Post-Game Talk: Habs defeat the Utah Hockey Club™ 5-3

[HabsQC]

Offer me a redo and I do the exact same thing, even if I knew about the injury. Adding a big elite shutdown RD who is amazing at the transition game is going to make us unreal.

I respect your opinion. Though you have to admit that you're not choosing the best odds. You have a Calder candidate who's already producing in the NHL and is likely going to be a PPG player against a guy who hasn't proven anything and might not play regularly in the NHL (for all we know). Add the injury and it lower your odds even more.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Reinbacher develops into his full potential. And I also agree that a big elite shutdown RD would be amazing to have.

All these dark years without having any offense to watch was painful, I wanna go full offense now.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Coming back after that 1st period horror show this team is no joke!

Holly molly

 

[Andrei79]

I respect your opinion. Though you have to admit that you're not choosing the best odds. You have a Calder candidate who's already producing in the NHL and is likely going to be a PPG player against a guy who hasn't proven anything and might not play regularly in the NHL (for all we know). Add the injury and it lower your odds even more.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Reinbacher develops into his full potential. And I also agree that a big elite shutdown RD would be amazing to have.

All these dark years without having any offense to watch was painful, I wanna go full offense now.

This is something that's well worth noting. This team has been starved for offense since at least the 90s.

What previous management teams would have done is send Suzuki and Caufield alone, with little to no support offensively. Unsurprisingly, they would have failed to score over 70 or reach ppg.

In three years, they've acquired or drafted Matheson, Hutson, Dach, Laine, Slafkovsky and soon Demidov will be joining them. The end result ? Those two don't have to shoulder the load offensively alone and are actually scoring more as a consequence. The puck moves out quickly out of their own zone and everyone develops their game as they all have roles and less unrealistic responsabilities. That's without mentioning the team actually coaches them and have a development staff.

 

[schwang26]

Matheson has been so much better since he conceded the offensive role to Hutson, picking his spots with greater authority and smarts, and being very good on the defensive end.

At this point, you can't trade Matheson, doesn't matter the offer.

I’ve been saying for a couple years that they can’t trade him despite people wanting him gone. There was no replacement then and there’s still no replacement now.

 

[Rapala]

I’ve been saying for a couple years that they can’t trade him despite people wanting him gone. There was no replacement then and there’s still no replacement now.

I think most people agreed we couldn't trade him until we found or grew a #1RD.
There are always some who just wanted him gone without any foresight.

 

[zx81]

I like how they are already thinking about winning the next game. Guys are having a blast right now.

P..s I'm wondering what Dach said after saying "let's get 2 more points in Dallas"

 

[Rapala]

Playing Dallas is a whole different proposition. The loss of Heineman’s speed, high tempo play and physicality (particularly on the forecheck) will be very noticeable.

It showed in the neutral zone last evening good defending starts with a good forecheck.
We did make some adjustments but Utah was burning us with speed in the first period.
Most of that speed was generated in the neutral zone and had our Dmen backing off.

 

[Deebs]

I like how they are already thinking about winning the next game. Guys are having a blast right now.

P..s I'm wondering what Dach said after saying "let's get 2 more points in Dallas"

Kick Ass?

 

[JianYang]

disagree
If a really good offer is made. move him

What would you define as a good offer for him?

If the habs keep this up, there's no way management can make a "seller" deal without losing credibility from the leaders in that locker room, as well as morale.

 

[StCaufield]

Big win. It wasn't pretty but good teams find a way to win those.

Hutson with another great game.
Night off for CC but he still managed to score the gwg.

I thought our pk did a great job tonight. Armia and Evans were great defensively.


P.S.
For those who suggested that Pezz could replace Heineman for 3 weeks I present you exhibit #8. Only 3 min 50 of ice time and did not play in the 3rd. Time to call up someone.

Love the guy and he’s so dedicated it’s a little sad to see but he’s just not good enough. I hope he rips it up in Laval

 

[salbutera]

This team has “serious coaching problems”….

Signed,
MC Mike

Pic courtesy of “Da Runner 77”

 

[dcyhabs]

OK but he's -17; so that means he's bad defensively.

