Holy crap I'm not as young as I used to be. Happy 35th to the K-man. I need to stop drinking vodka.ANYWAY, I bring this up because before the boys got totally ripped, there was some real hockey discussion last night. The consensus seemed to be that the Habs haven't improved, and people have lost faith in Bob. Even with, or because of, the Mara and Moen signings. Is that true? Discuss.
TWOTOL is off to the land of the 56k modems after he has some aspirin and maybe a bloody mary. Hair of the dog, kids.
24 comments:
My faith in Bob has long dissapeared, and my faith in the Montreal Canadiens as an organization is starting to follow.
I mean, i'm going on (statistically) a third of my life cheering for an organization that seems not to give a flying fuck about legitimitly rewarding its fans with what they deserve.
Gainey's legacy to me is no better than the Houle era. nuff said.
Habs' offense is about the same, maybe a little less deep with ZombiePleks, but the D is much better. And there's actually hope for the future now, right?
Speaking of the future, I went to the development camp scrimmage game this morning. Here are my thoughts, if you're interested:
Forwards
Alexander Avtsin looked really lost at first, probably because he's still adjusting to the rink size, but got progressively better. Great speed and is willing to use his body - he's very good at screening the goalie, and impossible to move from in front of the crease, which pleased me greatly. When he's on, he's like Ovie; when he's off, he's like Kovy on a bad night.
Hunter Bishop was surprisingly good. I hadn't even heard of him before, but he was great on the forecheck and has a nose for the net.
Reputation for goonery aside, Andrew Conboy really surprised me. He plays the way Lats should - strong on the puck, hard work on the boards, involved in the play, and his hits are punishing as hell. He'll definitely be a fan fave if ever he makes it to the NHL.
Desharnais is the new Koivu. Small center, but tenacious, goes to the net, and has some nice moves, too.
Leblanc is Leblanc. Looked very, very good.
Maxwell seemed to be playing as a defenseman, which confused me, but he was very responsible, and probably the biggest hitter after Conboy.
Joonas Nattinen looked very promising. Think of Jason Spezza, only with a little less talent but more involved in the play. Had some great chemistry with Russell and White. Great playmaker, and he uses his body well. Eventual 2nd line center for sure, and I think he'd mesh perfectly with Andrei Kostitsyn (if they're both still with the Habs).
Defensemen
Holy fucking hell is Subban fun to watch. I have no idea how we drafted him in the 2nd round, he's terrific. Seems decent defensively, though it's hard to tell as he spends so much time in the offensive zone. Needs to play in the AHL, though, that whole coast-to-coast, deke out 3 players shit won't fly in the NHL. What a showman, though - he scored a beautiful goal on a penalty shot.
Mathieu Carle is an excellent puck-mover with a good shot, but he's prone to the occasional brain fart in the defensive zone.
Fischer was... not so impressive. Excellent skating and passing, but he seemed reluctant to get involved in the play offensively.
Greg Pateryn was the best defenseman on the ice, imho. Maybe not as creative offensively as Subban, but he made good, crisp passes and he's solid as a rock defensively - reminds me of Gorges. He'd be my first call-up in case of injury (other than O'Byrne).
Weber was kinda disappointing. Very good offensively, but utterly hapless defensively.
Goalies
I have no clue who the fuck he is, but Gabriel Girard was fantastic. Simila and Quattrocchi were pretty good, and Missiaen wasn't so great. Girard plays more hybrid, while Simila is more of a butterfly goalie.
Man, I missed hockey.
Btw, one-year deal for Chips.
I guess only one year so Gainey can see if he's worth keeping?
Great update SSHF.
Also, a flashback with some sexiness.
I am willing to give Bob one more year...
It is really up to Price, Kostitsyn's, Pleks and Lats to step up and make the difference this season...
seems like Bob has taken the Burke mentality...6 scorers, 6 checkers and a big d core
I think this team is younger, faster, stronger (insert Bionic Man music). Whether they gel as a team remains to be seen. Gainey will be given the heave-ho by Christmas if they're suckin' ass. But if it works out and they're in the top third of the league, everybody will be saying what a genius he is.
I see the Habs are tentatively scheduled to start the season on Oct. 1 in Tronna. Fuckin' eh!
I think the Habs will start the season a little slow and by December things will begin to gel and go on a hot streak. I like all the changes (minus getting rid of Saku) and I actually don't mind the size problem because none of the new players are soft. I really liked Kovalev but I will not miss his enigmatic ways. I also think Jacques Martin is an excellent coach and a huge upgrade over Carbo. If Carey Price can bounce back we are in business even if the newcomers underachieve a bit.
I'm not too critical of Gainey, and I'm pretty happy with what he's done. I think I've only really lost faith in most Habs fans...
I filmed the scrimmage! Here's my highlight: Subban's penalty shot (he also scored in regular play). He and Weber were having a friendly rivalry all game.
@ Number31:
Sweet. Loved hearing the "PK!" chorus.
Is it 2010 yet?
If you include the prospects (Carle, Subban, Webber) we now have 10 defencemen on the team.
Trade coming?
How about Pleks, Gorges, Hamr and a 1st draft pick for Vinny?
Boob, suggesting the Habs go over the cap limit and pay the fine whilst icing Vinny?
