Latendresse and Lucic are two completely different types of players. Lucic is much more aggressive but, even though he has a decent offensive potential, I believe that Latendresse can reach higher totals then him.
I totally agree with this. Lucic right now is a more complete player, Although I still think that if Lats were on the 1st or 2nd line, he would have matched Lucic's points no problem... but Lapierre and him seem to be so effective together that I wouldn't put him anywhere else as we have the depth to fill out the wings of the first two lines. Everyone forgets that everytime Lats played with Koivu he produced very respectful numbers, and this shows his offensive upside. He has been getting better the more he plays and will be a very important asset to this team in the future.
His offensive instincts are what make the laps line so effective in the offensive zone. All three of them work so well along the boards, but then once lats gets it, you know there is going to be an attempt at a goal! We need lats to complete this line or else its just another fourth line, even if lapierre is on it.
I am no Lucic fan but the kid can set the tone of any game,hit ,fight, score he does it all. He is the type of player you hate to play against but would love to have on your team. If Latendresse reaches his max potential he could become a Dave Andrychuck type player.
Lats is 1year older and unlike Lucic, he jumped from Juniors to NHL.
I think we can all agree that Lats probably would have benefited from 1-2 in AHL before coming up. But too late for that and he's progressed a great deal this season becoming a valuable player on the third line.
Cam Neely that defined what a Power Forward is, had 34pts in his 3rd NHL season. At that time, he only had 5 more Goals than Lats while having played a few less games.
I'm not saying Lats will ever score 50ish goals. But if he keeps progressing and trains hard again over the summer. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fill a more offensive role next year on the top 2lines with some PP time.
46G over 3years, starting at 18, with minimal ice time and almost no PP time is pretty decent.
We know he can be effective with top liners as he's shown with Koivu more than once.
Latendresse once into his groove, will be a better player than Lucic offensively. That doesn't mean that I'd take Lats over Lucic today.
Sorry to tell you but if lats doesn't change his attitude on the ice, I can safely predict he has plateaued offensively.
When they teamed him with Lappy, I thought maybe he'll change but he still floats a good part of his shifts. He's only looking good now cause Lappy & Kosto are busting their tails every damn shift.
Anyway, you got your opinion and I have mine. This is his third year and I keep hearing the same excuses he's only 22, give him more time. Well, D'agostini is the same age and I'd give him more time. I see something with him. I see nothing with Lats.
And to get back to the question, if we had 2 Lats, I'd traded them for Lucic and I would throw in D'ago. That's what I think of Lucic.
Sorry to tell you but if lats doesn't change his attitude on the ice, I can safely predict he has plateaued offensively.
When they teamed him with Lappy, I thought maybe he'll change but he still floats a good part of his shifts. He's only looking good now cause Lappy & Kosto are busting their tails every damn shift.
Anyway, you got your opinion and I have mine. This is his third year and I keep hearing the same excuses he's only 22, give him more time. Well, D'agostini is the same age and I'd give him more time. I see something with him. I see nothing with Lats.
And to get back to the question, if we had 2 Lats, I'd traded them for Lucic and I would throw in D'ago. That's what I think of Lucic.
Lapierre and Kostopoulos were nowhere near as effective when Latendresse was hurt. Just because he's not as quick as Lapierre doesn't mean he is floating, if you see nothing with Lats it is pretty obvious you just hate him and haven't watched him enough this year.
Also we do have two Latendresse's, Olivier is hurt though.
Lapierre and Kostopoulos were nowhere near as effective when Latendresse was hurt. Just because he's not as quick as Lapierre doesn't mean he is floating, if you see nothing with Lats it is pretty obvious you just hate him and haven't watched him enough this year.
Also we do have two Latendresse's, Olivier is hurt though.
You can't get a more ridiculous comment than that. Actually, I like Lats. I look at him and I see a kind-hearted, earnest kid. I don't hate him. As a person I probably would prefer him to let's say Lappy. But when it comes to hockey, Lappy can play on my team any time, Lats can go someplace else.
What I do hate is all the nonsense that's concocted about him. Best scorer on the Habs, he has a fantastic future, yada, yada.
Give me an effing break. He can't sharpen Lucic's blades when it comes to hockey. And all those who can't see that are just plain homers.
You can't get a more ridiculous comment than that. Actually, I like Lats. I look at him and I see a kind-hearted, earnest kid. I don't hate him. As a person I probably would prefer him to let's say Lappy. But when it comes to hockey, Lappy can play on my team any time, Lats can go someplace else.
What I do hate is all the nonsense that's concocted about him. Best scorer on the Habs, he has a fantastic future, yada, yada.
Give me an effing break. He can't sharpen Lucic's blades when it comes to hockey. And all those who can't see that are just plain homers.
The stupid thing is when people compare him to Lucic. They both play totally different styles of hockey, the only thing really in common are they have good size.
Latendresse is a skilled player with size while Lucic is a powerforward. Latendresse would've had around 20 goals this year if he was healthy the whole year and that's playing on the third line with 2 guys not well known for their offense. Compare Lats this year to Lats from last year and it is day and night, he is a totally different player. He is still only 21 and he has the right attitude to improve his game (as we saw in this summer with the power skating) so I don't get the sarcasm about the "fantastic future, yada, yada" since if he continues to improve like he did this year he actually will have a very good future.
