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If You Only Read One Habs Blog Post

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…make it this one.

Friend and fellow blogger @Habswatch once again hits pay dirt with an insightful and data-driven (read: not skewed by lazy opinion) piece.

No player has polarized Habs fans in recent memory like Carey Price has; you either love him to itty-bitty pieces, or you want his head on a pike. His ardent supporters say that he’s young, has elite talent and a growing body of work that will only continue to impress. They say his defense is the main reason for his failings. His critics say that he’s paid among the elite, has accomplished nothing at the NHL level and has fallen woefully short of lofty expectations.

In his piece, HabsWatch doesn’t only put Price’s 2013 season in to perspective, he puts his entire career in to focus in relation and context to his peers. The results may shock you, as they did for me.

If you want the real deal on Price, then I urge you to take 10 minutes to read HabsWatch’s piece. Drink in the evidence and then share it with your friends. I promise that it is well worth your time.

The bar has been set

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So what really happened in the 2013 post-season for the Habs?

From Pacioretty, Plekanec and Price to Desharnais, Markov, Gorges and Ryder, the veterans on this team did not accomplish enough good things collectively in order to have a deep playoff run. Simple as that. No player bashing, no nailing to the cross. A lot of guys were hurt, or playing hurt and as much as they refuse to use that as an excuse, the fact is no team can sustain the losses and injuries that the Habs did to key players and hum along like nothing happened…except for the Senators. The Habs veterans were average-to-below average and that doesn’t get it done in playoff time.

Here’s what you really need to know:

  • Senators goaltending outplayed Habs goaltending, to the tune of a .950 save percentage for Ottawa versus .870 for Montreal.
  • Ottawa scored an average of four goals per game, while the Habs chimed in with less than half of that total, at 1.8.
  • The Senators scored 13 third period goals to the Canadiens’ grand total of zero.
  • The Canadiens centermen scored a grand total of zero goals.
  • The officials stymied the Habs at least once in a very costly way.

Game, series, and season…over.

What may come as a relief is that the Canadiens missing ingredients are painfully obvious and I think we can expect Marc Bergevin to remove some of the redundancies on the Habs current roster and fill the voids with what he, and the rest of us believe to be the missing pieces.

With the team set up with talented youth and a General Manager who seems to have a firm grasp on the realities of the league in 2013, there’s very little doubt that Marc Bergevin has a cogent plan to continue to remake his team. Even the most passive fan has been able to identify areas where the Habs need lots of help:

Size with toughness and scoring ability on the wings: The top nine forwards include the following names from the under-six foot clan: Plekanec, Desharnais, Gallagher, and Gionta. It’s hard to imagine the Habs charging in to 2013-14 with that many smaller bodies despite “how big they play”. 5’8” does not have the reach or power and dominance of 6’3”. To ignore this is to think yourself above the laws of physics, or that they don’t apply to the Habs. Dredge up any stat you like, but when everyone has long since come to the realization that small bodies wear out faster and more often than big bodies, the road map becomes clear. Even if the impact of physical dimensions of any given player is a point of debate, what the Canadiens do need both up front and on the back end is aggression and that typically that comes in larger packages. I’m not here to say that the Habs are criminally small and weak and fragile. While the Habs loss to the Senators is not specifically due solely to size, if you take a moment to scan the defense corps of the Habs division foes for next year, it isn’t a stretch to think that adding some beef and snarl up front is unreasonable. Of course, one-dimensional thugs need not apply, and Bergevin strongly hinted at this in his post-mortem press conference. Although we can be fairly sure that Michel Therrien would love to have one of those guys in his back pocket, it appears unlikely that Bergevin will waste a roster spot on a goon.

Universally respected as he rightfully is by his teammates, coaches, opponents, the media and fans, With Gionta’s contract going in to its final year, it’s not impossible that Bergevin could move the captain at some point once he has proven to be healthy and productive again. It would be an unpopular move to trade him but forward-thinking GMs do unpopular and bold things on the road to success. Fact is, they could use a right-handed, large body to compliment Pacioretty and Rene Bourque on the wings. Gionta may be an interesting acquisition to somebody out there who needs leadership, and scoring ability.

