what's that, seriously? Pouliot played well yesterday. He played with passion and that was hard to do with the way Gomer plays. Gomez should be put on the fourth line, not Pouliot.
And Moen? What has he done? Why is he now on the first(second) line?
This is what I don't get with Martin. Punish players who's done well and reward others who do nothing.
It's PRACTICE!!!!!!! JM has been known to try things out in practice but change it up the during the game day practice....How about we all just chill and see what the practice lines are tomorrow morning before getting all upset??
Moen on the 2nd line, 'cause that worked brillantly before. Yes Jacques. It would take a bigger guy, that plays big on the 2nd line. You got that right.....but a guy who could actually play hockey, not a plugger like Moen....
Another move that makes no sense....Pouliot needs to stay on that line since you don't have better unless you try Eller on it.
That's very surprising,Moen has been the most regular guy in the lineup,even Boyd has been playing better.At least give Eller a shot,but I guess since the Lapierre-Halpern-Eller got a goal and we all know Martin doesn't like to switch something that he thinks is working,not surprised.If it doesn't work out just a matter of time before we see Darche in that spot
what's that, seriously? Pouliot played well yesterday. He played with passion and that was hard to do with the way Gomer plays. Gomez should be put on the fourth line, not Pouliot.
And Moen? What has he done? Why is he now on the first(second) line?
This is what I don't get with Martin. Punish players who's done well and reward others who do nothing.
The way I see it is with JM as coach and with the current management team in place the Habs will be nothing but a mediocre borderline playoff team..
If we try to ignore the fact that this is the 4th line we're talking about (and the low number of minutes it involves), the line itself looks pretty good
And who knows, maybe without the "top-6" pressure level he'll start hitting the net (not that he's been that bad)
I don't like it at all. Moen doesn't belong nowhere near the top 2 lines. During that practice, 2 players that can play the top 2 lines are in the 3rd and 4rth, Pouliot and Eller.
It seems like Martin has no idea how to keep or boost a players' confidence.
Those lines are not official and maybe Martin is just giving Pouliot a message but even if Pouliot comes back to the 2nd line, I still don't think that this is the right way with this kid!
I also find that Pouliot was playing good hockey. Why send him to the freaking 4th line. This has Latendresse treatment all over it. And look how well that treatment worked!
Which player has played the best since the beggining of the season :
a) Scott Gomez
b) Brian Gionta
c) Benoit Pouliot
Benoit Pouliot. Tells you way more about how bad the other 2 played then how great Pouliot did. Now, can you actually send your 8 M$ guy and the captain you just named on the 4th line?
Mind you, it makes no sense to put Pouliot there. Nor does it makes sense to put Moen on the 2nd. 'Cause he himself didn't prove a whole lot since the beginning of the year. I'd have Ryan White on the 2nd line way more than Moen....
I don't undestand why they sign Pouliot? They didn't patch the hole on this line in the off-season and 3 games in the season they are already try to patch this mistake with a 3rd liner.
Gomez-Gionta are not Crosby or Malkin they need someone who can score goals on their line
Last edited by Quarantesix: 10-14-2010 at 12:10 PM.
Could be just practice, or it could be a message being sent.
It's not that Pouliot has been playing bad, actually the opposite. But when you're in the top 6, you're expected to score and Pouliot hasn't been doing that. To boot, it's also effecting Gionta and Gomez's productivity. So maybe a change will wake him up.
As for Moen, I like him on that line. As we saw in the playoffs last year, he can work the corners, get the puck out to Gomez and Gionta and create scoring chances. When given the chance, Moen can work his butt off and really be effective. Plus, he's shown that he possesses soft hands as well.
For a game or two, I don't mind seeing what the Habs can make out of these lines. But in the long run, Pouliot needs to be given more time and if not, then Moen can rotate with Eller up there. Heck, maybe Eller can start potting some goals with that line and be a permanent fix, albeit it would suck to lose a big centre just to fix a problem at wing.
Could be just practice, or it could be a message being sent.
It's not that Pouliot has been playing bad, actually the opposite. But when you're in the top 6, you're expected to score and Pouliot hasn't been doing that. To boot, it's also effecting Gionta and Gomez's productivity. So maybe a change will wake him up.
As for Moen, I like him on that line. As we saw in the playoffs last year, he can work the corners, get the puck out to Gomez and Gionta and create scoring chances. When given the chance, Moen can work his butt off and really be effective. Plus, he's shown that he possesses soft hands as well.
