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Fanpuck33

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I still don't understand why he flopped Higgins and Lats shortly after Higgins' return. Higgins is my favourite habs, so I love to see him on the big line, but I don't think it was the right move. He's a perfect guy for a two-way 3rd line. Lats, meanwhile may not have been scoring goals, but seemed to be meshing well on the Koivu line. Right now, it just seems like Lats is getting a raw deal. He really improved his skating and is checking more. These are the things that have been asked of him, yet he keeps getting less and less ice time.

maybe higgins didn't fit with tanguay. he did really good with plekanec in hamilton and they always do good together on PK.

to me I can't understand why Andrei kostitsyn isn't tried on the koivu line. he would be a good right winger to complement the playmakers that are Koivu and Tanguay.

Do we really need the ugliest player in hockey? :wacko:

Nope, we don't need another goalie. (Pascal LeClaire)

Christ Kelly anyone ??

Edited by marky_and_komi
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These line are a message sent to the players who were floating.

A lot of players are given a second chance to jump in the boat.

We'll see if they stand or fall.

Kovalev has the opportunity play with the best centre in the team.

Lang is promoted to the second offensive line. See what he gives back.

Plekanek is playing with two hard checking, defensive awared wingers.

He has to simplify is game and be more intense.

Bégin was considered a men out, he has a chance to do better than Lapierre.

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These line are a message sent to the players who were floating.

Kovalev has the opportunity play with the best centre in the team.

How does Kovalev getting promoted to the team top producing line send him the message that he shouldn't be floating? Call me crazy, but I've always thought demotions were what coaches use to send messages to players.

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I like the lines. Kovalev doesn't respond to "punishment" from coaches, we know that, so all you can do with him is try to maximize his confidence and results by putting him with our two best players. (Incidentally, we're possibly too hard on Kovalev. He might actually be human like the rest of us, prone to bouts of self-doubt and trying too hard, which could explain his November slump after a torrid October. Seen in that way, this looks like exactly the right move).

Pleks, meanwhile, might do well to re-focus on his defensive game. His original profile was as a Carbonneau-style two-way centreman, not a scorer. Getting back to basics might help him find his offensive touch again. Higgins has always been more plausible as the World's Most Offensively-Dangerous Third Liner than as a solid but frustrating top-6 forward.

And Lang makes a credible second-line C, much more experienced than the struggling Pleks and much steadier than the erratic Kovaelv, and his veteran leadership may help the struggling Kostitsyns find their game.

So these lines make a lot of sense. Which is not to say that any of it will work, of course :rolleyes:

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Absolutely. He plays the puck well, but sometimes he's just so damn casual (slow) about it, it turns into an adventure. That will improve with experience, one would hope.

I was just about to say that. We seem to forget, but Price and Latendresse are the too "kids" on this team(both are only 21 years old). Price will be more comfortable handling the puck with experience. His decision making skills will also improve with experience!

Both players will only get better in time!

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I like the lines. Kovalev doesn't respond to "punishment" from coaches, we know that, so all you can do with him is try to maximize his confidence and results by putting him with our two best players. (Incidentally, we're possibly too hard on Kovalev. He might actually be human like the rest of us, prone to bouts of self-doubt and trying too hard, which could explain his November slump after a torrid October. Seen in that way, this looks like exactly the right move)

Even though Kovy didn't get any points this week-end, I was at the bell centre Saturday night, and I watched the game on sunday, and both nights, Kovy wasn't "floating" out there. He was actually playing hard. He gave a solid effort in both games, bt was just unlucky and didn't get any points.

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Kovalev doesn't respond to punishment? I recall he was benched near the end of the year 2 years ago, was called out by his coach, the Gm had a long talk with him over the summer.

What Happened? His best season in a long time. He should be benched with his play. If he doesn't like it, trade him. He is back to his usual invisible man bit. I agree with Fan puck on that one. Lats was one of the better Habs in most games and his reward is playing with Dandy and Begin. I'm not gettign that one.

You can't have 3 play makers on the same line. Doesn't make sense.

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Even though Kovy didn't get any points this week-end, I was at the bell centre Saturday night, and I watched the game on sunday, and both nights, Kovy wasn't "floating" out there. He was actually playing hard. He gave a solid effort in both games, bt was just unlucky and didn't get any points.

Safer play and stop creating turnovers. This is the partof his game that is frustrating to watch.

That is why some people(and me) say he is floating around. Not because he doesn't try, because he takes poor decision with the puck.

Pretty soon magic will happen from his hands again, the shootout goal was some sparks of it.

But should never forget not to create so many turnover, did i say turnover?

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I still don't understand why he flopped Higgins and Lats shortly after Higgins' return. Higgins is my favourite habs, so I love to see him on the big line, but I don't think it was the right move. He's a perfect guy for a two-way 3rd line. Lats, meanwhile may not have been scoring goals, but seemed to be meshing well on the Koivu line. Right now, it just seems like Lats is getting a raw deal. He really improved his skating and is checking more. These are the things that have been asked of him, yet he keeps getting less and less ice time.

Latendresse was working hard - which I also think is the case of every single player on the team this season, a struggling player isn't necessarily a player who does't give the required effort - however he's still playing like a mindless drone. He's been taught to play like a marginal 4th line grinder ever since making it to the NHL, I doubt the coach has taken the time to teach him what he needs to do to suceeds (no, telling a player to go in front of the net is not teaching), and he needs to start believing and owning his hockey skills as well as take chances and initiatives out there.

