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Is this team better heading into the playoffs than last year?


Guest Stogey24

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I agree Nut, hope he gets the ice time to prove it!

On another note, totally off subject, yet not really in terms of this thread.

I claim that the only thing worse than complaining about the place you are hanging out, is not having the F'n brains to shut up and leave if you don't like it...

A philosophy for the distribution of A#holes.

You're all welcome.

geez little touchy aren't you Korp?

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Most people seem to forget that last year the bolts didn't have Bishop in nets. The Habs have proven ever since Bishop is in the league that we have a hard time scoring against him!

True, they are night and day with and without Bishop. Their back ups were atrocious last spring. 2nd and 3rd string both having to play.

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Guest Stogey24

True, they are night and day with and without Bishop. Their back ups were atrocious last spring. 2nd and 3rd string both having to play.

It's not just that, they've had breakout seasons from Johnson, Kutcherov, Palat.. They're just a way deeper team. With that being said, Montreal isn't just going to roll over in a series against them.
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Bos has given TBL fits all year..I'm hoping they match up in rd one. Even if the Bolts win, the B's will certainly put their stamp on em

Perfect scenario for those who fear Tampa is for Boston to beat them in seven and come play the Habs beaten up and tired. We'd steamroll the Bruins. It'd be a reversal of last year.

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Well, barring a collapse in their last 3 games, the New York Rangers will win the president's trophy this year.

I love this, as it essentially eliminates the Rangers sometime in the first three rounds - no president's trophy winner has ever gone to the cup final.

(Of course, there's a first time for everything.)

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Well, barring a collapse in their last 3 games, the New York Rangers will win the president's trophy this year.

I love this, as it essentially eliminates the Rangers sometime in the first three rounds - no president's trophy winner has ever gone to the cup final.

(Of course, there's a first time for everything.)

Funny thing about the Rags...Cup finalists last year, President's Trophy winners this year, yet they've kinda lurked in the reeds for most of this season, not really identified until recently as heavy-duty contenders. Look out for them.

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It's not just that, they've had breakout seasons from Johnson, Kutcherov, Palat.. They're just a way deeper team. With that being said, Montreal isn't just going to roll over in a series against them.

Thats would be a good scenario for us.

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Funny thing about the Rags...Cup finalists last year, President's Trophy winners this year, yet they've kinda lurked in the reeds for most of this season, not really identified until recently as heavy-duty contenders. Look out for them.

It is funny. They were actually sitting in eighth when Lungquist went down to injury. Without him they took over first. He was not having a particularly good season and if we played them in the play offs i would rather see him in net that Telvot.

Yandle has also been a good addition for them.

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The Broons will smoke Tampa Bay. TB plays firewagon hockey, they won't stand up to a Claude Julien trap, and when Chara and Lucic start bearing down on their wussies, it's going to be Goodnight Vienna. The Bruins are a team that has turned it around.

Tampa Bay, for all their regular season dominance, beat the Habs five times and still won't win the division. They remind me of San Jose or St Lous. They also haven't won a playoff game since 2011. Kids and Euros and smurfs don't work out in the "second season" as we've seen with the Habs for years.

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geez little touchy aren't you Korp?

Touchy, naw, more like sick and tired.

The Broons will smoke Tampa Bay. TB plays firewagon hockey, they won't stand up to a Claude Julien trap, and when Chara and Lucic start bearing down on their wussies, it's going to be Goodnight Vienna. The Bruins are a team that has turned it around.

Tampa Bay, for all their regular season dominance, beat the Habs five times and still won't win the division. They remind me of San Jose or St Lous. They also haven't won a playoff game since 2011. Kids and Euros and smurfs don't work out in the "second season" as we've seen with the Habs for years.

You might be on to something there...

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Touchy, naw, more like sick and tired.

You might be on to something there...

I can't remember where I read it, but the Habs made the mistake of trying to "out skill" the Lightning. If they settle into a 1-3-1 trap and play counterattack the Lightning will be stymied. They're a team full of gimmicks.

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Yeah I have to agree that our best case scenario is that the Bruins beat up on Tampa and that the Capitals take out the Rangers at some point like they usually do. It's going to be a battle no matter who the Habs play, but it would be nice to get a little match up luck along the way.

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Yeah I have to agree that our best case scenario is that the Bruins beat up on Tampa and that the Capitals take out the Rangers at some point like they usually do. It's going to be a battle no matter who the Habs play, but it would be nice to get a little match up luck along the way.

My preferred route is Montreal beats every "challenging" team and wins the Cup to prove everyone wrong.

