Extrait de « Les meilleures surprises et les plus grandes déceptions de la LNH en 2022-23 » (The Athletic)
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mredmo
@Canadiens de Montréal
Extrait de « Les meilleures surprises et les plus grandes déceptions de la LNH en 2022-23 » (The Athletic)
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mredmo
4 Comments
Reasonable take on Eddy. Hopefully he’s refreshed next season.
Monty has also been a pleasant surprise. We’ve had lots of good storylines this season. In addition to the new kids on the block we have to remember the redemptions (Drouin, Gally, Gurianov) and late bloomers (Dach, Belzile, WiFi, Monty, Kovacevic, Matheson, Ylonen) that are making an impact.
Truly the only disappointments have been learning mistakes by first timers which are easy to accept, as well as circumstantial events (injuries) outside of anyone’s control. Only the smallest portion of our circumstances can be truthfully assigned to players underperforming, it’s otherwise been all externalities.
Honestly, best case scenario for a fan of a rebuilding team. I don’t know about you guys, gals and non-binary pals, but I’m happy as a clam with how things have gone this season despite our ranking.
We should brace for setbacks next season, but things are going surprisingly well.
I expected RHP to cause a surprise in preseason because he had risen to dominant level in the AHL last season after a slow start. What I didn’t expect was for RHP to be invisible in preseason and then be a scoring machine after getting called up in January. Or maybe that’s just how he will be: quiet for the first 2-3 months than explode in the last 2-3. Kind of like a reverse Brian Savage.
IMHO, Edmundson just doesn’t fit our new defense structure. Robidas is asking defensemen to be mobile in all zones and hold unto pucks longer to find passing options. It works with all our new defensemen who can now skate well and are decent puckhandlers. It works with Savard because if he lacks footspeed he still has decent agility, hockey IQ and puck skills to make easy plays. But it leaves Eddy always in some No-Man’s-Land where, by the time he realizes he should be at X, he also realizes he’ll get there too late, and when he gets a puck he doesn’t know what to do with it because we don’t just chip pucks off the boards anymore. So he’s always stuttering, never fully committing to anything anywhere. So he’s playing like he was in Carolina in a scheme that didn’t fit him.
Other surprises: how our 5 rookie D’s looked confident. How Dach gradually regained his confidence and became the dominant C he was drafted as. How Hoffman looks drunk all the time.
Can I add for biggest surprises? Marty St Louis. I was unsure how his lack of coaching experience would hinder the develop of the young kids and didn’t think it was the best choice for development.
Boy was I wrong. He has established a positive environment that has brought enjoyment to a struggling season. Clearly the guys enjoy playing for him and I’m hoping that he’s the coach we’ve been missing the last 15 years of repeat hires.