Showing posts with label Tinordi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tinordi. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2016
Montreal outclassed by defending champs
Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Chicago
Location: Chicago
Loss: 5-2
Habs Goalie: Scrivens (L)
Opposition Goalie: Crawford (W)
Habs goalscorers: Eller, Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Panik, Toews (2), Kane, Hossa
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Habs leave St. Louis singin' the blue and yet again find a way to lose
Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: St. Louis
Location: St. Louis
Loss: 4-3(OT)
Habs Goalie: Condon (L)
Opposition Goalie: Elliot (W)
Habs goalscorers: Subban, Pacioretty, Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Fabbri, Stastny, Rattie, Lehtera
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Crawford Steals the Show as Canadiens' Scoring Woes Continue
Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Chicago
Location: Montreal
Loss: 2-1
Habs Goalie: Condon (L)
Opposition Goalie: Crawford (W)
Habs goalscorers: Byron
Opposition goalscorers: Toews, Garbutt
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Habs lose battle of secondary scoring... and two points to Penguins.
Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Penguins
Location: Montreal
Loss: 3-1
Habs Goalie: Condon (L)
Opposition Goalie: Fleury (W)
Habs goalscorers: Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Rust, Fehr, Hornqvist
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Making Your NHL Club
There was probably a time in the not too distant past where training camp really was a legitimate opportunity for a young prospect to take a run at a roster place. Years of accumulated commitments, collective bargaining agreements and roster regulations have changed that for the young hopefuls. Nowadays, a young player being invited to an NHL camp only needs to take a quick browse of the CapGeek website before lacing the skates to know how the Vegas odds makers are handicapping his chances of success.
After Game 5 of the preseason, in which Therrien iced an almost identical lineup to last year's edition of the Habs, we can reflect on how training camp has gone and why at the end of it we won't see the slowing veterans turfed by energetic youngsters by whom they were significantly outperformed.
After Game 5 of the preseason, in which Therrien iced an almost identical lineup to last year's edition of the Habs, we can reflect on how training camp has gone and why at the end of it we won't see the slowing veterans turfed by energetic youngsters by whom they were significantly outperformed.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Scouting, Not Denouement
I believe that I speak for a large number of fans whose main interest in these relatively unfamiliar names remains on their hockey abilities, more so than the years-long route taken to the Brossard arena this Monday.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to hear again about years past. I don't want to hear about how the guys feel (sorry, but it's predictably optimistic and thrilled). I want to know how they skated, passed, positioned themselves and shot.
It would be nice to get a scouting report before a life story. After a summer of manufactured stories, it would be a bit of sweet music to read about a slick deke or crisp passing play.
For the most part, the very capable observers are set back to default. The score is reported, the scorers and the story is peppered with quotes. I know that Alain Berger scored twice in a meaningless scrimmage, but most sites tell me little about the player we've been waiting months to see in a Canadiens uniform. Forget about the guys that did not score.
I know it's only been a day, and I would be the fiercest critic of anyone who wanted to read too much from 45 minutes of meaningless shinny, but it's been a really long time since we laid a path for Brutes to win a championship.
If like me you do want to know about how the guys play (all of them, not just favoured picks) then do yourself a favour and check out Dan's Daily Dose.
Dan is doing the diligence that we'd all love to do by attending the rookie camp. Not only that, he's also breaking free of the mould and delivering impressions on the players he is watching on the ice before him.
Yesterday, he didn't cover every player, but he did cover a lot more than anyone else. Moreover, where else are we going to hear that Palushaj didn't look so great or that Ian Schultz still exists.
It's a true breath of fresh air for the Habs fan who's waited a summer for skates to scratch ice and needs to look beyond coincidences to the mundane aspects of hockey like skating and skills. For the fan who wants to know and rate the chances that we'll ever hear these names again, there simply isn't a better way.
What I'm taking away
I'll begin by saying one day is far too soon to form full impressions. One scrimmage as insignificant as one NHL shift in the scheme of things. But even so, trends begin to form:
- Bournival started on the right foot. The plucky Quebecois is someone I'll keep my eye on for sure.
- If it takes baseline skill level to break through to the NHL then Gallagher might be the man. Can the Habs afford to start another small forward? Well that's another question altogether
- Berger is fascinating. Forget two goals. He is big and clearly kept up with his peers that were drafted. Let's count him in the bigger mix.
- Palushaj likely not destined for first line duty. Not to dismiss a player after a day, but let's be honest, we've seen him before and we all thought the same. If you don't stand out with lower level players, it's a rare thing to stand out with high level ones. That said, I already thought he could ably play on a fourth line, so should we care?
- Olivier Fortier injured again. The end of the road sign squarely in his rearview surely now?
- Louis Leblanc generates far too much fuss for what he is, especially on a first day of camp where he played in a diminished capacity and still got headlines
- Goalies? Anyone? Everyone realises that 3rd in line for the Canadiens crease is not really locked up right? Everyone remembers how for every season in recent memory the Canadiens relied on a goalie to take them wherever they went right? Over-the-top monikers aside, it would be nice to hear about someone, anyone that might grab a mantle.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to hear again about years past. I don't want to hear about how the guys feel (sorry, but it's predictably optimistic and thrilled). I want to know how they skated, passed, positioned themselves and shot.
It would be nice to get a scouting report before a life story. After a summer of manufactured stories, it would be a bit of sweet music to read about a slick deke or crisp passing play.
For the most part, the very capable observers are set back to default. The score is reported, the scorers and the story is peppered with quotes. I know that Alain Berger scored twice in a meaningless scrimmage, but most sites tell me little about the player we've been waiting months to see in a Canadiens uniform. Forget about the guys that did not score.
I know it's only been a day, and I would be the fiercest critic of anyone who wanted to read too much from 45 minutes of meaningless shinny, but it's been a really long time since we laid a path for Brutes to win a championship.
If like me you do want to know about how the guys play (all of them, not just favoured picks) then do yourself a favour and check out Dan's Daily Dose.
Dan is doing the diligence that we'd all love to do by attending the rookie camp. Not only that, he's also breaking free of the mould and delivering impressions on the players he is watching on the ice before him.
Yesterday, he didn't cover every player, but he did cover a lot more than anyone else. Moreover, where else are we going to hear that Palushaj didn't look so great or that Ian Schultz still exists.
It's a true breath of fresh air for the Habs fan who's waited a summer for skates to scratch ice and needs to look beyond coincidences to the mundane aspects of hockey like skating and skills. For the fan who wants to know and rate the chances that we'll ever hear these names again, there simply isn't a better way.
What I'm taking away
I'll begin by saying one day is far too soon to form full impressions. One scrimmage as insignificant as one NHL shift in the scheme of things. But even so, trends begin to form:
- Bournival started on the right foot. The plucky Quebecois is someone I'll keep my eye on for sure.
- If it takes baseline skill level to break through to the NHL then Gallagher might be the man. Can the Habs afford to start another small forward? Well that's another question altogether
- Berger is fascinating. Forget two goals. He is big and clearly kept up with his peers that were drafted. Let's count him in the bigger mix.
- Palushaj likely not destined for first line duty. Not to dismiss a player after a day, but let's be honest, we've seen him before and we all thought the same. If you don't stand out with lower level players, it's a rare thing to stand out with high level ones. That said, I already thought he could ably play on a fourth line, so should we care?
- Olivier Fortier injured again. The end of the road sign squarely in his rearview surely now?
- Louis Leblanc generates far too much fuss for what he is, especially on a first day of camp where he played in a diminished capacity and still got headlines
- Goalies? Anyone? Everyone realises that 3rd in line for the Canadiens crease is not really locked up right? Everyone remembers how for every season in recent memory the Canadiens relied on a goalie to take them wherever they went right? Over-the-top monikers aside, it would be nice to hear about someone, anyone that might grab a mantle.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Draft Pick Love
During the regular season all fan energy is geared to just making the playoffs. 82 games of ups and downs culminate in what amounts to two weeks of nail biting for all but 3 teams at the top and bottom. The lucky 8 make it through and experience brief elation and short relief.
The playoffs take more energy. Game 1 and Game 2 hold huge hope and anticipation no matter the results. Anyone can win in the playoffs, the mantra repeated. Game 3 and onwards things get serio9us. Elimination looms, progression attainable. The fan channels energy into every facet of the game.
In a short but very intense moment of the NHL calendar, every blocked shot, every dressing room visit, every post-game quote is taken for full analysis (and not just in Montreal). This period is all-consuming. Thoughts seldom stray to other topics, it's team all day.
But then it ends. One way or another it ends. For 15 teams, the end is abrupt and dissatisfying. Seldom do fans have more than 40 minutes to morph from undying belief to total disbelief. The energy that was generated, nurtured, stored is left without direction.
The lucky fan can dissipate it all with a single fist to wall rendez-vous. Some can transfer it all, miraculously celebrating victory every year in different stripes. Those of us that are so accursed to attach everything to one group of 23 are left with adrenaline to burn and plenty of time and space in which to do it.
The NHL entry draft
Enter the NHL entry draft, a shopping excursion for NHL teams during which scouting departments pick whole generations of hockey players clean to the bone over a single weekend.
For the unsatiated fan the entry draft provides. It provides those topsy turvy moments where worst is first and playoff vanquished are in the driver's seat.
If I remember back to a time when there was no internet and the team I followed largely left their fans with ample achievement in their bellies come June, I remember being one of a few who followed the draft. Certainly one of a few who could list the picks in later rounds.
Through a combination of pent up glory-envy and the creation of means for release of this playoff stored energy, the following for such academic interests has grown exponentially. Nowadays it seems that draft day and the days that precede it are some of the busiest days of the year for a blog like this one. Nowadays, it seems like there is as much excitement in hearing the "right" name called on a June afternoon as there is on hearing the goal siren on a cold November evening. The fervent fan of hockey games transformed into the fervent fan of hockey operations.
