ICEWATER77 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 glad to see the kid jdl get this far. we'll be seeing him soon enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs30/31 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Eller put up 30 points and people were ready to gift him the first line center position. Desharnais put up 28 points and people were fine if he waived the next year. We're a fickle bunch. and Plekanics games disappears every play off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs30/31 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 The thing with DD is if he's not putting up points he is literally useless. both DD and Pleks have been poor play off performers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCPetit Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 both DD and Pleks have been poor play off performers That's right and it's the reason why I firmly believe that centre is our weakest position. I can't wait to see Chucky as our 1st line centre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs30/31 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 That's right and it's the reason why I firmly believe that centre is our weakest position. I can't way to see Chucky as our 1st line centre. I second that! However Therrien has him on the wing with Plekanic as his center. Nobody has scored from Pleksanics wing since Kovy. MT will be forced to break that line up. Like last season when the entire hockey world knew not to put Vanek on with Plekanic MT did it any ways. It lasted five poorly played periods. I give the Pleks, Gally, Chucky line three games. Secak will replace Parenteau (not a first line skater) with DD and Max. One of the five centers has to be moved to the wing. Plekanic is the logical choice. Chuck to center. No brainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCPetit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I second that! However Therrien has him on the wing with Plekanic as his center. Nobody has scored from Pleksanics wing since Kovy. MT will be forced to break that line up. Like last season when the entire hockey world knew not to put Vanek on with Plekanic MT did it any ways. It lasted five poorly played periods. I give the Pleks, Gally, Chucky line three games. Secak will replace Parenteau (not a first line skater) with DD and Max. One of the five centers has to be moved to the wing. Plekanic is the logical choice. Chuck to center. No brainer. I doubt that the Plekanec's line will work, but so do I about the DD's line. I am quite sure that the 3rd and 4th lines will do better than last year, but our our top lines remain doubtful to me. Let's just hope that I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 DD didn't get a lot of points in the playoffs, but I felt he played well. And I commented at the time that pretty soon, nobody would remember his good play because his stats were mediocre. Anyway, I dispute that he is a playoff dud, just as I do with Pleks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCPetit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 DD didn't get a lot of points in the playoffs, but I felt he played well. And I commented at the time that pretty soon, nobody would remember his good play because his stats were mediocre. Anyway, I dispute that he is a playoff dud, just as I do with Pleks. We can't have both centering the top lines. IMO, DD would be a good 2nd line centre. If you look at the best teams in the league, he would not be able to play higher. As for Plekanec, he certainly has no business as a 1st line centre and again would not be able to make it on the 2nd with many top tier teams. I agree that having him as our 3rd line centre would mean that we would be very strong up front. Unfortunately, it won't happen. My prediction is that it is his last season in Montreal. Next year, hopefully, we should have Chucky, DD and Eller centering our first three lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Next year, hopefully, we should have Chucky, DD and Eller centering our first three lines. So when that team next year plays, say, Chicago, who do you send out to stop the Toews line? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRP Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 So when that team next year plays, say, Chicago, who do you send out to stop the Toews line? Price? I agree Chucky needs to be number one sometime soon, but Plek needs to be 3rd line center... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Not many 3rd centres make $5m/yr, he is a steal at that salary, plays key PK role, almost most SH icetime (3rd) of all centres and #1 centre minutes overall (22nd). Would be a bit much to ask DD or Galchenyuk to fill his role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Only a matter of time before Gallagher rejoins the first line. I could see PA and Chucky finding some offensive chemistry while Pleks covers for them, and picks up a healthy 50 points himself. Go Habs Go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 People make way too much of this #1, 2, 3 ranking of C. This team simply isn't built that way. It's a team built to roll three more-or-less comparably effective lines (although those lines do have distinctive strengths and weaknesses), along with a good, fast 'energy' line. We win by sending wave after wave of good, fast, skilled players at you (along with PK Subban/Markov driving the transition and having Price stop the puck like a madman) not by rolling out one Big Line. Once you start seeing it that way, the whole issue of whether Pleks or DD are 'legitimate' #1 centres evaporates. It's not whether Pleks or DD are 'better' than Crosby or Stamkos (they aren't, obviously). It's whether our roll-three-lines approach can defeat the more top-heavy approach of teams that are built on the more traditional model. That is the issue we should be debating, not whether DD is an 'ideal' #1 centreman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Most NHL teams today run three line attacks. The ones who don't