2020-2021 NHL Thread

[Bullfrog]

Oh, those Russians.....ra, ra....

 

[bustaheims]

The timing of this allegation - about a month after Panarin was very outspoken about his opinions on the Navalny situation - combined with Panarin's history of being critical of Putin definitely add a significant amount of doubt to these allegations. That doesn't mean they're not true, of course. There's just a clear odour to them.

If this story was coming from a more reputable source than a bunch of Putin sycophants, I'd be much more prone to believe there's something to this. However, so far, it's only from Putinites, so, lots of doubts.

 

[Frank E]

What a disinterested looking bunch there.

I don't think the Habs are broken. I think we're just seeing what kind of team they really are when they don't get to beat up on Vancouver.

9-5-3 overall.
4-0-1 against Vancouver
1-2-1 against Toronto
2-1-0 against Edmonton
1-1-0 against Calgary
1-1-1 against Ottawa

So yeah 5-5-2 against everyone else and only above .500 against 2 teams.

They made some really nice additions and are a decent team but they just aren't the world-beaters that the first week of the season made them out to be.

They lack a real threat up front. There's no one that can put the team on their back like Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander and outscore a team. Anderson and Toffoli are nice additions, but they don't fill the whole they've been lacking for over a decade. They had Pacioretty, but he never struck fear into the hearts of opposing teams. Gallagher hit 30 goals once, but he's more of a pain in the a$$ than a game breaker.

Gallagher is on a 29 goal/82 game pace with a S% in and around his career avg.

Suzuki is pacing 60 points/82 games.  Kotkaniemi has been better than last year, and I think he's got another gear to shift into this season...maybe.

I think they're better than I'd prefer them to be, and I think they're better than Saturday night's outing showed...maybe.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Gallagher is on a 29 goal/82 game pace with a S% in and around his career avg.

Suzuki is pacing 60 points/82 games.  Kotkaniemi has been better than last year, and I think he's got another gear to shift into this season...maybe.

I think they're better than I'd prefer them to be, and I think they're better than Saturday night's outing showed...maybe.

Yeah I mean they're not as good as they were to start the season but they're not as bad as they look right now.

 

[L K]

I know why they made the trade at the time but it would be interesting to see where the Habs would be if they hadn't done the Sergachev for Drouin trade.

Danault really confuses me so far this year.  He has 0 goals on the season but also only has 19 shots in 17 games and 39 total shot attempts.  He's been downright bad.

 

[herman]

The timing of this allegation - about a month after Panarin was very outspoken about his opinions on the Navalny situation - combined with Panarin's history of being critical of Putin definitely add a significant amount of doubt to these allegations. That doesn't mean they're not true, of course. There's just a clear odour to them.

If this story was coming from a more reputable source than a bunch of Putin sycophants, I'd be much more prone to believe there's something to this. However, so far, it's only from Putinites, so, lots of doubts.

https://twitter.com/aiviskalnins/status/1363909164834127872

 

[OldTimeHockey]

What a disinterested looking bunch there.

I don't think the Habs are broken. I think we're just seeing what kind of team they really are when they don't get to beat up on Vancouver.

9-5-3 overall.
4-0-1 against Vancouver
1-2-1 against Toronto
2-1-0 against Edmonton
1-1-0 against Calgary
1-1-1 against Ottawa

So yeah 5-5-2 against everyone else and only above .500 against 2 teams.

They made some really nice additions and are a decent team but they just aren't the world-beaters that the first week of the season made them out to be.

They lack a real threat up front. There's no one that can put the team on their back like Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander and outscore a team. Anderson and Toffoli are nice additions, but they don't fill the whole they've been lacking for over a decade. They had Pacioretty, but he never struck fear into the hearts of opposing teams. Gallagher hit 30 goals once, but he's more of a pain in the a$$ than a game breaker.

Gallagher is on a 29 goal/82 game pace with a S% in and around his career avg.

Suzuki is pacing 60 points/82 games.  Kotkaniemi has been better than last year, and I think he's got another gear to shift into this season...maybe.

I think they're better than I'd prefer them to be, and I think they're better than Saturday night's outing showed...maybe.

I think that Gallagher is fine, at what he does. And I really like Suzuki. But 60 point paces or 29 goal paces don't really do much to move the needle.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Gallagher is on a 29 goal/82 game pace with a S% in and around his career avg.

