My Personal Evaluation Of The Players This Season

[CerebusClone]

This is a bit long, but what the heck. I evaluated all Habs players this season based on their role and also on expectations. Here it goes:

Alex Kovalev: B- : He has demonstrated great skills all season long, and he actually has had one of his best seasons offensively during his NHL career. However, he's also been very inconsistent, and hasn't used his linamates very effectively. For the investment that was required to get him back in Montreal (large multiyear contract), I feel we get very little return.

Saku Koivu: B : For the first time since becoming a habs, he's been inconsistent. He's been hot at times, but he also struggled. His numbers are perhaps slightly higher than they were before, but his overall play hasn't been as good. He's been the best forward for this team once again, but I had much higher expectations for him this season. Hopefully, this was just one off season, and he'll make a Modano-like comeback next year. Also, if we see Playoff Koivu once again this year, I might just forgive him.

Michael Ryder: C+ : Also very inconsistent, and I don't think he's ever really played that well this season. However, he did [somehow] managed to score 30 goals, thanks to a few lucky goals early this season, and the great efforts of Higgins and Koivu during the last stretch, so I can't really go lower than a "C", even though I feel he's played poorly for most of the season.

Mike Ribeiro: D+ : His statistics aren't so bad, and they do prevent me from giving him a near failing grade, but his overall play has been awful. Besides a couple strings of random assists off Kovalev's individual efforts, he,s generated very little offense, and hasn't been able to consistently create scoring opportunities for his linemates. Once again this year, his coach (both of them actually) had to send him a clear message by benching him for his lack of effort and consistency.

Jan Bulis: C+ : Overall, I've been somewhat satisfied of his play. He managed a 20-goal, 40-point season although he was bounced back and forth all season from one line to another, and from one role to another. He did a good job as a defensive, 3rd line forward, and didn't look bad when playing a more offensive role.

Richard Zednik: F : He completely failed to meet expectations. Just an awful year for him, as he brought nothing to the table, and had zero contribution on the team's success.

Steve Begin: B : Very good year for this 4th line agitator. I was actually getting sick of him for a while when coach Julien was playing on on the scoring lines, and even on the power play, but ever since Gainey put him back into a limited role, he's been as good as he could be. I'd give him a better rating, but since his actual contribution is very limited, this is as high as he can go.

Radek Bonk: F : Another complete, and more expensive, failure. He was supposed to be a more offensive 3rd line center, possibly even 2nd line if he played really well, but he was nothing than a 4th line PK specialist that probably wouldn't even have played if he didn't make this much money.

Niklas Sundstrom: D : Not a failure as he's pretty much done what he's been doing ever since we traded for him. However, that's not much, and I still don't understand why Gainey resigned him instead of Jason Ward. Sundstrom brings very little to the table, and Gainey should have known that. Maybe it's time to go back to Europe, and probably be a star in the Swedish Elite League.

Chris Higgins: A- : His overall play was at least just as good as could have been expected from him, and his 23 goals and 38 points exceed most expectations. He played great all year, was effective on all situations, and I'm very much looking forward to see what he'll do during the playoffs. Will probably wear an "A" on his uniform sooner than later.

Tomas Plekanec: B- : He played ok, and proved that he can play in the NHL. However, his career potential remains to be determined. He wasn't very productive, but he played well overall. He'll have to increase his prodfuction if he has any hope to be more than a 3rd/4th line forward, but I would be ready to give him his chance next season instead of Ribeiro, unless of course we can get a Briere (UFA) or a Richards (RFA).

Alex Perezhogin: C : I think he played a little better than his statistics would indicate. When playing with Koivu, he's actually maintained close to a point per game ratio. However, he didn't do so well with Ribeiro or Plekanec. All in all, I still see good potential in this guy, and hopefully this season was mostly about adapting to NHL hockey.

Pierre Dagenais: F : Played awful, and didn't put up good numbers. It's over for Dagenais in Montreal, and perhaps also in the NHL.

