xXx..CK..xXx

Call it old school but it’s bot a bad idea having a body like Weise in order to protect the more diminutive Weal and Domi. Poehling is the other who could bring in some sand paper but I’m not sure he’s as effective in that role... and yes I use the term effective loosely.

Please kill a 5-3 and now score on your own PP. Weber/Tatar I’m calling for you.

We need Price to be a wall for the rest of the game.

Yessir Suzuki!

Pittsburgh is on pace for 54 shots on goal. That’s better than the 120 shot pace they started with.

I want some more shots. Too bad I have no way to control making that happen.

We may have traded Kovalchuk but let’s go boys. I really am counting on The Vets here in Weber and Price. I want Price to steal at least 1 game this series and I need at least 1 PPG from Weber in this short series. A mere 2 in either category and we may pull it off.

I agree that Mete can be a respectful top 4 guy. On the other hand, i don’t agree that Evans or Poehling bring much more to the table than Weise right now. Hudon I could argue for, but even him.

😇 Now that I look at again though, I may switch Tatar and Drouin.

I had Domi centering the top line and Suzuki centering the second like in my suggested line combinations... so I agree.

The purpose of the play-in will be to try to win. Not to focus on next year. There is a syndrome in hockey where it seems the future and past are always more important to fans than the present. We need to ice our best line-up. Does that include Weise? Probably not. But it’s for a whole other reason than “he’s not a youngster”.

Sat, Aug 1 - GAME 1 @ Scotiabank Arena, Toronto 8:00 PM ET MTL @ PIT Mon, Aug 3 - GAME 2 @ Scotiabank Arena, Toronto 8:00 PM ET MTL @ PIT Wed, Aug 5 - GAME 3 VS. Scotiabank Arena, Toronto 8:00 PM ET PIT @ MTL Fri, Aug 7 - **GAME 4 VS. Scotiabank Arena, Toronto TBD PIT @ MTL Sat, Aug 8 - **GAME 5 @ Scotiabank Arena, Toronto TBD MTL @ PIT

I’m not going to count Drouin out. I’ve seen him do well against the Pens in a series before.

Just about ad terrible as this year. I’m not convinced Stalock won’t be the starter.

I’m looking forward to Domi taking his first shot.

Habs look rusty. Not sure we’re allowed to look rusty.

You guys are stating the obvious. A good powerplay has many options. Obviously. The point is that the Habs have been trying multiple different options and Weber and Tatar have performed the best. It’s not like they’ve been telling Gallagher he’s not allowed to score on the power play. Of course Weber gets his bombs from the point, as he should but the Habs aren’t solely feeding him pucks as the only option. That would be a myth. The Habs know everything that’s been laid out in these recent posts but the point is that even knowing all this, Tatar and Weber have produced the most. No one is saying make it obvious that it’s going to them. I’m saying find innovative ways to make those two your focal point. It’s not rocket science. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Shea Weber? For me, it’s his heavy shot. If I were an opposing fan, I would cringe every time he were open for a bomb. Now as a fan on his side, I’m going to suggest he should be benched so we don’t overuse his one weapon? That wouldn’t fly on any other team. My point was our team relies too heavily on a bomb from the point because that’s the horse we have. We don’t have a Wheeler, Ovechkin, or Stamkos up front, so we can’t just magically wish our players step up to that level just because we want more options. We don’t have Galchenyuk, Pacioretty, Kovalev. What I will say is that perhaps Suzuki can become that guy.

If we don’t use Weber then we need to use Tatar. Armia, Gallagher, Drouin, Domi, they may pot a few but they won’t do it for long stretches on the power play. If our power play is to be good, it will be because Weber and Tatar are scoring goals. I’m not asking that our power play revolve around a pass from the right point to the left point for a one timer shot by Weber. Au contraire. I’m asking that the team find more creative ways to get Weber a look. If it’s not him, find Tatar. Perhaps we don’t have the horses but I suspect the coaches could get on that as well.

