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Post by Skilly on Oct 26, 2024 20:31:40 GMT -5
He will be traded or in Laval in November, especially if they acquire someone This is bullSaperlipopette It can be all the popette we want, but this is his worse game I've seen him play, and definitely his worst this year. Add to that that Marty already stated he makes too many simple mistakes and to then play this game and make 7-8 dumb dumb mistakes. I don't see him sticking. I like him, but I now am seeing what Marty is seeing. |
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Post by jkr on Oct 26, 2024 20:35:23 GMT -5
He will be traded or in Laval in November, especially if they acquire someone This is bullSaperlipopette I'd rather see him in Laval to work on his game than traded. Folatre pointed out recently that he just hasn't had a lot of development time. They are over relying on very young D men like AX , Mailloux and Hutson. |
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Post by folatre on Oct 26, 2024 20:36:06 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too.
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Post by Skilly on Oct 26, 2024 20:38:03 GMT -5
Holy C****
We scored an empty net goal. Is there a blue moon tonight?
Armia
5-2 MTL
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Post by Skilly on Oct 26, 2024 20:43:29 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too. No they haven't Yes, they both lost coverage and missed hits, but they did not struggle to clear the zone no where as bad as Xhekaj tonight. Nor did they skate away from a player and let him get in on the goalie, when it's hockey 101 to cut the lane off , not give them more space. Even on Struble's missed hit (with Matheson) at least they cut the space off, as bad as it looked. It's the simple mistakes he keeps on making. Tonight might be a by product of MSL's comments this week making X play tentative. But he was the worse tonight |
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Post by Willie Dog on Oct 26, 2024 20:48:06 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too. They need to bring in somebody to work with the young D, three of the 4 are struggling... that's a coaching problem... |
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Post by jkr on Oct 26, 2024 20:48:46 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too. Mailloux finished at around 10 minutes. I think he had one shift after he was on the ice for the Blues 1st 2 goals . Despite his troubles Xhekaj finished at 19 minutes. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Oct 26, 2024 20:50:28 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too. No they haven't Yes, they both lost coverage and missed hits, but they did not struggle to clear the zone no where as bad as Xhekaj tonight. Nor did they skate away from a player and let him get in on the goalie, when it's hockey 101 to cut the lane off , not give them more space. Even on Struble's missed hit (with Matheson) at least they cut the space off, as bad as it looked. It's the simple mistakes he keeps on making. Tonight might be a by product of MSL's comments this week making X play tentative. But he was the worse tonight MSL crapping on X was a bush league move by a guy who should know better... He got crapped on when he was coming up for being too small and he does the same thing to a guy who was undrafted like him... He's forgotten where he came from. |
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Post by Skilly on Oct 26, 2024 20:53:47 GMT -5
Struble has by far been the worst d-man on the ice. Mailloux has been worse than Xhekaj too. They need to bring in somebody to work with the young D, three of the 4 are struggling... that's a coaching problem... The thing is that Marty sees Struble and Mailloux as rookies so he has more patience with their mistakes, but he seems to think X should be further along on his development trajectory and not making as many mistakes. Personally, I can live with X's mistakes if he is banging and fighting. But he isn't doing that either. I agree it's coaching. |
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Post by Cranky on Oct 26, 2024 20:54:18 GMT -5
X was not the worse tonight by any stretch, not even close. That honour belonged to Mailman and Struble.
Mailman fell a few times and seems to have a bit of a balance issue. Needs to work on his skating. Also needs an ass whooping for giving up on a play.
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Post by folatre on Oct 26, 2024 21:10:05 GMT -5
Skilly, I respect your opinions. But in terms of 'bad high impact' plays committed by Habs' d-men tonight, Struble and Mailloux made the gaffes that hurt the most, whether or not you contend Coach St. Louis sees them in a different light than Xhekaj because they are rookies.
