Recrutes: Hockey scouting from a professional perspective from Grant McCagg and Habs coverage from a 33 year veteran covering the NHL from Brian Wilde.
January 7, 2018
By Brian Wilde
The GM spoke in the afternoon then they played a game in the evening. Here’s Brian Wilde’s COTW….
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who is the top-line center in Laval? what would happen if that individual was promoted to the big club and inserted into the same role, growing pains and all? Would that irreparably damage their development, or is it simply too much pressure for them?
wild day all around in Habs land…with some groundhog day aspects tossed in.
re: equipment changes. I know people line up like it is black Friday to get their kids the newest Price gear all across Canada. wonder how much presser their is on him to use stuff he isn’t comfortable with?
Race for the bottom 5
26-habs-40pts
——————-
27-edm-39pts
28-vanc-38
29th-ott-37
30-buff-29
31-arz-26
So last night habs won.now we are out of the bottom 5 for that lottory pick.if we,d lost habs be in 28th,vanc in 26th.
I hate it too but this is the only race that matters for the habs for the remainder of the ssn. I guess yuh gotta win to give some false hope to the unknowing fans who will go buy 15$ beers and 8$ hotdogs.
Hate to say it but gallagher is our best trade bait today.imagine him in st.louis.hmmm no i luv gally and his desire.no deal. But its break week,time for the shipout firesale to commence!!
In your eyes is Drouin really doing much better then Chucky was doing when he was a C? Why was Chucky never given the same opportunity when he first made the team to become a proper Center? I can understand wanting to try Drouin at center and seeing if it panned out but it hasn’t and they’ve publicly said so now so so how is Chucky now not the ” best option they have” for a C? I just feel that this year is already a loss so why not just flip it and put Drouin back on the wing and put chucky with him in there as the Center and ride with it.
This popular narrative I simply do not get. As if Galchenyuk was not given a chance. He was given 5 seasons where they kept trying to see if he had learned how to hockey better defensively and every time he had the same difficulties. He may not have had seasons on end for 5 seasons, but he has 5 seasons to increase his hockey IQ and he simply could not. Let me put it to you bluntly instead of being so polite all the time… Galchenyuk is a dummy at C. He has had 5 years and he simply can not get it done. If Drouin were off and on after five seasons at center and still had trouble, then lets talk about equality.
Drouin has had a good learning curve at center. He continues to adapt as his GM actually said but was lost in the drama of the better quote. I ask you to keep in mind Taylor Hall. He got traded to New Jersey last season and did not have a good year. He was drafted one. Drouin slightly lower. It takes time sometimes. Be patient. Trust me on this, the last problem of the Montreal Canadiens is Jonathan Drouin. They have a very slow defence that doesn’t get the puck up quickly which neutralizes the Habs pretty fleet forwards. They get the mobility and puck moving cleared up and a lot of other things will fall into place.
As far as I know he started his career in the NHL as a winger because it’s easier to adapt to that and then he was yo’yo back and forth into a Center. He was NEVER given the luxury that Drouin had which was you start as a Center and we ride it out and see how it goes. Fact of the matter was that Therrien needed wins and couldn’t ride it out with him. I’m not saying Drouin is the problem (far from it and he’s not) but you can’t sit there and tell me that Chucky had 5 years to get it done as CENTER.
I totally can and I will. I can’t trll you he had it consecutively but I sure can tell you he had 5 years
One could even argue he had 6-7 years to show he could play center…two junior coaches also didn’t think he could get it done and moved him from center to wing..his coach in Sarnia and on the US WJC team. So that is four head coaches and at least ten assistant coaches and three GM’s and 8 assistant GM’s that all concluded that Chucky was better on the wing. At some point no matter how hard you wish for it..perhaps one needs to concede that those 25 or so professional coaches/GM’s aren’t all wrong and you (meaning everyone that wants him at C) are right.
How’s Alzner doing? Perhaps a few games off to heal?