Chris Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Well i have some thoughts on this years season and what the Habs need to do become a playoff team and do some damage in the playoffs. 1. Don't beleive the hype. The Habs need to continue to work hard every night and be very consistent like they were last year. I think GC will be able to maintain this area. If not, i'm sure he'll be benching soem people. 2. Injuries: The habs have quality depth in alot of positions, I doubt they will remain as healthy as last year. Hopefully they will but you never know. 3. Defensive zone coverage: probably the weakest spot on the Habs. This are was much improved last year, they will need to tighten up some more this year to be a legitimate contender. 4. 5 on 5 hockey. This area simply needs to improve. They can't rely on the PP all year and expect that to carry them into the playoffs and as seen in the playoffs last year, the PP dries up in the playoffs. 5. Work hard, work hard and work hard, every night every shift. This is what the great teams do. They don't take periods of time off during games. The Habs have a tendancy to do this from time to time. They are bigger and tougher, will they be tough enough for a long playoff run? My prediction: 1st in the division. Lose in the second round again. I am still not convinced the vets have what it takes to make it all the way. This will directly lead to who is and who isn't resigned. Remember last year i picked them out of the playoffs around 10th. So obviously didn't see that season coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 My thoughts/hopes/warnings: 1. Be wary of the hype. I won't say don't believe it. This is a good team, and has the potential to do great things, but be wary... the #1 reason we finished #1 in the East last year was because the two dominant teams in the NE from the previous two years dropped off considerably (Ottawa and Buffalo). Heading into last year, I pegged us at 7th but thought we were the team best primed to take advantage of a slumping team in our division to leapfrog to a higher standing. I didn't think that we'd finish #1, but that's what happened. But 104 points won't win a conference very often, and as we learned, 104 points vs. 94 points isn't a lot of difference as Boston and Philly showed us. 2. Respect the competition. This carries on from point #1, and particularily focuses on our division. Our division isn't the strongest in the NHL, but there are teams that can do damage and aren't that far behind us. Both Buffalo and Ottawa could be stronger this year than last, and Boston has a core of young players that has talent that could make some noise as well. Even Toronto, under Ron Wilson, should at least be harder working than previous editions. Then there's the Atlantic Division, with at least 4 strong clubs. It's easy to just focus on the Habs and think things are going to get easier. Fact is, the Habs have are viewed by the rest of the conference as a team to measure themselves against, so they'll be working hard every night against us. If they sense doubt, or an opportunity to pounce, they will take it. 3. Predicting how this team will fare in the postseason is a complete guess and is of no concern at this point in time. Teams will have injuries, acquire new players, coaching changes, and unexpected performances (both positive and negative) that will all impact how the playoffs turn out. The Sporting News last year predicted a Detroit vs. Pittsburgh final (with Pittsburgh winning), but even they couldn't have forseen the impact of Hossa coming on board, the positive impacts that injuries had for both teams midseason (Crosby, Fleury, Detroit's D) for adversity, Osgood's reclaimation, and the emregence of a force in Franzen. Making the playoffs is hard enough work, let's focus on that goal until the season is winding down. 4. Dealing with adversity. We dealt with a little adversity at the end of last year in our last games before the playoffs... Koivu's foot injury and Komisarek's hip injury really tested the team in it's drive to the #1 seed. But how this team reacts to a major injury, or series of injuries is still unknown. We have good depth as evidenced in training camp, but how would our greatest strengths (PP, offence, goaltending) affect our gameplan if we were to lose a key component for a period of time? Say, Markov. Or Kovalev. Or Plekanec. Is our gameplan adaptable? In Pittsburgh, they played a grittier, more defensively committed game when Crosby went down. It sure helped that Malkin stepped up in an amazing way, but it gave the team a ton of confidence in certain situations that they could still beat teams when things got tough. Would that happen here? 5. Consitency. That was our key last year... losing 3 in a row I think only happened once... until Round 2 when we lost 4 straight. Bad habits can form if things seem to be happening too easy for the team, as evidenced in Ottawa last year. It's incumbent on the veterans and the coaching staff to maintain a real focus and foster positive feedback while quickly correcting any errors that are occuring with any frequency. Remember Gorges' gaffe in October last year? He fanned on a pass and Kovalchuk (I think) jumped on it and scored. Carbo put him right back out there after building up his confidence on the bench. Gorges was our 7th or even 8th d-man back then, and enters this year arguably as our #4. Positive feedback and confidence are as important as fixing bad habits. And bad habits are easier to correct when they first develop then when they've been happening for a prolonged period of time. Prediction: 1st in NE (2nd is Buffalo), 107 points, either 2nd or 1st in East. I'm not making a playoff prediction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I don't care if they are 1st in the conference, as I thought that hurt them last year. I would prefer then show up in the playoffs instead. I suspect that our placing between 1st and 6th will be based on injuries. We were pretty lucky last year and other teams were not. If it goes the other way, we could be 6th. I suspect we won't be as good as last year during the season, but hopefully we are better in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalhabs Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Im still a bit afraid that our D needs to be improved. We HAVE to be able to clear our own zone alot better than we did against the flyers. I think this team will fly to the play offs without any problems but I hope we make a deal for some defence improvement at the deadline or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoRvInA Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Im still a bit afraid that our D needs to be improved. We HAVE to be able to clear our own zone alot better than we did against the flyers. I think this team will fly to the play offs without any problems but I hope we make a deal for some defence improvement at the deadline or something. ok who do we have left on D now that Bouillon, O'Burn and even Henry are hurt... were gonna have to recall Weber back to the blue for friday's game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zowpeb Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 This team needs another legit top 4 defenceman. Hopefully O'Byrne or Gorges can step into the role...but that's asking a lot of both of them. With so many young D prospects I don't know that it would make sense to sign that type of d-man right now...so maybe a mid-season trade would shore up that area for a year or two...to be honest, I don't think this team needs much more then that. A lot will ride on the health of Komisarek, Markov and Hamrlik... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 ok who do we have left on D now that Bouillon, O'Burn and even Henry are hurt... were gonna have to recall Weber back to the blue for friday's game? If O'Byrne can't go (we know Bouillon won't), our D will be Markov-Komisarek, Hamrlik-Brisebois, Gorges-Dandenault on opening night. Henry has already been waived and will be assigned to Hamilton once he clears (long shot is he gets claimed by another team). We can't call up Weber unless we send Chipchura down due to cap issues. The deadline to get cap compliant is I think on Wednesday, and we're only $115,000 or so under $56.7m with our 25 guys up (presumably at least 2 will be on IR and still count against the cap). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 ok who do we have left on D now that Bouillon, O'Burn and even Henry are hurt... were gonna have to recall Weber back to the blue for friday's game? O'Byrne took a puck to the face during practise today. He'll get stitches and he'll be ready for Friday nights game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMPL Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Puck in the face seem worse than they actually are. Unless it is a broken face bone (which I'd doubt) expect Obyrne in the lineup. Remember Smyth from the Pronger shot, tough cookie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l<OV4L3V Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Somewhat off topic....but does anybody know if spider man is going to be back to make game threads this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I wouldn't count on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Somewhat off topic....but does anybody know if spider man is going to be back to make game threads this season? Unlikely. Last year he got in a fight with another user and left. Then come playoff time he suddenly cames back. Well, the Habs were on a nice run with Maca making game threads, so we stuck with Maca's game thread and spider_man got pissed again. After Maca's luck ran out, I actually made a game thread, in which I used a couple pictures I found in a four year old game thread. Spider_man noticed this and deleted the pictures from his photobucket account. Luckily, I found the original version of the pics and still used them, haha. What's funny is his threads weren't even original. He posted them on lots of boards and most of his content he just screencapped from a website and posted as his own content. Frankly, I think we're better off having unique HW threads. The best Habs site on the net should have the best game threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortHanded Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The first post in the game threads are nice, and I appreciate the effort, but the important thing for me is the exchange between posters during the game and after it... so as long as there's a thread, that's what matters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HABBER-oooooKNOWS Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Unlikely. Last year he got in a fight with another user and left. Then come playoff time he suddenly cames back. Well, the Habs were on a nice run with Maca making game threads, so we stuck with Maca's game thread and spider_man got pissed again. After Maca's luck ran out, I actually made a game thread, in which I used a couple pictures I found in a four year old game thread. Spider_man noticed this and deleted the pictures from his photobucket account. Luckily, I found the original version of the pics and still used them, haha. What's funny is his threads weren't even original. He posted them on lots of boards and most of his content he just screencapped from a website and posted as his own content. Frankly, I think we're better off having unique HW threads. The best Habs site on the net should have the best game threads. What happend to Cataclaw ? while we're on this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 What happend to Cataclaw ? while we're on this topic. I talk to him on a daily basis on a different forum. I think he is in university and doesn't have as much time on his hands as he did in the summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMPL Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 (edited) What happend to Cataclaw ? while we're on this topic. Man, I forgot about him! Edited October 8, 2008 by MMPL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMPL Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 (edited) Unlikely. Last year he got in a fight with another user and left. Then come playoff time he suddenly cames back. Well, the Habs were on a nice run with Maca making game threads, so we stuck with Maca's game thread and spider_man got pissed again. After Maca's luck ran out, I actually made a game thread, in which I used a couple pictures I found in a four year old game thread. Spider_man noticed this and deleted the pictures from his photobucket account. Luckily, I found the original version of the pics and still used them, haha. What's funny is his threads weren't even original. He posted them on lots of boards and most of his content he just screencapped from a website and posted as his own content. Frankly, I think we're better off having unique HW threads. The best Habs site on the net should have the best game threads. Woah. I thought he was the king of threads and creativity. Looks like he is a frustrated fraud. Thx for detailed info Fanpuck. Who's doing our first thread? Edited October 8, 2008 by MMPL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 KoZed, wanna start off the season for us? Your playoff threads looked really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l<OV4L3V Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 KoZed, wanna start off the season for us? Your playoff threads looked really nice. I second that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Ryder Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 What do you guys think of Markov being use as the right point D on the power play ? Jarvis mentionned that it could lead him to shoot more one timer. but... he was so effective as the set up men for cross ice pass and to feed Kovy, Streit and Souray before on the right side that i have doubts on this strategy, why change something that works ? Tanguay will have big shoes to fill as the set up men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 What do you guys think of Markov being use as the right point D on the power play ? Jarvis mentionned that it could lead him to shoot more one timer. but... he was so effective as the set up men for cross ice pass and to feed Kovy, Streit and Souray before on the right side that i have doubts on this strategy, why change something that works ? Tanguay will have big shoes to fill as the set up men. I still think Komisarek could become a good set-up man, he has the smarts, hockey sense, and passing abilities while the boost in confidence could get him to use his shot more. However I doubt Jarvis will give him that opportunity at this point... and I doubt Gainey wants him to until Komisarek is signed For now Tanguay and/or S.Kostsitsyn will get that opportunity... I wonder if Jarvis thought of using Koivu with Markov... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecurb Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 My thoughts on the upcoming season are. We are one of the the few teams in the NHL with legit depth. That'll carry us to first overall. But, for the first time in a long time, we will be molding team for a long playoff run. I suspect there's going to be one big deal made by the Habs to shore up a weakness. I also suspect we'll have more injuries than last year so they'll be some heated discussions on who our best top 20 are. Its going to be fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.