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Dec. 30, Canadiens vs Kotkaniemis, 7 PM


dlbalr

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I am disheartened by this team this season. I get no joy from watching Belzile, Schueneman and Baddock on the ice at the same time on a regular season game.

 

Tanking sucks.

 

====

but it has been two games in a row where I have liked Vejdemo's speed, Romanov's poise, Poehling control the puck in close quarters and Ylonen's 200 feet game.

 

🐭 go habs go ?! 🐭

 

 

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12 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I am disheartened by this team this season. I get no joy from watching Belzile, Schueneman and Baddock on the ice at the same time on a regular season game.

 

Tanking sucks.

 

====

but it has been two games in a row where I have liked Vejdemo's speed, Romanov's poise, Poehling control the puck in close quarters and Ylonen's 200 feet game.

 

🐭 go habs go ?! 🐭

 

 

 

It does suck. Big time!  It's one of those seasons where you take little positives where you can find them and hope it will be worth it in the end. 

 

I think this is better than being a bubble team, being close enough to a playoff spot to keep trying and then still missing the playoffs while getting a middling pick and missing the opportunity to add more picks.  I like to think this will be short term pain for long term gain but that is no guarantee. 

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2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

It does suck. Big time!  It's one of those seasons where you take little positives where you can find them and hope it will be worth it in the end. 

 

I think this is better than being a bubble team, being close enough to a playoff spot to keep trying and then still missing the playoffs while getting a middling pick and missing the opportunity to add more picks.  I like to think this will be short term pain for long term gain but that is no guarantee. 

 

2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I am disheartened by this team this season. I get no joy from watching Belzile, Schueneman and Baddock on the ice at the same time on a regular season game.

 

Tanking sucks.

 

====

but it has been two games in a row where I have liked Vejdemo's speed, Romanov's poise, Poehling control the puck in close quarters and Ylonen's 200 feet game.

 

🐭 go habs go ?! 🐭

 

 

 

Even with tanking this isnt the planned lineup.  Covid and injuries have hit extra hard

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I disagree with this post from Engels, it was not hard-fought. Habs didn't show any "fight".

 

The AHLers played hard but the team stopped short of fighting for a goal, for net presence or for puck possession. Poke-checks, dump-ins and chips-off-the-glass is what I saw...

 

 

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11 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

but it has been two games in a row where I have liked Vejdemo's speed, Romanov's poise, Poehling control the puck in close quarters and Ylonen's 200 feet game.

 

🐭 go habs go ?! 🐭

This isn't intentional, or at least not the intended way of getting a top pick. But, I, too, have seen many things to like in this team of youngsters and AHL jouyrneymen. Special teams were crap, but it's really not surprising considering that they have likely had no or minimal time to practise together. But the effort is there, and were it not for Raanta's performance, the score should have been closer last night.

 

49 games (maybe!) left. I do believe we'll start the upswing (albeit slowly) next year.

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4 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I disagree with this post from Engels, it was not hard-fought. Habs didn't show any "fight".

 

The AHLers played hard but the team stopped short of fighting for a goal, for net presence or for puck possession. Poke-checks, dump-ins and chips-off-the-glass is what I saw...

I saw action in front of the net: Caufield, Paquette, Ylonen and others. The heat map shows there were shots from there, too. But 16 even-strength shots not enough.

 

And Suzuki really needs a rest, I think, he looks like he's lost some speed and he was 22% for the faceoffs. That one week off can't come too soon for him, he's surely not used to playing these kinds of minutes.

 

image.pngh

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12 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

This isn't intentional, or at least not the intended way of getting a top pick. But, I, too, have seen many things to like in this team of youngsters and AHL jouyrneymen. Special teams were crap, but it's really not surprising considering that they have likely had no or minimal time to practise together. But the effort is there, and were it not for Raanta's performance, the score should have been closer last night.

 

49 games (maybe!) left. I do believe we'll start the upswing (albeit slowly) next year.

:flaming::flaming::flaming:

Belzile showed that he has no NHL talent, Kulak showed he cannot handle pressure situations on his own zone, Niku impersonated Mike-Reilly-1.0, Montembault was goaltending like swatting flies, Paquette showed again he is as close to retirement as Eric Stall was on his last season with the Habs, Savard continues to play like Gustafsson

:flaming::flaming::flaming:

 

I disagree that it isn't intentional. It is clear JG is going to let this situation fester for as long as he can. It plays into his reconstruction plan.

 

The right thing to do would be to inform the NHL that they will not ice a team until they have NHL talent back. Eat the fine (if any) and give the core players still left on the team the respite they deserve

 

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4 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

:flaming::flaming::flaming:

Belzile showed that he has no NHL talent, Kulak showed he cannot handle pressure situations on his own zone, Niku impersonated Mike-Reilly-1.0, Montembault was goaltending like swatting flies, Paquette showed again he is as close to retirement as Eric Stall was on his last season with the Habs, Savard continues to play like Gustafsson

:flaming::flaming::flaming:

 

I disagree that it isn't intentional. It is clear JG is going to let this situation fester for as long as he can. It plays into his reconstruction plan.

