GDT: Leafs at Habs (Now, Saturday)

[NotProkofievian]

Watched the extended highlights, Reinbacher jumped out in the beginning. This kid just gets the game of hockey. It's good that he's going back to Switzerland, where I expect him to be one of the league's best defencemen.

Caufield looks like he will score many goals this season.

Guhle looks ready for a big season.

Newhook has great tools, and we'll see what MSL can get out of him. If he could get 20 goals this season it would be a crucial step forward for him.

Not much else jumped out at me other than the fact that this is a really bad team. We are not ready to be good.

 

[Aces on the road]

Leafs had poor line up. I am concerned.

 

[NMacrules]

To be honest you guys are too hard on yourself. When this team starts to play, get the lines straightened away they might surprise you. There is a lot of solid depth there. Believe it or not, this team is built very similar to Vegas with the exception of Eichel. A bunch of hard hitting, defensively dependable good players. Newhook and Pearson alone improved the team. That said, you will be in tough against Ottawa and Buffalo. Especially Ottawa. I think they grab a spot so the habs need to be better than Buffalo. MSL will produce a team that is hard nosed, in your face hockey this season. And I think its possible to be better than Tampa and Boston. Both teams digressed greatly. Boston lost a lot of its best players. TB has goalie troubles with Vas out for at least 3 months.

 

[Pazucha]

I don't know what to think anymore Slafkovsky had (17min TOI) last game which looks like a lot but this wasn't a full squad game.

No PK no PP1 and once again he wasn't there during the empty net attempt to score a goal.

To me it looks like the coaching stuff doesn't have a confidence in him.

--

 

[NMacrules]

The leafs top 3 . Yep and wiith a top three like that, the are no Cup contender

Habs are a Lottery team again this year.

Its funny when the habs fans or leaf fans attack each other with posts like this. Last year the Leafs were top 6 defensively in the entire league with those same players. That said, which of the Habs D men are better than any of those 3? And Kingberg is a clear upgrade over Holl. Now you have some good up and coming defensive depth. Try not to worry so much about what Toronto has and try to stay positive about your up and coming talent. Your prospect pool is very good. With the habs youth and speed I would not be surprised to see them vying for a playoff spot. And you were responding to the other poster who named the Leafs top 3 D men as Rielly, Brodie and McCabe.

 

[dcyhabs]

I don't know what to think anymore Slafkovsky had (17min TOI) last game which looks like a lot but this wasn't a full squad game.

No PK no PP1 and once again he wasn't there during the empty net attempt to score a goal.

To me it looks like the coaching stuff doesn't have a confidence in him.

--

He’s 19. He was never going to be an immediate star. Let him mature and see what he is at 23.

 

[OldCraig71]

It is going to be tough for this team to create offense, we lack forwards that have the size or playing style that allows them to go to the middle of the ice. I saw the same strategy that we saw for years under the Bergevin group, playing on the outside and attempting to get pucks to the point, where no one goes to the middle! Suzuki and CC are small forwards and they are the duo that will have to create chances, as for our defense, outside of Matheson there isn't really a good puck mover that adds a different element to our attack. Scoring goals will be a tough task for this group.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Del

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

It is going to be tough for this team to create offense, we lack forwards that have the size or playing style that allows them to go to the middle of the ice. I saw the same strategy that we saw for years under the Bergevin group, playing on the outside and attempting to get pucks to the point, where no one goes to the middle! Suzuki and CC are small forwards and they are the duo that will have to create chances, as for our defense, outside of Matheson there isn't really a good puck mover that adds a different element to our attack. Scoring goals will be a tough task for this group.

But Guy Larose told us the tank thread is an embarrasment and this is not a tank season "per se".

 

[HabzSauce]

How is he not a prospect when he's only played 36 NHL games, & is only 19. That's ridiculous. Of course, he is.

By definition no he is not a prospect anymore. You qualify as a rookie for the Calder after 25 games played.

 

[morhilane]

I don't know what to think anymore Slafkovsky had (17min TOI) last game which looks like a lot but this wasn't a full squad game.

No PK no PP1 and once again he wasn't there during the empty net attempt to score a goal.

To me it looks like the coaching stuff doesn't have a confidence in him.

--

Slaf was already doing a shift when the first empty net started.

Burrows is a guy who hates changes. The PP1 will be Suzuki/CC/Dach/Monahan/RHP/Matheson or whomever no-defense kid D replaced Matheson regardless of how much it fails.

PP2 has been an afterthoughts last season and this pre-season, they get about 30 seconds per PP and probably don't even get PP practices.

 

[Habs4Life]

fire burrow he doesn't know how to run a powerplay

 

[OldCraig71]

But Guy Larose told us the tank thread is an embarrasment and this is not a tank season "per se".

