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2014-15 Habs Blueline will be better than last year's


Neech

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Here's an article:

http://awinninghabit.com/2014/09/30/habs-blue-line-will-better-season/

I'm inclined to agree. A stronger Emelin playing his natural side, Gilbert providing more puck skills than Gorges, Markov being his reliable self and Subban achieving more consistency, our top 4 looks better. Rookie hiccups are inevitable, but with three guys to rotate and Weaver being hopefully better than Bouillon/Murray we should be looking good. Plus, they're playing in front of an experience, Gold-medal winning Carey Price. This is the first season he's entered with near universal respect. It's got to make a difference in the team psyche.

On paper in my view, both the forwards and defence got younger and more talented. This team seems to be headed in the right direction.

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That's how I see the situation too. I would add Drewiske, Pateryn and Dietz to the depth chart. Watching them play last night, I thought that they could fill in a spot anytime if needed.

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emelin and tinordi have both had mediocre to bad camps thus far.

Emelin had a good game against the Hawks. As for Tinordi, I am not worried the least bit. He has got all the tools and his attitude is A+. All he needs is some ice time to get used to the NHL speed of play. His decision making will improve dramatically with good mentoring and a bit of patience. The talent is there.

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The thing with Tinordi is he needs to be playing. We can't have Tinordi as a #7 in the pressbox. He also isn't better than Beaulieu and Pateryn to take #6. Hamilton is the best place for him in that situation.

There's no need to rush him. There will likely be injuries and he can take a call up then. When he gets to the point where he will need waivers, that's when it's time to keep him up and take a serious look with him.

Rushing him will lead to a Ryan O'Byrne/Jassen Cullimore situation.

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The thing with Tinordi is he needs to be playing. We can't have Tinordi as a #7 in the pressbox. He also isn't better than Beaulieu and Pateryn to take #6. Hamilton is the best place for him in that situation.

There's no need to rush him. There will likely be injuries and he can take a call up then. When he gets to the point where he will need waivers, that's when it's time to keep him up and take a serious look with him.

Rushing him will lead to a Ryan O'Byrne/Jassen Cullimore situation.

Agreed. I really want Tinordi to develop. I mean, a 6'6" defenseman who can skate...who wouldn't want him? He could be our own version of Zdeno Chara without the murder attempts on the ice. Okay, he might never match Chara's offense, but you know what I mean.

But he's not there yet. He's just not comfortable at the NHL level. Hamilton's where he should be. He needs to keep playing, keep developing, keep getting ready. The press box won't get him there.

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Rookies aside, the top-4 will be a test for Bergevin's GMing acumen. Gorges was an absolutely core player and his shot-blocking and leadership were top-notch. Zoot Suit took a cerebral and unsentimental approach, identifying puck-moving and the misuse of Emelin as concerns that the addition of Gilbert could address, and in a cap-friendly way to boot. I'm optimistic it'll work, but there is some risk there just because Gorges was so relied on.

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Yeah, the Habs aren't getting much respect in the preseason previews. Then again, I can't remember them ever being overrated.

The Lightning are getting the Senator's treatment, they're horrifically overrated. Some analysts are predicting them to be the best team in the East. I think Ben Bishop is headed for a heavy regression. I wouldnt' be surprised if the Lightning missed the playoffs this year, between Bishop and the sophomore slumps.

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Rookies aside, the top-4 will be a test for Bergevin's GMing acumen. Gorges was an absolutely core player and his shot-blocking and leadership were top-notch. Zoot Suit took a cerebral and unsentimental approach, identifying puck-moving and the misuse of Emelin as concerns that the addition of Gilbert could address, and in a cap-friendly way to boot. I'm optimistic it'll work, but there is some risk there just because Gorges was so relied on.

I truly believe Montreal traded for Mike Weaver, saw that Weaver does pretty much the same job Gorges does and recognized we don't need $4M of Josh Gorges for the job.

Yeah, the Habs aren't getting much respect in the preseason previews. Then again, I can't remember them ever being overrated.

The Lightning are getting the Senator's treatment, they're horrifically overrated. Some analysts are predicting them to be the best team in the East. I think Ben Bishop is headed for a heavy regression. I wouldnt' be surprised if the Lightning missed the playoffs this year, between Bishop and the sophomore slumps.

Sean McIndoe and a few others point to Montreal's overall possession numbers instead of their possession numbers when winning. Which is fine, I don't expect every journalist to have the numbers and how they differentiate. Montreal commanded the possession against Tampa and Boston and lost it to New York. We're still looked upon as a team that relies on Price and our team defence to bail us out.

I agree that the Bolts are a great target for a downfall, same with Colorado. Colorado did little to improve their defence. Tampa added Stralman and Garrison, both overrated players. They are also a prime candidate for sophomore slumps. That Callahan deal is going to bite them hard. I don't see Callahan being healthy for a full season and he definitely won't replace Martin St. Louis' production. They really need to hope the sophomore slumps don't hit and Bishop stays healthy.

