Wamsley01
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Posts posted by Wamsley01
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True that, but I'm still very disappointed with the team for not being able to get out of this horrible slump. They need to start working whatever magic they were capable of in the first half of the season, or else we won't even get the chance to loose in the first round this year.
I don't know what I am to make of this slump. I am wondering whether I should be as sceptical about Carbo's abilities to coach an NHL team as I am right now. I'm leaning more towards thinking that our offense stinks though. It absolutely stinks that as soon as Koivu stops producing goals and points, we can't seem to be able to score if our lives depended on it. We need offense from others than just Koivu and Souray.
I'm starting to loose my patience. I'm just so sick and tired of rooting for a team that hasn't accomplished diddely squat in 14 years.
It has been frustrating, the only time I have ever outright supported tanking was when the Raptors lost Carter for the year and Lebron James was the prize. Other than that, I have never supported losing to get better.
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I'd prefer if the time we finish 30th isn't during a season in which we occupied the 4th pkace in the conference at the half-way point.
Here here
but even if we jettisoned Kovy/Koivu/Samsonov/Souray this team is still not bad enough to finish last overall. In the Kovalchuk draft we stunk and we still finished up with 8th pick.We would have to let Markov walk, and hope that Higgins/Lats/Komy/Kosty/Chips/Perez/Price all stink.
Personally for me, that is the extreme opposite of what I would like to happen.
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Normal because every top picks go to worst teams first, then improve the team, just like Pittsburgh and Washington are doing, and maybe, win a cup or two. You have a way better chance to win the Cup by being drafted 27th by the Red Wings and play your rookie season with Lidstrom, Shanahan, Fedorov and Yzerman. What you say makes no sense.
On the other hand, this is a team game and it's not Luongo's, Jokinen's and Boowmeester's fault if the Panthers were strugling. A team win a Stanley Cup, not a player. But with better players, you have better chances to win the Cup.
And Pittsburgh didn't caugh a miracle to draft Crosby, they were one of the 3 or 4 teams who had 3 tickets in the pot. Why?? because they finished last in the previous seasons.
You are saying the way to rebuild is through the draft, with top Draft picks. All those guys are top draft picks, and only 2 of them won the cup. Losing is no guarantee of future success.
Tampa Bay did not win the CUp because of Lecavalier. They won the Cup because they drafted Richards/Kubina with value picks, they picked up the MVP off the junk heap as a Free Agent, they traded an average young defenseman Paul Mara for Nikolai Khabibulin, they stole Dan Boyle out from under FLorida's nose.
All those other moves were more responsible for the Cup then the Micheal Jordan of hockey.
Being handed the top pick does not guarantee a bloody thing.
Rob Ramage
Doug Wickenheiser
Dale Hawerchuk
Gord Kluzak
Brian Lawton
Mario Lemieux
Wendel Clark
Joe Murphy
Pierre Turgeon
Mike Modano
Mats Sundin
Owen Nolan
Eric Lindros
Roman Hamrlik
Alexandre Daigle
Ed Jovanovski
Bryan Berard
Chris Phillips
Joe Thornton
Vincent Lecavalier
Patrik Stefan
Rick DiPietro
Not many Stanley Cup Champions there with the team that drafted them.
Lecavalier/Modano/Mario Lemieux
That is over 20 years. 4 championships out of 20 seasons. A 20% success rate. Yep, I am on board.
Now take a look at the Conn Smythe winners in the last 20 years and check their average draft position. These were the top 10 Draft choices: Mario Lemiuex, Scott Stevens, Steve Yzerman. You can add Gretzky in there as he would have been a top pick but he was undrafted.
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Blue : you're a nice 36 years old player, let's say Bill Guerin or Marc Recchi. You want to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup before retiring. Where are you gonna sign ? I'm sure not in Montréal.
Red : TOTALLY AGREE
Strange pink and purple colour : You don't seem to understand my point. I don't care at all about all the picks before a 30th pick who become a superstar. I do understand the draft is sometimes pure luck. But....
