Tank Watch

[maas_art]

15 hours ago, claremont said:

 The problem we have, is our players are trying with heart and effort - imo can’t say that for the other unmotivated teams. 

I think most players still dont want to be embarrassed.  Its just that when things get so bad that you feel like you're going through the motions & just waiting for the offseason its hard to get up for a game. Thats why coaching changes sometimes work wonders: they get the players out of their funk- even if the coach isnt particularly good.  I think there are players in Seattle, Arizona Ottawa, Chicago, Philly etc that are putting their heart and soul into the games but they are just so bad that it doesnt matter.  

 

15 hours ago, claremont said:

My worry is Price comes back for a few games and steals a number of points. 

This is definitely a worry.  This is why im just hoping for a top 5 pick (bottom 3 finish guarantees this).  Obviously 1st overall would be best but if we can finish with a higher chance at getting that pick then all the better. 

[H_T_L]

The only game i'm interested in winning now is on April 9th so Bieber can eat some more crow. All the rest are,,,whatever

[Regis22]

41 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

The only game i'm interested in winning now is on April 9th so Bieber can eat some more crow. All the rest are,,,whatever

Lol.

AM34 has 50 goals . The leafs record is 54 . He needs. 5 more goals to break the Leaf record . The leafs vs Habs next Saturday is the leafs 5 th game  . If he doesn’t break or match the record in the 4 games before next Saturday …. Ugh 😩 

[ChiLla]

They can break every single individual regular season record there is in hockey, I still don't see them go deep with their current team. Let's see if they can make it past the first round this year.

[maas_art]

14 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

They can break every single individual regular season record there is in hockey, I still don't see them go deep with their current team. Let's see if they can make it past the first round this year.

Truth. I dont know what it is about that group but it just never feels cohesive.  When they added Tavares I was sure that was going to help propel them but honestly it just hurt them more - so much money to 3 players.  One of these years they'll make it out of round one but i doubt they go deep... 

[ChiLla]

6 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Truth. I dont know what it is about that group but it just never feels cohesive.  When they added Tavares I was sure that was going to help propel them but honestly it just hurt them more - so much money to 3 players.  One of these years they'll make it out of round one but i doubt they go deep... 

For sure, and when you add Nylander to that list, we're talking about ~50% of the Cap spent on 4 guys that don't really come up big to help you win in the playoffs. Amazing players no doubt but IMO they'll eventually have to trade Marner and/or Nylander and finally spend some real money elsewhere. It's just an imbalanced group and the playoffs are usually about the opposite.

[ramcharger440]

12 hours ago, ChiLla said:

For sure, and when you add Nylander to that list, we're talking about ~50% of the Cap spent on 4 guys that don't really come up big to help you win in the playoffs. Amazing players no doubt but IMO they'll eventually have to trade Marner and/or Nylander and finally spend some real money elsewhere. It's just an imbalanced group and the playoffs are usually about the opposite.

They are a team based on stats which is a great tool but there seems to be a lack of an overall plan for that team! the D is a patchwork and they don't seem to understand the need for solid goaltending! To top it off I don't get the feel that the top players are enough of a team themselves to win it all, on other teams the players seem to rally around the stars in T.O it seems they set themselves apart or above the other players or at least that is my view.

[electron58]

27.  Ottawa           67     24      37       6      54

28.  Philadelphia  67     21      35     11      53

29.  New Jersey   67     24      38      5       53

30.   Seattle          68      21     41       6      48 

31.   Arizona         68      21     42       5      47

32.  Montreal       68      18     39     11     47

                       14 games left!

[electron58]

27.  Ottawa           67     24      37       6      54

28.  Philadelphia  67     21      35     11      53

29.  New Jersey   67     24      38      5       53

30.  Montreal       69      19     39     11     49

31.   Seattle          68      21     41       6      48 

32.   Arizona         68      21     42       5      47

 

                       13 games left!

Finally exited the dungeon. I hope we don’t go up any higher.

[kinot-2]

21 minutes ago, electron58 said:

27.  Ottawa           67     24      37       6      54

28.  Philadelphia  67     21      35     11      53

29.  New Jersey   67     24      38      5       53

30.  Montreal       69      19     39     11     49

31.   Seattle          68      21     41       6      48 

32.   Arizona         68      21     42       5      47

 

                       13 games left!

Finally exited the dungeon. I hope we don’t go up any higher.

Well, both Seattle and AZ have games in hand, so there's that. 

[electron58]

10 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

Well, both Seattle and AZ have games in hand, so there's that. 

Anything is possible,  but I'm fairly confident that the Habs will finish no lower than 30th in the real standings. If that happens,  then a top 5 pick. We really need a top 5 pick.

[BigTed3]

10 hours ago, kinot-2 said:

Well, both Seattle and AZ have games in hand, so there's that. 

 

10 hours ago, electron58 said:

Anything is possible,  but I'm fairly confident that the Habs will finish no lower than 30th in the real standings. If that happens,  then a top 5 pick. We really need a top 5 pick.

