habscout Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Can somebody quickly post a "everything's fine.. Have faith... Blah blah blah" post... Well as pessimistic as I've been lately, here's my best shot at it. On Chris Nilan's show lately, he pointed out that the Habs team that won the Cup in 1986 finished the season in a 3-7-1 slump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habscout Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 How was that not a penalty to Holtby!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronthab Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Well as pessimistic as I've been lately, here's my best shot at it. On Chris Nilan's show lately, he pointed out that the Habs team that won the Cup in 1986 finished the season in a 3-7-1 slump. I'll take it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovett's Magnatones Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 They need to skate TO the net. Not past the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 The team has zero confidence. They are afraid on defence of any shot against price, they can't make simple passes, and they can't put the puck into empty nets. This won't turn around until Price turns it around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovett's Magnatones Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Any word on if Price's wife has been seen around town with Jeff Carter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Can somebody quickly post a "everything's fine.. Have faith... Blah blah blah" post... It's a bit after the fact but here goes... - There's still time left in the season to turn things around. I'd rather see them struggle now than 10 days from now. - Price historically has had these ugly patches. He has come back each time from them, there's no reason to think he won't here. - The streaky scorers (Pacioretty and Ryder primarily) aren't going to stay snake bit forever. One of them is bound to get back going soon and with that, the offence should play with more confidence. How's that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miklin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 well put Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I will give you some optimism... The habs suck, but I just found another bottle of scotch...so... Yeah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 If that scotch is older than Gallagher, it'll make up for a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 One thing this slump seems to show is that this team lists as Carey Price does. I can see losing when your goalie blows chunks, but what explains the PP going 0-for-5 if not, perhaps, a team demoralized that its key cog is stinking out the joint. The main reasons for clinging to some sort of befuddled optimism are 1. Price is a proven commodity and unlikely to keep playing like this 2. The team drooped immediately after making the playoffs. This suggests that, beyond Price's problems, the issue is a drop in intensity, drive and commitment. But that in turn suggests that once there is again a genuine, non-rationalized reason to care, they will. And it wasn't just the 1986 team that looked like dogs heading into the playoffs...so did the 1993 and 2010 Habs, if memory serves. So teams can suddenly snap back into form. I wouldn't bet the rent on it, but it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habscout Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Well...at least the Habs aren't shutout at home tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 And it wasn't just the 1986 team that looked like dogs heading into the playoffs...so did the 1993 and 2010 Habs, if memory serves. So teams can suddenly snap back into form. I wouldn't bet the rent on it, but it happens. One could argue that the 2010 team snapped back because they had a goalie behind them that they could believe in. At this point I suspect they don't have confidence in either Price or Budaj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizzak Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 One could argue that the 2010 team snapped back because they had a goalie behind them that they could believe in. At this point I suspect they don't have confidence in either Price or Budaj. I think it's backwards. Price doesn't trust the team in front of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 One could argue that the 2010 team snapped back because they had a goalie behind them that they could believe in. At this point I suspect they don't have confidence in either Price or Budaj. Give me a break. If Price gets his game back, the whole team will feed off that. That was one of the points of my earlier post - for all that we go on about PK or Markov or Pleks or whoever, Carey Price is THE key guy on this team. As he goes, we go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Riemer stopped 46 of 47 shots for te leafs tonight. If we face them in the first round it will be ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Give me a break. If Price gets his game back, the whole team will feed off that. That was one of the points of my earlier post - for all that we go on about PK or Markov or Pleks or whoever, Carey Price is THE key guy on this team. As he goes, we go. If he gets his game back, I agree. But in the last five games, with Price faltering, the entire team has stumbled. Just as you say. So I think we are actually in agreement. The real question is how can Price get back into the groove ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizzak Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 2 days off, 3 game road trip to end the season... Can't decide whether I want the team to bag skate for 60 minutes tomorrow, or not see the ice till Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 It's not just Price. This team is incredibly small and soft. They played tonight with 3 D 5'10" and smaller. They lose too many battles, they turn the puck over too much, they stopped crashing the net and they stopped standing yp for eachother. I also agree The goaltending has been poor, Drewiski just has too play, they can't play 3 smurfs on the back end. DD is awfull, i would sit him. He has been invisible since he signed his contract. MT needs to go old school MT on this team. Bag skate them tomorrow morning. Then tie Price and Budaj into each net and let the team have at them for 15 minutes of non stop getting drilled by the puck. They need to see how it feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 2 days off, 3 game road trip to end the season... Can't decide whether I want the team to bag skate for 60 minutes tomorrow, or not see the ice till Tuesday. MT needs to go old school MT on this team. Bag skate them tomorrow morning. Then tie Price and Budaj into each net and let the team have at them for 15 minutes of non stop getting drilled by the puck. They need to see how it feels. Given how much Therrien has talked about fatigue recently, I expect they'll be off tomorrow even though they were off Friday. They will have a practice for sure Monday though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 If he gets his game back, I agree. But in the last five games, with Price faltering, the entire team has stumbled. Just as you say. So I think we are actually in agreement. The real question is how can Price get back into the groove ... I guess so. In a way what I'm saying is these guys believe in Price so much that when he doesn't deliver, they're lost. Price will get back in the groove as long as he doesn't get down on himself and lose confidence. Getting away from the Bell Centre will almost certainly help. By rights, this should be where his sizeable experience of radical ups and downs in Montreal comes into play and gets him through it when it matters most, i.e., the playoffs. As a whole, meanwhile, the team needs to stop worrying about results and focus on process. The little things - winning battles, bearing down on the defensive coverage, trusting your teammate to do his job, etc.. Same old recipe. And I agree 100% about Drewiski. With Emelin out, he has to play every damned night - and eat significant minutes to boot. There's no other choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 If the team is tired now, how can they expect to go through the playoffs. Being too small is catching up to them. They are ground down just as the season heats up and the play gets tougher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Since tonight's a night about trying to stay positive, here are some good stats from the game: - The Habs were -5 at the dot after 1 but finished +8 in the game. In particular, Eller was 0/6 through 1 but finished up 8/16 which is a good recovery. - Physical play - 28 hits for Montreal. That's a lot better than in recent contests. - Only 1 Hab failed to record a shot on goal (and that was Bourque who had a few chances just miss or get blocked). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Price will get back in the groove as long as he doesn't get down on himself and lose confidence. Getting away from the Bell Centre will almost certainly help. By rights, this should be where his sizeable experience of radical ups and downs in Montreal comes into play and gets him through it when it matters most, i.e., the playoffs. Exactly. Price is fabulous when he has it all together, but he still doesn't seem to have built up the mental fortitude I would hope for after five years in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovett's Magnatones Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 If the team is tired now, how can they expect to go through the playoffs. Being too small is catching up to them. They are ground down just as the season heats up and the play gets tougher. Same circus, different clowns. Bergevin is doing a great job adding grit and changing the culture, but as a fan since my early childhood, it's hard to not see this franchise as an old boys club for French Canadians who are in love with second line Europeans and soft puck moving defensemen. They should have came out of the closet and got Jussi Jokinen and MAB at the deadline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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