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Who cares if Price was outplayed? The team didn't score. That's the problem. It's crazy when the team scores 4 total goals in 4 losses, and people are piling on Price. I'm all for blame where it's deserved, but it ain't on #31. For the Habs to win any of their 4 losses, that would've had to win 0-0 (that'd be interesting) , 1-0, 2-1,1-0. Pice would've needed a 0.25 GAA and at minimum a .990 save percentage. Yeah, that's reasonable. Regardless, the Rangers didn't set the world on fire either. 12 goals, not including ENers. Their team would have been fried for lack of scoring had the Habs won the series. There wasn't a single game where I thought the Habs were out of their element and a worse team than the NYR. That's why I'm disappointed. Not because them team needs to be gutted and rebuilt. But because it very easily could have gone the other way. That's the playoffs, and the finality of the last loss stings. Looking forward to th next few seasons, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. The team is seriously devoid of top end talent in the system. That's where a look at MB with a critical eye.

To summarize this thread:

It's making me sick watching the panel making this "Lundquvist outplayed Price" as the big story. No, the number one big story is the bum captain and supposed big scorer did not score a single goddamned goal, and the supposed up and coming sniper didn't score a single goal either. WTF!!!!

The year is 2021. Bergevin has circumvented the legality and ethics of cloning, and has populated the entire team with Philip Danault's. There is zero personality or dynamic offensive skill on the team, and the Habs win and lose all of their games by the score of 2-1. Don nods in approval. fin

The better team won.

I want more Habs Hockey dammit

As a Toronto resident that doesn't actually hate the Leafs it's impressive what they have done and the future for Matthews. But I still believe in my Habs, if they can get that centre they have always been waiting for we can still do it. Viva La Montreal!!!

Because there has been some focus on Chuck: - Started Game 1 on the LW fourth line - Started Game 2 on the LW fourth line - Started Game 3 at C third line - Started Game 4 at C third line - Started Game 5 at C second line - Started Game 6 at LW third line He spent 5/6 games starting in the bottom six but still had three assists. Meanwhile, Danault was on the first line the entire series, glued to Pacioretty and Radulov, and only put up two assists (in game two and three). Am I excusing his performance? No, but until I see this team actually put faith in Galchenyuk, everything he does is going to have a big *

I'm not saying that Lundqvist didn't play slightly better than Price....I am saying that's a tiny contributor to why this series was lost compared to Captain No-Show's goose egg in the goals department. Yet the media is beating the Price drum HARD trying to stir up shit...and it's pissing me off.

This is the the question for me: Do we even want this guy to keep tinkering with the team? He traded a franchise player and fired a coach and the results were out in 6. He signed Radulov, great, but he also nickel and dimed him when other teams offered another year. The move worked, but it's the thinking that concerns me. The thinking being that Radulov was another short term bandaid for the offense. Which makes me wonder...does this guy understand the concept of "offense?" Because he certainly doesn't take it seriously. I don't have confidence in Bergevin making the right decision. He'll probably trade Galchenyuk and Beaulieu for Sean Couturier or Ryan Kesler. Can Bergevin learn the lesson? Maybe after this series. He's out of excuses about coaching, character and leadership. The team worked their ass off, they traded for the grittiest grits that ever gritted, and they have a guy good enough to make the top-6 on Team Canada! However, at this point, it's obvious he couldn't build an adequate top-6 with a 100 year head start. It's like Alec Baldwin said in Glengarry Glenn Ross "I told (Mitch and Murray) to do themselves a favor and fire your effin ass." The clock has struck 12, and MB is officially a pumpkin. He'll be gone at the end if next year.

