Go Habs Go!

[Doc Holliday]

Are you guys aware that Arber Xhekaj is 6th in the NHL in penalty minutes with 47, and is 2nd in the NHL in PIM/game? At the tender age of 22, and having played only 17 games, I find this to be quite impressive. He is also the youngest guy in the top 6. It shows lots of chutzpah.

One of my mottoes in life (which has always served me well in court, especially with suck-ass cases) has always been, if you are going down, go down with a fight. For this reason, I am very very impressed by young Xhekaj.

Well he has to be more careful & to chose his spots & learn he doesn’t have to fight every game, He suffered a very serious shoulder injury while fighting last season & needed to be operated. That problem will never go away & trust me on this i had the exact same problem forty years ago in a boxing match. The shoulder never feels the same & it’s always tender & the injury can recur if you’re not careful. I quit boxing after my surgery but i was fed up with the constant migraine headaches anyway.

Arber also got his ass kicked by Tanner Jeannot & more fighters will want to try him out. He can’t lose too many more fights or else it’ll start affecting the rest of his game negatively. We’ll start comparing him to Terry Harper.

Let’s face it: he’s sucked this season & has had a rough going since he returned from his recent injury. I’m sure the attention he’s been getting like the McDonald’s commercials & other hype has made it hard for him to remain grounded & focused. Considering that fighting may possibly be totally banned in just a few years (like in the Quebec Junior Hockey League) he needs to improve his defensive game or else one of the many kids waiting for their opportunity will take his job. He needs to show that he can actually be a dependable hockey player & not just there to drop the gloves. He cannot be looked upon as a risk or burden on the team. He needs to be productive because one of these days in the next coupke of years or so the organization will get sick of losing all the time & the emphasis will be on players who can make the team win.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

I’m sure the attention he’s been getting like the McDonald’s commercials & other hype has made it hard for him to remain grounded & focused.

His quick rise in popularity might have get to his head. Looking at his comments about being sent to Laval he showed his lack of maturity, which can be expected from a 22 year old kid. Let’s hope he regains his focus and do what he should, I.e. learn the basics about how to defend as a pro and get a better reading of the game. He has shown some good potential and with his physical stature he could be a great addition to a team.

 

[Doc Holliday]

His quick rise in popularity might have get to his head. Looking at his comments about being sent to Laval he showed his lack of maturity, which can be expected from a 22 year old kid. Let’s hope he regains his focus and do what he should, I.e. learn the basics about how to defend as a pro and get a better reading of the game. He has shown some good potential and with his physical stature he could be a great addition to a team.

It’s totally normal that all the attention & rapid game may habe went to his head. He was never drafted, never played a game in the minors & was a walk-in at last season’s training camp & shocked everyone including himself & made the team! And on top of that he ended up spending the entire season with the big team! He was grounded, well-liked, had a role on the team & actually played very well. The best part was his story & his ascent to the NHL was nearly Hollywood-like!

His absence from the team is being felt. Pezzetta has taken the role of tough guy on the team but let’s be honest: he doesn’t belong in the NHL. These are not the 70’s & 80’s. YOU NEED TO HAVE A BIT OF TALENT AND KNOW HOW TO PLAY HOCKEY! Unfortunately there isn’t currently spot on the team’s defence right now. But some pundits have brought up a suggestion: WHY DONT THEY TRY PUTTING HIM AS A FORWARD ON THE FOURTH LINE? He has the skill set to play as a forward & his presence alone would be an asset. On top of that COULD HE BE ANY WORSE THAN PEZZETTA?

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hearing that the Habs are currently in talks on a trade which would involve several players. If it happens it likely would involve three teams & I’m guessing Jake Allen or Cayden Primeau would be part of the trade & possibly one of their defencemen since there’s been interest in 2 or 3 of their defencemen recently & teams have been actively scouting their games.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

There’s been talk of trades since the beginning of the goalie trio situation. It is pretty obvious that one will eventually get traded but until then it’s always gossip and speculation from journalists desperately trying to keep the show going on.

 

[TheBlob]

Cole is more than due to score a few......hat trick tonight? Go go le p'tit, lâche toi lousse!

 

[Doc Holliday]

There’s been talk of trades since the beginning of the goalie trio situation. It is pretty obvious that one will eventually get traded but until then it’s always gossip and speculation from journalists desperately trying to keep the show going on.

True. But it’s leaks from other organizations that have indicated that the habs are one of the teams involved in discussions for a trade or two. But Primeau’s recent performance may have squashed some of the trade talks again because his value may have gone up again. And the fact Jake Allen isn’t having a good season & that he still has a year left has scared off some of his potential suitors. The habs may have lost their window to trade him when they had the chance to. Teams that were in the market for a goaltender are all playing much better now. As for Sean Monahan he just scored his 9th goal tonight. That’s disappointing. The Habs can’t trade him until his production improves. Same thing with Josh Anderson who is currently having the worse season in his career. No team will want his big unproductive contract unless the habs pay a high price in order to bribe them. I don’t think Hughes is willing to go for this. Considering that the habs are not expected to make the playoffs unless a miracle happens the wise thing is to hold on to your high picks. Same thing with Gallagher but at least he’s playing better & he’s finally healthy again.

