"Which 4th line?"

- Guy Lafleur
- Scabeh

That's...pretty good

i think he's (frank)ed either way. no matter how be builds out his lineup, this is a slow team. it's what's killing them right now, and he can't change that.
- DoubleDown

There is still no excuse to losing to the (frank)ing Senators 4-0. If you want to say this team is worse than Toronto, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, fair enough, but there is no excuse to be losing games in such horrendous fashion with such consistency.

Gonna have to side with apex on this one fellas..

There is still no excuse to losing to the (frank)ing Senators 4-0. If you want to say this team is worse than Toronto, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, fair enough, but there is no excuse to be losing games in such horrendous fashion with such consistency.
- apex123

there's a reason they've been getting clobbered by the Senators all season. because the Senators are able to play keep away from Montreal. they're young and they skate hard & fast. Montreal is slow. if you're gonna be slow, fine, be slow. but be organized. like Barry Trotz organized. Habs are slow and disorganized so ya, when a team like Ottawa comes at them and is able to avoid poopting its pants defensively, Montreal is overmatched.

we need to accept that this team sucks. they've won 12 of their last 35 games. that's almost half a season's worth of games. that's not an accident or bad luck or a slump.

they suck.

There is still no excuse to losing to the (frank)ing Senators 4-0. If you want to say this team is worse than Toronto, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, fair enough, but there is no excuse to be losing games in such horrendous fashion with such consistency.
- apex123

as I said last night, they have 4 top6 players. none elite, just top6.
with Gallagher they have 5.
will Suzuki and kk become top6 players? lets hope so, but they're not there yet.
without any elite players, they should have more than 6 top6 players. ideally 7 or 8 to compensate. but they have 4.
no wonder they have problems scoring goals.
the end.

Only Anderson and Tatar have more goals than Staal since he made his debut 9 games ago

as I said last night, they have 4 top6 players. none elite, just top6.
with Gallagher they have 5.
will Suzuki and kk become top6 players? lets hope so, but they're not there yet.
without any elite players, they should have more than 6 top6 players. ideally 7 or 8 to compensate. but they have 4.
no wonder they have problems scoring goals.
the end.
- fidopro

But Gallagher is a 3rd line pla.... blah blah blah zzzzzz

- some nut

there's a reason they've been getting clobbered by the Senators all season. because the Senators are able to play keep away from Montreal. they're young and they skate hard & fast. Montreal is slow. if you're gonna be slow, fine, be slow. but be organized. like Barry Trotz organized. Habs are slow and disorganized so ya, when a team like Ottawa comes at them and is able to avoid poopting its pants defensively, Montreal is overmatched.

we need to accept that this team sucks. they've won 12 of their last 35 games. that's almost half a season's worth of games. that's not an accident or bad luck or a slump.

they suck.
- DoubleDown

Saying Trotz would help is sort of proving my point. I think they're a fringe stiff team at best, but I also think 12 of 35 is severe underperforming.

Well he's clearly not a great communicator which raises questions about his ability to motivate and the line up decisions have been horrible. Giving KK garbage linemates when he was playing well. Riding Weber and Staal into the ground despite playing garbage hockey. His overall winning record is also worse than Julien's which I think speaks to him as well.
- apex123

I agree

So we are back at : Bouchard next year ?

Well he's clearly not a great communicator which raises questions about his ability to motivate and the line up decisions have been horrible. Giving KK garbage linemates when he was playing well. Riding Weber and Staal into the ground despite playing garbage hockey. His overall winning record is also worse than Julien's which I think speaks to him as well.
- apex123

He's not a great communicator? Last I heard, the guy keeps talking about discussions he's having with players, focusing on what each individual can bring and improve. If anything, he looks more open to communication than Julien ever was.

KK has increased his icetime and responsabilities under Ducharme. I hate seeing him with Drouin like the next guy but Ducharme gave him more opportunities and responsabilities than Julien ever did.

Weber is playing terribly and should play less, but to pretend like it's an easy call to make in our current situation is straight up naive. Same thing with Staal, who's progressively getting reduced icetime because of his poor play.

Kinda early to judge his overall record. What has Julien done since he was brought back? Nothing?

Maybe it's not the coach, maybe it's the players who should look themselves in the goddamn mirror.

Only Anderson and Tatar have more goals than Staal since he made his debut 9 games ago
- obie

How (frank)ing sad is this?

as I said last night, they have 4 top6 players. none elite, just top6.
with Gallagher they have 5.
will Suzuki and kk become top6 players? lets hope so, but they're not there yet.
without any elite players, they should have more than 6 top6 players. ideally 7 or 8 to compensate. but they have 4.
no wonder they have problems scoring goals.
the end.
- fidopro

How many top 6 players do Ottawa and Edmonton have? Even Toronto I would only consider the big 3 and then Nylander as legit top 6 players.