Plus/minus is a terrible stat and using it to prove a point about a player is as weak as it gets.

When you are out to try and tie the game and the other team scores an ENG? Minus.
When you are on the PP and a short-handed goal is conceded? Minus.
When you do everything right but somebody else blows coverage? Minus.
When the goalie gives up an absolute frisbee? Minus.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell anyone Dach has been good defensively, especially to start the year. But to still bring it up, when he hasn't been exposed defensively since the Christmas break and his game has trended upward - is the same reason other fans bring up Hutson's plus/minus. Because they want to find something to say he's bad. It's a weaponized stat that isn't worth shit because it has 0 context.

Plus/minus is partially a team stat. It’s partially a player stat. It’s partially a random stat.

It’s not useful in value terms but it can be useful in finding guys to look at. Players can have bad +/- for a bunch of reasons, but for Dach pre-Christmas it reflected that he was getting stripped of the puck cleanly in bad positions and those plays were resulting in goals against. He was hurting the team then, but he’s better since.

Crosby has a bad value because he’s playing a lot of minutes on a team that is getting outscored. He’s still really good, but he can’t control the play as much as he used to, that is he can’t make up for his teammates as well.

Robinson had a high value because he was a generational player on a dynasty.

It’s not a useful stat in a vacuum, but it can identify players worth analyzing.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Plus/minus is partially a team stat. It’s partially a player stat. It’s partially a random stat.

It’s not useful in value terms but it can be useful in finding guys to look at. Players can have bad +/- for a bunch of reasons, but for Dach pre-Christmas it reflected that he was getting stripped of the puck cleanly in bad positions and those plays were resulting in goals against. He was hurting the team then, but he’s better since.

Crosby has a bad value because he’s playing a lot of minutes on a team that is getting outscored. He’s still really good, but he can’t control the play as much as he used to, that is he can’t make up for his teammates as well.

Robinson had a high value because he was a generational player on a dynasty.

It’s not a useful stat in a vacuum, but it can identify players worth analyzing.

It’s at best a starting point. Nothing more.

With so many variables, this statistic/metric is a convenient tool for those who can’t properly assess the flow of play and an individual player’s impact on that flow.

Its akin to trying to gauge an employee’s merit / productivity on the amount of his/her salary.

 

[montreal]

I watched about half the game once the Fowler game was over, Hutson was great, was surprised to see Utah looked like a fast team, thought Cooley had a good game.

 

[dcyhabs]

No it means so far this season his line and unit of five have been bad defensively.
This is also reflected in the Pens goal differential.

Not one person gave the Islanders or the Caps a hope in hell in the post season last year with their -17 and -37 goal differentials there is no way special teams could overcome that deficit.

Look at us we are now at -12 and have come down from -31.
Dach's line has been playing a huge part in the resurgence along with our top 4 Dmen.
Suzuki is now a +5 he's never been on the positive side as a 1C in his career it's not meaningless.

I agree with you when you say the stat is not perfect but neither is GA when looking at goal-
tending but it tells a story over time.

Bottom line for me at the end of the season +/- is a worthwhile stat and very much an indicator of how a player has performed. I just have to look at the Florida Panthers individual stats last season to understand that.

It’s also about who gets sheltered. On the Pens most of their good players have bad +/- because they are playing tough minutes and the rest of the team is not great.

Suzuki has been the one guy to defend on the habs for years, so teams have been keying on him, plus the D is not great. He gets his points, but he plays against top lines because there wasn’t a shutdown line. It’s not always bad, Damphousse took pride in playing top lines and outscoring them, but it’s very hard to do on a weak team.

Coaches can, and do, shelter guys, especially coaches like Therrien who claim not to match lines. JK could play sheltered minutes, he didn’t do so well with tougher minutes when he was here.

Looking at straight +/- doesn’t show good/bad for an individual, but possibly interesting if it deviates from the rest of the team.

 

[schwang26]

I think most people agreed we couldn't trade him until we found or grew a #1RD.
There are always some who just wanted him gone without any foresight.

