Toronthab Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Honestly, your last sentence sums up my exact thoughts. Last season, an 8th place seeded team won the Stanley Cup. I am currently living in Los Angeles myself and even I didn't pick them to go past the Conference Finals. I will admit that on paper the Kings actually do have a Stanley Cup worthy roster but the point remains that like you said, with the parity in the league these days, anything can happen. Similar to the fact that discussing the impact Markov will have this season would depend on plenty of "ifs", stating that we will finish somewhere between 8th-10th with him may be an educated guess but it is not something that is written in stone. Furthermore, saying that we will only move up the ladder one spot with him in the lineup is nothing more than personal opinion. I won't go into much detail about what we all already know; we lost plenty of one goal games last season and an effective powerplay could have won us many, many of those games. The one thing I do know for sure is that we want Markov in the lineup... Honestly, our memories must be very short because this is almost akin to Detroit's fan base wanting Lidstrom to stay in Sweden after a year or two of unfortunate injuries. We should be welcoming him back with open arms, regardless of whether or not he will be the same. Amen brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Apparently, both Ottawa and Carolina are believed to have expressed potential interest in Yannick Weber. Presumably, the Habs would be seeking a draft pick in return. My question is this, assuming the Subban contract gets done, is the team better off keeping Weber as an insurance policy in a short season, or taking what they can get which, at this point, would probably be a mid-round pick? (I don't think anyone is giving up a 1st or 2nd for him...) http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/355334.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Once Subban is back, I'm expecting Kaberle to be the one having a tendency to sit. At least from recent performances. Diaz has outplayed Kaberle and Weber at this point for his roster spot. That makes Weber, when Subban returns, an 8th defenceman. Better to gain the roster spot and trade him. Just be smart about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I agree... trade Weber.... after Subban signs. Get what you can, even a 3rd/4th rounder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I agree... trade Weber.... after Subban signs. Get what you can, even a 3rd/4th rounder I think there is a potential good deal as long as we throw in Eller. He sat 2 games and hasn't impressed in the game he returned in. Not the response you want from a player clearly being told he needs to earn his role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I think there is a potential good deal as long as we throw in Eller. He sat 2 games and hasn't impressed in the game he returned in. Not the response you want from a player clearly being told he needs to earn his role. It's like five games in. He had a good season last year. Weber has lost his spot for two years running now. Big difference. Gotta stop running players out just because they don't fit the coach's system* *I still don't like Sergei Kostitsyn but the point stands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I thought Eller was much better in his 2nd game than his first. Was it perfect? No, but it was an improvement. Agree with MoLG you gotta have some patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I want Eller to succeed, I really do. Other than his stickwork, I don't see much promise in him anymore. I especially didn't like his response to being in the press box for 2 games. He should have came out like a cannonball on fire, he didn't. Last year he did the same when he was scratched. He's solid defensively, but I think what we're seeing this and last year is going to be Eller's game. It's not that we're only 5 games in, this goes back to last year as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Not a rumor... but I am wondering how much home ice is playing into the habs fast start. We are 4-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. Meanwhile teams like Philly who are "struggling" have are 2-1 at home and 1-5 on the road or Washington/Florida both 2-2 at home and both 0-3 on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Not a rumor... but I am wondering how much home ice is playing into the habs fast start. We are 4-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. Meanwhile teams like Philly who are "struggling" have are 2-1 at home and 1-5 on the road or Washington/Florida both 2-2 at home and both 0-3 on the road. I was talking about this exact same point with friends like 3 hours ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I was talking about this exact same point with friends like 3 hours ago. I wish I had friends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I was talking about this exact same point with friends like 3 hours ago. Actually Leafs throw that theory out the window with their 1-3 home record and while being 3-1 on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Not a rumor... but I am wondering how much home ice is playing into the habs fast start. We are 4-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. Meanwhile teams like Philly who are "struggling" have are 2-1 at home and 1-5 on the road or Washington/Florida both 2-2 at home and both 0-3 on the road. It's early in the season and all sorts of distortions get blown out of proportion, especially given a 48-game sked. What I can say is that if we stay .500 on the road and well above .500 at home, we will be Jim Dandy. Similarly, if Philly cannot win on the road - 1-5 is horrible - then they are not a strong team, period. But smart analysts will pay less attention to the early W-L record as to the wider structural factors: is this a good roster? How are the team dynamics shaping up in the early going (e.g., is the team showing signs of melting down, suffering big injuries, is it fundamentally sound and well-coached, etc.)? The commonly-cited idea that Montreal's early success is a fluke created by small sample size is, IMHO, based on a shallow analysis. With a healthy Markov and productive Gal(l)ys, as well as a much more robust and effective bottom-6, this team is structurally different than last year's. Anyone predicting that Montreal will 'return to its level' must therefore be making the argument that the Gal(l)ys will eventually struggle after the initial blast of rookie energy wears off, and/or that Markov is bound to regress or get re-injured. Both are legitimate concerns. Just don't try to tell me that the team we are currently icing is not significantly better than last year's. If the rookies keep delivering and Markov remains Markov, I have little doubt we are going to make hay and confusticate the 'experts.