HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: 2024 Playoff Edition

[JoelWarlord]

So did you go insane when we had a player like Price and our GM was clutching our picks to roll Desharnais and Cie?

Yes. It was utterly infuriating

 

[ReHabs]

So you did go insane when we had a player like Price and our GM was clutching our picks to roll Desharnais and Cie?

I think we, as a fanbase, underrated Price a bit until it was too late... He was a superstar, not just a star but a superstar. A generational goalie.

There was no way to get actual help for Price because all our draft picks were becoming worthless and we had negative asset value year-on-year. Had to hold onto the insufficient assets we had and couldn't add more because (1) Bergevin couldn't sign UFAs and (2) Bergevin drafted terribly.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

The same guys are killing Edmonton over and over: Skinner, Ceci and Nurse. That 2nd goal error by Skinner was just But, what the hell was Ceci doing on that play? Nurse on the 3rd goal giving the puck away with a soft pass to nobody. Just brutal.

It's not helping that Hyman, RNH and Drai are doing nothing.

If Skinner and Ceci/Nurse weren't such a shitshow, this series is tied 2-2. Oilers were better than Florida in the 1st game, but then Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job, and Oilers couldn't score on Bob. I thought Oilers played well enough to win last night. They dominated the 2nd period, and yet gave up 3 goals because Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job. It's just unbelievable how much I hate these 3 players, and I'm not even an Edmonton fan. lol

They are so, so bad, but more than that they're dumbasses. Zero hockey IQ. Actually, -100 hockey IQ.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Can't wait for the draft so I can start caring about hockey again, these dreadful playoffs have sucked the life out of me.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Presumably it would have cost far more than a 2nd to get a very good goaltender and Holland refuses to trade anything of value.

They don't/didn't necessarily need to get a very good goaltender, Vegas won with Adin Hill, Chicago won with Niemi and so on. Skinner is probably at least as good as Hill/Niemi and I don't think he's a total sieve, but they needed someone decent so they didn't have to run Skinner into the ground 2 years in a row (he's 9th in the NHL in games played over the past two regular seasons combined).

Of course in an ideal world you would get a Saros/Markstrom but if that's unaffordable then adding a vet 1B to play 35 games and save wear and tear on Skinner (and give you a better pressure release valve if he struggles). The Oilers managed to get lucky and get some found money with Skinner as a 3rd round pick but they've been penny wise and dollar foolish under Holland and they're wasting the good luck they got with Skinner by just running him into the ground each year with a Hellebuyck workload. Just does not make sense to me at all, good goalies aren't cheap but the opportunity cost of going into this playoff run with Skinner + Pickard is massive too.

He's probably too young to have factored into this series even if they took him, but I also absolutely can not fathom why they didn't pick Wallstedt. They traded back a few spots to take Bourgault and some plug dman in the 3rd round instead. I would have been organizing a truck convoy to Holland's front yard after that decision if I were an Oilers fan

 

[Habs10Habs]

Sadly I think the streak is going to continue. No Cup in Canada for atleast another year.

 

[JoelWarlord]

I think we, as a fanbase, underrated Price a bit until it was too late... He was a superstar, not just a star but a superstar. A generational goalie.

The thing that always sticks out to me is our covid bubble series against Philadelphia. He allowed 3 goals on 81 shots in the first 3 games and we went 1-2. The only win was a 5-0 shutout in game 2, and we lost 1-0 and 2-1 in games 1 and 3. Just never able to score when it mattered.

There was no way to get actual help for Price because all our draft picks were becoming worthless and we had negative asset value year-on-year. Had to hold onto the insufficient assets we had and couldn't add more because (1) Bergevin couldn't sign UFAs and (2) Bergevin drafted terribly.

Everything had to be a "steal" for Bergevin too. He was never willing to just pay the price to get O'Reilly, Eric or Jordan Staal, Kesler, Duchene, etc., it always had to be a bargain so the only time we added an actually good forward at the deadline was Vanek when we got lucky because the Islanders were desperate to get anything for him.

 

[Gustave]

The same guys are killing Edmonton over and over: Skinner, Ceci and Nurse. That 2nd goal error by Skinner was just But, what the hell was Ceci doing on that play? Nurse on the 3rd goal giving the puck away with a soft pass to nobody. Just brutal.

