sim.on

I fully expect the Habs to come out playing with much more intensity and playing better hockey at the drop of the puck then they have through the last 30 games of the regular season. They were definitely coasting to a degree and still won the division and I have noticed they flick the switch at times and I have no doubt they will do it now. As for Hammond, this run cannot continue, if it does he will go down as the best goalie ever to play the game and I just don't see that happening. Don't forget that he was a sub par AHL goalie as recently as a few months ago. I don't think he magically became amazing at age 27 when he first gets called up to the NHL. All that said the run could very well continue for another couple weeks and with the parity in the league, any playoff team can win a round against anyone but in my mind Montreal has to be favored without a doubt.

im in too!

That shit would have been crazy if Beaulieu got him!

DSP is looking a lot quicker now then when he joined the team.

So crazy, a few weeks ago Beaulieu was being heralded as the number 3 guy on the back end and now Pateyrn seems to have come out of nowhere to play a bunch of games. All that depth on the back end could sure come in useful in the playoffs.

Gilbert hockey sense < Eller hockey sense

Emelin back healthy and Gonchar ready to go but Pateryn is playing? Is Pateryn solidly ahead of Tinordi now?

Yea, I'm pretty sure Chuck is on the wing because that is where Chuck wants to be.

Looking at the scoring leaders in the NHL, the only guys that look to be consistently over a ppg are Crosby, Malkin, Seguin and Kane. There are only about 15 players in the whole league who average around one ppg, including the four I just mentioned. As mentioned above by MoLG, 70 ish points should roughly land a player in the top 20 scorers of the league.

Good point about the waivers for going to Hamilton, I am not aware of all those rules. What part of his game do you think would hold him back from being a guy that could put up 80-90 points every year? He has the hands, the shot (which I wish he'd use more often) and the vision and will likely have size/strength combo in the next few years too. 65-70 point ceiling make me think of Plek. When Galchenyuk was drafted, I think a lot of us had fantasies of a Malkin type. Was he simply over hyped, what makes Malkin that much better?

Where do you see his ceiling being point production wise? I know hind sight is 20 /20 but at this point it looks as though it might have been better for his development if he had finished out the lockout shortened season in Sarnia and then maybe had another year in the AHL. If you look at Ryan Johansen, he went back to junior for the full year after his draft, the next season he skiped the AHL and was brought straight to the bluejackets. He played the whole season in the NHL and struggled. The next year he split time between NHL and AHL, with minimal production in the NHL and had his break out season the following year. What I'm trying to say is that Columbus realized their mistake and corrected it. I know they are not the same players but depending how the playoffs go it could be beneficial to start Galchenyuk in Hamilton next season. When Bergevin talks about wanting to build a team that will be a cup threat every year for the long haul, I immediately think of the Red Wings and if the Wings are known for any one thing it is taking time with their prospects and letting them play in the minors till they are over ripe. There is no doubt that Galchenyuk is better this year and his 21st birthday was less than a month ago so he is still really young. Watching him play I have a hard time believing the 205 lbs that he is listed at. The one thing I think everyone notices is that he needs to get stronger and I have no doubt that eventually he will. I know confidence is a big part of hockey and I just hope that his hasn't been diminished too much due to the path he has taken. All that said he could still finish with 25g and 25a, not exactly disappointing numbers. Rather it's the inconsistency that I think frustrates people but we have to remember that consistency is one of the toughest qualities for a young player to develop.

Not a single save in the shoot out for Toker, the only one that didn't go in was the missed net by Tofoli. In all fairness, they were all snipes but still.. Eller in jinxed.

Eller's hockey IQ is bad Gilbert's is worse

Eller has been playing some of his best hockey lately. I like him as a winger, he shoots a lot more. He is strong on the puck too but definitely needs to work on his situational awareness.

That hurts.

Lame call

Good call

BOOM! True to the formula!

Beaulieu should be getting Gilbert's PP time.

Is is just me or are we in a tied game with only 9 SOG through two periods?

Damn is this team scrappy!

The hated one cuts the deficit in half! I know DSP is poinless as a Hab but I think he might be our most physical forward, more so than either Weiss or Prust.

I don't think Petry and Gilbert work well as a pairing... too similar.

Not sure that was a penalty

Almost 3-zip there.