HF Habs: 2023 Roster, Schedule & Standings Thread

[Runner77]

Can we stop blaming the "assistant coach"? We don't have much talent.

No need to put any words in bold, we can read.

Who’s “we”? I’ve been asking about his credentials. That’s a whole other argument than the talent he has to work with. We know it’s a rebuilding team but there has to be a modicum of expertise that a PP coach brings to the table. At least, that’s how I understand most hirings work.

This guy jumped straight from retirement as an NHL player into a coaching job in Laval. And a year after that, he was given an NHL job as PP coach. It’s not at all that inappropriate to ask questions.

 

[Xirik]

There are a couple PP QB's available, You just don't want them on the ice any other time. Will Butcher could probably be easily had from Buffalo and considering Ty Smith is currently playing for the Pens AHL team you probably could get him in a trade.

Now if you want a PP QB that you don't have to treat as a 7th D then those definitely cost a lot.

 

[SOLR]

No need to put any words in bold, we can read.

Who’s “we”? I’ve been asking about his credentials. That’s a whole other argument than the talent he has to work with. We know it’s a rebuilding team but there has to be a modicum of expertise that a PP coach brings to the table. At least, that’s how I understand how most hirings work.

This guy jumped straight from retirement as an NHL player into a coaching job in Laval. And a year after that, he was given an NHL job as PP coach. It’s not at all inappropriate to ask questions.

<mod>

There is a long tradition on this board of blaming the assistant PP coach for the failures of the GM.

There is very little genuine play-making talent on this team.

Suzuki is not it, he's good, but he's far from a Ribeiro.
Caufield can score.
Drouin looks good on the PP because he has a modicum of that.
We don't have ONE D that should be on the PP.
Slaf has not arrived yet.
Dach might be the best playmaker we have.

PPs are good when they have playmaking talent, our last good PP units, all had Markov involved in one way or the other.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Kind of crazy but there's only one Eastern team in bottom 10 of standings: NYI.

All the rest are Western teams..

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Heard a pundit say that among the 7 shortest players in NHL history, 4 were/are Habs. And we had no weekly growth charts speculation for any of them.

Who do you think are the 4?

Caufield, Gionta, Naslund…

 

[Runner77]

Caufield, Gionta, Naslund…

I got the question and answers from a pundit who is a weekly contributor on BPM.

As you saw earlier, Caufield and Gionta were in the count.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

<mod>

There is a long tradition on this board of blaming the assistant PP coach for the failures of the GM.

There is very little genuine play-making talent on this team.

Suzuki is not it, he's good, but he's far from a Ribeiro.
Caufield can score.
Drouin looks good on the PP because he has a modicum of that.
We don't have ONE D that should be on the PP.
Slaf has not arrived yet.
Dach might be the best playmaker we have.

PPs are good when they have playmaking talent, our last good PP units, all had Markov involved in one way or the other.

Suzuki is good enough to be a playmaker on the pp. But yes the Habs don't have a defensmean to be the pp QB. Matheson is the closest when he returns.

 

[HabzSauce]

The tank race is starting to get more competitive I'm not liking this....

 

[McGees]

Still early in standings but some surprises.
Chicago GM is ready to send Tonya Harding and crew to take out the knees of Kane and Toews...and Richardson.
Are Vancouver and Anaheim this bad???

I keep saying it but don't see us in the bottom 5 this year.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

All that talk about Anaheim being on the verge of greatness these past few years thanks to their amazing young core yet they're still hot garbage lol.

Vancouver also looks like shit, I guess pink faced loser clown Bruce Boudreau wasn't the answer after all uh? Who would have thought.

 

[morhilane]

Vancouver also looks like shit, I guess pink faced loser clown Bruce Boudreau wasn't the answer after all uh? Who would have thought.

Vancouver has a locker room, no coach is going to fix that.

 

[dasahgah]

 

[First Line]

Can we stop blaming the "assistant coach"? We don't have much talent.

Before that some people were blaming Muller for our terrible PP but now that Muller is in charge of the PP in Calgary he looks like a genius.

 

[SOLR]

Before that some people were blaming Muller for our terrible PP but now that Muller is in charge of the PP in Calgary he looks like a genius.

It's been 20 years of complaining about the assistant coach when the cause of the problems is obvious. It's even more obvious now that Markov is gone.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

No need to put any words in bold, we can read.

Who’s “we”? I’ve been asking about his credentials. That’s a whole other argument than the talent he has to work with. We know it’s a rebuilding team but there has to be a modicum of expertise that a PP coach brings to the table. At least, that’s how I understand most hirings work.

This guy jumped straight from retirement as an NHL player into a coaching job in Laval. And a year after that, he was given an NHL job as PP coach. It’s not at all that inappropriate to ask questions.

Speaking of Laval, what a disaster… players skating in every different direction, no flow, nobody can pass or make a play….I’m serious!!! I’ve only watched a couple of games but wow that’s a shit show in Laval?
I can’t imagine putting Slaf down there in that circus! I really wanted to see how Barron was coming along and then I felt sorry for him. Last year he looked close to playing with the big boys now looks lost. We need to get him out of there! ASAP. It’s a breeding ground for bad habitats, poor decision making and loosing by borderline AHL plugs.
Maybe it’s just Monday, cheers.

 

[tooji]

Habs started last night in 12th place. They finished it in 19th.

And they will drop down to at least 20th from the Kraken/Blackhawks game.

It’s honestly pointless to look at the standings this early on. 1 win is like 20% of all teams point percentage, the swings are huge.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

View attachment 598217

The biggest issue isn't a lack of ppqb, its the lack of movement. Our players are way too static. You look at some of the best pp in the league, the players are in constant movement.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Before that some people were blaming Muller for our terrible PP but now that Muller is in charge of the PP in Calgary he looks like a genius.

