GDT Game #27 - Kings at Montreal 7pm EST Sat Dec 10

[DON]

Bit shaky start.

 

That was almost comical.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Not a great period and the PP was not great either. 
 

Hopefully we tie it up

[TurdBurglar]

Why is Slaf being used on the PP on his natural side?  Either they believe in his shot, so put him on his off wing and let him let it fly or they don't believe in his shot, so at least use his size and get him in front of the net.  I've seen nothing in scouting reports praising his vision and passing ability over his other attributes to warrant him in a passing position.  Tied to that, he needs to be encouraged to drive the net more without the puck.

 

 

[dlbalr]

Well, that wasn't a particularly fun opening 20 minutes.

[DON]

Lucky to just be down 2.

How much rubber will Allen see in this one?

[DON]

Just gotta love Hoffman's defensive effort.

[TurdBurglar]

This PP is looking better.  I'm glad Salf is at least on his one-timer side and shooting it.  It does seem like Slaf is taking alot off of his shot to make sure it's on net, which I appreciate, but he needs to more opportunities to be a real threat from that spot, which I believe he can be.

[Sir_Boagalott]

I fully agree with @TurdBurglar regarding Slaf's usage on the PP.  If he's out there he should be on his off wing so he can do 1 timers.  It would probably help Slaf if he was a bit closer to the net.  

 

That was a fairly weak penalty on Kovacevic.  If the refs call a penalty on that they should have taken the King too because he was clearly holding Kova's stick.  

 

Hmm, Suzuki probably shouldnt do dump and chase to Coles wing.  If he does that a lot it likely wont work out well because its only a matter of time before Cole ends up getting crunched in the corner chasing after the puck.  

[DON]

Oh well, a bit of excitement at the end at least.

Hope Wideman not needed for the next game.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

At least it wasn't a bad night for draft positioning as Florida also lost. 

 

[Sir_Boagalott]

8 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I’m looking forward to Slafkovsky with Dach

 

I was hoping they would have chemistry and do something tonight.  Oh well, but 1 game isn't enough of a sample size.  

 

I can't help but feel like the Habs might have gotten at least a point if Monty had played.  2 if not 3 of the goals Allen allowed were fairly weak.  

[GHT120]

21 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

At least it wasn't a bad night for draft positioning as Florida also lost. 

 

Habs currently have a draft lottery shot at #2 and potentially #6 (Florida in a two-way tie for 16/17th place ... maybe 15th as Caps are also tied in points with one more game played) ... but LOTS of hockey yet to play.

[Neech]

15 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I don’t understand the Habs reluctance to let him play. It would be an excellent barometer to test Slafkovsky against his peers instead of against NHL players. 
 

Would Slafkovsky dominate against 18 year olds? 

 

I think Slaf is such a raw prospect that we can't expect too much out of him this year and the next, so we might as well give him as much experience as possible. That would mean sending him to the juniors and giving him an extended AHL stint.

 

Maybe the coaching staff thinks this is a key teaching period for him and don't want him out of their control. I just think we have to look at him in the longterm, and that there are more benefits than downsides to letting him join the national team for a few weeks.

[Sir_Boagalott]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:08 PM, dlbalr said:

 

Suzuki leads the league with a 26.9 shooting percentage.  (His previous career high is 13.6%.)  That's not going to hold and with his pass-first tendency, I'd be surprised if he makes it to 40.  Mid-30's is where I think he'll land.

 

S% is really irrelevant in this sense though.  It's axiomatic that his current S% will go down and that S% is basically irrelevant because there is no such thing as a magic S% required to get 40 or 50 goals/yr.  ex:  a player with a S% of 10 if they average 4 shots/game in 80 gms will get 32 goals.  Furthermore, if they avg 5 shots/gm = 40g/yr and 6 shots = 48g/yr, 7 shots = 56.  Alternatively, a S% of 15 averaging 4 shots/gm  = 48 g/yr.  In addition, 3 shots/gm at 20% = 48.

 

His S% is currently high for the exact reason people have said but the polar opposite reason is true. i.e. Suzuki passes more than shoots, Caufield is the *pure goal scorer*.   The defenders know Suzuki passes to Cole so they're watching Cole and Nick is the beneficiary and gets better opportunities to snipe.  It isn't surprising that his S% is higher playing with Cole than his usual avg.  

 

Nicks S% will be over 15 but under 20 and he'll avg more than 3 shots/gm.  I think he can hit 18% and if he avgs 3.5 shots/gm = 50.4 g.  

