2021-22 State of the Habs

[Graeme-1]

(TBH I still have no idea how much DD is part of the problem versus this just being a bad team vs it being an okay team in an epic slump, I just don't know how you can't try something different at this point).

[electron58]

Eastern                   GP    W      L      OTL      Pts 

 

Florida                      10      9       0       1           19

Carolina                     9       9        0      0           18

Washington             10      5       1       4           14

NY Rangers             10      6       2       2           14

Toronto                      11      6       4       1           13

Tampa Bay                10      5       3       2           12

Philadelphia              9      5       2       2            12

Columbus                  9      6        3       0          12

Buffalo                       10      5        4      1           11

Detroit                        11      4       5       2           10

Pittsburg                      9      4       3       2           10

NY Islanders                8      4       2       2           10

Boston                         8      5       3        0          10

New Jersey                 8      4       3        1             9

Ottawa                      10      3        6        1             7

Montreal                    12     3        9         0            6

 
 
 

If Playoffs started today, Teams in bold, are in.

Tough to figure out, who Boston & NYI will displace, once they play a few more games. And Pittsburg?

 

[electron58]

Looks like the 2nd line led the way tonight against isles...

Dvorak -5,  Hoffman -5,  Anderson -4 for a grand total of -14

ouch!

[Manatee-X]

5 hours ago, Graeme-1 said:

I keep reading about how Julien is still on our payroll, so I have a crazy idea: ask him to come back to work (he might still be interested, and I'm not a lawyer, but wouldn't he kind of have to if he wants to keep getting paid?) .  That solves the whole concern about having to pay 3 coaches ...

He's already come back once after being fired (granted not by the same GM), but if MB or Molson called up and said "you know that whole firing thing, ya uh, our bad there" I think it could smooth things over.

(not quite sure if this is a joke or a serious suggestion)

Well if you can Bergevin first, you don't even have to worry about it being the same GM bringing him back.  Two birds, one stone

[jennifer_rocket]

8 hours ago, maas_art said:

Yup.

You can forgive MB the loses of Price, Edmundson, Byron and Drouin.  But the rest of the holes in the roster?  We had literally the entire off season to try to replace Weber.  The answers were Savard and Wideman (and then a last minute hail mary with a Niku signing)   We lost Danault & were going into the season thin, replaced by whom? Poehling? Then JK signs the OS - which i grant you was not expected, I think MB would have matched all the way up to say, $4 - but at that point we were already down a centre.  We need to keep JK AND add Dvorak, not one or the other. 

Its just complete mismanagement.  

As many of us have said before, we have 1 guy who is more than a #4-6 dman. That is unacceptable.  And today, Norlinder was sent to Laval for conditioning. He cant play in Laval, so this implies we are planning on giving him some NHL games.  Arguably our best defensive prospect and we want to bring him into this tire-fire of a season?  

I hope they do bring in Norlinder to play some games. Not expecting him to save the season, but maybe it's meaningful for his development!

And if Romanov looks lost... Well, I am fine with him continuing to play as well. So often it feels like we favor has-been veterans instead of our young D. Might as well start giving them experience in the NHL, even if we do tank the season. Maybe they grow and succeed from the adversity.

[richard464]

Interesting?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/canadiens-front-office-in-urgent-need-of-fix-hi-o-bonus/ar-AAQml7v?li=AAggXBR

[electron58]

32 minutes ago, richard464 said:

Interesting?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/canadiens-front-office-in-urgent-need-of-fix-hi-o-bonus/ar-AAQml7v?li=AAggXBR

Yeah. Everyone knows that a change is needed   except Molson. Molson needs to get the he!! out of bergebin's bunker, already.

[archey]

I would say maybe 5 players have 3 components to their game. The rest...don't.

[maas_art]

3 wins.  9 loses.  

How have there not been changes made? 

[jennifer_rocket]

10 minutes ago, maas_art said:

3 wins.  9 loses.  

How have there not been changes made? 

Maybe there's no rush to make any changes. Just let the season run its course. We tank. Then we replace Bergevin and the new GM heads into the off-season in control of the team.

[H_T_L]

17 minutes ago, maas_art said:

3 wins.  9 loses.  

How have there not been changes made? 

They're waiting on the saviour (Price)  Isn't that the way this team operates since naming MB the GM??

[Manatee-X]

20 minutes ago, maas_art said:

3 wins.  9 loses.  

How have there not been changes made? 

