xXx..CK..xXx
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Posts posted by xXx..CK..xXx
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It's REALLY close to even though in my opinion. I don't want to comment either way in terms of comparing the two as players in general but in this series I think Subban was better than Karlsson early on and then Karlsson took over as the series went on. There were situations where their numbers were really similar in specific games though. For example Karlsson would have 10 shot attempts, 5 shots on goal, 3 hits, 0 points and 17:35 of ice time and at the same time Subban would have 10 shot attempts, 4 shots on goal, 4 hits, 0 points and 17:36 of ice time.Based on this playoff, which may not be an accurate indicator, Karlsson has a slight edge on Subban as a player IMHO. He is phenomenal.
My vote goes to Karlsson for the Norris. I'm not even sure how Doughty is in the conversation. Incredible run to make the playoffs for the Sens and Karlsson led his team in scoring. One point less than Pacioretty, something like 6th in the league in shots (without looking) as a defenseman and although he has a lot of turnovers, (just like Subban) he seems to defend a lot better than he used to as well. I always thought Subban was a lot better than Karlsson defensively but I think that gap has been lessened.
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How the hell did smith pelly score 6 goals last year in the playoffs
Ducks are more of a cycling team. Even their best forwards cycle the puck well. Cycle, cycle, cycle, bang, crash, Smith-Pelly goal from the blue paint.
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I hate to actually say it but I have a pretty good feeling about tonight's game. It's on the road so it won't be easy but I expect a pretty solid effort. For all those complaining about Galchenyuk, he did get third star last game. I want him to be better as well but if I'm going to call anyone out on needing better production, it would be Pacioretty. When you see how players like Vanek and Pacioretty (so far) have played in the playoffs these past two years, it should be easier to cut Galchenyuk a little bit of slack. He's definitely targeted by opposing more now than he was 3 years ago. Galchenyuk needs to be better but at the same time, he did score an OT winner in this series and clearly the fans thought he was our best player last game. For the third time, he has to be better, but I think some people are a little too hard on him. We've still got a few games to go in these playoffs and I'm sure he'll come up big for us in some of those games.
I guess the theme of this post is that I expect good things from the team tonight and hope that Galchenyuk and Pacioretty can start TONIGHT two of the players who help out more than they have been on the offensive side of things.
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Sorry to bring out the irrational psychic abilities but we're winning this series and Therrien isn't getting fired.
After the way Babcock handled Subban at the Olympics, I'm not sure he's the best coach for the Montreal Canadiens. Kind of cut and dry reasoning but I agree that for the most part Subban feeling comfortable or being allowed to feel comfortable being himself is pretty important if this team wants to be successful.
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Go Habs Go
Let's not make this series any type of interesting. Finish 'em off tonight.
Feeling a 4-2 score but I didn't say for who. That is all.
Oh yeah, Go Habs Go!!
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check him for insanity. Gotta be a plot to make us over confident.
Not trying to be Mr. Serious here but I think he meant it more in the sense that we either gained momentum from getting powerplays even if we didn't score on them and/or that the Sens lost momentum due to taking undisciplined penalties and so they had to stop taking them. I know a lot would argue that we actually lose momentum when getting a powerplay but the game is a lot different when you're on the ice playing it versus watching it on TV I suppose. I can see him truly believing what he said.
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Maybe we should try the umbrella? Surely PK and Max can set up shop on the top of the circles and fire one-timers from there
We were doing that recently and had some success with it. Trying to come up with a reason it would have stopped and the only thing I can think of is that the coaches suffered memory loss when Pacs got his concussion and didn't have him as an option anymore. Wouldn't mind seeing Galchenyuk in that role either but he doesn't tend to score or even create many rebound opportunities from his outside shots on the pp unfortunately.
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If anyone's worth 5 million it's Markov. I think his "decline" is overrated. He's not the only one gassed by this time of year. The other day I saw Subban get beat in the offensive zone and then he barely made any effort to back check. Two years ago not only would he have back checked, he would have caught up to the guy and taken the puck back. Guess he's getting old as well. Barring injury, if someone else pays him 5 mil a year for the last couple of years in his career, I guarantee you they won't regret it.
Hopefully we could sign him for less, I agree, but if someone is willing to pay him that much, he's worth it. Gonchar isn't but to the Montreal Canadiens, Markov is.
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All love the cool 140kph Subban one-timer point shot, looks impressive maybe 1 of 10 times...but Subban and Habs seem to forget a 70kph wrister though traffic goes in just as often and also dosent end up back on Prices stick at other end of ice.
