Post-Game Talk: Habs get mauled 5-2

[admiralcadillac]

Well sure... but we keep saying... Habs need premier talent. Only Hutson likely has it and remains to be seen how a tiny defensemen will do in the NHL.

I am going to get a smoothy.

Ask Quinn Hughes how he is doing. Hutson is 5’10”. It would be nice if we could stop trying to find ways to shit on our prospects.

 

[salbutera]

Not sure why there so much panic in the system, it’s almost as if people don’t understand the trials & tribulations associated with a “rebuild program”…

 

[The Real Timo]

I think we were totally outclassed and outclassed.
Bruins loose their top two centers and their system still works.
We don't have a system.
Our PP is still horrible, why backpass and come with speed if your passing it to a player standing still at the opposition blueline?
Our PK is so passive it sickening to watch.
The turnovers 10 feet from each blueline is horrific.
Can't remember the last time we saw three clean passes.
The sad thing is it's the SAME issues game after game.
You need to start looking at the lack of structure and that is on the coaching staff.

That;s what Ive been saying for a while... We all get Habs don't have much talent, but lack of talent can partially be compensated by playing solid disciplined system. It seems like Habs coaches have zero clue... less than Mario Tremblay if you can believe that. That whole "winging" things doesn't teach anyone anything. Players are lost in all 3 zones. On every play. Every game. If MSL and his clown assistants are not gone after this season, then Molson should clean his entire hockey operations house again.

 

[morhilane]

Even the worst of teams look like they are operating within some sort of system.

The Habs look totally lost more and more.

Bruins won ~82% of their board battles last night, 60% is considered having a very good night. Winning board battles has nothing to do with having a system. It doesn't even require high IQ.

Why the team continue to chip the puck everywhere instead of trying to control it when they can't win board battle is the biggest mystery of them all. But then some of the players looks scared of their own shadows at this point so...

 

[Gillings]

The one thing I noticed with Guhle tonight is just how available he makes himself we he decides to go. Too bad we have so few playmakers who can read what he's doing out there. A couple of times he was wide open because of his ability to skate into open ice and no one saw.

I literally preach this over and over and over again. He consistently makes plays where he makes a good pass and then gets open for the one timer and or the pass back into open space…. And our “forwards” just don’t have the vision…

 

[Chili]

Even the worst of teams look like they are operating within some sort of system.

The Habs look totally lost more and more.

Forget which game it was now but they started the first period and the puck was in the back of the Habs net within 30 seconds or so. And it's so easy to point the finger at the goaltender but at least 2 of the guys in front of him were covering no one.

There are plenty of former coaches out there they could bring in to help out MSL. I remember how abysmal the Sens were just before Jacques Martin was hired in the 1990's. Without even an assistant coach, within a short time he had them playing responsibly in their own end. And he helped the Pens win a couple of Cups more recently.

What are Gorton and Hughes up to these days? The team on the ice maybe could use some help.

 

[Runner77]

Forget which game it was now but they started the first period and the puck was in the back of the Habs net within 30 seconds or so. And it's so easy to point the finger at the goaltender but at least 2 of the guys in front of him were covering no one.

There are plenty of former coaches out there they could bring in to help out MSL. I remember how abysmal the Sens were just before Jacques Martin was hired in the 1990's. Without even an assistant coach, within a short time he had them playing responsibly in their own end. And he helped the Pens win a couple of Cups more recently.

What are Gorton and Hughes up to these days? The team on the ice maybe could use some help.

Just looks like MSL is left to his own devices. The fact that he’s holding on to the same assistant coaching hires appears questionable. Someone should be auditing what each of them is bringing to the table.

Meantime, Gorton brought in a NYR crony in Bobrov and retained another longtime buddy in Lapointe. And Hughes seems to love his ex-Quartexx clients.

Plus ça change …

 

[Mrb1p]

I missed last game did someone keep the Matheson is responsible for a goal in X (8 before this one) games straight thing going?

 

[MasterMatt25]

I think we might make a push for the playoffs in about 5 years.

Thats usually how a rebuild works

 

[morhilane]

Just looks like MSL is left to his own devices. The fact that he’s holding on to the same assistant coaching hires appears questionable. Someone should be auditing what each of them is bringing to the table.

Meantime, Gorton brought in a NYR crony in Bobrov and retained another longtime buddy in Lapointe. And Hughes seems to love his ex-Quartexx clients.

Plus ça change …

I actually wonder if they kept the same assistant coaches because they had enough people on the payroll not working for the org. I think Burrows's contract ends this year (maybe Letowski too?), let see if they extend him.

