Post-Game Talk: The only thing in the mix, are the line combos... Habs lose to Capitals.

[RationalExpectations]

Totally agree, Monty and Primeau are good goalies

I would not go as far as saying that but I don't think they are 0.85 goalie either

 

[Tyson]

I would not go as far as saying that but I don't think they are 0.85 goalie either

I think Monty has shown he is a good goalie. Primeau is still a work in progress.

 

[The Real Timo]

I'm not buying the age BS or the rebuild BS it's just an easy cop out.
Young players are more prepared than ever to play in the NHL.
There is not one defender on our team who hasn't shown an ability to play and to play well at this level and yes that includes Justin Barron.
The players are not buying into the current game plan and they are playing like they don't believe they can win with it.
I'm also getting the sense that this team is not quite as well knit as they would have us believe.
It doesn't matter who you move in or out of the line up they are being asked to play a style they are clearly incapable of and they know it.

100%! Inability to make passes, clear zone, provide most basic coverage... it's not like none of them ever done it. It's whatever St Louis is trying to make them play is messing them up big. If youth is the excuse, how do you explain Matheson, Dvorak and Savard who can't seem to make the most basic plays?

I think Monty has shown he is a good goalie. Primeau is still a work in progress.

Monty will be lights out in March and April. Book it!

 

[Tyson]

100%! Inability to make passes, clear zone, provide most basic coverage... it's not like none of them ever done it. It's whatever St Louis is trying to make them play is messing them up big. If youth is the excuse, how do you explain Matheson, Dvorak and Savard who can't seem to make the most basic plays?


Monty will be lights out in March and April. Book it!

If Dobes could make one of our goalies expendable at the deadline that would be amazing.

 

[Kosseca]

There are so many problem with this team that it seems obvious that it is unlikely that this team will be in the mix. While I agree that MSL deserve some criticisms for players choice and defensive structure, the more urgent one thing to address is the lack of "caring". KH has to take action ASAP, because this team is on the slop of the Buffalo team of the pass. You can't have some players that wont go to war every game.

Dvorak should get waived ASAP - you can't keep him around. Not only is he useless on the ice but he can't be a positive influence in this locker room.

Newhook and Armia should be sent in the press box - Armia can be useful on the PK and Newhook can play better, but they need to understand that they are part of the problem.

Bring guys that are hungry... bring energy....

Once the effort is there, then resume teaching the D system. But until people are willing to fight each game, fixing the D system wont work.

 

[WeThreeKings]

They also need to abandon the hybrid system for now.

Just pick zone or man-to-man and do that well first. Then start introducing some hybrid concepts. We are trying to do trigonometry when they can't multiply yet.

This is a case where you need to bring the youth along and not throw them in the deep end until they figure it out.

Having MB's washed up and uninspired vets doesn't help matters either.

Go to a zone or man-to-man, hold the vets accountable by scratching Dvorak or even waiving him.. and start having different ropes for different players, the youth should get more rope to make mistakes, Armia and Dvorak should have no rope at all.

 

[sampollock]

They also need to abandon the hybrid system for now.

Just pick zone or man-to-man and do that well first. Then start introducing some hybrid concepts. We are trying to do trigonometry when they can't multiply yet.

This is a case where you need to bring the youth along and not throw them in the deep end until they figure it out.

Having MB's washed up and uninspired vets doesn't help matters either.

Go to a zone or man-to-man, hold the vets accountable by scratching Dvorak or even waiving him.. and start having different ropes for different players, the youth should get more rope to make mistakes, Armia and Dvorak should have no rope at all.

agreed
MSL blaming players yet he played Dvork and Armia. so take that

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I think most of the blame lies in unrealistic expectations. It was always a huge long shot that this team could compete for anything. The vets are not good enough (same vets that weren't good enough the last few years). Plus the defense got quite a bit younger and less experienced in trading Kovacevic and Harris in the off-season. There will be growing pains.

 

[Kennerback]

Counterintuitively , the best thing for Xhekaj, might be to sit down for a while. We’ll be castrated and made humble. But more importantly, everyone will know once and for all if the others suck any less.

 

[Kosseca]

I think most of the blame lies in unrealistic expectations. It was always a huge long shot that this team could compete for anything. The vets are not good enough (same vets that weren't good enough the last few years). Plus the defense got quite a bit younger and less experienced in trading Kovacevic and Harris in the off-season. There will be growing pains.

I'll be the first one to say that fans in general have unrealistic expectation and overreacting. That said there are certain things that are hard to ignore:
- D system not being understood/executed by the player
- lack of "fighting spirit" and efforts

Not trying to address these is a organizational failure. Building a winning culture come from not accepting poor efforts. So get rid of the rotten apples. bring guys that will give their all every game even if less talented

 

[donghabs98]

There's a lot to vent about this game but Dvorak's usage is inexcusable. He has 2 jobs, be a solid defensive center and win face-offs. He can't do either right now and is actually a liability with his turnovers. He simply shouldn't be playing right now. I'm not sure why Marty is so hesitant to bench vets like him and Hoffman when he was here.

 

[teamfirst]

They also need to abandon the hybrid system for now.

Just pick zone or man-to-man and do that well first. Then start introducing some hybrid concepts. We are trying to do trigonometry when they can't multiply yet.

This is a case where you need to bring the youth along and not throw them in the deep end until they figure it out.

Having MB's washed up and uninspired vets doesn't help matters either.

Go to a zone or man-to-man, hold the vets accountable by scratching Dvorak or even waiving him.. and start having different ropes for different players, the youth should get more rope to make mistakes, Armia and Dvorak should have no rope at all.

