Yea but just imagine Price not on this team. We would be so far gone, we would be challenging for the last spot of the NHL.
"Just imagine insert goalie here not on _____."
This comment makes me cringe every time. Price isn't even the best goalie in the league. If you replace him with say, Roloson or Raycroft than yeah, we would be challenging for the last spot of the NHL. Yes there's teams that manage to be good with a far lesser goalie than Price, but the Habs are far from the only team made better by their goalie.
You remove Thomas and the Bruins don't win a cup last year. Not every team can be the Red Wings and have their goalie be an afterthought.
This comment makes me cringe every time. Price isn't even the best goalie in the league. If you replace him with say, Roloson or Raycroft than yeah, we would be challenging for the last spot of the NHL. Yes there's teams that manage to be good with a far lesser goalie than Price, but the Habs are far from the only team made better by their goalie.
You remove Thomas and the Bruins don't win a cup last year. Not every team can be the Red Wings and have their goalie be an afterthought.
But saying Price is not the reason we won 4 games is reaching. Especially given the amount of scoring chances the opposition gets. Withouth Price forget about winning ANY of these 4 games.
But saying Price is not the reason we won 4 games is reaching. Especially given the amount of scoring chances the opposition gets. Withouth Price forget about winning ANY of these 4 games.
Price was the reason we scored 5 games against the Leafs?
Price was a big part of that. But without Pacioretty or Plekanec we wouldn't have won those 4 games either.
Whether or not Martin was the right coach for this team has no bearing on the fact that Cunneyworth still thinks like an AHL coach.
How exactly does playing Palushaj and Darche big minutes and using Gomez on the power play give us "toughness"?
Lets face it. Martin was a perennial loser. Cunneyworth is a step up (eh, not a large step but a step none-the-less). I am ready for this season to end and hopefully we get a new GM and a new coach.
I agree with you. Palushaj, Darche and Gomez do not scream "toughness".
Probably, but to say the rest of the team is trash and give all credit to Price isn't fair. It's as bad as the people who blame Price for not being unstoppable every time he lets one savable goal in and it's the game winning goal.
We probably would have beat the Leafs with Budaj in the net, because even Budaj probably wouldn't have been as bad as the Leafs goalies.
Lets face it. Martin was a perennial loser. Cunneyworth is a step up (eh, not a large step but a step none-the-less). I am ready for this season to end and hopefully we get a new GM and a new coach.
I agree with you. Palushaj, Darche and Gomez do not scream "toughness".
If you're aiming at a top 3 pick he sure is...
well, unless you can tell us all the good moves Connie is doing that JM wasnt doing himself ?
One of the largest criticisms of Martin and the single biggest reason Gauthier gave for his firing was blown 3rd period leads.
On the season we are 19-3-4 when leading after 2.
Under Cunneyworth we are 8-3-1
Under Martin we are 11-0-3
Another way of looking at it. Martin got us 25/28 points when up by two. Cunneyworth has got us 17/24 in the same situation. Under Martin we were basically on par with Pittsburgh in terms of success taking the lead into the 3rd. Under Martin we were middle of the pack and at least got a point every time we took a lead into the 3rd. Under Cunneyworth we are only better than Columbus.
What's funny is that Cunneyworth has actually taken the lead into the 3rd more often than Martin, but under Cunneyworth we are absolutely dreadful in the 3rd. Like I said earlier, only Columbus has managed to suck more in the 3rd than Cunneyworth's habs.
If this is " 'getting it' in a way that JM never did..." then I'm not sure what getting it is.
One of the largest criticisms of Martin and the single biggest reason Gauthier gave for his firing was blown 3rd period leads.
On the season we are 19-3-4 when leading after 2.
Under Cunneyworth we are 8-3-1
Under Martin we are 11-0-3
Another way of looking at it. Martin got us 25/28 points when up by two. Cunneyworth has got us 17/24 in the same situation. Under Martin we were basically on par with Pittsburgh in terms of success taking the lead into the 3rd. Under Martin we were middle of the pack and at least got a point every time we took a lead into the 3rd. Under Cunneyworth we are only better than Columbus.
What's funny is that Cunneyworth has actually taken the lead into the 3rd more often than Martin, but under Cunneyworth we are absolutely dreadful in the 3rd. Like I said earlier, only Columbus has managed to suck more in the 3rd than Cunneyworth's habs.
If this is " 'getting it' in a way that JM never did..." then I'm not sure what getting it is.
well, you can post any numbers you want, but reality is...
People wants so badly to be right when they say/said "anyone would do a better job than JM" that they'll find every excuse possible to make it look like it's not Connie's fault.
