REV-G

I have never seen the ref's as the cause for a team to lose an NHL playoff series and I still don't. Maybe there are examples out there but I'm not aware of any. Maybe a game but not a series. And I have no thoughts whatsoever that the reason we lost this series was due to the referee's. I think Carolina was the better team overall and was better rested and experienced and just played a style of play that three teams in the playoffs couldn't overcome. Well done to Carolina, congratulations. I think they'll win the cup. But I also thought there were moments when the refereeing in this series was terrible. For me there were three recent examples where the ref's made what I think were glaring bad calls or non-calls. 1. The trip on Lane Hutson in game 3 or 4. It was near the end of the game or in overtime. He was coming out of his end and he was blatantly tripped. No call. 2. I think it was in the same game and Montreal clearly had too many men on the ice. No call. Even the TV announcers were stunned that the ref's didn't call it. 3. The first goal on Friday night when Dobes was clearly interfered with and knocked sideways by a Carolina player and the puck went in. Good goal! And after Marty challenged it for goalie interference, the review was that there was no goalie interference, the goal stood and Montreal had a 2 minute penalty. There were more but these three calls just in the past 2-3 games were so obvious that for me, it's the first time that I've said the NHL referee's were not very good. Their calls and non-calls definitely had the ability to affect the outcome of the games. I'm sure those calls didn't change the overall series results but the trip on Hutson, if it was called, could have changed the outcome of that game if Montreal had a pp and scored. I know ref's don't want to be the ones who change the course of the game, but by not doing their jobs they may have done exactly that. Agree or disagree?

I actually forgot to add another very important positive development. Jacob Dobes! Maybe around November, when we were having serious concerns about Montembault, our goaltending looked really concerning for this year. But then suddenly Dobes starts to win some games and at this point in the playoffs a number of insiders and commentators have said Dobes may be the best goalie in the playoffs right now. IF he is the real deal and not a flash in the pan, with him and Fowler we will be set with our goalies for the next 5 years or more. For CC, another reason for my optimism is the character of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton. Gorton, for all appearances, did a good job rebuilding the Rangers and for a few years they seemed to have a very good team. When the current GM began rebuilding they headed south in the standings pretty quickly. In the NHL community there are some people that I think are solid human beings while also being very good at what they do. Jon Cooper, for me, is an example of that. I put Kent Hughes in that same category. I don't see the Brian Burke bluntness in Hughes nor the Torterella (at times) rudeness with reporters. I see a quality human being in Hughes and at the same time a very good hockey mind. The proof is how he deals with people and we see that in the team he has built. With the age, talent and character that we have now, and what's coming, I see lot to be optimistic about and not so much to be pessimistic about. I agree that we should keep Slav on the 2nd line which means we probably have three needs. We still need a 2nd line center, a winger to play on the top line and a righthanded top 4 defenceman. Personally, I would prefer we overpay for the right 2nd line center and finally get that settled, and not experiment for another year with Kapanen, Dach or Newhook. If they end up further down the lineup it will mean we are much stronger and better prepared for Carolina, Buffalo or whoever next year. I should add that I was very impressed with Newhook throughout the playoffs. Very determined and gritty and no give up in him. I'm glad for him. And I'm not a newfie!!

There are probably people who are thinking and talking negatively about our team today, after Carolina beat them for their third straight win. But not me! Today I am very much a glass half full person for a number of reasons. I think we have a fabulous future for many years ahead. We've made the playoffs two years in a row and this year our team did better than most expected. Last year we were beaten by Washington in the first round. This year we beat Tampa Bay and Buffalo and went to the conference finals. Granted both series were close but both those teams are really good teams. Today, there are only three teams left in the NHL playoffs and we're one of them. I don't think any of us had any illusions of us winning the cup this year. If someone had told us in January we'd be in the conference finals, we'd have taken that all day long! We're still missing a second line center that I think is key for Demidov to get going and make more plays and score more. We can all see his potential and we've heard what opposing players are saying about him. We also had really good breakthrough seasons for some players. Caufield scored 40 goals. Slav scored 30 goals (he was the right choice at his draft year). Suzuki broke 100 points. Our top line was considered to be one of the best in the NHL. Hutson improved and Demidov was runner up for rookie of the year. Even Kapanen had 22 goals, which not a lot of players do. I think we have one of the top 5 coaches in the league. I'm not there observing the team like reporters do on a daily basis but judging on the results this year and the atmosphere around the team, you have to conclude Marty is doing a great job. You've heard, as I have, how tv commentators have said how much fun this team is and how they really enjoy being together. That's culture that doesn't always appear (Toronto!). This next area may be a bit more difficult to judge, and maybe I'm a bit biased, but I think Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are in the top 3-4 management teams in the league. We have cap space, lots of prospects coming, lots of draft capitol to make trades and looking back at the past 3-4 years we have made great progress and added lots of young talent, with more to come. Today we're down 3-1 to a well rested Hurricanes team. I think we've run out of gas a bit and because we're so young and inexperienced and still missing players at a few spots (2nd line center) I think at this point that Carolina will win this series. Miracles do happen, but unless something miraculous does happen I think most of us can see the writing on the wall. Carolina has been here a number of times before. This is our first time with this young team. We're getting invaluable experience for all these young players. This fall I think we will have a stronger, more experienced and better prepared team than we have had this year. That's not a criticism, just a fact. So for me, I loved this season. I was even given a retirement gift by our kids so my wife and I could take the train to Montreal and we had two tickets to see Montreal beat Tampa Bay in overtime. The roof just about came off! And the next day a personal tour of the Bell Centre. What an experience! So whatever happens in this series, I am very happy for our team and I'm looking forward to the draft, trades and more additions to our young exciting team. I'm not negative at all. I'm excited that we finally are on the right track and we have a fun and exciting team.

