hockeyrealist

Paramount has a TV station apparently. Found a new, original show during free preview called "Yellowstone" that is quite good (about 8 episodes in). Other classics worth mentioning (not new): Shameless (US version), The Boondocks, Greg the Bunny as a few that may or may not be previously mentioned. Currently a show in Canada on History network called "Alone" that I dig as well.

Slow clap. Start a thread with inaccurate information, haha fake news has taken over habsworld with their garbage tankist views. Lies!!!

“Long term strategic thinking” from lazy boy managers is the most idiotic excuse I’ve heard to backtrack from being a half-assed fan I’ve even seen.

Haha, I cannot believe all these shallow fans who can’t even truly support a team that is laying it on the line, playing good playoff style hockey, yet continue to visit/post on a Habs fan site. I pity these fools. It’s hilarious reading these posters who think they know how to build a winning hockey team from their lazy boys just by securing Lafreniere ( he’s gonna be good but he’s not a Gretzky or even McDavid, and even if he is: a bird (or playoff birth) in the hand is worth two in the bush). Aside from Taking too many penalties, this team is playing structurally solid hockey that wins playoff games when checking is tight. I’ll take offense by committee in playoff hockey more than 1-2 key players who can be neutralized, these new line configurations are possibly the most balanced forward group in the league and our top three d are among the best in the league, and oh yeah Carey Freaking Price rises to the occasion as we’ve seen throughout his career going back to junior hockey. A lot easier to be a hater than a supporter, but this is a fan site and as far as I know no poster here has qualifications or experience to manage an NHL team yet they still insist that the percentage chance at a top 9 pick is worth more that even an outside shot at a cup? Pfffft, this series experience alone just made KK and Suzuki ten times more valuable and a proven asset, draft picks are speculative and I’d rather roll the dice with my known assets than be happy to watch a rebuild that posters throw around like its the be all, end all solution. i can only imagine the crap posts these same posters would be making over the next few seasons about how terrible the team is as we struggle through the development of a potential stud who could turn out to be Yakupov 2.0. Looking through Lafreniere history I see no championships except for when playing on all-star variety national teams, has he propelled a mediocre team to excellence, carried a team on his back to championship? 35 goals in final junior year doesn’t scream stud to me. Is he going to be a great player? Probably, but can he single handedly turn a franchise into a champion? I doubt it, so are we needing a few years of top picks and losing to assemble enough star power to dominate? And at what point does all that losing impact player development? Nope, not for me. Ride this run because this league is a game of inches, Full of battles of attrition and I’ll take this tight knit group of plugs over some percentage chance of drafting a star any day of the week. They’re playing for each other because there is no 1 guy and if you’re gonna have that one star the goalie is best case scenario as it’s such a unique, individual position that can impact a game greater than any other position. crosby, Malkin, McDavid, Draisitl are all studs who are done for the season and half of them have yet to win a damn thing that matters: the cup. Crosby and Malkin got into the league before parity was so prominent as well and we are seeing how that has caught up to them also. no one pick is worth sacrificing a chance to dance. no fan regrets their team winning, making the playoffs (especially in these days). 16 wins ain’t no thang. I’ll never be happy about a loss. Go Habs Go.

Oh I spoke too soon. a couple posters couldn’t help but use their “I’m happy, but...” oh no, we get a chance to play playoff hockey and not a top 9 pick. cry me a river ya sad sacks. nobody likes a crybaby.

Go Habs Go! The icing on the cake of this play-in win is noticing the lack of comments from the negative nellies who believe a high draft pick is the only path to success. The foolish posts that Weber is on the decline, Price is past his prime and this team can’t compete even in a league of extreme parity. Draft pick primos don’t mean squat in a team sport when games get tight. McDavid hasn’t won a team achievement even though he’s a stud who lays it all on the line, Eichel is wasting away no matter how hard he tries to do it all and round out his game, and we’re seeing a pattern in TO of talent meaning nothing without buy-in (see Islanders, Columbus) and heart (see Habs). They’re playing like a bunch of Gallagher’s because of the bar set by him, Carey and Weber to do whatever it takes, be humble, carry a big stick.

