YeahBud Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I have to admit. I wanted to like him... Of course we had just traded our 'prized' playoff hero for him, and who doesn't love a tall blond good looking Dane? But after 50 games or so Lars Eller wasn't turning my crank.. He seemed to skate well and have a good work ethic (especially when his father was at the game) he even finished checks but his continual poor decision making with the puck or overzealous defensive play leading to penalties really showed his general lack of experience. I was starting to wonder if the best move wasn't to send him down and let him gain some composure and confidence in Hamilton. But good ole Jack Martin stuck with him and I have to admit this kid is starting to impress me. I am not talking about on the score sheet (although he has picked up a few points recently) but his composure while leading rushes and the smart passes he's now making has shown his game is starting to come. I'm interested in others thoughts and perceptions regarding our favourite Danish Son? does playing betweenAK46 and Moen lead to an on-ice awareness epiphany? Maybe Kirk Muller is his yoda? Did Carey and PK let Lars play PS3 with them and he's not a loser in the back of the bus anymore? Does the JM old school coaching system actually foster younger talent to blossom? discuss.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I have to admit. I wanted to like him... Of course we had just traded our 'prized' playoff hero for him, and who doesn't love a tall blond good looking Dane? But after 50 games or so Lars Eller wasn't turning my crank.. He seemed to skate well and have a good work ethic (especially when his father was at the game) he even finished checks but his continual poor decision making with the puck or overzealous defensive play leading to penalties really showed his general lack of experience. I was starting to wonder if the best move wasn't to send him down and let him gain some composure and confidence in Hamilton. But good ole Jack Martin stuck with him and I have to admit this kid is starting to impress me. I am not talking about on the score sheet (although he has picked up a few points recently) but his composure while leading rushes and the smart passes he's now making has shown his game is starting to come. I'm interested in others thoughts and perceptions regarding our favourite Danish Son? does playing betweenAK46 and Moen lead to an on-ice awareness epiphany? Maybe Kirk Muller is his yoda? Did Carey and PK let Lars play PS3 with them and he's not a loser in the back of the bus anymore? Does the JM old school coaching system actually foster younger talent to blossom? discuss.. I never judge a 21 year old player based on 50 games. Guy Lafleur was considered a bust at the age of 23. Price was hung out to dry at 22. Pacioretty looked lost last season and has been pretty dominant as a 23 year old. The kid had a 57 point season in 70 games as a rookie in the AHL and made the All-Rookie team at 20. Patience is all that is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrenDittero Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) I hope that Eller will hit some sort of stride before the end of the season. It's possible that he might be a great player given the time but at this point he hasn't provided much in the way of offense. I don't expect him to be a leading scorer but 5 goals and 8 assists in 61 games is weak seeing that DD, Patch and Wiz have all passed him in points and have played half as many games. Add to that the amount of time he spends in the box and I wouldn't be surprised or upset to hear that management has unloaded him if an opportunity presents itself. He seems to have a great pre NHL track record but if you're not scoring goals or at the very least setting some up and then become one of many reasons your team has to spend 2 mins short handed it seems like there is a problem. Not that his play can't improve, but how long will the Canadiens wait for that to happen? Maybe some time in Hamilton would have done him good. Edited March 8, 2011 by BrenDittero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I think his good play lately has to do with 2 things. 1- He's starting to adapt to the speed of the NHL. 2- JM is finally letting him play his NATURAL position at CENTRE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Eller started off the season really well: he worked hard and drove the play even though he couldn't score. He was given pretty favourable match-ups, mind you. Then when injuries hit, Martin tried him on the wing and was looking for improvement. He ended up struggling for a while, but the team was in no position to send him to the minors due to the lack of healthy bodies available... now, just as the team gets healthy again at forward, he's back in a comfort zone, playing as the #4 centre. But Martin is still challenging him... he gave him a tough assignment vs. Tampa Bay and he actually got slaughtered pretty good, Price bailed his line out several times when they were hemmed in. http://enattendantlesnordiques.blogspot.com/2011/03/tu-seras-tenor.html The theory on this blog is that Martin threw him into the fire vs. Tampa to help him learn more quickly, because the playoffs are coming and he may need to use Eller in a more challenging spot if injuries arise. Also, next year Halpern is a free agent so there's a good chance Eller and Desharnais will be our bottom two centres with Engqvist in the AHL close to making it as a bottom sixer. Eller is going to have to learn to play defense at some point, so now seems like as good of a time as any to let him learn on the fly. Young players are pretty unpredictable: they have a lot to learn, and almost all of them suck defensively at first. Plekanec and Gomez have learned to become respectable players at both ends of the ice (though Gomez is horribly snakebitten offensively this year), Martin probably wants Eller to follow suit, and maybe is ready to go against the 'must win this game' mentality to let him learn on the fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrenDittero Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) But Martin is still challenging him... he gave him a tough assignment vs. Tampa Bay and he actually got slaughtered pretty good, Price bailed his line out several times when they were hemmed in. Trial by fire is not my idea of a good late season