REV-G
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Posts posted by REV-G
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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Well, REV-G, like Torontohab I'm a (pretty liberal) Roman Catholic with some awareness of theological and scriptural issues. I also do some scholarly writing (not at all on religious matters) which attunes one a little bit to linguistic/etymological questions, such as the origins of turns of phrase. And finally, I like Americana music, which means that Johnny Cash's 'Belshazzar' is not unknown to me.
Didn't mean to cause a kerfuffle! Cool that you're a Pastor, though - I didn't realize your Habsworld handle could be taken literally!
Thanks for the reply CC. Always interesting to hear a little about people's backgrounds and interests. I'm not surprised to hear you are a writer. You can pick up a few clues here and there in your posts.
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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Don't worry, he'll be gone before the season is out. The writing is on the wall like it's Belshazzar's feast.
I'm curious....how do you know about Belshazzar's feast and the handwriting on the wall?? Not many would understand your statement! I'm a Pastor so I know it well, but I'm surprised to hear someone here use that quote!
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I've been thinking about this for a few days and this morning I read an article by Trege Wilson who said what I've been thinking for the past two weeks or so.
Many of us have said how unhappy we are with the body of work that Marc Bergevin has done over the past 18 months....he who famously said "...this years defence is better than last years"!! But we have to admit it's not his fault Max isn't scoring or Carey Price is struggling.
But the person who seems to have gotten a free ride so far is Claude Julien. I genuinely like him, I think he's a very good person and he cares. But I wonder if the young man's NHL has passed him and his style and approach, like our former coach, no longer works.
I heard one of the color commentators covering this past weeks Toronto, LA game say that one of the reasons LA has only 1 loss so this year is because while they have mostly the same players, changing from former head coach Sutter to Stephens, has made all the difference and that is the main reason for LA's resurgence this year.
I've followed hockey for a long time and I don't claim to be an expert but these are some of the things I've observed and heard lately.
- players are being put in the wrong position on the power play, where they're not comfortable. eg. Max and Alex.
- since we're not scoring anyway, put Alex as our top line centre for more than just 1 period, give him a month, he's still young!! Can things get any worse??
- our top face-off man has been sitting in the press box lately.
- before he was hurt Hemsky was getting some top 6 minutes.
- could it be that our system is old and not suited to the young guys. Is Claude Julien too much of the same style as MT??
Because we're not scoring goals, because players who normally score, in the past have scored, yet corporately none of them are, it isn't just one player but all of them. So somehow this has to reflect back on the coach when the whole team is failing in the same area.
I don't get paid to make the decisions or find the solutions if this is the problem, and I don't expect them to make a coaching change because I'm sure MB isn't even thinking along these lines, but the question is, could this be a key reason for our poor on ice lack of scoring??
What do you think?
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I presume no one knows what is wrong with this team otherwise they would have fixed it! So let's take a shot at figuring some things out.
We've talked about or are talking about Bergevin so let's not go there for now, except maybe for a few comments.
Here are some of the components that I believe are all possible factors as to why we are second last in the entire NHL as of today, in no particular order. Both Negative and Positive signs.
Negative:
1. Character: MB said he would build his team on character. There seems to be not even one person who is standing up capable of leading this team in the room or on the ice.
2. Skill: Are we really this bad? With Price and Max P. in a slump is there nothing else available, no one who can begin to pick up the slack and score some goals? Shockingly, it appears there may not be. I think we know what Max and Carrey are but after that have we overvalued many of our players. Are we a lousy team overall??
3. Defence: MB's statement earlier this season or preseason that he believed this years defence was better than last years. At this point this rivals some of Brian Burke's outrageous statements about who and what the Leafs were going to be during his years running that franchise, and they need up being terrible, laughable. Other than Mete we seem to have slow, not very skilled defencemen. Petry, Alzner, Benn, they all seem lost and constantly getting beat and hung out to dry.
4. Forwards: They can skate and rush the puck and in spurts control parts of games effectively, but it seems no one can put the puck in the net. But at other times they also appear disorganized, fragile [after only 8 regular season games??], and look to me like some are playing just to get paid or to get traded [Alex??].
