HF Habs: Montreal Canadiens Hockey Ops - Part 2

[WeThreeKings]

Pascal Vincent could be a candidate too, played in the same organization then MSL in minor hockey and would bring a lot of experience

God no.

 

[Scintillating10]

MSL is still in charge, no worries there Boucher can handle the PP and set plays, Robidas keeps defense and the PK, Burrows can go get coffee for the boys. Easy peasy.

I remember Boucher was good with Ottawa. Got them to finals one year.

 

[Steve Shutt]

Did Albie O'Connell sign somewhere?

 

[Rapala]

Anything more on Letowski?

 

[salbutera]

With Guy Boucher suddenly being available, if Letowski decides to leave I'd see a pretty easy fit there, unless MSL has someone specific in mind that he's already close with.

Zero chance …. Hockey philosophy is polar opposite to Hughes / MSL

Pominville however….

 

[Tyson]

Zero chance …. Hockey philosophy is polar opposite to Hughes / MSL

Pominville however….

Spot on regarding hockey philosophies.

 

[dinodebino]

Boucher shat non stop on St-Louis while he was at RDS. That would be awkward.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Boucher shat non stop on St-Louis while he was at RDS. That would be awkward.

Interesting!

I think Boucher's Best Before Date expired a long time ago.

 

[Rapala]

I don't know about Laval but I wonder if Plecky would come over for Letowski.
First order of business fix our atrociously passive PK.
It's incredible to think Edmonton can play a balls to the wall PK in the SC Finals but we are afraid of even trying it in a season(s) of development.
You can't convince me their players are collectively much quicker than ours.

Maybe he could also give Marty a dose of reality when it comes to concepts and or our Man v Man D strategy.
I mean do it selectively perhaps but all the time with our roster.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Boucher shat non stop on St-Louis while he was at RDS. That would be awkward.

He comes across as super arrogant, no wonder he can't hold a job.

 

[Treb]

I don't know about Laval but I wonder if Plecky would come over for Letowski.
First order of business fix our atrociously passive PK.
It's incredible to think Edmonton can play a balls to the wall PK in the SC Finals but we are afraid of even trying it in a season(s) of development.
You can't convince me their players are collectively much quicker than ours.

Maybe he could also give Marty a dose of reality when it comes to concepts and or our Man v Man D strategy.
I mean do it selectively perhaps but all the time with our roster.

Would be extremely surprised to see him leave Kladno/Jagr, especially for NA.

 

[skidcells]

Did Albie O'Connell sign somewhere?

Curious about this as well. We know he left ASU for a full time scouting job somewhere. Coincidently, that’s about the time the Zeev Buium to Montreal talk started. He would’ve seen a lot of him as ASU has played Denver.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

I heard through the grapevine that Letowski is coming back, however Burrows won't be as he wants to spend more time with his family.

Hopefully we see someone experienced take over for Burrows.

 

[Vachon23]

I heard through the grapevine that Letowski is coming back, however Burrows won't be as he wants to spend more time with his family.

Hopefully we see someone experienced take over for Burrows.

Interesting, if that happen, I do think some candidates will interview for the 2 jobs (MSL assistant and Rocket HC)

 

[LaP]

Interesting!

I think Boucher's Best Before Date expired a long time ago.

In the case of Boucher the expiration date has been erased by time. But it doesn't matter by just opening the package you can quickly smell it's past the expiration.

 

[Slafkofield]

McGuire suggested Gerard Gallant a few weeks ago on the Sick Podcast, would love to see him comeback

 

[L4br3cqu3]

McGuire suggested Gerard Gallant a few weeks ago on the Sick Podcast, would love to see him comeback

I remember he did great as an assistant to Therrien 10 years ago, seems well-liked by players, just wonder why he doesn't seem to be able to keep a job. Don't know if he'd accept a job as an assistant, though, perhaps an associate, if MSL accepts.

Still, right now, there's no place for anyone else behind the bench.