strategy. Games against top ranked teams, at this point in the year, are not the place to test out theories or break in players. Carey Price has enough to do without bailing out the 4th line. It takes a special kind of player to get thrown to the wolves and come out on top. While Price is proof that it can happen, Eller doesn't seem like a franchise centre. He's had 61 games to get it figured out. He's supposed to be a professional, making professional money. I don't know of any other job that accepts that it's employees are treading water at such a high level, even if he wasn't playing his preferred position. He could be great, but he is not great now and it's doubtful that he will exceed expectation in the 5 weeks. It's too late now to send him to Hamilton but if he'd gone there earlier in the season and stayed I bet he'd be significantly better for next year or a late playoff addition incase of injuries. I wish him the best because he's part of our team. But the fact remains that if he was on another team I'd be really happy to see number 81 hit the ice. Edited March 9, 2011 by BrenDittero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Trial by fire is not my idea of a good late season strategy. Games against top ranked teams, at this point in the year, are not the place to test out theories or break in players. Carey Price has enough to do without bailing out the 4th line. It takes a special kind of player to get thrown to the wolves and come out on top. While Price is proof that it can happen, Eller doesn't seem like a franchise centre. He's has had 61 games to get it figured out. He's supposed to be a professional, making professional money. I don't know of any other job that accepts that it's employees are treading water at such a high level, even if he wasn't playing his preferred position. He could be great, but he is not great now and it's doubtful that he will exceed expectation in the 5 weeks. It's too late now to send him to Hamilton but if he'd gone there earlier in the season and stayed I bet he'd be significantly better for next year or a late playoff addition incase of injuries. I wish him the best because he's part of our team. But the fact remains that if he was on another team I'd be really happy to see number 81 hit the ice. At 21 Plekanec was playing in Hamilton and wouldn't join the Canadiens on a full-time basis until he was 23. Could we have judged his future in 2003? Is Datsyuk a franchise center? At 23 years old he was a .5 PPG player in the NHL. Henrik Sedin, same thing. Mikko Koivu at 23 had 21 points in 64 games. It goes on and on and on. All of these players could not be judged at the age of 21. I don't know what your idea of a franchise center is, but I would take any of those guys as my 1st centerman and they were not appreciably further ahead than Eller is right now. Is patience that hard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrenDittero Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) At 21 Plekanec was playing in Hamilton and wouldn't join the Canadiens on a full-time basis until he was 23. Could we have judged his future in 2003? Is Datsyuk a franchise center? At 23 years old he was a .5 PPG player in the NHL. Henrik Sedin, same thing. Mikko Koivu at 23 had 21 points in 64 games. It goes on and on and on. All of these players could not be judged at the age of 21. I don't know what your idea of a franchise center is, but I would take any of those guys as my 1st centerman and they were not appreciably further ahead than Eller is right now. Is patience that hard? Hey Wams, look back at my posts, I hope Eller's play improves. Infact I hope it improves like the impressive list of players you have laid out. My point is that maybe Montreal isn't or wasn't the place for him to grow into the big shoes he has to fill on a team like MTL. I'll ask you, would a stint in Hamilton have been so bad? Seems to have done good things for Subban, Patch and DD. As far as the Canadiens go, my idea of a franchise centre is Plek. Always up on the play, working hard to win face offs and dropping back like a champ on defence. Getting to that level is not something that happens overnight. But it's really not something someone should learn on the fly. He's young. Let him develop a bit before throwing him to the wolves. I think the reason why he initially was put in the lineup was because of the trade he was involved in, later we lost too many bodies and needed to fill the gap. Edited March 9, 2011 by BrenDittero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Looks like our friend Lars read this thread before the game tonight! 2 goals already... It would be nice to see him get the trick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrenDittero Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I would like nothing more than to see Eller play the rest of the season like he is tonight. Hope it works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeahBud Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 patience is over rated. Great job tonight Lars! wow!. Like I said he is starting to come along., would be great to see this trend continue. on another note I hope Max isnt dead.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Ryder Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The Great Dane is coming out of his shell, and everything confidence gives to a talented player is a big + for this team. At some point i wished he would find a scoring stride in the minors but he learned a lot, on the how to play in the NHL in these 50 games. I wish they keep this line with AK and Moen. His success is around the net AND it'S the biggest line i have seen in a long while. Keep it up kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeahBud Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 The Great Dane is coming out of his shell, and everything confidence gives to a talented player is a big + for this team. At some point i wished he would find a scoring stride in the minors but he learned a lot, on the how to play in the NHL in these 50 games. I wish they keep this line with AK and Moen. His success is around the net AND it'S the biggest line i have seen in a long while. Keep it up kid. yeah you're right. Those 3 are all big bodies. In a couple years Eller might be 20 pounds heavier too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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