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Game #34 Habs vs Panthers 1:00 EST Jan 1 2022


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Montembault’s numbers stink, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him. Not that he’s a future #1 or anything, but do my admittedly amateur eye he has not been giving up howlers and has made some big saves here and there. I dunno, I just have a feeling he’s a late bloomer who might be able to eke out a career in the lower regions of the NHL goalie hierarchy if he can avoid being pigeonholed as a “waiver wire” pickup. 

 

1 hour ago, Commandant said:

 

They arent the worst pair.

 

They are playing above their heads.  You cant ask these two to be your #1 and #2 d.

 

They are 4/5s at best... the support guy on a second pair or the top guy on a third pair.

 

Put both of them on the ice against #1 lines (and together) and of course they are exposed.

 

I wonder what the worst pairing the Habs have ever iced is? It probably had Marc-Andre Bergeron on it, LOL. 

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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Montembault’s numbers stink, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him. Not that he’s a future #1 or anything, but do my admittedly amateur eye he has not been giving up howlers and has made some big saves here and there. I dunno, I just have a feeling he’s a late bloomer who might be able to eke out a career in the lower regions of the NHL goalie hierarchy if he can avoid being pigeonholed as a “waiver wire” pickup. 

 

 

I wonder what the worst pairing the Habs have ever iced is? It probably had Marc-Andre Bergeron on it, LOL. 

 

Who was Patrice Breezeby paired with?  

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Not only are there no games until January 12th in Boston but the Habs will not even be on the ice to practice until Thursday (January 6th); expect even that is a subject to the test results over the next few days.

 

 

 

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Kaberle, Traverse, Ninimaa... and whomever they were paired with.

 

 

 

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watched the game on PVR, couldn't bring myself to watch it live.

 

Some positives:

* Drouin continues to produce and play consistently

* Suzuki is continuing to learn/develop his game

* Clague showed he can play lots of minutes, was good

* Ylonen didn't look out of place, Poehling continued to play consistenly

* I really like Vejdemo's speed and defensive game.

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6 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

watched the game on PVR, couldn't bring myself to watch it live.

 

Some positives:

* Drouin continues to produce and play consistently

* Suzuki is continuing to learn/develop his game

* Clague showed he can play lots of minutes, was good

* Ylonen didn't look out of place, Poehling continued to play consistenly

* I really like Vejdemo's speed and defensive game.

Nice:thumbs_up:

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10 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

watched the game on PVR, couldn't bring myself to watch it live.

 

Some positives:

* Drouin continues to produce and play consistently

* Suzuki is continuing to learn/develop his game

* Clague showed he can play lots of minutes, was good

* Ylonen didn't look out of place, Poehling continued to play consistenly

* I really like Vejdemo's speed and defensive game.

 

Good post. 

 

On a more sour note, I was thinking about Caufield the other day. When he came up last season, he looked shifty, creative, dynamic, even explosive. He seemed to be one of those rare players who is offensively fearless and endlessly imaginative. He reminded me of Martin St Louis in fact. Despite my skepticism about expecting much from rookies, I found myself thinking that he just might be a “special player.”

 

So WTF happened? None of those qualities have been in evidence at all this season. He looks pretty much like any other rookie, not particularly dangerous or creative. You’d barely know the difference between him and Sven Andrigetto. What gives? Any thoughts - ? 

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36 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Good post. 

 

On a more sour note, I was thinking about Caufield the other day. When he came up last season, he looked shifty, creative, dynamic, even explosive. He seemed to be one of those rare players who is offensively fearless and endlessly imaginative. He reminded me of Martin St Louis in fact. Despite my skepticism about expecting much from rookies, I found myself thinking that he just might be a “special player.”

 

So WTF happened? None of those qualities have been in evidence at all this season. He looks pretty much like any other rookie, not particularly dangerous or creative. You’d barely know the difference between him and Sven Andrigetto. What gives? Any thoughts - ? 