Amen, some of us have been sayin that since December last year, but apparently MSL system will make all our young D's look like Bobby Orr

 

[morhilane]

Washington's Dmen are not chasing players around in their zone.
They are not constantly defending on their weak side.
Their forwards press our blue line and cut off the boards while their D do far more boxing out than we do.
So yeah if you want to call it Hybrid go ahead but it's not the same animal at all.

The Habs Ds aren't supposed to be chasing players around the dzone. They are supposed to play zone defense below the circles, while the forwards play man-to-man above the circles and apply pressure at the point and the puck carrier. That's why it's called hybrid.

You can see it with Laval, they can execute it. It was even there in the pre-season games.

 

[donghabs98]

agreed
MSL blaming players yet he played Dvork and Armia. so take that

That 5 on 3 where both got time on it was malpractice and inexcusable. Call a timeout and play your top unit the full PP if you must. We were down by 2, no time to use valuable minutes on Armia and Dvorak

 

[BergevinBurner]

I think most of the blame lies in unrealistic expectations. It was always a huge long shot that this team could compete for anything. The vets are not good enough (same vets that weren't good enough the last few years). Plus the defense got quite a bit younger and less experienced in trading Kovacevic and Harris in the off-season. There will be growing pains.

I think expecting some form of progression was realistic, but if anything we've regressed. We're bottom of the league in every defensive stat known to man and we're getting blown out every other game.

 

[26Mats]

I missed the game last night. How was Heineman with Suzuki and Caufield?

He wasn't my pick for that spot. But I like the player.

 

[Tyson]

I missed the game last night. How was Heineman with Suzuki and Caufield?

He wasn't my pick for that spot. But I like the player.

11 minutes of ice time, he skated well, crashed the boards and did his best to create space. It wasn't openly great but probably needs a few games to see.

 

[LaP]

I think most of the blame lies in unrealistic expectations. It was always a huge long shot that this team could compete for anything. The vets are not good enough (same vets that weren't good enough the last few years). Plus the defense got quite a bit younger and less experienced in trading Kovacevic and Harris in the off-season. There will be growing pains.

My only problem with the team atm is how bad the goalies are. I'm not blaming the goalies here the team is not good either but i feel if we want the kids too learn their mistakes goals must be scored on their mistakes. Atm (last 2-3 games) goals are scored on almost a quarter of the shots including routine ones. There's between 1 and 3 bad goals a game which is WAY too much for the NHL. I feel like it will be hard for kids to know what is a mistake and what is a goal that technically should not go in at the NHL level. Goalies were much better last season. 891 and 861 saves % is simply not cutting it. If it continues KH should give up on Primo and try to get a vet able to stop ~90% of the shots.

 

[Kosseca]

That 5 on 3 where both got time on it was malpractice and inexcusable. Call a timeout and play your top unit the full PP if you must. We were down by 2, no time to use valuable minutes on Armia and Dvorak

This leave me to think MSL is still trying/hoping that these two clown can turn their season around.

And that is very frustrating

 

[OldCraig71]

Who has Marty been taking advice from?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1852162327606362408

Some of the experts here probably. The same people that called me and some others whiners when we brought up the confusion/disinterest throughout the lineup. It's interesting now that many others are commenting the same way.

 

[Rapala]

The Habs Ds aren't supposed to be chasing players around the dzone. They are supposed to play zone defense below the circles, while the forwards play man-to-man above the circles and apply pressure at the point and the puck carrier. That's why it's called hybrid.

You can see it with Laval, they can execute it. It was even there in the pre-season games.

Then someone didn't get the memo.
Go read my post in the GDT about Struble's first shift.

The man to man got analyzed and picked apart on RDS after the game.
There were three blatant incidents that cost us goals.

Struble's first shift didn't cost us a goal but it highlighted what is inherently wrong with our Dzone coverage.
A Dman in a chase position all over the zone is a Dman who will never beat his check to the front of the net.
There wasn't a rebound but Struble's only play if there was would have been a hook...
and yes he was easily beat to the front of the net.

 

[OldCraig71]

It takes a while for the stink to wash off. Lots of good forwards in this draft, the kind of which we don't really have in our system.

More draft picks won't have the impact we need for at least 3-5 years. The organization said that they wanted to be in the mix this season with a goal to make a playoff push next season. We are nowhere near those goals and adding more 18 year old's wont change that.

We are now entering the tougher decision phase for Hughes and Gorton. We aren't seeing much progression from some of our players and MSL has hit a wall with trying to implement systems and it seems that his motivational tactics have hit the skids as well.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Some of the experts here probably. The same people that called me and some others whiners when we brought up the confusion/disinterest throughout the lineup. It's interesting now that many others are commenting the same way.

I’ve said it since the beginning with St. Louis. I had to tread water lightly however because the moment you said anything questioning his coaching, his cult would attack you. Good guy to have around the team as a personality, absolutely useless as a head coach.

 

[Andrei79]

The Habs Ds aren't supposed to be chasing players around the dzone. They are supposed to play zone defense below the circles, while the forwards play man-to-man above the circles and apply pressure at the point and the puck carrier. That's why it's called hybrid.

You can see it with Laval, they can execute it. It was even there in the pre-season games.

That's not what happens though. Look at Hutson having to skate all around the zone while Caufield ends up having to defend the slot. And what's more worrying is asking the forwards to play this kind of hybrid against seasoned NHL veterans that are supremely skilled at picking apart inexperienced forwards. Clearly, they need to make adjustments, because they were talking about focusing on their 5 on 5 play without the puck and the result is being the worst team in the league at it.

 

[vokiel]

I missed the game last night. How was Heineman with Suzuki and Caufield?

He wasn't my pick for that spot. But I like the player.

Not visible really..

They should let him there for a couple of games. Not like anyone could adjust within 10 minutes of ice time.