Early Deficits Are Tough to Overcome

Date: 02/11/2017
Opponent: Minnesota
Location: Xcel Energy Center
Loss: 6-3

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Minnesota Goalie: Dubnyk (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Gallagher (2), Shaw
Minnesota goalscorers: Cullen, Niederreiter, Ennis, Suter, Spurgeon, Foligno

Canadiens Fly Past Senators

Date: 30/10/2017
Opponent: Ottawa
Location: Canadian Tire Cenre
Win: 8-3

Montreal Goalie: Montoya (W)
Ottawa Goalie: Anderson (L)

Montreal goalscorers:  Hudon (2), Pacioretty, Lehkonen (2), Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Plekanec
Ottawa goalscorers: Pyatt, Dzingel, DiDomenico

Habs Hang on to Beat Rangers

Date: 24/10/2017
Opponent: NY Rangers
Location: Bell Centre
Win: 5-4

Montreal Goalie: Price (W)
New York Goalie: Pavelec (L)

Montreal goalscorers:  Byron, Galchenyuk, Danault (2), Pacioretty
New York goalscorers: Buchnevich, Nash, Zibanejad, Skjei

Kings Give Habs Reality Check

Date: 26/10/2017
Opponent: Los Angeles
Location: Bell Centre
Loss: 4-0

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Los Angeles Goalie: Quick (W)

Montreal goalscorers:
Los Angeles goalscorers: Kempe, Toffoli, Kopitar, MacDermid

Habs Find Their Stride Against Florida

Date: 24/10/2017
Opponent: Florida
Location: Bell Centre
Win: 5-1

Montreal Goalie: Price (W)
Florida Goalie: Reimer (L)

Montreal goalscorers:  Galchenyuk, Weber (2), Gallagher, Pacioretty
Florida goalscorers: Yandle

Ducks Shoot Down Habs Hopes of Getting Win in Cali

Date: 20/10/2017
Opponent: Anaheim
Location: Honda Center
Loss: 6-2

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Anaheim Goalie: Gibson (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Gallagher, Byron
Anaheim goalscorers: Grant (2), Vermette, Montour, Wagner, Rasmussen

Kings Crown Habs in Third Period Blowout

Date: 18/10/2017
Opponent: Los Angeles
Location: Staples Center
Loss: 5-1

Montreal Goalie: Montoya (L)
Los Angeles Goalie: Quick (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Byron
Los Angeles goalscorers: Kempe (3), Cammalleri (2)

Canadiens Come Up Dry in San Jose

Date: 17/10/2017
Opponent: San Jose
Location: SAP Center
Loss: 5-2

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
San Jose Goalie: Jones (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Drouin, Weber
San Jose goalscorers: Couture (2), Pavelski, Hertl, Thornton

Habs in Unfamiliar Territory

Date: 14/10/2017
Opponent: Toronto
Location: Bell Centre
Loss: 4-3 (OT)

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Toronto Goalie: Andersen (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Petry, Galchenyuk, Drouin
Toronto goalscorers: van Riemsdyk, Matthews (2), Marleau

Montreal Can't Put 60 Minutes Together in Home Opener

Date: 10/10/2017
Opponent: Chicago
Location: Bell Centre
Loss: 3-1

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Chicago Goalie: Crawford (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Plekanec
Chicago goalscorers: DeBrincat, Saad, Anisimov

Montreal's Effort Can't Overcome Scoring Woes

Date: 08/10/2017
Opponent: NY Rangers
Location: Madison Square Garden
Loss: 2-0

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
New York Goalie: Lundqvist (W)

Montreal goalscorers:
New York goalscorers: Skjei, Zibanejad

Ovechkin Capitalizes on Montreal's Shortcomings

Date: 07/10/2017
Opponent: Washington
Location: Capital One Arena
Loss: 6-1

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Washington Goalie: Holtby (W)

Montreal goalscorers: Gallagher
Washington goalscorers: Ovechkin (4), Oshie, Walker

Date: 05/10/2017
Opponent: Buffalo
Location: KeyBank Center
Win: 3-2 (PS)

Montreal Goalie: Price (W)
Buffalo Goalie: Lehner (L)

Montreal goalscorers: Pacioretty, Danault, Drouin (PS)
Buffalo goalscorers: Pominville (2)

It's Just Preseason But...

