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2021 PLAYOFF OPENER! HABS VS LEAFS! MAY 20TH @ 19:30 ET


illWill

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I'm very pessimistic. Not really excited. Hopefully the Habs can win one. It will take a monumental effort and perfect execution by all players to get this series to 7. Leafs in 5.

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Hate that third line but hopefully they prove me wrong. I’d much rather see Caufield with Suzuki and move Armia down with Anderson and KK.

 

Would mean sitting Perry and Staal, although Perry could slide in for Byron or Lehks.

 

Meh, what do I know.. Go Habs Go

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1 hour ago, BCHabnut said:

I'm very pessimistic. Not really excited. Hopefully the Habs can win one. It will take a monumental effort and perfect execution by all players to get this series to 7. Leafs in 5.

\

I have the same feeling, but would like to be proven wrong.

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We just need to weather the storm to start the game. If we give up that early goal then we are probably sunk. 
 

Price plays well and we limit D zone turnovers we have a chance. If we can also get a huge performance by a forward then we got this. 
 

Perry - Staal - Anderson is the unknown line. If we can get top shelf play by them then we are in great shape. 
 

Im hoping that the theory that old vets are able to elevate their games for a period of time comes true. 

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Need to bury our chances and not make Campbell look like Roy... inwould love to chase him out of the net game 1

 

As for Price... he needs to be Hart like...

 

As for the rookies...the coach is giving the vets first crack the decisions made... its now there spot to keep. Hopefully they come to play and rise to the occasion 

 

For me...

1) Stay out the box

2) have to establish a high relentless forecheck

3) can BEL line cancel out one of the top 2 lines of TO or overwhelm TO 4th line with there speed?

4)agitate and instigate All Night long

4) finish our chances 

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5 minutes ago, illWill said:

I feel like one of the few excited for this series. Did I mention in the thread title that it is HABS VS LEAFS IN THE PLAYOFFS?! It's almost as if everyone forgets that all bets are off the table when these two face each other. Why the doom and gloom? If you can't get up for this series then what can you get up for? 

 

Reasons to be optimistic (adjective; hopeful and confident about the future.) I added that for some here that don't know what that means:

 

  • Carey Price - First off, he is back from an injury plagued season. When he is on top of his game he is the best in the world and can easily steal a series. Despite inconsistency in seasons past, he has brought it in the playoffs. He is a big game player, plain and simple. Name another goalie you'd want in a winner take all game. 
  • The team is rested and healthy - The Habs played something like 25 games in 44 days to finish off the season. Along the way they got banged up and bruised. Well they are all back now except for Drouin (who could technically come back anytime) and Weber is likely still hurting a bit. Gallagher will be back buzzing around and the record with him in the lineup is night and day compared to when he is out. Danault is also back and will be on Matthews like glue. 
  • Practice - Yes I'm talking practice. Practice? Not the game but practice. Since DD took over he has literally had no time to work full practices. We can complain about his decisions all day, but a coach needs time to practice with his team, especially a new one. 
  • Playoff hockey - It is of my opinion and many others, that the Habs are a team built for the playoffs. What does that even mean illWill? Well it means that the pace of play, the intensity, and the refs call the game differently. We are much more physical than the Leafs. Period. Remember Corey Perry during the playoffs last year? You think Big Josh Anderson isn't going to put someone through the boards? How do you feel about another Weber cross check to the back Auston Matthews? There's no crying in the playoffs. Gallagher would literally deflect a point shot with his teeth if he knew it might go in. Habs have players willing to do what it takes to win.
  • Leafs annual choke - Did you guys happen to watch the Leafs over the last 17 years? It isn't pretty. Year after year their expectations are sky high and yet they crumble to the ground. Fun fact: they didn't even make the playoffs last year. So they add a geriatric Jumbo and a washed up Simmonds and now it is the cup for them? This team cannot face adversity. Is Nylander going to mess up his hair to make a play? Jack Campbell is their starter now, what has he ever done? 

