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Post by Skilly on Aug 16, 2020 22:15:27 GMT -5
The iron has saved Hart three times tonight but, credit to him, he looks sharp positionally. He gave Drouin nothing on that partial breakaway and Drouin's shot there reflected a guy who didn't see any net and lacked the quality to rip it into a corner. The Habs power plays looked terrible. Drouin tried to go short side, which was a poor decision. I understand why he tried to go just under the blocker. But for any rebound chance to score, the shot had to go glove side where the MTL players were coming. The short side eliminated any chance of a rebound garbage goal
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Post by folatre on Aug 16, 2020 22:16:40 GMT -5
Good post, Skilly. I concur. Besides Kotkaniemi who was super dangerous with the puck on his blade, the rest of the forwards were painful to watch. Okay, maybe I'll give the fourth line a pass because they did not play much and logically no one is expecting much of them. And maybe I'll give Suzuki a pass because he is a 21 year old rookie playing the pivot against some good rival centres. But the rest of the forwards -- Gallagher, Tatar, Drouin, Domi, Danault, Byron, Lehkonen -- were all on the spectrum between mediocre and pitiful.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 16, 2020 22:25:30 GMT -5
Is it worth watching? Or go straight to delete? The Flyers played a great 'road game' ... their fore check caused that rhythm NWTHF was talking about ... the team looked off all night, and other than 3(?) goalposts, the focus was on the Flyers who carried a lot of the play ... Montreal had their chances but the Flyers looked a lot more structured than they were in Game 2 ... a good response by the Flyers, and we're still hanging with them ... Cheers.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 16, 2020 22:30:38 GMT -5
Kk s becoming a dominant, elite centre before our eyes. Not there yet, but he’s looking dangerous on almost every shift and before long it wont matter who the other team puts against him. So impressed. He looks better with every game.
Did I hear someone mumble “Tkachuk”?
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Post by Andrew on Aug 16, 2020 22:46:48 GMT -5
Credit to the flyers for taking away time and space. They had 23 blocked shots and a stick in every passing lane. When they take away the Habs’ speed in the neutral zone and force us to the outside it’s hard to get anything going.
On the flip side the Habs were pretty good in their own end. The flyers really didn’t have much going offensively either.
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Post by UberCranky on Aug 16, 2020 23:53:22 GMT -5
This is bullocks. We're we trying to shoot through the side of the net? Was the slot radioactive?
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Post by PTH on Aug 17, 2020 0:08:10 GMT -5
Is it worth watching? Or go straight to delete? Well, it's not like guys didn't show up. They just didn't manage to create offense.
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Post by PTH on Aug 17, 2020 0:12:19 GMT -5
Muller starting to shuffle his centres a bit to see if can find a spark somewhere. I thought he started too late, if you're going to fiddle with lines, do it when guys get a few shifts before the game is over, now they were still adjusting on their 2nd shift with different linemates when Carey got pulled.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 17, 2020 0:55:27 GMT -5
Reading some of Andrew Berkshire's stats. There were remarkably few high danger scoring chances...for either team. Goalposts and bars, but not much sustained pressure, again from either team. It was not an exciting 1-0 game as some are.
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Post by habsorbed on Aug 17, 2020 0:56:34 GMT -5
Muller starting to shuffle his centres a bit to see if can find a spark somewhere. I thought he started too late, if you're going to fiddle with lines, do it when guys get a few shifts before the game is over, now they were still adjusting on their 2nd shift with different linemates when Carey got pulled. Muller put the Danny, Gally Tatar line back together at the end. That better not be the case in game 4. I had thought we had moved on from that playing not to lose CJ method.
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Post by habsorbed on Aug 17, 2020 0:58:18 GMT -5
Well, the boys played like they were in mid-season form - not a good thing for a 500 team.
But despite a pretty lacklustre performance by most Habs, I'm feeling good that the Flyers still only managed a 1-0 win with a very solid/lucky goalie. If this is all the Flyers can muster after a 5-0 drubbing then I still think this is doable,
But other than KK who was a monster again, and Suze somewhat, the Boys were off. Danny struggled as did Gally. Good news there is that I expect both to be much better Tuesday. I'm predicting Gally gets one Tuesday. Weber also struggled mightily as did Petry. At least Domi was hustling and was engaged.
Really happy with Mete the last 2 games. Always interesting to see how payers change with a different coach.
