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Post by Reesor on Mar 19, 2024 14:38:14 GMT -4
My time of making the playoff series' polls has come to an end, at least for this year. Just not feeling it.
It's really hard not to be overly critical. This is a fan board and I should be cheering these guys on no matter what. I've also been overly pessimistic in past years when there was no need to be. So it makes it double tough to have a "true-to-myself" opinion of how Halifax will do this year. I'm hoping for them, don't get me wrong. But if I was to call one upset in the first round, this is it, and it's not even close. Halifax's depth is average, and their team defense is average. They have players that are smaller and less physical, so as the playoffs go on they will be subject to wear and tear. Their goaltending is elite, and their top line is elite, but if either their goaltending struggles or their top line stuggles in tighter-checking playoff hockey, they're done. There is no safety net with this team. Everything has to click. They may be able to squeak past Bathurst in the first round, but unless they find something that was missing during the season, they will have their hands full in the 2nd round. And that's just the 2nd round. This team is supposed to be going for a championship.
CHSB must be frothing at the mouth at this series. Bathurst have absolutely nothing to lose, and have a golden opportunity to add to this rivalry by putting an end to the Dumais era with the worst playoff loss in Moose history. Halifax has to play with a chip on their shoulder and come out with something to prove. They have to out-work Bathurst, and they have to play aggressively and cause the young Titan defense to make mistakes. The blue-print is there... I just don't know if they as a collective have the focus necessary to up their play in the playoffs. I'd gladly eat crow if they take out Bathurst in 4 or 5.
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Post by Jack Bauer on Mar 19, 2024 14:46:53 GMT -4
Yeah, he will lol He's the all time leading scorer of a CHL franchise. He's signed a pro contract. What he does in Halifax between now and his last game is irrelevant. He's still playing pro hockey when his Moosehead days are over whether its in April/May or in October. Brad Marchand's NHL career certainly wasn't negatively effected by his train wreck of a time in Halifax. I guess what will happen and what I hope will happen are different things. I don't think anyone deserves to play pro if they think they are too good for the junior leagues. You don't reach those heights without thinking highly of yourself. Most if not all of the players who graduated to play pro hockey from the CHL at one point thought they were too good for junior hockey.
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Post by yesisaiditfirst on Mar 19, 2024 15:39:45 GMT -4
My time of making the playoff series' polls has come to an end, at least for this year. Just not feeling it. It's really hard not to be overly critical. This is a fan board and I should be cheering these guys on no matter what. I've also been overly pessimistic in past years when there was no need to be. So it makes it double tough to have a "true-to-myself" opinion of how Halifax will do this year. I'm hoping for them, don't get me wrong. But if I was to call one upset in the first round, this is it, and it's not even close. Halifax's depth is average, and their team defense is average. They have players that are smaller and less physical, so as the playoffs go on they will be subject to wear and tear. Their goaltending is elite, and their top line is elite, but if either their goaltending struggles or their top line stuggles in tighter-checking playoff hockey, they're done. There is no safety net with this team. Everything has to click. They may be able to squeak past Bathurst in the first round, but unless they find something that was missing during the season, they will have their hands full in the 2nd round. And that's just the 2nd round. This team is supposed to be going for a championship. CHSB must be frothing at the mouth at this series. Bathurst have absolutely nothing to lose, and have a golden opportunity to add to this rivalry by putting an end to the Dumais era with the worst playoff loss in Moose history. Halifax has to play with a chip on their shoulder and come out with something to prove. They have to out-work Bathurst, and they have to play aggressively and cause the young Titan defense to make mistakes. The blue-print is there... I just don't know if they as a collective have the focus necessary to up their play in the playoffs. I'd gladly eat crow if they take out Bathurst in 4 or 5. I think Halifax gets by Bathurst. Maybe in more games. What I think though is they don't get by 2nd round. I think CB will beat them in round 2. They seem like a team that plays well against Halifax, having more fun playing, and right now have themselves in a spot to stay in 4th/5th (maybe even 3rd) to close season and insulates them from playing Baie-Comeau. They just seem to have that going for them now. I don't expect any of the teams in the Moncton thru Rimouski range would be in awe of Halifax. The Moose own fans wouldn't be suprised.
