Did the Canadiens Find a GEM? Michael Hage’s World Juniors Breakdown

37 comments

1. Hage looks great, but it's not clear where he fits on the Habs' roster. Not gonna lie, but I would love to have Brady Martin to complete the first line

2. Michael Hage is the most overrated Montreal prospect since GILBERT DIONNE

3. Habs Legend Michael Hage, interesting player.

4. I have to say Hage looks good better than what I thought he would end up.However let's be real he has yet to step into the NHL and THAT matters a lot because as we have recently witnessed some players do NOT look as good when pitted versus the best ….example Misa /McKenna last years WJC 's I thought Sam Dickinson looked rubbish yet he was very highly touted going in to that tournament.
   IMO only about 5-6 team Canada players actually looked good the rest were very average or sub par and hockey is our number 1 sport and we can only come up with 5 good players?
   Back on the Hage train what he does is what MOST every single prospect does to look good he does it mostly with skating but giving him some props he knows how to protect the puck when skating with it by lowering his base and holding his leg out to shield the puck.
   The reason WHY so many don't turn out quite as expected is because at some point their skating is not good enough to carry them they need some hockey IQ which is severely lacking in modern NA players.Just look at the many shootouts to see how pathetic the scoring IQ is like 90^ og SO's look pathetic like a 12 year old could THINK of a better attempt.

5. I thought we were way to soft. Not enougt grit.

6. I want to add one more thing …I love Hage's game he "get's it" but I talked about scoring IQ for a reason I just don't see the IQ in hardly any players and those that have it most often don't have much else game example Laine/Caufield.I bring this up becuase I am not sold that Hage has much scoring IQ but at least he does have the rest of his game in order IO just didn't see enough of his defensive game because typically he has the puck in the other end lol.
   For me personally I see th game very easily within a split second I already know what each player SHOULD be doing thinking and where they should be moving to.So moving forward I want to see if Hage understands how to score how to LOOK AROUND defensively and I would like to see a stronger shot from him and more consistency with elevated shots I despise players that shoot low into the pads making goalies look good.

7. In comparison seeing Parehk shoot he pretty much shoots everything high has a very strong wrist shot but of course that is the modern sticks that allow that type of shot.Parehk is VERY smart he isn't tyhe most flashy or fastest skater but smart and has a great shot and very good scoring IQ AND he READS the game perfectly he often steps up to poke away a pass because he read it before it happened.Hage is not at parehk's level of smarts or shot but I really like what I see from BOTH players the difference of course is that Parehk does not rely on his skating he is all smarts Hage a lot more on his skating.

8. Can't win FO, so not a centre. Had to get other players to take his FO's as he wasn't bad he was brutal. Also bad at college.

9. Hage show some very good play making / passing, just need time to work on his face off and for the one complaining about scoring 😂
   Hage 15 pts
   McKenna 14
   Parekh 13
   Martone 9
   O Reilly 8
   Ignila 8
   Martin 8
   By far Hage was the most consistent players for Canada , not one bad game ☝️👍😎

10. Hage doesn't have great passing touch.

11. I like Marco's take on Hage. L.J. looks like our future Gally! Keep the faith and Go Habs Go!

12. Love hage but his lack of physicality won't work with suzi+cole, that's for sure. We've got one top sixer who can fight for the pucks and slaf can't play on every line.

13. Mooney has a below average shot velocity that he needs to work on.

14. I am betting Hage's trade value is pretty high right now. Hage Reinbacher and a 1st could probably fetch a very decent player.

15. Good morning guys , Would Morgan Barron be worth a look as a depth center .. Cheers !!

16. "Canada still supplies the largest share of NHL players, with Canadians making up about 41–42% of opening night rosters in recent seasons, the highest of any Country.

    The United States is firmly second and growing, with roughly 29–31% of NHL players now American‑born, an all‑time high share.

    Over NHL history, Canada has produced far more players than any other Country: more than 5,500 all‑time compared with about 1,500 from the U.S., showing Canada’s long‑term dominance in development."

    "Many NHL players were born in Saskatchewan, including Hall of Famers like Gordie Howe, Bryan Trottier, Bernie Federko, and Glenn Hall, along with modern stars such as Ryan Getzlaf, and Patrick Marleau.

    There is also a sizable group of current depth and role players from the Province active in the league each season.

    Saskatchewan has produced a notable run of NHL goaltenders across eras.

    – Glenn Hall (Humboldt) – Elite save percentage for his era, and a record Iron‑Man streak in goal.

    – Johnny Bower (Prince Albert) – Legendary Leafs netminder in the 1960s."