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Post by habsorbed on Aug 17, 2020 1:05:24 GMT -5
We've now played 7 'playoff' games and hopefully MB is paying attention. Armia has been our worst forward game in game out which is why he is now on the 4th line. Get Poehling in there. Drouin continues to be Drouin - never engages and shies away from any contact, and when the puck is on his stick it is almost a certainty it will be on an opponent's stick shortly. If MB truly believes the goal is to make the playoffs and "anything can happen" then you can't have Armia and Drouin on your team as they will ensure nothing happens. I give Muller credit for having KK and Suze out when we pulled Carey - BUT what has Drouin done to deserve to be out there?
We're not going to win the Cup this year but we should be using the experience to help the youngins and to gage who of the veterans is worth keeping. I'm ecstatic about KK and Suze - they are the future. Hell, even Hughson and Simpson recognize this young promising talent. If we want to be successful and shed salary we need to dump Drouin and Armia.
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Post by UberCranky on Aug 17, 2020 5:54:52 GMT -5
For me, it's absolutely clear that unless we win this series, it was nothing more then lipstick on a pig.
Winning a game by 5 goals and losing the series by close games is still....LOOSING.
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Post by GNick99 on Aug 17, 2020 6:34:00 GMT -5
For me, it's absolutely clear that unless we win this series, it was nothing more then lipstick on a pig. Winning a game by 5 goals and losing the series by close games is still....LOOSING. That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime.
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Post by UberCranky on Aug 17, 2020 7:09:39 GMT -5
For me, it's absolutely clear that unless we win this series, it was nothing more then lipstick on a pig. Winning a game by 5 goals and losing the series by close games is still....LOOSING. That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. Whoever has "emerged" will also have emerged in the future, during the season. Price is playing great as he always could. What we haven't done is add to our lackluster offense through drafting. "Happy to be here" doesn't mean much other then a quick sugar fix. I prefer the bitter medicine of a long term cure.
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Post by BadCompany on Aug 17, 2020 7:12:38 GMT -5
Not the most exciting game I've ever seen...
* Sometimes you just gotta credit the other goalie. He wasn't Halakian by any means, but Carter Hart was very good. He reminds me of Carey Price in that he's always so calm in the net, always in perfect position, gives you virtually nothing to shoot at, and what little there is he quickly takes away. I see a lot of people criticizing Drouin, but that was a really nice save. If that was Price making that save we'd be talking about how big he looked in the net, and how quickly he shot out that leg to make the save. The hole was there on the lower left side... until it wasn't. That was a very good save. Even the posts weren't really in any danger of going in - Hart had those angles shut down pretty good.
* Speaking of Drouin, I know he's our new whipping boy, who can do no right, but in my humble opinion he's been just fine. Arguably our 4th or 5th best forward all series, after Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, and Danault (who admittedly wasn't particularly great last night). He's been going to the net (that's where all his points so far have come from), backchecking hard, working the side wall, and seems generally pretty engaged. His zone entries still leave a lot to be desired, but he's been surprisingly good in the defensive zone, if you ask me. Not Phil Danault good, but better than Domi, again in my opinion.
* If we're going to criticize somebody, it should be Brendan Gallagher. His shot looks weak, his puck handling has been atrocious, and he hasn't been nearly as big a pain in the butt that he normally is, moreso when you consider we're facing off against a goalie making his playoff debut. He hasn't been involved in any scrums, hasn't bumped Hart at all, isn't antagonizing anyone. He seems hurt.
* Well, Gallagher and Armia. I feel bad for Armia, because he is EXACTLY the kind of player we need. Big, strong, good skater, good shot... he's the perfect winger for a Domi-Kotkaniemi line. But alas...
* I don't know if it's true or not, but I read on Twitter that the Flyers haven't lost in over two years in games officiated by Chris Lee.
* I like Arturri Lehkohen, I do... he works hard, creates chances, is always all over the puck, is super-strong defensively... but...
* Kotkaniemi needs to be the wing-man on the power-play. With his shot, he needs to getting the puck in the Domi/Drouin position, where he can wheel out and either pass, or wire that wrister of his (wow!). The only thing I wonder is if he has a terrible one-timer. If he adds that to his repertoire (assuming he doesn't already have it), then he will be a very dangerous power-play player.
* Best game Victor Mete has played these playoffs. He's really good when he uses his speed to carry the puck both out of the defensive zone, and into the offensive zone. And when he jumps up as a trailer. All of which he was doing last night. I read last summer that he has been working on his shot, and it showed during the regular season. If he keeps doing that, he's going to be just fine. We forget how young he is - he JUST turned 22 in June. He's only five months older than Cale Fleury.