In a hockey game, the glasses fitted for the team one supports allows for lopsided views to become reason. Each goal for a thing of beauty, each goal against a grievous error, each penalty for an unlucky misfire, each penalty against a revelation of justice.
I am beginning to see these glasses creep into the world of hockey operations fandom. While other teams can make errors donning their silly logoed shirts, the "porteurs du Saintte Flanelle" are a thing of grace even in the offseason.
How else to explain the sudden rush of support that is bestowed on each and every name called on the day of drafting, no matter how little we knew of the 17 year olds they were a minute before?
How else to explain the gulf of affection that lies between newly added 20 year-olds and those whose names we spent summers studying up on?
My theory is exactly that. That fans with that excess of hockey-allotted energy stored from May (or April) spend it throughout a summer. With little otherwise to spend it on other than qualifying offers and stories of gym routines, those 6-10 newly adorned sweaters from mid-June take the lion's share. The hours that would be spent reading about Lars Eller's ankle wrapping in early May are channeled into hockey databases and scouting reports and reviews of those hockey operations additions.
And I think there are varying levels of energy too. I mentioned the lucky ones who can turn off in May and turn on in October. Grades must then range from people who have a few days left of itch to months worth. Those with little begin and end most likely with the Nathan Beaulieus of the world, while the next tiers spend their reserves on rounds next until they realise summer just happened.
I am hardly amazed then that each first round draft pick of the storied Montreal Canadiens instantly becomes hero. I am hardly surprised that after only a few weeks, each unknown darts to the top of lists of organizational successes.
Intriguing to me still though is how enduring this love is. How even in the face of scrutiny and trials and comparisons to peers nearly each and every first rounder maintains an aura that will be carried for years. Intriguing how one decision made in June (that probably could have gone any one of 10 different directions) is deemed right and good.
You'll know if you follow this blog that I have been a bit down recently on Jarred Tinordi. In fact, I am starting to feel like a lone critic some of the time and made to feel almost traitorous for my words. Jarred, you see was taken as the Canadiens first pick in he 2010 draft which shortly followed the exhilarating run and highly disappointing end to that season. It seems I have touched a nerve perhaps too soon. Perhaps because Jarred is (or has to be) the good that came from that season without a Cup (again).
I don't pretend to know which way is right. The fact I can let go of the hope I had for the 2010 draft just like the hope of coming back against Pronger's smothering Philadelphia might just make me lucky. Perhaps I am wrong to even wish to let go of the little nugget we picked out of the river of the 2010 season. Maybe I'm the hockey operations fan equivalent of the guy who gets his beer during the period to skip the lineups.
I don't know. All I know is first round picks is not yet on the level of missed calls for me. I probably have decades of pent-up energy left for how wrong the refs got it on Doug Gilmour's broken glass penalty. Nathan Bealieu? you have maybe 5 months...
The playoffs take more energy. Game 1 and Game 2 hold huge hope and anticipation no matter the results. Anyone can win in the playoffs, the mantra repeated. Game 3 and onwards things get serio9us. Elimination looms, progression attainable. The fan channels energy into every facet of the game.
In a short but very intense moment of the NHL calendar, every blocked shot, every dressing room visit, every post-game quote is taken for full analysis (and not just in Montreal). This period is all-consuming. Thoughts seldom stray to other topics, it's team all day.
But then it ends. One way or another it ends. For 15 teams, the end is abrupt and dissatisfying. Seldom do fans have more than 40 minutes to morph from undying belief to total disbelief. The energy that was generated, nurtured, stored is left without direction.
The lucky fan can dissipate it all with a single fist to wall rendez-vous. Some can transfer it all, miraculously celebrating victory every year in different stripes. Those of us that are so accursed to attach everything to one group of 23 are left with adrenaline to burn and plenty of time and space in which to do it.
The NHL entry draft
Enter the NHL entry draft, a shopping excursion for NHL teams during which scouting departments pick whole generations of hockey players clean to the bone over a single weekend.
For the unsatiated fan the entry draft provides. It provides those topsy turvy moments where worst is first and playoff vanquished are in the driver's seat.
If I remember back to a time when there was no internet and the team I followed largely left their fans with ample achievement in their bellies come June, I remember being one of a few who followed the draft. Certainly one of a few who could list the picks in later rounds.
Through a combination of pent up glory-envy and the creation of means for release of this playoff stored energy, the following for such academic interests has grown exponentially. Nowadays it seems that draft day and the days that precede it are some of the busiest days of the year for a blog like this one. Nowadays, it seems like there is as much excitement in hearing the "right" name called on a June afternoon as there is on hearing the goal siren on a cold November evening. The fervent fan of hockey games transformed into the fervent fan of hockey operations.
In a hockey game, the glasses fitted for the team one supports allows for lopsided views to become reason. Each goal for a thing of beauty, each goal against a grievous error, each penalty for an unlucky misfire, each penalty against a revelation of justice.
I am beginning to see these glasses creep into the world of hockey operations fandom. While other teams can make errors donning their silly logoed shirts, the "porteurs du Saintte Flanelle" are a thing of grace even in the offseason.
How else to explain the sudden rush of support that is bestowed on each and every name called on the day of drafting, no matter how little we knew of the 17 year olds they were a minute before?
How else to explain the gulf of affection that lies between newly added 20 year-olds and those whose names we spent summers studying up on?
My theory is exactly that. That fans with that excess of hockey-allotted energy stored from May (or April) spend it throughout a summer. With little otherwise to spend it on other than qualifying offers and stories of gym routines, those 6-10 newly adorned sweaters from mid-June take the lion's share. The hours that would be spent reading about Lars Eller's ankle wrapping in early May are channeled into hockey databases and scouting reports and reviews of those hockey operations additions.
And I think there are varying levels of energy too. I mentioned the lucky ones who can turn off in May and turn on in October. Grades must then range from people who have a few days left of itch to months worth. Those with little begin and end most likely with the Nathan Beaulieus of the world, while the next tiers spend their reserves on rounds next until they realise summer just happened.
I am hardly amazed then that each first round draft pick of the storied Montreal Canadiens instantly becomes hero. I am hardly surprised that after only a few weeks, each unknown darts to the top of lists of organizational successes.
Intriguing to me still though is how enduring this love is. How even in the face of scrutiny and trials and comparisons to peers nearly each and every first rounder maintains an aura that will be carried for years. Intriguing how one decision made in June (that probably could have gone any one of 10 different directions) is deemed right and good.
You'll know if you follow this blog that I have been a bit down recently on Jarred Tinordi. In fact, I am starting to feel like a lone critic some of the time and made to feel almost traitorous for my words. Jarred, you see was taken as the Canadiens first pick in he 2010 draft which shortly followed the exhilarating run and highly disappointing end to that season. It seems I have touched a nerve perhaps too soon. Perhaps because Jarred is (or has to be) the good that came from that season without a Cup (again).
I don't pretend to know which way is right. The fact I can let go of the hope I had for the 2010 draft just like the hope of coming back against Pronger's smothering Philadelphia might just make me lucky. Perhaps I am wrong to even wish to let go of the little nugget we picked out of the river of the 2010 season. Maybe I'm the hockey operations fan equivalent of the guy who gets his beer during the period to skip the lineups.
I don't know. All I know is first round picks is not yet on the level of missed calls for me. I probably have decades of pent-up energy left for how wrong the refs got it on Doug Gilmour's broken glass penalty. Nathan Bealieu? you have maybe 5 months...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tinordi And The Habs Prospects
Today, Habs Eyes On The Prize has published their profile for #10 player under the age of 25 in the entire Habs organization: Jarred Tinordi.
I was part of the voting for these top 25 players and I promised you all that I would have comments on the picks when the time was right. Well the time is right. I think Jarred Tinordi at #10 says a lot about this team, its future and the fans who follow its story.
First of all, you should know that I did vote for Jarred Tinordi in this poll. I placed him at #22 on my overall list of players under the age of 25.
Tinordi in my estimation was drafted for one main reason: size. Luckily for us Habs fans he is not just big, he is very big. In fact, he's so big (6'7"). But the rest of the scouting report of Jarred Tinordi is not made to turn heads. He skates well (always written for a big player), he has an excellent shot from the point (but it must be noted he actually scores few goals with it) is mean (but by most reports not that mean).
Based on numerous firsthand reports of acquaintances and OHL fans, I gather he had an enormous amount of trouble adapting to the OHL. Even the most generous reports said only that he fit in and just didn't set himself apart from the garden variety OHL Dman. At the end of the day, he had a rough first season in the OHL. Yes, he was a rookie in that league. But at 18/19 through this season he was not one of the younger players. Legitimate excuses for his performance can be found, but I wonder if we're starting that 2 leagues below the NHL what to expect in a few years.
Tinordi at #10 is an indictment of the Canadiens talent pool
One of the problems I have with Tinordi is that I find his profiles and projections speak to me. I find little I can disagree with based on what I have seen heard and read about the player in the assessments that result. The sum up at the end of his profile on EOTP says it all in this regard:
Does this light any fires? Potential future defensive defenceman?
(Oh good, those summers we won't have to sign Jeff Woywitka or Paul Mara.)
To me, this assessment which essentially spells potential #4-6 defenceman is not heartening at the #10 position among all players under 25. To me, this is a massive indictment of the rest of the plaers that come after him.
Good scoring hands? So what, he'll definitely be less valuable than a future Hal Gill. Impressive season in the WHL? Whatever,there's no way he'll fare better than someone who struggled in the OHL. 5'9" with speed? I'd trade all the skill and speed for 9 inches.
Overrated
Luckily Habs fans, I don't think the Habs pool of players is awful, I just think that in this case Tinordi's value has been vastly overrated. Moreover, I think the value of having a very big guy as your 5th most frequently used defender has been overrated.