How (frank)ing sad is this?

- Scabeh

Very

How many top 6 players do Ottawa and Edmonton have? Even Toronto I would only consider the big 3 and then Nylander as legit top 6 players.
- apex123

Norris, Stutzle, Tkachuk, Batherson are all top 6 caliber players. imo.

Brown isn't looking horrible either with 16 goals already?

Habs need KK and Suzuki to take a step forward before we can compete.

s this where I place my order ?

I'd like the..... ....... ..... (invisible ink) .. ....... ....., and a ......
Thank you.

Only Anderson and Tatar have more goals than Staal since he made his debut 9 games ago
- obie

half his goals were with is skate though

ah nice. we've been going to Chateau Montebello pretty regularly last few years. pre-apocalypse.
- DoubleDown

When this bs is over and done I might get an office in Montebello, and an annual pass at the Chateau so I can do a bit of remote work + swimming pool.

How many top 6 players do Ottawa and Edmonton have? Even Toronto I would only consider the big 3 and then Nylander as legit top 6 players.
- apex123

OTT is a different story. they have nothing to lose, they won againts not only MTL but all other teams.
EDM have 2 super elite players. Habs have none.
same with TOR.
WPG have 5 very strong top6 players, better than ours.

He's not a great communicator? Last I heard, the guy keeps talking about discussions he's having with players, focusing on what each individual can bring and improve. If anything, he looks more open to communication than Julien ever was.

KK has increased his icetime and responsabilities under Ducharme. I hate seeing him with Drouin like the next guy but Ducharme gave him more opportunities and responsabilities than Julien ever did.

Weber is playing terribly and should play less, but to pretend like it's an easy call to make in our current situation is straight up naive. Same thing with Staal, who's progressively getting reduced icetime because of his poor play.

Kinda early to judge his overall record. What has Julien done since he was brought back? Nothing?

Maybe it's not the coach, maybe it's the players who should look themselves in the goddamn mirror.
- Scabeh

I'm not excusing the players either, I think blame is shared between the players and the coach. And if his press conferences are any hint at all about communication skills, I dont think those discussions are very productive. I never at any point said Julien was the solution either. I think a change from top to bottom is needed for this team, but that said I think Barry Trotz would make this team look half passable. (frank) even Michel Therrien would probably make this team look better.

OTT is a different story. they have nothing to lose, they won againts not only MTL but all other teams.
EDM have 2 super elite players. Habs have none.
same with TOR.
WPG have 5 very strong top6 players, better than ours.
- fidopro

I think the Habs biggest issue remains the lack of elite talent.

Every team needs a few guys that are just plain better.

Who's our elite player? Who's the guy that's going to make a difference?

Fact it, Bergevin bet on overall depth because we simply do not have that one special player who can score a goal like McDavid did yesterday.

OTT is a different story. they have nothing to lose, they won againts not only MTL but all other teams.
EDM have 2 super elite players. Habs have none.
same with TOR.
WPG have 5 very strong top6 players, better than ours.
- fidopro

I'm not debating the strength of our top 6 other than the fact we have a much better top 6 than Ottawa and our depth should be able to cancel Edmonton's top heavy elite players. We've done both before, this team is underperforming severely. And I think the coach has some blame.

I think the Habs biggest issue remains the lack of elite talent.

Every team needs a few guys that are just plain better.

Who's our elite player? Who's the guy that's going to make a difference?

Fact it, Bergevin bet on overall depth because we simply do not have that one special player who can score a goal like McDavid did yesterday.
- Scabeh

Carey, but the last time he did was 6 years ago. since then he's been average at best.

half his goals were with is skate though




- Xizord

They all count my friend

I'm not debating the strength of our top 6 other than the fact we have a much better top 6 than Ottawa and our depth should be able to match to cancel Edmonton's top heavy elite players. We've done both before, this team is underperforming severely. And I think the coach has some blame.
- apex123

We probably do. But it's not THAT much stronger.

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Anderson-Suzuki-Toffoli

or

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Stutzle-White-Dadonov

I'm not debating the strength of our top 6 other than the fact we have a much better top 6 than Ottawa and our depth should be able to cancel Edmonton's top heavy elite players. We've done both before, this team is underperforming severely. And I think the coach has some blame.
- apex123

not with Gallagher out and Drouin MIA. with only 4 legit top6 forwards... it will be difficult. you can prevent them from scoring for a period or 2, but eventually they will score. and we can't.