to show complete disrespect to the writer, I say we all just post LOL as our post for the rest of the thread in a rally to show support for our habs and to show the writer of said article just how freaking dumb everyone thinks he is, heck even get some sens fans in on this is you have to:
LOL
Why don't we do it on his article at THN instead? That way he can see it.
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, moronic though they may be.
If he wanted to question the Habs, a much smarter line of reasoning would have been to question their opposition so far. 8-1-1 is an impressive record but the quality of opposition was not top flight.
You could also question the team's propensity to give up a lot of shots. Once again Montreal is in the bottom 10 and allows 31.0 shots per game. The team seems to be playing better defensively as far as limiting quality chances, but in games where the goaltending is average (see Anaheim) this will cost us points.
You could also question the team's depth on defence. One injury to a member of the mini big 3 and Montreal is a lot more trouble than some fans may like to admit. (Granted this may be true for a lot of teams in the NHL, but it's still a more valid observation than anything found in the link posted.) Also, an injury to the bottom 3 could force too many minutes on guys who aren't ready for them. Either way, with O'Byrne and Brisebois as no.6 and 7 dmen, there isn't much room for injury.
The argument about point totals on defence is misleading and lazy but I'll respond to it. Markov is good for 55-60+, Hamrlik should get 30+, Komisarek will flirt with 20, Gorges and Bouillon will flirt with 15. But more importantly, our dmen are mobile puck movers, and even if they aren't putting up points they are essential in getting the puck up the ice and getting our transition game going.
But to go on about point totals on one of the deepest teams in the league and complaining about dmen playing defence (what?) is lazy and inept sports journalism.
I agree that the Habs are deep except in the one potentially vulnerable area of their Dmen. How can anyone blithely dismiss the effect of adding Tanguay and Lang even if the absence of Streit dilutes the potency of the PP? If the quality of the opposition hasn't been top flight, then who remains to challenge them? The Habs still have to face a handful of strong teams from the West, but just once. The teams in the Northeast division will take points from each other and the Habs are unlikely to sweep the Bruins but they already have 5 out of 6 points in their 3 games against Buffalo, Boston, and Toronto. They also have a win on the road in Philadelphia and a home win against Carolina. They haven't played the Rangers, Senators, or Caps but there's no reason to fear them. The Devils are suddenly transformed into a weaker team. The Sabres are playing good D and Vanek is white hot but how long can they keep it up? Sooner or later Tim Thomas is bound to have costly lapses because of his style. I can't see the Caps going far with José Théodore. The Penguins seem to be weaker than they were last season. In conclusion, I don't see why the Habs aren't among the top 3 or 4 teams in the East.
In conclusion, I don't see why the Habs aren't among the top 3 or 4 teams in the East.
They could very well finish in the top 3 or 4 in the East, I was just trying to say that the 8-1-1 record was a little misleading because it points to a level of dominance that we haven't achieved, aside from a period here and there. There's no doubt we've found a way to win games, but when break down the opposition and the games, you're looking at a team that didn't do that well against the elite teams.
Out of 10 games, we faced 3 elite teams and 3 solid teams and 4 teams we should beat. We did go 4-1-1 against the teams that should make the playoffs, but that's still a little misleading.
We lost to Anaheim, lost in SO to Buffalo and beat Minny only because we shut down their PP. So essentially against elite teams we were 1-1-1 with no convincing performances, although I think the PK was sensational against Min.
Against solid teams we were 3-0-0 but that again doesn't prove we were dominant or unbeatable. We battled back to beat Philly, blew a lead to Boston but eventually won in the SO and again needed a SO to beat Carolina. So again, none of these performances were particularly convincing. That doesn't mean we didn't deserve to win, but it means that 3-0-0 could have gone any way.
That said, we did beat the teams we needed to beat, going 4-0-0 there. The Islanders game was nearly a disaster, but credit to the team for battling back. The Florida game was pretty boring, but we got the win. The Phoenix game changed after the Kostitsyn hit, but we kept to our game and got a good win. The Toronto game was by far our most dominant win of the season.
So I'm not knocking the team, I just that if someone wanted to criticize the 8-1-1, there are ways to do it. I just did it right there in a much more convincing way than the blog. Essentially I'm saying that I do still see this team as a top 4 in the East, but pointing to 8-1-1 as a little inflated is not incorrect if you do it the right way. That said, good teams find ways to win games, and so far we've done that.
1. often Mercurial
1. Roman Mythology. Of or relating to the god Mercury.
2. Astronomy. Of or relating to the planet Mercury. 2. Having the characteristics of eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness attributed to the god Mercury.
3. Containing or caused by the action of the element mercury.
4. Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile: a mercurial nature.
n.
A pharmacological or chemical preparation containing mercury.
Yea, Kovalev... the most mercurial player in the league... His two worst seasons, he had over 0.5 ppg... those were two seasons, both which teams had lots of trouble...
This writer = PHAIL at math and statistics
Darz isn't one of those glass half-empty or half-full kinda guys. Darz is a glass always full to the rim kinda guy. That's what makes him the super-duperest mod on these boards!
Now hit me again.
I'd like to think that I'm more of a pitcher always full to the rim guy.
And I'm ALWAYS pouring!!!!!!!
__________________
Hey look, it's Duffman; the guy in a costume that creates awareness of Duff!
I bet the guy himself doesn't believe what he wrote and just wants the hits, so to speak. Nobody would even care about his little article had he wrote positive stuff and predicted the habs to finish first, like everyone else has predicted.
Huge fanbase, passionate fans, controversial article = Now everyone knows who he is and thats what he wanted.
Of course there's also the posibility that he actually believes what he wrote is smart.
I'd like to think that I'm more of a pitcher always full to the rim guy.
And I'm ALWAYS pouring!!!!!!!
I was leaning back in my chair, glasses off and I thought Bill called you the super dumbest mod around, I was figuring, kind of harsh Bill, Darz is a good guy. Then I put my glasses on, read duperest. Carry on. Never mind.
I'm not going to lie, the argument in the article brought a smile to my face.
It's like he completely ignored rational arguments that can be made against the team in favour of what amounts to "Hurrr, dey's not gonna keep scorin' or defendin' or savin' good."
He's basically saying that there's no chance the players will be able to keep up their pace (unless it's a bad one, of course, in which case there's no possible way for them to improve).
Wow, this article reeks so much of angst and hate towards the Habs that it's not even journalism anymore. It's just some random Joe trying to bash the team to get hits on his "blog".
Damn, we are just over Joe the plumber, now we have Joe the blogger
I was leaning back in my chair, glasses off and I thought Bill called you the super dumbest mod around, I was figuring, kind of harsh Bill, Darz is a good guy. Then I put my glasses on, read duperest. Carry on. Never mind.
I'd like to think that I'm one of the super-duperset and super-dumbest mods around.
I was leaning back in my chair, glasses off and I thought Bill called you the super dumbest mod around, I was figuring, kind of harsh Bill, Darz is a good guy. Then I put my glasses on, read duperest. Carry on. Never mind.
(Translation : Had a three martini lunch. So drunk I kept drinking. Now I'm blind drunk. I don't know who's pouring.)
I'm not going to lie, the argument in the article brought a smile to my face.
I get perverse enjoyment out of hearing people bash the Habs when they are so desperately grasping at straws. I love how this team inspires such hatred in other teams' fans!
