Post-Game Talk: MTL win 5-4 against Penguins

[BaseballCoach]

All right gang, it’s time to accept the fact that we are witnessing the rebirth of fire wagon hockey! I cannot stress how entertaining this club is to watch. Not to compare them but I’m starting to get the same feeling I got in the 70s! These fellas keep getting after it no matter how many gut punches they take! Great time to be a Habs fan!!!!!!

If we can get to where our goaltenders are averaging .915 or better (currently at .911), and with another year of experience under the belt of guys like Guhle, Harris, Xhekaj and Slafkovsky, making the playoffs in 2023-24 won't look so unthinkable.

 

[Rapala]

So many tough decisions to make in the near future!! Starting with who to scratch when Matheson and Slaf comes back next game, nobody really deserve it after tonight. Hopefully Hugo and Gorton wont make the same mistake as past regime and follow the plan, trade veteran players when theyre at their highest value, keep building for when the window will really be open.

Pretty much a no brainer for me. The waiver pick up sits.

 

[Habs Icing]

Further proving my theory of

Dinosaurs obsessed with vets + grit = garbage
Young guys in their 20's/30's obsessed with analytics and advanced stats = garbage
Former players in their 40's/50's = best coaches

I don't want to pump your tires more than necessary but those are 3 theories, not 1.

 

[Habs Icing]

It's not just that, I think they will keep Wideman up just because he's a glue guy in the room.

Why is Wideman sucking on a pacifier? Is he suffering from anxiety?

 

[Rapala]

The tank is suffering, but the future is bright!

 

[BaseballCoach]

Four rookie defensemen is nuts! We don't have a Makar or Fox, but if these kids stick around and develop together the Habs will have pretty sick depth.

Guhle realistically looks like a McDonagh with maybe a touch better skating.

It would not be dreaming to think Xhekaj could be as good as Sergachev.

Matheson can realistically be a good 4th D.

We are one Hedman away from a cup contending d-corps, and we have 2 years to try to find that guy, either from within or from the outside.

 

[Habs Icing]

That Dach trade was pure thievery.

Kid is looking incredible out there.

A poor man's Eichel.

A young Jason Spezza?

A homeless man's Jean Ratelle.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I liked the pick a lot when they made it. Most of the good forwards were gone already. It was a no brainer.

On a re-draft today, all of Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Slafkovsky and Dach are top-10 picks or better.

 

[Rapala]

Further proving my theory of

Dinosaurs obsessed with vets + grit = garbage
Young guys in their 20's/30's obsessed with analytics and advanced stats = garbage
Former players in their 40's/50's = best coaches

It's not surprising when you look at it. The former players to a man decided they would coach a completely opposite game from the ones the dinosaurs they played under did. How many players who played under Therrien would adopt his style of coaching.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Pretty much a no brainer for me. The waiver pick up sits.

... and Dud0n0v is waived. Not much risk. He has no value around the league. He's our oldest player and has lost 2 steps since his prime. My second waiver choice is Wideman, but I think he is more impactful in the room than Dud.

 

[tazsub3]

I just listened to msl conference, and when talking about dach, he said he absorbing learning and then goes to say we coach and teach them everyday. This is exactly what was missing from this club before, we had a bunch of dino coaches that coached systems instead of developing individual players.

 

[Rapala]

I am cautiously optimistic. But one thing for sure. He is clearly telling the young D men to get involved in the offense. That's huge for their development and confidence. Jackeye on second wave PP LOL and looking OK at it. MSL clearly sees something in him.

He skates well has vision can handle the puck pass/shoot and the opponent won't challenge him like they do Wideman or Drouin. Give it time and both he and Guhle will be main stays on our PP. The fallacy of needing a Dman QB is OLD. Many PP's have forwards everything runs through as we should have with Suzuki and Dach. Drouin won't be here forever. Marty even mentioned it last night he's not necessarily tied to a 5 forward PP formation he just uses the 5 players he thinks can make things happen.

 

[Rapala]

I just listened to msl conference, and when talking about dach, he said he absorbing learning and then goes to say we coach and teach them everyday. This is exactly what was missing from this club before, we had a bunch of dino coaches that coached systems instead of developing individual players.

The NHL wasn't a development league under Bergevin his coaches said it and he said it more than once. OBTUSE is my best description for it.

