J Martin "I went with people that I felt were ready to go to war"
I did not see a thread this morning on this interesting statement from Jacques Martin following last night's loss...
As fans are well aware, in his post-game press conference Martin said he kept in Ryan White in the 3rd and benched Lapierre and Latendresse because he was
"looking for players with more size, strength and physicalness"
Well people have to realize that these two are 3rd liners expected to shift their roles and become 2nd liners. Yes they have to play with more intensity, but they were also thrown into a role they are somewhat unfamiliar with.
Hopefully it wakes them up, especially Latendresse. This guy used to go out of his way to crush people and is not doing that much anymore.
1) Lapierre and Latendresse are NOT and will never be second line players.
2) They both need to wake up this season (especially Latendresse).
3) Lapierre needs to play with more intensity (a la Steve Begin).
4) I am so glad we have a coach that rewards and disciplines accordingly.
5) This will SHUT UP a certain media type in Montreal for now.
being french i really like lapierre and latendresse. however i am realistic, i think that they are solid third liners. no more. the fact that an attempt was made to have them play second line shows our lack of scoring depth and desperation for secondary scoring. i applaud jacques martin for benching the two french underachievers. it takes courage to do so considering the media situation in montreal. historically laps and lats have responded well to coaches taking away playing time so i expect them to go back and being efficient third liner (or fourth considering the way that moen-metro-patches have played).
So far all the comments are that those 2 aren't 2nd liners, which they aren't but their games are based in intensity and goals come as a byproduct of that work. Thier issue is that they're NOT working hard. As 3rd line, non goal scorers, if they don't work hard them they are dead weight as they don't have the talent to float and play for parts of a game a la Kovalev.
If they don't battle, they shouldn't be in the lineup or definately not in te top 6, it's that simple.
Neither of them belong on a second line at this point. I think Kostitsyn played a good game yesterday, it's time to put him back with Plekanec. Ultimately we're going to have to bring Sergei back up to play in the top 6 too, hopefully he gets the message.
I agree, guys like Gionta, Cam, Gom, Metro, Plek are just not doing their role
Can you honestly claim that Gio and Gomez are performing? Even adequetely?
Laps was bad last game, Lats has been bad for a while (he doesn't even shoot the puck anymore!) but Gio and Gomez have been equally ineffective in their roles the past few games.
Can you honestly claim that Gio and Gomez are performing? Even adequetely?
Laps was bad last game, Lats has been bad for a while (he doesn't even shoot the puck anymore!) but Gio and Gomez have been equally ineffective in their roles the past few games.
Agreed with Gomez but Gionta? He's on pace for 30+ goals and scored our only goal yesterday.
Can you honestly claim that Gio and Gomez are performing? Even adequetely?
Laps was bad last game, Lats has been bad for a while (he doesn't even shoot the puck anymore!) but Gio and Gomez have been equally ineffective in their roles the past few games.
Ya you're right,
Gionta is the issue.
You win.
Second off, referring to the initial comment, Gionta is really not playing physical enough... he should be benched!
Agreed with Gomez but Gionta? He's on pace for 30+ goals and scored our only goal yesterday.
Gionta sucks. Strip the "A" from him and trade him for a 2nd rounder if that's even possible. I mean that guy NEVER shows up for a game. And what's with all the posts!? Maybe Higgins is available?
I can't believe Sergei hasn't been called up with our pathetic offence.
We all know Sergei and Andrei have good chemistry. What are we waiting for ? Christmas ??
From everywhere that I read combined, Sergei didn't come into camp in shape. He wasn't out of shape but he wasn't in shape. Maybe he partied all summer and lost some muscle mass.. Who knows. So they sent him down to get his work ethics back and get back in the game shape he was in when he played in the play-offs 2 seasons ago.
Boucher said he's happy with Sergei because he's following the program they gave him to follow to get him to where they want him. It's been a month since the season started and I'm guessing that he must be pretty close to a return. Either that or a trade is coming up.
I gave the Habs 20 games to start playing as a team. But from what I have seen in the last game, they are playing nothing like a team that can dominate. They make too many mistakes in their own end to be a dominating team and they don't apply enough pressure.. They HAVE to get 2 scoring lines.
But I'm just some guy typing on HFboards and I don't sit in Gainey's office so what do I know?
