Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj the Sheriff Returns Edition

[Beaker]

Explain the psychology?

Everyone can have bias / inaccurate perceptions. MSL included. Myself included.

 

[Runner77]

Ah, appeals to authority. Shut down the forum right now and only reopen it with threads and posts concocted exclusively by the Habs’ coaching staff! Fans cannot possibly have a say, they know nothing! All those who oppose the regime ought to be drawn and quartered, pronto. For shame.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

He earned that nickname by posting that he doesn't care what anyone says. That may be true of many coaches but comes across as know it all and arrogant.

I don't remember Bowman or other great coaches saying that.

Cool opinion......His own players, ex teammates and ex coaches all disagree with this nonsense but everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it is in blatant opposition to the truth and entirely unsupported other than in their own bias.

The side that engages in derogatory nick names is usually the side that does not have a case.

 

[HabsAddict]

Cool opinion......His own players, ex teammates and ex coaches all disagree with this nonsense but everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it is in blatant opposition to the truth and entirely unsupported other than in their own bias.

The side that engages in derogatory nick names is usually the side that does not have a cacase.

You came up with all that nonsense by yourself?

Obviously you are oblivious to what he said, but hey...maybe you only read comic books and Habs press clippings...

 

[Heffyhoof]

Cool opinion......His own players, ex teammates and ex coaches all disagree with this nonsense but everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it is in blatant opposition to the truth and entirely unsupported other than in their own bias.

The side that engages in derogatory nick names is usually the side that does not have a case.

My brother in Christ, have you heard of the concept of having a bit of fun?

 

[Runner77]

You came up with all that nonsense by yourself?

Obviously you are oblivious to what he said, but hey...maybe you only read comic books and Habs press clippings...

Worst part of it is how he made it sound as if he came up with that line when it had already been making the rounds in the NBA for a few years. It is generally attributed to Dakota Meyer who uttered it in 2019:

 

[Doctor Bold]

If only MSL had played X down the stretch the Habs might have only lost like one game in regulation in their last 10, and miraculously made the playoffs. Instead that incompetent Struble handled the puck like a grenade and kept coughing it up. That lead to maybe 6 goals that easily cost us 4-5 games. Now we have watch CBJ play the Caps

Wait

 

[TheBuriedHab]

I'm in the group that wants Xhekaj in for the series and I think he'll get in eventually. But I get why he's been scratched.

He got walked mutiple times in Nashville, blew his coverage on a 3 on 2 in Carolina and generally had some poor games leading up to that.

It's one thing when the players that play 25 minutes a night make mistakes, but if you're playing 10 minutes a night, you can't be doing that.

I don't think MSL has some vendetta against Arber, he played 70 games this year. Sucks, but he just played bad in a really important time of the year.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

You came up with all that nonsense by yourself?

Obviously you are oblivious to what he said, but hey...maybe you only read comic books and Habs press clippings...

Reading comprehension is the bottle neck that is impeding your ability to engage in meaningful discussions. Every person around him is brimming with praise and specifically for the way that he listens and respects and carefully considers the opinions of players, coaches and management. Listening to fans is foolish as it is similar to a doctor asking the general public for their opinions or an epidemiologist consulting with uneducated bloggers or perhaps an astronomer consulting with clueless astrologers. And please don't build a strawman and attack me with an appeal to authority claim because that is not what is happening here. I defer to experts at all times and fan driven hunches or speculation does not merit consideration when it is making claims that are without evidence and lack any of the insight that the expert in question has access to.

Of course you can have an opinion about MSL and the decisions that he makes but to assert them as though you actually know the answer or to assert your opinion as likely even though the expert in question disagrees is not worth much consideration and if you believe that your opinion is anywhere close to as credible to MSL's then you have a serious problem that requires self reflection. This does not mean that you will always be wrong but it is important to phrase your assertion in a less authoritative manner that reflects the imbalance of expertise as well as the enormous gap in access to information.

I have disagreed with Marty in the past but I mitigate my disagreement with an acknowledgement that I don't have all of the information and could very well be entirely wrong.

It is perfectly fine to share an opinion that you have a feeling that MSL does not like Xhekaj but it is absolutely not ok to build on that narrative as a foundation for a larger claim. This is the behaviour that leads to ridiculous conversations that are not anchored to reality and eventually may form into full fledged conspiracy theories.

I honestly am so tired of non experts on all topics consistently sharing their ridiculous opinions only to bawl and cry foul when the are singled out and exposed as charlatans or sheep.

I watch almost every Habs game in it's entirety and have been doing so to the best of my ability for over 40 years so you can stop throwing your toys and behaving exactly as someone with such a low threshold for evidence would typically behave. Where did the comics nonsense even come from??....I hated that crap even as a kid lol.