Garth Murray: C- : Decent forth line agitator. Nothing more, nothing less.

Aaron Downey: D+ : Same as Murray.

Andrei Kostsitsyn: I'm not going to rate him since he hardly played at all, but I was impressed with his skill level. He proved to me that he can play in this league, and I'm really looking forward to see him next season.

Jonathan Ferland: Good kid, but might not have enough skills for the NHL.

Maxim Lapierre: We'll see more of him next season.

Raitis Ivanans: Just a waste of time really. He's a terrible hockey player, and lost his only fight.

Andrei Markov: A-: Great season for Markov now that he was finally given more responsabilities. When all saw how important he is for the team, especially for the power play. I still don't think he's a genuine number 1 defenseman though, but he's good enough.

Sheldon Souray: C : On and off season. He was awful earlier, but did play better as the season progressed. His numbers look good on paper, but he definitely hasn't played up to the organization's expectations.

Mike Komisarek: C+ : Was also awful earlier on, but really progressed after the tragedy with his mother. He's playing with more confidence, and we're starting to see the real Komisarek. Also, in his last 16 games, he managed 5 points and was +7; you put those numbers on a 82 game season and you get a 25-point, +36 season. I hope the Canadiens take him to the next step, which is start playing on the power play next season.

Craig Rivet: A : Considering what the expectations were for Rivet, he's had an exceptional season. Not only was he very solid all year defensively, but he even managed to put up as many points as Brisebois used to offensively. I he also seems to have displayed good leadership.

Francis Bouillon: B- : Assuming he's a number 6 defenseman, he's played great. He does nothing great, but he's reliable and rarely looks out of place, which is a very good thing for a bottom pairing defenseman. Unfortunately, he was also used on power play situations, where he clearly doesn't belong.

Mathieu Dandeneault: C : He did a decent job. Gainey overpaid for his services, but if you forget about his 1.5M salary, he's a good depth player to have on the roster. Like Bouillon, he doesn't belong on the power play either.

Mark Streit: C- : Overall, he played poorly defensively, and didn't play well enough offensively to compensate. He has however improved since the Olympic break, but I'm hoping he'll be back in Switzerland next season so we can give other guys a chance (ex. free agent, Archer, maybe Emelin).

Todd Simpson: C- : Did ok for the little we saw him. He's just a good depth veteran to have on the roster during the playoffs.

JP Côté: Did an ok job, but he doesn't seem to ave enough skills for the NHL.

Yann Danis: B- : We saw little of him, but he sure displayed good things out there.

Cristobal Huet: A : Nothing much to add about Huet. He racked up the wins in the last stretch to lead us to the playoffs.

David Aebischer: C : Hard to tell. He played both awful and great, but didn't have enough time to show the "real" Aebischer.

Edited April 20, 2006 by CerebusClone

[The-Habby2919]

Nice thread, and the grades are all fairly close to what Id have given them too.

:hlogo:

[plecx]

It's a fairly accurate rating, except for Craig Rivet. He deserves a B. He was pretty good on the PP but his defensive play was average. Just my opinion.

[habschris]

Fairly accurate. I think you overgraded:

Koivu C+, didn't do much all year. If you compare money with some players you should on others as well, for the money he is overpaid.

Souray D+, terrible in his own zone all year, slow footed, over paid. Only points on the power play, no help 5 on 5.

Rivet B-, good offensive year, gets beat alot during 1 on 1 battles down low.

Bouillon:C solid year, unless he's hitting someone on the boards he's a liability in his own zone.

Sundstrom F: He did nothing all year.

You under rated:

Ryder: B leading goal scorer, played with several centers. not good defensively we all know that but 30 goal scorers are hard to find.

Murray and Downey: B+ for both. They do exactly what is asked of them. Play hard, play physical. The team plays better when they are in the line up. Same for Begin.

