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This Season Was a Success

H

habsfan

Well-known member
I don't care about the "failure" to make the playoffs.

This team overachieved greatly, and provided entertaining hockey down the stretch. Would we have been better off tanking? Sure, getting a high pick is nice, but getting young players in playoff type hockey is also important.

A year ago, this team was unwatchable. We had terrible prospects, no exciting players and Price looked washed. A year later, prospects have been replenished, with lots of picks in the upcoming draft, the centre position has hope for the first time in what feels like 20 years, and Price has his game back on track.

Obviously the team has warts, but they grew a lot this year and played an exciting brand of hockey. Tanking was out of the question since Christmas. Drouin was a disappointment, but he produced when he played with Domi and hopefully he can bounce back. Sergachev had regression this year, and the trade at this point is a wash. Flawed player for flawed player

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the off season and the continued growth of Domi, Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen and seeing what Brook, Romanov, Poehling and Suzuki can contribute
 
It was better to watch only . Golfing on Monday is the same with 96 points or 80 .

Drouin has been a bust . Don't compare a 24 year old to a 20 year old developing D .

There is no growth in Lehkonen and most of our roster except KK and maybe Domi but I think he hit his peak .

As mentioned these prospects have to hit or we are done .

What is the plan to win a cup one day
 
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I said it before and I'll say it again.

Before the season, where would you want the habs to finish?

1st in the division?

2nd-3rd in the division?

1st-2nd WC spot?

Just outside the playoffs, 12th-15 spot?

Bottom 10 in the league, top 10 draft pick?

Bottom 5 in the league, top 5 draft pick?

If people were to rank these before the season, which one would be placed below finishing 12-15/9th in the east? I'm curious.
 
Altair said:
I said it before and I'll say it again.

Before the season, where would you want the habs to finish?

1st in the division?

2nd-3rd in the division?

1st-2nd WC spot?

Just outside the playoffs, 12th-15 spot?

Bottom 10 in the league, top 10 draft pick?

Bottom 5 in the league, top 5 draft pick?

If people were to rank these before the season, which one would be placed below finishing 12-15/9th in the east? I'm curious.
Click to expand...

do you really think tanking was in the equation when you have players like Weber, Price, Gallagher and Petry? Tanking may have been what we wanted, but realistically, it was never really in the cards.

The team is in a much better place now, than it was a year ago. You'd have to be blind not to acknowledge that.

I've wanted Bergevin gone for several years, but he's been on a good run in the last few months
 
Not making the playoffs can’t be called a “success”. It may have been better than expected, surprising, etc. But not a success.
 
Altair said:
I said it before and I'll say it again.

Before the season, where would you want the habs to finish?

1st in the division?

2nd-3rd in the division?

1st-2nd WC spot?

Just outside the playoffs, 12th-15 spot?

Bottom 10 in the league, top 10 draft pick?

Bottom 5 in the league, top 5 draft pick?

If people were to rank these before the season, which one would be placed below finishing 12-15/9th in the east? I'm curious.
Click to expand...

It's easy to do what you're doing after the fact.

At the beginning of this week I wanted them to make the playoffs.

Today I wish we were drafting 1st overall.

It was a fun year because the games meant something and it was a fun team to watch, last year I was discouraged at Xmas time.

In the end, you can't get the perfect scenario.

The bottom line is that this team can improve next year and keep improving as long as they stockpiling good draft picks and develop.
 
GEEMAN said:
It was better to watch only . Golfing on Monday is the same with 96 points or 80 .

Drouin has been a bust . Don't compare a 24 year old to a 20 year old developing D .

There is no growth in Lehkonen and most of our roster except KK and maybe Domi but I think he hit his peak .

As mentioned these prospects have to hit or we are done .

What is the plan to win a cup one day
Click to expand...

Lehkonen looked much better when playing with skilled players. He also had horrible luck this year, but I think he can be a 20 goal scorer in this league.