It's not helping that Hyman, RNH and Drai are doing nothing.

If Skinner and Ceci/Nurse weren't such a shitshow, this series is tied 2-2. Oilers were better than Florida in the 1st game, but then Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job, and Oilers couldn't score on Bob. I thought Oilers played well enough to win last night. They dominated the 2nd period, and yet gave up 3 goals because Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job. It's just unbelievable how much I hate these 3 players, and I'm not even an Edmonton fan. lol

They are so, so bad, but more than that they're dumbasses. Zero hockey IQ. Actually, -100 hockey IQ.

They went through teams that they shouldn’t have. Canucks were crippled by the 3rd string goalie (Silovs was ok but the team had to compensate), Kings were a tire fire the whole second half and Dallas…. Well I don’t know how they lost that series.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Just saw the ESPN feed

https://x.com/i/web/status/1801423019757473978

 

[Andrei79]

The same guys are killing Edmonton over and over: Skinner, Ceci and Nurse. That 2nd goal error by Skinner was just But, what the hell was Ceci doing on that play? Nurse on the 3rd goal giving the puck away with a soft pass to nobody. Just brutal.

It's not helping that Hyman, RNH and Drai are doing nothing.

If Skinner and Ceci/Nurse weren't such a shitshow, this series is tied 2-2. Oilers were better than Florida in the 1st game, but then Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job, and Oilers couldn't score on Bob. I thought Oilers played well enough to win last night. They dominated the 2nd period, and yet gave up 3 goals because Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job. It's just unbelievable how much I hate these 3 players, and I'm not even an Edmonton fan. lol

They are so, so bad, but more than that they're dumbasses. Zero hockey IQ. Actually, -100 hockey IQ.

It's 100% on management. It's been clear for two years now that the Oilers were ready to take the next step and they just dropped the ball. Draft picks and prospects are useless if you don't win and McDavid+Draisaitl decide to bolt.

 

[Wats]

NBA and NHL finals both a joke this year. Oh well.

Only the Superbowl was a close final. Pretty sad as a sports fan. I'm sure Oilers can squeak a win in game 4 like the Habs did but still pretty weak.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

We all know it's up to us to break Canada's curse. Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg have already hit their peaks. Ottawa and Calgary are black holes. It's on us, it always has been.

All loser franchises , its so obviously going to be us.

We have teams that consistently play above expectations regardless of how bad we are on paper. Just something in the water here.

Maybe we will also choke if we ever have a good team, I wouldn't know because we've been dog meat on paper for 30 years haha. But we really do always punch above our weight , I hope Hugo builds a team that's actually nice on paper one day so we can actually have real expectations for once

 

[The Real Timo]

Sadly I think the streak is going to continue. No Cup in Canada for atleast another year.

Habs haven’t won’t jack shit in the past 31 years. Can we at least have that - the last. Canadian team to win the cup. That’s why I am rooting for panthers. Who knows it might be another 30 years before Habs win. And 90 for Leafs.

 

[Miller Time]

It's 100% on management. It's been clear for two years now that the Oilers were ready to take the next step and they just dropped the ball. Draft picks and prospects are useless if you don't win and McDavid+Draisaitl decide to bolt.

Seriously...

It's amazing they didn't commit to improving their goalie situation last summer or this season

 

[Gustave]

Seriously...

It's amazing they didn't commit to improving their goalie situation last summer or this season

It boggles the mind.

Now we hear that teams WILL pay for goaltending this off season. How did that not continue to be the norm, why did it stop? Such a weird « trend » that was, hope it’s all behind us.

Lucky for us, getting Fowler in the freaking 3rd round is a by-product of that trend.

 

[Canadienna]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1801267815850160628

Love that line from Maurice "Be careful what you tell them to do..."

 

[The Great Weal]

This is all on Holland. He made some good moves like Ekholm, but really destroyed the teams ability to sign depth with the Nurse and Campbell signings. Such an overrated GM.

Are you saying overpaying for mediocre players in Nurse and Campbell prevented them from adding meaningful addition? Join the bath salts army because that's blasphemy, every team has bad contracts and you just gotta deal with them and can never be wrong about them

 

[The Real Timo]

Oilers board is a fun read. They are a lot less salty today and just seem to be taking it in stride. Guess what else can they do.