Like Drouin, Caufield is not a go to guy

 

he needs players around him to make space for him so that he can play with confidence 

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3 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Like Drouin, Caufield is not a go to guy

 

he needs players around him to make space for him so that he can play with confidence 

 

I agree that may be a big part of it ... I also wonder whether, after last season and the playoffs, he didn't enter the season a bit overconfident ... then the extended lack of success eliminated not only the overconfidence but his confidence in general ... he needs a reset ... once enough NHLers return to the roster, I would send Poehling and Caufield, with Ylonen or RHP, to Laval and let them hopefully dominate the AHL for the rest of the season.

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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Good post. 

 

On a more sour note, I was thinking about Caufield the other day. When he came up last season, he looked shifty, creative, dynamic, even explosive. He seemed to be one of those rare players who is offensively fearless and endlessly imaginative. He reminded me of Martin St Louis in fact. Despite my skepticism about expecting much from rookies, I found myself thinking that he just might be a “special player.”

 

So WTF happened? None of those qualities have been in evidence at all this season. He looks pretty much like any other rookie, not particularly dangerous or creative. You’d barely know the difference between him and Sven Andrigetto. What gives? Any thoughts - ? 

 

It's hard to play a system when you first join the team, especially coming from college.  He played more freely last year than he is now.  Now, he knows the system and it's one that doesn't allow for a lot of offensive creativity.  Add that to him being in a situation he's never faced before (this long of a drought), teams loading up to cover him, plus a lack of quality linemates and it's a recipe for disaster.

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4 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

It's hard to play a system when you first join the team, especially coming from college.  He played more freely last year than he is now.  Now, he knows the system and it's one that doesn't allow for a lot of offensive creativity.  Add that to him being in a situation he's never faced before (this long of a drought), teams loading up to cover him, plus a lack of quality linemates and it's a recipe for disaster.

You mean that he is not the second coming or the rocket like others were saying ?

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On 1/1/2022 at 6:35 PM, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Montembault’s numbers stink, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him. Not that he’s a future #1 or anything, but do my admittedly amateur eye he has not been giving up howlers and has made some big saves here and there. I dunno, I just have a feeling he’s a late bloomer who might be able to eke out a career in the lower regions of the NHL goalie hierarchy if he can avoid being pigeonholed as a “waiver wire” pickup. 

 

 

I wonder what the worst pairing the Habs have ever iced is? It probably had Marc-Andre Bergeron on it, LOL. 

 

Probably something with Christian Laflamme

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9 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Like Drouin, Caufield is not a go to guy

 

he needs players around him to make space for him so that he can play with confidence 

He’s 20 years old. He has time to develop.

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26 minutes ago, PMAC said:

He’s 20 years old. He has time to develop.

yes, I agree; but like others picked in the middle of the first round he is not a dominant NHL player.

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1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

yes, I agree; but like others picked in the middle of the first round he is not a dominant NHL player.

My point was that we don’t know that yet.Martin St Louis wasn’t lighting up the NHL at 20

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5 hours ago, PMAC said:

My point was that we don’t know that yet.Martin St Louis wasn’t lighting up the NHL at 20

Let’s hope he turns out to be like Marty

 

my point is that we should stop putting him higher up the RW poll than Gallagher, Anderson, Toffoli at this point in his career

 

he needs time to develop 

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What bothers me is that the guy who first came up seemed touched by something - gifted with a special offensive dynamism and creativity.

 

The guy we’ve seen since training camp is just another rookie, nothing special at all.

 

Some folks in this discussion are already downgrading him to, like, a 2nd-line guy who will maybe get 25 goals some day, acting like that was the reasonable expectation all along, and also acting satisfied with that (because, you know, the ONLY stars in the NHL are the guys drafted first overall, which is a proposition so obviously false it scarcely warrants rebuttal). But that was NOT the expectation. He was billed as a future star of at least the “Mike Cammalleri” ilk. Timmins was shocked at his good luck in being able to draft him where he did; he expected him to go higher. 