Maybe the team has forgotten that that's the reason they acquired Gonchar? I know he didn't help the power play tremendously during the regular season but I'm just saying he does that (throwing the puck at the net) very well. May not be worth having to play the other D more minutes if the coaching staff doesn't trust him 5 on 5 but I don't think it can be denied that we have a player who could potentially spark the PP sitting in the press box.
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That Yandle pickup may have been the best one at the deadline.
Not sure what to predict for this game in all honesty. I personally dislike facing Anderson more than Hammond but I wouldn't be surprised to see him let in 3 stoppable pucks in himself on the other hand. Keeping the game close will be key. If we do that or blow them out ourselves, we can do it. Winning at home hasn't been the easiest thing in the playoffs lately so I'm glad we pulled out two W's at the Bell.
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Montreal isn't trading Beaulieu. Gilbert has one year left on his deal, if he even finishes it, Petry will probably go to Detroit or Minnesota, and Markov's age isn't exactly on his side...
I don't know about all those absolutes even though I agree with a few of them. Let's see how the Habs season ends before we say what will happen in the off season. Whether the Habs lose in the first round, conference finals or whether they win the cup or not all make a huge difference in what will happen (especially the Petry thing in my opinion).
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OT prediction...
Smith-Pelly with the winner? He's had a solid game and deserves it.
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Alright ! Go Wings Go !!!
Datsyuk is so good.
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The selfish side of me wanted the Habs to sputter a little more near the end as I predicted 106 points. ? Well done nihilz.
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Unless there was money involved, I don't get picking the Sens on a Habs forum. It's like the "I told you so" would feel better than supporting the team.
That being said, I actually believe the Habs will win from an unbiased perspective as well.
Habs - Sens : Habs in 6
Rangers - Pens : Rangers in 6
Tampa - Detroit : Tampa in 6
Caps - NYI : Caps in 6
STL - Minny : STL in 6
Canucks - Flames : Canucks in 7
Anaheim - Jets : Anaheim in 5
Hawks - Nashville : Hawks in 7
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If this is not a game for your back up......LMAO.......no game is!
With the way our backup has played this season, I agree.
To further that point, I would put down a lot of money that we lose tonight if Tokarski played despite what others have said.
While I think it's understandable, I also think it's irrational to think that Price will get injured just because it's the last game of the season. I woudn't have argued the move if Tokarski was put in, but if I'm the coach I'm playing for the win tonight.
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I don't get why we're dressing Price for this meaningless game.
When will the NHL sked-makers recognize that the Habs' real rival is the Bruins, and stop pretending it's still 1967? Piss off, Toronto.
I don't get why this game is any different than any other. It's not like we're coming off a back to back game. I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with the fact that we're playing against Toronto. We clinched the playoffs a few games ago so why all of a sudden should we rest Price for this game and not any of the others we just played? An argument can be made that sometimes it's actually a blessing in disguise to start on the road, especially if you can steal at least one of the first two games on the road... (But) I don't think there are many teams who would argue that they wouldn't want home ice advantage in as many rounds as possible. This is far from an important game but I don't agree that it's meaningless.
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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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I disagree and think Price is much more important than Pacioretty, he plays 60minutes a game and is involved in many many more plays than simply is the 39goal-man.
Price has been ridiculous many games this season but think about the OT 1-0 loss against Tampa and that type of situation would happen a lot more often without Pacioretty.
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I'm completely fine with other teams fearing our goalie. Wouldn't have it any other way.No its not all they "think' about...... buts its all they "fear" Thats to say that goaltending (Price) is the habs bread and butter.
However i agree that we can skate with anybody speed wise other than the Rangers.
I honestly think teams literally fear Pacioretty and to a lesser extent Subban though. Rick Nash, Alex Ovechkin and now Max Pacioretty. Nash might be the least feared out of the three in the present even if it's for an irrational reason. Nash definitely has the best supporting cast out of the three (although Backstrom is amazing) and so Ovechkin and Pacioretty stand out more on their respective teams, especially to their opponents.
Carey Price for the Hart but without Pacioretty we're just as dead.
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I suppose. Although the teams we have to beat next month....rangers, tbay, islanders, caps....... match our speed in spades. Bruins not so. Wings maybe. Sens are dominating the caps right now..........sens are every but as fast as the habs or more so. So yes the habs are fast, but who isnt.
Apologies, I posted a little bit early there before finishing my entire thought. The only team's speed who I really fear is the Rangers. Probably because of what they did last year. Tbay and Islanders are fast I guess but I don't really think of Tavares or Okposo as being too quick. Same with Tampa's best players. I fear Stamkos' shot more than his speed. Not denying they're quick teams though. We've dealt with the Caps before and I agree Ovi's speed is not something you can really contain. Only Halak/Price can help us there. Main point is that Carey's not the only thing teams think about when they face us. If it is, they'll lose the game.