If Latendresse played with Savard and Kessel all year he'd most likely have more points than Mr. Hunchback himself.
You can't get a more ridiculous comment than that. Actually, I like Lats. I look at him and I see a kind-hearted, earnest kid. I don't hate him. As a person I probably would prefer him to let's say Lappy. But when it comes to hockey, Lappy can play on my team any time, Lats can go someplace else.
What I do hate is all the nonsense that's concocted about him. Best scorer on the Habs, he has a fantastic future, yada, yada.
Give me an effing break. He can't sharpen Lucic's blades when it comes to hockey. And all those who can't see that are just plain homers.
Call me a homer then but what I do see and you don't seem to realize is that in spite of playing his third season in the NHL, Latendresse is only 21 years old. Just like I'm not ready to give up or put a definitive judgment on Price or Sergei yet, Latendresse is in the same category.
With the exception of a few rare talents in this league, how many players can you name who have 46 regular season's NHL goals at 21 years of age?
He's improved something every year so far and I personally don't think that he's reached his peak as some make it sound here. He could very well become a 30-35 goals scorer playing a physical style in the future, as proven by being the forward with the most total hits in the last 3 years on this team!
Call me a homer then but what I do see and you don't seem to realize is that in spite of playing his third season in the NHL, Latendresse is only 21 years old. Just like I'm not ready to give up or put a definitive judgment on Price or Sergei yet, Latendresse is in the same category.
With the exception of a few rare talents in this league, how many players can you name who have 46 regular season's NHL goals at 21 years of age?
He's improved something every year so far and I personally don't think that he's reached his peak as some make it sound here. He could very well become a 30-35 goals scorer playing a physical style in the future, as proven by being the forward with the most total hits in the last 3 years on this team!
I agree with you (for once ).
Its far too soon to call it quit on Lats, he can still become an effective player of a type we lack. That is big gritty and skilled forwards. I think he's good natured and he gained in maturity, if he wants to continue to get better and work on aspects of his game that are lacking he is going to be an excellent player (and he already is somewhat. much more then on his first or second year definitively)
For anybody that is old enough to remember the Habs of the early 90's, Latendresse sort of reminds me of a young John Leclair. He's a big strong kid with a bit of a nose for the net, but he's got an awkward stride and is just not a mean player and doesn't look like he will ever be. I'm not saying that he'll ever have the same success, but that's the closest match I can draw from my memory. Unfortunately, we don't have a young Lindros coming up the pipeline.
The stupid thing is when people compare him to Lucic. They both play totally different styles of hockey, the only thing really in common are they have good size.
Latendresse is a skilled player with size while Lucic is a powerforward. Latendresse would've had around 20 goals this year if he was healthy the whole year and that's playing on the third line with 2 guys not well known for their offense. Compare Lats this year to Lats from last year and it is day and night, he is a totally different player. He is still only 21 and he has the right attitude to improve his game (as we saw in this summer with the power skating) so I don't get the sarcasm about the "fantastic future, yada, yada" since if he continues to improve like he did this year he actually will have a very good future.
If Latendresse played with Savard and Kessel all year he'd most likely have more points than Mr. Hunchback himself.
Lucic doesn't have the hands to be a power forward. He's a banger that will chip in 10-15 goals. He played with Savard all year(one of the best playmakers in the last 10 years) and couldn't crack 20 goals, what does that tell you?
For anybody that is old enough to remember the Habs of the early 90's, Latendresse sort of reminds me of a young John Leclair. He's a big strong kid with a bit of a nose for the net, but he's got an awkward stride and is just not a mean player and doesn't look like he will ever be. I'm not saying that he'll ever have the same success, but that's the closest match I can draw from my memory. Unfortunately, we don't have a young Lindros coming up the pipeline.
I disagree with the meaness thing. He is a lot like Ryan Walter, he always finishes his checks, even after the player has gotten rid of the puck. We could use 3-4 more like him.
Never, but he could well become a better player. He has considerably more upside to his offensive skills.
Habs fans seem about as obsessed with Lucic as Bruins fans. It's really quite odd.
Not really. He'e exactly what our team has been missing for the last 15 years, and we don't have the personnel to control him. Our players are scared sh!tless of Lucic. He's not a great player but he has an impact. That's a lot more than we can say about tender, for whom expectations have gone from top line power forward to 3rd line checking winger who may get 30-35 pts per year. Great.
Not really. He'e exactly what our team has been missing for the last 15 years, and we don't have the personnel to control him. Our players are scared sh!tless of Lucic. He's not a great player but he has an impact. That's a lot more than we can say about tender, for whom expectations have gone from top line power forward to 3rd line checking winger who may get 30-35 pts per year. Great.
Nobody is scared ****less of Lucic, he's probably the most overrated player in the NHL.
You can change the stripes on a tiger but you can't paint them on a ***** cat. Usually the meaness is there from an early age in hockey and isn't grown into....
That being said, Latrendresse is a very, very good third line winger IMO who will only get better...He has more natural offensive abiltily then Lucic IMO anyways, and he is certainly more mature right now.
Lucic doesn't have the hands to be a power forward. He's a banger that will chip in 10-15 goals. He played with Savard all year(one of the best playmakers in the last 10 years) and couldn't crack 20 goals, what does that tell you?
To be honest I really wanted to say a grinder but then i'd have 100 Bruins fans coming in crying and saying Lucic is the next Cam Neely.
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