            I know it’s just preseason.  I saw how great Montreal have been the last two years both in preseason and before Christmas.  I know it means squat.  I know we’d all trade a great preseason and a great start to the season for a long run into the playoffs.  Their recent struggles might just be due to a new defence core, a new coach, a new system, and new linemates and positions for all our forwards.  These are all solid reasons for Montreal’s early struggles.

        Carey Price didn’t start super but he’s gotten better every game and I don’t think, of all the concerns Montreal may or may not have, Price’s play (barring injury) is one of them.  Price played okay (for Price’s standards) last season and was still in the running for the Vezna.  To be guaranteed a top 3 goaltender is fine by me.  What is concerning is his backup.  Al Montoya didn’t look very good at all in the preseason.  To the point where it’s tough to justify putting him in at all.  We’re going to need him to play games in order for Price to be well rested for the playoffs and we’re going to need him to win games to ensure the Canadiens get there.  I guess the good news is that I doubt, from what I’ve seen, he’s going to play much worse.

        While the goaltending arrangement might not be ideal unless Montoya can find it within him to nab a few wins, I think our defence is a serious concern.  Gone from last year’s roster are Mark Barberio, Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, and Greg, Pateryn. I liked how Barberio and Pateryn stepped in and played solid roles throughout last season.  Can the new replacement players come into the lineup with as little disruption as Greg and Mark did?  Possibly, but no matter how well or poorly the guys rotating into the lineup to cover off injuries gel with the regulars, the gaping question remains; can Beaulieu, Emelin, and Markov all be replaced in one season seamlessly enough to even make the playoffs, let alone to forge that deep run into the playoffs we’ve all been craving.

        Mark Streit is an older defensemen on his second stint with the Habs.  I really liked him on his first round in Montreal and was sorry to see him go, but he’s no Markov.  Markov is better in his own zone in regards to both defensive zone coverage and moving the puck out.  He’s also a year younger.  Sure, he would have cost more but with about $8 million under the cap, the Montreal Canadiens could surely have afforded him.  Remember, we’re a win right now team, not a bide our time and wait team, and replacing Andre Markov with Mark Streit doesn’t have that, “I want to win a Stanley Cup this year” feel to it.  I don’t think it would have cost that much more to keep Markov in the NHL and I don’t know of any fan who wouldn’t take Markov on the third pairing with an obvious option to move him ahead in the depth chart should our new acquisitions not work out.

        Karl Alzner is fresh out of a President’s Trophy winning roster, but like the rest of the Washington Capitals, was mediocre in the playoffs.  What Karl brings to our roster is more size and grit in the back end, but he replaces some grit so I don’t know if there’s much of a gain.  If Nathan Beaulieu wasn’t traded to Buffalo for next to nothing I think the Golden Knights take him and we are left with Emelin.  Emelin has better Corsi and better Fenwick scores and certainly hits every bit as hard as Alzner and then some.  Emelin did manage to give the puck away at some very inopportune times but from what I’ve seen in the preseason, Alzner is no better in his own end.  In my opinion, this is at best, a lateral move resulting from a preventable expansion draft loss.

     David Schlemko hasn’t worn a jersey yet, picked up from the Golden Knights for a 5^th round pick.  It’s worthy to note that the Golden Knights traded Emelin to Nashville for a 3^rd round pick.  Montreal could have swung a similar deal using the 3^rd round pick they got for Beaulieu… but they didn’t.  Schlemko is supposed to be solid in his own zone with good puck moving abilities.  A hand injury has unfortunately prevented us from seeing for ourselves.  I assume he’s been brought in to fill the gap that would have ideally been filled by Beaulieu before Montreal brass gave up on the young man.  Admittedly, Beaulieu didn’t have a great season last year.  Keep in mind; that was under Therrien, who is an awful coach, and I highly doubt he would have repeated that this year under Julien.  He also put up better numbers than Schlemko and you have to think that at 24 there was still a reasonable possibility that Beaulieu improves some this season while at 30 it’s unlikely Schlemko will… and to think, if Montreal had kept Beaulieu then given a 3^rd round pick to Las Vegas they could’ve kept both he and Emelin.  I guess we shall see if these moves come back to haunt us.  If the first 6 games of the preseason are any indication they just might.

