The Chicoutimi Cucumber

I wouldn't be outraged by a 2-year extension. Put him on notice that you want to see an effectively retooled blueline or else. See if he can pull another 2021-style rabbit out of his hat. I agree that Suzuki is an excellent young player who may well top 70 points eventually. Caufiled, who knows, may become a 30-40 goal guy. Or may not. What I'm saying is that - although I make no claim to being a prospect expert - I for one do not see the nucleus of a Cup contender in this organization. I don't hear anyone looking at us and going "whoa, just wait 2-3 years, they'll be dea

According to this site, there are 60 active Quebec-born players in the NHL. https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/province/active-nhl-players-born-in-quebec-career-stats.html In a 32 team league, that's an average of 1.88 players per team. The Habs are actually above average in this respect, especially when you consider that not everyone in that list of 60 is actually a roster lock. Also, it is not 100% clear that non-francophone Quebecers really "count" when idiots like Legault pontificate about the lack of Quebecois on the team. Finally, the Habs have WAY more francophones

“Competitive,” sure. But competitive like the Habs-Blues series of 1969 (3-4 close games, all won by one team)? Or close as in, a 7-game nail-biter? I think the former outcome is more likely, but don’t rule out the second. That said, some commentators are talking about this series in the same “over in 3!” tones that they spoke about the Washington series in 2010. That is often a bad sign for the favoured team, especially if its players start believing their own media cheerleaders.

I said a paucity of *elite* talent. The Habs (except during the Lefebvre era) have seldom had any problem generating a pipeline of serviceable players. In organizational terms, we are subtracting elite-level Price and Weber and replacing them with...nobody comparable. That’s why I say that sustained mediocrity is the likeliest outcome.

Barring some miraculous summer GMing, this is may well prove to be Price’s last chance to do something in the postseason in a Habs’ jersey. So I would count on him being as good as post-2016 Price gets.

I think it is premature to say he’s “done a good job” with this reset. We may have some grounds to think that they finally fixed the developmental system after Bergevin did massive damage by clinging to that patent failure Lefebvre for five (!!!) years. But Weber and Price are only going to get worse (and they are already pretty terrible); even the mighty Petry is turning 34; and as far as I can see there is a paucity of elite talent in the pipeline. The vaunted Romanov is a fine young D-man but doesn’t seem to have anything like elite offensive creativity in his arsenal. KK may or may not eve

Well...on one level, yes. The rational money is on the Leafs to win in 4-5 games. I think 5 games is a very realistic projection. But remember The Bubble? The playoffs are a different game. Plodders like Weber, Chiarot and Edmundson are liable to see their effectiveness spike upward as all sorts of clutching and grabbing are suddenly permitted by the idiot refs. The Habs are also getting back veterans like Weber, Gally, and Price who seemed weary for good chunks of this season, but now will - ironically - benefit from the rest provided by long-term injuries. Of course, they could a

This racist dumbass should shut his ignorant pie hole. I’d tell him to stick to things he knows something about, but that would remove all available subjects of conversation.

I find this post depressing. Keep him, because the team has excuses (most of which apply to every other team)...keep him, because his replacement could be worse...Is this really what it’s come to? Is this the sum total of our aspirations for the once-great Montreal Canadiens, i.e., that we’re happy to “get in” with a team that has looked insipid for 4/5 of the season? That we keep a GM with a track record of failure because his replacement could turn out to be a Houle-like clown? Why is it so hard for the Habs to build a contender? Many other franchises seem to do it. Some have eve

But if we lose in 5, that’s somehow OK - ? As for the Leafs, they do have a track record of playoff failure. Unfortunately, I tend to see that as a group that has undergone all the right growing pains. Humiliations often precede ultimate victory. They are genuinely dangerous.

That game was kind of a microcosm of the Habs’ season - adequate but unsatisfying. I still want them to pass Winnipeg, but have zero confidence in this group accomplishing anything but the bare minimum.