* Speaking of, I've been pleasantly surprised by Xavier Ouellet. I mean, not "oh-he's-the-heir-apparent-to-Shea-Weber" surprised, but I was expecting him to be a liability. He has not been a liability. In fact, he's eating up a lot of penalty killing minutes that would otherwise go to some of our top 4 guys. It will be interesting to see what they do with him. He's an RFA this summer, and probably believes he can play in the NHL. At least for a bad team anyways. He's a viable #7 option, if you don't want a kid sitting in the stands. But he's also 27 years old, and I don't know if he wants to spend most of the year in Laval, or bouncing up and down with the uncertainty being on waivers brings. He can probably make a good living in Europe. My guess is the Habs give him a good one-way contract, that guarantees him money, but not a roster spot. Something in the 2 year, $950,000 range. If everybody is healthy he's the captain of the Rocket. If not, he's our #7 until Romanov or Leskinen takes it away from him.
* Brett Kulak has been fading. He was soooo good against Pittsburgh, but I find he's been slowly fading against Philadelphia. Not bad... just not as good. If he consistently plays like he did against the Penguins then we don't have a left-d problem. But if he continues to fade...
Tough loss in the sense that once again, they played with the Flyers. But there are no moral victories, less so in the playoffs. Still, seeing the emergence of Suzuki and Kotkaniemi has been thoroughly entertaining.
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Post by jkr on Aug 17, 2020 7:17:15 GMT -5
For me, it's absolutely clear that unless we win this series, it was nothing more then lipstick on a pig. Winning a game by 5 goals and losing the series by close games is still....LOOSING. That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. Philly is top seed only by virtue of the 3 game round robin. It was clear when the season stoped in March that Boston & TB are the class of the East. I think the 5-0 Game was an anomaly & what we saw in games 1 and 3 is the norm for this team
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Post by BadCompany on Aug 17, 2020 7:49:36 GMT -5
That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. Philly is top seed only by virtue of the 3 game round robin. It was clear when the season stoped in March that Boston & TB are the class of the East. I think the 5-0 Game was an anomaly & what we saw in games 1 and 3 is the norm for this team Philly was 9-1 over their last ten games, before the pause. They were 19-8-1 from January 1st to the pause. They were three points behind Tampa, with a game in hand (92 points to 89). If you add in the three games they won in the round-robin, and the two games they've won against us, they are 24-9-1 in 2020. They were 6th overall in the league, and surging. 6th overall in goals for, and 6th overall in goals against. Triples 6ths, Team of the Beast. They are a really good team.
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Post by folatre on Aug 17, 2020 8:02:29 GMT -5
The Flyers worked hard to keep Montreal on the perimeter, so credit to them. But the Habs are susceptible to being kept away from the high incident areas.
I am thoroughly enjoying the emergence of Kotkaniemi and Suzuki. It bodes well for the team's strength down the middle. However, for me Bergevin needs to do some significant reconstructive surgery to the group of wingers. There is not a single natural born sniper among them. And as a group there are too many redundant pieces.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 17, 2020 8:12:35 GMT -5
Carey Price and our D have surrendered just 3 goals in three games in this series. That is nearly perfect in the playoffs. However, with only three goals against in three games, we are also down two games to one. That is nearly impossible to do. I get that the Flyers are a well structured defensive team that plays tight and takes away time and space (hey, so do we...three goals against in three games), but these are “typical” playoff games where teams and forwards have to learn to play through tight checking and take advantage of your fewer chances.
If Berg, Mellanby, etc are watching this carefully (and no doubt they are), then they are seeing both the emergence of two young players but also which other forwards are able to and not able to raise their game in the playoffs. If they see what we are seeing (and no doubt they are), then not all of our pending free agent forwards should get that overpayment renewal contract. We shall see what the next few offseasons bring.
Weber (35) and Price (33) are playing about as perfectly as you could ask for given their ages. It remains to be seen if they could do this for a full playoff run. However, for those that believe in windows, their collective window has a short remaining runway. That alone should also drive some offseason tweaks to keep your veteran leaders knowing that you are trying to stay competitive while also allowing your young prospects to get better. Otherwise you are also replacing those key roles before you truly achieve contender status. It has been soooo long.