Have you ever heard of : Thornton, Marleau, Olli Jokinen, Lecavalier, Legwand, Sedin's, Heatley, Gaborik, Dipietro, Kovalchuck, Spezza, Nash, Boowmeester, Fleury, Staal's, Nathan Horton, Ovechckin, Malkin, Crosby ?
These players were all top 3 overall picks back to 1997 http://www.nhl.com/futures/.
Now, let's compare them with Jason Ward, Eric Chouinard ( I KNOW FOR GAGNÉ AND GOMEZ), Ron Hainsey, Komisarek (don't forget Kovalchuck and Spezza on this draft), Chris Higgins (i love him), Andrei Kastsitsyn, Chipchura, i'll skip Price, and Fisher.
You have a WAY BETTER chance to rebuild your team with top 3 overall than with 10th overall picks. Now, if these 10th or more overall picks become some superstars, we can be happy and claim we have good scouts. Good for Detroit, New Jersey and for the man who said "common boss let's choose Robitaille it's almost midnight".
I'm not "The draft is a crap shoot, you are looking back at the Drafts and identifying players after they have blossomed" as you said, I'm just saying it worth almost nothing to draft 10th and be eliminated in 1rst playoffs round instead of missing the playoffs and draft Ilya Kovalchuk or won the Crosby Lottery. Bottom line.
Thornton - 0 Cups (playoffs 2 series wins/6 series losses)
Marleau - 0 CUps (playoffs 3 series wins/7 series losses)
Olli Jokinen - 0 Playoff games
Lecavalier - 1 Cup
Legwand - 0 Cups (playoffs 0 series wins/2 series losses)
Sedin's - 0 Cups (playoffs 1 series wins/5 series losses)
Heatley - 0 Cups (playoffs 1 series wins/1 series losses)
Gaborik - 0 Cups (playoffs 2 series wins/1 series losses)
Dipietro - 0 Cups, 0 Playoff games
Kovalchuck - 0 Cups, 0 Playoff games
Spezza - 0 Cups, (playoffs 1 series wins/2 series losses)
Nash - 0 Cups, 0 Playoff games
Boowmeester - 0 Cups, 0 Playoff games
Eric Staal - 1 Cup
Nathan Horton - 0 Cups, 0 Playoff games
I can see how tanking and getting the top players leads to amazing success.
Some of these STARS have never even made the playoffs.
Tanking and getting high picks is no guarantee of success. Pittsburgh caught a miracle when they drafted Crosby. If Montreal had won that lotto instead we would not even be having this discussion.
In the New NHL Pittsburgh has a 4 year window to win or those 4 players are going to eat the cap and they will have to lose 1 or 2 of them. 20 years ago the Pens would be set up for an Oiler type run. Things have changed. We are a borderline team and I would rather rebuild right now, but we do not have players who are so desirable that we can trade them for top picks or players. So we have to hold onto our youth and hope that some turn into stars and some turn into good 2nd liners.
If Price becomes a Star and Lats as well then we have to make all the right moves in Free Agent signings.
Lecavalier was drafted in 97 and won the Cup 7 years later. So on our time frame we tank next year, get a top 3 and wait another 7 years for Stanley? I think we are closer than that right now.
We have one of the highest rated minor league systems in the NHL, all we need is a couple of those to turn into frontline NHLers and we will begin to make some noise.
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I love the Habs...I watch in french for poops sake. I feel bored when theres no Habs game on..the all star break was killer.
I get frustrated, mad and yell at my tv..haha my neighbors must think I'm crazy
You know, I sort of love it. I love the underdog, I love the lowered expectations, I have full faith the habs will slip in the playoffs, everyone says but we're 2 pts out of a playoff spot..yes but we're what 4 pts out of 5th?
Also...what team has the habs played their best hockey against ... Buffalo!!! Maybe this is all a conspiracy to get Buffalo in the first round!!!
Gainey and Carbo you two are tricksey!
Haha all joking aside, love watching the habs, win, lose or draw.
