So, in the face of all the negativity surrounding what is shaping up to be a shortened, if not lost, season, I felt the need to let myself get lost in some optimistic thoughts about what "could" be this year.
Just as last year, things went about as bad as possible, there is always a chance that things go "as good as possible".
Below is what that looks like for me, very interested to see what fellow habs fans think on the matter.
2012-2013
- Habs win the cup (obviously... what else could "everything go right" end with!), after a strong season that sees them head into the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the east.
We draw Toronto-Philly-Boston in the east before an epic finals match-up with the RedWings.
every series goes 6-7games, except the sweep vs the Bruins in the conference finals.
I'll start from the net out
- Price:
vezina finalist season (doesn't win in a tight race, loses to a more veteran guy).
establishes himself unquestionably as the best young goalie in the league and heads into 2013 summer olympic camps as the consensus #1 for Canada
- Budaj:
does well in spot duty, ~20 games with positive numbers across the board
Defense:
- Markov knee holds out, and while having lost a step, still plays at a dominant top-pairing level both offensively & defensively. More importantly, finds a "komi-like" chemistry with Emelin, helping the kid establish himself as a strong top-4 player with better offensive impact than Komi ever had.
- Subban pairs with Gorges to be one of the top d-pairings in the league, match-up effectively vs anyone and in the playoffs eat up 25-30min/game with ease. Subban just misses out on a norris nomination, losing votes b/c of how good Markov is.
- Diaz/Bouillion/Weber/Kaberle don't suck, give the team quality minutes in depth roles, Diaz & Weber doing a nice job to fill temporary holes in the top-4 due to injuries (of which, overall, habs don't have to deal with much)
Offense:
- Eller has a break-out season (25g/50pts) centering a dominant (in their role) 3rd line between Armstrong/Prust.
- Plekanec-Bourque-Gionta take up the primary match-up role and do so effectively, their offensive stats moderate but able to keep a strong positive ledger despite playing against elite players every night.
- DD's line builds on last year, able to maintain (or even inch up) their offensive production despite drawing even more of the oppositions defensive focus than they did down the stretch last year (which also helps set up Eller's line with consistently average opposition).
- White has a break-out year in a bottom-6 role, being the most productive 4th liner in the league and teaming with Moen/Noke to form one of the best 4th lines in the league.
- Leblanc & Gallagher get brief call ups, and do well, but the injury luck allows them to spend the bulk of the year in Hamilton, where they help lead the bulldogs to a somewhat surprising Calder cup finals season (lose in heartbreak in game 7, sending all of the young guys to the offseason with a bit of a chip on their shoulder and hungry to win).
- Therrien holds a tight control on the room, the winning and the positive energy that brings in Montreal
allowing him to win the room early.
- Bergevin manages to pull to miracle moves, trading Gomez before the season starts to Phoenix (who had both need & cap space after Doan bolts) for AHL prospects and a non-1strd pick.
In-season he stays patient, lack of injuries and team playing well don't force the issue. Near the deadline manages to pull-off a Bourque-Havlat swap (giving Plek's line a bit more offensive pop for the playoff run, mission accomplished as they lead the team in scoring on the way to the cup), and amazingly a desperate borderline playoff team-Calgary offers up their 1st rounder for Kaberle, a move that flops (along with their other moves), and leaves us with the 5th overall pick on top of our late first rouner... Bergevin than packages those 2 firsts and our earliest 2nd to move up and draft Mackinnon.
Talk of a dynasty forming starts to swirll & new cba actually makes it feasible that we can keep Price/MaxPac/Subban/Gally/Eller/Mackinnon long-term despite all of them reaching all-star level.
now while my cynical intellect is quite certain very little, if any, of that is probable, my optimistic emotional side certainly enjoys thinking about it... Happy Saturday
I got a feeling that the rookies from last year will exceed our expectations for next year ( if and when the next season starts ), I say we make the playoffs and lose in the first round, second round if we fight hard enough.
For the upcoming season (whenever it starts) I'd rate the Habs as "fair." That means they shouldn't automatically be relegated to s non-playoff status. In time they'll be "good," which translates into doing better than barely edging into 7th or 8th place. Beyond that it's speculative to project them into the upper levels because we haven't seen their new acquisitions playing in Montréal, not to mention their 2013 draftees.
I'm really looking forward to our guys' progression. A lot of question marks, but also a lot of interresting things to look at. Not all of those will be answered positively, sadly, but it will still be nice to see what happens.
Price: Will he proves that he is clearly part of the goaltending elite of this league?
Desjardins: Not something that holds a lot of importance to me, but will he proves that he can be a very good no.2 when Budaj's gone?
Subban: Will he finally explodes offensively with a 50+ points season?
