Out of Town Thread - New Year's Edition!

[Mrb1p]

Well, yes. That's because Suzuki is a middling second line center who cashed in on a massive contract after "elevating his game" at just the right moment.

I think Suzuki is a first line C, sue me.

 

[habamillions]

So what KK had a 5 pt night. Do fans actually watch the game? Drouin had a 3-4 pt night a while back and I can’t wait for him to get off the team lol.

Sam gagner had an 8 point game. Who cares

 

[Hins77]

When I watch Tage Thompson I am reminded that he scored 18 goals in his first 145 NHL games. Folks need to be patient with Slafkovsky.

D1, thompson still playing the college. D3, At 20 years old, Thompson had 9pts in 8 games in the AHL. .., he was mainly playing in the AHL. This is the path Slaf should have taken. I never understood the rush to play him righ away in the NHL.

 

[PhysicX]

And apparently Tavares isn't feeling well and won't play tonight too.

I hope Tavares caught whatever Dach was afflicted by, if you know what I'm saying.

 

[ReHabs]

Oh come on. I'll always be rooting for Lars, Artturi or Alexander, but KK can GTFO. He willingly signed an offer sheet to get out of here because he was mad he didn't get enough ice when he was 20 years old. And for the record, I was mad too - he should've played more and never been scratched for Eric f'in Staal, but that was an entitled brat move to sign that offer sheet.

The Habs didn’t offer him a contract. Was he meant to wait for his majesty Marc Bergevin?

Shea Weber signed an offersheet too, so you think he was a brat?

 

[Belial]

The Habs didn’t offer him a contract. Was he meant to wait for his majesty Marc Bergevin?

Shea Weber signed an offersheet too, so you think he was a brat?

Weber was completely different! He was already an established borderline star in the league and the Preds were too cheap to give him a decent contract.

KK showed f***all in the league to warrant that salary he got offered.

 

[ReHabs]

Weber was completely different! He was already an established borderline star in the league and the Preds were too cheap to give him a decent contract.

KK showed f***all in the league to warrant that salary he got offered.

Exactly my point, he was given a offer too good to turn down. Only a crazy person would think he has a better chance to stay with the Habs (who benched him in favour of not one but multiple heavily-injured, ineffective, useless players) than the new team that wants him so bad they are offering him 6m a year + a 1st+3rd round pick for him. He made the right choice.

 

[ReHabs]

When I watch Tage Thompson I am reminded that he scored 18 goals in his first 145 NHL games. Folks need to be patient with Slafkovsky.

If Slaf was on the same development trajectory of Tage Thompson, sure. But you should be preaching patience to the Habs organization for rushing him and putting him in a position to fail.

Well, yes. That's because Suzuki is a middling second line center who cashed in on a massive contract after "elevating his game" at just the right moment.

To continue our other discussion, I find it hard to beliee you think Suzuki is a middling second line C and Gallagher (in his prime) was a topline forward. It doesn't square.

 

[Belial]

Exactly my point, he was given a offer too good to turn down. Only a crazy person would think he has a better chance to stay with the Habs (who benched him in favour of not one but multiple heavily-injured, ineffective, useless players) than the new team that wants him so bad they are offering 6m a year for him. He made the right choice.

No one said he didn't make the right choice, would've been dumb to not take that deal but what's dumb is the management critique.

You never see such predatory offers that don't really make sense.

 

[ReHabs]

No one said he didn't make the right choice, would've been dumb to not take that deal but what's dumb is the management critique.

You never see such predatory offers that don't really make sense.

The cap hit is true, it was far too high, but they had cap space and due to the compensation arrangement they paid less for a 'high potential' Kotkaniemi than the Habs did for Dvorak -- so it was a fair price to pry Kotkaniemi out of Montreal.

In any case, that's on the Canes not the player. Why hate the player? He raised four fingers to shout-out his teammates who were unjustifiably benched by the worst coach in Habs history -- so be it! Tatar was fully healthy and Ducharme preferred to play a double-hernia Toffoli and totally busted Gallagher over him! I'm sure they were all stewing over it, they're competitive people. In any case, it's a minor indiscretion, a real whocares.

 

[Belial]

The cap hit is true, it was far too high, but they had cap space and due to the compensation arrangement they paid less for a 'high potential' Kotkaniemi than the Habs did for Dvorak -- so it was a fair price to pry Kotkaniemi out of Montreal.

In any case, that's on the Canes not the player. Why hate the player? He raised four fingers to shout-out his teammates who were unjustifiably benched by the worst coach in Habs history -- so be it! Tatar was fully healthy and Ducharme preferred to play a double-hernia Toffoli and totally busted Gallagher over him! I'm sure they were all stewing over it, they're competitive people. In any case, it's a minor indiscretion, a real whocares.