To each his own I guess
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Feb 17 vs. Canes
Feb 18 @ BlueJackets
Feb 20 vs. Caps
Feb 22 @ Predators
Feb 24 @ Isles
Feb 26 vs. Leafs
Feb 27 @ Rangers (TRADE DEADLINE DAY)
Not as many soft opponents as I'd like to see in that bunch
3 weeks ago the Leafs embarked on a 5 game road trip 6 points out of the playoffs coming off a 8-2 loss to the Pens.
@ CAR
@ NYR
@ STL
@ OTT
@ NAS
They went 4-1. I looked at our schedule at the beginning of January and figure we would have to go 7-17 to fall out of the playoffs, looked at our opponents and said, no way. We will go .500 at worst.
We can win the 3 home games. We take down the Jackets on the road and we will be ok. I know it is optimistic but crazy streaks have been happening all season. Anything is possible.
At least I keep telling myself that so I can sleep at night.
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How do we get great trade without great players to offer, how do we sign great free agent when the team always makes the playoffs by 1 point or 2, how do we scout great players by choosing 10th or 11th ???? Do you think the 9 first teams will ignore the great player to become that we will draft 10th? Do you think the best UFA will sign a long term contract with a 8th spot team who has 38 reporters surrounded him in the shower? Do you think our best players (who were 8th or 10th overall pick back in the days) worth much than their own value?
You know how many great players were drafted after #10 in the Draft?
I just listed a ton of All-Stars.
You know how many terrible players were drafted before #10 in the Draft?
The draft is a crap shoot, you are looking back at the Drafts and identifying players after they have blossomed. Hindsight is 20/20. Do you think if they redid the 1984 draft that Patrick Roy would go at number 51?
Have you ever heard of Craig Redmond, David Quinn, Trevor Stienburg, Roger Belanger, Dave Pasin?
Would you pick Ed Olczyk, Al Iafrate, Shawn Burr, Doug Bodger and JJ Daigneualt ahead of Patrick Roy?
All of these players were valued as better picks than Roy in 1984. The Number 1 pick ended up with Mario Lemieux, the number 3 pick was Al Iafrate???? It is not a science.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1984e.html
What does making the playoffs have to do with ability to sign Free Agents? It is about money. If you have the money to offer they will come. Unfortunately Montreal has to overpay, but be that as it may, you cannot make mistakes. Samsonov was a mistake, but only a 2 year mistake.
The Leafs have just as many reporters in their face as the Habs do and they attract Free Agents. Montreal may be a shitty place to play when you are losing but it is also a great place to play when you are winning.
If we had better drafts than we would be a better team. Simple as that.
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Do you really want a first this season? From everything I understand, the quality of the draft keeps sinking lower and lower the closer we get.
2009 First overall would net you John Tavares!
You are either selling the present, or selling the future.
Unfortunately, we are caught in the middle somewhere
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That's what this team reminds me of, weirdly.
The 1992 team was built around a nucleus including Shane Corson, Russ Courtnall, and Stephane Richer.
Coached by Pat Burns and with Patrick Roy in nets, they were first overall for a good chunk of the first half of the season. But in the second half, the wheels fell off.
By the time we hit the playoffs we were a team in near-total disarray...we barely scraped by the pathetic Hartford Whalers in a seven-game series won in OT...then got swept by, I think, the Bruins, with the whole team looking just awful, from Roy out.
Now, 15 years later, we have a low-rent version of that team. Not as good, of course, which is why we spent the first half of the season competing, not for first overall, but for top-four position in the Conference; and why our second-half collapse will leave us out of the playoffs. But still, the parallel is interesting.
In the offseason after the 1992 debacle, Serge Savard masterfully transplanted the core, brilliantly trading Richer, Corson and Brent Glichrist and bringing in Muller, Damphousse, and bellows - a nucleus that won us a Cup.
Here's hoping Gainey can perform a similarly miraculous surgery this summer :puke:
Only problem being that when your main core is a guy named Patrick Roy...anything is possible.
Muller came over in 1991, and after getting smoked by the Bruins Corson and Courtnall were traded for Damphousse and Bellows.
But the Stanley Cup 1993 edition were in first place overall with 6 weeks to go and ended up finishing in 3rd place in the Adams. I am sure they had some must win games that they came out flat in.
