Now that And-o FINALLY got a timely time-out...

Ando · Guru

Now that And-o FINALLY got a timely time-out...

brooklynhabfan · Guru

Ando wrote:

...how 'bout taking the shackles off of this defense and letting them rush the puck more???
And-o feels that the Habs defensemen are fairly mobile bunch...and all have potential in terms of generating scoring chances! Just for example, Souray rushes the puck fairly well...and his cannon and one-timer open up some interesting options. Also, Markov and Bouillon can fly with the puck...and Rivet, Komisarek and Streit could easily take more chances when gaining the offensive zone.
And-o doesn't want to see six riverboat gamblers each night...but last nights game showed the importance of supporting the forwards in keeping the puck in the offensive zone.
CJ needs to expect more offensive chances from the defense...and this will require the forwards to backcheck and cover off the points much better!!!

It's funny, I see guys like Markov being a key to this team in years to come... nothing like a little dash of Paul Coffey in your rink to wake up a sagging team!

barry33 · Guru

Aside from Markov I do not see the rushing ability on this team. In fact the knock from the so called "experts" is the lack of mobility on the Habs defence. As far as shackles (and I heard this from the cabbage patch mouth this summer), they all have the green light to go. In Souray's case he does it now and then as does Bouillon but they do not seem to have the confidence to do it on a regular basis. Maybe CJ needs to give them a nudge in that direction. I for one love seeing Markov go.

One thing that our Dmen have problems with is turning over the puck in the neutral zone. Souray does it and Bouillon did it at least 4 times last night. When you do that a few times you tend to get more conservative.

Johab · Guru

Funny And-o...When i saw that Claude called a time out...i SWEAR TO GOD your christmas gift came true and you got that button on your remote!!!

habs93 · Veteran Member

One of the reasons Markov is such a good rushing/skating defense man is that up to the year before he was drafted he played forward (So he had only one year of defense before he was drafted) so he is still relatively inexperienced on the back end compared to some of his teammates who have played D all their hockey lifes (but Markov is having a break out year)so some of M's pinches that don't work could be due to some inexperience......

barry33 · Guru

habs93 wrote:

One of the reasons Markov is such a good rushing/skating defense man is that up to the year before he was drafted he played forward (So he had only one year of defense before he was drafted) so he is still relatively inexperienced on the back end compared to some of his teammates who have played D all their hockey lifes (but Markov is having a break out year)so some of M's pinches that don't work could be due to some inexperience......

I agree. In order to have a team where the defence join the rush you need to have dmen that ar eable to get back quickly if the rush does not work out. We do not have that I am afraid. Souray is not a great skater speed wise nor is Rivet. Bouillon, God love him, The Cube's legs are so short it takes him awhile to get anywhere. I do see Komisarek turning into a rushing type guy though as he gets experience. He is pretty mobile for abig guy.