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Post by franko on Aug 20, 2024 11:59:09 GMT -5
So here we are...50% chance we are drafting 5th and 50% we are playoff bound. the other question is the power play (for how many years powerless?): will there be an improvement with Burrows gone? can't see anything but, honestly, but I'm still surprised that MSL didn't step in to improve it. |
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Post by Cranky on Aug 20, 2024 12:03:29 GMT -5
So here we are...50% chance we are drafting 5th and 50% we are playoff bound. the other question is the power play (for how many years powerless?): will there be an improvement with Burrows gone? can't see anything but, honestly, but I'm still surprised that MSL didn't step in to improve it. With the amount of offensive weapons we will have, coaches need to be fired if it does not improve. No more excuse. |
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Post by Polarice on Aug 20, 2024 12:05:16 GMT -5
It's really those 2 things along with an improved and balanced D rotation. Assuming we get adequate goaltending, I don't think playoffs are out of the question but it would be a dramatic turnaround. The main issue for us has been scoring depth - we were 3rd from the bottom in the Eastern Conference with 236 goals (GFA of 2.83), but we also gave up the second most goals in the conference at 289 and had a -53 GF/GA differential. Only Columbus was worse. I think it's reasonable/hopeful to get to around where Detroit was last year, which would mean 30-40 more goals and shaving 20 or so goals against. I'm hopeful that the goals against can be improved from another year of experience from the D and improving the PK by a few % points. The offense is always hard to predict as we don't have locked in stars that you can pretty much pencil in production (Suzuki is probably the only guy who should give us at least 70 points). Everyone else is TBD: Scorers are streaky so we can't assume Caufield will bounce back, Slaf had a great year with no pressure but now he has expectations and a contract, Dach needs to be healthy and consistent, Laine is still a bit of a crapshoot.... so lots of unknowns on offense but a lot of possibilities and they are talented enough to be a cuspy playoff team, IMO Next season will be the most unpredictable we've had in a long time...and Laine is a part of that. We ARE a playoff team if Laine and Dach are healthy and top form. Dach was a beast but is those two game his level of play or an aberration? Is he going to be cautious about getting hurt? Laine can be a 50 goal scorer or crawl back to his head. Your guess is as good as my guess as anyone guess, because it's strictly a guess. Defense is another huge range of guessing. Mailman and Hutson may be the real deal and change the transition game to another level...or may be years away. My safe guess is that it's the same as last year, which isn’t saying much. Then there is the coaching issue. Will we get a solid defensive system that can win one goal games? The current "do your best boys" is not going to get us to the playoffs. It may be "fun" for the players, but they are there to win. So here we are...50% chance we are drafting 5th and 50% we are playoff bound. In all of this, make no mistake, that wasn't as likely pre Laine, but no lock with him either. The ONLY guarantee is that it's brought my level of interest to the highest it's been in DECADES. But will it last till Xmas before the DELETE button is king again? Drop the puck already... Last year we were 30-36-16 for 76 points. Out of those losses, we lost 23 by one goal. If we could win 10 more of those one goal games for an extra 20 points (not including overtime losses), giving us 96 points would put us in the playoffs. So....I think we are closer to the playoffs today then we were yesterday. IF Laine can manage to get us an extra 30 goals this year, we should be threatening to make the playoffs. Then add Demidov to the mix....should be interesting. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 20, 2024 12:07:22 GMT -5
Opening night against the Loafs should be a great game to watch
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Post by Cranky on Aug 20, 2024 12:43:19 GMT -5
Last year we were 30-36-16 for 76 points. Out of those losses, we lost 23 by one goal. If we could win 10 more of those one goal games for an extra 20 points (not including overtime losses), giving us 96 points would put us in the playoffs. So....I think we are closer to the playoffs today then we were yesterday. IF Laine can manage to get us an extra 30 goals this year, we should be threatening to make the playoffs. Then add Demidov to the mix....should be interesting. It's not only Laine, add another 25 from Dach. Then the HUGE difference a real second line can make in taking off the pressure from the first line. That's good for a lot of extra goals that Slaf and CC can pot. There are so many variables and most of them are running through Dach and Laine. Those two will determine which side we fall on the 50/50 curve. |
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Post by seventeen on Aug 20, 2024 13:15:48 GMT -5
