Canadiens nightmare start

[yave1964]

Zero wins in five games. The Habs have had a lead for less than four minutes all year. They have been outscored 19-4. WTF has happened to this squad that made it to the SCF just a few short months ago that now seems forever. A few notes.

 

  The Kotkaniemi fiasco was a side distraction that took away from preparing for the season

 

 Shea Weber, the ultimate warrior was forced to hit the golf course younger than he would have liked as his body has given up on him.

 

  Carey Price is taking time off for personal reasons, his backups which were a stregth last year have been a nightmare.

 

 Mike Hoffman brought in to repalce Tatar and give a boost to the offense has been hurt

 

 The players who have been brought in have not done the job. Dvorak 0-1-1 minus 4 has at least been a faceoff machine but has provided nothing else, between he, Savard, Hoffman, Perreault and Paquette they are a combined 0-2-2 and minus 9.

 

Caufield who the Habs fans are in love with has been awful, completely out of sync and is trying to hard. He has yet to register a point and is minus 4.

 

  Petry who is replacing Weber as the heart of the blueline has zero points as well and is a minus 2.

 

 Tyler Toffoli who burst on the scene as a serious goal scorer last year hasnt scored yet this year and is a league worst minus 7.

 

  What I think happened is what happens to a lot of teams when they win and they shouldnt have, they believe thepress and the GM keeps players around with deficiencies instead of replacing them.Expectations are too high. Toffoli is not a real 30 goal man, never has been until last year, never will be again. Allen is a backup who was sheltered by Price, with Price out too much is being asked. Caufield is a talented kid but still a raw baby and they have asked way too much way too soon. For the most part it is a team of older and/or slower players such as Gallagher, Petry, Anderson, Toffoli, Drouin, Savard, Hoffman and more, all are being asked to play slightly above their real abilities. Petry is a brilliant 2D running point on a second power play unit, he is forced into first line duties. Same with the rest of their young guys, Caufield and Suzuki are struggling as too much is expected. Ben Chiarot is a fine 6D, kills penalties playing 15 minutes a night being on the ice for defensive zone faceoffs, but instead he is manning the blueline for 21 minutes a night and is getting crushed.

 

  They way overrated this team based off results in a fluke season. They are dreadful and will likely remain so all year.

 

  Bob McKenzie said the other day that you cannot win a cup in the first ten games of the year but you can sure lose one, man this team looks like a mess. Not sure where they go from here. GM Bergevin has said the right things but it is looking more and more like last year was a covid shortened season fluke thing and with top shelf division foes in Tampa, Florida, Boston and Toronto it looks to be a long lost year for the Habs. 

 

 

[radoran]

2 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

They way overrated this team based off results in a fluke season. They are dreadful and will likely remain so all year.

 

This is the long and the short of it. The idea that their "Cup Final" appearance c/would have happened outside of the special circumstances last season - and the herculean efforts of Weber - is simply myopic.

 

Montreal had the worst record of any playoff team last season. The Flyers had more regulation wins (and one fewer point).

 

The Canadiens in a standard format season don't even make the playoffs last season.

 

And their management thought "we'll just re-load this obviously effective roster"?

 

incroyable

[Math]

They are still in denial mode in this process. I'm surrounded by Habs fans customers and it's crazy to see how they are all still convinced that things will turn all by magic and be qualified for the postseason. No first goalie, no first D-man, no 1C: what do you expect ?

 

They sneaked into the playoffs last year by having the incredible luck to play in the weakest division, playing 8 times against Vancouver and Winnpeg and their dreadful defense, struggling Calgary and rebuilding Ottawa, and they still managed to be barely above .500. Now good luck with meeting again Carolina, Washington, Boston, etc.

 

I was more expecting a 1-3-1 start than a 0-5 one, they will still start to win games at some time but it's not impossible for them to finish 6th, even 7th. Ottawa will own them big time and the Sens' future is much brighter.

 

 

[J0e Th0rnton]

habs fans must have gone on an anger rage vs Carolina's twitter after they offer sheeted Kotkaniemi.

 

now the Hurricanes twitter is relentlessly trolling the habs.

Carolina Hurricanes on Twitter: "https://t.co/xVkpJOz9yA" / Twitter

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1451363440723902465?s=20

Edited October 23, 2021 by J0e Th0rnton

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Lots of things wrong with this Canadiens team, as @yave1964 so expertly pointed out.

Hell, there were even things wrong with them LAST year, when they made the run they did. That improbable run.
It was a perfect storm of events (and their own red hot play at the time) that vaulted them.

 

But, as we all know, at the end of the day, even with any 'Cinderella' luck on your side, you STILL need to be the best team in the league to win it all, and well, we know who that has been the last two years, and the Candiens simply didn't measure up.

Entering this season, after injuries, departures, and new faces, this team isn't even the same as the one who made that amazing run in the playoffs.
And as also documented, MANAGEMENT erroneously thought they could duplicate the success without any long term thinking changes, because, well, "Let's take another run at it, we came so close last year!"

Pre-season, I didn't have Montreal in last place (sorry, that is Buffalo's reserved spot...I don't care HOW good of a start they got off to), but I certainly had the Habs closer to that bottom rung than the playoff pack above them.
And despite Ottawa's and Detroit's issues, green players, and full on rebuilds, THEY look better to finish ahead of the Habs too.

Barring some miracle turnaround, I fully expect Montreal to have a fire sale (if they are smart they will) to capitalize on the players with value they do have (guys like Ben Chiarot, Jonathan Drouin, Mike Hoffman......maybe even some others willing to waive NTC'S/NMC's), then go rebuild like Ottawa and Detroit have been doing the last few seasons, and Buffalo for the last 10+ seasons....

Funny thing is, I truly believe the players on this current Habs team thinks THEY are good enough to make the playoffs....that they should be playing better than they are, and that they can make another run like last season.
And that is a good thing. You WANT players on your team to think they are Stanley Cup material...even if they really aren't.

But its up to management to separate the reality from the truth, and in that regard, the Habs as an organization, has been a failure this off season and into this season.