2019-20 State Of The Habs

[maas_art]

Some interesting quotes from the golf tournament:
(full article here:  https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/latest-news/2019/9/9/20856742/quotes-and-highlights-from-the-montreal-canadiens-golf-tournament-bergevin-molson-habs-weber-price)

Some Highlights: 

- Bergevin says he made an offer to Gardiner but he chose Carolina. 

- Hudon says he lost 17 lbs this summer & is in the best shape of his life... i didnt realize he was out of shape last year but if true, i could certainly see why the coaches may have lost some faith in him.  17 lbs is a lot of extra weight for a fairly small guy.   Not many players can pull off playing at a high level and carrying around that much fat.... Phil Kessel and Big Buff are the only 2 guys i can think of that can carry a lot of weight & still be effective.

- There will be no PTOs at training camp (ie Jeff Skinner)

- Carey Price still very much discussing his window:   "A lot of guys play a lot of years and don't get a chance to win. I don't want to be one of those guys."

- PP plan to begin the season:  4F 1D   - on both units. 

[CANADIENS27]

Bergevin has nixed the idea of Markov returning to the Canadiens saying he wants to move the team in another direction.  From NHL.com.  

 

 

[ahmedou]

The concept of captain is so irrelevant. Lemme clarify it... A letter is a letter. Every players who sign with the Montreal Canadiens gotta be a captain. Every players gotta be a leader in something. On and off the ice. The locker room should be as a 1909% unit. Adapting themselves at this reality is a part of their duty. 

[Larry-Launstein-Jr]

I'm still concerned about Bergevin. Right now, I see the Canadiens going either way ... make the playoffs or miss them. Either way, they will be barely in or barely out.

I just think his time is running out. I don't know about the situation with Claude Julien as the new season starts.

[Larry-Launstein-Jr]

On 9/9/2019 at 4:46 PM, CANADIENS27 said:

Bergevin has nixed the idea of Markov returning to the Canadiens saying he wants to move the team in another direction.  From NHL.com.  

 

 

He can't be worse than the other defensemen they have. He could help stabilize the defense some.

[26NCounting]

8 hours ago, Larry-Launstein-Jr said:

He can't be worse than the other defensemen they have. He could help stabilize the defense some.

Markov is just too slow, I would rather see his spot on the bench go to a young faster D man that can learn.  

[maas_art]

This is apparently the lineup to play the panthers tomorrow.  A few interesting notes:

 

- Drouin in for Gallagher. Im assuming this is more about Gally needing some time off but interesting they chose to put drouin there - maybe some rival scouts want to see him? 

- Hudon back in again - this time next to JK.  I am glad to see they team is really paying attention to him & hopefully giving him a fair shot.  

- Poehling not getting much to work with.  I feel more an more like they are intending to send him to Laval to start the year unless he really changes their mind.  Cousins also getting a second look.  I feel like they signed him as insurance but he may just play his way on to the roster.  He's never been able to translate his AHL scoring to the NHL but he's looked very good at times.

Tatar – Danault – Drouin
Hudon – Kotkaniemi – Armia
Cousins – Poehling – Barber
Peca – Vejdemo – Belzile

Chiarot – Petry
Reilly – Folin
Leskinen - Fleury
Lamarche

Lindgren
McNiven

[ChiLla]

Ikonen out for 6 months... poor kid really can't catch a break.

https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2019/9/20/20875427/joni-ikonen-injury-montreal-canadiens-prospect-habs-update

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, ChiLla said:

Ikonen out for 6 months... poor kid really can't catch a break.

https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2019/9/20/20875427/joni-ikonen-injury-montreal-canadiens-prospect-habs-update

Oh man.   

[ramcharger440]

Over all i feel pretty good about where the team is at, the young players we have at camp are pretty much all showing promise and i feel that if we can feed a couple in we will be better than last season by a fair margin. time will tell but right now i think we are a better team for sure. i still would liked to have seen a top tier LHD added but this is what we have for now.

[maas_art]

12 minutes ago, ramcharger440 said:

Over all i feel pretty good about where the team is at, the young players we have at camp are pretty much all showing promise and i feel that if we can feed a couple in we will be better than last season by a fair margin. time will tell but right now i think we are a better team for sure. i still would liked to have seen a top tier LHD added but this is what we have for now.

I agree. 

The one thing about our defense is that we do have some quality players - just none that I feel are truly first pairing LD.   I feel like if you added a top guy, youd not only be able to get more out of him than say, Mete, but you'd get more out of Weber too.  

Unlike years past, we have mostly good defensmen.  There's no Alzner or Schlemko or even Emelin - waiting to be exploited.  Even Folin, who i think is on the outside looking in, is a decent 3rd pairing, 'keep it simple' guy.    Chiarot worries me simply because i think they will overplay him because of his contract $$  

 

Im pretty excited about the new season. I think this team is going to surprise a lot of people.  Im not saying we're definitely going to finish above Toronto in the standings but i definitely wont be shocked if we do. 