Trevor Letowski. I'm kind of intrigued with TL because we never hear anything about him. Never! But he is always at Marty's right hand and in one of Montreal's games against Buffalo, when Dobes had let in 3 early goals, there was that famous picture of Marty immediately looking at TL and his look said it all.....do I pull him or leave him in. For me, the interesting part, was the trust and respect that Marty showed by immediately turning to Trevor, who was also right there, at Marty's right hand. I've never heard one single negative word spoken or written about TL. I know this is in part because Marty is the head coach and the key guy so all the focus is put on him. So this post is really about two questions. First, does anyone have any input on TL regarding his main goal and purpose with the team. I know he is an assistant coach but he really seems to be Marty's key assistant, who he relies upon heavily. Second, I wonder if any other team will target TL as a head coach since he has been on the front lines with a very successful rebuild. He's seen and heard it all and has had a fabulous mentor in Marty St. Louis. What do you think?

An observation....Toronto is looking for a new GM. If we were to ask who are the top 5 GM's in the NHL today I think that Bill Zito in Florida, who has won two Stanley cups since he arrived, and Kent Hughes in Montreal would or should be in the top 5 NHL GM's. What do they both have in common? Both were player agents for most of their careers prior to becoming NHL GM's. They both have done very well in their roles as GM so far. Instead of going with a recycled GM shouldn't Toronto at least take a look and see what current player agents could fit with their organization. What do you think?

When I look at our defence, at first glance, it seems like we should have a good to very good defence. But in our conference we are tied with Florida for allowing the second most goals against, 220. Toronto is the worst 238. We've scored a lot so our differential is not terrible but our GA is. Our defensive pairing have changed but with Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson, Xhekaj/Struble and Carrier, I would expect that we'd at least be in the middle of the pack in GA but we're near the bottom. Is it the man on man system that Marty St. Louis uses that's the problem? Is it our goalies? Are our forwards not coming back and helping out. They seem to be coming back, but something's wrong. Is it the defensive coach? I know very little about Stephane Robidas as a coach, but we changed goalie coaches, do we need a change in this position as well. I don't have a good read on this at all, so what do you think?

Would he not be worth a considerable overpay?? We'd be set for years!

Any thoughts on why it's been reported that he's unhappy in Anaheim. I understand that they've drafted a few other good players but you'd think he'd kind of be near the top of their list in terms of importantance and priority and assets. Any reasons why there's talk of him wanting a change of scenery? I read one report that he's tired of losing.

This likely has already been discussed in some thread on this site but out of all the players discussed regarding our 2C need, I like Mason McTavish the best. He young, great potential, and from what I've read is unhappy in Anaheim. I'm assuming it's a given that he'd be a good fit...what do you think it would cost us in a trade to get him? Would a one off of Mike Matheson do it? Or MM plus......? I personally really like Mike Matheson and I'd prefer to keep him but I think our 2C need with Demidov here now would be worth paying a reasonable to even a bit high price to get Mason McTavish from Anaheim! It would be MM for MM!! Thoughts??

If we traded for a 34 year old, like Kadri or someone else in that age bracket, do we have anyone on the Rocket who could grow into the role in the next two years. I believe Hage plays centre but I assume he's 3-4 years away. If we don't have the potential player developing, then I think we need to solve the 2nd line centre position now and acquire a younger, 25 year old age player and not a 34 year old.