        I liked Jordie Benn last year and if he can continue to play that way this year he’ll be a bright spot.  At 31 Shea Webber isn’t getting any younger but he’s still a beast on the blue line.  Two entertaining defencemen (if you like defencemen who can actually play defence) and who I know will make attempts to crash Carey’s crease costly.  Victor Mete from the London Knights is a player I really don’t have a gauge on yet.  Collectively, the defence was horrendous for the first 6 preseason games which, hopefully, weren’t a good gauge for any of our defence.  They 9-2 blowout win over the Senators also didn’t serve to gauge talent.  I’m sure we’ll all be keeping an eye on him for the first 10 games.

        I know we’re all excited about the first game against Buffalo.  I suspect the lineup to be something like this; Pacioretty/Drouin/Gallagher, Galchenyuk/Danault/Shaw, Hudon/Plekanec/Lehkonen, Byron/Mitchell/Hemsky, Mete/Weber, Alzner/Petry, Benn/Streit, with Price in net backed up by Montoya.

        I’ll talk about the forwards more later, but on paper it looks to be balanced with potentially a 30 goal scorer on each of our top 2 lines.  The defence has the potential to be grittier which could mean less traffic for Price and we all know what grit means in the playoffs.  A team that wants to be a legitimate contender for the Cup should beat Buffalo by a couple of goals, but last year the Sabres proved to be a tough opponent for the Canadiens, so don’t be surprised if the Habs start off the season 0-1.  Either way, it’s been a long, hot summer.  We’ve had to say goodbye to some fan favourites in Beaulieu and Radulov for sure (and Emelin for me).  We’ve gotten in return at least one (I’ve already got my Drouin jersey), and I’m ready for some hockey.  Go Habs, go!

Ole

What a Wild Year

        It's far too long since the Lions in Winter have roared, both on the ice and on the web; I shall attempt to remedy at least one of those.  I stopped writing for LiW for silly superstitious reasons.  The Habs got off to one of their best starts in franchise history in 2015. I caught the winning fever along with the rest of the Canadiens and started writing for LiW only to see them plummet immediately into the worst slump I've ever seen in any sport ever (outside of the Washington Generals).  So last season I stayed away, as much as I wanted to chime in about the Subban trade.  We saw them off to another amazing start only to begin choking again in the new year.  Were it not for the Heimlich hiring of Claude Julien (not soon enough if you ask me) the Canadiens might not have made the playoffs and certainly weren't sharp once there.  So it wasn't me or my writing after all.  So what was it?  Coaching?  Lord, I hope so.  If that's the case, problem solved, but as abysmal as Therrien was (and he was truly awful) he can't take all the blame.  Terrible giveaways in the defensive zone were not uncommon and were it not for Carey Price being... well, Carey Price you would see how truly awful our backline are for hanging their goaltender out to dry.  Lack of scoring.  Despite the fact that Max Pacioretty can score 30 goals at will in the regular season, nothing to snub your nose at, he's never really shone in the playoffs.  Outside of Radulov's heroics, who as of right now is not on the 2017-18 roster, and a former 30 goalscorer who has lost his way, not entirely innocent from coaching ineptitude, the 2016-17 Canadiens weren't real creative up front.

        But don't panic.  Galchenyuk is only 23 and he's got a 20 goal and a 30 goal season (one of each) under his belt.  He'll mature to be a solid goal scorer (he would have had at least 20 again this season were it not for his injury - 17 in 65 games).  We can wait and add some pieces to the puzzle.  Take our time, add a few more pieces here and there for the right price and be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in a couple of years.  After all, Price has got more than a few solid years left in him (barring injury of course).  At least, that's what we could have said before Subban was traded for Weber.

        Que the eye roll.  Shea Weber is 31 and just a tad slower than he used to be.  Sure, he's the big brute needed to clear out in front of Carey Price and he's tough enough (and then some) to make forwards crashing the net pay a toll for doing so, and P.K. was not.  Simple as that.  All of the eggs were in the Price basket when Halak was traded and the scares of Kreider crashing into Price (on purpose, I don't care what anyone says) and the extended injury that ended his 2015-16 season forced management to either trade him or protect him.  I love Subban.  He has plenty of upside, but he is not a player capable of instilling genuine fear into his opponents.  I know Price still gets run and the instigator rule still allows for it to happen, but at least one player on the Rangers paid dearly for it (albeit in vein.)  No matter whether the trade was a hockey trade or a personality clash (certainly part of the reason in my opinion) it took away 4 years the Canadiens have to build a championship team.  No longer can Bergevin sit back and pick deals here and there to add to his team.  He must now make improvements with conviction as time is of the essence.