I certainly believe that it will be a top 5 pick again this season, we simply do not have the talent to keep up with the big boys in the Atlantic division. There will be nights where we look okay against lesser competition but overall we will have a tough time scoring goals but it's another development year and hopefully, some of the young players make big strides in becoming solid NHL players.

 

[Rapala]

RHP did not have a very good game at all and his limitations were very evident on Dach's line as well as on the PP. I don't get the need to break up the Suzuki trio on the PP like at all. Newhook adds a huge speed dimension that we need from the back not to mention he should be left place as he tries to build chemistry with that group. Add Dach and add our best Dman which last night was Ghule. I also think Dach is much more effective down low and Suzuki's best success has come from that right side.

 

[dcyhabs]

The habs are sort of at the point the Sabres have been at for a while. They’ve been bad, they have some picks, they are expecting to improve, but they aren’t, really. Except Buffalo got more high picks in drafts that weren’t exceptionally weak.

 

[Gillings]

MTL dominated most of the game Jones made some saves hit posts or miss the net…

Doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning, and so is losing

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning, and so is losing

Pre season is also pre season it's not a big deal there's 82 games to care about when they suck these aren't some of them

 

[Rapala]

I certainly believe that it will be a top 5 pick again this season, we simply do not have the talent to keep up with the big boys in the Atlantic division. There will be nights where we look okay against lesser competition but overall we will have a tough time scoring goals but it's another development year and hopefully, some of the young players make big strides in becoming solid NHL players.

Our wins will come when teams take us lightly. Not because we over-power anyone.

 

[morhilane]

The habs are sort of at the point the Sabres have been at for a while. They’ve been bad, they have some picks, they are expecting to improve, but they aren’t, really. Except Buffalo got more high picks in drafts that weren’t exceptionally weak.

This year Habs teams will be a very similar roster to last season, just without Hoffman, Drouin and Dadonov while Armia, Gallagher, Savard and Allen are all older and worst looking in this pre-season.

You expect the kids to take a step forward to compensate, but that doesn't mean going from 5th worst team to top 5 in the league in one off-season in year two of the rebuild.

 

[PaulD]

Its funny when the habs fans or leaf fans attack each other with posts like this. Last year the Leafs were top 6 defensively in the entire league with those same players. That said, which of the Habs D men are better than any of those 3? And Kingberg is a clear upgrade over Holl. Now you have some good up and coming defensive depth. Try not to worry so much about what Toronto has and try to stay positive about your up and coming talent. Your prospect pool is very good. With the habs youth and speed I would not be surprised to see them vying for a playoff spot. And you were responding to the other poster who named the Leafs top 3 D men as Rielly, Brodie and McCabe.

fans attack each other ?

fans were not even mentioned in my post.

I was referring to the two Canadien rivals. Ya know the two teams and their rosters.

 

[FrankMTL]

In regards to the power play, it's shocking how disorganized they are. I mean just to enter the opposing zone, it's like they can't decide who will do it and how to do it. These plays where they skate up past the blue line then turn around and pass it back to somebody else drives me bonkers...

 

[Gillings]

Pre season is also pre season it's not a big deal there's 82 games to care about when they suck these aren't some of them

I personally don’t think we’ve sucked besides the first leafs game we played. All the other the young guys have looked good with lots of potential. I’m hoping Laval gets stacked

 

[morhilane]

In regards to the power play, it's shocking how disorganized they are. I mean just to enter the opposing zone, it's like they can't decide who will do it and how to do it. These plays where they skate up past the blue line then turn around and pass it back to somebody else drives me bonkers...

Two issues there, both from the pre-MSL era:
- Julien/Ducharme hated players who took the puck behind/around the net, it seems it stuck. You only see the post-Julien players doing it. Sometimes.
- Habs are told their identity is "rush game" so they rush into the ozone, make a pass sometimes and then shoot on net. For a power play to work, you need to set up in the ozone and most of the Habs players can't do that.. It's an "execution fail" process moment every time.

The faster they drop the rush mentality, the faster the PP will stop looking like shit. But they won't drop it, because half the lineup can't play anything else. Even worst, they are trying to change East/West prospects into North/South ones.

 

[Gillings]

In regards to the power play, it's shocking how disorganized they are. I mean just to enter the opposing zone, it's like they can't decide who will do it and how to do it. These plays where they skate up past the blue line then turn around and pass it back to somebody else drives me bonkers...

I think with Trudeau, Notlinder, Guhle and Hondacivic, Mailloux we made a lot of the right plays at the blue line as opposed to years past where we would lose control or just feed it down low.

Lots of nice puck movers at the point. Let them brew.

 

[OldCraig71]

Our wins will come when teams take us lightly. Not because we over-power anyone.

Or against teams that have a weaker defensive game, Suzuki and Caufield when given more room on the ice can produce but not so much against tight-checking teams that use size to their advantage. Our guys had a tough time last night against a minor league squad and yes, I get that it's preseason but in all fairness, our better players should have had an easier time against a minor league squad.