Game four next. Philly are still very beatable, but the boys just need to amp it up in a few places. The new most important game of the season. 3-1 and 2-2 are emotionally light years apart. Both scenarios are equally achievable.
p.s. Mete is skating well and using that trait effectively in the last few games. It is also important to recognize he is doing it on his off-side in order to play alongside Ouellet. That pairing looked scary against the Pens, but Mete is adapting. I still wonder if Mete-Juulsen/Fleury would not have been a better option for a number of reasons, especially if you want to figure out what you really have with the recovered (or not) Juulsen. He has to clear waivers next year, so it looks like next training camp and exhibition games will be the final testing ground. I know, I know...too many young players and extra risks in the lineup.
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Post by UberCranky on Aug 17, 2020 13:59:55 GMT -5
Forgive me for my laziness...but I blame you and all the cyber trees you murdered for these posts.... Not the most exciting game I've ever seen... * Sometimes you just gotta credit the other goalie. He wasn't Halakian by any means, but Carter Hart was very good. He reminds me of Carey Price in that he's always so calm in the net, always in perfect position, gives you virtually nothing to shoot at, and what little there is he quickly takes away. I see a lot of people criticizing Drouin, but that was a really nice save. If that was Price making that save we'd be talking about how big he looked in the net, and how quickly he shot out that leg to make the save. The hole was there on the lower left side... until it wasn't. That was a very good save. Even the posts weren't really in any danger of going in - Hart had those angles shut down pretty good. * Speaking of Drouin, I know he's our new whipping boy, who can do no right, but in my humble opinion he's been just fine. Arguably our 4th or 5th best forward all series, after Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, and Danault (who admittedly wasn't particularly great last night). He's been going to the net (that's where all his points so far have come from), backchecking hard, working the side wall, and seems generally pretty engaged. His zone entries still leave a lot to be desired, but he's been surprisingly good in the defensive zone, if you ask me. Not Phil Danault good, but better than Domi, again in my opinion. The problem, which is not really a problem....is that we expect more results from someone who has elite level of talent. He hasn;t been our top 3 forward no matter how much we want him to be. * If we're going to criticize somebody, it should be Brendan Gallagher. His shot looks weak, his puck handling has been atrocious, and he hasn't been nearly as big a pain in the butt that he normally is, moreso when you consider we're facing off against a goalie making his playoff debut. He hasn't been involved in any scrums, hasn't bumped Hart at all, isn't antagonizing anyone. He seems hurt. I hope he is injured as an excuse because he has been a disappointment. Kind of stupid to repeatedly take 30 foot wrist shots into the goalies jersey. Its' almost like he thinks that if he takes enough low percentage shots, they will magically fool the goalie.* Well, Gallagher and Armia. I feel bad for Armia, because he is EXACTLY the kind of player we need. Big, strong, good skater, good shot... he's the perfect winger for a Domi-Kotkaniemi line. But alas... Armia reminds me of Eller, or at least Eller junior. We should NOT trade him because he is the perfect 4th liner...and can play up to the second line in a pinch. * I don't know if it's true or not, but I read on Twitter that the Flyers haven't lost in over two years in games officiated by Chris Lee. * I like Arturri Lehkohen, I do... he works hard, creates chances, is always all over the puck, is super-strong defensively... but... * Kotkaniemi needs to be the wing-man on the power-play. With his shot, he needs to getting the puck in the Domi/Drouin position, where he can wheel out and either pass, or wire that wrister of his (wow!). The only thing I wonder is if he has a terrible one-timer. If he adds that to his repertoire (assuming he doesn't already have it), then he will be a very dangerous power-play player. * Best game Victor Mete has played these playoffs. He's really good when he uses his speed to carry the puck both out of the defensive zone, and into the offensive zone. And when he jumps up as a trailer. All of which he was doing last night. I read last summer that he has been working on his shot, and it showed during the regular season. If he keeps doing that, he's going to be just fine. We forget how young he is - he JUST turned 22 in June. He's only five months older than Cale Fleury. * Speaking of, I've been pleasantly surprised by Xavier Ouellet. I mean, not "oh-he's-the-heir-apparent-to-Shea-Weber" surprised, but I was expecting him to be a liability. He has not been a liability. In fact, he's eating up a lot of penalty killing minutes that would