Take for example some of the players I ranked ahead of him that eventually received a lower consensus number than him: Michael Bournival, Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Avtsin, Brock Trotter and Magnus Nygren.
Bournival just put up his second point per game season in a row in the QMJHL as the Captain of the Shawinigan Cataractes. He was a late cut from the Canadian Junior Team (not an early cut from the American Junior team) and scored plenty of goals. Bournival certainly is a guaranteed first line player, but hope is not lost that he could score in the NHL.
Gallagher just scored 40+ goals for the second straight season in a WHL where 28 goals is now sometimes touted as future power forward. If he was over 6' tall he would be in the top 3 Habs prospects. With a chance taken on him, there's plenty of precedent to see NHL goals in his future too.
Avtsin just played his first season in Hamilton after his stint in the KHL. Again questions exist, but the tools are plain to see. Skating, shooting, puck control and many other of the unteachables. A bit of investment in time and teaching into a player like this would turn him into better than a 5th defenceman in my honest opinion.
Trotter was 6th in AHL scoring 2 seasons ago and did a pretty bang up job in the KHL this past season. He's an injury away from the NHL this season. Used correctly nothing in his past suggests he'll be a hanger-on.
Nygren is my favourite. He just ended a season as one of the best up and coming defencemen in the top Swedish league. Playing with men, he availed himself well and wrested the PP QB role from established members of the organization at age 20. Skating and Swedish acumen alone suggest he would have chance, and a chance with upside.
These are just four for me, but four that I would be comfortable placing higher ceilings on than Jarred Tinordi. Sure they all face uncertainty about NHL career at all, but then I wouldn't mind if I'd never had to watch Andy Sutton.
In my estimation, the Habs have drafted fairly well and filled in the gaps pretty adeptly with players like Raphael Diaz, Brock Trotter, Peter Delmas and Alain Berger.
In my estimation the team has one of the brighter crops of players under the age of 25 in the league.
Tinordi, apart from in size, bloodlines and picks invested does not stack up to these 5 and the other 7 guys I ranked a head of him.
I don't see this a s a bad thing, but rather something very bright. For if I shared the opinion that our tenth best young player could one day, if things go well, be put out to defend the future Chris Kellys of the league then I'm pretty certain I'd be looking into future winter pastimes to take up in 5 years time.
I was part of the voting for these top 25 players and I promised you all that I would have comments on the picks when the time was right. Well the time is right. I think Jarred Tinordi at #10 says a lot about this team, its future and the fans who follow its story.
First of all, you should know that I did vote for Jarred Tinordi in this poll. I placed him at #22 on my overall list of players under the age of 25.
Tinordi in my estimation was drafted for one main reason: size. Luckily for us Habs fans he is not just big, he is very big. In fact, he's so big (6'7"). But the rest of the scouting report of Jarred Tinordi is not made to turn heads. He skates well (always written for a big player), he has an excellent shot from the point (but it must be noted he actually scores few goals with it) is mean (but by most reports not that mean).
Based on numerous firsthand reports of acquaintances and OHL fans, I gather he had an enormous amount of trouble adapting to the OHL. Even the most generous reports said only that he fit in and just didn't set himself apart from the garden variety OHL Dman. At the end of the day, he had a rough first season in the OHL. Yes, he was a rookie in that league. But at 18/19 through this season he was not one of the younger players. Legitimate excuses for his performance can be found, but I wonder if we're starting that 2 leagues below the NHL what to expect in a few years.
Tinordi at #10 is an indictment of the Canadiens talent pool
One of the problems I have with Tinordi is that I find his profiles and projections speak to me. I find little I can disagree with based on what I have seen heard and read about the player in the assessments that result. The sum up at the end of his profile on EOTP says it all in this regard:
If his development goes well I would expect Tinordi to become a good 3rd pairing defenseman that his used heavily in his own end and on the penalty kill, with the outside chance he might turn out to be a decent 2nd pairing shutdown player.I wholeheartedly agree. I to am optimistic that Tinordi will one day play in the NHL. But, I share the notion that his ceiling will be a complementary role on any future team.
Does this light any fires? Potential future defensive defenceman?
(Oh good, those summers we won't have to sign Jeff Woywitka or Paul Mara.)
To me, this assessment which essentially spells potential #4-6 defenceman is not heartening at the #10 position among all players under 25. To me, this is a massive indictment of the rest of the plaers that come after him.
Good scoring hands? So what, he'll definitely be less valuable than a future Hal Gill. Impressive season in the WHL? Whatever,there's no way he'll fare better than someone who struggled in the OHL. 5'9" with speed? I'd trade all the skill and speed for 9 inches.
Overrated
Luckily Habs fans, I don't think the Habs pool of players is awful, I just think that in this case Tinordi's value has been vastly overrated. Moreover, I think the value of having a very big guy as your 5th most frequently used defender has been overrated.
Take for example some of the players I ranked ahead of him that eventually received a lower consensus number than him: Michael Bournival, Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Avtsin, Brock Trotter and Magnus Nygren.
Bournival just put up his second point per game season in a row in the QMJHL as the Captain of the Shawinigan Cataractes. He was a late cut from the Canadian Junior Team (not an early cut from the American Junior team) and scored plenty of goals. Bournival certainly is a guaranteed first line player, but hope is not lost that he could score in the NHL.
Gallagher just scored 40+ goals for the second straight season in a WHL where 28 goals is now sometimes touted as future power forward. If he was over 6' tall he would be in the top 3 Habs prospects. With a chance taken on him, there's plenty of precedent to see NHL goals in his future too.
Avtsin just played his first season in Hamilton after his stint in the KHL. Again questions exist, but the tools are plain to see. Skating, shooting, puck control and many other of the unteachables. A bit of investment in time and teaching into a player like this would turn him into better than a 5th defenceman in my honest opinion.
Trotter was 6th in AHL scoring 2 seasons ago and did a pretty bang up job in the KHL this past season. He's an injury away from the NHL this season. Used correctly nothing in his past suggests he'll be a hanger-on.
Nygren is my favourite. He just ended a season as one of the best up and coming defencemen in the top Swedish league. Playing with men, he availed himself well and wrested the PP QB role from established members of the organization at age 20. Skating and Swedish acumen alone suggest he would have chance, and a chance with upside.
These are just four for me, but four that I would be comfortable placing higher ceilings on than Jarred Tinordi. Sure they all face uncertainty about NHL career at all, but then I wouldn't mind if I'd never had to watch Andy Sutton.
In my estimation, the Habs have drafted fairly well and filled in the gaps pretty adeptly with players like Raphael Diaz, Brock Trotter, Peter Delmas and Alain Berger.
In my estimation the team has one of the brighter crops of players under the age of 25 in the league.
Tinordi, apart from in size, bloodlines and picks invested does not stack up to these 5 and the other 7 guys I ranked a head of him.
I don't see this a s a bad thing, but rather something very bright. For if I shared the opinion that our tenth best young player could one day, if things go well, be put out to defend the future Chris Kellys of the league then I'm pretty certain I'd be looking into future winter pastimes to take up in 5 years time.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Hard-Learned Lessons For Draft Day
Things that I hope the Canadiens have learned about drafting over the past decade:
1) Being more mature 18 isn’t an advantage at age 23
2) Being a defensive forward in junior means a guy doesn’t have the skill to score on junior goalies. Chances you want this guy on your pro team … he’d better play some kinda special defence
3) Defensive defenders come from everywhere. No need to try and find on in the first round.
4) As much as you’d like to trade for St. Louis, Staal, Perry, Ovechkin, Crosby, Sedins, you can’t. Constantly passing on scorers likely means you could end up without any.
5) While the NCAA is nice to bury a player outside the budget, one only needs to take a look at Komisarek’s regular National team duty to know that USA isn’t pumping out the cream of the defensive crop.
6) Better to get 2 players in the top 60 than one after the first 10 pass.
7) Russia hasn’t forgotten how to play hockey just because they’ve forgotten how to sign on to IIHF transfer agreements.
8) If the NHL can’t even reconcile how to mix North American and European players from the same positions together into one list, how do you expect to judge a player’s NHL value against high school opponents in Massachusetts?
9) Organizational needs on the day won’t be organizational needs when the player ripens.
10) OHL is not a dirty word.
11) BCHL stands for Below CHL.
1) Being more mature 18 isn’t an advantage at age 23
2) Being a defensive forward in junior means a guy doesn’t have the skill to score on junior goalies. Chances you want this guy on your pro team … he’d better play some kinda special defence
3) Defensive defenders come from everywhere. No need to try and find on in the first round.
4) As much as you’d like to trade for St. Louis, Staal, Perry, Ovechkin, Crosby, Sedins, you can’t. Constantly passing on scorers likely means you could end up without any.
5) While the NCAA is nice to bury a player outside the budget, one only needs to take a look at Komisarek’s regular National team duty to know that USA isn’t pumping out the cream of the defensive crop.
6) Better to get 2 players in the top 60 than one after the first 10 pass.
7) Russia hasn’t forgotten how to play hockey just because they’ve forgotten how to sign on to IIHF transfer agreements.
8) If the NHL can’t even reconcile how to mix North American and European players from the same positions together into one list, how do you expect to judge a player’s NHL value against high school opponents in Massachusetts?
9) Organizational needs on the day won’t be organizational needs when the player ripens.
10) OHL is not a dirty word.
11) BCHL stands for Below CHL.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Canadiens Deadline Assets
Votes In On Draft Picks and Non-Pros
Gonna take a half-way poll on this, as the trade deadline creeping closer. Still enough response to feel fan sentiment on these assets.