[H_T_L]

2 hours ago, maas_art said:

 

 Im not saying we're definitely going to finish above Toronto in the standings but i definitely wont be shocked if we do. 

OK,,,, i'll say it then. We WILL finish ahead of Toronto.

[ahmedou]

They standardized their home game start times. Around 7PM... Less missing games. That's not late. For the fans on TV. For the fans going to the BC too. Who're from far spots. Being on time. It's a sweet change.

[campabee82]

I know it's early and just preseason but man this team looks more lime a playoff contender than a lot of people were giving them credit for over the summer. Me included LOL.

[campabee82]

On 9/20/2019 at 8:39 PM, H_T_L said:

OK,,,, i'll say it then. We WILL finish ahead of Toronto.

As long as a couple of teams figure out that to stop the Laffs all you have to do is shutdown 2 lines the other guys couldn't score a goal on a blind dog on skates  and their D don't play defense very well as they are all offensive dmen. Almost feel bad for Anderson ALMOST LOL 

[arpem-can]

16 minutes ago, campabee82 said:

As long as a couple of teams figure out that to stop the Laffs all you have to do is shutdown 2 lines the other guys couldn't score a goal on a blind dog on skates  and their D don't play defense very well as they are all offensive dmen. Almost feel bad for Anderson ALMOST LOL 

 well my prediction was Montreal at least 102 pts and Toronto a bubble team …# 1 ..I thought Montreal got stronger in the off season with the acquisition of stronger grittier role players ( Chiarot , Cousins and Kinkaid ) and # 2 this team was 25 pts better than the year before and are somewhat pissed about the 96 point year and no play-offs ...as well players are maturing and the prospect depth ( top 5 in the league ) is the best in probably 20 years with a few NHL ready guys so competition is a factor  ...also I believe this is a tight team who will play for each other ….Toronto according to some pundits have a better defense this year ..I see it differently ….they have 3 fairly dependable guys and then a huge drop off ( minus Zaitsev and Gardiner ) ….also 12 players making $775,000 or less because of the top heavy 4-some salaries = the need for cheaper available guys ..I believe Toronto has some team balance issues and if one of the big 4 or Anderson gets hurt for any amount of time they're in deep do-do ...Spezza is a real sign they're desperate ...he looked sluggish tonight in Toronto's 5-3 loss to Buffalo and will only get slower as the season progresses .

[campabee82]

After last night's convincing win over the Sens you can't help but feel excited for the upcoming season. The Habs finished 2 points out of the playoffs last year and 4 Points behind the Leafs with Antti Niemi playing backup. This year we have Kinkade who last night looked as solid as he has ever looked giving hope that last year was definitely an outlier and that he is the Anti-Niemi. I feel like this year the Habs will not only make the playoffs but with Kinkade playing the backup role he will pick up 5 or 6 more wins than Niemi did last year. That would push the Habs into the top 3 of the division and maybe top 4 in the East. A bold prediction I know but we basically kept the same team as last year but adding the all important reliable backup I don't think it's really that much of a stretch.

[CaptWelly]

55 minutes ago, campabee82 said:

After last night's convincing win over the Sens you can't help but feel excited for the upcoming season. The Habs finished 2 points out of the playoffs last year and 4 Points behind the Leafs with Antti Niemi playing backup. This year we have Kinkade who last night looked as solid as he has ever looked giving hope that last year was definitely an outlier and that he is the Anti-Niemi. I feel like this year the Habs will not only make the playoffs but with Kinkade playing the backup role he will pick up 5 or 6 more wins than Niemi did last year. That would push the Habs into the top 3 of the division and maybe top 4 in the East. A bold prediction I know but we basically kept the same team as last year but adding the all important reliable backup I don't think it's really that much of a stretch.

I agree and think that Price will be solid all season. He didn't start out hot last season. I also think having Weber for the whole season and a whole off season of training for him will really help. I do hope that maybe Lehk's , Suzuki, Poehling ect. can make up fro the loss of Shaw's production and his grit when needed. I do like the team speed and I believe we have a good shot at the playoffs. As usual with our team and are opponents injuries and such can make a difference. I think the Habs are in a good position depth wise for when injuries happen now which is a good thing.

[ramcharger440]

22 minutes ago, CaptWelly said:

I agree and think that Price will be solid all season. He didn't start out hot last season. I also think having Weber for the whole season and a whole off season of training for him will really help. I do hope that maybe Lehk's , Suzuki, Poehling ect. can make up fro the loss of Shaw's production and his grit when needed. I do like the team speed and I believe we have a good shot at the playoffs. As usual with our team and are opponents injuries and such can make a difference. I think the Habs are in a good position depth wise for when injuries happen now which is a good thing.

100% agree with all of this. injuries could change a lot of results but overall i think we will be ok.

