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I think SK is a great idea for powerplay..he has a great vision and has a much better shot than Gomez does...and recently he has been shooting a bit more as well..I think Georges on point is a brutal idea and JM has been doing that over and over again and I still do not even understand why SK has not been playing on our PP. Losing these two more players is not good but I am somewhat relieved with Olympics break coming up. AK should be ready to go after the break and hopefully so should Pouliot.
He has his moments to be sure, and they're great when they happen, but I don't think he's contributing much these days.
0 goals, 6 assists, and minus-6 in 2010.
"A month before the season I stop putting ketchup on my french fries." -Mario Lemieux on his off-season training.
he was put on the 4th line as a forward, what do you expect him to do, he has a wicked point shot, but how do you expect him to produce on the 4th line... I would rather have MAB on D than pylonGill or Mara with a whopping -16
Is this as big of a loss as it seems? MAB hasn't been nearly as effective on the PP as he was earlier in the season. Teams started figuring out that all we did was feed him, so they eventually covered him and his PP goal production started to slow down.
While his production decreased, all the other players on the PP benefitted from more space. Since they had to watch him constantly, they had to leave more open space for our other 4 players. Now, does this mean the powerplay is dead? I don't think so.
Spacek hasn't really worked out, but I don't think he's had the best of times to play the PP. Markov was injured, Hamrlik too, and he plays mostly the last 30 seconds or so. I'd give him another chance with #79 on his left side. If that doesn't work out, you guys will all call me crazy but put Gomez at the point. He can play the left side and set up Markov for one timers, cuz Markovs got a great shot. Gomez has good vision, so he can distribute the puck down low or to #79. AND, if he turns the puck over or makes a risky pass, he has the speed to backcheck and make up for the mistake unlike MAB.
If that fails, I'm not sure. Maybe as much as it's against our plan, maybe calling up PK can help the PP for a few weeks. The leafs called up Kadri after they said they wanted him to stay in the AHL all year. Sometimes there's a change of plans....
what u guys think?
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
I think it does hurt us and the PP in a big way. MAB was the only one besides Cammy (and he's gone for another month two), who would actually shoot, shoot and shoot. His shot was what we needed and it opened up the other guys. Losing these two guys will be a real downfall. If we can make it to the dance, Cammy and MAB will be our trade deadline acquisitions and really give us a shot heading into the playoffs (if we sqeak in). I know he hasn't scored much of late on the PP but he was getting assists at least. Him and Marky were a great tandem back there and we don't have another D-man that can fill in on the first PP unit. For me, I hate Spacek and would rather see Gill out there.....maybe not but I still hate him. I do like the thought of getting Gomez back on the point, that could be interestiing and might work in the absence of MAB.
Shaker
Gomez has a terrible shot. He fans on it a lot and doesn't get much power from it. Id rather see him make a pass down low. Why not use SK? Carbo used him 2 years ago on the point and we had a great power play that year.
But you wouldn't be using Gomez for his shot. He would either pass it down low, or to 79.
If the other team's are dumb enough to leave him alone cuz they know he will only pass, it's up to him and the Habs to adjust and let him move in and take a shot. He's an NHL player, don't kid yourself he can shoot the puck. It's all about making adjustments during a game, that's the difference between keeping momentum and losing it.
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Remember last year when we didn't have anyone to take the point shot during the powerplay? Our powerplay struggled until we got Schneider. You need a to have a shot presence to have a successful pp.Thats what made our pp great with Streit and Souray.
And to say he's an NHLer so he automatically has a shot is ridiculous. Some guys can shoot some can't. How many goals do you think Gomez would have he could shoot like Cammy or like Andrei. I know he doesn't play their style of game but it might have something to do with his inability to shoot.
Other teams do use their best players on the point during the pp so I would have nothing against using Gomez. I also agree that his speed will alow for recovering on turnovers. I would just rather see the opportunity go to SK and have Gomez down low.
I would not call up pk, the last thing i want to see is fans expecting him to save our season. And when he makes a mistake, because he will just like any other young player, have to deal with everybody ripping on him, then gainey, then timmins, then gainey again. Leave him in hamilton to develop under boucher. And bring him up next year.
I love pk, but he needs to stay in the ahl for the remainder of the season.
i think we will be fine without bringing up PK
We have a really good power play that we do not get to use much ..... so im not sure we will be effected all that much. This team has to be the agressor for that to happen and i can count on one hand how many times this has taken place. But why not try your changes to see what happens ...... so sure what the hell i agree with Alec.