[Commandant]

28 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

 

S% is really irrelevant in this sense though.  It's axiomatic that his current S% will go down and that S% is basically irrelevant because there is no such thing as a magic S% required to get 40 or 50 goals/yr.  ex:  a player with a S% of 10 if they average 4 shots/game in 80 gms will get 32 goals.  Furthermore, if they avg 5 shots/gm = 40g/yr and 6 shots = 48g/yr, 7 shots = 56.  Alternatively, a S% of 15 averaging 4 shots/gm  = 48 g/yr.  In addition, 3 shots/gm at 20% = 48.

 

His S% is currently high for the exact reason people have said but the polar opposite reason is true. i.e. Suzuki passes more than shoots, Caufield is the *pure goal scorer*.   The defenders know Suzuki passes to Cole so they're watching Cole and Nick is the beneficiary and gets better opportunities to snipe.  It isn't surprising that his S% is higher playing with Cole than his usual avg.  

 

Nicks S% will be over 15 but under 20 and he'll avg more than 3 shots/gm.  I think he can hit 18% and if he avgs 3.5 shots/gm = 50.4 g.  

 

Thats not how this works.  His shots per game is highly unlikely to increase that dramatically in season.  

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

2 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Habs currently have a draft lottery shot at #2 and potentially #6 (Florida in a two-way tie for 16/17th place ... maybe 15th as Caps are also tied in points with one more game played) ... but LOTS of hockey yet to play.

 

Definitely a lot of hockey left to play but 1/3 of a season is a pretty good sample size. I don't expect the Habs to make the playoffs and I think Florida is about 50/50 to get there. 

[alfredoh2009]

2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Definitely a lot of hockey left to play but 1/3 of a season is a pretty good sample size. I don't expect the Habs to make the playoffs and I think Florida is about 50/50 to get there. 

6 months and 17 days to go to draft

 

good results, boring Habs game

 

Monahan is missed the team better. Savard shot blocking is missed

 

Go, Habs Go!!!

[Prime Minister Koivu]

The only good thing was Caufield scoring that ridiculous goal. 
 

Habs always have trouble with trap teams. We try and rush the puck and run into a wall at blue line. Someone needs to show them how to dump and chase with speed. 
 

Suzuki line needs Dach but without Monahan the team needs a centre. 

[DON]

2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Suzuki line needs Dach but without Monahan the team needs a centre. 

Suzuki

Dvorak

Evans

call up Richard (dlbalr mentioned his name, not that i know his game at all)

 

Should suffice till Monahan is back, no?

And wont the Suzuki-Caufield duo likely do fine with almost any winger? Was 1/2 a game with Anderson even much of a test?

[alfredoh2009]

1 hour ago, DON said:

Suzuki

Dvorak

Evans

call up Richard (dlbalr mentioned his name, not that i know his game at all)

 

Should suffice till Monahan is back, no?

And wont the Suzuki-Caufield duo likely do fine with almost any winger? Was 1/2 a game with Anderson even much of a test?

 

I would bring up Belzile over Richard. If I am not mistaken, Richard has played mostly on the wing and I am not sure he can play effectively on an NHL 4th line.

 

Suzuki

Dvorak

Evans

Belzile

 

 

[dlbalr]

Belzile isn't a centre either.  He's being played there in Laval out of sheer necessity but he's not particularly good in that role.  He also isn't playing very well compared to Richard who happens to lead the league in goals. 

 

Considering how little the fourth line plays, do they really have to have a natural centre on there?  Unless it's off a faceoff, they can get away without one.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

5 hours ago, DON said:

Suzuki

Dvorak

Evans

call up Richard (dlbalr mentioned his name, not that i know his game at all)

 

Should suffice till Monahan is back, no?

And wont the Suzuki-Caufield duo likely do fine with almost any winger? Was 1/2 a game with Anderson even much of a test?

Its not just the centre issue. Monahan was missed on the PP too. 
 

Perhaps the issue with Dach is that he is better as a winger than a centre? I thought that the Suzuki line was better with Dach than Anderson but you are right to say it was a small test at half a game. 
 

Dadonov - Dvorak - Armia isn’t exactly an offensive powerhouse line either. 

[DON]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

...Monahan was missed on the PP too...

I probably wouldnt brag about being a member of the 2nd worst PP.

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

19 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

6 months and 17 days to go to draft

 

 

 

And Florida loses again tonight to Seattle. Awesome!!

[alfredoh2009]

20 hours ago, dlbalr said:

Belzile isn't a centre either.  He's being played there in Laval out of sheer necessity but he's not particularly good in that role.  He also isn't playing very well compared to Richard who happens to lead the league in goals. 

 

Considering how little the fourth line plays, do they really have to have a natural centre on there?  Unless it's off a faceoff, they can get away without one.

 

gosh, holy guacamole, snap, crackle and pop! These are the times when I miss the dumpster dive trades MB used to pull to get a bottom 4C to fill-in for a while...

 

Hugh-Gort doesn't trade the same way.