What Lessons Have The Habs Taught Us?

[Nuxfanabroad]

We've had a number of threads emerge from some team's collapses..(no, won't bother ranting more on the negative). Indeed, am a lil' lazy this morn, but figure this is worthy discussion/analysis.

 

Our team is mostly young, with many contracts petering out. The twins have just arrived with their work boots & hard hats at the ready. We could conceivably, change tack now, & take things in one of many possible directions. Could easily define this as a fairly pivotal moment in franchise history, due to an assortment of variables.

 

Drawing inspiration from the Hab's impressive run & PO-proficiency,(#1) what are the attributes/ingredients we need more of?

 

#2- Is their roster uniquely different, so therefore we shouldn't spend too much time trying to emulate?

 

#3- Within context of the salary cap era, is there a common thread in the Habs(& recent Champs: Caps, Blues), which are obvious lessons to heed?

 

...these are some of the Q's that immediately arise..we'll see where this goes.

[JesseBlue]

Signing toffoli was very important

[Aladeen]

1) make the playoffs

2) stay healthy

3) play as a team

4) have a great goalie

5) have above average D built for the playoff grind

6) capitalize on chances 

[goalie13]

I guess it depends on whether you consider the Habs run a great streak, or a sign of things to come.

 

To me, they look like a team that has caught fire, mostly fueled by the confidence that comes from Price's goaltending.  That is hard to replicate unless you have the right goaltender.  

[Chicken.]

Experienced defence and goaltending are paramount in the playoffs. younger forwards are able to get the job done as depth which emphasizes the importance of having a deep prospect pool while competing for a cup.

[BCNate]

I think they are a pretty average team on a nice run.  Cool to see, but I could also see them missing the playoffs next season.

[Grape]

Sometimes things just happen in hockey. It's a very random sport. I think it's better that we don't try to replicate things and "learn lessons." A lot of moves by Gillis in his final years and in Benning's first few years stemmed from that 2011 loss, which got us nowhere.

 

In this case, I think Price's contract is a prime example of what not to go for, despite current results telling us the opposite.

 

[Alflives]

Playing the Leafs in round one is a guaranteed series win.  Although we did learn the same lesson from Columbus, Boston (twice) and Washington.  Okay, those teams (the Habs most recently) taught us the Leaf’s young core crumble under pressure. 

 

Thank you Habs for this lesson.  

[Nuxfanabroad]

An aspect I see lately from both the Habs & Isles.

 

Puck bounces to their point man. Lanes to the net are opening. Why? Opponents don't wanna get stuck deep in zone, grinding vs these guys to re-take possession. Like they're trying to block dump-ins to the corner & behind the freek'n net! It's like a gritty form of Sedinery is coming back in vogue. Is building a squad that fights for control/possession(come Hell or high water) going to rise in estimation of all GM's?

 

Don't feel it's a great time to chase overpriced superstars. TO IS so screwed. Really feel team-balance is a thing to aim for. Less gap in the ratio of your top-3 paid players, in relation to the salaries of the bottom-3, 4, 5 skaters on a team. I've been noticing this trend the past coupla' yrs, & now it might be even more pronounced.

[JM_]

buy a lucky rabbits foot? a lot of things broke their way:

 

1) Tavares - do they beat TO if he's not whacked in the 1st game? 

 

2) waiver wire guys find new life 

 

3) Scheifflie goes nuts.

 

If those things don't happen are they still in it? pretty hard to say, but there's certainly room for doubt.

 

Now having said that, they are playing a great neutral zone game, and thats certainly something we can emulate with the right coaching direction. 

[24K PureCool]

Quality depth beats two or three megastars. 

And a quality goalie also helps. 

[Nuxfanabroad]

1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said:

buy a lucky rabbits foot? a lot of things broke their way:

 

1) Tavares - do they beat TO if he's not whacked in the 1st game? 

 

2) waiver wire guys find new life 

 

3) Scheifflie goes nuts.

 

If those things don't happen are they still in it? pretty hard to say, but there's certainly room for doubt.

 

Now having said that, they are playing a great neutral zone game, and thats certainly something we can emulate with the right coaching direction. 

Yet you could counter some of these things..

 

- OTT fans seemed pleased as punch to have claimed Mete from them. So they also had to risk losses

- Drouin had off-ice issues? That's a big monkey wrench at a tough moment. 5.5 mill AAV down the loo. Yet they dealt with it quickly & decisively

- The coaching change was sudden, yet again decisive. Risky, but shouldn't that also be applauded?

