IN THE HEARTS OF MEN

all this talk and nobody seems to mention that MT didn't shy away from playing galchenyuk vs the best centre in hockey? crosby, and eller played a handful of minutes against malkin... chuck didn't stand out but didn't hurt us either! crosby didn't do much but alot of that could also be attributed to MT getting markov and subban pair which played fantastically btw against the line... and how about beaulieau and gonchar... maybe all beaulieau needed was more ice time with a father figure and who else to be a better mentor then the big ol'russian... is anyone on this forum still lamenting this move?? i think not... up next revenge on TB!!

DD looked pretty damn good on the wing as well... gallagher looked real fast tonight and really tough on the puck for such a small body. the team as a whole looked fast. when we play that high 2 man forecheck and defend our end at the blue line as a 5 man unit... look out cause were damn good!

i thought we had space for a 5 million dollar man at the deadline with current salary cap retro'd obviously

it would be interesting see our goal differential when you take out those 3 thrashings from TB calgary and chicago were we went like -15 i think

PG wasn't as bad at his job as we might think... he did help play a part in a lot of good things also before his ultimate demise. His team management skills were skeptical at best during the teams implosion that season and JM just didn't have it to get us through games any more. PK Subban was still to young to lead a team on his own on the backend and the team just seemed to always fall short by a single goal each and every game. As a team we were catching zero breaks. I truly believe that with the addition of markov the entire season the team would of been a bubble team and probably made the playoffs as an 8 seed again. thankfully that didn't happen as it fast forwarded us to today and PG is gone as well as host of others, and this team's infusion of youth and speed being a breath of fresh air that we have been craving. agree we need another legit offensive stud to really get the weight off of one line to produce each and every night.. the number 3 spot i think is beaulieau's for the taking and tinordi's eventual promotion will be that shutdown guy we all crave. patch galchenyuk gallagher ?? plex sekac DD eller paranteau prust malholtra weise bournival i still think the PP woes will correct as this 2nd half season unfolds..

the islanders this season with garth snow are very similar and reaping rewards as well.. halak, johnson, leddy, boychuk, grabovski and kulimen to name a few

he's playing with a chip on his shoulder is what I'm noticing. he wants the puck more which shows confidence, a swagger so to speak. its what always seems to be missing. if he keeps that swagger going, there is no reason to believe he won't stay in his current 4 spot.

guys... we used the 5th overall pick to draft a goalie!!! this goalie... that is unheard of in this modern NHL! carey price is special and he is just entering the dominant part of his career. these next 5 seasons will be the pinnacle of his talent and if MB is smart which i know he is, he will be going all in over these next few seasons! the habs time is now my friends! not 3 seasons from now.... but right now with carey price entering 27-31 years of age. with subban pacioretty galchenyuk and the veterans markov and gonchar... it is right now that i want to see something big in order to see another substantial asset brought in without removing current parts... we are close.. very close

agree totally. he also has struggled at times with hamilton this season. i don't think its an issue moving forward, as being surrounded by guys like subban markov and gonchar can only propel his game. i do think there is zero room for him since we have all of weaver allen, gilbert all on one way contracts

wow! no research was done here... just knowledge of the conference i enjoy following... just like you enjoy following your leafs or whatever team you truly route for cause it sure aint the habs... or so it seems! i believe! I am not sure who was crediting michel for the habs turnaround from a few seasons ago but it certainly wasn't me! (all though he did help give structure to a team that had lost its way since they lost there on ice general in markov). Also, considering 99% of us all knew it was just a mere blimp in the road. That single losing season was clearly not a reflection of the habs or who they have become but a mere anomaly. It makes me wonder your point unless it is about the fact we were to good to be lucky enough to draft 3rd overall and get galchenyuk to help propel us to contender status. back to that season, the anticipation of markov's return that season went on most of the year... he was suppose to return game 5, then game 15, then before christmas, after christmas until game 70 somenthing. this i believe played a huge part in the habs losing season along with a few others. I'm pretty sure we lost like a million games by 1 goal and led the league in that stat! in fact we led the league with the most OT losses as well. of course markov was the single biggest reason we improved the following season. i believe we were a 70% winning team prior to him going down in the years leading up to his injury. it is only logical that we would return to those winning ways once he returned... still though you make me laugh... Michel therrien knows way more then you do when it comes to running my habs... wayyy more!

i love him, this move i was all for since he returned to the the NHL. with that said, if we got him for free i am all good, but if we have to give up anything at all to get him then forget about it! 2 years to late if you ask me.

a healthy markov for sure....who finally isn't alone on defence.. price and subban leading the way...

