Minnesota @ Montreal: 7PM EST (TVA, CityTV)

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Did a anyone even hear Subban's name called last night? Coaching staff has had some words with him. Guy doesn't even rush the Puck anymore.

Good for Beaulieu droppin' buddy last night. Montreal's bench was lovin' it when he skated off the ice. Cherry on the cake

On Subban: I thought he was a presence out there and had a solid game. That said, you're right that he has not looked like PK SUBBAN (all in capital letters) this season. What worries me is the possibility that that's exactly what the coaches want. It's almost as though he has finally internalised the message not to take risks. Don't ever go for the big hip check. Don't ever carry the puck further than the opposition blueline - always dump it in after that. In short, don't ever go for that difference-making, game-defining Big Play, because sometimes those plays don't come off and therefore backfire. All the stuff that made PK such an extraordinary player is also the stuff that made him grind up against the conventional Babcock/Martin/Therrien wisdom about what players are supposed to do.

I've long believed that PK is that rare, special player to whom the normal rules don't apply. His "risky" game was never actually as risky as "experts" said it was, because his skills are so off the chart that he can get himself out of trouble 90% of the time. Today's coaches would have taken Bobby Orr and beaten all the creativity and dynamism out of him, turning him into a nice, manageable, safe, 50-point player like Drew Doughty. And that seems to be what they have finally accomplished with PK Subban.

[Guest Stogey24]

On Subban: I thought he was a presence out there and had a solid game. That said, you're right that he has not looked like PK SUBBAN (all in capital letters) this season. What worries me is the possibility that that's exactly what the coaches want. It's almost as though he has finally internalised the message not to take risks. Don't ever go for the big hip check. Don't ever carry the puck further than the opposition blueline - always dump it in after that. In short, don't ever go for that difference-making, game-defining Big Play, because sometimes those plays don't come off and therefore backfire. All the stuff that made PK such an extraordinary player is also the stuff that made him grind up against the conventional Babcock/Martin/Therrien wisdom about what players are supposed to do.

I've long believed that PK is that rare, special player to whom the normal rules don't apply. His "risky" game was never actually as risky as "experts" said it was, because his skills are so off the chart that he can get himself out of trouble 90% of the time. Today's coaches would have taken Bobby Orr and beaten all the creativity and dynamism out of him, turning him into a nice, manageable, safe, 50-point player like Drew Doughty. And that seems to be what they have finally accomplished with PK Subban.

Exactly. The reason P.K is such a dynamite player is because of his swag. His hat trick against Minnesota last year? Was one of the most entertaining games I've watched in long time. He has a kovalev type strength on the puck when he dances around the offensive zone. I've also noticed a lot more glass and out plays in his own end. No more skating his way out of trouble.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Sekac was our best forward tonight. Not bad for a guy who couldn't break the lineup. Therrien makes mistakes but he also learns from his mistakes.

Another big difference was having only top six forwards on the top six. It was odd seeing PAP be the guy who has to dig pucks for DD and Patches but hey it was working.

Eller certainly looked free playing with Jiri and Brandon instead of his usual Bourque and chain.

[hab29RETIRED]

I'd still like the Habs to bring in a more skilled player to play with Eller and sekac.

Prust malhotra and Weisse on the 4th line. Move Bourque and Moen. Bournival is the depth 4th liner when he returns.

Sekac was our best forward tonight. Not bad for a guy who couldn't break the lineup. Therrien makes mistakes but he also learns from his mistakes.

Another big difference was having only top six forwards on the top six. It was odd seeing PAP be the guy who has to dig pucks for DD and Patches but hey it was working.

Eller certainly looked free playing with Jiri and Brandon instead of his usual Bourque and chain.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I'd still like the Habs to bring in a more skilled player to play with Eller and sekac.

Prust malhotra and Weisse on the 4th line. Move Bourque and Moen. Bournival is the depth 4th liner when he returns.

I see the point, but I dunno - Prust seemed to me to be pretty critical to what made that line tick last night. Left to his own devices, you just know that Eller will revert to his "just happy to be here" Clueless Lars mode. Prust may be there to keep him honest, i.e., working hard, getting dirty, creating room. And certainly we don't want Sekac taking his cue about how to be an NHLer from Lars Eller. In short, Prust is the leader on that line and we might want to keep him there.

[DON]

Some team stats;

#1 faceoff%

8th PK

9th blocked shots

17th GAA

19th hits

22nd +/-

6th worst Giveaways

26th best Takeaways

27th Scoring

28th PP

Thank Price that Habs were still in game after the 1st period (and most games).

(some discount his impact he may have had in Semi-Finals, I dunno 'What if"?)

