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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 16, 2018 10:51:22 GMT -5
Teasdale was the prospect of the night last night, with a hat trick and a three point game.
Fonstad with a second straight two assist night. He has 15 points in his last 10 games. Nice saucer pass on that first helper.
With an assist last night, Walford has 7 points in his last 4 games. I like how he moves the puck up to allow a controlled zone entry.
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Post by Anardil1 on Dec 16, 2018 11:30:57 GMT -5
I have to agree with you. Every time that I've been able to watch Smith, I've come away unimpressed. He gives me a Brisebois vibe, only physically smaller. I just don't see what the big deal is. So he'll have a 15+ year career, play over a thousand games, and win a Cup ? That ain't so bad. Sure, you can take that narrative. However, I still stand by my point that for a highly touted first round pick, I am left unimpressed. Like Brisebois, Smith is an offensive d-man that is weak in his own zone, and IMHO, highly overrated. Oh, and if you have seen Smith play, please tell me that my impression of Smith is wrong. |
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Post by PTH on Dec 16, 2018 12:12:41 GMT -5
So he'll have a 15+ year career, play over a thousand games, and win a Cup ? That ain't so bad. Sure, you can take that narrative. However, I still stand by my point that for a highly touted first round pick, I am left unimpressed. Like Brisebois, Smith is an offensive d-man that is weak in his own zone, and IMHO, highly overrated. Oh, and if you have seen Smith play, please tell me that my impression of Smith is wrong. I haven't seen him, though I'd say your appreciation for Brisebois seems to be lacking, IMO. Our current Habs team could use a Brisebois or two. |
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Post by seventeen on Dec 16, 2018 14:22:49 GMT -5
Sure, you can take that narrative. However, I still stand by my point that for a highly touted first round pick, I am left unimpressed. Like Brisebois, Smith is an offensive d-man that is weak in his own zone, and IMHO, highly overrated. Oh, and if you have seen Smith play, please tell me that my impression of Smith is wrong. I haven't seen him, though I'd say your appreciation for Brisebois seems to be lacking, IMO. Our current Habs team could use a Brisebois or two. AS long as you don't have too many. Breezer was a very good puck handler and transition guy. He'd do well in today's NHL. He certainly didn't like the physical stuff, though and avoided it as much as he could. I think that's what angered fans about his style of play. It was a slower league then and physicality played a larger role. Still, I remember another guy like that, J.C. Tremblay, and I'd take him on my team any day. Tremblay was a puck magician. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 17, 2018 8:39:44 GMT -5
Tyszka had a pair of assists last night. He is #5 in white.
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Post by Anardil1 on Dec 17, 2018 11:15:44 GMT -5
Sure, you can take that narrative. However, I still stand by my point that for a highly touted first round pick, I am left unimpressed. Like Brisebois, Smith is an offensive d-man that is weak in his own zone, and IMHO, highly overrated. Oh, and if you have seen Smith play, please tell me that my impression of Smith is wrong. I haven't seen him, though I'd say your appreciation for Brisebois seems to be lacking, IMO. Our current Habs team could use a Brisebois or two. There already are Brisebois types on the Habs: 1- 'Better' Brisebois: Petry. More consistent offensive production, slightly less defensively weak. About the same turnover potential. VASTLY superior shot. That is one thing that most forget about Brisebois. His point shot was pathetic. I can't remember a shot that was blocked more often than Brisebois'. I think that Mete is a worse shooter than Brisebois. 2- 'Worse' Brisebois: Reilly. All offense, all adventure in the defensive end. IF Reilly can produce more consistently, AND round out his game in his own end, he may carve out a niche and have a similar career as Brisebois. It is a long shot however, IMHO. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 18, 2018 11:39:09 GMT -5
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Post by blny on Dec 18, 2018 14:33:25 GMT -5
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Post by folatre on Dec 18, 2018 20:22:32 GMT -5
Keeping with the WHL defender theme, looks like Brook is practising on the left side paired with Bouchard at the WJC camp. I guess this is how Coach Hunter will rebalance a roster with very strong and deep RHD compared to LHD. Brook does play on the left on the PP with Jett Woo, and someone noted that he played on the left the last few league games. We shall see. Good call, I had noticed that Brook is comfortable on the left side, which is unusual for right stick blue liner, at least in Canada and Europe. That phenomenon tends to be more common in the U.S. because youth hockey there has so few left handed players. Assuming Bergevin and the player development people in the organization are open minded about letting a young d-man play the off side, it would probably be good news for Montreal and for the player since the left side of the Habs d-corps has been an absolute mess since Bergevin's purge of the defense in the summer of 2017. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 19, 2018 8:58:26 GMT -5
The WJC pre competition games have begun. SWE-RUS squared off last night, with Romanov scoring one of the two Russian goals. Olofsson was held without a point (although the game ended 4-2, they played a "practice" OT period and Olofsson scored the "winner" in OT).