This list is interesting as it starts to show how precious Canadiens fans are with their assets. In terms of trade now, we're talking about late picks, and even those assets people seem to be willing to give away are only in the round 3+ range. I assume that if I had not pooled 3 and 4, 3 would be higher and four would be lower. Bennett is a player we don't know or hear about, so it's not too surprising he's in the tradeable book.
In the land of having to give to get, there won't be much available for teams that are precious about all their decent draft picks and all the players that are deemed worthy high choices. We'll see how people feel about Hamilton prospects.
Once again, those who haven't voted and still wish to, the poll is still open (I will keep updating the stats, perhaps to publish again closer to the deadline):
This list is interesting as it starts to show how precious Canadiens fans are with their assets. In terms of trade now, we're talking about late picks, and even those assets people seem to be willing to give away are only in the round 3+ range. I assume that if I had not pooled 3 and 4, 3 would be higher and four would be lower. Bennett is a player we don't know or hear about, so it's not too surprising he's in the tradeable book.
In the land of having to give to get, there won't be much available for teams that are precious about all their decent draft picks and all the players that are deemed worthy high choices. We'll see how people feel about Hamilton prospects.
Once again, those who haven't voted and still wish to, the poll is still open (I will keep updating the stats, perhaps to publish again closer to the deadline):
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Canadiens Deadline Assets
Draft Picks and Non-Pros
Had some great voting on the current players (Forwards, Defence and Goalies).
A team like the Canadiens, if buying aren't likely to find many takers for their slag without using sweeteners like recent and future draft picks. This vote is where we get to see what kind of fans you really are.
A team like the Canadiens, if buying aren't likely to find many takers for their slag without using sweeteners like recent and future draft picks. This vote is where we get to see what kind of fans you really are.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Pierre Gauthier''s Year
Apparently today marks the first anniversary of Pierre Gauthier's time as the man officially in charge of the Montreal Canadiens.
Round and about, it seems to be the thing to give some kind of retrospective on him. At first, i thought I had no interest in doing this. That was until I read the glowing reviews he's been getting. I think the internet is calling for some balance.
Trades
The place everyone seems to start is with trades, so I'll start there too. Gauthier has made a total of nine of them in a year. In doing so, he has traded 5 players that were on last year's roster as well as a first, 3 second round picks and a 5th rounder with one prospect for two players on the current roster, 6 prospects, 2 free agents that are gone now, a first rounder, a 4th and a 5th.
Here are the trades:
1) 2nd round pick (TBD) in 2011 traded to Florida Panthers for Dominic Moore
2) Matt D'Agostini traded to St. Louis Blues for Aaron Palushaj
3) Jaroslav Halak traded to St. Louis Blues for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz
4) 1st round pick (Mark Visentin) in 2010 and a 2nd round pick (Oscar Lindberg) in 2010 traded to Phoenix Coyotes for a 1st round pick (Jarred Tinordi) in 2010 and a 4th Round pick (Mark MacMillan) in 2010
5) Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations traded to Nashville Predators for Dan Ellis, Dustin Boyd and future considerations
6) Cedrick Desjardins traded to Tampa Bay Lightning for Karri Ramo
7) Ryan O'Byrne traded to Colorado Avalanche for Michael Bournival
8) 2nd round pick (TBD) in 2011 and a conditional 5th round pick (TBD) in 2012 traded to New York Islanders for James Wisniewski. 2nd round pick was NHL compensation for 1st round pick David Fischer not being signed
9) Maxim Lapierre traded to Anaheim Ducks for Brett Festerling and a 5th Round pick (TBD) in 2012
Trades 2) and 6) I'll call neutral. Basic prospect for prospect swaps. Factors like age and popularity of the players might play into this over time.
Trade 1) was a rental that paid off. So that's a victory. A 2nd round pick is steep for Dominic Moore. But a second round pick is cheap for a forward that significantly helps your team knock off two powerhouses and make the best playoff run the franchise has had in near two decades.
Trade 7) is another win for me. O'Byrne was essentially a dead-end prospect. Subban and Weber progressing properly made his worth to the team drop. Add in Picard who is at least as good, if not as big and there wasn't much place for Ryan in the future. Turning this guy into a potentially very exciting Quebec-born first rounder (who narrowly missed making team Canada) was very good for a Canadiens GM.
Trades 5) and 9) are widely viewed as addition by subtraction. As is standard procedure in these trades, the GM went to another conference. The problem is addition by subtraction is ultimately still subtraction. These can't really be viewed as wins, because other GMs have done more with less value. Gauthier needed to be more alert to the good trades out there and hold his cards. Andrej Meszaros was had for a 2nd rounder, Chicago was dumping players like Andrew Ladd. Even if we throw that out the window, the Canadiens GM in making these trades is just continuing the lazy tradition of jettisoning problems as opposed to facing them. 50+ point Ribeiro and 40+ point Grabovski join Kostistyn on the list of talent thrown away of late. Even though I fully subscribe to the idea that these players needed to go, I cannot endorse trading players for just anything. Talent has to be either managed or managed until value can be found in return. These trades are in the needs improvement column.
Trade 8) was a clear win. Wisniewski is a good fit and just what the team needed at the time. The price was OK considering the rental was long, and better if you consider he's auditioning for a future place.
The last two trades are examples of trades gone wrong.
The trade up for Jarred Tonirodi was a miscalculation, I think. For one thing there were more than 5 players of Tinordi's standard out there. And you know how I feel about taking defensive defencemen in the first round. To spend a second rounder for a fourth to get one on top of wasting the pick on one is pretty poor. I understand the scouts liked him and that's how it worked. But tell me, didn't the scouts see anything in say Tyler Toffoli who now has 44 goals in 50 OHL games (47th)? Or other second rounders who they might have been able to take as well as Tinordi if they risked him falling?
The Halak trade is being viewed at the moment through some mighty rosy glasses. From all the comments, you'd think that Halak was made of kryptonite to halt Price's superman. Let's assume for a moment that they are in fact separate people, and only made of organic matter that doesn't emit debilitating auras. Price if was going to be good, was going to be good. Halak had just come off an outstanding playoffs that laid to rest a lot of the thought at the time that his previous two seasons were flashes in the pan. He was an asset.
So trading an asset. This is stuff to get excited about? Should be. Could be. Except that Gauthier decided to cut off his own legs. He decided that it was best to trade Halak before signing him to a contract. This decision meant that a) Halak was worth less and b) Price was worth more. Now we can argue about Eller until the cows come home,and Price's contract looks like every good value now. Heck, Halak's record makes this look rosy too. But all of that misses the point. The GM needed to turn Halak into something much more valuable than Eller and Schultz. If Gautheir really believed that he was picking the right goalie, he needed to open this up to the Eastern conference, where goalies were most required. If the trade wasn't there at that time, he should have signed Halak and played salary games like the two teams that just made the Stanley Cup final did all last season.
This was a mediocre trade with extremely bad timing.
Overall, I have Gauthier down as an average trader who seems like he might be getting better (Bournival, Wisniewski). If trading was all there was to being a GM, then he'd deserve a pat of encouragement. If you're polar opposite on that Halak trade, I can see where the rave reviews are coming from.
Free agents
In terms of new faces, Gauthier did OK last summer. Basically, he added Alex Auld, Alexandre Picard and Jeff Halpern. None of these signings sets to world on fire. Yet none creates a salary mess either. Considering they've all played well, I'd say it's a good record.
If there's a criticism to be levelled with regard to free agents, it has to be about the resigning of the team's own. Pouliot stands out, since he got a 50% raise despite basically taking 25 games off at the end of last season. Halak wasn't signed (before the playoffs?) and we know what problems I think that caused and Price got a very hefty raise despite having 18 pretty average months on a contract that was already paying over the odds.
Again in retrospect these things look OK. I can't rely entirely on retrospect. When a player plays badly, he should not be rewarded with a hefty raise. it sets dangerous precedents for when a) that player plays well and b) other players come off below average seasons. Contract structure is all about internal precedents and one can only rely on so much good will from players who wish to stay. These two contracts netting a few hundred thousand more than they should have will likely mean the loss of a real roster player this summer.
Man management
Perhaps man management is entirely the duty of the GM, but ultimately he's the man who pushes the buttons and he can tell the coaches what he wants them to do as their boss.
A big red light went up this January when Andrei Kostitsyn asked for a meeting with Jacques Martin and finally found out what the coach wanted.
This is indicative of a problem that we thought had gone the way of Carbo. An environment where players and personalities are being managed on a daily basis. It's a problem. It's a problem because players like the ones I mention above as additions by subtraction become those players worth subtracting in these environments.
In a league as competitive for talent as the NHL, it's crazy to allow an environment that consistently puts up these problem players to persist. We've lost the talent held in Ribeiro, Grabovksi, Sergei and Lapierre for little in return, and it looks precarious in Andrei Kostitsyn's case.
I understand that Jacques Martin is a grizzled vet who is set in his ways, and in many ways holds more clout and credibility than Gauthier. However, Gauthier is the man charged with managing this group of talent. When sweeping problems under the rug until a trade comes up is the standard operating procedure, it's the GM's duty to step in and speak for the talent assets of the club.
I was willing to assume this was taken care of. That is until Andrei's recent revelations. Gauthier must do better here. Else more talent (talented guys do tend o have egos sometimes) will pass on by.
Results
ON results, Gauthier looks a star. The team, fighting for the playoffs when he took over, made it there and put in a great run. This season is the team's best since 2008, and probably better when injuries are tallied. Considering that, it's been the best 12 months (Feb to Feb) for the Habs since 1993. Gauthier is reaping the good favour for this in his reviews today.
Problem is, much of this has little to do with Gauthier's reign as sole man at the helm. The core of the team was put together with Gainey in charge (or so we thought). Carey Price is better because of goaltending coaches and better defence, not that contract or Halak leaving.
