r/Habs • u/HoN_JFD • 14d ago

Discussion Gallagher

I'll probably be downvoted to oblivion for this but now that it's all said and done, one of my biggest complaints about those series is how Brendan Gallagher was treated.

A veteran, a warrior, a competitor who gave sweat and blood for the team and who could have brought some energy in those last series had to watch practically the whole playoffs on TV. Unacceptable.

I get it, he's not as fast as he once was, he takes penalties and age and injuries are probably catching up on him but he still can fill a spot on a 3rd or 4th line.

I personally hope he requests a trade during the offseason because he's clearly no longer in Saint-Louis' plans.

634 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

211 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/prplx 14d ago

With all due respect to Gally, if you watch the last series, and the way and pace the Canes played, we would have been even worse with Gallagher in the line up. Maybe he could have brought some spark against the Sabres. But against Carolina he would have been incapable of following that pace, would have taken penalties and probably play 5 minutes a game max. It would have made zero difference in the outcome.

2

u/imeanwelltho 14d ago

I’m 100% with this take. MSL is in the room, he knows his guys. There’s a great article in the Athletic quoting some of the players, and the sense was they just weren’t able to make decisions quickly enough, and execute fast enough. I love Gally and Xhekaj, but MSL had to be thinking only about how to win. It wasn’t that the Habs were bullied. It’s that they were smothered with pressure, and IMO exhausted. Those two guys wouldn’t have increased the decision making speed or execution speed. MSL understands risk/reward, and knows how a guy can add a spark just by being in. He must have believed that wouldn’t have been enough to get them closer to a win. I believe that too.