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Plekanec: "I'm not going to Russia"


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Remember Yanick's one handed goal? He used his knee for leverage and roofed a shot from in front of the net with one hand. Awesome stuff. I think it was in the playoffs.

Yep, I totally remember that sweet goal too. Yanic was being man handled by 2 large Dmen out in front of the net and he had 1 hand on his stick and he used his other knee for leverage and he hit the underside of the top of the net and scored.

I always loved Yanic, even when he was with the Laffs.

Its a damn shame Yanic got type cast as a 3rd line shut down C because he did have a lot of offensive potential. I would hate to see the same thing happen to Laps. I highly beleive Laps has more offensive potential than most Habs fans think.

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I still say Bob should hire Yanic Perreault, he would be a great coach to teach the younger Habs C how to take faceoffs.

Yeah agree!! ....did Yanic play last season? i would hire him for that purpose alone... faceoff drills!!

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Yeah agree!! ....did Yanic play last season? i would hire him for that purpose alone... faceoff drills!!

I looked to see if he played last year and I don't think he did he is still a ufa but has not retired as far as i could tell. chips could use his help.

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Yep, Yanic definitely didnt play last year, and afaik he never announced retiring but thats probably because he didnt feel like anybody would care. :(

he was a solid nhl'er for 17 years. I don't think we need to hold any red tag days, but he had a unique skill that (if he could) he maybe could pass on teach to others. oh and I care, I liked him.

Edited by habs rule
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he was a solid nhl'er for 17 years. I don't think we need to hold any red tag days, but he had a unique skill that (if he could) he maybe could pass on teach to others. oh and I care, I liked him.

I agree.

Why not hire him as a specialist coach. Maybe help on the PP stategy? (and obviously help on face offs.)

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Faceoffs are a pretty overrated skill (not saying they're useless, but just generally overanalyzed, there is no correlation between faceoff success and winning, just like blocked shots and hits), and Chipchura's faceoff problems are due to a lack of experience. Fact is, in a single game, the difference between 47% and 53% is usually a single faceoff win. Whoop-de-freaking-do.

As far as centres go, there's still a big 6'3 RH guy who was good last year that could be available as a short term, more cap friendly solution. His name is Robert Lang.

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As far as centres go, there's still a big 6'3 RH guy who was good last year that could be available as a short term, more cap friendly solution. His name is Robert Lang.

I must admit that I also liked having Lang with the Habs last year. However, how much of a pay cut do you think he's willing to accept? He was making 4 million$ last year. Do you think he'd accept 2 million$?? I doubt it!

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I must admit that I also liked having Lang with the Habs last year. However, how much of a pay cut do you think he's willing to accept? He was making 4 million$ last year. Do you think he'd accept 2 million$?? I doubt it!

There's no market left for him. Yeah, I think a 39 year old would take $2m after that kind of devestating injury. I think we could get him for a Breezer style deal, IMHO. About $1m in base salary and $1m in bonuses.

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Faceoffs are a pretty overrated skill (not saying they're useless, but just generally overanalyzed, there is no correlation between faceoff success and winning, just like blocked shots and hits), and Chipchura's faceoff problems are due to a lack of experience. Fact is, in a single game, the difference between 47% and 53% is usually a single faceoff win. Whoop-de-freaking-do.

As far as centres go, there's still a big 6'3 RH guy who was good last year that could be available as a short term, more cap friendly solution. His name is Robert Lang.

I couldn't disagree more.

Faceoffs could be the biggest part of the game, because it is one of the few things you can actually control.

Faceoff wins are what gives a team initial possession of the puck. This allows a team to continue offensive pressure or to relieve that pressure in the defensive zone. This should go without saying, but Without possession of the puck there s no option to score, without scoring you can never win (and rarely tie).

I realize turnovers can make it possible to regain control of the play, but it is something that has to be forced. A forced mistake/turnover cannot be counted on to make plays when they are not a guarantee and therfore cannot become part of a game plan. A faceoff win is well within control, and this not stressed enough through the grass roots system in Canada.

Edited by Habitforming
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I couldn't disagree more.

Faceoffs could be the biggest part of the game, because it is one of the few things you can actually control.

Faceoff wins are what gives a team initial possession of the puck. This allows a team to continue offensive pressure or to relieve that pressure in the defensive zone. This should go without saying, but Without possession of the puck there s no option to score, without scoring you can never win (and rarely tie).

I realize turnovers can make it possible to regain control of the play, but it is something that has to be forced. A forced mistake/turnover cannot be counted on to make plays when they are not a guarantee and therfore cannot become part of a game plan. A faceoff win is well within control, and this not stressed enough through the grass roots system in Canada.