Bonk: F? i would give him a C. Plays well defensively, no offensive points obviously. Good on the PK, wins faceoffs good on a checking line. Overpaid yes, but there are many of them on this current team.

[habschris]

I forgot to mention Dandanault, i thought he had a good year, he is paid to be a 5 or 6 which is what he is. Started off slowly, taking alot of penalties, getting torched here and there. Since Gainey took over i would consider him to be very consistant. Good post Cerebus

[chief_balthor]

Murray and Downey: B+ for both. They do exactly what is asked of them. Play hard, play physical. The team plays better when they are in the line up. Same for Begin.

I agree 100%. If your scores were based on their role as well as expectations, I say these 2 guys did an awesome job.

Let's face it, Murray's expectations were pretty low. I remember people lamenting over and over again that we traded Hossa for him. Given this fact, and the fact that his role is a defensive one as well as crashing and banging, I say he definitely filled his role.

As for Downey, same thing. We got this guy off waivers and most people (me included) didn't think he would get any ice time. He basically has the same role as Murray (except doesn't kill penalties) and he's been quite good at it.

Let's face, these guys aren't out there to score goals. I don't get nervous when they are in our own end, like let's say... Mikey Ribiero.

[lazy26]

Fairly accurate. I think you overgraded:

Koivu C+, didn't do much all year. If you compare money with some players you should on others as well, for the money he is overpaid.

Souray D+, terrible in his own zone all year, slow footed, over paid. Only points on the power play, no help 5 on 5.

Rivet B-, good offensive year, gets beat alot during 1 on 1 battles down low.

Bouillon:C solid year, unless he's hitting someone on the boards he's a liability in his own zone.

Sundstrom F: He did nothing all year.

You under rated:

Ryder: B leading goal scorer, played with several centers. not good defensively we all know that but 30 goal scorers are hard to find.

Murray and Downey: B+ for both. They do exactly what is asked of them. Play hard, play physical. The team plays better when they are in the line up. Same for Begin.

Bonk: F? i would give him a C. Plays well defensively, no offensive points obviously. Good on the PK, wins faceoffs good on a checking line. Overpaid yes, but there are many of them on this current team.

I tend to think that evaluations should be done independently of what the players are being paid. But I agree with your Sunny, Bonk and Ryder grades...

[sbhatt]

I agree with them all within half a letter grade or so...except for:

Saku Koivu

He's a C at best

[johnnyhasbeen]

Final marks shouldn't be out though until the playoffs finish. They got us to the dance at least, not bad for a club that is just beginning to come of age. Win the cup and they all get A's except for Dags, of course. Actually, he will get one too because his one win, remember his one great game? Also his shoot out wins. Without those we miss and the Leafs are in.

Edited April 19, 2006 by johnnyhasbeen

[Cataclaw]

So much Koivu hatred.

I give him a B+ or even an A- for what he brings to the team. Sure he doesn't always rack in the goals, but his play is pretty solid every night.

Say what you will about the man, but I would have no one else lead this team.

[lazy26]

So much Koivu hatred.

I give him a B+ or even an A- for what he brings to the team. Sure he doesn't always rack in the goals, but his play is pretty solid every night.

Say what you will about the man, but I would have no one else lead this team.

Effin right... Even when he doesn't light up the scoresheet, he still brings something good to the team...

B+ at the lowest...

[CerebusClone]

I agree 100%. If your scores were based on their role as well as expectations, I say these 2 guys did an awesome job.

Let's face it, Murray's expectations were pretty low. I remember people lamenting over and over again that we traded Hossa for him. Given this fact, and the fact that his role is a defensive one as well as crashing and banging, I say he definitely filled his role.

As for Downey, same thing. We got this guy off waivers and most people (me included) didn't think he would get any ice time. He basically has the same role as Murray (except doesn't kill penalties) and he's been quite good at it.

Let's face, these guys aren't out there to score goals. I don't get nervous when they are in our own end, like let's say... Mikey Ribiero.

