Rumours, Innuendos and Flat out B.S.: 2017-18 Edition

[GEEMAN]

We ran into the hottest team in the league. A team that could very well be fighting us for first place next year. Maybe give the Sens some credit instead of gutting our team. We can and probably still will win this series

No one expected fk all out out Ottawa and they have made their decision to rebuild by moving Spezza and others. They are a low budget team and have to rely on the draft and steals like Turris to stay competitive. The point is they are making changes to their core they are making the tough choices to try and improve . They are building a team that is hard to play against .

Its nice to add a Weise or somehow unload a Bourque contract but we need changes with the core.

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

No one expected fk all out out Ottawa and they have made their decision to rebuild by moving Spezza and others. They are a low budget team and have to rely on the draft and steals like Turris to stay competitive. The point is they are making changes to their core they are making the tough choices to try and improve . They are building a team that is hard to play against .

Its nice to add a Weise or somehow unload a Bourque contract but we need changes with the core.

Exactly. You can tinker with your 3rd defence pairings and bottom six forwards til the cows come home but unless you address the issues with the core you really aren't doing anything but pretending to look busy. This series is slipping away because the core group that is supposed to lead this team has gone AWOL. We got them to show up in Game 2. That's it. In Game 1 it was Flynn and Mitchell, in Game 3 it was Weise. The only goal we've scored since Game 3 was by Gilbert. Where the hell are the leaders? Where is Max? Where is PK? Where is Galchenyuk? Where is Markov? Where is DD? If these guys can't bring it in the playoffs they are a waste of cap space. The regular season is meaningless other than for playoff seeding. It's what you do once you're in the playoffs that counts. It's what you do in games that matter that I'm willing to pay money for, not for cheap and easy goals scored on a February night in Columbus.

[GGpX]

Suck-ass is nowhere close to a Dudley or Mellanby type player - they are the the anti Euro pussy brigade.

Are we talking about the same Dudley who was key in convincing Bergevin to sign Sekac?

[GGpX]

Anyway, gutting this team' core is a gross overreaction. Reminder: Bawstun was up 3-0 and lost the next 4 to Philthydelphia one year... They fired nobody and changed none of their core, and they ended up winning the Cup the next year. I'm sure there were plenty of Bawstun fans clamoring for the same thing as WeHave.

I'm not saying we're winning the Cup next year, not with Therrien as coach, but overreacting is not the solution. That said, Bergevin's officially on the clock this summer. Allen & Gonchar will be off the books and we'll have an extra $8M to spend. He'll have ridden himself of all of the contracts/problems that he inherited from the previous regime. All of the contracts on this team, with the exception of Plekanec's, were signed or acquired by him. He'll have three drafts under his belt & his first wave of drafted players will be turning pro.

It is undoubtedly his team. His team has flaws and it has holes, it is time to watch & see what Bergevin does to fix them. It is time to see how Bergevin, in his own words said, makes this team "bigger and tougher to play against."

[GEEMAN]

Exactly. You can tinker with your 3rd defence pairings and bottom six forwards til the cows come home but unless you address the issues with the core you really aren't doing anything but pretending to look busy. This series is slipping away because the core group that is supposed to lead this team has gone AWOL. We got them to show up in Game 2. That's it. In Game 1 it was Flynn and Mitchell, in Game 3 it was Weise. The only goal we've scored since Game 3 was by Gilbert. Where the hell are the leaders? Where is Max? Where is PK? Where is Galchenyuk? Where is Markov? Where is DD? If these guys can't bring it in the playoffs they are a waste of cap space. The regular season is meaningless other than for playoff seeding. It's what you do once you're in the playoffs that counts. It's what you do in games that matter that I'm willing to pay money for, not for cheap and easy goals scored on a February night in Columbus.

But as you said before you cant make these changes with a coach and philosophy of playing scared or playing it safe praying for 31 to run with it. There is no magic wand to instantly fix leader and core issue. Unfortunately it may take a subpar season from Price to drop us to 9th ( would of happened this year with a .920 save % ) for the Armani man to start dumping players.

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

How is it an overreaction to question trading core assets when those assets continually underperform in games that matter? Pacioretty hasn't had a decent playoff in his career, neither has DD, neither has Pleks. How many more years do we wait for things to change? I'm not saying we trade everyone all at once but no one outside of Price should really be untouchable given how they've performed in the post-season.

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

But as you said before you cant make these changes with a coach and philosophy of playing scared or playing it safe praying for 31 to run with it. There is no magic wand to instantly fix leader and core issue. Unfortunately it may take a subpar season from Price to drop us to 9th ( would of happened this year with a .920 save % ) for the Armani man to start dumping players.