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Post by folatre on Oct 26, 2024 21:13:17 GMT -5
And the ice time tells the tale of the tape as well. Struble and Mailloux played way less than Xhekaj. So why was St. Louis rolling Xhekaj out there for 20-21 minutes if he had other guys who were making better decisions with and without the puck?
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Post by Skilly on Oct 26, 2024 21:22:55 GMT -5
Skilly, I respect your opinions. But in terms of 'bad high impact' plays committed by Habs' d-men tonight, Struble and Mailloux made the gaffes that hurt the most, whether or not you contend Coach St. Louis sees them in a different light than Xhekaj because they are rookies. The first goal was poor coverage by the whole line but a result of Newhook just not being able to tie up Parayko The second goal, as much as people want to blame Mailloux, was on Caufield. (Really that where Suzuki was suppose to be, but Caufield was there and didn't cover the open man). When Mailloux got beat, he skated back. Matheson blew he tire skating backwards. When the puck went behind the net, Matheson hesitated to go back, but when he saw Mailloux had the opposite post covered he went behind. But no forward covered the open man. But, I'm not talking about mistakes that lead to goals. I'm talking about making mistakes on easy plays. Passing to an open man and missing, not pass across the zone in the defense zone, being able to clear the puck when within 5-10 feet of the blueline. These mistakes did not cost us, I agree, but there was only one defenseman out there continually making those mistakes tonight. I was concentrating on X tonight, because I really didn't see what Marty was talking about, so I really honed in on X tonight. But Tell you guys what. Next game, I'll keep a live tally of all dmen |
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Post by folatre on Oct 26, 2024 21:35:51 GMT -5
But you are dismissing the fact that Struble was not on ice for goals against only because of Montembeault. Struble made horrible decisions that led to two odd-man rushes on the stick of Kyrou of all people and only by divine intervention those gaffes did not figure prominently in the outcome of the game.
I love the kid (I see him with Guhle on the future top pair), but Mailloux was lost tonight. He played 11-12 minutes for good reason.
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Post by jkr on Oct 26, 2024 21:52:25 GMT -5
On a lighter note, despite all the defensive gaffes they actually won.
was it Andrew who posted that he was going to be at the game tonight? Glad the team came through.
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Post by Andrew on Oct 26, 2024 22:30:44 GMT -5
On a lighter note, despite all the defensive gaffes they actually won. was it Andrew who posted that he was going to be at the game tonight? Glad the team came through. Yes, I was there. So pumped to see a win at the Bell Center for my first ever game in Montreal. Flew here for the weekend just to cross that off my bucket list. Highlight was Cole’s snipe! Goaltending was the difference, as it was far from a dominating win. We need Guhle back asap, as our D is just too young and inexperienced. Right side on D was exposed repeatedly, with Mailloux struggling. And props to Evans with a goal and some great shifts on the PK. Been our most consistent forward all season in his role. Was great to experience the bell center atmosphere! |
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Post by Cranky on Oct 26, 2024 23:11:40 GMT -5
I love the kid (I see him with Guhle on the future top pair), but Mailloux was lost tonight. He played 11-12 minutes for good reason. Mailman lost battles and fell at least twice that I noticed. I know he missed a LOT of defensive development and it shows. As much as I want him to magically turn into a prince...tonight he was a pumpkin. X was OK and Marty put him on for 2.34 of the PK. Not that there were many option to put anyone better. At this point, Savard is our best defenseman. Without him, I don't know if we would win any games. www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20242025/TH020126.HTM |
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Post by seventeen on Oct 27, 2024 1:07:02 GMT -5
And the ice time tells the tale of the tape as well. Struble and Mailloux played way less than Xhekaj. So why was St. Louis rolling Xhekaj out there for 20-21 minutes if he had other guys who were making better decisions with and without the puck? I agree. From what I saw Arber didn't have a bad game. Mailloux, unfortunately made too many poor decisions. Struble too, got too much criticism tonight. In the second half of the game he was very physical. The Blues are a big team and in itself that's a struggle for the Habs, especially missing Slaf, Laine, and Guhle. That's a lot of size and a lot of physicality with Guhle. That Hutson just looks better every game. You watch him go deep on the left side and you expect a pass to the front of the net. Instead, he sees Newhook (I think), higher up in the slot and feeds him a perfect pass. He's even out there on the PK and it works. He's so freaking smart. So we're supposedly looking for a top 4 D, which everyone and their dog is looking for, and a tough, gritty forward. The first is hard to find, but the second maybe not so much. In fact, in the short term, Condotta is recalled, unless they expect him to replace Anderson instead of Pezzetta. Dach looked more dangerous, though I think he's still only at about 80% game shape. |
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Post by habsorbed on Oct 27, 2024 2:36:56 GMT -5
Mailman was horribkle tonight. He looked downright dumb. hope it's something that can be learned but I have my doubts. He will be in laval for the season once the diust settles with injurioes and traders. He ain't ready. And i'm not sure he's smart enough to ever be ready.
