Recrutes

Recrutes: Hockey scouting from a professional perspective from Grant McCagg and Habs coverage from a 33 year veteran covering the NHL from Brian Wilde.

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Call Of The Wilde: A Lesson In Hockey

October 7, 2017

By Brian Wilde

Wilde Horses

  • – This category is usually filled with Habs players. Alex Ovechkin has seven goals in two games. He got the six in the first four periods. There’s no replacement for talent. There’s no way to stop real talent except with talent. That talent wasn’t there on the Senators Thursday to stop Ovechkin, and that talent wasn’t there on the Habs either on Saturday. No one can touch Ovechkin at the moment. That’s talent for you. The Habs had no answer.
  • – The Habs PK has been good this season on offence. Danault in game one and Gallagher in game two got shorthanded markers. Both offered a net presence down low to show that the club has an attitude, that they aren’t worried to be caught up in the back on the counter. Byron with the pass from behind the goal line in the corner to Gallagher parked in front. Not a lot of fear of a counter attack in that set up. Very interesting.
  • – The power play looks like it has the makings to be an outstanding power play. The first unit was throwing it around with skill to earn a multitude of chances. This was after Shea Weber fired a rocket that sounded like it hit two posts or a post and a cross bar. I didn’t see a replay but how did it not go in? If the power play doesn’t have a strong year, I will be very surprised. As many have noted, that pass that is going to Pacioretty would be a lot better served through the seam to arrive to Galchenyuk who has the powerful one timer on the right side.
  • – In this shit show, Shea Weber managed an even in the plus minus.
  • – Lehkonen, Gallagher and Hudon were respectable.

Wilde Goats

  • – A decision was made to protect the 19 year old Victor Mete against the high scoring and dangerous Capitals and it very much backfired as Jordie Benn was put out with Shea Weber and the Caps went to work. Benn couldn’t handle the pace with a horrible giveaway on the second goal and it was ugly early. Not just for that partnership but also for Alzner and Petry on the first goal. It was 3-0 after three minutes and the game was over already. The Habs were shell shocked. That portends real issues. We shall see, but it was too fast for the Habs defence in this one. That was the criticism from many, and in this one… there it was.
  • – Jeff Petry had a poor camp. I didn’t mention it much because he’s a veteran and what do veterans have to prove at a camp? Jeff Petry now though is off to a poor start to the season too. Petry is soft in one on one battles, but his skating is such a positive that he manages to hide that weakness. Not right now. To put it in simple hockey terms, he can’t check his man.
  • – Ales Hemsky has shown just one thing so far… an ability to take soft and lazy penalties. Four minors already. That won’t do. Not sure that tank has any hockey left in it. We shall see, but so far I see very little.
  • – Mark Streit.  Couldn’t play in the playoffs last year. Not enough speed or strength.

Wilde Cards

  • – If you told the head coach that he got four points out of six to start the season on the road, I am quite sure that he would take that. So let’s just call this one horrible game for now because that’s all it is. The horrible is magnified because it’s early in the season but you can’t project it out to say that it’s going to be a bad year . . . not yet anyway. Wait to see what compete they have in New York and back at home Tuesday against Chicago. You’ll have a much better idea by then. For now, a bad game.

About Brian Wilde

Brian Wilde has worked in hockey since he was 20. He was the rink side host for the Edmonton Oilers at CTV and Ottawa Senators for Sportsnet. He was also lead reporter on the Montreal Canadiens for 17 years at CTV Montreal.

View all posts by Brian Wilde

  • tprigi says

    Tommrow, I see Davison in for streit and Mitchell in for Hemsky. As for D pairing we may see Mete back with Weber , but I see CJ going with the the two best defensive D who don’t make any mistakes; Alzner -Weber

  • Kevin Kennedy says

    A good, early benchmark game for MB, CJ to see the “improved” defense. Teams have been building up speed for awhile now.
    The d, as constructed & paired off tonight wasn’t even close.