I tried to rate players according to expectations, but I still don't want to give a very high rating to marginal 4th line grinders, even though they might have done a great job that limited role; the bottom line is that their actual contribution is very limited.

[RobRock]

Ryder's play over the last month and a half or so has lead me to the conclusion that he's not a first-line player, especially if, as in playoffs past, Koivu is going to be going against the opponent's top line. Higgins has the defensive sensibilties to not get caught out of position too often, a skill that Ryder lacks at this point in his career. I think it might be a good idea to move him down to the second line and move Kovalev (preferably) or someone else up on that line. Ryder is still going to be a key guy on the powerplay, and hopefully he won't have to wait until the last playoff game to get his first post-season marker.

Murray has shown that he can hold his own as a team fighter, and he's also got a little bit of ability with the puck, so he could get the checking line duty with Begin out of the line-up. I'd probably give him a B as well.

I still think Ribs needs to put on a few pounds. While he may not have led the team in scoring like 03-04, he wasn't a media focus either, so I think that deserves better than a D.

[Peter Puck]

You gave Komisarek a C+ and Streit a C- which I think are quite accurate grades. But then you say we shoud be using Komisarek on the powerplay next year but we should let Streit go back to Switzerland. I don't think this makes much sense. Although Streit is older they were both rookies this year and both showed a lot of improvement after the Olympic break.

One thing that has been worrying me about Komisarek is that he is taking a lot of penalties. In the final 16 games you cite for his improved play he took 18 PIM (not including the 27 minutes he got for defending Huet).

[CerebusClone]

You gave Komisarek a C+ and Streit a C- which I think are quite accurate grades. But then you say we shoud be using Komisarek on the powerplay next year but we should let Streit go back to Switzerland. I don't think this makes much sense. Although Streit is older they were both rookies this year and both showed a lot of improvement after the Olympic break.

One thing that has been worrying me about Komisarek is that he is taking a lot of penalties. In the final 16 games you cite for his improved play he took 18 PIM (not including the 27 minutes he got for defending Huet).

For the defensemen, it's just that we have to take some decisions over the summer. Although he has improved since the break, I can't say that Streit is any better than the other guys on the roster. Also, he won't really get any better at his age; at best, he'll adapt a little bit more to the NHL. If Streit was a monster on the power play, I'd keep him, but he's not. Overall, he's kind of useless.

As for Komisarek, he's much younger, and he has a lot of upside. Yes he took a lot of penalties, but it's normal for a huge kid his age. They all do that because they feel it was their ticket to the NHL, and that they must impress the coaching staff by being very physical. Then they mature, and take a lot less "stupid" penalties. Just look at Joe Thornton this season; even though the referees were much more severe this season, he only got 61 PIMs.

Also, as coach Sutter mentionned at the WJC, it's ok to take penalties when they result from intensity and physical play. However, when you take penalties because you're always behind the play (too slow, afraid to take a hit, or just plain lazy), then that's a problem. For example, Bulis was afraid to take a hit from Marco Sturm to get control of the puck, so he let him pass by, ended behind him, and was forced to hook/trip him so he would't get on a breakaway... now that was a stupid penalty.

[CerebusClone]

So much Koivu hatred.

I give him a B+ or even an A- for what he brings to the team. Sure he doesn't always rack in the goals, but his play is pretty solid every night.

Say what you will about the man, but I would have no one else lead this team.

I really like Koivu, but I feel he just played his worst season ever, and he didn't play up to my expectations. However, the real Koivu was back near the end of the season, and I still think that despite this off season, he was the best player for the Canadiens again this year. That's why I gave him a "B"; I don't think he deserves anything higher, but it wouldn't be fair to give him anything lower either.