For a game or two, I don't mind seeing what the Habs can make out of these lines. But in the long run, Pouliot needs to be given more time and if not, then Moen can rotate with Eller up there. Heck, maybe Eller can start potting some goals with that line and be a permanent fix, albeit it would suck to lose a big centre just to fix a problem at wing.
Gomez can be better, but he's been good thus far. Last night he was rushing the puck in, passing to the open wing and creating plays. Only thing left is putting the puck in the net. Creativity and work ethic is there, finish is not.
I just don't get Martin at all.
Eller creates chance after chance on the top line in the first game and uses his body to create pressure and he's sent to the 3rd line.
Meanwhile, Pouliot was average at camp, keeps his 2nd line spot and is behind on most of the plays... and he sends Moen to replace him? Seriously? Moen is not talented enough to be a 2nd line so just send Eller already. He's hungry. Give him a chance already.
It's PRACTICE!!!!!!! JM has been known to try things out in practice but change it up the during the game day practice....How about we all just chill and see what the practice lines are tomorrow morning before getting all upset??
I just don't get Martin at all.
Eller creates chance after chance on the top line in the first game and uses his body to create pressure and he's sent to the 3rd line.
Meanwhile, Pouliot was average at camp, keeps his 2nd line spot and is behind on most of the plays... and he sends Moen to replace him? Seriously? Moen is not talented enough to be a 2nd line so just send Eller already. He's hungry. Give him a chance already.
Moen had chemistry last year, during the playoffs, with Gomez and Gionta. He may not be up there in talent along with the other two, but he sure works as hard as they do.
Give it time. I'm sure Eller will find his way up there soon. But to be honest, I'd rather see him anchoring a third line at centre, then to see him at wing. Pick your poison, really.
This is the kind of changes I would make during a game to change things up. Not to start a game... It will work like for a couple of periods but not at long term. This is the beginning of the season, try building some chemistry. Moen will not be on that line for more than 2 games if not 2 periods. So what's the point.
I'd much rather put Eller on that line if JM wants to find some more offense.
Pouliot-Boyd-Lapierre could be an interesting 3 lines as well.
That's not bad, I would rather see Pouliot with Boyd/Pyatt who is probably a better centre than gomez. Cut down on the 2nd lines ice time until they start playing like a line and not individual ****-tards.
I actually like the 4th line it gives us (Pouliot-Boyd-Pyatt), but I don't like Moen with Gomez-Gionta, when Eller could do that job I think.
D-pairings also modified:
Hamrlik-Spacek
Gill-Gorges
Markov-O'Byrne
Picard-Subban.
Does it mean Picard in, O'Byrne out? or Markov in, Subban out?
Thank god Martin is the coach and knows his players.
I actually look at this a different way. Moen being with Gomez and Gionta makes the new 4th line in my eyes since Gomez, Gionta and Moen all played Brutal last night. I wouldn't look at it as Moen getting promoted, I see it as Gomez and Gionta getting demoted. Subban didn't play his best game last night either....it might do him some good to sit in the pressbox for a game. He needs to calm down, stop getting hot-headed when someone touches him and start simplifying his game a bit better. He tries to do too much and be too fancy. He needs to keep it simple and do what works.
Here's a good rule of thumb to use whenever you feel outraged about a line combination being tried out during practice or even during a game. Ask the following question:
"Does this appear to be a long-term change by Martin?"
If the answer is 'yes', feel free to rant about the long-term implications of the move, like the ruining of potential and destroying people's livelihood.
If the answer is 'no', odds are it's just one of those small shakeups every coach makes now and then. These small changes happen on every team, all the time (the best example of this right now is Couture being on SJ's 'first' line). These tend to last somewhere between a couple shifts and a couple games and only last more than a few games if they provide amazing results. Players deal with these all the time and are rarely emotionally devastated. If they are, they just don't have the mental fortitude that's required of an NHL level hockey player.
Following this logic, I'm not concerned with Moen being on the 2nd line, Eller on the 3rd, or Pouliot on the 4th if it ends up that way next game. The 6th member of the top 6 (whoever it ends up being) will earn his rightful spot over time and spend the bulk of the season playing there, barring any injuries.
However, I am a little concerned about the return of the Spamrlik pairing at some point after Markov gets back. They tend to frighten me.
