Sir_Boagalott

No way in hell 6'-2" 205 is the beginning of big. 6'-2" 205ish isnt "big" at all. Half the NHL is 6"-6"2 200-205 lbs . Moen is 6'2" and he's 215 and Moen isnt even "big". However Moen is "big enough". The players that are Moens size are big enough to hit, injure, win fights etc against the 6"-6"2 200-205 lbs guys. Also at 6'2" 215+ lbs they can still hit, injure, and fight guys that are a lot bigger. Think of UFC. The 6'2" 215+ guys are Brandon "the truth" Vera. They cant pretend to be heavy weights but the truth is they are really only light heavy weights. They dont need to cut much to make 205. Lats is way big? Is Mike Grier huge too at 6'1" 225? Guys like Lats and & Grier might be big, but their not really big, they are just big for their size. They dont have the height to be really big. They are just really strong, its not like they have the reach of 6'-4"+ guys. Cube had a lot of weight for his size too. I wish Bob had tried to get Antropov, he's big at 6-6 230, but he's far from really big. Theres lots of guys like Komi, Artyhuken etc that are 6'-4" 240 lbs + Kopitar is 6'-4" 221. Is he huge compared to Lats? Not really but while Kopitar might be a bit lighter he'd have a lot longer reach. Dont think thats important? watch some highlights of E Staal, Malkin, etc. I still swear E Staals stick is illegal length, watch when he scores and raises his stick over his head.

umm, how and why do people consider Chips big? While he isnt small per se, he sure as hell isnt big. Nobody claims Laps is "big", but they are the same size. Its like when the Habs got Lang, and everybody cheered because the Habs hadnt had that much size up the middle in years. Ya, 1 year, Bonk is the same size as Lang. Hands down, Kopitar.

It was a really good period but 2 blunders by Gorges in the same shift wrecked it all. We're lucky its not 4-1 thanks to Gorges being soft on Avery and letting him walk around him in the corner that started a prolonged cycling sequence for the Rags. The CBC announcers are on crack if theyre saying it was Gill, it was Gorges. and Gorges bobbled the puck and lost it, then Plex picked it up and had a unsuccessful clearing attempt. Just because buddy made a nice play to keep it in doesnt mean the clearing attempt was weak. Later when the puck went behind the net Gorges should have got it long before it reached the Rag who passed it out front but Gorges lallygagged and a goal was scored.

No way, it was Gorges who messed up is how Plex ended up with the puck and buddy make a nice catch to keep it in, and then Gorges again when the puck went behind the net to the Rags. Gorges didnt skate hard after the puck so it went right to the Rags.

balls, Gorges strikes again. This could be a long game if he doesnt wake up.

wth was that Gorges. Hit him damn it. First of all its Avery, he's small, secondly, its Avery. Smoke him. That whole sequence could have been stopped before it started had Gorges not let Avery get around him and start it up.

D'oh D'Ags should have let Metro shoot. Oh well.

I would have tried to sign MAB to a 3 yr 3 mil contract. When he gets over 40 pts this year nobody will wonder why. Lil Metro is no super star but he is a great 4th line C for the money he gets. Bob should pick up more guys off waivers.

Congrats Halak. Halak was really good in the last game, he should be on a roll now. It usually takes him several games to get used to playing regularly and he seemed to be "in the zone" in the last game. Hopefully they keep going with Halak and he keeps it up. Halak usually does when he is on his game. C'mon Habs make it a streak tonight. Only this time no overtime. Get cheap Habs, stop giving away free points.

The Atl game was the 1st game I didnt see AKosts stop the puck on his stick before releasing it, so thats definitely a great sign. Watch the elite snipers, none of them stop the puck on their stick before shooting, and they all shoot on the move etc, and AKosts simply hasnt been doing that until the Atl game. Think aboot it: How many high light reel goal have you seen Ovie shoot on the move and shoot through the defenders legs using them as screens? I've seen Ovie do that probably 20 times, and thats just in Wash vs Habs games. How many times have you seen AKosts do that? None. The key to most of the elite snipers shots is their quick release, they can get a shot off on the move etc and startle the goalie because they cant telegraph the shot coming. Every time AKosts stops the puck and sets for a shot the goalie knows a shot is coming and is set for it. Thats why AKosts isnt scoring, all the goalies completely know when he is aboot to shoot. AKosts needs to be releasing the puck in .1 seconds, and not stop the puck 1st taking 1.1+ seconds. AKosts is giving the goalies to much time to react.

