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Cote Looking Solid!


hankhab

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After watching last nights games vs the laughs, I have to say that I thought Cote was probably the teams best defenceman. I just read the article posted on the main page (habs continue leafs losing streak) and I had to laugh when I read that Souray and Rivet played well...I thought they were terrible. Souray is still lost, totally out of place, and Rivet is still taking stupid penalties. That being said, I thought Cote and Komisarik played well together, were strong on the boards, and I think both were plus players. I'm liking this Cote guy more and more, here's hoping Gainey dumps Souray on some unsuspecting team very soon.

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I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that Cote was the best d-man out there. Although I think that this was his best game to date, and he might not have made as blatent errors as the others, I think think he's got a way to go.

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The fact that I didn't really notice him all that often indicates that he had an unspectacular, yet solid game. BG should play him again for a full game against Carolina to see how he reacts to the home crowd.

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Yeah, I thought Coté played well too and I'm less nervous when he's there in our defensive zone than, say, when its Souray or Dandeneault. But I agree with the other poster who said Coté still have a long way to go. But I think so not because I think Côté isnt doing well, but because I've seen him a couple of seasons in the Q and I know he can give much more. I'm still happy with the way he keeps progressing slowly but surely. He's got the upside to be a reliable stay-at-home 2nd-pairing defenseman, with some leadership and physical agression thrown in.

As for who is the Habs best defenseman without Markov, I would have to say its Bouillon. The guy just never take a shift off. I think Bouillon deserves to be an Assistant captain. He captained the Granby Predator to the Memorial Cup in juniors, so captaincy isnt totally foreign to him.

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Bouillon was good that game, constantly skating hard and hitting hard. The only thing that wasn't good was his turnover in front of the net...But he has shown me that he is the best D-man so far, but overall the D all played better that game.

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Frankie is the hardest working defenseman for the Habs no doubt about it. His size only hurts him behind and in front of the net. If he can continue to improve his positional play and stick work he will only get better. Cote has played well his last 3 games especially on the PK against the Flyers. He is young and if he can continue to play within himself and not over think on the ice he has the potential to be great not spectacular or a #1 defenseman but it is reasonable to say that he could be a great depth 4th or 5th defenseman.

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Yeah he seems to be playing pretty well right now, but I don't see a huge upside to him. Unfortunatley Montreals defensman prospect cupboard looks pretty bare. There just isn't a solid future #1 defensman in the system.

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Anyone else think that Ivanans played well. He only had 4 mins. of ice and he had 1 blocked shot and 1 hit. I thought he was solid for his 4 mins(either he was solid or he is my new favorite habs)

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Yeah he seems to be playing pretty well right now, but I don't see a huge upside to him. Unfortunatley Montreals defensman prospect cupboard looks pretty bare. There just isn't a solid future #1 defensman in the system.

Considering that we lost Robidas and Beauchemin for nothing its a blessing that we could pick up Cote as an invitee and have him progress this nicely. Speaking of bare cupboard, our next D in line in AHL looks more and more to become Andre Benoit, another invitee. Habs should only draft forwards and only get their defensemen by invites. :P

Which reminds me: we also invited Brent MacLellan back then. He was a big, highly-touted d-man with the Memorial Cup-winning Oceanic, drafted in the 4th round by Chicago but he never panned out and now he's playing for St-Mary's University in the CIS.

So you got the 9th rounder in 2000 who is playing in the NHL as we speak, and the 4th rounder in 2001 who was an even bigger prospect but is now playing in a University league. Just goes to show how much can still change on the road between the draft and the NHL.

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Yeah he seems to be playing pretty well right now, but I don't see a huge upside to him. Unfortunatley Montreals defensman prospect cupboard looks pretty bare. There just isn't a solid future #1 defensman in the system.

I still see a future #1 in Komisarek. Still a prospect? 100 NHL games. hmm, yep. Mike's the man.

Edited by mathieu30
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Dont be worried about Komisarek. D-men and big players always take a little more time to develop, furthermore when its both. Stevens, Blake, Chara, McCabe... they all took a couple of seasons before playing up to expectations. Same with Komisarek. You can see all the tools are there, its just a matter of time before improving his overall game.

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Considering that we lost Robidas and Beauchemin for nothing its a blessing that we could pick up Cote as an invitee and have him progress this nicely. Speaking of bare cupboard, our next D in line in AHL looks more and more to become Andre Benoit, another invitee. Habs should only draft forwards and only get their defensemen by invites. :P

Also lost Hainsey for nothing, and he's starting to look pretty good in Columbus. Has 9 points and 0+/-

Starting to play alot more minutes. This ones really going to hurt in a few years

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I would love to have Hainsey back. He had top pairing potential and I think he'll find his way there someday. Don't forget Emelin and O'Byrne is supposed to have some potential.

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I'd hate to open an old can of worms so to speak, but I gotta second that notion. Hainsey was supposed to have been good, and frankly he wasn't really given enough patience at all. Re-entry waivers sorta leaves a bad taste in your mouth especially. You give away a player for free and have to pickup half his salary.

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