Gautheir is the GM of a very good team, but let's not make the mistake in thinking that he's the very good GM of an NHL team.
February is a telling time for a GM, as it's one of the few months many of them do any work. Trades made in the next month, or trades no made will give us a fuller picture on Gauthier. Another draft will reveal more about his steel and judgment, as will the contract season.
A year is far too little time to judge a GM properly. I've been hard, but not down on Gauthier. I felt some of the stuff glossed over by others needed to be brought to light. Until now, I'd say he's been adequate, doing little to indicate he'll separate from the pack. It could be worse. But in a thirty team league with only one team winning the prize each year, being adequate might not be enough.
Round and about, it seems to be the thing to give some kind of retrospective on him. At first, i thought I had no interest in doing this. That was until I read the glowing reviews he's been getting. I think the internet is calling for some balance.
Trades
The place everyone seems to start is with trades, so I'll start there too. Gauthier has made a total of nine of them in a year. In doing so, he has traded 5 players that were on last year's roster as well as a first, 3 second round picks and a 5th rounder with one prospect for two players on the current roster, 6 prospects, 2 free agents that are gone now, a first rounder, a 4th and a 5th.
Here are the trades:
1) 2nd round pick (TBD) in 2011 traded to Florida Panthers for Dominic Moore
2) Matt D'Agostini traded to St. Louis Blues for Aaron Palushaj
3) Jaroslav Halak traded to St. Louis Blues for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz
4) 1st round pick (Mark Visentin) in 2010 and a 2nd round pick (Oscar Lindberg) in 2010 traded to Phoenix Coyotes for a 1st round pick (Jarred Tinordi) in 2010 and a 4th Round pick (Mark MacMillan) in 2010
5) Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations traded to Nashville Predators for Dan Ellis, Dustin Boyd and future considerations
6) Cedrick Desjardins traded to Tampa Bay Lightning for Karri Ramo
7) Ryan O'Byrne traded to Colorado Avalanche for Michael Bournival
8) 2nd round pick (TBD) in 2011 and a conditional 5th round pick (TBD) in 2012 traded to New York Islanders for James Wisniewski. 2nd round pick was NHL compensation for 1st round pick David Fischer not being signed
9) Maxim Lapierre traded to Anaheim Ducks for Brett Festerling and a 5th Round pick (TBD) in 2012
Trades 2) and 6) I'll call neutral. Basic prospect for prospect swaps. Factors like age and popularity of the players might play into this over time.
Trade 1) was a rental that paid off. So that's a victory. A 2nd round pick is steep for Dominic Moore. But a second round pick is cheap for a forward that significantly helps your team knock off two powerhouses and make the best playoff run the franchise has had in near two decades.
Trade 7) is another win for me. O'Byrne was essentially a dead-end prospect. Subban and Weber progressing properly made his worth to the team drop. Add in Picard who is at least as good, if not as big and there wasn't much place for Ryan in the future. Turning this guy into a potentially very exciting Quebec-born first rounder (who narrowly missed making team Canada) was very good for a Canadiens GM.
Trades 5) and 9) are widely viewed as addition by subtraction. As is standard procedure in these trades, the GM went to another conference. The problem is addition by subtraction is ultimately still subtraction. These can't really be viewed as wins, because other GMs have done more with less value. Gauthier needed to be more alert to the good trades out there and hold his cards. Andrej Meszaros was had for a 2nd rounder, Chicago was dumping players like Andrew Ladd. Even if we throw that out the window, the Canadiens GM in making these trades is just continuing the lazy tradition of jettisoning problems as opposed to facing them. 50+ point Ribeiro and 40+ point Grabovski join Kostistyn on the list of talent thrown away of late. Even though I fully subscribe to the idea that these players needed to go, I cannot endorse trading players for just anything. Talent has to be either managed or managed until value can be found in return. These trades are in the needs improvement column.
Trade 8) was a clear win. Wisniewski is a good fit and just what the team needed at the time. The price was OK considering the rental was long, and better if you consider he's auditioning for a future place.
The last two trades are examples of trades gone wrong.
The trade up for Jarred Tonirodi was a miscalculation, I think. For one thing there were more than 5 players of Tinordi's standard out there. And you know how I feel about taking defensive defencemen in the first round. To spend a second rounder for a fourth to get one on top of wasting the pick on one is pretty poor. I understand the scouts liked him and that's how it worked. But tell me, didn't the scouts see anything in say Tyler Toffoli who now has 44 goals in 50 OHL games (47th)? Or other second rounders who they might have been able to take as well as Tinordi if they risked him falling?
The Halak trade is being viewed at the moment through some mighty rosy glasses. From all the comments, you'd think that Halak was made of kryptonite to halt Price's superman. Let's assume for a moment that they are in fact separate people, and only made of organic matter that doesn't emit debilitating auras. Price if was going to be good, was going to be good. Halak had just come off an outstanding playoffs that laid to rest a lot of the thought at the time that his previous two seasons were flashes in the pan. He was an asset.
So trading an asset. This is stuff to get excited about? Should be. Could be. Except that Gauthier decided to cut off his own legs. He decided that it was best to trade Halak before signing him to a contract. This decision meant that a) Halak was worth less and b) Price was worth more. Now we can argue about Eller until the cows come home,and Price's contract looks like every good value now. Heck, Halak's record makes this look rosy too. But all of that misses the point. The GM needed to turn Halak into something much more valuable than Eller and Schultz. If Gautheir really believed that he was picking the right goalie, he needed to open this up to the Eastern conference, where goalies were most required. If the trade wasn't there at that time, he should have signed Halak and played salary games like the two teams that just made the Stanley Cup final did all last season.
This was a mediocre trade with extremely bad timing.
Overall, I have Gauthier down as an average trader who seems like he might be getting better (Bournival, Wisniewski). If trading was all there was to being a GM, then he'd deserve a pat of encouragement. If you're polar opposite on that Halak trade, I can see where the rave reviews are coming from.
Free agents
In terms of new faces, Gauthier did OK last summer. Basically, he added Alex Auld, Alexandre Picard and Jeff Halpern. None of these signings sets to world on fire. Yet none creates a salary mess either. Considering they've all played well, I'd say it's a good record.
If there's a criticism to be levelled with regard to free agents, it has to be about the resigning of the team's own. Pouliot stands out, since he got a 50% raise despite basically taking 25 games off at the end of last season. Halak wasn't signed (before the playoffs?) and we know what problems I think that caused and Price got a very hefty raise despite having 18 pretty average months on a contract that was already paying over the odds.
Again in retrospect these things look OK. I can't rely entirely on retrospect. When a player plays badly, he should not be rewarded with a hefty raise. it sets dangerous precedents for when a) that player plays well and b) other players come off below average seasons. Contract structure is all about internal precedents and one can only rely on so much good will from players who wish to stay. These two contracts netting a few hundred thousand more than they should have will likely mean the loss of a real roster player this summer.
Man management
Perhaps man management is entirely the duty of the GM, but ultimately he's the man who pushes the buttons and he can tell the coaches what he wants them to do as their boss.
A big red light went up this January when Andrei Kostitsyn asked for a meeting with Jacques Martin and finally found out what the coach wanted.
This is indicative of a problem that we thought had gone the way of Carbo. An environment where players and personalities are being managed on a daily basis. It's a problem. It's a problem because players like the ones I mention above as additions by subtraction become those players worth subtracting in these environments.
In a league as competitive for talent as the NHL, it's crazy to allow an environment that consistently puts up these problem players to persist. We've lost the talent held in Ribeiro, Grabovksi, Sergei and Lapierre for little in return, and it looks precarious in Andrei Kostitsyn's case.
I understand that Jacques Martin is a grizzled vet who is set in his ways, and in many ways holds more clout and credibility than Gauthier. However, Gauthier is the man charged with managing this group of talent. When sweeping problems under the rug until a trade comes up is the standard operating procedure, it's the GM's duty to step in and speak for the talent assets of the club.
I was willing to assume this was taken care of. That is until Andrei's recent revelations. Gauthier must do better here. Else more talent (talented guys do tend o have egos sometimes) will pass on by.
Results
ON results, Gauthier looks a star. The team, fighting for the playoffs when he took over, made it there and put in a great run. This season is the team's best since 2008, and probably better when injuries are tallied. Considering that, it's been the best 12 months (Feb to Feb) for the Habs since 1993. Gauthier is reaping the good favour for this in his reviews today.
Problem is, much of this has little to do with Gauthier's reign as sole man at the helm. The core of the team was put together with Gainey in charge (or so we thought). Carey Price is better because of goaltending coaches and better defence, not that contract or Halak leaving.
Gautheir is the GM of a very good team, but let's not make the mistake in thinking that he's the very good GM of an NHL team.
February is a telling time for a GM, as it's one of the few months many of them do any work. Trades made in the next month, or trades no made will give us a fuller picture on Gauthier. Another draft will reveal more about his steel and judgment, as will the contract season.
A year is far too little time to judge a GM properly. I've been hard, but not down on Gauthier. I felt some of the stuff glossed over by others needed to be brought to light. Until now, I'd say he's been adequate, doing little to indicate he'll separate from the pack. It could be worse. But in a thirty team league with only one team winning the prize each year, being adequate might not be enough.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Camp Is Slipping Away
Some Counted Out, Others Missing Their Chance
Last night, Tobalev and I were lucky enough to take in the exhibition game in Kanata from the bottom bowl. Decked in our Habs sweaters, we strolled with confidence into the Habs country home. Scotiabank Place doesn't have all the comforts of home, but traveling fans made sure to bring all the paraphernalia, chanting and booing that makes us so likeable as guests.
The game itself was an interesting enough affair. The final score as you know wasn't positive (at least not for the majority of fans in Scotiabank Place), but the game had its moments.
