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Habs D held in low esteem by Leafs
posted by Dave Stubbs at 6h39 EST on Oct 3
From Orland Kurtenblog:
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Dave Stubbs has been a sportswriter since 1976, which was roughly a decade after he wore the first of many holes through the knees of his jeans playing nets in road hockey (using a modified butterfly popularized by Hall of Famer Glenn Hall). He still has the welts to show on his shins from that rotten, frozen orange ball.
Stubbs kept thick hockey scrapbooks filled with game summaries and Gazette and Montreal Star stories, collected dozens of Bee Hive Corn Syrup photos and put a fortune of hockey cards through the spokes of his bikes. First book ever owned: Scrubs On Skates, the classic by Scott Young (Neil's dad).
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Big Blue Pride.....
ah....never mind!
Wilson got a cheat sheet and the Leafs still lose?
I don't think O'Byrne and Spacek are that slow. Wilson got tricked for that.
No wonder he asked Komisarek to check behind the little guys.
I think that cheat sheet's full of bullcrap, it's hilarious!
<-----Georges Laraque: hockey player by day, sponser boytoy by night.
Strengths
....and Reach
something about Special teams
Capable power play personal
It really doesn't matter, those really aren't Ron Wilson notes, Glen Healy slipped them to him during one of the breaks.
I thought Wilson set up a bunch of computers behind the bench so he could google the players info/wikis during the game...?
Wonder what his notes were for the IIHF games. Obviously for his own team it was "Use Pat Kane on the PK over Chris Higgins." Genius!
I'd hate to see what was on Gretzky's notes.
"Keys to victory: get at least 6 goals tonight.
Stickhandle around all defencemen, park behind net if need be.
WEAKNESSES:
They're not me."
My Blog: http://kibblesofsteel.wordpress.com/
LOL from the site:
Mike says:
this kinda destroys the illusion that an nhl coach works on a higher level than joe fan
Jason says:
"many small forwards"...must've taken hours to come up with that one
Mike says:
not pictured: "often wear red jerseys" and "known to speak french"
Ex nihilo nihil fit
Habs still beat them.
Obviously the Leaf scout just sat and watched TSN and then relayed his notes to Wilson.
Wow is the sh*t written on his papers obvious or what?
Geez, this is probably a typical analysis, covering the strong and weak sides of the opposing team. Give it a break. What was he supposed to write: "They are the greatest team in hockey, they have absoultely no weak points, let's bow our heads and stand in awe"? You should have seen the "strenghts" column - he probably had all about Price, fast offense and so on. Yes, our D is rather slow (Spacek also - he lost a few races that game but managed to keep the puck by diving to it. Smart, but not too fast), yes, our forwards are small. On the other hand, I never noticed about that one-hand carrying by our D. Gotta look at them closely today.
Bring back Zone de Match! :(
Give the guy a break folks, he's obviously not on the ball since he spent the time after the game praising Komisuck when that twit lost the Leafs the game.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
Don't know about #6 being big and slow. I think most people describe him as 5" 11 and mobile.
But good work Wilson you managed to figure out the secret of those other D.
Please Ron Wilson... keep Komisarek,Exelby,and Rosewill on the ice as much as possible when you play the Habs,we were obviously very intimidated by them-NOT ! LMAO.
-Doc
If Wilson's plan was:
- Yves -
Blog - http://yvesonhabs.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/yves_on_habs
Give the guy a break, He is the coach of the Maple Leafs after all. Nothing more needs to be said!
Great insight by a pro-level hockey coach. I would have never come to those conclusions about the habs on my own. I guess thats why they get paid the big bucks.
No surprise. Wilson is a pretty good coach and has his team of missfits playing pretty well. Besides, what was on that sheet shouldn't be a surprise to any of us, if we've actually been following the team. Anyone who thought Mara, Gill, and Obyrne were fast, they're out in left field anyway.
Our three top forwards are small too, so be it. He has a job to do, just like Jacques Martin does..
Nothing shocking here.
But when you get past the pissing contest that most posters are engaged in, the scary thing is the Laffs WERE ABLE to take advantage of our slow D very effectively. To the tune of what - 42 shots against?
What do you think is the strategy to deal with that?
--------------------------------------------------- `Could this team miss the playoffs? Who knows?' - Bob Gainey on the new Habs.
Not having Mara with Gill???