[KEEP26]

ryder as been one of the best player this year on a very low scoring team.. and i think he did pretty well for a guy who play with ribeiro and dags for the first of the year. on the the first line with koivu and higgins they play well together..i love higgins but to get in a A for the seasonand only give ryder a c+ and koivu B when one of the only reason higgins pick his game up the last part of the year is because he play with ryder and koivu.

ryder B

koviu B

higgins B

kovalev B

ribeiro F

no one should get a A because the team wasnt that good.. maybe huet should get a close A for his play because he is the big reason we watch a game this weekend

go habs go

[CerebusClone]

ryder as been one of the best player this year on a very low scoring team.. and i think he did pretty well for a guy who play with ribeiro and dags for the first of the year. on the the first line with koivu and higgins they play well together..i love higgins but to get in a A for the seasonand only give ryder a c+ and koivu B when one of the only reason higgins pick his game up the last part of the year is because he play with ryder and

I gave Higgins an "A" because he played great overall hockey all season long, especially considering he's a rookie, and he played above my somewhat high expectations of him. In addition, he even raised the bar when it comes to his career potential, and now being potentially a good top 6 winger where most people thought he would "just" be a very good third line 2-way forward.

As for Ryder, I don't agree that he's been one of the best players this season. His 30 goals sure look good on paper, but his overall play was below average, at least in my opinion. Also, especially in that last stretch, he missed a lot of very good scoring opportunities provided by Koivu while Higgins capitalized on most of his. Finally, I feel he broke too many potential good plays with his "blindness" on the ice, carrying the puck for too long instead of spotting an open linamate, and passing him the puck. With that said, I think Ryder is very close to being a very good player, and hopefully he'll improve on these things next season.

[JMMR]

Although Ryder led the team in goals a B would be too high a grade for a player who took many games off and disappeared in January when it came to scoring at even strength.

[CerebusClone]

Garth Murray: C- : Decent forth line agitator. Nothing more, nothing less.

Aaron Downey: D+ : Same as Murray.

Looking back, D+ seems a little harsh for Downey. He played his role well for his role, so I'll also give him a C-. However, I'm not going to go higher for such limited players.

Edited April 20, 2006 by CerebusClone

[ch_nl]

I haven't atended a american school so maybe it's just me but I don't agree at all on Michael Ryder.

Michael Ryder. He scored 30 goals in his second NHL season. A player that scores goals on a team that doesn't score much. I'd say he one of the most valuable players on this team. I would give him a B+.

And Cristobal Huet is of course an A+.

[Nilan25]

This is a bit long, but what the heck. I evaluated all Habs players this season based on their role and also on expectations. Here it goes:

Alex Kovalev: B- : He has demonstrated great skills all season long, and he actually has had one of his best seasons offensively during his NHL career. However, he's also been very inconsistent, and hasn't used his linamates very effectively. For the investment that was required to get him back in Montreal (large multiyear contract), I feel we get very little return.

Saku Koivu: B : For the first time since becoming a habs, he's been inconsistent. He's been hot at times, but he also struggled. His numbers are perhaps slightly higher than they were before, but his overall play hasn't been as good. He's been the best forward for this team once again, but I had much higher expectations for him this season. Hopefully, this was just one off season, and he'll make a Modano-like comeback next year. Also, if we see Playoff Koivu once again this year, I might just forgive him.

Michael Ryder: C+ : Also very inconsistent, and I don't think he's ever really played that well this season. However, he did [somehow] managed to score 30 goals, thanks to a few lucky goals early this season, and the great efforts of Higgins and Koivu during the last stretch, so I can't really go lower than a "C", even though I feel he's played poorly for most of the season.

Mike Ribeiro: D+ : His statistics aren't so bad, and they do prevent me from giving him a near failing grade, but his overall play has been awful. Besides a couple strings of random assists off Kovalev's individual efforts, he,s generated very little offense, and hasn't been able to consistently create scoring opportunities for his linemates. Once again this year, his coach (both of them actually) had to send him a clear message by benching him for his lack of effort and consistency.