And the scores in those losses:

2-1

5-1

3-1

5-0

4-1

5-1

5-2

4-2

6-2

 

 

I mean... that's worse than your garden variety bad hockey team, that's truly awful.  We've scored 1 goal or less in 6 of the 9 losses (and never more then 2 goals).  We've given up 4 or more goals in 7 of the 9 losses.  We've lost by 4+ more often than we've been within 2.

These aren't close games that could go either way, it's not puck luck, etc.  This team is just not working on any level.  They are not even putting up a fight.  Our coach has offered no ideas beyond a few variations of "try harder".  How in the name of all that is good and holy has nothing been done.

Every time... I tell myself every single time that I will no longer be surprised by Bergevin not getting replaced no matter how bad it gets.  And yet, every single time I think "well surely, THIS is what's going to do it".  But alas... I've just gone and fooled myself again.  It's not happening.

[H_T_L]

1 minute ago, Manatee-X said:

And the scores in those losses:

2-1

5-1

3-1

5-0

4-1

5-1

5-2

4-2

6-2

 

 

I mean... that's worse than your garden variety bad hockey team, that's truly awful.  We've scored 1 goal or less in 6 of the 9 losses (and never more then 2 goals).  We've given up 4 or more goals in 7 of the 9 losses.  We've lost by 4+ more often than we've been within 2.

These aren't close games that could go either way, it's not puck luck, etc.  This team is just not working on any level.  They are not even putting up a fight.  Our coach has offered no ideas beyond a few variations of "try harder".  How in the name of all that is good and holy has nothing been done.

Every time... I tell myself every single time that I will no longer be surprised by Bergevin not getting replaced no matter how bad it gets.  And yet, every single time I think "well surely, THIS is what's going to do it".  But alas... I've just gone and fooled myself again.  It's not happening.

This^^^ I thought for sure the recent road trip was the final straw. I expected at least an attempt at a shakeup with a coach change. Instead we get MB holding a dressing room chat, while DD is in a presser. What the hell was he hoping to accomplish with that?? A new slogan for his next T shirt??

[H_T_L]

The answer to our problems is a simple one IMO,,,,,,EMPTY SEATS. Seems to be the only language an owner like Molson will understand.

[maas_art]

12 minutes ago, Manatee-X said:

And the scores in those losses:

2-1

5-1

3-1

5-0

4-1

5-1

5-2

4-2

6-2

 

 

I mean... that's worse than your garden variety bad hockey team, that's truly awful.  We've scored 1 goal or less in 6 of the 9 losses (and never more then 2 goals).  We've given up 4 or more goals in 7 of the 9 losses.  We've lost by 4+ more often than we've been within 2.

These aren't close games that could go either way, it's not puck luck, etc.  This team is just not working on any level.  They are not even putting up a fight.  Our coach has offered no ideas beyond a few variations of "try harder".  How in the name of all that is good and holy has nothing been done.

Every time... I tell myself every single time that I will no longer be surprised by Bergevin not getting replaced no matter how bad it gets.  And yet, every single time I think "well surely, THIS is what's going to do it".  But alas... I've just gone and fooled myself again.  It's not happening.

Yup. Great break-down.  The fact we havent gotten a loser point (Or even been close to getting one) yet, speaks volumes.   This team is horrific right now. 

[habsisme]

4 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

I hope they do bring in Norlinder to play some games. Not expecting him to save the season, but maybe it's meaningful for his development!

And if Romanov looks lost... Well, I am fine with him continuing to play as well. So often it feels like we favor has-been veterans instead of our young D. Might as well start giving them experience in the NHL, even if we do tank the season. Maybe they grow and succeed from the adversity.

I think Romanov should be in the AHL right now with Caufield

[maas_art]

Ducharme confirms that Price will be back with the team starting Monday.  Wont play for a while (obviously) but will start skating on his own, working with the trainers & conditioning coaches.    No timeline on a return and he might go to Laval for conditioning at some point.

Wonder if his return will have any affect on the players.  Honestly I dont see a lack of effort from them (too much effort actually, too tight on the sticks, too worried about making a mistake etc) but will be interesting to see if this has any affect. 

[Graeme-1]

9 hours ago, Manatee-X said:

Well if you can Bergevin first, you don't even have to worry about it being the same GM bringing him back.  Two birds, one stone

Haha even better: "come back Claude, we can drink and complain about the previous guy".

[Graeme-1]

4 hours ago, maas_art said:

Wonder if his return will have any affect on the players.  Honestly I dont see a lack of effort from them (too much effort actually, too tight on the sticks, too worried about making a mistake etc) but will be interesting to see if this has any affect. 

