and injured again most of game, can’t see him last in FB much longer before injury.

    Evans is admirable in that he works hard, but his 110% gets him to where a legit NHL’er would be at 90% effort.  
    Up front the big problem is Dvorak provides no secondary offense, which is why I think the team

    desperately needs a true top 6 centre to balance our focus on Suzuki, Dach is supposed to be that centre.

    Dach played too much on the peripheral tonight.

    All of the forwards blew the zone too quickly many times tonight, forcing dmen to try to pass through Devils players so I place a lot of blame on the fw group for turnovers as much as the dmen who made the passes.

    Harris has regressed some in my eyes, twice in last two games he avoided taking contact instead of making a play on puck, I know he has to preserve himself as an undersized dman but also has to take the hit sometime, as we see Guhle do.  I see some of the shine coming off of him and believe Wifi deserves to stay up when Matheson is back and let Harris go down (or rotate Harros, Wifi, Kova) through so they play 2/3 of all games perhaps.

     

    Devils are built to play like the Habs want to, but have the depth to actually sustain the attack all game. The Habs don’t have the depth up front (although the should given the payroll and pedigree) but that is the difference. Too many gaps up front and too many soft players.   Gally was easy to play against for a team like Devils, so was CC, Dvorak, Dach, etc.   They have a hard time containing big speed like Anderson but not enough other Habs bring that element.   Seeing as Dach doesn’t play that way, Monohan was rather invisible the only other player with size and speed was Slaf who actually took a davantage to some extent and had a decent game.

  20. 1 hour ago, DON said:

    You mean you are worried about his new deal in 2026-27, now?

     

    0 shots eh? I thought Sid must of had a couple.

    https://theathletic.com/3876416/2022/11/13/canadiens-kaiden-guhle-penguins/

     

    On

    "As he sat down to take off his equipment, he was asked if all this has become normal yet, the NHL dressing room, the charter flights, the fancy hotels, the lifestyle he has always dreamed of living.

    “No, not at all,” he answered with a smile. “It’s still surreal.”

    The one thing Guhle acknowledged had changed was that unlike earlier in the season, he was no longer in awe of his opponents."...

     

    "In 13:22 of ice time at five-on-five with Crosby and Guhle on Saturday, the Canadiens outshot the Penguins 7-2, out-attempted them 11-6 and outscored them 2-0, according to Natural Stat Trick. At one point midway through the first period, Guhle was behind his own goal line and Crosby had the puck in front of him. Guhle put both hands on Crosby’s back and pushed him to the ice.

    Crosby didn’t have the puck any more, and it was clear Guhle is not in awe anymore."


    Sid and line mates tried to get top pretty couple of times and over passes themselves out of shots.  I had thought he was not overly noticeable tho.

    Back to back games with travel  to Mtl may be getting Harder on Sid “the kid” as well? 

  21. Regarding Dach: while I am happy to see him thrive and he seems a good fit with 14/22. 
    I recall not being so hyped when he wasn’t on that line and playing C.

    Not that he was bad, but was not excitingly good either, so I am wondering if he is benefiting from the promotion and being with the dynamic duo?   Just speculating, haven’t thought this out.  
    But do believe it would benefit teaM more if he could run his own line and have even close to such an impact on games.

     

    Was begging Drouin to shoot all game, he needs to be more than just a passing threat. First time he shoots, OT winner on rebound.

     

     

  22. 11 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

    Habs deserved a regulation win tonight. They have been simply the better team. I don’t think Pitts was “up” for this one.

     

    Massively enjoyable tilt, though, and OT should just add to the chaos. 

    Yes,  agreed. But it was just bad luck that kept regulation win away, and fact that Habs overcame that is a great sign.

    Pens were on second on back to back and it showed.

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