GDT Game 67 Habs at Calgary 7pm Sat March 16

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

9 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

It was a painful night. First ever game live for my son. Stupid flames had an 80’s theme night where they had old players and kept showing highlights during the intermission of their one and only 89’ cup win.

 

anyways, it was close until the second period, than the flames pulled ahead, habs battled back and than idiotic refereeing put it way.

 

some thoughts at seeing most of the young players live for the first time and being able to just follow them:

-top line is going to be something special, but they have to stop trying to setup the perfect pass all the time and shoot more.

-Slafkovsky is a big dude and I’m hoping he can be a Leclair type force - but I think he can also become a much more skilled player that generates more offence on his own than Leclair did.

-Caufield’s shot is still off. I know he scored of a deaflybshot tonight. But his One timer isn’t there. Too many times tonight, he just didn’t have enough zip on his shot. Hopefully he is fully recovered by next training camp.

-Harris just isn’t physical enough and doesn’t bring the offence you’d want from a non-physical dman. May be a bad night, but was really disappointed in him and how easily he was pushed around.

-Suzuki can really slow down the game. There were times the Habs were running around like chickens with their heads off, and Suzuki got the puck ragged it around until everyone settled down. He will score 80+ points next year.

-as with the top line, this team needs to shoot more - way too many cute passes and too many cross ice pass attempts - particularly too Caufield. Can’t keep doing that when you have to make those passes through traffic.

-Evans effort level surprised me. He is an also a very good stick handler. He’s also being wasted between the two Bergevin two worst remaining long term deals. Anderson and Gallagher are useless. Garbage play by both. Anderson hit a post, but otherwise was useless. Can we just buy them out this year??? I know it’s going to cost a lot, but may as well get them out of the lineup and reduce their cap hit two years from now, when we hope to be competitive. 
-Roy is a smart player. Hoped to se more offensively. But you could see the high hockey IQ Jennie was on the ice - with and  without the puck.

-we need someone from the young D to step up. Wasn’t really impressed by anyone tonight. Was hoping to see more and better from Guhle, wifi and Struble, and like I said earlier, was surprised how disappointed I was in Harris.. And the young D also need to start shooting more. Savard was shooting, but the young guys during the first half were just not getting the puck on the net hen there was traffic in front. I wish this game was a few w escalate and maybe I could have seen Hutson live.

-Premieau flops around and is out of position. A LOT!! He.needs to work on his positioning and not take himself out of the play as much. 

 

anyways, this was really the only game I wanted them to win for the rest of the years hopefully they lose the rest, but the young guys get a ton of points.
 

 

Very cool review. There really is no substitute for seeing players live - although the danger, as you note, is drawing sweeping conclusions from one game. 

 

I’ll be seeing them in Van later this week, and will keep your reflections in mind.

[alfredoh2009]

12 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

It was a painful night. First ever game live for my son. Stupid flames had an 80’s theme night where they had old players and kept showing highlights during the intermission of their one and only 89’ cup win.

 

anyways, it was close until the second period, than the flames pulled ahead, habs battled back and than idiotic refereeing put it way.

 

some thoughts at seeing most of the young players live for the first time and being able to just follow them:

-top line is going to be something special, but they have to stop trying to setup the perfect pass all the time and shoot more.

-Slafkovsky is a big dude and I’m hoping he can be a Leclair type force - but I think he can also become a much more skilled player that generates more offence on his own than Leclair did.

-Caufield’s shot is still off. I know he scored of a deaflybshot tonight. But his One timer isn’t there. Too many times tonight, he just didn’t have enough zip on his shot. Hopefully he is fully recovered by next training camp.

-Harris just isn’t physical enough and doesn’t bring the offence you’d want from a non-physical dman. May be a bad night, but was really disappointed in him and how easily he was pushed around.

-Suzuki can really slow down the game. There were times the Habs were running around like chickens with their heads off, and Suzuki got the puck ragged it around until everyone settled down. He will score 80+ points next year.

-as with the top line, this team needs to shoot more - way too many cute passes and too many cross ice pass attempts - particularly too Caufield. Can’t keep doing that when you have to make those passes through traffic.

-Evans effort level surprised me. He is an also a very good stick handler. He’s also being wasted between the two Bergevin two worst remaining long term deals. Anderson and Gallagher are useless. Garbage play by both. Anderson hit a post, but otherwise was useless. Can we just buy them out this year??? I know it’s going to cost a lot, but may as well get them out of the lineup and reduce their cap hit two years from now, when we hope to be competitive. 
-Roy is a smart player. Hoped to se more offensively. But you could see the high hockey IQ Jennie was on the ice - with and  without the puck.