I always said that AKosts shouldnt play with Kovy for that exact reason. AKosts has a wicked shot but he's gotten used to feeding his sniper vet idol Kovy who is no longer here. Hell I even think Plex was doing similar trying to pass to Kovy in the Atl game. Plex had several great cross the crease passes to nobody but thats where Kovy used to camp out. AKosts did look a lot better in the Atl game, at least he started releasing the puck faster. For some silly reason this year he seems to always stop the puck before he shoots it. He needs to just release the puck as fast as he can because it catches the goalie off guard. When he stops the puck 1st the goalie has time to set and knows a shot is coming. AKosts quick release is what makes his shots really dangerous so he needs to start shooting more on the move, using other teams dmen as screens, etc and not stopping the puck before he shoots. AKosts clearly doesnt need to have the puck set to be able to blast it but he keeps doing that almost every time he shoots.

I know, people are silly. I'm pretty sure the 25 fastest skaters in the NHL could get around the fastest backwards skating dman basically every time. People get beat, it happens. Gill defnitely isnt the fastest backwards skating dman. Dont forget that even the best dmen in the NHL make mistakes and goals are scored when they are on the ice. Its true.

No doubt. Colby Moore is a 1 hit pony. It might be a "clean hit" but its extremely unsportsmanlike and should be illegal. All he is doing is head hunting and he's done that exact premeditated move on a lot of people. Think aboot it: If you are in the right corner and go behind the net you are going to come out on the left side behind the net. All Colby does is he hangs out around the hashmarks gliding in towards the left side of the net timing timing it for when the guys come out behind the net and then takes their heads off. I could do that move every time, anybody could, but nobody should be, it could be career ending.

Like I said in a different thread Halak usually needs several NHL games to start looking good. Halak is definitely looking good so far. IMO Gui has always made a lot of untimely and pointless hits just for the sake of making a hit. Not sure whats up with Laps. I'm more worried aboot Laps. Did he get pissed off over last year so he didnt train at all this summer or what?

Theres been a lot of penalties so far, and none IMO have been worth being penalized. What did MAB do? Shouldnt the Atl guy got the penalty?

I dont completely disagree with what you are saying, you seem to be the closest I've seen posted yet. All the people complaining abot letting UFA's walk are a tad confused IMO. Sure, trade Souray, Striet, Komi, etc, then what? umm more draft picks they dont know how to use or develop, great idea peeps. Then it would be the GM who cried wolf every year. i.e. Bob sells the "this year we will compete", then at the trade deadline deal the players who were needed to compete with? Bob would most likely already been fired by now had he done that once, let alone twice or 3 times like everybody in hindsight says he should have done. After all the Habs would have won the Cup several times had Bob not traded away Souray, Striet, Komi, etc. Now think aboot Bobs trouble signing UFAs. Do you think Mara, Gill, Moen, etc would have signed with the Habs if they routinely shipped off all the would be UFAs at the trade deadline? The problem isnt letting UFAs walk at all. The real problem is Bob signing slightly better fillers than the 1's in Hamilton. Think aboot it: the Habs lost Grabs because of Smoke and Chips still isnt ready and is possibly ruined, Stewart still isnt ready because of Kosto, OB could be further along if not for Brisbois, Dandy took another AHLers spot so theres another prospects spot gone, etc. Basically all of Bobs filler signings should never have been done. Thats the problem, it leaves the prospects in the AHL to long and the end up rotting and not improving to there should have been potential. Now consider this: if the Habs are going to go with Price hell or high water and he doesnt look like a Stanley Cup goalie than why is Bob signing guys and selling the we will compete nonsense? As long as they are going with Price no matter what than as many prospects should be playing for the Habs as possible. Sure the team would be nowhere near as good, but thats how you build a perennial cup contender - by sucking for a few years and letting the prospects get NHL experience so when you do get to draft in the top 5 all of your previous draft picks have several years of NHL experience. Look at the Hawks and Blues. They started playing quite a few rookies, which led to them getting several great high picks (who werent NCAA and acould actually play right away), and the rookies they used to get the high picks now have several years NHL experience and are almost considered vets now. Its the fillers Bob keeps signing that's messing things up. Not failing to trade away would be UFAs.