If we can pull it together this weekend a mini streak will put us back in the 4th-6t seed.
Pittsburgh has played .850 hockey for the last month
Toronto has played .700 hockey for the last month
NYIslanders are playing .660 hockey for the last month
1 if not all 3 of those teams are going to thud back down to earth in the last 25 games.
Anything can happen.
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Every Habs nut where I work (not fan, but nut) has also stopped watching. They've moved on to Raptors or sitcoms or what have you.
Sad stuff
I have stopped watching until they win a couple in a row. Personally it is all superstition. I hope that by giving up that they turn it around. I already tried by wearing my Patrick Roy jersey from 1987 that is 4 times to small for me, but alas that failed as well. But last night was the first game I did not watch essentially all year and what did I do. I had the Raptors game on while I checked Habsworld on my laptop.
It is in the blood. I cannot ignore them, it is impossible. Let's just say it is a silent protest. Well, not really silent since I posted it on the board
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See above as this post is also in reply to yours.
I'm not a perpetual optimist - I'm a realist. My background is in coaching and managing at high competitive levels of the game, so I guess I tend to view things from that perspective?
Good post Beliveau1.
The way I see it anybody who is jumping off the bandwagon would probably not be here in the first place.
There are no rules set in stone as to how you support your team. This is a forum to set forth your point of view. Some may be stupid, some may be passionate and irrationale, some may be well thought out.
WE all have our opinions on how to get this thing back on track, and I am frustrated, dissappointed and perplexed as to how to get back on a roll. Gainey and Carbo are busting their ass I am sure trying to figure it out and if this season goes down the drain and we make no moves so be it.
Do we want a return to the Houle years where shortsighted moves placed this team in quicksand for close to 10 years. Have we forgotten 99-2002 when the CH became a joke?
Even though we are struggling right now a 5 game win streak would put us back in 4th or 5th place. We have the MVP of the World Juniors in our minor league system and lots of young talent to build around and barring any huge raises to Ryder/Higgins/Perez, signing Markov to a $4 Million deal and allowing Souray/Rivet/Abby walk we will have close to $14 Million in Cap space to sign 4 Free Agents in the off season.
The ship may be turbulent right now, but it is far from sinking. Carbo may not be the answer, but Gainey is learning alot from what is going on right now about his players and his young coaching staff.
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This is how big teams get their big players. Why do you think Pittsburgh are so good right now? Because they finished last almost every season since 2002.
How do you want to get big time players by finishing 15th every seasons? You'll always get the 15th best player available...
The problem in Montréal is : Nobody wants to see us finishing in the bottom ranking. If that happens, everyone will scream for a change of GM, Coach, goaler, top forwards, even Youpie will have to go.
So the team never upgraded, never won any cup since a decade, never finished at the very end of the ranking and everybody is happy because it's hot to watch hockey game at spring.
Results : no big draft pick (maybe except Carey Price... we'll see...) in 2000, no Heatley, no Gaborik but a Marcel Hossa, in 2001 no Kovalchuck, no Spezza but a Komisarek (not so bad there), in 2002 no Nash, no Bouwmeester but a Chris Higgins (not so bad there too but...) in 2003 no Staal, no Fleury but a Kots, in 2004 no Ovechkin, no Malkin but a Chipchura, in 2005 thanks there was a lottery but no 3 tickets no chance for Crosby or J. Johnson, same for 2k6 no E. Johnson, no J. Staal, no Teows but Fisher...
We NEED to finish in the last spots to upgrade. NOBODY will help us to upgrade by trading big players in Montréal for our 15th draft picks
On the other hand, no cup won since a decade = less chances to see a UFA of quality sign here in Montreal because he feels this is our year...
How do you feel about that?
Sure the last 7-8 years have yielded studs at 1st overall, but you need great trades, great free agent signings and great scouting to win the cup. All 3 are integral. Take a look at the last 5 stanley cup winners. Other than the Avs/Nordiques they have not relied on tanking to get them top picks. The Wings and Devils are head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to homegrown development and it shows in their results!
