Recrutes: Hockey scouting from a professional perspective from Grant McCagg and Habs coverage from a 33 year veteran covering the NHL from Brian Wilde.
December 20, 2017
By Brian Wilde
The Montreal Canadiens with stop two of a seven game road trip in Vancouver. The road trip started with an abysmal night in Ottawa. A much better effort against the Canucks for the Habs. Let’s start with the Wilde Horses…
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https://www.tsn.ca/olympics/video/which-nhlers-would-have-made-team-canada-s-olympic-roster~1269679
Here is craig buttons team Canada with NHL players this year
No weber for him. I disagree.
Oh yes I did see that. No, I do not agree with his assessment. I sure would be interested to see Mike Babcock’s but alas there is no Olympics for the best players. However, he still believes Weber is among the best. In fact, a trade to Toronto would not shock me as he is exactly what that defence needs.
I’m not keen on trading Weber, but I would definitely be listening to offers. Purely hypothetical, but Weber to Toronto for one of Nylander / Marner is a deal the Habs have to make. Rebuild D via draft and young prospects:
1st 2018 pick (preferably top 10), Mete, Juulsen is a fantastic start. Keep Petry, Schlemko. Trade Benn, Alzner for picks and draft D. Also have Brook in the system.
A question Brian. I seem to recall Kirk Muller being hailed as some sort of power play genius when he returned as an associated coach with the habs. Were we all wrong? Or did he lost his touch?
The power play is awful. Pacioretty in the strike position is a mistake that keeps on going. His numbers are horrendous. Do they not look at their own stats? It is a bloody mystery. I don’t keep going to a well without water in it.
Weber breaking down narrative also gets me. Any player who blocked a shot like that would be injured. Come on.
Hi Brian,
I have been watching hockey for a long time and I do not patronize. I think this article as well as a good dea of your others are absolute excellent. While the other hockey commentators are constantly ” trying to re arrange the deck chairs” on this Canadiens’ Titanic you are calmly pointing to icebergs such as Alzner and the other slow moving mountains of ice on out team that are unfit for this new fast moving hockey climate. I do, though, have question for you: How & why is The Vegas team performing to such high standards? Of course, the Vegas players seem to be playing a relentless game in which they do not give up ,but this teams is mostly comprised of cast offs including the coach. And these cast offs just beat Tampa Bay 4-3 last night. Do you think The Canadiens are a better team & what in the chemistry & the coaching is making The Vegas team such a success ? Why can’t The Canadiens replicate the same effort & ultimate success of Vegas ?
Thanks,
Daniel Adams
Daniel, this is an excellent question. In fact, I listen to the NHL Network Sirius radio pretty much all day everyday these days and you know what…… no one has a real good answer. We all refer to the speed they bring to the game, but this speed isn’t that much better than other teams that are not performing. They are getting some performances that no one could have seen happen. It is a remarkable story and I keep waiting for it to end, but so far….. man, who can figure it out. I seriously would love to be smarter and have a good answer for you, but like Mike Johnson, Pierre Lebrun, Bob McKenzie, and great hosts all day long who know the game as well as anyone….. beyond the speed they bring, I don’t know why they have caught lightning in a bottle to this extent. It is unbelievable. As far as why can’t the Habs catch that lightning, the defence is not fast enough. They don’t move to offence fast enough. Some teams move to offence from defence so fast these days it is scary to watch. Also the Habs have some contain defenceman who are not allowed to contain like they used to…. Alzner and Benn used to hold a little bit and stick check a bit, but they have to just let themselves be turnstiled now or they take a penalty. My final thought on all of this though is this….. lets see what the playoffs look like. Watch to see if they have the guts to still call a bunch of stick fouls and holding fouls when the games become more important.
Brian: Why not play Petry beside Weber when Weber returns? Can that be any worse than the current options? Petry on his off side has to be way better than anything else they can do. Give them 27 minutes and fill in the rest. Now go get a decent 3 to play with Juulsen next year and play Mete with Benn/Alzner on the third pair.
I guess Petry doesn’t want to try to play on his off side
I really hope they wouldn’t trade Weber. I really like him. He’s so unappreciated by some fans, it’s awful. And some media members. I really like him and I hope he becomes our next captain. He is such a strong leader and strong charactered individual. I’m sure all the young guys would do anything to impress and walk a straight line around him. I also don’t believe Bergevin would trade him.
Is this whole season going to be like this? A string of wins and we fans get to thinking they have a slim chance; followed by some dismal performances where any AHL team would school them? The angst of the modern Habs fan I suppose.
“Reset” is still the Optive word!
Do not get fooled by these wins against non playoff teams , clean house ASAP
A few weeks back Craig button picked his team Canada Olympic team if NHL players were going this year.
He did not include weber.
He did have subban though as last d.