Preseason Game 2 MTL @ TOR Wednesday Sept 28 @ 7 PM ET

[Willie Dog]

Game over...

[jkr]

Sept 28, 2022 19:26:21 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Sept 28, 2022 19:24:42 GMT -5 folatre said:

Frick, Armia with a golden opportunity in the lower slot, instead of roofing it on his forehand he gets cute and goes to the backhand muffin.

Armia is Finnish for muffin

He's like Roberto Duran - hands of stone. For me when I think of Armia I want to say " no mas".

[folatre]

Well, nothing is at stake and neither team put a wealth of NHL talent on the ice tonight, but somehow I still imagine St. Louis is not pleased with this performance.

[drkcloud]

1goal in 5 periods. Where's the creativity MSL was promoting?

[seventeen]

It’s a really inexperienced line-up for us. Does TO have anyone under 22 in the lineup? Giordano, Reilly and Brodie are 3 of TO’s top defensemen. We’ve got Schueneman and Wideman? Clearl the brass wants to see the kids to make decisions. I’d send Slafkovsky to Laval. He’s not ready. It’s funny the Sportsnet guys talking about the Leafs (almost completely) and making ANY decisions based on early preseason games.
Good interview with Xman. All our kids seem to have brainsvand don’t just spout cliches.

[seventeen]

Sept 28, 2022 19:55:23 GMT -5 drkcloud said:

1goal in 5 periods. Where's the creativity MSL was promoting?

Firstly, the lineups have been young and inexperienced. Secondly, what’s wrong with losing? We’ll be facing intense competition from the Hawks and Yotes.

[NWTHabsFan]

Sept 28, 2022 19:58:31 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Sept 28, 2022 19:55:23 GMT -5 drkcloud said:

1goal in 5 periods. Where's the creativity MSL was promoting?

Firstly, the lineups have been young and inexperienced. Secondly, what’s wrong with losing? We’ll be facing intense competition from the Hawks and Yotes.

That is still the case! Hard to judge how much fun they will be up front until we see the whole crew playing. These games give you almost nada on that front.

[NWTHabsFan]

Armia is in mid season form. Yippee

[folatre]

Yes, the Leafs have more experienced blueliners in tonight. But their forwards group is mostly a bunch of nobodies.

I have no problem finishing bottom five in the league this season. In fact, the additional infusion of high-end talent is absolutely necessary. However, I would prefer losing while providing some degree of entertainment for the fans.

[Boston_Habs]

Noticing Evans and Schueneman.

Evans just looks poised with the puck, doesn’t rush anything, always seems to make a play. Of course he’s out there with lots of kids but he just looks like a pro.

[Willie Dog]

Armia and pitlick kn the pp... nuff said

[Willie Dog]

They are over passing on the pp

[drkcloud]

Sept 28, 2022 20:28:18 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Armia and pitlick kn the pp... nuff said

Yes they'll be second team PP come regular season 😉

[Willie Dog]

Leafs win the cup!!! Leafs win the cup!!!

[Cranky]

Slaf...did they watch his regular season games? He's lost. Has no clue what to do with himself.

He needs a top notch center to help him out. Hope Monahan is playing and in a teaching mood.

Severely under-impressed from what I see..so far.

X...didn't do anything frightening like get dragged out of position. He's playing a safe, sound game.

[seventeen]

Sept 28, 2022 20:26:01 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Noticing Evans and Schueneman.

Evans just looks poised with the puck, doesn’t rush anything, always seems to make a play. Of course he’s out there with lots of kids but he just looks like a pro.

Ouch, I was thinking their transition game was not good at all. Too small and lost a lot of board battles. Passing was inconsistent, but that could be simply that it was early in the season.

[seventeen]

Sept 28, 2022 23:15:27 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Slaf...did they watch his regular season games? He's lost. Has no clue what to do with himself.

He needs a top notch center to help him out. Hope Monahan is playing and in a teaching mood.

Severely under-impressed from what I see..so far.

X...didn't do anything frightening like get dragged out of position. He's playing a safe, sound game.

Yeah, Slaf looks like a big, raw 18 year old.

[NWTHabsFan]

Preseason hockey. Sometimes, it just is what it is.

The warmup jerseys were cool. The ceremony was well done. The lineups were atrocious and the game was, for the most part, a disjointed snoozer. The Habs had to have two 18 year old first rounders in the lineup to meet the NHL minimum requirements for “veteran” players for a preseason lineup. Armia and Pitlick were the most experienced guys out there. Enuf said.

I know the lineup was bad, but Burrows’ PP still looks a long way from mid season form. A true measure will be when there are real NHL guys playing not a bunch of newbies trying to learn a bunch of new systems.

The young kids did show a few nice things, but there is still work to do. The key is, shockingly…development. And it takes time. And it takes finding the right environment for that individual development to progress as fast as it can. There will be decisions needed as to where it is best for a bunch of the young guys to play this season. HuGo talk about it all the time, now it will be execution stage.

There is a lot of scrutiny on Slafkovsky right now. A first overall pick in the biggest, and toughest market, is a big target on you. He still needs time to adjust his decision making and play to the speed of the game and the less time and space he keeps getting in these games than what he is used to. It will clearly take some time based on what we are seeing and the Habs have time. They don’t need a 18 saviour this upcoming season. But, they do have to get his development right. A lot of the other boards, the twitterverse and certain media are already circling like vultures. There is definitely more patience amongst the management team than the masses, so this will be a critical file for HuGo to manage, and communicate with said masses, to stop some future storming of the gates.

