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2010-2011 Habs: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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It’s always a difficult task to try and segment a 7-month long season in to 3 distinct buckets, as the memories all tend to fade and fall victim to what romanticism and to what feels most comfortable. The Habs have been a veritable roller coaster for two full seasons now…and what a roller coaster it is. Dizzying heights and stomach-churning drops galore. As strange as it is, would the highs feel as good as they do if not for the abyssmal depths that this team sunk to at times? Probably not.

Let’s start from the bottom of the barrel and finish on a high, shall we?

The Ugly

The Pacioretty/Chara incident. This will certainly be one of the infamous moments in Habs history, for all the wrong reasons. Everyone has their own personal opinion on whether or not Chara intended to severely injure Pacioretty, but the fact will always be that Pacioretty came within fractions of an inch from losing his career, his ability to walk, or perhaps even worse. That he luckily escaped severe handicap is a blessing, but it also fuels the knuckle-draggers who think the whole thing was overblown. Pacioretty was out cold on the ice – that by definition is a severe concussion. That he seemed to avoid post-concussion symptoms is what has Dr. Recchi, Boston media, and Bruins fans in such a confused tizzy. Any way you slice it, this was a horrific incident that touched off a frenzy in Montreal unseen in decades. Predictably, the rest of the hockey world points and laughs. Thankfully Pacioretty will be back next year and looking to pick up where he left off.

Injuries to Markov and Gorges. Why, oh why can’t the Habs stay in one piece for one year? If you spend any time reading here, you know me as somebody that doesn’t buy the injuries as an excuse for underachieving, or failure. Everyone suffers from injuries, and the Habs were somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of man-games lost to injury. Yeah, yeah, the whole quality vs quantity argument. Given the importance of Markov and Gorges to the team, it seems grossly unfair that both would be shelved for many months. Will either be back next season? Time will tell, but I would like to see them both return, for the right price of course.

Scott Gomez. No breakdown of the Habs season would be complete without looking at Gomez’ horrific season. After his putrid start, his supporters said that he’s a second half player. When he didn’t get going after the all star break, his supporters entrenched themselves deeper and said he was a playoff performer and we should be patient. When all is said and done, he never really got going at all. 38 points, -15. Underwhelming playoff performance aside from a strong first game. His last goal would come in early February, while all other facets of his game tumbled to appaling levels. The Canadiens can’t afford another season like that from a guy who eats such a large chunk of cap space. It will be tough to move him in any scenario, but its safe to say that his nightmarish season could have single-handedly cost the Habs a playoff spot if not for Carey Price’s brilliance.

Booing Carey Price. What’s the matter with the people who booed Carey Price – in the preseason no less? The real work hadn’t yet begun and those who sleep in Halak jammies were already out with their pitchforks. Needless to say, within weeks they no longer had any credibility, as Price forcibly duct taped every single one of the haters mouths shut. Booing the home team is never smart. Singling out a young player who needed support more than scorn was borderline criminal. In the end, all Price needed was confidence and he’d take care of the rest. On many nights, he was left on his own and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It’s what the greats do, and Carey Price is already great. When it’s all said and done, his name will not look out of place with the likes of Plante, Vezina, Roy, and Dryden.

The rivalry with Boston. For the better part of a century, the Habs and Bruins built one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In 2011, however, it went from an on-ice rivalry, to outright vitriolic hate in all directions. The players don’t like one another, but the fans and media have helped propel this rivalry to very nasty, unfriendly places. There’s no need to rehash it all, as it all cuts so close to the bone but it’s safe to say that this rivalry, which had cooled slightly in recent years, even with several playoff matchups has been renewed. We hope that it stays on the ice and produces exciting hockey, but I somehow doubt that. Winning with grace has eluded certain fanbases and the teams they follow.

The Bad

Opening round loss to the Bruins. After the tumultuous season that the Habs suffered at the hands of the Bruins (despite winning 4 of 6 games), roaring out to a 2-0 series lead had everyone thinking about the 2010 playoffs and another Cinderella run. Surely, with a 0-26 record when falling behind by two games, the Bruins were toast, right? Sadly for Habs fans, the Bruins fought back, broke through the barrier that was so successful last year for Montreal and eventually won the series. In seven games. In overtime. It doesn’t get worse than that for Habs fans who were around when the Canadiens hadn’t lost to the Bruins in the playoffs for 40 years. Yes, 40 years.

Inability to score at even strength – ‘The System’. Listening to the season ending post-mortem press conference, Jacques Martin would have you believe that his puck possession system in fully in place, and that the Habs do not struggle to score goals. Those paying attention know that he is simply deflecting, avoiding and outright lying about the type of hockey he has his team playing. It was tough to argue with him as the Habs hobbled through the season and still hung on to 6th place in the East. But again, when looking at all of the stats and evidence, the real system is Carey Price. Without 70+ games of terrific hockey from the Habs netminder, it would have been lights out after the regular season. It’s dangerous to rely solely on special teams and goaltending, and hopefully everyone now realizes that.

Underachieving forwards. All 6 of the top forwards had sub-par years. Starting with the aforementioned Gomez, but filtering down to each and every one of Plekanec, Gionta, Kostitsyn, Cammalleri and whoever the 6th forward was on any given day. None had what I’d call a strong year. Aside from Gomez’ putrid performance, the others all had decent, but underwhelming performances. We’ll never know how Pacioretty would have affected things if not for his head-first dive in to a stanchion, but it’s clear – the system prevents the Habs best offensive talents from reaching their potential. We’ve long forgotten what it’s like to have a forward finish among the league leaders in terms of production, and as long as the defense-first system lives, the Habs will struggle to score – regardless of the PR spin the coach and management decides to sell us, and regardless of what talent may be lured to town.

Moving Ryan O’Byrne, then trading to acquire more defense. This is a sticky one. The coach didn’t trust O’Byrne, which is his prerogative. I have to admit that I didn’t have much faith in O’Byrne, either, but I did want him in the lineup on a more consistent basis so that he could develop the confidence that fans would then absorb by osmosis. The organization didn’t see it that way, and shipped him to Colorado – where he played quite well – for another small prospect forward in Michael Bournival. We can only ponder how management reacted once O’Byrne was no longer available once their defensemen started to drop like flies. Would O’Byrne have drawn back in to the lineup, or would coach Martin continue to select others like Alexandre Picard over him? We’ll never know, but what is certain is that there was no rush to move him as quickly as they did.

Scattered, disorganized, immobile defense. Valiant warriors one and all: Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik, Jaroslav Spacek, Brent Sopel, Paul Mara. All are guys with guts, and all performed as well as they could. In the end, it was clear that they were asked to do more than they were capable of – whether through lack of skill, or the slow erosion of age, these guys simply couldn’t do the things necessary to win for long enough. Opponents know that if they press on their older, slower bodies, they’ll end up with the puck in the Canadiens zone, and they’ll force these older players to take penalties. And take penalties they did; the Habs were near the summit of the league in terms of minor penalties taken; another blight on ’the system’. It’s tough to score goals when the puck is always in your own end. Individually they all seem like terrific teammates, but in order to get better, some changes will need to be made, and hard decisions taken. It’s hard to do, but teams don’t get better by “being nice”.