Clarity at Center: There’s a jigsaw puzzle down the middle. Tomas Plekanec is the Habs most complete forward, and until he can be adequately replaced on the fly, and not under an assumption or hope that Eller or Galchenyuk can replace him, there’s little sense in talking about trading him. That said, Plekanec is currently the Habs best centerman and would fetch the most return on the trade market. At 31 years old, he’s not getting any younger, and Bergevin appears to be in to moving “aging assets” before they’re worthless, but trading Plekanec now is premature, lest the Habs GM invoke the “unpopular, but bold” clause. Lars Eller was on the verge of breaking out in this shortened season. 2013-14 will be labeled as, and expected to be his full coming out party, but he is not yet ready to take on all of the duties currently held by Plekanec. We know Desharnais is both one dimensional, yet secure with his new deal, so the Habs will have to work around his, umm, shortcomings. Alex Galchenyuk remains the wild card. Drafted as the team’s future frachise #1 centerman, the 19-year-old spent nearly all of his rookie season on the wing, and with good reason. Though he led the team in +/-, that is the single most misleading stat in hockey. Rely on that number at your own peril. However, he cannot be counted on defensively just yet, especially when it comes to defensive zone faceoffs. Between his and Eller’s inability to take draws reliably, the Habs have much work to do, and until they get one, or both of them both up to speed, it makes Plekanec’s presence on the team a must.

Another top-four defenseman: This is a tricky one, but needs to be addressed. Andrei Markov’s play collapsed at even-strength in 2013; anyone with a pair of eyeballs could see this. He is no longer the team’s best defenseman, but is heavily relied upon nonetheless. He was very often caught behind the play after a bad pinch, and with ravaged knees, he no longer has the speed to recover, and once he gets back in to position, he is not physical enough to knock opposing forwards off the puck. Bergevin can get on his hands and knees and pray that Markov spends the summer strengthening his knee, and that Jarred Tinordi’s imminent arrival as a regular will be enough to save him from shopping for a pricey free agent, or trading assets to shore up the defense, but that’s a risky gamble. The blueline for next season is already crowded what with Subban, Gorges, Emelin (who may not be ready until November or later), Markov, Bouillon, and Diaz all but assured spots in the top seven (Weber and Drewiske won’t be back), which means that only one place remains for a kid like Tinordi. No upgrades have been made yet aside from the natural progression that young players demonstrate, and that’s no guarantee, either. For Habs fans who treat free agent frenzy like a free-for-all, this is sobering, disappointing news. If Bergevin decides to look outside the organization to make his defense better on the top two pairings, he’ll have a tough choice to make in terms of moving Markov or Gorges. Moving Bouillon is the easy call, but doesn’t create the hole needed to upgrade the top-four.

Iron in the bottom-six forwards: As a simple one-year band aid solution, Colby Armstrong won’t be back. Travis Moen disappointed many in 2013 on the heels of signing a four-year extension and may be moved as a result. But both players brought something to the table in terms of penalty killing and character. Bergevin will need to replace those traits, to the chagrin of the fancystat propeller heads.. Michel Therrien’s (and most fans, too) face turned unhealthy shades of greenish-purple when the Leafs and Sens (among others) took turns slapping the Habs silly in lopsided losses. In that respect it is the expectation of most fans that Bergevin fetch a player or two who can throw his fists. Therrien may be a changed man in front of the cameras and microphones, but I’d bet my last dime that he, too wishes he had at least one player with the ability to bust heads on a nightly basis. The rub is that players who can carry a regular shift (i.e. actually play hockey), yet acquit themselves well when the rough stuff starts don’t grow on trees, and Bergevin will need to decide how much this is truly a priority before investing time and energy in bringing in this sort of player.

