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Look on the Bright Side


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1. The Habs lost, but casual fans won. The Habs play a terrible brand of hockey, one that's tough to swallow even for fans. Personally, when the Habs lose, I feel entirely cheated out of 2-3 hours. A potential Tampa-Chgameo series is great for the game.

2. We all have a lot more free time now. I envy the Canadians off to their cottages, it's already 90's and humid in FL. I'll get some respite when I go back home to NH for a week, but the next there months of my life are going to be running from AC to AC.

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I'm a married father of two with a full time job, an Internet addiction, and more hour-long TV shows i'm following than there are days in the week. I have no time.

Hockey being over is a relief. (Relief I'd trade in an instant for more habs hockey, but that's not the point.)

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In a way, I'm relieved...the stress of playoff hockey wears on me after a while and it doesn't get any easier - it may actually get harder - as I get older. The way the Tampa series went was particularly difficult, since defeat has seemed almost-but-not-quite inevitable since the second period of Game Two. It's one thing to lose a close-fought series, another to feel that your team faces nearly impossible odds despite outplaying the opposition. (And it doesn't help, frankly, to come on this board and read loads of hyperbolic negativity). So, turn the page and look forward to seeing how Zoot manoeuvres to elevate this team a notch into true, high-end contender status.

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Personally I already miss it! When is the first pre-season game? Is it on RDS? I already forget who won the 2015 cup, doesn't matter, wasn't us.

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In a way, I'm relieved...the stress of playoff hockey wears on me after a while and it doesn't get any easier - it may actually get harder - as I get older. The way the Tampa series went was particularly difficult, since defeat has seemed almost-but-not-quite inevitable since the second period of Game Two. It's one thing to lose a close-fought series, another to feel that your team faces nearly impossible odds despite outplaying the opposition. (And it doesn't help, frankly, to come on this board and read loads of hyperbolic negativity). So, turn the page and look forward to seeing how Zoot manoeuvres to elevate this team a notch into true, high-end contender status.

Yeah and you'll be right back at it, come the draft, and the trades, and free agency. Just like the rest of us. :)

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Yeah and you'll be right back at it, come the draft, and the trades, and free agency. Just like the rest of us. :)

Oh, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I've got a very flexible summer schedule, so look for lots of posts from me :bonk:

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I for one wish we had two full round of hockey in us. The only thing I didn't like about these playoffs was that we couldn't score. I know you can't always make excuses, but seriously if the bounces went our way in the games we lost (except last night and 6-2 loss) I think we would have taken the series in 6 instead. Anyone else see that montage of all the posts we hit in the series? If half of those went in were talking 5-6 more goals.

I think it's obvious that somethin needs to be done for the powerplay. Therrien will be staying, so a new PP coach is probably in order.

Then trade PAP for mcdavid and Emelin for ekblad and were good to go. Easy fix right

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I can now sleep at night.... But I don't want it. Not now. Four and half months until hockey is back. Oh man...

Yes the summer dog days are the worst. Hockey is the best part of winter, and the worst part of summer (cause there is none)

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I for one wish we had two full round of hockey in us. The only thing I didn't like about these playoffs was that we couldn't score. I know you can't always make excuses, but seriously if the bounces went our way in the games we lost (except last night and 6-2 loss) I think we would have taken the series in 6 instead. Anyone else see that montage of all the posts we hit in the series? If half of those went in were talking 5-6 more goals.

I think it's obvious that somethin needs to be done for the powerplay. Therrien will be staying, so a new PP coach is probably in order.

Then trade PAP for mcdavid and Emelin for ekblad and were good to go. Easy fix right

A lot of the negativity needs to be tempered by a recognition that your first paragraph is 100% correct. We outplayed Tampa for the bulk of the series. A moderately decent PP and we'd be looking at a rematch of last year's semi-final. The team is NOT that far away despite all the nattering nabobs of negativism spewing bile and contempt for everyone who doesn't think this team is a disaster.

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A lot of the negativity needs to be tempered by a recognition that your first paragraph is 100% correct. We outplayed Tampa for the bulk of the series. A moderately decent PP and we'd be looking at a rematch of last year's semi-final. The team is NOT that far away despite all the nattering nabobs of negativism spewing bile and contempt for everyone who doesn't think this team is a disaster.

No way is the team a disaster. Just "not there yet" as MB himself stated. The Ducks, and Hawks are elite stanley cup contenders "who win series without talking about bad bounces and goal posts) Tbay is not there yet and they beat us. Yes is was considered a close series but in game 6 they put on a clinic and we were not even in that game. Rnagers are like the habs but went for it by adding Yandle at deadline. Over the last few seasons they have also added Nash, Hayes, St Louis, Boyle, . they are mortgaing the future like MB wont. I like MB's philosophy on that. But I wont argue with sathers either. His team is likely going to stanley cup final again.

Coach called his team "mentally and physically drained" after 11 play off games. Likely just another lame excuse from MT. If it was actually true, this team could not be considered even close to contending for a stanley cup.

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  • 1 month later...

Nice stuff. Stubbs has another good piece here: http://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/montreal-canadiens/dave-stubbs-heading-into-contract-year-tomas-plekanec-looks-back-at-his-habs-career-and-looks-ahead

Pleks has been criminally underappreciated in his time in Montreal. He has been the all-purpose, all-around reliable 'glue guy' since about 2008. Funny how a guy who makes such a gigantic contribution for so long can just fly under the radar like that.

