To be honest...how could they be worse? Worse bench management I have ever seen. You could count on at least one or two many man on the ice penalties per game. The epic third period collapse. Yes it is happening under Cunney also but at least we are attacking and not sitting back waiting for it to happen.
A better team? Maybe. Leblanc and White are better than some of the 4th liners Martin was forced to use. Emelin had been making steady progress under Martin, and has continued to do so under Cunneyworth, he is probably playing his best hockey right now.
Does this make Cunneyworth a better coach than Martin? Absolutely not.
A better team? Maybe. Leblanc and White are better than some of the 4th liners Martin was forced to use. Emelin had been making steady progress under Martin, and has continued to do so under Cunneyworth, he is probably playing his best hockey right now.
Does this make Cunneyworth a better coach than Martin? Absolutely not.
Emelin was bench alot under Martin. If Martin was here Emelin would still be riding the pine!
However, we need a new coach as I dont think that Cunneyworth is the man who will lead this team to a Cup. His personnel decisions and benchings and the continued reliance on 7 DMen reminds me too much of what Carbo/Martin did during their failed tenures.
Emelin was bench alot under Martin. If Martin was here Emelin would still be riding the pine!
Emelin missed a total of 12 games, mostly early in the season, when he was still having trouble adjusting to the NHL. Martin eased him into the league, as should be the case with rookies. Looking at the player Emelin is becoming, I'd say that strategy has worked out quite well.
They aren't a better team but they are probalby a luckier one.
Our 5-5 game is not as good (getting much less scoring chances) but it seems like we are beginning to get those bounces or to see those goalies having off nights. Our PP is generating half the number of scoring chances it did but now its shooting % is normal instead of stupidly low.
The decline of the 5-5 play (puck possession) is mainly explained by the dump and chase system. It has affected most player's puck possession stats and it seems like only the players who are puck possesion beast by themselves have managed to not get hurt too much by that (get out in the + in possession during most games, also by players I mean player and by player I mean Subban , kidding but it does seem like we are only in the the + when he is on the ice during most games)
Cunneyworth does some really weird things. The Subban-Eller benching during the Winnipeg game had me wondering if he took his coaching decisions while watching L'AC.
It was basically, Subban isn't playing the right way because François Gagnon said so = Healthy scratch, People think Eller sucks because he ain't racking up points playing shutdown minutes with Darche and Nokelainen and no PP time = Healthy scratch. Then a couple of games later, he called Plekanec a third line center... so it's pretty hard not to doubt his decision making.
His go to line is the only line in the lineup that was already together when he got there. He's also so completely dependant on that line that he doesn't seem to have a clue when they are getting killed at ES. He's managed to create one decent line and keep it for more than 3 games. That's the Darche-Plek-Bourque line (Wich reminds me that it took him more than a month to realise Plek was his shutdown center) that I suspect would have Blunden instead of Darche if Blunden was healthy.
Wich brings me to the Blunden love. I know people hate the Darche love from coaches since he shouldn't be anywhere near a top line but there is, at the very least, some logic in having him there. He can fill in next to Plekanec on a shutdown unit since he's decent defensively, logic says AK should be there, especially if he's not with Eller and Leblanc, but at least it makes more sense than Blunden.
Blunden shouldn't be anywhere near a top 9, he's not good enough offensively to be usefull in a soft minutes role and he's terrible defensively so he should never ever have to face higher comp. than 3rd liners. I know he hits and everything and that's great... on a 4th line. Not because he hits and I hate that, Cole hits, AK hits, Moen hits and they all have their use in a top 9. Even White could fill in on a 3rd line. But they all are much better then Blunden at that playing hockey thing.
So basically when I evaluate Cunneyworth I can't help but think that he once thought it was a good idea to send a not yet fully develloped Eller against first liners (while Plek was playing against third liners) winged by the worst defensive (and overall I guess ) player on the roster and then when the line got scored on only AK and Eller got benched while Blunden played. Wich really makes me wonder what the hell "playing the right way" means to Cunneyworth.
Cunneyworth allows the team to play to their strengths more than Martin's suffocating defensive system allowed and the players are allowed to take a few more chances too.
The Habs aren't a big enough team to play a total defensive system and carry the puck. Cunneyworth has them chipping the puck by the defence and using their speed to beat the defence to the puck which is playing to the Habs strength....speed!!
What I like about him is that he has no problem diminishing a player's role if he's not playing his style. Be it AK, Gomer, PK, John Smith or Marc-Andre Gagnon. His emphasis on forechecking and physical play wears defences down and causes turnovers. It's a proven method. Once he learns how to coach d-zone coverage and backchecking, he'll be a good coach in this league.
What is really great about him though is the fact that he's dealt with the pile of poop that was dumped on him after he was appointed. And he's dealt with it gracefully.
I don't see any glaring problems with Cunney. Just inexperience in line-matching and the "chess game."
Not sure, but hockey has become entertainment again for the most part. I understand JM had a system and all, but he sucked the fun out of watching the habs for me. I haven't skipped watching this many games over the past 2 years than I have since the really dark days in the early 2000s. I give credit to Jacques on working with what he had and sticking by his system, but thats not for me. We gotta get back to exciting hockey the way the habs played it when they were successful.