The case for the prosecution is straightforward. Despite inheriting great pieces (Price, PK, Patches, etc.) he has failed to make the team a legitimate Cup contender in five years of GMing. Moreover: 1. Following the 2015 playoff loss to Tampa, which inspired this thread in the first place, he misidentified the team's fundamental needs. That was a close, hard-fought series in which the Habs simply could not get the timely goals they needed and therefore lost. Like the old-school plodder he has revealed himself to be, he blamed Leadership and Character rather than skill. In consequence he made a raft of decisions to add Leadership which amounted to lateral moves or else tweaks to the bottom end of the roster and ignoring laughable deficiencies in the top 6. These decisions locked us into bad contracts (Weber & Shaw) while making us four years older at the key #1 defenceman position; yet the end result was EXACTLY the same as in 2015: a team losing a hard-fought series because it can't score. All he did was burn two more years of this core's limited time. 2. Following the 2016, he should have done what any other GM would have done and fired Therrien. A new coach would have come in from the get-go and this would have accomplished two things. First, it would have given him a new set of eyes on the group he had, instead of continuing to depend on the biases and preferences of the same guy - Therrien - who had been managing the players since 2013. This might have prevented stupidities like trading Subban. Second, it would have given him an entire season in which to adjust the team to accommodate the coach. We now have to wait for next season to trade the Galys and Beaulieus who Julien can't work with. Another year burned. 3. The farm team. Where is the talent pipeline other than Sergachev? Where is the player development? Does anyone still believe Galy and Beaulieu will have great futures with us? Lehkonen was developed in Europe, not within. The result of these inadequacies is that the current Habs' core represents the PEAK of what the Bergevin era is likely to give us. The future looks worse, not better. I can think of no reason for retaining his services. Sure, he's made some good moves taken in isolation (Radu). But if the goal is to win a Stanley Cup - not simply make the playoffs - then his overall body of work is a failure, and one that offers no reason for optimism than he can fix it. Based on the past year's work, he can't even be trusted to properly identify the problem.

Well that's that. Feels bad man but we just did not have enough skill upfront and New York benefited from some extra luck their way. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the off season. I thought our two off season players Weber and Radulov were our best players by a large margin that's including Price. Hope we can get stronger down the middle next year as others have pointed out.

oh dear god NO

If King signs an extension, the 4th we gave up to get him becomes a 3rd. Also if King signs an extension, then I know I am in the darkest timeline, and I'll have to cut off Commandant's arm with a bonesaw.

the trade Price gang is coming out on social media...its gonna be a long summer of listening to this ...

Aaaaand the highjinx on Facebook have begun:

Off-season Plan 1) 6x6 for Radulov 2) Order the coach to put Galchenyuk at Centre and don't #### around with it. Look you arent winning without a centre, you just aren't. He's your only hope of having one. 3) Add a draft pick if you have to, ensure that Vegas takes Plekanec 4) Sign Shipachyov. If he won't sign in Montreal, it is what it is. But if he signs elsewhere its cause he took less money to do so. You make sure that your offer is the best one on his table. 5) Re-Sign Markov 6) Trade Emelin at 50% retained, or buy him out. 7) Draft Centres with 3/4 picks in the first three rounds, including the first rounder. 8) Sign Price Long Term.

There is only one Bergevin excuse: "The team did not show enough character this year." and then he will trade a 2nd round pick for Jordin Tootoo.

Those excuses are just as lame as those used by the Pacioretty apologists: *playing hurt *but but but...he's getting lots of shots, that proves he's playing great...just 'snakebit' *he's never been a physical player, shouldn't be expected to start now *puck luck/bounces/ice conditions/ect ect you name it *he leads QUIETLY

If they breeze through Sens, and Caps or Pens come out of a 7 game war with multiple injuries, they certainly could.

The GM's in the NHL have plan with the long term in mind. It was really close and didn't go our way. The decision to either keep or fire MB has to be based on much more than the result of one series. Would you want him fired regardless of the result against the Rangers? Should Chicago fire Bowman and Quinnville?

Damn right it's time to rip the C off Max's chest at the very least. Joe Thornton got stripped of his C for similar reasons.

The better management team won

Seriously though.