[ahmedou]

For them the sports aspect isn't priority to the rest. The businesses they implemented in the city of Montreal is what they care. Winning is all the fortune everybody want. But for our responsibles it ain't the case. The MC is a rich brand who's gaining millions of dollars anyway. 

[ramcharger440]

4 hours ago, ahmedou said:

For them the sports aspect isn't priority to the rest. The businesses they implemented in the city of Montreal is what they care. Winning is all the fortune everybody want. But for our responsibles it ain't the case. The MC is a rich brand who's gaining millions of dollars anyway. 

?

[ahmedou]

13 hours ago, ramcharger440 said:

?

؟

[campabee82]

13 hours ago, ramcharger440 said:

?

I think basically what he is trying to say is that management doesn't care about winning or the sporting aspect as much as they care about lining their pockets with millions. I understand why some people feel this way I mean just look at the cap space projected to be unspent again this year we have around 6-8 mil by the time the opening day lineup rolls out for the 3rd straight year and we all know MB will not make trades during the season cause it's too hard in his words and the price is always too high. But if you actually look at what he has built and is in the process of building now and the future don't look so bad. This year's lineup will be something like

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher 

Lehkonen-Domi-Suzuki

Drouin-Kotkaniemi-Weal

Byron-Thompson-Armia

Hudon and Evans as extras

Mete-Weber 

Chiarot-Petry

Kulak-Fleury 

Price 

Kinkade

And in the next year or two you could add Ikonen, Yolonen, Poehling, Caufield, Evans, Romanov, Leskinen, Brook and Primeau and others to the mix which IMO will make us solid contenders for uears to come and possibly even push us to Dynasty status. We may not be the 50'-70's Habs but we will be a handful for a long time

[arpem-can]

  I feel the need to address the criticism Bergevin gets about having cap space left over ...as has been stated by him and Molson the team is ok with spending it all ...it's not like another $4 million saved for the piggy bank will make or break Molson's financial bottom line  ...the right deal hasn't come along to utilize that space but it never hurts to have it in reserve ..not all players want to come to Montreal for whatever their reasons but being in the spotlight all the time might be one of them ..not all players are like Domi who just this summer was trying to sell players on how great it is in Montreal " Just come for one day " he said ....I'm not a Bergevin hater ...all GMs make crappy moves from time to time (  Alzner ) but not all GMs can say they claimed a Byron off waivers , or stole a Danault for spare parts , or grabbed a Tatar and Suzuki and a pick for Pacs or an Armia , or saw Domi's potential . If Drouin has a good year you can add him to the list and that would be after a career high in points .I've always like the Weber trade . They've drafted centres when they needed them ( "because they don't grow on trees" ) and LHD when they needed them and now have a pretty good  5th or 6th ranked pipeline going on . Parity is the name of the game now . No one would have guessed St. Louis would have won the Cup when they were dead last in the league last January . Teams need an identity to play for each other ...I think Montreal has one of those teams and are capable of much better things going forward . I believe this will be a good year barring key leng

thy injuries .

[campabee82]

4 minutes ago, arpem-can said:

  I feel the need to address the criticism Bergevin gets about having cap space left over ...as has been stated by him and Molson the team is ok with spending it all ...it's not like another $4 million saved for the piggy bank will make or break Molson's financial bottom line  ...the right deal hasn't come along to utilize that space but it never hurts to have it in reserve ..not all players want to come to Montreal for whatever their reasons but being in the spotlight all the time might be one of them ..not all players are like Domi who just this summer was trying to sell players on how great it is in Montreal " Just come for one day " he said ....I'm not a Bergevin hater ...all GMs make crappy moves from time to time (  Alzner ) but not all GMs can say they claimed a Byron off waivers , or stole a Danault for spare parts , or grabbed a Tatar and Suzuki and a pick for Pacs or an Armia , or saw Domi's potential . If Drouin has a good year you can add him to the list and that would be after a career high in points .I've always like the Weber trade . They've drafted centres when they needed them ( "because they don't grow on trees" ) and LHD when they needed them and now have a pretty good  5th or 6th ranked pipeline going on . Parity is the name of the game now . No one would have guessed St. Louis would have won the Cup when they were dead last in the league last January . Teams need an identity to play for each other ...I think Montreal has one of those teams and are capable of much better things going forward . I believe this will be a good year barring key leng

thy injuries .

I wasn't hating on MB I can't say I am a fan of his but also don't hate him. I was just saying that his excuse for not landing tallent in a trade or FA is always the same "Its too expensive" his words not mine. If he is that concerned about money when he always has 6-8 mil left every season one has to wonder just how willing is Mr. Molson to spend to the cap? I like his waiver pickups and PTO pickups some of his trades lately have worked out great he seems to be figuring out a lot over the last 2 or 3 seasons in the draft and everywhere that he should have in his first 2 or 3 years. And it seems like he may have actually figured out how to build a contender lately but he now needs to figure out how to spend the last little bit that pushes them from playoff possibility to true contender year in and year out.