End of season mea culpas!

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Well, folks, what a great season. Never have I been so happy to have been so wrong about:

1. The Cole trade. My view was that, UNLESS Cole proved to be washed up, this was a trade we'd regret. Well, guess what; Cole was a disaster in Dallas, so - assuming he wasn't hampered by injury - Bergevin showed uncanny judgement about when a guy had passed his 'best by' date and got back a player who helped us for this season, while allowing cap flexibility going forward. Happy to be wrong!

2. The rookies. I said going into the season that you can never count on raw rookies to perform and therefore discounted the Gallys when evaluating this team. (Indeed, if you *do* discount their contributions it's entirely likely that my original prediction - a 'bubble' team - would have been correct). While I continue to think that only fools assume that rookies will thrive, this was a case when the kids did indeed shove my nose in it. Happy to be wrong!

3. Therrien. Everybody knows that I led the charge in lamenting this hire. Now, in my defence, I did allow for the possibility that he'd learned from his past mistakes, and also granted that he would likely do well this year - that the meltdown would happen, probably, in year two. Nonetheless I never imagined that he would deliver a seemingly flawless perfomance, taking the team to 5th overall (!). Still a bit skeptical about his long-term viability, but for now: happy to be wrong!

Way to go, Habs Now let's show 'em what we're made of in the dance!!!

[habs rule]

Good post and I think you have lots of company. Not many people thought we could be as good as we are. Course I never thought we would be as bad as we were last year.

[illWill]

That Cole trade looks like pure genius right now. The cap savings moving forward will be huge. I can't imagine have two more years of Cole at 4.5 mill per year.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

It's said that in the last 10 games of the Stars season, Erik Cole was one of the few that played like he cared.

That said, the trade was still very smart by Bergevin.

[Trizzak]

1. Cole trade, but with a proviso. Ryder has worked out well and getting a 3rd along with him was damned shrewd, but if Montreal loses a playoff series by being physically outmatched I will still lament the loss of Cole.

2. Galchenyuk. I didn't want to burn a year of his contract on a shortened season on a team I expected to struggle. Oops.

[brobin]

I didn't even pick them to make the playoffs, so... Happy to be wrong.

I liked the Cole trade and I was ok with Therrien, so... Genius.

Oh, I didn't want Budaj playing a single game at the start of the season, now I am okay if we need him in a playoff series, at least short term. So... Not such a genius.

[JMMR]

Budajs ability to win I questioned!

Therrien I questioned. Hated the hire actually.

Didn't think they could be a legit division and conference contender.

As it stands only 3 teams with better records!

[BlueKross]

Boys, we haven't done a dam thing yet, unless your goal was to get into playoffs. You might want to wait till we are done before you confess your misgivings.

[Lammy]

So what is the scenario based on tonight's game (Boston vs Ottawa)??? If Boston wins, we play the Leafs. If Ottawa wins, we playthem. Is this correct?

[dlbalr]

So what is the scenario based on tonight's game (Boston vs Ottawa)??? If Boston wins, we play the Leafs. If Ottawa wins, we playthem. Is this correct?

Yep.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Boys, we haven't done a dam thing yet, unless your goal was to get into playoffs. You might want to wait till we are done before you confess your misgivings.

I wanted to see the team make progress.

They made considerable progress.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

1. I was wrong about Diaz becoming an NHL quality defenseman.

2. I was wrong about Budaj.

[hab29RETIRED]

1. I liked moving Cole, but still wonder if we could have gotten more from a team like Columbus or colarado (I'd add Edmonton as another team, but given that Cole already has been there, there was zero chance of that!). My main motivation would have been to see if we could have gotten a #1 pick. However given Cole's NTC, MB did quite well, especially since I didn't realize that Ryder had matured and become a more complete player, than the Ryder we parted ways with 3 or 4 years ago.