Do yourself a favour and read Basu's recent article on Marty and pay attention to the quotes from his players. I suppose Arpon should have interviewed you to set the record straight lol.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

My brother in Christ, have you heard of the concept of having a bit of fun?

This has nothing to do with fun. If your idea of fun is making up derogatory nicknames in order to support your bias then have at it lol......my idea of fun involves sports, women and being entertained by people who are more talented than myself......which one should I supplant this exciting past time of derogatory nick names for people that I do not know with.

 

[HabsAddict]

Worst part of it is how he made it sound as if he came up with that line when it had already been making the rounds in the NBA for a few years. It is generally attributed to Dakota Meyer who uttered it in 2019:

That was a childish statement from what is suppose to be a serious position in a serious organization. A senior pro manager in the corporate world would NEVER say that.

People are forgetting or ignoring that the Habs are valued in the 3 billion. That's serious level in the corporate world...so act like it.

 

[Andrei79]

Totally agree that X needs to spend his off season in Brossard. I have no info about what he may or may not be doing on his free time, however. To play better, he also needs to keep getting into games but at this point in his development, he can’t be sent down to Laval wiihout getting claimed.

If his play is as worrying as you suggest, how did he manage to play 70 games? Also, why is it constantly being reported that several teams have inquired about X’s availability — are they seeing something we’re not? If he’s as flawed and raw as depicted, someone might be able to pry him away and who knows, maybe do a better job at developing him.

Some players evolve better in other environments, it’s not a one size fits all. As good as MSL has been with other young players maybe he doesn’t connect as well with X for whatever reason.

Also, X getting paired with a decomposing and painfully slowed Savard, may have put too many demands on X — probably would have done way better playing with Carrier.

I mentioned his play down the stretch though, not his whole season, because I thought he did mostly well. The team employs a system where the defensemen are always in movement and asked to participate in the rush. If one of them has 6 points in 70 games, then he needs to make sure he limits his errors. I feel he was doing decently until the basic errors started multiplying and unfortunately, once the race started to get tighter, development went out the window and Struble was trusted over him. Struble's mobility allows him to do more of what the coaching staff asks of their defensemen and there was no way Savard would get benched - à tort ou à raison.

You bring up multiple good points however - he's young and needs to see action. He's raw and needs better guidance. I don't think this current system and environment is best suited for his game. If they do trade him, which I really hope they don't, I could see a Kovacevic type resurgence in his very first season elsewhere. Preferably, he stays in Brossard and works on what the organization wants from him because he's a unique specimen and imo, a clear deterrent when he plays on top of having perfect neck proportions.

 

[Andrei79]

Worst part of it is how he made it sound as if he came up with that line when it had already been making the rounds in the NBA for a few years. It is generally attributed to Dakota Meyer who uttered it in 2019:

How did he make it sound like that, aside from having said the quote ? Maybe he could have said something like "as Dakota Meyer said", but to be honest I just assumed he didn't come up with that quote. It sounded like someone who was doom scrolling through motivational quotes the night before. In any case, I like the odd quotes from MSL, but yeah it would be nice if the philosopher act could take a back seat sometimes. Something like "people are entitled to their opinions, I try to keep an open mind and I have people who I try to challenge my opinions with, but I can't listen to all of the noise, it wouldn't be productive". Something like that says it all without being condescending.

 

[Heffyhoof]

This has nothing to do with fun. If your idea of fun is making up derogatory nicknames in order to support your bias then have at it lol......my idea of fun involves sports, women and being entertained by people who are more talented than myself......which one should I supplant this exciting past time of derogatory nick names for people that I do not know with.

You clearly should take some 'time to supplant' writing silly paragraphs and taking yourself way too seriously with something fun.

 

[Miller Time]

I'm in the group that wants Xhekaj in for the series and I think he'll get in eventually. But I get why he's been scratched.

He got walked mutiple times in Nashville, blew his coverage on a 3 on 2 in Carolina and generally had some poor games leading up to that.

It's one thing when the players that play 25 minutes a night make mistakes, but if you're playing 10 minutes a night, you can't be doing that.

I don't think MSL has some vendetta against Arber, he played 70 games this year. Sucks, but he just played bad in a really important time of the year.

It's so obvious, and yet for some it seems just too difficult or foreign to understand....

 

[Miller Time]

Ah, appeals to authority. Shut down the forum right now and only reopen it with threads and posts concocted exclusively by the Habs’ coaching staff! Fans cannot possibly have a say, they know nothing! All those who oppose the regime ought to be drawn and quartered, pronto. For shame.