Its not shocking but the this Made in the USA douche bag Ron Wilson is irritating.
Douche bags are people like you who make stupid comments about a person's nationality, which is totally irrelevant. If Wilson is irritating, he's irritating, it has nothing to do with his nationality.
I guess the weakness sheet wasn't long enough. Maybe they should have had a few on Price and our Offense. Maybe then they wouldn't have lost...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
Boy, it's a good thing you covered up your mouth, Ron! Wouldn't want any of those lip readers watching to know your strategies...
I was thinking at the time 'why does this guy do that? Does he seriously not want people reading his lips? Does he actually believe he's got such an insightful mind that his secrets must be protected at all times?'
And now we know. Either this guy is completely self-diluded or he was planning a midnight bukkake party with the Hunters.
My Blog: http://kibblesofsteel.wordpress.com/
I would have to disagree about Spacek being slow.
"All you need in hockey is good character, luck and skills" - Ovie
I dunno, there was one play on thursday, I think Stahlberg was chasing Spacek. Spacek had a couple stick lengths between them and had to dive to bat the puck our of the way and avoid being caught.. it was scary.
Yeah, I remember that play. Spacek certainly isn't fast, but he's similiar to Hamrlik in that he can get the job done without blazing speed.
Or big.
My Blog: http://kibblesofsteel.wordpress.com/
And I strongly object to Gionta being called small.
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
I think #3 fooled them
"Identity"
Wilson forgot a couple for his own team
"Remember we are only the Leafs"
"We must find new ways to lose"
Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan
He also forgot that one of our "lowly D" men scored the game winning goal against his team while his much talked about big D man (Beauchemin) looked on.
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
Putting Mara and Gill in a pair is questionable.
When PP, Spacek and Hamrlik.
Regular pairs:
Spacek and Georges
Hamrlik and Gill
Mara and OB
I don't really see the big deal. It's simply a list of their opponents strength's and weaknesses. Of course, no one cares what they labeled as our strengths - because that's not controversial.
By flipping my laptop upside down, I figured out one of our strengths - according to Wilson.
"Capable Powerplay Personnel"
Considering how bad their PK is, I'd say that is a default strength for any team they play.
Agree - it's personal perspectives which are his to believe. Cool technology catch but hardly trashing us.
Did anybody notice Komi's eyes in the pre-game chat, before the game? He was hepped up on goof balls for sure...
Nice, irresponsible accusation. I assume you have proof he took drugs?
Totally did notice....Caffene pills and cold medicinee forsure.
"No Leaf is ever left behind"? Where? On the team bus? I usually only hear that term used in the Army. Maybe Ron Wilson is trying give his team an Army mentality, or maybe he just likes Lilo & Stich.
Taking a look at the WEAKNESSES section, only 2, maybe 3 of them can be considered weaknesses, the rest are just observations. If those are the Habs wesknesses, I think we're in pretty good shape.
I'd like to see what he wrote under strengths...
"One day, the truth will come out" -- Guy Carbonneau
Secondly, the team bus line was real good.
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
"No Leaf is ever left behind"?
On the golf course. They make sure they have enough golf carts on hand.
Or is this the Toronto version of Bush's "no child left behind"?
Either way it's lame.
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
A Pronger, a Schenn, or a Lidstrom.
Give us an original. Subliminal. Subterranium.
Titanium. Defensive.- Minded. Swift.
Go to hell with that wait a bit spit.
A couple o'goals will sink the Priceberg’s zen boat.
Doped. Like Sergei’s coke. Cut throat.
We don't want the ref’rees to whistle
Calmly point par là .
To Jacques’ popped collar.
Hot dang, Shmoe, here we go again
Without a backend. Playin' to win.
Stick in hand. Tiny men.
Same spit we’s been playin wit' since way back when.
We got to crackin' from the Peanut until the beat-up.
Now we G'ed up. C'ed up. No Markov to rack the speed up.
We all smurfed, fools, so put your feet up.
Georgie gonna wreck so we don't get wet?…La-la-la-la…
Look, my neighbours: We can scatter like buckshots
Or get together. Go for records. Why the buck not?
Why the dang not?
Why the heck not?
Why the smurf not?
Cuz we light as the night
Had to wipe. Egg-activator. Off our face. In 1995.
Joss-Lin. Tee-Tee-Tee-Bo-Lo. Roy-Roy. Roy-Roy.