Picking on PK. I would have put this in the “ugly” section if PK showed any signs of caring what other think of him outside of his locker room. Instead, Pernell Karl turned the corner at midseason and, given the ice time he received because of injuries to Markov and Gorges, he opened eyes across the league. However, not all eyes are as tolerant as we would like them to be in 2011. Racial slurs became common, and the league feigned horror at the “disrespect” the Habs young rearguard displayed on the ice. What a load of trash. Brad Marchand and Cam Fowler pulled similar stunts to what Subban did this year, and yet received no criticism. Racial undertones aside, PK gets a lot of flack simply because he’s GREAT and still a long way from his full potential. This scares other teams and their fans. Almost all non-Habs fans would admit to wanting him on their team, and this is a testament to PK’s resolve, evolving maturity, and lastly, to Trevor Timmins, who has hit a grand slam by drafting this kid in the second round. For once, it’s awfully nice having a player that everyone else says “how did we miss this guy” about.

The Failure of Pouliot. Benny, Benny, Benny. Last year I referred to you as Jimmy Olsen on a team of superheroes. You did nothing to change that this year, even though I thought you may be turning a corner at a few points. Have a nice career in some other jersey. I can’t devote any more space to you and your underachieving ways.

The Heritage Classic. Everyone loves an outdoor game, right? The mystique, the roots of the game, the fresh air. Yeah, sure they do. On this cold February evening, the Habs, decided that being in front of a gigantic, captive North-American audience was the right time to play one of the worst games of the season, being blanked 4-0 to the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium. It was a flaccid performance, coming off the heels of an equally putrid loss to the bottom-feeding Oilers.

Departures we hate to see. It hasn’t happened yet, but it certainly appears that Kirk Muller is on his way out of Montreal. What a shame that the Canadiens organization should lose two young coaching talents in Guy Boucher and Kirk Muller in consecutive years. If there’s one argument for Habs brass in keeping Jacques Martin around it’s that if they cut him loose any time soon after losing Boucher and Muller, they’ll be roasted. Other players potentially on their way out include Andrei Markov, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik and a few others. Some are near and dear to Habs fans, and we’d hate to see them go. In some cases, it’s necessary, but in the case of Kirk Muller you’d hope the Canadiens would do whatever it takes to keep a guy that the players reportedly adore. The fans seem to like him, too.

The Good

A new captain for a new era. After going through an entire season with no captain, the Canadiens decided it was time to name a new one to replace Saku Koivu. Raise your hand if you don’t like Brian Gionta as Captain. Nobody? I thought so. Stoic, heart of a lion, non-stop motor…what’s not to like about Brian Gionta? Nothing, that’s what.

Price’s rebirth. Carey Price had been, until this season started, a very controversial figure. How refreshing it is then, that under more pressure than ANY player in the league, Price responds with the type of season he had. There’s a case to be made that he should have been nominated for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Certainly there is no post-season in Montreal without his consistently solid play. Each and every single Habs fan should be in awe of how he played and conducted himself this year. And General Manager Gauthier should lock him up for a very, very long time as soon as possible. Don’t wait until Price increases his value even higher.

Subban’s emergence. He’s already been mentioned, but how amazing was PK Subban this season? He’s clearly the best rookie defenseman the Habs have had since the mid-80′s, and there are whispers that he’s gone and made Andrei Markov expendable. I don’t necessarily believe that, as the sophomore jinx has bitten the best of them, including Tyler Myers and Drew Doughty. Subban could easily have a setback next year, but what is clear is that at 21 years old, Subban is going to be the Canadiens top defenseman in a couple years from now, and will be for a long, long time. As with Price, Gauthier should lock up Subban immediately, before his price tag is elevated with Norris credentials.

Weber shines. Below the radar, and in Subban’s immense shadow lies the solid, versatile Yannick Weber. He may never be a top pairing defenseman, but he can be an effective power play specialist, while not embarassing himself on defense. He also proved that he could play a fourth line role, bringing back images of another Swiss-born, under-the-radar, jack-of-all-trades former Hab in Mark Streit. I believe he’s been underrated all season long and has earned a permanent spot on the blueline.

Pacioretty’s promise. Where’s our power forward? How many times had you heard that over the past decade? Safe to say that if you had a dime for every time you heard that from a fan, or member of the media, you’d be living the sweet life out in California’s beatiful San Fernando Valley (hat tip to Dr. Venkman for that beauty). Before being savagely injured, Pacioretty was just entering his own. He was the Habs best forward at the time of his injury, and seemed to be the answer to the gaping hole among the top 6 forwards. When Pacioretty revealed that he would have been ready to face the Capitals should the Habs have beaten Boston, fans sighed in disappointment. So close. On the other hand, he gets a full off-season to stregthen his neck and be absolutely certain that he wasn’t rushing back. Then again, it took a wicked slap shot to the ribs and a trip to the hospital before Pacioretty really heated up in the first place, so who knows, maybe he would have been even better after recovering from his neck problems.

Discovery of Desharnais. Talk about found money! Everyone knew about his skill, and his pal Pacioretty said he was the best center he had ever played with. It didn’t take long for Habs fans to see what he was talking about. Though he’s another small forward on a team of small forwards, I think Claude Julien got it right on when he said that Desharnais looks like he could be another Martin St-Louis. Let’s hope the Canadiens are able to find a permanent and fitting role for this pint-sized dynamo. It will be tough, as the Habs have Gomez, Plekanec and Eller at center already. Eller is ill-suited to play wing, and it would be a shame for Desharnais to toil on the fourth line with all that skill being devoted to a checking role. The answer, as hard as it may be to accomplish, is to somehow move Gomez. As much as I’d like to give him the chance to redeem himself (and this likely will be the path we go down), I’d spit nails if young talent was sacrificed for overpaid underachievers. Young homegrown talent is raring to go, and shouldn’t be stifled or discarded. If Habs management is intent on letting fresh coaching talent walk away, as well as prime prospects in low salary brackets in favour of bloated, stale contracts in Jacques Martin and Scott Gomez, then they should be immediately fired.

BAMF Ryan White. Finally, a player with wheels, and a willingness to get his nose dirty. Every team needs players like Ryan White. When members of the team come out and publicly state that White should have been on the team since the start of the season, that’s a criticism on the coaches and management, who were either asleep at the switch, or ignorant of their team’s needs. Either way, it’s a huge compliment to Ryan White, who, despite not being a heavy weight, finally brings accountability for other teams who feel like they can take liberties on the Habs without having to answer for it.

Koivu 2.0: Enter Lars Eller. Somebody said it on Twitter, and I think it’s totally appropriate (if you know who said it, please let me know). Eller is Koivu in a bigger body. What a dream come true for Habs fans! For a decade we wished that Saku could have been a little bigger and a little more durable. As big as his heart was and still is, he always wore down as the seasons took their inevitable toll. Lars Eller may not have had the numbers to prove it, but he has playmaking skills, skating ability, defensive awareness and size down the middle – one of the Habs missing key ingredients. We would love to see him develop his finish around the net in coming years, but it’s clear to me that the Habs have won the Halak trade hands-down. With Eller in the fold, and a reborn Carey Price, it’s in fact a steal and Gauthier deserves credit, despite what Pierre McGuire’s bitterness will tell you.