Once again, we approached this game in a completely different manner to a regular season or playoff game. The result was not the goal, and therefore not the most important part to report. Even the scoring summary, though it holds interest, wasn't the be all and end all.
I'll start with what I found to be positive in the game (leaving out Alfredsson, who I wish we had on our team, and other Sens assets).
Ben Maxwell
I find it hard to relate what I thought of Maxwell before. i think written off is the closest I can come to mirroring my thoughts on him. So, a couple of preseason watches later and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised to say I was wrong about that. He's not been a full revelation, but amongst his peers (our prospects) he stands out clearly as one of the readiest. And where he was timid and mostly passive in the past, it's his initiative and ingenuity that now stands out most. His hallmark play now for me is his burst of speed through a seam with the puck. Last night, it won us possession on a few occasions and a penalty shot on another.
Yannick Weber
Don't get me wrong, he didn't have a stormer. But on second viewing this season, I thought Weber improved. He was once again a great option on the PP and though he didn't bolt down the back end, he at least didn't look worse than most of his teammates. Injuries at the back end seem more likely on this team than to forwards due to a combination of collective age and a system that asks for shot blocking every minute of the game. Knowing that there is someone behind O'Byrne that has something to offer other than cringe moments is positive.
Tomas Plekanec
The top from the veteran group and really the only vet that seems to be able to carry his play despite a rookie presence. His goal was a moment of brilliance, as he made beating the Sens D and Brian Elliott (what was the rest of the Habs made look an impossible task) look effortless. For those who overlook him as a leader, consider from the evidence that he is once again the readiest for the season to begin, reflecting what was probably a lot of hard work in the offseason.
Louis Leblanc
Tobalev and I spoke about many guys just not getting it, realizing, that is, that this represents their bast chance at cementing their place. Leblanc gets it. He won't get a place just yet as he still plays a level below the NHL skill, but his drive and at times his passing stand out as excellent.
Penalty drawing
It's probably nothing more than soft reffing and blind luck, but remember when the Habs couldn't draw a call to save their skins? In this game they drew a few. Maxwell did the best with the penalty shot, but there were a few other important instances where pens were drawn too.
First half
Until Ben Maxwell missed on a penalty shot, this game was going Montreal's way. That was 36:02 minutes that the shay last 23:58 has now eclipsed.
That's just about as much as I'd like to say about positives. On then to needs improvements. From our seats, these people and things stood out:
Bench management
Bad line changes and too many men penalties. I know its exhibition season, but this stuff is just basic. We joked the announcer should be calling "Penalty to the Montreal Canadiens, too many men on the ice... again"
Benoit Pouliot
Does he get it? We didn't think so. Last game I was very encouraged, now I'm disheartened. The score sheet papers over his game with an assist, but he was poor. He was slow all over the ice to react and exactly the opposite to what the top two lines need. He needs to improve both for the team and himself.
Travis Moen
Does it seem to anyone else like he just goes through the motions? He must be the only veteran on the team that never comes up in captain discussions and it shows on the ice. he's not invisible, but nearly every shift he played last night looked like an exercise in killing time. His job's not under threat, but setting an example to the youngsters might not go amiss. I guess I just expect more from the highest price tag grinder.
Jaroslav Spacek
Speaking of vets not helping youngsters. Look I know that it's the preseason and he'll be better with a real partner. And I know he wouldn't try half the things he did against a regular season team. But Spacek really should look to steadiness the way Moen looks to making some kind of mark. He's the veteran expert on a green corps on this night, there's no need for him to be "trying" new tricks, he's had two decades for that. Many egos could have been salvaged with a few more solid dump outs.
Jacques Martin
Again, just exhibition. Seriously, though, why dress Fortier if not to trial him? Why not give Pouliot a real chance to excel, not just see whether he can play the role of carrying a line, which you'd never ask him to do anyway? Why is Kostitsyn not with his linemates? Why the whole game for Carey? It's an uncomfortable amount of questions to ask about a vet coach. Maybe answers will become clearer to me at a later date.
Hal Gill injury?
We didn't notice Gill after the first. Turns out he played a few minutes in the second, but none in the third. Now there aren't any reports, and we didn't have the sense to watch the bench, but nearly 27 minutes for Weber? Nearly 5 on the PK for Weber? All signs point to Gill being injured. I pondered putting this in positive, but a little look at the alternatives over the past 3 exhibitions made me think again.
Carey Price
We can argue all day about the goals not being Carey's fault. I don't care to get into it. He needs to improve as well as the team.
I can identify two areas where I would advise Carey to focus his efforts:
1) Puck handling: Honestly, just stop. At the beginning of the third with the Habs down 4-2 and a chance to learn something about coming back, he came behind the net and passed right to a Senator with the net open. Most of his handling doesn't lead to clear chances. But nor does his contribution to the play justify even an occasional risk like this. Stay in the net for a while. Play it simply. It could save a lot of heartache for everyone.
2) Preparation: Coming into this season was always going to be hard, but with a lot to prove, we figured he'd worked hard and be ready. If he is, he doesn't convey it in his interviews or on the ice. He could gain a lot, I think from spending a summer training with Tomas Plekanec rather than his rodeo buddies. And before games? I'd love to see his 2nd period readiness in the first 10 minutes.
Still, it's not as negative as some would suggest. It's actually hard to tease apart how all the negatives above influence Price directly and indirectly. Doesn't help that the coach is in this column, in my opinion. But as I said the other day, all this brings his mind into sharper focus about what he needs to do to get ready for the real season. All these lessons need not be lost. What's more the lessons are given squarely to the team and coaches as well for their tough assignments on the year.
A fun night overall. A game in person really allows for a much broader view of goings on. And from where we were, we could see a lot of detail that's missed by cameras. Though I left it with the "needs improvement" section, I'm not too concerned. I still feel like half a team can't ever show me what the full team will be like. Cammalleri with Gomez instead of Palushaj is a different player, I spoke about Spacek. So, seeing as it's not all doom and gloom, I'll go back to the positive for the sake of aftertaste:
It's preseason!
Gotta be the number one positive. Nothing about this game needs to be remembered if the right people make the right decisions and adjustments.
The game itself was an interesting enough affair. The final score as you know wasn't positive (at least not for the majority of fans in Scotiabank Place), but the game had its moments.
Once again, we approached this game in a completely different manner to a regular season or playoff game. The result was not the goal, and therefore not the most important part to report. Even the scoring summary, though it holds interest, wasn't the be all and end all.
I'll start with what I found to be positive in the game (leaving out Alfredsson, who I wish we had on our team, and other Sens assets).
Ben Maxwell
I find it hard to relate what I thought of Maxwell before. i think written off is the closest I can come to mirroring my thoughts on him. So, a couple of preseason watches later and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised to say I was wrong about that. He's not been a full revelation, but amongst his peers (our prospects) he stands out clearly as one of the readiest. And where he was timid and mostly passive in the past, it's his initiative and ingenuity that now stands out most. His hallmark play now for me is his burst of speed through a seam with the puck. Last night, it won us possession on a few occasions and a penalty shot on another.
Yannick Weber
Don't get me wrong, he didn't have a stormer. But on second viewing this season, I thought Weber improved. He was once again a great option on the PP and though he didn't bolt down the back end, he at least didn't look worse than most of his teammates. Injuries at the back end seem more likely on this team than to forwards due to a combination of collective age and a system that asks for shot blocking every minute of the game. Knowing that there is someone behind O'Byrne that has something to offer other than cringe moments is positive.
Tomas Plekanec
The top from the veteran group and really the only vet that seems to be able to carry his play despite a rookie presence. His goal was a moment of brilliance, as he made beating the Sens D and Brian Elliott (what was the rest of the Habs made look an impossible task) look effortless. For those who overlook him as a leader, consider from the evidence that he is once again the readiest for the season to begin, reflecting what was probably a lot of hard work in the offseason.
Louis Leblanc
Tobalev and I spoke about many guys just not getting it, realizing, that is, that this represents their bast chance at cementing their place. Leblanc gets it. He won't get a place just yet as he still plays a level below the NHL skill, but his drive and at times his passing stand out as excellent.
Penalty drawing
It's probably nothing more than soft reffing and blind luck, but remember when the Habs couldn't draw a call to save their skins? In this game they drew a few. Maxwell did the best with the penalty shot, but there were a few other important instances where pens were drawn too.
First half
Until Ben Maxwell missed on a penalty shot, this game was going Montreal's way. That was 36:02 minutes that the shay last 23:58 has now eclipsed.
That's just about as much as I'd like to say about positives. On then to needs improvements. From our seats, these people and things stood out:
Bench management
Bad line changes and too many men penalties. I know its exhibition season, but this stuff is just basic. We joked the announcer should be calling "Penalty to the Montreal Canadiens, too many men on the ice... again"
Benoit Pouliot
Does he get it? We didn't think so. Last game I was very encouraged, now I'm disheartened. The score sheet papers over his game with an assist, but he was poor. He was slow all over the ice to react and exactly the opposite to what the top two lines need. He needs to improve both for the team and himself.
Travis Moen
Does it seem to anyone else like he just goes through the motions? He must be the only veteran on the team that never comes up in captain discussions and it shows on the ice. he's not invisible, but nearly every shift he played last night looked like an exercise in killing time. His job's not under threat, but setting an example to the youngsters might not go amiss. I guess I just expect more from the highest price tag grinder.
Jaroslav Spacek
Speaking of vets not helping youngsters. Look I know that it's the preseason and he'll be better with a real partner. And I know he wouldn't try half the things he did against a regular season team. But Spacek really should look to steadiness the way Moen looks to making some kind of mark. He's the veteran expert on a green corps on this night, there's no need for him to be "trying" new tricks, he's had two decades for that. Many egos could have been salvaged with a few more solid dump outs.