Jan Bulis: C+ : Overall, I've been somewhat satisfied of his play. He managed a 20-goal, 40-point season although he was bounced back and forth all season from one line to another, and from one role to another. He did a good job as a defensive, 3rd line forward, and didn't look bad when playing a more offensive role.

Richard Zednik: F : He completely failed to meet expectations. Just an awful year for him, as he brought nothing to the table, and had zero contribution on the team's success.

Steve Begin: B : Very good year for this 4th line agitator. I was actually getting sick of him for a while when coach Julien was playing on on the scoring lines, and even on the power play, but ever since Gainey put him back into a limited role, he's been as good as he could be. I'd give him a better rating, but since his actual contribution is very limited, this is as high as he can go.

Radek Bonk: F : Another complete, and more expensive, failure. He was supposed to be a more offensive 3rd line center, possibly even 2nd line if he played really well, but he was nothing than a 4th line PK specialist that probably wouldn't even have played if he didn't make this much money.

Niklas Sundstrom: D : Not a failure as he's pretty much done what he's been doing ever since we traded for him. However, that's not much, and I still don't understand why Gainey resigned him instead of Jason Ward. Sundstrom brings very little to the table, and Gainey should have known that. Maybe it's time to go back to Europe, and probably be a star in the Swedish Elite League.

Chris Higgins: A- : His overall play was at least just as good as could have been expected from him, and his 23 goals and 38 points exceed most expectations. He played great all year, was effective on all situations, and I'm very much looking forward to see what he'll do during the playoffs. Will probably wear an "A" on his uniform sooner than later.

Tomas Plekanec: B- : He played ok, and proved that he can play in the NHL. However, his career potential remains to be determined. He wasn't very productive, but he played well overall. He'll have to increase his prodfuction if he has any hope to be more than a 3rd/4th line forward, but I would be ready to give him his chance next season instead of Ribeiro, unless of course we can get a Briere (UFA) or a Richards (RFA).

Alex Perezhogin: C : I think he played a little better than his statistics would indicate. When playing with Koivu, he's actually maintained close to a point per game ratio. However, he didn't do so well with Ribeiro or Plekanec. All in all, I still see good potential in this guy, and hopefully this season was mostly about adapting to NHL hockey.

Pierre Dagenais: F : Played awful, and didn't put up good numbers. It's over for Dagenais in Montreal, and perhaps also in the NHL.

Garth Murray: C- : Decent forth line agitator. Nothing more, nothing less.

Aaron Downey: D+ : Same as Murray.

Andrei Kostsitsyn: I'm not going to rate him since he hardly played at all, but I was impressed with his skill level. He proved to me that he can play in this league, and I'm really looking forward to see him next season.

Jonathan Ferland: Good kid, but might not have enough skills for the NHL.

Maxim Lapierre: We'll see more of him next season.

Raitis Ivanans: Just a waste of time really. He's a terrible hockey player, and lost his only fight.

Andrei Markov: A-: Great season for Markov now that he was finally given more responsabilities. When all saw how important he is for the team, especially for the power play. I still don't think he's a genuine number 1 defenseman though, but he's good enough.

Sheldon Souray: C : On and off season. He was awful earlier, but did play better as the season progressed. His numbers look good on paper, but he definitely hasn't played up to the organization's expectations.

Mike Komisarek: C+ : Was also awful earlier on, but really progressed after the tragedy with his mother. He's playing with more confidence, and we're starting to see the real Komisarek. Also, in his last 16 games, he managed 5 points and was +7; you put those numbers on a 82 game season and you get a 25-point, +36 season. I hope the Canadiens take him to the next step, which is start playing on the power play next season.

Craig Rivet: A : Considering what the expectations were for Rivet, he's had an exceptional season. Not only was he very solid all year defensively, but he even managed to put up as many points as Brisebois used to offensively. I he also seems to have displayed good leadership.