What i don't understand about X is that he was a terror in the pre-season, and now he seems withdrawn and hesitant. He looks like a Costco employee. Starting to wonder what the coaches told him before the season started. He's half the player he use to be. Let the kid play his game! It works!
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Post by Skilly on Oct 27, 2024 6:19:04 GMT -5
The only opinion that matters is Marty's and he thought Xhekaj played excellent.
I'm not an NHL coach, but I really thought Xhekaj was playing well before the dressing down, and last night was definitely the worse I've seen him play. Could be that I only noticed mistakes last night because I went out of my way to notice why Marty takes issue with his game, or it could be Marty is learning PR relations .. but in any event I didn't think he was "excellent throughout"
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Post by Skilly on Oct 27, 2024 6:36:47 GMT -5
This is a different team when Dach is on his game ...
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Post by Willie Dog on Oct 27, 2024 8:52:27 GMT -5
The only opinion that matters is Marty's and he thought Xhekaj played excellent. I'm not an NHL coach, but I really thought Xhekaj was playing well before the dressing down, and last night was definitely the worse I've seen him play. Could be that I only noticed mistakes last night because I went out of my way to notice why Marty takes issue with his game, or it could be Marty is learning PR relations .. but in any event I didn't think he was "excellent throughout" I stated in another post that I hope Marty was trying to be Bowman to Arbers Pete Mahovlich... crap on Arber to let the team know he's pissed with all of them. For Marty to say Arber played excellent throughout makes me think that is the case. We will see though. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Oct 27, 2024 9:26:38 GMT -5
In the post game press conference, MSL kind of admits they made changes to the defensive coverage in their end, goto the 4:15 mark. www.nhl.com/canadiens/video/postgame-vs-stl-st-louis-6363820016112On the Evans goals that was clearly evident, Evans went deep to get the puck to Savard and as soon and Savard passed the puck to Matheson, Evans took off to give him an outlet, they did not do that in the last 2 games. |
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Post by Willie Dog on Oct 27, 2024 10:00:12 GMT -5
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Post by Cranky on Oct 27, 2024 12:48:09 GMT -5
I don't know if i would call X playing "excellent" but pretty good.
One of the thingsthat i don't see is the level of compete that Guhle brings in EVERY game. With X's size and reputation, people should fear death, not a huggy bear. In my cranky eyes he doesn't have a high compete, high energy motor that would make him a top 2.
If you don't have a supercomputer vision of the ice, then max the tools you do have.
Then the next complaint, because I'm a professional complainer, he has 107 mph shot and doing what with it? He should unleash that beast at least 5 times a night if for nothing else, just to maim people. I don't even see him call to shoot.
Reputation as a fighter is worth two wooden nickels if no one drops them with him, but a shot that can maim you at any second, a defenseman that will pulvarize you for fun, a guy everyone hates to be near, THAT will make him valuable and eventually top 4.