 

[gaby]

Ouin.....ont perdu en 12ême ronde de tirs de barrage...faut le faire....lol.....un match enlevant quand même.....ont pris les devants 3-1 mais comme souvent des revirements et punitions leur ont coûté encore la victoire....des bons moments de tension durant
les tirs de barrage avec de beaux buts et aussi de beaux arrêts...on a eu de tout....loll.....sauf la victoire.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Cole is more than due to score a few......hat trick tonight? Go go le p'tit, lâche toi lousse!

Go go le p’tit lache sounds just about right! You’ve nailed it! Still scoreless! The problem that i see with him is that teams have figured him out & blocking that cross pass to the left faceoff circle where he often sets up for his one-timer, similar to Ovi & Stammer, who are also experiencing very difficult seasons. Caulfield needs to figure it out & get creative.

 

[gaby]

If not...him and NICK will have to rethink their carreer with McDo......lol...

 

[Womaniser]

Ouin.....ont perdu en 12ême ronde de tirs de barrage...faut le faire....lol.....un match enlevant quand même.....ont pris les devants 3-1 mais comme souvent des revirements et punitions leur ont coûté encore la victoire....des bons moments de tension durant
les tirs de barrage avec de beaux buts et aussi de beaux arrêts...on a eu de tout....loll.....sauf la victoire.

I would add that a couple of penalties were more or less deserved, at least Slavkovski one.

 

[gaby]

Agree...BUT that's the way it is in NHL....the refs often ont le sifflet imprévisible....lolll

 

[Womaniser]

Agree...BUT that's the way it is in NHL....the refs often ont le sifflet imprévisible....lolll

From what I heard on TV, there is quite a number of inexperienced referees.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

From what I heard on TV, there is quite a number of inexperienced referees.

It is a fact and some get easily influenced by the crowd’s reaction. You can tell when after realizing they made a bad call, they will call a penalty to the other team right away, regardless if it’s justified or not.

I remember a few games ago, Gallagher was entangled with an opponent close to the back of the net and the guy tripped on the corner of the net. The referee right next to the play didn’t budge but his partner, who was in the neutral zone blow the whistle calling a tripping penalty on Gallagher. Needless to say Gally was fuming! So was the crowd, after viewing the video on the giant screen. Sure enough that same referee called another bad one on the visiting team less than 30 seconds later.

 

[TheBlob]

Go go le p’tit lache sounds just about right! You’ve nailed it! Still scoreless! The problem that i see with him is that teams have figured him out & blocking that cross pass to the left faceoff circle where he often sets up for his one-timer, similar to Ovi & Stammer, who are also experiencing very difficult seasons. Caulfield needs to figure it out & get creative.

Yep, they figured him out and he seems puzzled. He kinda lost his magic from the previous year, but most of his goals looked the same. I hope he can get creative and reinvent himself because right now, he's an overpaid one-trick poney. I still believe in him, but it's a rough start for his big contract.

 

[gaby]

Oufff...malgré une 3ème pénible on a gagné...lol...on en avait grand besoin because les prochaines ne seront pas de la tarte.....au moins ANDERSON débloque....

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

C’est dur à comprendre parfois, les Canadiens sont sortis en lions, en deuxième on a vu des résultats très positifs, nos attaquants donnaient l’impression d’y aller pour la mise à mort! Puis, en troisième, plus rien!!! Tout le grit avait disparu, il a suffit de deux buts rapides pour anéantir toute la confiance construite sur les deux premieres périodes. J’imagine que c’est ça une jeune équipe.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Yep, they figured him out and he seems puzzled. He kinda lost his magic from the previous year, but most of his goals looked the same. I hope he can get creative and reinvent himself because right now, he's an overpaid one-trick poney. I still believe in him, but it's a rough start for his big contract.

Hard to believe but I actually think they’d have a hard time finding a taker for Caulfield right now if ever they‘d think he may end up being a bust & they’d want to dump his contract a.s.a.p.

Of course i don’t think they’d ever consider trading him now but i’m sure it may have them worried. As you said he’s a one-trick pony & his only real contribution is on the powerplay. He’s not a hard-worker, he’s small, he’s an average skater & i believe will only be productive if he has a playmaking centre who will contantly feed him the puck. At even strength he’s a liabilty & I’m starting to wonder if he’ll ever progress. By the way am i the only one who finds that he looks like & plays like Alex Debrincat? Debrincat’s season last year was eerily similar to Caulfield’s current struggles. A change of scenery in Detroit seems to have revived Debrincat’s career. His struggles in Ottawa is puzzling. He looked nothing like the player he was in Chicago. Now in Detroit he looks like that player again. The main reason why he didn’t want to stay in Ottawa wasn’t money. He simply was homesick & wanted to play & live in his home country. Could this be the reason behind Caulfield’s struggles?

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

You can tell with Caufield that he’s been asked to improve his back checking game and he’s been doing that. Not so good at protecting the puck but he’s done some great defense come back lately. I am confident once he masters a more complete game he will get more comfortable in general. He is still learning but his last goal was an unusual one for him, deep down in the slot and he didn’t miss, and it was 5 against 5. He needs to consistently skate and move in the offensive zone, he will become a better target for his teammates.

 

[Womaniser]

You can tell with Caufield that he’s been asked to improve his back checking game and he’s been doing that. Not so good at protecting the puck but he’s done some great defense come back lately. I am confident once he masters a more complete game he will get more comfortable in general. He is still learning but his last goal was an unusual one for him, deep down in the slot and he didn’t miss, and it was 5 against 5. He needs to consistently skate and move in the offensive zone, he will become a better target for his teammates.

And stop trying to score from impossible positions on the ice.