It will be interesting to see if Martin puts Eller on the PK this season, as he seemed to trust him in the Boston series
He's really not going to have much of a choice. Eller is a smart kid, though. He'll probably just need some time to get adjusted to the speed, but I'm sure he'll be a fine PK'er once he settles in. I have high hopes for him.
He's really not going to have much of a choice. Eller is a smart kid, though. He'll probably just need some time to get adjusted to the speed, but I'm sure he'll be a fine PK'er once he settles in. I have high hopes for him.
Same, I thought Eller looked like a legitimate 3rd liner near the end of last year. Hopefully him and AK will be able to put up some decent numbers. Hopefully Lars can put up maybe 30 points or more.
Beautiful goals by Plekanec and Moen tonight, also a couple of rockets from Weber and Pacioretty.
Couple areas of concern. Defense gets better with some addition by subtraction with Spacek out, hopefully he's done for the year. Emelin looked lost out there and Weber played tough for a small guy.
Lack of size/toughness still an area of concern. Habs were pushed around badly before getting a couple of generous calls. This will result in more injuries longterm and wear down our smaller players.
Do not like Plekanec on the point on the PP. Guys are keying on Subban because Plekanec doesn't have a great shot and he looks uncomfortable in that role.
I strongly disagree with you.
Since Spacek is back playing on his natural side, he has been playing great.
He & Diaz have been a solid pairing.
Some D-men have a really hard time adjusting to playing their off wing.
Spacek has played most of his time in Montreal on his off wing without complaining.
I am calling you out for wishing season ending injuries on one of our players.
We do not need this kind of attitude from Habs fans.
Subban could probably give him a run for his money.
I see the argument for it, especially the state our blueline is in, but Subban is still a higher risk player and gets needless penalties. He's also much less important for penalty kills.
Subban could probably give him a run for his money.
Subban is one of my favorite players on this team, but I honestly don't think he's played that amazing yet. First game was a disaster for him imo, but then again for most of the team other than Price. Today he did better though, but I'd put Pleks as second most important player to this team at the moment.
We need a legitimate second line center because Plekanec always starts amazing and then burns out by February. Gomez is not getting it done and it hurts plex in the second half.
I strongly disagree with you.
Since Spacek is back playing on his natural side, he has been playing great.
He & Diaz have been a solid pairing.
Some D-men have a really hard time adjusting to playing their off wing.
Spacek has played most of his time in Montreal on his off wing
without complaining.
I am calling you out for wishing
season ending injuries on one of
our players.
We do not need this kind of
attitude from Habs fans.
Spacek is rotten and almost singlehandedly gave the series to Boston last year. He's better off on the sidelines on LTIR so we can use his inflated salary to get an NHL calibre defenseman that's worth the money. I have no desire to ever see him in a Habs uniform again.
Spacek is rotten and almost singlehandedly gave the series to Boston last year. He's better off on the sidelines on LTIR so we can use his inflated salary to get an NHL calibre defenseman that's worth the money. I have no desire to ever see him in a Habs uniform again.
It wasn't spacek, it was sopel that was the weak link on that pairing. When paired with Mara for game 6 spacek was a very serviceable defenseman. Then Martin played wisniewski in game 7 and spacek was back with sopel rather than keeping mara/spacek intact and scratching sopel. It's not spacek's fault he's been asked to play above his level on his wrong side.
We need a legitimate second line center because Plekanec always starts amazing and then burns out by February. Gomez is not getting it done and it hurts plex in the second half.
But as we all know there's a good reason for that:
Plekanec is one of the few #1 centers (whether or not he is a legit one is not the question, is our best and most important center after all) who also tends to lead his team in shorthanded mins.
Other Selke-award worthy players, from Bergeron, Kesler, J. Staal, Nielson, and Pavelski are all 2nd line centres on their respective teams, and therefore also face lesser D-man on ES.
Remember that Pleks is routinely playing against Chara, Myers, Schenn, Letang, M. Staal, Carlsson, and co. as well.
The only #1 centres who are a legitimate first wave penalty killers are probably M. Richards, Toews, Kopitar, and Giroux. And no, Datsyuk doesn't often play on the PK (but I'm sure he easily could).
Gangsta was 11th in total SH mins last season among all forwards, and every player ahead of him were bottom-6 guys.
It must seem like a pretty thankless job at times, and I won't be the first one to tell you that it must take quite a toll on your body to be playing that many PK mins. But you're right, until we get a legitimate two-way 2nd line centre (or first line), Pleks will most likely continue to slow down offensively during the second half of the season, but I'll refrain from faulting him for it.