He's a work in progress and a really high ceiling that he needs to see in him and strive for it.
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Post by frozone on Oct 27, 2024 12:52:40 GMT -5
The only opinion that matters is Marty's and he thought Xhekaj played excellent. I'm not an NHL coach, but I really thought Xhekaj was playing well before the dressing down, and last night was definitely the worse I've seen him play. Could be that I only noticed mistakes last night because I went out of my way to notice why Marty takes issue with his game, or it could be Marty is learning PR relations .. but in any event I didn't think he was "excellent throughout" I think Marty is talking about the process more than execution. I think what really bugs Marty, or any coach for that matter, is when a player doesn't have his head in the game. And Xhekaj has admitted that his biggest weakness is not staying dialed in during the game. I've seen it many times with my own eyes during a broadcast. Sure enough, on the bench, you'll see Xhekaj leaning towards his teammate with a grin on his face saying something which I can only assume is off topic. Well, if you're a perennial all-star that delivers every game, you MIGHT get away with that. But if you're making mistakes and getting exposed on the ice, it just won't fly. So when Marty says he was excellent last night, I think he was talking about Xhekaj "being in the game" throughout. Marty will tolerate mistakes. If a player comes back to the bench wanting to know why his mistake(s) happened, he'll get the opportunity to jump back on the ice to prove that he can fix any bad habits. I think that's why Xhekaj got nearly 20 minutes of ice last night despite not exactly having a flawless match. As for your prediction of being sent down or traded, I probably would have agreed UNTIL last night. I thought he was playing a lot worse earlier in the season and pre-season. Worthy of a demotion, but not a trade imo. |
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Post by Cranky on Oct 27, 2024 13:13:06 GMT -5
In the post game press conference, MSL kind of admits they made changes to the defensive coverage in their end, goto the 4:15 mark. www.nhl.com/canadiens/video/postgame-vs-stl-st-louis-6363820016112On the Evans goals that was clearly evident, Evans went deep to get the puck to Savard and as soon and Savard passed the puck to Matheson, Evans took off to give him an outlet, they did not do that in the last 2 games. As my wife says, no outlet, will cry...wait, she means outlet store... The BIGGEST problem, the one that SCREAMS failure is that a zone defense traps the one that uses it. MTheads solution that we all love is "off the glass", but it might as well bring up an AHL team because it's impossible to win if you're playing all night in your zone. What i saw last night was less opposition cycling and several time they carried the puck through the middle. Did they find a solution? Nope. Just a lot more active then circling the wagons and waiting to execute Custers...err...Martys last stand. It's not going to work against a high compete Booins team. It will get us points against lesser teams, which is important, and eventually, with a lot deadlier offense, let's say an offense that has a Demigod and Laine in it, teams will back off getting caught that deep...and paying the price. Marty is not reinventing any square wheels, this tight zone defense was a staple in the Jesus Price era and it somewhat worked back then. Remember the small "speedy" teams we had? We got that reputation from breaking out from our defensive shell. We just looked fast because we had to skate out like demonds to even pretend we had an offense. Now we want a bigger, heavier team. Maybe the blinding puck skills of a Demidov and Hutson along with the shot of Laine or CC will push back someone like the Booins going deep in our zone snd pinching defenseman. Let's see...because us walking on the Promised Land depends on it. |
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Post by Cranky on Oct 27, 2024 13:39:42 GMT -5
