GDT: GAME 35: Habs @ Bolts | Barron holds court | Wednesday, Dec. 28th, 2022, 7PM -- SN, RDS, TSN690, 98.5 FM

[habsfan891]

Habs resuming a 7-game road trip, interrupted by the Christmas break, facing the Bolts in Tampa.

In the 3 games played prior to the break, they won one game in OT, lost another in OT and finally suffered a regulation loss against Dallas.

In the Dallas game, Michael Pezzetta was finally having a breakout with a goal and an assist, but unfortunately, he earned a costly penalty that allowed Dallas to come back in the game.

Evidently, Marty was none too happy with the outcome.

Habs are scrambling for solutions as the trade freeze officially ended Dec. 27th, midnight.

Only one move seemed obvious -- calling up Barron, to hold court.

Barron has been particularly effective with the Rocket, where he tallied 16 points in his last 20 games. He's showing up with a hot stick, that should help bolster the PP.

Of course, there can't be good news without some irritant. Now that Barron is up, you can bet on this cringe apprehension ...

Christmas may have come and gone, but most fans on the forum have put in their requests to Santa. One of our insiders has managed a snapshot of what those requests look like and it turns out, a majority appear to want the same thing.

As we wait to find out whether Santa will grant the above wish, one thing is clear. Confrontations abound on the Habs forum about the merits of throwing away a season, cheering for your team to lose and the importance of building a winning culture. Safe to say, we don't have consensus.

Meantime, there is deadwood on the team that can't possibly find a taker.

There are also underperforming players, who were expected to take a step forward but who unfortunately seem to have plateaued or even regressed.

One such player is the Powerhorse.

Sadly, he's no longer a Powerhorse in the minds of a lot of fans expecting greater production and a better use of his physical attributes. He has just been unable to be productive despite several stints on the team's top line or playing with the team's better offensive players. And so, he's been demoted ...

Another, is the enigmatic national Finnish hero, Joel Armia. Marty will have Armia playing on the first line this game, based on the permutations at practice. What can possibly go wrong?

Borrowing a page from @Conflicted Habs fan and his reliance on ScarJo in all of his GDTs:



Armia will disappear. Just like the woman who walked behind ScarJo, never to be seen again.


LINEUPS TBA

Great gdt Runner the scar jo video is perfect haha

 

[ElQuebecois]

No I know bud
It's just frustrating sometimes being SO patient lol

Embrace the tank.

We shouldn’t be too critical on how the team is playing, all that we should truly worry about is how well the kids are playing. What ever we struggle on is good for the tank and which ever positive we can find is good for the future of this team. It’s a win/win, be patient. The best has yet to come.

 

[Redux91]

Embrace the tank.

We shouldn’t be too critical on how the team is playing, all that we should truly worry about is how well the kids are playing. What ever we struggle on is good for the tank and which ever positive we can find is good for the future of this team. It’s a win/win, be patient. The best has yet to come.

Feel like I'm talking to myself lol

My beef is more, kids should be getting better opportunities tho

 

[jrom]

100% my conclusion. Management wants players to want to come here, so they are taking care of the vets while showcasing them. Small family, hockey players.

…or Hughes has a secret collar on all the overpaid vets and presses the zapper button only when they are about to score or to prompt them and turn the puck over for no reason.

Pretty sure MSL is VERY old-school about playing vets first, not giving PP time to rookies right away, etc.

 

[Tyson]

Let me get this straight...your yound D prospect leads the AHL in goals on the PP amongt Dmen and you call him up and don't put him on the PP? MSL is no different than previous idiot coaches.

 

[Captain97]

So just so I understand the guy who is willing to role 5 rookie dmen and use three players under 23 is old school. Wtf are people talking about?

 

[ElQuebecois]

Feel like I'm talking to myself lol

My beef is more, kids should be getting better opportunities tho

Agreed but I think MSL had fair reasons to expose some of our veterans during the first third of the season with the hope that they would light up for potential trades. Our rookies are already getting overloaded with some icetime/opportunities, except Slaf who had ups and downs. This whole process isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. At this point, I really feel like our group of youngsters has exceeded our initial expectations.

There’s a lot of hockey left to play. The outcome of the next 6 months is truly the most important moment for this franchise since we drafted Carey, heck probably beyond that. It could be the turning point to our success for the upcoming decades. I am not completely naive towards some of our issues but I truly am at peace with the current state of affairs. What a time to be a Habs fan.

 

[salbutera]

Yup - that like is going to get lit up

 

[Team_Spirit]

Another, is the enigmatic national Finnish hero, Joel Armia. Marty will have Armia playing on the first line this game, based on the permutations at practice. What can possibly go wrong?

Omg why?!?

Marty has lost the plot ma parole

 

[nilan30]

All I know is that we should have our jerseys designed by Valentino.

Pavel Valentino?

 

[McGees]

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

I would have prefer to see Richard, on the first line, just to see what he's capable of.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

So just so I understand the guy who is willing to role 5 rookie dmen and use three players under 23 is old school. Wtf are people talking about?

Yea, it's hilarious how people are calling Marty an old-school coach

 

[jrom]

So just so I understand the guy who is willing to role 5 rookie dmen and use three players under 23 is old school. Wtf are people talking about?

Old school in the sense he will give every chance to his vets to break out of their slump e.g. Armia on the 1st line.

He has no issues playing rookies but they won’t get a PP spot because they just got called up. It’s a union…

 

[admiralcadillac]

Yea, it's hilarious how people are calling Marty an old-school coach

That’s an easy trope to use when they don’t do exactly what keyboard warriors with no coaching experience wants them to do.