Dunno. They are playing a bit better lately. How much of that is Cunney's influence is debatable. He hasn't been around long enough to tell, and he is still a rookie head coach. For some reason or other, they seem to be playing with a lot more intensity.
If that actually was the case, then all hail the "More horrible player" polls! I successfully managed to put eleven Habs players in "More horrible player" polls (three of which have been traded since they appeared in a "More horrible player" poll, Cammalleri, Gill and Spacek)
- Subban
- Plekanec
- Kostitsyn
- Bourque
- Kaberle
- Campoli
- Weber
- Gomez
- Cammalleri (traded for Bourque, who also appeared in a "More horrible player" poll)
- Spacek (traded for Kaberle, who also appeared in a "More horrible player" poll)
- Gill (traded)
They are much more entertaining to watch under RC for sure. Hell I have short term memory, but the Buffalo game was very fun to watch. Sad to lose in the SO, but I really enjoyed that game. Very exciting.
Emelin missed a total of 12 games, mostly early in the season, when he was still having trouble adjusting to the NHL. Martin eased him into the league, as should be the case with rookies. Looking at the player Emelin is becoming, I'd say that strategy has worked out quite well.
Yes Martin's sound strategy of benching Emelin and riding high output guys like Gomez, Darche and Gill was really brilliant. Blaming all our rookies at all times was another nice touch.
**** Martin and his vampire methods of sucking any life from a club. Look at some guys production since he was fired. Desharnais had 14 assists at the time. Now has 32. Desharnais had 4 goals at the time, now has 9. Darche had 1 assist and now has
7. Pacioretty has doubled his goal scoring. Major improvements, hell even Gomez has 200% more goals under Cunneyworth with much less ice.
To be honest...how could they be worse? Worse bench management I have ever seen. You could count on at least one or two many man on the ice penalties per game. The epic third period collapse. Yes it is happening under Cunney also but at least we are attacking and not sitting back waiting for it to happen.
SO, what you see as improvement is the way we lose games ? really ?
god damn... you guys sure have VERY low standard...
Is it just you, you ask? The answer is yes, it is you. Even Gauthier admitted he made a mistake firing Martin. That being said, both Cunneyworth and Martin are useless. It's time to end this circus already and get a real coach. Oh yeah, its about time we get a real GM too.
Actually one thing I noticed is the fact we don't have injuries under Cunneyworth.
Very interesting observation, and although it might be a bit too early in Cunneyworth's tenure to establish this as a trend, I have always felt that although bad luck plays a part in injuries, coaching plays a much greater role in the number and severity of injuries than most people think. When you look at the number and severity of injuries suffered by the Habs in recent years, there is no question that there is a trend toward Habs players sustaining more and more severe injuries than many teams and I really do think that coaching has played a major role in this trend. Of course, I'm not sure it will ever be established with certainty, I'm convinced the correlation or relationship between the quality and type of coaching and number and severity of injuries does exist.
Yes Martin's sound strategy of benching Emelin and riding high output guys like Gomez, Darche and Gill was really brilliant. Blaming all our rookies at all times was another nice touch.
...Gomez and Darche don't play the same position as Emelin? The fact that Martin played Gill more at the start of the season is normal. The 2010-11 Gill would have helped this team big time. Once it was clear that Gill could no longer do the job he used to, JM lessened his ice-time. All this talk about giving Emelin more ice time at the beginning of the season is making me think people started actually watching the games halfway through the season. Emelin was not able to do the job at the start of the season.
As for "blaming all our rookies at all times" - I never heard Martin say anything of the sort. But if you think more ice time to Emelin & Diaz in the first 20 games, St Denis, Enqvist, Palushaj and Blunden would have saved our season, you're dreaming.
...Gomez and Darche don't play the same position as Emelin? The fact that Martin played Gill more at the start of the season is normal. The 2010-11 Gill would have helped this team big time. Once it was clear that Gill could no longer do the job he used to, JM lessened his ice-time. All this talk about giving Emelin more ice time at the beginning of the season is making me think people started actually watching the games halfway through the season. Emelin was not able to do the job at the start of the season.
As for "blaming all our rookies at all times" - I never heard Martin say anything of the sort. But if you think more ice time to Emelin & Diaz in the first 20 games, St Denis, Enqvist, Palushaj and Blunden would have saved our season, you're dreaming.
What have you been watching? Martin always found a way to blame the young players.
Very interesting observation, and although it might be a bit too early in Cunneyworth's tenure to establish this as a trend, I have always felt that although bad luck plays a part in injuries, coaching plays a much greater role in the number and severity of injuries than most people think. When you look at the number and severity of injuries suffered by the Habs in recent years, there is no question that there is a trend toward Habs players sustaining more and more severe injuries than many teams and I really do think that coaching has played a major role in this trend. Of course, I'm not sure it will ever be established with certainty, I'm convinced the correlation or relationship between the quality and type of coaching and number and severity of injuries does exist.
, kidding but it does seem like we are only in the the + when he is on the ice during most games)
