A Little Perspective

[bar]

There is no alternative, MAB is part of the reason the team has ther number 1 PP in the league, his negatives do not outweigh the positives in his playing. To be honest, the habs haven't had a decent 4th line the entire year, this was way before MAB was ever put on the 4th line.

[Chris]

Well to be honest, the habs are lacking a 3rd and 4th line period. So MAB or anyone else out there really doesn't bring anything to the table 8 out of every 10 games.

So it really doesn't matter how worthless MAB is as a 12th forward, the rest of them are just as poor.

Until there is a better player, then he still can play the point on the PP aand a 12th forward.

[bar]

Although I would really like to see White and Pyatt back up here, when they were on the fourth line were like skitterbugs, flying all over the ice, causing turnovers. Tossing Laps on that line would be a decent third line IMO.

[Chris]

Unfortunately Laps only seems to show up 1 or 2 times a month. So since he played pretty well over the wekkend i don't expect to see him much until after the Olympics.

I beleive he is next on the going out the door crowd.

[bar]

It is sad, I can't understand why he's not throwing his frame around, crashing into people, agitating. He seems to have forgotten his role. I want a player like Carcillo, heck even Avery. Jab a goalie after the whistle, face wash a player, give that extra shot. He seems to need a shake up.

[Chris]

They can make some trades to get players like that.

Dallas wants Halak, trade Gorges Metro and Halak for OtT and Daly

Calgary has alot of those guys, Torrres is out there.

They need atleast 2 more of those guys to play with Moen.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Although I would really like to see White and Pyatt back up here, when they were on the fourth line were like skitterbugs, flying all over the ice, causing turnovers. Tossing Laps on that line would be a decent third line IMO.

that's exactly what im talking about. what the fourth line should bring to the table isn't or will not happen with MAB there. if u scroll up you'll see i penciled in white on one side and moen on the other for that 4th line. it's what's needed. obviouslly injuries are a factor.

and our PP was sitting at 19th b4 marky's first game back. it propelled to 1st during that 7 game road trip when we went 6-1 and something like 14 of 18 on the pp.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

ott would be fantastic. i'd prefer a guy like neil with moen but that's wishful thinking. giving up halak would be to much though

[Habsfan]

What do you have against MAB? I don't get how you can't see what a bang for his buck he is. Are you just trolling?

I'm starting to think that he is. Almost everyone is in agreement that for 750,000$, MAB has brought more than enough to the Habs, especially on the PP....and Spacek has underperformed up til now. Almost all of us except this guy who doesn't want to take salary into consideration! :rolleyes:

[bar]

You're missing the forest for the trees. MAB is not the cause of the 4th line woes, he is a product of his good success on the PP. Would you give up the best PP in the league for a 4th line, that has marginal impact on the rest of the game?

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

name me one team that has won a cup in recent memory without a malkin or crosby that didnt have a gritty good 4th line. it's one of the keys to success postseason.

we havent had a fourth line because moen and metro have had to play 3rd line most of the season cause lap's has sh*t the bed so far this year and we cant stay bloody healthy.

trolling???

[Chris]

I don't think any one is argueing that there don't have a 3rd and 4th line. I think people are saying stop complaining about MAB, he does what the other 5 forwards on the 3rd and 4th line does, basically nothing, but he does add alot of points to the PP.

Until there is better players and a real shut down and energy line, MAB is in the mix to play forward.

I don't mind Spacek, but he has only been average.

[bar]

See now you're directing your anger in the right spot, the cause of the problem. Getting MAB off the 4th line and into the press box will do two things:

a) not instantly give us the 4th line, you and most others crave.

b) lessen the PP, and to be honest, that and goaltending is all they have right now, so might not want to mess with that.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

MY PERSPECTIVE.......

FORWARDS

with the upcoming return of AK46 to the 2nd line. i think are top 2 lines are both legit threats with the emergence of benoit pouliot.

the third line is dependent on maxim lapierre who many thought including me would take another step forward from his good season a year ago. to the contrary he has regressed. hopefully a healthy 2-way SK can find the form from his rookie season and a re- energized d"agostini can kickstart the third line (laps) into one of a fast,gritty line with a little offensive flair that can help negate a top line and possibly chip in a goal every 2nd game.

metropolit has preformed admirablly considering the many roles he's had to play. he and moen on the fourth should excel. however, the opposite side continues to be the question? after laraque clearly showed he was there to look pretty rather then nasty... and continueous rotations between countless players.. we have failed to fill that position. one must think if kostopolius was around how would an energy line like that look like. nevertheless MAB has continued to fill that role since the return to health of our def.

