The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Posts posted by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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wow...Strome has about a half an hour alone with the puck in the slot. Allen made the save, but Lord amighty...
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14 minutes ago, tomh009 said:
And he's unlikely to be any better next season.
I guess everyone wants to see him hang around long enough to beat Gretzky's record. But if you ask me, there is something anticlimactic about the idea of this great player floating around as a shadow of himself just until he can do that. Gretzky had 90 points in his second last season and took his leave the minute he knew he could no longer produce at an elite level. Ovie's production this season brings to mind 99's final season: good by normal standards, but not up to the bar of his own greatness.
Two highlights for this period so far...Wifi destroying that guy, and Newhook potting one. Some good chances, but IMHO not a lot of intensity or stakes out there; a lacklustre game in that sense.
EDIT: the red on Allen's mask is not quite a match for the jersey and it bugs me. There, I said it.
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16 minutes ago, tomh009 said:
Observation: Ovechin is slow. Oshie and Strome look like they are coasting to let grandpa keep up with them.
Ovechkin has scored 6 games in a row. That gives him a grand total of 14 on the season.
This ain't the Ovie of legend.
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HNIC ding-a-lings debating whether kids today have enough "respect" for their elders 🙄 And oh yeah, Jack Hughes think he's a good player. News you need to know.
That is two pretty wobbly defences going at it tonight, that's clear.
On the first goal, the D left the Cap alone there, so I don't really blame Allen.
Great cannon from Wifi. That's the thing about the kid, he has more tools in the box than just his fists.
It's just wonderful to watch Slaf out there. He is playing with such confidence.
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It sounds like he is better thought of as an Erik Johnson *type*, in terms of offensive output. Maybe Tanev or even Boumeester (minus the super elegant skating) are other comparables.
That does reframe him a bit in my mind, since I was thinking he’d grow into a 40+ point type.
This conception puts more pressure on Hutson, Mailloux, and perhaps Reinbacher to evolve into a bona-ride PP QB and offensive driver from the back end - and seems to me to push our window back a bit, potentially. After all, none of those three have played a single game in the bigs.
(The other idea is that we end up with a blueline that has a bunch of quality D who can move the puck and eat minutes, but no traditional “#1 stud” defenceman. Not sure what the precedent is for winning the Cup with that model).
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Y’know, I was looking at Guhle’s totals this season - something I haven’t done in a while - I was a bit surprised. 14 points in 50 games. That’s much lower than I would have thought, based on ‘eye test,’ and actually a slight drop in PPG compared to his rookie season.
He’s 22. Still quite young, obviously. But - just to make conversation - is it possible that we’ve been overrating him? Most of us seem to think he is a potential top-pairing guy, but he’s on a 23-point pace in his second season and drawing, I assume, significant minutes. 🤔 Don’t come at me, I’m just asking.
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1 hour ago, Commandant said:
I see him getting a 1 year deal at like 1-1.5 million if bought out.
He took the money. Really i dont blame him at all for that, pro athletes have a limited time frame to get paid and he took his chance. I blame Dundon and Waddell but not KK on that. Looks good on them that its blown up in their faces while the guy they let go to make room (Trochek) has done much better than KK.
Would i take him back, its unlikely to be an option, and hes not my first choice for how to build centre depth. I just dont see where he fits.
I don’t blame KK for taking the money either. I’m happy to see him bomb out mostly because: first, ّI don’t want yet another former Habs prospect flourishing elsewhere while we’re left standing there with our collective dick in our hands; second, Carolina acted like a-holes for the offer sheet and subsequent taunting, so I am delighted it has blown up in their faces; and third, like I said before, KK never earned a thing (which bugs me, on principle).
As for fit, I assume he’s an upgrade on some of the garbage we have in the bottom six, although it’s not, I admit, clear that he is better than our existing C options.
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1 hour ago, GHT120 said:
He may well get bought out this offseason ... because of his age it would only be 1/3 the remaining contract over twice the term (rather than the usual 2/3 over twice the term) ... $835K for 12 years, saving almost $4M per year over the remaining 6 years of his contract ... it will be interesting to see which team makes him the best offer (be it in terms of $$, term or opportunity to "rehabilitate" his reputation), because more than one will take the chance ... if by some miracle Hughes can rid himself of Dvorak I would not be opposed to the Habs entering that mix for one year, despite what went down between him and Bergevin and Bergevin and Dundon.
I'd welcome him back as a bottom-6 option.
The problem is, KK is a kid who has always had things handed to him underserved: fat contract from Carolina, brought into the NHL at 19 without having earned it, etc. And I suspect this will continue...some team will give him a higher salary point than he deserves, based on "potential" and draft pedigree. And I assume that team won't be us.
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30 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
He's 27 and aside from 2021-22, hasn't been able to score much at all. I don't think the Habs consider him a core piece of their future plans. The 4C spot is one they'd probably like to get cheaper at.
27!! Damn, and I still think of him as a kid, LOL
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30 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
Good points, Lemieux's reach, puck skills and smarts made him almost unstoppable. Gretzky's genius lay in his great puck skills and hockey IQ, he didn't have the hardest shot and there were faster skaters but he was a hockey genius. I remember Dave Semenko talked about playing with him and what he learned was "never assume he doesn't know where you are on the ice." He had eyes in the back of his head.