PP is much more a function of talent and skills. Outside of Suzuki and Caufield, there's not much to work with. We could criticize the choice of players on the PP, like Wideman on PP1. But even that, who else would be an alternative to Wideman? Oh right, Drouin.

 

[Habs Halifax]

The tank race is starting to get more competitive I'm not liking this....

This is why "tank fever" was premature all summer long. Habs are not a well built team and we need our future to mature but we are not a locked in bottom 5 team. A lot went wrong last year and this roster with kids growing and vets rebounding (while also getting healthy) is going to make us move up the standings a bit.

I'm expecting a 5-10 range pick. Maybe 8-12 range. Hard to say. Bottom 5 is not impossible but I have the same probability of making the playoffs the same as bottom 5. I say we fall in the middle of that somewhere.

 

[Kennerback]

View attachment 598217

Is there a link to this or is this from you? Thanks

 

[ngc_5128]

Is there a link to this or is this from you? Thanks

Basu and Godin: Canadiens players come back to the city, locker placement in the room

 

[SwiftyHab]

<mod>

There is a long tradition on this board of blaming the assistant PP coach for the failures of the GM.

There is very little genuine play-making talent on this team.

Suzuki is not it, he's good, but he's far from a Ribeiro.
Caufield can score.
Drouin looks good on the PP because he has a modicum of that.
We don't have ONE D that should be on the PP.
Slaf has not arrived yet.
Dach might be the best playmaker we have.

PPs are good when they have playmaking talent, our last good PP units, all had Markov involved in one way or the other.

I guess I was late In posting this but I’ll repeat what others mentioned above. it’s MSL running the PP not Burrows. I’m actually not sure what Burrows role is right now if he’s not running the PP.

This is extracted from the Athletic today:

“
It’s been crystal clear watching the Canadiens practice who is running the power play.

It is not Alexandre Burrows. It is Martin St. Louis.

It is St. Louis doing all the talking when the power play gathers prior to practice. It is St. Louis stopping things and explaining what’s gone wrong when the power play goes through its reps. It is St. Louis directing the orchestra.

One thing we’ve noticed in practice that has not quite been implemented in games yet is the extent to which St. Louis wants to encourage more movement on the power play. One day last week, the first unit was set up with Suzuki at his usual spot on the right circle, Caufield at the left circle and Jonathan Drouin and Sean Monahanrotating between the bumper and the goal line. By the end of one sequence, Suzuki was at the left circle, Caufield was on the goal line and Drouin was at the right circle, basically a full rotation of the four forwards on the first unit.

We have seen more movement on the power play of late, but not to this extent. But if they are working on it in practice, it will surely show up in a game soon.

Something to watch for.”

Basu and Godin: Canadiens players come back to the city, locker placement in the room

Also in this week's Canadiens notebook the myth of the Montreal flu, a new wrinkle on the power play and David Savard's massive block party.

theathletic.com

 

[Captain Mountain]

Before that some people were blaming Muller for our terrible PP but now that Muller is in charge of the PP in Calgary he looks like a genius.

There were points when Muller looked like a genius in Montreal too.

The reality is that there's only so much coaches can do. Montreal has had the same kind of issues all season generating chances at 5v5 too, its just that they're a strong counterattack team and a lot of teams have given them the opportunity to counterattack. But the team is rebuilding and no amount of strategizing is going to give Montreal the players to take produce more on the PP.

People need sit back, enjoy the growth of the young guys and internalize that Montreal is rebuilding and that things aren't going to be turned around 6 games after the worst season since the beginning of WWII. Bergevin's mess is going to take longer to fix.

 

[Runner77]

I guess I was late In posting this but I’ll repeat what others mentioned above. it’s MSL running the PP not Burrows. I’m actually not sure what Burrows role is right now if he’s not running the PP.

This is extracted from the Athletic today:

“
It’s been crystal clear watching the Canadiens practice who is running the power play.

It is not Alexandre Burrows. It is Martin St. Louis.

It is St. Louis doing all the talking when the power play gathers prior to practice. It is St. Louis stopping things and explaining what’s gone wrong when the power play goes through its reps. It is St. Louis directing the orchestra.

One thing we’ve noticed in practice that has not quite been implemented in games yet is the extent to which St. Louis wants to encourage more movement on the power play. One day last week, the first unit was set up with Suzuki at his usual spot on the right circle, Caufield at the left circle and Jonathan Drouin and Sean Monahanrotating between the bumper and the goal line. By the end of one sequence, Suzuki was at the left circle, Caufield was on the goal line and Drouin was at the right circle, basically a full rotation of the four forwards on the first unit.

We have seen more movement on the power play of late, but not to this extent. But if they are working on it in practice, it will surely show up in a game soon.

Something to watch for.”

Basu and Godin: Canadiens players come back to the city, locker placement in the room

Also in this week's Canadiens notebook the myth of the Montreal flu, a new wrinkle on the power play and David Savard's massive block party.

theathletic.com

At least we know something is being attempted to try and make it more efficient. Begs the question of what Burrows’ role will be, if MSL is now running it.

 

[BLONG7]

The biggest issue isn't a lack of ppqb, its the lack of movement. Our players are way too static. You look at some of the best pp in the league, the players are in constant movement.

Because of the past failures, our guys are being pressured by a heavy PK also, and the lack of talent doesn't seem to help with that first pass, or smart quick thinking..............
We have to get Guhlie on that first PP unit very quickly...