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I think a big problem Montreal had in the past was that if two lines were working, one of those lines were not a scoring line. Now Montreal is cycling three scoring lines and it feels like two of those lines are always making chances. Sometimes all three like this game against Ottawa. That's by far different from last season where it was one line performing and then Plekanec sometimes having to do everything himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I think we need to see how we match up against Boston before we get too cocky. Montreal has changed how they play. The league overall is playing a different style of game. We have remained relatively healthy. It remains to be seen how the changes in the game will affect our standing. Our "Achilles heal" or one of them has always been the depth after key injuries. I think some of our depth is a little suspect at least for this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I think we need to see how we match up against Boston before we get too cocky. Montreal has changed how they play. The league overall is playing a different style of game. We have remained relatively healthy. It remains to be seen how the changes in the game will affect our standing. Our "Achilles heal" or one of them has always been the depth after key injuries. I think some of our depth is a little suspect at least for this year. I disagree. Our depth is a strong point this year. Moen is on the 4th line... last season didn't he get top 6 minutes at some point? Leblanc is in Hamilton, not doing well but probably will improve and a solid call up, we have Galchenyuk on the third and I'm sure he could move up if needed, Armstrong hasn't proved much but could be more then a 4th liner if the need arised (I'd say he is better then Darche at least), Eller hasn't been great but is an skilled young player who could play a top six role with a bit of improvement. We have depth on d... Overall I think depth, outside of goaltending, will only be an issue if rookie walls come up or some players go cold at the same time as injuries strike... course that would be an issue with any team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I disagree. Our depth is a strong point this year. Moen is on the 4th line... last season didn't he get top 6 minutes at some point? Leblanc is in Hamilton, not doing well but probably will improve and a solid call up, we have Galchenyuk on the third and I'm sure he could move up if needed, Armstrong hasn't proved much but could be more then a 4th liner if the need arised (I'd say he is better then Darche at least), Eller hasn't been great but is an skilled young player who could play a top six role with a bit of improvement. We have depth on d... Overall I think depth, outside of goaltending, will only be an issue if rookie walls come up or some players go cold at the same time as injuries strike... course that would be an issue with any team. Can we agree to disagree. Moen isn't a top six guy in any line-up. Leblanc has struggled. Everyone is excited about both Galchenyuk and Gallagher but they are already in the lineup. There are no sauvy veterans in Hamilton to fill out the ranks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzer Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Not a rumor... but I am wondering how much home ice is playing into the habs fast start. We are 4-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. Meanwhile teams like Philly who are "struggling" have are 2-1 at home and 1-5 on the road or Washington/Florida both 2-2 at home and both 0-3 on the road. Considering how horrific the team was at home last year, this season's wins count as an improvement. That said, last year the Habs were 1-5-2 with 5 home games, vs 6-2 with 6 home games to start the season. Heck, they're nearly halfway to their home wins total of last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Considering how horrific the team was at home last year, this season's wins count as an improvement. That said, last year the Habs were 1-5-2 with 5 home games, vs 6-2 with 6 home games to start the season. Heck, they're nearly halfway to their home wins total of last season. Can we all just forget about last season and move on with Galchenyuk in our new happy lives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsy Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Can we agree to disagree. Moen isn't a top six guy in any line-up. Leblanc has struggled. Everyone is excited about both Galchenyuk and Gallagher but they are already in the lineup. There are no sauvy veterans in Hamilton to fill out the ranks.This is the most depth we've had in years. Kaberle and Weber can't even crack the lineup. Ryan White as well. And Nokelainen is poised to return. Our top 6 is set, and our bottom 6 has so many options, it allows Therrien to be creative. Health is key, but it's the same story for the entire league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 This is the most depth we've had in years. Kaberle and Weber can't even crack the lineup. Ryan White as well. And Nokelainen is poised to return. Our top 6 is set, and our bottom 6 has so many options, it allows Therrien to be creative. Health is key, but it's the same story for the entire league. I am talking about depth after the roster players Yeah, because we are healthy we have numbers. I see alot of stone masons but not alot of depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am talking about depth after the roster players Yeah, because we are healthy we have numbers. I see alot of stone masons but not alot of depth. Do you mean prospect depth? Because we actually have quite a lot. 2012 filled the coffers quite nicely. Compare it around the league and we're sitting pretty. Collberg, Bozon and Hudon all have top six potential and Kristo still needs to make the jump to the AHL. Tinordi and Beaulieu are sure fire NHLers while Ellis and Thrower are potential NHLers. Montreal really needs a goalie prospect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 The thing we are missing is a Near Ready top 6 prospect. That's fine though. Eller is just sitting there on the 4th, waiting for an injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The thing we are missing is a Near Ready top 6 prospect. That's fine though. Eller is just sitting there on the 4th, waiting for an injury. Yeah, exactly what I am talking about. There is a gap in our prospect development. You can tell by the bulldogs record that most are a year or two away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Yeah, exactly what I am talking about. There is a gap in our prospect development. You can tell by the bulldogs record that most are a year or two away. Part of that record is being a year or two away Part of that record is the lack of guys who are 26+ who are probably never gonna make the NHL fulltime (unless something weird happens like Keith Aucoin) but are very productive AHLers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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