5. Goalies: Terrible GA, terrible Save %, easy goals going in, confidence gone? Where is our goalie coach??
6. Talent Evaluators: At this point you have to ask, you have to wonder...really? Did MB and Rick Dudley, who I've heard and read many times that they have reputations in the NHL as well above average talent evaluators, really choose this group and put this team together?? I wonder if it was more that MB was caught totally by surprise when he lost Markov and Radulov and went out and signed what he could....Streit and Hemsky? If that's true that very poor preparation and asset management. I always wondered, if their concern was they would lose Beaulieu in the draft why then did they trade Beaulieu and then also expose Emelin. I can't say I'm an expert on evaluating defensemen but weren't these guys better than some of what we have now??
Positive:
1. It can't be this bad: Hopefully we will steal a game, outwork a team for 60 minutes and begin to string together some wins and maybe sneak into the playoffs. I know, what's the point of sneaking into the playoffs and getting annihilated in the first round.
2. Max P, Drouin and our top 9 will begin to score and get their confidence back.
3. Carey Price will get back to being his regular self and stop the weak goals and steal a few games for us.
4. MB $8 million dollar reserve will bring in one or two really good quality players to help us get back on track and build for the future.
Prediction:
I know it's early, but I personally don't see a lot of hope, maybe a little, but not a lot.
We do have some good players but a lot that need to be replaced by younger, quicker, more skilled players.
The only positive, if we continue like this and miss the playoffs is some good draft picks and with one or two really good free agents and again, our $8 million dollars, we may be able to turn this around within a year.
But as previously stated in another thread, I now have lost confidence that MB should be the man to take us into a partial rebuild, if it comes to that.
What do you think?
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20 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Good post.
I don't see 2015-16 as an apposite comparable, because Price was hurt for 2/3 of the season.
The really alarming thing is that apart from the first 20 games of 2016-17, this team has basically sucked since then even with Price healthy. That represent a MASSIVE regression from 2015-16, let alone 2014-15. I think the disaster of the Price-injured 2015-16 has worked to MB's advantage because fans have forgotten how promising the team looked in the two seasons before that. The drop off from 2015 is shocking and requires explanation.
I hate to say this, and I'm sure I'll trigger the usual tsunami of outrage, but one of the most defining differences between the 2015 team and the 2017 team is the replacement of Subban by Weber.
Let me explain. I don't think it's entirely coincidental that we rattled off that hot start in 2016-17 when Weber went on a crazy and unsustainable tear (8 goals in 20 games). Once he reverted back to his more normal production - 9 goals in the last 58 games, one goal in the playoffs - that's when the team as a whole started struggling. I'm NOT saying it's Shea Weber's fault per se; he has been very good, he's been Shea Weber, a minutes-munching behemoth. What I am suggesting is that Weber is a more limited player, especially when it comes to puck possession, transition, leading the rush, and running the offence from the back end, than PK Subban. And what I would further suggest is that a team with a fairly mediocre pack of FWs really needs a #1 defenceman who can transition, lead the rush, and manage the offence at an elite level, because our FWs just aren't good enough to do it themselves.
Otherwise put, I believe that - in direct contradiction to the BS propaganda emitted by the Bergevin regime - a defenceman with the profile of PK Subban is much more what this team needed than a defenceman with the profile of Weber. And I believe that that is a contributing factor to the absolutely pathetic offensive outcomes of the past 50 games. Offense starts at the back end. Weber has a tremendous shot, but he does NOT manage a team's offence. And without Subban, we have no one else who can do it at anything approaching PK's level.
And no - I'm not saying this is the only problem. I'm saying it's a significant contributing factor. If I'm right, that trade is the signature mistake of the Bergevin era and the one that will contribute the most to his eventual firing, assuming that this is in the cards.
I think you have hit one nail right on the head. This week on Hockey Central at noon Doug McLean [former NHL coach and GM] said that Montreal's key problem as to why they are not scoring is because the backend is not getting the puck out or staring proper breakouts out of their own zone. He said this is key for Montreal and with their current defensive core he doesn't know if that can happen.
