The agony and the ectasy

[illWill]

I'll feel like this if they play Game 1 like they don't care. Until then, I"m going to assume that this is a team that simply let up some when they clinched...and could wake up and find the gas pedal again when they realize it's the playoffs.

This

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

It can go either way when a team looks listless and uninspired heading into the playoffs.

In 1988 and 1992, for instance, the Canadiens looked totally out of it down the stretch, and everyone figured they were just waiting for the playoffs to start to crank it up. Instead, the listless play continued right into the playoffs and the Habs were soon eliminated despite being considered contenders. Same thing happened to the Vancouver Canucks last season, incidentally (I talk about them a lot because I live in the Vancouver area). Those seem to be teams that had some sort of chemistry issue, whether it was Jean Perron fatigue (1988) or huge personality clashes (1992) or a major hangover from the previous season, plus key injuries (Canucks).

Conversely, my other favourite examples - 1986, 1993, 2010 - represent the opposite trend: an unfocused team down the stretch that snaps into form when it counts.

We'll see how it goes, but given that chemistry is probably not an issue with this bunch, I wouldn't rule out a pleasant surprise.

[illWill]

We'll see how it goes, but given that chemistry is probably not an issue with this bunch, I wouldn't rule out a pleasant surprise.

I'm of the belief that regardless if they lose in the first round, I will consider this season a success. To come from dead last in the East to home ice advantage in the playoffs, is a step forward. A potential 23 year old Norris trophy winner, 2 rookies in the conversation for the Calder, a seemingly perennial 30 goal young power forward, and perhaps Canada's starting goaltender in the Olympics. Something to be happy about.

[Toronthab]

I'm of the belief that regardless if they lose in the first round, I will consider this season a success. To come from dead last in the East to home ice advantage in the playoffs, is a step forward. A potential 23 year old Norris trophy winner, 2 rookies in the conversation for the Calder, a seemingly perennial 30 goal young power forward, and perhaps Canada's starting goaltender in the Olympics. Something to be happy about.

Yupper.

[C-Love]

I'm very realistic. I wasn't even talking to you. I was highlighting this....

A fan sticks by their team through thick and thin. You should never be embarrassed to tell people what team you are a fan of, good times or bad.

Its fine to acknowledge that the team isn't playing well, or to be realistic about their chances... but to be embarrassed to be a fan?

Apologies. We're like a weird family now, I feel everybody is on edge and it's kind of interesting to see different people's perspectives and ways to deal with the recent slump.

[revvvrob]

Habs will get their stuff together and will win Round 1. if i'm wrong, i believe they will at least go down to an honorable defeat (tough 6 or 7 games).

[Commandant]

I think this is appropriate for the thread.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/51444-Success-down-the-stretch-means-nothing-in-the-playoffs.html

[brobin]

I am not convinced they are purposely playing easy to avoid injuries. If they are, they are stupid. I am watching a team developing terrible habits. I am watching a division lead drift away when a couple of wins against very beatable teams would have secured it. We have struggled against the leafs all season, why on earth would we tank to get them in round one.

My fear is Price is in playoff form right now, ranging frum brutal to good. We need good to excellent and we are not getting it. Frankly, we have seen few great payoff games from Price. Everyone goes on about game 7 against the Bruins, forgetting his poor play is why it went to seven. People forget the next series where he was deep, down early, and couldn't catch a beach ball.

I know people love Price, but until I see him put together a great playoff campaign, I will always have my doubts about him.

[JMMR]

I am not convinced they are purposely playing easy to avoid injuries. If they are, they are stupid. I am watching a team developing terrible habits. I am watching a division lead drift away when a couple of wins against very beatable teams would have secured it. We have struggled against the leafs all season, why on earth would we tank to get them in round one.

My fear is Price is in playoff form right now, ranging frum brutal to good. We need good to excellent and we are not getting it. Frankly, we have seen few great payoff games from Price. Everyone goes on about game 7 against the Bruins, forgetting his poor play is why it went to seven. People forget the next series where he was deep, down early, and couldn't catch a beach ball.

I know people love Price, but until I see him put together a great playoff campaign, I will always have my doubts about him.

Does this mean a cup?

or

Winning a couple rounds in 1 year?

or

Getting 3 or 4 playoff shutouts?

[Commandant]

934 save percentage in Price's last playoff appearance.

