News Article: Lafleur says Vanek, Patches should GTFO

[MontrealFans]

I dont see why people got to be so upset about patches.

Hes a goal scorer. He doesnt give of the hard worker attitude if you ask me. Hes a great asset to have but if there was something better I would trade him in a second. If we had a better first line. And patches on the second he would be perfect but we dont so.. we live with whats available.

To each his own its not like any of the talk will directly affect reality.

 

[Nicko999]

Jeez, some of you guys should stop posting on here and take the summer off.

Trade Pacioretty?
E.Kane for Patches?

If you want to be fair, Subban was worse than Patches in the NY series. We should get rid of him.

About 25 other teams would kill to have Pacioretty and here we want to trade him. Pathetic.

 

[overlords]

Why should we care about what lafleur says?

 

[deandebean]

And contrary to the players he's criticizing, he produced when it was time. Us old folks remember very fondly the year where Cherry's goon, John Wensink, went public in announcing that at the next game at the Gaaaarden, he would rip Lafleur's head off. At the same time, Guy had received death threat from anonymous folks (he had to have the protection of the police all the time), probably mafia people who had wagered against the Habs.

Lafleur went to the game knowing that he would be the target. Playoff game with big consequences. Some of his teammates were litteraly shaking in their skates. Some threw up before the game. A young Mario Tremblay, for one, was scared shlitless.

Guy? Scored 2 goals and had 2 assists.

That was Lafleur. No fear. All game.

 

[PuckSeparator]

Yeah let's get rid of our 39-goal scorer that's paid 4.5 mill and is still learning what it takes to win in the POs... Maybe we can sucker Nonis and trade him for Clarkson if we're lucky. That guy has the necessary sandpaper to take us really far.

 

[deandebean]

What he means is probably that Pacioretty will need to grow a pair. Because against Boston, he looked scared like Russ Courtnall out there. I wasn't impressed. Don't care if you are not a physical guy. You need to push your body to the limit during the playoffs. I think the Western Finals proved that.

He will need to grow a pair. Not score every game. That's not what Lafleur said. He said that he needs to grow a pair. And he's right.

 

[Nicko999]

And contrary to the players he's criticizing, he produced when it was time. Us old folks remember very fondly the year where Cherry's goon, John Wensink, went public in announcing that at the next game at the Gaaaarden, he would rip Lafleur's head off. At the same time, Guy had received death threat from anonymous folks (he had to have the protection of the police all the time), probably mafia people who had wagered against the Habs.

Lafleur went to the game knowing that he would be the target. Playoff game with big consequences. Some of his teammates were litteraly shaking in their skates. Some threw up before the game. A young Mario Tremblay, for one, was scared shlitless.

Guy? Scored 2 goals and had 2 assists.

That was Lafleur. No fear. All game.

Pacioretty: 3 goals, 5 pts in 4 elimination games.

He also had 39 hits (4th most on the team) and 55 shots (most on the team) and 2 game winners (tied for most on the team).

I really understand players who don't want to come here. Here we have a 40 goals scorer for the first time in 20 years and people want to get rid of him.

 

[OldCraig71]

Lafleur earned the right to say whatever he likes regarding the team. His attitude is why the Habs were so successful for so long. Name one guy on those teams from the 70's that you can honestly say wasn't willing to pay the price to win. It has to be galling for him to watch a player like Bourque mail it in for 82 games have one good series and 1 good game and have it all forgiven. He was largely invisible for huge stretches. In term of role and talent ... it's arguable that he could be a Mike McPhee type player ... I never saw McPhee mail in one shift.

We have players in that mold on the team. But not enough. When TV joined the team and I saw him getting angry almost every shift when he wasn't scoring I was excited... finally a guy who gets it... That fire seemed to disappear in the playoffs. Patches was similar. A second year player should not be seen as a catalyst (Gallagher) to get any line going. In Lafleurs time, sophomores were just barely allowed to speak to reporters. Gallagher is the real deal. PK, Price, Weisse .... they get it. Watch the LA Kings if you want to know what Lafleur is talking about, and it all starts with their captain.