First of all, we should remember the "LA Kings" scenario according to which this team suddenly looks like contenders once the playoffs start. It's a long shot, but remains a possibility. Let's say, though, the Habs do get smoked. Do we fire MB? What's paradoxical in this is that Bergevin is coming off his best off-season in 9 years as a GM - by a country mile. After years of letting gaping roster holes fester, and watching the team getting progressively worse over his tenure, he suddenly sprang into impressive action. He has been the Habs' true MVP in 2021. If it were n

I’ll just put my cards on the table and say that it is a good thing to have some women’s voices in hockey and on the signature national broadcasts. Cassie Campbell and Jennifer B. were both pioneers of the women’s sport who played it at a high level for years. Neither is what I’d call a Grade-A analyst, but they are both better than many of the clowns and gasbags that have wasted those seats over the years, e.g., Glenn Healy. The entire culture of the NHL as a giant club for white hetero male “Good Canadian Boys” is tired, boring, and long past its best-by date anyhow as far as I’m concerned.

It's apparently well-documented (although I haven't seen the data myself) that men disproportionately interrupt women. I get the whole "he's treating her as an equal" idea, but we have to be attuned to the gendered dimension here. Is she getting cut off more than the other guys on the panel? That would be the question.

Right - if he is chronically cutting her off, then that should definitely be addressed by management; but their approach should be "formative," i.e., non-disciplinary. He is, after all, still learning the gig, and is probably unaccustomed to working with female colleagues as equals, considering that pro hockey is an all-male milieu.

I seriously doubt Bieksa received any negative consequence at all. There is a big difference between defending reprehensible play on the ice and having a #metoo moment or slagging immigrants.

He has not shown himself to be anything special at all. Zero reason to believe in him whatsoever. Whether there are any superior options who are also bilingual is a different question. Petry looked terrible with the extra man, for some reason. I enjoyed Bilbo’s smart and shifty play, Anderson’s jam, the major minutes for Kulak, KK’s massive hit (he needs to do so much more of that!!), and that Suzy continues to look good. But on the whole this was an uninspiring and deflating effort - losing to a Leafs team that was only half-motivated. Gawd. I agree re: Bieksa the co

All I can say is that Allen was the signing that saved the season. We all knew he would help, but who knew he would be the Habs’ #1 for half the season? Without him it would have been 2016 all over again.

Hey, I used to love hockey fighting too. Those Kordic-Miller duels were epic. I also used to love boxing. The trouble, for me, is what we have learned about concussions over the decades. Now when I see fights - and even worse, deliberate assaults like what Wilson did on Panarin, or that pig Chara on Patches - all I see is a young man suffering permanent brain damage. There is absolutely nothing entertaining in that as far as I’m concerned.

Here is an optimistic take on things. You look at this team, they have been consistently in a playoff spot all season. They have a lot of old guys and may well be highly playoff-directed. So, the motivation in the regular season drops off; their entire aim is to just survive the season until the games really matter. Even though this group has been pretty insipid since the first dozen games, they have yet to end up in any real trouble in the standings. Instead they come up with 1-2 big wins when they need them, then revert back to plodding mediocrity. So, once the bell rings for the

Probably a good idea

Indeed. Why are we acting like it's up to us? His peers gave it to him, it's an awesome nickname, let's hope it sticks!

No, no - I agree that sometimes it can work. But I really believe that, as with most things, following a patient path upward through the system is better than just throwing people into the deep end. The point is that KK is a 3rd overall pick who right now appears to be on a path to becoming a 40-point 3rd-line C, and that that was NOT the expectation when he was drafted. Assuming no substantial leap in his performance is in the cards, then either the Habs blew the pick, or they mishandled his development by bringing him up to soon. Neither is a good look.

OK - let's just close down the farm system, then, since clearly it serves no developmental purpose 🙄

It would be easier to take if the Habs were able to grab an elite talent in the first round once in a while, FFS. It hasn't happened since they got MacDonagh and Patches in 2007 (!) - unless we consider Sergachev an elite talent, which won't make anyone feel any better. Maybe Caulfield will buck the trend of first-round disappointment. Let's hope.