Unexpected Success? As in cracked a weak roster perhaps. Have never been a fan of his, not his fault the organization handled him poorly and had such a dearth of d-men that he was thrust into the show prematurely. But that doesn’t mean he gets a pass either. Too slow moving the puck, too weak in corners and net front, brutal shot. He only made the 10 and 40 game mark because Weber protected him at the expense of his own performance, wasting Weber’s potential in doing so. He can make a partner look good but at the sacrifice of his own productivity. I know it reads harsh, but he wouldn’t be an NHLer if Mgmt hadn’t botched the core of the d.

Seems to have same claim on many of the leagues current and past tendies. The great 8 indeed. Habs benefit from his “load management”.

One irreplaceable player in that list. Picks outside of top 10 are essentially found money if they turn into key roster pieces. would rather watch a team battle for wildcard year after year then live in Buffalo. this year/next years team is better than we give credit for on here.

I’ve learned to read Trizzaks post with the appropriate tone to make me chuckle. i believe that was the goal, well played.

Agreed. The cost-benefit analysis is out of this world regardless of how the team does.

Great point, he’s had me paying more attention which was waning.

Was referring to post I quoted. in which OP stated others had overlooked a key point. This key point was really just OP’s own hypothesis that doesn’t jive with any of the facts. So to state that other posters are missing an obvious key point is garbage imo. OP’s theory that followed is as flawed as it is unfounded so I called garbage post on the whole thing. That is all, hope that clears it up. Go habs Go! this team is much better than you’d believe reading much of the forum.

complete unfounded speculation being posted as though people are overlooking something is garbage post. overlooking a key point is different than you making shit up.

Comparing Mete to Rafalski is out of left field, is useless. Kind of like throwing Ryan Ellis into the conversation out of nowhere as well. Ryan Ellis has a ton more grit and far better shot than Mete ever will btw. Mete survived on the top pairing, he did not thrive. The team obviously hasn't been successful with him in top 4. We've now seen how much of an anchor he was to Weber who is a more dominant force now that he doesn't have to babysit Mete. Currently Mete is not top 4 quality and is too small to play on a third pairing, the pairing that sees a lot of dump-ins, hard forechecking from other teams bottom 6. He cannot clear the front of the net, has to be at his best to win basic puck battles, and doesn't drive offense. Since paired with Petry, Mete has further been exposed as a weak link. Was he rushed into a role, yes. Do I blame him, no. But that doesn't mean he gets a free pass. He wouldn't even crack the roster on most competitive teams, the roster construction (or lack thereof) put him in a spot where he was thrust into a role far too prematurely. This may actually stifle his development as he is being forced to adapt before he mentally, physically matures which can result in players not realizing their full potential. These types of payers often end up sticking with tactics/tricks that work to reach the minimum acceptable level to keep their spot because the margin for error is non-existent; whereas in a developmental league any failed attempt would be taken with a grain of salt and seen as a young player finding their way. I don't think Mete will ever become a true top 4 dman, I think whatever chance there was at that has been squandered by forcing him into a role he wasn't ready for. I blame that on management. I realized this in the summer when I'd still hoped we'd land a top pairing d. I saw Chiarot on 2nd pairing with Petry and then you have to consider whether Mete fits on the third pairing, which I do not believe works for reasons mentioned above. When looking at it that way, I see him as expendable on the NHL roster (ideally in Laval to develop and hopefully grow into a savvy play maker), but I would not be upset to see him go, if it's part of a package that brings back a true top 4 left d. Side note, I hope Primeau plays so well that Price's starts are no longer guaranteed, I believe Price needs to be challenged by an up and coming number one, and Price will rise up when that happens. Nobody should be guaranteed ice time, starts when a team has such a terrible track record over past x amount of years. Not just current slump, they've been consistently inconsistent for years.

Def don’t think anyone has a right to pin any of that loss on Kincaid. Team wouldn’t have survived first period without him playing stellar. He was forced to make numerous huge saves due to defensive laps, not just by defensemen and also played the puck Wisely numerous times to help with breakout. I was impressed by his puck handling, choosing right times and making crafty plays. He was not the issue and anyone claiming he “needs to win his share of games” either isn’t watching, doesn’t have a clue or is trolling. Any backup goalie can’t be expected to steal games when I team takes that many pénalités. Your starter is suppose to be able to steal games, backups keep you in games which is what he did. Tatar has taken too many penalties, way too useful on the ice when he is out there and team is too weak on pk to afford it. Tired of Mete playing top pairing, he’s an anchor on Weber. We should be taking advantage of Weber by providing him a good partner, not forcing him to carry a top pairing and then wonder why he’s not the stud we demand. Hard to believe there is no better left dman available than any of our options given we haven’t had a top pairing left d since Markov. Everyone knows we’ve needed one, that blames falls on Mgmt. Mete is not Roman Josi 2.0 nor will he become that. He’s not offensive enough to even play pp and takes his best effort, skill and luck just to keep up with average plays, clearing the zone. He has not impressed enough to continue to pretend that problem isn’t holding us back. if first pairing dman isn’t on pp and also not on pk, are they really a first pairing dman or just a place holder that’s somehow lasted too long in that role. He’s too small for bottom pairing and I don’t trust him with Petry who is perfect on second/1B pairing. Doesn’t leave much room for him currently. Feel like he was rushed due to lack of options and to his/team’s demise.