So CC your comments about PK and Weber are right on. This could be one of the big keys and if it is we are in big trouble because that isn't likely to change quickly unless MB goes and gets top 2 puck moving defensive man.
At the beginning of the season or during training camp Bergevin said he thought this defence is better than last years. That's really concerning!
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One win....8 forwards out of 12 with only 1 point.....weak defensemen......already one summer signing outright released.....I didn't bother looking up goals for versus goals against......I don't need to list too much...we all know.
Is it too early to judge, complain? Maybe, maybe not. If we just judge this season, it's probably too early. But things have been happening for many months. It's also been 5 years for M. Bergevin, so really it's not too early.
I read this morning that since January 2016 our record is 23-23-4.....our goals/game is 2.12....PP is 14%.....shooting % is 6.9%.
Did Bergevin address the glaring low scoring over the summer. I like Drouin but he's not enough. We needed more.
We lost both Markov and Radulov....on his watch.
But what really bothers me is what Bergevin did, and didn't do, this summer compared to what was available and what other teams did.
Ron Hainsey is on Toronto's top pairing I believe. He'd look good for us right now.
Patrick Marleau has scored more than any of our guys. He'd look good in our lineup right now.
Bergevin signed Mark Street when he knew Markov wasn't coming back??
Ales Hemsky......Jagr was available. I have a feeling Jagr will score while Ales......fourth line or a healthy scratch?
Unless there is a sudden and huge turn around, I think we may be seeing a glimpse of what this season may be.
Hopefully we'll be fighting for a playoff spot and not totally out of it by then.
If this season goes south and this is Begevin's team, does Molson let him begin a rebuild or make the changes that need to be made.
Sadly I have to say, I hope not.
At this point, after 5 years, I'm really disappointed in what Bergevin has put together. He's made a few good moves, Byron, Denault, but so many of what I believe are bad choices and bad decisions.
I hate to say it because I don't like change, but if things don't improve quickly, I think it's time for change!
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So do you not think that this situation is being totally mismanaged?
I think we all would agree that Alex is having his own problems with his play. Chris Nilan recently said that Galchenyuk isn't moving his feet, he's making bad passes and he effort level is low and that they need someone to light his rear end on fire. And obviously that's all on Alex.
However, is it possible that all of that has happened because of what they have said and done with Alex and how they have treated him. Could any other young player have thrived in the situations he has been put in? Think of the 22 and 23 year olds you know. Could they have soared with confidence and been successful at what they were doing if they were put under the scrutiny of millions of fans and media, and almost all of it negative?
So I think we have to ask, what has been the role of the coaches and management in this unfolding tragic scene. I have found myself wondering lately if Bergevin has to have the proverbial "whipping boy". It always seemed like he put up with Subban but that internally, at least between MT and MB, there was this ongoing, quiet [other than the times they publicly threw Suban under the bus], total disapproval of how Suban played and carried himself on and off the ice. He didn't fit their mold, on and off the ice, and most of us probably sensed something could happen. Can you imagine the rhetoric if Suban was less of a player that he actually was. Third or fourth pairing likely?? But he was too good for them to do that to him. I think most of us wish we still had PK on our team, especially this year.
Now it seems that they've put Alex in that same position. He's 23, many players haven't even made the NHL at that age, and without being there every day to be firsthand witnesses, it seems to me like they're just leaving him alone to sink or swim. As recently as a year ago at this time, where was Alex in scoring and offensive ability on our team. If not our best, close to it.....and with him playing centre we started the season as one of the top NHL teams and he was close to a point per game. Where has that gone?? Has Alex suddenly lost that ability?
My point is that after watching this unfold over the past year my conclusion this week is that we are totally mishandling Alex. By all the public comments they've made about him, they have put the spotlight squarely on him....by all the trade talk over the past 4-5 months they have made him feel unwanted.....by saying so often he is not a centre which is their greatest need [remembering how well he did at centre before his injury last year], they've shattered his confidence and I think the only answer is they have to stop all the negativity which seems to have sunk him to depths he hasn't been to before and may have a lot of trouble recovering in Montreal if nothing changes.
