Playoffs Round 1 Montreal vs Tampa Bay

[Lovett's Magnatones]

We can count on Tampa Bay being well coached. We'll see it tonight, I remember seeing Cooper coach Norfolk up in Manchester the year they won twenty six straight games. The challenge for them is how their rookied are going to respond to the playoffs. Bishop has a .906 save percentage since the Olympic break.

[DON]

I like that Bishop has zero NHL playoff games and his only pro-playoff game was a AHL-loss.

Gallagher may have trouble running him over, but you know he will try.

[DON]

How does that apply to every other goalie in hockey?

I aint a goalie critic, but you know if you criticize lil Carey, not all will see it your way.

And I for one am quite happy with his play and don't think he will let team down.

Leaving Stamkos wide open for his 1-timer is what worries me.

[Guest Stogey24]

I aint a goalie critic, but you know if you criticize lil Carey, not all will see it your way.

And I for one am quite happy with his play and don't think he will let team down.

Leaving Stamkos wide open for his 1-timer is what worries me.

Lol, true

[DON]

How do you think Weaver-Gorges will do on the PK in playoffs? Could be super having 2 Gorges-type d-men and not need Frankie-Murray to play as much.

I assume the witty Website 'CBC' bashing logo is April 1st related? Too sad how true it is.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I assume the witty Website 'CBC' bashing logo is April 1st related? Too sad how true it is.

It's going to be interesting if Rogers goes ahead with what they've been discussing, how CBC would be the unofficial home of the Canadiens while Leaf games would be on Sportsnet and Sens/Jets on CityTV. West games spread on whomever. Word is they don't want to rotate it much either. If that ends up happening, with George Strombo a Habs fan as the host of Hockey Night in Canada and Habs games always on CBC? Things might change.

[Guest Stogey24]

It's going to be interesting if Rogers goes ahead with what they've been discussing, how CBC would be the unofficial home of the Canadiens while Leaf games would be on Sportsnet and Sens/Jets on CityTV. West games spread on whomever. Word is they don't want to rotate it much either. If that ends up happening, with George Strombo a Habs fan as the host of Hockey Night in Canada and Habs games always on CBC? Things might change.

That would be awesome. Strombo said he's not going to shy away from showing he's a Habs fan

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

As a Habs fan living close to Toronto, I would love it if they stopped this regional crap and showed every game in every region on different channels. There are enough Habs fans in Toronto area to get big viewership here, every game.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

As a Habs fan living close to Toronto, I would love it if they stopped this regional crap and showed every game in every region on different channels. There are enough Habs fans in Toronto area to get big viewership here, every game.

That's a big part of the Rogers deal and why they won over TSN (that and TSN wanted to strip CBC of everything). Rogers is promising the end of regional limitations.

It was interesting how sports journalists reacted to Rogers getting the deal and keeping CBC in the loop over how everyone else acted. Everyone else focused on Kypreos/Maclean and how awful they are along with Joe Bowen and his Leafs homerism. Sports journalists focused on how TSN has been very cocky about taking over Hockey Night in Canada and in journalist circles were openly bragging about it. That's why they took the HNIC theme song. They were never, ever interested in working with CBC. Rogers was, and the NHL preferred that by far.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

We can count on Tampa Bay being well coached. We'll see it tonight, I remember seeing Cooper coach Norfolk up in Manchester the year they won twenty six straight games. The challenge for them is how their rookied are going to respond to the playoffs. Bishop has a .906 save percentage since the Olympic break.

If Montreal doesn't play better against Tampa than they did in their remarkable 4-1 win over Florida the other night, Bishop won't need any more than a .900 save percentage to win. The Panthers outshot Montreal 37-19. Carey's good, but he's not going to stop 36 of 37 shots every game.

That said, I think Montreal's got a good chance to beat Tampa in this series. Montreal has far more depth - even offensively, which has been Montreal's achilles heel this year.

[JoeLassister]

How does that apply to every other goalie in hockey?

I believe that if you watch every goals scored top net, you will see a goalie who drop early on shots 99% of the time.

It's not something about Carey Price, it has to do with EVERY goalie in hockey.

Goaltender do drop early on shots because this is how they block the biggest part of the net. Goals high glove side are usually what we call "amazing shots" when Pacioretty does them, but "Price droped early" when it's against us.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

I believe that if you watch every goals scored top net, you will see a goalie who drop early on shots 99% of the time.

It's not something about Carey Price, it has to do with EVERY goalie in hockey.