So here we are...50% chance we are drafting 5th and 50% we are playoff bound. the other question is the power play (for how many years powerless?): will there be an improvement with Burrows gone? can't see anything but, honestly, but I'm still surprised that MSL didn't step in to improve it. I've seen it printed before by trusted journalists and believe it myself....Marty was involved in the PP. Can you seriously imagine a guy like Marty (who I I'm thinking micro manages a bit too much) leaving the PP alone in someone else's hands when he's been the scorer he was? Just like I thought Bergevin cwas too dominating a personality, I think Marty needs to make sure he hires good people and then leave them alone. Supervise, yes. Get intimately involved, no. But that's a discussion for another day. PP's are not rocket science. The point is to get the goalie moving and then get shots through. Goalie movement creates holes. How do you do that? Well, quick puck movement to get the defenders moving to create space and time and the skill to make great passes and the shooters who can release pucks quickly. Mostly it's about talent. Matheson is not a PP quarterback to me. His reluctance to use a clearly dominant Slaf last year was a good indicator. He had two good options and kept using just one. Hutson can fix that, but has to be on PP1. Laine is going to help either PP1 or PP2. His release is going to cause defenders to cheat and that creates space. I would use Mailloux in the top spot on PP2, not Matheson (yeah, I'm not a Matheson fan. His skating is elite but puck handling and decision making is not). If I were to throw caution to the winds, in 2 years I'd like to see these pairings: Guhle - Reinbacher Hutson - Savard replacement or Struble Xhekaj - Mailloux Engstrom The pairs would all get about the same ice time, ensuring they'd be healthier and less fatigued when the playoffs started. We could get some good picks for Matheson, ensuring we'd have draft pick numbers in our favour to continue the strong pipeline of talent and our PP would be better. |
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Post by jkr on Aug 20, 2024 13:38:37 GMT -5
You knew he would not get his #29 which is in the rafters, so this did seem the most likely choice. I don't why guys do this reverse thing with their old numbers. I think 24, 25, 26 are available. I hope the Drouin curse doesn't apply here with #92. |
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Post by franko on Aug 20, 2024 14:02:29 GMT -5
I hope the Drouin curse doesn't apply here with #92. Maybe it's a renewal/refresher thing. |
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Post by drkcloud on Aug 20, 2024 15:20:38 GMT -5
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 20, 2024 15:24:39 GMT -5
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Post by Cranky on Aug 20, 2024 15:26:38 GMT -5
On defense the only thing that makes sense to me is...
Guhle-Mailman
Hutson-Rein
X-Barron
I like to see X-Mailman just to give ambulances work but we will waste Guhle talents. Unless we get another high quality RHD, Guhle defensive talents are going to be wasted with Barron.
The upside with Guhle-Mailman is that i think Guhle has way more offensive talent he hasn't shown consistently. More then X. We need him to show that to get the most out of that pair.
As for Hutson-Rein. I don't think anyone has a clue about Reins offensive game. But i do know Rein has his work cut out for him to make up for Hutson defense.
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Post by Cranky on Aug 20, 2024 15:29:12 GMT -5
ABSOLUTE TRASH ARTICLE And the kind of trash that has crap and smelly fish in it. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 20, 2024 15:42:49 GMT -5
ABSOLUTE TRASH ARTICLE And the kind of trash that has crap and smelly fish in it. This clown can keep on cheering while wearing his leaf colored glasses... I really want Dach to have a kick ass season to shut this clown up |
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Post by Skilly on Aug 20, 2024 15:51:55 GMT -5
There is a good line name in here somewhere
NewHOOK - Laine (pronounced LINE-nay) - Dach (pronounced DOCK)
Fishing Line
Hook-Line and Sinker
The Lure Line
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Post by jkr on Aug 20, 2024 16:34:05 GMT -5
Sounds Like the guy doesnt even know who Dach is and doesnt even mention that he only played 2 games last year. And then he muses about Demidov moving to centre? Some of it made me laugh. The part about not having enough money to sign a free agent such as -wait for it - Tavares.  Ya just what they will need a year from now. An overpaid 35 year old who hasnt come close to living up to his 11 million per year since the 1st year of that deal. Lets book mark this article & show it to him next spring. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 20, 2024 16:40:04 GMT -5
There is a good line name in here somewhere NewHOOK - Laine (pronounced LINE-nay) - Dach (pronounced DOCK) Fishing Line Hook-Line and Sinker The Lure Line Grant McCagg said if Slaf, Laine and Dach were a line they could called the 1,2 3 line |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 20, 2024 16:49:22 GMT -5
The dick who wrote this article should watch this NHL network broadcast so he can understand what the trade means. Also notice in the video they show Laine scoring on the Loafs... TSN and Leafsnet show him scoring on the habs but not the Loafs... |
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Post by Cranky on Aug 20, 2024 18:42:06 GMT -5
I like McCagg. He's the one that opened my eyes to Sennecke and he knows his hockey from every angle. He's 5hrilled we got Laine. www.youtube.com/live/o5IzqmbFxQg |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 20, 2024 20:15:10 GMT -5
I like McCagg. He's the one that opened my eyes to Sennecke and he knows his hockey from every angle. He's 5hrilled we got Laine. www.youtube.com/live/o5IzqmbFxQg was suggesting going after Patrik Laine back in January ... I've been watching him for a while now ... he nailed the Habs drafting Juraj Slafkovský and David Reinbacher ... a big critic of Shane Wright, McCagg also predicted that Wright was not going #1 overall, and could probably drop in the draft (which he did) ... Cheers. |
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Post by habsorbed on Aug 21, 2024 1:32:00 GMT -5
You knew he would not get his #29 which is in the rafters, so this did seem the most likely choice. I don't why guys do this reverse thing with their old numbers. I think 24, 25, 26 are available. I hope the Drouin curse doesn't apply here with #92. Well, it seemed to work for Pierre Turgeon  |
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Post by Cranky on Aug 21, 2024 1:37:51 GMT -5
I was thinking about overtime...