        Jonathan Droiun, the much coveted local star from Ste-Agathe, QC (potentially superstar), is a player the Habs very nearly sold the farm for last year; but a 22 year old scoring 20 goals in a season (21 for most of the season) is nothing to snub your nose at.  The Canadiens have added a very talented winger to their roster.  Now you don't get something for nothing and Sergachev was a top prospect for defense.  It's sad to see another blueliner leave, but with the dealing of Subban, Sergachev would not be a major contributor in the closing window Bergevin has created for himself.  Considering the circumstances I'd consider this a win.  It's unfortunate the perceived gap is at centre and Droiun is a winger, a versatile winger but a winger none the less, but the Habs are sitting pretty good.  They're going for it all.  They've lost Subban but they've got Weber, who is, right now, a better defenseman than Subban, and now there's Droiun who, right now, is a better forward than Sergachev is a defenseman.  So far, moving in the right direction right?

     Then they traded Nathan Beaulieu for a 3rd round pick.  Beaulieu didn't have a great year last year.  Neither did Galchenyuk or Gallagher or Shaw, or... Suffice to say he was in good company.  We have seen what he can do.  He is a solid skater who can move the puck with a bit of sandpaper to boot.  Only 24 (he'll be 25 this year) he actually finished with a +8 on the third defensive pairing.  To give up on a former first round draft pick before his 25th birthday after one sub par season is not a win now attitude.  It's a baffling move when you think about it.  Sure, he might have went in the expansion draft for nothing but we lost Emelin in the draft for nothing. Now we've lost 2 defencemen for a 3rd round pick (next to nothing).  Cue the slow clap.  Huge loss on this trade for Bergevin.  No doubt a year with a coach who knows how to win would have done the young defenseman good.  The fact he had any offensive upside under Therrien is remarkable,  I hope we're not kicking ourselves in the butt in a few years ala Ryan McDonagh.

        Then there's Galchenyuk and the rumours surrounding him.  Again, a year with a coach not completely inept when it comes to developing offensive talent will do the boy wonders.  Having coached the likes of Krejci and Bergeron I think the man can share a point or two with Chucky.  Certainly worth another year to give it a try.  At just 23 he's scored 89 goals in the NHL.  That's 0.26 goals/game (Droiun's rate is just under 0.17 and may have benefited from some shifts with Stamkos).  The fans and media (if you consider RDS media) can scream for trades all they want.  It's Bergevin's job to have enough hockey sense not to be influenced by such things when developing a championship team.  I'm just not real confident that he does.  Alex Galchenyuk was flying again last year until his injury.  When he came back he found out his spot had been given to Philip Daneault.  I'm at a loss why.  Daneault played well but he'll have a hard time scoring 20 goals in the NHL and you can forget 30.  Same physical statistics, Daneault might be a better two way player (so teach him to be a solid checking centre) but not nearly the offensive talent as Galchenyuk.  It's those players with the ability to score 30 goals in the NHL that are worth gold.  There's a reason half the league is interested in trading for the man.

        Bergevin traded away Subban for Weber; partly for hockey reasons (bigger, meaner, tougher and currently better) but partly for a personality clash with a sub par coach who is no longer with the team.  He's acquired Shaw who is a lesser version of Gallagher, in my opinion, and takes away minutes from Brendan while taking untimely penalties far too often.  He's acquired the coveted Drouin for a promising defense prospect who probably wouldn't peak in time to help this team, but then lost two of our top 6 defensemen from last year when only one needed to go.  Now he's contemplating trying to trade one of our top offensive players last year (and Galchenyuk 100% was that) and can't sign another one.  By trying to get rid of Galchenyuk he is not fixing his goal scoring problems and now he's got a serious personnel issue on the blue line.

        As it stands right now, our team is not better than it was last year and it wasn't a serious Stanley Cup contender last year.  It is a team that won't defend it's blue line as well (Emelin led the Canadiens in hits last year and was 9th in the league), it no longer has a Subbanesgue puck moving defenseman in Beaulieu, hasn't signed Radulov yet (and I wouldn't bet that they will) and seemingly wants to trade Galchenyuk for Drouin (a lateral trade at best).  I wonder if Mr. Molson is paying attention to how his GM has traded away assets (and continues to do so) for marginal gains (at best).

Ole