The only opinion that matters is Marty's and he thought Xhekaj played excellent. I'm not an NHL coach, but I really thought Xhekaj was playing well before the dressing down, and last night was definitely the worse I've seen him play. Could be that I only noticed mistakes last night because I went out of my way to notice why Marty takes issue with his game, or it could be Marty is learning PR relations .. but in any event I didn't think he was "excellent throughout" I think Marty is talking about the process more than execution. I think what really bugs Marty, or any coach for that matter, is when a player doesn't have his head in the game. And Xhekaj has admitted that his biggest weakness is not staying dialed in during the game. I've seen it many times with my own eyes during a broadcast. Sure enough, on the bench, you'll see Xhekaj leaning towards his teammate with a grin on his face saying something which I can only assume is off topic. Well, if you're a perennial all-star that delivers every game, you MIGHT get away with that. But if you're making mistakes and getting exposed on the ice, it just won't fly. So when Marty says he was excellent last night, I think he was talking about Xhekaj "being in the game" throughout. Marty will tolerate mistakes. If a player comes back to the bench wanting to know why his mistake(s) happened, he'll get the opportunity to jump back on the ice to prove that he can fix any bad habits. I think that's why Xhekaj got nearly 20 minutes of ice last night despite not exactly having a flawless match. As for your prediction of being sent down or traded, I probably would have agreed UNTIL last night. I thought he was playing a lot worse earlier in the season and pre-season. Worthy of a demotion, but not a trade imo. Remember the last Incredible Hulk we had in Komisarek? He had huge issue with reading the play and getting beaten on the outside. Season after season in the AHL didn't fix anything. Then they bring him up and welded him on prime Markov, who was at another level and did the thinking for both of them. It worked for us to a point. When Komisarek got greedy and signed with the Laffs, there was no improvement at all in a decade of playing...and the end of his career in his early 30s. There was an expectation because of his size...but failed. I don't want a Komi V2 in X. He's doesn't have the broken Atari that was on Komis head and it's in HIS hands to raise his compete level and cut down on errors. Sadly we don't have a Markov to learn from but he has a longer runway to improve. Let's see what we have by mid season... |
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Post by seventeen on Oct 27, 2024 14:25:05 GMT -5
Not enough talk about Hutson's game IMO. I thought he was our best Dman last night. The one play where he faked the pass back to the dman (as Skilly rises up to cheer) and then accelerates wide around the right dman and then picks out Newhook wide open on the right wing for a high danger shot, had all his skills on display. As we've seen, he's not the fastest guy, but he shows so many things he MIGHT do to a defender that confuses the guy and then uses his really good change of pace to beat him.
But it's more on the defensive side that I think he showed well. For being so damn small, he doesn't get smashed into the boards, and he avoids contact while making a great pass to a teammate, so the puck gets out easily. One assist, +2, not on for any goals. Pretty good night.
Ok, so Mailloux whiffs trying to keep the puck in the zone, gets caught as a result, and then freaking Matheson kindly falls down to start the sequence that ends up in the Blues' 2nd goal. What is it with Mike and his balance? Losing an edge, happens to everyone, but it sure seems to happen to him more than it should, being such a great skater. Having said that, he was pretty solid last night, it's just frustrating to see him fall down at the worst moment. "It's a 2 on one....no wait!, it's a 2 on none! as Matheson fails to land his triple Sowcow (phonetic spelling)". C'mon Mike. You're the cornerstone of this young defense. Be that foundational piece.
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Post by Cranky on Oct 27, 2024 15:20:54 GMT -5
Mailman fell twice within 30 seconds in puck battles. I see lots of skating lessons in his future.
One of the reason why Guhle is more effective is that he's a hard core battler all his young career. I don't know if that helped him develop the balance or having that balance gave him the edge to battle. That's way above my paygrade because I'm a certified toddler when it comes to skating. In beer league, it's always a hoot when the brain picks apart what is going to happen and the legs say...nope, you're on your ass.
Mailman got the size and the anger mismanagement but obviously those 3 seasons robbed him physically in skating and process wise. Sadly, i thought he was at least on Struble level defensivly, but nope, he needs work.
I wonder what Hughes has planned for him as far as getting skating help OR if he just needs a lot of game in butt plonking to get better at it. It would also help if he had a mentor by playing with Guhle. He certainly would have with Chiarot.
I don't know if it's counter productive but if he's sent down he must be given strict instructions to do nothing but play hard defense. Put offense on hold and puck battles on overdrive.
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