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Cant paint teams with star goalies all with the same brush. Nobody said the 2000 devils would be a bubble team without Marty. Nobody said the 89 Flames would be a bubble team without Vernon. Nobody said the 94 Rangers would be a bubble team without Richter. Nobody said the 013 Hawks would be a bubble team without Crawford and nobody said the 011 Bruins would be a bubble team with out Thomas. But the 99 sabres and the 015 habs are similar where they are nowhere near a top team without hart trophy type goaltending season from their goaltender.
I hear what you are saying cc, and many times it is the case. This team and season is not one of them. The only part of the habs game opposing teams fear is the goaltending. They dont score much, they dont hit, they dont have a killer powerplay, they dont smother you to death with checking, .... stellar goaltending. Thats it. If they dont get it...they are easy to beat.
Now that all the things that we don't do have been mentioned, we can mention the things we do well. Let's not forget to mention our speed. I think it was Barry Trotz who said you need to have a game plan to beat those quick teams and a game plan to beat those tough teams. There are other fast teams in the league, but there are those "tougher teams" you mention, who are more often than not slow teams as well who fear our speed. As for those other quick teams who may not "fear" our speed, then maybe you can mention Price as a secondary factor that should inflict fear into those teams who match our speed. Let's not to forget to mention our transition game. Teams fear what we can do to them in the neutral zone. It was mentioned on here a few weeks ago and I agree that we definitely have more odd man rushes than your average team. Not to mention we don't allow as many against. There was even a period where Pacioretty was guaranteed a breakaway a game. I think he'll probably still continue to get a clear break every other game. If I were other teams, I'd fear Pacioretty,
Like Habs29 said, then there's also Markov and Subban, and Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Eller and I'd even add Plekanec and (yes) Weise who all have the potential to break out in the playoffs and I'm starting to think of even more positive thoughts and reasons that other teams should be weary about us.
Then after all that, there's the backbone of it all. Our goalie, Carey Price!
I happen to think we're not too shabby defensively as well but I'll agree it's definitely hard to tell how much of it is Carey and how much of it is the defense. It definitely is a combination of the two though needless to say. Even if we don't have the best defensively sound core though, the very fact we have Carey plays to the strength of our defense, which is their offensive potential. Subban, Markov, Petry is finally settling in. Gilbert can bring it offensively when he plays to his potential and Beaulieu has the potential there as well.
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A lot of good analysis on here. I was at both games this weekend and feel like I happened to witness some of the worst hockey we've played all year. Tonight's game was a lot better than last night's though.
I'm not the type to hate on our players but the player I found myself chastising the most in the past couple of games was indeed Eller. He's an enigma though because honestly he made some of the dumbest plays I can imagine but at the same time he was also one of our better players in other situations. When you watch things live, it looks like he's actually one of our go to guys with the way he's handled... unfortunately.
I also think Gilbert was decent in the two games I saw live. Considering Petry was so sought after at the deadline, I'd expect more from him. He makes some decent outlet passes and plays the body well but I'd like to see a little more offense. I'm sure it will come though. Fact is I thought Gilbert outplayed Petry the past couple of games and expect more from him.
Finally, Tokarski couldn't do much different tonight other than in the shootout but I said the very same thing on the drive home tonight in regards to him not being around next year. I think we'll find a replacement as well and even half jokingly brought up Budaj as well. I could blame the coach if I really wanted to for even playing him tonight but in all fairness you have to be able to trust your backup and use him in these types of situations. I did tell the person I went to the game with tonight that I felt like it was a guaranteed loss with Tokarski in the net though. The Habs almost had me ready to eat my words!
Tough loss tonight... but there were some positives like coming back from the 2-0 defecit after a tough trip.
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I'm going to the game as well tonight and then also the game tomorrow in LA. I'm glad the habs layed their egg against the Sharks and am hoping for a decent couple of games for the rest of the Californian trip.
Which goalie to start is actually a tough call. I was thinking that I'd rather Carey play against the better team in Anaheim but if Quick starts tomorrow, I'm not sure how I'd feel about Quick vs Tokarski. Hate being a realist but I wouldn't like our chances.
Subban a Norris Trophy Finalist!
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
The way that argument was constructed was biased though. Here's to hoping but the voters will look at what everyone is good at and what everyone is bad at, not just what 1 player is good at and what 2 players are bad, or kindly, "just good" at.