Fights not for himself , but for his team mates....
Smart enough to pick his spots
That is the jam Montreal was needing bad.
Not the best pk'er I wouldn't think but he is very good. Callahan is a better pk'er for one. I think Boyle is as well. Prust is great in board battles and getting the puck out. Really gutsy guy. Not that big but he will fight anybody and often above his weight class. He's more of a technician. He often embarrasses bigger tough guys but he really doesn't have knockout capability against legit heavy's. I don't think you'll be unhappy with him though. We loved him as a Ranger.
Whatever. Believe in the toughness fairy if you want. But none of these guys will be on the ice when the skilled players play.
And Montreal really needs a 3rd line that can beat opponents not just limit chances against. They don't have the offensive talent to rely on just two lines to do the scoring. However, they do have the defense at the top of the lineup thanks to Plekanec that they can put a third line in a position to do some scoring.
Only when Montreal has gotten three capable scoring lines have they been good at even strength. That's the formula they need to follow.
Toughness fairy? What an embarrassing post.
Boston won a Stanley Cup with the "toughness fairy" on their team. The Kings had Kyle Clifford on their team with 10 fights.
You need to watch Prust play before you start disparaging him. Over the last two years, he has 7 short handed goals. One would think that he was "on the ice when the skilled players play" during those PP's.
I know it is tough for you to see Montreal moving in a different direction away from the soft passive team that we have been for way too long. Accept it. Times change and I am thankful that we finally have a management team that realized what our weaknesses are and did something about it.
He also said that from now on teams playing the habs will know they are in for a long night.
And people thought the Habs weren't soft. LOL. There's so many posters that have been exposed over the year. From the Gauthier/Gainey supporters to those who thought the team did not need muscle.
And people thought the Habs weren't soft. LOL. There's so many posters that have been exposed over the year. From the Gauthier/Gainey supporters to those who thought the team did not need muscle.
Boston won a Stanley Cup with the "toughness fairy" on their team. The Kings had Kyle Clifford on their team with 10 fights.
You need to watch Prust play before you start disparaging him. Over the last two years, he has 7 short handed goals. One would think that he was "on the ice when the skilled players play" during those PP's.
I know it is tough for you to see Montreal moving in a different direction away from the soft passive team that we have been for way too long. Accept it. Times change and I am thankful that we finally have a management team that realized what our weaknesses are and did something about it.
Can you really take someone serioulsy who watched this team the last few years and thought team toughness wasn't an issue? You can't possibly watch hockey and think that the toughness factor wasn't missing from this team.
Right. Thing is, it's pretty easy to find bottom 6 players with size, grit and toughness. It's unfortunate that idiot Gauthier saw the bottom 6 as some sort of wasteland for AHLers and fringe NHLers.
Boston won a Stanley Cup with the "toughness fairy" on their team. The Kings had Kyle Clifford on their team with 10 fights.
You need to watch Prust play before you start disparaging him. Over the last two years, he has 7 short handed goals. One would think that he was "on the ice when the skilled players play" during those PP's.
I know it is tough for you to see Montreal moving in a different direction away from the soft passive team that we have been for way too long. Accept it. Times change and I am thankful that we finally have a management team that realized what our weaknesses are and did something about it.
To be fair, Clifford played 3 games and totaled less than 15min of ice time. But that's beyond the point anyways.
I have no problem with Prust, I find his term pretty long but he should be a 4th liner, not 3rd. No way should we have Moen and Prust both on the 3rd line. We need to improve our scoring and players like Prust, Armstrong and Bouillon won't do that.
Signing one of Prust/Armstrong would have sufficed for me. Then you can maybe sign an actual fighter that you won't have a problem scratching.
But Eller should be playing with skilled wingers too, otherwise we're just wasting his talent, and as it was brought up, we don't have the firepower on the top lines to just rely on them for scoring, having a skilled top 9 like at the beginning of last season would be better.
Right. Thing is, it's pretty easy to find bottom 6 players with size, grit and toughness. It's unfortunate that idiot Gauthier saw the bottom 6 as some sort of wasteland for AHLers and fringe NHLers.
Habs got better just by addressing the bottom 6.
Well, the 4th line last year was a complete mess and through the season Gauthier manage to make our top 6 worse while doing nothing to address that issue. It wasn't that bad before last year though, but the team needed more grit.
It's nice having more balance in that sense but there's only so much bottom 6 wingers will do for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kriss E
Signing one of Prust/Armstrong would have sufficed for me. Then you can maybe sign an actual fighter that you won't have a problem scratching.
