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New players means new lines - What would you do?


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30 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

 

:wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared::wall::scared:

 

Unbelievable to leave Caufield out of the lineup after what he brought to this team.   And what exactly did Staal do to earn a spot in this lineup. I guess Bergevin wants to be proven right about trading for him. 

 

This is a Ducharme decision.  Interim coach with his butt on the line trusting veterans over 20 year olds. 

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40 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

:scared::wall:

 

I spent way too much time watching the yellow one to see if the hand would 'catch' the back of the banging one (it got there eventually).  I have no idea why I felt the need to watch that so closely...

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43 minutes ago, Commandant said:

This is a Ducharme decision.  Interim coach with his butt on the line trusting veterans over 20 year olds. 

 

Good coaches play the best players. Kotkianimi and Caufield are among the team's 12 best forwards. Staal is not. He showed nothing in Montreal that indicates that Buffalo was just a bad situation for him and that he isn't washed up. Sticking with a veteran who isn't bringing anything is bad, regardless of who is making that call.

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9 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

 

Good coaches play the best players. Kotkianimi and Caufield are among the team's 12 best forwards. Staal is not. He showed nothing in Montreal that indicates that Buffalo was just a bad situation for him and that he isn't washed up. Sticking with a veteran who isn't bringing anything is bad, regardless of who is making that call.

 

I agree that this is a mistake

 

I think its a mistake that most NHL coaches fall into though.

 

If they lose cause a rookie made a mental mistake, that gets blamed on coaching. 
If the player loses a battle cause he's in the right position but not good enough, that gets blamed on the player and he can say I did all the coaching correct. 

 

So they lean on the vets who won't make rookie mistakes even if it doesn't necessarily give them a better chance to win.

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I also see a bit of Bergevin's hand in this too ... he got Staal "for the playoffs" and if you are going to play him you have to optimize his utility ... a "heavy" line to grind is his best chance.

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3 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

It’s a poor decision by Ducharme like most of his decisions. 
 

Let’s hope Staal just needs some rest and that Armia can score cause Caufield sure would have. 

 

In fairness ... "would have a better chance to" would be the better description ... Caufield is definitely FAR more offensively gifted but there is never a guarantee of goals ... for example, Malkin average 1.35 pts/gm last regular season but only 0.25 against the Habs 

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The Oilers are likely to go with 11 fwds and 7 defencemen.

 

This means kris russell and james neal will play while kailer yamamoto sits.

 

Again these are the kinds of stupid decisions coaches around the league make.

 

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5 minutes ago, Commandant said:

... Again these are the kinds of stupid decisions coaches around the league make.

 

Only stupid when they lose ... when they win it is brilliant strategy ... whether or not the move had anything to do with their team winning.

 

One factor I had not considered until reading it elsewhere (apologies if anyone here made the point as well) is that in Toronto DD may fear getting CC and KK matched up in the D-zone against TO's big guns ... ***not*** saying it is or isn't  a valid concern, but a possible thought process

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12 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

Only stupid when they lose ... when they win it is brilliant strategy ... whether or not the move had anything to do with their team winning.

 

One factor I had not considered until reading it elsewhere (apologies if anyone here made the point as well) is that in Toronto DD may fear getting CC and KK matched up in the D-zone against TO's big guns ... ***not*** saying it is or isn't  a valid concern, but a possible thought process

 

Given the fact that all of Toronto's big guns have skating that leave him in the dust, I'm more scared of Staal vs their big guns than I am of KK.  At least he can keep up.

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22 minutes ago, Commandant said:

The Oilers are likely to go with 11 fwds and 7 defencemen.

 

This means kris russell and james neal will play while kailer yamamoto sits.

 

Again these are the kinds of stupid decisions coaches around the league make.

 


Insanity - Edmonton what are you doing?!

 

Im bothered by Staal the most. We all saw some very mediocre play from him since he got here (and all season in Buffalo). 
 

At the end of the day both Bergevin and Ducharme are making decisions that will affect their careers. Maybe Bergevin built the ultimate playoff team and if not, then perhaps he and Ducharme get fired. 

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Caufield being out takes my enthusiasm for this game down by a solid 50%.  KK I can see sitting...he's been garbage...but how the hell do you keep a guy who actually scores out of the lineup when this team struggles to score most of the time?!?!  Ducharme is an idiot.

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6 minutes ago, sbhatt said:

Caufield being out takes my enthusiasm for this game down by a solid 50%.  KK I can see sitting...he's been garbage...but how the hell do you keep a guy who actually scores out of the lineup when this team struggles to score most of the time?!?!  Ducharme is an idiot.