I agree about Orr, almost hated him because he played for the Bruins but he could do it all and he was tough.
McDavid needs to win a cup. Perhaps unfair but I agree.
I don't throw the word "genius" around lightly. Hardly anyone is. Maybe Bob Dylan, in his realm. Maybe Steven Hawking, in his. And so on.
I truly believe Wayne Gretzky was a hockey genius. His mind just processed the game differently from anyone else, at a higher level no one else has ever attained. He did not have ANY of the attributes - speed, devastating shot, physical power - other great players have. He just had a hockey IQ that was off the chart. Genius is the only word for it.
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2 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
With Ylonen, I've always thought he's the type of player who has to have skilled linemates to succeed. Stick him on the fourth line with a centre who scores 5 goals a year and Pezzetta and it's not going to end well; he doesn't have the skill-set to elevate a group. He's a complementary player who can shoot and skate, and not a whole lot else.
But put him with a pure playmaker and he should have some success as a player that just gets to the open spots and is ready to fire. Accordingly, he might fit on a third line with a team with better depth with linemates that are more skilled offensively that will make the most of his shooting ability. In Montreal, they're trying to make him more of a two-way guy since they're putting him with players who most nights have no hopes of scoring. That's a role he has never had before and the end result has been a lot of mediocrity.
Fair points. I guess we'll see, in the end - assuming he manages to land a tryout with a better team.
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3 hours ago, GHT120 said:
I agree that "inter-generational" comparisons are difficult ... but @Prime Minister Koivu didn't say Goat or greatest, but most skilled ... as @Habs Fan in Edmonton said, and I agree, "What McDavid can do at high speed is unlike any other player I have seen" ... and I've been watching for over 50 years.
I agree that comparing players from different eras is futile. What I will say is that Mario Lemieux is the most talented player I have ever seen. He had everything. I don’t think he was a “greater player” than Gretzky, who was simply an offensive genius, or Orr, who transformed the game, but he was as complete a package as any player who has ever lived.
To my mind, the real compliment to McDavid is that his talent is in the same category as those guys. If he wants to be remembered alongside them, though, he needs a Cup. Maybe unfair, but it’s a fact.
15 hours ago, Commandant said:Im fairness, the Canucks are on a massive PDO bender so the other shoe is likely to drop at some point.
Absolutely correct, but I’m talking about this season. Instead of being ecstatic that they have a team that can go all the way, a critical mass of Canucks fans are hesitant to buy in - sure that a disastrous injury or a first-round collapse lies in wait. It’s the exact opposite of what would happen in Toronto, where they would be anointing this The Greatest Team of All Time. In February.
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Ylonen is an example of the kind of prospect that we, as fans, would have pinned huge hopes on in the era from Houle to Bergevin. He seems fast, smart, capable - almost a PPG in the A - so you think, “he should be able to do something.” And yet he is utterly unproductive, a total cipher at the NHL level.
I’m sympathetic to the idea that there is more there, but we should remember: he is currently playing on one of the worst FW units and one of the worst teams in the league. If he can’t make himself an important cog in that environment, is he really going to do better on a team that actually has quality depth at the FW position?
I think he may wind up being just another one of those washouts who seemed promising and yet never did squat.
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I liked the Kekaleinen hiring at the time. It seemed to represent a hiring from outside the circle of the usual, endlessly-recycled established hockey bosses. However, it’s pretty tough to argue that he’s been a success.
That franchise does seem cursed. Although I sometimes hear nice things about Columbus as a city, nobody seems to want to play there, going back to Rich Nash, and when one does (Goudreau) it blows up in their face. It’s a bit like Calgary, only worse.
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1 hour ago, DON said:
Canadiens GM Hughes discusses streaking Slafkovsky, rebuild progress ahead of trade deadline | TSN
“We’ve certainly acquired some players and used those draft picks. I think we need to continue down that path and continue to add to our group of established NHL players that can help take us to the next step that are in a certain age range,” Hughes said. “Big picture, those guys have to be younger players. Where we’re at is a combination of looking to add those players and looking to see where our guys go.”
More fodder for the speculation that our picks are in play, with a young FW the target
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8 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:
Ha! Note that Poile does not express regret in HOCKEY terms…he expresses it on a human level. Weber was a defining player for that franchise who was traded while he still had some good year left. 😉
I was absolutely appalled with the trade at the time. Turns out, it worked out for both teams, like a trade is supposed to. Subban aged out early, which mitigated a major advantage over Old Man Weber, while Weber - the very worst contract in all of hockey - suffered career-ending injuries before the contract could become a millstone. (This was a horrible turn of events at a human level, but a stroke of luck from a cap-management perspective). The result was that both players (a) were integral to Cup runs on their teams and (b) stayed on their teams for roughly the same number of years. In hockey terms, basically a wash.
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2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
I used to hear from Leaf fans all the time about how Palmateer was the best goalie in the NHL. Heaven forbid the Leafs win the cup again in my lifetime.