Jacques Martin
Again, just exhibition. Seriously, though, why dress Fortier if not to trial him? Why not give Pouliot a real chance to excel, not just see whether he can play the role of carrying a line, which you'd never ask him to do anyway? Why is Kostitsyn not with his linemates? Why the whole game for Carey? It's an uncomfortable amount of questions to ask about a vet coach. Maybe answers will become clearer to me at a later date.
Hal Gill injury?
We didn't notice Gill after the first. Turns out he played a few minutes in the second, but none in the third. Now there aren't any reports, and we didn't have the sense to watch the bench, but nearly 27 minutes for Weber? Nearly 5 on the PK for Weber? All signs point to Gill being injured. I pondered putting this in positive, but a little look at the alternatives over the past 3 exhibitions made me think again.
Carey Price
We can argue all day about the goals not being Carey's fault. I don't care to get into it. He needs to improve as well as the team.
I can identify two areas where I would advise Carey to focus his efforts:
1) Puck handling: Honestly, just stop. At the beginning of the third with the Habs down 4-2 and a chance to learn something about coming back, he came behind the net and passed right to a Senator with the net open. Most of his handling doesn't lead to clear chances. But nor does his contribution to the play justify even an occasional risk like this. Stay in the net for a while. Play it simply. It could save a lot of heartache for everyone.
2) Preparation: Coming into this season was always going to be hard, but with a lot to prove, we figured he'd worked hard and be ready. If he is, he doesn't convey it in his interviews or on the ice. He could gain a lot, I think from spending a summer training with Tomas Plekanec rather than his rodeo buddies. And before games? I'd love to see his 2nd period readiness in the first 10 minutes.
Still, it's not as negative as some would suggest. It's actually hard to tease apart how all the negatives above influence Price directly and indirectly. Doesn't help that the coach is in this column, in my opinion. But as I said the other day, all this brings his mind into sharper focus about what he needs to do to get ready for the real season. All these lessons need not be lost. What's more the lessons are given squarely to the team and coaches as well for their tough assignments on the year.
A fun night overall. A game in person really allows for a much broader view of goings on. And from where we were, we could see a lot of detail that's missed by cameras. Though I left it with the "needs improvement" section, I'm not too concerned. I still feel like half a team can't ever show me what the full team will be like. Cammalleri with Gomez instead of Palushaj is a different player, I spoke about Spacek. So, seeing as it's not all doom and gloom, I'll go back to the positive for the sake of aftertaste:
It's preseason!
Gotta be the number one positive. Nothing about this game needs to be remembered if the right people make the right decisions and adjustments.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Habs Take To Our TVs
2010-11 Season Begins
An interesting game to watch (and not watch at times). Overall it was good to see the team back in action.
I'm happy to tell you I took my own advice for this game. Score? Was there one? I tried to watch players I hadn't seen before and look for improvement in those I was familiar with. I won't give a full report by any means, but I have a few notes:
Pouliot is trying to deliver on promises
He didn't score, but I thought he tried. He was energetic and importantly he shot the puck (when he could find it). His highlight came early when he saw a seam and drove with a wicked backhand and ending on the post.
Palushaj will try all night long
Aaron tries and tries, but I fear the St. Louis scouts who let him go for lack of finishing touch may have been right. But while he may never be a top-liner, he's an instant improvement on D'Agostini as a checking player and could be a good complement over the years to guys like Pyatt.
Tinordi was a good pick
Genuine surprise of the night was Tinordi's poise. I don't think Fischer ever showed this. Tinordi looked a rookie, but a rookie with a future.
Bergeron would be a great Hab
We hear about most every other French Canadian coming to Montreal. Seldom do I hear about Bergeron. But he's a good good player and he showed his quality tonight.
Gill's game is post-season
Someone else said it. You could see it every time he was on the ice for this end to end contest. Gill thrives in tight checking games with no whistles. Exhibition season is never going to flatter his talents. He did alright, but at times creaked.
Maxwell realized
Palushaj was on everyone's tongues. That's right as he played a full game. But Ben Maxwell was more impressive at times than Palushaj, and he grew into the game. If I had written this in the first intermission, it would have been about Maxwell missing the boat. I'm pleased to say he made it in time for boarding, maybe even avoided a cut or two in the end.
Some out of depth for the moment
Not yet for Dumont, St. Denis, Weber. If the Habs played Boston 82 times, Conboy would be an asset. But they don't.
Your thoughts welcome...
I'm happy to tell you I took my own advice for this game. Score? Was there one? I tried to watch players I hadn't seen before and look for improvement in those I was familiar with. I won't give a full report by any means, but I have a few notes:
Pouliot is trying to deliver on promises
He didn't score, but I thought he tried. He was energetic and importantly he shot the puck (when he could find it). His highlight came early when he saw a seam and drove with a wicked backhand and ending on the post.
Palushaj will try all night long
Aaron tries and tries, but I fear the St. Louis scouts who let him go for lack of finishing touch may have been right. But while he may never be a top-liner, he's an instant improvement on D'Agostini as a checking player and could be a good complement over the years to guys like Pyatt.
Tinordi was a good pick
Genuine surprise of the night was Tinordi's poise. I don't think Fischer ever showed this. Tinordi looked a rookie, but a rookie with a future.
Bergeron would be a great Hab
We hear about most every other French Canadian coming to Montreal. Seldom do I hear about Bergeron. But he's a good good player and he showed his quality tonight.
Gill's game is post-season
Someone else said it. You could see it every time he was on the ice for this end to end contest. Gill thrives in tight checking games with no whistles. Exhibition season is never going to flatter his talents. He did alright, but at times creaked.
Maxwell realized
Palushaj was on everyone's tongues. That's right as he played a full game. But Ben Maxwell was more impressive at times than Palushaj, and he grew into the game. If I had written this in the first intermission, it would have been about Maxwell missing the boat. I'm pleased to say he made it in time for boarding, maybe even avoided a cut or two in the end.
Some out of depth for the moment
Not yet for Dumont, St. Denis, Weber. If the Habs played Boston 82 times, Conboy would be an asset. But they don't.
Your thoughts welcome...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Canadiens Draft Review
Just a look at how I thought the two days went, picks, trades and all.
Trading up
The Canadiens first move of the day was to trade up in the draft order. In order to climb 5 places in the first round, the Canadiens dealt the 57th pick for the 113th pick (a 56 player drop).
The Canadiens presumably make this trade because they got itchy about the Tinordi pick – they had, after all, printed a shirt for the kid. Obviously Phoenix was not in play for Tinordi, else no trade. But were the other four teams? Buffalo’s next pick was Mark Pysyk, a biggish defender. Chicago took a forward, but took several biggish US defenders later on. Florida took Petrovic, a big Dman at #36. Washington took Kuznetzov, then Galiev.
I think it’s fair to say the Canadiens inkling about Tinordi (if other scouts rated him at all) was right. Had they waited 5 picks, they’d have risked missing out on him and wasting money on a shirt.
So from that point of view, it was the right move.
But think of it another way. Had the Canadiens not traded, had the Canadiens missed Tinordi, would the situation have been so awful?
Remember that in addition to being able to take a decent players at #27, they’d also have had a second rounder. In my dream world, that would mean they’d select a couple of scoring prospects (maybe Etem and Pulkkinen, maybe Nelson and McKegg, who knows), and it that dream world, I think we net out ever so slightly better.
Given they took quite a swing for the fences on pick #113, I can forgive the trade, though.
I’m neutral on it.
Trades they didn’t make
Hindsight is 20:20, and it’s a favourite tool of armchair commentators like myself. Hindsight at this draft tells us that several players dropped quite a bit further than expected, that quite a lot of players were available at unexpected times.
Pulkkinen, who I rate, went a mere 2 picks ahead of the Canadiens first 4th round selection. Not shifting picks around at that stage is a missed opportunity for me. Then again, I don’t have a scouting staff.
Similarly, a low volume of picks in an unclear draft only makes the gambling more intense. That 27th pick for a couple of picks might have been welcome. Or seeing who they picked anyway, trying to turn some 4th rounders into a few more 6th rounders.
Seeing as all GMs seemed to want to get to the beach, I won’t fault Montreal here too much either. Trades not made aren’t damaging.
I’m ambivalent on this.
Jarred Tinordi (Stats)
I think we all agree that you can’t teach big. But we might also agree there’s a big difference between Zdeno Chara and Andy Sutton. Big isn’t everything. But teach a big man to play with his size, well then you have a cornerstone piece.
As picks go, I don’t mind this one at all. It’s not the optimal pick, yet there are so many worse scenarios, so many worse picks. If uber-talented scorers are the rarest commodity in the league, then massive, qualified defencemen must be among the next rarest. In addition, the Canadiens took the biggest, and from what I read the best of the big defencemen available.
A good start.
Mark MacMillan (Stats)
An interesting prospect from the BCHL. Allegedly 6 feet tall and a mere 150 lbs. I’d love to see this guy in person, he must be a beanpole.
But he wasn’t picked for his stature. He was picked because as a rookie in the BCHL with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, MacMillan racked up 26 goals and 54 assists in 59 games – good enough for 9th in league scoring. In doing so, Mark also won the BCHL rookie of the year honours and a place on the very interesting North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team.
Like all drafted players, his coach thinks he’s a special player. That doesn’t tell me much. But consider this: he turned his brother (Mitch MacMillan) from a third year BCHL 45 point scoring vet into a 61 goalscorer and league MVP. I can’t say it was all Mark, but he probably had something to do with it.
In more good news, his brother is also 6 feet tall, and at the age of 20 showed that MacMillans were able to put weight on their frame.
I like the return to the board for the Habs. Aggressive and unafraid of the critics. The pick’s a good, though not great, one.
