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Does he really manage by stats? Stats would have told him not to sign joe thornton, wayne simmonds, Zach bogosian, They would have told him to trade for taylor hall and not nick foligno. They would have told him to do a lot of things different than what he did. There has been an assumption that dubas only uses analytics. But the reality is that his actions in the last year were to add veterans and grit and totally away from using analytics. But sure cause he failed and hes young, analytics must not work even though he is going against them in his acquisitions over the last year. Dubas is a guy who has been working in the OHL since he was like a teenager. Does he use analytics, yes sometimes. Does he base some moves on other things, yes he does that too. As for them not working... why does every team have an analytics department... and why does Tampa make extensive use of them (far more than dubas). I guess they dont work though. Every team in the league is looking at numbers. No team uses them exclusively and no team ignores them completely. Every team combines both traditional scouting and advanced stats cause they are proven to work. And they are getting better all the time. The Hawks and Kings in the late 00s were amongst the first teams to use them. They won 5 cups in 6 years when they had an advantage over teams who didnt use them. And that is why every team uses them today. But sure... rant and rave about this not being baseball... it doesnt make the math any less valuable

I'm glad this group didn't coach after game 1 in the Vegas series. Last night sucked. We lost. ONE GAME! Oh wait, we did that against Vegas too. Here is what happened - simple... Tampa scored first! We had to play catch up. Not our strength. We were doing ok - then Chiarot made a mistake. It happens, but he did. He waved at a puck with his glove IN FRONT of the net. If he doesn't it goes harmlessly into the corner. Instead it is up for grabs...then he swings at it with his stick...and he knocks it into the net. 3-1 now! Momentum gone. From that point on the Habs not only PLAYED CATCHUP -they panicked! Stopped playing THEIR game and Tampa took advantage of their chances. A great shot by Kucherov (who, by the way, earned every penny of his salary this season OVER the cap due to a loophole that will be closed.... But I digress.) Then Tampa gets a late PP goal. So, we can say a lot of things - none of them good. WE LOST. PRICE GAVE UP 5 GOALS! OUR PK STREAK ENDED But: We've lost Game 1 before - to Vegas and to LA back in '93 3 of those 5 goals came in the third period when we were trying to play 'desperate' catch up. We'll never be successful that way - but we HAD to TRY last night because that is where we were. You sure don't give up! Our PK streak doesn't matter. What matters is that we KILL THE NEXT PK and the one after that. It was the 5th goal in a 5-1 loss, with just over a minute to go. A meaningless goal. So - don't panic! Don't change the lineup! Get back to basics. Watch the tape. Adjust. Be ready. And win game 2! Gustafsson is fine. He provides extra push on the PP (and we have needed that FOR YEARS). Whoever plays that 5 or 6 D spot will get minimal minutes. The Top 4 horses are what got us here! Why change now? Unless there is an injury or a Covid issue. Change out Staal? Seriously - that 4th line, led by the two vets, is crucial to our success! Maybe you swap Armia back in for Evans. Perry is a beast and he has chemistry with Staal and Armia. Let's get some of that back! So, get the beer on ice! Have the wings ready to go! Put on your lucky Habs shirt. And enjoy Game 2. We may not be in the Stanley Cup finals again for a VERY long time! Go Habs Go!!!