(edit: CC I didn't read you post till after and actually came up with 'dunno' independent of your post, so no I am not mocking, that's all)

[hab29RETIRED]

Prust can't be a long term solution to the third line - not sustainable. I also think you are way too hard on Eller. Name me one player who has produced playing with Bourque!?? Eller has been saddled with the laziest SOB in the league for overa year now.

Ever since the EGG line was split, he has not been given more them a game or two with any talented player without having Bourque bring down the effectiveness of the line.

I see the point, but I dunno - Prust seemed to me to be pretty critical to what made that line tick last night. Left to his own devices, you just know that Eller will revert to his "just happy to be here" Clueless Lars mode. Prust may be there to keep him honest, i.e., working hard, getting dirty, creating room. And certainly we don't want Sekac taking his cue about how to be an NHLer from Lars Eller. In short, Prust is the leader on that line and we might want to keep him there.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

It's unfair to dump it all on Eller when having to play with Bourque, but he's responsible for his own play as well. And his play hasn't been good for the most part.

[hab29RETIRED]

I agree Eller hasn't been good and needed to play betwe. But name me one player that has had success with Bourque?? You don't put a young player with a cancer like Bourque. There was a reason he was run our of Calgary by the media.

It's unfair to dump it all on Eller when having to play with Bourque, but he's responsible for his own play as well. And his play hasn't been good for the most part.

[Guest Stogey24]

I'd still like the Habs to bring in a more skilled player to play with Eller and sekac.

Prust malhotra and Weisse on the 4th line. Move Bourque and Moen. Bournival is the depth 4th liner when he returns.

Prust made a lot happen on that third line. Moen isn't going anywhere. As long as Sekac stays in the line up over him he deserves to play. They need his grit badly.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

It's unfair to dump it all on Eller when having to play with Bourque, but he's responsible for his own play as well. And his play hasn't been good for the most part.

Correct.

Habs29 is probably right that Prust isn't the long-term solution on that line - mainly because he's so often injured. But that doesn't change the fact that Prust may be vital to that line's success. I simply do not trust that Eller will deliver if left to drift along according to his own devices, because NOTHING in his NHL career gives any reason for such trust; and I don't trust a rookie (Sekac) to be the driving force of any line. A blood-and-guts veteran who will show Sekac the way and keep Eller accountable is exactly what the doctor ordered for those players. If it isn't Prust, it'll have to be someone else like him. Maybe Weise, I don't know. But until he flags, Prust should be the man on that line.

[Habs30/31]

On Subban: I thought he was a presence out there and had a solid game. That said, you're right that he has not looked like PK SUBBAN (all in capital letters) this season. What worries me is the possibility that that's exactly what the coaches want. It's almost as though he has finally internalised the message not to take risks. Don't ever go for the big hip check. Don't ever carry the puck further than the opposition blueline - always dump it in after that. In short, don't ever go for that difference-making, game-defining Big Play, because sometimes those plays don't come off and therefore backfire. All the stuff that made PK such an extraordinary player is also the stuff that made him grind up against the conventional Babcock/Martin/Therrien wisdom about what players are supposed to do.

I've long believed that PK is that rare, special player to whom the normal rules don't apply. His "risky" game was never actually as risky as "experts" said it was, because his skills are so off the chart that he can get himself out of trouble 90% of the time. Today's coaches would have taken Bobby Orr and beaten all the creativity and dynamism out of him, turning him into a nice, manageable, safe, 50-point player like Drew Doughty. And that seems to be what they have finally accomplished with PK Subban.

i agree . but i would not throw babcock into the mix. some think that was the best d canada has put on a team since since 76. no shame in being a no 7 on that club. plus they had alot of offense on the d with kieth, weber, doughty, petrangelo........the other two were top notch defensive dmen...........so considering every coach will take two of them on the team, if your game is all offense like pk's , subban was really trying to make the top 4. no shame on him, or knock on babcock that he was edged out. better men than pk have been left off team canadas. ie yzerman, messier, just to name a couple. Which by the way pk was not left off like those two were. He did make the team after all.

Some think there is a problem between pk and the coach. on going

[hab29RETIRED]

If you put galleghar with eller and sekac, they will produce. Prust can help the offense every 10 games. I still think the Habs need one more bona fide top six player who has size and drives to the net (Kane) or at least is a finisher (yakapov) to play with Galchenyuk.

Again, as far as Eller goes, has he actually been put on a line for any extended length of time with a player not rhyming with Dork, or mork from Ork?

He is a skilled player still finding his way. He is not going to produce with Bourque the dork, or stone hands Moen. I agree that Eller has to show that he can be a consistent player capable of 20 goals and 40-45 points, but that will not happen with Bourque or Moen. It also won't happen with Prust. Prust will show some offensive support every 10 to 15 games, but he is career plumber. Expecting more from him isn't fair to him or his linemates.

