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Canadiens (1-2-0) Host Blackhawks (2-0-1) In Home Opener, Breathe |
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The Canadiens are looking to find their offence, and a bit of puck luck, against Original 6 rival Chicago Blackhawks. The effort has been there, but the bounces (and calls) just haven’t been going Montreal’s way. I’m not going to stand here and tell you the Habs woes are everyone else’s fault, they own their fair share of the issues, but they didn’t exactly get any favours last game against the NYR with the amount of missed calls, called back goals, and receiving only 1 PP. Just sayin’…
The Canadiens have scored no goals on 9 PP’s, have a shooting percentage of 2.7%, a save percentage of .892, and a PDO score of 92.4. Either the Canadiens are the worst team in the league… OR… They are having a rough stretch to start the year. I’m going to go with the latter because “glass half full” right? Some may find the positivity insufferable but I like to enjoy the sport of hockey. I watch many games with the intention to be entertained. Right now the Canadiens aren’t very entertaining, but they are clearly a work in progress. Claude Julien hasn’t had much time yet implementing his style of play, and same goes for the players adjusting to it. A turnover of half the D core was bound to have wrinkles that needed to be ironed out as well. Considering that preseason was used mostly to determine if Drouin could play center and to see what rookies would win a few spots it’s almost expected that the Canadiens would be sluggish out the gate.
When we look at recent season starts we can see that the Canadiens always came out hard under former bench boss M Therrien to start the season. Last season (16-17) they were 8-0-1 in October and the season before that (15-16) they had a 10-2-0 October. The results of the last two seasons were: Playoff QF loss to NYR, Missed Playoffs. Not exactly what you would expect of a team that starts its season like that.
My point? Well, the point is that it’s 3 games into the season with a brand new head coach, brand new #1C, brand new coaching strategies, completely overhauled D core missing one of it’s key (to management) players in Schlemko, and they have had well below average “puck luck”. To start to crave the dismantling of the squad, as some respectable media types have said, would be an overreaction of the grandest proportions.
Should the Dallas Stars sell off Benn and Klingberg after their 0-2 start?
Nashville better burn it down after their uninspired 0-2 start while we’re at it.
The Oilers better deal some talent now, their season is doomed after starting 1-2.
Are Detroit and Vegas Cup contenders after their 2-0 starts?
All I’m saying is it’s a long season. The Canadiens grabbed 2 points in a good game against Buffalo, took their medicine against the Caps, and were jobbed against the Rangers. They are using young, and second year players, like Drouin, Lehkonen, Hudon, DLR, and Mete in fairly prominent roles and sometimes there are growing pains. We can’t get mad at Habs management for not giving kids a chance, then want to burn it down when they do and the results aren’t 3 wins in 4 days, all on the road. That’s simply not logical.
So, tonight the Habs draw one of their toughest opponents in recent history in the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canadiens have no wins in their last seven games against the Hawks dating back to 2014. There will be no record setting October for the Canadiens, in fact this stretch of games will be one of the toughest of the season and it’s on the Canadiens to keep the effort level high in the face of unfortunate results. If the effort level is there, and they could get a few more practices in, the team will score. If the team scores and Price is Price then the Habs will win around 60% of their games. That would mean 49 wins and a playoff berth. The seeding of playoffs matters very little to me. Punching a ticket to the Stanley Cup tournament is all that matters, and I think the players would agree with that sentiment.
Let’s all sit back tonight and try to enjoy the home opener for one of sports greatest franchises without the constant desire for upheaval and change. They will get better and when they have their first win streak the same talking heads that reminded us not to look too far ahead during the previous two Octobers (the same ones trying to stoke the flames of Habs fans anxieties now) will again try to tell us not to fall in love yet. I say too late, I’m already past these losses and I know the Canadiens will come together. It may not come until close to the end of the month, but adversity has the opportunity to build character and I think the Canadiens have a good leadership group that will be able to learn and soldier on.
All that said, these were the lines at practice today:
Pacioretty - Drouin - Gallagher
Hudon - Plekanec - Lehkonen
Galchenyuk - Danault - Shaw
Byron - Mitchell - Hemsky
De La Rose
Mete - Weber
Alzner - Petry
Benn - Davidson
Morrow -Streit
Schlemko
Price
Montoya
I suspected Hemsky may draw back in as the Canadiens search for offence, I just hope Hemsky searched for a way to dig deeper when it comes to his play. Today’s NHL doesn’t reward those who don’t drive hard with speed, unless you have elite skill. Hemsky is coming off a season where he was hampered with lower body injuries, but if he is fit to play then he has to up his compete level.
Davidson had a good game by his standards last time the Habs hit the ice so right now I have no issue with him playing over Streit and Morrow, but I am hoping to see what the Schlemko hype was about. GM Bergevin did say he had him slotted next to Weber before injury so expectations were set. Not to mention that if Schlemko and Weber are a solid pairing, Mete could move back with Benn and really even out the Canadiens D. Bergevin won’t make a move on D until he sees what he has in Schlemko.
Drouin is doing well at C, but did miss his coverage on the 2nd Rangers goal last game. His new role requires a lot more of him defensively and it could be cutting into his offensive game at the moment. While Drouin adjusts it will be up to Pacioretty and Gallagher to help create space offensively. I am a huge Gallagher fan, but he is too good to just stand in front of the net like Tomas Holmstrom and absorb shots and punishment. The Captain and his alternate have to get moving. Drouin is creative, but if his line don’t start giving him better options the scoring woes will continue. I will say that I think the top 3 lines have helped create some good looks, but they just haven’t had the bounces go their way. That will change, especially the way Lehkonen has shot the puck.
One thing I might think of changing would be giving Byron a shot with Plekanec and Lehkonen. Don’t take that as me meaning Hudon is playing badly or deserves a wake up call, just that Byron has played with a huge compete level and he deserves some top minutes to see if that could translate to better scoring chances.
The Hawks are sure to be motivated tonight coming off a tough 4-3 OT loss to the upstart Toronto Maple Leafs last night after giving up a pair of two goal leads. Tough to blame the Hawks for the loss. Toronto’s offence is firing on all cylinders and when pucks are going in off guys legs and whatnot then your receiving the favour of the Hockey Gods.
While it’s not encouraging knowing that Hawks will come in motivated, there’s the chance they come in a bit tired. I could care less if the Hawks looked sluggish, the Canadiens have to come out and score that first goal without taking their foot off the gas. A win is a win and a goal is a goal, whether its a slick snipe or a knuckle puck off the calf. Just get them by any means necessary to build momentum and confidence.
The road ahead looks rocky with the following six games against Toronto, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Florida, and Los Angeles again. The west coast games are particularly daunting as they have been almost automatic losses in recent history, but maybe this year won’t be like the rest. A slow start could lead to a better finish as opposed to recent seasons blazing starts followed by disappointing finishes. Only time will tell so let’s give the season a chance.
GHG.
If you’re heading to the opener tonight be sure to check out the Player Salute, festivities, and alumni autographs. Sounds like it would be a great time!
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Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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