It's funny how different the culture can be within different fanbases. Leafs culture is marked by a critical mass of mindless fanboys ("THIS IS THE YEAR!!!!" every year). What makes it even more irritating is that this idiocy is magnified by the "national" (i.e., Toronto) media, HNIC, etc. Here in Vancouver, meanwhile, the culture is the exact opposite, marked by a chronic doom-and-gloom pessimism. Even now, with the team in 1st overall by a bullet, half the fanbase is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something has to go wrong...some disaster must be just around the corner... 😬
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15 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
And there are Leaf fans who still think Mathews is the best player in the world. Not even close.
Matthews is an incredible player, but no one outside of Leafs Nation seriously believes that nonsense.
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This is gonna sound bizarre, but somehow I feel like the Guhle non-injury is some sort of turning point. It breaks the pattern. Maybe our young core players are not going to keep getting obliterated season after season after all 🤷♂️
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44 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:
And Matthews scoring and waving his hands to fall fans is not disrespectful? I don’t have an issue with either, but this code stuff is bullshit! Would also have been disrespectful if he skated to the goal and let as much time pass as possible until the dman came over and than tapped it in? If Reilly has an issue, don’t be soft and let them score!
There is also a double standard within the Code, whereby players who are designated as Good Guys are allowed breaches with no criticism or consequence. E.g., Marchand gave the entire Vancouver building the "F U" sign when he scored to add to the Bruins' leader in Game 7 in 2011. No condemnation, no righteous denunciations on HNIC, nothing. Tiger Williams used to ride his stick after a goal in a total showboating, "disrespectful" move. He was celebrated for this by Mr Code himself, Don Cherry - because he was a Good Guy, nice and tough, etc..
On the other hand, PK Subban is mouthy and low-fives Carey Price? Well Jesus, was a punk, something should "happen to him" (Michael Richards). 🙄
So not only is The Code stupid. It's arbitrarily enforced.
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26 minutes ago, Commandant said:
Ok, the risk should be you get an opponent who is fired up and beats you the next game.
The risk shouldn't be that you get crisschecked in the head, or you get attacked, or you have to fight cause you scored a goal.
Agree.
If some guy violates The Code in a way that is completely harmless - we're not talking about a slew foot here - I think you yap at them on the ice, maybe dish out some (legal) hits, call them out on it in the media, and use it as motivation. (I could also handle seeing a Code-breaker challenged to a fight, admittedly).
Remember when Chara almost permanently cripped Pacioretty by driving his face into a stanchion? That was in response to Patches having the temerity to give him a shove after the Habs scored against Boston in a previous game. Patches violated The Code, so he deserved to be permanently handicapped. Or at least, that was the judgement of the Bruins and their cheerleaders in the NHL head office.
The Code can be enforced by condemnation and using breaches of it as rivalry fuel. Nobody needs to spit chicklets over it.
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1 hour ago, GHT120 said:
I have been an advocate for Mailloux spending the full season in Laval ... but I would be OK with at least calling up Logan to play with a Xhekaj on the 3rd pairing tomorrow against Anaheim.
Nothing wrong with giving a guy a brief taste of The Show as part of his learning process.
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35 minutes ago, Commandant said:
I look at it this way....
You can pay ___ Million for your top 3 centres.
Some team might be paying 13 million for matthews and 11 for Tavares and then have to go cheap on their #3.
Or McDavid/Draksaitl, etc
On the Habs could you pay 8 for Suzuki, 5 for Dach and 7 for mittelstadt and stjll come in cheaper and have more money for wingers and defense.
I like the philosophy...but it'll all come down to player evaluation. I'm not a prospect expert, but I find it a bit optimistic to project that Joshua Roy will be a 60-point player like Mittelstadt. In terms of 3rd-line C, though, are we better off paying Mittelstadt 5-6 mil per, or bringing Owen Beck along? Beck might not be as productive, but he'd be a lot cheaper for several seasons. We can call that "going cheap" but if Beck projects to become a quality two-way NHL C, then maybe we leave Mittelstadt alone.
On the other hand, he does provide some degree of organizational insurance if Dach turns out to be damaged goods. In some ways, that would be a stronger justification for acquiring him - because if Dach is indeed compromised, then the rebuild is hooped unless we have a Plan B.
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29 minutes ago, DON said:
Gotta admit, Armia has looked better for awhile.
10 Thoughts: Stars edge Habs 3-2, Harvey-Pinard is injured – HabsWorld.net
Third Star: Joel Armia (0g, 0a, 3 shots, 18:27 TOI) has been a changed man after his stint in Laval, and his play has earned him the confidence of Martin St. Louis, too, with over 17 minutes of ice time in each of the last four games. He had a great short-handed opportunity in the second that might have changed the outcome of the game, had he been able to get a good shot off on Oettinger.
It makes you wonder....had he just become too complacent, and the Laval stint woke him up? 🤷♂️
Game 55, Washington @ Montreal, 7PM EST, Saturday, February 17, 2024
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Suzuki is the man.
We got a goal on a phantom penalty, so it is 100% guaranteed the Caps will get a PP before long.