otherwise go to some of our top 4 guys. It will be interesting to see what they do with him. He's an RFA this summer, and probably believes he can play in the NHL. At least for a bad team anyways. He's a viable #7 option, if you don't want a kid sitting in the stands. But he's also 27 years old, and I don't know if he wants to spend most of the year in Laval, or bouncing up and down with the uncertainty being on waivers brings. He can probably make a good living in Europe. My guess is the Habs give him a good one-way contract, that guarantees him money, but not a roster spot. Something in the 2 year, $950,000 range. If everybody is healthy he's the captain of the Rocket. If not, he's our #7 until Romanov or Leskinen takes it away from him. Like Kulak, a 26-27 year old, limited talent doing well in spurts. If these guys were in their early 20's, I would have some hope for them, but they are in the upper end of their "best years" with not much upside left. Maybe one of them can sustain a top 6 role, but that means Romanov, Julsen and Fleury are washouts.* Brett Kulak has been fading. He was soooo good against Pittsburgh, but I find he's been slowly fading against Philadelphia. Not bad... just not as good. If he consistently plays like he did against the Penguins then we don't have a left-d problem. But if he continues to fade... Head scratcher how he goes from a top 4 to a top 6 and in risk of falling off that ledge. I'm going to contribute it to limited talent. Yes, that limited talent can raise him to top 4 for a short period but it's not sustainable. The opposite of top end players who play like garbage for short periods.Tough loss in the sense that once again, they played with the Flyers. But there are no moral victories, less so in the playoffs. Still, seeing the emergence of Suzuki and Kotkaniemi has been thoroughly entertaining.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 17, 2020 14:09:18 GMT -5
For me, it's absolutely clear that unless we win this series, it was nothing more then lipstick on a pig. Winning a game by 5 goals and losing the series by close games is still....LOOSING. That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. They might be the top seed, but that's because they got hot for a short stint. Do you think they're better than Boston? Or Carolina? Or Tampa? Or even the Islanders? One thing that has surprised me is just how not fast they are. Yeah there's a guy on each line who might have some wheels, but the other two don't. Even their top line isn't a trio of speedsters. The key is time and space and if the Habs can minimize that as they did in game two, they can still take this. That old bugaboo (lack of scoring) is raising its ugly head again. What's en ouraging for the future is that KK has shown he can score, we're fairly sure Suzuki can score and Caufield is on the way. We simply need guys who can actually put the puck past a goalie instead of hitting them in the chest or wearing out a goalpost.
I agree that Chiarot and Kulak are playing really well. That poses a serious problem for Bergevin regarding the Seattle draft. If he doesn't trade Petry, he's being protected. Chiarot will be protected. Will he gamble that Weber won't be picked up? I doubt that very much and the pride aspect comes into play as well, so you can be assured Weber will be protected. Which leaves Mete and Kulak open. Both are playing well.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 17, 2020 14:29:13 GMT -5
* Speaking of Drouin, I know he's our new whipping boy, who can do no right, but in my humble opinion he's been just fine. Arguably our 4th or 5th best forward all series, after Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, and Danault (who admittedly wasn't particularly great last night). He's been going to the net (that's where all his points so far have come from), backchecking hard, working the side wall, and seems generally pretty engaged. His zone entries still leave a lot to be desired, but he's been surprisingly good in the defensive zone, if you ask me. Not Phil Danault good, but better than Domi, again in my opinion. He hasn't been bad, but we traded a potential top pairing D for him (who is progressing at a good pace) and our expectations are, and should be, beyond ok. He should be our most dangerous forward. Then, no one would complain. * If we're going to criticize somebody, it should be Brendan Gallagher. His shot looks weak, his puck handling has been atrocious, and he hasn't been nearly as big a pain in the butt that he normally is, moreso when you consider we're facing off against a goalie making his playoff debut. He hasn't been involved in any scrums, hasn't bumped Hart at all, isn't antagonizing anyone. He seems hurt. I'd bet the house on the fact he's hurt. * Well, Gallagher and Armia. I feel bad for Armia, because he is EXACTLY the kind of player we need. Big, strong, good skater, good shot... he's the perfect winger for a Domi-Kotkaniemi line. But alas... Our opinions on Armia have varied from "Wow what a steal by Bergevin!" to "He's the big body we need with all the right