  • Patrick Moss says

    Every fan with a working pair of eyes said the D was an issue. Others, including Bergy, said the current squad would get the same amount of points, or perform even better. That’s just insane. This D is old and slow and can’t move the puck when compared with other good D squads (and Mete is an outlier). I’ve said it before to Brian on Twitter: Bergy made a HUGE mistake not meeting Markov’s asking price. Yes He too is old and slow – but he could move the puck better than anyone else on the team. And they need that.

    • Steve B. says

      Yes. Markov was a huge loss. Especially with no solid, reputable replacement.

      As Brian said, rule it as a horrible game and see how things work out against the Rangers tomorrow. Maybe some tweaking will be helpful too. No nee for knee jerk reactions, but need to recognize when things don’t seem right from the start.

  • Scott Murray says

    I thought Shaw and Galchenyuk had no chemistry either. Glad Price was relieved of the last two periods at least.

  • Robert Thomson says

    Just a terrible game. Streit, Petry, and Benn have all looked bad so far. Hemsky looks to be a failed experiment already, yes I know only two games, but he looks useless out there. Habs have looked slow and overwhelmed at timesby the oppositions speed in both games. Next two games will definitely give a much clearer picture of this years team. Tonight was just bad game was over almost before it started.

  • Cj Angel says

    That’s about sums it up! My biggest worry is Petry. He is too important to the team. The next 10-15 games will tell how much of a worry there on the back end. There are a few options left but not many, if preseason holds true. MB may feel the heat of the 8.5 mil burning in his pocket.

    It seems to me that the speed of the game has jumped another level and the guys who were not slow by previous standards appear slow now. Or maybe it’s just because the Habs blueline doesn’t have enough speed in the mix. Another factor is all the offseason changes to the blueline, these players are still learning each other. The speed and skill of the opponent will take advantage of the raw D partnerships.

    I’m very curious to see how the team responds over the next 3 games. I like how they come out in the seconds period tonight. There is heart on this team. Now we need to see some skills!

  • Guy says

    Ugly but things will improve. Mentioned Petry struggling in Buffalo game & was scoffed at on Twitter (I assume muted as well). Same sentiments on Petry tweeted this evening by same scoffer. Whoops, know your audience better…..customer service & all that

    • Brian Wilde says

      Petry has really struggled for sure. I ignored it in the pre season as it clearly was nothing to worry about then as one should never evaluate the veterans in the pre season – their goal is to just not get injured. However, this start of the regular season, Petry is really struggling mightily. He needs to get more committed. Some of his issues are simply being soft on the check. You got to want to win your battles in hockey or you’re not any good to anyone.

  • Chris Loreto says

    I have never put much stock in the first 20 games of the season. Fast starts although they help in the standings , also give fans false euphoria. However they do reveal potential problems- for example so far in the preseason and the first two games our D has looked awful, our offense not to bad and our goaltending average. Now our offense will improve and CP will find his game but MB has created a train wreck on D. We have 2 D I trust- Weber and Mete -the others look slow, soft, hesitant and overwhelmed. This I fear will not improve.
    I have never been impressed with Petry- his play does not and will not warrant his contract. Never understood the hype on him. Benn I worry is regressing to his norm and hence why he was traded from a team desperately needing D. After a post deadline bump, he looks confused and tentative. Alzner , I will give time but Streit was a Kaberle like panic move by MB. You can’t tell me there is no one on the farm that is better?
    MB has to pull a rabbit out of somewhere to make this D better, otherwise scores like tonight will be the norm because as we saw tonight, an ordinary CP means trouble.
    Finally two last thoughts on Plex and Shaw. Plekanec I believe is Czech for “stick where pucks go to die “, and Shaw does nothing for me. Andrghetto did more in my opinion.
    I think we are in for a long year.

    • Brian Wilde says

      Benn was worrying in Washington, but he was steadier in the NYR game. This makes sense as his defensive partner was also better. Benn hasn’t started well though for sure. However, he isn’t as bad as that Washington game for certain, but you change your partner and good things can happen when that partner is a massive upgrade.