Diaz: Really liked what I saw from him last year. Can he be a late bloomer a la Mark Streit, or at least become a "high end 3rd pairing" ?
Emelin: Will he develops more his offensive game and become a top 4 d-man?
Markov: Can he come back to his pre-injury self?
Eller: The guy's really talented. Will he finally have linemates with some offensive flair or be given a chance in a more offensive role?
Paciorretty: Is he already at his peak? If yes, can he maintain it? If not, how big can his progression be or can he hit the 80 points mark?
Desharnais: Only a product of his wingers or a St-Louis in the making? Or somewhere in the middle?
White: Can he be more thant a 12th/13th forward?
Also, the quantity and quality of young guys trying to make the team might push everyone to play harder not to lose their spot. Leblanc showing flashes of a future NHLer, at which level can he bring his offensive game? Will Gallagher's exciting performance at last year camp translate into professional hockey on a consistent basis (in the AHL)? How much can Gally progress after missing of whole year of development? Tinordi, Beaulieu, Ellis, which one of our young d-man will stand out the most in Hamilton? How Holland, as a prospect, will be considered after a year in the AHL? Will anyone of these guys force the management to give them a full time spot by the end of the year? And I'm not even talking about the prospects in the junior (beside Galchenyuk).
It seems to me like this season will be huge for the future of this team. But also, even if we're not a top a team, it looks for some reasons like it will be an interresting year for the fans, and at many levels.
We just have to hope for the season not to be canceled...
For the upcoming season (whenever it starts) I'd rate the Habs as "fair." That means they shouldn't automatically be relegated to s non-playoff status. In time they'll be "good," which translates into doing better than barely edging into 7th or 8th place. Beyond that it's speculative to project them into the upper levels because we haven't seen their new acquisitions playing in Montréal, not to mention their 2013 draftees.
agree completely with your assessment...
now, if you turn down the intellect and turn up the emotion, tell us what 2012-13 looks like if things were to go really well?
in other words, speculate as if no one is watching (funny, "dance as if no one is watching" seems much easier to do even if the outcome looks far more ridiculous)
My brain says first overall pick. My heart says... 6th...
individually I think we have similar optimistic expectations but for one: my heart says DD establishes himself as one of the league premiere playmaker. More like st-Louis than st-Louis lite.
Nobody dare argue with what my ventricles say!
Last edited by MasterDecoy: 08-26-2012 at 05:51 AM.
Reason: teh lulz
MB will fix the habs. He will do it mostly from within the organization.
Prospects will get a proper chance to improve in order to earn a spot on the main roster. Sounds simple but it sure has not been implemented in the last few years. Martin was WAY too married to the old veterans. He played them over and over hoping they would turn the team around, well he died with those vets and so did the habs. A waisted year for sure.
MB has handed Timmons a cart blanche finally. No more interference from PG or Gainey. Now on the ice from now on you had better bring your " A " game every night. You had better get along with your team mates and that's ever last one of them. No more in fighting in the room.
Therrien has carte blanche to bench,trade,send down ANYBODY that does not buy into the NEW HABS. This I think will have an effect because I think at least one of the players will test the resolve of Therrien right away. This will lead the player to go to MB office and there, instead of getting his way he will find the exit door and a MB that will tell the player to put his house on the market or go back and DO what Therrein says, and don't slam the door on the way out. We may never hear about all this but I bet this will happen in the first two months. The rest of the players will of course know all this and realize things have really changed. most will be very very happy, the silent ones will realize that doing just enough to get by is NOT good enough anymore. No more easy resort living, no more palm trees and pina coladas hockey. By the way did anybody else notice that NO and GET OUT OF HERE sound the same in any language. Translators not need.
The Feel of the Habs this year will be very different. The few additions will help, but over all I don't think anybody does not understand that this coming year is a transition year. A lot of the very best habs prospects wont be ready this year. This year it's called fix the boat up first, plug the holes, repaint, install the best radars and radios and a great new GPS system so the Habs will always know exactly where they are going all the time. Next year it's start adding horse power to the main engines. adding a bigger set of transmissions for the back end and then adding some high powered turbo boosters for the front end of the engines are for next year.
now, if you turn down the intellect and turn up the emotion, tell us what 2012-13 looks like if things were to go really well?
in other words, speculate as if no one is watching (funny, "dance as if no one is watching" seems much easier to do even if the outcome looks far more ridiculous)
OK, as in 2010 they could upset two front runners and perhaps another low-ranked team could knock off a couple more, so the Habs would face an opponent on their own level and enjoy a 50% chance of reaching the finals. Then the West leader would be depleted by injuries and a virus, leaving a wide open road to the Cup. It could happen, so we Hab fans might curse our rotten luck if a season-long standoff in the CBA negotiations denies our team a championship.