Yes, faceoffs help determine possession, but how many of the faceoffs are actually within a centre's control? They are the first to touch the puck, but often times, the puck is bouncing, and neither centre gains control initially. Probably about half of all faceoffs in a game are scrambled... and either require additional effort to win the draw or even a winger to help out. There is little gained in the long run by having incredible faceoff men... they are valuable in situations but they are kind of like having a left handed pitcher in the bullpen in baseball... it's a unique option that should be utilized and exploited if you have it, but if you don't have that option on your team it's not like you've lost the game.

If Canadian hockey at the grassroots level made a huge investment in improving the faceoff ability of all the minor hockey players, it'd be a zero sum strategy at the NHL level... the Canadian players would be good at faceoffs, but every team would use Canadian players to take faceoffs and they'd all end up being around 50% on the draws anyways. In international tournaments, the Canadians would probably be dominant in the draw but I think they are anyways, since the best faceoff men are generally the guys with the most practice, and the guys with the most practice generally have the most icetime and experience anyways. It'd be little additional advantage for the Canadian team, and probably a waste of time compared to honing other skill sets involving skating, shooting, passing and puck handling.

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Personally I think Huet was made to look like he sucked in 1 goal games because of so many times the Habs would have a 1 goal lead late in the 3rd and they would fail to win a faceoff in their own end and then werent able to clear the puck and the other teams just cycled until somebody was open who scored. I never blamed Huet for that, that was poor effort by everybody who was running around like chickens with their heads cut off in front of him. However every time it all started by a faceoff loss. Same thing happens to Price too.

Its true not all faceoffs are critical but depending on where the faceoff is, what the score is, and how much time is left in the game 1 faceoff can make or break a game.

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Yes, faceoffs help determine possession, but how many of the faceoffs are actually within a centre's control? They are the first to touch the puck, but often times, the puck is bouncing, and neither centre gains control initially. Probably about half of all faceoffs in a game are scrambled... and either require additional effort to win the draw or even a winger to help out. There is little gained in the long run by having incredible faceoff men... they are valuable in situations but they are kind of like having a left handed pitcher in the bullpen in baseball... it's a unique option that should be utilized and exploited if you have it, but if you don't have that option on your team it's not like you've lost the game.

If Canadian hockey at the grassroots level made a huge investment in improving the faceoff ability of all the minor hockey players, it'd be a zero sum strategy at the NHL level... the Canadian players would be good at faceoffs, but every team would use Canadian players to take faceoffs and they'd all end up being around 50% on the draws anyways. In international tournaments, the Canadians would probably be dominant in the draw but I think they are anyways, since the best faceoff men are generally the guys with the most practice, and the guys with the most practice generally have the most icetime and experience anyways. It'd be little additional advantage for the Canadian team, and probably a waste of time compared to honing other skill sets involving skating, shooting, passing and puck handling.

What?

So because we teach every kid to shoot they can all score the same?

This is a fundamental of the game and one that is focused on in prctices and training at every level. I can't actually believe there is someone who follows the sport and doesn't realize it is one of the most important aspects of the game.

After coaching for a long period and being involved in hockey for a very long period I can safely say there isn't a coach involved in the sport that will agree with you.

Edited by Habitforming
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Faceoffs are overrated, I didn't say they were unimportant. I'm more getting at the faceoff statistic than anything else. There rarely is a clear possession based on the job the centre does in the dot... rarely is it a clean win, and sometimes a guy wins it but the wrong player gets it.

The faceoff statistic in an actual game: We have one guy who has a faceoff percentage of 55% against another with a faceoff percentage of 45%. In one game, the one player wins 11 out of 20 draws, the other 9 out of 20. If the 2 extra he wins are in the neutral zone, it's pretty much meaningless. If the 2 extra he wins are in one of the team's zones, that's important, but are they clean wins? The faceoff statistic doesn't differentiate between clean wins and scrambled wins.

Of course players should work on this skill, but it's hardly one of the most important parts of the game. It's a situational skill.... in certain situations (particuarily special teams), it's importance is elevated. In most situations, it's fairly inconsequential.

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Oh, dear. It looks as though Pleks is feeling anxious about the fact that he's got a one-year deal, believes the team will trade him if he struggles, feels that he is 'on probation,' and frets that he has to try to put the pressure out of his mind:

http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com/2009/08/poor-pleky.html

Judas priest, he gets a nice raise to $2.75 mil but is still a ball of anxiety and insecurity. I suppose he could channel all of this into a furiously productive season, but come on - the evidence so far is that Pleks wilts whenever his confidence falters, which it does often.