The debate will rage all summer as to whether or not the real Canadiens were the team that streaked to a 26-9 record or the team that gave up 3.9 goals per game after clinching a playoff spot. That said, and whether it’s fair or not, expectations for the 2013-14 season are going to be sky-high for the Canadiens. Bergeron and friends will have no other mandate – both internally and externally from fans to build upon what was statistically speaking the best season from the bleu-blanc-rouge in 20 years. I hope you enjoyed drafting Galchenyuk at third overall last season because it will be the last time that they select that high based on merit for quite some time – at least that’s going to be the plan. Bergevin may not be able to make ALL of this changes required THIS summer, and no doubt this will piss off Habs fans who want it all right away. This year was like a honeymoon that ended with a nightmarish trip home. Fans will no longer be so willing to accept future first round exits if they are preceded by strong regular seasons, that much is plain and simple.

Sabotage

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Playoff game #4

Through 40 minutes, the Habs had done everything right, resulting in a 2-0 lead. Then they took a page out of the Jacques Martin playbook and sat back to defend that lead through the third period. Predictably, it did not work out for them. Without going through the painful exercise yet again, here’s why I think the Habs lost:

We can complain about the officiating all we want. By the letter of the law, the Sens’ first goal was legit. The tying goal was rife with officiating blunders from the icing call, to not calling Turris’ interference with Price.

In the end none of this matters.

The Canadiens were their own worst enemy last night when they had been their own best ally for two full periods. Now with Eller, Gionta, Prust, Pacioretty, and Price (that we know of) either playing hurt or outright injured, the Habs face a huge uphill climb.

After being the better team in three of four games in this series so far, the Canadiens certainly deserve better, but the hockey gods don’t work that way. Those of us who remember 2010 know this all too well.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

The Comforts of Home

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Regular season game #47

Tonight’s game against the Jets had two distinct flavors to it. The first 40 minutes saw the Jets’ larger forwards have their way in the Habs’ end, giving the defense fits. Another collapse looked imminent. As has become recent tradition, the Canadiens D seemed too willing to give up odd-man rushes and full-on breakaways. Indeed, it is a concern when callup Jarred Tinordi was the most effective player in the defensive zone.

With a 2-1 lead heading to the third, and with their playoff hopes on life support, the Jets got the news that they had to know was coming. Both the Rangers and Senators won, dashing their playoff hopes for good. Whether the Jets sagged, or the Habs showed some urgency, aided by some powerplays that allowed the Habs to at least temporarily fire up the scoring machine that had worked so well through 40 games, the game tilted heavily in the Habs favor.

With fourth place in the Eastern Conference now the lowest the Habs can finish, if I were Michel Therrien, I would take a pre-emptive wiz on the CBC’s Habs/Leafs parade and make Saturday’s regular season finale as unimportant as I possibly could. I would take the hype right out of the game. The Habs don’t need it. Regardless of the outcome, the Leafs will win the season series and take that advantage to the bank, and it only brings the possibility that some Habs regulars could get further banged up, or hurt altogether. After all, when a team boasts such hockey luminaries as Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, and Mark Fraser, why allow these glorified goons one last opportunity to take cheap shots at the Habs more important players? They’ll likely play very sparingly, or not at all in the playoffs, so any “discipline” that may be doled out by Shanaban would be totally ineffective. In short, Price, Plekanec, Markov, Ryder, Gorges, Prust, Gionta and Bouillon all get to watch the game from the press box while Bulldogs fill the void.

Tonight’s game saw the Habs show more push-back and spark than they have in a couple of weeks. Good news indeed, but the best news – by far – is that Carey Price looked like Carey Price. He made several big stops when the Jets were up 1-0, and could have given the Habs the confidence they needed to forge ahead without the fear of a softy going in behind them. If Price has indeed reasserted himself and found his game once again, it can be nothing but bad news for whoever the Habs face in the first round. But before we get ahead of ourselves, the defensive coverage that the Habs have been displaying lately was not much better tonight. The Coaching staff still has more work to do, starting with giving some tired legs time to recuperate.