2006 Champions - Carolina Hurricanes
Other than Eric Staal the rest came through trades, late picks and Free Agent signings. Ladd was 4th overall but did not exactly make our break their run
2nd Overall - Eric Staal
4th Overall - Andrew Ladd
25th Overall - Cam Ward
75th Overall - Erik Cole
91st Overal - Josef Vasicek
97th Overall - Nic Wallin
2004 Champions - Tampa Bay Lightning
Lecavlier was the first overall pick but Brad Richards was stolen in the 3rd round, St. Louis was signed as a Free Agent and Boyle and Khabibulin were acquired through good trades
1st Overall - Vincent Lecavlier
179th Overall - Pavel Kubina
64th Overall Brad Richards
2003 Champions - New Jersey Devils
If you want a team the proves your theory wrong here is the team. Even though they got Niedermayer at 3rd overall it came from a trade with Toronto for Tom Kurvers. All the rest of their impact players were drafted after number 20. Look at the players the Devils drafted and turned into other assets over the last 15 years: (Brain Rolston/Jason Smith/Sergei Brylin/Stephane Yelle/Brendan Morrison/SHELDON SOURAY/Steve Sullivan/Alyn McCauley/Chris Mason/Willie Mitchell/Mike Commodore. All of these players drafted after the first round. The only high pick they had that led to Stanley Cup glory was Shanahan in 87 at #2 which ended up netting them Scott Stevens.
3rd Overall - Scott Niedermayer
20th Overall - Martin Brodeur
27th Overall - Scott Gomez
49th Overall - Colin White
51st Overall - Patrick Elias
82nd Overall - Brain Gionta
2002 Champions - Detroit RedWings
Once again superb drafting in later rounds and a different system in whcih they could spend money shaped this franchise...not tanking and getting a high pick. The other high pick that benefitted them was Keith Primeau at #3 who was traded for Shanahan.
4th Overall - Steve Yzerman
53rd Overall - Nik Lidstrom
74th Overall - Sergei Fedorov
59th Overall - Mathieu Dandenault
171st Overall - Pavel Datsyuk
210th Overall - Henrik Zetterberg
2001 Champions - Colorado Avalanche
You have to go to the Quebec Nordiques and their futility to prove tanking or stinking helped build a winner.
1 Mats Sundin
1 Owen Nolan
1 Eric Lindros
Those picks helped shape the team in that they acquired Forsberg/Ozolinsh/Claude Lemieux through those players, but they also made some great picks among their core and trades....I don't have to bring up the Patrick Roy fleecing.
15th Overall - Joe Sakic
22nd Overall - Adam Foote
72nd Overall - Chris Drury
87th Overall - Milan Hejduk
12th Overall - Alex Tanguay
It is an excuse to claim that we do not get impact players because we do not suck bad enough. Where was Patrick Roy drafted? Where was Jose Theodore drafted? If you employ good scouts and develop properly from within you can still win a Stanley Cup. How many 1st overall picks turned out to be disasters and the reward for tanking turned out to be:
Roman Hamrlik
ALexandre Daigle
Bryan Berard
Chris Phillips
Patrik Stefan
All excuses. The Senators stunk for 5 years got top 5 picks every year and still have trouble getting through the second round and cannot beat a Toronto team who has been absolutely horrendous in developing homegrown talent.
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A bandwagon fan is somebody who does not give a shit about a team 24/7 until they win, and as long as the continue to win that bandwagon fan remains a fan. When the team begins to lose and that fan loses interest and finds something else to do, THAT is jumping off the bandwagon.
You want 2 examples,
Colorado Avalanche - 10 straight years of sellouts, they become a borderline playoff team and the empty seats begin to appear
Toronto Raptors - in 2001 with Vince Carter, 38 sellouts....the last 5 years...20 sellouts...the last 3 weeks 10 sellouts.
Becoming frustrated from watching every night for 2 months as they show lack of effort and endure the tailspin of hell and trying to do superstitous things to get them back on track...not exactly the acts of somebody who does not care.
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This....is.....brilliant....news..... :puke:
We are struggling so badly that why not just throw a puck on the ice and tell the players to outscore them.
