Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

[Estimated_Prophet]

That is not sustainable. The hockey season is a grind, a long game. Players that play like him end up like him. A series or an entire playoff, sure go for it. But an entire season and playoff? Not sustainable.

This is exactly what he has done for his entire career

 

[Durvann]

Based on how he looked last year I think it's safe to say he needs to competely change his game because you can't rely intensity and aggressiveness as your main "assets" if they are only active for 25-30 seconds. Always being gassed at around a minute mark is fine, risky but doable. He's a vlunerability to our defense in most cases in my opinion.

MSL already commented on it too. Let's focus on his useable and still improvable skills such as hand eye, deflections, anticipation, lower body strength (hopefully still ok with injuries).

Reminds me of Gionta with the hand injuries. The guy can still be valuable but it's almost like a reabilitation. Lots of work ahead. Thankfully he's always been hard-working and into training and fitness.

It's sad how easy it is to forget all that guy did for the team. He literally bled, broke bones etc.. man that crosscheck that broke his jaw in the playoffs.. that was so frustrating to see.

I trust our new staff (maybe a bit more if they do some more staff changes) to obtain the best.out of players, young or old.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Based on how he looked last year I think it's safe to say he needs to competely change his game because you can't rely intensity and aggressiveness as your main "assets" if they are only active for 25-30 seconds. Always being gassed at around a minute mark is fine, risky but doable. He's a vlunerability to our defense in most cases in my opinion.

MSL already commented on it too. Let's focus on his useable and still improvable skills such as hand eye, deflections, anticipation, lower body strength (hopefully still ok with injuries).

Reminds me of Gionta with the hand injuries. The guy can still be valuable but it's almost like a reabilitation. Lots of work ahead. Thankfully he's always been hard-working and into training and fitness.

It's sad how easy it is to forget all that guy did for the team. He literally bled, broke bones etc.. man that crosscheck that broke his jaw in the playoffs.. that was so frustrating to see.

I trust our new staff (maybe a bit more if they do some more staff changes) to obtain the best.out of players, young or old.

God he’s useless . Sounds like you’re describing Perry… imagine that… we had Perry but we dumped him and gave Gallagher 6 years

5 years of Perry >>>>> 5 years of Gallagher

Perry is infinity times better then Gallagher at everything.

 

[Canadienna]

It's sad how easy it is to forget all that guy did for the team. He literally bled, broke bones etc.. man that crosscheck that broke his jaw in the playoffs.. that was so frustrating to see.

Agreed. It really sucks seeing how people talk about him now, deserved or not.

I think he can be rehabilitated as you say, but due to the salary cap world we now live in, he's done being a fan favourite.

 

[Garo]

Based on how he looked last year I think it's safe to say he needs to competely change his game because you can't rely intensity and aggressiveness as your main "assets" if they are only active for 25-30 seconds. Always being gassed at around a minute mark is fine, risky but doable. He's a vlunerability to our defense in most cases in my opinion.

MSL already commented on it too. Let's focus on his useable and still improvable skills such as hand eye, deflections, anticipation, lower body strength (hopefully still ok with injuries).

Reminds me of Gionta with the hand injuries. The guy can still be valuable but it's almost like a reabilitation. Lots of work ahead. Thankfully he's always been hard-working and into training and fitness.

Gionta is an interesting example, but he always had a somewhat outstanding skill with his skating. It was less about changing his game and more about adjusting to what he still could stand out with. Gallagher is fine at the skills you mentioned, though for sure he could prioritize and improve them, but it's more normal to be skeptical since his ability to get in those positions to unsettled a NHL defence are more and more questionable I feel.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Agreed. It really sucks seeing how people talk about him now, deserved or not.

I think he can be rehabilitated as you say, but due to the salary cap world we now live in, he's done being a fan favourite.

Why does it suck how we’re talking about him? He’s useless and should have never been given that albatross of a contract that EVERY one of us sane fans knew was a GIANT mistake.

You don’t run a professional sports team through emotions or you get the results Bergevin got because that’s all he did was govern through emotion.

 

[Canadienna]

Why does it suck how we’re talking about him? He’s useless and should have never been given that albatross of a contract that EVERY one of us sane fans knew was a GIANT mistake.

You don’t run a professional sports team through emotions or you get the results Bergevin got because that’s all he did was govern through emotion.

I'm not running a professional sports team.

I'm not claiming we shouldnt say anything bad about him. Did you read my post?

Hey man I was whinging about him this season lots, it just sucks how the fanbase has turned. Again, as I said, even if it's accurate.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

I'm not running a professional sports team.

I'm not claiming we shouldnt say anything bad about him. Did you read my post?

Hey man I was whinging about him this season lots, it just sucks how the fanbase has turned. Again, as I said, even if it's accurate.

Turned? Who cares? We are the Montreal Canadiens not the Gallaghers. If he still had love for this city and our team the best service he could do is retire.

 

[HuGort]

Gallagher gave a really good interview on 690 last week. He said the long playoff took a toll on his body. He was not himself going into camp last year. This off season he is feeling more refreshed because of the long break. He feels better now than when camp started

At 30, he has evolved his off season training more towards cardio.

He said losing Weber was big last year as he was Habs leader. He led by example. After Game 5 loss in Tampa the team rallying around Weber came out of the blue. Everybody knew the sacrifices Weber made to get the team that far

 

[26Mats]

Gallagher gave a really good interview on 690 last week. He said the long playoff took a toll on his body. He was not himself going into camp last year. This off season he is feeling more refreshed because of the long break. He feels better now than when camp started

At 30, he has evolved his off season training more towards cardio.