Drouin hasn't been great, but when used properly, like when he played with Domi was much better. Sergachev might be developing still, but looks like he has million dollar skills with a 10 cent brain.

With some proper spending in the summer and a good draft, Habs can be positioned well to make the playoffs next year
 
habsfan said:
do you really think tanking was in the equation when you have players like Weber, Price, Gallagher and Petry? Tanking may have been what we wanted, but realistically, it was never really in the cards.

The team is in a much better place now, than it was a year ago. You'd have to be blind not to acknowledge that.

I've wanted Bergevin gone for several years, but he's been on a good run in the last few months
Click to expand...

I didn't believe that tanking was a option any more than I believed finishing first in the Atlantic was. But that wasn't the question asked. I asked where would people want the Habs to finish. It's pretty clear the habs just finished in the worst possible position out of the options provided. Not good enough to make the playoffs, not bad enough to get a good pick.
 
habsfan said:
Lehkonen looked much better when playing with skilled players. He also had horrible luck this year, but I think he can be a 20 goal scorer in this league.

Drouin hasn't been great, but when used properly, like when he played with Domi was much better. Sergachev might be developing still, but looks like he has million dollar skills with a 10 cent brain.

With some proper spending in the summer and a good draft, Habs can be positioned well to make the playoffs next year
Click to expand...
That's going to be the best they can aspire to for the years to come. Maybe they make the playoffs. No path to a cup, no core that can contend with the powerhouse teams.

If making the playoffs to be bounced in round one or two is the goal, sure, success. If the plan is to win the Stanley cup this season didn't move the needle one bit in the pursuit of that goal.
 
Altair said:
I didn't believe that tanking was a option any more than I believed finishing first in the Atlantic was. But that wasn't the question asked. I asked where would people want the Habs to finish. It's pretty clear the habs just finished in the worst possible position out of the options provided. Not good enough to make the playoffs, not bad enough to get a good pick.
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Yup. There’s a reason the song was called “Stuck in the Middle With You.”
 
The positive side is we kind of look like the Bruins did when they missed the playoffs twice in a row with 90+ point seasons. They didn't try to tank, kept most of their key vets, and even kind of screwed up that one year with the 3 first round picks. We don't have a Bergeron or Marchand, but at least Domi, Gallagher, etc have surprisingly became legit first liners this year and are younger.
 
DonKay said:
It's easy to do what you're doing after the fact.

At the beginning of this week I wanted them to make the playoffs.

Today I wish we were drafting 1st overall.

It was a fun year because the games meant something and it was a fun team to watch, last year I was discouraged at Xmas time.

In the end, you can't get the perfect scenario.

The bottom line is that this team can improve next year and keep improving as long as they stockpiling good draft picks and develop.
Click to expand...

You cant get a perfect scenario

Stockpiling picks and developing is great but takes time .

Problem is our framework is very poor right now

Lets say it takes 3 years for our kids to hit

Price is 35 , Petry and Tatar are probably gone and Weber is probably a # 4 D

Gallagher will be 30 and probably starting his decline

Even if Domi is a legit front liner we have too many holes

That's why I said it was imperative to have a multi component framework in place after 7 years with Nero

We are worse off now . Nero started with Price , Patches , and Pk all 23 plus the 3rd overall pick and we have done squat to build around it
 
GEEMAN said:
You cant get a perfect scenario

Stockpiling picks and developing is great but takes time .

Problem is our framework is very poor right now

Lets say it takes 3 years for our kids to hit

Price is 35 , Petry and Tatar are probably gone and Weber is probably a # 4 D

Gallagher will be 30 and probably starting his decline

Even if Domi is a legit front liner we have too many holes

That's why I said it was imperative to have a multi component framework in place after 7 years with Nero

We are worse off now . Nero started with Price , Patches , and Pk all 23 plus the 3rd overall pick and we have done squat to build around it
Click to expand...

No one is denying that things have been ran poorly.

But I am not as morbid about what lies ahead as some are around here.

