State of the Habs

[Habs=stanleycup]

1 hour ago, BigTed3 said:

Here's a video from Geoff Molson... very very disappointing and shows very little insight if he's telling the truth.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/like-a-boss-13-geoff-molson-answers-fan-questions/c-296683020

In it, GM states that he thinks the Habs just had a bad year, and that they plan to double down getting speed, youth, and character. He adds that the team has a great nucleus that will rebound. Worst of all, he states that he believes Marc Bergevin will have the team ready to go in September.

Doesn't sound like GM has any plans to fire Bergevin. If the Habs are going to go with "it was a bad year" and "we have the right nucleus in place" and "our GM is capable of turning this around" then it shows no hope for the future. We have people in charge here who clearly have no idea what they're doing. MT and MB have blown a great window for a Cup and now we're doomed to suffer through what, another 5 years of mediocrity before anyone takes any action? I'm somewhere between frustrated, angry, and simply fed up of following this team. It's one pathetic excuse after another.

Our team is a disgrace and a laughingstock of the entire NHL and yet our clueless Owner keeps MB employed. Pathetic.

[habby67]

I bet if the team was losing money Mb would be gone by now.......Or who knows, I give up.

[BigTed3]

CJ says Valiev out and Lernout likely to be recalled.

[Regis22]

2 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Here's a video from Geoff Molson... very very disappointing and shows very little insight if he's telling the truth.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/like-a-boss-13-geoff-molson-answers-fan-questions/c-296683020

In it, GM states that he thinks the Habs just had a bad year, and that they plan to double down getting speed, youth, and character. He adds that the team has a great nucleus that will rebound. Worst of all, he states that he believes Marc Bergevin will have the team ready to go in September.

lol.....Geoff, this is a BAD hockey club . You have NO D , NO # 1 or # 2 C . Unless you address these areas , this team is going to be bad again next year .

They stink !!!

[Regis22]

Mike Babcock on J D Smith , his Assistant Coach and what he looks for when  hiring

MB looks for friends and if they are bi lingual, what a different approach .

http://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/players-think-d-j-smith-destined-to-be-a-head-coach

He’s going to be a good NHL head coach,” Babcock predicted. “When I’m going to hire people, I look for serial winners; wherever they’ve gone they’ve won. That means something. Were you able to win at playoff time? Were you able to deliver?”

[maas_art]

2 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Here's a video from Geoff Molson... very very disappointing and shows very little insight if he's telling the truth.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/like-a-boss-13-geoff-molson-answers-fan-questions/c-296683020

In it, GM states that he thinks the Habs just had a bad year, and that they plan to double down getting speed, youth, and character. He adds that the team has a great nucleus that will rebound. Worst of all, he states that he believes Marc Bergevin will have the team ready to go in September.

Doesn't sound like GM has any plans to fire Bergevin. If the Habs are going to go with "it was a bad year" and "we have the right nucleus in place" and "our GM is capable of turning this around" then it shows no hope for the future. We have people in charge here who clearly have no idea what they're doing. MT and MB have blown a great window for a Cup and now we're doomed to suffer through what, another 5 years of mediocrity before anyone takes any action? I'm somewhere between frustrated, angry, and simply fed up of following this team. It's one pathetic excuse after another.

disheartening.

I always think "well what else can he say" in a situation like this but it sure sounds like he's 'standing behind' MB.   If there was any doubt in his mind you think he'd at least say something like "we will reevaluate in the summer" or something. 

And as for my emotions - im with you but im pretty much at "fed up" at this point. I have zero interest in this team (aside from trying to reshape it for the future) and i wish Molson could see the indifference a lot of fans are starting to feel about this once storied franchise. 

[habby67]

Stop being Jerry Jones and hire a president. I bet ya Serge Savard wouldn't put up with this many years of ineptitude. 

[Regis22]

" Still, I think we do already have a core of players who are very good, and who have shown over the last few years that this is a team that's capable of winning "

 

Dude, the only time this team was capable of winning , and even then I would say they won was when CP was on his game .

[kinot-2]

1 hour ago, habby67 said:

Stop being Jerry Jones and hire a president. I bet ya Serge Savard wouldn't put up with this many years of ineptitude. 

