Division Rivalries
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In the ‘new NHL’ you play eight games against each team in your own Division.
That’s 32 games out of 82 overall.Does anyone think this is too much?
The Habs and Leafs are playing each other for the third time already this year. With so many games against the same team does the rivalry, intensity and hatred between bitter rivals diminish?
Will you be ready for Saturday’s game against the Leafs? As much as you were for the first game of the year?
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- goalie : I don't know when they'll announce it but the Oilers will be signing Sutter (Flames ex-coach) to coach their team - that's why Kevin Lowe chose him to coach in the World's. That was the world's worst kept secret.
- Senet1 : I guess I wish we could get it done so all the speculating was over and we can get to building out team.
- goalie : I can't type.... what a faux pas on my behalf...
- goalie : I just realized what I said adn didn't say yesterday. What a fayx as on my behalf. Regarding coaching Randy Cunnyworth MUSDT stay as an assistant- he deserves at least that after the tremendous job he did in the latter part of this past season. I'd still mlike to have Robinson, Carbo adn Allard on the staff also.
- Avatar37 : I agree Senet, my choice if we can't have Cunneyworth would be Crawford, Robinson on defense, Cunneyworth for offense, and Carbo as offense/faceoffs .
- Senet1 : I think if I had my choice it would be Crawford and see if he could get Carbo and Robinson as assistants. That would be my idea coaching team.
- goalie : I witnesed Marc Crawford MANY times when the Avs, etc. played against Oilers and let me tell you - he is constantly on the referees asses virtually game after game. He is the complete OPPOSITE of J. Martin. Crawford is calm on TSN but he is one excited coach behind the bench. A friend of mine who was an NHL linesman for 26 years said they dreaded Crawford he was so tough on the officials!
- goalie : You know, I've bee thinking about the coaching situation. I'd be really excited if the Habs had Hartley as head coach and Carbo adn Robinson as his assistants. I also read it somewhere about a month ago that Toronto's goalie coach Allard (?) wants to relocate back to Montreal where he has his goaltending school/business. Add him to the mix and I'd say the Habs would be in great shape coaching wise.
- Avatar37 : Well, from what I recall, Hartley didn't do all that well with the Thrashers. But, I don't know enough about him to judge one way or the other. Crawford I do know, and he always seemed to be a good, level headed coach to me.
- Senet1 : even Pacioretty two years ago did not impress any of us. Younger players have to play and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If they sit in the press box they are learning nothing.
- Senet1 : Of course if he have some good assistants like a Larry Robinson to teach the young defence and someone like Carbo to teach faceoffs etc. then your coach does not have to be as good at teaching. If Hartley fits the bill you get no argument from me. My only previous point is that if he is impatient with your younger players to the point that he does not play them, then we are right back where we were with Martin. Martin was a good coach too, but how he handled Emelin, PK and even Pacioretty two
- goalie : I would like to see the Habs sign a coach who realizes that our team isn't tough enough (we need to get bigger and somewhat more nastier),the coach needs t be a great TEACHER and be a coach who can get the players to understand and buy into his system. Other than that I couldn't care what lingo he speaks. I wnat to see our team become a ligitimate contender fast!
- HabsLoseAgain : Well we dont know if he is or is not a teaching coach. I woukd just hate to paint Hartley something that he is not. There will always be questions but if Hartley was hired as the habs new bench boss i for one would not be overly upset.
- Senet1 : My thoughts are not that he is or is not a good coach but rather that when he won the cup he had an experience team of superstars on that team. Where as we have a group of young inexperienced players, is he a teaching coach or a tactical coach or both? I am not question whether he is a good coach, but my question therefore is he the coach for us at this point in the deveopment of our team?? Not sure we are all purely speculating at the moment?
- Senet1 : Something happened to my first post. I will try again.
- Senet1 : That is why I said I am not sure he is the coach for us at this time? Right now we are all speculating including yourself, because non of us know for sure?
