The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Could be. TBH I feel like the first 1/3 of the 21st century has been one big payment for the fabulousness of the second half of the 20th

We're going to lose to CAR because we always lose to CAR, especially when it matters. It's been that way for decades; that franchise is like Tampa Bay in that way. My main hope is that we lose in OT.

Yes, well, I think we agree, just with different emphases. I said would TRY to sign him at 5-6. If, as seems likely, he declines, then Plan B is to see how he does next year and go from there. The problem with Plan B is that Laine strikes me as exactly the type of guy who puts it all together in a contract year, gets paid big bucks, then reverts back to the mean. One headache at a time, though; and if he does have a big year next season, that will be very helpful to us in a year in which we need to do become a serious theat.

Laine is on a 32-goal pace, pro-rated for 82 games. I personally find it hard to sneeze at that kind of goal-scoring prowess. And I think the impression that he doesn't care is partly an offshoot of his skating style, which is very much of the 'Mario Lemieux' variety in the sense that he appears to be gliding around without effort - but when you look carefully you notice that he's covering a fair bit of ground. All the same, it's true that he is basically a PP specialist. To me, you can carry a guy like that provided he is on a reasonable contract and you don't expect too much out of him. Expectations are the problem, and on two levels. One is contractual expectations: I doubt he will be too happy to take a big haircut on his next deal. He is making almost $9 mil and is probably worth 5. The other problem is fan expectations. He probably wants $8-9 mil because he's PATRICK LAINE. And fans want him to play like an elite forward because he's PATRICK LAINE. But it seems like PATRICK LAINE no longer exists. What we have instead is this guy: a soft, often-injured, one-dimensional PP shooting machine. Personally, I would try to re-up him at $5-6 mil this summer IF MSL and Suzuki report that he is good in the room and a well-liked member of the team. I'd have trouble paying more than 6.

Again...Demidov was slated to go fourth. It was not ridiculous of MSL to assume that one of Suzuki, Caufield, and Laine would score. This whole issue is waaaaay overblown. My impression of Laine is that he is a player who is searching. He knows he has a crazy shot. But what else does he have? I think he is not too sure about that himself.

Laine is what he is, but I find he's looking frustrated and unhappy lately. I think he wants to be more productive, but to do so without paying attention to the gritty details and willingness to go to dirty areas. As for Monty, the guy made massive saves last night, I don't understand this argument that he is somehow 'not convincing.' As others have noted, I think this is the Price contrast rearing its head.

Yup, like you, I’m worried, and frustrated. This is a huge learning moment for this group. I think they took their eye off the ball and a combination of distractions (Demidov hooplah), fatigue, and immature complacency (‘we’re in, baby!!’) led to that shoddy and costly effort last night. They will need to refocus, and it will be hard to do on short notice. That’s why experienced teams always say ‘you can’t turn it on and off like a tap.’ I didn’t see a nervous team. I saw an unfocused one, slipping into the bad penalties and crap defensive play that are this group’s default position whenever they get away from a disciplined focus on the system.

I share your concern. In fact I was a little worried about a concussion there. Nick has an iron man streak going and that may lead to some bad decisions about keeping him in the lineup and, perhaps, usage within games. MSL probably defers to him, given that he is The Man, team leader, captain, etc. If Nick says “I’m good to go,” he goes, I’ll bet - and that’s not good if he really needs a day off. On the SO, using Demidov made sense, but again, he was fourth in the shooting order. It could be as simple as MSL assuming we were going to get at least one goal from frigging Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Patrick Laine. Hardly a ridiculous assumption IMHO. Let’s not go crazy in condemning the decision. I know that our odds are like 93% but I HATE, HATE, HATE the fact that we are now vulnerable to Columbus going on a modest win streak and that, if that happens, we will need a point against frigging Carolina. So frustrating that this team was not ready to play tight, focused hockey against a bad team.

Yeah, that last bit is the part I don’t understand. Seems like they were just throwing out the rule book in order to correct a mistake. 🤷‍♂️ The outrage over leaving Demidov on the bench for the SO is silly. He was slated to go #4 anyway. And Suzuki came within a hair of tying it with shot #3. If the Habs don’t go 0-3, MSL looks like a genius for setting up Demidov for the big moment.

A classic “young team” game. They got dazzled by all the hooplah, lost focus, never quite got it back. Once you’re in the SO it’s a toss-up. The key is to play solid team defence. That’s how they win.

CC - HUTSON WHAT A PLAY

That speedy and hardworking Newhook just drew a key penalty…now can we do something with it, for Pete’s sake?

One thing about this game is that it really underscores that we should have just drafted Nazar rather than trading for Dach

Godd*mn it

The signs were there in the first. Too loose, not focused, not playing responsibly. MSL needs to whip ‘em back into discipline. One strong period, we’re in the frigging playoffs

Demidov on the 4 on 4 and PP though…O.M.G.

I liked Demidov’s skating right away, from his first shift. I was like - hm, this kid can really move. Watching him that period gave me goosebumps. It made me think it might actually be possible to have a superstar FW on the CH…not a thought I have entertained in my adult life. As much as I’ve been cynical about the hysteria over Demidov, that’s what it really speaks to: a fan base that had decades of superstars and has had no such player (apart from goalies) since 1980 or so. Montreal is desperately hungry for that. That’s why the crowd was swooning over Laine in preseason. I’m not saying Demidov will be that guy, but after that period, I’m sure not gonna say he won’t!! That said, there were things I didn’t like about the team game in that period. Too loose in our end, as though caught up in the excitement. The main thing tonight is still to win and punch our ticket to the playoffs.

This absolutely what has to happen. The early signs are promising.

The hype is irrational (probably) and bugs me

Pezz is a giant inflatable outside the Bell Centre saying THIS TEAM LACKS NHL DEPTH. Sure, he has heart but he sucks. The sooner he’s gone the better.

Ahahahahahaa

Slaf is a big body and those guys often take longer to put it all together. Still, I sometimes wonder if he might be an example of the “too much too soon” problem. He goes in spurts where you see his A game, and the rest of the time plays a passive game, just happy to be here. Maybe if he had been forced to earn his spot and pay his dues, he wouldn’t float through 3/4 of every season.

What I don't get about this is the 'positional' aspect. Demidov is a LW, Zegras a C. I'd guess that, at the time, they were just looking to add talent at FW. They probably thought Dach was the #2C so they weren't too fussy about position. Now that Dach is a 220-lb question mark, wouldn't it be quite reasonable to circle back about Zegras?

Oh, 100%. I don’t really worry about paying them at all at this point - it’s a hypothetical problem. But in general: lock up your elite players without qualms. The main thing is first, to not pay plumbers like Gallagher and Anderson (both of whom I like, as players) to massive overpays, and second, to have a reasonably steady development pipeline providing you with an affordable supporting cast, so that you don’t find yourself in a position of needing to overpay to keep valuable third-liners.

We’re going to pay through the nose. Good thing we locked up Slick Nick and CC at what will look like fabulous rates once the cap goes up.