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Post by jordo999 on Mar 19, 2024 17:13:46 GMT -4
My time of making the playoff series' polls has come to an end, at least for this year. Just not feeling it. It's really hard not to be overly critical. This is a fan board and I should be cheering these guys on no matter what. I've also been overly pessimistic in past years when there was no need to be. So it makes it double tough to have a "true-to-myself" opinion of how Halifax will do this year. I'm hoping for them, don't get me wrong. But if I was to call one upset in the first round, this is it, and it's not even close. Halifax's depth is average, and their team defense is average. They have players that are smaller and less physical, so as the playoffs go on they will be subject to wear and tear. Their goaltending is elite, and their top line is elite, but if either their goaltending struggles or their top line stuggles in tighter-checking playoff hockey, they're done. There is no safety net with this team. Everything has to click. They may be able to squeak past Bathurst in the first round, but unless they find something that was missing during the season, they will have their hands full in the 2nd round. And that's just the 2nd round. This team is supposed to be going for a championship. CHSB must be frothing at the mouth at this series. Bathurst have absolutely nothing to lose, and have a golden opportunity to add to this rivalry by putting an end to the Dumais era with the worst playoff loss in Moose history. Halifax has to play with a chip on their shoulder and come out with something to prove. They have to out-work Bathurst, and they have to play aggressively and cause the young Titan defense to make mistakes. The blue-print is there... I just don't know if they as a collective have the focus necessary to up their play in the playoffs. I'd gladly eat crow if they take out Bathurst in 4 or 5. I think Halifax gets by Bathurst. Maybe in more games. What I think though is they don't get by 2nd round. I think CB will beat them in round 2. They seem like a team that plays well against Halifax, having more fun playing, and right now have themselves in a spot to stay in 4th/5th (maybe even 3rd) to close season and insulates them from playing Baie-Comeau. They just seem to have that going for them now. I don't expect any of the teams in the Moncton thru Rimouski range would be in awe of Halifax. The Moose own fans wouldn't be suprised. honestly CB is a team I'd be scared for any of the top contenders to play, CB is a HEAVY team pretty much entirely throughout their lineup and the last while or so they've been clicking. If Halifax goes to 6 or 7 vs Bathurst and has to face the Eagles I think they'll be tired and in for an uphill battle. I'm not trying to shit on the Moose by any means and they could prove myself and others wrong but I just feel like there's something off about them and that they don't have what it takes to go all the way again. But playoff hockey is always unexpected.
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Post by Citris on Mar 19, 2024 17:37:49 GMT -4
I think there's a bit too much pessimism on this team.
I think they can make it to round 3 in 11 games. I do have my concerns about coaching, but I think Dumais pushes everyone back to a spot and makes the lineup quite a bit more balanced. Also helps our powerplay which will be huge.
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Post by hockeydad on Mar 19, 2024 17:50:03 GMT -4
I can understand the frustration as a fan hoping for the Moose . This years team had the makings to be better than last years team that came within 2 games of winning the league title. But with some key injuries and a mediocre trading period this years team lacks team cohesion and unity within the ranks . But as an organization and a business the team is built to do well every year but not a one and done team that goes all in and wins it all ! Which for a fan can be very frustrating but as a business it is very successful and I can’t see a change in that direction going forward especially in a city that is growing in population and the popularity of the Moose continues to grow at the box office .
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Post by statsman18 on Mar 20, 2024 10:26:48 GMT -4
Last year I was definitely higher on this team than the majority. Surprisingly it might be the same case this year. The majority of Moose fans on this board all last season said this was the “go for it year”. I always thought last years team was better. I don’t think there’s even a debate that was the case. This years team I think from go was over hyped. Most said it will be lead by its defence. I feel it’s safe to say it has under preformed. The offence was lead all year by 2 guys. That was the biggest hole on the team and will get an even bigger up grade come game 2 of the playoffs.
I said all that to say their playoff hopes will rely heavily on its special teams. This teams PP sucks! Whoever designed the break in needs to be fired. I say that way because the PP and PK are usually run by the assistant coaches. They can not get clean entries into the offensive zone. This is where Dumais comes into play. With him the PP can be deadly. He is the DRIVER if you will. (to soon?) He just finds away better than any other player. He’s yet to even play on the PP with Reynolds or Denis. Not to mention set up Sprynar and his big shot. If they get a bunch of PP time Bathurst might only get 5 games. I think they win game one but after that with Dumais back it trouble.
Do I think they can be upset? Yes I do. This is just my gut though but I think they win this round in 5 maybe 6. Then is when things get interesting. Last year I got criticized for saying they can beat any team in a 7 game series, but the other 3 top team can beat them in a 7 game series. This year I think the competition is narrowed even more so that I think it’s a coin flip after the 1st round. That part almost everyone agrees. This team has 2 X factors that maybe only BC can match. Dumais and Rousseau are players that change game plans. The best part about Dumais coming back is it lengthens the scoring death to 3 lines. That’s not be talked about. Rousseau the other X factor if you don’t think is an X factor go back and look at the Sherbrooke series.