There’s one more game to go, but with any luck it will be but a mere formality.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

They’re Dead, Jim

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Regular season game #40

Whatever you do, don’t let this game get the better of you. Yes, it’s fun to watch the Habs run roughshod and totally dominate an opponent, but let’s be honest: the Sabres have quit. They had no will to compete tonight and once the Habs took a 2-0 lead, the game was over. The Habs outshot the Sabres 42-15, just to give you an idea of where the action was in this game; I’m not even sure if the zamboni passed in the Habs end of the rink. The Sabres were wildly undisciplined, granting the Habs eight powerplays. Some teams don’t get eight powerplays in three games, so it’s safe to say that the Sabres were more intent on making this a street fight rather than forcing the Habs to wait one more night to punch their playoff ticket.

But we’re not going to penalize the Habs for the unwillingness or inability of an opponent to compete, so on with the accolades for the night, yes? You could blindly pick any member of the team and find something nice to say about their game tonight. The usual suspects like Subban, Plekanec, Gallagher, Pacioretty and Ryder all made substantial contributions to the score sheet, but let’s reserve a measure of praise for Francis Bouillon, who stood up for Brendan Gallagher by taking on Sabres agitator Steve Ott after the latter delivered a high hit to the Habs rookie. By the book it was a clean hit, and I’ve never been ok with a player having to fight after delivering a by-the-book hit, but Steve Ott was looking for trouble all night, and it’s a comfort that Francis Bouillon took on the job of dispensing some justice. In my opinion, he earned his recent one-year extension on that scrap alone.

Tonight’s win finally clinched the playoff spot that we knew the Habs would secure back in late February, but now that they’re in, we can concentrate on winning the division and starting the playoffs with home ice advantage – a virtual necessity to winning the big prize. The win was also important because it showed once again that the Canadiens are a very resilient team that does not take to losing lightly, and with the playoffs around the corner, avoiding prolonged losing skids might come in pretty handy as you might imagine. Tonights two points also vaults the Habs past the Bruins once again and in to the Northeast division lead. With just eight games remaining, it will go down to the wire to see who takes the division crown.

The Leafs on deck Saturday night, we’ll get a potential first round matchup preview, although the two teams will meet each other for the final time at the end of the regular season. Rest assured that both teams know the potential to bump in to each other in the post-season and will be looking to get in to each other’s heads.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Snuffed Out

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Regular season game #35

Except for giving up the first goal of the game less than four minutes in to the opening period, this game probably went exactly as the Habs coaching staff drew it up. They played a solid game at even strength, got a powerplay goal, surrendered nothing on the penalty kill and their only real power forward got back on track with a pair of goals.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, the Hurricanes needed a win tonight much more than the Habs did. Although both teams are locked in a battle for their respective divisions, the Canadiens aren’t the team in danger of falling out of the playoffs entirely should they not win their division. This being the case, it’s hard to imagine that the Hurricanes were not motivated to get Kirk Muller a win in his old barn, especially after opening the scoring. We’ll just have to chalk it up to the Habs absolute mastery of the Southleast, as they are now 10-0 vs teams from that division.

In a season that has gone as perfectly as one could ask for, the Canadiens can look beyond the extra two points and see a 5-for-5 performance on the penalty kill, and only gave up two shots on goal in the process. In their last three games the Habs have gone 9-for-10 on the penalty kill. Again, if we’re being honest with ourselves, the Habs recent success on the penalty kill can be attributed to the fact that they played teams holding the 24th, 25th, and 30th ranked powerplay in the league. Sometimes the legwork gets done for you. Still, when you are nearly perfect, you take that for face value and use it to whatever positive means that you have to.

With no more games to be played before the trade deadline passes on Wednesday afternoon, we can assume that Bergevin has made up his mind on what he believes his team needs – if anything. Surely any team has holes to fill, but the only question to be asked is whether or not what Bergevin wants can be had at a small enough price. With shrewd pick ups like Jeff Halpern (who scored the game winning goal) off of waivers, it’s clear that Bergevin is not in the mood to part with any valuable assets without a very good reason. With Colby Armstrong going down with what looked to be a fairly serious injury, is that enough of a loss to force Bergevin’s hand, or can he rely on a recovering Ryan White, Gabriel Dumont, or, should they choose to recall him, Petteri Nokelainen?