darche has played well in his limited action . however, white has provided the best result from the farm thus far

DEFENCE

markov, markov, markov

the habs transform when he is in our lineup. and since his return the habs PP has gone from #19 to #1 andjosh gorges has found balance that has allowed him to step up his game to the next level (the same way komisarek did)

hamirlik who filled in for markov as the #1 did a good job. now that he has found a place as the #3 with fellow czech spacek hopefully down the stretch they can form a legit shut down pairing.

the question marks on the third pairing continue to be who plays. gill is great on the PK but weak on even strength. MAB is great on the PP point but horrible in our zone. mara who i think is the worst signing of the year (not spacek) had a few good games but continues to battle nagging injuries and looks to find form. obyrne started the season strong but after an ankle break cant seem to hit stride. after an abysmal try on the wing. he is back to the bottom pairing where he belongs.

my take is ... dump mara and put MAB in the press as the 7th defencemen. look to subban who is ready for the NHL on injury stand by.

there is alot ifs and buts.... hopes that everybody stays healthy and all players can reach there potentials this season.

HEALTH continues to be our achilles but once healthy down the stretch i believe all our pieces might finally fall into place just in time for a run.

keep in mind the deadline is fast approaching and gainey might just tweak this lineup a bit.

wishful thinking??? maybe but definitly not far fetched!

trolling? i think not!

[JacksonJ]

MY PERSPECTIVE.......

FORWARDS

with the upcoming return of AK46 to the 2nd line. i think are top 2 lines are both legit threats with the emergence of benoit pouliot.

the third line is dependent on maxim lapierre who many thought including me would take another step forward from his good season a year ago. to the contrary he has regressed. hopefully a healthy 2-way SK can find the form from his rookie season and a re- energized d"agostini can kickstart the third line (laps) into one of a fast,gritty line with a little offensive flair that can help negate a top line and possibly chip in a goal every 2nd game.

metropolit has preformed admirablly considering the many roles he's had to play. he and moen on the fourth should excel. however, the opposite side continues to be the question? after laraque clearly showed he was there to look pretty rather then nasty... and continueous rotations between countless players.. we have failed to fill that position. one must think if kostopolius was around how would an energy line like that look like. nevertheless MAB has continued to fill that role since the return to health of our def.

darche has played well in his limited action . however, white has provided the best result from the farm thus far

DEFENCE

markov, markov, markov

the habs transform when he is in our lineup. and since his return the habs PP has gone from #19 to #1 andjosh gorges has found balance that has allowed him to step up his game to the next level (the same way komisarek did)

hamirlik who filled in for markov as the #1 did a good job. now that he has found a place as the #3 with fellow czech spacek hopefully down the stretch they can form a legit shut down pairing.

the question marks on the third pairing continue to be who plays. gill is great on the PK but weak on even strength. MAB is great on the PP point but horrible in our zone. mara who i think is the worst signing of the year (not spacek) had a few good games but continues to battle nagging injuries and looks to find form. obyrne started the season strong but after an ankle break cant seem to hit stride. after an abysmal try on the wing. he is back to the bottom pairing where he belongs.

my take is ... dump mara and put MAB in the press as the 7th defencemen. look to subban who is ready for the NHL on injury stand by.

there is alot ifs and buts.... hopes that everybody stays healthy and all players can reach there potentials this season.

HEALTH continues to be our achilles but once healthy down the stretch i believe all our pieces might finally fall into place just in time for a run.

keep in mind the deadline is fast approaching and gainey might just tweak this lineup a bit.

wishful thinking??? maybe but definitly not far fetched!

trolling? i think not!

You have been dumping on MAB the entire time because all he can do is play the power play, yet you mention Gill can only play the PK then you give him a free pass. if we can keep Gill on the third pairing mainly for the PK why can't we keep MAB for the PP?

Also when you consider whether it's Mara or Spacek who was the worse signing you have to take into account term, salary and age, not just performance. Mara was brought in for a depth role, while Spacek was brought in to hopefully play in a first pairing and PP quarterback role. They have both underperformed but it's hard to tell who has been worse.

[hab29RETIRED]

MY PERSPECTIVE.......

