The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Interesting observation that Monty has a history of fading down the stretch. I hadn't realized that.

Guys like that have great value to contending teams on playoff runs, which is where we hope to be by then. Assuming no decline in their play - a big assumption indeed - we should keep at least one of them around. Of course I am always less confident than most that all prospects will automatically 'hit' and become regulars in the lineup. Ahahahahahaaa, even if the trade made a modicum of sense, I seriously doubt that Van will accept retention on that contract. That's not how their ownership rolls.

Just to be clear, I'm not, and was not, in a rage about it. I just found it a head-scratcher. Sometimes we these shootouts you can almost feel that it's lost before it starts. Caufield in particular just did not give me a good feeling right from his first step. Something in the body language, I guess. I wonder if he felt he'd had a poor game and was mentally not quite there.

Thanks for that traumatizing image. He’s reconfigured himself as a third-liner with some scoring upside. And frankly I think he is great in that role. If he were making $3 mil a year, he’d probably be one of our most popular players based on his play this season.

Oy, need my morning coffee. Fair point, I guess, on Devo. Partly guys like me and Habs29 are probably traumatized by the Ray Bourque incident in 1998

As we’ve discussed before, the Montreal fanbase has a culture of being too hard on rushing defencemen in general, unless they are elite-tier. Mattheson is a good second-tier offensive D-man. He gets disproportionate grief for his limitations. I’ve had my issues with these stat cards on many occasions, and while I agree that Savard sucked last night, WiFi had a strong game IMHO. In fact I remember thinking to myself that he has really steadied himself out over the course of this season and appreciating that he was playing quality minutes. That epic fight helped too. On Suzuki, I noticed the long shifts too, and wonder if he is stretching out his own shifts. If so, MSL needs to rein him in. Not least because it sets a terrible example. Dvorak in the SO was lunacy but Devo HAS been a hot hand of late. Probably a case of a coach overthinking it. You’ve got Laine on your team, FFS. The Habs mostly looked sort of out of it in the shootout if you ask me. They didn’t seem to come at the G with conviction. Then again I generally dislike it when guys play it slow, which they all did. Move with speed, like a breakaway, would be my modus operandi; but I have no idea what the stats show about that.

I thought we were outclassed for all but about 10 minutes of this game, but that 10 minutes was enough to score three goals. The funny thing was that, after we tied it up, Colorado reverted right back to controlling the play. Weird. The Avs look like a very strong team - but you have to wonder about a team that suddenly craters in the third like that. Hella comeback by a spirited Habs group. That point *might* prove huge in the end; we shall see. Where has this Dvorak been for the past four years? It’s like he’s suddenly gotten interested. Josh Anderson. Unappreciated because he’s overpaid, but I just want to put in a word for him. He battles every night and I guarantee you other teams hate playing against him.

Since I don't agree that Monty lets in 1-2 questionable goals per game as a matter of course, I don't accept the premise that his last couple of starts have been representative of his play. He is 7th overall in saves above expected, so the stats seem to bear this out. NHL Goalie Advanced Stats 2024-2025 To say that Monty is a legit #1 does not entail saying that he should be starting 60+ games per season. As I've noted a few times, his current season workload is way higher than in any past year of his career. The logical conclusion is NOT that he's 'truly' a mediocre goalie who has somehow fooled everyone, but that he may, indeed, be flagging due to overuse. I still have a weird feeling he's going to show up big tonight. But we need to rest him thereafter.

I agree, although for some reason I have this irrational feeling that Monty is going to come up big tonight. But either way, I rest him next game for sure.

Yeah, Monty needs to recover his A game and fast.

There is no question which is the stronger team. Hopefully they take us lightly and we can catch them on an off-night.

Gallivan was just slightly before my time, but what seems to have separated him from the pack was that - in addition to timing, varying intonations, a feel for the game, etc., which lots of good play-by-play guys possess - he had a genuine interest in the English language. There are a number of contemporary hockey broadcasters and TV commentators I respect, but none have a real skill a turning a memorable phrase. The closest we have is the tiresome Ron MacLean with his endless supply of puns. From the sublime to the asinine.

OK - just to clarify, he was a garbage player for us. A soft, unreliable perimeter player. I'm sure he's a decent human being.

Epic GDT! Funny, I was just thinking yesterday that if the Habs had re-signed Danault and Lehkonen - both heroes of the Run of '21 - we might never have bottomed out and needed to rebuild. Weird how things go. Drouin, I could care less, he was garbage from start to finish with us and obviously needs to be in a specialized, hothouse flower environment with minimal pressure, where he can pad his stats. This is a game of gargantuan proportions. GO HABS GO!!

We can’t dress Monty for the next 14 games. (His career high in starts is 41. If he starts until Game 82 of this season, he’ll be at 64 games. It would hardly be surprising to see him fading down the stretch under these conditions. I’m a big Monty fan, but he’s not Carey Price). At some point Dobes will have to draw in. There are not going to be ‘unimportant games’ for the foreseeable future, so one game or another, it doesn’t make much difference. We have to roll the dice on Dobes eventually. Dobes strikes me as the kind of kid who, at this stage of his career, will have big games fuelled by adrenaline, then falter as he shifts to a stead day-in-day-out workload. So apart from sheer necessity, I’m OK with throwing him in here and there and managing Monty’s workload.

I know he didn’t play during the Four Nations, but he wasn’t on vacation like the rest of the team either. And he’s never played this many games in his career, setting aside the Four Nations. Definitely time to give him a breather.

F**k

Man this is exciting sh*t

Alarming push by Isles here

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted Gallagher to score a goal so badly as I did in that moment

I hear ya. They do have a killer goalie who is in the zone tonight

I’m sorry but the Habs are just a much better team than NYI

I have to say, Roy does not radiate calm on the bench - he looks stressed-out and nervous.

Pretty dangerous PP, no joy though

YESSSS Slaf was not in the damned crease, the end