What's the biggest factor for the new Habs momentum ?

[Milhouse40]

What's the biggest factor for this year's turnaround ?

At the end of November, Habs were at the bottom of the standings at 31.
And then, a lot of things happened in the same months.

Now the Habs are looking like a whole different team out there.
I'm sure it's a combination of many things, but if you have to put one on top of the other, which one is it?

This is the Habs since Laine returned from injury
Of course his return mark the beginning of this year's turnaround but let's be honest here, Laine has been tremoundous on the PP but somewhat average at 5-on-5.

Laine missed 4 games and the Habs were 3-1-0 in those 4 games.

This is the Habs since Kent traded Barron for Carrier.
It's a good trade for the Habs but Carrier is Carrier....not Hedman. At the moment of the trade, Carrier had 7pts in 28 games and he already have 7 pts in 12 games with the Habs.

There's only 20 D in the league with more points during that stretch.
Is it on Carrier or Hugues.....or even MSL ?

This is the Habs since Dobes joined the team.
Small sample for Dobes and even if he didn't play in most games, he still took 33% of them since he is here.
With 3-0-0 record
0.97 GAA and 95.9% SV

All against top teams, all on the road......If those W were L, we would singning a very different tune in here.

And there's the other option.
Since Laine's return, there's only one player that is at the top of the NHL at his position.
Lane Hutson....he's even slightly outproducing Makar since December 3rd.

Mostly impressive, he put up points in 14 games out of the 19.
That's not everyday that an all-star is explosing before our eyes and it surely affect all the team.

One pick only!
Feel free to add others.

Click to read more...

 

[the]

A bit of every thing but it’s mainly because of Patrik Laine.

 

[Frankenheimer]

MSL

 

[LesCactus]

If this continues, surely MSL could take home the Jack Adams?

 

[boompuffboom]

Patty, Laner, Kaiden, Cole and Nick, Carrier, Sam, MSL, Jake the Snake and the 4th, Kirby fighting his way back, and all the boys playing fast and hard, playing with BALLS.

 

[morhilane]

November 11th marked when the team started to gel defensively and putting on a much better collective effort and stopped the hemorrhage.
December 3rd was Laine's return, which resulted in the forwards all falling into the right chair allowing the team to roll 4 lines.
December 18th was Carrier's acquisition, which resulted in the dmen all falling into the right chair allowing for a very stable defense.

Every players in the right chair means everyone is in the right spot to succeed, but also better energy management all around. When Pezz/Struble have to slot in, it start to break a bit and you see more errors and more tired players.

After they started to win more often and in more convincing manner, the players's confidence in their abilities also grew. Dach started to return to form. Slaf as well. Soon it will be Laine who's still not 100% at 5v5. They started to become more physical. It's a snowballing mental effect.

 

[Milhouse40]

If this continues, surely MSL could take home the Jack Adams?

I added MSL to the poll.....He does deserve credits for how he turned that season around.
Once Laine's return, he stick to the lines he had already planned in preseason and it's paying.

 

[vokiel]

Lane

 

[Kennerback]

Lane and Laine. Improved Goaltending. Carrier.

 

[Rapala]

Umm we are scoring more goals than we are giving up.

 

[Goldthorpe]

Lots of people contributing, but Hutson completely transformed that offense.

 

[Plastic Joseph]

We can't point to 1 reason.

- Laine sparks the pp
- Carrier is a big improvement
- Dobes gives us 3 amazing games
- Hutson goes god mode
- Evans playing the best hockey of his career
- Dach has began to contribute offensively


Its just a bunch of things all happening at once

 

[rik schau]

Evolution.

 

[Jigger77]

I don't think there's a wrong answer here, but if I HAD to pick just one I would pick the acquisition of Carrier. I personally think it's one of the better reads of a team need by a MTL GM and addressing it I've ever seen. It's not that Carrier is that great but he's solid and reliable, and it just put everyone in the right place. Those insanely long shifts hemmed in their own zone, the brutal turnovers, the guys left wide open consistently, the misreads etc all gone since that acquisition. That D desperately needed a steady veteran presence badly in November. I think the greatest beneficiary is Matheson. He's night and day better since that trade. A bit less icetime, and not trying to do everything by himself. It also seems to coincide with when Hutson really took another step. So like I said no wrong answer if you ask me.