See what happens. Teaching them over and over how to leave the zone early and be defensively responsible is getting us knowhere? And WTF happened to our PK. If our PK stayed the same and everything else fell apart we would still be in 4th place.
Did he lose the room?
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I really do not think Gainey is that great of a coach his record is pretty terrible.
On the note of the firesale I really do think it may be time for the Canadiens to sell some of the impending UFA's because there are lots fo teams who would give a lot for Bonk, Souray and even Markov and the Habs could still sign Markov in the offseason. A little over a month ago I said no way Souray is traded unless the Habs seriously tank now that they have the move might need to be made,q
Did you look at his roster in 91?
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0000371991.html
He took those guys to the finals. The early 90s Stars were a pretty bad to average team.
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Honestly if something does not happen by the next game, i might reach my breaking point.
And by something I don't mean the same Carbo speech of 'i don't know what happened, the players don't score...i'm out of ideas"
If he's out of ideas he should be fired because it's the coach's responsiblity not to be out of ideas.
Gainey handpicked Carbo, set him up as an Assistant coach to learn the ropes from him and handed him the head coaching job. He is not going anywhere!
Gainey just does not roll like that.
I have never felt this hopeless as a fan of any team in my life.
You are either contending and selling the present, or you are rebuilding and selling the future.
THERE IS NO IN BETWEEN. And where are we right now? ######ING IN BETWEEN!!
Brutal, thank god I have the Raptors to distract me somewhat
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If i could take a break from this team, i would, but i cant. Sometimes i just wish i didnt care so damn much.
This is about 10 times more stressful than midterms.
I refuse to watch them until they prove to me they can win a game. I still find myself checking the score every 5 minutes but I cannot bring myself to watching a half assed effort with a coach who has no idea how to spark his team. We have lost 17 of our last 25 games. 17 of 25!!!!! And the best we get is Ninimaa playing forward?
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everyone is talking about getting prospects etc. we have lots of prospects. we just don't bring them up. what does kosty have to do score a hat trick every game before they give him a chance. we have good young prospects but the trouble is our veteran core have lost interest. We need to replace them with good solid hardworking players who want to win. More like Begin with some offence. Lets take a look at hamilton for some call ups. This team definitely needs a shake up and getting rid of some the core would be a good start. Kovalev Koivu Samsonov Ryder are not getting it done. Someone else mentioned coaching well, we are on our 4th or 5th coach with this group and nobody has been able to motivate them for long. Except mabe for bob last year
Bob Gainey motivated them last year because Bob Gainey is a good coach.
He took a terrible Northstars team to the Cup Finals in 1991, and it would seem he took a terrible habs team last year and had them 1 period away from knocking off the eventual Stanley Cup champion.
I really do not know if I have the patience to sit and wait to find out if Carbo is a good coach.
I find myself caught betweem a rock and a hard place. If Carbo is a good coach, it means our team stinks and if Carbo is a bad coach, then we are screwed because Gainey is patient and will not can him anytime soon.
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WTF happened to this franchise?
From the day I was born until the first time I saw them miss the playoffs in 95, it was considered a terrible season to get 90 points. Now we need shootout losses and OT losses to get to 90 and squeak an 8th seed.
It is soo depressing.
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Nail in the coffin?
:ghg: :ghg: :ghg: :ghg: :ghg:
I am waiting for them to pull a Leafs from last year. Drop far enough back that people start to jump off the wagon and then they rip off a hot streak to just miss the playoffs.
They really are not showing any hunger at all. This is 5 straight losses. When does desperation kick in?
Now Huet is out for who knows how long. And all we have to hold on to is praying that the Forum ghosts have annointed Halak the new saviour...wow sad
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Good question
10 games ago
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Well, McPhee - unlike anyone on our team today - had a knack of scoring big goals, I remember that. But I doubt he would ever have been a real offensive force in the NHL.
A more to-the-point example might be Guy Carbonneau, though. Now there's a player who had the skill set (speed, the ability to read the play, intelligence) that might have allowed him to be an effective offensive player in the NHL, but he was compelled to become a checking centre by, I think it was, Jacques Lemaire. I guess what we're seeing is Carbo's revenge! :?-
There is no doubt it is the system.