Thanks for agreeing...
I just think Gomez distributes the puck pretty well. So he can probably play a set-up point man's role.
As for PK, every1 wants to see him stay in Hamiliton because of one reason. All of our young rookies have been rushed. So everybody is scared the same will happen with that jewel. But you can't judge and evaluate the professional talent of one individual based on your teams past success or failures with their rookies. Each case and player is unique. So maybe he'd be having a great year if we kept him here from camp. Maybe. But, management was scared to gamble, because they failed at it in the past.
IMO, PK is ready for the NHL. I've seen him live 3 times in preseason games with the Habs, and play twice down in Hamilton. Offensively this kid dominates. It doesn't even make sense what he can do on the rush. Defensively, he's learning slowly, but he's better than 3 of our D. But, if anybody remembers Dan Boyle in his first few years he was the same. Great offense, mediocre defense. Sometimes a player can develpo certain skills later on, or slower than others. I think it's the same case for PK and Boyle, but that's my opinion. Heck, look what Boyle's accomplished in his career after constantly being told he was a defensive liability.
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Habsbros shocking expose on Gainey removal: Molson's Last Straw.
Radically yet unassumingly your
L.B. Potter, esq. Vice-Chairman of the Horde of Butterers at Flannelcom's Accountability Office and Senior Exponent of Relative Theory at Habsbros Investigative Services: http://habsbros.blogspot.com/
It's amazing how you always get to the bottom of things, always getting the story no one else can. Your contacts are clearly second to none.
How many times I gotta say it? At Habsbros, we don't work clichés; we get the straight dope.
Radically yet unassumingly your
L.B. Potter, esq. Vice-Chairman of the Horde of Butterers at Flannelcom's Accountability Office and Senior Exponent of Relative Theory at Habsbros Investigative Services: http://habsbros.blogspot.com/
Is Bob going to set you up with the new man? I mean we all know you've pretty much had an open line to Bob for years now. Is there going to be a smooth transition, so we can stay informed?
Radically yet unassumingly your
L.B. Potter, esq. Vice-Chairman of the Horde of Butterers at Flannelcom's Accountability Office and Senior Exponent of Relative Theory at Habsbros Investigative Services: http://habsbros.blogspot.com/
Phew!
The news just keeps on getting better and better, doesn't it? Move back to the old Forum.
Swell. God obviously doesn't want us to make the playoffs.
"love cannot drown truth, Nefertiti"
All a part of His divine plan...
As it stands now i expect the Canadiens will make or miss the playoffs by 1 or 2 points.It will depend on how often Halak plays.
Gauthier has accomplished little as a GM,and even worse as a "pro scout".He recommended Yani Ninima for Mike Ribero,so obviously he is an astute judge of talent.
For financial reasons it appears the Molsons will not sack the entire management team,which would be the best way to go(from a probability of winning point of view).
The whole situation is very depressing.However i am glad i no longer have season tickets.It's just too frustrating to watch this operation.
nuff said
MAB being out will hurt the power play, but not the defense. Do we recall Belle, who didn't look bad last time up? Do we trade for a 4-5 defenseman from another team to use the rest of the year? Do we bring up PK Subban - who might benefit from staying in Hamilton for the rest of the year? Is Mara ready to return?
We could see Gauthier's first move.
Don't we already have a callup for MAB? I mean he already missed 2 games and was on IR for both.
Gauthier's first move was to send down White and Trotter and call up Pyatt, no?
Hopefully it is a coaching move rather than a GM move.
SK on the point first wave PP to set up Markov and Metro on the point second wave to receive from Hamrlik.
No more defencemen on the fourth line.
This isn't as big a loss to the PP as one would initially think. Here's a breakdown: http://www.lionsinwinter.ca/2010/02/pp-problems-how-much-will-bergeron-be.html
I think the possibility that we might open a space for a forward on the 4th line might be a good thing, at least for a few games. And, I think Spacek has been underused and underappreciated thus far on the PP. This leaves the door rather wide open for him to go through.
Anybody have an up-to-date breakdown of man-games lost by team? As much as it feels like we're the worst off in the league, I'd bet we're not near the top.