Mike Cammalleri - playoff wizard. Two seasons. 26 playoff games. 16 goals. 13 assists. 29 points. Any questions? Many thought that they could throw Cammalleri under the same bus that Gomez found himself under all season. While Gomez apologists tried to tell us that he would produce in the playoffs, and that Cammalleri hadn’t proven anything, we now know better. Cammalleri is a gamer, and brings his best to the post season. While he’s merely average defensively, he’s the Habs go-to guy on offense in the playoffs. He simply gets it done unlike any Hab player in recent years in the post season.

Small package, huge heart. The small forwards may get beaten up, but they simply don’t go away. Time and time again they fought back this season, led by guys who punch much higher than their weight. Captain Gionta certainly leads the way with his fearlessness, and never say die work ethic, but others like Plekanec, Cammalleri and Desharnais showed no fear when it comes to facing adversity. Young players like Eller, Desharnais, Subban, Weber, Pacioretty are soaking in some extremely vital lessons. They see smaller guys working their tails off, and the attitude is infectious. This bodes very well for chemistry and identity of the Habs’ future.

Departures we like to see. Pierre Boivin. Thanks for making the Habs more relevant than they’ve ever been, during their longest Stanley Cup drought in history. Your business acumen and marketing prowess (along with Ray Lalonde) is to be commended. You guys made the Habs a glossy, flashy, only-show-in-town behemoth. Your work has enlivened the Habs for a new generation and has somehow made the Canadiens even more of a religion than they already were. However, your sociological policies have held the Canadiens back where it counts most – on the ice. You honoured the past glory of the franchise to the point of distracting fans to the mediocrity of recent teams. We’re all grateful for what you did in honouring greats like Geoffrion, Robinson, Cournoyer, Savard, Gainey, Roy and others, and we thank you for that. Really, we do. The ceremonies were touching, classy and the gold standard by which all sports teams should aspire to. Good luck in your future endeavors, but I can’t say that I’m sad to see you go.

Mathieu Darche. What more can be said about this guy? Bemoaned by nearly all Habs fans for signing a one-way deal, I was in the minority who thought this was a wise, value-packed signing, and I’m glad that I was proven right. He filled in admirably on the second line when Pacioretty went down, scoring several big goals in areas on the ice where Habs have feared to tread for years. He has to be a tremendous influence on young players who have more skill and upside than Darche, but may lack the work ethic required at the NHL level. Darche spent time all over the lineup, and even spent time in the press box. Without having access to the locker room, I’d bet my last penny that he did everything with a smile on his face.

Triple low-fives. How much fun is the post-victory ritual between Subban and Price?

This post is brought to you by Quality Plus Tickets. If you’re in need of Habs tickets next season, be sure to check them out!

Found: A Home for Two Wingers

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Prior to the start of the season, the Canadiens had several challenges in front of them. Among them:

  • Would Carey Price be able to handle the pressures of not only carrying a team on his shoulders, but force fans forget about playoff hero Jaroslav Halak?
  • Would the smallish Canadiens forwards be able to grind out another season and remain productive?
  • Would Andrei Markov be able to return to the lineup and give his team a badly needed shot of adrenaline?
  • How would an aging, eroding defense hold up?

Most of those questions have been answered by now, but there’s another question that everyone had on their mind: Would Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot be able to deliver the goods? With little cap flexibility and not many assets to wheel & deal, Pierre Gauthier knew, as did everyone else, that if the Canadiens scoring prayers were to be answered it would be because his two big, skilled wingers answered those prayers.

Through 65 games, their numbers aren’t all that impressive on the surface:

  • Andrei Kostitsyn – 16 goals, 20 assists in 64 games, with a +3 rating.
  • Benoit Pouliot – 13 goals, 13 assists in 62 games, with a +7 rating.

There’s a litany of excuses and exonerations for both, though both have earned their fair share of criticism. In the case of AK46, some of criticism snowballs to a big ball of hate while Pouliot’s criticism leans more towards resigned ambivalence. I’m not sure which is worse; at least the hate shows that people care and expect more.

As Jacques Martin shuffles lines, he seems to have stumbled on something that finally works. Kostitsyn is now riding shotgun with Lars Eller and Travis Moen, forming what is far and away the Canadiens biggest line. Kostitsyn and Eller seem to have chemistry together and have been feasting on favourable matchups as teams throw their top defenses out against the likes of Plekanec and Gomez (though why would anyone bother these days with Gomez?). Pouliot, for his part has been quietly effective with mini-mite David Desharnais. He’s still prone to moments of stupidity and still finds ways to disappear for prolonged periods, but he’s not the bambi-legged, fragile kid that he was when faced with superior opposition near the start of the season. Right now, Kostitsyn and to a lesser degree, Pouliot are finding their all-important comfort zones. Perhaps they won’t put up the numbers expected of players selected in the top-10 of an NHL draft; in fact, under a stifling Jacques Martin ‘defense-first’ system, it’s unlikely that their numbers will ever cause eyeballs to pop. But they do have the talent to totally overwhelm the bottom lines of opposing teams and provide the Canadiens the secondary scoring that they desperately need.

Taking a closer look, Kostitsyn had 10 points in 11 October games. Recently he’s posted 7 points in his past 5 games. Combining those 16 games, AK46 has 17 points. Pretty impressive I’d say. The other 48 games, sadly, aren’t as pretty, as he totaled just 7 goals and 12 assists. Interestingly, Habs scribe Arpon Basu revealed what I think is a telling stat. While Kostitsyn can be maddening from game to game, and week to week, as evidenced in the break down of this season, his overall numbers are astoundingly consistent from season to season: in each of the past 3 seasons, AK46 has posted remarkably similar numbers: 0.55, 0.56; 0.56 points per game.

Perhaps its time for us to recognize the pattern and see him for what he is and stop harping on him to become what we think he ought to be. Afterall, if we recall Einstein’s definition of insanity:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The temptation for Jacques Martin will be to put Kostitsyn back on the top line with Plekanec and Cammalleri, and that may eventually be the right move – especially come mid-April. But for now, Kostitsyn is back on the scoresheet with the consistency that Habs Nation has been longing for, and he deserves credit for riding out the very choppy waters to this point. He’s found solid footing with Eller and perhaps he’s found a good home on whichever line you consider it to be. The happy byproduct is that Lars Eller is thriving in an increased offensive role. It’s a huge win-win for the Habs. It would be a mistake in this blogger’s opinion to jerk Kostitsyn back to the “top” line now while he’s in the midst of his best hockey since October.

I would be remiss not to point out that something will eventually have to give, because Jeff Halpern, like Travis Moen, Mathieu Darche, Tom Pyatt and Ryan White before him- are not legit first line wingers. They can plug a hole, as Glen Metropolit did last season, but they aren’t permanent solutions. But while Kostitsyn is surging, don’t pull the rug out from under him. He’s proven to be a guy that doesn’t respond to the whip in a good way. He needs to gain confidence by putting the puck in the net, and its becoming clear that the best way for him to accomplish that is to lessen the pressures on him and let him beat up on weaker opposition.