That's all I have for now, might come back and rant a bit later if I think of anything

 

Habs in 6

 

Good post. I've said for a while that the last remaining hope for this bunch is that they prove to be a 2012 LA Kings-type squad: dodgy in the regular season but built for the playoffs. We'll find out soon enough!

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10 minutes ago, Neech said:

If we lose I hope it's 4-0 in the first period like last time.

 

I expect a close game tonight. Both teams are well rested and should play well. I am not sold on the Leafs goaltending. Carey Price is the key.  I know that's kind of a Captain Obvious statement. 

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2 hours ago, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said:

Need to bury our chances and not make Campbell look like Roy... 

Tall Order (the burying part)!

 

As for Price... he needs to be Hart like...

Just no soft ones, is all i will ask for.

 

:gohabsgo:

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I suspect we may see a very Jaques Martin like hermetic defense.  DD style reminds me of Martin. It may have just been because he didn't have time to practice, so we will see. My guess is, lots of people will be annoyed when all 5 are deep in the defensive zone

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2 hours ago, illWill said:

I feel like one of the few excited for this series. Did I mention in the thread title that it is HABS VS LEAFS IN THE PLAYOFFS?! It's almost as if everyone forgets that all bets are off the table when these two face each other. Why the doom and gloom? If you can't get up for this series then what can you get up for? 

 

Reasons to be optimistic (adjective; hopeful and confident about the future.) I added that for some here that don't know what that means:

 

  • Carey Price - First off, he is back from an injury plagued season. When he is on top of his game he is the best in the world and can easily steal a series. Despite inconsistency in seasons past, he has brought it in the playoffs. He is a big game player, plain and simple. Name another goalie you'd want in a winner take all game. 
  • The team is rested and healthy - The Habs played something like 25 games in 44 days to finish off the season. Along the way they got banged up and bruised. Well they are all back now except for Drouin (who could technically come back anytime) and Weber is likely still hurting a bit. Gallagher will be back buzzing around and the record with him in the lineup is night and day compared to when he is out. Danault is also back and will be on Matthews like glue. 
  • Practice - Yes I'm talking practice. Practice? Not the game but practice. Since DD took over he has literally had no time to work full practices. We can complain about his decisions all day, but a coach needs time to practice with his team, especially a new one. 
  • Playoff hockey - It is of my opinion and many others, that the Habs are a team built for the playoffs. What does that even mean illWill? Well it means that the pace of play, the intensity, and the refs call the game differently. We are much more physical than the Leafs. Period. Remember Corey Perry during the playoffs last year? You think Big Josh Anderson isn't going to put someone through the boards? How do you feel about another Weber cross check to the back Auston Matthews? There's no crying in the playoffs. Gallagher would literally deflect a point shot with his teeth if he knew it might go in. Habs have players willing to do what it takes to win.
  • Leafs annual choke - Did you guys happen to watch the Leafs over the last 17 years? It isn't pretty. Year after year their expectations are sky high and yet they crumble to the ground. Fun fact: they didn't even make the playoffs last year. So they add a geriatric Jumbo and a washed up Simmonds and now it is the cup for them? This team cannot face adversity. Is Nylander going to mess up his hair to make a play? Jack Campbell is their starter now, what has he ever done? 

That's all I have for now, might come back and rant a bit later if I think of anything

 

Habs in 6


Now this is the positivity this thread needs 🙌

 

Go Habs Go

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6 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

I suspect we may see a very Jaques Martin like hermetic defense.  DD style reminds me of Martin. It may have just been because he didn't have time to practice, so we will see. My guess is, lots of people will be annoyed when all 5 are deep in the defensive zone


I agree that I expect our plan is to be turtles that try and score off of leaf mistakes. 
 

I wish we would just try and score and win instead of trying to stop them

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3 hours ago, illWill said:

I feel like one of the few excited for this series. Did I mention in the thread title that it is HABS VS LEAFS IN THE PLAYOFFS?! It's almost as if everyone forgets that all bets are off the table when these two face each other. Why the doom and gloom? If you can't get up for this series then what can you get up for? 