The other one is “no structure”. I’ve yet to hear someone actually give an example of what they mean by structure.

I’d say iy’s similar to calling people leftist - there is no strict definition so it means whatever they want it to.

 

[JianYang]

So just so I understand the guy who is willing to role 5 rookie dmen and use three players under 23 is old school. Wtf are people talking about?

I understand the frustration that some people have with the ice distribution for certain forwards and dmen, but you're right.

This board runs on hyperbole.... And that goes with every HF fanbase.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Old school in the sense he will give every chance to his vets to break out of their slump e.g. Armia on the 1st line.

The entire forward group except for a few has struggled to produce offensively this year. He could literally put any winger other than Dach with Suzuki+Caufield, and you could argue that Marty "gives every chance to his vets to break out of their slump". So no, playing Armia on the top line isn't about breaking him out of his slump. It's about creating new lines in the hope that some work and get the habs out of their goalscoring woes.

He has no issues playing rookies but they won’t get a PP spot because they just got called up. It’s a union…

Sure, he takes it slow regarding giving powerplay ice time to rookies, but that's only a small fraction of what makes a coach an old-school one.

 

[jrom]

The entire forward group except for a few has struggled to produce offensively this year. He could literally put any winger other than Dach with Suzuki+Caufield, and you could argue that Marty "gives every chance to his vets to break out of their slump". So no, playing Armia on the top line isn't about breaking him out of his slump. It's about creating new lines in the hope that some work and get the habs out of their goalscoring woes.

From a recent Athletic article. I’m not saying I agree (I’ve given up on Armia and Badonov) but I do think this is why Armia is on the 1st line (it’s not to help Suzuki).

“Army has got high-end stuff and right now he’s having a tough time finding some results,” St. Louis said in Denver. “And it’s weighing, it’s heavy. And when that happens sometimes, you start doubting, and doubt is such a negative energy. That’s very consuming. So for me, it’s just reminding him how good he is, how good he can be, and have fun through it. And it’s hard.

“It’s hard when you have that weight to take a moment and say, ‘I’ve got to have fun.’ Because you don’t want to look back 20 years from now and say, ‘I wish I enjoyed the NHL more.’ Because it’s a grind, but enjoy the grind and try to find some peace of mind here and enjoy yourself a little bit. It’s a great life. Easier said than done, but I’m trying to help him.”

Those are powerful words from St. Louis, and we can easily interpret the line changes he made in Dallas as a life preserver he was throwing to Armia. As opposed to Drouin, who was encouraged by his recent performance, Armia needed to break a downward spiral he was stuck in. Putting him to the right of the team’s best centre was a way to do that.

Except it did not produce the desired results.

 

[Redux91]

Agreed but I think MSL had fair reasons to expose some of our veterans during the first third of the season with the hope that they would light up for potential trades. Our rookies are already getting overloaded with some icetime/opportunities, except Slaf who had ups and downs. This whole process isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. At this point, I really feel like our group of youngsters has exceeded our initial expectations.

There’s a lot of hockey left to play. The outcome of the next 6 months is truly the most important moment for this franchise since we drafted Carey, heck probably beyond that. It could be the turning point to our success for the upcoming decades. I am not completely naive towards some of our issues but I truly am at peace with the current state of affairs. What a time to be a Habs fan.

I don't know who you are
But I love the cut of your jib lol.
Welcome aboard bud

 

[The Real Timo]

Let me get this straight...your yound D prospect leads the AHL in goals on the PP amongt Dmen and you call him up and don't put him on the PP? MSL is no different than previous idiot coaches.

Confirmed.

 

[ElQuebecois]

I don't know who you are
But I love the cut of your jib lol.
Welcome aboard bud

Cheers bud. I’ve been lurking this forum for over a decade now, truly appreciate the output of this community.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Edit- dang left wrong thread open

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

 

[Cournoyer12]

Embrace the tank.

We shouldn’t be too critical on how the team is playing, all that we should truly worry about is how well the kids are playing. What ever we struggle on is good for the tank and which ever positive we can find is good for the future of this team. It’s a win/win, be patient. The best has yet to come.

I just would like to see Monty play a little more, he’s earned more than 1 start every 2 weeks. Just my opinion.

 

[Skip Bayless]

From a recent Athletic article. I’m not saying I agree (I’ve given up on Armia and Badonov) but I do think this is why Armia is on the 1st line (it’s not to help Suzuki).

“Army has got high-end stuff and right now he’s having a tough time finding some results,” St. Louis said in Denver. “And it’s weighing, it’s heavy. And when that happens sometimes, you start doubting, and doubt is such a negative energy. That’s very consuming. So for me, it’s just reminding him how good he is, how good he can be, and have fun through it. And it’s hard.

“It’s hard when you have that weight to take a moment and say, ‘I’ve got to have fun.’ Because you don’t want to look back 20 years from now and say, ‘I wish I enjoyed the NHL more.’ Because it’s a grind, but enjoy the grind and try to find some peace of mind here and enjoy yourself a little bit. It’s a great life. Easier said than done, but I’m trying to help him.”

Those are powerful words from St. Louis, and we can easily interpret the line changes he made in Dallas as a life preserver he was throwing to Armia. As opposed to Drouin, who was encouraged by his recent performance, Armia needed to break a downward spiral he was stuck in. Putting him to the right of the team’s best centre was a way to do that.

Except it did not produce the desired results.

I'm glad Army gets a chance to have fun.