Martin goofed at the start of November when he separated Kostitsyn from Plekanec in an attempt to spark the sea of despair that is Gomez’ wing. Coach Martin has received a huge amount of criticism for not adapting or learning from his mistakes. He’d be as insane as some fans if he repeated it again.

It’s fixed for now, Jacques, don’t break it.

Habs Aren’t an Elite Team. Yet

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Is it possible for the Canadiens to go nearly wire-to-wire in first place in their division? They finished October in first. They finished November in first. We’re less than a week before Christmas and they’re still in first. Does winning your division really make you an elite team? I’ll bet many rabid Habs fans are ready to jump up  and say “YES!”, of course it does. The answer, in fact, is no, winning your division does automatically make you an elite team. One need only look at the NFL and MLB to see that teams that struggle to win more than they lose make the playoffs every year. Within the Canadiens relatively weak division, the Bruins are the only team that can overtake the Canadiens at this point, being only two points back with two games in hand. The Senators, Leafs and Sabres are all in various states of disrepair and pose little risk to the Northeast Division crown.

The Canadiens, at worst, are a good team. On some nights they’re a very good team. But we’d be getting ahead of ourselves to call them an elite team today. Yes, they may be in that conversation when it comes to points earned, but realistically the Canadiens can’t be held in the same regard as the Detroits, and Philadelphias of the league. Not just yet, anyway. Despite their relatively similar records, teams like the Wings and Flyers have competence, experience and moxy that the Canadiens do not.

The Habs have yet to come from behind this season when trailing after the first or second period. That was ok, since they hadn’t lost when scoring first, either, until recently when they’ve lost a handful a games wherein they did score that all-important first goal.

I know what many of you are going to say. The Canadiens have beaten Philly once already this year – shut them out even, as well as beaten the Penguins, Sharks, Bruins (twice) and shut out the Canucks. Verifiable facts, all of them. But I also submit that they’ve lost games to the Leafs (twice), Devils (by shutout), Nashville (at home, also by shutout), and Blue Jackets (surprise – by shutout!). Elite teams don’t make such blunders as often as the Canadiens do. I’m not suggesting that those teams are all doormats, but you can’t tell me that dropping decisions in the manner that the Canadiens did is normal for an elite team. The Canadiens have also lost games in which they looked utterly unprepared and disinterested: a 3-0 loss in Atlanta tops that list, followed closely by a lacklustre 3-1 loss at home to Florida. Sure, every team goofs now and then during an 82-game schedule, but our Habs seem to relish in making lives harder than they need to.

To be sure, the Canadiens ought to be thankful that they play in the softest division in the league. Taking a quick look around the NHL, we see that the Habs home – the Northeast division has 3 teams that are currently below .500, even with the charity point for failure in effect. The Atlantic division has 2 dismal teams, and the Southeast has one team below the .500, and even they (the Panthers) were able to march in to the Bell Center and walk out with a 3-1 win. In stark contrast, the entire Western conference has just two teams below .500, and both reside in Alberta (and, perhaps not shockingly, the Oilers also waltzed out of Montreal with an overtime victory).

But the news is positive: the Canadiens are still playing better hockey this season than they were at any point last season. Scoring has been balanced, even strength play is better, the power play is improving, even without Markov, the penalty kill remains strong and most of all, Carey Price is keeping himself in the conversation of the league’s best goalies to date. The components to being among the elite teams in the league are nearly in place. With the addition of Max “the Patch” Pacioretty to the second line, the Canadiens finally appear to have two dangerous scoring lines, albeit a long term injury to any of the forwards, especially Plekanec would be crippling, not only because of all the great things Plekanec does, but because losing him means losing Andrei Kostitsyn as well. (Sidebar: If you’ve spent any time at all on twitter during a Habs game, you’ve no doubt seen the dozens of tweets demanding that Andrei Kostitsyn NEVER be separated from Plekanec. If that’s the case, then no doubt the loss of Plekanec essentially destroys the Habs’ top scoring line because we’ve all but admitted that Kostitsyn becomes useless when not paired with Plekanec.)

There is depth among the bottom-six forwards along with a dash of talent. Jeff Halpern, Mathieu Darche, Benoit Pouliot, Tom Pyatt, Travis Moen, Max Lapierre and Lars Eller have brought some grit and offense to the lineup. Should one or two of them fall, there are replacements in Hamilton that can step in; Ryan White, Dustin Boyd, and Ben Maxwell come to mind and are all available for spot duty in Montreal if needed.

On the blue line is where the trouble lies, especially under Jacques Martin’s defensive system. With no hope of seeing Markov back any time soon, his workload has been dished out among those who can no longer offer those services for prolonged periods (Hamrlik & Spacek), those who never could offer it (Gill, Gorges & Picard) and those who are simply unprepared to shoulder the load, and overwhelmed by the spotlight (Subban). We should admire the work this group has done thus far, for we all know the Canadiens record sans Markov. That the team hasn’t bottomed out already should be seen as a small victory!

But this is where Pierre Gauthier needs to act. He now has cap room a plenty thanks to Markov’s injury, and it’s becoming more and more obvious where his team’s needs are. He needs another defenseman that can eat 20+ minutes per game and bring physicality to the rink. A stabilizing presence for Subban should also be among the criteria for a new defenseman.

Whatever acquisition Gauthier has his eyes on, it will cost him and he will need to be prudent not to give up too much. The better his team does, the better position they place him in to negotiate a trade because rival GMs will not view Gauthier as a desperate man in need of aid. He’s in the tenuous position of having to decide whether he thinks his team is one piece away from true Cup contention, or if he’s a couple of ingredients shy of the mark. This being Montreal, and expectations being what they always are, Gauthier will probably do something.

Though the Canadiens are close to being among the league’s best teams, they aren’t there yet. As Subban hopefully improves and plays more reliably over the next 50 games (note to Jacques Martin: please separate Picard and Subban!), and if Pacioretty can really be the missing ingredient that produces two stable scoring lines, then the guesswork is all but finished. The roadmap to success becomes clear for the team’s brass, and that’s surely a sign of an elite team.

What’s your take?

If the Habs Were Cars

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I figured it was time for another fun blog post. I’ve been waaaaaay off my game lately and wanted to throw something together based on nothing but total pointlessness. Oddly enough, it’s these types of posts that generate the most amount of discussion because it gives everyone the chance to also let down their hair and throw things at the wall. I decided to use a bit of discipline and restraint with this, because as Habs fans, we are notorious for over-valuing the players we have. So I’ve intentionally avoided exotic cars like Porsche, and Ferrari and supercars, like the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo. It would be too tempting, and ultimately too boring to assign everyone on the team we love such a distinguished ride.
So here goes nothing….your Habs, if they were your cars:
 
Tomas Plekanec – 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T I know what you’re thinking, “You’re starting this thing off with a Hyunday? Eff this, I’m out!” Hang on, it gets better! The new Sonata rates up there with BMW 5-series and looks like a Mercedes, but it flies under the radar of recognition because it’s a Hyundai. That’s wrong, but for Habs fans, it’s so SO right!
 