We have not had a 100 point scorer since Mats Naslund and we have not had a 90 pt player since Damphousse and Turgeon in 1996. They have not had a PPG player since Damphousse in 97.
What does that tell you about our system. I can deal with a conservative offense if you have a strong defense, I can deal with a conservative offense if we are going to be a contending team. But sitting back for 60 minutes against the dregs of the league like the Panthers hoping to catch them make a mistake while they do the same, leaves me wanting to poke my eyes out. Is that how you break out of a slump??
Florida is out of the playoffs for a reason. Put some pressure on their defense, force them to make mistakes. They are not going to make any mistakes if you passively forecheck them and sit back in the neutral zone. They have the scouting reports, they know our defense is apt to cough the puck up with a little pressure, and BINGO guess what happened.
Why load up on speed if you are not going to utilize it? Why call up Kosty? He is going to be placed on the 3rd line and taught to play defense the Canadiens way. In 2 years we are going to wonder why the hell all of our prospects dried up? And that is because they are to afraid to jump in the play and take risks.
Tonight is going to be just as painful to watch. Either Montreal will finally score first and sit in a shell hoping the Devils cannot score or they will give up the first and lose 2-0 or 3-0.
I am holding out hope of a shocking upset to end the streak tonight...I can always hope!
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Bless you - it's just past 1pm, and you're already hammered!
LOL
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This team is not a horrible team. They just have serious deficincies in areas that were covered up by supreme goaltending and special teams in the first half.
This team could still make a jump next season but they need to acquire a first line center (sorry guys Koivu is not a 1st line center), this would fill our second line center need with Saku. We then need to resign Markov and place Streit back on D as they are the only 2 defensemen who can move the puck out of our zone. We then need to sign another puck moving defenceman because Souray, Rivet, Dandenault, Cube cough the puck up way to much when under a tough forecheck.
You want to know why we struggle with the Leafs, because they forecheck hard and we cannot get it out of our zone. Then they jump on turnovers and send in the big talentless crew of forwards who cycle along the boards waiting for a mistake. We either make that mistake or we take a dumb penalty setting them up with the powerplay that they have been waiting for.
To add to that we have almost no forecheck so we have guys like Samsonov, Kovalev, Koivu, Perezhogin trying to dance along the line to gain the zone. DUMP THE PUCK IN THE CORNER and go create. Teams are stacking the blueline because they know we will try to dipsy doodle by and try to create off the rush. Take a look at our 5 on 5 results....it ain't happening.
This is the second time in a row this team sucked me in with early season success. From now on I will sit back and watch the games and take a prove to me over a season that you are a contender before I begin to get giddy. It seems the second I buy in they go into their winter swoon.
A couple of acquistions and a little bit of freedom for the kids and we will be back on track.
We need to finish 30th one or two times.
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Players will probably not come here. We cannot even talk homegrown kids to come back here. But that is when you have to take your money and spend it wisely. Pay $2 million for a Ray Whitney instead of $3.5 Million for Samsonov. Pay $2.5 Million for Slava Kozlov instead of $4million for Alex Kovalev.
Buffalo has done a great job drafting but they pulled their 2 best players out of their ass. They stole Drury from Calgary and Briere from Phoenix.
It is Gainey's job to sell High on his assets and buy low on other people's. The reason we are where we are is because we have not had much success in Free Agency and we have not uncovered any gems in trades.
We have made some good trades, but not any Briere/Drury type steals.
Maybe Price. He did step up huge on the biggest stage for players his age.
It looks like we have a ton of depth but no superstars. And unfortunately that has been the problem that this organization has had to deal with for the last 15 years.
But like I said in my previous post, Daneil Briere was considered a washout by Phoenix 4 years ago and now the kid is tearing up the NHL. So as much as I can say that we have no Superstars in the minors I have not seen Grabovski play every night, I have not watched Big and Lil Kosty play every night and all I have seen of Halak was him standing on his head in the AHL All-Star game. So what does my opinion really mean.