Joss-Lin. Tee-Tee-Tee-Bo-Lo. Roy-Roy. Roy-Roy.
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
OMG. I just had an acid flashback after reading your post.
One question, why is my computer melting?
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Ahh, that explains that.
Now explain the 8 foot tall half monkey, the other half that chocolate guy from the axe commercials? Hurry, it's smiling at me.
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
That's me.
Introducin meself.
Jeez, sorry.
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Wow. you're one big wabbit!
Why do I suddenly have a craving for hossenfeffer?
---------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
Here is a note for you Wilson when Xmas comes alone and your team is well out of the playoff picture YOUR FIRED. Burke will blame it all on you and the media for picking on his poor stupid players. Ovechkin will have the leafs goalies for lunch tonight and your team will start 0-2. Then the crying will begin and Burke will talked about how the coach has to get all this talent you brought here going. Bye Bye leafs you had your one good game all hyped up on sudafed and that didn't work.
The majority of people believe that Spacek was signed just because of the Powerplay prowess. Well, I believe that he was also signed due to the aftermath of the Markov injury last year. He is absolutely a guy that can fill in at that #1 spot. He won't be Markov, he won't dazzle us every night, but we won't notice mistakes on a regular basis either. Lindy Ruff on WGR radio in Buffalo yesterday says that the Habs won't miss a beat with Spacek filling in for Andrei. Pretty high praise coming from a coach like that. I don't have a link to the audio but wgr550.com might.
always hated wilson.that being said he is a good coach and very detailed. most coachs plot a strategy yes.
don't forget wilson we still won the game.
laffs will be better next time we play them.
CH must stick together and get into martins system.
Isn't technology wonderful?
"At least we are not the Leafs!"
Blue pride? Building blue pride? No Leaf left behind?
I guess that's why they skated so slowly by the third. They didn't want to leave anyone behind.
Blue pride. And they call our guys smurfs.
Ahhh, the magic of high def - it also lets you see the WiFi password for the Bell Centre too :)
If you guys actually go to the Province's site where this links to, it's a pretty funny read.
Speaking as a naturalized US citizen, though, I wish folks wouldn't get all worked up about US citizen Wilson using American spelling... especially if you're not happy with the french media riding Koivu for not speaking French. It's equally as silly.
To me, it's all context. When I write on here, I will always write "center" or "defenseman" when speaking of the hockey position, and Bell Centre when talking about the building because that's a proper noun.
I bet Gionta, Mara, Gill, all write "center" and "defense" the same way. It doesn't make them lesser Habs, just like the way I write doesn't make me less of a Habs fan.
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
The Canadian spellings drive sportswriters north of the border nuts, Mike. Those extra keystrokes on deadline are a pain in the butt.
Could be worse. I remember writing hockey during the lockout, with all the umlauts in Sweden.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Columnist/Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
• On Twitter: twitter.com/habsinsideout1
Umlauts - egads!
Once I trained myself to elimate the extra "u" that I grew up with, it did make for marginally faster typing, I suppose ;)
Teaching my daughter the alphabet song down here was infinitely easier, however, with the far better rhyming payoff you get on the final "zee" rather than "zed."
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
But how cool a band name would ZedZed Top be? LOL
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
On another front, I hear Komisarek is out tonight with a yeast infection.
HI-larious Shiloh
I am so glad I had already gulped down my mouthful of coffee when I read that. :D
Ron Wilson is a good strategist... it's not that these things are obvious it's that these are the things he's focusing on , and that he has the note at all. I wonder if Carbo ever had notes. (Give 100%!!! Forecheck!!! No outlet pass up the middle!!! What is wrong with me team????)
You have to wonder too if Komi's hit on Gionta was keeping with the strategy of hitting our two snipers.
The positive of Komi's goon act BTW is that he's established himself to Leaf fans as the big tough guy on the team. If he's going to want to keep that act up (and I think he will since it's what will make his new daddy happy) he's going to take a LOT of bruising this year. More than just Lucic, there are tough guys on every team that would like to take Komi down, even if our BGL is too shy to do it.
---------------------------------------------------
`Could this team miss the playoffs? Who knows?' - Bob Gainey on the new Habs.
i know we love being negative Nancys over here but was anyone able to catch what our Strengths were? i see it written on the top (upside down) of the card, just over our weaknesses.