attributes.....but.....". Cheveldayoff isn't an idiot and while he'd have to pay to get rid of that Steve Mason contract, its not as if it was a horrible long term anchor, so he wasn't going to give away Nik Ehlers. We got a good checking winger, that's it. Don't expect more. BTW, doesn't that sound like Bergevin's Modus Operandi? "I picked up another good checking winger! Let's celebrate!" * Kotkaniemi needs to be the wing-man on the power-play. With his shot, he needs to getting the puck in the Domi/Drouin position, where he can wheel out and either pass, or wire that wrister of his (wow!). The only thing I wonder is if he has a terrible one-timer. If he adds that to his repertoire (assuming he doesn't already have it), then he will be a very dangerous power-play player. Said that months ago. Best PP line-up means using KK on the right wing boards and Suzuki on the LW boards. I stand by my assertion. BTW, if you watched the World U18's a couple of years ago, you may recall KK smashing in a one timer on the PP from exactly that location. A rocket, top corner. His shot, if anything, is heavier now. That first post he hit was from above the hash marks and it was an explosion. Who needs a slapshot? BTW, I really miss a great slap shot. What happened to those? * Best game Victor Mete has played these playoffs. He's really good when he uses his speed to carry the puck both out of the defensive zone, and into the offensive zone. And when he jumps up as a trailer. All of which he was doing last night. I read last summer that he has been working on his shot, and it showed during the regular season. If he keeps doing that, he's going to be just fine. We forget how young he is - he JUST turned 22 in June. He's only five months older than Cale Fleury. * Speaking of, I've been pleasantly surprised by Xavier Ouellet. I mean, not "oh-he's-the-heir-apparent-to-Shea-Weber" surprised, but I was expecting him to be a liability. He has not been a liability. In fact, he's eating up a lot of penalty killing minutes that would otherwise go to some of our top 4 guys. It will be interesting to see what they do with him. He's an RFA this summer, and probably believes he can play in the NHL. At least for a bad team anyways. He's a viable #7 option, if you don't want a kid sitting in the stands. But he's also 27 years old, and I don't know if he wants to spend most of the year in Laval, or bouncing up and down with the uncertainty being on waivers brings. He can probably make a good living in Europe. My guess is the Habs give him a good one-way contract, that guarantees him money, but not a roster spot. Something in the 2 year, $950,000 range. If everybody is healthy he's the captain of the Rocket. If not, he's our #7 until Romanov or Leskinen takes it away from him. * Brett Kulak has been fading. He was soooo good against Pittsburgh, but I find he's been slowly fading against Philadelphia. Not bad... just not as good. If he consistently plays like he did against the Penguins then we don't have a left-d problem. But if he continues to fade... These are all interconnected so.... Yeah, I don't know what the complaining about Ouellette is all about. He looked fine to me. Is faster than I expected. He's been a good 3rd pairing guy, but maybe Philly hasn't been able to exploit what must be some deficiency in his play or else he'd have been in the NHL a while ago. Mete has been good, but that size thing. Troy Stecher is much the same type of player. Moves the puck well. Skates well. Gets manhandled a lot. He was -3 last night. Stecher, not Mete. I think you're right about Kulak. He did seem to become less efficient as the game went on. Man, this team sure has a hot start, cold finish personality.
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Post by UberCranky on Aug 17, 2020 15:00:57 GMT -5
That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. They might be the top seed, but that's because they got hot for a short stint. Do you think they're better than Boston? Or Carolina? Or Tampa? Or even the Islanders? One thing that has surprised me is just how not fast they are. Yeah there's a guy on each line who might have some wheels, but the other two don't. Even their top line isn't a trio of speedsters. The key is time and space and if the Habs can minimize that as they did in game two, they can still take this. That old bugaboo (lack of scoring) is raising its ugly head again. What's en ouraging for the future is that KK has shown he can score, we're fairly sure Suzuki can score and Caufield is on the way. We simply need guys who can actually put the puck past a goalie instead of hitting them in the chest or wearing out a goalpost.
I agree that Chiarot and Kulak are playing really well. That poses a serious problem for Bergevin regarding the Seattle draft. If he doesn't trade Petry, he's being protected. Chiarot will be protected. Will he gamble that Weber won't be picked up? I doubt that very much and the pride aspect comes into play as well, so you can be assured Weber will be protected. Which leaves Mete and Kulak open. Both are playing well.
