PK and the Habs

[yave1964]

My take on the 2013-14 Montreal Canadiens

The Habs surprised most everyone by making the playoffs, as a three seed winning their division before being soundly defeated by the Ottawa Senators in an embarrassing five game loss that saw them beaten on the ice and in the corners throughout game three.

New to the club: Danny Briere and George Parros. Briere fits in well with the smurfy smurf lineup of tiny people, Parros brings at least a heavyweight fighter and allows Brandon Prust to drop down a class, something that anyone who saw this team destroyed by the Senators would have to agree is desperately needed.

Top nine forwards include Briere, Gallagher, Desharnais, Plekanec, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Rene Bourque, Gionta and Lars Eller,not an untalented bunch but IMHO not acrop than could take a team to the next level without a lot of help. Injuries would doom this bunch because their is not a whole lot else behind them.

Goaltender Carey Price was exposed during the post season and frankly continues to take steps back. He had some down right wretched games down the stretch, he is young enough to get it back together but old enough for the cracks he is showing to appear to be more symbolic of his game than anything else.

Okay. I blew it with PK Subban and was right at the same time last year. A thread was started in here by a Hab fan which the Flyer boys jumped into and the argument came down to would you trade Couturier for Subban, and I came down on the side of Couturier, who had a sophomore slump, while Subban was awarded the Norris trophy. But keep in mind, he is rumored to be hated by his teammates, was a big part of the meltdown against Ottawa and IMHO didn't deserve the Norris last year, though at a point a game d-man he is a high quality player. He needs to mature to take the team to the next level.

The rest of the defense is underrated, Raphael Diaz is fun to watch, Kaberle and Markov are underrated puck movers and Boulion and Gorges are solid as well. Throw in Drewiske and their top seven is the key to this club.

They won the division last year, I see them missing the playoffs this year, Ottawa, Boston and Detroit are at least to me clearly better than they are, I see them duking it out with the Leafs for the final sot and just missing out. Tough five teams, someone has to stay home from the dance and I think the Habs take a small step back next year.

[flyercanuck]

@yave1964

Nice write-up yave. Can't disagree with anything you said. I thought Price was turning into Canadas best goalie, but that all went to hell. Hopefully he can rebound. If not Fucale is now waiting in the wings. Not much of a Kaberle fan, but the rest of the Habs D is good, with a few nice prospects in the pipeline including Beaulieu, Tinordi and Thrower.

[blocker]

he is rumored to be hated by his teammates,

I've heard that. I tend to not believe such stories. I think he's a horse, who seems to get better every year.

[jammer2]

@yave1964 The good part for the Habs is of their top 9 forwards, at least 4, if not 5 of them should progress and become more active in the offense.

[hf101]

Okay. I blew it with PK Subban and was right at the same time last year. A thread was started in here by a Hab fan which the Flyer boys jumped into and the argument came down to would you trade Couturier for Subban, and I came down on the side of Couturier, who had a sophomore slump, while Subban was awarded the Norris trophy.

ha. looking back Subban would have helped the Flyers more last year than Couturier and probably would have not have won a Norris. All an all I think that was a fair trade, but it was mostly personal preference for not making the trade.

I'm not really thinking Paros makes that much a difference next season. I could be wrong, but he isn't one that makes or breaks this team. And I agree with you I see the Canadiens missing the playoffs next season as well.