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End of the Cardiac Kids


Peter Puck

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We're 6 games into the season and we have only trailed in one game (against Philly) and that was only for for 17 minutes 3 seconds.

To me this is a real sign that the young guys have matured and that the team has learned how to win. :clap:

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Great assessment.

We need to catch a game together sometime soon PP.

Sounds good JMMR. It may have to wait until the new year - my wife and I are expecting a baby and I have to stay close in case I have to rush her to the hospital. I'm just hoping I don't have to rush off during a Habs game. ^_^

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Sounds good JMMR. It may have to wait until the new year - my wife and I are expecting a baby and I have to stay close in case I have to rush her to the hospital. I'm just hoping I don't have to rush off during a Habs game. ^_^

On the bright side though, wouldn't it be awesome to welcome a new life into the world in the midst of a Habs victory? :P

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On the bright side though, wouldn't it be awesome to welcome a new life into the world in the midst of a Habs victory? :P

My doctor and my dad were watching the Habs in the 71 playoffs when mom went into labour. Doc took one look and said she had plenty of time. They went back to watching the game. I was born shortly afterwards. It was the only game that went into OT incendentally (Habs lost that one) and mom was not particularly impressed.

:P

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Sounds good JMMR. It may have to wait until the new year - my wife and I are expecting a baby and I have to stay close in case I have to rush her to the hospital. I'm just hoping I don't have to rush off during a Habs game. ^_^

I hope your kid his as respectfull to his dad as mine was. he was born early on a saturday so I was able to catch a bit of the game and the labor being on a friday my GF didn't have to through all of it on her own !! :lol:

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My doctor and my dad were watching the Habs in the 71 playoffs when mom went into labour. Doc took one look and said she had plenty of time. They went back to watching the game. I was born shortly afterwards. It was the only game that went into OT incendentally (Habs lost that one) and mom was not particularly impressed.

:P

Haha, I have a hockey birth story too.

Luckily for my mom's sake, I was born in the morning, but one of my first "activities" that night was watching an Islanders/Caps playoff game with my dad and grandfather in the hospital lounge. I blame that for my hockey craziness.

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We're 6 games into the season and we have only trailed in one game (against Philly) and that was only for for 17 minutes 3 seconds.

To me this is a real sign that the young guys have matured and that the team has learned how to win. :clap:

Excellent point! Now all they have to do is work on the PP. THey seem to be struggling with the PP(except for the Toronto game)

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Good call, but we have still lacked a bit of killer instinct thus far and have let the Bs and Panthers in particular back into the game. Just Nitpicking of course.

Yes this is true we could display some more killer instinct. But this is quite hard. Even the best teams don't blow out the weak and mediocre teams every night.

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Good call, but we have still lacked a bit of killer instinct thus far and have let the Bs and Panthers in particular back into the game. Just Nitpicking of course.

True, but part of having a killer instinct is not collapsing after you give up a lead.

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Well, I'm old enough to remember the late 80s and early 90s; in other words, I remember what it's like to watch very good teams night after night. And one of the basic truths is that even top-notch teams very seldom dominate for 60 minutes. The sign of a strong team is NOT that it completely manhandles other teams for entire games, but rather that capability to dominate for extended stretches of a game. This is something the present team definitely possesses.

Given that you can only dominate for certain portions of a game, the other key is to allow the opposition only partially back into the game, once the machine does slip down a notch. The result should be a lot of 4-2, 4-3, 5-3 type wins. I think some people have the idea that unless you're beating everyone 6-1 you're not really a contender. But this is false.

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Well, I'm old enough to remember the late 80s and early 90s; in other words, I remember what it's like to watch very good teams night after night. And one of the basic truths is that even top-notch teams very seldom dominate for 60 minutes. The sign of a strong team is NOT that it completely manhandles other teams for entire games, but rather that capability to dominate for extended stretches of a game. This is something the present team definitely possesses.