Suzuki is pacing 60 points/82 games.  Kotkaniemi has been better than last year, and I think he's got another gear to shift into this season...maybe.

I think they're better than I'd prefer them to be, and I think they're better than Saturday night's outing showed...maybe.

Yeah I mean they're not as good as they were to start the season but they're not as bad as they look right now.

I agree with that sentiment. But there's no one in their pipeline that carry the status of a Marner or Matthews. Or Bergeron/Pastrnak/Marchand. Or Stamkos/Kucherov.
I'm sure someone will prove me wrong, but I think for teams to really compete, they need those players. They push them from being mediocre teams to actual competitors/contenders.

I actually hope for a good Montreal team. I don't want them to be better than Toronto, but I want them to be competitive. To me, the rivalry has dwindled in the last 15 years. Either the Leafs have been bad. Or the Habs have been bad. I miss the times when they both were strong teams. It's why, in my eyes, Boston has overtaken Montreal as the strongest rivalry. Constantly knowing you're just a step behind the Bruins, makes those games that much more intense, and exciting. Same as the late 90's/early 2000's when it was always about the Leafs and the Senators.

 

[herman]

Gallagher is on a 29 goal/82 game pace with a S% in and around his career avg.

Suzuki is pacing 60 points/82 games.  Kotkaniemi has been better than last year, and I think he's got another gear to shift into this season...maybe.

I think they're better than I'd prefer them to be, and I think they're better than Saturday night's outing showed...maybe.

Yeah I mean they're not as good as they were to start the season but they're not as bad as they look right now.

I agree with that sentiment. But there's no one in their pipeline that carry the status of a Marner or Matthews. Or Bergeron/Pastrnak/Marchand. Or Stamkos/Kucherov.
I'm sure someone will prove me wrong, but I think for teams to really compete, they need those players. They push them from being mediocre teams to actual competitors/contenders.

I actually hope for a good Montreal team. I don't want them to be better than Toronto, but I want them to be competitive. To me, the rivalry has dwindled in the last 15 years. Either the Leafs have been bad. Or the Habs have been bad. I miss the times when they both were strong teams. It's why, in my eyes, Boston has overtaken Montreal as the strongest rivalry. Constantly knowing you're just a step behind the Bruins, makes those games that much more intense, and exciting. Same as the late 90's/early 2000's when it was always about the Leafs and the Senators.

You're not excited about Tuch, Mysak?

 

[bustaheims]

I agree with that sentiment. But there's no one in their pipeline that carry the status of a Marner or Matthews. Or Bergeron/Pastrnak/Marchand. Or Stamkos/Kucherov.
I'm sure someone will prove me wrong, but I think for teams to really compete, they need those players. They push them from being mediocre teams to actual competitors/contenders.

It's strange, because Montreal's farm system is consistently ranked near the top of the league in terms of quality, but they are definitely lacking the franchise calibre prospects. They have potential to build a very deep roster, but without the high-end talent teams need to take that next step. It looks to me like they're prone to becoming stuck near the top of the mushy-middle of the pack.

 

[herman]

I agree with that sentiment. But there's no one in their pipeline that carry the status of a Marner or Matthews. Or Bergeron/Pastrnak/Marchand. Or Stamkos/Kucherov.
I'm sure someone will prove me wrong, but I think for teams to really compete, they need those players. They push them from being mediocre teams to actual competitors/contenders.

It's strange, because Montreal's farm system is consistently ranked near the top of the league in terms of quality, but they are definitely lacking the franchise calibre prospects. They have potential to build a very deep roster, but without the high-end talent teams need to take that next step. It looks to me like they're prone to becoming stuck near the top of the mushy-middle of the pack.

The only team off the top of my head that has pushed into contention/Cup winning status without the benefit of multiple top-5/10 picks is probably Boston. Except Montreal hasn't drafted anything remotely like Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak, while Price/Weber are drifting out of great into good. Maybe they take a good hard swing at pulling Crosby out of Pittsburgh (good luck).

 

[Kin]

The only team off the top of my head that has pushed into contention/Cup winning status without the benefit of multiple top-5/10 picks is probably Boston. Except Montreal hasn't drafted anything remotely like Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak, while Price/Weber are drifting out of great into good. Maybe they take a good hard swing at pulling Crosby out of Pittsburgh (good luck).