I'd love to see TV come back and shove those words in Lafleur's mouth ... and I suspect Lafleur would happily eat them.

They should have brought Lafleur into the dressing room in the New York series, it might have helped. I like pacioretty but I sometimes wonder if he shies away from the rough going because of the broken neck he suffered, if so I don't blame him, that's not something you just forget.

One of his other glaring problems is not his fault but the fault of the organization for playing him alongside Tyrion lannister. Does anyone here realize how much a sniper relies on his centre man to feed him the puck? He needs a playmaker of Ellers size to help him out. DD gets bounced around too much and is not the guy for max even though he is in love with him. I don't see us trading patches, his contract is great and he's still very young and will get better, we had a good run, let's be happy and hope that Bergevin can make some tweaks to the roster and make us a contender next year.

 

[Mrb1p]

It's all cool and dandy when it comes to Max and Tommy, but why no mention of DD? Is it because he "tries" ? Or is it because he's from QC?

 

[deandebean]

Pacioretty: 3 goals, 5 pts in 4 elimination games.

It's more that he doesn't show up all the time. Stop with the stats. It's what he looks like. If you want to be a revisionist, go look at all the game threads. Pacioretty was widely criticized here practically every game because of his physical non-involvement.

He produces and it's great. As he should, because he's our main offensive weapon, right? He should just grow a pair.

How many points did Vanek get? He did have points, but you would be the first to say that he sucked 80% of the time.

 

[deandebean]

It's all cool and dandy when it comes to Max and Tommy, but why no mention of DD? Is it because he "tries" ? Or is it because he's from QC?

Maybe because the two shrimps on Pacioretty's lines were the ones getting the pucks in the corners against big Chara, while he was standing there doing f-all. Just maybe.

 

[Habs13]

The Flower is correct. Maxi-pads and Vanish were totally unwilling to get their noses dirty and where both nowhere to be found. Both are a disgrace. I don't care why they did during the season... when your two supposed best forwards become no-shows when the going gets rough, then yes, they should be shipped out of town.

 

[deandebean]

Pacioretty: 3 goals, 5 pts in 4 elimination games.

He also had 39 hits (4th most on the team) and 55 shots (most on the team) and 2 game winners (tied for most on the team).

I really understand players who don't want to come here. Here we have a 40 goals scorer for the first time in 20 years and people want to get rid of him.

Who, apart from Lafleur, said we wanted to get rid of him? Not me. I said he needs to grow a pair, that's it.

He's our best weapon right now. Why would I get rid of him? Like I wrote: you might disagree with what Lafleur said, like I do, but he has all the rights in the world to say it. Plus, he's not far from the truth IMHO regarding Vanek. There is no doubt in my mind that the guy was pouting for being transfered to another line.

 

[Deebs]

To be fair, Patches is soft like warm butter, but we need his goal scoring ability.

 

[OldCraig71]

What he means is probably that Pacioretty will need to grow a pair. Because against Boston, he looked scared like Russ Courtnall out there. I wasn't impressed. Don't care if you are not a physical guy. You need to push your body to the limit during the playoffs. I think the Western Finals proved that.

He will need to grow a pair. Not score every game. That's not what Lafleur said. He said that he needs to grow a pair. And he's right.

In all fairness though, in lafleurs/bossy/Gretzky's era the star players could play a game that was fitting of their talent and if someone took a cheap shot or abused them, it was dealt with by the tough guys on our team(s). That day is gone and to a certain extent is making it much tougher for skilled players to succeed. Imagine if Kreider slides into billy smith in the 80s like he did with price, do you think he might have paid for that?

 

[Video Coach]

Getting rid of player like Pacioretty would be stupid just like getting rid of Richer was stupid.