TSN has Canada’s first pre tourney game tonight against the Swiss. Game time 8:00 pm ET and Brook and Suzuki will be on display.
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Dec 20, 2018 0:33:14 GMT -5
Sure, you can take that narrative. However, I still stand by my point that for a highly touted first round pick, I am left unimpressed. Like Brisebois, Smith is an offensive d-man that is weak in his own zone, and IMHO, highly overrated. Oh, and if you have seen Smith play, please tell me that my impression of Smith is wrong. I haven't seen him, though I'd say your appreciation for Brisebois seems to be lacking, IMO. Our current Habs team could use a Brisebois or two. Current team could use Red Light Racicot and Rucinsky. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 20, 2018 10:16:09 GMT -5
Ylonen played in some pre-tourney action last night, getting a three point night against the Danes.
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Post by Anardil1 on Dec 20, 2018 11:44:29 GMT -5
Speaking about other Hab prospects, Brook and Suzuki, Brook had an awful game last night. Thankfully he has two more games to improve, otherwise he's going to be battling MacIsaac for the 7th d-man. Suzuki had an ok game. Nothing he showed stood out positively or negatively. IMHO of course.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2018 15:17:23 GMT -5
A real shame for Hillis to be out for up to two months, as he was playing some pretty good hockey of late.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2018 15:44:48 GMT -5
A solid mid-season report card on our NCAA prospects. This WJC will be a big one for Poehling, as he has seen his shot attempts go down a fair bit this season in the NCAA. Hopefully the WJC coaching staff will hammer into him the need to use his decent shot more. Primeau is in a big battle with young Knight and Keyser for the starting goalie position at the WJC. He did play half the game against the Russians and did not give up a goal (Knight played the other half, and gave up two goals). Knight is a highly coveted 2019 draft pick, so Primeau does get the edge in experience. We shall see who gets the final nod. Evans, Primeau and Stapley are all seventh rounders. I have no idea how Timmins and company keeps finding interesting prospects in the last round, but let's hope they can keep it going. www.habseyesontheprize.com/catching-the-torch/2018/12/20/18143813/catching-the-torch-mid-season-review-montreal-canadiens-ncaa-prospects-poehling-primeau-harris |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2018 15:49:53 GMT -5
Brook, Suzuki and the rest of Team Canada face off against Slovakia tonight in another WJC warm up game.
TSN tonight at 8:00 pm ET.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2018 20:31:55 GMT -5
Suzuki scores. Great puck possession by JAD.
Suzuki does a nice job staying in motion and finding the open spots. Goalscorer’s instincts.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 23, 2018 9:36:20 GMT -5
Olofsson seems to like these practice OT sessions. This is the second one in which he has scored.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 23, 2018 14:03:06 GMT -5
Final warm up for Team Canada. Three prospects featured in this game: Brook, Suzuki and Ylonen.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 24, 2018 0:22:20 GMT -5
A very nice assist by Suzuki #17 on the PP, after a great shot that almost snuck in.
Ylonen #27 with a great PP play on the left half wall. Snaps a hard shot, and Lundell whips home the rebound.
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Post by seventeen on Dec 24, 2018 1:27:18 GMT -5
Ylonen took the shot thst Scott couldn’t handle and Lundell put in the rebound.
Just catching up on the game after taping it. Suzuki has been good but Brook has been REALLY good IMO. Much improved from the Swiss game. 4-1 Finland but I don’t think Brook has been on for any Finnish goals.