It’s quite a simple analysis. When one looks at power play goals in the entire league during the past 5 years, the Habs have had 4 players in the top 50. 1) Alex Ovechkin 2) Steven Stamkos . . . 39) Shea Weber 42) Alex Galchenyuk 44) Max Pacioretty 47) Tomas Tatar Shea Weber is one of only two defensemen in the top 50 along with Ekman-Larsson Power play assists we currently have no one 1) Wheeler 2) Kucherov 37) Subban Power play points The Habs have had 0 players in the top 50 when combining stats from the last 5 years. In short: 1) The power play has to run through Tatar and Weber. Our coach better be drawing up creative plays for each of them. Multiple different scenarios for setting them up to score. I don’t care if the other team knows Weber is going to blast a shot. I want the other team to be scared that he will. I don’t want to see Weber faking a shot to Drouin on the point. I want Weber or Tatar being set up for goals. Hopefully in creative fashion. We don’t have time to try someone new being the go to guy prior to the play-in. No one else on the team has proven that they fan finish consistently on the PP. 2) The team has never recovered from Markov’s loss on the power play. Galchenyuk and Pacioretty as well, but to a lesser extent since we still have two players capable of scoring on the power play. I want to like Drouin but he is no elite set up man (yet) and neither are Petry nor Mete. We never replaced Markov and Subban’s passing/setup skills in the offensive zone on the power play 3) While point 1 and 2 stand true, our power play is perhaps too reliant on our D for scoring. Only us and Phoenix have defensemen so high up in the PPG category over the past 5 years. We do lack the high end offensive skill on the power play and it’s Weber/Tatar or bust.

This game, she is approaching. I wonder how a win/loss here affects the mentality of the group heading into the play-in against Pittsburgh. I’d imagine the Habs would want to develop some good habits (no pun intended) right from the get-go.

I’ve never thought highly of Murray in the NHL. Even during his good runs. I’ve had one or two debates on here about him, but I still feel that way.

After analyzing the standings I noticed that Pittsburgh was quite good at home but mediocre on the road this year. The Habs on the other hand were mediocre both on the road as well as at home. Hopefully the fact that there will be no home crowd will make both teams perform in mediocre fashion, thus giving the Habs an opportunity. My prediction is that the Penguins take it in 4 but I want to be wrong. Do you have any thoughts or predictions to share about the play-in series, prior to puck drop in less than two weeks?

When it comes down to it, everyone who has tried to get back to a somewhat regular routine by going back to work have put themselves at a certain level of risk. Habs29 if i were you, I probably would not go back to work by September 8th. Even I have contemplated what I want to do when it comes to working in the fall as I would be moving from outdoor coaching to indoor coaching. With that being said the most important thing to note (diabetic or not) is that once again Max is in his lower 20s. I am convinced that the doctors have taken that into consideration when it comes to assessing his worst case scenario, even though it’s been said here that they don’t do that. While diabetics are at a higher risk, it’s still a fact that it’s also diabetics who are elderly that are at the greatest risk. I hope no one out there in the NHL contracts the virus and develops severe symptoms. However it’s also probably true, without throwing out random statistics, that Domi’s chances of developing severe symptoms is only mildly higher than another 30 year old in the league.

Max is type 1 diabetic which means it was innate. I don’t think there’s a worse in this case between type 1 and type 2 as they’re both compromising immune systems. With that being said, the only people I’ve seen say things along the lines of what you have said here are generally those who are pessimistic about the Habs. I am not saying we should be wearing rose colored glasses (my prediction would be Pens in 4, though I really want to be wrong) but anyone who says what you are saying already thinks the Habs are out. I can’t take the comment that he should stay home even though he has been cleared to play seriously. There have been multiple teams (Luke Kenin on Minny) who have cleared diabetics to play and so I will have to say that those who are saying he should stay home are wrong. For what it is worth, I care about his health more than the team’s success, and I have someone very close to me who is on dialysis due to type 2 diabetes, and I still feel that way.

In the New World we are going to be banished for wishing ill on someone, but I would not mind if he could not make it for the play-in as well.