My opinion? If they don't stop all the bashing, whipping and negativity with their 23 old very talented player he is going to be another Justin Shultz, who Edmonton dumped and he is now thriving in Pittsburg.
They should start a salvage plan with Alex and sit him down and begin to work with him in a positive way. One of the TV commentators said instead of demoting Alex to the fourth line they should put him back on the top line and challenge him to keep up and do everything they can to recapture what is hopefully still there waiting to come out.
What do you think?
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I wrote a thread in the summer that basically said "Don't Trade Galchenyuk", but even though it's just 4 games in, I'm wondering, in hindsight, if we should have traded him and to be honest I would today jump at getting Matt Duschene for him
For me, what concerns me the most about Alex is his attitude. He seems to be going through the motions other than an occasional spurt. If he was working hard and had a great attitude but the puck just wasn't going in, I could wait that out. But to me he seems dark, sulky, a whole different attitude than even 2 years ago.
It makes me wonder if there may be too much going on in his private life and maybe he's gotten into things he shouldn't have. I'm just guessing and I'm not around him but from a distance he just seems like he's changed, for the worse.
Today it was announced that he was back on the fourth line. To me, that's the coach saying, you're not working, you're not giving your all so you're demoted to the lowest position on the team. I think Julian is a decent guy and I think he's frustrated with Alex and in frustration is kind of setting him aside until Galchenyuk changes his attitude.
I'm really disappointed in him because at his age he should bite the bullet and give it everything he has and work like crazy to get back to where he once was. For me, very disappointing. I doubt Sakic would take him in a straight up deal for MD. Too bad.
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If that were possible it would in all likelihood have happened a few months ago, before he signed with the KHL, and not now or in the next few months.
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Ok, I guess that answers my question. It was just a thought. By next summer, he's be around 40, or close to it, so that's likely not happening.
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Does anyone know of or think that there could be any possibility that Markov had built into his contract in the KHL an out clause that would allow him to return to the NHL [Montreal] mid season if the Haps came knocking, if they had a serious need?
I have heard of some players having that sort of clause built in if the NHL came calling.....or was that only during a lockout season when many players signed to play somewhere overseas?
Any precedent for this happening??
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So here is my main point.....the consensus here judging from your comments, is that Drouin is the better player.....and he was traded by a respected GM in Tampa for a 1st round blue chip defenseman, who hasn't established himself in the NHL yet.
The point is.... Sakic is asking for a top 4 D, a first round pick plus a good prospect, for a player debatably not as valuable as Drouin. Insane.
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I read something on another site that raised this question and comparison in my mind.
Who would you prefer to have on your team. Jonathan Drouin or Matt Duchene? Either way, I would think maybe the comparison is at least close between the two?
The reason I ask that is to compare their trade value. If these two players are somewhat close in value, Drouin was traded for 1 bluechip, top prospect with a few NHL games under his belt.
But for Duchene, Sakic is asking for a top 4 D, a 1st round pick and a top prospect.....plus??
If my logic is at least close, then Sakic may be losing a lot of respect around the league for asking what he is for a very good center, but whose numbers this past year were 18 goals, 23 assists, 41 points and he was a -34.
I'd love to have Matt Duschene on our team, like Galchenyuk he may have had a down year last season, but the asking price isn't just ridiculous, it's totally out of whack. If Sakic brought his asking price more in line with the Drouin trade something would likely develop pretty quickly.
What do you think?
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I wonder if the glass is half full and not half empty?
For some it all depends on how you look at things. So let me suggest a glass half full scenario with a question/suggestion at the end about the next few years.
I agree that losing Radulov is a big deal. But we may have to wait a year to be fully convinced how damaging his loss is. If he continues with the same passion and energy with as good or better results, then a year from now we will all agree that losing him was in fact a bitter pill to swallow. However there have been many players who faded considerably after signing a large contract so I think we have to wait and see. I think there may be some questions about his motives in coming back to the NHL. Was it to be the best or the richest. We'll have a better idea a year from now.
