Post-Game Talk: Habs defeat Tampa at the Bell Centre.

[yianik]

I'm guessing this is the latest in the season we have been in a playoff spot since 2021. Ah yes , feels good man.

 

[JianYang]

Last season against their own division the Habs were 5-13-8. So out of 26 games they only won 5 of them.

This year? They are now 9-4 against the Atlantic, only the Leafs and Bruins have won against them. Impressive turn around so far.

The bruins games were against primeau which I'm inclined to toss away.

 

[NewDef]

Hehe, no words needed...

 

[Toene]

I stopped smoking 2years ago but going outside in a -20c winter were the best smoke ever.

Such a satisfying slap in the face when it's THAT cold. You deserve it 'cause it's bad to smoke but you enjoy it still.

 

[Guess]

Demidov with Laine/Dach would place Newhook on the 3rd line and force Dvo out.

Except Dvorak is heavily relied on for faceoffs, is Newhook going to replace him there? With Dvorak out, Beck will replace him at C and Newhook will have to play bottom 6 wing (or traded/extra man).

 

[Redux91]

View attachment 965028

On est en f***ing business les boys

God damn is this fun

Bigtime proud of Slaf and Monty
Laine 2 points, played dangerous, hungry
Hutson 1 A, 2 blocked shots, 3 HITS lol
Carrier 1 A, +2
Slaf 1 G, huge goal, 4 Shots, 3 hits
Dach team high 4 hits
Montembeault 33/35 .943%

And man,
Bigtime goal by the Evans Armia duo, they MUST be kept around at least a couple more years, find a way to make it work
There's just no way you let that go. No way. That's *winning hockey* clearly
There are a certain couple *others* you can get rid of to remedy this situation

What a WIN my god, so proud of these guys, We are in the mix for any of THREE PLAYOFF SPOTS right now, that is absolutely incredible, we have a great chance in this race, let's DO this boys!

 

[NotProkofievian]

What an amazing turn around this team has had recently.

 

[The Real Timo]

Except Dvorak is heavily relied on for faceoffs, is Newhook going to replace him there? With Dvorak out, Beck will replace him at C and Newhook will have to play bottom 6 wing (or traded/extra man).

I thought Dvorak’s gone after this season. I don’t think it will be a huge uplift to replace him.

 

[Guess]

For all the haters that thinks Owen Beck would be able to easily replace Evans or Armia, stop daydreaming. It's a reality check for you people. Beck is not close to them at this moment and if the Habs objective is to make the playoffs for the upcoming years, KH absolutely needs sign at least one of them if not both. The ones that needs to go are Gallagher and Dvorak by far.

Dvorak is gone for sure, I don't see the Habs buying Gallagher out (and doubt we can get someone to trade for him without getting owned in a trade), he's the perfect candidate to be a 13th forward IMO, old and not getting any better. Time to see if he's a real team player! I can see him alternating with whoever in the bottom 6 is the weak link at the time.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Except Dvorak is heavily relied on for faceoffs, is Newhook going to replace him there? With Dvorak out, Beck will replace him at C and Newhook will have to play bottom 6 wing (or traded/extra man).

Beck isn’t NHL ready for a top 9 role until 2-3 years.

 

[Guess]

I thought Dvorak’s gone after this season. I don’t think it will be a huge uplift to replace him.

He's gone for sure. He's typically been our best faceoff guy though, something to think about.

Beck isn’t NHL ready for a top 9 role until 2-3 years.

Quite possibly, in which case Newhook/Kapanen replaces him as 3C until then.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Monty owed his team that performance.

After the first 20 games we played?

No.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

For all the haters that thinks Owen Beck would be able to easily replace Evans or Armia, stop daydreaming. It's a reality check for you people. Beck is not close to them at this moment and if the Habs objective is to make the playoffs for the upcoming years, KH absolutely needs sign at least one of them if not both. The ones that needs to go are Gallagher and Dvorak by far.

Beck has played two NHL games, averaging just 7-8 minutes of ice time. Drawing conclusions about his NHL readiness based on such a small sample size is nonsensical.

Nobody thinks Beck will be as good as current Evans next season. What people are saying is that it would be better to have Beck, Kapanen, or even Newhook center the 3rd line next season than having Evans on a bad contract.

