I would agree....but with whom was Eller playing? What if suddenly Therrien feels that Eller is a top 6 player and wants to play with Pleks and Gionta? Would you feel the same?
IIRC, every time Eller was used as a winger was as a Top-6 winger. I seem to recall him playing with Cammy and Pleks quite a bit and looking terrible.
I don't get this. I think defense is our strength this year, especially if markov remains healthy and once subban is signed. Can anybody clarify this for me?!?!?! I just think it's above average d.
Imo:
- How many games will Subban miss?
- Markov's health is still a major concern
- We may be forced to use Emelin in the top 4 and I think he is not ready for such duties
- We also may be forced to use Emelin as a RD and he looked better as a LD
- We never replaced Hamrlik: he was a stabilizing force out there. One who was able to eat a lot of evens strength minutes
- Because of his experience and style of play, we may be forced to use Bouillon in the top 4. I am a big fan (he is much better than Campoli!) but I don't like him as a top4 D.
- Most of our D bring a redundant contribution: soft (to various degree) offensive defensemen. We badly need a big, experienced and tough stay at home D.
- Subban, Diaz, Weber, Saint-Denis, Emelin... these are not experienced defensemen. And at least 3 of them will play a big role.
Think of all the 3rd period leads we lost last season: it is the sign of an inexperienced D squad. This season should not be different.
Last edited by Kjell Dahlin: 01-13-2013 at 02:52 PM.
why would defense be our strength? What top 10 or 15 dmen in the league do we have on our roster? our top 2 are georges and subban(who is not signed). Who knows what we get out of markov, then we have emelin, kaberle, diaz, weber, boulion and maybe Mike Comedore if there are injuries. That's not a very strong d on paper
Umm, both Mrkov and Subban are at the very east in the top 30 best defensmens in the league plus we have Kaberle who's a 0.5 PPG defensmen. Our problem is the mix, we need toughness on that D squad for PK duties and prtoecting Price. Basically we need Tinordi to be NHL ready
- We may be forced to use Emelin in the top 4 and I think he is not ready for such duties
- We also may be forced to use Emelin as a RD and he looked better as a LD
- We never replaced Hamrlik: he was a stabilizing force out there. One who was able to eat a lot of evens strength minutes
- Most of our D bring a redundant contribution: soft (to various degree) offensive defensemen. We badly need a big, experienced and tough stay at home D.
- Subban, Diaz, Weber, Saint-Denis, Emelin... these are not experienced defensemen. And at least 3 of them will play a big role.
Think of all the 3rd period leads we lost last season: it is the sign of an inexperienced D squad imo. This season should not be different imo.
The Habs lost leads and games in the third period and OT mainly because they were not in shape and were playing the passive style of Martin and Cunney.
hmmm... I think will be a great puck possession team. With the ability to control the play. Emelin, gorges, subban, are fine in front of the net. We may need one more nice piece, but I don't think it's necessary not yet, anyways.
I think it'll be the opposite. In the best case we will play solid team defence and capitalize on our scoring chances. Scoring chances will be generated from puck retrieval in the offensive zone.
- Markov's health is still a concern- We may be forced to use Emelin in the top 4 and I think he is not ready for such duties
- We also may be forced to use Emelin as a RD and he looked better as a LD
- We never replaced Hamrlik: he was a stabilizing force out there. One who was able to eat a lot of evens strength minutes
- Because of his experience and style of play, we may be forced to use Bouillon in the top 4. I am a big fan (he is much better than Campoli!) but I don't like him as a top4 D.
- Most of our D bring a redundant contribution: soft (to various degree) offensive defensemen. We badly need a big, experienced and tough stay at home D.
- Subban, Diaz, Weber, Saint-Denis, Emelin... these are not experienced defensemen. And at least 3 of them will play a big role.
Think of all the 3rd period leads we lost last season: it is the sign of an inexperienced D squad imo. This season should not be different imo.
This is as far as i could go ! What are you talking about ? I have heard he has been one of the best if not the best player in camp so far.