I'm making a few assumptions about this coming year. I understand assumptions mean nothing until the results are in but here goes:
- I'm assuming Markov will return and our top 4 will not be bad and our bottom 3 will be average. Pittsburgh won without a very strong d this year, more average.
- I'm assuming Alex Galchenyuk will have an outstanding bounce back year, to prove MB wrong, and everyone will be saying how fortunate we are that we didn't trade him.
- I'm assuming Gallagher will also have a better year.
- I'm assuming Jonathan Drouin will soar. I read one writer from Tampa Bay who said he thought Tampa made a big mistake in trading Drouin. If [assumption] Drouin is a Tyler Seguin situation we may be pleasantly surprised.
- I'm assuming that Claude Julien, with a full training camp, will make a noticeable difference in how we play.
So I think [assumption] that things could perhaps turn out better than what some are expecting.
The Future:
This is more of a question than a statement.
We have some good young players....Drouin, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Lekonen, and some of the other younger 3d and 4th liners.
If we don't exceed what we did last year, seeing that hockey is more of a business now that it was 30 years ago, instead of slowly sliding into mediocrity, could we not get some excellent young players back if a year from now, we decided we had to retool, and traded Max P and Carey Price and even tried to move Weber, and go all in on a youth movement? Besides the return player wise, we would save millions and be able to sign some good free agents next summer.
I think the return on Max and Carey would bring back some very good young players.
I think our future could still be bright. What do you think?
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I think trading Alex Galchenyuk would be a big mistake.
He is 23 years old.
He is just now coming into his own.
When he played centre he produced 50% more than when he played wing.
Before he was injured he was at almost a point per game!
He is very talented!
He could be our #1 centre if management would just accept he may not be the perfect two way centre right now but take a chance he could develop into one.
A line of him, Drouin and Gallagher would be dynamic.
Why trade for Drouin and then trade away Alex?
Keeping him would make our team younger with the addition of Drouin.
I'd trade Max P. before Alex.
I'd even let Radulov go before Alex because of the age difference!
What do you think?
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I was looking over TSN's trade bait list, focusing on the centres.
Would Brayden Schen be a good fit for us. 25 goals....still relatively young. Decent size. Not a very good plus-minus.
What would it take to get him if he was a good fit?
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On 2017-06-11 at 9:10 AM, DON said:
Wow, that's a very revealing article. Sometimes you hear about a young centre, like Matt Duchene, and everything sounds good and you get caught up in the hype. Then you read an article like that, and see some of his stats and salary, and it brings you down to earth.
So now i'm thinking....Oh no, will Bergevin give away Alex for Matt??
Yikes!
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On 2017-05-22 at 7:57 PM, Commandant said:
I'd still give him every opportunity at C first, RW next....
I agree totally. So let me add this out of the box suggestion [a touch of sarcasm]. If we need a first line C and we have none in the minors ready, and it's so difficult or expensive to get one...if we have one that is at least close...why don't we hire a former top C who knows what has to be done every shift and who has some coaching aspirations and then put Chucky in the top line C position and have this specialized coach work with him after every game.
I see our goalie coach out on the ice with computers and video's showing Price certain things, why don't we do the same thing with our highly paid and potentially very important 1st line C candidate. Wouldn't that be a cheaper and better option than selling the farm to get someone who may end up not being as good as what we already have?
Sports teams all over the world from the Olympics on up to professional sports have specialized coaches and do this all the time. Doesn't that make sense??
It's creative and it's called developing what we have!
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Martin Lemay of RDS wrote a very interesting piece. He spent some time doing a little research and his conclusion was, you cannot build a Stanley Cup winning team without a good first line center.
He made the comment that Washington has built their team around a winger, Ovechkin, and they can't seem to win. He pointed out that they have very good 2nd and 3d line centres but not a first. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the Capitols if they traded Ovechkin to the Islanders for John Taveres?