FORWARDS

with the upcoming return of AK46 to the 2nd line. i think are top 2 lines are both legit threats with the emergence of benoit pouliot.

the third line is dependent on maxim lapierre who many thought including me would take another step forward from his good season a year ago. to the contrary he has regressed. hopefully a healthy 2-way SK can find the form from his rookie season and a re- energized d"agostini can kickstart the third line (laps) into one of a fast,gritty line with a little offensive flair that can help negate a top line and possibly chip in a goal every 2nd game.

metropolit has preformed admirablly considering the many roles he's had to play. he and moen on the fourth should excel. however, the opposite side continues to be the question? after laraque clearly showed he was there to look pretty rather then nasty... and continueous rotations between countless players.. we have failed to fill that position. one must think if kostopolius was around how would an energy line like that look like. nevertheless MAB has continued to fill that role since the return to health of our def.

darche has played well in his limited action . however, white has provided the best result from the farm thus far

DEFENCE

markov, markov, markov

the habs transform when he is in our lineup. and since his return the habs PP has gone from #19 to #1 andjosh gorges has found balance that has allowed him to step up his game to the next level (the same way komisarek did)

hamirlik who filled in for markov as the #1 did a good job. now that he has found a place as the #3 with fellow czech spacek hopefully down the stretch they can form a legit shut down pairing.

the question marks on the third pairing continue to be who plays. gill is great on the PK but weak on even strength. MAB is great on the PP point but horrible in our zone. mara who i think is the worst signing of the year (not spacek) had a few good games but continues to battle nagging injuries and looks to find form. obyrne started the season strong but after an ankle break cant seem to hit stride. after an abysmal try on the wing. he is back to the bottom pairing where he belongs.

my take is ... dump mara and put MAB in the press as the 7th defencemen. look to subban who is ready for the NHL on injury stand by.

there is alot ifs and buts.... hopes that everybody stays healthy and all players can reach there potentials this season.

HEALTH continues to be our achilles but once healthy down the stretch i believe all our pieces might finally fall into place just in time for a run.

keep in mind the deadline is fast approaching and gainey might just tweak this lineup a bit.

wishful thinking??? maybe but definitly not far fetched!

trolling? i think not!

Why, why, why would you want to bring Subban into this circus???? This team cannot afford to ruin its last good prospect by bringing him into a lazy, undisciplined team that lacks leadership, decent coaching and work ethic.

The habs need to make a decision on who are the leaders of this team. Gainey and and martin cannot do this. For the last 5 years, we have been hearing about the lack of leadership, when I don't think there was an issue with Koivu, it is the attitudes of guys that that the habs had around him.

We have had far too many players coddled or treated by kid gloves by the GM (Kovolev, Price) and not held accountable for their performence. This team seems to lash out against each other in practices more then it does against the opposition. Although at least tonight, it was nice to see Gomez show some tougness against a pretty big boy and it is REALLY nice to see O'Byrne step and play the type of role Komi did at times (only highlight in a pretty crappy effort).

I really think this team needs a captain and the TEAM needs to pick the guy they are going to follow. I know lots of people have said you don't need a captain or have to be a captain to show leadership. But at this point, there needs to someone who holds players only meetings to try and figure out what the reason is for the utter lack of effort, the utter lack of accountability on MOST nights. I'm fed up seeing the crappy, uninspired efforts on MOST nights. I've watched a lot of CRAPPY habs hockey over the past 15 years, but in those 15 years, the Habs really didn't have this amount of players with talent on the offense (Cammy, Pleks, Gionta, Gomez, Ak46, Pouliot), it has always been 2 or 3 good players surrounded by young kids or pluggers. This year's team is by no means a good team - Defense is VERY suspect (a lot of #5-7 range dman), but there is no way they should have trouble scoring as much as they have.

It didn't help that Gainey wasted half of the year having guys that had no business being in the NHL right now, by trying to forcefeed them into the lineup, the sameway he forcefed Price as the starting goalie despite his struggles both with confidence and technique. This team needs solid vetern presence on the 3rd/4th lines - and they need REAL NHL READY 3rd/4th liners instead of kids that haven't even shown a desire to prove themselves. The only young kid who should still be hear is SK74, who while struggling offensively, has been pretty solid on the PK.

I keep hearing that the team has been blown up, new coach, it takes time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We are approaching the 3/4 mark of the season and this team still is devoid of leadership on the ice and behind the bench. Management needs some hard decisions to shake up this bunch - by moving out the remaining bad apples (i.e. laps) who appear to think the NHL is a friggin country club and there only responobility is to cash in thir checks. They also NEED to allow this team to choose a leader with a defined role of getting this group of misfits to at least SHOW the fXCk Up when its game time.

