Habs player that frustrated you the most?

[26Mats]

Just being curious, whatever the age you have and how long you have been a Habs fan, who do you remember as the guy who frustrated you the most when on the Ice? Could be because of his lack of intensity, his errors, mental weakness, just not enough skills... whatever the reason!

Mine is Barry Richter. Everytime this guy was on the ice I was so frustrated to see how bad he was and did not understand why he was still with the big team!

Who's yours?

Is Bergevin an option?

Last year it was probably Alzner. Pacioretty is what he is. A floater who will score you 35 by floating into position when he plays with a Danault caliber center and a puck distributor like Radulov (or a puck distributor like Desharnais and Plekanec in their primes and Gallagher, Vanek or Cole on the opposite wing). I was more frustrated with Bergevin for not playing Radulov his worth, while giving Alzner a boat load of money, and thinking Drouin would be the answer at center with Pacioretty.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Seriously, he only scored a double overtime playoff series saver against Columbus, and then scored the Stanley Cup winning goal.. very little to show

He can’t hear you with his ring in his ear.

I'm sorry, is this a discussion about the most frustrating players when they're not wearing a Habs jersey?

 

[Cobra Commander]

Dave Bolland and Travis Moen also scored Cup winning goals. Great moment for Eller, but playing like a #2C for 24 games doesn't change him playing like a #3C for the eight years before.

Looked like a great 2nd line center every chance he was ever given. It started with the EGG line. I wonder what he could have done if given DesHarnais chouchou minutes and PP time... Then he get’s traded to a team with 2 star centers in Backstrom and Kuznetsov, so he slides into the 3rd line center role. But many of us believe he could be a great 2nd line center who is a force in the playoffs.

 

[Cobra Commander]

I'm sorry, is this a discussion about the most frustrating players when they're not wearing a Habs jersey?

As a Hab he impressed me with almost every little opportunity he was given, and those where few and far apart, he made some mistakes but he was mishandled and misused by therrien and company. He was a strong player for us in the playoffs as well. DesHarnais was 100 times more frustrating to watch get manhandled and never get any points on the power play.

 

[Hostile Offer]

As a Hab he impressed me with almost every little opportunity he was given, and those where few and far apart, he made some mistakes but he was mishandled and misused by therrien and company. He was a strong player for us in the playoffs as well. DesHarnais was 100 times more frustrating to watch get manhandled and never get any points on the power play.

I see your point. My problem with Eller was his ability to just dominate out there only to whiff every potential scoring chance he created for himself. A really good player but incredibly frustrating to watch.

 

[Cobra Commander]

I see your point. My problem with Eller was his ability to just dominate out there only to whiff every potential scoring chance he created for himself. A really good player but incredibly frustrating to watch.

The “incredibly frustrating to watch” thing for me is based on propaganda, when he was given talented wingers like Chucky and Gally he played very well. Eller is at his best when he is reacting to the play, he has good instincts, he has to play with talented wingers to be effective, don’t put him with offensively challenged wingers or plugs where he is trying to find time to create extra offense that isn’t there. You have to match players with the right players, something the Habs org is clueless about.

When placed in the right situations Eller has usually impressed, he should have never been traded and would be our best center right now.. Oh how this once great team has fallen..

 

[Hostile Offer]

The “incredibly frustrating to watch” thing for me is based on propaganda, when he was given talented wingers like Chucky and Gally he played very well. Eller is at his best when he is reacting to the play, he has good instincts, he has to play with talented wingers to be effective, don’t put him with offensively challenged wingers or plugs where he is trying to find time to create extra offense that isn’t there. You have to match players with the right players, something the Habs org is clueless about.

When placed in the right situations Eller has usually impressed, he should have never been traded and would be our best center right now.. Oh how this once great team has fallen..

Eller left the team after three consecutive sub 30pt seasons. With Danault coming in to take his spot, it made sense to trade him. Whether or not he was mismanaged is another story but it was never going to work out for him any better in Montreal. Moving on.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Beaulieu was so frustrating to watch. Shot when he should've passed, pass when he should've shot. Always bad decision, but amazing toolkit.