 

Reasons to be optimistic (adjective; hopeful and confident about the future.) I added that for some here that don't know what that means:

...

That's all I have for now, might come back and rant a bit later if I think of anything

 

Habs in 6

  • Carey Price - Other than the first 7 games of the unique Tournament last fall (after several months off to prepare physically and mentally) it has been some time since he was on the top of his game ... but hope reigns eternal
     
  • The team is rested and healthy - After the .822 run in the first 10 games, and before the Covid "incident", the Habs were a .500 team ... 
     
  • Practice - I totally agree with this ... DD has not truly had an opportunity to address whatever he sees as the team's issues in depth (thinks in part to MB not firing Julien until the game after the scheduled week off ... this last week was really his first opportunity ... not saying it guarantees anything but at least he had an opportunity
     
  • Playoff hockey - THIS is (IMO) their greatest hope ... if the defence was truly built for playoff hockey then a weakness may be neutralized, or even become a strength
     
  • Leafs annual choke - 17 years is not (IMO) relevant ... but the last four seasons have been fun to watch ... however, as the mutual funds say, "Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results" 
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1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:


I agree that I expect our plan is to be turtles that try and score off of leaf mistakes. 
 

I wish we would just try and score and win instead of trying to stop them

 

We likely won't win a run and gun battle with the Leafs. There is going to have to be some stopping involved. 

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Interesting discussion of the early 1960s Leafs Cup-winners in Ken Dryden's bio of Scotty Bowman. He argues that Punch Imlach assembled a group which lacked elite talent but had a clutch of hungry veterans who played "heavy" and were basically built to slow down the high-flying Habs and overpower them physically. It worked, until that team got *too* old and the Habs beefed up with guys like John Ferguson.

 

Our best hope is that the tables have now flipped - that the Habs are now the team the suffocates and grinds down the more talented Leafs. If we did pull it off, it would be a curious historical irony.

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36 minutes ago, GHT120 said:
  • Carey Price - Other than the first 7 games of the unique Tournament last fall (after several months off to prepare physically and mentally) it has been some time since he was on the top of his game ... but hope reigns eternal
     
  • The team is rested and healthy - After the .822 run in the first 10 games, and before the Covid "incident", the Habs were a .500 team ... 
     
  • Practice - I totally agree with this ... DD has not truly had an opportunity to address whatever he sees as the team's issues in depth (thinks in part to MB not firing Julien until the game after the scheduled week off ... this last week was really his first opportunity ... not saying it guarantees anything but at least he had an opportunity
     
  • Playoff hockey - THIS is (IMO) their greatest hope ... if the defence was truly built for playoff hockey then a weakness may be neutralized, or even become a strength
     
  • Leafs annual choke - 17 years is not (IMO) relevant ... but the last four seasons have been fun to watch ... however, as the mutual funds say, "Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results" 

 

I agree it has been some time since Price has been on top of his game other than the bubble. My opinion is that he is at a point in his career when he needs the pressure of a big game to bring it. Battling all season long is a drain and hard to get up for every single game. Yes I know he is a professional who should be at his best all the time, but I think in between his ears he is wired differently in that regard. Here are his last playoff performances for example 

 

image.png

 

Also, yes the team started on fire and we were already wondering where to stand on St. Catherine St for the parade. We don't just discount that part of the year. Rather than do work I need to do, I looked up their record before the Covid shutdown. They were a very respectful 14-8-9 at that point. During that time the comments were about how great of a record we would have if they even only won half of their overtime losses, because they hadn't won one. And that is correct, turn even 4 of those losses into wins and their record becomes 18-8-5. Looks like a contender to me. They even won 3 out their first 4 games after the Covid shutdown, but then were subject to the brutal remaining schedule and a new coach that didn't have time to work with them and key injuries to the roster. 

 

Habs in 6 

 

 

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Will be great to see Gallagher back playing and that line back together. MY x factor, see if they help right the ship and bury a few.:clap:

 

 

 

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