I doubt it, although you know if the team improves (even if just by coincidence) the media is going to run with this narrative non-stop.

The bigger question for me is if he can help on the ice. Obviously most of our losses wouldn't have been helped by better goaltending (unless you're scoring at least 3 goals, hard for the goalie to win you many games, and we can barely manage 2 goals most games), but maybe he's able to squeak out a few more wins compared to Allen? Then again, regular season Price hasn't been anything special in years, so who knows.

[campabee82]

20 minutes ago, Graeme-1 said:

I doubt it, although you know if the team improves (even if just by coincidence) the media is going to run with this narrative non-stop.

The bigger question for me is if he can help on the ice. Obviously most of our losses wouldn't have been helped by better goaltending (unless you're scoring at least 3 goals, hard for the goalie to win you many games, and we can barely manage 2 goals most games), but maybe he's able to squeak out a few more wins compared to Allen? Then again, regular season Price hasn't been anything special in years, so who knows.

Goalies are voodoo as the saying goes lol. However having Price in net might actually help the guys up front loosen up a bit. He gives them that extra bit of confidence knowing if they make a bad read he should be able to bail them out. With our winger depth and D makeup we should be playing like the Isles defensively. Keep everything to the outside and pressure the points to force turnovers the other way and have a winger release when possession is gained in the D zone creating odd man rushes the other way. 

[caperns61]

Oddly enough our goals against GA per game,  is the same as Minnesota, 3.33 yet they are 6-3 and we are 3 and 9. 

Even though the Islanders beat us last night I thought we play well for the most part, compared to most of this season. Not to other NHL clubs..LOL..Just could not handle their forwards in front of the net and could not score early in the game. 

I think after this weekend they need to call up Poehling and bring back Caufield. Mr Brooks without a doubt does not belong in the NHL

Give Poelhing the third line center position and let him play there with Caufield. Add a responsible forward like Armia or Lekonen

[electron58]

MONTREAL CANADIENS, FIRST 13 GAMES TO START THE SEASON

1923-24           9

1941-42           9

1999-00           9

2021-2022     10

How is nobody fired, yet?!?

[electron58]

The Habs play the Coyotes on January 17th in case anyone was wondering when the worst hockey game of all time is going to be played.

[electron58]

The Habs  ( -19 ) goal different is 2nd only to 1941-42's ( -21 )for the franchise's worst such mark through 13 games while their 6 points are also 2nd fewest only to '41-42 by that standard. In 10 losses, MTL's been outscored by an average of over 3 G per game ( -31 off a 44-13 margin. )

[BigTed3]

I'll repeat this, but this team is not as bad as their record. The offence will come over time. We're seeing Suzuki playing well, we've seen Anderson play well, we're seeing Toffoli and Petry and Hoffman generating more. We'll get Drouin back. And on top of that, getting Price and Edmundson back will give us a boost too. That said, this team will not be a playoff team without addressing two holes: 2C and two guys in the top 4 D.

On the first count, this is why I jumped on the Drouin to center bandwagon and why I thought this was worth Ducharme trying it. We have scoring depth at wing even without Drouin but we have poor depth at center. Dvorak has shown himself to be more of a 3C and Evans/Perreault are really 4th line players at present. So if Drouin can take over that 2C role, it puts the other guys into the right seats. Drouin is our best puck carrier through the neutral zone and he is a good puck distributor, so in this regard, it makes sense. The question will remain whether he can take care of his own zone and still produce offensively knowing he's got to do more defensively. It didn't work out a few years ago, but he's a more mature player now, so I think it's our best option.

As for the D, it seems like a no-brainer to reunite Ed-Petry once JE is back. I wanted to try Chiarot-Petry to see if that would be the best spot to hide Chiarot and have Petry elevate him. But instead, we're seeing Chiarot simply weigh Petry down, just as he's weighed down other guys he's played with. Savard has likewise been a tire fire on the second pairing. Romanov has finally looked better the past two games, but he's benefiting from being on the third pairing with easier match-ups. To try and slide him up the line-up right now might be detrimental to his development. He's been okay with either Kulak or Wideman as his partner, but I'd worry about trying to put him back with Savard or Chiarot again. So ultimately, I just don't see where we put Chiarot and Savard in the line-up and I think we'd be better off trading them both. Chiarot in particular is the one pending UFA of note that we have who we'd benefit from dealing for futures. But I don't see a quick fix to the D, I think this just something to ride out this year and try to solve for next year.