And please, no Boucher, guy has a sound hockey mind, but wayyy too entitled and arrogant for my liking, and like some said already, shat to no end on MSL.

 

[HuGo Sham]

great watch

 

[Shred]

great watch

“If it’s close, you gotta give it to me” -Kent Hughes showing off his elite negotiation skills right off the bat

 

[badfish]

great watch

This was one of my favourite interviews that Kent has done yet. Some interesting tidbits I picked up on:

- Pittsburgh reached out to him before to ask if he would interview for the GM Job
- He rejected Geoff Gorton a few times, but it took Geoff telling him he didn't know himself well enough to start going through the GM recruitment process
- Marty St. Louis is important for selling the idea of what the organization wants to do and help the fanbase be patient through the rebuild
- He says if starting from scratch, the most important role to build around would be goaltending if goaltending could be predictable, but because it's so hard to predict goaltender performance game to game and year to year, the philosophy is centers or defense
- Development is not something reserved for prospects, players in the AHL or young guys. Everyone can improve their game and thats why they've invested so heavily in development. He said many players get complacent about their development in their careers, but that Montreal wants them to focus on growing their game at any stage of their career (paraphrasing that last part)
- He shared a couple great stories about Luc Bourdon and Matt Lombardi being drafted

 

[Miller Time]

- Development is not something reserved for prospects, players in the AHL or young guys. Everyone can improve their game and thats why they've invested so heavily in development. He said many players get complacent about their development in their careers, but that Montreal wants them to focus on growing their game at any stage of their career (paraphrasing that last part)

It's so refreshing to finally have the Habs led by people who get what building a culture of excellence is all about.

 

[Miller Time]

So in 3 drafts, KH has added 5 first round prospects...
Slaf, Demidov, Hage, Mesar, Reinbabcher

And, turned 2 other first round picks into Dach & Newhook, both recent first rounders.

7 first round talents added to the organization in 3 drafts, just 2 1/2 years into a GMs tenure.

Plus added as many as 6 other prospects with legit shots at being first round talents from their draft class in a re-draft 5 years later (Beck, Hutson, Engstrom, Konyuskov, Fowler, Xhekaj).

This is what "build through the draft" actually looks like.

I wonder if Bargainbin is watching this unfold and taking notes

 

[Rapala]

We absolutely need better overall bench strategy and in-game adjustment.
A huge step this season would be to get the goal differential down to even.
That's 56 goals we have to gain by addition and or subtraction.

The special teams are the very first animal to look at and something that has been totally unsatisfactory for a long long time.
The one thing that will piss me off most is if we keep hammering at the same bent nail over and over again like mindless zombies.
If your PP or your PK keeps breaking down at the same places involving the same players make adjustments there is no longer any reason to accept failure.

The Dzone coverage is probably the next step to achieving that goal and the strategy so far has been horrendous for the most part.
I really hope MSL and company don't get fixed in their ways and are willing to experiment with a hybrid approach.
The philosophy can remain the same in terms of wanting to be a puck possession team but we have to learn when and how to bail to live another day. Cutting down on those killer Dzone shifts that lead to either goals or penalties will go a long way to reaching the target.

 

[DAChampion]

All Hail Hugo !

 

[Jaynki]

Dwell on Michkov and Mesar/Kulich all you want and former NYR draft blunder... it is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things when this front office has bring in :

Slafkovsky
Hutson
Dach
Beck
Reinbacher
Newhook
Fowler
Demidov
Hage

Demidov and Slafkovsky are potential franchise talent.

Dach, Hage are potential top 6 RH C.

Reinbacher top pair RD.

Hutson blue chip PMD.

Potential starting goalie.

I mean, our rebuild is massive and going in the f***ing right direction. Its incredible.

I haver never witnessed that much talent in the Habs.

And we still have 2x 1st, 2x 2nd next year to cook.

Let that sink in

Its not about being a HuGo bootlickers or a management cuck, but simply to recognise that we have extremely competent and influential people at the helm of our team.