 

[sheed36]

I actually wonder if they kept the same assistant coaches because they had enough people on the payroll not working for the org. I think Burrows's contract ends this year (maybe Letowski too?), let see if they extend him.

They'll likely get re-signed because they're now members of the current country club. The NHL is an old boys club so they tend to look out for one another.

 

[MasterMatt25]

We're not supposed to be contending this year. The beginning of the year was just a nice surprise. I mean just look at our forward group this season:

Pearson's been good but he's a 2nd/3rd liner at best.
Gallagher looks better than the last two years but is not what he used to be.
Anderson, who's always been overhyped because he's big, is an offensive black hole.
Dvorak is the same as Pearson, just a more ridiculous contract.
Evans, Pezzetta, Harvey-Pinard, Ylonen: more or less 4th liners who can have a hot streak
Dach: injured
Newhook: will probably turn into a 2nd liner, but he's still developing
Suzuki and Caufield are our current stars but have been playing through some cold streaks. Considering they keep getting moved around to spark the offense in others, and we lack a great third piece for them, it's understandable.
Slafkovsky, again, is only 19 years old and is a project. I don't care if people say "Oh he was drafted 1st overall, he's gotta be producing right away", no that's a terrible flaw in logic. Besides he is having a good season to date. He is getting more confident, he is starting to create his own chances, and a few times now has been our best forward throughout the game.
Monahan, love the guy. He can do it all. Unfortunately, he will probably get moved at the deadline if we keep sliding, but that is ok. He'll get us a good package this year for sure.

We need a few things before we will be pushing for a good season (easily 1-2 seasons away, if you don't like that time length, too bad that's how rebuilds work);

1. Dach to be healthy.
2. A top 6 forward who can score. One that can play with Suzuki/Caufield, or with Dach/Slafkovsky. They can be winger or centre, they just need high offensive ceiling (yes I know people will bring up Michkov, but Michkov isn't here so that ship is gone)
3. Bottom two lines who can skate. Gallagher is an old man out there, and Dvorak has never been the fastest guy either. Remember Pittsburgh's back to back cup runs, that 3rd line of Bonino-Hagelin-Kessel could absolutely fly.

 

[hvac412]

Even the worst of teams look like they are operating within some sort of system.

The Habs look totally lost more and more.

They look like Vancouver before Tocchet,always liked him as a coach but we’re handicapped with the “must speak french”requirement.

 

[Ezpz]

Apparently we have the closest to normal pdo in the league so far. We're not unlucky or lucky this year, exactly as good as we should be. Hopefully we can get a top 5 pick. I would immediately care way less about picking Slaf if we got a celebrini or eiserman caliber prospect. I will also cry a little if we grab a dman.

 

[JianYang]

The main concern for me is that I don't feel the team truly hates nights like these. That being said, there are too many anchors on this team.

The lack of speed and toughness is truly exposed against teams like Boston and Vegas who play a simple game of just winning every inch of ice and making you suffer for it.

Yeah, I mean, we as fans become numb to the losing at some point, and I think it creeps into the player's mindset as well to a certain point.

Thats part of the delicate balance between progressing as a team in the long run, yet not letting the losing mentality creep into the young player's mindset.

 

[Theodore450]

How many more games until some critique can be thrown at Cc ?

Ask Quinn Hughes how he is doing. Hutson is 5’10”. It would be nice if we could stop trying to find ways to shit on our prospects.

Quinn the top 6 pick ?

 

[Rapala]

Yes, and no................5 on 3 goal thx to the refs.
The next two were tipped in by our players, and we are down 3-0

The 3 goalie system sucks real bad.

Those two tipped goals bothered me more than anything else. How is it other teams can get out against our D and force shots off shin guards or sent purposely wide. Meanwhile our opposition are given enough time and space to make a D change if they want. (second period)

I don't mind mistakes and I don't mind giving up goals it happens. What I do mind is poor coverage in the Dzone.
You'd think we'd be half decent at it by now given how much time we spend in our own end.
The concept if that is what it is can be said to be deeply flawed.
Our wingers in particular are clueless.

 

[Ezpz]

Even the worst of teams look like they are operating within some sort of system.

The Habs look totally lost more and more.

MSL likely won't stay beyond the rebuild but you'd think they would have went with experienced assistants. We're basically grooming a whole coaching staff to get fired and work elsewhere. It wouldn't shock me if burrows actually became good at his job in 4-5 years.

I would say we're probably going to poach Tourigny next. There's not a whole lot of Quebecois in the league anymore. Particularly after the bergeron generation retire and mostly don't get into hockey ops, there's very little out there. There may legitimately be a time fifteen years from now where there is only a single experienced Quebecois coach to choose from. Something's got to change if we want success, Quebec isn't the biggest dog in hockey anymore, and I would guess several states will pass Ontario in the next decade.

