xXx..CK..xXx

Kaberle, Traverse, Ninimaa... and whomever they were paired with.

There’s also the issue that it’s not hard to somewhat hide some mild symptoms if you want to work. If you only get tested when you show symptoms, well maybe there would be some players who wouldn’t want to get tested while simply having a “runny nose”.

It’s to each their own but I do not personally understand how it is fun to jinx one’s own team into losing. I mean, the tankers are emotionally attached to the prospect of obtaining one player in the future, or as you have put it, two. On the other hand, losing on a repeated basis could potentially have an impact on the 20 players who are already on the team. I understand that I am in the minority on this board in this circumstance so feel free to do you, but when I see Tampa Bay fans cheering as though it’s a playoff game against our team, I don’t really think they care if our team is tanking. They are simpy happy to demolish our team. I can’t imagine our players enjoy the atmosphere in an opposing building when we are losing as well. I am a very calm and patient person but I know If I were a player on the team, I would be pissed off at the way we lost last game, and who knows how that can impact the psyche of some of the players on our team. Sure, it can be spun into the reality that effort is more important than the result in the longterm but I personally feel as though people who think it’s a good thing that our team loses are only looking at one micro aspect of the grand scheme of things. We have Hughes, Dahlin, Lafreniere, Hischier, McDavid, Mackinnon, Matthews, a plethora of other Edmonton picks at the number 1 recently and how many of those teams have been competitive in the playoffs? I admit, I would be happy to have any of those players on our team but it ‘s not like it has led to anything great for those teams so in my humble opinion it seems like a waste of time and energy to actively route for our players to lose. I understand that I won’t change any minds but it’s just my perspective on the topic.

After we missed that breakaway/great chance I stated out loud that we lose about 94% of these games at that point in time. It seems biased but I felt impending doom at that point and it seems to happen to our team all too often... Not only this year. As for the whining part, I would have much preferred they call the penalty on the Habs player, as they should have, than have allowed the goal against. As soon as Evans touched the puck (or whichever Hab touched the puck first) the play would have been whistled dead.

Aren’t you just trying to jinx the team on a repeated basis?

We’ll see what happens. Tampa is definitely the favourite!

ConMichael McPezzetta

USA forfeits their 2:30pm EST game today versus Switzerland as a result of positive Covid-19 tests and the resulting mandated team quarantine.

Such a weird thing to go on about in this thread. Trading him does nothing to guarantee that he will win a cup. We may as well let him try to win one here. That should be the goal for Gorton. edit: I don’t need to delve any more into the topic because it becomes personal, but fans like yourself play the odds and make blanket statements such as “Price won’t win a cup with the Habs” and tend to rub it in when it becomes a reality. Sure, many want the Habs to become the Habs of the glory days, but quite Frankly 31 teams won’t be winning the cup in a given year, so it is ridiculously easy to state such a thing and then act like a know it all once it comes to fruition. With that being said, we even had some of those same comments on here last year, prior to our Stanley Cup appearance, and some of those posters (or one) never returned once we made the cup final. The point of all of this? Price can win a cup as a Canadiens. Will he? That’s entirely up for debate and another question altogether. However, no one knows the answer. That is why we watch the games.

Yes, it’s good to have some veterans around as we reorganize. Especially those who are enthusiastic to be around the big hockey city market... à la Toffoli.

I think Pittsburgh are the favorites to win.

I’d like to keep Toffoli and hope we do.

We also lost Perry and Staal. One was more valuable than the other but just saying.... There’s even Paul Byron. It’s not like he wore an “A” or anything...

Roy certainly will.

No thank you when it comes to trading Price.

I’m going to say this half way through the game. Isn’t Toffoli supposed to be a force against the Canucks?

Okay, understood. Sorry about that. It’s all good to reminisce though. Especially considering he just got fired. And you definitely made your point that he certainly wasn’t the worst gm in the world, as many had liked to portray throughout his tenure.

As my thoughts continue.... My general sentiment is that on either end of the spectrum, there is and has been too much emphasis and focus placed on Marc Bergevin. The team’s successes and failures are much bigger than him. Of course the general manager plays an important role in the composition of the lineup however when I look at the top and see teams like Pittsburgh and Washington, I think of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. These are players who have been on their respective teams for 15+ years. Pittsburgh and Washington have been through multiple GMs in that timespan. Furthermore, there was nothing in Bergevin’s power that could be done to prevent Pittsburgh and Washington from having those type of players. This is simply my point, in that there are a large amount of factors that are being overlooked with this data. Who has been the player who gives our team the main perceived recipe for success? Carey Price. Also here for 15+ years and longer than our GM’s tenure. Had Carey Price maintained a super human level at any point, the Habs may have a cup and it would have had little to do with Bergevin. This can obviously only be said in retrospect considering we did not win, and I understand that. On the other end of the spectrum, having Carey Price, our best player on the team, has nothing to do with Bergevin, so how does he deserve credit or angst for his performance? I apologize that it comes off as attacking the hard work put in, as it is not intended that way. It is true, however that the tables were started with an agenda in mind and while I am on the same side of the fence that Bergevin was an average GM, rather than the worst GM in the league, I think that the debate is still up in the air and basically anyone can have their own opinion on the topic.

Confused about your last line. Who’s getting worked up? And why should we move on? He was just fired. Seems reasonable to discuss the topic.

I was asked yesterday whether Bergevin was a good or bad GM. After a slight pause, I came to the conclusion in my own head that Bergevin was just about an average GM. I don’t think that just because Montreal would be 12 or 13th out of ~30 teams on these tables, it would mean Bergevin was without a doubt an “above average” GM. There are too many factors which can be overlooked. Including the fact that based on those statistics he likely inherited an above average team. There are also injuries (to our team and others), unforseen circumstances, exceeding expectations, underachieving, global pandemics, etc. etc. etc. Long story short, the Habs may have been a slightly above average team under his tenure but similar to the fact that I never placed disastrous play from our team solely on Bergevin’s shoulders, I wouldn’t be able to state that he is 100% the reason for the team’s statistical output. The players and coaches’ actions and efforts on any given day are simply out of Bergevin’s hands, despite him being the one at the helm. This is coming from someone who defended Bergevin much more than attacked him, so I have no agenda here. With all that being said, we’re not far off. You see him as an above average GM, and I have him just about average. Not the end of the world, nor nothing to throw arms up in a fit about.

Well, that’s a decade in the record books.

Yes, until we land the 4th pick and draft someone worthy of being a late first rounder.

I’m not as big on the draft as other people until it is actually happening. Then of course I want the Habs to have access to every elite prospect. It’s not something within my personality that can be changed, nor do I really care to. Even if all the smartest talking heads will always repeat that tanking is a better option, I will always be one that enjoys the entertainment value of every single game, and winning is more entertaining. I also disagree with tanking in general and especially this early in the season. It’s been said ad nauseum but tanking ensures nothing, including actually getting access to the first overall pick, and with our recent high end picks leading to literally nothing in more than one circumstance, it’s simply never worth putting myself through the agony of defeat in order to think about the potential, albeit unlikely benefits that losing will provide for us in the future.

All I know is that I will never hope for a loss.

Poehling > Danault