The Beaulieu experiment is why I wasn't high on Dobson. Amazing toolkit, but you just can't predict how a D out from the Q will react to pro play, moreso than most other recruitment leagues.

 

[Peanut]

Recently I'd say Alzner but everyone on this board knew it was a terrible signing the minute it happened.

I'll go with Lehkonen kid just couldn't hit the net last year and had some nice prime locations to score and just couldn't finish.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Alzner is no 1. He is the most guilty, the one we hate the most. His last years stats would look okay if he was half year injured. But for the team's pts after a year Price bad season matters the most, followed by Paccio, Weber injury, Schlemko, Drouin and Lehkonen. Alzner in importance comes no3, between Paccio and Weber. He had the most deception bad year but it's 3rd reason why Habs failed last year.

 

[Lshap]

Looked like a great 2nd line center every chance he was ever given. It started with the EGG line. I wonder what he could have done if given DesHarnais chouchou minutes and PP time... Then he get’s traded to a team with 2 star centers in Backstrom and Kuznetsov, so he slides into the 3rd line center role. But many of us believe he could be a great 2nd line center who is a force in the playoffs.

Eller's had #2C streaks, but he always settles back to his natural water-level as a #3C. Like most of us, I watched him from day-one and saw those tantalizing spikes that hinted at something more. But the spikes never lasted. Regardless of linemates or usage he simply doesn't have the hands to be a consistent, productive top-six C. After eight full years I think it's fair to move past the potential we believe he had and accept the career he actually had.

For the record, I was frikkin thrilled for him and the Caps this past playoffs. Even after Backstrom returned, Eller was playing at a top-six level as a #3C. His peaks, just like his established mainland, are on him for better or worse.

 

[Cobra Commander]

Eller's had #2C streaks, but he always settles back to his natural water-level as a #3C. Like most of us, I watched him from day-one and saw those tantalizing spikes that hinted at something more. But the spikes never lasted. Regardless of linemates or usage he simply doesn't have the hands to be a consistent, productive top-six C. After eight full years I think it's fair to move past the potential we believe he had and accept the career he actually had.

For the record, I was frikkin thrilled for him and the Caps this past playoffs. Even after Backstrom returned, Eller was playing at a top-six level as a #3C. His peaks, just like his established mainland, are on him for better or worse.

I’ll agree to disagree, I believe he would have made a fine 2nd line center. One thing I hope we can agree on is that their was zero reason to trade him when our center dept was bad to begin with, and Danault is a downgrade no matter how we try and look at it, would you agree?

 

[Hacketts]

Gordie Dwyer.

Expected big things.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Michael Ryder - didn't like how he used to cough up the puck on the PP. Max P and Galchenyuk honourable mention for the same.

Desharnais - Ridiculous usage aside, I didn't like his beer league line changes - heading to the bench while the other team was in transition. Mind you, he was probably coached to do so, so part of his usage.

Bourque, Kovalev, Kostitsyn - I didn't mind these guys. I had no expectation of consistency, so just enjoyed it when they did something. I liked Playoff Kovalev.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I really don’t get why some people are naming Karl Alzner. If his play disapointed /frustrates you you clearly have not been following his career and know nothing about the type of dman he was in his last years in Washington.

Karl actually tries out there he’s just not good. And it’s not like he’s not allowing other younger D to develop.

Like what did you expect Karl alzner to do? Be a solid 3-4? Lol

 

[LaP]

Eller left the team after three consecutive sub 30pt seasons. With Danault coming in to take his spot, it made sense to trade him. Whether or not he was mismanaged is another story but it was never going to work out for him any better in Montreal. Moving on.