I agree. I think the odds Seattle or Arizona finish stronger than us is really low. Arizona was bad and is missing their best players. Seattle is also bad. Conversely, the Habs are not as bad as their record for two major reasons:

1. They sucked in large part due to horrible coaching under Ducharme, which is no longer the case

2. They got sub .900 goaltending most of the season but now have Allen back and perhaps soon Price too.

I think the odds of finishing 31st or 32nd are/were really dependent on our losing a bunch of close games. Instead we've won a bunch of loser points recently and upset a couple of teams we shouldn't have beaten. I said two weeks ago that this hard stretch against tough opposition would dictate our standings. If we lost all those games we were favored to lose, then we had a chance to finish lower. Now, after wins against Tor and TB and loser points against Bos and on the road in NJ, I don't see it.

And as I said a couple of weeks ago as well, I think we need to be concerned about Ottawa and Philly. Ottawa lost Chabot, although one can hope Sanderson will be a boost to their level of play. And Philly is just finishing a streak of very tough games, so as I noted, the likelihood was high they would tumble down the standings. Going forward, their schedule is lighter now, but they actually have to win some of those.

Very frustrating to see the Habs play such a bad season, be out of the playoff picture early, and then potentially still not end up with a top 2-3 pick.

[H_T_L]

Sens pick up 2 points today.

[electron58]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

Sens pick up 2 points today.

👍

[BigTed3]

4 hours ago, H_T_L said:

Sens pick up 2 points today.

Devils lose though.

Phi currently up 2-0 over NYR.

Ari losing 1-0 to Chi.

[H_T_L]

41 minutes ago, BigTed3 said:

Devils lose though.

Phi currently up 2-0 over NYR.

Ari losing 1-0 to Chi.

Yotes have a lead for now, late in the 2nd, and Flyers are still up 2 after two

[BigTed3]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

Yotes have a lead for now, late in the 2nd, and Flyers are still up 2 after two

Yotes win in OT. Chicago still gets one point. Perfect result for us.

Philly also wins in OT.

Seattle up one so far.

[electron58]

2 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Devils lose though.

Devils lost Jack Hughes with a LBI (leg or knee) after what the announcers said was a clean hit. I don't think it was a clean hit, as it was a leg on leg contact. He never even tried to hit Hughes with his body. It wasn't vicious, but still not clean.

[electron58]

27.  Ottawa          68     25      37       6      56

28.  Philadelphia  69     22      36     11      55

29.  New Jersey   69     24      39       6      54

30.   Seattle          69      22     41       6      50 

31.   Arizona         69      22     42       5      49

32.  Montreal       69      19     39     11      49

Back to the cellar. Surprisingly, that didn't last long.   Habs with 13 games left, starting with Ottawa on Tuesday night.

[claremont]

9 hours ago, electron58 said:

27.  Ottawa          68     25      37       6      56

28.  Philadelphia  69     22      36     11      55

29.  New Jersey   69     24      39       6      54

30.   Seattle          69      22     41       6      50 

31.   Arizona         69      22     42       5      49

32.  Montreal       69      19     39     11      49

Back to the cellar. Surprisingly, that didn't last long.   Habs with 13 games left, starting with Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Hoping the stars are aligned- wtg Kraken

[BigTed3]

21 hours ago, electron58 said:

Devils lost Jack Hughes with a LBI (leg or knee) after what the announcers said was a clean hit. I don't think it was a clean hit, as it was a leg on leg contact. He never even tried to hit Hughes with his body. It wasn't vicious, but still not clean.

Yeah, it was a leg on leg/ knee on knee contact or whatever you want to call it. I don't think he meant to necessarily do that to Hughes, but it was a reckless hit. Subban went and fought the guy right after too, so obviously the Devils did not think it was clean either.

[ramcharger440]

2 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Yeah, it was a leg on leg/ knee on knee contact or whatever you want to call it. I don't think he meant to necessarily do that to Hughes, but it was a reckless hit. Subban went and fought the guy right after too, so obviously the Devils did not think it was clean either.

I watched the clip Subban went too far the hit was not that bad no need to react like that in this case.

[electron58]

10 minutes ago, ramcharger440 said:

I watched the clip Subban went too far the hit was not that bad no need to react like that in this case.

And if it happens to one of our star players, people would be complaining that our guys are just standing around. Case in point, when Jeff Petry was crucified for looking the other way, when Samuel Montembeault was run over. You can't make everyone happy. And if you want to see someone go too far, just watch the Beagle clip on Troy Terry. That was too far.

[ramcharger440]

9 hours ago, electron58 said:

And if it happens to one of our star players, people would be complaining that our guys are just standing around. Case in point, when Jeff Petry was crucified for looking the other way, when Samuel Montembeault was run over. You can't make everyone happy. And if you want to see someone go too far, just watch the Beagle clip on Troy Terry. That was too far.

Yep it can be argued both ways but there was no need for it.

[jennifer_rocket]

12 hours ago, ramcharger440 said:

I watched the clip Subban went too far the hit was not that bad no need to react like that in this case.

I thought Subban went too far as well. And the referees penalized him for it, rightly. The hit on Hughes should have been penalized but it wasn't a dirty malicious hit that warranted getting jumped by Subban.