In any case it's really quite incredible. I don't recall ever seeing this drastic a turnaround. They literally went from the worst team in the league to one of the most dynamic and dangerous teams. Pretty fun to watch.

La switch a flippée

 

[WatchfulElm]

The awakening of Kirby Dach, which is finally giving the team a true 2nd line, has to be up there, along with Laine, Lane, and Carrier as the 4 main factors.

 

[No More Subban]

All of them contributed but for me, it's really Patrik Laine (and his powerplay goals). Without him, Armia would still be on the second line with Dach and Newhook.

Close second, Lane Hutson.

HM: Jake Evans. He's become a dangerous penalty-killer.

You win more games when special teams are working.

 

[tooji]

We’ve matured a lot defensively, and it has made us smarter offensively as well — less giveaways, better puck management, more possession, more chances…

 

[OneSharpMarble]

The power of friendship

 

[Guess]

#1: Better D pairings and Hutson's improved risk assessment

Hutson's improved play with better risk assessment, and the Carrier addition that's stabilized the Guhle pairing are the major changes here. Also would like to add that since Matheson has been put on the right with Hutson he's been playing pretty good, so now we have a very solid top 4 it's looking like. Pairing Savard with Xhekaj has also helped quite a bit, but the changes to the top 4 have made the biggest impact.

So yeah, the main reason for the improvement is that the D pairings are much more solid now.

#2: Addition by subtraction with Primeau

Having someone like Dobes play as well as he's doing now is turning to be healthy competition with Montembeault and raising his game as well. This would be the second biggest change.

#3: Laine

I don't think Laine has as big an impact as the other reasons, because he still seems to be pretty rusty and his pace is not at the level as most of the team (hopefully to come). He's helped the power play but I would say that his impact overall has not been as big as the improved D pairings and the Dobes addition.

 

[domiwroze]

Every option here is wrong.

It's clearly when George Laraque made public that Hughes met with Gerard Gallant. Since then, the MSL system is working, he had no choice to fix it.

All hail big George

 

[The Great Weal]

I genuinely can't pick just one thing. Gun to my head I'd say Hutson since he's been our best player lately. But I'm not sure this is the case without all of the following:
-Laine coming back even with all that hockey missed
-Dach is regaining his NHL pace and seems to care more
-Huston reaching a new level
-Carrier meshing flawlessly with Guhle
-Matheson adjusted his game to be an excellent top 4 defenseman instead of a liability
-Caufield being a lethal and opportunistic goalscorer
-Suzuki has excelled defensively and coming up clutch
-Bottom 6 is consistently outworking the other team and winning so many battles
-Dobes is permitting us not to overwork Monty
-MSL instilled a mindset that makes us never give up

This format is excellent and durable as we aren't solely relying one player, but that's not to say that we don't need upgrades if we want to maximize our ability to make the playoffs.

 

[Runner77]

Several factors.

Burrows not being around.

Secret Agent Grillo, working in the shadows.

Laine getting Letowski to replace Angry Birds on his tablet, by Fortnite.

Laine again, for diverting attention away from his teammates and loosening the atmosphere, by wearing space age attires in the weirdest ass colors he could find.

The humiliation of having been subjected to a bag skate.

You could really tell all of it worked in Utah, when Hughes who was in attendance, broke from his usual, expressionless poker face.

 

[Miller Time]

They have a great coach.
They have an excellent GM.
They are methodically building a culture of excellence with entirely predictable results.


Future is bright
(& this is just a taste of what's to come)

 

[McGees]

2 reasons...
They played WAY better once Laine came back into the line-up, like they wanted to show up for him subconsciously.
2nd reason, is obviously Hutson. He generates so much and isn't as bad defensively as he was to start year.
Carrier has stabilized the D but he's not a game changer like the other 2.