- HabsLoseAgain : Crawford also won a cup with Patrick Roy so would you say he is a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best goaltenders of alltime?
- HabsLoseAgain : Senrt so please give me some reasons why you think Hartley is not the coach the habs need right now. What is it that you do not like about him or his coaching style?
- HabsLoseAgain : Well all great coaches had great players playing for them so i guess you you add a a pile of other coaches to that list including Bowan......
- Senet1 : Hartley, was he a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best altime goaltenders of all time. I am not sure that he is the type of coach that this organization needs right now. Unless of course we sign a ton of free agents.
- Avatar37 : However, my feelings may completely be wrong, Hartley may turn out to be a good fit.
- Avatar37 : I didn't say Hartley was unknown, I said we demoted a good coach in Cunneyworth and now have an unknown quantity because we don't have a coach. I don't have that great a feeling about Hartley, I'd be much more comfortable with Crawford.
- HabsLoseAgain : In my opinion i think he might be a good fit in montreal. Oh and he also likes to have a tough team.
- HabsLoseAgain : Also this year he coached the ZSC Lions to the swiss championship title.
- HabsLoseAgain : lol the so called "unknown" won a cup in 2000-2001 with the colarado avalanch.
- HabsLoseAgain : lol Bob Hartley is not an unknown lol.....sheesh.
- Senet1 : I think he has until the trading deadline to show us that he deserves to be on this team. If he does not get back on track then he could be simply a 2nd round draft pick to whoever we can trade him to.
- Avatar37 : Bourque reminds me of Pouliot, size, skill, and invisible. He needs to get back to playing a physical game and bang people around and maybe he'll start getting some of those garbage goals again. Need to get to the front of the net. I hope he can find his game again.
- Avatar37 : We had a good coach in Randy Cunneyworth. Now we have an unknown, with Bob Hartley rumoured to be the front runner. I'd rather have Cunneyworth.
- goalie : A player like Rene Bourwue has al the physical attributes of what would be a beter than average player. Hwever, he certainly didn't play that well especially after being in Montreal about three weeks. We NEED players like Rene to play hard AND produce points on a REGULAR BASIS in order for us to be competitive.
- Senet1 : MONTREAL – Rene Bourque had a rocky start to his career as a Hab, but he’s planning on using the next four years to make up for it. After arriving in Montreal under less-than-ideal circumstances in January, Bourque spent the following 38 games hoping to find the spark he needed to rekindle his offensive production. Despite flanking Tomas Plekanec on the team’s second line to close out the season, the 30-year-old sniper suddenly found himself firing blanks in his new NHL home.
- Senet1 : I think we have to be patient and not expect too much too soon. Let's get a strong management team in place, make a good choices in the draft get a good coach and then see what we need at the free agent market. I will not be too disapointed if we miss the playoffs again next year if it means a long term team success. We have the opportunity to make some major strides over the next two years at the draft table. Then we fill in the holes.
- goalie : I certainly agree that we need to get some impact forwards who will sign for 5 years, not for a season then walk away. That's not going to help us.
- goalie : I wouldn't trade PK for Ovetchkin no matter what. He is a coach's NIGHTMARE and a poor team player.
- Senet1 : I believe he will as we graducally put better players around him and build this team.
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November 10, 2006 at 9:47 am
Time will only tell. I think it can only be a good thing. I live 45 mins north of Boston in New Hmapshire and everyone of my friends is a huge Bs fan. I think it has the potential to intesify the rivalries and gives reason for more competitiveness and room for ‘bad blood.’
It also makes more opportunity for regional claim to which city has the better hockey team.
“Les Canadiens sont La!”
November 10, 2006 at 9:50 am
Indeed I am ready. I’m always pumped up when the Habs and Leafs play. I live in New Brunswick and the majority of the people I know are fans of one or the other. So I cant wait to rub it in to some of my buddies at work when the Habbies win tommorrow. With Sundin and Raycroft (hopefully) out of the lineup the Leafs must lose. GO HABS GO!
