Post-Game Talk: Habs crackin' the Kraken 4-2!

[MarkovsKnee]

Anyone missing Gallagher yet?

Not at all.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Allen was sharp but Seattle did not impress,hard to believe they are second in the division. Montreal scored when they had a chance,unlike other games.

To be fair, 3 of the 4 Hab goals came off Grade A++ scoring chances. Only the first was a bit of puck luck, making it through the screen. And even on that one Kovacevic can be credited with getting off the shot so quickly that Jones could not set up like he would have wanted to.

 

[BaseballCoach]

With all what you write, he's not very useful at his alary. Lehkonen had a similar salary but he was able to bring so much more on the table. He was a good fit with the Avs last year, he had a good PO presence. All the opposite would have been if Avs would have picked Armia. So Arm is not very tradable, not very useful, we are stuck with his salary and term. Another poisoned gift from MB. It's sad.

Frankly, Armia is a perfecty serviceable 4th liner, with streaks every so often of 3rd line play. He is just overpaid for that role.

We could probably trade him in his final year for some positive value, if his play does not regress, and if we RETAIN 50% so that the acquiring club is only bearing $1.7M of salary cap.

We probably aren't going to want to retain for 3 years though, so for now, we bear his cap hit. We don't need cap relief that badly this year anyway.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

Anyone missing Gallagher yet?

Had a Canucks pal over on Monday, he asked me about the Habs injuries, and I didn’t even name Gallagher. He had to pry Drouin and Hoffman out of me, i commented that Savard is a decent loss with his play this year. It wasn’t until revisiting his question the next day I realized, oh yeah, Gallagher.

 

[Andy]

I like this team so much more sans Hoffman, Drouin, Gallagher.

I can tolerate Dadonov and Armia for now, but them too. Bye bye.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I like this team so much more sans Hoffman, Drouin, Gallagher.

I can tolerate Dadonov and Armia for now, but them too. Bye bye.

Hoffman is better than Pezzetta, one recent point notwithstanding. Monahan is also way better than Pitlick, and Gallagher than Wideman.

Caufield-Suzuki-Dach
Slaf-Monahan-Anderson
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Dadonov-Evans-Armia

 

[Andy]

Hoffman is better than Pezzetta, one recent point notwithstanding. Monahan is also way better than Pitlick, and Gallagher than Wideman.

Caufield-Suzuki-Dach
Slaf-Monahan-Anderson
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Dadonov-Evans-Armia

I constantly forget Pezzetta is even on the club.

 

[rickthegoon]

Anyone missing Gallagher yet?

Galla-who?

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Frankly, Armia is a perfecty serviceable 4th liner, with streaks every so often of 3rd line play. He is just overpaid for that role.

We could probably trade him in his final year for some positive value, if his play does not regress, and if we RETAIN 50% so that the acquiring club is only bearing $1.7M of salary cap.

We probably aren't going to want to retain for 3 years though, so for now, we bear his cap hit. We don't need cap relief that badly this year anyway.

You're right. It's not the end of the world but it's not happy blue sky either. It's like Dvorak. A kind of compromise, that makes a team stucked in medium mediocrity, like the Habs between 1999 and 2021. Not so bad and not so good. I hope Gorton and Hughes break that mediocrity habbit. Bolts and Avs changed. I guess they had that kind of players before and they made a clean-up. Habs need to draft talent and sign only vets that can fit well and be useful.

 

[BaseballCoach]

You're right. It's not the end of the world but it's not happy blue sky either. It's like Dvorak. A kind of compromise, that makes a team stucked in medium mediocrity, like the Habs between 1999 and 2021. Not so bad and not so good. I hope Gorton and Hughes break that mediocrity habbit. Bolts and Avs changed. I guess they had that kind of players before and they made a clean-up. Habs need to draft talent and sign only vets that can fit well and be useful.

I agree and it is why I'm leaning to extend Monahan if the price is reasonable, and trade Dvorak. Talent wins.

Also, if we really had a guy in Laval who was clearly better than Armia at 4RW, Hughes could bury Armia, save $1.125M and use that to pay the new callup. No extra cap burden needed.

 

[1909]

Of course, Wright had to score his very first NHL goal against MTL !

 

[Stive Morgan]

Of course, Wright had to score his very first NHL goal against MTL !

Thank goodness we won though. If we blew a 4 goal lead to the Canucks then lost to Wright on back to back nights I'd have been very upset lol

 

[BaseballCoach]

Of course, Wright had to score his very first NHL goal against MTL !

Who cares?

 

[OldCraig71]

Anyone missing Gallagher yet?

