Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/16/2025 at 8:18 PM, xXx..CK..xXx said: We’re lucky to have Matheson. If his name were Subban, he’d be Subban (minus the clapper/slapshot and personality). Sounds familar. 11 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 13 hours ago, Commandant said: In 2010 the majority opinion was keep Halak and trade Price. (not comparing the goalies to price, just saying that majority opinion shouldn't be how you make decisions). I argued with my coworkers endlessly about this. I was frustrated that they couldn't see Price's superior traits. I still remember marveling at his lateral movement, positioning, anticipation, puck tracking, rebound control. He looked almost robotic. It still makes me sad that the Habs never gave him a single good team. They had good seasons and playoff runs, but he never had run support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterface Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 59 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Expected Excited to see him build on his career record of 1-3-1 in 5 games with a goals against average of 3.56 and a save percentage of .883 versus the Jets. Go Habs Go ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 48 minutes ago, BCHabnut said: I argued with my coworkers endlessly about this. I was frustrated that they couldn't see Price's superior traits. I still remember marveling at his lateral movement, positioning, anticipation, puck tracking, rebound control. He looked almost robotic. It still makes me sad that the Habs never gave him a single good team. They had good seasons and playoff runs, but he never had run support. Well, he had good-to-excellent teams in 2014 (100 points), 2015 (110 points, second overall), and 2021 (regular season results distorted by horrible OT/SO record). Some would add 2017 (103 points) to that equation, although I felt that that team was definitely on the decline by that point. In 2014, he got the knee job from Kreider that ended a likely Finals appearance. This year was the best chance to win it all IMHO. In 2015, we got beaten by TB in a very even, hard-fought series. In 2017, we lost to the Rags in a tight series. In 2021, we went all the way before crashing against a Tampa team that had owned us for years and was simply superior overall. So I don't think this was a Koivu situation, where the organization totally let down a wonderful, defining player and wasted a heroic career. It would be fairer to say that we only gave him a four-year window (2014-2017) - one year of which was lost to catastrophic injury. To win a Cup, you generally need more than three years where you have a legit chance, especially if your team is a second-tier rather than top-tier contender, as we were in those years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 2 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Well, he had good-to-excellent teams in 2014 (100 points), 2015 (110 points, second overall), and 2021 (regular season results distorted by horrible OT/SO record). Some would add 2017 (103 points) to that equation, although I felt that that team was definitely on the decline by that point. In 2014, he got the knee job from Kreider that ended a likely Finals appearance. This year was the best chance to win it all IMHO. In 2015, we got beaten by TB in a very even, hard-fought series. In 2017, we lost to the Rags in a tight series. In 2021, we went all the way before crashing against a Tampa team that had owned us for years and was simply superior overall. So I don't think this was a Koivu situation, where the organization totally let down a wonderful, defining player and wasted a heroic career. It would be fairer to say that we only gave him a four-year window (2014-2017) - one year of which was lost to catastrophic injury. To win a Cup, you generally need more than three years where you have a legit chance, especially if your team is a second-tier rather than top-tier contender, as we were in those years. Almost all serious cup contenders have a true #1 centre. We never gave him that. You can patchwork the #2 C... (the Blackhawks did in those years) but not the #1. And that lack of scoring was almost always our issue in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 9 minutes ago, Commandant said: Almost all serious cup contenders have a true #1 centre. We never gave him that. You can patchwork the #2 C... (the Blackhawks did in those years) but not the #1. And that lack of scoring was almost always our issue in the playoffs. That's why I say we were 2nd-tier contenders. But to my mind, a team that gets to the Semi-Finals and loses mainly because its best player is deliberately injured (2014), or finishes 2nd overall (2015), or gets to the Finals by beating two of the league's top teams fair and square (2021), is a 'contender' by definition. Maybe not a top-end contender, but a team with a legitimate outside chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I agree that we had some teams that were contenders for the cup. Price was the best for a period of time and so that 1) minimized the perceived impact of the players on our team because fans always viewed him as being the “only” reason for our success and 2) he was part of the reason we had a solid team and during a cap era it is difficult to have a perfect team. Yes, I am sure that we could have gotten that extra piece one of those years but in many circumstances, if we had the dream team in front of him that many fans wished for, we wouldn’t have had Price. I think we had a great chance in 2014, though the Habs did not help themselves regardless of goalie having been shutout in the final game against the Rangers. Everyone underestimates the 2021 team, with veterans such as Staal, Perry, Weber, Toffoli, Edmundson had won a cup recently, Lehkonen scored important goals and turned out to be who is with cup winning Colorado and then we had Suzuki and Caufield who were already making their mark. Add that to the fact that we had Price playing well in net. Finally, I would add that in 2010, we had the leading goal scorer in the playoffs (goals) in Mike Cammalleri. I don’t think that any of those teams were the best in the league, but as stated we did finish 2nd, 3rd etc. on a few occasions so the opportunity was there during his career. I think it is unrealistic to simply demand that we have the perfect team that no one would have even had a chance against. That being said, I do understand the sentiment when