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I agree that the Bolts are a great target for a downfall, same with Colorado. Colorado did little to improve their defence. Tampa added Stralman and Garrison, both overrated players. They are also a prime candidate for sophomore slumps. That Callahan deal is going to bite them hard. I don't see Callahan being healthy for a full season and he definitely won't replace Martin St. Louis' production. They really need to hope the sophomore slumps don't hit and Bishop stays healthy.

On the other hand, with relation to Calahan not living up to St. Louis's production: Tampa achieved what they did last year without the services of Steven Stamkos for most of the season. If he's healthy, he's probably the second most offensively dangerous forward in the entire NHL after Sidney Crosby. (Well, maybe third after Crosby and Ovechkin, but unlike Ovechkin, Stamkos and Crosby also know where their own end is most of the time.)

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On the other hand, with relation to Calahan not living up to St. Louis's production: Tampa achieved what they did last year without the services of Steven Stamkos for most of the season. If he's healthy, he's probably the second most offensively dangerous forward in the entire NHL after Sidney Crosby. (Well, maybe third after Crosby and Ovechkin, but unlike Ovechkin, Stamkos and Crosby also know where their own end is most of the time.)

Which was largely in part of rookies stepping up and St. Louis still being a PPG player (61 in 62 for TBL). Despite leaving after 62 games, nobody on the Lightning outscored him by the end of the season.

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Which was largely in part of rookies stepping up and St. Louis still being a PPG player (61 in 62 for TBL). Despite leaving after 62 games, nobody on the Lightning outscored him by the end of the season.

Right. But a healthy Stamkos should outscore all but 1-2 players in the entire NHL. Tampa didn't have him last year. That can more than replace St. Louis.

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I don't know where the love for Gilbert is coming from, but I, for one, never liked him at any stage of his career.

He will have to impress me within 20 games for me to believe that our D will be better with him than it was last season.

I do rekon that Emelin playing his side is the real improvement here and that it comes from aquiring Gilbert. I'll give him that for now.

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I don't know where the love for Gilbert is coming from, but I, for one, never liked him at any stage of his career.

He will have to impress me within 20 games for me to believe that our D will be better with him than it was last season.

I do rekon that Emelin playing his side is the real improvement here and that it comes from aquiring Gilbert. I'll give him that for now.

The love for Gilbert is from the fancy stats community. I saw a lot of him down here, he was good, if not completely unremarkable. He's like an upgraded version of Diaz.

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Which was largely in part of rookies stepping up and St. Louis still being a PPG player (61 in 62 for TBL). Despite leaving after 62 games, nobody on the Lightning outscored him by the end of the season.

I dunno. Tampa does have a somewhat patchy bottom-6 up front, but guys like Killorn, Palat, and Johnson seem to represent a pretty damned good crop of young FW who can be reasonably expected to provide secondary scoring while Stamkos terrorizes all comers and Callahan provides all-around quality grit. Fillipula is an excellent option for 2nd-line C, and their defence corps - always the first thing I look at - of Hedman, Carle,Brewer, and Garrison is damned solid. So to me it comes down to whether Bishop is the real deal. If he is, Tampa Bay really should jockey with Montreal for the best in the East after Boston. Things can always go wrong, but put it this way - if this were our squad in Montreal, we'd be pretty pumped for this season, and reasonably so.

As for Colorado, they did seem to be a case of "everything going right" last year, unlike Tampa; and so I tend to agree that they're primed for a bit of a regression.

EDIT: on Gilbert, let's remember that his primary job is to be better than Gorges as a puck-mover. That's a tolerably low bar, so optimism that he can pass it is solidly-founded. No one is asking him to be a star - we have Subban and Markov for that.

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I don't disagree with Tampa being top three in our division. Montreal, Boston and Tampa will be the powerhouses of the division and possibly the conference. The Metro division is a seven team war. Washington has two new blueliners and a defensive coach with a young goalie who is either developing into a #1 or ready to stumble. Columbus has Top Cop but looks to be losing their top six one after another to injury or contract talks. Philly is the Toronto of the Metro division with weaker goaltending and better defensive forward depth. Pittsburgh is hoping Erhoff is better than Orpik and that Hornqvist is better than Neal. New Jersey is trying to turn back the clocks on everyone except their goalie. New York is primed to repeat a shot at the finals with a full season of St. Louis, but now they might not have Stepan for two months. Finally, the Islanders have a real goalie, real forward depth and a really motivated John Tavares. They just don't have a real defence yet.

I'm personally predicting five teams to make the playoffs in the Metro, leaving everyone outside of the Top 3 in the Atlantic on the outside. That includes Detroit for the first time in forever. Either that happens or three teams emerge in the Metro and destroy whoever stumbles (Carolina has no shot), allowing a team like Detroit to take a wildcard spot.

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I was never a fan of Gorges. Possibly most over rated dman in Canadiens history. His three own goals on Tokarski in the semi finals was last straw for MB. Subban played his worse hockey paired with him. So not having a player like JG getting top two prime ice time is a huge relief. Watched Beaulieu in Hamilton all season. A keeper for sure. Capable of being as good as Mcdonough with a few saeasons. (although young players dont appear to improve much under Therrien.

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