Linemates are everything for a guy like Pacioretty IMO.
When he was playing preseason, he was flying on the wing with guys like Kovalev and Lang, and getting fed tape to tape by guys like Markov and Hamrlik. Granted he still performed well on a line with Maxwell and Dags, but his true breakout game came when he got a call on the top line.
This year in the A is all about learning to manufacture his own chances. I still believe that he could come up to the Show, play on one of the top 3 lines if someone gets injured and be a solid threat night in night out...but playing with lesser teammates, as well as against lesser opposition, allows MaxPac to explore his game and finetune what does and doesn't work for him.
The AHL is a harder jump than preseason for this reason, and it will be an important step for him to take, much like it was for guys like Higgins and Plekanec. I'm sure he will remember this season when, be it next year or the year after, he's playing with elite talent and getting passes he wouldn't dream of getting in the A.
I strongly disagree with your post.
What impressed the most about Max Pac in the pre-season was how he created something out of nothing.
He created many scoring chances out of routine plays where he would get the puck in our own zone near the face off dot and use his speed to turn a simple breakout into a dangerous attack.
With his speed & size going to the outside, he was turning 2 on 2 breakouts into semi-breakaways.
I think he knows how to generate his own chances.
Playing pro is a steep learning curve - he has other things to learn in the AHL.
Or a D. brière ? would say M. St-Louis but not a center.
Let's bring back Petrov and the Stroumphs line will be back in town
With the stats he keep getting everywhere he play I would try him at NHL level for sure. As for PAC i'm not worried gona bounce back.
According to Don Lever, Pacioretty finds the step to the AHL higher than he expected, and he is kind of frustrated.
So much for people who thought that Pac was NHL-ready and should had stayed at NHL level and Latendresse should had been sent down to the minors !
He might be ready in 40 games, or even next season. But he is not right now. It is pro hockey and he's gonna have to play more than 35 games a year.
In the meantime, an undrafted, smallish center with one year at pro level is doing quite well: David Desharnais. For some resons, he might never play at NHL level, but he is definitely trying his best.
Lever is also very pleased with Maxwell, Weber and White
What does that have anything to do with Latendresse? He SHOULD have been sent to the minors. But Max Pac as well.
Keeping Lats in Montreal was a mistake that's gonna come bite the Habs in the buttock.
What does that have anything to do with Latendresse? He SHOULD have been sent to the minors. But Max Pac as well.
Keeping Lats in Montreal was a mistake that's gonna come bite the Habs in the buttock.
He's talking about at the start of the year when people were saying we should have kept Pacioretty over Lats.
But anyway, the Habs couldn't send Latendresse to the minors. It was either keep him with the Habs or send him back to junior. Evidently they felt he had more to learn in the NHL.
He's talking about at the start of the year when people were saying we should have kept Pacioretty over Lats.
I know.
Quote:
But anyway, the Habs couldn't send Latendresse to the minors. It was either keep him with the Habs or send him back to junior. Evidently they felt he had more to learn in the NHL.
They were wrong, though. I know the Habs needed somebody with size(+ public pressure) but Lats was still just a kid. The best for him would have to return to Junior(where btw his team won the Quebec league championship that year) and then a few years in Hamilton and he would have been ready to go like when Higgins, Andrei and Plekanec came in and were pretty much NHL-ready after some time spent back there when Julien was coach.
Keeping Lats in Montreal was a mistake that's gonna come bite the Habs in the buttock.
If anything it bit us his first couple of years, but long term I don't see it. Havig him play another year of junior would have done nothing for his development either. It's a shame he couldn't have gone to the "A" though.
It's ridiculous how under the microscope he is. Just let the boy play, because he has some unique skills and should develop into a very good secondary scorer...
webcasts, 6 bucks a game or 140 for a season pass.
Is it worth it? I gladly pay for NHL Centre Ice but wouldn'y shell out that much for a minor league team. If the Habs aren't playing, I'd rather watch some other NHL game.
Is it worth it? I gladly pay for NHL Centre Ice but wouldn'y shell out that much for a minor league team. If the Habs aren't playing, I'd rather watch some other NHL game.
Depends on the person. This is my 3rd year with a Dogs season pass, and I like the new service better then B2, which I didn't care for all that much but I want to see the Dogs play so it's the only option to see all the games. Perhaps you should check out one game and see if it's for you, but it depends on how much you like watching a lower level of hockey as it can be boring, the refs can flat out suck and at times the webcast won't be that good. But this year the Dogs should be a fun team to watch if things continue as they have.
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(I feel so cheap using that last emoticon 
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