But Eller should be playing with skilled wingers too, otherwise we're just wasting his talent, and as it was brought up, we don't have the firepower on the top lines to just rely on them for scoring, having a skilled top 9 like at the beginning of last season would be better.
Not sure about Prust but Moen was pretty competent on the 3rd, he has his limits but he creates space and chips in enough. Kostitsyn, Eller, and Moen was a decent mix, Bourque is worse than AK but I guess he can fill that role.
But playing both Prust and Moen on the 3rd line would be awful, as is using Bourque with Plekanec against top lines. Also not having any wingers who are more than average passers and only one forward who can deke is still concerning.
To be fair, Clifford played 3 games and totaled less than 15min of ice time. But that's beyond the point anyways.
I have no problem with Prust, I find his term pretty long but he should be a 4th liner, not 3rd. No way should we have Moen and Prust both on the 3rd line. We need to improve our scoring and players like Prust, Armstrong and Bouillon won't do that.
Signing one of Prust/Armstrong would have sufficed for me. Then you can maybe sign an actual fighter that you won't have a problem scratching.
But Eller should be playing with skilled wingers too, otherwise we're just wasting his talent, and as it was brought up, we don't have the firepower on the top lines to just rely on them for scoring, having a skilled top 9 like at the beginning of last season would be better.
Kriss, I am talking about the regular season. I know this past playoff season was an anomaly of sorts during the first round with all of the fights. The Habs need a tougher team during the regular season. That's where player's confidence can be developed and improved and having Moen, Prust, White around will help.
Regarding Eller, he is going to have to step up HIS game before we start worrying about who he has playing next to him. So far he has been underwhelming. This will be a make or break season for him. If he doesnt perform, well, time to look elsewhere. And to be fair, Eller is a 3rd line center so regardless of where he would be playing, he has to learn to succeed with "less than star" wingers.
Prust has played well the last 3 years next to a big center, first with Artem Anisimov and then Brian Boyle, if he gets a shot playing with Lars Eller that could work out well.
Boston won a Stanley Cup with the "toughness fairy" on their team. The Kings had Kyle Clifford on their team with 10 fights.
You need to watch Prust play before you start disparaging him. Over the last two years, he has 7 short handed goals. One would think that he was "on the ice when the skilled players play" during those PP's.
I know it is tough for you to see Montreal moving in a different direction away from the soft passive team that we have been for way too long. Accept it. Times change and I am thankful that we finally have a management team that realized what our weaknesses are and did something about it.
LA and Boston were good teams period. Although LA got better when they benched useless tough guys and called up some real players from the AHL. Plus Boston was only marginally better than the supposedly butter soft Habs when they faced of in the playoffs and wouldn't have won but for unreal goaltending. Then got beaten this year by Washington. Toughness is just an ideologically convenient explanation for their success.
You can believe that 4th line bruisers make players they don't play with better all you want. But it rests on some dubious assumptions on how the NHL works.
Now there are ways physical play can help a team but the way most of you talk about it, it seems more like a magic toughness field rather than in ways it can actually help.
What the Habs needed was more scoring wingers and good defensive defensemen. Punching guys more isn't going to solve their problems. Rely on that helping and you'll be disappointed. Or you'll take credit for success that happened for other reasons.
Last edited by Talks to Goalposts: 07-01-2012 at 07:26 PM.
Jeez, dudes. I love Pruster but 'cmon, Habs. That kind of over-paying is encroyable, for what he brings to the table (some grit, pk and potential locker room chemistry). That's too much money for that kind of guy. Plus, I hope he can handle the Mtl scrutiny given the type of player he is (underdog, plombier kind of guy.
Enjoy your smoked Gomez with your Prust poutine. Good luck with that.
Kriss, I am talking about the regular season. I know this past playoff season was an anomaly of sorts during the first round with all of the fights. The Habs need a tougher team during the regular season. That's where player's confidence can be developed and improved and having Moen, Prust, White around will help.
Regarding Eller, he is going to have to step up HIS game before we start worrying about who he has playing next to him. So far he has been underwhelming. This will be a make or break season for him. If he doesnt perform, well, time to look elsewhere. And to be fair, Eller is a 3rd line center so regardless of where he would be playing, he has to learn to succeed with "less than star" wingers.
Eller scored 16. just like DD and one less than Plek. Playing NO pp time