I have an outdated list that goes back to jan.20th. We have played 10 games since. Not many teams ahead of us in the standings in the east who have lost more man games then we have. I'm also guessing we've passed a few of the teams since. Take a good look where edmonton and carolina are on this list and where they are in the standings. A few teams have done well despite,but overall proof that it plays a big role,despite what people say. Also,take into account its all about quality not quantity. Losing markov for 40 games hurts alot more then losing mara,gill or gorges. Same goes for our forwards losing cammy,gionta,ak alot worse then 3rd and 4th liners.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/globe-on-hockey/oilers-lead-nhl-in-man-games-lost/article1438180/
someone asked this last week if i recall at that time we were 9th
If Hab fail agains philly we're done
Pat can you get us an update on Andrei? There was word he might be back before the Olympics but I don't think he's even started skating yet so that can't be true, can it?
the trades and signings by gainey are okay but the biggest failure of the organization has been drafting and developing forwards..we have no impact forwards that we drafted between the ages 21-23 who should be helping out our main forwards now...the next group of forwards that the organization drafted can only be reviewed 3 years from now...sk74 could be our best prospect but he is 23 next month and has shown minimal goal scoring ability..if he is only going to be an assist player than the problem is that we have plecks and gomez to do that..who is he going to set up for goals...lapps,moen,white,pyatt,dags,maxpac,metro ..so he may have to be traded...the non support to our fa,traded for and picked up players by our draft picks has been the main reason this team is struggling and will not get much better the next 2 years if we keep the same players.
What are you rambling on about?? This is a thread about Marc-Andre Bergeron's injury and the M*A*S*H unit that the Habs have become this season...
Oh wait, it's Gainey's fault. No wait, Jacques Martin's. No, no, no, Carey Price's fault. And Gomez, don't forget Gomez, it's his contract's fault...
Nooo... Say it aint so : /
It's a MAB MAB world.
Pretty sad that MAB has more goals than Gomez.... what a waste of money and cap space....
Yeah, he has more goals then Markov, Gorges and Halak too. What a waste of thier contracts.
It's a MAB MAB world.
i went to trade Gommer on NHL 2010 and across my TV read HA HA HA HA ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
some will say "but you can add on Gio and Cammy's totals as well cause they wouldnt be here if it wasnt for Gommer" ......... i frankly dont buy it either. He may not be a goal scorer but please 7+ mil for what he brings?
he's overpaid yes..but his passing game and his puck control is good for our team...
he's the best on our team in puck possession then there's pleks, ak and markov...if we're building a puck possessing team...gomez is a good cog...but overpaid
- Team Halak V.S. Team Price...Montreal Canadiens Fans are similar to 14 year-old Girls going through Puberty.
we had Kovy for less money who could do that ...... and he turns it over just as much
Kovy made the other team back up and play position hockey. He choked out players with his moves, and he wasn't easy to push around. Of course I want Kovy back on this team..
not every hockey player's best ability is to score goals...i hope you are not so short-sighted to believe that to be true.
- Team Halak V.S. Team Price...Montreal Canadiens Fans are similar to 14 year-old Girls going through Puberty.
i dont think we will see PK --- but if this season takes a turn for the worse and we are well out of playoff contention i think we will see the youngster called up for a few games to get his feet wet.
MAB has 10 goals but is a Minus 11.....so yeah, not a big loss ,
Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive
He's has been stuck on 10 goals since December 31st...
"A month before the season I stop putting ketchup on my french fries." -Mario Lemieux on his off-season training.
Tough loss for the PP. I guess Weber gets chance # 24.
http://gushuecards.webs.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRRiyN3A0pg
OK, is it time for PK??? He's 3rd in scoring for the Dogs and first in plus/minus. Give him a try and see what he can do.
Why do you want to throw PK Subban to the wolves here? As soon as he misses the net with a shot from the point or blows defensive coverage leading to a goal on St. Jaro, he'll get eaten alive by you all!
Why are folks afraid to see PK this year? Of course he will make mistakes but he'll learn too. Do you think if the Habs wait until next year he won't make rookie mistakes??? Ridiculous! The wolves won't disappear next year. Might as well get used to them now.
As per Cardiac's (the guy with the picture of Jesus) statement:
"Besides Lapierre, with Pouliot and MAB out of the lineup who's else will RDS interview now???"
Do you want to hear my answer, Cardiac? Why are you saying this? Imagine if the majority of English speaking players were hurt. Would you make the same comment? I just don't get you and people like you. Why do you even go there?