For those who follow college hockey, how would you compare Jacob Fowler at this stage in his college career with how Cayden Prime did when he was in college hockey? We all know it takes goalies longer to develop in many cases. Obviously Carey Price didn't take that long but Jordan Binnington spent 7 years in the minors before St. Louis brought him up and he's obviously done really well. Charlie Lindgren did very well in college hockey, did ok for a few years in the AHL and NHL with Montreal, but now 8 years after making his NHL debut in 2016, he seems to have developed enough to have carved out an NHL career. Success in college or junior for a goalie doesn't always translate into success at the NHL level and I remember Primeau did very well in US college hockey but since turning pro has probably underachieved for the most part, even though he has had some good stretches. So the question is, are we being fair comparing their college careers and extrapolating that to the NHL? It probably varies from player to p[layer so it may not be a worthwhile comparison. What do you think, is it fair to compare and draw any conclusions with Fowler now compared to Primeau when he was in college?

It's still early in the season, and while perhaps we probably should wait another few weeks before we go too deep in evaluating how we're doing, I'm concerned and I'm interested to see how the rest of you are feeling. Here are some of my thoughts. 1. Our team overall: For me, overall, I expected more so I'm disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high going into this season. 2. Our top line: I'm talking about Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky. I thought our top line, other than CC's scoring, would be more dominant. I guess I was hoping they would pick up where they left off last season but so far that hasn't happened. I expected Slafkovsky to score more and that line to control play more and not get hemmed in as often as they've been. They seem outmatched most nights. 2. Coach Marty St. Louis: I probably want him to succeed so much that I find myself overlooking things that I probably would be more critical of another person. My biggest concern is more of a question and I'm not knowledgable enough to give a qualified answer. Is his hybrid new system the right approach? I keep hearing reporters saying that the players are having big problems adjusting and figuring out the system. When Logan Mailloux was recently sent down he said the Rocket's system was not the same as the Canadiens but his coach seemingly corrected him and said it is the same system. So what's up with that? The player doesn't see the two teams playing the same system. Something's wrong. I read that this hybrid system is the same one that Dominique Ducharme was using and we all know how badly that went and it seems we're seeing the same results now. Is this a major problem that needs to be changed. I don't know. Do you? 3. Lane Hutson: The only concern I have with him is the minutes that Marty is playing him. I read he played 29 minutes in a recent game? If that's accurate how can a first year NHL player who played like 35 games (?) last year in the NCAA now be expected to play 22-25 minutes a night in an 82 game schedule. I don't understand this strategy in a season where we're not trying to win anything but some games and develop players. 4. Kirby Dach and Newhook: Two of our trade results have been disappointing for me. I think we have to give Dach more time since he missed all of last year with an injury but these two trades are not looking great this year in my opinion and may be one of the reasons we're struggling so much this year. 5. Veteran defenceman: You can tell me if I'm being too critical here. Mike Matheson is a great skater and he eats up a lot of minutes but I'm noticing more and more lately how many mistakes he makes and how many really good scoring chances or goals the other team gets as a result. David Savard blocks shots and is evidently really good for the younger defencemen but he seems very slow and I'm wondering if keeping him was a good idea and perhaps bringing in another veteran but younger defencemen would have been a better plan. Yet reporters seem to say that he's the right guy for now. 6. Goalies: I know we're giving up a lot of shots and a lot of high quality shots most night. I think, hope, that Montembault will find his groove again but I'm wondering, in hindsight, if we should have kept Jake Allan? It's easy to look back to when they traded Allan and maybe most of us agreed at that time with what we did. Today I'm wondering? Do we need to bring in a veteran goalie and let Cayden Primeau go? He has good nights but the consistency doesn't seem to be there. 7. Coaching staff: Because of what I see as a defensive mess, maybe it's Marty's system, I wonder if Stephane Robidas is doing a good job? I don't know but it seems like, at this point, many of our defensemen, and forwards, seem to have regressed from last year. So I guess that leads us to question the coaches that are there. Secondly do we need a guy like Pascal Vincent, not him because Laval is doing so great right now, to assist Marty. Does he need some help like that. There are other concerns but for me these are serious questions and concerns I have for our underperforming team right now. Maybe things are going to turn around over the next month as Marty has said he is generally happy with their play, just not the final scores. What do you think? Is this year a write-off and we wait for more help next year. We have Demodov coming and the draft in June where it looks like we could have another high pick. Maybe that's a good thing.

You have to think that if you're him and you look at the # of young defenceman Montreal has, and they just traded Jordan Harris to make room, where will his future career and his life be better suited, Laval or closer to his home. I can't say I blame him. Maybe he thinks he'll have a better shot at the NHL with another year or two in Sweden's pro league.

I understand what you're saying. I did preface it by saying this was a thread for the dog days of summer, for a Habs fan, and it was also a glass half full approach, so it was more of an optimistic, interesting read, things are looking good approach that probably would generate some comments and observations. Nothing too serious. But the comparison to a Leafs fan....I crossed the line if that's true!!

BTW, the horse always goes before the cart!!