people always bring up the fact that we only had one 80+ point player on the team during his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: That's why I say we were 2nd-tier contenders. But to my mind, a team that gets to the Semi-Finals and loses mainly because its best player is deliberately injured (2014), or finishes 2nd overall (2015), or gets to the Finals by beating two of the league's top teams fair and square (2021), is a 'contender' by definition. Maybe not a top-end contender, but a team with a legitimate outside chance. And add a number 1 C to that team and it might not be finishing in 2nd, the Cup Final, the Conference final, etc... It needed another piece to put them over the top and Bergevin couldn't get it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 1 minute ago, Commandant said: And add a number 1 C to that team and it might not be finishing in 2nd, the Cup Final, the Conference final, etc... It needed another piece to put them over the top and Bergevin couldn't get it done. I agree with that, for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 5 minutes ago, Commandant said: And add a number 1 C to that team and it might not be finishing in 2nd, the Cup Final, the Conference final, etc... It needed another piece to put them over the top and Bergevin couldn't get it done. 1 C's aren't easy to find. They don't grow on trees, he eventually got Suzuki but obviously that was too late for the prior run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 2 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: 1 C's aren't easy to find. They don't grow on trees, he eventually got Suzuki but obviously that was too late for the prior run. We've been over this, a number of #1cs were traded or went into free agency during those years. There was a long time to get it done and he just didn't He entered every season with some combo of Desharnais, Plekanec, Danault, Eller, Galchenyuk, Shaw, as centres, none of them a number 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 52 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: 1 C's aren't easy to find. They don't grow on trees, he eventually got Suzuki but obviously that was too late for the prior run. we can feel hopeful for the future knowing that HugGort got us not one but two top centers in Dack and Newhook They are so much better at this 🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 18 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said: we can feel hopeful for the future knowing that HugGort got us not one but two top centers in Dack and Newhook They are so much better at this 🤪 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 38 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said: we can feel hopeful for the future knowing that HugGort got us not one but two top centers in Dack and Newhook They are so much better at this 🤪 Time to criticize the current management again..... They've focused on building other parts of their team after signing their number 1 centre to an 8 year deal. .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Just stating that it is not as easy as pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 43 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said: Just stating that it is not as easy as pie Just looking at top 32 centres in scoring.... position by NHl.com These players are NOT with the team that drafted them. Eichel. Suzuki Strome Vilardi Duchene Tavares Monahan Thompson Hertl Schmaltz Necas Reinhart Too but they should be listed as wingers. Thats nearly 1/3 of the league who has acquired a number 1 level centre without drafting him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 23 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: If Reinbacher does well then I expect him to be the call up to replace Savard when he gets traded. I don’t believe Marty likes Struble. One thing to keep in mind with Reinbacher is the nine-game rule as it still applies to him this season. They're not going to want to burn a year of his ELC this season so he'll be limited to nine games. That makes a post-Savard trade recall unlikely as there will be 20 games left after the trade deadline. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 minutes ago, dlbalr said: One thing to keep in mind with Reinbacher is the nine-game rule as it still applies to him this season. They're not going to want to burn a year of his ELC this season so he'll be limited to nine games. That makes a post-Savard trade recall unlikely as there will be 20 games left after the trade deadline. Yeah there is no way that Montreal uses a ELC year considering the circumstances. Add the practicality of a long recovery on the ice like Dach went through and there is no chance - outside of an end of season game or two. Might be an opportunity for Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Guhle to Struble is a massive drop-off. Guhle is an absolute glue guy on the back end. It will be very hard for the team to recover its December form with KG gone for any length of time. Assuming it to be as bad as it looked, I think the injury pretty much puts paid to any dreams we had for the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 27 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Guhle to Struble is a massive drop-off. Guhle is an absolute glue guy on the back end. It will be very hard for the team to recover its December form with KG gone for any length of time. Assuming it to be as bad as it looked, I think the injury pretty much puts paid to any dreams we had for the playoffs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Outcome of game was about as expected. Had some good stretches of play and another nice goal by top line. Defensive lapses cost them, be it Matheson on Conner's or what not. Jets are a pretty darn good team. Obviously hope for just short term injury and no surgery, but, seems another career set-back looks like for Guhle. Well, Matheson may be back on his 'good' side and perhaps both Mailloux and Struble get recalled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Good luck buddy This might be your only opportunity to change St. Louis’ mind about you. Play hard, play aggressive, play smart, use your strength. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Gonna be a tough game. MAF is going to stand on his head because it’s his last official game in Montreal. Go Dobes Go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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