Especially when we didn’t know for sure how Hutson would adjust. The guy is better than advertised but he can’t do it alone. Even with him and Matheson, the Habs must rank pretty low in goals from the D after being fairly high not long ago.

 

[The Great Weal]

This board is so weird once it designates a whipping boy. Like folks simply become unable to see any nuance in a game

The guy has 10 points in 43 games while always being in the top 6. He’s not physical or elite defensively to make up for it. We should be lying to ourselves by praising him unconditionally? The guy would miss water if he shot from the end of the pier. That’s a trash top 6 forward that deserves to get called out. If he bounces back and actually plays and performs like last year he will get his praise. Not sure why you seemed shocked that this kind of performance is getting criticized.

 

[dcyhabs]

Especially when we didn’t know for sure how Hutson would adjust. The guy is better than advertised but he can’t do it alone. Even with him and Matheson, the Habs must rank pretty low in goals from the D after being fairly high not long ago.

Considering that most of the D are offensive/puck moving guys low goals from D is concerning. Most of them are set up guys, though. Xhekaj has a hard shot but they don’t really have a shooter on D.

 

[Andy]

The guy has 10 points in 43 games while always being in the top 6. He’s not physical or elite defensively to make up for it. We should be lying to ourselves by praising him unconditionally? The guy would miss water if he shot from the end of the pier. That’s a trash top 6 forward that deserves to get called out. If he bounces back and actually plays and performs like last year he will get his praise. Not sure why you seemed shocked that this kind of performance is getting criticized.

This is precisely the type of post I am referring to.

The original poster said Newhook was invisible last night. Key word last night. He says this despite Newhook have a strong game where he made a beauty pass for a goal, hit a post and just missed two other chances.

But here you are not talking about last nights game which is what I was talking about. Instead you’re just looking for excuses to randomly crap on a guy who played well.

Grow up

 

[EveryDay]

I watched about half the game once the Fowler game was over, Hutson was great, was surprised to see Utah looked like a fast team, thought Cooley had a good game.

He's dominant and such a great skater. Keller is Utah best player but Cooley is not far behind.

 

[Habs Icing]

I few weeks ago i was basically told I was an idiot on here for my name sake. bow down boys.

Are you married? Wives tend to do that.

Habs are undefeated in Pezz's return. Don't f*** with the winning lineup. They did against Stars and they lost. Pezz back in vs Utah and they win. Get a clue, Marty

Damn! You almost convinced me.

 

[Habs Icing]

January 14th is the tunisian revolution date.

So in January 14th I celebrated this historical day of Tunisia. And in January 14th I celebrated Habs win!

Great day of celebration for me!

The SAQ (Quebec Liquor Board) must have made a fortune. You can tell us. We won't tell anybody.

 

[ahmedou]

The SAQ (Quebec Liquor Board) must have made a fortune. You can tell us. We won't tell anybody.

Beer Celtia & SAQ

 

[Habs Icing]

This game is just another example of something that was so obvious, the Roger Grillo effect. Dach improving is the Roger Grillo effect.

It's all these small area plays and repetitions he's doing, with his megaphone at the top of the stands in Brossard. All alone on his throne they set up.

Before, all MSL used to do was skate aimlessly twirling his arms around while making helicopter sounds. It was his way of coping with his incompetence.

But now, he can do what he's always dreamed of, pretend to be an NHL coach while taking all the credit.

Grillo is to hockey what the Christmas camel is to the holidays, a primordial being - the premival Grillo.

. Sarcasm, right?
Also when did Grillo go from constructing homes to coaching an NHL team?

I've been following this team for almost 70 years and the whipping boy syndrome is nothing new. And the ridiculous takes that support these views are laughable. Hey, there's a 'healthy' segment of the posters here who still see Matheson as the incarnation of evil.

I've just learned to ignore the empty noise.

I'm starting to think that hate for Matheson has a liitle to do with him taking a bit of the defensive spotlight from the new shiny toy on defense.

 

[Habs Icing]

There was no point in time that we should have traded this highly mobile defenceman and team leader. You can list on the figures of one hand the defencemen in the league that could have scored the goal that Matheson scored last night.

What happened to your fingers?