However I do agree that we need to work with Latendresse, and get him into an offensive line with god offensive players to take him under their wing as it was the case with Tanguay and Koivu, or maybe it could be Plekanec and Kovalev. He needs to go into offensive player mode instead of just doing the "little things" to barely keep his roster spot.

Mostly I would like Carbonneau and its staff to take some time to teach the kid how to do his job the right way. I was reading a quote from the coach during my lunch today about how Latendresse needs to be get more involved in front of the net and along the boards... well that's all nice and fun, but this are just more useless old cliches that Carbonneau loves to throw out there... the coaches need to start doing their job, and show him how it's done, Guillaume has 170 NHL regular season under his belt, and he obvisouly still doesn't how to do this... just hire a retired power-forward as a consultant if necessary, but do something!

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That is why some people(and me) say he is floating around. Not because he doesn't try, because he takes poor decision with the puck.

Exactly, floating doesn't just refer to laziness. I tend to use it for guys who are careless with the puck, which most of the team has been lately. They are so weak with the puck it is ridiculous.

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How does Kovalev getting promoted to the team top producing line send him the message that he shouldn't be floating? Call me crazy, but I've always thought demotions were what coaches use to send messages to players.

Yeah, Kovy won't get a message by getting sent to the top line. Scratching him is to harsh but putting him with Kosto and Laps or something like that would.

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I would love to hear Carbo's explanation for putting Lats on the 4th line. I mean, he's been one of the few guys to actually show up in the losses. So you reward him by playing him on the checking line? Really? Guys like Kovy and SKost are skating around accomplishing nothing and he demotes a guy actually showing some effort.

And on a completely random note, I am so sick of announcers talking about how good a puck handler Price is. Have they ever watched him? He's lousy at it! He passes to the other team all the time. I'm scared every time he plays the puck.

If he's decided on keeping Latendresse on the fourth, then I would actually swap Andrei Kostitsyn and Kostopoulos. The second line would be the Sergei-Lang-Kosto line that worked well as our third line earlier this year and the second line would be Higgins-Plekanec-Andrei which I want to see again. They had a shift or two together against St Louis and I thought they did well.

Price is a good puck-handler. He's awfully talented with the puck, he just doesn't always know what to do with it. It might even be because he's good with the puck that he tries to show off and make a fancy pass instead of the right play. I've gone to a couple of Habs training camps and when it's another goalie's turn to do the drills, Price often goes in the corner and practices this crazy play where he stands directly in front of the boards and shoots the puck at the boards so that it takes a weird bounce and goes over his head, landing behind him. He's still not as good as Halak though, I don't know if even Brodeur is that smooth with the puck on his stick.

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He put the #### together, which is a good idea. The rest of the lines sort of fell around that and putting Kovy up with Koivu (which people here have been calling for many many times).

Lats is simply not as good as people here wish to believe. He fits on a 3rd or 4th line, imo. Higgins is way ahead of him on the depth chart, even struggling. If he is such a scoring machine, then he should be able to score on any line.

I like that Carbo is trying some new lines, and sticking with it more then 20 minutes. Give it a game or so to see how it works before trying something new.

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As an update, I really like the #### and Lang.. they are playing great! Perhaps they figured out that if they want to play together, then show Carbo he should keep you together. :) AK is showing real muscle out there on the boards!

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He put the #### together, which is a good idea. The rest of the lines sort of fell around that and putting Kovy up with Koivu (which people here have been calling for many many times).

Lats is simply not as good as people here wish to believe. He fits on a 3rd or 4th line, imo. Higgins is way ahead of him on the depth chart, even struggling. If he is such a scoring machine, then he should be able to score on any line.

I like that Carbo is trying some new lines, and sticking with it more then 20 minutes. Give it a game or so to see how it works before trying something new.

For those who are wondering, the word #### is censored. Just like in the sentence : Glad I can watch a pair of #### on tv 82 times per season. Or in a quote by Plekanec earlier this season : I'd like to play with a pair of ####. Remember the incident against Columbus ? When a #### is hurt, the other #### is not so well neither.

:D

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For those who are wondering, the word #### is censored. Just like in the sentence : Glad I can watch a pair of #### on tv 82 times per season. Or in a quote by Plekanec earlier this season : I'd like to play with a pair of ####. Remember the incident against Columbus ? When a #### is hurt, the other #### is not so well neither.

:D

I use random 4 letter words for the boob brothers... :)

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Montreal 7, Carolina 1....

In defensive zone turn overs... that is what is wrong with the habs these days...

O'Byrne is the worst, IMO.

18-8 in shots in bad, Price is playing great, hope we get one on the PP.

:ghg:

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After watching the 1st period where the Habs got outshot 18-8, it looked like there were in disarray for most of the period. The Canes had them on their heels.

Very few Habs look good so far. Lats and AKosits look good outthere but that's about it.

Horribe period by Bouillon. Looks like the Cube i want in the pressbox. He had 2 terrible pinches and a bad giveaway in his own zone. Definitely the worst Habs on the ice tonite.

I think i'd rather see Carbo go back to the original lines and these dont look too good to me.

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