2. I wanted to keep Galy squared in Hamilton and the CHL, however that was based on the NHL season starting by November (I had assumed both sides would come to their senses by then). I figured Gallegher could work his way into the lineup at the end of the year.

I think the lockout worked in our favor by giving both rookies the benefit if 1/2 of a year for development in the AHL and CHL and still being able to play the full NHL season - which wouldnt have been possible for Galchenyuk without the lockout.

I expected Gallegher to be as good as he was this year by his second year and think the lockout facilitated that. I had no idea that Galchenyuk would be this good or this mature, or physically this ready (given that he basically lost his draft year to injury).

3. MT has exceeded all expectations I had of him (i hated the move) and I think he is easily the best coach we had since Demers.

Having said that I'm still not completely sold on him. This year, everything fell into place for the team - I'm still waiting for him to blow up like did in his first stint with us, as well as when he was with the Pens.

I don't like how he has used Subban (should be playing at least 27 minutes, including more PK time). He is our best dman now and needs to be treated as such. IMO, MT is still treating Markov like our #1 dman, which he clearly isn't anymore. Markov is a leader and probably our smartest and most experienced player. However until Galchenyuk raises his game, Subban is our best player.

I'm much more pissed at the way Galy squared have been used. I get that they are trying to protect the rookies, but I think both have EARNED more ice time than DD and Gionta - particularly on the PP.

Lastly, I really think MT has blinders on when it comes to Bouillon. IMO he should be the seventh dman. Given the recent play of Weber, I'd actually start him over Bouillon.

4. Budaj completely surprised me. He is no longer the rebound machine from the start of the year. I still think we are done and don't have the same depth as the Blues or Sens if our #1 guy goes down, but Budaj has been much better than I expected..

1. Cole trade, but with a proviso. Ryder has worked out well and getting a 3rd along with him was damned shrewd, but if Montreal loses a playoff series by being physically outmatched I will still lament the loss of Cole.

2. Galchenyuk. I didn't want to burn a year of his contract on a shortened season on a team I expected to struggle. Oops.

[Commandant]

I was wrong on Cole/Ryder trade.

I was wrong in not liking Therrien as coach.

I was wrong in thinking Gallagher needed more AHL time.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

1. I liked moving Cole, but still wonder if we could have gotten more from a team like Columbus or colarado (I'd add Edmonton as another team, but given that Cole already has been there, there was zero chance of that!).

Cole had an NTC and agreed to move to Dallas. Don't think he would have agreed to trades to those teams. Dallas still looked like they were a playoff team.

[PMAC]

I was wrong on Cole/Ryder trade.

I was wrong in not liking Therrien as coach.

Ditto. Also, I had I not allowed last season's debacle cloud my choices I could have won the season prediction contest

[Toronthab]

Well, folks, what a great season. Never have I been so happy to have been so wrong about:

1. The Cole trade. My view was that, UNLESS Cole proved to be washed up, this was a trade we'd regret. Well, guess what; Cole was a disaster in Dallas, so - assuming he wasn't hampered by injury - Bergevin showed uncanny judgement about when a guy had passed his 'best by' date and got back a player who helped us for this season, while allowing cap flexibility going forward. Happy to be wrong!

2. The rookies. I said going into the season that you can never count on raw rookies to perform and therefore discounted the Gallys when evaluating this team. (Indeed, if you *do* discount their contributions it's entirely likely that my original prediction - a 'bubble' team - would have been correct). While I continue to think that only fools assume that rookies will thrive, this was a case when the kids did indeed shove my nose in it. Happy to be wrong!

3. Therrien. Everybody knows that I led the charge in lamenting this hire. Now, in my defence, I did allow for the possibility that he'd learned from his past mistakes, and also granted that he would likely do well this year - that the meltdown would happen, probably, in year two. Nonetheless I never imagined that he would deliver a seemingly flawless perfomance, taking the team to 5th overall (!). Still a bit skeptical about his long-term viability, but for now: happy to be wrong!

