Philadelphia vs Montreal Thursday Mar 28 @ 7 PM EDT

[jkr]

Mar 28, 2024 15:13:03 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

Interested to see if we stick around the 5-6 slot or experience a growth spurt and play pesky fly/spoiler the rest of the way.

Games 81 and 82 back-to-back vs. Detroit could be the Red Wings' season.

The Wings are losing tonight 3-0. They are just spinning their wheels now.

[jkr]

That was kicked. C'mon.

No goal.

How could Tortorella look at that and be surprised.

[folatre]

Torts is losing the plot. That is such an obvious kick of the puck. I get it that the guy is dying to lead a rag tag bunch to the playoffs, defying all preseason prognostications and odds. But being overly emotional so often distorts any semblance of logic and reason.

[jkr]

5 minutes into the 3rd and only 12 shots. They are not generating any dangerous scoring chances, Other than Slafkovsky's drive to the net, there has been pretty much nothing.

[jkr]

Tortorella will lose it if this one is called back.

Can't recall a game where the Habs won 2 reviews.

[Willie Dog]

Poehling trips over his own feet... Fleas to the PP

[folatre]

The Flyers work hard and the refs, in game management mode despite the fact that both replay reversals were totally correct, are trying to help Philly.

[jkr]

They have not had a shot on goal in this period. I guess they are just going to rely on the goalie.

[jkr]

Are they saying the 1st touch was too high. Yes no goal.

OK lets go - at least get some chances.

[Skilly]

Mar 28, 2024 20:28:06 GMT -5 jkr said:

Are they saying the 1st touch was too high. Yes no goal.

OK lets go - at least get some chances.

I think they got that call wrong.

There is two rules here. A highstick is above the shoulder when knocked down to yourself, but above the crossbar on a goal.

It looked to me the first touch of that puck was above the crossbar, but near Nick's shoulder. So that's legal.

[jkr]

Thanks for that explanation. I thought it was one rule - being above the crossbar.

[jkr]

There are times when this team just cannot clear the zone. Really frustrating to watch.

[Willie Dog]

Nice play by Matheson to give armia the empty net

[folatre]

F Philly. I was not old enough to be aware of 70s Habs hockey, but I hated the Flyers in the late 80s.

[Willie Dog]

I love it when Struble plays a hard game

[Willie Dog]

Matheson cannot be on the ice when we are trying to stop the opponent from scoring... his panic threshold sucks

[folatre]

Struble is by no means a giant, but he is solidly built and does not fear guys, even bigger ones, who try to bring physicality to the table and/or stir the pot after the whistle.

[Skilly]

Mar 28, 2024 20:36:37 GMT -5 jkr said:

Thanks for that explanation. I thought it was one rule - being above the crossbar.

I rewinded and tried to pause at the moment of stick striking puck and where on the stick the puck hit. Very close, could really have gone either way I think. Nicks blade is above his shoulder and the puck hits near the hozzle of the stick

[jkr]

Mar 28, 2024 20:56:25 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Mar 28, 2024 20:36:37 GMT -5 jkr said:

Thanks for that explanation. I thought it was one rule - being above the crossbar.

I rewinded and tried to pause at the moment of stick striking puck and where on the stick the puck hit. Very close, could really have gone either way I think. Nicks blade is above his shoulder and the puck hits near the hozzle of the stick

Had to look up hozzle.😀

[seventeen]

Mar 28, 2024 19:56:51 GMT -5 folatre said:

For sure, that is certainly a 'message.' But teams like Buffalo and Ottawa have internalized year after year the whole let's just play shinny ethos and they cannot stop the rot (Ottawa seven years with no playoffs, Sabres with thirteen).

This year, honestly, outside of winning the lottery to have Celebrini fall from heaven, I do not think drafting anywhere from 2-8 is dramatically different.

Fortunately there is a wealth of good looking dmen, and a number of teams needing those.

[halihab]

Mar 28, 2024 20:43:52 GMT -5 folatre said:

F Philly. I was not old enough to be aware of 70s Habs hockey, but I hated the Flyers in the late 80s.

You would have despised the Flyers in the 70's. They were just plain nasty to play against. They intimidated everyone in the league, except the Habs. The Canadiens of the 70's could play anyway you wanted to. The Habs were much better offensively and very sneaky when it came to the rough stuff. Robinson was a beast and would take on anyone, anytime. It was sure fun to watch those games.

