2 Biggest reasons for our current slump

[Hacketts]

I always try to see what type of system MSL was applying. In the winning stretch Habs were first on the puck and very energetic. They were puck possession team and were fast to backcheck and take back the puck. But that system was very demanding. So after a while comes the fatigue. I remember a year ago in november LA Kings won an easy game for them. Folks here wrote they were always at the right place at the right time. They won and it looked they were on automatic pilot. Maybe they had a good system of play, maybe they had a roster filled with players who were able to apply a system without being exhausted.

I think our bottom 6 sucks and the second line could be better. The first line is ok. I would like to see a second line with Heineman, Dach and Demidov. Third line with a new center better than Dvorak (trade or ufa). Put Anderson and Newhook on the wings. 4th line with Evans on center with Beck on wing taking some center duty and Gallagher. If there is any possibility Anderson can be traded, let's do it. And Gallagher buyout the year after.

And I don't know where Laine fit exactly. If I was the coach I would place him on PK like Anderson did and it would improve his defensive play a little bit. Sometimes he could score on a breakaway.

Lol, on an humoristic note our third line with Dvorak is a turd line, hahaha !!

They were our best line yesterday.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I can assure you the up/down rollercoaster ride is not over yet.

Which type of fan are you? haha

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

They were our best line yesterday.

Ok lol, sign him extention 5 more years !

 

[vokiel]

Where's a "all of the above" option when you need one?

They're all plausible factors to a degree, though I had to pick the 2 obvious ones: 13 goals in the last 6 games. Not a whole lot coming from Kirby's stick: 2 points in 6 games, and not a whole lot coming from Newhook's stick: 2 points in 6 games.

 

[Milhouse40]

Injuries lack of depth and fatigue.

And when I'm talking about fatigue, I'm mostly talking about Hutson.
He.s the #1 catalyst of our offence and it's a lot of hockey for that kid.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

...voted Other cuz it's all of the above and then some...we're not ready yet, that's the biggest reason why we are where we are...the winning streak was great, glad the kids had it in them to push hard for a while, but we're not there yet...a lot of holes to plug, a lot of kids that need to grow, a lot of steps to take...

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I see what you mean but I am from the school of hockey is a team sport. Not like NBA with one major star and the rest of the team follows. If that was the case, Matthews with the Leafs would have won the Cup at least once. He was neutralised by skilled defensive players and more complete teams.

I still see lot of players who are anchors. They don't contribute in scoring, their stats are in the minus. It become so easy to check Suzuki Slaf and Caufield and not worrying on the other lines. I mean, who will worry with the DVO line, lol? Every hockey analyst will say winning teams are those with a 3rd or 4th line scoring big goals once in a while. Take example our winning streak : 2nd, 3rd and 4th line (Evans, Heineman, Dach) were scoring goals and tell me no joke look in my eyes that it didn't help winning game. If you expect only the first line (or only the big stars) will score goals and expect that team to win, I don't know what to say.

Caufield and Suzuki are perfectly fine and I think Caufield-Suzuki-Demidov will be a great top line almost immediately despite the size. Hutson is awesome too.

Slafkovsky, Dach, Laine, Newhook, Guhle, Xhekaj, Reinbacher still haven't shown their true potential

 

[The Real Timo]

I don't buy that Heineman's injury derailed things. I mean sure, 4th line was good, but no changes have been made to defense, and the top 2 lines.

 

[Habs Halifax]

From December 15 to Jan 15 our goalies had a combined Sv percentage of over .915 and a 10-2 record.

Before Dec 15th, our goalies had a combined sv% of .882

Since Jan 15, our goalies have a combined .898 sv%.

Goaltending is not the sole reason we went on the run and now that we are falling back, but I'm surprised I am the only person who voted for it as one of the top reasons with well over 100 votes.

Agreed. Team momentum/confidence thing. They added Dobes and Carrier and that addressed some of the flaws they had that was creating issues.

Habs raised their game Dec+ and now other teams are doing the same. A game of leap frog and I expect a few more up/downs to finish this season.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I don't buy that Heineman's injury derailed things. I mean sure, 4th line was good, but no changes have been made to defense, and the top 2 lines.

We were able to keep momentum up and that built up to make every line more effective. Now, whenever the 1st line isn't on the ice, and the 2nd line isn't having a good game, it's just like the years we finished 5th OA.. only one line that can do anything, and by the time they come out, the defense is tired and they don't have possession.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

Were were running along just fine until...

still waiting to hear Heineman's version of it, i.e. the 'funny story' he texted to the group chat.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Monahan was traded Feb 2nd last season. Below are where we were on Feb 2nd last season and where we are this season so far.

Our true evaluation is compete level and we should be looking at how we have improved our PP and PK. Also look at GF/game and GA/game.


Oct to Feb 2nd (23/24):

Oct to Jan 31st (24/25):

 

[sheed36]

I'll go with fatigue and other.. Other being it's very obvious that the Habs lost their motivation after they discovered that the HF Habs tank thread got closed.

 

[Habssince89]

it's simple, secondary scoring. we are right back where we were before with only our top line producing. other 3 lines are crap

Secondary scoring is what's missing, but its not the source of the problem. It's not there because of injuries and general fatigue for the team.

At our best, we can beat any team in the NHL. We've proven that we can do that, but of course not consistently over a whole season. Still, the 15-20ish game run we had is impressive, and points to a clear improvement at least to the core pieces we have been building with.

Teams have adjusted to the habs, but I think overall we need every single weapon he have in order to be competitive and consistent, and losing Heineman (and now Guhle) really brings us down a peg in terms of overall quality as a team.

I do think there is still an outside chance of being in the mix for the rest of the year (playoff spot or not in the end) because the team will catch a break with 4 nations, which also reduces the amount of games missed by Heineman. The time to regroup will help us. We need to recognize that this season started with us getting shelled and caved in, and the team didn't quit, improved and took steps forward. This current slide sucks but we're not rock bottom yet. It helps that other EC teams are also screwing up big games.