It's a sad state of affairs when Mike Matheson is the best Quebecois in the league. Laf is doing ok now but hes leeching off Panarin more than anything. No real notable can't miss prospects coming up.

 

[theguardianII]

An outsider here.

Geez, your team just played 6 games in 10 nights, since November 9th, November 18th so maybe even 9 days.

And then against a team that probably has the best record in modern NHL history in the regular season since the start of last season, what 78 wins?

And your team is reported to be rebuilding so expections shouldn't be too high IMO. Your team had 5 young defencemen 25 and under playing NHL minutes now. A great foundation.

Your team has many TDL assets to add to the 14 picks in the 1rst three rounds of the draft in the next 3 years, if the team wants that. You know they will get a good return for a goalie.

There are fewer games per month upcoming but I must admit the schedule maker wasn't kind with back to backs.

IMHO your team has much more future potential than most in Canada or the league

 

[montreal]

I’m not sure how people thought we’d be good. Our D is the greenest in the league and we don’t have any offensive depth.

it was the same last year, posters kept saying there's no way we get a top 5 pick and then we did. The hot start and fans were saying no this year now there's no way this team gets top 5 pick they are just too good. I kept saying this team can't score, can't win in regulation and the goaltending would come back down to earth.

The Habs are in a lot of trouble as they stink and have almost nothing to write home about. If they don't get a big leap from several prospects/young players this rebuild will either fail or take that much longer.

 

[BLONG7]

An outsider here.

Geez, your team just played 6 games in 10 nights, since November 9th, November 18th so maybe even 9 days.

And then against a team that probably has the best record in modern NHL history in the regular season since the start of last season, what 78 wins?

And your team is reported to be rebuilding so expections shouldn't be too high IMO. Your team had 5 young defencemen 25 and under playing NHL minutes now. A great foundation.

Your team has many TDL assets to add to the 14 picks in the 1rst three rounds of the draft in the next 3 years, if the team wants that. You know they will get a good return for a goalie.

There are fewer games per month upcoming but I must admit the schedule maker wasn't kind with back to backs.

IMHO your team has much more future potential than most in Canada or the league

Some great perspective.....thx

I think beating the Bruins last week in OT mind you, created a sense of false expectations.............
We have been a miserable team for 6-7 years..................that, is not on our current group of management.

Therein lies some of the probelm also, hard to be patient as we recover from the Rinse and Repeat Era.

 

[theguardianII]

Some great perspective.....thx

I think beating the Bruins last week in OT mind you, created a sense of false expectations.............
We have been a miserable team for 6-7 years..................that, is not on our current group of management.

Therein lies some of the probelm also, hard to be patient as we recover from the Rinse and Repeat Era.

You should be a fan out in Vancouver.
Bad AND TRYING, not just bad but horrible in every aspect.
Anything a GM could do to cripple a franchise and alienate the fanbase was done.

Your team has 14 NHL players 25 and under on it with 28 draft picks the next 3 years and 5 million in cap space now
Vancouver has 3 NHL players 25 and under with a whopping 18 draft picks and 137K in cap space now and next year they will have 2, TWO players 25 and under.

And Vancouver has been trying to win all along, ya Canuck fans must be s...kers

 

[hvac412]

How many more games until some critique can be thrown at Cc ?


Quinn the top 6 pick ?

I think his game revolves around good structure ,I don’t think he’s the type of player that will change the structure on his own. The system seems to be affecting him

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

it was the same last year, posters kept saying there's no way we get a top 5 pick and then we did. The hot start and fans were saying no this year now there's no way this team gets top 5 pick they are just too good. I kept saying this team can't score, can't win in regulation and the goaltending would come back down to earth.

The Habs are in a lot of trouble as they stink and have almost nothing to write home about. If they don't get a big leap from several prospects/young players this rebuild will either fail or take that much longer.

It sucks that we’ve had picks in the wrong years. No blue chip star. We’ll have to see who pans out. With any luck we’ll have another high pick this year and go from there.

 

[Kosseca]

Imagine if all those wins in OT and SO where L.... This team would compete for last place. They have been bad all year, with some luck here and there to get points. At this rate, they are drafting top 3 again.

MSL is starting to show he can't do the job. head scratching player management, no progress in game system, lack of compete. He may be a good motivator, he may have a vision, but he need assistant with better experience to implement it. He also switch to lets try to win over development. Benching Slaf and Ylo at the end of period is good indication of that. Dach injury really mess things up, but at this point, just play the kids....