GDT: February 2nd 2014 Game of Canadiens vs Jets @ 1 PM on CBC,RDS

[gusfring]

DD brings the dough. No matter how much your criticise him, he is an offensive threat.

Would love to see 94 play every PP and with Patches and Gallagher.

 

[K9]

Wouldn't mind seeing Gallagher-Galchenyuk-Prust again when 27 comes back. Gallagher taking way too much abuse recently.

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

Well, the biggest problem is that a lot of the "smurfs" are also average player.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Desharnais is not a top end talent, at best he's a serviceable secondary scorer. Briere and Gionta are washed up nobodies at this point. Bouillon? Diaz?

And Gallagher, at this point, is a pretty average talent. We don't have gamebreaking smurfs, and it's killing us.

 

[Monctonscout]

Problem is that he hardly plays...

Gotta play DD.

Has nothing to do with DD, he's 19 and has things to work on before playing big minutes.

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

The size obsession right now is baffling me. The Jets are a big team, but not a very physical one. We've killed them in most of our recent meetups...and now they suddenly have a better coach. Does that tell you the problem is in average height, or something else perhaps?

Good big players are harder to play against small gppd players. And its even harder for small good players to play against good big players.

Not that hard to understand why we prefer a bigger team than a team filled with smaller players.

 

[Tyson]

What a move Schiefele on Subban

He made PK look silly on that play

 

[Habs_Apostle]

Nice period by the Habs...could easily be 2-0 without Montoya.

Yup.

 

[bipolarhabfan]

After the first five minutes the Habs settled in and managed to produce some offense but without scoring. It is painful at times trying to see this team generate offense. A couple of bigger bodies with skill would go a long way. Stating the obvious of course.

I have been impressed with Beaulieu. His speed is noticeable. I think he will make a good top-4 d.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

If you actually look at his career #'s, his stats are funny. The less shots he faces, the worse he gets. St. Louis is one of the worst teams in the league he could be on because of their system.

When he faces more than 30 shots, his career SV% is like .935 or something crazy.

For anyone who wants to actually look at their numbers, here are the games for both guys this year where they've faced 30 or fewer shots:

Halak
Price

What was it that you thought you found in those numbers again? If you want a case study in how low shot numbers against affect SV%, look at Martin Brodeur sitting at only 20th on the career SV% list.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Desharnais is not a top end talent, at best he's a serviceable secondary scorer. Briere and Gionta are washed up nobodies at this point. Bouillon? Diaz?

And Gallagher, at this point, is a pretty average talent. We don't have gamebreaking smurfs, and it's killing us.

Gallagher will never be a star but he's consistently good. He should just be on another line...

 

[HABS win CUPS*]

Am I nuts or is it possible Subban is injured? He seems a bit off lately

 

[Tyrus]

Just that. So we're a great offensive team with the only problem that we don't score. Okay. Get it.

No need to be voluntarily short sighted.

All I'm saying is that our PP flow has been terrible the last two months. We were having issues distributing the puck around and barely got any, if any, scoring chances out of them. Now we got some good money out of it, hell, our wingers even got some shots in, can you believe it?

 

[hogtownhabsfan*]

Gary Galley is annoying the piss out of me.

 

[Natey]

For anyone who wants to actually look at their numbers, here are the games for both guys this year where they've faced 30 or fewer shots:

Halak
Price

What was it that you thought you found in those numbers again?

I don't get what you're trying to say?? I don't feel like doing the math, but Halak's stats look bad there with under 30 shots.

 

[Habsawce]

This is an excellent game and could very easily be 3-2 for either team.

 

[sandysan]

Pk's cap. do. Not. Like.

Period started slow then the have seemed to find their legs. Briere scoring after the whistle was kind of punky. Yesterday prust and jewel jousting and now this ?

 

[Et le But]

Why would it be baffling to you? We don't have any size. Stands to reason that most posters would want us to have it.

I said the same thing to Mathman last week. You guys talk puck possession as if this exists in a vacuum. Well, size is going to help you get the puck. Just like speed will help you get the puck. Size (like speed) has intrinsic value. Will just being big make you a good player? No, of course not. Same thing for being a great skater. But that doesn't mean that size doesn't have any value.

Chara has been arguably the best blueliner in the game for a long time. Why is that? Is it his great skating ability?

Actually, if you look at most of us who obsess with possession, the players we tend to love the most happen to have size. On this team, Eller and Pacioretty, and there's a reason the 2-way Cs who are clearly better than Plekanec are all bigger except Datsyuk - Bergeron, Kopitar, etc.

So yes, size plays a very big part of the equation, it's the reason Desharnais is not a very good neutral zone puck possessor and Eller is, it's the reason guys like Chara and Weber are as good as they are.

But it's also a myth that the Habs struggle against size and size alone. Once again, look at how we frustrate Boston. Of course we struggle heavily against the massive Blues and Kings, but do you really think average height is the number one reason for that?

There's a reason I value Eller more than Desharnais, and it's not because Eller is better offensively. I do understand this team needs to get bigger, I just think the idea that there is a direct correlation between average size and team quality is ridiculous. It leads to brilliant moves like replacing Cammalleri with Rene Bourque.

 

[Habsawce]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman dead of a drug overdose

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

I don't get what you're trying to say?? I don't feel like doing the math, but Halak's stats look bad there with under 30 shots.

Do the % of games above/under .900 in those games, or even the average SV%, and tell me how much Price distinguishes himself from Halak for yourself. Price looks just as bad in terms of SV% when he faces <30 shots, and we can go around the league if you like. If you want a case study on how extended portions of a career facing <30 shots affects SV%, look no further than Martin Brodeur sitting at 21st overall in career SV%, yet being no lower than 5th on just about everyone's all-time goalie lists.

 

[VAN-HAB]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman dead of a drug overdose

What????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Habsawce]

What????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I know, what about the new Hunger Games

But in all seriousness, sad day

 

[Et le But]

Good big players are harder to play against small gppd players. And its even harder for small good players to play against good big players.

Not that hard to understand why we prefer a bigger team than a team filled with smaller players.

The thing is, no two players are identical. A 6'4" Sidney Crosby would be better than 5'11" Crosby, but the former probably would never exist. Players need to be evaluated in their entirety, not based on one factor such as size. The thing is though, chances are upgrading guys like Briere and Gionta would almost always increase the teams average size. None of the "smurfs" on this team are untouchable of course.

 

[OldCraig71]

If we do not address the 5 on 5 scoring issue the playoffs will not happen, teams have figured out how to defend our pp and that was our only threat. Now it's gone and our GQ cover boy and his entourage need to put away the wine and cheese and get to work, that is, if they even know what to do.

 

[HABS win CUPS*]

That's weird he never gave off a user vibe he was a good actor

 

[Maffew]

Do the % of games above/under .900 in those games, or even the average SV%, and tell me how much Price distinguishes himself from Halak for yourself. Price looks just as bad in terms of SV% when he faces <30 shots, and we can go around the league if you like. If you want a case study on how extended portions of a career facing <30 shots affects SV%, look no further than Martin Brodeur sitting at 21st overall in career SV%, yet being no lower than 5th on just about everyone's all-time goalie lists.

And with New Jersey being one of the classic trap kings (not lately, but for a long period of time during Brodeur's career), Brodeur regularly faced fewer than 30 shots.

Like I said in a recent Price vs. Bernier debate, getting more shots is usually a sign that your save percentage will go up.