We will have our answers soon enough. In the mean time, the Canadiens and their fans can savour at least a couple more days of first place in the North East division. With games against the struggling Flyers, Jets, and Bruins on deck, this runaway train doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

 

When Facing an AHL Goalie…

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Regular season game #30

The Islanders have long been a doormat, but in recent years they have been a thorn in the Canadiens’ side…at least that’s the popular belief. Once again, a quick glance at recent history says that the Habs are 5-3-3 against the Islanders since the 2010-11 season. Certainly not what I’d call “owning” a team, but a .591 win percentage hardly qualifies as something to whine too much about when perception is out of whack with reality.

After leaving a point on the table on Tuesday against Buffalo, it was important for Montreal to get the win against Long Island. In the early going, things looked iffy, as some sloppy play from both teams led to a 2-2 game. The ingredients were present for the Habs to let another one slip away, but once again, the third period came along to save their bacon.

That, and one Kevin Poulin. The Islanders backup looked about as confident and graceful in goal as Martin Short did in his short career as a synchronized swimmer. He looked like he was terrified at the sight of the puck all night long, as pucks bounced off him in every which direction. Scrambling to stay on his feet and in his crease, Poulin finally gave up the ghost in the third period; surrendering three goals on 10 shots. The lesson? Shoot the puck at jello-legged AHL goalies.

The usual suspects were stirring the drink for the Habs tonight. P.K. Subban, Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty, and newcomer Gabriel Dumont. Just two nights after being publicly admonished by his coach, Subban simply scored another pair of goals, and now has 22 points in 24 games. The cost to resign him goes up by the day. Rookies Gallagher and Dumont were busy raising hell and keeping the Islanders off their game all night long. While Gallagher’s a permanent resident, Dumont looks poised to unseat one of Travis Moen or Colby Armstrong with his in-your-face style.

We would also be remiss not to mention David Desharnais’ 100th and 101st NHL points, as he assisted on Brian Gionta’s game winning goal early in the third period, and also assisted on Gallagher’s tally. It was also his first point since signing his contract extension two weeks ago. Interestingly, Desharnais was finally held accountable by Michel Therrien for recent lacklustre play, as he saw less than four minutes in both the second and third periods. Let us stow the talk that he’s ben getting a free pass for now, yes?

Michael Ryder’s opening tally represented his 10th point in 10 games since joining the Habs (Erik Cole, for his part, is still mired in his season-long funk at two goals in nine games since joining the Stars). Bergevin’s trade looks better and better, doesn’t it?

At 20-5-5, Montreal has twice as many wins as combined losses. With the season 5/8ths complete, nobody on the planet could have predicted this. The Canadiens have been on a season-long run that shows no sign of slowing down.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Buffaslugged

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Regular season game #29

We’ve all heard about it, and tonight we saw the embodiment of it: the Habs, regardless of the year, regime, coach, roster and ocean tides take “lesser” opposition lightly. How else do we explain the Habs first-period performance against a team spiraling the drain, waiting for the inevitable? Sure, we could say the Habs were on a 13-1-3 run prior to this game, and that surely we can cut the team some slack. But does that make it acceptable? For a team with designs on first place in the division, if not the conference, the Habs can ill afford to leave points on the table against conference bottom-feeders.