Mcdonagh still has 2 years of NCAA, and then will still most likely need at least 1 year of AHL before he's NHL ready. Consider this: Lindros looked great in a league of kids and bowled over all of them while skating with his head down. Who's to say at this point that Mcdonagh will look as good in a league where theres lots of men that are his size or a lot bigger? Kramer kicked ass in karate against kids but if he was put against people with the same size, strength and skill he wouldnt look so impressive. You are right though that Mcdonagh could come back to haunt us in a huge way if he does pan out. The Rags already have young prospects Staal, Del Zotto panning out, and vet Redden is signed till 2013/14. Gilroy and Girardi are 24-25, so they have several young dmen already in NHL, and even more in the AHL. Hmm, wow, hockeysfuture says Del Zotto is actually ranked 5th (7.5c) for NYR prospects, and McDonagh is 3rd (8c), but Del Zotto is 19 and is playing right now. See, NCAA picks who are off to college for 4 years is a waste. The Habs need players now, not 4 NCAA years + X AHL yrs from now if they actually become good enough. All Habs 1st and 2nd rd picks have to be available to the Habs within 4 years of being drafted. If McDonagh is actually better than Del Zotto, he is wasting his own time in the NCAA. Why do high drafted prospects bother to go off to college? Its dumb. Sure they get a degree, then they attempt a NHL career for 3-4 years. If I was hiring people I would hire a person that got a degree 3-4 yeas ago who has actually been in their field since they graduated, or someone who is right out of college over a person who graduated 3-4 years ago and has 0 job experience in that field who was playing sports and would forget a lot of it or not been keeping up with any changes in that particular field.

wow, PJ Stock almost made me puke with what he just said on After Hours: "going back to last year including the playoffs, Price has won 2 of his last 13 starts. :puke:

Sure, they have no 1st, but like you say they have a "few" prospects in the system. How many do the Habs have? Its truly scary but the Laffs have completely out drafted Timmins by far over the last few years. Its true, and its not because of draft picks traded away either. The Laffs have 1 guy in the OHL right now thats NHL ready now, and no he's not off to the NCAA after the OHL. I honestly think the Laffs might pull off a playoff birth if they become smart enough to call Kadri up.

Yep. But like it matters if nothing changes the pick will be NCAA for 4 years. :puke: Thats why I like Belle, Timmins didnt pick him.

Why does it seem that when the puck is passed to a Habs on their wrong side they are cocked and ready for a 1 times, but when its a tape to tape pass they always receive the pass instead of 1 timing it?

Reminder for the upcoming PP: PP only last for 2 mins, so shoot the damn puck!! They looked like they were PK out there on their last PP.

jeez, they look lost defensively out there. Whats with the insistance to all be watching the same guy? Sure you need to be watching the puck somewhat, but you have your own guy to be covering too. They keep making bad silly decisions.

I liked what I saw too. That goal was a complete fluke accident, totally not his fault. Belle had 1 nice shit from the point, which looked harder and more precise than any shot I've seen Weber do so far this year, and people say Weber has a great shot. I definitely would like to see Belle get the opportunity to take more shots to see if he has a consistent hard shot with accuracy from the point. The Habs need somebody with a hard shot from the point who can get pucks through to the net.

I agree with Wamsley and brobin. Theres no reason why Price didnt stop that one. It could have reflected off every player 10 times and if a goalie doesnt have his 5 hole closed and you can slide a curling rock through it how are all the deflections a legitimate excuse for not doing 1 of the most basics goalie moves and resembling swiss cheeze? Every goalie in the AHL probably would have stopped that, and most in the ECHL probably would have to. Think aboot it. Price is down on his knees on the ice, sure the puck deflects twice, but the pucks not that high off the ice ice and somehow it goes right through Price so the deflections are and excuse? It reminds me of last year when 2 Habs laid down to block a shot and somehow the puck slid right under both of them and in. :puke: Halak should be playing. Sure Halak hasnt been stellar yet, but he never is immediately anyway. Every time Halak gets stretches of games the first few arent great but he keeps getting better and better. Lets give that a chance. Price literally scares me now. I've noticed something for a while now and I have yet to see it happen since I 1st realized it and its an extremely scary trend. I will most likely get flamed even more for this "crazy" epiphany because nobody will like it but here it goes: Price is absolutely inept at backing his teammates up after somebody makes a mistake. I cant recall off the top of my head a single save Price has made that has bailed out a teammates mistake. Even when the puck gets intercepted in the other teams zone and they go on a breakaway its pretty much a goal every time. Remember Gorges goof in his 1st year when he coughed the puck up, Price was a sieve, Booo Gorges - that goal ws stoppable, but Price basically floppes around like a fish out of water at times. There seems to be something wrong with him between the ears in situations like that because he seems to choke almost every time. In the Van game several of the 1st 3 goals were stoppable, but not Prices fault, somebody made a mistake. Seriously its getting old. I swear that Price and all the Price lovers seem to be like Ricky from the Trailer Park Boys. i.e. its always somebody elses fault. At some point Price has to start making saves that backup and cover for his teammates mistakes. If Price can only make saves from his positioning and size than the Habs need to call up Missean.