He said losing Weber was big last year as he was Habs leader. He led by example. After Game 5 loss in Tampa the team rallying around Weber came out of the blue. Everybody knew the sacrifices Weber made to get the team that far

Good to hear he's focused on cardio. He should try to slim down and see if being a little lighter on his feet gives him more speed and stamina.

 

[1909]

Gallagher gave a really good interview on 690 last week. He said the long playoff took a toll on his body. He was not himself going into camp last year. This off season he is feeling more refreshed because of the long break. He feels better now than when camp started

At 30, he has evolved his off season training more towards cardio.

He said losing Weber was big last year as he was Habs leader. He led by example. After Game 5 loss in Tampa the team rallying around Weber came out of the blue. Everybody knew the sacrifices Weber made to get the team that far

Two good reasons why he and the whole team had a shitty season.

 

[Doc McKenna]

View attachment 559779

Is price the other slice?

 

[Doc McKenna]

That is not sustainable. The hockey season is a grind, a long game. Players that play like him end up like him. A series or an entire playoff, sure go for it. But an entire season and playoff? Not sustainable.

And that was a season with far less games than normal. The last 2 seasons in fact. What do you do with a guy that can't handle 71 games and 2 playoff series, and is even more wiped by 56 games and a little more than 6 weeks of playoffs? (That he didn't do a whole lot production wise/esp for salary) ?

I didn't realize how badly that contract was structured. 9 million for gally? WOW.

I fricken hate bergevin. The curse that keeps on giving. It will take Hugo a few years just to get out from under that mountain of bad contracts. Molson should fire himself for letting these go though!

 

[NotProkofievian]

Can he bounce back? Don't think so. I'm not expecting him to.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Can he bounce back? Don't think so. I'm not expecting him to.

I doubt it but if anybody can do it its probably him. I have massive respect for his game and its not like he was playing a skilled game before to be succesful....the thing is in order to be succesful again he's going to have to put his body on the line and the guy is a warrior but theres limits to the human body lol

 

[NotProkofievian]

I doubt it but if anybody can do it its probably him. I have massive respect for his game and its not like he was playing a skilled game before to be succesful....the thing is in order to be succesful again he's going to have to put his body on the line and the guy is a warrior but theres limits to the human body lol

Exactly. I have a lot of respect for the little guy and the way he's always played. But the human body can only take so much punishment.

 

[Rapala]

I expect Gallagher to bounce back.

I don't know man the most telling thing for me is his skating. Never the fastest guy his lost foot speed is costing him in many areas he's been creamed more in these past two seasons than he was in his previous eight. No longer coming out of scrums with the puck and no longer in the right place at the right time.
That's a heck of a lot to fix in an off season.

 

[Bacchus1]

I hope so, with the length of his contract. He looks like he just has no fitness anymore. Is this something he can work in ... probably. But it also seems that he is being forced to use fitness more than he needs to, and that could be hockey IQ, or some other physical ailment holding him back. If he can manage to control the puck and keep it away from the opponent better than last year, and if he can raise his shooting percentage, and if he can get in to better aerobic shape, then maybe he can have a few more good years. We'll have to see. Report back after 21 games

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I hope so, with the length of his contract. He looks like he just has no fitness anymore. Is this something he can work in ... probably. But it also seems that he is being forced to use fitness more than he needs to, and that could be hockey IQ, or some other physical ailment holding him back. If he can manage to control the puck and keep it away from the opponent better than last year, and if he can raise his shooting percentage, and if he can get in to better aerobic shape, then maybe he can have a few more good years. We'll have to see. Report back after 21 games

Gallagher is a gym rat and has always been in great aerobic condition......it is quite literally his competitive edge.

 

[Bacchus1]

Gallagher is a gym rat and has always been in great aerobic condition......it is quite literally his competitive edge.

He looked like he lost his fitness last season. But let’s no mix aerobics with anaerobic. Weightlifting doesn’t improve aerobic fitness.

 

[BLONG7]

He looked awful last year, and admitted he can't handle the season and a long playoff run.......Interesting.

I used to be a big fan but that contract and his lack of durability tells me he just doesn't realize he can no longer go balls to wall every night anymore, which means he is a 2.5M dollar guy, not 6.5M

And his constant whining made him look like an idiot......................he has to redeem himself big time.....

Very disappointed in Gally last couple of seasons....

 

[Tyson]

He looked awful last year, and admitted he can't handle the season and a long playoff run.......Interesting.

I used to be a big fan but that contract and his lack of durability tells me he just doesn't realize he can no longer go balls to wall every night anymore, which means he is a 2.5M dollar guy, not 6.5M

And his constant whining made him look like an idiot......................he has to redeem himself big time.....

Very disappointed in Gally last couple of seasons....

A player clearly past his prime gets rewarded for what he once was capable of and now Hughes has to deal with this albatross for 5 more years

 

[HuGort]

Gallagher should be named next captain. He is more experienced and bleeds the CH. Suzuki needs to concentrate on evolving his game

 

[RyderRocks73]

He's an asset to be flipped. He had his best years here with Tatar and Danault. Even the potential for rebound raises his value compared to if we played him for 2-3 more seasons and nobody sees the appeal anymore. Sell @50% retained at the deadline to a playoff team who wants a middle 6 grinder. He'll fetch something like 2 2nds/ 2nd+4th+C Prospect/ 3rd+B Prospect in that scenario.

 

[CHarlie]

5 more years at 6.5/year.....ffs