From the tone of that opening paragraph, you’d get the sense that the Canadiens lost in regulation and walked away empty-handed. The truth is, they did not. In fact from the second period, until the end of regulation, the Canadiens ran the Sabres out of the building, outshooting them 26-8. The trouble is, a sluggish start to the first period cost the Habs, as they fell behind 2-0. As the game wore on, the Habs gathered their legs and began to pour it on. It was a strange performance from Sabres backup goalie Jhonas Enroth, who was shaky and dominant in equal measure. The game turned ugly on the Habs early in overtime when P.K. Subban went for a highlight-reel hit on a rushing Sabres player. With his stick up around the player’s head (but not making contact), Subban effectively took himself out of the play, and in to the penalty box. It was an ill-advised attempt for a home-run hit given how his teammates were dominating the game. At that juncture of the game, the only play was to keep skating the Sabres in to the ground and use the extra open ice to bury a game winning tally. Of course, we would be remiss to not mention the brain-dead penalty that Max Pacioretty took in the latter stages of the third period with his team still in full flight. Carelessly barging in to the blue paint with nobody around you is not smart. Although the Sabres did not score on the powerplay, it cost the Habs two minutes of time which could have been better spent trying to end the game in regulation.

In all, it was a decent effort from the Habs, minus the god-awful first period, which, in tandem with the Subban overtime penalty, and to a lesser extent, the Pacioretty penalty cost the Habs the win. With the Islanders and the Sabres yet again on deck this week, the Habs can set things right, or they can continue to waste the points that true contenders would happily snatch up. The Habs have given us precious little to complain about this year, so let’s take the point and hope for a more heady, complete performance on Thursday.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

PS – we are all still gobsmacked by Lars Eller’s rapid ascension, right?

Desharnais extended: when players are more than a collection of statistics

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the following is another take on the Desharnais signing by J.F., otherwise known as Gimchihabster on twitter. Should you have any comments, feel free to leave a comment below, or to contact J.F. directly via twitter. Like all of us, he has a passion for Habs talk.

by @Gimchihabster

Early on Friday, Habs General Manager Marc Bergevin signed David Desharnais to a 4 year, 14 million dollar contract extension. This works out to a 3.5M cap hit. This unleashed a veritable flood of reaction on twitter and on the radio. This tends to happen in the snow globe that is the Montreal hockey market.

Let’s dismiss something right off the bat: this is not a language issue, thinking that it is grossly misunderstanding how Bergevin has worked thus far. With that out of the way, let’s move on to the contract itself.

The contract

David Desharnais is 26 years old. The 4 year contract will bring him to 30 years of age. The cap hit for a 50-60 point centre is more than reasonable. The term may be up for debate and I would have preferred a 3 year deal. Those thinking Desharnais could have been signed for less than 3M a year are dreaming. So in terms of cap hit and term, this is a contract that works for Desharnais and for the Habs. It does not handcuff the team or ruin their cap situation. Desharnais remains a movable asset if Bergevin chooses to move him down the road. A playmaking centre making 3.5M is not going to be impossible to trade.

Let us clear up another misconception, this deal has nothing to do with PK Subban. Desharnais is coming off his bridge deal. He was on the last year of a 2 year 1.7M deal. So the Habs did not commit to him sooner than they did or will to Subban. In fact, let’s leave Subban out of this for once!

The size obsession

Habs fans have developed over the years a nearly clinical obsession with making the team bigger. This has led many to complain about how small the Habs are; at how many small players they sign. This can indeed be an issue but size is not everything in the NHL. We can all name dozens of big players that had no physicality to their games or had no heart. What matters in the NHL and apparently for the Habs GM is heart and the compete level or if you will, players that play big, regardless of their size. This is where Desharnais comes up aces. This where he, compared to other small players, has overcome the size issue in some ways. Is Desharnais a top flight center? No but then again neither is he being paid like one. I think the current Habs GM will value heart, dedication, skill and compete level over other considerations. I think the coach also thinks this way. In such a light the Desharnais deal make sense. Brendan Gallagher is another smaller player who plays big, Brian Gionta is the same.

Beyond the stats

This brings us to the core of the issue: players are more than a collection of statistics. All too often we get blinded by numbers as if they sum up a hockey player, as if they can measure all that he brings to a team. Yet most of us realize that we can make statistics say whatever we wish to. There are numerous examples of this out there but before discussing a few let’s identify a two of those intangibles that may not show up on the tally of stats.

Heart: this is defined as effort, dedication and compete level. A player can have this and that can be hard to see if you us the stats-only lens.