are because they are either so crappy they don't have enough players to spread across three lines or they are so stack heavy they can't spread the players. The Pittsburgh Penguins this year are for the first time since their Cup run working a three duo system (Crosby/Kunitz, Malkin/Hornqvist, Sutter/Bennett) and even that's a team that's really just top six heavy. The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings are both teams with clear, evident first line centers but both play a top nine system. The Toronto Maple Leafs also play three line attack, even if the third line involves a defensive player (Komorov), a small center (Santorelli) and a failing power forward (Clarkson). The whole reason Santorelli was signed was because he played well in Vancouver's top six last season and was a bit of a sleeper in Florida. They can put Kozun in the top six with Kadri and Lupul instead of forcing Clarkson in the top six. Komorov is going to work a lot like when Prust played with Galchenyuk and Gallagher. Clarkson, until proven otherwise, is their Rene Bourque with less offensive output at a higher price. The responsibilities of every three line attack is different. For Montreal, right now, it's this: Line One: Primary offence. Deployed vs. weak lines at home, faces strong lines on road. Primary PP. Line Two: Secondary offence. Primary defence. Deployed vs. top lines at home and on road. Secondary PP. Line Three: Tertiary offence, tertiary defence. Deployed vs. weak lines at home, weak lines on road. Rarely PP time. That could change once Galchenyuk is the top center, or change through a trade changing the team dynamics. But right now, things work like this: Line One: A Scoring, D Defence Line Two: B Scoring, A Defence Line three: C Scoring, C Defence Line four: D Scoring, B Defence That's why Plekanec gets the most minutes and is considered the most "important" center, but not the "number one" center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 After a dozen of games, we'll be more able to see if Sekac can handle defensive duty. If he is, then I would not dislike a line of Bourque - Eller - Gallagher... with Galchenyuk - Plex - Sekac... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 After a dozen of games, we'll be more able to see if Sekac can handle defensive duty. If he is, then I would not dislike a line of Bourque - Eller - Gallagher... with Galchenyuk - Plex - Sekac... Sekac could make things extremely interesting. If Parenteau falters in a top line role, Gallagher will likely go right back with Patches and DD. Parenteau would probably first move with Plekanec to see if there's any traction. But if Sekac is still one of our better forwards during that time, the team will get him PP time. His flexibility on the left or right is really good if he transitions to a good NHL game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Montreal is trying this in practice today: Pacioretty - Desharnais - Gallagher Galchenyuk - Plekanec - Sekac Bourque - Eller - Parenteau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stogey24 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Montreal is trying this in practice today: Pacioretty - Desharnais - Gallagher Galchenyuk - Plekanec - Sekac Bourque - Eller - Parenteau I actually really like that third line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEWATER77 Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 ...and the second, and the first..4th line too if it's weise, malholtra, and prust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRP Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I actually really like that third line Yep, me too, Parenteau looks way better than Briere ever looked for the Habs already, and seemed to have some chemistry with these guys last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Briere was a completely redundant player - a small, declining C on a team with heaps of up-and-coming C who are already better than he is. Parenteau fills a gigantic positional need, i.e., top-6 winger. That he is also a superior player doesn't hurt either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Briere was a completely redundant player - a small, declining C on a team with heaps of up-and-coming C who are already better than he is. Parenteau fills a gigantic positional need, i.e., top-6 winger. That he is also a superior player doesn't hurt either. The hate he gets bewilders me. Today someone tried to claim Pascal Dupuis was a better player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRP Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 So far, I've like his work ethic, his positional play, and obviously his offensive potential to put up points. So far, so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 The hate he gets bewilders me. Today someone tried to claim Pascal Dupuis was a better player. Well, Briere WAS a signing that made no sense at all, given the make-up of the team. That sort of thing - eating up $4 mil in cap space, no less - tends to spark irritation in the fan-base, especially when it's added to the strong suspicion that the signing was a result of ownership meddling for idiotic PR reasons. Factor in the usual hullabaloo from the French media treating this has-been like some sort of triumphantly returning superstar, and you've got a perfect recipe for fan backlash. Briere could have neutralized all of this by playing like a top-6 FW, but since he did not, the whole thing unfolded as everyone around here predicted. Anyway, it's old news. Zoot Suit spun dross into...well, maybe not gold, but at least silver, given that Parenteau looks like he'll be quite a useful player for us. Unlike Briere, he may be a classic case of a guy who fell on the outs with a coaching staff and just needed a new start in order to produce up to his traditional levels. Time will tell, of course; maybe that's too optimistic a reading. But he always seemed to be a bit of an underrated player. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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