He lists the teams that have won the cup and shows their centres and while there may be an occasional exception [I didn't check into the teams that won] he makes a very strong point that if we don't get a first line centre we have little hope of winning.
He went back and showed that Serge Savard often or maybe even usually, traded wingers for centers. He always had an abundance of centers and we won in 93 and had good teams year after year.
So his final conclusion was that Marc Bergeron has to get centre come September, no matter what the cost.
What do you think? Agree or disagree?
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In reading and listening there are 3 centers out there who I wonder if they could be of help to us? They have probably been discussed here before as a backup, but I didn't read through all the posts to see if they have been discussed yet, if we're not able to get a Matt Duschene caliber player.
1. Nick Bonino - Pittsburgh I'm not familiar with him but from what I understand he is a very solid 2nd line C who could work out for us as a second option if nothing else is possible?
2. Ryan Nugent Hopkins - Could he be a 1st line center and is he good enough to give up what we would have to in order to acquire him?
3. Joe Thornton - 38?? Could he give us 1 year and still put up some points. Is he a better option for a 1st line center than what we currently have.
What do you think?
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Since this thread title is discussing whether sweeping changes need to me made, I have wondered that since there are not very many French speaking coaches for us to chose from, compared to English speaking, I have to ask why there has not been a major emphasis on making sure that we develop coaches from within. For example, I wonder if Sylvain Lefebvre was considered for even a moment, or was he ever even in the conversation, to replace MT. Somehow I think not. But shouldn't that be an obvious for our AHL head coach? I would think that the three main aspects or priorities of that coaches job description should be:
1. Install and teach a system to the players that the parent club is using so that younger players will learn how to play and be prepared when they are called up.
2. Have the best possible French speaking coach in place in our AHL team so just as the players are being prepared, the coach [coaches] are being prepared and trained to be able to coach the parent club.
3. Win. Develop a winning attitude, game plan and build the team to win in all position.
Shouldn't that be an obvious priority for us since: 1. We must have a French speaking coach. 2. Our team is from Quebec where there are more French speaking coaches in waiting than anywhere in the world.
Why can't/shouldn't we have a great young up and coming French coach in the AHL? Seems pretty obvious to me. Instead.........
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When we hired MB, if I recall, he called on Serge Savard to join him and give his input into their ultimate selection of a GM. I wonder if he still does that on occasion. I think Geoff Molson is a smart guy, he just doesn't have the hockey background. Most/many people in key leadership positions, in whatever field or organization, especially when they know they are lacking in certain areas which in this case is him not having the hockey background, have a discreet group of people they call upon for opinions and wisdom as they go through the decision making process, whether it be monthly meetings or whenever needed. I wonder if he still does this?
We never know how much coaches or players read the papers but I suspect ownership reads everything so they have a finger on the pulse of their fans and city. For sure guys like Serge Savard keep up with whats being reported, so I would be very surprised if Geoff Molson isn't hearing some of what we're saying here, that maybe he needs to remove himself and make some dramatic changes and at least that may give him reason to think on it.
But I agree that it likely isn't going to happen now. But once the draft is over and July 1 comes and goes, if there isn't anything resembling some hope or a new direction but just more of the same tinkering of the bottom 6...who knows. We've been surprised before and it didn't take Geoff M too long on the job to remove Pierre Gauthier and make a change. But PG wasn't Molson's GM of choice so that may have been an easier decision.
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Since our last Stanley Cup we seem to have always had a reasonable hope for the future. Other than a few years where things collapsed, we seem to have made strategic changes and have always bounced back to put us again on a path for hope for success.
I have been a Habs fan for over 50 years and I don't know if it's because I understand things a bit better now or if reality has truly set in. I can't help but believe we have hit the point where sweeping changes have to be made in order for us not to replicate the Leafs and end up going 50 years before we see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Habs fans who experienced the teams in the 70's and 80's and hearing the annual statement "The Stanley Cup parade will again take it's normal route", will never be content to be in the middle of the pack with an average team. We want more than that.