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He's our Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron makes $6.8M, Plekanec makes $5M.

Plekanec Career: 499 points in 761 games

Bergeron Career: 550 points in 740 games

Plek had a better season in 14-15 than Bergeron on close to every statistic but he never gets the credit for it. Not saying he's an identical player. Bergeron is a bit better defensively, one of the best faceoff men in the league and has had more success in the playoffs. But that's why Bergeron makes $1.8M more than Plekanec.

People who want to shove him to the third line I'll never understand. 2013-2014 was a bad season for him offensively and he was still Top 50 for centers scoring. This season he outscored Bergeron, Duchene, Hopkins, Backes, O'Reilly, Staal, Koivu and Filppula at center and nobody would ever claim those guys should play on the third line. Just Plekanec. It's absurd.

Fun Fact: Plekanec was tied for 13th among all centers for goal scoring.

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He's our Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron makes $6.8M, Plekanec makes $5M.

Plekanec Career: 499 points in 761 games

Bergeron Career: 550 points in 740 games

Plek had a better season in 14-15 than Bergeron on close to every statistic but he never gets the credit for it. Not saying he's an identical player. Bergeron is a bit better defensively, one of the best faceoff men in the league and has had more success in the playoffs. But that's why Bergeron makes $1.8M more than Plekanec.

People who want to shove him to the third line I'll never understand. 2013-2014 was a bad season for him offensively and he was still Top 50 for centers scoring. This season he outscored Bergeron, Duchene, Hopkins, Backes, O'Reilly, Staal, Koivu and Filppula at center and nobody would ever claim those guys should play on the third line. Just Plekanec. It's absurd.

Fun Fact: Plekanec was tied for 13th among all centers for goal scoring.

I think he's a victim of Montreal's lack of a bona-fide #1C. People's frustration with this problem leads them (stupidly) to blame Plekanec for not being Getzlaf. The other thing with Pleks is that he does not raise his offensive game in the playoffs. People have combined that fact with his courageous 'little girl' comments from years and years ago, to quite erroneously conclude that Pleks sucks in the playoffs. True, he wasn't great in THIS playoff, but for the most part he has been as strong a playoff as a regular-season performer.

EDIT: oh yeah, I forgot to add: that he is the king of the blown one-timers probably also compounds the frustrations of the haters. Joe's got a point there!

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To be honest, I'm semi serious about my complaint on Plex' inability to shoot a proper one-timer. If he doesn't stop the puck (as he always does) and give the extra 0,5 second to Bishop for his lateral move, it could very well force a seventh game at the Bell Centre against TB. And who knows what's gonna happen there ?

But hey...

On the other side, this is really the only complaint I have about Plekanec as I, for one, don't see why people are so upset about his game during the playoffs. He was okay. Didn't impress me, didn't let the team down either. There are many players that I would blame before him for these playoffs...

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To be honest, I'm semi serious about my complaint on Plex' inability to shoot a proper one-timer. If he doesn't stop the puck (as he always does) and give the extra 0,5 second to Bishop for his lateral move, it could very well force a seventh game at the Bell Centre against TB. And who knows what's gonna happen there ?

But hey...

On the other side, this is really the only complaint I have about Plekanec as I, for one, don't see why people are so upset about his game during the playoffs. He was okay. Didn't impress me, didn't let the team down either. There are many players that I would blame before him for these playoffs...

- If only Plex connected one-timers

- If only DD shot more

- If only Eller finished at the net

- If only Chucky got his wrist shots off

- If only Subban stopped firing wide in crowds

- If only Gallagher finished on a rush

- If only Dutch Gretzky was actually Gretzky

- If only Parenteau thought DD was Tavares and played like he did on the Islanders

- If only...

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To be honest, I'm semi serious about my complaint on Plex' inability to shoot a proper one-timer. If he doesn't stop the puck (as he always does) and give the extra 0,5 second to Bishop for his lateral move, it could very well force a seventh game at the Bell Centre against TB. And who knows what's gonna happen there ?

But hey...

On the other side, this is really the only complaint I have about Plekanec as I, for one, don't see why people are so upset about his game during the playoffs. He was okay. Didn't impress me, didn't let the team down either. There are many players that I would blame before him for these playoffs...

He blew an easy dump-in at the very end of (I think it was) Game Three, which led directly to TB scoring the GWG in the final second. He also blew coverage on a crucial play in one of the last games and which led directly, again, to a goal (I forget the details). The disturbing thing about these plays was that they were defensive lapses. You can't have your top shutdown C doing that.

That's why I think it's fair to say he was a disappointment this playoff. But it's the only playoff I recall in which Pleks deserves significant criticism.

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He blew an easy dump-in at the very end of (I think it was) Game Three, which led directly to TB scoring the GWG in the final second. He also blew coverage on a crucial play in one of the last games and which led directly, again, to a goal (I forget the details). The disturbing thing about these plays was that they were defensive lapses. You can't have your top shutdown C doing that.

That's why I think it's fair to say he was a disappointment this playoff. But it's the only playoff I recall in which Pleks deserves significant criticism.

2014 he had the two embellishments and caught on one. I know that was considered a reason to trade him from the usual mob.

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Every time the other team scores, someone blew a coverage at various degrees.

Tampa scored what, 15 goals ?

And yes, the easy dump blunder was ugly. But so was Markov who stopped playing with 3 seconds to go...

Hockey is still a team sports.

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