I won’t go into a rundown of loads of individual performances since it is rather unimportant after one game with such a hodgepodge of lineups. However, I did like Harris’ skating and situational awareness last night. He has had a good camp showing that he is definitely on the cusp, if not ready, for a more serious audition with the club…and on his wrong side where the Habs have no depth. In the end that is all management can get out of these games. Where is the right level of hockey for these guys to play and succeed?

[Willie Dog]

Sept 29, 2022 7:26:17 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Preseason hockey. Sometimes, it just is what it is.

The warmup jerseys were cool. The ceremony was well done. The lineups were atrocious and the game was, for the most part, a disjointed snoozer. The Habs had to have two 18 year old first rounders in the lineup to meet the NHL minimum requirements for “veteran” players for a preseason lineup. Armia and Pitlick were the most experienced guys out there. Enuf said.

I know the lineup was bad, but Burrows’ PP still looks a long way from mid season form. A true measure will be when there are real NHL guys playing not a bunch of newbies trying to learn a bunch of new systems.

The young kids did show a few nice things, but there is still work to do. The key is, shockingly…development. And it takes time. And it takes finding the right environment for that individual development to progress as fast as it can. There will be decisions needed as to where it is best for a bunch of the young guys to play this season. HuGo talk about it all the time, now it will be execution stage.

There is a lot of scrutiny on Slafkovsky right now. A first overall pick in the biggest, and toughest market, is a big target on you. He still needs time to adjust his decision making and play to the speed of the game and the less time and space he keeps getting in these games than what he is used to. It will clearly take some time based on what we are seeing and the Habs have time. They don’t need a 18 saviour this upcoming season. But, they do have to get his development right. A lot of the other boards, the twitterverse and certain media are already circling like vultures. There is definitely more patience amongst the management team than the masses, so this will be a critical file for HuGo to manage, and communicate with said masses, to stop some future storming of the gates.

I won’t go into a rundown of loads of individual performances since it is rather unimportant after one game with such a hodgepodge of lineups. However, I did like Harris’ skating and situational awareness last night. He has had a good camp showing that he is definitely on the cusp, if not ready, for a more serious audition with the club…and on his wrong side where the Habs have no depth. In the end that is all management can get out of these games. Where is the right level of hockey for these guys to play and succeed?

Faceoffs killed them last night... Harris and Axe looked good together... strong future pairing... I feel bad for anyone on a line with pitlick and armia... I liked what Mesar brought lots of energy and shifty moves... Armia, pitlick and wideman are your only veterans meanwhile leafs had most of the opening night D on the ice

[frozone]

I liked Heineman last night, I think he can hold his own in the NHL in a filler role. But with that shot of his, I think I would rather he try to develop his overall offensive at lower levels first. It's like he hasn't fully realized yet how much of a weapon his shot could be.

Axe played a disciplined game. I think he'll be one of the first callups. And Harris is destined to be a pro.

Slaf looked tired imo. And I'm a little frustrated with how they have him playing the net front role. What happened to "show us your ceiling"? I'd rather see him cycling, or trying to find open space as the trigger man.

But my biggest pet peeve... why is Mitchell Stephens wearing #13? Is he guaranteed a spot on opening night or something?

[seventeen]

I taped the game and am watching the 3rd period that I mostly missed. Harris just missed on a rush and Nick Robertson (Leafs great hope) circled with speed and ‘raced’ back up the ice. Xman was back and skating backwards kept pace and rubbed Robertson out of the play. Point 1. Xhekaj is a good skater. Point 2. Robertson is not.

Pitlick’s job in Montreal is at risk. Lots of lost possessions.

[Cranky]

Sept 29, 2022 8:54:30 GMT -5 frozone said:

Axe played a disciplined game. I think he'll be one of the first callups. And Harris is destined to be a pro.

.

X was disciplined and playing sound defensive hockey. He may be a straight up replacemrnt for Savard on opening night...with a huge future.

We need to see him against full NHL team and how he handles a full game. He can play great hockey for 59 minutes but a few mistakes could mean a few goals....which ultimatly don't matter.

Very hopeful...

[seventeen]

Sept 29, 2022 16:20:36 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Sept 29, 2022 8:54:30 GMT -5 frozone said:

Axe played a disciplined game. I think he'll be one of the first callups. And Harris is destined to be a pro.

.

X was disciplined and playing sound defensive hockey. He may be a straight up replacemrnt for Savard on opening night...with a huge future.

We need to see him against full NHL team and how he handles a full game. He can play great hockey for 59 minutes but a few mistakes could mean a few goals....which ultimatly don't matter.

Very hopeful...

I'm fairly certain he'll be an NHL defenseman. The physical aspects are evident, but I'm always more concerned about the mental aspects. His interview was not full of cliches, (which I liked) and then the announcers pointed out he has gone from being a Costco employee to an NHL preseason game in a little over a year. The part of that which pleased me the most was that he was a Costco employee. I once hired a Costco employee and they were a very good addition. Costco must have good hiring practices, so having worked for them is a plus for me. Xman must have some smarts.