Ya know,,,,I looked at management, and coaches in the organisations, and IMO there's a disturbing trend. Here's the data. Why don't we have more management who are "in tune" with players who are clearly younger than them? Why don't they realize that the game has changed since they played? IMO, only Timmins, Muller, and Waite should be kept. 

Marc Bergivin,,,,age 51
Marty lapointe,,, 44
Larry carrier,,, 66
Scott Melamby,, 52
Rick Dudley,,,66
Trevor Timmins, 50
Rob Rammage,,,59
Francis Boulion, 42
Vincent Reindeau, 51

SL,, 50
j.j. dagnault, 52
Daniel Lacroix, age 48
Stephane Waite,,,age 48
Kirk Muller,,age 52
Claude Julien ,,,57

[PuckPundit]

5 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Here's a video from Geoff Molson... very very disappointing and shows very little insight if he's telling the truth.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/like-a-boss-13-geoff-molson-answers-fan-questions/c-296683020

In it, GM states that he thinks the Habs just had a bad year, and that they plan to double down getting speed, youth, and character. He adds that the team has a great nucleus that will rebound. Worst of all, he states that he believes Marc Bergevin will have the team ready to go in September.

Doesn't sound like GM has any plans to fire Bergevin. If the Habs are going to go with "it was a bad year" and "we have the right nucleus in place" and "our GM is capable of turning this around" then it shows no hope for the future. We have people in charge here who clearly have no idea what they're doing. MT and MB have blown a great window for a Cup and now we're doomed to suffer through what, another 5 years of mediocrity before anyone takes any action? I'm somewhere between frustrated, angry, and simply fed up of following this team. It's one pathetic excuse after another.

IIRC, didn't you predict in an earlier poll that Bergevin would be fired at the end of the season?  Are you finally convinced Molson is in the business just to maximize profit from the franchise?  The media should ask him how he rates his own performance as President of Hockey Operations.

[jennifer_rocket]

Are we still using Jonathan Drouin at center?  This experiment has got to end. I'd honestly rather see Jacob de la Rose center Jonathan Drouin at this point. How has the organization been so inept as to not even TRY Galchenyuk there this season? Haven't Scherbak and Hudon played center at different points in their careers? Try them while we're tanking.

[jennifer_rocket]

Also, just looking at Capfriendly and I see we have a number of poor defenders signed for 2018-2019 already. Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Victor Mete. Okay! Then it's Alzner, Shlemko, Benn, Reilly... Damn.

[Manatee-X]

11 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Here's a video from Geoff Molson... very very disappointing and shows very little insight if he's telling the truth.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/like-a-boss-13-geoff-molson-answers-fan-questions/c-296683020

In it, GM states that he thinks the Habs just had a bad year, and that they plan to double down getting speed, youth, and character. He adds that the team has a great nucleus that will rebound. Worst of all, he states that he believes Marc Bergevin will have the team ready to go in September.

Doesn't sound like GM has any plans to fire Bergevin. If the Habs are going to go with "it was a bad year" and "we have the right nucleus in place" and "our GM is capable of turning this around" then it shows no hope for the future. We have people in charge here who clearly have no idea what they're doing. MT and MB have blown a great window for a Cup and now we're doomed to suffer through what, another 5 years of mediocrity before anyone takes any action? I'm somewhere between frustrated, angry, and simply fed up of following this team. It's one pathetic excuse after another.

Oh man, that's just so disheartening.  I thought I was at the point where I'd pretty much given up caring what happens with the team this year (assuming that there was no way Bergevin would stay on past this year) but this one still managed to punch me right in the gut.

I mean it's got to be just a publicity move to save face for the year, right?  There's no way he could really be planning on keeping Bergevin.... right???

 

[jennifer_rocket]

1 hour ago, Manatee-X said:

Oh man, that's just so disheartening.  I thought I was at the point where I'd pretty much given up caring what happens with the team this year (assuming that there was no way Bergevin would stay on past this year) but this one still managed to punch me right in the gut.

I mean it's got to be just a publicity move to save face for the year, right?  There's no way he could really be planning on keeping Bergevin.... right???

 

Bergevin will definitely be back. Molson isn't going to pay him for the next several years to do nothing. Will he have learned anything about how to put together a competitive team? That's the question. My guess is... no.

[tony5775]

To say that Bergevin does not want to ice a winning team would be silly. Does he deserve another chance? Not sure. Would I prefer someone else took over? Yes.