Would Jesus have said that?
Why would RDS want to interview English-speaking players? I don't get your comment...
And anyways, if most of the players who spoke english were injured, we'd have bigger problems than who to interview...
Yes, why would RDS want to interview English-speaking players? Is there an English-speaking player on the team that can handle an interview in French? I don't think so. If there were, I'm sure the station would be pleased and jump on the occasion. But those players are few and between. The English media interviews French speaking players (past and present) more overwhelmingly than the other way around because there are more francophones who speak English than vise versa. That's just a fact.
My point with citing Cadiac's remark is why even bring that up? Besides Light and tasty, he came clean in admitting his poke.
At last... some recognition...
I made a satirical comment on our society and media in order to get a rise out of people... so I consider it mission accomplished. It was a joke I'm sure some found funny. It you don't, I'm sure you'll get over it.
P.S. In as much as God sent his only begotten son to die on the cross to redeem mankind and all we did to pay him back was quible about Scott Gomez's large contract, who the #1 goalie is, whether Bob Gainey was a good General Manager, if Alex Kovalev could have saved the 2009-10 season, etc. etc. etc.
P.P.S. And on the third day since the last game, Carey Price rose again against the Capitals, saw the shadow of his former self and we were blessed with six weeks of solid goaltending...
more importantly, if Gomez getes hurt, who will Tele-Latino interview ... bet you never thought of that one
He plays hockey, not soccer, so he is of no interest to them.
Try again ;)
so 4-6 hockey weeks, thank you olympics
Great. Now we're stuck with Spacek - MAB's expensive turnover cousin.
Haha. Could not have said it better myself!
http://gushuecards.webs.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRRiyN3A0pg
I would SERIOUSLY rather see any bulldog or MAB take his spot. I can't stand to watch him screw up over and over. The arguement was that he had a good shot, but the man can't hit the net. Not to mention Carle (injured I know), Subban, Weber and MAB all have the SAME shot. So why did we even sign this guy?
Spacek has big trouble hitting the net, i definitely agree.
But you can't be serious when you say you'd rather any bulldog take spaceks spot just because you seem to notice him screwing up alot. He's second on our team in +/- and third in take-aways and has a decent first outlet pass. I'll admit i've expected more from him so far and he's soft down low, but I'd take him over Spacek and any Bulldog. That's an easy one.
Hey, dont anyone blame our season on injuries. Its not like we have 4 of our top 7 goal scorers out. More than 50%... BUT DONT BLAME THE INJURIES, ITS GAINEY...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
Shame. We miss his big shot on the point in the PP. He's also got good energy on the 4th line.
Poor Spacek is pathetic at one-timers. Either fans or misses the net by a mile.
---Hope Springs Eternal---
Anyone able to get stats to see who are the top 5 teams in the league this year with most lost games due to an injury?
Here's something by James Mirtle from about 3 weeks ago. I'm guessing that we've started to catch up to the Oilers with our recent injuries...
My buddy showed me, but I can't remember the site. I recall we were in 1st.
---Hope Springs Eternal---
MAB..missing 6-8..will not be missed that much.
i won't miss being 2nd over all on the PP either. Markov is a huge part of it,but he isn't the shooter. Our PP sucked last year with markov because he had nobody who can pound the puck from the right point,hence we had to overpay for schnieder. This now allows PK'ers to play lower and take away cross ice passes.This will hurt very,very much. Look how bad we were on the PP this year before we signed MAB. His defence sucks,yes,but this isn't why we brought him in. He also leads our defence in points despite playing 7 or 8 less games. His points didn't come from being a 4th line winger.
showey..iam just indifferent to him. sure he has the shot but his lack of defence and the fact he is the human pin ball out there just drives me nuts.
i'm definately not disagreeing with you about his lack of defence,it will probably add a few years to the end of my life to not see him play defence. That's why he was used as a 4th line winger,which was the smart thing to do. If it wasn't bad enough having ak,cammy and benny out. This just kills our PP which pretty much saved our bacon the last 2 months,next to our goaltending. We don't score goals and we continue to lose players who provide offence. This loss will hurt,bad. Weber may have potential but is unproven at the nhl level. I still don't want to see subban up yet. He doesn't need to be brought in as the role of 'saviour' this year. I want him to be brought in as a 3rd pairing dman next year and brought along slowly.
showey...trying times for sure. very frustrating for all.
those were my exact feelings with Souray and Streit. we'll be fine on the PP. it might not be a 100km shot but Spacek, Hamrlik and Gorges can also shoot the puck. but they're also smart hockey players.