[habsorbed]

Mar 28, 2024 19:44:55 GMT -5 folatre said:

I hear you Cranky, eh. But guys have to compete and if they get the job done and win, that is okay too. Realistically, it would be the GM's call if he wanted to give someone who is actually a good player a 'maintenance day' or whatever.

Montreal's schedule is tough down the stretch here. There is no way they finish better than 7th from the rock bottom.

I hope Hathaway stops yapping and actually wants to get down to business with someone.

I'm with you Folatre, sorry Cranky I'm sure you're crushed. I don't mind picking up the 2 points for numerous reasons:

1) beating the Flyers is always fun although they sure ain't the dickheads they usually are (don't know how they're in a playoff spot);
2) win is great for Primeau's confidence and a shutout would have been great. As I've said before, Monty will not be our #1 by Xmas;
3) I like the team's spunk and take no crap mentality these days- 'All hail Xman!"

And lastly, as Folatre says, the two points ain't going to impact our draft pick much. Right now we're in 6th. The best we can get is 5th if Yotes pass us. The worst we can get is 8th if Sens and Flames drop below us. If we do tank and end up in 5th then we have 8.5% chance in the lottery and if we keep picking up points then we get 8th, a 6% chance. So a difference of 2.5%. Sure it's a difference but marginal. And to Folatre's point, after Celebrini, they're ain't that much difference in talent of top draft tpicks, particulalry those ranked in the 5 to 8 spot.

The way i'm looking at these games down the stretch is it's great to win, and when we lose I ease my feelings by saying it will help us in the draft.

[Cranky]

The difference between 5th and 8th is huge because there's simply not enough high quality forwards to go around.

Lindstrome and Catton won't make it to 8th. Count on it.

I hope we are happy with ANOTHER defenseman we no longer need as our BPA. Or the equivilant of a KK long shot to fill a need.

Old Greek saying (I just made up)...fleeting happiness is not worth barrels of hopium and disappointium.

[Willie Dog]

Mar 29, 2024 11:39:30 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Mar 28, 2024 19:44:55 GMT -5 folatre said:

I hear you Cranky, eh. But guys have to compete and if they get the job done and win, that is okay too. Realistically, it would be the GM's call if he wanted to give someone who is actually a good player a 'maintenance day' or whatever.

Montreal's schedule is tough down the stretch here. There is no way they finish better than 7th from the rock bottom.

I hope Hathaway stops yapping and actually wants to get down to business with someone.

I'm with you Folatre, sorry Cranky I'm sure you're crushed. I don't mind picking up the 2 points for numerous reasons:

1) beating the Flyers is always fun although they sure ain't the dickheads they usually are (don't know how they're in a playoff spot);
2) win is great for Primeau's confidence and a shutout would have been great. As I've said before, Monty will not be our #1 by Xmas;
3) I like the team's spunk and take no crap mentality these days- 'All hail Xman!"

And lastly, as Folatre says, the two points ain't going to impact our draft pick much. Right now we're in 6th. The best we can get is 5th if Yotes pass us. The worst we can get is 8th if Sens and Flames drop below us. If we do tank and end up in 5th then we have 8.5% chance in the lottery and if we keep picking up points then we get 8th, a 6% chance. So a difference of 2.5%. Sure it's a difference but marginal. And to Folatre's point, after Celebrini, they're ain't that much difference in talent of top draft tpicks, particulalry those ranked in the 5 to 8 spot.

The way i'm looking at these games down the stretch is it's great to win, and when we lose I ease my feelings by saying it will help us in the draft.

Its a win-win...

[Willie Dog]

Mar 29, 2024 12:33:07 GMT -5 Cranky said:

The difference between 5th and 8th is huge because there's simply not enough high quality forwards to go around.

Lindstrome and Catton won't make it to 8th. Count on it.

I hope we are happy with ANOTHER defenseman we no longer need as our BPA. Or the equivilant of a KK long shot to fill a need.

Old Greek saying (I just made up)...fleeting happiness is not worth barrels of hopium and disappointium.

Don't forget about Eisermann... pure sniper... 24 goals in 20 games

Roy-Dach-Eiserman

[Skilly]

We are currently in the 6th slot

The highest we can pick is 5th. We slip behind Arizona

The lowest we can pick is 7th. Ottawa drops lower than us

There are two or three grade A defensemen this year.