 

[tazsub3]

The NHL wasn't a development league under Bergevin his coaches said it and he said it more than once. OBTUSE is my best description for it.

exactly but reality it dont need to be a development league for you to teach players.
In my business, i hire a new manager, he is ready and good, that does not mean he cant learn anymore and also cant mean i cant learn from him or her anymore.
We just were a billion dollar business ran like a convenience store on the corner in the 60's.....
We finally caught up to the modern times

 

[Zxlime]

All of sudden, Hoffman is just around the 0.5P/PG mark with a +/- of +3.

Granted these numbers are skewed by his recent streak...but im still surprised by the +3.

HuGo might just be able to rid us of that contract at the TDL after all if he keeps this up.

 

[dcyhabs]

Further proving my theory of

Dinosaurs obsessed with vets + grit = garbage
Young guys in their 20's/30's obsessed with analytics and advanced stats = garbage
Former players in their 40's/50's = best coaches

Probably more random. You need a guy who can motivate, negotiate, psychoanalyze, and strategize. There won’t be many and they’ll come from different backgrounds.

 

[BLONG7]

Dach...........what a play in OT, made Malkin look old!!
Great game, even though Allen was hot garbage, and who would have thought to build a team that can score goals would win you games.
This is why Bergevin is running errands out in LA

Nice to see the kids continue to develop and play well under MSL. I still think there are some growing pains coming, but we seem to have a Coach who actually KNOWS what he is doing to HELP these kids.

No more grind da puck, as the motto. Grind dam it..............Carey, stop da puck!

 

[dinodebino]

So we have a new mascott now?

 

[Gustave]

Four rookie defensemen is nuts! We don't have a Makar or Fox, but if these kids stick around and develop together the Habs will have pretty sick depth.

Interestingly, IMO, it's almost impossible to pull out a decade of solid D core without a real number 1 in it. There are two instances as this moment that contradict my position: Canes and Islanders. They are built to spread the workload evenly through 3 pairs. If we pull that off, I'll be happy. I always prefer top heavy D cores, but there is a way to make work a spread out D core, even though it's a rare occurance.

 

[calder candidate]

Guhle realistically looks like a McDonagh with maybe a touch better skating.

It would not be dreaming to think Xhekaj could be as good as Sergachev.

Matheson can realistically be a good 4th D.

We are one Hedman away from a cup contending d-corps, and we have 2 years to try to find that guy, either from within or from the outside.

This Dcore could contend, it help to have a elite offensive Qb but at the end of the day it is the best team and if you have 5 guys that could basically play top 4 on most team and are solid defensively, you just need more offense for the FW.

 

[BaseballCoach]

This Dcore could contend, it help to have a elite offensive Qb but at the end of the day it is the best team and if you have 5 guys that could basically play top 4 on most team and are solid defensively, you just need more offense for the FW.

Guhle is on pace for 38 ES points in his rookie season. I don't see why he can't hit 50 in his prime.

As for POWER PLAY quarterbacking, the role can filled by a creative forward like Suzuki or Dach. With a guy like Xhekaj or Mailloux firing bombs like Souray did.

 

[HuGort]

Next day is always good day after Habs win. Especially when they play exciting hockey like this

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Hughes wins all his trades!

A true master of his craft

No pretend BS

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Further proving my theory of

Dinosaurs obsessed with vets + grit = garbage
Young guys in their 20's/30's obsessed with analytics and advanced stats = garbage
Former players in their 40's/50's = best coaches

Conservatism has its value
Analytics has its value
Former players are not always the best coaches (Gretzky: Bowman is the antithesis of that)

What has zero value is generalizing patterns of thought with minorities that are obsessed with these patterns of thought.

Fact is, I'm sure MSL does borrow from the old school and the Habs analytic department has been overhauled, which points to the actual solution, which is central to most problems: balance.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Well, Lemieux did said he wasn't crazy about Kovalev. Kovalev was a complementary player. The real players when Pittsburg was a top team was Lemieux, Jagr, Stevens and Coffey. They were the cake and Kovalev was the icing on the top. That was what rip Pat Burns used to say, and many other hockey experts at the time.
With The Rangers it was the same. Kovalev was just a good player and the real core was Messier and Leach.

I think you're wrongly reducing Kovalev. He was all those same things as they were, when he was motivated. He was a great leader when he had drive and purpose. Problem was, he wasn't always motivated.