I just hope it's exciting hockey, and that they are not totally dominated relying on price to win.
I think it's good, no matter who's sitting, is that if you win the line-up stays the same. shows the guys, if you play well, and the team is rolling, your spot is safe. good philosophy with a young team.
Oh boy the Caps are 0-2 so i expect them to come really strong at the beginning. I hope Carey will be able to shut them down early and to continue his good work. I also want to see the Markov/Diaz duo do what they did last game on the PP. And lastly, the first line (might be the second now) better wake up soon or some changes will be made.
Go Habs Go!
Say they don't wake up. What do you think MT should do? I'd go
Pac-Plek-Gio
Bourque-DD-Cole
-Plekanec gets quality wingers
-That line has clicked in the past
-DD keeps size on his wings+bourque's recent jump
OR
Bourque-Plek-Cole
Pac-DD-Gio
-Cole plays with two linemates who are in better form, could help him
-DD gets two good shooters to feed the puck to
I don't think MT will want to move Galch back up into the top6 when he seems to have found chemistry with GallyB and Prust, but I wouldn't mind seeing him take the #2C position, if only for a period or so at least.
Man this guy has really gone downhill. Backstrom getting creamed last year didn't help any either. Backstrom might actually be the best player on that team now.
Man this guy has really gone downhill. Backstrom getting creamed last year didn't help any either. Backstrom might actually be the best player on that team now.
OV just hasn't been the same since the Olympics.
Ovechkin never adjusts his game. I don't think it's crazy to rather have Backstrom of anyone on that team than Ovie.
The biggest dropoff has been Green though. Remember when he was a Norris candidate? His defense has always been poor but now he's just horrible...either the lack of Boudreau's run and gun play has exposed him or he's washed up at 27.
Man this guy has really gone downhill. Backstrom getting creamed last year didn't help any either. Backstrom might actually be the best player on that team now.
OV just hasn't been the same since the Olympics.
I kinda find it sad though. I've always been a Crosby lover. But the rivalry was awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneSharpMarble
If DD doesn't show anything Eller should get the next game as #2 centre.
There's still time, but let's add another win to the column!
Hopefully Cole and Desharnais (in particular) play better than in the last two games and even manage to pot in a few.
Some of the passes Desharnais made were simply horrible against Florida and often led to turnovers or forced us to return to the neutral zone on the powerplay.
yeah it always seems we can never have our top 2 lines rolling at the same time. I agree that possibly they might have gone stale. i'd like to see this
If DD doesn't show anything Eller should get the next game as #2 centre.
Totally agree! That or he replaces one of Patches and Cole (who have been worse than DD).
This whole "culture change" thing is a very nice way to defend benching Eller to play the rookies. Not saying it wasn't a good coaching result (could have gone badly or just neutral), but it's easy to bench Eller and not have people up in arms. (Well, not TOO many people.) If there's going to be real accountability, has to apply to the "first" line. I do realize, though, that that trio needs awhile to get chemistry back and it may well be worth it to give them games to do it, but please don't call it a culture change. I saw brief interview clip (TSN I think) where Eller was asked what Therrien told him (needs to be more gritty, involved) and whether he agreed with it. Judging by the pause...he did not. (And I agree with Lars, he was no less engaged than others and Patches was horrible.)
As for Neuvirth: Holtby had a bad game(s) + Neuvirth has great stats against us. Then again, so did Clemmensen
Capitals are a mess at the moment and there are quite many cancers on that team (Ribeiro, Neuvirth) and Matt Hendricks is playing with Ovi, or so it seemed last game, they are not playoff bound and I feel GMGM will get the axe after they miss post season play.
1- The Capitals won't be as bad as the Panthers were. Florida was a dead-tired team when they faced us, this Caps team has rested and is hungry to win in front of their fans.
which means..
2- I sadly don't expect an impressive performance from Galchenyuk or Markov today. They were good against the Panthers, but see point #1. Today will be Galchenyuk's true test as a center. I hope for the best, but I expect the worst.
3- As good as Bouillon played recently, he still is in over his head and might make a costly mistake. Expect this; it's a question of time before his limitations catch up with him, no matter how hard-working he is.
Like every game in the NHL so far...it's all about who shows up. (That and the refs!)
Pens got blown out by being soft and lazy. Of course WSH won't be complacent, so let's just hope for general team disarray. (Until/if we get PK back, we are going to sadly have to rely a bit on the other team's failings to the point where Carey can shut it down.)
I soooo hope Ribs is on for all of our goals and gets smoked by Gallagher or better yet, Desharnais.
I just wanted to reply this in the Post-game thread...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterDecoy
for all the defending of white, the next time, when a bruin or whoever else does something similar, this board will turn into a huge pile of crying nancies and everyone knows it. that's the only sad thing about this whole 'discussion'.
The difference between the Bruins and what White did, is that the Bruins will look for any excuse to start fighting; including 100% legal hits.
Being intimidating is part of the game match; White wanted to pass the message that any kind of boarding won't be tolerated.
Expecting a good and hard-working physical game by the Habs again. Don't think it's gonna be a blowout but fairly sure we will win this one 3-1 or 3-2.
Disagree with the other posters that the first line was awful last game. They created some chances around the net with Cole missing an open net as well as #67 shooting a few times. That said, they need to step their game up a little. I'm expecting at least one goal from them tonight. The first game on the other hand... well the whole team was awful so we won't talk about that.
Goals from Cole, Galchenyuk and Bourque. A little scrum in front of the net inbetween Gallagher and Ribeiro.
The #1 line was good versus the panthers. It is a line that dominated 5vs5 play last year. When you get close to 20 mins of PK, it is hard to make them justice. The most important thing is that they started to find MaxPac and Cole in full stride, who are quite a challenge to stop. No worried at all.
Keep up the physical forecheck from last game and control Backstrom/Ovechkin and its definitely a winnable game for the Habs. Hoping the Desharnais line can put up some points at even strength here.
Man this guy has really gone downhill. Backstrom getting creamed last year didn't help any either. Backstrom might actually be the best player on that team now.
OV just hasn't been the same since the Olympics.
Don't jinx it...we don't want him having some breakout game against the Habs tonight.