17. I personally disagree that the selection of the roster was the issue. Canada still had a better team by a mile compared to Czechia and most experts were fine with that roster before the tournament outside minor changes. I'm more looking at strategy…

    1. Transition game was really bad… offense should have been the better defense and it was not the case because we were just giving the puck away (the strategy was to just quickly get the puck out of our zone using lobs in the neutral zone even if it meant losing it). Against other teams, they had to work so hard to take the puck back that they didn't had any energy left to attack once they did.
    2. Playing 8 defensemen… players were likely less confident because they were less on the ice and having less puck touches, etc.

18. Oh No, Canada lost in hockey again. Better call the Waaaambulance!

19. Love the idea of Demidov playing with Hage in a year or two.

20. Hage looking like the main character on a line with Gavin Mckenna & Brady Martin, and looking way ahead of Misa was not on my bingo card and I was very high on this guy.

21. Canada lost because they didn't play well defensively

22. It's a combination of issues, I think. Goal tending is an issue i felt, and all the players that could have played like Marco said

23. I think Hage is probably a third line player on a Cup winning team. He needs a higher compete level and more grit to be successful.

24. Hunter should be ashamed of himself! Hage named as an ALLSTAR at WJC along with Parekh. Congratulations to both of them for showing up and putting out.

25. Strong faceoff depth down the middle ( suzuki-kapanen-danault-evans) allow you to absorb a weaker faceoff center like Michael Hage without compromising puck possession overall. It will give him the time to get better in draws.

26. i like the new intro music it's nice

27. Face offs come down to work ethic! Sidney Crosby rookie year was 45.5% and he improved his second year to 49.8. Crosby worked at it. Hage will struggle but I believe his work ethic and the work ethic of his peers, ie. Hutson, Demidov will help him succeed as a Center.

28. Hage’s ability to play with an elite talent like McKenna is a big positive moving forward. There is no question about his skating hands work ethic.

29. I think Dale Hunter needs to take some blame for the loss. No in game adjustments to counter the Czech forecheck.

30. Hage's ability to make players around him better is strong confirmation of the this kid's potential. At Michigan , he has made his line with the undrafted Hughes and the overrated Horcroff the top scoring line in the NCAA. At the WJC, Hage was material in making his line of McKenna and Martin the top scoring line in the tournament. He will be an important player for Montreal going forward. But not yet. He has to get stronger and gain better stamina. It remains to be seen if he can emulate Demidov's and Hutson's internal fervor for self improvement. If he does, Montreal will their mystical , missing 2C that the sections of the fan base have pined for.

31. Hage is 19 freaking years old. Remember that, fellow commenters, before making a grand pronouncement about him & what he's capable of.

32. Watching Hage at Michigan playing the half boards on the power play confirmed his shooting skills.

33. Canada's chances at the WJC were doomed with the composition of their defence. We got caught slow on defence. It was a fatal flaw that was exposed against superior opponents.

34. Not being in the CHL is why he didn't get top 3 Canadian players.

35. he was the only one that we saw make great passes the whole tournament

36. I wasn't that impressed by him in the WJCs….he played way too pretty and held the puck far too long most of the time. Trying to be a one man show. The team playing like that is why they ended up losing imo. Canada brought a bunch of players, Czechs and Swedes brought teams

37. With beck and Kapanen looking like future top faceoffs guys and Evans , danault and Suzuki .
    I’ll keep saying it , just like I e been saying it for months , Montreal don’t need a second line center , they need the room to evaluate young guys to see if they can play the role first . You don’t draft a bunch of guys and not give them a chance.

    Montreal need big physical agressive m border line psychotic wingers , they need size , agitating scoring wingers but they don’t need anyone right now , they hav3 to give all the injured guys a chance first before making irrational decisions

    When Dach comes back , there no room for him at center.

    By the end of the season sign Hage , give him that bit of nhl experience just like it was done with demidov and Hutson .

    Marco and Shaun , would you guys play gallagher once the injured guys comeback?

    Caufield -Suzy-Dach
    Slaf- Kapanen-Demi
    Newhook-Evans -Andy
    Texier -danault-Bolduc

    Guhle-Hutson
    Math -Dobson
    Xhekaj-Carrier

    Extra- Blais ,struble , Laine, Gallagher , that’s 1 too many guy and 2 more that won’t be happy of being sitting out

    With Fowler, engstrom and beck going back to AHL as the obvious easiest move

    Seriously if everyone comes Back , I don’t see any room for gallagher and Laine in the lineup but the problem is , newhook and Laine won’t be back until after the deadline so practically untradable.