I believe the time has arrived and I also wonder if the man at the top sees it and is willing to make the changes which I think have to be radical. Players often are asked to "take one for the team" and I wonder if the owner, who I really respect as a person, is willing to take one for team. These are the two major changes that I think have to be made.
1. I think he has to remove himself from the hockey equation. I think we are suffering from having a President who is not a qualified hockey man. Our worst example over the past 20 years or more has been the Maple Leafs but they have turned the corner and it all started with putting in place a very good hockey man with head office [inner circle] experience. With the knowledge and connections he had in hockey he knew the right people and he brought them in and they are now one of the exciting teams going forward and are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Geoff Molson can still, as the owner, be the overseer of the team, with the new President reporting to him, but he has to turn the reigns over to a very good, qualified hockey man.
2. I really liked the Marc Bergevin hiring at the time but I think his approach and flaws have been exposed this year. Our pipeline of young talent seems very weak or non-existent in terms of giving us help from the minors. The team of coaches he has put in place to develop players seems a complete failure. His sticking with coaches after the results seem to indicate a change is needed has to be on him. Keeping Sylvain Lefebre in place season after season with losing records, players not being developed and in some cases regressing, and the comments I read from some of his players saying there seemed to be no system in place is indefensible. Going all this time without drafting a centre or trading for one or acquiring one somehow again, has to be on him. I think we need a new GM to start with what we have and begin again.
I think Hab's fans would be willing, probably excited, to see these changes which would give us again a hope and future. Right now I don't think too many of us have a hope or see a very bright future for our Habs. I hope Geoff Molson and Marc Bergevin see that as well and I hope their goal is more than just having a decent team for the next 5 years.
So do you think Geoff Molson will do anything of significance? Does he even see the need for these kind of changes?
Do you think he's willing to move himself out and move someone else in?
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58 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:
1. Weakness since 2008
2. Marc Bergevin, Martin Lapointe, Rob Ramage, Sylvain Lefebvre, and Donald Dufresne.
3. Fire a lot of people and find better people to do the jobs. Geoff Molson needs to hire a proper President to oversee the club.
If drafting is a weakness of ours, since 2008, shouldn't Trevor Timmons be on your list?
Bergevin......
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Interesting comments by TSN insider Craig Button on Sunday after Saturday nights total embarrassment at the hands of the Leafs.
He was asked about The Canadiens and he said, "...this team has been built by their GM and it is seriously flawed....they are slow on the back end....they have 5-6 position defensemen playing in the 3-4 slot...they are relying on a 19 year old defenceman.....they are playing people out of position......square pegs in round holes....they have Jonathan Drouin playing centre and he's not a centre, although he's trying very hard". He was then asked what he would do and he said, "You have to start at the top....at the GM position...he built this team, he's responsible for it so he needs to do something. But right now this team is going nowhere fast. Don't expect anything to change with this group that the GM has assembled".
Unfortunately I think most of us would agree with every one of those comments.
So it comes back to the basic question we've already stated. Do we really want Geoff Molson to wait and let MB make more trades and spend our $8 million and trust him after what we have 5 years into his watch. Do we really have to wait until season's end and endure many more embarrassing nights? Why not start now with the changes??
A number of us [many?] said that we really liked MB's hiring at the beginning and at first he did a good job of tweaking what was already in place. But this is now his team, he's put it together and its a disaster. I'm actually shocked at how far we've fallen. I'm not shocked so much by how bad our defence is, although I honestly expected much more from Petry, Benn and Alzner, but I did expect that to be the weak part of our team, but overall, still no centers, a bad defence [worst in the league??] and many hockey commentators are saying don't expect anything different. What you're seeing is what we are. A total mess, seriously flawed.
Interesting that Jack Todd today said the man to replace MB has to be Julian Brisebois. He has been learning behind the scenes for 5 years now under Steve Y in Tampa and they have build arguably the best team in the NHL right now. Todd pointed out that many very successful GM's never played the game starring with Sam Pollock.
What do you think? Is it time and is Julian Brisebois a good choice?