"capable powerplay personel" was the only one i could read ???? too bad they gave up dumb penalties !!!
I can't read it... I got "special teams" out of the strengths portion.. but that's it.
"XXX power play personel"
"XXX XXX reach)"
http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/283537.html
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Wow...Kovi starts by complimenting his new teamates, praising top2lines, and the more stable/calm vibe in the dressing room, with vets being a steadying force for youngsters.
Then he contrasts this leadership with last years Hab's and sympathizes withe the youth for being hung out to dry and twist in the wind when things started going bad.
I still can't shake the thought that Kovy was truly meant to capitain the habs...it hurts to think what could have been, for both him, and the rest (as everyone's game would have been different, not just his)
Then he has wise words about Sergei, adn expresses concerns for him apperantly choosing to leave the NHL.
Closes with his thoughts for Markov.
His first Blog for the Sens was basically about where his heart still is.
Like w/ the Expos, perhaps a better Fate was denied by the poor protocols, and money driven mistakes born out on the business side of our beloved franchise. I personally suspect the foul hand of a greedy Agent or other intermediate failures/factors/middleman, as i do in most such failed dealings. Most especcially in not getting kovy re-signed as it should have happened.
Speakign of cruel Fate...Does anybody think that Markov would still have gotten sliced in a game with Kovy still in the CH ?
PS : I also think that Gionata is goign to be a phenom in Montreal, so i can also apppreciate how things can turn out for the best as well...k
paix
If I could be a forward...ANY forward...I'd be Bob Gainey -Ken Dryden
Told you, he's stalking us.
who cares
(wheeze)
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Kovy who?
_________________________________________________________________________
Beliveau- his legend is 600' tall and growing...
(heart-clutch)
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
David and Goliath anyone?
yo buddy, ok small but speedy.who skated cicles round you and won? ya thought so. markovs immposible to replace, no choice but to give webber a shot at the big time.
Hey Ron Wilson (born & raised in Ft. Erie, ONTARIO), who won the game? Yeah, one of those "small forwards", did you see the way CaMMalleri just skated around your "big slow defenCeman" for the winning goal??? Pretty cool eh? Eh? EH?
Hey Ron Wilson, who's your number one centRe??? Grabovski?????? What is he, about 5'8"??????? Yeah, Ron Wilson, I thought so.
Hey Ron Wilson, you're a condescending idiot who's San Jose teams, loaded with talent, farted in the playoffs EVERY YEAR so shaddup.
He was born in Windsor, but raised in Metro Detroit.
Here's a young Ron Wilson. Not too good in the motivational speaking department.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkeV0TOgEU
Thank you, I've been trying to find that video for ages!
My friend has that DVD and the whole bit about Crazy Horse's vision has been a favourite inside joke of ours for years now =)
wonder what genius came up with those moronic (supposed motivational) quotes... hmmm does the name Burke pop into mind?
the flip side of his crib notes read "Pick up tampons, exlax and preparation H
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Sounds like a Bush Act. No Leaf Left Behind.... It seems like they need a better education.
Gotta rake those things off the ice, Ben. Or use a blower, of course. Then again, a Komitraitorasaurs run amok might get that job done, too.
_________________________________________________________________________
Beliveau- his legend is 600' tall and growing...
You mad my morning LOL
Respectfully,
Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Major-General of Fort Gainey Demolitions Depot, Rear Admiral of the II-Class Destroyer Red Armada, and Under-Secretary of Defense of The Flannel.
Good morning Bugs,My spelling is not so great ,but the more I read on here it helps me .
Many new faces and new system.It only takes a idiot like Wilson to have to write it down so he can remember we have a new team.
What is it that TSN had Toskala on the honor roll and Price made 42 saves and only got 2nd star.Boy it is going to be a long season when all they talk about are the Laffs.
His Freudian slip is showing, the misspelling of "Gionta" is "Giant A". And maybe it just a coincidence that defence and centre are spelled correctly to Americans. Maybe he can't spell and is just not that bright.
please note incorrect spelling and typos are two completely different things.
One more thing - is it just a coincidence that his "notes" and the CBC's analysts comments line up so neatly?
__________________________________________________________________________
"Because the demands on a goalie are mostly mental, it means that for a goalie the biggest enemy is himself. Not a puck, not an opponent, not a quirk of size or style. Him." -
Maybe we coulld call Gionta ,THE GIANT.