xXx..CK..xXx

This is why it’s a good thing you have nothing to do with making decision for the Habs organization. Go prefer the Sens situation. Go enjoy it. There really is no coherent advice being given within this post. Why do some people bring up the draft every losing streak? I had to go all the way back to Matthews, McDavid, Mackinnon, Stamkos (2008) and Patrick Kane in 2007 to find any meaningful 1st overall picks. In fact, Stamkos/Kane are the only meaningful picks that have actually accomplished anything as a 1st overall pick. Matthews is the most recent pick and 4-5 years later, the Leafs have still accomplished nothing. What have the Sabres, Edmonton, Toronto, Florida or New Jersey accomplished thanks to their amazing positions in the recent draft? How about the New York Rangers? Oh, but I understand that some people would probably “prefer their situation” regardless of the reality that they have accomplished squat since 1994 as well. If we were to “tank”, as you literally suggested in your post, the evidence shows, that nothing would come out of it for another 5+ years. In my opinion, Colorado is the closest to be coming out of the mole hill, and there’s still nothing close to guaranteed for them. The Habs have been a “middling team”. You can’t just have everything you said a team needs, goaltending, solid depth, and tank simultaneously. You have to actually be a bad team. What I am hearing is that we should expect the Habs to have the best of both worlds, “decent team, but tanking with high draft capabilities”, which is simply an irrational thought. What’s even more worrisome is that some of you have already been dreaming of this situation for 5+ years. It’s mind boggling from a neutral standpoint.

Or, could we move Danault down with Perry?

I believe he was waiting all year for this moment.

Tyler Toffoli 😇

I was hoping for a power play just a moment ago. I feel we’ll get some good looks here.

Not looking good. All we can ask for at this point is the first goal in the third period.

There was one instance where he got burned pretty cleanly at the offensive blue line. The Canucks player gained about 8-10 strides on him. I’m generally not too bothered about Weber’s mobility and think it is overstated but that play really stood out. I believe it was when we were on the power play and Price had to come up with a big save.

Kulak shouldn’t be top pair. Nothing to see there long term.

Chiarot will not return.

I’m here. KK with the opening goal, soon after a Chiarot fight. Really nice release, and shot. (Chiarot was favoring his hand after the fight)

7-0 lead in shots for the Habs early on when KK took a boarding penalty. Half way through the penalty and still no shots for Vancouver.

T-37 minutes until this 11pm game begins. I shall stay up.

Ottawa’s getting destroyed against Edmonton both on the scoresheet (7-0 with 10 minutes left) but also on the injury front. Both Colin White, as well as Ryan Dzingel have had to be helped off of the ice.

Not that I don’t agree, but he would cough it up at out own blue line to Glen Murray.

Only team in the league with more losses in overtime/shootout than regulation losses.

Brutal overtime by the Habs.

Definitely noticed that hit by Anderson.... and Hughes did too.

Very happy to have him.

I only learned of your new location through this post. 👍 I still thought you were in Quatar.

Had just taken a seat in my chair, ready to turn the game on, only to realize it was most likely a later start once I couldn’t find the game on.

I don’t enjoy coming off as being hard on Habs players in particular, in that I want them to succeed. I hope for the best when it comes to Anderson. I would love for him to flourish as a Hab and continue to develop and be that intimidating factor for other teams, as you describe. Unfortunately, I just see injuries and lack of consistency as something that can be expected from Anderson. I will continue to smile and cheer every time he scores a key goal for the Habs, or lays a bruising hit on the opponent. I’ve just perceived that some people overrate his ability from my own viewpoint, and while I never complain about cap implications, thought his salary was higher than what a player of his caliber should be compensated. I suppose it is as a result of looking through this lense, that I have my guard up. If your viewpoint is closer to reality, then all things are rosey pink in Habs land, and I mean that in a good way.

I agree that he’s not a top 25 right winger in the NHL. Here’s NHL.com’s list pre-season 1. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL 2. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (INJ.) 3. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI 4. Mitchell Marner, RW, TOR 5. Patrik Laine, LW/RW, WPG** 6. Steven Stamkos, LW/RW, TBL 7. Mark Stone, RW, VGK 8. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG 9. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR 10. Tom Wilson, RW, WSH 11. William Nylander, LW/RW, TOR 12. Kevin Fiala, LW/RW, MIN** 13. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN 14. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH 15. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY 16. David Perron, LW/RW, STL 17. Alexander Radulov, LW/RW, DAL 18. Victor Olofsson, LW/RW, BUF 19. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL 20. Bryan Rust, LW/RW, PIT 21. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS 22. Kailer Yamamoto, RW, EDM** 23. Oliver Bjorkstrand, LW/RW, CBJ 24. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ 25. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF** 26. Travis Konecny, RW, PHI 27. Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET 28. Patric Hornqvist, RW, FLA 29. Reilly Smith, RW, VGK 30. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI 31. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, OTT 32. Tyler Toffoli, LW/RW, MTL 33. Pavel Buchnevich, RW, NYR** 34. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD* 35. Kasperi Kapanen, LW/RW, PIT 36. Jesse Puljujarvi, RW, EDM 37. Brandon Saad, LW/RW, COL 38. Kaapo Kakko, RW, NYR 39. Anthony Duclair, LW/RW, FLA** 40. Josh Bailey, LW/RW, NYI 41. Joel Kiviranta, RW, DAL** 42. Josh Anderson, RW, MTL 43. Martin Necas, C/RW, CAR 44. Joel Armia, RW, MTL* 45. Jordan Eberle, RW, NYI 46. Craig Smith, RW, BOS 47. Dustin Brown, RW, LAK 48. Robert Thomas, C/RW, STL** 49. Andrew Mangiapane, LW/RW, CGY 50. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH Small note that Drouin is 48th on the left wing list, though there is a higher concentration of left wing talent in the NHL in my opinion.

Toffoli is more of a superstar than Anderson, that’s for sure. But that’s more an indication that Anderson is not a superstar than anything. Eric Cole was more of a “superstar” than Anderson is. Every superstar I can think of bring points to the table, unless they are a goaltender, or perhaps a bone crushing defenseman. I just don’t see it when it comes to Anderson. I think someone like Drouin has the potential to be a star, but he’s not one either as of yet. Gallagher could be argued as well, Habs fans are just overly used to him.

As I felt prior to the season, Armia is an Anderson light. By definition, that means Anderson is superior to Armia. I don’t know where anyone would infer that I’ve stated that Armia is on the same level as Anderson. With that being said, it is no surprise that Anderson would be statistically superior to Armia based on the fact that he had been playing with Suzuki and Drouin. That’s a pretty obvious outcome. If you switched their roles, Armia may have more points than Anderson this season. In the end, Anderson has exceeded my expectations so far this year and I’ve been happy to have him. Armia is far from a black hole offensively when called upon, however.

1) No thanks to Kulak on the top pair. 2) Armia has averaged 32 points per 82 games, whereas Anderson has average 36.5 points per 82 games. Not exactly an astonishing difference offensively.