Speaking of Schneider, isnt he available.
At this point i'm willing to say screw it and play the kids. By no means and i giving up on the season,but i don't want any band-said solutions. If we make a trade i want it to be for a long term solution. I don't know if schneider is still property of the canucks or not.
I feel the same, I think we will see how much of "Top Tier Team" Pierre Gauthier wants to make by the first set of trades he makes at the deadline. I will disapointed to see Older players used as out solutions, didint work for toronto didnt work for new york....
“Well, he’s a thoroughbred, and maybe your wife doesn’t recognize that, but then again, I can’t bake bread all that well. We all have different skills.” ...Bob Gainey "Classic"
i think saying "screw it"was a poor choice of words on my part. Your response was pretty much what i meant to say. No short term solutions,no trading away draftpicks/prospects for journeymen ufa's. Only trades based on long term thoughts and goals or play farm hands (but not subban,not yet). The temptation will be there though,as will the pressure from the media and fans to bring him up.
agreed. no more nail-biting everytime he's on D.
that being said, have a good recovery, MAB.
You don't nail bite when Gill has to do his patented 5 minute spin, or when Spacek passes right in front of the net?
no, i accept it as a goal against
there are other factors some dont see when judging gainey. bob tried to get sundin, he went to sweeden to convince matts but couldnt( good thing as it turned out). bob tried to get shanahan, bob had a deal for lecavelier but the league stopped it.its very hard to get players to come here as pierre mcguire says because of the high taxes we pay in quebec and big thing is the french schooling bit. if a player comes here he cannot send his kid to school here unless one of the parents attended eglish school themselves in que. so its amazing bob got cammy, gionta and gomez to come here.
gainey had several years to develope this team, it didnt workout, as one last HAIL MARY play with only a year left in bobs contract he decides to go for all the marbles pull off a hail mary play dumping 10 players for nothing a get a gang of new players, he did well (kinda) and the gamble may have paid off if we didnt get so many darn injurys. tick tock times up.
all the teams who have gotten better sucked at the bottom before getting good draft choices and developing into a good team, we are always mid pack.
He's tried to get every proven player available (Brett Hull, Marian Hossa and Ryan Smyth to add to your list) but he only ends up getting the players he wants when he overpays.
He made some really good trades at the start of his tenure but since then his deals hadn't worked out. Some of his great trades were getting rid of Theos contract, Bonk and Huet for Garon and 3rd rounder. Also like the Josh Gorges +MaxPac for Rivet. Pouliot also a great trade. Kovalev trade was robbery. His bad trades were the Ribeiro one and the Tanguay one. Gomez trade will be awful if Mcdonogh turns into a top 4 D. But of the 20 draft picks Gainey has traded none are currently playing in the NHL. We also have the most draft picks playing in the NHL
As everyone has said letting UFAs go for nothing has been his biggest flaw. But when you replace them with other teams UFAs not sure what the big deal is.
Teams that have not sucked are New Jersey, San Jose and Detroit in order to draft good talent. Teams that have sucked and still continue to suck despite getting high draft picks are Florida, Islanders and Atlanta.
you lost me the moment you mentionned mcguire
I think many HI/O members would be willing to teach all kinds of english for free, if it'll mean signing big-name players...
sign me up
“Well, he’s a thoroughbred, and maybe your wife doesn’t recognize that, but then again, I can’t bake bread all that well. We all have different skills.” ...Bob Gainey "Classic"
You can send your kids to private English school (which hockey players can afford).
Also if you're a Canadian hockey player and you went to English school as a kid, your children can go to English school.
... yes, there are accessible solutions; that's not the point. The problem is the unnecessary restrictions in the first place.
"Whenever you have the puck, and don't know what to do with it, put it in the net." - Toe Blake
I agree on all counts. They also attract free agents with lucrative contracts...
so its amazing bob got cammy, gionta and gomez to come here.
Do any of those guys have kids?
Pretty sure Cammy is not married with children (or without for that matter, lol).
........... "Thank you Cammy for making my day even more amazing!" I STILL BELIEVE. I WILL ALWAYS BELIEVE.