It's really tough to argue after the fact TBH.

It's like the chicken-egg debate.

That team reached the Stanley Cup final when no one expected it and somehow Ducharme is still viewed as a moron.

Maybe he pushed the right buttons at the right time?

Not trying to defend Ducharme here, just thinking out loud.

KK was pissed that he was not playing and maybe he gave more out there when he was inserted into the lineup and so on...

 

[ReHabs]

It's really tough to argue after the fact TBH.

It's like the chicken-egg debate.

That team reached the Stanley Cup final when no one expected it and somehow Ducharme is still viewed as a moron.

Maybe he pushed the right buttons at the right time?

Not trying to defend Ducharme here, just thinking out loud.

KK was pissed that he was not playing and maybe he gave more out there when he was inserted into the lineup and so on...

I think it's been established that the veteran leaders (incl. Anderson) pushed the team and it was all done on the back of Carey Price's spectacular performances. I don't care to argue much more about Ducharme because it's in the past. I only brought it up to explain that KK had little reason to wait for the Habs when he had a 6m offer in hand and Ducharme-who-benched-him-to-play-injured-players on the other.

After Ducharme's firing, it was said players were surprised he was given the HC position and they never really thought highly of him.

A position that I hold and won't give up easily is that the Habs were not worthy SC Finalists and it showed in the massive beatdown they suffered in the Finals. Whatever juice Bergevin, Ducharme, and all the vets had brought to the cookout -- it wasn't close to sufficient.

 

[Belial]

I think it's been established that the veteran leaders (incl. Anderson) pushed the team and it was all done on the back of Carey Price's spectacular performances. I don't care to argue much more about Ducharme because it's in the past. I only brought it up to explain that KK had little reason to wait for the Habs when he had a 6m offer in hand and Ducharme-who-benched-him-to-play-injured-players on the other.

After Ducharme's firing, it was said players were surprised he was given the HC position and they never really thought highly of him.

A position that I hold and won't give up easily is that the Habs were not worthy SC Finalists and it showed in the massive beatdown they suffered in the Finals. Whatever juice Bergevin, Ducharme, and all the vets had brought to the cookout -- it wasn't close to sufficient.

No one sane will argue that the best team won but it still proves somewhat the magic of hockey with a team of scrubs that believe in it and can do miracles!

You make the PO and anything can happen is still alive!

 

[Walrus26]

And apparently Tavares isn't feeling well and won't play tonight too.

JT can cosy up in bed in his Leafs pyjamas, bless him.

 

[Miller Time]

D1, thompson still playing the college. D3, At 20 years old, Thompson had 9pts in 8 games in the AHL. .., he was mainly playing in the AHL. This is the path Slaf should have taken. I never understood the rush to play him righ away in the NHL.

Perhaps the other take away from Thompson's trajectory is simply that it's foolish to rush to judgment about what is or isn't the right development path too soon...

 

[Walrus26]

A position that I hold and won't give up easily is that the Habs were not worthy SC Finalists and it showed in the massive beatdown they suffered in the Finals. Whatever juice Bergevin, Ducharme, and all the vets had brought to the cookout -- it wasn't close to sufficient.

Sorry, but this has to stop.

To get to the SC Final, you have to win 3 best of 7 rounds against strong / very strong teams. If you achieve that, with an average group of forwards and relying on your heavyweight top 4 D and star goalie, you are worthy of being in the SC Final. There was no way our pop-gun offence was going to overcome Tampa and they were always the Cup favourites irrespective of their opposition that year. This does not change the fact that we beat everyone else put in front of us and were, by definition, worthy finalists.

Are we going to say that whichever team comes out of the West this year to the Final is unworthy, because their conference is so much weaker than the East?

 

[Belial]

Perhaps the other take away from Thompson's trajectory is simply that it's foolish to rush to judgment about what is or isn't the right development path too soon...

At the same time, how many Thompsons have you got there? His development curve is somewhat unique...

 

[ReHabs]

Sorry, but this has to stop.

To get to the SC Final, you have to win 3 best of 7 rounds against strong / very strong teams. If you achieve that, with an average group of forwards and relying on your heavyweight top 4 D and star goalie, you are worthy of being in the SC Final. There was no way our pop-gun offence was going to overcome Tampa and they were always the Cup favourites irrespective of their opposition that year. This does not change the fact that we beat everyone else put in front of us and were, by definition, worthy finalists.

Are we going to say that whichever team comes out of the West this year to the Final is unworthy, because their conference is so much weaker than the East?