Well, I think the obvious one there is St. Louis. I think the hope is you can develop someone as good as Tarasenko and trade/acquire a O'Reilly surrogate.

 

[bustaheims]

The only team off the top of my head that has pushed into contention/Cup winning status without the benefit of multiple top-5/10 picks is probably Boston. Except Montreal hasn't drafted anything remotely like Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak, while Price/Weber are drifting out of great into good. Maybe they take a good hard swing at pulling Crosby out of Pittsburgh (good luck).

Well, I think the obvious one there is St. Louis. I think the hope is you can develop someone as good as Tarasenko and trade/acquire a O'Reilly surrogate.

Yeah. They haven't drafted in the top 10 since 2008, and that guy left the team this summer.

 

[herman]

I forgot St. Louis existed.

 

[Kin]

Also, and this is kind of a side note, but does anyone else think the Bruins over the last 7-8 years have been a little overrated just because they've managed to beat the Leafs in the playoffs?

Like 17-18, they beat the Leafs and then get washed hard by Tampa in the second round. Last year, get by a mediocre Carolina team in the first round, again get beat significantly by Tampa in the second.

They had a playoff run in 18-19 because they beat the Leafs and then get incredibly lucky because Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh all get knocked out of the first round by what were kind of inferior opponents. They beat Columbus and the Islanders on their way to the Finals.

Obviously you'd rather have their playoff record than ours but there's not a ton of quality there either.

 

[bustaheims]

Also, and this is kind of a side note, but does anyone else think the Bruins over the last 7-8 years have been a little overrated just because they've managed to beat the Leafs in the playoffs?

Like 17-18, they beat the Leafs and then get washed hard by Tampa in the second round. Last year, get by a mediocre Carolina team in the first round, again get beat significantly by Tampa in the second.

They had a playoff run in 18-19 because they beat the Leafs and then get incredibly lucky because Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh all get knocked out of the first round by what were kind of inferior opponents. They beat Columbus and the Islanders on their way to the Finals.

Obviously you'd rather have their playoff record than ours but there's not a ton of quality there either.

3 straight 100+ point seasons. They're like the new San Jose Sharks - excellent in the regular season, but don't get deep into the playoffs much.

 

[Kin]

3 straight 100+ point seasons. They're like the new San Jose Sharks - excellent in the regular season, but don't get deep into the playoffs much.

Even if you go back to 13-14 where they win a President's trophy they beat a 93 point team in the first round, then get eliminated by a Habs team whose leading scorer had 60 points that year.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Also, and this is kind of a side note, but does anyone else think the Bruins over the last 7-8 years have been a little overrated just because they've managed to beat the Leafs in the playoffs?

Like 17-18, they beat the Leafs and then get washed hard by Tampa in the second round. Last year, get by a mediocre Carolina team in the first round, again get beat significantly by Tampa in the second.

They had a playoff run in 18-19 because they beat the Leafs and then get incredibly lucky because Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh all get knocked out of the first round by what were kind of inferior opponents. They beat Columbus and the Islanders on their way to the Finals.

Obviously you'd rather have their playoff record than ours but there's not a ton of quality there either.

I know personally, that it's become a matter of waiting for them to drop off but they seem to continue being a top 10(top of the Atlantic) team. I mean last season, with only 14 regulation losses, it's pretty darn impressive that they just keep putting out this top flight team.

 

[Kin]

I know personally, that it's become a matter of waiting for them to drop off but they seem to continue being a top 10(top of the Atlantic) team. I mean last season, with only 14 regulation losses, it's pretty darn impressive that they just keep putting out this top flight team.

I guess but like I'm sort of saying here I wonder how much of that is Rask sort of masking a fairly mediocre bunch.

 

[cabber24]

I like the current Hockey Night in Canada "studio" crew. Maclean, Amber, Friedman, Stuart, Hrudey, and Bieksa. Pre-Covid when we were allowed to be social I would always watch the game but perhaps in the background and not listen to the intermission but now that I am watching alone I watch it all.

Shocked I am enjoying Kevin Bieksa as much as I have. Very blunt, and not polished but a good dynamic. His subtle trolling with his background photos is pretty funny too.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bieksa-trolls-fiddler-hockey-night-in-canada-canucks