I am so mad at MB right now. He has spent three years IGNORING THE TEAM'S PRIMARY PROBLEM and fiddling with bullshit imaginary problems. Sorry to keep harping about it, but his BIG MOVE was a totally pointless lateral move that did not improve the team, and he followed up by acquiring a bubch of plumbers. A complete bill of goods based on old-style ossified NHL thinking. F**K YOU BERGEVIN.

We are the best 3rd period team in the NHL, let's get 2 this period, 3? even better.

GO FORKING HABS GO! AND I DO MEAN FORKING NOW.

Danault on a good team is a solid 3rd line center, Only in Montreal is he a top C

maybe he should be moved up from 4th line...man what a mess. im looking at my bottle of Grant's sadly

The GM misidentified the primary problem. It was not character, it was not leadership. It wasn't even team toughness. It was talent at FW. And he has done dick all to fix that in 5 years.

How about we get Patches an actual top-6 C to play with? What a concept

This series looks almost EXACTLY like the 2015 series against TB. Close, hard fought, but the Habs just can't get enough offence. And - hate to say this -Price is outgoaltended by his opposite number. He's played well enough that you can't blame him exactly, but the fact is Lundqvist has eaten him for dinner. MB chalked up 2015 to 'leadership.' He is full of shit. The primary issue is that the Habs just, just like 2015, don't have enough weapons up front. STILL.

Another bad call against us... should be 4 minutes.

For all of MB's 'retooling' of the 'leadership core' this team is not one iota better than the team that was always one goal short against Tampa Bay in 2015.

Not luck at all. It's ace goaltending meets popgun offence

Without a doubt the biggest surprise in even some time. I had a completely different read/opinion on him prior to Montreal.

Rad is the man

While I do find the 'Maxi Pad' thing amusing, the criticisns are BS Finally, our top offensive d man wakes up! Way to go Emelin!

Max fighting and Emelin scoring? Strange days!

I may not be as rational as I usually try to be but this is an elimination game and I'm just hoping our best players are our best players tonight. With Weber and Pacioretty, a lot of their strengths are compatible with our offensive needs so I'm just hoping for the best. If we do get a power play goal tonight, I really do feel it will be Pacioretty, Weber or Galchenyuk so here's to hoping.

Rangers fans are starting to trickle in... Im gonna be a mess tonight.

But those guys back-check better

Most reg season points by 23 or under Kutcherov 234 Mononan 217 Mackinnon 206 Gaudreau 204 Galchenyuk 204 We are done here.

After last summer nothing will surprise me. That said the best thing to do is to move forward with him. He produces at center. He may never be perfect defensively... but this team has two key characteristics. 1) the best goalie in the world. 2) not enough talent offensively and can get prone to dry spells in the scoring. With that in mind the idea of trading a guy who is offensively productive because he has some defensive issues is madness. Get me skill. Everytime you score 3 goals in front of price, you are very, very likely to win the hockey game. He covers up for some defensive issues

To be fair, the Swedish guy had the easier shots to save most of the time. Price could have upped his save percentage if Useless Max had been firing them dead-center into the crest on his jersey all series long.

Funny how 90%+ picked Habs to beat Rangers...I assume because they thought Habs had a better team, or key players than the Rangers, who are a solid team as well and Vegas had Habs as slight favourite and NY was not a huge underdog at all. So it seems only because they didn't meet 90%+ of fans expectations in one series, mostly due to a hot Ranger goalie who didn't let in any soft goals and stopped key breakaways, that all of a sudden the team needs to be blown up?

WHAT?!? PK WASN'T THE PROBLEM?!? But...but...CHARACTER. LEADERSHIP. FIRE BERGEVIN. NOW.

Him PLUS to a team not close to contending and unlikely to be able to re-sign the center just might work. I'd sure as hell talk to the Islanders about Max plus for Tavares this summer.

Now, if Max scores and Emelin fights, it will be quite strange as well.