Laine-Dach-Hutson
CC-Suzuki-Matheson
Shouldn't opposing team just give us the point and spare their embarrassment?
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Post by Polarice on Aug 21, 2024 5:20:21 GMT -5
Stopped reading the Hockey news when they said Price was a bust. |
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Post by Polarice on Aug 21, 2024 5:21:55 GMT -5
I was thinking about overtime... Laine-Dach-Hutson CC-Suzuki-Matheson Shouldn't opposing team just give us the point and spare their embarrassment? The speed alone should scare teams....then add in the goal scoring abilities. |
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Post by Tankdriver on Aug 21, 2024 8:15:32 GMT -5
There is a good line name in here somewhere NewHOOK - Laine (pronounced LINE-nay) - Dach (pronounced DOCK) Fishing Line Hook-Line and Sinker The Lure Line Grant McCagg said if Slaf, Laine and Dach were a line they could called the 1,2 3 line That would be one hell of a big boy line. All over 6'3'' Try to stop that cycle and beatdown. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 21, 2024 9:53:34 GMT -5
I don't why guys do this reverse thing with their old numbers. I think 24, 25, 26 are available. I hope the Drouin curse doesn't apply here with #92. Well, it seemed to work for Pierre Turgeon Anyone who bought a Drouin jersey just needs to get the name changed... |
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Post by habsorbed on Aug 21, 2024 10:03:17 GMT -5
Well, it seemed to work for Pierre Turgeon Anyone who bought a Drouin jersey just needs to get the name changed... ...and give their head a shake  |
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Post by Willie Dog on Aug 21, 2024 10:17:19 GMT -5
Anyone who bought a Drouin jersey just needs to get the name changed... ...and give their head a shake Lol |
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Post by Skilly on Aug 21, 2024 12:17:05 GMT -5
I like McCagg. He's the one that opened my eyes to Sennecke and he knows his hockey from every angle. He's 5hrilled we got Laine. www.youtube.com/live/o5IzqmbFxQg was suggesting going after Patrik Laine back in January ... I've been watching him for a while now ... he nailed the Habs drafting Juraj Slafkovský and David Reinbacher ... a big critic of Shane Wright, McCagg also predicted that Wright was not going #1 overall, and could probably drop in the draft (which he did) ... Cheers. McCagg also deletes posts when he is outright wrong. I remember a post from him singing the praises of several prospects (I think it was 6 or 7 he named claiming they would be stars) Not one contributed in any way. I remember Brent Lernout was one |
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Post by jkr on Aug 21, 2024 12:27:52 GMT -5
I don't why guys do this reverse thing with their old numbers. I think 24, 25, 26 are available. I hope the Drouin curse doesn't apply here with #92. Well, it seemed to work for Pierre Turgeon I think Turgeon wore 77. |
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Post by Polarice on Aug 21, 2024 12:32:06 GMT -5
Grant McCagg was suggesting going after Patrik Laine back in January ... I've been watching him for a while now ... he nailed the Habs drafting Juraj Slafkovský and David Reinbacher ... a big critic of Shane Wright, McCagg also predicted that Wright was not going #1 overall, and could probably drop in the draft (which he did) ... Cheers. McCagg also deletes posts when he is outright wrong. I remember a post from him singing the praises of several prospects (I think it was 6 or 7 he named claiming they would be stars) Not one contributed in any way. I remember Brent Lernout was one Exactly...he's on the "Sick Podcast" all the time, he's rarely right with his predictions. However, I do like reading and listening to him for the most part, just wish he would stay away from trying to predict what the Habs are gonna try to do. |
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Ya just what they will need a year from now. An overpaid 35 year old who hasnt come close to living up to his 11 million per year since the 1st year of that deal. 
