TurdBurglar

That basically the description of a 4th line player, except Anderson has way too much size, skill and speed to be on the 4th line.

It’s early in the season. With the line shuffling he’s trying to catch lightening in a bottle, like the Caufield - Suzuki - Dach line last year. I also believe it’s because Anderson didn’t really look like he belonged with Caufield and Suzuki. Someone else pointed out Anderson doesn’t really fit in on any line, and I tend to agree. He’s a good player, but he’s too selfish for his skill level. He quite often recovers puck and just throws them back at the net instead of using his teammates. I’m sure I’ll get shredded for this opinion of Anderson.

It doesn't bode well that in 3 games they've given up 2 5-on-3's. Penalties were an issue last season, and it doesn't seem to be any better this season.

Just watched the opening for HNIC. They did clips of the teams from the first game of the season. They edited the Xhekaj/Reaves fight down to just when Reaves was punching Xhekaj.

I agree with Anderson on the Suzuki line. Dach worked so well on that line because he knew their best chance was to get the puck on the stick of Suzuki or Caufield. Anderson is a good player. He works hard on the forecheck and digs pucks out. His problem is he's a shooter, always wants to shoot and on that line he has the 3rd best shot. I think Slaf would be better on that line in the long run, and Anderson on the Dach/Newhook line as their shooter. Slaf just isn't ready for that right now, he has to establish himself first.

If the Habs played up, it shows they are capable of doing so. The Habs also have a lot of room to grow as opposed to Toronto being what they're going to be.

Well, Allen did everything he could in OT to get the 2 points. Lets see what the shootout has in store.

Regardless of how this game turns out, this is encouraging. The defense is still inexperienced, the second line looks good thus far, goaltending is still a question mark but Montembeault didn't start. This should never of went to OT, Allen let in 2 real soft goals.

Another soft one by Allen. This game shouldn't be as close as it is.

Those Bertuzzi punches was very reminiscent of the Semin slapfight.

It seemed to re-energize Toronto when the goal got called back. Couple that with Allen letting in a softy to start their scoring, and he didn't look comfortable on his second against. At least the 3rd wasn't his fault. I think it'll be a great test to see if Montreal can come back. Up until the goal got called back, they were playing well. I think there's a decent chance this one isn't as over as we think it may be.

Speaking of that line.

Didn't take long for Xhekaj to show Reaves isn't so big or bad as he thinks he is.

Should be calling that 3rd line the bubble wrap line.

I’ll stand by what I’ve been saying for years and it’s been touched on by a few people here. It’s the lack of threat anywhere except one player on the left side, by design. It was Weber before Caufield. All plays target that one-timer on the left side. The PP doesn’t try to create anything else. The defence keeps a player close to Caufield and/or in his shooting lane. They need to establish at least one other threat. Ideally it’s something down low and/or on the other side of the ice to open the defence.

Slaf should be given 10 games or so, like the junior players, to see if he's ready to step up to the NHL level and sent to Laval if he isn't this year. At this point his development is far more important than his reputation of a 1st overall pick.

Some team would of picked Mailloux after if Montreal didn't. It's the NHL, they've proven time and time again they don't care about players behavior until the press becomes too bad. It's the reason players form the 2 WJC sexual assault allegations haven't been named and some are/were playing in the NHL even after the allegations were made public. It's how coaches like Babcock get hired again, and the whole Blackhawks sexual assault debacle was hidden for so long. The only thing they care about is winning, until the press is bad enough that they need to act.

Having that 2 pronged attack with speed wouldn't take away from Slaf being on the line as long as Slaf knew his job was to come in behind and park near the crease. Also at Slaf's age, making him the slower piece of that line would give him motivation to work more on his skating. I really believe Dach(most likely) or Slaf would be with Suzuki and Caufield, either way they wouldn't be on the same line.

If Slaf starts to use his size effectively, that could be a great second line.

Looks as if Montreal gained a 3rd, not traded a 3rd.

In this case it's a team representative crossing the line as to what's acceptable to expect from players. That is something that would cause NHLPA would step in, as the NHLPA's responsibility is to represent the players vs the league. You are also correct that normally these things are kept under pretty tight wraps, but the story broke to media before anyone could really dig into it.

There is a lot more to the story. It went from a big deal, to the Blue Jackets and their players trying to put it out and everything seemed fine. Then out of nowhere the NHLPA had an emergency meeting about some new things they found out. The next day it was reported the Blue Jackets were told there wasn't a path forward with Babcock. From the Blue Jackets statement it sounded like they told Babcock he had to resign, so it wasn't Babcock's choice. The only question is are we going to get the full story. The answer is probably not.

Mike Babcock lasted long in the NHL... https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/mike-babcock-resigns-as-head-coach-of-columbus-blue-jackets-1.2008770

Both Twitch and Youtube links for the 3:30pm EST game vs Boston. https://www.twitch.tv/canadiensmtl

I haven't seen much of Mailloux, just from things on this forum about him. I expected from here, that he was some great prospect that fell because of his conviction. He's either really uninspired or rusty if these comment are accurate about him. From the game tonight, I would expect him to stand out in all the right ways. He stood out in all the wrong ways, at least the first 2 periods, I missed the 3rd, I wandered off during the extended glass change.