Trading Eller for picks made sense. Trading better picks for Shaw did not. You can't evaluate the work of a gm by evaluating every trades separately you must look at the whole picture. The trade really was Eller + better picks for Shaw + lesser picks which did not make any sense at all considering we were weak at center and were looking for top 6 wingers (like Radulov) not bottom 6 wingers. If Chicago can take Eller's contract in exchange for Shaw (and want the player) then that's the trade. It's basically a 3 teams trade.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Trading Eller for picks made sense. Trading better picks for Shaw did not. You can't evaluate the work of a gm by evaluating every trades separately you must look at the whole picture. The trade really was Eller + better picks for Shaw + lesser picks which did not make any sense at all considering we were weak at center and were looking for top 6 wingers (like Radulov) not bottom 6 wingers. If Chicago can take Eller's contract in exchange for Shaw (and want the player) then that's the trade. It's basically a 3 teams trade.

All picks involved were 2nd rounders. You can essentially call the returns the same, considering we didn't know at the time whether the picks we got for Eller would be better or worse than the ones we gave up for Shaw. But you're right, the Shaw trade was pretty silly.

 

[dinodebino]

Jim Roberts. I was young and I just couldn't see why this guy was playing all the time.

 

[LaP]

All picks involved were 2nd rounders. You can essentially call the returns the same, considering we didn't know at the time whether the picks we got for Eller would be better or worse than the ones we gave up for Shaw. But you're right, the Shaw trade was pretty silly.

Are you implying we did not know Washington would not finish bottom 10? Cause one of the pick we gave was a 39th pick.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Are you implying we did not know Washington would not finish bottom 10? Cause one of the pick we gave was a 39th pick.

Yes it was bound to be unlikely but you never know. There is a difference between the 39th and 58th pick but really it's not that significant anyway, a bit of hindsight nitpicking imo.

 

[Schooner Guy]

A couple that come to mind right away...

1) Alex Tanguay - In his lone season with the Habs, I couldn't count the number of times I cursed at him through the TV when he'd shy away from physical contact. I remember one game in particular late in the season...we had the goalie pulled for an extra attacker in a one goal game and he blatantly refused to receive a hit to keep possession of the puck down low in the opponent's end. The opponent got possession and cleared the puck out of the zone to hand us a loss. This was one example of many where it looked like he was protecting a carton of eggs.

2) Sergei Kostitsyn - Just an all around horrible attitude towards teammates and coaches. Very disappointing after looking like a home run draft pick.

 

[Lshap]

I’ll agree to disagree, I believe he would have made a fine 2nd line center. One thing I hope we can agree on is that their was zero reason to trade him when our center dept was bad to begin with, and Danault is a downgrade no matter how we try and look at it, would you agree?

Yeah, agreed. The difference between a #3C and #2C isn't as big as the arguments make them appear.

I like Danault. The kid's only 25. I'm willing to let him play another full season before pronouncing sentence.

 

[Cobra Commander]

Yeah, agreed. The difference between a #3C and #2C isn't as big as the arguments make them appear.

I like Danault. The kid's only 25. I'm willing to let him play another full season before pronouncing sentence.

I like Danault too, he’s a good guy, good player, but honestly we were better off drafting the 2 players that were drafted with our two 2nds we gave for Shaw and keeping Eller.

But sure, Danault is our guy now and he took a good deal for a good cap hit so I will support him.

 

[CalgarySnow]

Some names I haven't seen yet :

Never liked Théodore as an individual, although it was hard not to like him during his Hart season.

Kaberle as a Habs.

Radek Bonk

Ben Scrivens

Benoît Pouliot

Gilbert Dionne

I love Radek Bonk’s name, I giggle childishly when I hear it (for those not versed in perhaps English slang, not sure it’s the same here, Bonk is s*x, not sure that’s a word allowed so thought I would disguise it just in case)

 

[CalgarySnow]

Doug Wickenheiser
René Bourque
Lars Eller
Max Pacioretty (What a moumoune!)
Carey Price (What a baboune!)

Thanks for teaching me a new word (moumoune), google couldn’t show me a translation for baboune any help please?