Some indications that Gagne might pull in. Neither Nurse nor Kane were on the ice at practice.

 

[Toene]

All loser franchises , its so obviously going to be us.

We have teams that consistently play above expectations regardless of how bad we are on paper. Just something in the water here.

Maybe we will also choke if we ever have a good team, I wouldn't know because we've been dog meat on paper for 30 years haha. But we really do always punch above our weight , I hope Hugo builds a team that's actually nice on paper one day so we can actually have real expectations for once

Great post. We've been to the ECF with Gomez and co and after that Desharnais, Eller, Bourque, then we went to the finals in 2021 with a suspect roster (especially on offense). We've beat teams that were much better on paper, like Vegas, Leafs, 2014 Bruins, 2010 Wash and Pitt.

The fans are really demanding and may scare some players, particularly when things go wrong, but when it's playoff time, there's not a supporting fanbase close to the Canadiens die-hards. Quand c'est les f***ing Séries, l'ambiance à Montréal et au Québec en général est électrique. I'm convinced it's a factor and it affects the players. There's too many examples of this in the past runs, going back to when the '71 team led by a young Dryden tamed the powerhouse that was the Orr and Esposito's Boston Bruins.

 

[Frank Drebin]

The same guys are killing Edmonton over and over: Skinner, Ceci and Nurse. That 2nd goal error by Skinner was just But, what the hell was Ceci doing on that play? Nurse on the 3rd goal giving the puck away with a soft pass to nobody. Just brutal.

It's not helping that Hyman, RNH and Drai are doing nothing.

If Skinner and Ceci/Nurse weren't such a shitshow, this series is tied 2-2. Oilers were better than Florida in the 1st game, but then Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job, and Oilers couldn't score on Bob. I thought Oilers played well enough to win last night. They dominated the 2nd period, and yet gave up 3 goals because Skinner/Ceci/Nurse screw job. It's just unbelievable how much I hate these 3 players, and I'm not even an Edmonton fan. lol

They are so, so bad, but more than that they're dumbasses. Zero hockey IQ. Actually, -100 hockey IQ.

Nurse is dumb as bricks. Pisses me off.

Skinner, I'm not sure if he's 30lbs overweight but he sure plays like it.

Ceci I hate the least

 

[Toene]

Nurse is dumb as bricks. Pisses me off.

Skinner, I'm not sure if he's 30lbs overweight but he sure plays like it.

Ceci I hate the least

They have the deepest four lines since McDavid arrived, which is good news, but their back-end is horrifying. Stop hoarding picks, the Pens, Blackhawks, Bolts, Knights etc. didnt build a winner by being scared of spending assets. It's mind-boggling to be nickle and diming at every deadline when you have the most skilled player since Lemieux. Skinner? Really? I'd rather have Tokarski.

 

[Frank Drebin]

They have the deepest four lines since McDavid arrived, which is good news, but their back-end is horrifying. Stop hoarding picks, the Pens, Blackhawks, Bolts, Knights etc. didnt build a winner by being scared of spending assets. It's mind-boggling to be nickle and diming at every deadline when you have the most skilled player since Lemieux. Skinner? Really? I'd rather have Tokarski.

they spent a first on adam henrique of all things

 

[Andrei79]

All loser franchises , its so obviously going to be us.

We have teams that consistently play above expectations regardless of how bad we are on paper. Just something in the water here.

Maybe we will also choke if we ever have a good team, I wouldn't know because we've been dog meat on paper for 30 years haha. But we really do always punch above our weight , I hope Hugo builds a team that's actually nice on paper one day so we can actually have real expectations for once

I'm not sure I would be confident if Gorton was GM alone, but Hughes (and MSL) really seems to understand what kind of team makeup is needed to win the cup.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Oilers board is a fun read. They are a lot less salty today and just seem to be taking it in stride. Guess what else can they do.

Some indications that Gagne might pull in. Neither Nurse nor Kane were on the ice at practice.

Oilers fans down bad

https://x.com/i/web/status/1801758332555833773

 

[River Meadow]

Oilers fans down bad

https://x.com/i/web/status/1801758332555833773

Trolling level 1000000000000