Andrei Kostitsyn – Jeep Rubicon. Tough like a tank and elegant in its simple, boxy design, the Jeep Rubicon is unstoppable with a motivated driver behind the wheel. In other words, when AK46 is on, nothing can stop him.
 
Mike Cammalleri – Nissan 370Z. This car cooks! A top of the line roadster that’s speedy, sharp looking and everyone wants one.
 
Scott Gomez – Chrysler 300M. It’s a nice looking car, is really comfortable and cruises very nicely. But ultimately, this thing is overpriced.
 
Brian Gionta – Mini Clubman. It’s essentially a miniature BMW. What else do you want?
 
Lars Eller – Chevy Volt. This electric/hybrid’s best days are still ahead of it. Its role is not quite defined, just as Eller is victim to Martin’s confounding ways. It’s the future, Jacques – get used to it!
 
Benoit Pouliot – Base model Chevy Camaro. I’m speaking from experience on this one. Lots of blind spots, takes a ton of energy to get it up to speed, but it looks and feels great once it’s moving. Pouliot should have been an SS model by now, but it appears as though we’ll never see that upgrade. Still, this is a vast step up from the Jimmy Olsen ranking he got in my “If Habs Were Superheroes” post from May.
 
Mathieu Darche – Toyota Camry. Useful but unremarkable car. Those that have one love it, but always longing for another Cammalleri.
 
Jeff Halpern – Honda Ridgeline. Surprisingly versatile and underappreciated.
 
Maxim Lapierre – Honda Civic SI. One that’s been modified by a 20 year old that wears Ed Hardy clothes and wears his hat sideways.
 
Travis Moen – Ford F150 King Ranch Edition – solid, solid, solid.
 
Tom Pyatt – The newly relaunched Ford Fiesta. Terrific reviews, spunky, quick and peppy…but ultimately not the car you want when you need performance.
 
Andrei Markov - Cadillac CTS Coupe. This is a sweet, sweet ride that does everything well. Made by one of the classic automakers, it fits Markov’s prestigious role within the Habs organization well.
 
Josh Gorges – Jeep Grand Cherokee. A classy, yet tough as nails ride that suits this Habs iron man to a tee. He never misses a game and was probably on the short list for the captaincy. The only place left for him to go is to the SRT8 model. That’ll be tough though.
 
Hal Gill – 18 wheeler. Plods along in a straight line, takes an hour to make a turn and can block entire lanes of traffic. Ask the Capitals. Or the Penguins.
 
PK Subban – Chevy Corvette. Unbridled speed and power. This car just begs to be turned loose, but if you’re not careful, the rear wheel drive will throw you out of control. It’s a thrill to watch when it’s under control. Otherwise you’re just waiting for the inevitable crash. And nobody likes seeing a smashed up Corvette. Or a shackled one either.
 
Roman Hamrlik – A Buick Regal. But an old one, not a new one…because the new ones are actually pretty awesome. Everyone knows that a Buick is a poor man’s Cadillac, and we all remember the admirable job that Hamrlik did filling in for Markov…last year. Once upon a time this car was a luxurious ride with a beefy engine, but that was a long time ago. Age erodes everything.
 
Jaroslav Spacek – Milk truck - delivers the goods once a week for a brief minute or two. That’s it.
Ryan O’Byrne and Alex Picard – Dodge Journey. Strictly utilitarian vehicles despite the attempts to give them style. They’re probably not long for this world. It’s a vehicle that just won’t stand the test of time, likely due to lack of development and poor product positioning.
 
Carey Price – 2011 Ford Taurus SHO. The old Taurus model was tired, boring, underwhelming and had lost its way by the time it was “reinvented” using the same Ford Five Hundred that got nowhere. Reborn and reinvigorated, the new Taurus the is probably the coolest looking sedan on the road and has the guts to back up its new look.
Ok, that’s it. Fun’s over. Now it’s your turn. What car would you have assigned to the Habs players?

Enjoy It!

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The Canadiens are off to a strong 3-1-1 start, and all is well in Habsland, right?
Of course!
 
Going in to the season, the biggest question marks surrounded whipping boys Carey Price and Andrei Kostitsyn. So much for easy targets. Both have been outstanding thus far, and ought to be quickly converting the many haters that seem to delight in trashing them on a nightly basis. But this being Montreal, there has to be a whipping boy somewhere. It just wouldn’t be right otherwise – afterall, we find things to complain about even after a hot start. Enter Benoit Pouliot. For the most part he has been underwhelming at a time when he needs to show that the belongs, and more importantly – wants to be here.
Any way you slice it, the start to the season has been a positive one, despite the sputtering powerplay, without Andrei Markov, and the relatively easy schedule.
 
Enjoy the moment, Habs fans! With the struggling Devils and Senators on deck, it’s entirely possible that your Habs can shoot out to a 5-1-1 start. That’s in stark contrast to the roller coaster that were the 2009-2010 iteration of the Canadiens.
 
Some other reasons to be happy about the quick start: 
  • 5-on-5 play is greatly improved (the downside is that the powerplay has suffered greatly, but both should get better with #79′s return),
  • Goals are coming from unexpected places: Jeff Halpern, Alex Picard, Dustin Boyd, Josh Gorges and Max Lapierre have all found the scoresheet to supplement team scoring,
  • Mike Cammalleri has not been his lethal self. He scored twice vs the Penguins, and fired 8 shots at Ottawa netminders, but he’s been out of sync. Once he gets rolling, look out!,
  • When was the last time Montreal and Toronto battled for first place? Even at this early juncture?
  • Tomas Plekanec looks like he’s ready to prove he was worth the long term deal and the big money,
  • Max Lapierre doesn’t look like he’s going to be the liability that he was all year last season,
  • With Ryan White, Max Pacioretty and Aaron Palushaj waiting in the wings, there seems to be real depth for once,
Are there reasons for concern? Absolutely, there are several. But I’m not going to touch on those in this post. One of the oddest things about being a Habs fan is that when they struggle and stink, we as fans rant and rave and call for heads. When things are going well, we nitpick and look for something to be wrong. We can’t leave things be.
For the time being we ought to just enjoy what we’re looking at: a team that is finding ways to win games.

Random Habs Notes

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There’s too many loose thoughts in my head right now to put together a cohesive blog post, but as usual, I do have some opinions on what we’ve seen of our Habs in the past week.

Jacques Martin seems to have learned nothing about the new NHL in the offseason. The Habs took a 2-0 lead, and then prompty resumed the antiquated practice of sitting on the lead. Predictably, the Lightning, under innovative coach Guy Boucher attacked and attacked some more. Tired and already undisciplined, the Canadiens took one penalty too many and the game was tied. They tempted fate too often and were burned, utterly wasting a 40+ save effort from Carey Price.

Speaking of Jacques Martin, is he, or isn’t he in charge? During the playoffs we saw Kirk Muller take a much bigger role with the team. As it was in the spring, last night saw Muller talking to the refs, drawing up plays, and doing 95% of the talking behind the bench. You know, coaching. For Martin’s part, I’m sure he got a lot done and will implement many new strategies because of his copious note taking. Wonderful.

Carey Price. Love the way he’s playing this season. He’s directly and solely responsible for all 3 of the points the Habs thus far. Every one of them, and based on the overall lacklustre play of his mates, he’s going to have to continue with his early season magic.