True, it all begins with the first step of replacing Therrien with a coach who actually shares the same philosophy as his GM.

[CH1]

This version of the Habs will indeed be gutted, but slowly through the draft. Bergevin is a methodical GM, not a Brian Burke type (BTW, his gutting of the Leafs already requires regutting).

Questions I'd ask a crystal ball:

Is Max a 35 sniper in the regular season but just a 20 goal dude in the playoffs? (20 is his career playoff pace)

Will Chuckie make the leap to 70 point stud next season?

[Habsy]

Are you ****ing kidding me with this thread? This is precisely why Habs fans get mocked.

[GEEMAN]

Anyway, gutting this team' core is a gross overreaction. Reminder: Bawstun was up 3-0 and lost the next 4 to Philthydelphia one year... They fired nobody and changed none of their core, and they ended up winning the Cup the next year. I'm sure there were plenty of Bawstun fans clamoring for the same thing as WeHave.

I'm not saying we're winning the Cup next year, not with Therrien as coach, but overreacting is not the solution. That said, Bergevin's officially on the clock this summer. Allen & Gonchar will be off the books and we'll have an extra $8M to spend. He'll have ridden himself of all of the contracts/problems that he inherited from the previous regime. All of the contracts on this team, with the exception of Plekanec's, were signed or acquired by him. He'll have three drafts under his belt & his first wave of drafted players will be turning pro.

It is undoubtedly his team. His team has flaws and it has holes, it is time to watch & see what Bergevin does to fix them. It is time to see how Bergevin, in his own words said, makes this team "bigger and tougher to play against."

Excellent post but it requires the acceptance that this team needs adjustments and doing it . 14,51,79 who are playing as core players currently are my hit list who are no longer required when and or if we ever get to the next level.

Pk , Price , Max arent going anywhere unless some team is drunk and hands you a stupid offer and 27 and 11 for now are workable , albeit 27 is a work in progress .

Its time for the Armani man to find some tricks up his sleeve and produce players , like you said he is on the clock.

[Purple Haze]

Pacioretty didn't have the best playoffs last year, but he still had 5 goals and 11 points.

I think he would have shown us that he can be a playoff performer this year, but he just suffered from a concussion and is only a shadow of himself.

I would not be so fast to label him as a poor playoff performer.

[CH1]

Are you ****ing kidding me with this thread? This is precisely why Habs fans get mocked.

It's just one guy who thinks the 70s show will come back (Sam Pollock wheeling and dealing with mental midgets posing as respectable GMs)

[CH1]

I would not be so fast to label him as a poor playoff performer.

Me neither. Hence the crystal ball.

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

Yep, after Therrien, the first bodies that need to be shown the door are Pleks, Markov and DD. With Markov it's the law of diminishing returns. He can't cut it as a top pair defenceman anymore. If they keep him at all he has to go down on the depth chart and as soon as it becomes clear that he's become a progress-stopper he needs to go. Pleks is what he is, which is a girly-man in playoff games. There's no further need for him. And DD is completely useless.

[GEEMAN]

Are you ****ing kidding me with this thread? This is precisely why Habs fans get mocked.

Its a solid thread we are not the Hawks that as long as JT, pk, BS, DK , lead the way you can add the complimentary parts to make the soup . Lets mock these moronic threads that adding Clarkson for 7 fken years was great , or how signing Brezzy for 9 nine years is the answer to Philly`s goalie issue.

This is a good logical debate questioning our problems that need to be addressed .

[BKerr]

We have calls to gut the team after every loss.

[BKerr]

Are you ****ing kidding me with this thread? This is precisely why Habs fans get mocked.

Well some of the Habs fans here have been running around yelling the sky is falling since Wednesday... and some have been doing it since the early 80s.

[BKerr]

Pacioretty didn't have the best playoffs last year, but he still had 5 goals and 11 points.

I think he would have shown us that he can be a playoff performer this year, but he just suffered from a concussion and is only a shadow of himself.

I would not be so fast to label him as a poor playoff performer.

It goes back to the whole clutch and unclutch debate.... there is no such thing, just small sample sizes getting exagerated..

[northernlou]

at least one or two legit top 6 away. It's the weakest link. And no you don't gut this team.

[BKerr]

at least one or two legit top 6 away. It's the weakest link. And no you don't gut this team.

Exactly, we all know they need a first line RW.

One wasn't available at the deadline.... there also won't be one in UFA this summer.... we have to find a way to trade for one who is under contract.

Doesn't mean you take a team that already has a Hart Trophy goalie, a Norris D, and a top ten goal scoring wing and gut it.