you coincidentally leave out when mentioning MT getting canned that gonchar the league leader in points at the time i think 3 years running was out all season! the penns struggled immensely because they didn't go out and get a schneider or a wiznewski or to a lesser extent MAB to help mitigate an extremely potent power play with gonchar as well as the guy that was logging 25+minutes a night on the top pair!! So yes blysma came in and went 18-3 BUT it was at the exact same time gonchar returned from a 60 game injury!! who do you really think helped turn things around gonchar and his 60 points from the back end or the rookie Blysma who sat behind the bench and watched goncharset up a PP goal every night for the final 20 games of the season (pretty much) with malkin crosby and company... enough is enough... if your gonna make a point make it valid don't spit out part of the facts just to force feed your point.... remember how bad the habs are and were without markov and how there fortunes completely reversed the day he came back!! also, you have galchenyuk eased into 1st line centre as everyone wanted just as his 20 year frame has started to really fill in, you have beaulieau after all is demotions and pressure to get minutes finally work his way into the top 4 just before christmas... we have older veteran defensive depth/ presence to help push younger guys like beaulieau and emelin to not take a night off, you have dead wood like bourque pushed out the door diplomatically in favour of more young legs in sekac, moen a very useful player to help change a bad "culture" pushed aside in favour of a hab heart through in through with Wiese and family. If you ask me this management team INCLUDING THE COACH has a real plan and handle on getting this team younger, faster, stronger and most importantly better. they're already a contender i do say again and are moving forward, doing it with small steps seemingly one after another... so outside of a powerplay that i have suggested should of been fixed already given the the assets at there disposal... things are actually looking really good. i am starting to rout for MT "the underdog" as it seems whoever is coaching the habs any given year even though they are winning and are a top 5/10 team in the league seem to be incompetent compared to the invisible better coach available!! a couple points out of first led by the stingiest goalie in hockey and a team not yet firing on all cylinders especially without a PP. all this preceded by an ECF let down! not to shabby MT, not to shabby at all!!

i think it was sub ban's error on the goal not plex. brunstand sp? clearly had the step on plex who was back checking but subban who was playing zonal coverage at that point tried cheating and veered off to the side boards anticipating the dump in and left the centre ice unprotected... his anticipation was wrong, ekbland kept and passed, they scored and PK was caught in no mans land.

gonchar won't help? nope not at all...

i suggested as markov the defacto capitano but obviously not wanting it said patches would be the guy and was given a negative reputation. oooh the blessing of hindsight!

interesting post game talk from patches... says new rule is if gallagher gets a goal and pacioretty assists, he gets gallys towel.

subban galchenyuk pacioretty markov gonchar Give it a thought and by thought i mean a good half hour of in game action to get it going. Subban can surely play on the left boards on the PP and patches can play the other side, with galchenyuk in-between them. That would be a ridiculously talented group. Then you add those 2 grizzly russians who secretly envy tommy gilbert's hair and you got yourself a top 5 PP. I just think MT still hasn't given markov and gonchar enough in game minutes so far to really establish themselves because he's constantly having to get PK his minutes. Simply add him to the 1st line and really put all eggs in one basket so to speak on the PP... it will work... there is 3 one timers on the ice with gachenyuk down low in the right corner and markov up top on the left point. MT has to envision how well this could work... Also, the pens power play went from top 5 when MT joined to questionably 20th when he got fired at the exact same time gonchar was injured missed the first 60 games of the season... hmmm

or by default tinordi and beaulieau both high 1st round picks will get all the chances so far.... not saying pateryn is better or worse just saying that for all the chances given to those 2 and pateryn has yet to see even a game... and now to the next to impossible thought of firing MT even after he single handedly got galchenyuk a hat trick last night....

not true... he isn't racking up points but is playing solid hockey. he had a bad a game against the marlies a short while ago and got a penalty last game in OT that ultimately costed them the game on the PP but overall has played well. i said he has outperformed both beaulieau and tinordi in the games they played together... now i only watched 5 of the 8 games they all played together. sure you haven't cause all the talk is of nate the great and the big big tin man......

on another note pateryn continues to be over looked even though he looked like our best d-men when all 3 of nate, jarred and him were together playing recently. nate however has all the tools to having the highest ceiling

weaver will be back in the line up soon and MB will not just dump either of weaver and allen so yes beaulieau will be sent down unless a move is made not including the waiver wire. -eller rejoins team tangradi sent down -weaver returns beaulieau sent down... its the business of sports. good for beaulieau to show improvement in his game since his return albeit a small size....

it was a shitty 1st round for everybody but just a handful of teams price, crosby, kopitar, ryan, staal, rask, oshie neal, stasny, vlasic, mcquaid, letang bishop and quick only strong picks after 3 rounds give or take a few more

i do not recall marc stall potentially going at 5. i don't think he even broke the top 10. the talk i recall was brule, then we pulled the rabbit out of the hat and grabbed pricer. such a long time ago....

the 2005 draft class was horrible.... thank the heavens we had the smarts/ balls to take carey price in the 5 spot recognizing no real players on the table. imagine we drafted gilbert brule instead....