Perhaps I'm making too much out of it. But this does not bode well for his performance in 2009-10 if you ask me. The guy's a neurotic headcase.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Plex to me gets through these things when the coach doesn't put expectations on him. Remember how he wilted centering Samsonov and Kovalev, then went back to being the 4th line centre and ended up improving by leaps and bounds to become a point per game centre in the 2nd half? Then the next year, he was put on the 3rd line to start with Grabovski given the Kovalev-Kostitsyn combo out of the gate, and he worked his way to that position and eventually made that line the team's #1 line (which it wasn't supposed to be). It's when he's given responsibilities right off the bat that he flakes out.

I don't know what we'll see from him this year. Is asking him to centre Kostitsyn and Cammalleri too much? I have no (expletive) clue. As of right now, he just seems like a head case for sure. Hopefully Martin gives him a lot of PK time to build his confidence. I honestly think that kind of no-glory work is what does it for Tomas.

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Plex to me gets through these things when the coach doesn't put expectations on him. Remember how he wilted centering Samsonov and Kovalev, then went back to being the 4th line centre and ended up improving by leaps and bounds to become a point per game centre in the 2nd half? Then the next year, he was put on the 3rd line to start with Grabovski given the Kovalev-Kostitsyn combo out of the gate, and he worked his way to that position and eventually made that line the team's #1 line (which it wasn't supposed to be). It's when he's given responsibilities right off the bat that he flakes out.

I don't know what we'll see from him this year. Is asking him to centre Kostitsyn and Cammalleri too much? I have no (expletive) clue. As of right now, he just seems like a head case for sure. Hopefully Martin gives him a lot of PK time to build his confidence. I honestly think that kind of no-glory work is what does it for Tomas.

I hate to be uncharitable, but the mentality you are describing is that of a loser. Maybe he needs a trade to some BS market where nobody cares but his teammates...although even that might be too much pressure for our shrinking violet. 'Oh dear...I don't want to have to play with Mike Cammalleri...that's too much pressure!!!'

Come ON. But sadly, I suspect you're completely right.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Yep, so far unfortunately when the going got tough, he vanished. So i guess there are a few things that can happen now.

1. He continues to play like a school girl

2. He can get moved

3. Maybe the crappy dressing room problems, players and so called leaders around him sucked and didn't help him. So therefore with the new infusion of actual quality locker room guys he gets it together and has a good year.

my guess is he'll be moved.

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If gainey has sized him up in the way saskhab does, then it's practically guaranteed.

The good news is we aren't counting on him to centre our top line anymore. The thing I don't know is if he can even handle centring line #2 off the bat given his fragile mental state.

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ok, a fun exercise there :

think about his upsides and ... at best, try to think about ACTUAL or PAST nhl players.

who do you compare him to (at his best/ if he grows toward his upside)?

I'm just thinking of the career years of Sergei Berezin and Marius Czerkawski, with a bit of defense and a bit more consistency.

I don't want to insult Joe Sakic or Pavel Datsyuk, he does have the same style... but would perform at that level only against AHLers.

I think, given that, he's extremely expandable. I think we can draft ANY talented center and have him grow easily into a player of at least Plekanec's caliber.

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ok, a fun exercise there :

think about his upsides and ... at best, try to think about ACTUAL or PAST nhl players.

who do you compare him to (at his best/ if he grows toward his upside)?

I'm just thinking of the career years of Sergei Berezin and Marius Czerkawski, with a bit of defense and a bit more consistency.

I don't want to insult Joe Sakic or Pavel Datsyuk, he does have the same style... but would perform at that level only against AHLers.

I think, given that, he's extremely expandable. I think we can draft ANY talented centre and have him grow easily into a player of at least Plekanec's caliber.

Originally, I saw him as a Guy Carbonneau type - not a particularly big or physical checker, but one who relied on his superior intelligence to get it done in a semi-shutdown role.

Nowadays, Jan Bulis is the parallel that worries me. Granted, Pleks has better offensive upside, but Bulis was another guy who had many people sold that he could mature into a very useful all-around top-6 player. Their games seem practically identical (the difference being that Bulis was convinced he was being 'kept down' by Gainey and wanted more responsibility - which he proceded to squander in Vancouver - while Pleks seems to recoil from that same responsibility).

Bulis is out of the league now, and I think there's maybe a 30% chance the same could happen to Plekanec. A medium-sized, non-physical player without elite offensive skills who is also erratic and prone to crises of confidence does not exactly recommend itself to NHL GMs. That's also why I don't think he'll be too credible in the long run as a checking centreman - that role takes physical courage, first of all, and typically teams like a more robust type in that office. More may be at stake in Plek's 'manning up' than he realizes. The guy is turning 27, he's running out of rope.

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I don't think he's talking his way out of the league. He certainly isn't playing his way out of the league. He's just talking and playing himself into a reduced role.

Honestly, he's the #1 PK forward on the team in my opinion. And certainly a good two-way forward.

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