Let's get the annual cautionary message out of the way. It's preseason. The scores don't matter. The outcomes don't matter. Evaluating the veterans at the beginning of it is a very hard thing to do because, for the most part, they're working on the intricacies of their respective games, finding their legs, manufacturing chemistry with their linemates, and generally just trying to get a good skate in-- in a game-like scenario.
It is, however, the perfect opportunity to evaluate young players who are treating preseason games like they're playoff games.
It's an opportunity to build your team concept, reinforce it, bring the guys together, identify roles, give incentives... all that good stuff.
I don't believe Michel Therrien took last night's loss to the Bruins to heart. I think he would've appreciated a better opportunity to evaluate his players, but as he tried to explain last night, he wasn't necessarily deprived of one because his players didn't show up. It's just that the play in preseason is designed to be so individualistic-- and that doesn't lend well to cohesion on the ice. And if you don't have cohesion, well, you don't have rhythm.
Therrien said that most of his decisions, regarding who he was cutting after the game, were actually made before the game. Junior-aged players Martin Reway, Charles Hudon, Zach Fucale, Zven Andrighetto and Dalton Thrower were all given a chance to show what they can do. First cut or not, this had to be an extremely positive experience for all those players.
For a couple of other players, being sent down at this stage of camp had to sting. As expected, Matt Lashoff falls into that category having come into camp on a PTO, having not displayed any real signs that he's capable of continuing his career in the NHL.
For Louis Leblanc, some might suggest this was a crushing blow.
Will being cut so early destroy whatever confidence he established over a summer of very hard work?
I don't believe so, but I'd imagine this was confirmation for him that this management group doesn't see him as an option, and the task for him is to work as hard as ever to attract another suitor to take a chance on him. At 22, this is the most pivotal moment of his life.
Leblanc certainly showed some improvement over the course of this camp, but there are too many other prospects in the Canadiens system that could contribute at both ends of the ice for him to remain a viable option for them. He's not good enough to be in a scoring role as a call-up, and players like Michael Bournival, and even Nick Tarnasky are much more suited for third line duties than he is.
Speaking of Bournival and Tarnasky, both of them are still around to show what they can do. They join Patrick Holland (who I refer to as the new Ben Maxwell--I'll let you decide if that's a good thing), 2013 first-rounder Mike McCarron, eventual Hamilton Bulldog Martin St. Pierre, hopefuls Michael Blunden, Gabriel Dumont, Christian Thomas and Sebastien Collberg.
At the back end, Jarred Tinordi continues to impress. Greg Pateryn and Magnus Nygren still have the opportunity to. Nathan Beaulieu is nursing a shoulder injury, and the Canadiens remain hopeful they'll get to see more of him before training camp ends.
Dustin Tokarski remains as the lone goaltending prospect still with the the team.
Michel Therrien will now break his camp into two groups. He'd obviously like to have the opportunity to play as many games as possible with his projected roster for opening night, but with five games in seven nights to wrap preseason, he still needs to keep some bodies around to ensure he doesn't stretch anyone too much.
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A personal note about a new cause that I think Montreal hockey fans would be interested in:
Einick Gitelman was a high school friend who met a very tragic end in November of 2011. This was an unimaginable fate for the exuberant, kind, innocent and caring person Einick was.
Though we lost touch after high school, I'll never forget how passionate Einick was about hockey. He grew up in NDG, and he played and coached there for most of his life.
According to the website and fund established to honor Einick's memory by helping children participate in NDG hockey, one in three families can't afford the cost of organized sport. Hockey registration runs about 1500$, and the rising cost of equipment for growing kids is a tremendous burden for hard-working parents that want to give their kids the opportunity to do what they love. The fund will attempt to raise money through an annual hockey tournament to be held at Bill Durnan arena in the Cote-Des-Neiges burrow of Montreal. The first tournament is scheduled for November 10th. The aim is to give kids in need the opportunity to be registered in NDG's minor hockey program.
They are certainly looking for participants, and they are accepting donations
here. They also will need sponsors.
For more information, visit
http://einickgitelmanfund.org/home.html. You can do a small part just by letting people know that this fund now exists.
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-Subban vs. Subban. So much made of this... I almost felt bad for Malcolm for having to face such distraction ahead of his first game with the Bruins. He was pretty good, though there were some nervy moments.
As for P.K., he unleashed the beast on Chad Johnson, ripping a 5-on-3 slapper by him with ease.
-Max Pacioretty had his wheels moving in this one. Pacioretty scored a nice goal off a tic-tac-toe setup from his Desharnais and Briere. It's going to take time for these three to gel. They're doing a lot of talking, and there's going to be a lot more for them to talk about before instinct takes over.
-Briere was in charge of faceoffs in the offensive zone, on the powerplay. Better option than Desharnais. According to
these stats, Briere won 53.8% of his faceoffs on the powerplay last season.
-I'm guessing people are going to rip on Doug Murray after he was on for three powerplay goals the Bruins scored in last night's third period.
The Canadiens haven't even had a chance to practice special teams yet. And as a big guy, it's not like Murray's engine is going to be at full capacity in preseason.
Most veterans are just trying to find their timing. They're working on little things most of us are completely oblivious too.
Obviously, he wasn't good at all last night, but give Murray some time to adjust to his role in Montreal.
-Habs have the day off today.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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