 

I think Caufield sitting makes more sense than KK. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd play Caufield. 

 

But I see why they want Armia to play physical and wear down the Leafs. 

 

KK can be just as physical as Staal with better skating, and as much as he's struggled offensively has still scored more than Staal.... so I don't get that. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

This is a Ducharme decision.  Interim coach with his butt on the line trusting veterans over 20 year olds. 

 

It is the first practice, from what I've seen from Dom, he uses practices a different way that Julien did and is not affraid from changing them closer to game time

 

My take is that he is lighting a fire under Kotkaniemi and Caufield to show they are better by raising their level of intensity.

 

KK has been falling all over the ice in the last few games, seems off position and trying to reach for pucks away form him to the point of falling. Not moving his feet. He shows hes smarts on the PP but is not scoring.

 

Caufield, at this point in his career he is a PP specialist that may come in later in the playoffs but not right from the start. With Galalgher, Tatar and Byron in the line up; there are only so many smallish players you can ring into the lineup. He can score but does get pushed over. He gets over matched when he body checks and cannot win board battles. It the Habs are using a dump and chase to create turnovers, he is not the player you need.

 

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1 hour ago, Commandant said:

 

I think Caufield sitting makes more sense than KK. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd play Caufield. 

 

But I see why they want Armia to play physical and wear down the Leafs. 

 

KK can be just as physical as Staal with better skating, and as much as he's struggled offensively has still scored more than Staal.... so I don't get that. 

 

 

 

 I am hoping KK shows he _WANTS_ it more than Stall and earns his spot. being demoted to the sidelines needs a a strong reaction from him than a smile and a joke to dismiss it like he usually does in interviews

 

Ducharme has mentioned repeatedly that they are working with KK on a daily basis, so I hope that down th estrech he comes back over Stall. I want to see him play as much as any

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31 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

So, was Merrill the one wearing a grey sweater on D?

 

Yes, but based on the fact they used Petry as the D on both PP units, they are expecting Weber back. 

 

Seems to me they will start him with Romanov based on those pairs. 

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7 hours ago, Commandant said:

I don't think its lighting a fire or any games being played.  I just think hes doing the typical coach thing.

 

 

as long as it gets Kotkaniemi to the level he needs to be to be effective, I am fine with that. The first tow games being away games, I can see the Habs fielding a different line up than in Montreal.

 

I am hopeful we will see one of Kotkaniemi or Caufield for game 3 and 4

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4 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Yes, but based on the fact they used Petry as the D on both PP units, they are expecting Weber back. 

 

Seems to me they will start him with Romanov based on those pairs. 

 

playing 3rd pair minutes? I hope not, I would love to see Romanov-Weber play top 4 minutes. I hope the extra practice time and time to rest/heal will benefit Romanov who was coming undone in the last few games

 

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7 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

playing 3rd pair minutes? I hope not, I would love to see Romanov-Weber play top 4 minutes. I hope the extra practice time and time to rest/heal will benefit Romanov who was coming undone in the last few games

 

 

I have no idea what minutes they will play.  Practice merely will tell where they are lining up. 

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7 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

as long as it gets Kotkaniemi to the level he needs to be to be effective, I am fine with that. The first tow games being away games, I can see the Habs fielding a different line up than in Montreal.

 

I am hopeful we will see one of Kotkaniemi or Caufield for game 3 and 4

 

I don't think sitting him does anything for his development.  

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1 hour ago, Commandant said:

I don't think sitting him does anything for his development.  

 

I agree ... but DD is currently in "win" mode, not "development" mode ... and as much as the future success of the Habs depends on KK, Suzuki, Caufield and Romanov becoming what we hope they can be, I can't blame DD ... unless he were to get job security (i.e., a n ew contract as HC) he can't afford to prioritize development over what he thinks is necessary to win ... unless of course MB is entangled in all this, at least with respect to KK, by wanting Staal ("his playoff guy") in the lineup

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33 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

I agree ... but DD is currently in "win" mode, not "development" mode ... and as much as the future success of the Habs depends on KK, Suzuki, Caufield and Romanov becoming what we hope they can be, I can't blame DD ... unless he were to get job security (i.e., a n ew contract as HC) he can't afford to prioritize development over what he thinks is necessary to win ... unless of course MB is entangled in all this, at least with respect to KK, by wanting Staal ("his playoff guy") in the lineup

 

I don't think that Staal over KK helps a team win now, but I've already explained the reasons why above.

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