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Douchebag Media Thread


zumpano21

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I called it. By the end of the season Price will be firmly wedged under the front tires of the bus.

The goalie always gets blamed when the team loses. His track record only buys him so much time.

This is because the most popular goalie stats are really team stats and so good goalies on bad teams inevitably have lower stats than average goalies on good teams. Amazingly, this fact has evaded the public consciousness so that even professional opinions on goalies fluctuate dramatically from month to month based on perception and only partly relevant statistics.

The moment the team becomes a contender again, Price, with the same level of play, would have better stats and be hailed as an elite goalie again, although this will probably come alongside rumours that he is a terribly inconsistent player alternating between hot and cold years.

Before the Cammy trade 7 of our 11 forwards being dressed were over 6 foot. Now we have 8 of 11.

Price's stats don't come close to telling the whole story of the season. Put an average NHL starter in our net instead of Price, and we're probably in a battle with Columbus for last.

Sounds tempting.

Yes it was true in 2009.

However its not true today.

The emergence of Pacioretty.

The signing of Cole

The trade for Eller.

The fact that one of Gomez or Gionta has been hurt for most of the season.

Its no longer true.

It started as a stereotype in 2009, but an analyst isn't doing his job if he looks at the current forward group and calls it small. Especially on the wings.

It actually started as a stereotype at least a decade ago. It was probably true for most of that time but it definitely isn't true anymore. I bet that even if Gionta was traded for Dustin Brown, the Habs would still be looked at as a small or at best average sized team.

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The goalie always gets blamed when the team loses. His track record only buys him so much time.

This is because the most popular goalie stats are really team stats and so good goalies on bad teams inevitably have lower stats than average goalies on good teams. Amazingly, this fact has evaded the public consciousness so that even professional opinions on goalies fluctuate dramatically from month to month based on perception and only partly relevant statistics.

The moment the team becomes a contender again, Price, with the same level of play, would have better stats and be hailed as an elite goalie again, although this will probably come alongside rumours that he is a terribly inconsistent player alternating between hot and cold years.

Sounds tempting.

It actually started as a stereotype at least a decade ago. It was probably true for most of that time but it definitely isn't true anymore. I bet that even if Gionta was traded for Dustin Brown, the Habs would still be looked at as a small or at best average sized team.

Size doesn't matter if you don't use it. We are getting some size on the wings,but we're sorely lacking it on defense.Gill is tall but doesn't play big. Last off season that issue should have been addressed instead of the Diaz,Campoli and now Kaberle acquisitions.

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Before the Cammy trade 7 of our 11 forwards being dressed were over 6 foot. Now we have 8 of 11.

Price's stats don't come close to telling the whole story of the season. Put an average NHL starter in our net instead of Price, and we're probably in a battle with Columbus for last.

Price has had one excellent seaso out of 5,and won one playoff series. Good goalie,but unbelievably overated here. We are in a battle for the last 3 spots. Size doesn't matter if it isn't accompanied by toughness. Eller,AK and Nokia i wouldn't call tough,and Pacs has his moments

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Size doesn't matter if you don't use it. We are getting some size on the wings,but we're sorely lacking it on defense.Gill is tall but doesn't play big. Last off season that issue should have been addressed instead of the Diaz,Campoli and now Kaberle acquisitions.

I absolutely agree.... the size on defence issue needs to be addressed. I'm really hoping it gets done this offseason. I want a guy who can play 20+ minutes and is a physically intimidating presence. If he can occassionally (3 or 4 times a season) hold his own in a fight protecting a teammate, all the better.

Price has had one excellent seaso out of 5,and won one playoff series. Good goalie,but unbelievably overated here. We are in a battle for the last 3 spots. Size doesn't matter if it isn't accompanied by toughness. Eller,AK and Nokia i wouldn't call tough,and Pacs has his moments

AK is among our most consistent hitters over the last few years, and Eller wins a ton of battles on the boards. I think they both use their size effectively. Sure they aren't fighters or anything like that, but not everyone is going to be. The size has however improved dramatically in the last 3 years. I do however believe we need one more forward, specifically a center because Plekanec, Gomez, Desharnais are all small.

