Re: Alumni in the pros - May 2014

[BMac]

Moulson moves on the second round when the Wild beat the Avs in OT in game 7

[RatushnyFan]

A good game overall for Matt.  Would have liked to see him block that shot that Stastny scored on but great job of screening Varlamov throughout the game.

[kicksave]

Douglas Murray has not played for the Canadiens in the playoffs so far.  Healthy scratch every game.

[Rita]

Douglas Murray has not played for the Canadiens in the playoffs so far.  Healthy scratch every game.

Murray is in the line-up for tonight's game in Montreal.

[Trotsky]

Douglas Murray has not played for the Canadiens in the playoffs so far.  Healthy scratch every game.

Murray is in the line-up for tonight's game in Montreal.

He was involved in the scrum at the end of the game as well.

[jkahn]

Douglas Murray has not played for the Canadiens in the playoffs so far.  Healthy scratch every game.

Murray is in the line-up for tonight's game in Montreal.

He was involved in the scrum at the end of the game as well.

12:22 playing time, +1, with 5 hits and 4 blocked shots.  Included in that ice time was one 2 minute 10 second shift in the 1st period where they couldn't get the puck out of their own end and iced it twice.

[ftyuv]

Murray is getting skewered at a Habs blog that seems fairly prominent (first hit on google for "Montreal Canadiens blog"). The blog post itself, and pretty much all of the commenters, hate him. It seems like the tone of the blog is generally over the top anyway, but still.

[billhoward]

Murray is getting skewered at a Habs blog that seems fairly prominent (first hit on google for "Montreal Canadiens blog"). The blog post itself, and pretty much all of the commenters, hate him. It seems like the tone of the blog is generally over the top anyway, but still.

Good thing for Canada-Sweden relations that the blog is in English.

[Trotsky]

Holy shit.  Them's fighting words, right there.  ::flipa::

[Josh '99]

Holy shit.  Them's fighting words, right there.  ::flipa::

Murray is good at one thing: Hitting. It's because he's 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, and you know that's how big he is because it's repeated literally every time he's mentioned on a television broadcast. There's nothing else to say about him. He's big and physical and slow and an awful skater and unskilled and big and physical and almost useless out there and also big and physical. That he's been in the league as long as he has is entirely due to the fact that he happens to be a very large man. Under no circumstances should any coach play him in a playoff game of this gravity, especially when all he can do is the exact opposite of what worked for his team literally two days earlier.

Ouch.

Edit to add:  On the other hand, there are two other Canadiens who also failed to clear the rebound that Fraser eventually put in, and "floating around his own zone in a wide-eyed mixture of confusion and horror" is the kind of sports journalism cliche that Deadspin usually takes pride in skewering.

[Trotsky]

"floating around his own zone in a wide-eyed mixture of confusion and horror" is the kind of sports journalism cliche that Deadspin usually takes pride in skewering.

Unfortunately it looks like the advanced stats are on their side.  The Bruins' Corsi when Murray was on the ice even strength was 70%.  The Bruins' SA/60 when he was on the ice even strength was 94.3, which was higher than 12 NHL teams managed on power play this year.

Apparently, Doug has turned into a door-stop.  I haven't paid attention to the NHL since Nieuwy retired, so I don't know if this is sudden.

[Dafatone]

"floating around his own zone in a wide-eyed mixture of confusion and horror" is the kind of sports journalism cliche that Deadspin usually takes pride in skewering.

Unfortunately it looks like the advanced stats are on their side.  The Bruins' Corsi when Murray was on the ice even strength was 70%.  The Bruins' SA/60 when he was on the ice even strength was 94.3, which was higher than 12 NHL teams managed on power play this year.

Apparently, Doug has turned into a door-stop.  I haven't paid attention to the NHL since Nieuwy retired, so I don't know if this is sudden.

I thought he looked okay for the Penguins last year, but no one else did.

He's 34.  It's quite possible that he's lost a step or three, as much of a shame as that is.

[Josh '99]

"floating around his own zone in a wide-eyed mixture of confusion and horror" is the kind of sports journalism cliche that Deadspin usually takes pride in skewering.

Unfortunately it looks like the advanced stats are on their side.  The Bruins' Corsi when Murray was on the ice even strength was 70%.  The Bruins' SA/60 when he was on the ice even strength was 94.3, which was higher than 12 NHL teams managed on power play this year.

True enough, but the numbers do a fine enough job of pointing that out without attempting to characterize what was going on in his head.  "The Bruins controlled the puck when Murray was on the ice" is analysis.  "Murray was scared and confused" is tripe.

[Josh '99]

If I were to say to you, "France beat Canada today," what sport would you think I was talking about?  Would hockey be your very last guess?  Because France beat Canada today in hockey.  Yes, obviously many of Canada's best players are playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but even so, it's a team of NHL players, many of whom are pretty good NHL players, whereas France's team is 38-year-old Cristobal Huet and bunch of guys I've never heard of.  And yes, it was a shootout win and not a real win, but still.

Oh, the reason I posted this here and not in a new thread is because Ben Scrivens was on the bench in favor of James Reimer.  (I feel like that conversation has been had before.)  Perhaps Scrivens will get a shot in Canada's next game, against Slovakia tomorrow.

[Josh '99]

Oh, the reason I posted this here and not in a new thread is because Ben Scrivens was on the bench in favor of James Reimer.  (I feel like that conversation has been had before.)  Perhaps Scrivens will get a shot in Canada's next game, against Slovakia tomorrow.

Canada went with Scrivens against Slovakia on Saturday and were rewarded with a 4-1 win.  Scrivens stopped 23 of Slovakia's 24 shots and Slovakia's one goal came on the power play.  Canada play next against the Czech Republic later today.

Edit to add:  OH!  Kirill Gotovets is playing for hosts Belarus.  He was not in the lineup for their 6-1 loss to the USA last Friday but was part of the third defensive pairing for their 4-1 win over Kazakhstan yesterday and their 4-3 win over Switzerland earlier today (sorry JTW).  He had no points in either game and has one minor penalty.  Belarus play next against Finland on Thursday.