Francis Bouillon: B- : Assuming he's a number 6 defenseman, he's played great. He does nothing great, but he's reliable and rarely looks out of place, which is a very good thing for a bottom pairing defenseman. Unfortunately, he was also used on power play situations, where he clearly doesn't belong.

Mathieu Dandeneault: C : He did a decent job. Gainey overpaid for his services, but if you forget about his 1.5M salary, he's a good depth player to have on the roster. Like Bouillon, he doesn't belong on the power play either.

Mark Streit: C- : Overall, he played poorly defensively, and didn't play well enough offensively to compensate. He has however improved since the Olympic break, but I'm hoping he'll be back in Switzerland next season so we can give other guys a chance (ex. free agent, Archer, maybe Emelin).

Todd Simpson: C- : Did ok for the little we saw him. He's just a good depth veteran to have on the roster during the playoffs.

JP Côté: Did an ok job, but he doesn't seem to ave enough skills for the NHL.

Yann Danis: B- : We saw little of him, but he sure displayed good things out there.

Cristobal Huet: A : Nothing much to add about Huet. He racked up the wins in the last stretch to lead us to the playoffs.

David Aebischer: C : Hard to tell. He played both awful and great, but didn't have enough time to show the "real" Aebischer.

Pretty accurate. I have to disagree with a couple of ratings, particularly the rating of Sheldon Souray. I feel he has been a different player the second half of the year. He is scoring goals and he is a real leader. Along with his play, Komisarek, Bonk (hate to admit it), and of course Huet is the reason we are in the playoffs. This may be due to Gainey's use of these players. The biggest disappointment to me has been Ryder, I am hoping this is a sophomore jinx. He has to learn to get the puck out of his wing in the defensive zone. His passing and puck carrying has regressed. That being said he flat out knows how to put the puck in the net.

[CerebusClone]

I haven't atended a american school so maybe it's just me but I don't agree at all on Michael Ryder.

Michael Ryder. He scored 30 goals in his second NHL season. A player that scores goals on a team that doesn't score much. I'd say he one of the most valuable players on this team. I would give him a B+.

And Cristobal Huet is of course an A+.

Actually, it might be easier for Ryder to score on a low scoring team, since he gets a lot more ice time her ethan he would on the high scoring Senators, Trahsers, or Detroit teams. Like I said, his goals look good on paper, but when I watch him play on the ice, I'm not impressed. He also missed too many good scoring opportunites, and hardly ever created any for his linemates this year. As somebody mentionned before me, I too feel he has actually regressed from his rookie season.

But he's got the potential to be a very good player, and I hope he corrects whatever little bugs he has in his game so that he can make the jump from being an average top 6 winger to a very good one.

Edited April 20, 2006 by CerebusClone

[JLP]

Individually I think I'd agree with most of the ratings you gave, they seemed hard but fair.

The team as a whole I would give a B-, we made the playoffs and but for a slump midseason and a few lame games the 05/06 Habs often showed heart and persistence. With our young players coming up have good potential to improve in the playoffs and next season.

Go Habs Go!

[habschris]

People sure are tough on Ryder, let's see he is leading the team in goal scoring. People are right he isn't a #1 RW, he is a solid #2. He is a goal scorer, he needs his team mates to set him up, he can't set them up. He also doesn't have great speed. Kovalev's line is the one that needs to change, Kovy is a play maker and 25-30 goal scorer, he needs to play with people with higher skill. Ribiero is a puck handler, not a shooter. Also his LW has been different all year. Kovy is the #1 RW. Why are people under rating or not giving credit to the 3rd and 4th liners? Why do you think Buffalo is so successfull, they roll four lines night after night, they all have there roles. This team started playing better when players like Downey, Begin, Murray, even Bonk started playing more and having roles. Let's not forget before injuries the Perez Pleks Murray line was very effective. 3rd and 4th line players make the difference most nights. When those guys are in the line up the habs are a tougher team to play against.