I agree, guys like Gionta, Cam, Gom, Metro, Plek are just not doing their role
Metro, Pleks and Cammalleri have been great. Gionta and Gomez get props because the effort is there but both are on pace for under 55 points and that is not nearly enough for the combined 12.4 million per year that is spent on them.
And people used to say Kovalev and Koivu were overpayed during there time here
They produced more than that for what was it we were paying them? - something like a combined 8 or 8.5 per year?
Well people have to realize that these two are 3rd liners expected to shift their roles and become 2nd liners. Yes they have to play with more intensity, but they were also thrown into a role they are somewhat unfamiliar with.
Hopefully it wakes them up, especially Latendresse. This guy used to go out of his way to crush people and is not doing that much anymore.
That's great and I agree, Lappy and Lats are not 2nd liners (Lats could be, he has the tools, just doesn't seem to know how to you use them properly).
That being said, they weren't benched for not doing what 2nd liners should do. They were benched for the lazy backchecking and lack of physicality. That's what they're there to do whether it's on 2nd, 3rd or 4th line.
I saw both of them just skate by opponents when they had the chance of checking them against the boards. The Lightning was all over us in the 1st throwing their bodies around. Guys like Moen and MaxPac tried hitting back, but you expect guys like Laps and Lats to be doing the same.
Lappy is usually our checking line center. The lazy backchecking he did on the Tanguay goal was simply inexcusable and that's why he didn't play another shift. It made the momentum switch side and just made our catch up that much more difficult.
JM didn't bench them because they weren't scoring or creating good things offensively. He didn't place them on 2nd line in hope Laps would transform into a 30G scorer. He put them there because he wanted to combine their style with a skilled center like Plek considering A.Kost wasn't performing too well.
Lappy didn't even bother the opposition yesterday.
I'm glad JM benched them because A.Kost was getting a lot of crap on his shoulders when these two have been just as bad or even worse imo.
Love the way A.Kost throws his body around too. Lats could learn a thing or two from that..never thought I'd ever say this..
5) This will SHUT UP a certain media type in Montreal for now.
Probably not. Houde on RDS seemed to be doing his best to make the swap sound like Plekanec was being demoted to the fourth line between Andrei and White, not that Lats/Laps had been demoted to play with Pyett.
Obviously, icetime made a liar out of him, but I am sad to see the bashing extending to those two commentators. Benoit Brunet also pointed out how he liked that Andrei was left on the 4th line (at the start of the game) despite playing OK in Boston, because it showed consistency. *rolls eyes*
Putting them on the 2nd line was a retarded move to start with.
Indeed, but can't blame the coach there. You go with what you have.
It was a short term move and it ended yesterday.
It just goes to show you how much we lacked depth.
Lats though I'm quite disappointed.
Off season he claims this will be a crucial season, he needs to step up, he's ready and aiming Top6.
He has quite a mediocre/regular camp, isn't able to secure a top6 role battling it out vs rookies like D'Ago/MaxPac.
Bad start to the year.
Few good things here and there.
Finally gets a shot, does nothing spectacular. Still not able to secure his spot.
Good thing out of this though is that it seemed to have put A.Kost back on the right track, at least for now..
I can't believe Sergei hasn't been called up with our pathetic offence.
We all know Sergei and Andrei have good chemistry. What are we waiting for ? Christmas ??
Their hands are tied. Sergei was, as of like a week ago, still being a whiner. Think of him as in prison.
He'll get recalled when he spends a few weeks in Hamilton without whining.
Also, what's being lost here in the shuffle is that Sergei IS NOT dominating in Hamilton. If he's as good as he thinks he is, he should be tearing that league apart. Look at Bergeron's stats there, for god sakes. He got the same number of points that Sergei has in 9 games in only 3.
If you cannot get a point a game on one of the best teams in the AHL, you're not ready to be a second line scorer in the NHL.
Sergei - 9 Games Played, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points.
Set the discipline issues aside for a second, and Sergei has not demonstrated he deserves to be on an NHL second line. He has shown about the same as White/Pyatt (7 and 8 points respectively). IE, if he wasn't demanding trades, he's probably earned a few shifts on the 4th line. The fact that he has, leaves him in the AHL.
Laps and Lats were not playing as 3rd liners. They were playing as 3rd liners that think themselves to be 1st liners. A 3rd liner has to check and to be reliable defensively.
Do not insult the likes of Moen and Metropolit by calling Lats and Laps 3rd liners.