Sure hope Lafreniere starts to assert himself because I haven’t seen anyone beat an opponent one on one yet. Need some offensive creativity.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 24, 2018 11:01:56 GMT -5
Ylonen took the shot thst Scott couldn’t handle and Lundell put in the rebound. Just catching up on the game after taping it. Suzuki has been good but Brook has been REALLY good IMO. Much improved from the Swiss game. 4-1 Finland but I don’t think Brook has been on for any Finnish goals. Sure hope Lafreniere starts to assert himself because I haven’t seen anyone beat an opponent one on one yet. Need some offensive creativity. Agree on Brook. That was his best game by far. He seemed much more settled in and looked like how he has played in Moose Jaw this season: good decisions on when to pinch, nice puck carrying skills, great pass/shot in the O zone, good passes out for controlled exits out of the D zone. He also played some shifts on LHD and some on RHD too. Team Canada's defense does need to tighten up a bit. There were a few missed checks by Bouchard (he is not strong in his own end) and Mitchell, and I thought that MacIsaac has looked a bit overwhelmed at times. The starting goalie spot is also still very wide open. In a short tourney like this, Canada will ride the hot goalie. Right now after 1.5 games each in pre-tourney warm up, neither has been better than luke warm. They are both better goalies than we have seen to date. Ylonen's skating and good shot were on display last night. Nice to see him get some PP time on the left side half wall. With two stud RWs in Tolvanen and Kakko, Ylonen is a bit of a victim of Finland's greatest depth at any position this year. Good to see him get decent ice time overall. Suzuki did make a really weak and poor back pass on the 5 on 3, but did look pretty decent out there on the PP and on his line. He too sometimes lined up in the middle and some times on the RW. The one thing that is noticeable about him is how he keeps in motion. He still does not have that powerful separation speed, but that could come as he gets older and stronger. Overall, his skating has improved a fair bit this season. Romanov was kept out of Russia's game against the Swiss last night for precautionary reasons. He is nursing a minor injury and Coach Bragin did not want to aggravate it. A few extra days to get better before things start for real on Boxing Day. The WJC...I am in my glory!! I really love watching and following this tournament. Great hockey (other than the blowout games against the teams fighting for relegation). I also am going to the CAN-SUI game on the 27th. That is always fun. |
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Post by seventeen on Dec 24, 2018 17:11:16 GMT -5
Switzerland can be a pain. Let's hope the boys knock them down early and often. I'm hoping the defensive errors are from not playing together much and that they clear up as the tournament progresses. I'm concerned about their scoring. Maybe I shouldn't be, but it would be nice to have a top end guy like Hughes, or Podkolzin or Kakko/Tolvanen. My hope is Lafreniere, but that's a lot to ask from one of the youngest players there.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 25, 2018 0:16:10 GMT -5
Switzerland can be a pain. Let's hope the boys knock them down early and often. I'm hoping the defensive errors are from not playing together much and that they clear up as the tournament progresses. I'm concerned about their scoring. Maybe I shouldn't be, but it would be nice to have a top end guy like Hughes, or Podkolzin or Kakko/Tolvanen. My hope is Lafreniere, but that's a lot to ask from one of the youngest players there. CAN does not have a go-to guy or game breaker like a few teams. They have depth. That can be both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. The Comtois line should be dominant. But will it be? A lot of top guys from their club teams, but can they up their game in the bigger stage? They have some good forwards. They have speed and skill. The defence is mobile, and can jump into the play. I prefer them moving the puck than playing in their zone though. Don’t get hemmed in. Both goalies have the potential of running this tourney based on their play. Heck, Scott and PA have only lost two games all season. That is nuts. I have to admit, I am not totally sold on DiPietro as much as our TSN experts. I will gladly eat crow if he helps us win gold. |
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Post by Anardil1 on Dec 25, 2018 12:06:26 GMT -5
For a team that was called the fastest team ever by coach Hunter, they were constantly behind the Finns. I know that they have only played exhibition games so far, but this edition of Team Canada hasn't given me a gold medal vibe. Hopefully that this is just a question of building chemistry. It will be interesting nevertheless. This is some of the best hockey to watch every year.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 28, 2018 10:59:15 GMT -5
Some non-WJC news as the CHL starts to get back from the holidays. Fonstad with three assists last night in a 4-3 OT win for PA. #24 in green.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 29, 2018 9:54:32 GMT -5
Fonstad had a goal and an assist last night. Another solid effort from him and his mates as they keep the wins coming in the absence of their starting goalie, Ian Scott, who is a bit busy right now with the WJC. Fonstad’s updated stats from this tweet are now 20 points in his last 12 games. He has also had five straight games with at least two points (two of them with 3 point nights). That is 12 points in his last 5 games.
McShane scored two goals last night. #61 in red.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 30, 2018 20:37:20 GMT -5
Last night Samuel Houde had a goal and three assists. Tyszka had a nice night too, with three helpers. The defender has 8 points in his last 8 games.
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Post by seventeen on Dec 30, 2018 22:51:10 GMT -5
I'd like to nominate myself as president of the Jarret Tyszka fan club.   |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 1, 2019 22:20:59 GMT -5
With a goal and an assist tonight, Fonstad now has 23 points in his last 14 games.
McShane also scored tonight, his 14th of the season.
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