 

CC was one of the only Habs rookies about whom I believed the hype, based on what I saw in the playoffs. Yet now he looks like Sven Andrigetto and now we’re being told that’s OK. 

 

They made the right decision to send him down early this season and that’s where he should have stayed. I fear we are in the process of f**king up his development, just as we did throughout the MB era and through the Gainey rebuild 1.0. (The only time we seemed to be getting development right was a brief window around the time Goat was GM, when Subban and Patches became stars). 

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5 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Let’s hope he turns out to be like Marty

 

my point is that we should stop putting him higher up the RW poll than Gallagher, Anderson, Toffoli at this point in his career

 

he needs time to develop 

Yes. Laval would be best for him Imho. But, as long as they are going to play him he has to be no lower than the third line and when all the players you mention are out, I think that makes him our first line right wing. 

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5 hours ago, PMAC said:

... when all the players you mention are out, I think that makes him our first line right wing. 

With respect to potential/talent I agree ... but not certain that going against top lines and d-pairings is best for his development at the moment ... the concept of "position to succeed" includes not only who someone plays with but where the get slotted in terms of opposition they will primarily face. 

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On 1/3/2022 at 11:25 AM, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

What bothers me is that the guy who first came up seemed touched by something - gifted with a special offensive dynamism and creativity.

 

The guy we’ve seen since training camp is just another rookie, nothing special at all.

 

Some folks in this discussion are already downgrading him to, like, a 2nd-line guy who will maybe get 25 goals some day, acting like that was the reasonable expectation all along, and also acting satisfied with that (because, you know, the ONLY stars in the NHL are the guys drafted first overall, which is a proposition so obviously false it scarcely warrants rebuttal). But that was NOT the expectation. He was billed as a future star of at least the “Mike Cammalleri” ilk. Timmins was shocked at his good luck in being able to draft him where he did; he expected him to go higher. 

 

CC was one of the only Habs rookies about whom I believed the hype, based on what I saw in the playoffs. Yet now he looks like Sven Andrigetto and now we’re being told that’s OK. 

 

They made the right decision to send him down early this season and that’s where he should have stayed. I fear we are in the process of f**king up his development, just as we did throughout the MB era and through the Gainey rebuild 1.0. (The only time we seemed to be getting development right was a brief window around the time Goat was GM, when Subban and Patches became stars). 


For what my opinion is worth, Caufield will always be a player who I can use in the same breath as Phill Kessel and Auston Matthews when it comes to goal scoring ability. If not only because of his performance with the US junior development program and the records he broke there. 
 

While Kessel has taken his share of criticism over his career, both he and Matthews have shown the ability to perform on the 1st line in the NHL.

 

Regardless of which side one chooses to place their stance, Caufield belongs in the conversation with them.

 

I am personally one who favours proven veterans over the potential of a draft pick but I still believe that Caufield will be a premium goal scorer/(hopefully) point getter in this league. 
 

At this point in his career, one can believe the hype surrounding his name, or one can question whether or not there was a valid reason for him to drop on draft day, as well

as whether or not the current season is an indication of how he will develop as an overall player. 
 

I personally still promote the hype surrounding him and have not changed my mind about his future promise simply because of this season. 
 

It’s pretty baseless of me to make any statistical predictions, but if anyone will score more than 30-35 goals in the future, it would be him or Hoffman. He’ll be a first line player. My belief in him is strong. 

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Well, right now Caufield belongs nowhere near the convo with Kessel, let alone Matthews (!). He has done nothing (1 goal and 7 points in 27 games) whereas Kessel is a Cup champ and elite scorer - I never bought the argument that he was a bum, even when it was fashionable - and Matthews is an out-and-out superstar who scored 40 as a 20-year-old rookie. CC is older than he was and vaaaaastly inferior. That said, I appreciate your faith in the kid and hope that he does evolve into at least a Mike Cammalleri type.

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