Correct.

Habs29 is probably right that Prust isn't the long-term solution on that line - mainly because he's so often injured. But that doesn't change the fact that Prust may be vital to that line's success. I simply do not trust that Eller will deliver if left to drift along according to his own devices, because NOTHING in his NHL career gives any reason for such trust; and I don't trust a rookie (Sekac) to be the driving force of any line. A blood-and-guts veteran who will show Sekac the way and keep Eller accountable is exactly what the doctor ordered for those players. If it isn't Prust, it'll have to be someone else like him. Maybe Weise, I don't know. But until he flags, Prust should be the man on that line.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Eller has shown he can put up 30 points. Not much more than that.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

I don't think Bourque is right upstairs.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

If you put galleghar with eller and sekac, they will produce. Prust can help the offense every 10 games. I still think the Habs need one more bona fide top six player who has size and drives to the net (Kane) or at least is a finisher (yakapov) to play with Galchenyuk.

Again, as far as Eller goes, has he actually been put on a line for any extended length of time with a player not rhyming with Dork, or mork from Ork?

He is a skilled player still finding his way. He is not going to produce with Bourque the dork, or stone hands Moen. I agree that Eller has to show that he can be a consistent player capable of 20 goals and 40-45 points, but that will not happen with Bourque or Moen. It also won't happen with Prust. Prust will show some offensive support every 10 to 15 games, but he is career plumber. Expecting more from him isn't fair to him or his linemates.

Gallagher makes every line he's on better, so the same would be true here. However, scoring and offence wouldn't be Prust's role on that line. Offence would be Eller and Sekac's job. Prust's role would be to grind it out in the corners, crash the net and otherwise do two things: first, be the gritty sh*t-disturber that makes room for the other two; and second, demonstrate to the other two the price you need to pay to be successful, as well as drive them to excel by his example and his seniority (leadership). So what I'm saying is that Prust would be there precisely to be a "plumber." That wouldn't be the first line to thrive with one player who isn't especially skilled offensively.

As for Eller, we've been over this many times, the difference being that I don't accept endless excuses and pity parties for beloved young players. Bourque is not the reason Eller has looked utterly indifferent in 90% of his regular season time with us. Eller is.

[DON]

Eller has shown he can put up 30 points. Not much more than that.

Well he did get 30 in 46 game season, so bit better pace than 30pts (54point pace), maybe he peaked way too early in career?

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Gallagher makes every line he's on better, so the same would be true here. However, scoring and offence wouldn't be Prust's role on that line. Offence would be Eller and Sekac's job. Prust's role would be to grind it out in the corners, crash the net and otherwise do two things: first, be the gritty sh*t-disturber that makes room for the other two; and second, demonstrate to the other two the price you need to pay to be successful, as well as drive them to excel by his example and his seniority (leadership). So what I'm saying is that Prust would be there precisely to be a "plumber." That wouldn't be the first line to thrive with one player who isn't especially skilled offensively.

As for Eller, we've been over this many times, the difference being that I don't accept endless excuses and pity parties for beloved young players. Bourque is not the reason Eller has looked utterly indifferent in 90% of his regular season time with us. Eller is.

Every line needs someone to dig the puck out of the corner, unless you want Leaping Larry to dance with the puck all over the offensive zone like a Danish Scott Gomez on dope.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Every line needs someone to dig the puck out of the corner, unless you want Leaping Larry to dance with the puck all over the offensive zone like a Danish Scott Gomez on dope.

Ha ha haaaaa, nope - don't want that!!

[habs rule]

Every line needs someone to dig the puck out of the corner, unless you want Leaping Larry to dance with the puck all over the offensive zone like a Danish Scott Gomez on dope.

I honestly thought Gomez was on performance decreasing drugs. Well it would splain it.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

I honestly thought Gomez was on performance decreasing drugs. Well it would splain it.

He knew he had guaranteed money and just couldn't do it anymore. Drugs are tragic.

[Toronthab]

Every line needs someone to dig the puck out of the corner, unless you want Leaping Larry to dance with the puck all over the offensive zone like a Danish Scott Gomez on dope.

Now that's the power of imagery...!

[habs rule]

He knew he had guaranteed money and just couldn't do it anymore. Drugs are tragic.

well money is a drug. Is it not?

[Habsfan]

I agree Eller hasn't been good and needed to play betwe. But name me one player that has had success with Bourque?? You don't put a young player with a cancer like Bourque. There was a reason he was run our of Calgary by the media.

Good point. Now let's see what Eller can do without Bourqui dragging him down!

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Good point. Now let's see what Eller can do without Bourqui dragging him down!

I'm expecting in 10 games it'll be one of Prust or Weise now claimed to be dragging Eller down. That is unless Eller is out of his slump. I sure hope he is.