The curious case of Benoit Pouliot. What a weird story this is. Half of fans think he’s dogging it just as much as he was last season after returning from injury. The other half think he’s been the only productive member of the second line. He’s become the whipping boy, and I suppose not all of it is undeserved. But let’s get real. It’s 3 games in. If you were expecting him to be Clarke McArthur, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Jokes aside, give him a REAL audition. Not 5 games. He deserves at least 10 games to show he’s ready to commit or fail. At the end of the day, he may not get that long though. With the line of playoffs and no playoffs so razor thin, everyone has to pull their weight. He’s clearly on a short leash, and Lars Eller may be poised to take his spot before long. For now, scoring dynamo Travis Moen has taken Pouliot’s roster spot in practice. That ought to fix everything.

Where, O where is Andrei Markov? The defense is an absolute mess without him. Josh Gorges has been steady, but when he’s your best defenseman, even after 3 games, you’re in trouble. Hamrlik look ok in his return, which is a good sign, but Spacek…my goodness…what’s happened to him? I was never enamored with his signing but he did play some good hockey in Markov’s absence last year. But for the love of jellybeans, can he please hit the net? Just once? He makes Mike Komisarek look like Ray Bourque in the accuracy department. The biggest reason why the Habs desperately need Markov back? Special teams. If they continue to play hang-on-for-dear-life hockey, as Martin has them doing, they will need to win the special team battle every night. Pretty tough to do when you take too many penalties, and score on exactly zero percent of your powerplays.

Subban gets a paragraph to himself. Watching him skate and carry the puck should excite Habs fans. He’s swift and confident with his skills, but he has not yet learned when is the right time to employ his assets. He’s been wildly erratic, and pretty ornery too. He’s carried his preseason bad habit of taking too many penalties to the regular season. He needs to simplify his game without ignoring what he does best. That’s going to be tough to do, but PK’s going to be a special player and he deserves special attention. Sadly, I don’t know if the Habs have enough good coaches to develop him. There isn’t enough of Kirk Muller (who wasn’t even a defenseman) to go around.

3 games in, and the Habs have 3 points. Not a disaster, but not great either. I expected them to be 2-1 by this point, but didn’t think they’d be outplayed the way they have. Shame on me for thinking a leopard can change his spots!

Prove It

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It’s been one whole year since our now-familiar Habs took to the ice for the first time in a regular season that resembled a roller coaster more than anything.

One year in which we’ve been elated, stressed, overjoyed, horrified, relieved, frustrated – sometimes all on the same day.

With an entirely new roster, new coach, new owner, new system, the excuses, and the jokes wrote themselves. Whether it was a lack of chemistry, the wrong system, the wrong personnel, injuries woes, meddling by a confounding coach, mid-season GM changes, birthday celebrations, incompetent officiating,  overbearing media, and some even suggesting an anti-Habs conspiracy, Canadiens fans had no shortage of excuses to resort to as to why the they were as inconsistent a team as you could find during the 09-10 campaign. Some of the excuses had some validity: injuries and poor strategy. Others are folly: officiating, media, conspiracy, and chemistry (for about 20 games, chemistry was an issue).

One of the things I’m looking forward to is a 2010-2011 season without those excuses, or, at least most of them. Officials will always get some blame, but as CBC’s Elliotte Friedman so perfectly put it last year – blaming the officials is a loser’s lament. That may be the best line I heard last all of last season simply because Canadiens fans made it such a habit to blame the zebras for any troubles.

If the Canadiens are forced to play the same passive, defense-first system this season, Jacques Martin will be roasted some more, and justifiably so. However, as it always has been, it comes down to the guys in the room. They know what to expect and they are the guys who are paid as much as the league allows – to win games.

The reality is that there are no more excuses for this Canadiens group, and I’m sure to a man they would concur. From the owner right through to the healthy scratches, the expectations are benchmarked and the culture is engrained.

The Canadiens pride themselves on how tight-knit this is.

Management is familiar with the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

The refs will often suck. For both teams.

Injuries will happen.

The media will be ever-present, and ever-voracious. We react to them more than the players do.

The coach, for better or worse, is a known quantity. Just hearing two of his press conferences will have you wondering if you’re having a deja-vu. Everyone knows what to expect.

The general manager has put a partial stamp on the team by keeping Price and remodeling the bottom-six forwards with youth, grit and hustle. He’s got very few places to hide if this season goes up in smoke.

Collectively, the players are now set with their locker room leaders. Gionta, Gill and Markov will bear the letters on their jersey, but for each one of them, there’s at least one more without a letter that is just as worthy as them to sport one. A rudderless room was no issue last season (unless you put a ton of stock in the Price – Markov rift). That excuse – if it ever was an issue – is dead and buried.

As for the players individually, Tomas Plekanec is embarking on a six-year odyssey that will pay him 30-million dollars to be the Canadiens best overall forward. After a career season last year, he’ll have to prove that he isn’t one of those guys who will take the money and run.

For Benoit Pouliot, he’ll have to prove that he cares about a career past the age of 25. He somehow managed to squeeze a raise out of GM Gauthier, and for that, he’s under the gun. A soft training camp hasn’t inspired confidence, but I know 1.35 million reasons why he should find some confidence – lickety-split!

For Andrei Kostitsyn, consistency and results are required if he wants to see another contract like the nearly 10 million dollar deal he signed just a few seasons ago.  It took him 20 games last year to realize the season had started, but by the time he did, he was dominant. Then he got hurt and was not the same again. Barring injuries, he’s needed right off the bat. Bring the lunch pail, the wand and the sledgehammer, Andrei. No matter what line or role Jacques Martin puts him with, nothing can, or should stop AK46 from bulldozing opponents with his strength. His lil’ bro is gone, too, which removes that excuse from the minds of fans who thought Sergei was a rotten influence.

For Andrei Markov, a strong showing will be given. This we know. What remains to be seen is whether or not he’s the same guy who, when healthy and on his game, is a threat to contend for the Norris. His contract is expiring this season, and everyone – fans, teammates and management desperately want him to prove that he’s worth another long term deal to serve as the Habs anchor on the blue line.

For Carey Price, the spectre of Halak is gone, replaced by lingering voices of thousands of fans ready to pounce. As stupid and senseless as booing Price is, the job was given to him, and accepted by him to be the top dog in goal. It’s now his ball to run with. He’ll need to win games on his own, and he’ll need to not be the reason why the Canadiens lose games, something certain segments are all too quick to pin on him. Don’t worry, I’ll call it down the middle.

For Lars Eller, he’ll need to prove he was worth the tears and heartache. He may never make some people happy no matter what he does, but he can’t leave anyone with the impression that he won’t be a factor in the future. We don’t need 30 goals, but a dimension of physicality is. Bring it.

For Maxim Lapierre, coming off a majorly disappointing season, it will be vital for him to prove that it was his injured foot’s fault. If preseason prep is any indication, he’s raring to go and will be the guy who was on the verge of being a key component of this team. Oh, and apparently the fists are in the tool box now, too.

