In my opinion assuming Pacioretty is back 100% , these should be the lines , give or take swapping Cole with Pacioretty if he doesn't mesh with Gomez/Gio.
Cammy-Plek-AK (KEEP HIM ON THE RW!)
Cole-Gomez-Gio
Pacioretty-Eller-Desharnais
Moen- Depth Signing/Engqvist/ White
Darche (13th forward)
Markov-Emelin
Subban-Gorges
Spacegoat/Weber-Gill
3 Stable scoring line with proven chemistry (how can you seperate Andrei and Plek at this point when they've played over 200 games on the same line.)
Price/Budaj
Solid team , no glaring weakness unless we go down with injuries / PG fails to sign a decent 3B center with size and defensive awareness , should be good for top 5 east , battling for home ice advantage.
In my opinion assuming Pacioretty is back 100% , these should be the lines , give or take swapping Cole with Pacioretty if he doesn't mesh with Gomez/Gio.
Cammy-Plek-AK (KEEP HIM ON THE RW!)
Cole-Gomez-Gio
Pacioretty-Eller-Desharnais
Moen- Depth Signing/Engqvist/ White
Darche (13th forward)
Markov-Emelin
Subban-Gorges
Spacegoat/Weber-Gill
3 Stable scoring line with proven chemistry (how can you seperate Andrei and Plek at this point when they've played over 200 games on the same line.)
Price/Budaj
Solid team , no glaring weakness unless we go down with injuries / PG fails to sign a decent 3B center with size and defensive awareness , should be good for top 5 east , battling for home ice advantage.
Ill be honest and say that i want to keep cole away from gomez like i want to keep a baby away from casey anthony.
We can still have scoring depth and keep everyone happy enough with this set up:
cole-pleck-cammy
max-gomez-gio
moen-eller-akost (this trio showed good things)
darche/depth player -desharnais- white
Max to me helped make gomez bearable for a while until the injury. I am pretty sure he will continue from that point.
Dont want to bring up old threads or anything but man that rivet deal....
Ill be honest and say that i want to keep cole away from gomez like i want to keep a baby away from casey anthony.
We can still have scoring depth and keep everyone happy enough with this set up:
cole-pleck-cammy
max-gomez-gio
moen-eller-akost (this trio showed good things)
darche/depth player -desharnais- white
Max to me helped make gomez bearable for a while until the injury. I am pretty sure he will continue from that point.
Dont want to bring up old threads or anything but man that rivet deal....
Due to Ellers chemistry with Kostitsyn last year I think they should play Kosty with him. Instead of having 2 scoring lines the habs can have 3. Hopefully Desharnais plays well on the other wing there. I think this team has the potential for something really great.
I've been juggling with lines in my head for a while, here's an attempt to try to take a step back with the arrival of Cole, as it can change the outlook of our depth in unexpected ways.
MaxPac- Plekanec - Cole
This is a very strong line that can be play very strong 5 vs 5 hockey. You can send that line against any other in the league and they'll be able to work it out. This also gives Plekanec two big AND speedy wingers, something he never had. These guys get the ugly minutes.
Cammalleri - Gomez - Gionta
Pure skill and speed. Since the though minutes are hopefully handled by the first line, this one can be used to burn weaker lines. IMHO Cammy had too much trouble handling first line duties and I feel he would better in a easier situation and obviously with plenty of time on the PP.
AK - Eller - DD
I'm a believer of DD on the wing, especially with two strong guys like AK and Eller. His talent would be wasted on the fourth line, even with some special team time. This line has a crapload of skill for a third line, yet has some of the spunk and thoughness you would expect here.
White - Some Dude - Moen
Hopefully Some Dude ends up being great, but we'll have to see. Aside from that, and giving the overall talent depth of our lineup, I feel we should aim for grits and size on the fourth line. Groundbreaking analysis, I know...
I've been juggling with lines in my head for a while, here's an attempt to try to take a step back with the arrival of Cole, as it can change the outlook of our depth in unexpected ways.
MaxPac- Plekanec - Cole
This is a very strong line that can be play very strong 5 vs 5 hockey. You can send that line against any other in the league and they'll be able to work it out. This also gives Plekanec two big AND speedy wingers, something he never had. These guys get the ugly minutes.
Cammalleri - Gomez - Gionta
Pure skill and speed. Since the though minutes are hopefully handled by the first line, this one can be used to burn weaker lines. IMHO Cammy had too much trouble handling first line duties and I feel he would better in a easier situation and obviously with plenty of time on the PP.