Goaltender do drop early on shots because this is how they block the biggest part of the net. Goals high glove side are usually what we call "amazing shots" when Pacioretty does them, but "Price droped early" when it's against us.

Well, many of us were fans from 1986 through 1995 and got to see Patrick Roy at his best. Shots high - glove side were in his glove. Nearly a decade of Patrick Roy sours people on all who come after. That may not be fair, but we've been waiting for the second coming of St. Patrick for a while. Price was seen as having that potential. We may have overestimated him, but he's still a top-tier NHL goaltender.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Jeff Price (no relation)

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I don't have memory of most of Roy's 80s play but when it comes to the regular season, Roy never had a season like Jose Theodore. He just had better playoff performances and was more consistent overall. That Theodore is one of the best of all time for a goaltender.

[DON]

If Montreal doesn't play better against Tampa than they did in their remarkable 4-1 win over Florida the other night, Bishop won't need any more than a .900 save percentage to win. The Panthers outshot Montreal 37-19. Carey's good, but he's not going to stop 36 of 37 shots every game.

That said, I think Montreal's got a good chance to beat Tampa in this series. Montreal has far more depth - even offensively, which has been Montreal's achilles heel this year.

Was an exhibition game vs Fla. Entertaining practice; but, still would of been hard to lose to ( or get motivated for) AHL calibre team.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

I don't have memory of most of Roy's 80s play but when it comes to the regular season, Roy never had a season like Jose Theodore. He just had better playoff performances and was more consistent overall. That Theodore is one of the best of all time for a goaltender.

It was a different era. You had the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr in the primes of their careers. If you didn't have over 100 points in a season, you might not crack the top 10 for scoring. Roy won a Vezina trophy with a 2.62 goals against average and a .904 save percentage, which would have you in the AHL today. That's not because the goaltending wasn't as good. It's because of a combination of less defensive "systems" and more offensive star players.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

It was a different era. You had the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr in the primes of their careers. If you didn't have over 100 points in a season, you might not crack the top 10 for scoring. Roy won a Vezina trophy with a 2.62 goals against average and a .904 save percentage, which would have you in the AHL today. That's not because the goaltending wasn't as good. It's because of a combination of less defensive "systems" and more offensive star players.

I know. I'm going by games I've watched then and since. The only goalie I've seen play more dominant than Theodore's Hart/Vezina year has been Hasek between 96-99. Hasek in 98 might be the single most dominant performance in hockey by an individual and that includes any player at any year. I'll take Hasek in 98 over Gretzky in 86.

Again, not saying Roy wasn't as good as Theodore or anything. Roy was consistently a better goalie. Consistently one of the best. But Theodore's one year was one of a kind.

[illWill]

It was a different era. You had the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr in the primes of their careers. If you didn't have over 100 points in a season, you might not crack the top 10 for scoring. Roy won a Vezina trophy with a 2.62 goals against average and a .904 save percentage, which would have you in the AHL today. That's not because the goaltending wasn't as good. It's because of a combination of less defensive "systems" and more offensive star players.

Don't forget the size of the equipment, it's massive these days compared to then. In my opinion goalies are much better in this era despite the size of the gear though, they have it down to a science. Just watch a game from the 80's and watch the stand up goalie kick out a leg and it slides along the ice for a goal. If you could somehow transport modern day Carey Price back into the 80's, he would be the best goalie of all time IMO.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

Don't forget the size of the equipment, it's massive these days compared to then. In my opinion goalies are much better in this era despite the size of the gear though, they have it down to a science. Just watch a game from the 80's and watch the stand up goalie kick out a leg and it slides along the ice for a goal. If you could somehow transport modern day Carey Price back into the 80's, he would be the best goalie of all time IMO.

Maybe. Patrick Roy practically invented the modern "butterfly style. " It only makes sense that the goalie coaches trying to emulate his success would improve upon it. With that said... Roy was still playing in 2002. Roy was certainly not a better goaltender in 2002 than he was in 1992, but he sure put up better numbers.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Jeff Price (no relation)

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Patrick Roy was the greatest goalie of his era in my book and possibly the greatest of all time in terms of getting in shooters' heads and seeming invincible. I will never forget being in standing room in the Forum for Game 5 and seeing him raise the Stanley Cup directly facing us, and roaring his (and our) triumph. However, when speaking of mere mortals, Carey Price has had about as good a season as it is possible for a goalie to have. He's big, he's calm, he radiates confidence, he stops everything he's supposed to stop and more besides, 99% of the time. If he can carry that into the playoffs, one thing can be said with confidence: netminding will NOT be the problem. Any fan complaining about him this season needs their head examined.

