xXx..CK..xXx

You guys should be careful what you wish for. Regardless of how you feel, I tend to believe that the Habs are better off in the playoffs with Price than Allen, as well as Weber over Chiarot playing on the right side, all of a sudden. Romanov isn’t exactly an upgrade on Weber on the PP, either. And I’m not even going to say Caufield is right this minute, even though I am extremely high on him. Weber is a power play legend when it comes to scoring goals. 10th all time for goals on thr power play by a defenseman, and 5 behind Brian Leetch for 9th. Third this year, by the way. http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20202021&seasonTo=20202021&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=ppGoals&page=0&pageSize=50

So much for Allen over Price

Nice to see Weber blast one in 🚨 1-0 Habs

Looking forward to seeing Caulfield. I’m not one of those who hypes prospects up and in fact like veterans more than your average person, but he’s the real deal. No expectations right off the bat but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him put the puck in the net soon. Big game in general here. 4-2 Habs

Hopefully Primeau can have a strong night. I don’t have faith in him but it’s to no fault of his own and more-so that I didn’t expect to see anyone outside of Price and Allen supervising our crease this year.

Are both teams going with the 11 forward - 7 defensemen formation?

I am not the type to wait eternally for the perfect moment to throw something that someone has said in their face. With that being said, my post was predicated on the fact that you were trying to portray the image that the Habs organization is one that is full of excuses, whereas the Canucks are not. It was admittedly an irrational post as you said yourself that you were angry at the Habs, but I don’t see your point. How do the Canucks seem to appear to be rising to the occasion, and why do the Habs seem to be making more excuses than the Canucks? I have not seen a single team in the entire league complain about the schedule more than the Canucks have, and that was even before their Covid outbreak pressed their schedule even further. It’s fine to subliminally like the Canucks because of where one resides, but it was a needless needle towards the Habs organization considering they will make the playoffs, and the Canucks will not.

Our 4th line was a 1st line, once upon a time.

I did read your post. It brought up the Canucks, for some odd reason, and how they were apparently “rising to the occasion” after a mere two wins. That’s what I was responding to. Well, they’ve lost 3-0 against Ottawa last night and so it doesn’t look to me like anything you said about them was actually true. It was nothing more than a romanticized story about a team that I frankly couldn’t care less about. The Habs on the other hand will make the playoffs despite all their faults and excuse making, which you seemingly love to point out. And if I have truly misunderstood your post, then the only conclusion I can come to regarding its content is that you would half-heartedly hope that the Canucks make the playoffs over the Habs because of areas you’ve expressed your personal opinion about regarding both teams. Well, okay then. There’s not really much to say back to that, other than we disagree.

By the way, remember this post when the Canucks crap out and end 6th place in the division. Two wins and suddenly the narrative is changing from being the team that the Habs were lucky to face to a team who is “rising to the occasion” after two wins. Once their schedule catches up with them, which the Canucks organization from coach, to manager, to player have already cried ad nauseum about, they will feel the effects and begin to lose their fair share of games. The fact the Canucks have repeatedly complained about their schedule was conveniently left out of your storyline involving “excuse making” which was apparently exclusive to the Habs organization. As Don has kindly pointed out, the Canucks will not make the playoffs. It was a nice story, though.

Exactly. It seems the opposing view is that Vancouver will somehow have this miracle run, and not only that, the Habs haven’t faced as much adversity as them so those who are angry at the Habs are wishing ill on the Canadiens so the other Canadian team with a “C” on their jersey can enjoy the opportunity at a cinderella run. woosh. Did I get that right? You can find me on this side of the fence when it comes to that argument ... <—🐳 Then again, I don’t reside in British Columbia.

The Habs were the first team in Canada to have a Covid experience, shortly after a coaching change. Their starting goalie also happens to be injured. I’m fairly certain they have faced actual adversity, and much of the same adversity that Vancouver has faced. Sure, Vancouver’s team had it worse, in terms of the outbreak on their team.

Looks a little bit like Tie there.