November 10, 2006 at 10:49 am
I also think it’s stupid how toronto has already played 18 games when a team like boston or pittsburgh have only played 13 games! Gary Bettman is a loser. He has no interest in the actual sport, all he wants is money money and more money!
November 10, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Point, set, match Jason. You hit the nail on the head. All Bettman does care about is money. The number of in division games should be nocked back down to six and then the eastern teams can come out west at least once a year and vice versa.
November 10, 2006 at 1:55 pm
8 games is too many. It gets a little boring, actually. I’d rather see them play maybe 6 intradivision games, 4 games against each conference rival, and 1 game against each non-conference team. If my math is right that should be 79 games: (6*4)+(4*10)+(1*15).
Another scheduling problem: way too many back-to-back games where the team has to travel in between. When Carolina played the Habs, they had just come back from playing in Atlanta the night before. As the game wore on, they were clearly a step behind a fresher Habs team. The Habs suffered the same fate in October, losing in Chicago(!) the night after a bruising victory at home against Calgary. They await the same fate later this month in Tampa and then day later in Miami.
November 10, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I hate playing the Leafs 8 times mainly because it means TO may win one or two. ANd the Habs used to do very well against the Western teams. Well not really the california teams though.
November 10, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Yeah. It get’s pretty damn boring to always play against the same teams. Kazmojo’s idea, allowing every team in the NHL to meet every other team at least once a season would be better (see post #5).
Considering the other stupidities in the schedule, (e.g. back to back games with travel, or one team having played 18 games while another is still at 13) it would be reasonable to have a schedule change. If not for this season, at least hire some competent people to come up with a sensible schedule for next year.
November 10, 2006 at 4:32 pm
it definitely gets a little boring. i enjoy getting to see the habs play against a wide variety of teams with different styles and strengths, and toronto is just not interesting enough for me to want to watch them over and over and over again, even given the rivalry. repetition is inevitably tedious, and even though i’ll probably tune in for all 8 of them, i’m getting less enthusiastic every time.
November 10, 2006 at 4:41 pm
I think it’s OK. Playing 3 games in 15 games is a bit too much abused though.
I’ d perfered playing against edmonton, calgary and vancouver atleast twice a year.
November 10, 2006 at 5:48 pm
It does seem a bit much. Personally I would like to see some more interconference matches. There are a lot of american western conference teams that I don’t get to see all that often. The way the schedule is now, your team may not meet up with some of the western teams for a couple years in a row! That’s a long time to wait if you’re keen on a particular team.
Besides….we were barely out of October and the “battle of Ontario” was already half over! We played two sets of back to back games within one month! Now that can be a bit boring….spread it out a bit guys.
November 10, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Personally, I would love to see the western conference more. As the schedule is set up now, we’re lucky to watch the habs play each team in the west ONCE a year. That’s just not enough. How are we supposed to see the talented players out west, or recognize their numbers if we never see them play. Also, because of the different time zones, most of us are in bed by the time Anaheim plays LA. Pure stupidity. The western teams score much more goals, and are much more exciting than the eastern conference games. Also, I believe their is more talent in the western conference. Just look at the standings, and results of games involving east vs west teams. give us at least 2 games for each team in the NHL. I think the schedule should have us play only 4 times vs teams in our own division, and figure out the rest. I would love to see more of San Jose, Anaheim, Dallas, Detroit, and Minnesota. Guess what? the stanley cup winner will come from the western conference.So let’s see more of them!
November 10, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Bettman’s there to make money for the owners, they hired him to do that so don’t put any blame on the little guy, he’s just the mouthpiece for the 30 owners just as Ziegler and Clarence Campbell was all those years ago.