Now if you watched last nights game you would have to know that AG has quit this team. He was at the end of the bench for the third period and taken off the first line. It was deserved . He has to be moved this summer, no doubt in my mind now.

Julien does not have a working system for scoring in place. When MT coached we could cycle that puck in the corners almost as good as Vegas does. Wonder where they got that system. Time for Julien to move on, if he is coaching we will never have a winning record.

 

 

 

[Shutoutfan]

How the team looks now I think the chances of Tavares signing here are abysmal. 

[BigTed3]

11 hours ago, maas_art said:

disheartening.

I always think "well what else can he say" in a situation like this but it sure sounds like he's 'standing behind' MB.   If there was any doubt in his mind you think he'd at least say something like "we will reevaluate in the summer" or something. 

And as for my emotions - im with you but im pretty much at "fed up" at this point. I have zero interest in this team (aside from trying to reshape it for the future) and i wish Molson could see the indifference a lot of fans are starting to feel about this once storied franchise. 

On the one hand, you can ask what Geoff Molson is supposed to say now. If he says "we'll re-evaluate in the summer" it's just about a kiss of death for Bergevin and everyone would know it. But if he says "his job is safe" then it might be a lie. The best thing GM could do for himself would be to just not say anything. The problem I have with this video online is that it isn't even a press conference. It's Molson responding to pre-chosen questions in a prepared video. He could have easily chosen not to address that topic, but he chose to himself, which tells me he's probably willingly volunteering that information about Bergevin.

 

9 hours ago, PuckPundit said:

IIRC, didn't you predict in an earlier poll that Bergevin would be fired at the end of the season?  Are you finally convinced Molson is in the business just to maximize profit from the franchise?  The media should ask him how he rates his own performance as President of Hockey Operations.

Absolutely. I didn't think MB would be fired in season, but after two of the last three years have seen us finish well out of the playoffs near the bottom of the league, I couldn't see any logical way you keep your GM. After the roster has been completely overhauled with players of Bergevin's choosing. After he kicked out best player out in a horrible trade. After two (Francophone) coaches of his choosing have failed with this roster. After making our team older and slower. After all those things, there's just zero logic in bringing Bergevin back. So yes, I took the rational view that Geoff Molson will be smart enough to fire Bergevin. I guess we'll see but maybe he's not.

The website 25stanley.com has a piece today ripping Molson apart. They say he's full of lies and that he tells fans the plan is to get younger, faster, and more character, yet Bergevin's biggest trades (Subban and Sergachev) basically saw us deal away the younger, faster player with better character (because yes, Subban is character to the extreme and in Drouin's case, he seems to be a bit of a moper and not much of a leader). They also call BS on Molson saying this was an off-year and that we'll rebound next season, when the same thing happened under Bergevin just two years ago. This team has just set a franchise record for most times being shut out. They can't win unless Carey is playing at a .930 clip. And yet Molson seems to be drinking the Bergevin kool-aid and believing everything is rosy. Hopefully it's all an act and Bergevin is gone, but I'm not holding my breathe after that video was released.

 

[kinot-2]

 Nicolas Deslauriers gave a shot towards his teammates after last night’s defeat.  He criticized the Canadiens by saying that the team has nobody who will crash the net and try to work for a rebound.  Deslauriers added that not having any willingness for second chances is killing them.

[HabsRuleForever]

3 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

 Nicolas Deslauriers gave a shot towards his teammates after last night’s defeat.  He criticized the Canadiens by saying that the team has nobody who will crash the net and try to work for a rebound.  Deslauriers added that not having any willingness for second chances is killing them.

Our next captain! LOL

Aside from Gallagher I don't remember anyone for the past few decades really. 

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, BigTed3 said:

I didn't think MB would be fired in season, but after two of the last three years have seen us finish well out of the playoffs near the bottom of the league, I couldn't see any logical way you keep your GM.

Worse than just that, in the year we did make the playoffs we lost abysmally.   We have won 2 playoff games in the last 3 seasons.  TWO GAMES.  And this is in years 4,5 and 6 of MB's tenure.    

We won several rounds in the first 3 seasons, with a team he inherited. Since he's "remade" it in his image we've gotten worse and worse. 