The Habs wouldn't have made the playoffs in normal circumstances. You should acknowledge this, first.

In terms of the 2021 playoffs, the Habs certainly beat three teams and earned their victories. The Habs also lost in the finals in the worst performing, most one-sided Finals in recent history. You need to square those two facts together -- the picture becomes clear. In the context of praising Bergevin and Ducharme, it has to be stated Habs were not a "SC Finalist" quality team.

As for the 2023 playoffs, the western conference will still not be weaker than the 2021 Covid Canada division where the Habs fell ass-backward into the playoffs.

 

[Walrus26]

The Habs wouldn't have made the playoffs in normal circumstances. You should acknowledge this, first.

In terms of the 2021 playoffs, the Habs certainly beat three teams and earned their victories. The Habs also lost in the finals in the worst performing, most one-sided Finals in recent history. You need to square those two facts together -- the picture becomes clear. In the context of praising Bergevin and Ducharme, it has to be stated Habs were not a "SC Finalist" quality team.

As for the 2023 playoffs, the western conference will still not be weaker than the 2021 Covid Canada division where the Habs fell ass-backward into the playoffs.

The 21 Habs aren't and will not be the only team to get strangled in the Finals by a team they stacked up poorly against.

The ass-backwards-qualifying Habs should surely have been destroyed by either Toronto, Winnipeg or Vegas - all much better teams by regular season performance, obviously. Their in-season records made each of them more worthy SC finalists, by reasonable extension of your logic.....? Well, my logic means they couldn't have been, because they all lost to the eventual finalist in 7-game series' in their half of the draw.

We'll agree to disagree. The playoffs system and 7-game series', in my view, make it virtually impossible for an "unworthy" team to fluke their way to the final. It has nothing to do with "praising Bergevin and Ducharme" and everything to do with the efforts of the players, whose efforts in those playoffs I feel are in many ways undeservedly demeaned by positions like yours on this topic.

 

[ReHabs]

The 21 Habs aren't and will not be the only team to get strangled in the Finals by a team they stacked up poorly against.

The ass-backwards-qualifying Habs should surely have been destroyed by either Toronto, Winnipeg or Vegas - all much better teams by regular season performance, obviously. Their in-season records made each of them more worthy SC finalists, by reasonable extension of your logic.....? Well, my logic means they couldn't have been, because they all lost to the eventual finalist in 7-game series' in their half of the draw.

We'll agree to disagree. The playoffs system and 7-game series', in my view, make it virtually impossible for an "unworthy" team to fluke their way to the final. It has nothing to do with "praising Bergevin and Ducharme" and everything to do with the efforts of the players, whose efforts in those playoffs I feel are in many ways undeservedly demeaned by positions like yours on this topic.

No, no I get it. I have nothing but praise for those players and what joy they gave me and my family during that finals run. It's the praise to Bergevin and Ducharme that requires a necessary bucketload of cold water poured over it.

 

[Walrus26]

No, no I get it. I have nothing but praise for those players and what joy they gave me and my family during that finals run. It's the praise to Bergevin and Ducharme that requires a necessary bucketload of cold water poured over it.

Can't argue with that ;-)

 

[BLONG7]

Sorry, but this has to stop.

To get to the SC Final, you have to win 3 best of 7 rounds against strong / very strong teams. If you achieve that, with an average group of forwards and relying on your heavyweight top 4 D and star goalie, you are worthy of being in the SC Final. There was no way our pop-gun offence was going to overcome Tampa and they were always the Cup favourites irrespective of their opposition that year. This does not change the fact that we beat everyone else put in front of us and were, by definition, worthy finalists.

Are we going to say that whichever team comes out of the West this year to the Final is unworthy, because their conference is so much weaker than the East?

Habs were 18th place that year.............normally this does NOT qualify for the playoffs.
All they needed was a Canadian Division and a world Pandemic to make it to da playoff that year.
That's all

How will the 18th place team do this year, in the playoffs?
Think about it.....

 

[Wats]

I know it doesn't happen under regular circumstances but I'll take that SC Cinderella run and keep it stored as one of my cherished hockey fan times for the rest of my life.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Habs embarrassed the league that playoff showing, slapped half the league across the face with an AHL team lol

 

[holy]

Habs were 18th place that year.............normally this does NOT qualify for the playoffs.
All they needed was a Canadian Division and a world Pandemic to make it to da playoff that year.
That's all

How will the 18th place team do this year, in the playoffs?
Think about it.....

Probably some team from the West will be 18th and who knows wouldn’t be that crazy to end up in the Finals.

Habs are forever sexier than this hypothetical team though no doubt.