GDT Game #21 - Canadiens vs "The Team With No Name" - November 26th - 7 p.m.

[Butterface]

7 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

The issue with tanking 3 seasons into the rebuild is there would be jobs lost.  I don't think playoffs are a realistic expectation, but I also don't believe being a favorite for the 1st overall pick is an acceptable outcome either.  I've said myself before if you're not making the playoffs you try to finish as low as possible, but 3 seasons into the rebuild there has to be signs of improvement not regression.

It’s hard building a team. We have not had the benefit of getting a generational player. We have had some good things from Bergevin, but he really left a mess. You can see we have a really good talent pool and when it turns around, it will turn around fast. But we still have a year or two of growing pains. The future is very bright and it will be bright for quite some time.

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Lines from practice this morning and I expect these to be the starting lines. 
 

I'm hoping that Barron. Guhle click

 

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Looks like a meritocracy is finally kicking in? 🤔

 

Big opportunity for Newhook to get on track. His speed could be an asset on that line.

 

Poor Guhle, saddled with Barron. The kid is either being used on the wrong side or being asked to carry dead weight, it seems

[GHT120]

It will be interesting to see how Matheson-Hutson, two primarily offensive defencemen, do together

[TurdBurglar]

It's interesting Hutson is slotted into the top pair and Savard is relegated to the 3rd.  I wonder if the Savard decision is more about getting Xhekaj some support to gain confidence.  Could also be Barron needs a steady defensive presence as well.

[Butterface]

35 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Yup. Permanent rebuild is not an option. I’m not accusing anyone on this board, but I honestly think that there are some fans who, deep down, want that. They love that eternally receding horizon of ‘three years from now’ when the team will be a powerhouse. It’s so much easier on the nerves than actually having to invest emotionally in a flawed team of imperfect players (which is what all teams are, including first-tier contenders).

Takes time to flush out veterans on longterm, overpaid, untradeable contracts that Bergevin left behind. We are almost done. Two to go after this year.

 

Some of our best players have not gotten to the team yet. They were drafted but have not played an NHL game yet. We may get another great young player this Spring if we draft in top 3.

 

Nobody wants to be a Buffalo, Oilers or Toronto “next year will be our year” team. Nobody likes to be forever in a rebuild.

 

But you have to be a realist. We need to get another draft or two worth of assets and then weaponize those assets that won’t be a part of our core.

You can’t see we have had a few Bergevin land mines throughout our line up these last three years ? The rebuild is going well. It’s really hard to start a team from scratch…. Let alone scratch with untradeable contracts.

 

The product we have now is not ready to come out of the oven. We have great things baking. They need time in minors or time to adjust in the NHL. They need spots to open up as UFAs get sold off. We are close. 2 years away before our assets outside the core can be traded to get assets (veterans) we need to compete.

 

 

 

 

 

[GHT120]

7 minutes ago, Butterface said:

Takes time to flush out veterans on longterm, overpaid, untradeable contracts that Bergevin left behind. We are almost done. Two to go after this year.

 

Some of our best players have not gotten to the team yet. They were drafted but have not played an NHL game yet. We may get another great young player this Spring if we draft in top 3.

 

Nobody wants to be a Buffalo, Oilers or Toronto “next year will be our year” team. Nobody likes to be forever in a rebuild.

 

But you have to be a realist. We need to get another draft or two worth of assets and then weaponize those assets that won’t be a part of our core.

You can’t see we have had a few Bergevin land mines throughout our line up these last three years ? The rebuild is going well. It’s really hard to start a team from scratch…. Let alone scratch with untradeable contracts.

 

The product we have now is not ready to come out of the oven. We have great things baking. They need time in minors or time to adjust in the NHL. They need spots to open up as UFAs get sold off. We are close. 2 years away before our assets outside the core can be traded to get assets (veterans) we need to compete.

Excellent summary.

 

I'm not concerned about this being a "Buffalo permanent rebuild" scenario ... they kept moving out young assets and "starting over" ... regardless of whether either were "good hires", post Darcy Regier (11 seasons go) the Sabres gave Tim Murray 3.5 seasons and Botterill 3 seasons; neither really had time to build a roster, let alone rebuild one ... Adams is in his 5th season, so next summer it will be fair to judge his  progress ... compounding this, since Murray fired Ruff a few months after taking over the Sabres are on their 7th head coach.

[Butterface]

6 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

Excellent summary.

😢 first nice thing someone has said to me on here.

 

I don’t think jobs will be lost. Bobrov, Lapointe, Sedgwick, Hughes and Gorton have all done admirably. Very close to perfect. They are among the best in their industry.

 

MSL still has lots of time to get his young team to the next stage (I hope).

 

Some of the hardest choices for the above names will come over the next 2 to 6 years as they decide on the core assets and keep the team under the cap and protect from having RFAs being poached by the Doug Armstrongs of the world.