I guess in three year they will still be saying, oh no Markov is so fragile. Just ridiculous.
As many have said, our defence isn't bad this year, just a bad mix. Emelin and Subban are the only players with any real intimidating qualities in terms of aggression/physicality, and we don't want or need PK doing too much of that.
I love Bouillion but he was a bit of a redundant signing, sure he's tough and all but, he's far too small.
If we could get over what he did to Zednik, I think Colin White could really help our defence. Otherwise we will need to do something via trade IMO.
As many have said, our defence isn't bad this year, just a bad mix. Emelin and Subban are the only players with any real intimidating qualities in terms of aggression/physicality, and we don't want or need PK doing too much of that.
I love Bouillion but he was a bit of a redundant signing, sure he's tough and all but, he's far too small.
If we could get over what he did to Zednik, I think Colin White could really help our defence. Otherwise we will need to do something via trade IMO.
What did Colin White do to Zednik? Did you mean Kyle McLaren?
As many have said, our defence isn't bad this year, just a bad mix. Emelin and Subban are the only players with any real intimidating qualities in terms of aggression/physicality, and we don't want or need PK doing too much of that.
I love Bouillion but he was a bit of a redundant signing, sure he's tough and all but, he's far too small.
If we could get over what he did to Zednik, I think Colin White could really help our defence. Otherwise we will need to do something via trade IMO.
I think it'll be the opposite. In the best case we will play solid team defence and capitalize on our scoring chances. Scoring chances will be generated from puck retrieval in the offensive zone.
perhaps.. but with markov, kaberle and subban on each pairing I hope they play to their strengths (maybe not kaberle if he's a 5-6 pairing).
I also think people are forgetting how good we were at letting teams come back. If there is any area where I see progress, it's on d. Guys are growing and will be more confident and with the addition of markov things will come together for them as a group. Granted, we might need one better stay at home..but that can be replaced with a trade for teams that could use a guy like kaberle or diaz.
This is as far as i could go ! What are you talking about ? I have heard he has been one of the best if not the best player in camp so far.
I guess in three year they will still be saying, oh no Markov is so fragile. Just ridiculous.
You are the one being ridiculous, big time, if you decide to completely dismiss the fact that he played only 65 NHL games in the last 3 seasons. His KHL stint is encouraging (fingers crossed) but I would not build my D squad assuming Markov will play 82 games.
That would be, as you put it, ridiculous; definitely not a cautious move from a management point of view imo.
Markov's knee is definitely one of the question marks surrounding our D squad.
The Habs lost leads and games in the third period and OT mainly because they were not in shape and were playing the passive style of Martin and Cunney.
It is probably a mix of different elements (including those you mentioned) but I think it has more to do with our inexperienced D having troubles coping with the 3rd period pressure.
Are people really putting their emphasis on 1,28% of the time played as top 6 on the wings for Eller? So during that time he didn't look good, hence he'll never look good? And during that 1.28%, should I mention that the other winger was the great Rene Bourque.
Are people really putting their emphasis on 1,28% of the time played as top 6 on the wings for Eller? So during that time he didn't look good, hence he'll never look good? And during that 1.28%, should I mention that the other winger was the great Rene Bourque.
Eller will be fine on the wing when he realizes that his strength is taking the puck hard to the net. Hopefully he noticed the succes that Pacioretty and Cole had doing this. Much like those two he is a great skater with great size. Even when this tactic doesn't directly result in the goal it often draws penalties.
Eller is a little too smitten with trying to be a playmaker from the side boards and he just doesn't have the vision to be excel at it. I think he is a huge wildcard that can really elevate his game and make a difference in the standings.
A little more Cole in his game and little less Thornton and he will be a huge asset to this team.
Maybe because so called numb nuts didn't have the players to play that system but now he does ?
Well we have a good deal of very direct forwards, Pacioretty, Cole, Plekanec, Gionta, Eller and the legion of grinders on this team are all useful in a north-south game, so maybe it is a good idea. Most of the best teams in the league emphasize puck possession far more than Theirren but the Habs don't really have the skill..