"He's a hockey player through his bone" and yes he did say that.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I'm not the type to dwell on the schedule and try to predict it. I use to do that before and it usually don't fall in line like you might predict.

I do think the Habs slip a bit but not as much as some other fans think we will. First there was a lot of fans laughing at me saying we will finish bottom 5-10 or bottom 8-12 range (replies were bottom 5 "guaranteed") before the season started. And now the focus is tough schedule. I want Bedard too bud but I'm not playing the tank fever game.

If the core stays healthy, Habs will show up and win more games than we imagine from looking at a schedule. This is a young group with young legs and good momentum/confidence

Stop using what others posters said to pretend there's a narrative build-up when you know full well we've argued over this and know my prediction is 4-8.

Before the season started I looked at the schedule and predicted (on this forum in August) they would have a strong start to the season, but looking at it, I saw december to january as the most difficult part and the wheel would fall off around that time, so so far I've been right. They've also started allowing a lot more goals in the last 2 weeks, just in time for tge toughest part.

 

[The Real Timo]

So did we get any information about why Xhekaj's use was so low last night? Any of the "reputable" Habs reporters asked that question? I am not impressed. I want to know why my boy isn't getting the ice time he deserves and why scrubs like Wideman and Kova log double the ice time.

Also, it sucks that there isn't a game until Sat. Bleah. What to do now for the next 3 days? Like talk to family?

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I agree and it is why I'm leaning to extend Monahan if the price is reasonable, and trade Dvorak. Talent wins.

Also, if we really had a guy in Laval who was clearly better than Armia at 4RW, Hughes could bury Armia, save $1.125M and use that to pay the new callup. No extra cap burden needed.

I don't know about Laval. They are not so exciting to watch. We'll have to wait someone stand out of that group for a callup. But maybe someone is ready and he is sourrounded by bad players so his talent doesn't show.
Who you are thinking about? Richards, Ylonen, RHP, Abbandonato, Simoneau, Gignac?

 

[le_sean]

So did we get any information about why Xhekaj's use was so low last night? Any of the "reputable" Habs reporters asked that question? I am not impressed. I want to know why my boy isn't getting the ice time he deserves and why scrubs like Wideman and Kova log double the ice time.

Also, it sucks that there isn't a game until Sat. Bleah. What to do now for the next 3 days? Like talk to family?

Because he’s been pretty bad recently. Kovacevic has been far better.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Stop using what others posters said to pretend there's a narrative build-up when you know full well we've argued over this and know my prediction is 4-8.

Before the season started I looked at the schedule and predicted (on this forum in August) they would have a strong start to the season, but looking at it, I saw december to january as the most difficult part and the wheel would fall off around that time, so so far I've been right. They've also started allowing a lot more goals in the last 2 weeks, just in time for tge toughest part.

You focus on schedule and I'll focus on in season momentum/confidence. Lets talk in a month or so to see if your schedule narrative plays out.

Habs just played 4 games in 6 nights all on a western road trip. 5/8 pts. That was a tough schedule and yes, I know you are looking at a wider range in the schedule. I realize that but that's not an area I am looking at. I've seen these approaches go wrong many times before. In season momentum/confidence and also injuries are bigger factors

 

[Skip Bayless]

I like this team so much more sans Hoffman, Drouin, Gallagher.

I can tolerate Dadonov and Armia for now, but them too. Bye bye.

I miss Hoff

 

[HostileCapSpace]

Galla-who?

Gallag-her? I hardly know her.

 

[1909]

Who cares?

Just symbolic. But it could be a kick-start for a very good career.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I constantly forget Pezzetta is even on the club.

I rather have Pezzetta with his cap hit vs Armia though. Don't hate Armia but it's just more uninspired type play. At least Pezzetta brings energy every shift.

 

[1909]

I don't know about Laval. They are not so exciting to watch. We'll have to wait someone stand out of that group for a callup. But maybe someone is ready and he is sourrounded by bad players so his talent doesn't show.
Who you are thinking about? Richards, Ylonen, RHP, Abbandonato, Simoneau, Gignac?

I think these three re quite far from NHL. And the three first are huge question marks. I think habs will stick with what they have on hand this year. The contracts ending will take care of some of their dead wood.

 

[Habs Halifax]

So did we get any information about why Xhekaj's use was so low last night? Any of the "reputable" Habs reporters asked that question? I am not impressed. I want to know why my boy isn't getting the ice time he deserves and why scrubs like Wideman and Kova log double the ice time.

Also, it sucks that there isn't a game until Sat. Bleah. What to do now for the next 3 days? Like talk to family?

Talk to family?