The one thing that needed to be addressed was how this organization was gonna address what has been the black hole for two decades at center.

I feel we have our future #1 in KK and the fact that Domi who just turned 24 got 70 + points this year as a center is encouraging.

Danault has proven to be an effective two way center and he just turned 26 last month.

Poehling is on his way and we may have a nice depth caliber center in Jake Evans in Laval.

There are some positives to build around but people seem to neglect that.

Don't get me wrong There is still tons of work to do but it is night and day when it comes to the center position from this day last year
 
DonKay said:
It's easy to do what you're doing after the fact.

At the beginning of this week I wanted them to make the playoffs.

Today I wish we were drafting 1st overall.

It was a fun year because the games meant something and it was a fun team to watch, last year I was discouraged at Xmas time.

In the end, you can't get the perfect scenario.

The bottom line is that this team can improve next year and keep improving as long as they stockpiling good draft picks and develop.
Click to expand...

I believe I've been very consistent, from before the season, after the start of the season, to the end of the season.

Tanking would be best, sneaking into the playoffs would be next best, finishing 9th would be a nightmare.

And while nobody can get the perfect scenario, we can comment on where we ended up. We ended up in the absolute worse of all listed positions.

If I were to rank them,

1st in the division>2nd-3rd in the division>Bottom 5 in the league, top 5 draft pick>1st-2nd WC spot>Bottom 10 in the league, top 10 draft pick>Just outside the playoffs, 12th-15 spot.

That would be my take before the season, during the season, and after the season. We are in the worst spot in hockey.

But I guess hockey is in the business of entertainment, not winning championships, in which sense, sure, you had a fun year watching this team. Great. For guys like me though, who want to watch a team win championships, not simply compete for the playoffs, this season was a absolute failure. No playoffs, middling pick, in the quest to build a championship team, this seasons was a waste.
 
DonKay said:
Is that fact?

Because you know for sure that we won't get a good prospect this draft?
Click to expand...

The odds of getting a elite player at 15 is way lower than getting a elite player at 1-5. It can happen, but more than likely, especially with the habs drafting record, will not.
 
DonKay said:
No one is denying that things have been ran poorly.

But I am not as morbid about what lies ahead as some are around here.

The one thing that needed to be addressed was how this organization was gonna address what has been the black hole for two decades at center.

I feel we have our future #1 in KK and the fact that Domi who just turned 24 got 70 + points this year as a center is encouraging.

Danault has proven to be an effective two way center and he just turned 26 last month.

Poehling is on his way and we may have a nice depth caliber center in Jake Evans in Laval.

There are some positives to build around but people seem to neglect that.

Don't get me wrong There is still tons of work to do but it is night and day when it comes to the center position from this day last year
Click to expand...

Last year got us KK. Success.

This season got us what exactly? No playoffs and a middling pick. That's success to you?
 
Altair said:
I believe I've been very consistent, from before the season, after the start of the season, to the end of the season.

Tanking would be best, sneaking into the playoffs would be next best, finishing 9th would be a nightmare.

And while nobody can get the perfect scenario, we can comment on where we ended up. We ended up in the absolute worse of all listed positions.

If I were to rank them,

1st in the division>2nd-3rd in the division>Bottom 5 in the league, top 5 draft pick>1st-2nd WC spot>Bottom 10 in the league, top 10 draft pick>Just outside the playoffs, 12th-15 spot.

That would be my take before the season, during the season, and after the season. We are in the worst spot in hockey.

But I guess hockey is in the business of entertainment, not winning championships, in which sense, sure, you had a fun year watching this team. Great. For guys like me though, who want to watch a team win championships, not simply compete for the playoffs, this season was a absolute failure. No playoffs, middling pick, in the quest to build a championship team, this seasons was a waste.
Click to expand...

I can probably go on a limb and tell you that any true Hab fan wants that.

Plan should be to start drafting better, end of story.

No matter where you finish you have to get it right more often than not.

This organization has not done that, that's why we are where we are.
 
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