For Ryan White, should he make the team, he’ll need to continue playing like his hair is on fire. He’s shown aggressiveness and tenacity that we don’t normally see in the bleu-blanc-rouge. He badly wants to be on the team, and based on preseason play should be. But can he go full-bore for 82 games? Isn’t it false advertising if he doesn’t?

For Jaroslav Spacek, he’s got to put it all together. Last year he was defensively sound, but couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his shot. This preseason, he’s been accurate with his shot, but ghastly defensively. Get it together, Jaro.

For PK Subban, push away from the kool-aid. He’s good, and will continue to get better. But he’s not Larry Robinson. Reign in the expectations, and whoa horsey!!

For Roman Hamrlik, if missing the preseason was a Favre-esque ploy, in order to save all energy for the season, then so be it. He’s seen enough preseason to last a lifetime. With one season to go on his deal, he’ll want to give all he’s got to prove he’s not finished. One way or another, he’s going to get a massive paycut next year, but he can mitigate that by mentoring and helping Subban adjust to a full season in the NHL, just as he helped Dion Phaneuf in his rookie year.

For Ryan O’Byrne, just keep it simple. Grind people to dust with the size. Be alert, be responsible. That’s it. Simple.

For the others that I haven’t mentioned, they also have something to prove, but we know what to expect from guys like Gomez, Gorges, Gionta, Gill, and Darche. They’ll bring everything they have to rink, and then some.

Finally, for the fans, it’s time to give our heads a collective shake. The year of excuses is over. Finished. The Habs are in a position to succeed individually, and as a group. If they fail, it’s on them individually, and as a group. If I hear or read one fan mention how if the Canadiens opening night loss to the Leafs (if that happens) is because Cammalleri was unjustifiably suspended, I’m giving up.

The ingredients to success – and failure are located within the confines of the Canadiens dressing room, and nowhere else. There will be hurdles, there will be highs and lows. Can we fans as a group, ride them out and keep the focus where it belongs – on the group that has accepted the task of raising the bar for hockey in Montreal?

Prove it.

Monday Notebook – September 20th

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In an effort to keep myself relatively regular on this site, I’m going to try and post a new series called “Monday Notebook”, in which I post a few thoughts about the weekend’s happenings. This may not last longer than a week, but hey, it’s worth a try.

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I love football. I don’t write about it at all on this site, but I really do love it. Especially when I win money by betting on it. Such was the case yesterday when I put down $10 on Mise-O-Jeu (that’s Pro-Line to anyone outside of Quebec). I was waiting on pins and needles last night for Peyton to beat up on little brother Eli, and big brother didn’t disappoint, leading the Colts to a 38-14 braining of the Giants. $100, thank you very much! Nice way to end the week, or start the week, depending on if you think Sunday is the end or start of a new week.

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Which leads me to my next point:

GOOD LORD THE NFC SUCKS!!!!!

It feels like it’s been this way forever, but perhaps this year bring new highs (or lows,as it were) for the NFC. Last week started off as well as the NFC could have hoped…posting a 1-1 record, except that win was against the Browns, who, if they aren’t the worst team in the league, are the second worst team. Forget that the Buccanneers barely beat the Browns IN TAMPA, a win is a win. I guess. Things took a nosedive for the NFC this week though. The AFC stomped the inferior conference, posting a 5-1 record in week 2. But, as in week 1, the NFC’s lone win came against the Buffalo Bills, who are in fierce competition with the Browns for the title of worst team in the league. Really, NFC? I know these things are cyclical, but geez.

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Do you think the Vikings are regretting waiting all that time for old man Favre to come back? He’s been absolutely horrific through two games this season and will probably eclipse the number of interceptions he threw last year by the quarter-season mark this year. He looks finished, and it could be a very long season for the Vikings and their fans. Everyone knew this was coming, and it appears as though Favre should have went out on a high after last year’s NFC Championship game. Still, we can’t count him out just yet. He’s defied so many odds through his career that it wouldn’t surprise me to see him fire 4 touchdown passes next week and shut everyone up, at least for the next 7 days.

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I giggled like a little school girl when Derelle Revis came out and called Randy Moss a slouch last week. It’s sort of like calling Alex Ovechkin a 3rd line checker. It’s stupid, and wrong. Needless to say, Moss made Revis look like the slouch with a stunning one-handed catch which he made look completely and utterly routine. If that wasn’t funny enough, Revis pulled up with a sore hammy on the play, and left the game. As if the millions of people watching will all fall for it in unison! “Oh, if he hadn’t hurt himself, he totally would have made that play!” Right. Where have we seen embarassed athletes pull up lame before after being thoroughly burned?

How about when Michael Johnson pulled up lame against Donovan Bailey in a one-on-one 200M race. Johnson essentially gave up as Bailey widened the gap.

How about  Jose Canseco pretending to hurt his knee as some 7 footer cleans his clock (watch him grab his knee after the fight). You got your heinie kicked, Jose. A bum stick didn’t make you lose. You made you lose.

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Congrats to Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who took over the team’s single season home run record, bumping George Bell to 2nd place. Bell held the record since 1987, which is quite a while considering in the 23 yeras since the record was set, MLB saw its record book written and rewritten a few times by chemical-addled beasts. Bautista clubbed his 49th homer, which may actually mean something today, if you believe Selig when he says the steroid era is over (haw haw!). Of course, it goes without saying that Bautista is a pending free agent, and debate will rage as to whether or not the Jays can or should keep him. When a guy has a 50+ home run season, you’d think you’d do your best to try and hang on to him. But this being Major League Baseball, we can be sure of two things:

1- Bautista will be compensated far more than he’s worth for his one magical (yet ultimately worthless season since his team stinks);

2- The Blue Jays will make the wrong decision. They always do.

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I’m surprised that the Atlanta Braves have hung on this long. Once Chipper Jones went down with a season-ending injury, I thought they’d be toast. The Phillies, predictably have overtaken them after getting over injury woes of their own, but because the National League is weak (they must be hanging out with the NFC), they’ve managed to cling to the wild card and hold a 3-game lead. As much as I hate the Braves for monopolizing the NL East for years while the Expos were circling the drain, I hope they can make it to the post season and give Bobby Cox the send off he deserves, this being his final season on the bench. Cox has been managing the Braves for nearly a quarter century, unheard of in pro sports today. Good on him, I say.

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If the whole “elite defenseman” thing doesn’t work out for Habs rearguard Andrei Markov, he may consider a career in stand-up. He had two quotes from Saturday’s Montreal Gazette (story by Dave Stubbs) that had me in stitches. We knew he had a pretty good sense of humour, but I guess since his English is continually improving we are getting to hear more of it.

Maybe he was poking fun at us lazy North Americans, but he said that since he’s now a Canadian citizen, he’s not working 7 days a week to rehab his knee, but “I’m a Canadian now, I’m working five days.”

When asked about his future, Markov said: “It’s too early to talk about that. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. I just want to focus on my rehab, try to wake up every day and see my smile in the mirror”

Just another reason to get him signed to an extension as soon as possible once it’s sure that he’s healthy.

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Lastly, if you haven’t read Bob McKenzie’s latest blog about his relationship with Pat Burns, I HIGHLY recommend it. You won’t regret it.