EDIT: actually, Jeff, Roy sucked ass in 1992 if I recall. Especially in the playoffs. People forget that Roy, too, went through growing pains and only became PATRICK ROY after the 1993 Cup run. He was a superstar ever after.

[Neech]

Don't forget the size of the equipment, it's massive these days compared to then. In my opinion goalies are much better in this era despite the size of the gear though, they have it down to a science. Just watch a game from the 80's and watch the stand up goalie kick out a leg and it slides along the ice for a goal. If you could somehow transport modern day Carey Price back into the 80's, he would be the best goalie of all time IMO.

This is true. Training methods and conditioning have progressed light years since the 80's. If you transported even an above-average NHLer back to those days, he would be one of the top physical specimens in the league in terms of speed and strength.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Of course on the Flipside, you send an 8 year old Patrick Roy to 2004 you're going to have one of the best goalies in hockey history in the draft.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

EDIT: actually, Jeff, Roy sucked ass in 1992 if I recall. Especially in the playoffs. People forget that Roy, too, went through growing pains and only became PATRICK ROY after the 1993 Cup run. He was a superstar ever after.

Sucked?

Roy won the vezina in 1992. And 1990. And 1989. (all before 1993). He won the Conn Smythe for his Stanley Cup winning runs in 1986 and 1993 (as well as 2001 in Colorado). He won the Willam M. Jennings trophy in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1992. He took the Habs to their second Stanley Cup appearance in 3 years in 1989 (but lost to Calgary.)

The Legend of Roy was alive and well before 1993. He just confirmed it in 1993.

Now, he did suck in 1993. Right up until playoff time...when he once again became a god between the pipes.

[KoRP]

Yep!

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Sucked?

There's a bit of sarcasm there based on how Habs fans used to act about Roy. While Price doesn't follow Roy (he follows an overrated Huet, a wildly inconsistent Theodore, an underrated Hackett and a doomed Thibault before he follows Roy), the separation of time between Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy was small enough that he was always compared, especially after winning a Cup in his rookie year. Dryden never had a bad season. He retired before he could. That level of perfection was demanded of Roy. Before 93, Roy was considered a disappointed due to the Bruins series' where Cam Neely had his number. Regular season numbers didn't stop fans from focusing everything in those Boston series' on Roy. In 93 came the TRADE ROY chants. Even after winning in 93, Montreal went into 94 and lost to Boston despite Roy having appendicitis it was "just another series lost to Boston".

I've read some old Gazette's and Hockey News issues about how Habs fans used to treat Patrick Roy and the pressure on him when the Habs were eliminated was hotter than any other player. Of course so is the credit. Roy had a substantial Conn Smythe trophy deserving role in the 93 playoffs but that was a damn good team that wasn't carried to the Cup by Roy the way Hasek carried Buffalo in 99 or Giguere carried Anaheim in 03. Even the Habs today don't pressure Price like the pressure was on Roy.

To Jeff Price (no relation)'s original point of it all is whether Price has the ability to be Patrick? It's unfair to do that to Price, just like even when he became a Hall of Famer it was unfair to compare Roy to Dryden. Montreal has been damn blessed with legendary goalies. Heck we've been blessed with just very good goalies (we've even drafted excellent goalies that never played for us like Vokoun). It's like Boston and defencemen (Shore to Orr to Park to Bourque to Chara). Carey Price should be allowed to become the first Carey Price, and winning gold for Canada is the one thing he can say he did that St. Patrick never did. When he wins a Cup with Montreal (like we all hope), I hope the fact this is the 21st Century NHL allows Carey Price to stand on his own skates instead of have his achievements constantly compared to the goalies previous to him.

Sometimes I'd prefer a Chicago situation where they've won two Cups with goalies that didn't matter as much their other players did. But then again this isn't Chicago. If anything, I'd prefer to win the Cup with Price and Subban and Pacioretty and Galchenyuk and whoever else on the same level than the myth of it being the work of one man.

[habs rule]

That is a very good perspective. Goalies have always been a huge part of Montreal, I think we started the "you build from the goalie out" . The history of Montreal is littered with great goaltenders, right from Vezina on down. Mr Price is latest greatest, and I hope he continues on and wins us oh say 4 cups.