zumpano21 Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 No.... Not until Price is in full stride as the #1 netminder and we have a Joe Thornton type playing 1st line centre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 No.... Not until Price is in full stride as the #1 netminder and we have a Joe Thornton type playing 1st line centre. I would rather win the cup than the division! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 No.... Not until Price is in full stride as the #1 netminder and we have a Joe Thornton type playing 1st line centre. I would rather win the cup than the division! haha I think I'm the only one who got that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazy26 Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Oh, I know that the Habs could have done much better than they did last year and that they have a good enough team to make the playoffs - but there's a big difference between 6th in the East and 1st in the North East. Ottawa is a powerhouse - we simply aren't as good just yet, flu bug or not. ALL Montreal has to do is put together 60 minute games, stop taking stupid penalties, eat healthy and try as hard as they can and the Wins will take care of themselves. And definitely get that FLU SHOT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird19 Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share Posted July 7, 2007 This thread is probably dead....but, my point was, why not focus on beating 4 divisional rivals, as opposed to fighting 14 other conference teams. Why did Detroit win the West last year ? Because they "slumped" to a record of 16-4-4 against Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis. In 2005-2006, they were 21-1-2. If we could step things up against Boston, Bufallo, Ottawa, and Toronto, we win the freakin division. 3rd overall. Better than 7 or 8. Last year, we held our own against these 4 teams. Including Ottawa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird19 Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share Posted July 7, 2007 Off topic but..well done K Lo. Way to go offering Vanek 50/7. Keep over-inflating salaries. No way Bufallo planned on paying him that much.. But Regier had no choice. Damn those teams with too much cap space on their hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleHills Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 No.... Not until Price is in full stride as the #1 netminder and we have a Joe Thornton type playing 1st line centre. I would rather win the cup than the division! haha I think I'm the only one who got that. LOL no I got it too, but only after I tried really hard to get it. (Thornton is not clutch in the playoffs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Off topic but..well done K Lo. Way to go offering Vanek 50/7. Keep over-inflating salaries. No way Bufallo planned on paying him that much.. But Regier had no choice. Damn those teams with too much cap space on their hands. I'm glad Lowe did what he did....seeing as how Buffalo is in our division. Hurting Buffalo = helping the Habs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird19 Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share Posted July 7, 2007 Off topic but..well done K Lo. Way to go offering Vanek 50/7. Keep over-inflating salaries. No way Bufallo planned on paying him that much.. But Regier had no choice. Damn those teams with too much cap space on their hands. I'm glad Lowe did what he did....seeing as how Buffalo is in our division. Hurting Buffalo = helping the Habs Good point. But Vanek 7 million ?? Weird. Wonder what we may have to pay for guys like Komi and Price a few years down the road ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Alot depends on the youngsters' development. Komisarek: Can he reach the next level and be a legitimate elite shutdown D-man? Higgins: Can he stay healthy and become one of the best 2-way winger in the Conference (the kind you think about winning the Selke) Plekanec: Can he maintain his points production and work ethic on a full season? Latendresse: Can he reach the Getzlaf level and become the physical/offense combo that can take over a game? Kostitsyn: Can he get the consistency to become a full-fledge NHLer with game-breaking flashes? Lapierre: Can he grow into a Mike Fischer-type of exhausting-to-play-against 2-way C and give us a better-than-average 4th line? Halak: Can he play well enough to contend for the starter job and/or force Huet to maintain his All-Star level of play? Georges: Can he take the next step and establish himself as a legitimate top-6 NHL D-men? Thats the kids on the team. There's also the kids on the farm: O'Byrne: Can he make the jump right this season and give the Habs much needed defensive toughness? Chipchura: Can he grind his way into a regular checking role? Grabovsky: Can he add much-needed offensive potential to the Habs forward group? Price: Can he outperform both Huet and Halak and pull a Cam Ward? So you see, lot can change if just a few of these things happen because all these kids have a good solid upside. It'd only take a couple of these kids that reach a new level and the team is suddenly much more dangerous. But it's also the double-edged sword of having this many good kids . The upside is high, but its also much more difficult to predict what's gonna happen. It could be anything. It's all really exciting too because you know that with this type of youth the team can only go up in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird19 Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 KoZed spoke. Komisarek: Can he reach the next level and be a legitimate elite shutdown D-man? I beleive so. Higgins: Can he stay healthy and become one of the best 2-way winger in the Conference (the kind you think about winning the Selke) Health is the issue. Plekanec: Can he maintain his points production and work ethic on a full season? He is the one habs I have ???? about. Just a gut feeling. Latendresse: Can he reach the Getzlaf level and become the physical/offense combo that can take over a game? Increase his nasty factor, without becoming Bertuzzi. He'll be solid. Kostitsyn: Can he get the consistency to become a full-fledge NHLer with game-breaking flashes? They both look promising. I like Sergei. GP 59 Goals 40 Assists 91 Points 131. No guarantee, but I cant ignore those stats. Lapierre: Can he grow into a Mike Fischer-type of exhausting-to-play-against 2-way C and give us a better-than-average 4th line? Hope so. I might see him on the 3rd. Halak: Can he play well enough to contend for the starter job and/or force Huet to maintain his All-Star level of play? If Price has a good training camp, they will both have to take their game to the max. Georges: Can he take the next step and establish himself as a legitimate top-6 NHL D-men? Gorges is a 22 year-old work in progress. Be patient and keep him in the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athlétique.Canadien Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Expect the unexpected? What would be unexpected would be a phenom named Andrei Kostitsyn getting 100 points, or someone. I hope this is what BOb meant by "unexpected" because we'll need a nuke to win the division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortHanded Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Win the division? I doubt it. Get into the playoffs? Hopefully, if the kids work hard and gel, and turn this team's identity around. It takes a couple of years of playing together to get that real experience and synch as a team with all these young guys there. Remember, pittsburgh had 105 points and some of the best players in the league, but they still lost the first round this year. They'll be stronger next year, of course, and will have learned something from their playoff loss. Whatever happens, the future is bright, but it might not start this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I wouldnt' expect too much from buffalo or toronto this year. Toronto basically resigned their whole team from last year plus blake and toscula. Ottawa, is good though, still . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I wouldnt' expect too much from buffalo or toronto this year. Toronto basically resigned their whole team from last year plus blake and toscula. Ottawa, is good though, still . well they finished above us last season and toskala and blake make them better that being said, i think we have the better squad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Check out this pessimistic reading of the Habs and optimistic reading of the Leafs, who, apparently, are all set to dethrone the Sens in the East: http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/hockey...f62&k=72461 While I don't think this is a wildly implausible analysis - Blake is a huge missing piece for them - I also find it typical of Toronto-based types. A little story that may illustrate the situation we Habs fans are likely to find ourselves in in the next couple of years: I was in the Skydome for a Jays game early in the baseball season of 94. The young Expos were struggling at that point to find their game, while the Jays were coming off their World Series phase, and I was talking to a guy in the stands. When I told him I cheered for the Expos, he just winced and said, 'Ugh. They need to spend some money and get some free agent talent.' (How Toronto can you get). Right. From Toronto, the analysis was straightfoward: the Expos had no talent. He was saying this about a team that had Moises Alou, Larry Walker, John Wettland, Denis Martinez, Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields and a ton of other major baseball talent. But because most of these were YOUNG up-and-comers, he'd never heard of them. Then guess what? They went on to dominate the National League until the strike derailed them and the franchise. I don't say the Habs are as good as that doomed '94 Expos team. But we'll be in a similar situation...getting no respect even as players like Pleks, Lats, Higgins, Komi, and even Markov blossom into very effective NHLers...until we finally kick some serious ass in a sustained way. I don't think it'll be this season, but when it does happen, damn, it'll be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtvoxboi Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 (edited) I find it funny how in the article it states that Matts now has a ligit linemate who is not an aging veteran to work with but he fails to mention that that veteran guy may well be Matts... Think before you write... ...and... he states they 'may have' overpayed for Blake... WOW now that's the way to cover your useless reporting hide... 'cause if he ends up lame, JF is to blame... ... and ...then continues to bash that MTL overpaid for Hamrlik. I'm not quite sure how he knows the $$$ on an un-disclosed deal. Sure we all have a good idea of what it took to make the deal work. ...but the reporting over confidence-incompetence is sickening. Your puiishment for print trash... go watch TSN. ....oh you already were.... I had no idea.... J Edited July 9, 2007 by jtvoxboi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 ... and ...then continues to bash that MTL overpaid for Hamrlik. I'm not quite sure how he knows the $$$ on an un-disclosed deal. Um, it's not undisclosed. http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/news_story/?ID=212...e=nhl-canadiens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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