[brobin]

Does this mean a cup?

or

Winning a couple rounds in 1 year?

or

Getting 3 or 4 playoff shutouts?

It doesn't mean a cup, but it does mean he has to win a game or two and not lose one on his own. He needs to make the big saves and give the team a chance. I do take into account the team in front of him, I don't expect miracles.

Last year was his best performance so far, but I need to see more of that before I am convinced he is out cup winning goalie.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I think a degree of agnosticism about Price in the playoffs is warranted because the sample is so small. He's had one superb series and a couple of dodgy series. With the latter, it should be kept in mind that he was still maturing - so one could easily argue that the mature Price has only had that one great series. But that still doesn't prove a pattern one way or the other.

What bothers me is the unwarranted pessimism about playoff Price emanating out of many quarters of Habs fandom. There is a huge chunk of the fanbase that has swallowed a bizarre narrative that Price is obviously overrated or that Price is obviously a playoff dud. It's as if he is to be forever condemned for some youthful growing pains 3-4 years ago; and that the excellent 2011 playoff never happened.

So: a cautious awareness that the sample is too small to prove anything - sure. Hostility and pessimism that our goalie sucks? Simply ridiculous. The appropriate attitude to Price is that he is a blue-chip starter who can reasonably be expected to perform well in the playoffs.

If I were Price I wouldn't let any of it get to me. For years and years and years, anglo Habs fans were actively skeptical of Patrick Roy. I don't know how many times I had to defend him against the accusation of being overrated, "not that great," trade bait, etc., etc.. This (mostly) ended in 1993, but notice that it took one of the all-time great playoff performances by a goalie in NHL history to quiet the grumblers.

The fact is, even great goalies have better and worse seasons, better and worse games, and better and worse playoffs. Price is a blue-chip goalie. Time will tell if he can be the guy who carries a team to glory...but the fact is that we will never know the answer unless he has a team in front of him that can put him in that position, just as Patrick Roy, Marty Brodeur and whoever else you'd care no name did. Even the supposedly superhuman Halak had a team that pioneered systematic shot-blocking and did a masterful job of restricting shots to the outside.

The Price haters should take the young man's advice and "chill."

[Machine of Loving Grace]

What bothers me is the unwarranted pessimism about playoff Price emanating out of many quarters of Habs fandom. There is a huge chunk of the fanbase that has swallowed a bizarre narrative that Price is obviously overrated or that Price is obviously a playoff dud. It's as if he is to be forever condemned for some youthful growing pains 3-4 years ago; and that the excellent 2011 playoff never happened.

What has happened with Price is similar to Tom Barrasso. Barrasso is much like Price but with more hardware, he walked into the league and won the Vezina and Calder in his first year as a very young goalie. But Buffalo didn't produce and because of a high opinion of himself (something Price really doesn't have but other people have of him) the city ran him out. He went on to win two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh.

Let's hope we're not like Buffalo.

[Commandant]

Price's biggest problem is that he is so sound positionally, and so big, and has such good lateral movement that he's always square to the puck and makes many difficult saves look routine.

People dont see him flopping around like crazy and making miraculous, acrobatic saves, and thus they think he isn't as good as a guy who does that like Halak.

Its the same syndrome I saw in Toronto. People liked Cujo more than Belfour, because he made more crazy saves, but Belfour was the better goalie.

[Toronthab]

I think a degree of agnosticism about Price in the playoffs is warranted because the sample is so small. He's had one superb series and a couple of dodgy series. With the latter, it should be kept in mind that he was still maturing - so one could easily argue that the mature Price has only had that one great series. But that still doesn't prove a pattern one way or the other.

What bothers me is the unwarranted pessimism about playoff Price emanating out of many quarters of Habs fandom. There is a huge chunk of the fanbase that has swallowed a bizarre narrative that Price is obviously overrated or that Price is obviously a playoff dud. It's as if he is to be forever condemned for some youthful growing pains 3-4 years ago; and that the excellent 2011 playoff never happened.

So: a cautious awareness that the sample is too small to prove anything - sure. Hostility and pessimism that our goalie sucks? Simply ridiculous. The appropriate attitude to Price is that he is a blue-chip starter who can reasonably be expected to perform well in the playoffs.