 

The right thing to do would be to inform the NHL that they will not ice a team until they have NHL talent back. Eat the fine (if any) and give the core players still left on the team the respite they deserve

Niku (playing mostly with Schueneman) did not concede a high-danger 5-on-5 scoring chance all game (and had one on Raanta). Yes, deployed with caution but in 11 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time against a top NHL team, that's not so bad.

 

Montembeault made some strong saves on elite forwards; at least two of the PP goals he gave up would have been miracle saves by anyone. I felt it was his best game this year.

 

They can't cancel games (at least at this point in time) and they already have a backlog of postponed games. At this rate they would end up playing the same kind of crazy compressed schedule they had last spring. Is that really better?

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26 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

I disagree that it isn't intentional. It is clear JG is going to let this situation fester for as long as he can. It plays into his reconstruction plan.

 

 

What do you expect JG to do right now. Seriously.  Give up picks and prospects for some players to make us marginally better?  No team is making trades right now. 

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50 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

I saw action in front of the net: Caufield, Paquette, Ylonen and others. The heat map shows there were shots from there, too. But 16 even-strength shots not enough.

 

Carolina is the stingiest team in the league in terms of shots allowed per game so the fact that a team with basically half a minor league squad could only muster up 16 at even strength sounds about right given the circumstances.

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18 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

What do you expect JG to do right now. Seriously.  Give up picks and prospects for some players to make us marginally better?  No team is making trades right now. 

 

1. isolate the team due to COVID-19-22 and do not continue playing: team is not even compliant for pre-season exhibition games (not enough NHL veterans, 1st rounders, etc)

2. send the prospects to Laval and keep them there

3. fill the NHL roster with the Smith-Pelley's of the world if you are going to tank

 

 

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21 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

Carolina is the stingiest team in the league in terms of shots allowed per game so the fact that a team with basically half a minor league squad could only muster up 16 at even strength sounds about right given the circumstances.

'I started my post this morning by saying that I disagreed with Engels view that the team played a hard-fought game. They didn't.

 

the circumstances were like you write, Habs were outmatched and out played

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5 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

1. isolate the team due to COVID-19-22 and do not continue playing: team is not even compliant for pre-season exhibition games (not enough NHL veterans, 1st rounders, etc) ...

I appreciate the frustration (and likely hyperbole) ... but refusing to play would probably cost them AT LEAST their 2021 first round pick ... likely even more ... not an option

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1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

Niku (playing mostly with Schueneman) did not concede a high-danger 5-on-5 scoring chance all game (and had one on Raanta). Yes, deployed with caution but in 11 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time against a top NHL team, that's not so bad.

 

Montembeault made some strong saves on elite forwards; at least two of the PP goals he gave up would have been miracle saves by anyone. I felt it was his best game this year.

 

They can't cancel games (at least at this point in time) and they already have a backlog of postponed games. At this rate they would end up playing the same kind of crazy compressed schedule they had last spring. Is that really better?

Niku, like Rielly in his first season with the Habs, skates and brings the puck to the offensive zone; then gets pinned against the boards or looses the puck at the blue line. He has not found the balance he needs to earn a regular spot. He is as frustrating s Rielly was. From what I have read, Rielly improved in Ottawa and is playing fine in Boston

 

Momtembeault looks like he is playing well, but his positioning gets off from being too aggressive. He has good athleticism and seems to have good reflexes, but swats at the puck when he has taken himself out of position and doesn't touch those pucks that make if to the net.

 

At least two goals each game are scored like that. He works hard and has a "good game" but doesn't stop the puck enough times to win.

 

And sure they can cancel games. We are in a pandemic and players are infected. It is a health risk: force majeure

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17 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

I appreciate the frustration (and likely hyperbole) ... but refusing to play would probably cost them AT LEAST their 2021 first round pick ... likely even more ... not an option

N.W.A said it best:

<< F*xx#@! the police NHL>> YouTube link taken out

 

Edited by alfredoh2009
taking down the link, just to keep the thread clean of swearing. But that is how I feel about the NHL right now
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19 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

1. isolate the team due to COVID-19-22 and do not continue playing: team is not even compliant for pre-season exhibition games (not enough NHL veterans, 1st rounders, etc)

2. send the prospects to Laval and keep them there

3. fill the NHL roster with the Smith-Pelley's of the world if you are going to tank

 

 

 

If you are this frustrated right now then I suggest taking a little break from watching Habs games and perhaps this board for a while because it's likely not going to get much better in the short term. 

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6 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

If you are this frustrated right now then I suggest taking a little break from watching Habs games and perhaps this board for a while because it's likely not going to get much better in the short term. 