Morgan Ellis (Stats)
Not as exciting is the 6’1” stay-at-home defenceman from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL. He describes his own first pass and checking as good, but we’ve had plenty of defenders with low self-awareness, enough to make me question his assessment.
His stature is fine, as are his points totals. Even the fact he’s from the Q is good for business. It’s just this is not a pick to get up about. He may be an NHLer, but thousands have come before like him who never made it, just as some who did made it. We’ll have to wait and see.
Overall, I think this pick was wasteful. I think a goaltender like Louis Dominique, even if he is a risk at this point, would have been better use of the resources.
Brendan Gallagher (Stats)
Another BC boy with a small frame. And once again, another BC boy with plenty of skill to like. In fact, if you want to get down to it, Gallagher is the best pick the Habs made after Tinordi. While MacMillan put on a show in the BCHL as a rookie, Gallagher did the trick in the WHL regular season, and then again in the playoffs. 41 goals in 72 games in the season says goalscorer, for certain. 11 goals and 21 points in 16 playoff tilts speaks to some clutch ability.
Obviously the downside here is size. But the Canadiens play the odds well, as Gallagher dropped because of size, not skill. Pick a big guy at 147th overall, and it means 30 scouting teams were either very wrong about him, or that he is a total late bloomer, so who’s to know.
The risk here is worthy, though it may be interesting to see which of the Bruins (Craig Cunningham) and the Habs got the better of the Vancouver “Giants” duo.
Considering all that came after, this pick was a move in the right direction for me. A winner.
John Westin (Stats)
As if to assuage those of us who call for Swedes mad for skill, Timmins and his team dug deep and picked John Westin from the MoDo system.
At three picks from the end of the draft, I have to say you can’t do much better than picking a 6’O”, 183 lbs Swede with a touch around the net.
Though his numbers are only from Sweden’s Jr ranks, they are still impressive. For MoDo J20 he managed 16 goals in 31 games, which seems like a decent total compared to his peers. But it’s his scoring at the U18 championships (3 G in 6 games) and for the Swedish U18 team overall (6 G and 10 Pts in 10 games) that truly tantalize.
This is a home run swing, make no mistake. But at this point of the draft it’s almost nonsense to think you can do anything else. What’s more, picking from the best development system in Sweden, maybe the hockey world, isn’t a bad bet in my books.
Great pick.
Trading up
The Canadiens first move of the day was to trade up in the draft order. In order to climb 5 places in the first round, the Canadiens dealt the 57th pick for the 113th pick (a 56 player drop).
The Canadiens presumably make this trade because they got itchy about the Tinordi pick – they had, after all, printed a shirt for the kid. Obviously Phoenix was not in play for Tinordi, else no trade. But were the other four teams? Buffalo’s next pick was Mark Pysyk, a biggish defender. Chicago took a forward, but took several biggish US defenders later on. Florida took Petrovic, a big Dman at #36. Washington took Kuznetzov, then Galiev.
I think it’s fair to say the Canadiens inkling about Tinordi (if other scouts rated him at all) was right. Had they waited 5 picks, they’d have risked missing out on him and wasting money on a shirt.
So from that point of view, it was the right move.
But think of it another way. Had the Canadiens not traded, had the Canadiens missed Tinordi, would the situation have been so awful?
Remember that in addition to being able to take a decent players at #27, they’d also have had a second rounder. In my dream world, that would mean they’d select a couple of scoring prospects (maybe Etem and Pulkkinen, maybe Nelson and McKegg, who knows), and it that dream world, I think we net out ever so slightly better.
Given they took quite a swing for the fences on pick #113, I can forgive the trade, though.
I’m neutral on it.
Trades they didn’t make
Hindsight is 20:20, and it’s a favourite tool of armchair commentators like myself. Hindsight at this draft tells us that several players dropped quite a bit further than expected, that quite a lot of players were available at unexpected times.
Pulkkinen, who I rate, went a mere 2 picks ahead of the Canadiens first 4th round selection. Not shifting picks around at that stage is a missed opportunity for me. Then again, I don’t have a scouting staff.
Similarly, a low volume of picks in an unclear draft only makes the gambling more intense. That 27th pick for a couple of picks might have been welcome. Or seeing who they picked anyway, trying to turn some 4th rounders into a few more 6th rounders.
Seeing as all GMs seemed to want to get to the beach, I won’t fault Montreal here too much either. Trades not made aren’t damaging.
I’m ambivalent on this.
Jarred Tinordi (Stats)
I think we all agree that you can’t teach big. But we might also agree there’s a big difference between Zdeno Chara and Andy Sutton. Big isn’t everything. But teach a big man to play with his size, well then you have a cornerstone piece.
As picks go, I don’t mind this one at all. It’s not the optimal pick, yet there are so many worse scenarios, so many worse picks. If uber-talented scorers are the rarest commodity in the league, then massive, qualified defencemen must be among the next rarest. In addition, the Canadiens took the biggest, and from what I read the best of the big defencemen available.
A good start.
Mark MacMillan (Stats)
An interesting prospect from the BCHL. Allegedly 6 feet tall and a mere 150 lbs. I’d love to see this guy in person, he must be a beanpole.
But he wasn’t picked for his stature. He was picked because as a rookie in the BCHL with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, MacMillan racked up 26 goals and 54 assists in 59 games – good enough for 9th in league scoring. In doing so, Mark also won the BCHL rookie of the year honours and a place on the very interesting North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team.
Like all drafted players, his coach thinks he’s a special player. That doesn’t tell me much. But consider this: he turned his brother (Mitch MacMillan) from a third year BCHL 45 point scoring vet into a 61 goalscorer and league MVP. I can’t say it was all Mark, but he probably had something to do with it.
In more good news, his brother is also 6 feet tall, and at the age of 20 showed that MacMillans were able to put weight on their frame.
I like the return to the board for the Habs. Aggressive and unafraid of the critics. The pick’s a good, though not great, one.
Morgan Ellis (Stats)
Not as exciting is the 6’1” stay-at-home defenceman from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL. He describes his own first pass and checking as good, but we’ve had plenty of defenders with low self-awareness, enough to make me question his assessment.
His stature is fine, as are his points totals. Even the fact he’s from the Q is good for business. It’s just this is not a pick to get up about. He may be an NHLer, but thousands have come before like him who never made it, just as some who did made it. We’ll have to wait and see.
Overall, I think this pick was wasteful. I think a goaltender like Louis Dominique, even if he is a risk at this point, would have been better use of the resources.
Brendan Gallagher (Stats)
Another BC boy with a small frame. And once again, another BC boy with plenty of skill to like. In fact, if you want to get down to it, Gallagher is the best pick the Habs made after Tinordi. While MacMillan put on a show in the BCHL as a rookie, Gallagher did the trick in the WHL regular season, and then again in the playoffs. 41 goals in 72 games in the season says goalscorer, for certain. 11 goals and 21 points in 16 playoff tilts speaks to some clutch ability.
Obviously the downside here is size. But the Canadiens play the odds well, as Gallagher dropped because of size, not skill. Pick a big guy at 147th overall, and it means 30 scouting teams were either very wrong about him, or that he is a total late bloomer, so who’s to know.
The risk here is worthy, though it may be interesting to see which of the Bruins (Craig Cunningham) and the Habs got the better of the Vancouver “Giants” duo.
Considering all that came after, this pick was a move in the right direction for me. A winner.
John Westin (Stats)
As if to assuage those of us who call for Swedes mad for skill, Timmins and his team dug deep and picked John Westin from the MoDo system.
At three picks from the end of the draft, I have to say you can’t do much better than picking a 6’O”, 183 lbs Swede with a touch around the net.
Though his numbers are only from Sweden’s Jr ranks, they are still impressive. For MoDo J20 he managed 16 goals in 31 games, which seems like a decent total compared to his peers. But it’s his scoring at the U18 championships (3 G in 6 games) and for the Swedish U18 team overall (6 G and 10 Pts in 10 games) that truly tantalize.
This is a home run swing, make no mistake. But at this point of the draft it’s almost nonsense to think you can do anything else. What’s more, picking from the best development system in Sweden, maybe the hockey world, isn’t a bad bet in my books.
Great pick.
Friday, June 25, 2010
List Enough Players And You'll Look A Genius
Yesterday, I wrote on Jarred Tinordi as the D man the Canadiens must take if they were to take the easy route and pick on D.
I'm not thrilled about the pick, but Tinordi should be big enough and established enough to avoid the David Fischer fiasco. If he makes the league and plays a solid game with a giant frame then he's not going to be the biggest failure of this draft.
That pick may belong to the Buffalo Sabres who took the underwhelming Pysyk on the very next pick.
If you want insight into why the Habs traded to get Tinordi picked, then that Buffalo pick at #23 tells you all you need to know. They'd have had Tinordi over the already "all-round" defender they sunk their pick into.
Because of the trade, the Habs are out of action until the fourth round when they get the 113th and 117th picks. Then it's 147 and 207 and done. With Quebecers bound to be selected, there's little to get too excited about. My hopes remain with our friend Corbeil-Theriault and a couple of scorers who've dropped.
I'm not thrilled about the pick, but Tinordi should be big enough and established enough to avoid the David Fischer fiasco. If he makes the league and plays a solid game with a giant frame then he's not going to be the biggest failure of this draft.
That pick may belong to the Buffalo Sabres who took the underwhelming Pysyk on the very next pick.
If you want insight into why the Habs traded to get Tinordi picked, then that Buffalo pick at #23 tells you all you need to know. They'd have had Tinordi over the already "all-round" defender they sunk their pick into.
Because of the trade, the Habs are out of action until the fourth round when they get the 113th and 117th picks. Then it's 147 and 207 and done. With Quebecers bound to be selected, there's little to get too excited about. My hopes remain with our friend Corbeil-Theriault and a couple of scorers who've dropped.
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