Way to go, Habs Now let's show 'em what we're made of in the dance!!!

Only one thing keeps me from acknowledging my many poor predictions... my even poorer character,...so kudos to educated judgments that were out done by better than anticipated performances. Not a bad record.

The Sens it is.

I was happy to see Ryder go and didn't know what to think when he showed up again. Theirien , I wasn't smart enough to have informed opinion, and ditto with Brandon.

It's easy not to be mistaken if you're too dumb to have an opinion.

[Toronthab]

I just had a nice thought. Maybe DD is playing hurt.

He certainly appears to have disappeared, so maybe some capactity has to explain it, which would also explain continued support from MT.

Just a thought. Get well soon!

[TurdBurglar]

Gonna have to say Eller. I was all for shipping him out after the first 10 game. Boy was I wrong.

[BCHabnut]

I was not overjoyed about Therrien, but I was not insensed. The JJ Daniault over Robinson annoyed me. I am not willing to say I am wrong about that yet

I was enraged at the Ryder Cole trade and I must admit, that so far I am quite happy to be wrong about this.

also, over the last few years, I have been very vocal about my dislike of the Eller trade. He has been a revelation this year, and I am extremely happy to be wrong on that one.

[JGC21]

I was wrong about Budaj.

But I liked the Ryder trade. Erik Cole annoyed me.

[Toronthab]

I once asked a woman for directions. I'm so filled with self-loathing....

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Gonna have to say Eller. I was all for shipping him out after the first 10 game. Boy was I wrong.

I'd said for a couple of years that Eller was unusually hard to peg - he could become a 60-point man, or Jan Bulis. Boy, has he ever grabbed the bull by the horns. It's like he became a man this year.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/Dave+Stubbs+Sports+psychologist/8307436/story.html

A lot of wisdom and self-awareness in these remarks of his. A great little story for us - such a treat to see a talented young player actually beginning to fulfill his promise after some bumpy stretches.

[TurdBurglar]

I think most of my reservations on Eller were from him being in a bad situation and playing like a player in that situation, not like the player he could be. Last couple of years he was drilled into defensive form, in the long run it looks like this is going to help more than hinder. He was also stuck with Andrei Kostitsyn, streaky at best, and expected to produce points. So stuck in a defensive role with AK47 and Moen, and expect to produce even when AK47 wasn't, which was often.

He started this season on the same track he was on last season, but to my surprise after 1 healthy scratch and a few injuries, he turned it around big time. He produced more than DD, nearly as much as Pleks and was on pace for 53 point if he played every game of an 82-game season and solid defensively to boot. Eller's play is making the DD contract look bad TBH. DD signed his contract and disappeared.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I think most of my reservations on Eller were from him being in a bad situation and playing like a player in that situation, not like the player he could be. Last couple of years he was drilled into defensive form, in the long run it looks like this is going to help more than hinder. He was also stuck with Andrei Kostitsyn, streaky at best, and expected to produce points. So stuck in a defensive role with AK47 and Moen, and expect to produce even when AK47 wasn't, which was often.

He started this season on the same track he was on last season, but to my surprise after 1 healthy scratch and a few injuries, he turned it around big time. He produced more than DD, nearly as much as Pleks and was on pace for 53 point if he played every game of an 82-game season and solid defensively to boot. Eller's play is making the DD contract look bad TBH. DD signed his contract and disappeared.

The key with Eller, for me, is that he stopped being a passenger. He finally realized that HE had to take charge out there and stop being Ringo in The Beatles ('just happy to be here!'). Some guys get it all along (Gallagher), others never get it (AK 47) and some grow into it (Pleks, Eller).

I'm not as anxious to give up on DD as some around here. We have to recognize that players go through tough stretches and not throw them on the scrap pile every time it happens (look at Lucic's struggles this season). Desharnais may turn it around, he may not; but the guy we saw last year is a legitimate NHL player and could help our team. Next year will determine his future IMHO.