Evans would need to take a discount for it to make sense for the habs to re-sign him.

He's already started to slow down offensively. He only has 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 11 games.

 

[zx81]

In the last 17 games Habs are 13-1-3 for 27 points out of a possibility of 34 points. That is 0.794 hockey.

Before that we had 25 points in 30 games (0.416 hockey).

It's 13-3-1
In 2 of the 3 regulation losses we had the lead in the 3rd. Quite a run.

 

[Guess]

Start? He scored the 3rd goal, lol.

And bad players can still score sometimes. It happens.

He's a bad player. His hockey sense is very poor at this point. Can it improve? Sure. Anderson changed the way he plays and he's been effective. Barron can save his career. But he's not good right now. Carrier is like a Norris winner in comparison.

Not to defend Barron, but have you watched him with Nashville? (I haven't).

Apparently he's been playing better lately.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Not to defend Barron, but have you watched him with Nashville? (I haven't).

Apparently he's been playing better lately.

...he's been allowed more offensive "freedom", he has NOT been anything but a train wreck defensively...

 

[bud12]

Man all the vets are playing like shit except for Armia/Andy.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Man all the vets are playing like shit except for Armia/Andy.

...no...Evans counts as a vet...

 

[Adriatic]

I don't care what needs to be done but we cannot lose Armia/Evans duo. KH do your thing and just make sure they're both here at the start of next season!! We have nobody to replace them in the pipeline short term and replacing through free agency will cost even more. We lose both and we will 100% take a step back next year.

 

[NewDef]

We could afford to see what Barron could do at the bottom of our Tear Down and Rebuild phase and Nashville is now where we were two seasons ago. Habs Management made a decision they wanted to take a step forward in the Rebuild so Barron didn’t have his place any more.

We traded a shaky potential for a solid actual. Maybe, i say maybe, Barron will have more points when at the same age Carrier is, but what Carrier brings NOW is so valuable... i reaaally like how he holds his own and allow Guhle to be himself on his side. This pair is extremely tough to play against and the puck exits the d zone fast and under control which lead to less chance against and a much better transition play...

Barron not being considered a future core asset still was a great asset to realize that trade. We're not going to keep them all, but they sure will be used to benefit the cause

 

[KevSkillz4]

Can't believe that Habs have drafted Slaf and Hutson in 2022 draft. That's master move by the new management.

Slaf and Hutson will both have amazing impact for the rebuild.

 

[NewDef]

They miss Heineman big time. Beck doesn’t do it for me. Or them. Needs to add some oomph.

It took a few games for Heineman to get used to the big show. These are real NHL teams they play against, not fringe and prospects. Beck will also need a couple games but he did'nt look bad, there just is a difference in knowing you can play at that level and actually being confortable doing so. I do like Heineman better Now, but Beck will likely have as much an impact in due time.

Can't believe that Habs have drafted Slaf and Hutson in 2022 draft. That's master move by the new management.

Slaf and Hutson will both have amazing impact for the rebuild.

So will Demidov and Hage imho.

 

[KevSkillz4]

So will Demidov and Hage imho.

And maybe Reinbacher and Fowler too!! Hehe!!

 

[NewDef]

Thanks for the Slaf comments guys.

Geez, just watched the highlights. Really do not want to see Evans go. Hope he and team can reach an agreement.

Monty was great.

Suck an egg Kutcherov.

You know what, I'm pretty sure Evans feel the same. This group seem tight and is having fun. I would't be surprised Evans sees staying with the team is likely his best chance to win a cup before the end of his career.

And maybe Reinbacher and Fowler too!! Hehe!!

Indeed Kev, indeed! I'm really starstruck on Fowler. This guy is a gamer and born winner.

 

[admiralcadillac]

The cost of winning and trying to keep a roster together in a salary cap system. Tampa no longer has the talented depth players of their cup days and they probably lack the space to get better.

Kucherov, Hedman, Point and Vasy are now what is left of that once-dominant roster. We are one of the new kids on the block in the east and our rise is imminent. The future is very bright, blindingly bright.

I mean you’re just missing Stamkos and he’s been easily replaced by Hagel and Guentzel so I’m not sure what your point is here.

Tampa’s issue is their D. Mcdonagh is not getting any younger and Hedman has slowed down.