Given that you can only dominate for certain portions of a game, the other key is to allow the opposition only partially back into the game, once the machine does slip down a notch. The result should be a lot of 4-2, 4-3, 5-3 type wins. I think some people have the idea that unless you're beating everyone 6-1 you're not really a contender. But this is false.

My only problem with this group is the shot differentials don't hold up against other top teams right now. Let's face it, we haven't played any expected contenders so far. Yes, we can beat Florida, Philly, and Toronto just based on talent differential. But the team game has to improve to go up against the top teams.

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Well, I'm old enough to remember the late 80s and early 90s; in other words, I remember what it's like to watch very good teams night after night. And one of the basic truths is that even top-notch teams very seldom dominate for 60 minutes. The sign of a strong team is NOT that it completely manhandles other teams for entire games, but rather that capability to dominate for extended stretches of a game. This is something the present team definitely possesses.

Given that you can only dominate for certain portions of a game, the other key is to allow the opposition only partially back into the game, once the machine does slip down a notch. The result should be a lot of 4-2, 4-3, 5-3 type wins. I think some people have the idea that unless you're beating everyone 6-1 you're not really a contender. But this is false.

Agreed here. One hallmark of the very good teams back then was not that it dominated, but rather that you always knew they were in a game, even if they were down, and if they were up by a goal or two, they very rarely lost. This thread is referring to "the Cardiac Kids,' well back then, when the Habs were up 2-1 late in a game, it really wasn't cardiac time; you just knew that most of the time they'd come out with the win. There was a confidence (and I think that, more than anything, is the key word for this team over that of last season) that they could win and probably should win. Unlike the last few years when there was desperation and panic at the end of games, there seems to be a confidence that they will persevere.

Dominance, in hockey, is relative. In this day and age of parity (and yes, parity, because in reality, every team can beat any other on any given night; while the Habs are ostensibly one of the best, if they aren't on their 'A' game and the worst team in the league is, Montreal can easily lose) winning games by huge scorelines will always be rare. Dominance, rather, is probably better defined as consistency and (again this word) confidence over long stretches of schedule. It's the ability of a team to demonstrate resilience when there are injuries, when the goalies aren't up to par, when scoring is a struggle, when they're giving up 30+ shots regularly, etc.

The days of the Lafleur or Gretzky led team winning regularly by three-plus goals is long gone. I doubt, the way the game is set right now, we'll see that again; Montreal and Detroit may be the closest we see for quite some time. The cap ensures you can't stack a team continually with mega-offences backed by super-defences and backstopped by the best. Plus, the rules will always keep the lesser teams closer than perhaps they deserve. As much as people like to say the game is faster, clutch and grab is still very much there.

As Montreal progresses through the season, I think what will be most telling is whether or not they can continue this early season 'dominance.' In other words, can they keep clawing back when behind, can they maintain leads without dropping into a panic, and can they maintain a quiet confidence on the ice at all times.

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My only problem with this group is the shot differentials don't hold up against other top teams right now. Let's face it, we haven't played any expected contenders so far. Yes, we can beat Florida, Philly, and Toronto just based on talent differential. But the team game has to improve to go up against the top teams.

It is true that we haven't played any top teams yet (except maybe Buffalo?). However, it is a mistake to extrapolate our performance so far against average teams. I think that we will play better against better competition. It is hard to consistently give a full effort against inferior opposition.

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Dominance, in hockey, is relative. In this day and age of parity (and yes, parity, because in reality, every team can beat any other on any given night; while the Habs are ostensibly one of the best, if they aren't on their 'A' game and the worst team in the league is, Montreal can easily lose) winning games by huge scorelines will always be rare.

Very true. I remember that during the mid 80's, when the Oilers were ripping up the league, everytime Gretzky and his buddies played agains the poor Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers would beat them by these ridiculous scores (12-2, 13-4, 14-1 etc...) It was pathetic. It was impossible for the Canucks to beat the Oilers!

Edited by Habsfan
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