AK - Eller - DD
I'm a believer of DD on the wing, especially with two strong guys like AK and Eller. His talent would be wasted on the fourth line, even with some special team time. This line has a crapload of skill for a third line, yet has some of the spunk and thoughness you would expect here.
White - Some Dude - Moen
Hopefully Some Dude ends up being great, but we'll have to see. Aside from that, and giving the overall talent depth of our lineup, I feel we should aim for grits and size on the fourth line. Groundbreaking analysis, I know...
I dont think you will see Cole and Pacioretty on the same line.. its like putting all your eggs in the same basket. I agree with the 3rd line this is likely the best third line since a very long while (Koivu, Petrov, Bure). For the fourth line perhaps Blunden can make his way to the RW ... Moen/Darche, White/Enqvist, Blunden/Darche should give us enough to play with
It isn't the sole responsibility of the Habs to rein in the Bruins. Now that the Bruins have won the Cup by using those tactics the rest of the league will be gunning for them.
Awesome, I can't wait. It's about time the league gets back to playing hockey and not soccer. The Canadiens won many Stanley Cups playing tough in the 70s.
It was how it was done, the bruins this year were a throwback team and I enjoyed it. I hope to see more of it around the league.
You mention adding toughness and the sheep all rant "YOU WANT A GOON!! HEAVEN ABOVE! :O GASP!"
Learn to read, most people want to get tougher players who stand up for each other, not a solitary fighter who we all know is useless (Laraque).
On this subject of getting tougher players there was an interesting segment on team 990 last week.
They had the singer of The Blushing Bride (Stones tribute band). He played junior hockey in Outremont and though he was a Habs fan his favorite player was Bobby Clarke. He tried to emulate Clarke's game.
You know who was his coach on that minor team? Pierre Gauthier. And he said that Gauthier did not like his style of hockey. Actually, after an incident where he stood up for his team, Gauthier told him I can't coach you any more. Take your stick and go home.
Now unless Gauthier has evolved in his approach to hockey, I don't think anything will change in Montreal.
Yes, I know he went and got Berger & Blunden. They're not exactly Thornton & McQuaide. And that's exactly what this team needs. Players that play Bobby Clarke's game. We have no one that even comes close.
Don't get me wrong I love what Cammalleri-Gomez-Gionta does for the rest of the lines, it gives a ridiculous 1st and 3rd line.
Here's the problem. What do Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta do all season? Two small guys paired up with Gomez who struggled last season. For that line to work I think you need to switch Cammalleri with Patches to be honest.
PS: I love how people defend their toughness argument by saying "we don't want a no skills fighter learn to read" but then fail to aknowledge that this team already has gotten tougher, has been trying to get tougher all along and is a fairly tough team to play against regardless.
They neglect the fact that adding to an area of weakness takes time and doesn't happen over night. I like PG because he isn't a reactionary GM looking to add anyone for "right now". He goes after "his guys" and is patient enough to acquire them either by trade or when they go UFA. No doubt in my mind he really wanted to go after Cole and he did by making him an offer he could not refuse.
People neglect to ever mention this type of stuff though, how we are becoming tougher, how it doesn't happen over night and then say "are you a moron? we don't want a fighter".
Well sorry but if you're whining about toughness still when it's being addressed and obviously won't happen over night then if you don't want a fighter what do you want? There's nothing really worth discussing at this point and deep down despite all the times many people make the claim they want tough players who can play we all know they want fighters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by onice
On this subject of getting tougher players there was an interesting segment on team 990 last week.
They had the singer of The Blushing Bride (Stones tribute band). He played junior hockey in Outremont and though he was a Habs fan his favorite player was Bobby Clarke. He tried to emulate Clarke's game.
You know who was his coach on that minor team? Pierre Gauthier. And he said that Gauthier did not like his style of hockey. Actually, after an incident where he stood up for his team, Gauthier told him I can't coach you any more. Take your stick and go home.
Now unless Gauthier has evolved in his approach to hockey, I don't think anything will change in Montreal.
Yes, I know he went and got Berger & Blunden. They're not exactly Thornton & McQuaide. And that's exactly what this team needs. Players that play Bobby Clarke's game. We have no one that even comes close.
Sounds like the guys just bitter because he did something super stupid on the ice (regardless of defending a teammate) and Gauthier punished him.
Don't get me wrong I love what Cammalleri-Gomez-Gionta does for the rest of the lines, it gives a ridiculous 1st and 3rd line.
Here's the problem. What do Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta do all season? Two small guys paired up with Gomez who struggled last season. For that line to work I think you need to switch Cammalleri with Patches to be honest.