 

These guys will figure it out. The Molsons are in good hands.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

41 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

It's interesting Hutson is slotted into the top pair and Savard is relegated to the 3rd.  I wonder if the Savard decision is more about getting Xhekaj some support to gain confidence.  Could also be Barron needs a steady defensive presence as well.

 

The Hutson-MM pairing is indeed very interesting. VAN has used Hughes-Hronek to great effect; basically they control the play for the 25 minutes a night those guys are on the ice, and the goal for the rest of the team is to keep it together for the other 35 minutes. It's been a successful recipe, more or less. And the team can draw a lot of confidence from those strong 25 minutes. Of course, VAN has a terrific FW corps and ours is a putrid pile of dog feces. We'll see. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

1 hour ago, Butterface said:

Takes time to flush out veterans on longterm, overpaid, untradeable contracts that Bergevin left behind. We are almost done. Two to go after this year.

 

Some of our best players have not gotten to the team yet. They were drafted but have not played an NHL game yet. We may get another great young player this Spring if we draft in top 3.

 

Nobody wants to be a Buffalo, Oilers or Toronto “next year will be our year” team. Nobody likes to be forever in a rebuild.

 

But you have to be a realist. We need to get another draft or two worth of assets and then weaponize those assets that won’t be a part of our core.

You can’t see we have had a few Bergevin land mines throughout our line up these last three years ? The rebuild is going well. It’s really hard to start a team from scratch…. Let alone scratch with untradeable contracts.

 

The product we have now is not ready to come out of the oven. We have great things baking. They need time in minors or time to adjust in the NHL. They need spots to open up as UFAs get sold off. We are close. 2 years away before our assets outside the core can be traded to get assets (veterans) we need to compete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was an excellent summary. I agree.  

 

Second nice thing.  LOL

[Butterface]

Also we are a Canadian team. Don’t get me started on our tax disadvantages for free agents to sign here. It’s an uphill battle vs any US Franchise let alone a Florida or Texas Franchise.

 

So my theory is it takes a Canadian team longer to build a Cup Contender because we have to draft more of our skilled players. We can lock them in easier that way. The UFAs aren’t looking to get taxed more on their high dollar contracts unless they see the rainbow of a Stanley Cup in the short term.

 

Edmonton and Toronto seem to have mostly a core they drafted and free agents only arrived when they looked like Cup contenders.

 

Anyone else feel that way ?

 

So the longer we stay in this high draft pick window before we begin the asset sell off, the better.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

6 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Looks like a meritocracy is finally kicking in? 🤔

 

Big opportunity for Newhook to get on track. His speed could be an asset on that line.

 

Poor Guhle, saddled with Barron. The kid is either being used on the wrong side or being asked to carry dead weight, it seems

Literally a line up in order of meritocracy...  thus far this season

[Prime Minister Koivu]

 

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

I wonder if the meritocracy will make its way to the PP tonight

 

 

Hutson on first wave all game?

[GHT120]

Wonder how that impacts the pairings?

[hab29RETIRED]

6 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Excellent summary.

 

I'm not concerned about this being a "Buffalo permanent rebuild" scenario ... they kept moving out young assets and "starting over" ... regardless of whether either were "good hires", post Darcy Regier (11 seasons go) the Sabres gave Tim Murray 3.5 seasons and Botterill 3 seasons; neither really had time to build a roster, let alone rebuild one ... Adams is in his 5th season, so next summer it will be fair to judge his  progress ... compounding this, since Murray fired Ruff a few months after taking over the Sabres are on their 7th head coach.

What I don't get about Buffalo is the stance they took with Eichal.

[Commandant]

29 minutes ago, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said:

I wonder if the meritocracy will make its way to the PP tonight

 

 

Hutson on first wave all game?

 

With Mattheson the team has a top 10 PP 

 

That said with him out, I'd think hutson would be on the first unit.  Probably Barron on second.

[Commandant]

29 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

Wonder how that impacts the pairings?

 

Apparently same pairings with Struble playing with Hutson

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Decent period of hockey but we spent too much time on the PK. 
 

Montembault solid 

Suzuki like looks good with Newhook 

Caufield is surely going to score, he is buzzing. 
Dach didn’t play much but he looks like he is trying too hard. 
Slafkovsky didn’t play much either but he looks confused and not good. 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Armia’s best game of the season. Play like this on a regular basis Armia and you will get paid. 
 

There doesn’t seem to be any urgency in Slafkovsky at all. Where has the compete level gone? Move your damned feet

[BCHabnut]

The big man has no confidence. Need to see some mojo back for him.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

After two periods Montreal only has 8 shots. Game after game the Habs generate very few shots. 
 

Habs killed 4 penalties which doesn’t help shot attempts but 8 shots is pretty sad

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Epic penalty killing. 

 

I thought Guhle had a particularly strong first period. Didn’t like Barron, who made at least two significant blunders.

[IN THE HEARTS OF MEN]

Armia aging like his spot is on the line in a week or so

[dlbalr]

Anyone catch what Savard did to earn a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the period?