Cap hits:
Hamr:5.5
Gorges: 1.1
Pleks: 2.5 - 3.5 (pending arbitration)
Total: 9.1 - 10.1
Vinny: 7.7
NO MORE VINNY TALK.
PLEASE.
Anonymous: Awww, c'mon, you know you like it!
We can't still be hanging on for vinny can we?
@number31...good shit! Can't wait to c this kid in the uni...and throwing out quotes on SC
WV: unreadds...when i dont agree with ur post I unreadds it.
The true reality unfortunately is that nothing has happened to this team regardless of BG losing his conservative tight ass philosophy (he is worst then Harper)for 1 day. If we break it down from front office on down nothing much (other then ownership) has changed. We have a coach with a history of winning and never winning when it counts most. We have a young out of control goaltender with no serious guidance (a previous fucked up goalie coach) If you look at the Goal tending issue you didn't have an old veteran to steer the young kid around the road blocks, bumps and dead ends. The D relied on one powerful defencemen, a bunch of young kids and the geriatric ward. The forwards were to small (fast as hell) no guts other then perhaps the Finn and mad Max. A group of Russian mafia types more interested in fast cars and women (then again who isn't interested in that).
Sooooooooo, now what do we have? we have the same GM. A goalie to young for the pressure of MTL, A defence that pretty much is still centered on one star and some other guys who have had mediocre at best performances. The forwards are still to small, (still fast) but the team looks like a bad version of the Disney Mighty Ducks film.
Yes..yes i know everyone will get all horny and excited about the '' new look'' team but the reality friends is don't expect much to change especially come April of 2010 and that is disappointing.
OMG next week's lotto picks plz okthnxbi.
GSP!!! GSP!!! GSP!!!
So signing Gomez, Gionta, Camalleri, Mara, Gill and Spacek isn't enough to warrant some optimism, I guess I have no business here.
WTF people, we got all the UFA's except Marian "Loser" Hossa. What did you expect?
What did you want? More of the "proven to fail every time" formula?
A little realism, a little optimism, those used to be the hallmarks of knowledgeable Habs fans.
Now you all just sound like Maple Laughs fans.
Wake up! We have a great team!
I hope there is no further need to discuss the tremendous quality of oue defence :
Markov - Spacek : Will score goals and not allow many
Hamrlik - Mara : Honestly, would you like to play against this line? Broken bones and bruises is all you'll get
Gorges - Gill : It'll be ugly, but boy will it be efficient.
By playing the two last lines a lot at even strength, it'll free up all the PP time to Markov and Spacek...we'll have a much better point than last year and one of the good ones in the NHL.
Now, look at the lines :
Gomez-Gionta-Whoever : What, you think this line will suck? Dagger, Tender of PacMan will do just fine as third player.
Zombie-Calamari-BigTits : This is an outstanding second line, the players on this line scored a total of 80 goals last season
Two more lines including players who can score and players who can rip your head off : BGL, Lappy, Moan, LittleTits, Dagger, Tender, Metro, PacMan.
All this in the context of our new classy overlord playing only three lines a game, with the fourth line being the "punishment" line.
No way will TFS ever suck this year even remotely close to last year. Would you like to play against him this year, as in : not last year's TFS, but 2009-2010 TFS? Didn't think so. Jaro 1.0 is Jaro 1.0, so Habs will be solid in nets this year.
So : awesome D, great goaltending, punchy offence, proven coach (only winning records with the PANTHERS...) with depth everywhere.
Remind me why you are all whining again???
Yay!
I agree with Annonymous, people are being ridiculous about this. It may take a little while for the team to gel but it shouldn't be too long. Martin is proven to be a wonderful regular season coach and post-season, well is it fair to judge a guy who had Patrick Lalime as his starting goalie?
I really think people are under-valuing Spacek. He's a really good defenseman, decently physical, with good offensive ability (several 40+ pts seasons).
Sure he's overpaid, but that doesn't change shit to the fact that on the ice, he's an upgrade over Komi (mby not in shot blocking, but for the rest he's more useful). He also makes our PP immensely better, if you consider the other option was an over-the-hill Schneider or the god-awful Breezer.
This signing alone makes our D better, and we're not looking at how Mara and Gill are upgrades over Cube, Breeze and Schneider...
@ James
I agree, I think Spacek will surprise many this year, not to mention that Markov won't have to play for the whole fucking PP anymore, which should improve his 5v5 performance. Also, I think bringing in Mara may help Hamr rebound by taking the pressure off, and Gorges can go back to being quietly excellent on the 2nd or 3rd pairing.
The only move I question is the Gill signing... he's not worth more than Mara, he's not especially physical, and he was a bit of a pylon for most of last season. I think Dandenault or McKee would've been better value for less money, but whatever. He's still an upgrade.
As for the whole smurfs crap... is it just me, or did the 5'10 Saku consistently outplay 6'4 Joe Thornton?
As for the whole smurfs crap... is it just me, or did the 5'10 Saku consistently outplay 6'4 Joe Thornton?
That's because it's not so much the size of the body as the size of his heart.
The Canadiens have changed so very much that it will be impossible to get a good read on the team until they actually start playing together. No need to get too hysterical until the fall.
If they don't play well there will be plenty of time during the season to fret and go on meth binges. There always is. :)
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