Montreal Canadiens

[Zorro]

MTL can't defend when it comes to turnovers, and they can't create unless the other team messes up.

So even match since Jets are messing up a lot, and Jets aren't creating much in terms of offense. Really depends in Helly can make that save that covers up the mess ups.

I would bet Brossoit gets the start..

[tweetdrivr]

Montreal has their own scoring woes so not sure that's a thing that can push them for a win.

Yep. Drouin is out for the ros. He was not scoring goals but he had very good possession numbers and pushed play very much in the right direction. His loss is a big one...far more so than I think people realize. They look tired and the D in particular look slow. No surprise there. As a Habs fan I'm more worried about not making it than I am about catching the Jets. Hopefully all this Price has a concussion nonsense is smoke and mirrors to get him rest and ready for the playoffs. If it's true it's concerning.

[Axeman33]

Yep. Drouin is out for the ros. He was not scoring goals but he had very good possession numbers and pushed play very much in the right direction. His loss is a big one...far more so than I think people realize. They look tired and the D in particular look slow. No surprise there. As a Habs fan I'm more worried about not making it than I am about catching the Jets. Hopefully all this Price has a concussion nonsense is smoke and mirrors to get him rest and ready for the playoffs. If it's true it's concerning.

To be fair, Jake Allen has been excellent for Montreal this year and I'm not sure Price coming back will change much. Goaltending is the least of their worries even without Price.

[tweetdrivr]

To be fair, Jake Allen has been excellent for Montreal this year and I'm not sure Price coming back will change much. Goaltending is the least of their worries even without Price.

Price is one of those players who elevates his game when it matters most. I agree Allen has been more than excellent. But the Habs need Price for the playoffs. Or better yet both of them. I just hope this roster, as has been said, is really built for the playoff grind. I'm not sold. Getting Gallagher back for the playoffs (if they make it) will be a nice boost. They really do miss him far more than Drouin.

[rufio.85]

Gallagher is the heart and soul of this team. Their game was already shaky but the slide really came when he was injured.

I agree that goaltending is the least of their worries right now. A general lack of speed and talent on the blueline is really problematic, no one seems to be able to make clean breakout passes / skate it out of the defensive zone. Even their forward corps has suddenly become very slow. It seems that Bergevin went way too much the Perry / Staal way.

Even if they make the playoffs, I honestly don't see a scenario where they can topple the Leafs. Maybe Price steals it, maybe Gallagher returns and the team get such an emotional lift that they do it. Overall, it's shaping up to be a very disappointing season.

[Axeman33]

Price coming back won't change their fate. He hasn't been a game changer for a few years now. If this team doesn't find a way to generate offense, theyre going out in the first round against the Leafs. That's pretty sad when you consider how long it's been since the Leafs won a playoff series.

[Invictus]

The off season moves seem to be proving well. I'd take Weber side of that trade. Players seem to go to shit after being traded away from MTL (Suban, Domi, Kovalchuk...). Where's the issue?
Fast team to begin the season. Hmm
It seems that the Habs are a good team when healthy and complete, but any sort of injuries and it really leaves weaknesses exposed.
Can't function when missing just one piece.
Could it be their style of game is harder for players to cover roles? Idk.

[tweetdrivr]

Price coming back won't change their fate. He hasn't been a game changer for a few years now. If this team doesn't find a way to generate offense, theyre going out in the first round against the Leafs. That's pretty sad when you consider how long it's been since the Leafs won a playoff series.

So Price wasn’t key to their beating the Pens and taking the Flyers to six in Aug last year...like 7 months ago? Seems more recent than a few years.

[agentzero]

So, we are assuming the Habs somehow don’t go 1-7 to finish the year? Because that’s what I’m seeing. The Jets maybe go .500. The door is wide open for Calgary.

[ericdaoust]

So, we are assuming the Habs somehow don’t go 1-7 to finish the year? Because that’s what I’m seeing. The Jets maybe go .500. The door is wide open for Calgary.

So now they're going to lose 7 in a row?

[newfcollins]

The off season moves seem to be proving well. I'd take Weber side of that trade. Players seem to go to shit after being traded away from MTL (Suban, Domi, Kovalchuk...). Where's the issue?
Fast team to begin the season. Hmm
It seems that the Habs are a good team when healthy and complete, but any sort of injuries and it really leaves weaknesses exposed.
Can't function when missing just one piece.
Could it be their style of game is harder for players to cover roles? Idk.

In terms of Weber, Subban helped Nashville get to the finals his first season, was nominated for the Norris his second season and he and Weber are pretty much equal this year. I wouldn't say that is Subban going to (insert curse word here). While some players do struggle after being traded away, others do well. Pacioretty, Mike Reilly, Sergachev, Eller, Subban are five off the top of my head.

There's been some good articles on the Athletic this year about Montreal's issues. Basically, the GM has constructed a team that is supposed to roll four lines evenly and are supposed to steamroll over their opponents as they just keep coming at you shift after shift. The problem is this style isn't sustainable for a full season, and players eventually get tired, make mistakes, scoring dries up and the coach has to try to change the system to minimize those mistakes. But this new system goes against the way the GM built this team. This is why Montreal started off the season so well this year and faltered. Same thing happened last year (Montreal started 11-5-3, but went 20-26-6 the rest of the way).

There's also the issues that the Habs don't have a puck-moving dman, a top line that you lean on to score goals when you really need one or a line that can take advantage on the power play. I'm also not big on the injury excuse that I'm sure MB will use again this offseason. Every team goes through injuries. If losing a player or two is an excuse for having a poor season, then you've created a shoddy lineup.

[Invictus]

Hmm well Sergy was a little different since he was still developing.
I'll have to read those articles if they are free.
I don't see why the players would get tired with that style, if anything it would save wear and tear on the top line (not that there's much of a difference in the top line) and reduce injury. More spread ice time so players shouldn't be getting tired. Yet results show that. What am I missing?
Habs PP actually mid league (16th) this year, not bad for them. A bonafide top line would help that...
I wasn't using injury as an excuse... just more of wondering if their system setup made it that injuries to key players would have a greater effect than other teams.

[agentzero]

So now they're going to lose 7 in a row?

Would you put it past this team to do so?

[Axeman33]

Probably Suzuki's best game of the year.

[ericdaoust]

Would you put it past this team to do so?

If the team was as negative about everything as you are they would go 0-82.