-we need someone from the young D to step up. Wasn’t really impressed by anyone tonight. Was hoping to see more and better from Guhle, wifi and Struble, and like I said earlier, was surprised how disappointed I was in Harris.. And the young D also need to start shooting more. Savard was shooting, but the young guys during the first half were just not getting the puck on the net hen there was traffic in front. I wish this game was a few w escalate and maybe I could have seen Hutson live.

-Premieau flops around and is out of position. A LOT!! He.needs to work on his positioning and not take himself out of the play as much. 

 

anyways, this was really the only game I wanted them to win for the rest of the years hopefully they lose the rest, but the young guys get a ton of points.
 

 

thank you for sharing your thoughts, I recorded this game and was going to watch it at some point today, I can skip the disappointment and just skip tot the next game.

somehow I am glad others are seeing the same from Harris that I see, I have nothing personal against the kid but I believe that at this point he is not the best option for the Habs D squad.

You are the second person that mentions how Primeau flops around and takes himself out of position. I do not remember him being that type of goalie earlier in his career. I am sure he will make adjustments now that he is playing more often; I am still hopeful that he becomes a good NHL backup.

[Commandant]

I went to the game as well as I was out in Canmore for a wedding.

 

The Habs dominated when the first line is on the ice.  When the 2nd line was out there it was 50/50.  The third and fourth, hemmed in the Habs end.

 

Wolf also played really well and the Habs hit two posts, could've been a lot closer.

 

On defence Guhle was very hit and miss.  Hes getting some of that gambler from his partner in Matheson.  Xhekaj played really well.

 

[hockeyrealist]

Mattheson is not who you want showing young D how to play in the NHL.  He is not a sound defensive player, nor is he good positionally.

Given the team has no business trying to win games I do not see the value in him on the roster, holding up a spot, demonstrating that offense allows mistakes to be accepted and generally showing how not to be in position. Due to his skating he makes up for most of these mental issues, but again that is not who you want demonstrating the way to young D.

I don’t believe it is coincidence that Guhle has plateaued while partnered with him.   I believe Guhle’s  game is going to suffer long term because of it.  I already notice him playing worse defensively, his gap control has gotten worse but that may be because he is worried Mattheson is gonna decide to play rover (even on d assignments) and Guhle has to accommodate. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Maybe it’s unwise to paid Guhle with Mattheson. Or maybe Guhle’s recent issues have nothing to do with MM.

 

Mattheson has 47 points in 67 games (!) - almost a 60-point pace - and as you note, his skating gets him out of many of the jams his defensive limitations create. That latter is an important consideration for me. Unlike some more Puritanical hockey people, I don’t care if a guy screws up IF he has the wheels to correct his own lapses. (That was one reason why I always thought young PK Subban’s errors were way overplayed; people would focus on the error, and ignore the fact that 95% of the time he got himself out of the trouble they created). 

 

So we seem to be in the position of saying this team somehow should not have good players on it, unless those good players exemplify 100% the virtues of all-around hockey players. Now I can certainly see the case for moving out Mattheson on the grounds that he will fetch a handsome return and will be too old by the time this team is contention-worthy. The other side of it is, none of our young D have shown themselves to have ANYTHING like his offensive chops.

 

So, we’re back to the old “tank” question. The Habs are one of the worst teams in the league. Without MM, we would probably be intolerably terrible. Some people want that. Others think our young players benefit from the experience of being competitive in games, day in and day out. If you think the latter, then you don’t see Mattheson as a net negative.

 

He may be best thought of as a placeholder until Hutson comes on stream. But what seems clear is that unless we replace MM, either internally or via free agency, this team is never going to become elite. You need D who can move the puck and drive offence.

[DON]

Matheson is too Petry-like, just never learned to defend consistently, for some reason. If he would simply stop cute blind back passes around his own net, would be a good start. But he is what he is and maybe paired with a Weber-quality RH d-man, he would do bit better? But if he puts up 50-60 pts cant complain too much.

As expected, I notice every game Guhle fumbles a few pucks from easy cross-ice passes, or pucks along the boards on his backhand, that he would of handled easily on his forehand. He is learning of course and cant hurt in long run; but will be easier for him once he is back playing on the left side full time.

[BCHabnut]

12 hours ago, DON said:

 

As expected, I notice every game Guhle fumbles a few pucks from easy cross-ice passes, or pucks along the boards on his backhand, that he would of handled easily on his forehand. He is learning of course and cant hurt in long run; but will be easier for him once he is back playing on the left side full time.

This is a tough one. I think it's great that he's showing his versatility by playing pretty good on the right side, but I would prefer that he play his strong side more while he's developing. 

[tomh009]

12 hours ago, BCHabnut said:

This is a tough one. I think it's great that he's showing his versatility by playing pretty good on the right side, but I would prefer that he play his strong side more while he's developing. 

I expect he'll be back on the right side in the longer term, maybe even next year, but I think Hughes and St-Louis want him to have the flexibility to play on the right when it's needed due to injuries or otherwise.