 

Lots to mull here...

[PhillipBlunt]

That you can go a long way with a big D.

 

[JM_]

Just now, Nuxfanabroad said:

Yet you could counter some of these things..

 

- OTT fans seemed pleased as punch to have claimed Mete from them. So they also had to risk losses

- Drouin had off-ice issues? That's a big monkey wrench at a tough moment. 5.5 mill AAV down the loo. Yet they dealt with it quickly & decisively

- The coaching change was sudden, yet again decisive. Risky, but shouldn't that also be applauded?

 

Lots to mull here...

the coaching change didn't really effect their W/L record tho, and they did kind of get into the playoffs by default, they really were not playing well at all. 

 

I am giving them credit for how they are playing in the Vegas series, its fun to watch them shut down Vegas. But its hard not to look at the things have really broke their way each round this year. I do think they still likely get by WPG, but I don't think they come back vs TO if Tavares is healthy. 

[erkayloomeh]

38 minutes ago, Aladeen said:

1) make the playoffs

2) stay healthy

3) play as a team

4) have a great goalie

5) have above average D built for the playoff grind

6) capitalize on chances 

7)contribute to refs Christmas fund.

[Heretic]

3 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

7)contribute to refs Christmas fund.

Right...I didn't see the game last night, but the one before reminded me of the 2011 SCF, Vegas literally punching Habs players and no penalty called. 

[EternalCanuckFan]

If we are looking at the Habs in a vacuum (i.e. not necessarily considering the other teams in the Conference Finals), then just some thoughts:

1. Goaltending is still incredibly important.
2. A team with decent but not elite top end talent with at least average skill spread out throughout the line-up can be very dangerous.
3. Smaller players who are tenacious and resilient can be significant contributors but you still need some big bodies.
4. If there's any position to stock up on big players who can skate and move the puck at least at league average levels, then it's probably D. 
5. Notwithstanding Shea Weber's solid career and continued solid play, the Habs don't really have a true #1 D.  Instead, they have a platoon of solid top #4D, most of whom are pretty big and physical, but who can all skate and move the puck at least at league average levels.  Gustafsson is the one D who stands out to me as having a skillset as not being like the rest.  Lesson?  Having a #1D is obviously a great advantage, but a team can compensate with a large number of decent Dmen, even if few of them are true "puck movers".  It's great to have a guy like Makar or Hughes, but maybe it's not necessary (or enough) to make up for lower quality performances down the line-up.
6. You don't necessarily have to sign veteran forwards to big contracts.

How does this impact the Canucks?  I think the biggest takeaways for me are the importance of depth at forward and D of at least a league average quality.  With all due respect to guys like Beagle and Roussel, they have not been able to provide play at that level and there really wasn't much depth below them.  MacEwen also seemed to take a step back this season.  Motte is really one of the few depth players to actually seem to provide high quality minutes, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually above league average.  Personally I felt that Hawryluk was a step in the right direction.  As for D, a healthy D core last season actually didn't seem too bad (Hamonic was reasonably decent) but I think this is where the Canucks need to start looking at moving on from someone like Edler (at least in terms of minutes).  I fully expect Rathbone to be in the line-up next year.

[Nuxfanabroad]

9 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

the coaching change didn't really effect their W/L record tho, and they did kind of get into the playoffs by default, they really were not playing well at all. 

 

I am giving them credit for how they are playing in the Vegas series, its fun to watch them shut down Vegas. But its hard not to look at the things have really broke their way each round this year. I do think they still likely get by WPG, but I don't think they come back vs TO if Tavares is healthy. 

I'd guess every 3-5 ys(or so) there's a run where one team has a number of variables which suddenly turn in their favour. Yet that team also must be constituted in a form that'll seize the day. That old adage of 'luck' being the place where preparation meets opportunity.

 

Agree, that game yesterday was a pleasure to see the Vegans acting like they're locked in a Wendy's location!

[Rabbit]

Very solid goalie

Players support each other

Players trust each other

Over average D-Group

Fast forwarders

Three score lines

[rekker]

Some big physical dman are a must. A power forward like J Anderson is a must. Goaltending. But really, we all new this. To me the Habs biggest lesson has been to remind us all that any team can catch lightning in a bottle and go on a run.