Official Tank Thread

[knuck]

those guys: multiple playoff runs

our guys: doodoo can't even win against struggling teams

la preuve est dans l'poudingue

I would never go back to the Bergevin era. The cup final was 100% a fluke

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Totally on board with that but very much doubt that Geoff Molson will stay the course that long (he’s been getting a lot of pressure from the low audience ratings from his broadcasters).

Nothing ever comes to fruition when Geoffy gets his dirty paws in the best of processes. Wouldn’t be surprised if he instructed his management to use that cap leverage next summer for quick fixes — and that would suck if it happened.

That's a bargain bin move if I've ever seen one, let's hope they are smarter than that. Maybe Molson will tell the media to shut up again soon like he did when he was protecting Bergevin. I think we could make the playoffs as early as next season, and that would be good experience for the youngsters, but I hope they are realistic in their expectations. We might be the youngest team in the league right now, and we're about to get even younger with the influx of talent we have recently acquired and will acquire through the 2025 draft. Actual contention for the Cup is still many miles away.

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

I would never go back to the Bergevin era. The cup final was 100% a fluke

We had no business being there, but it was fun as hell to watch them destroy the Leafs, and beat a powerhouse like Vegas. Who knows, if the Islanders beat the Lightning in game 7 the Habs might have been "covid cup champions".

"Carey can backstop us to a cup, you don't need offense"

- Bargain Bin -

 

[Lshap]

You're the one fooling yourself if you think what we had prerebuild-wise is enough to build on without waiting for actual draftees to come in and develop. The core will be Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Slaf, Hutson, Demidov, Fowler, Dobes, Reinbacher, Hage, Beck, Mailloux, Heineman and whoever else we draft this year and if you notice among those names, only 2 are older than 23 and on the team. More than half our future core aren't on the team yet, and 3 of them who are on the team are only around 20 years old. You've been wanting them out of the bottom as soon as 2 years ago. You've been predicting them out of the bottom 5 since after the Slaf/Hutson draft. Maybe your expectations are whack.

Nope. I was happy they tanked last year and the two years before then. Expectations became higher this season because Dach was back, Guhle and Slafkovsky were a year older, we added Hutson and Laine, and Montembeault looked like he was becoming a solid starter.

To be crystal clear, I wasn't expecting the playoffs this season, just a marginal improvement from a young roster. So far, they haven't grown as much as hoped, but the season is still young.

You seem to think our current roster is just a placeholder while we await the real core of hypothetical players from the future. Frankly, it's the oldest illusion in the book. Yes, Demidov looks great and I'm excited about two or three other prospects, but we're not going anywhere unless our current roster improves.

I'll repeat: People are fooling themselves if they believe Demidov, Hage, and a 2025 pick will turn this team around. First and foremost, this team needs to turn itself around.

 

[ReHabs]

Nope. I was happy they tanked last year and the two years before then. Expectations became higher this season because Dach was back, Guhle and Slafkovsky were a year older, we added Hutson and Laine, and Montembeault looked like he was becoming a solid starter.

To be crystal clear, I wasn't expecting the playoffs this season, just a marginal improvement from a young roster. So far, they haven't grown as much as hoped, but the season is still young.

You seem to think our current roster is just a placeholder while we await the real core of hypothetical players from the future. Frankly, it's the oldest illusion in the book. Yes, Demidov looks great and I'm excited about two or three other prospects, but we're not going anywhere unless our current roster improves.

I'll repeat: People are fooling themselves if they believe Demidov, Hage, and a 2025 pick will turn this team around. First and foremost, this team needs to turn itself around.

To add... Rebuilding is building

Building a culture
Building a roster
Building a prospect pool
Building a workable cap structure
Building a development staff
etc.

Rebuilding teams tank because they lack some or all of these aspects. The simple passing of time does nothing to solve problems. The actual building up of these things actually resolves them. Waiting for a brimming "asset pool" (term used by the user Oz) does what if the culture is bad and the development staff are no good etc? We know what it does, and it ain't good.

Do we have the right builders and are they building the right way? It might be too early to tell but to be told "be patient." by so many commentators and media types only makes me want to be more objective and less hopeful in my evaluation of some of these moves the HuGo cohort made. What did they see in Newhook that Newhook's own team didn't see? What did they miss in evaluating Dach's mentality? How did they decide that Reinbacher was preferred to Michkov? Why did they target Barron? What is the plan with MSL if he continues to be unable to wrangle together consistent efforts from the team? etc.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Nope. I was happy they tanked last year and the two years before then. Expectations became higher this season because Dach was back, Guhle and Slafkovsky were a year older, we added Hutson and Laine, and Montembeault looked like he was becoming a solid starter.

To be crystal clear, I wasn't expecting the playoffs this season, just a marginal improvement from a young roster. So far, they haven't grown as much as hoped, but the season is still young.

You seem to think our current roster is just a placeholder while we await the real core of hypothetical players from the future. Frankly, it's the oldest illusion in the book. Yes, Demidov looks great and I'm excited about two or three other prospects, but we're not going anywhere unless our current roster improves.

I'll repeat: People are fooling themselves if they believe Demidov, Hage, and a 2025 pick will turn this team around. First and foremost, this team needs to turn itself around.

Man don't talk of illusion when you're banking on a bunch of hopeful b grade or lower young players already on the team, yet disparaging A and double AA prospects as illusions. The hypocrisy is astounding.


Notwithstanding your moving of goalposts, you WERE predicting them outside the bottom 5 as soon as 2 summers ago. And repeated that prediction every year. Don't try to pretend otherwise. I was there, I remember. It shows you were already eager for the team to be competitive way too early and was swayed by the illusion of hopeful B and C grade prospects eventually making the team competitive, or reclamation projects from other teams like Dach and Newhook.

Say whatever you want, I'm pretty that 5 years from now, the Barrons, Strubles, Newhooks and Montys of the team will be a thing of the past and most of the names I previously listed will form the core.

 

[Lshap]

To add... Rebuilding is building

Building a culture
Building a roster
Building a prospect pool
Building a workable cap structure
Building a development staff
etc.

Rebuilding teams tank because they lack some or all of these aspects. The simple passing of time does nothing to solve problems. The actual building up of these things actually resolves them. Waiting for a brimming "asset pool" (term used by the user Oz) does what if the culture is bad and the development staff are no good etc? We know what it does, and it ain't good.

Do we have the right builders and are they building the right way? It might be too early to tell but to be told "be patient." by so many commentators and media types only makes me want to be more objective and less hopeful in my evaluation of some of these moves the HuGo cohort made. What did they see in Newhook that Newhook's own team didn't see? What did they miss in evaluating Dach's mentality? How did they decide that Reinbacher was preferred to Michkov? Why did they target Barron? What is the plan with MSL if he continues to be unable to wrangle together consistent efforts from the team? etc.

True - rebuilding is building.

When asked to grade the rebuild I gave HuGo an "A" because they're attempting to build something. Hard to say how the actual moves will turn out, but so far I like the vision behind them. Dach and Newhook may prove to be mistakes, but those are the kind of calculated risks needed to build the front-end of a rebuild. For the record, I still have faith in Dach, although he – along with the rest of the team – needs to show progress.

The thing about patience is that it's a good thing, as long as it comes with markers and expectations. Rush the rebuild and you've wasted everyone's time. Wait too long, impose no expectations, and the steak is burnt, your R&D funding has run out, the girl you like has friend-zoned you, and your hockey rebuild has to rebuild.

I'm still being patient, but I'm keeping an eye on that steak.