ho-hum
- pete26

the word is ending tomorrow Pete, Habs will lose a 4th one and boom...it's over

http://www.foxnews.com/op...ld-world-come-to-end.html

hum-ho
- mr.peanut

oh-muh

the word is ending tomorrow Pete, Habs will lose a 4th one and boom...it's over

http://www.foxnews.com/op...ld-world-come-to-end.html
- Symba007

the real problem (not really one, but still...) with preseason Montreal is that they have too many preseason games, so they just fill their line-up with scrubs and of course the teams that play less will have more regulars in their games.

oh-muh
- pete26

muh-oh

the real problem (not really one, but still...) with preseason Montreal is that they have too many preseason games, so they just fill their line-up with scrubs and of course the teams that play less will have more regulars in their games.
- mr.peanut

every team plays 8 preseason games, no?

every team plays 8 preseason games, no?
- Symba007

do they? if so, montreal is DOOMED

do they? if so, montreal is DOOMED
- mr.peanut

the world is doomed....the bible said so

do they? if so, montreal is DOOMED
- mr.peanut

Seems like a good blog title..

this is not funny habs fans. this is going to be a clusterfuk season. there is no substance to the bergegenius regime. if price doesn't win the hart, vezina and rocket Richard trophies, bergegenius's blueprint will be a total waste of our time. prepare yourselves for a long ho-hum season.
- rob121

Salut Victor!!

the world is doomed....the bible said so
- Symba007

- stinger67

- stinger67

no way they win with that lineup tonight :

no way they win with that lineup tonight :

- Symba007

yeesh

yeesh
- Pie

it's fugly

no way they win with that lineup tonight :


- Symba007

Poor Al

Chemistry remains elusive between Danault and Galchenyuk

We hear the word chemistry often around training camp, and with good reason.

Players come and go, some develop, some don’t and roles change as a result. That leads to the creation of new lines, new defence pairs, and the need for new chemistry.

It’s not always easy.

But what is chemistry, really, and how does it get built?

Every player will have a different definition, but most of the time it sounds like what Brendan Gallagher described after the Canadiens lost their third straight game of the preseason, 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

“Every individual does something good and you can’t get away from what you do individually,” Gallagher said, “but it’s how you can contribute to the line and understanding how you can help other guys.”

Then there’s Phillip Danault.

He is the centre on a line with Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk, the player whose job Danault eventually took last season as top line centre when Galchenyuk injured his knee in early December.

Danault and Galchenyuk spent less than 15 minutes on the ice together at 5 on 5 last season, so as far as chemistry experiments go, they are starting from scratch.

I asked Danault what he thought chemistry meant after the morning skate Thursday. His answer was interesting, because it began in typical fashion, but then veered in another direction that I didn’t expect.

“You have to be on the same page, you have to get used to seeing where he is on zone exits, zone entries,” Danault said. “The level of work is also very important. If we work, there won’t be a problem. If we don’t work, that’s where we’ll be taken advantage of. Everyone has to work. If you want to slow down the game you need to have the puck, so you have to make it so that you have it, and to do that you have to work.”

I told Danault about my theory that perhaps having a sniper like Galchenyuk play with two strong puck retrievers in himself and Gallagher, not necessarily one of Galchenyuk’s strengths, might turn into an effective line.

The only part that Danault agreed with was that Galchenyuk is indeed a sniper. That’s it.

“He’s good at finding the right area to snipe from,” he conceded. “But all three of us have to work hard. That’s how it’s going to function here in Montreal. You can’t, as I said, slow down the game and start watching when you don’t have the puck. You have to work. If you don’t have the puck you have to work. That’s our system.

“It’s work, working for others. That’s chemistry.”

It’s pretty obvious what Danault thought was missing after one preseason game; he mentioned some derivative of the word “work” 10 times in less than two minutes. The game in Quebec City against the Boston Bruins was a difficult one for his line as a whole, something Danault openly admitted, but it was particularly rough for Galchenyuk, who had a few turnovers and didn’t look particularly good.

It was the first preseason game. There was no need to be alarmed.

Fast forward to after the game Thursday, the line’s second preseason game, so still no reason to be alarmed, and the line created a few chances to score, particularly in the third period, but it was not consistently dangerous against a Devils team lacking much depth in terms of legitimate NHL players.

“There was a bit of a positive tonight, there was an improvement compared to the last game,” Danault said. “We were finding each other a bit more, we were working hard together. The chemistry is getting there slowly, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

But then, Danault was asked what the biggest adjustment was to having Galchenyuk on his left wing as opposed to Max Pacioretty, his regular left wing last season and his most common linemate. Danault immediately responded it was speed, that Pacioretty is a straight-line skater with speed, but was quick to say that was not a knock on Galchenyuk because he has great hands and is a scorer.

“If you give it to him in the slot he’s going to score half the time,” Danault said of Galchenyuk.

But this brings us back to chemistry and what Danault said Thursday morning about work and getting the puck back and work. He was asked if Pacioretty might be a better fit with a player like him than Galchenyuk.

“Good question,” he responded, and then paused. “Good question.”

Hmm.

Pacioretty’s new line with Jonathan Drouin and Ales Hemsky could still change, so maybe Danault will get what appears to be his wish to get his old left wing back.

It’s only normal for any centre on this team to want to play with Pacioretty because he’s the team’s best forward, and getting that spot is earned, not given. What isn’t normal is to hear someone vocalize that desire so clearly.

Chemistry can be elusive in training camp; it’s a relatively short period of time with a lot of extra players around and a schedule of preseason games that can be frenetic. There is still lots of time for the Danault line to figure stuff out and for him to better appreciate the qualities Galchenyuk brings to it.

Or, put another way, there is still time for Galchenyuk to reach the standard Danault appears to have set for their line to be effective.

Arpon Basu

no way they win with that lineup tonight :


- Symba007

Ugh.

0-4-0.....

Hudon - Plekanec- Lehkonen
Carr - Audette - McCarron
Broll - De la Rose - Grégoire
Terry - Holland - Froese

Alzner - Benn
Morrow - Davidson
Lernout - Taormina

Montoya
Fucale

Yeah...I don't think I'm watching this

Hudon - Plekanec- Lehkonen
Carr - Audette - McCarron
Broll - de la Rose - Grégoire
Terry - Holland - Froese

Alzner - Benn
Morrow - Davidson
Lernout - Taormina

Montoya
Fucale

Yeah...I don't think I'm watching this

- stinger67

same here, would be a waste of time, a 3rd line and 2 defensive D's....for 5 NHLer's, not worth my time

Hudon - Plekanec- Lehkonen
Carr - Audette - McCarron
Broll - de la Rose - Grégoire
Terry - Holland - Froese

Alzner - Benn
Morrow - Davidson
Lernout - Taormina

Montoya
Fucale

Yeah...I don't think I'm watching this

- stinger67

This might be one time when I actually feel sorry for the poor (frank)s who got tickets to a game.

same here, would be a waste of time, a 3rd line and 2 defensive D's....for 5 NHLer's, not worth my time
- Symba007

I don't think it's the third line as we speak....

I don't think it's the third line as we speak....
- deadpoulet

as we speak it's the first line....tonight. We will see on October 5th against buffalo