Then there is Cellibrini , Demidov, Catton, Helenius, Lindstrom, Eiserman, Iginla

We will select a forward unless Silayev slips to 6

[seventeen]

Mar 29, 2024 9:38:40 GMT -5 halihab said:

Mar 28, 2024 20:43:52 GMT -5 folatre said:

F Philly. I was not old enough to be aware of 70s Habs hockey, but I hated the Flyers in the late 80s.

You would have despised the Flyers in the 70's. They were just plain nasty to play against. They intimidated everyone in the league, except the Habs. The Canadiens of the 70's could play anyway you wanted to. The Habs were much better offensively and very sneaky when it came to the rough stuff. Robinson was a beast and would take on anyone, anytime. It was sure fun to watch those games.

It was a real culture on the team, to a greater extent than say, Florida or Boston today. Andre Dupont had 276 PIM and Dave Schultz (who wasn't a hockey player) had 472 PIM. Their mission was to give every player on the Flyers more time and space and for 2 years it worked. It helped having two elite centres like Clarke and McLeish, but they're an example of a team without a great defenseman, winning the Cup. That doesn't happen anymore and was rare even back then. Their defense of the day reads less like a who's who than a who's who? The freaking Watson brothers were two of their better guys. The very definition of stay at home defensemen. The intimidation worked until Larry and Rick and Pierre and Doug and Mario and Yvon showed up.

Yeah, you would have spit on their graves, that Flyers team.

[seventeen]

Mar 29, 2024 12:57:24 GMT -5 Skilly said:

We are currently in the 6th slot

The highest we can pick is 5th. We slip behind Arizona

The lowest we can pick is 7th. Ottawa drops lower than us

There are two or three grade A defensemen this year.

Then there is Cellibrini , Demidov, Catton, Helenius, Lindstrom, Eiserman, Iginla

We will select a forward unless Silayev slips to 6

Silayev is a real project. He could be Victor Hedman or he could be Erik Cernak. In HuGo's shoes, I wouldn't risk that pick on Silayev.

As an aside, it seems I'm seeing a lot more question marks around Catton. That could be for several reasons. While not being a shrimp (almost Zegras' size and likely still growing), he's not a big guy and scouts are looking at everyone else and saying "he's not a big guy".

Or, he's being punished for having to play a lot of minutes on a bad team (very much like Suzuki in his OHL days), and because of that tends to pace himself, so he gets the rep of not competing as hard as scouts would like. Even if, as a scout, you tell yourself to keep that in mind I think your basic instincts kick in and you still want to see more effort.

Catton is really smart, though, very high IQ and in that regard also is reminiscent of Suzuki. He's just a really good all around player. As I've said before, he and Celebrini were equally good at the Gretzky/Hlinka. Catton is 5 months older but it's not like he's a full year ahead like some guys. I'm not comparing Catton to Celebrini, because there is a size difference and Celebrini's shot may be better, but there wasn't a huge gap of difference either.

Anyway, Catton is being underrated lately because of the above, or maybe those old school scouts just love the name Mack or Cayden or Ivan, compared to the preppy Berkley.

[folatre]

It would be surprising even for a team as bad as Calgary to fall below Montreal. The Flames are up three points (effectively four since they have way more regulation wins) and there are only ten games remaining. Montreal's schedule is probably the more challenging. Calgary has home games against the Sharks, the Ducks, and the Coyotes; plus two of their road games are Sharks and Ducks.

St. Louis may have the Habs hungrier down the stretch than the Flames, but producing a four point swing in a ten game window is actually quite a tall task.

[habsorbed]

Mar 29, 2024 22:13:37 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Mar 29, 2024 18:41:46 GMT -5 folatre said:

It would be surprising even for a team as bad as Calgary to fall below Montreal. The Flames are up three points (effectively four since they have way more regulation wins) and there are only ten games remaining. Montreal's schedule is probably the more challenging. Calgary has home games against the Sharks, the Ducks, and the Coyotes; plus two of their road games are Sharks and Ducks.

St. Louis may have the Habs hungrier down the stretch than the Flames, but producing a four point swing in a ten game window is actually quite a tall task.

Except Marty is preaching winning culture while Flames are in full-on tank mode. Flames lost their last 5. In our last 10 games we accumulated 10 points; the Flames got 4 points in their last 10. So Habs picking up 4 points on Flames is very doable with both teams looking at another 10 games. I ain't ruling out the Flames despite their easier schedule.