Markov’s Future With the Habs

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While the rest of the hockey world focuses on what a Russian star will be doing in 2027, let’s focus for a few minutes on what a closer to home Russian star will be doing in 2011.

It would not be sacrilege to say that Andrei Markov belongs in the same conversation with Doug Harvey, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Chris Chelios as some of the best defensemen the team has ever had. When he’s in the lineup, the Canadiens are a drastically better team than when he’s not in the lineup. His tenure as current longest service Canadien and his undeniable skill has put him in the conversation to be the team’s next captain. Yes, Markov is without a doubt one of the franchise’s all-time best; one of the bright spots, along with Saku Koivu during some depressing years in Montreal. It should also come as no surprise that if Markov plays his entire career as a member of the Canadiens, he will have his jersey retired whether he wins a Cup or Norris trophy, or neither. Have I made my feelings on him clear? Is this enough of a disclaimer? I hope so, because some of you may not like me when you finish this article.

Markov is entering the final season on a contract that pays him a very palatable $5.75 million dollars per season. At that price, Markov is an absolute steal. Based on his numbers and abilities, he ought to be making at least $7 million dollars. Come July 1st, 2011, he’ll probably get somewhere close to that number. The question is – who will be the one to give it to him, and for how long?

Markov has suffered 3 major injuries to his lower body in the past 18 months. Maple Leafs pest Mikhail Grabovsky sent him flying in to the boards, which demolished his knee. He missed the end of the season and the sweep vs the Bruins in 08-09. To kick off the 09-10 campaign, he had his achilles nearly severed by Carey Price’s skate blade. After a shorter than expected rehab (but still too long for the Habs and their fans), he made his return and everyone thought the worst was behind him. Wrong. In the second round of the playoffs, Penguins dirtbag Matt Cooke knocked Markov off his feet and in to the boards. The awkwardness of the fall again badly messed up his knee. Don’t kid yourself, these injuries take their toll, and it doesn’t take much when you’re older than 30 to permanently lose a step. This on top of the injuries that Markov has suffered in the earlier stages of his career. These all add up and have their cumulative effects. When Markov returns from his latest setback, the microscope will be on him more than ever. Has he lost that step? Can he still keep the opposition’s top players at bay? Trust me, everyone will be watching.

So here we find ourselves today wrestling over what to do with Markov as his free agency looms. Make no mistake, until Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier says something definitive, which he won’t, this will be among the top 3 topics of conversation among Canadiens fans this year.

The pollyanna-ish hope is to give Markov a new offer and simply he’ll sign it. All indications are that he loves Montreal, and wants to play his entire career here. Sure, that sounds simple enough, but sadly it doesn’t reflect the full reality of the situation. Surprisingly, in the era of the salary cap the Canadiens tight cap situation is not the biggest factor in whether or not Markov resumes his career with the bleu-blanc-rouge.

Does he really want to be here? Would he be willing to sign a similar deal to the one that is expiring? If the answer is yes to both of those, then Markov will be back, sans doute and Habs fans everywhere should smile at their good fortune. On the flip side, if he wants to be here, but for upwards of $7 million for 5-6 years…houston, we have a problem.

It takes two to tango. Do the Canadiens want him back? He’s a good guy, a team leader and means a ton the team’s success or failure. None of those things are the issue. Do they think he’s reliable enough from a durability standpoint, considering he’s on the wrong side of 30 to continue being the team’s #1 defenseman? That’s a question none of us have the answers to, as much as we think we might. No doubt at some point this year we’ll hear a clip from the tight-lipped Gauthier that will sound an awful lot like:

“Andrei Markov is a key part of this franchise and we’d love to have him back as a part of this team going forward.”

This is nothing but canned speech. Of course they’d love to have him back…what else are they going to say?

“We think Andrei has run his course as a member of this team, and we’re going to look at trading him”. This destroys his trade potential trade value.

“We are going to let Andrei explore his options come July 1st”. This would spawn a public relations nightmare. I’ll eat my monitor if we ever hear either of those from the Canadiens.

If the Canadiens truly want Markov back, then Gauthier will need to break away from tradition and find a way to get Markov signed to an extension before the trade deadline. Why before the trade deadline? Two reasons (at least):

1) Because Gauthier cannot risk losing Markov for nothing after July 1st, 2011.

Some team will be willing and able to pay more than the Canadiens can afford for Markov, and he’s worth way too much in terms of prospects and picks to simply let walk away for nothing in return. Yes, the Canadiens will have some cap room, but not a ton of it. They can’t get carried away and start matching $7+ million dollar offers for his services on a long-term contract that will take Markov in to his late 30′s. If he has his priorities straight, Gauthier will get him signed to a reasonable long-term contract before he is wooed by teams looking to bolster their playoff chances. But as I said, the cap isn’t really the issue.

2) Avoid the inevitable distractions.

I’m aware that the Canadiens don’t typically weaken themselves at the deadline, or wave the white flag on the season, but I don’t want to hear anything from Gauthier and the Canadiens along the lines of staying status quo and negotiating when the season concludes. The hand-wringing and hair-pulling will reach fever pitch in Montreal as the season progresses if Markov remains unsigned. The media will incessantly flog this issue on the radio, on tv, in print and on the web until (and after) it is resolved. The fans will light forums, blogs and twitter ablaze with nervosity. It will be unavoidable, and such issues of this magnitude always disrupt team unity and divide fan bases.

Yes, I know. The mantra in Montreal is ”playoffs-or-bust”. This mantra usually means that the Habs hang on to their assets in an attempt to ensure 8th place or better. This time its different. This is not the same as letting beloved captain Saku Koivu go for nothing. Markov is worth far more than Koivu. If Brian Burke can demand a King’s ransom for Tomas Kaberle (which, granted, has yet to be met), Gauthier can ask for a God’s ransom for Markov and be more likely to get it. This cannot be ignored. It would be downright silly and irresponsible for Gauthier to not know what he can get for Markov via trade, just in case he can’t get him signed before the deadline. Many people don’t like Gauthier already, and for him to bury his head in the sand would do nothing but stoke those fires. Every General Manager knows what his assets are worth, whether he wants to move them or not, and if he doesn’t, I’m willing to bet that his team isn’t doing very well.

At the end of the day, I believe, and hope Markov will be back as a member of the Canadiens. Pierre Gauthier has surprised me during his brief reign as General Manager, and I think he’ll do things the right way here. I can never know the answer to this, but I believe Markov wants to remain a member of the team, and Gauthier knows that he has one of the league’s top-5 defensemen in his stable. But Habs fans should absolutely prepare themselves for the possibility, however remote, that Markov be elsewhere come opening day of the 2011-2012 season. It’s a heartbreaking possibility, but one that if you aren’t prepared for it, your resulting sadness and anger will be brought on by none other than yourself. We should have all learned this lesson multiple times as free agent after free agent left Montreal for other cities in recent years. Only Plekanec’s recent signing has turned the tide. At the very least, prepare yourself for LOTS of chatter from fans who insist that Markov be traded before he walks away for nothing. It’s the nature of the beast in this town and we should all be used to it by now.

However, if Markov is not extended by March 2nd, 3 p.m. EST, I would stock up on crying towels.

Just in case.