Leadership: this is the impact of a player in the room and on the ice and again is hardly measurable in statistics.

These two elements are considered by GMs when signing or drafting players. They mix in with the list of numbers associated with a player. It is clear that Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien wish to build a tight knit team that will compete hard and work as unit. David Desharnais is that kind of player, despite his size. He competes every night. He also leads by example and this is important too.

Chemistry is also an important issue and in the case of Desharnais, it appears to be very important. Indeed, Desharnais came up with Max Pacioretty as they had performed well together with the Bulldogs. Pacioretty was signed to a 6 year extension and has said repeatedly since then that he owed a lot of this to Desharnais. He has said many times this year that he would do all he could to help Desharnais get a new contract. This is more than some lip service declaration made to the media to look good. Patches means it and I am pretty sure Bergevin and Therrien noticed this. It is also important when building a team concept.

Now concerning how stats do not show everything…..

Take a goaltender that lets in 2 goals on 20 shots. His save percentage would not be that great and if one were to stop at the stat line he could conclude this goaltender was sub-par. Now let’s say the two goals came on blistering one timers and that after this the goaltender was lights out for the duration and won in the shootout. That shows character and guts, neither of which can easily be shown by statistics. That was just one example, there are numerous others that could be cited I am sure.

The big picture

Where does this contract extension fit in the larger picture then? It provides the Habs with depth a centre, something they have not really had in years. I do mean quality depth at centre. It also provides flexibility to the team and gives it time to develop a player like Galchenyuk without rushing him. This is not the end of Eller or Plekanec in Montreal. Why should it be? Depth is what most teams crave and seek. Habs now finally have some at centre. Should Bergevin wish to trade a centre, Eller, Plekanec and Desharnais are all movable assets with reasonable contracts. Eller can play on the wing on occasion and one would assume Desharnais can be played there eventually. We apparently have a GM who is not afraid of making deals and of selling high. In that respect, no player is insulated from being traded if it will improve the team. This includes Plekanec, a player I have been a devoted fan of ever since he first laced them up for the Habs. For now, as Galchenyuk and Eller mature, the Habs will be able to continue to ice decent centers. This is just smart hockey management.

So in essence, this deal fits the new philosophy of the team, provides depth but not at the expense of flexibility. I would have preferred a 3 year deal but one cannot always get what he wants!

So it is time to exhale Habs fans and just enjoy this ride the bleu, blanc, rouge are on. Take pleasure in watching a hard working team that finally has some moxie, something David Desharnais is a part of.

Sweet Relief

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Regular season game #20

It felt like a carbon copy of Monday’s game in Ottawa. The Habs dominate all over the ice, but don’t finish where it counts, thus leaving the door open for opposition to steal another point or two. For the second game in a row, the Habs hit the 40 shot mark, but earning the win was harder than it needed to be thanks to strong opposition goaltending.

A little bit of luck, and a lot of discipline helped the Habs improve to 7-0-2 since the last time the Habs met the Leafs. The Leafs tried to go with the same rough and tumble game plan that had worked so well in previous meetings, the difference this time is that the Habs didn’t rise to take the bait, and the refs handed out a five minute major to Mike Brown on a boarding call that was more about curbing the Leafs cheap goon hockey before it got out of hand.

Flames doused, game plan busted.

When the Leafs managed to tie the game at two goals apiece, the sense of frustration among Habs fans was palpable, as their team was clearly better and deserved better than a tie. If the copycat act from Monday night’s game was to continue, things weren’t going to end well. But the Habs played a near-perfect road game, and they’ll win far more than they lose if they continue to play like this. To follow up on a stat I’ve been tracking all year, the Habs have now won the faceoff battle in 6 of their last 7 games. The only game they lost was Monday’s tilt in Ottawa, and the only game where they lost the faceoff battle was Saturday vs the Rangers where the Habs were clearly the better team en route to a 3-0 shutout.

With a 5-1-2 road record, and a warm seat at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, it’s getting harder and harder to not acknowledge that this team is for real, especially on the heels of the season’s most satisfying win.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel


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