[maas_art]

1 minute ago, HabsRuleForever said:

Our next captain! LOL

Aside from Gallagher I don't remember anyone for the past few decades really. 

Shaw too.  Both are little guys though.   Would be nice if one of our bigger players followed suit. 

[ChiLla]

11 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Worse than just that, in the year we did make the playoffs we lost abysmally.   We have won 2 playoff games in the last 3 seasons.  TWO GAMES.  And this is in years 4,5 and 6 of MB's tenure.    

We won several rounds in the first 3 seasons, with a team he inherited. Since he's "remade" it in his image we've gotten worse and worse. 

Agreed, the results speak for themselves. Three underwhelming seasons in a row can't be attributed to injuries or bad luck, it's the status quo. We need to revamp the roster and MB shouldn't be the guy in charge, he failed miserably at building a hockey team. Let's cut our losses and move on.

16 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

 Nicolas Deslauriers gave a shot towards his teammates after last night’s defeat.  He criticized the Canadiens by saying that the team has nobody who will crash the net and try to work for a rebound.  Deslauriers added that not having any willingness for second chances is killing them.

Well, he's not wrong. There's more to it but it's definitely a factor. Throwing pucks at the net from low-percentage areas isn't necessarily a bad strategy if you have forwards who drive the net, which we don't.

[BigTed3]

1 hour ago, ChiLla said:

Agreed, the results speak for themselves. Three underwhelming seasons in a row can't be attributed to injuries or bad luck, it's the status quo. We need to revamp the roster and MB shouldn't be the guy in charge, he failed miserably at building a hockey team. Let's cut our losses and move on.

Well, he's not wrong. There's more to it but it's definitely a factor. Throwing pucks at the net from low-percentage areas isn't necessarily a bad strategy if you have forwards who drive the net, which we don't.

Not only that, but the good teams win despite injuries. Look back at Nashville in past years and they've won despite losing Rinne for stretches. They won this year without Ellis and without Forsberg. Boston has gone through periods without Bergeron and now they've hit a period without McAvoy. Tampa without Stamkos and having playoff success without Bishop a couple of years ago. The Pens with Crosby down with concussions. Good teams simply don't crumble with one key injury. We're a bad team because our defence is slow and can't move the puck. We're a bad team because we have zero quality scoring centers and so despite an abundance of talented wingers, there's no one to direct play, get the puck up ice quickly, and set these guys up for regular scoring chances. And we're a bad team because we have some pretty poor coaches in our system (and I'm not talking about Julien here). Almost all of this can be traced back to Bergevin doing a really poor job fixing what he was hired to do.

As for guys who go to the net, I'd add Daniel Carr and Danault to the list of Gallagher, Shaw, and Deslauriers. But if you look at the problem there, not only are those players smallish, they're also bottom 6 players outside of Gallagher. Maybe you add Hudon, who plays the game hard too, but again, that's a smaller player. I don't necessarily think you need guys who are going to screen the goalie and knock people over, but you do need to have guys who are fighting through dirty areas to get on loose pucks. But more than that, I think priority number one is just to find NHL-quality top 6 centers... Drouin doesn't have it. Plekanec and Danault weren't answers there. DLR and Froese are barely NHL players, and there's nothing left in the minors either.

[Habs=stanleycup]

3 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

The website 25stanley.com has a piece today ripping Molson apart. They say he's full of lies and that he tells fans the plan is to get younger, faster, and more character, yet Bergevin's biggest trades (Subban and Sergachev) basically saw us deal away the younger, faster player with better character (because yes, Subban is character to the extreme and in Drouin's case, he seems to be a bit of a moper and not much of a leader). They also call BS on Molson saying this was an off-year and that we'll rebound next season, when the same thing happened under Bergevin just two years ago. This team has just set a franchise record for most times being shut out. They can't win unless Carey is playing at a .930 clip. And yet Molson seems to be drinking the Bergevin kool-aid and believing everything is rosy. Hopefully it's all an act and Bergevin is gone, but I'm not holding my breathe after that video was released.

 

IMO Molson is totally enamored with MB and has zero intentions of letting him go. Either he gives his own head a shake and wakes up from his pipe dream, or we need a new owner to make things happen. This team has no future for consistent winning nor for any upcoming Stanley Cup(s) with its current management.

[habby67]

If MB cheated on him the love affair would be over!!