PS: I love how people defend their toughness argument by saying "we don't want a no skills fighter learn to read" but then fail to aknowledge that this team already has gotten tougher, has been trying to get tougher all along and is a fairly tough team to play against regardless.
They neglect the fact that adding to an area of weakness takes time and doesn't happen over night. I like PG because he isn't a reactionary GM looking to add anyone for "right now". He goes after "his guys" and is patient enough to acquire them either by trade or when they go UFA. No doubt in my mind he really wanted to go after Cole and he did by making him an offer he could not refuse.
People neglect to ever mention this type of stuff though, how we are becoming tougher, how it doesn't happen over night and then say "are you a moron? we don't want a fighter".
I get what your saying about the Cammy, Gio, Gomez line but if they are getting soft minutes, I think they have enough talent to produce. As much as Gomez sucked last year, he didn't have much time with 2 top 6 wingers.
I'm pretty sure JM will mix the lines up a fair amount and we'll see some Max, Cole icetime together just as much as we'll see Cole and AK play together. I'm just glad we have enough guys now that we aren't having to have a Darche / Moen in there anymore. I'm sure we'll still see it the odd time here and there but not nearly as much as last year.
You do bring up a point about PG. But I think BG was the same way, he patiently went after the players he wanted but he missed out a lot more in the early years but he did make the same inflated offers to guys like Briere that PG made to Cole. When he didn't get what he wanted those years, he didn't get a bad stop gap solution.
We are getting tougher though, I think most agree. I also think we are getting the right kind of toughness. I think grit on the backend is also better than grit up front and its something we lacked for a long time. Its why I wanted to keep Wiz, I don't think he was as gritty with us during his small tenure here because of his injury.
But I'm hoping Yemelin can punish some of the opposing teams forwards. If you start building a team mentality around that type of play, then guys like Spacek will begin to pick up their physical play when they see others hitting more.
I just think the line is way too small. Could they produce? Yeah. But I think if we spread the size and especially our two power forwards around more it would benefit their line especially. So it isn't necessarily 100% about the size but rather having a power forward on that line in general just works.
Plus then Cammy could be paired with Plek + Power forward.
Since Andrei is big and hits but isn't really necessarily a power forward (has shown a few flashes but otherwise he's just a big 2nd/3rd line winger who throw some hits) I'd say he should be put on the 3rd line where having a power forward is more of a luxury than necessity.
If Patches and Cole stay healthy and produce the way I know they can... having two power forwards in the top 6 and Andrei on the 3rd line imo will be a huge advantage for us. I expect Andrei-Eller tandem to be really exciting. I think DD/Darche will likely be switched around from to the 3rd line with DD occasionally getting top 6 minutes and PP time. This is a legit thing to be excited about. Our depth up front is solid now and no we won't see Darche in the top 6 but he's a serviceable 4th liner who can step up and screen on the PP if necessary. He'll do whatever JM asks him to do and he does everything at least decently. This is a huge advantage for our club because he's a 4th liner who can step up and play on the 3rd line. We have guys everywhere who can now step up into a role they're more suited for. Not Moen on the 1st line
I dont wanna be a debbie downer in this thread but I'd rather max starts on the third line, and gradually when he's 100% bring him back with gomez and gionta.
I mean let cole play with the mario brothers for now try them out see how they gel together...and let AK play with his homeboy pleks and cammy to see how that goes this season too. If that doesnt work out then we know JM is gonna do something about it...
Beginning of season lineup:
Cammy - Pleks - AK (W00T)
Cole - Luigi - Mario
MaxPac- Eller - Moen
White - DD - Darche
Okay, people's use of positions is really starting to get on my nerves so let's clarify
Cammalleri is a LW
Cole is a RW/LW (prefers right)
Pacioretty is a LW
Kostitsyn is a RW/LW (plays better on the right)
Desharnais played LW with Gomez and Gionta at some points in the playoffs
So with that said, keep them on these sides because they fit!
Cammalleri - Plekanec - Cole
Pacioretty - Gomez - Gionta
Desharnais - Eller - Kostitsyn
Moen - White - Darche
Even Eric Engels put Cammalleri and Cole on opposite wings on the same line when their preferred positions are as I stated above. I've now seen it at least 30 times lol Sometimes I feel like people don't know their lefts and rights
Pretty sure that was some comment from a talkback person. But couldn't agree more. Just the fact that they approved it says a lot. Manque de classe.
It was actually an article on RDS.
The text in it is exactly what was written. The title obviously isn't lol. I remember laughing so hard at all the photoshop of this article with the title changed, but the text staying the same. RDS really lacked class on this one.
