tomorrow is huge for the habs , we take on a divisional foe , we need to get points tomorrow to set the stage for the season .

gui is inconsequential , he has no power over this team , he is barely a 4th liner as of now . he has been barely noticable in the 3 games we played .

huet will be fine , he had a solid game against the sabres dispite the 3rd period collapse of the team .

sammy is finding his groove , he'll be a good addition to the team when the final tally is told.

niinamaa will be solid as the year goes by , not spectacular but solid and steady.

the 3rd and 4th line need to be settled as we go but the first 2 should be fine .

imho we should put bonk with begin and murry ,use them as our shutdown line, they played well last year . then put johnson at center between perez and lats and give them 8-12 mins a night to get their feet wet with johnson getting a few more minutes of pk time .

in an earlier post you stated this is the best team we iced in a long time and i agree , we just need to put the right people in the right situations.

"Gui" needs to prove that he belongs on the top 2 lines. Who is he going to replace, Samsonov? Well, for all that he's sucked so far, Samsonov is a proven NHL player who has probably never played out of the top 2 lines in his whole career. Clearly he is not showing chemistry with Kovalev, but you have to give that line half a dozen games at least before coming to a decision.

It's is thus Gui's job to WIN, not to be given by default (sorry, but exhibition games are only partly meaningful). And to do so he has to make something out of his 7-10 minutes a game, and not worry about his linemates' lack of skill. He needs to go out there and skate his ass off, take short shifts, bang people, intimidate, look like he cares, etc... So far he's been a bit lame in the real games. I don't care if his specialty is not being an "energy" guy. He needs to show a willingness to do what it takes regardless. All rookies pay their dues. Perezhogin (a guy who probably never played on a checking line in his life) showed a willingness last year to try hard on the 3rd and 4th lines, and he's become a decent 2-way player. Let's see the same from Latendresse.

plouf wrote:

---

"Gui" needs to prove that he belongs on the top 2 lines. Who is he going to replace, Samsonov? Well, for all that he's sucked so far, Samsonov is a proven NHL player who has probably never played out of the top 2 lines in his whole career. Clearly he is not showing chemistry with Kovalev, but you have to give that line half a dozen games at least before coming to a decision.

It's is thus Gui's job to WIN, not to be given by default (sorry, but exhibition games are only partly meaningful). And to do so he has to make something out of his 7-10 minutes a game, and not worry about his linemates' lack of skill. He needs to go out there and skate his ass off, take short shifts, bang people, intimidate, look like he cares, etc... So far he's been a bit lame in the real games. I don't care if his specialty is not being an "energy" guy. He needs to show a willingness to do what it takes regardless. All rookies pay their dues. Perezhogin (a guy who probably never played on a checking line in his life) showed a willingness last year to try hard on the 3rd and 4th lines, and he's become a decent 2-way player. Let's see the same from Latendresse.

---

Absolutely right.

Higgins earned his top line spot the hard way, Plek earned his second line spot through hard work, and driving it into Gui that he has to work hard to get results and earn respect is the best thing to do for him long term. Do we really want to create another Ribeiro who feels he deserves everything just because he is talent laden?

Gui will earn it, and will probably get his first chance to prove he belongs on a scoring line when we have injuries. That's how this league works, and if he is able to jump on that opportunity, then he will prove we have drafted a winner.