Its true that Price has had some growing pains in his early seasons, but lets remember how young he is,, and how most goalies don't even make the NHL until they are 23 or 24. Price had 3 or 4 seasons under his belt by then.

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The goalie always gets blamed when the team loses. His track record only buys him so much time.

This is because the most popular goalie stats are really team stats and so good goalies on bad teams inevitably have lower stats than average goalies on good teams. Amazingly, this fact has evaded the public consciousness so that even professional opinions on goalies fluctuate dramatically from month to month based on perception and only partly relevant statistics.

The moment the team becomes a contender again, Price, with the same level of play, would have better stats and be hailed as an elite goalie again, although this will probably come alongside rumours that he is a terribly inconsistent player alternating between hot and cold years.

Sounds tempting.

It actually started as a stereotype at least a decade ago. It was probably true for most of that time but it definitely isn't true anymore. I bet that even if Gionta was traded for Dustin Brown, the Habs would still be looked at as a small or at best average sized team.

In the calculation of size you need to consider ice time. If four of the six on the top two lines are diminuitive and the other two are just average then you will probably be considered small and rightly so. Ideally you would only have one smurf with tremendous speed and skill set. It is a myth to believe size doesn't count.

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I agree that size does matter. And I agree that 4 of the top 6 is probably too many small players, of course the emergence of Pacioretty and the signing of Cole along with injuries to Gionta and Gomez has meant that we've never really been dressing those 4 consistently as our top 6 (and one of them is gone now).

I agree that we need to limit the number of small players... Not sure the limit is 1 as you suggest... maybe 2 or 3 in the top 9 is acceptable depending on who they are.

On three different lines, I could see a team with Plekanec, Gionta, and Gallagher competing. Even Desharnais as well.

==============================================

Lets define Smurf though.

Is 5'11 too small; but 6;0" okay.... because that seems to be the line many media and fans use. Plekanec is under 6'0 but I certainly think he can compete in this league (even if his season to date is subpar for him).

Benoit pouliot is 6'3" but was so easily knocked off the puck, and was always sitting on his ass, that the size meant nothing. I'd take a 5'6" Gionta over him any day of the week.

Again though I'll reiterate, the forwards probably need 1 C with size, and the defence needs a guy with a nasty physical presence.... by no means do I think we are done building the size, but we are not the same team from 3 years ago either.

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Lets define Smurf though.

Is 5'11 too small; but 6;0" okay.... because that seems to be the line many media and fans use. Plekanec is under 6'0 but I certainly think he can compete in this league (even if his season to date is subpar for him).

Benoit pouliot is 6'3" but was so easily knocked off the puck, and was always sitting on his ass, that the size meant nothing. I'd take a 5'6" Gionta over him any day of the week.

Again though I'll reiterate, the forwards probably need 1 C with size, and the defence needs a guy with a nasty physical presence.... by no means do I think we are done building the size, but we are not the same team from 3 years ago either.

Here's a good question I pose to people regularly:

Is Markov a "smurf?"

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Here's a good question I pose to people regularly:

Is Markov a "smurf?"

He may as well be a "real" Smurf, out living in some mytholigical forest with Gargamel chasing him for as often as he's played the past few years. Wait, don't have Gargamel chase him, he'll aggrevate his knee.

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Here's an idea.

I think it's time that HW started a thread to reverse the spotlight on douchebag members of the Montreal Press. We all know that the Habs are adversely affected by the local press thanks to their unrepentant, selfish, arrogant, unapologetic behaviour. The exaggeration of the Cammalleri quote from this past week was the last straw for me.

In this day and age, where opinion and momentum can be profound on the Web, it's time to start speaking up and trolling the comments section of the Gazette, La Presse or whatever presstitute rag we can find.

I encourage HW members to post examples here.

Let'er rip.

First up: Francois Gagnon. Responsible for the very liberal translation of Cammy's comments from English to French and back to English.

http://blogues.cyberpresse.ca/gagnon/

Gagnon is my favorite french hockey journalist.

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