Agreed and it to mention We don’t need him at all. we need a top pairing dman.

I agree, but couldn’t help but quite sonI could say Ferland is tough. He will do well riding shotgun with van’s young guns in top 6. If healthy, great value. If not....

Agreed, which is partly why I was so surprised at the number of players taken. Not to mention how easily some kids dominate at that age, but that isn’t sustainable. If they were drafting kids out of Canadian high school hockey or even top-tier Midget aged players, we’d be baffled I’m sure that they’d gamble on such young talent.

Edited as was able to read on second load and wanted to pay due for the hard work and good read. thanks. stilL enjoying it.

As mentioned above, it is a big gamble for most of these kids. From what I’ve seen of him( only videos since the draft) he does move well in all direction, stick handle well and seems composed with the puck. Obv small sample size to view and against unknown competition so again insert dart board analogy. Comments about him point towards a dman that I personally like (physical, offensive, aggressive) so I will be following his development path thanks to HabsWorld and the great coverage of habs prospects made available through the site. it would suck to be a fan of other teams and have much more limited access to information.

Ahha, I should have revisited some reading material before posting. So, maybe Shaw type speed with some hands? I do realize no point comparing but first round picks always arouse my interest. Thanks.

I like the pick. I’m picturing a “healthy Byron” level of speed and jump, with better finishing/setup abilities. Im fine with that, he and Gally could be a 1/2 RW combo that drives opposing dmen nuts in 2-3 years and be productive.

This year’s team overperformed, that seems like concencus opinion around here. With thé lack of truly elite (game breaking talent) prospects (I do like our prospects but none are going to be elite to the point thy step in next year and provide significant improvement) I don’t see any improvement next year. More likely I see a regression to the mean, the career year players will probably level off so I predict another playoff miss next year. MB should be to blame, when the coach is beyond reproach (whether right or not) and the players are all playing above expectations you must look to the architect for blame. Speakig of coach. Is this coach the guy we want nurturing some young talent? Does his history support the development of young players? Goaltending: CP31 is great but he cost us points early on that resulted in no playoffs, he was brutal for first half. Literally lost us easy points early on. Upgrade at backup goalie required. Who cares about egos, we need a talented, hungry backup who will take any opportunity and run with it. worst case, CP31 plays less/year and actually lasts until his contract ends. forwards: Inabilty to produce consistent offense, yet again. Upgrades at top 6 required. d: insufficient depth in top 4 dmen, upgrades required. Soecial teams: Complete garbage power play, upgrade at top 6/coaching staff required. Im quite sure this breakdown could apply to many of the past years’ teams so again I place blame on executive team (GM/owner) for not assembling a winner. It is particularly bothersome when you also consider the cap room and outcry for improvements,and the mishandling of Markov/Radu. Imagine we’d had Marky playing limited 5 on 5 but PP specialist, and Radu is still on team. Perhaps with Radu still on board, we’d have kept Sergachev and not gone after Drouin in this scenario, boom our top six is better, left D is all of a sudden excellent. Wow, ramble and ramble. saw half of games this year. About half of those were brutal, other half the team played over the expectations and stymied opposition with speed/goaltending. While I love to see w’s and did get excited this year, once I step back and take a look at big picture I realize there is little reason to expect any significant change in results in the near future. Hopefully I’’m wrong but history tells me Management will continue to lead us down a path of mediocrity.

Interesting line of thought mentioned above. Perhaps, the cost of some extra tix gets worked into pricing of corporate boxes and the “extra tix” from that are used by the club exclusively for schools, minor sports teams, charities? No net gain or loss for team, negligible increase to the price of corporate boxes, does some good for people who may not get to see an NHL game otherwise??? Go Habs Go!