If I were Price I wouldn't let any of it get to me. For years and years and years, anglo Habs fans were actively skeptical of Patrick Roy. I don't know how many times I had to defend him against the accusation of being overrated, "not that great," trade bait, etc., etc.. This (mostly) ended in 1993, but notice that it took one of the all-time great playoff performances by a goalie in NHL history to quiet the grumblers.

The fact is, even great goalies have better and worse seasons, better and worse games, and better and worse playoffs. Price is a blue-chip goalie. Time will tell if he can be the guy who carries a team to glory...but the fact is that we will never know the answer unless he has a team in front of him that can put him in that position, just as Patrick Roy, Marty Brodeur and whoever else you'd care no name did. Even the supposedly superhuman Halak had a team that pioneered systematic shot-blocking and did a masterful job of restricting shots to the outside.

The Price haters should take the young man's advice and "chill."

Well said CC. He's an amazing goaltender. We have grounds for hope only, not for pessimism.

[Toronthab]

Price's biggest problem is that he is so sound positionally, and so big, and has such good lateral movement that he's always square to the puck and makes many difficult saves look routine.

People dont see him flopping around like crazy and making miraculous, acrobatic saves, and thus they think he isn't as good as a guy who does that like Halak.

Its the same syndrome I saw in Toronto. People liked Cujo more than Belfour, because he made more crazy saves, but Belfour was the better goalie.

Agreed. He's spooky good.

[habs rule]

i say to hell with it throw Tokarski in there, what the heck he has been teriffic in hamilton. Worked for us before Dryden Roy and Price. Ok lets just leave price in there, AND HAVE A LITTLE FAITH DAMMIT

[JMMR]

Carey Christ

Jesus Price

[habs rule]

this thread should be killed before the playoffs, I just hate seeing that f'ing negative header every day.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

this thread should be killed before the playoffs, I just hate seeing that f'ing negative header every day.

So why did you bump it up?

[brobin]

Price's biggest problem is that he is so sound positionally, and so big, and has such good lateral movement that he's always square to the puck and makes many difficult saves look routine.

People dont see him flopping around like crazy and making miraculous, acrobatic saves, and thus they think he isn't as good as a guy who does that like Halak.

Its the same syndrome I saw in Toronto. People liked Cujo more than Belfour, because he made more crazy saves, but Belfour was the better goalie.

No, you described Price on his game, not the one recently. Price can be a great goalie and as you said, wen he is on his game, it is almost boring. Lately, we see a guy sliding and diving, deep in his net, giving out bad rebounds, and over playing shots so much he as put most of hs body outside the post.

I saw some improvement against the jets, so hopefully he is working back into form. Unfortunately, we won't find out tonight as Budaj is in.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I saw some improvement against the jets, so hopefully he is working back into form. Unfortunately, we won't find out tonight as Budaj is in.

Price was absolutely phenomenal in that game. The defence still kept leaving him to fend for himself and he was stealing goals. That one rush by the Jets made me so angry. How do you let the Jets get a two on one when all five of their players started IN THEIR ZONE!?

It was disgusting. Price stopped it. If Price didn't, it'd be just another goal blamed on him. The team defence has pretty much fallen apart and Price has taken the blame. For most of the season the narrative was the team defence is so good, Price doesn't have to be challenged as much. Suddenly, the team defence breaks down and he has to be challenged constantly. And people wonder why he's having trouble?

I'm not denying Price has allowed some softies. He certainly has. But Price is the Last Line of the Team Defence and when the team is constantly letting him down, it's hard to put it all on him for me like others are happy to do. I'm one of the few people who vehemently defends Cam Ward because if you've seen Cam Ward's defence for the last five seasons and see how many shots he faces, and understand that Eric Staal at one point was probably their best stay at home defenceman (let that wrap around your head for a second) you'll see why I defend the guy.

Price has not been the problem this season. Team defence has been the problem, and Price is only a part of it.

[johnnyhasbeen]

I think we just drew the Sens. They will play like the Rags did tonight when they face Boston tomorrow. May as well put it all on the line or face the Pens... Not sure I prefer that to the Laughs.

[habs rule]

So why did you bump it up?

ur right and look what happened

[johnnyhasbeen]

This is the negative energy thread that will feed our cup run!! Ying and Yang, negative thread/positive play, balance in the universe. We all know where the cup goes when things are right in the universe.