A more physical style of play, and White will add to that
Similar goals against, but more goals for
Better use of the team's speed, even without Gionta in the line-up
More points per game by the defensemen
Rewarding the players who have a good game while sitting the loafers, vets and rookies alike
And I like that. Count me in on the crew happy about Martin's firing!
Goals against under Cunneyworth: 2.72
Goals against under Martin: 2.68
Goals for under Cunneyworth: 2.76
Goals for under Martin: 2.59
ours goals for and against is marginally better under Cunneyworth, however this could still obviously change. Had we run these numbers just one week ago the numbers heavily favored Martin. The defense ppg can basically be directly attributed to Cunneyworth having Kaberle instead of Spacek, something that Martin did not have for more than a game or two. The best part of your post though was "similar goals against but more goals for". What you meant to say was more goals against but also more goals for. Something that right before our winning streak began was terribly untrue as we had score .01 more goals per game under Cunneyworth but allowed substantially more goals against.
Essentialy Cunneyworth's numbers are heavily inflated because of the last week. The last week could simply be a sign of things to come, or it could be a blip in the radar. Its too early to say for sure. We have a tough game against the Bruins coming up, a team that Martin was very successful against, but a team that Cunneyworth is yet to beat.
Probably, but to say the rest of the team is trash and give all credit to Price isn't fair. It's as bad as the people who blame Price for not being unstoppable every time he lets one savable goal in and it's the game winning goal.
We probably would have beat the Leafs with Budaj in the net, because even Budaj probably wouldn't have been as bad as the Leafs goalies.
Budaj probably doesnt get out of the first 0-0, which would change the game going to the second dont you think?
I also enjoyed how you compared thomas helping the bruins winning the cup to a goalie helping his team stay out of the basement. The bruins make the playoffs with anyone in net not the same at all.
As far as RC goes I like the changes he made in the forecheck and physicality. Now they just need an experienced coach with said philosophy because RC's in game decisions are questionable at best.
Most NHL teams dress 12 forwards. He dresses 11. OK.
Usually, your 4th line is an energy crash and bang line (like Boston's) that plays about 10 minutes. He has two skill guys on the 4th and doesn't use them.
Usually, your 3rd line plays 14-15 minutes and is either a shut down line or a scoring line. He plays Eller and two rookies and plays them 10 minutes.
His second line is his shutdown line and plays close to 20 minutes whether the team is winning or losing.
His first line was great but spent by the 3rd period. The tank was empty.
He benches 4th line skill players yet Kaberle directly causes the shorthanded goal (giveaway, soft) yet is lined up for the next faceoff.
He has Darche on the ice on a 4 on 4 with less than 2 minutes to play and the team trailing 4-3. Why not Bourque who can score? Eller? AK? MaxPac? As good as Darche has been lately, he had a horrible 3rd period and looked slower than Hal Gill. How bad was he on the PK for the 3rd goal?
It seems RC is trying to show that he has the balls to bench players like AK and Gomez and hopes that management approves. In the 3rd, he wasn't coaching to win, he was too stubborn to coach to win.
I can say I was very unimpressed with his handling of Gomez and AK yesterday. I have no issues with Darche but sticking him with Plekanec for more than 3-4 periods is too much...then people will complain Plekanec is not producing like a "true" #1.
I can see cracking the whip on AK, but if you are really serious about making the playoffs, get him some damn ice time and involved in the friggen game. You can take a White or another banger and sit them for 15 minutes and send them out and they can be effective...skill players they need to be in the game.
I can say I was very unimpressed with his handling of Gomez and AK yesterday. I have no issues with Darche but sticking him with Plekanec for more than 3-4 periods is too much...then people will complain Plekanec is not producing like a "true" #1.
I can see cracking the whip on AK, but if you are really serious about making the playoffs, get him some damn ice time and involved in the friggen game. You can take a White or another banger and sit them for 15 minutes and send them out and they can be effective...skill players they need to be in the game.
Basically, AK's night was done after the 1st Cane's goal (2nd shift for him). I watched his first two shifts again. It wasn't an effort problem. He had two very hard hits. But his confidence is gone and his hands are gone. He whiffed on a couple of passes and looked lost with the puck. His missed passed that led to the goal wasn't bad however. It was a nice play to Plek but inches long and the Canes eventually scored - a shot that Price saves 19 times out of 20. He hardly played after that.
I never had great hands but I remember how badly I felt when I just couldn't do what I wanted to with the puck because of lost confidence. You get so stiff and tense. Only a pat on the back and significant minutes (maybe with Eller) will get him back on track.
Of note, the Habs turned the puck over way too many times. Palushaj isn't NHL ready and has been soft on the puck in my opinion.