After that? Eddie Guerrero it. Lie, Cheat and Steal!

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My preferred route is Montreal beats every "challenging" team and wins the Cup to prove everyone wrong.

After that? Eddie Guerrero it. Lie, Cheat and Steal!

For sure, "to be the best, you have to beat the best". Sadly, no matter who the Habs beat to win a Cup or how they do it, they would never get the recognition they deserve.

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Guest Stogey24

I can't remember where I read it, but the Habs made the mistake of trying to "out skill" the Lightning. If they settle into a 1-3-1 trap and play counterattack the Lightning will be stymied. They're a team full of gimmicks.

Its tough to play a 1-3-1 against a team that scores like Tampa does
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Regular season best and Playoff bests are generally two(or more!) different teams though. I think playoff success is determined by who's playing the best at the time. One team may luck out a game or two, but it's usually the better team that wins a series

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The Canadiens certainly have to do something different against Tampa. Whether they are better or not depends on whether or not Patches is healthy for the playoffs

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For sure, "to be the best, you have to beat the best". Sadly, no matter who the Habs beat to win a Cup or how they do it, they would never get the recognition they deserve.

Cup winners get all the recognition !

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Weise has not been mentioned once as a step up guy. I know that he is no 1st line winger, but he has shown he can score and pass. He is my Bourne this year

Not to brag that I mentioned it before you but I have Weise with DSP and DD on a third line in the linecombinations thread. :D

And then I read this annoying 70s smelling "euros cant win" comment above. Ill just bring up Eric Lindros vs Peter Forsberg and leave it at that.

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Not to brag that I mentioned it before you but I have Weise with DSP and DD on a third line in the linecombinations thread. :D

And then I read this annoying 70s smelling "euros cant win" comment above. Ill just bring up Eric Lindros vs Peter Forsberg and leave it at that.

Lol, gotta say there is no argument against your statement! ;)

Habs tried to play defensive hockey in games vs Tampa this regular season, and if you remember last years playoffs, Habs came out looking a lot different in terms of game plan vs Tampa than anyone envisioned.

One game at a time, and one series at a time, personally I can hardly wait!

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Lol, gotta say there is no argument against your statement! ;)

Habs tried to play defensive hockey in games vs Tampa this regular season, and if you remember last years playoffs, Habs came out looking a lot different in terms of game plan vs Tampa than anyone envisioned.

One game at a time, and one series at a time, personally I can hardly wait!

Tampa used 2nd string goalie last year. He played so poorly they went to third string goalie. Those goalies against red hot gold medal winning Carey Price? ...Tbay had no chance.

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Tampa used 2nd string goalie last year. He played so poorly they went to third string goalie. Those goalies against red hot gold medal winning Carey Price? ...Tbay had no chance.

Think about the logic in that statement for 5 minutes because those 2nd and 3rd string goalies sure weren't the ones shooting the puck on Price. I hear all this talk about Bishop but the point is we (still) have Carey Price. One might argue Tampa has more skill but Carey Price is better than Ben Bishop. I just can't imagine many goalies out there being the reason we lose a series. If Tampa beats us, it won't be because of Ben Bishop. Don't get me wrong, I do understand where people are coming from but I highly doubt any goalie will be the reason the Habs lose a series this year because once again we have a better goalie than them. If Price gets lit up, then it will be because of the skaters on the other team, not their goalie. And quite honestly if we can't score on Tampa that often in a playoff series, I will put blame on our team a lot more than praise Ben Bishop. Ben Bishop is literally an average goalie. I've watched the games as well and agree he's done pretty well against us but in general his numbers aren't that impressive.

As for this year's team compared to last year's team I agree that it really is a good question. I actually think that we are a better team this year for sure (offense=weaker, defense=better, goaltending=better, overall=better) but at the same time there's a completely different vibe heading into the playoffs than last year heading into them. I think acquiring Vanek was one of the more exciting moments for me in recent memory if not the most exciting. I was pretty excited about Kovalev as well but this move really made me feel like we had a legit shot at the cup. This year, we're kind of just going through the motions heading into the playoffs and like Chicoutimi Cucumber pointed out, our lack of any major deadline moves for our top 6 may raise some questions, whether it's for the fans or the players themselves. I personally think that the players are professionals and aren't too bothered by it in a negative way. The main difference is that the Vanek trade, regardless of his performance. instilled a lot of positive vibes into the team as well as the fan base and may have improved their psychological mentality in the post deadline season more than this year. We have a lot of new faces this year, so we can't really expect the same type of performance unless of course, we are better.

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