Lastly, i know most people are going to roll their eyes, but IMHO, the habs need a new coach. Yeah, we have gone through more coaches then the number of free passes Mike Milbury has gotten as a GM. But even if I didn't thin the game appears to have passed Martin by in the post lockout NHL, Martin is not the right coach for this group of guys. I hated the signing in June, but even he has exceeded my opinion of just how lousy of a coach he is. Why can't we hire a coach who has a RECENT track record of success at the NHL level or a proven guy in the minors??? Boucher looks like he MAY be a good fit, but I don't know if I'd be comfortable in bringing him in this mess at this time and it may be better letting him turn some kids around (MaxPacs) and continue to help others along (Subban). Since letting Demers go, we have had a lot of rookie coaches or a guy like Martin, who I think the game has passed by. We are still paying Carbo and regardless of whether Martin stays this year, he WILL be fired next year. The guy is jut constantly being outcoached and can't seem to make sure his team is prepared, or can't hold his guys accountable for at least SHOWING the fxCK up for a game. Maybe we let Martin finish off this mess of a year and bring Boucher in next year, but I'd rather have Boucher concentrate on the kids on the farm right now.

Edited January 28, 2010 by hab29RETIRED

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

You have been dumping on MAB the entire time because all he can do is play the power play, yet you mention Gill can only play the PK then you give him a free pass. if we can keep Gill on the third pairing mainly for the PK why can't we keep MAB for the PP?

Also when you consider whether it's Mara or Spacek who was the worse signing you have to take into account term, salary and age, not just performance. Mara was brought in for a depth role, while Spacek was brought in to hopefully play in a first pairing and PP quarterback role. They have both underperformed but it's hard to tell who has been worse.

i keep gill as the 6th defencemen cause i still need 6 defencemen!! its gill or MAB there and frankly gill is the better D-man that's why.. no free pass he's just better @ D

[JacksonJ]

i keep gill as the 6th defencemen cause i still need 6 defencemen!! its gill or MAB there and frankly gill is the better D-man that's why.. no free pass he's just better @ D

Markov, Gorges, Spacek, Hammer, Mara, O'byrne =6

The reason you chose to keep Gill as opposed to Mara or O'byrne (I'm not sure who you are leaving out- probably Mara) is because he plays at about their level, but he brings a huge asset with his PK abilities.

The reason we keep MAB is because in the four or five shifts a game the fourth line gets he is just as good as anyone else we have tried there this year, and he also just happens to be an all-star on the power play

Edited January 28, 2010 by JacksonJ

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

"subban on injury stand by"

meaning if we ship out mara for a pint of beer and after that we lose 2 more defenders to injury then we call him up considering carle is out for the year (shoulder again) and subban is the best defender in the AHL right now..... did youknow he's going on +30. i've been to 13 dog games and he's been out of this world in each. he doesnt belong in the AHL. he will be a habs 100% next year no questions asked.

"lazy lack leadership" this isnt the habs of last year. they may not be the most talented bunch of guys but there definitly not the same team with deep issues in the dressing room anymore either

all of gomez, gionta, plex, camm, moen, gill, hammer, markov, gorges, metro, spacek are hardly the bad apples your portraying them to be.

like i said subban would be a welcome addition for a 10 game stint at some point this year. our defence needs some answers and why not look within. if hedman, stall, pheneuf, doughty, myers, and so one can come in straight from juniors why cant subban considering he was an ace for canada's juniors and is dominant in the AHL right now. would you rather the habs call up weber? that's like comparing markov to gorges!

as polar as they've been this year it's really not that bad. were half way done and were still right there know? ok this florida trip has been disasterous but 1 nice streak and were in 5th and starring down 4th.

only problem is my dogs are sitting pretty in the conference right now thanks in part mostly to him, carle and the BIG D in net!

another point is the habs bringing up darche and maxwell when there 2 top forwards over the last 15-20 have been white and trotter!!!

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

boucher is 1 year taken out of juniors. he will NOT be coaching the habs next year thats a fact

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

paula mara= -16 nagging injuries

hall gill= -6 healthy

bergeron an allstar on the pp?? so he's now a top 12 pp d man... HHHHHHaaaaaaa

let's just agree to disagree guys.... i think mara and bergeron have to go and subban can take a stab at the nhl with the big boys cause he's not getting pushed hard enough in the A & all it will do is give him a measuring stick to were he has to be. you never now... the "black paul coffey" may just be born

[Habsy]

paula mara= -16 nagging injuries

hall gill= -6 healthy

bergeron an allstar on the pp?? so he's now a top 12 pp d man... HHHHHHaaaaaaa

let's just agree to disagree guys.... i think mara and bergeron have to go and subban can take a stab at the nhl with the big boys cause he's not getting pushed hard enough in the A & all it will do is give him a measuring stick to were he has to be. you never now... the "black paul coffey" may just be born

Agree to disagree, finally.