One can be quick but that doesn't mean they are fast. Also, that "quick" is a matter of positioning and anticipation. When the Habs are playing well, they are in constant motion and playing a 200 foot game. Someone like Weber, who was never fast to begin with can forward pass and move forward. Even if his top end is a really slow 20MPH versus a speedsters 30mph, the actual spread in time to cover 100 feet is......29 feet per second, translating into 3 seconds to cover 100ft versus 44 feet per second or about 2.3 seconds. Net spread of .7 seconds. Acceleration also has to be taken in consideration, but in the end, it's about a second or so. When people argue that Weber is slowing down, yes, that may be true in absolute terms BUT, in reality, unless his mind becomes an Atari, his positioning and experience should keep him away from straight up foot races. Sooo.....we are QUICK team when we are playing a high tempo 200 foot game.
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Post by GNick99 on Aug 17, 2020 15:31:07 GMT -5
That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. Whoever has "emerged" will also have emerged in the future, during the season. Price is playing great as he always could. What we haven't done is add to our lackluster offense through drafting. "Happy to be here" doesn't mean much other then a quick sugar fix. I prefer the bitter medicine of a long term cure. Not really. Going head to head with greats of the game, like a Crosby or Malkin should hasten the maturity of a player. Pollock used playoff success to mature a player numerous times. He said they gain confidence, handle more responibility and increases their will to win in future.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 17, 2020 18:42:37 GMT -5
They might be the top seed, but that's because they got hot for a short stint. Do you think they're better than Boston? Or Carolina? Or Tampa? Or even the Islanders? One thing that has surprised me is just how not fast they are. Yeah there's a guy on each line who might have some wheels, but the other two don't. Even their top line isn't a trio of speedsters. The key is time and space and if the Habs can minimize that as they did in game two, they can still take this. That old bugaboo (lack of scoring) is raising its ugly head again. What's en ouraging for the future is that KK has shown he can score, we're fairly sure Suzuki can score and Caufield is on the way. We simply need guys who can actually put the puck past a goalie instead of hitting them in the chest or wearing out a goalpost.
I agree that Chiarot and Kulak are playing really well. That poses a serious problem for Bergevin regarding the Seattle draft. If he doesn't trade Petry, he's being protected. Chiarot will be protected. Will he gamble that Weber won't be picked up? I doubt that very much and the pride aspect comes into play as well, so you can be assured Weber will be protected. Which leaves Mete and Kulak open. Both are playing well.
One can be quick but that doesn't mean they are fast. Also, that "quick" is a matter of positioning and anticipation. When the Habs are playing well, they are in constant motion and playing a 200 foot game. Someone like Weber, who was never fast to begin with can forward pass and move forward. Even if his top end is a really slow 20MPH versus a speedsters 30mph, the actual spread in time to cover 100 feet is......29 feet per second, translating into 3 seconds to cover 100ft versus 44 feet per second or about 2.3 seconds. Net spread of .7 seconds. Acceleration also has to be taken in consideration, but in the end, it's about a second or so. When people argue that Weber is slowing down, yes, that may be true in absolute terms BUT, in reality, unless his mind becomes an Atari, his positioning and experience should keep him away from straight up foot races. Sooo.....we are QUICK team when we are playing a high tempo 200 foot game. I'm going to differ here about Weber (Crowd rises in shock!) He's not slow. If he was in a foot race with many players I doubt he loses (or loses by much except to above average guys). Now if you put some pylons on the ice and ask him to be agile instead of just skating in a straight line, he'll have difficulties. He's the heavy cruiser that can go 25 knots or so, but can't avoid a torpedo. So when I criticize his skating, it's that twisting and turning where he can be taken advantage of. Pacioretty is a bit like that. Long powerful stride so he looks like he's not trying hard or going fast, but he is. (Waits for the incoming)
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Aug 18, 2020 3:54:30 GMT -5
That is quite the pessimistic outlook to have on things. We are playing the top seed in east and not only play with them but giving them all they can handle. Seeing the emergence of young stars like Koktaniemi and Suzuki. Price has re-established himself as a good money goalie, Chiarot and Kulak are having a playoff of a lifetime. Whoever has "emerged" will also have emerged in the future, during the season. Price is playing great as he always could. What we haven't done is add to our lackluster offense through drafting. "Happy to be here" doesn't mean much other then a quick sugar fix. I prefer the bitter medicine of a long term cure. We are a hardworking team that lacks top end skill. You can draw X’s and O’s For the power play, but if the players lack skill its on the GM. The players are trying and the coach is coaching. A great jockey cant ride a little donkey to Kentucky Derby victory. Bergevin started with a strong team and 8 years later we get excited by good effort and participation trophies. Time for Molson to fix the problem he has failed to address.
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