Getting rid of Richer was stupid?

We got Muller back, who was a huge part of the 93 win. That's like saying the Niewendyk - Iginla trade was bad because of all the goals Jarome scored.

It's about winning. I'm not saying I agree with Lafleur but that's his point. It's nice having a 50 goal scorer but I'd take a cup over that any day.

 

[Deebs]

In all fairness though, in lafleurs/bossy/Gretzky's era the star players could play a game that was fitting of their talent and if someone took a cheap shot or abused them, it was dealt with by the tough guys on our team(s). That day is gone and to a certain extent is making it much tougher for skilled players to succeed. Imagine if Kreider slides into billy smith in the 80s like he did with price, do you think he might have paid for that?

Gilles would prison **** him.....

 

[Nicko999]

Who, apart from Lafleur, said we wanted to get rid of him? Not me. I said he needs to grow a pair, that's it.

He's our best weapon right now. Why would I get rid of him? Like I wrote: you might disagree with what Lafleur said, like I do, but he has all the rights in the world to say it.

I was just as disappointed with Patches as you guys in the Tampa series but he got better as the playoffs progressed. He was our best forward for a few games.

And I think you have unrealistic expectations of Pacioretty. I want him to score goals and produce because this is what wins hockey games. He still was our most physical forward in the top 6. He scored a few clutch goals and wasn't a liability like Vanek. Except maybe a bit more production, what more do you guys expect? Wayne Gretzky?

 

[Mrb1p]

Jeez, some of you guys should stop posting on here and take the summer off.

Trade Pacioretty?
E.Kane for Patches?

If you want to be fair, Subban was worse than Patches in the NY series. We should get rid of him.

About 25 other teams would kill to have Pacioretty and here we want to trade him. Pathetic.

Subban was clearly a better player than Max in every game they played. Subban played like a warrior and tried to carry the team on his back by doing everything.

 

[Et le But]

Gilles would prison **** him.....

Billy Smith would have probably beaten him to death himself first.

 

[overlords]

Subban was clearly a better player than Max in every game they played. Subban played like a warrior and tried to carry the team on his back by doing everything.

He was also by far our most effective d-man. Just because he didn't win us the series like he did against boston, people seem to think he played poorly.

 

[OldCraig71]

Subban was clearly a better player than Max in every game they played. Subban played like a warrior and tried to carry the team on his back by doing everything.

These guys are still young and it would be a massive mistake to judge them on their first real playoff run as the new leaders of the team. More chances will come and this experience will make them better.

 

[Mrb1p]

Maybe because the two shrimps on Pacioretty's lines were the ones getting the pucks in the corners against big Chara, while he was standing there doing f-all. Just maybe.

It's true that DD tries a lot. But you're not going to win either with a guy that only tries.

I was just as disappointed with Patches as you guys in the Tampa series but he got better as the playoffs progressed. He was our best forward for a few games.

And I think you have unrealistic expectations of Pacioretty. I want him to score goals and produce because this is what wins hockey games. He still was our most physical forward in the top 6. He scored a few clutch goals and wasn't a liability like Vanek. Except maybe a bit more production, what more do you guys expect? Wayne Gretzky?

No, he was not our most physical forward in the top 6. Gallagher, Eller, Bourque and Desharnais were all a lot more physical than him.. Pacioretty is a perimeter player. If his name was Kostitsyn he'd get ripped by 99% of the people around here and in the media.

 

[OldCraig71]

Billy Smith would have probably beaten him to death himself first.

There is no respect in today's NHL, no accountability, it has to change or the game gets worse going forward. If I were price, I would have jumped on kreiders head, blades first of course.

 

[Mrb1p]

These guys are still young and it would be a massive mistake to judge them on their first real playoff run as the new leaders of the team. More chances will come and this experience will make them better.

For sure, but Max has been playing like Cinderella for a while now, it has to stop.