Let look at the lines once Dumais is back in the line up.
Cataford/ Vidicek/ Dumais Reynolds/ Denis/ Crosby Levesque/ Todd/ Sprynar
That’s how I see the top 3 lines being thrown out. Nothing needs to be said about the top line. The 2nd line can be hit or miss, but Crosby has played pretty good with those 2. The 3rd line is the key. Sprynar and Todd have clicked and played well together. Levesque’s speed will add another element to this line. Teams will have a hard time keeping this line off the sheet. If this line clicks, they could win a series. Most of the teams are going to be worried about matching the first two lines on this team that could be a big-time key on why this team could go further than a lot expect. However, if they don’t click like I think they can, I’m with everybody else and this could be an ugly quick playoffs.
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Post by fabi1309 on Mar 20, 2024 10:43:05 GMT -4
I think it’s easy to summarize all the posts in the thread:
If we get all players back AND the lines finally find chemistry, we can easily make it to round 3 or 4. If not, well - we saved money on playoff tickets.
Its just frustrating seeing all the skill but not being able to combine it effectively.
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Post by bazinga on Mar 20, 2024 19:57:40 GMT -4
My Prediction: Moose dominate game 1, get dumais back and go on cruise control and sweep the series 😎
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Post by Citris on Mar 21, 2024 18:40:19 GMT -4
Truly dominant teams usually have around 100-105 pts, the Mooseheads are going to finish probably between 92-94.
Just out of curiosity, I looked at some recent comparables for that - the 2021-22 Gatineau Olympique and 2018-19 Rimouski Oceanic are the two teams that line up best with that.
Both clubs were swept by the eventual league champions, one in the quarter-finals and one in the semis.
The 2019 Oceanic are actually a decent comparable, they leaned heavily on an elite goaltender in Colten Ellis, and their own star #11 in Alexis Lafreniere, but had otherwise pretty unimpressive offensive depth. They were swept by the Huskies in 4 in the semi-finals (we all remember how good that team was.)
That said, I do believe that, when healthy, the 2023-24 Mooseheads are better than the 18-19 Oceanic, and the top teams are worse than that stacked Huskies team.
Anyway, this all means nothing in the end, I just thought it was a fun thought experiment XD
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Post by itstime on Mar 22, 2024 8:14:30 GMT -4
If the Mooseheads dont make it out of the first round we would all get what we want in a new coach.
As for point totals I understand everyones points but put Dumais in the line up and they are over 100 points.
I also think this team has been waiting for the playoffs. They have been on cruse control in 2024 and that you can tell. The question is can they crank it up when the playoffs start. This team had a long run last year so they know what to expect, the question is can they do it.
Even without Dumais this team should win. You have playoff Roster that has something to prove to the NHL teams and I cant see him not being able to pull this one out on his own.
It wont be easy but the team should take this home. We should have our full line up. The only thing that scares me is that Bobby Orr and P has something to prove to the Mooseheads and a motivated Bobby Orr is scary. I would also say Ponzetto has something to prove as well.
Moose in 5.
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Post by Reesor on Mar 22, 2024 10:30:21 GMT -4
Truly dominant teams usually have around 100-105 pts, the Mooseheads are going to finish probably between 92-94. Just out of curiosity, I looked at some recent comparables for that - the 2021-22 Gatineau Olympique and 2018-19 Rimouski Oceanic are the two teams that line up best with that. Both clubs were swept by the eventual league champions, one in the quarter-finals and one in the semis. The 2019 Oceanic are actually a decent comparable, they leaned heavily on an elite goaltender in Colten Ellis, and their own star #11 in Alexis Lafreniere, but had otherwise pretty unimpressive offensive depth. They were swept by the Huskies in 4 in the semi-finals (we all remember how good that team was.) That said, I do believe that, when healthy, the 2023-24 Mooseheads are better than the 18-19 Oceanic, and the top teams are worse than that stacked Huskies team. Anyway, this all means nothing in the end, I just thought it was a fun thought experiment XD I usually compare Moose go-for-it teams with other go-for-it teams as well. I see far more comparisons with teams that have been upset in the playoffs than those that have gone far. I really don't like the makeup of this roster. The skilled players are small and don't play a physical style, except Cataford. I see similarities with this roster to Victoriaville's last year, which was upset in round 1. This Bathurst team is better than the Quebec team that almost took out the 2019 Moose team. I don't expect Bathurst to win, but if I was forced to put $1000 on this series I'd have to think about it. The key for Halifax is to come out flying next Friday and plant doubt in the Titan. Bathrust knows they can beat Halifax and they're currently free-rolling. A really strong game one by the Moose could make them tighten up a bit.
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