As for the rivalries, I’ll always hate the Leafs no matter how many times we play those overrated turkeys. I love the Bruins as a rival, there’s so much more history between the Habs and B’s than there has been against the Laffs in the last 40 years because Toronto became a non-factor as a franchise during the ’70s and ’80s until they went and hired ex-Habs (Fletcher, Burns, Dryden, etc… Hoglund!) to ‘right their ship’. They (the Leafs) have the stupidest fans in the league where at least I respect Bruin fans and it’s vice versa I think if you ask them.
I do think the Eastern teams should play the Western teams at least twice a year (home & away) but the league and its front office people have been screwed up since the Head Office moved out of Montreal to New York years ago.
November 10, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Sportscenter just mentioned, in brief, that either Huet or Abeschier may become available for teams looking to upgrade on their goaltending. Possible candidates include Pheonix and Philly. Any thoughts?
November 10, 2006 at 8:02 pm
we can’t afford to trade either one of them, now, unless we get a bonafide goaltender, and scorer in return. Phoenix has Cujo. Philly has……NOTHING!they need everything. Bring on Forsburg!
November 10, 2006 at 9:32 pm
I’m afraid I must disagree. When the schedules come out, the first games I look for are the toronto and Boston games, no matter how any of those teams are pre-season-ranked. I respect those who don’t feel it, but those games always seem a litle more intense to me. I’m agreed on playing Phoenix more often, 40 pts worth if that’s OK, but interdivision rivalries means we have 8 opportunities for Kovalev to dust Tucker per year.
November 10, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Its sad in a way, cause that is about the only time CBC Hockey Night In Canada will broadcast Montreal games is not because it is Montreal, but because it is Toronto playing in Montreal…hmm…maybe it is not so boring in that way, at least it opens how good the Habs are to the rest of the country and makes us wonder why CBC HNIC is so Leaf’s crazy…maybe we should ask HNIC to change it so Maple Leafs Night in Canada…what a sad comment about CBC hockey….
Thank God RDS shows most games…you know conference rivals are only rivals when the teams are actually competitive. We can say for some of the games the Habs have been totally competitive compared to last year, but the Leafs, what a boring team to watch most games unless it is the playoffs. You can’t say that about the Habs most of the year though…Go Habs Go!!!
November 10, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Agreed. Watching leaf games is like watching paint dry
November 10, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Get back to the old schedule. Play each team 4 times (twice at home and twice on the road). I’d like to see the NHL drop the Conference championship as well. Playoff should run like this: 4 top teams get a pass (bi?), next 24 teams play a best out of three, then the 12 1st round winners with the top 4 teams compete (4/7 series: round 2, round 3, quarter finals, semi-final and finals). This would open the door for possible finals: Toronto/MTL/Boston/Buffalo/Ottawa, Calgary/Vancouver/Edmonton final. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of seing a boring final and it’s not because my team (MTL) isn’t in it. THere’s no real rivalty (east/west). By the time the finals gets heated up, it’s almost over!!! But, what do I know?
November 11, 2006 at 2:51 pm
How about a Northern Conference and a Southern Conference:
NorthEast – Boston/NewYork/NewYork/NewJersey/Philadephia
NorthCentral – Pittsburgh/Toronto/Buffalo/Montreal/Ottawa
NorthWest – Vancouver/Edmonton/Calgary/Detroit/Chicago
Southeast – Florida/Tampa/Atlanta/Carolina/Washington
SouthCentral – Columbus/Nashville/St.Louis/Minnesota
SouthWest – Phoenix/L.A./Anaheim/SanJose/Colorado/Dallas
Same conf/div x 6 = 24
Same conf x 4 = 40
Other conf x 1 = 15
Total = 79 (or thereabouts)
You only see games against teams with no real hockey market or history once a year and you play against teams you really want to see at least 4 times a year.
North America is wider than it is tall, so there would be more travel. The conf/division breakdowns were my best shot at combining geographies with teams I’d want to see play the Habs.
Personally, I have no interest in seeing the Habs play the Panthers 4 times a year … or any other team in the south for that matter.