The Suzuki spot 🚨

He’s due for his first of the year. I bet it will come with the Habs! 😀

People are really blowing up this leadership thing as a detriment to Weber’s profile. Weber brings leadership, that’s true. One can tell simply by the way he handles specific situations, the words he speaks, as well as his actions. With that being said, who is saying that leaderhship is the only quality Weber brings? The only people I hear saying that, are those who are trying to bring Weber down. And then we compound that reality by coming up with arbitrary “values” that Weber’s leadership “costs”. “My personal opinion is that Weber’s leadership accounts for 50% of his human being self” says #1 ”No. No. Weber’s leadership actually accounts for 6 million out of his 8 million cap hit” says # 2 Shea Weber is 42nd in scoring amongst defensemen which puts him easily inside the top 62 top pairing defensemen in the league. He has a similar amount of points to other declining defensemen such as Rasmus Dahlin, Vince Dunn and Erik Karlsson. He also has the exact same amount of goals, assists, and points as declining defenseman Matias Eklholm, whom many Habs fabs are hoping for. What’s further ignored is that Weber can have a 3 point game, and jump into the top 30. He could also just as easily actually have better years ahead of him in the future, or even be injured at the moment for those of you who are really analyzing him through a magnifying glass. Finally, give him a suitable partner for the first time in 5 years. I think it’s certain that Weber will be protected and also think those who even contemplate that he will hang up the skates as soon as in 2022 are gravely mistaken.

If Mete and Galchenyuk are our worst nightmare in Round 1 and not Matthews and Marner, then we will have won the first round.

If he does have an uptick during the playoffs, I don’t expect it to be simply because he is a declining asset and that is what declining assets do. Weber is much more than a #4 defenseman. His advanced stats, as you asked, have him pegged roughly around the 30th-40th place in the league for all corsi and fenwick statistics amongst defensemen. This would put him on the top pairing on any team based on those statistics. This all holds true despite the fact that he plays the 56th most minutes amongst defensemen. Even with his minutes at 56th in the league, this is still top pairing minutes. With all that being said, our team has Jeff Petry, who also happens to be a RHD. If Weber is to play less minutes in the future and be considered a 2rd pairing defensemen I have no problem with him playing in that role. You have to pay to keep your players. If there is a trade in the future involving Weber as he declines, that is fine. But let’s not change the fact that this conversation began because some people said that whether or not Weber should be protected was actually a question mark. Yes, he should be protected. As for the leadership stuff, yea Weber brings leadership despite never having won anything in the NHL. He has won in general, period. This would be like saying Price doesn’t bring leadership and doesn’t make his teammates feel at ease, in general. He does. Finally, as the for the power play, the point was that since Weber has been with the Habs, the Habs as an organization have has a bad power play. When Weber was on Nashville, there were seasons where Nashville had the best power play in the league. One could argue that this is completely due to Weber’s decline. Or one could argue, it may have to do with the new organization itself.

Yes, and this entire post is something different than a “comical pile of crap”. Continue along with what you “expect to see” but this doesn’t mean it will be right.

His play on the ice hasn’t declined as much as seemingly everyone is trying to point out. His “declining” statistics this year are equivalent to some seasons in Nashville where he was still “progressing” and his mobility has never been a strength. Fans can scrutinize his speed with a magnifying glass but the reality is that people are looking to confirm their bias. Weber was always a leader, tough guy to play against, and an offensive power play specialist, in a sense. The main thing that has actually declined since he has become a Montreal Canadien, is his power play output. I’m not sure myself, but that may be partially due to coaching since it changed immediately once he joined a new team. Injuries may have also led to this in a few seasons. A leader is not a mascot and nor is Weber a mascot. He will still produce roughly 40 points as a defensemen in future seasons, and it is still entirely possible that he has a better season in an upcoming year than the season he has had up to date this year. Just because some people have long predicted his imminent decline from the very moment we acquired him I might add, doesn’t mean that will come into fruition. Even when Weber is being “overpaid” his 8 million, he will still be worth 5 or 6 million at worst, and so we are going to leave him unprotected due to a 1 or 2 million overpayment? Sure, the nay-sayers will say he will only be worth 1 or 2 million, but their perspective will be wrong.

Weber should be protected.

When I first heard the nature of the story I thought Tim Peel was Chris Lee.

It’s starting to feel like it means something once again for players to put on that jersey.

I wanted Staal even before I heard that he was rumoured to be on the way out, so I’m very happy with this deal.

Buddy Tatar 🚨