huzer

Is this in the wrong thread, or just a random comment for the GDT? 😆

I don't have much to add other than a personal anecdote. I think it was 2015/2016, I sat next to Jarome Iginla at a rink here in CO when his son was playing Squirt B hockey (we were waiting for the game to finish, my son had mite practice after his game). Pretty fun to see a kid I watched as a 9 year old be a projected first rounder. I'm also fairly clueless, as I talked to Jarome in the stands for a bit before I realized who I was talking to. Fast forward, I'm with my family at an Avs game, watching the warmups. Iginla skated over to the glass, pointed down at my son, then me, gave all of the other adults nearby the stink eye, and tossed the puck over to me. He made sure my son got it before skating off.

I think the biggest perception issue with Montembeault is one he can't solve, he was a waiver claim that is succeeding Carey Price. He's not Price. He's also behind an inexperience/learning defense. Price was that all-world goalie that could cover for the defensive lapses of the team. Monty is the goalie that is solid when he needs to be, and sometimes can make that spectacular save. From my pea brain perspective, I have seen improvement from Monty, and from Primeau (although his improvement is not quite as marked, it is still there). Primeau could end up like Monty, and start to establish himself as a more consistent netminder in another 2-3 years. I'm pretty sure we picked up Monty at around the same point, career-wise, that Primeau is at right now. They have very similar basic numbers for their age 24 seasons (.886/3.72 vs .891/3.71, not getting into anything more advanced that that). I like Jake Allen, but I think for the remainder of this season, it should be something like a 60/40 Monty/Primeau tandem to give Primeau more NHL games. Or maybe they've already seen enough, who knows.

And Gallagher and Anderson. Those are the two other albatross contracts. I can't believe there are still 3 additional years left on each of those contracts.

Upper middle, I suppose. I didn't mean top 5, which is probably what could be interpreted as upper echelon. I can't say it's a tandem that gives anyone nightmares, though, which I suppose isn't a major concern at this time.

This signing puts the Habs in the upper echelon of goalie duo salary cap expenditures (not including Carey Price). I have to imagine Allen will find a new address eventually. Interesting side note, one of my son's current bantam coaches is a childhood friend of Jake Allen.

It's hard to judge when he gets ice so inconsistently. I haven't seen enough of him to say "wow". He does, however, seem more comfortable. I remember seeing him in warm ups in CO, and my wife actually commented on the "really nervous looking goalie". I will say the shorty through his body last night was pretty weak. Neither goalie last night looked spectacular.

Well the "good" news for those worried about such things, the Habs now have a worse record than at this point least season. (7-8-2 vs 8-8-1) so they should easily still be top 10. They will probably really nose dive if/when Pearson/Monahan get traded and the inevitable season ending injury to another player or two. On to Boston!

No, he was fired.

It's an intentional jab at users on this site, with the chosen phrasing, that doesn't add to the conversation. Had you simply credited Bergevin by name for potentially selecting a nice late round player, that's much different. Anyway, I don't sit around thinking about how awesome Gauthier was for selecting Gallagher. You have been a staunch defender of Bergevin, probably moreso than any other user on the site. Instead of perpetuating the dialogue around the former GM, and taking a stab at users on the board, it is ok to credit a player, GM, and development staff for working hard and having success.

Just imagine had he fired Lefebvre earlier? The lack of development was one of the previous regime's biggest failures. Lack of prospect graduation isn't solely on scouting and drafting, it's also on development staff, which was also the responsibility of the GM. I mean seriously, move on. Bergevin is gone. He did some good, did some bad. He's not worth the vitriol he gets, nor is he someone that needs constant defending. Your comment would've been fine without the little dig toward the fanbase that wasn't happy with the previous GM.

Heck, Gilmour actually played in more Habs games than Turgeon. I guess having the C makes the difference, there.

They've had two drafts. I'm willing to cut a little slack given the horrid draft pedigree of the team overall for the past 30 years or so. There also isn't enough time to judge either draft class.if they traded away every "decent" player. We'll have to agree to disagree on tanking, as drafting 1st overall and 5th overall is as pretty close to being bad as the team could've accomplished. Last year they didn't even have to trade anyone, as most of the players were hurt. Drafting "swing and miss" players happens all of the time. Every single player in the draft is a project. People (not saying you) tend to be crazy impatient. From the '21 draft class, 20 players from that entire draft class have played at least 1 NHL game (almost half that number has played more than 10 games). From '22, 7 players have played more than 10 NHL games. People want 18 year old kids to step in and dominate (or show they have the potential to dominate) against established men playing in the NHL. Heck, even at the youth hockey level, where age brackets are 2 years, 1st year Bantam kids struggle with kids a year older. Maybe the Habs should've been a little more patient with Kotkaniemi?

This post is just for fun, but raise your hand if you thought Suzuki would have more goals than Caufield, and Caufield would have more assists than Suzuki so far this season.

Nice game winner for Guhle! Always fun to beat the Bruins!

Nah, RHP out, Savard out, Guhle out, Ylonen out, Armia in. Newhook to C. I don't see a dip in effort. Even when the Habs were 5-2-1, most of the stats pointed to a team that was really ranked in the 20s.

Curious to see how the lines play out with Dvorak back. Who's the third wheel with Suzuki/Caufield, and how does the second line shake out? All I know is Slaf/Newhook hasn't passed the eye test for a while, it needs to be ditched. Newhook to the 22/14 line, and Dvo on the 2nd? MSL is probably hesitant to break up the Monahan line. Should be fun to see tonight!

I'm with you, for the most part. Then I look and see from the '22 draft, only 11 players have played an NHL game, only 7 have recorded at least 1 point (Slaf is the highest scoring, but only because he's played significantly more, 49 games vs 13). Should he have seen those 49 games? Eh... I will not pretend to be a scout, but when I try to focus on him specifically, I don't see a whole lot. Slaf and Newhook do not mesh, and despite MSL's stubbornness with that line, they need to try a different duo there. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/debate-over-slafkovsky-staying-with-canadiens-rages-after-loss-to-cooley-coyotes/

That was a fun game to watch, very entertaining.

The Habs sling shot power play move is absolutely putrid.

I think up by 2 with 5 minutes to go is the reason for that. Even if the expectations are that of a lottery team, nobody likes to give up a lead that way. I bet if they were down 4-1 going into the third, which would not have been an unrealistic expectation prior to the game, there would not be nearly as much belly aching.

Wait, was there a game? All I saw were closeups of Matthews spitting on the bench.

Quoted for emphasis. So much ALL OF THIS. The drop pass play always seems half-hearted and doesn't generate any speed. I think teams could post 4 guys within the face-off circle with Caufield and the Habs would still try and force the pick into him. Whenever I'm watching a game, the commentators are constantly commenting on how aggressive the penalty killing teams are against the Habs. It's easy to be aggressive when the Habs are being static.

In what way, other than height/weight stats? Style wise, I don't find them similar at all. Anyway, Lats was never the same after he concussed DiMaio, and forced him into retirement. He appeared to be the prototypical physical power forward until that hit.

Waiver exempt players are usually listed as loaned instead of assigned.