Nah.

Bad takes are bad takes... Wether for or against the "authority" of the moment is irrelevant.

But fully support the tar & feathers for the unapologetic purveyors of bad takes. Anyone who can't eat their crow don't deserve a seat at the table & should rightfully be shamed...

For shame
For SHAME...

 

[Runner77]

How did he make it sound like that, aside from having said the quote ? Maybe he could have said something like "as Dakota Meyer said", but to be honest I just assumed he didn't come up with that quote. It sounded like someone who was doom scrolling through motivational quotes the night before. In any case, I like the odd quotes from MSL, but yeah it would be nice if the philosopher act could take a back seat sometimes. Something like "people are entitled to their opinions, I try to keep an open mind and I have people who I try to challenge my opinions with, but I can't listen to all of the noise, it wouldn't be productive". Something like that says it all without being condescending.

Attributing the quote would have been the proper thing to do, is all.

 

[Runner77]

Nah.

Bad takes are bad takes... Wether for or against the "authority" of the moment is irrelevant.

But fully support the tar & feathers for the unapologetic purveyors of bad takes. Anyone who can't eat their crow don't deserve a seat at the table & should rightfully be shamed...

For shame
For SHAME...

“Nah”, the post was not directed at you, but OK. Someone else in here who has recently joined the forum, is multiplying bad take after bad take but whatever.

 

[Kimota]

I mentioned his play down the stretch though, not his whole season, because I thought he did mostly well. The team employs a system where the defensemen are always in movement and asked to participate in the rush. If one of them has 6 points in 70 games, then he needs to make sure he limits his errors. I feel he was doing decently until the basic errors started multiplying and unfortunately, once the race started to get tighter, development went out the window and Struble was trusted over him. Struble's mobility allows him to do more of what the coaching staff asks of their defensemen and there was no way Savard would get benched - à tort ou à raison.

You bring up multiple good points however - he's young and needs to see action. He's raw and needs better guidance. I don't think this current system and environment is best suited for his game. If they do trade him, which I really hope they don't, I could see a Kovacevic type resurgence in his very first season elsewhere. Preferably, he stays in Brossard and works on what the organization wants from him because he's a unique specimen and imo, a clear deterrent when he plays on top of having perfect neck proportions.

Jack was actually decent offensively I thought when he joined the Habs. That was what shocking to me cause I thought he was just a tough guy. He is actually a good skater and he would help to forwards. But it seems like at some point they were worried by his defense and suddenly he became a mainly stay at home guy.

I think he's been too neutered at different levels. Physically, just at the beginning of the year after Laine was taken out against Toronto, it felt like the Habs had became living targets and Xhekaj went on a tear cracking skulls and sure it might have been seen as too much but I think it was nice to see one of the Habs was actually doing something and causing a bit of terror and that is something we haven't had it for decades here. But again I believe they stopped playing him then he returned and acted like his balls had been cut off.

 

[Archijerej]

I thought that X might pick up knowledge from playing with Savard...but Savard was never known as a cerebral player.

What? Savard's hockey sense is one of the main reasons he's played over 800 NHL games.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

X will be in for 2nd game if we lose the physical and actual game. Know Savard is retiring and will be sentimental to play him but he’s retiring cause he has nothing left in the tank. Flailing on the ice trying to block shots on the PK isn’t enough to keep him in the lineup and if he’s only playing 10 minutes I’d rather have a deterrent back there.

 

[Shutdown]

Attributing the quote would have been the proper thing to do, is all.

he's coaching a hockey team, not writing an essay. what a strange thing to get riled up about

 

[Runner77]

he's coaching a hockey team, not writing an essay. what a strange thing to get riled up about

Getting your panties in a bunch over a statement of fact is a choice. Thanks for nothing.

 

[salbutera]

He earned that nickname by posting that he doesn't care what anyone says. That may be true of many coaches but comes across as know it all and arrogant.

I don't remember Bowman or other great coaches saying that.

Scotty was the ultimate assh*le to the players & media, the only media type he dared not cross was Red Fisher. Why do you think Senator Molson refused to hand over Pollocks job to Scotty? His temper, arrogance & instantaneous rage at anyone & everyone would not make for a good GM.

There simply wasn’t 24/7 coverage MSL faces to capture all the vitriol, but I will hand it to Scotty, he was able to rewrite his personal narrative over the last couple of decades into a lovable yoda

 

[Shutdown]

Getting your panties in a bunch over a statement of fact is a choice. Thanks for nothing.

you're welcome man - sorry MSL hasn't provided you with an annotated bibliography for all of his media availabilities