 

yeah... I know. 🍹 cheers 🍹

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23 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

1. isolate the team due to COVID-19-22 and do not continue playing: team is not even compliant for pre-season exhibition games (not enough NHL veterans, 1st rounders, etc)

2. send the prospects to Laval and keep them there

3. fill the NHL roster with the Smith-Pelley's of the world if you are going to tank

 

1) The league decides whether or not to postpone the games and it's likely due to the home games being postponed already that they're going through with playing this road trip.  They already have I think eight games to make up (and that number may yet grow with the attendance situation) which is going to be hard enough to do.  The team doesn't have a lot of say in the matter.

 

2) Most of the prospects will go back to Laval over the next couple of weeks, others will go down when some of the injured players return.  They don't have enough healthy bodies to send them all down for a while though.

 

3) They're at 47 contracts out of 50 and may want to sign a college free agent or two in the coming months.  That doesn't really give them the contract space to fill the NHL roster with those types of players.  They can take some back when they start trading veterans (ie, Chiarot for a pick and a roster filler) but not yet.

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This is what Tank Nation has been pining for all those years: a team that is unwatchable bad and filled with non-NHLers night after night. 

 

No one who has claimed to yearn for a “tank job” should now be complaining that the team is boring, useless, and insipid. You’ve got what you wanted. Huzzah.

 

Note that a TRUE tank job would involve perhaps three more years of this. Hopefully going through this wretched season will put a damper on the flippant, flatulent tendency to call for tanking going forward.

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23 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

This is what Tank Nation has been pining for all those years: a team that is unwatchable bad and filled with non-NHLers night after night. 

 

No one who has claimed to yearn for a “tank job” should now be complaining that the team is boring, useless, and insipid. You’ve got what you wanted. Huzzah.

 

Note that a TRUE tank job would involve perhaps three more years of this. Hopefully going through this wretched season will put a damper on the flippant, flatulent tendency to call for tanking going forward.

 

I think the hand we were dealt with this year (no Price, Weber, Danault, injuries etc.) really exposed the Habs and has left management with no other option other than going through a rebuild.  I think this will turn out to be the best option long term as I have no interest in the Habs being just an average team going forward, not good enough to really contend but not bad enough to consider a rebuild. 

 

I don't think it will take 3 years or more but of course that will depend on how well they draft and develop. I can handle the short term pain. I am not complaining. 

 

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2 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Niku (playing mostly with Schueneman) did not concede a high-danger 5-on-5 scoring chance all game (and had one on Raanta). Yes, deployed with caution but in 11 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time against a top NHL team, that's not so bad.

 

Montembeault made some strong saves on elite forwards; at least two of the PP goals he gave up would have been miracle saves by anyone. I felt it was his best game this year.

 

They can't cancel games (at least at this point in time) and they already have a backlog of postponed games. At this rate they would end up playing the same kind of crazy compressed schedule they had last spring. Is that really better?

 

I agree with Tom

 

There are no moves for JG to make, the roster freeze is in effect, and even without the roster feed, teams aren't making trades, covid and the cap mean that moves will be made a lot closer to the deadline. 

 

As for the team fighting... they worked hard... they just have no talent. 

 

As for cancelling games, the league has shown they will cancel games as necessary, you can't refuse to play.

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32 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I think the hand we were dealt with this year (no Price, Weber, Danault, injuries etc.) really exposed the Habs and has left management with no other option other than going through a rebuild.  I think this will turn out to be the best option long term as I have no interest in the Habs being just an average team going forward, not good enough to really contend but not bad enough to consider a rebuild. 

 

I don't think it will take 3 years or more but of course that will depend on how well they draft and develop. I can handle the short term pain. I am not complaining. 

 

 

Oh, I agree. This season was hopelessly lost after about 15 games - and maybe before then. A tank is the only option under those circumstances.

 

My wider point, though, is that there is a certain subset of fans that has been crying for a tank job for years, and as a deliberate team-building strategy, not as the consequences of a complete collapse like this year. How often have we heard that we should never be a bubble team; rather we should "blow it all up" and tank hard?

 

THIS is what those fans wanted. Except that a lot of them are now whining about how horrible it is to watch these bums.

 

And they want it over multiple seasons - they just deny this. One of the delusions of the "deliberate tanking" crowd is that one terrible year will do it. You get a high pick and presto! Instant Cup contention. Wrong. (You'd think the Galy/KK disasters would have taught them this, but no). In fact, it usually takes multiple seasons of bottom-feeding suckage - and some teams never come out of it, c.f. Buffalo, or Edmonton for the past 15 years. 

 

In a year of complete collapse, of course the only hope is a high draft pick. Other than that, the Habs should strive to ice the best team they can every year, while drafting and developing at an elite level. I have no interest in watching us become the Buffalo Sabres, thanks.

 

 

 

 

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