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3 Habs prospects invited to Canada's Junior camp & game preview vs Ducks |
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The Montreal Canadiens kick off the west coast part of their road trip tonight as they take on the Anaheim Ducks. Both teams are coming into the game with much to prove. For the Canadiens, they are trying to build off of their 2-1 comeback overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings while the Duck want to make show that their 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks was not a fluke. Anaheim currently sits fourth in the Western division but they are only two points behind the leading Edmonton Oilers. Montreal continues to lead the entire NHL with 34 points are are five points clear of their closest divisional competitor, the Ottawa Senators.
In recent times, the California portion of road trips have not been kind to the Canadiens. It goes without saying that they have missed Carey Price due to injury but on top of that, they have had difficulty with the size and force of the Western players. This time around though, it will be a very different Canadiens team that they will face. The additions of Shea Weber and Andrew Shaw specifically addressed the Canadiens need to get more physical. No longer will Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry get a free pass to do as they please behind the Canadiens net. Alexei Emelin has been playing some of his best and most consistent hockey of his career next to Shea Weber. Together, they should make things much more difficult for the Ducks. Up front, the Canadiens are certainly grittier with the addition of Shaw and Alexander Radulov who while known for his skills, is tough to knock the puck off of.
There will be no lineup changes for the Canadiens from the Red Wings game to tonight’s match against the Ducks. Price will once again get the start in net and Zach Redmond will have to wait a little longer to make his regular season debut in a Canadiens uniform. John Gibson will get the start in net for the Ducks and he has struggled this year with a 6-7-0-3, .906 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average.
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In other Canadiens news today, three prospects were invited to Hockey Canada’s World Junior Selection Camp taking place December 10-14 in Blainville, Quebec.
Defenseman Noah Juulsen was the Canadiens first round draft pick in 2015 and was the last cut from the previous year’s Junior team. This year, the Everett Silvertip captain has the inside track on being on Canada’s top defensive unit with returnee Thomas Chabot. With seven goals and eleven assists through just 21 games, Juulsen is just ten points behind his total from the entire 2015-2016 season.
Goaltender Michael McNiven of the Owen Sound attack went undrafted in 2015 but was invited to the Canadiens development camp shortly thereafter. He demonstrated enough to earn an invite to the ensuing rookie camp where he demonstrated a stark improvement and that he was capable of following the Canadiens advice of shedding some weight to become more agile on his skates. The Canadiens promptly signed him to a three year entry level contract and it is a good thing they did as he would have surely been selected at the 2016 NHL draft had he still been unsigned. He has since developed into one of the top goaltenders in the OHL and is now a serious contender for team Canada.
Defenseman Victor Mete was expected to be a second or third round pick at the 2016 draft but he fell into the Canadiens hands in the fourth round. Teams were likely concerned over the rearguard’s height as he is listed at only 5’9” and that perhaps his stats were inflated by being on a stacked London Knights team. Any doubts have since been erased as he has been outstanding this year for the Knights, recording 22 points in just 24 games. Mete has even been outperforming teammate Olli Juolevi, the fifth overall pick from 2016. While he remains a longshot to make the team, he could very well battle fellow small and offensive defenseman for the last spot on the backend.
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Fittingly, former Canadiens and Ducks player Travis Moen announced his retirement today. All the best to Moen in his future endeavors!
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Five questions for tonight’s game:
1) Will history repeat itself on this west coast road trip or will the new look Canadiens, ie: Shea Weber make all of the difference?
2) Will Andrei Markov be forced to once again play over 25 minutes in the absence of Nathan Beaulieu?
3) Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher have looked good ever since the former first line’s been reunited. Will they continue to improve and be impactful or will they have difficulty with the Duck’s size?
4) Will special teams play a significant role in tonight’s game?
5) What will be the final score?
Puck drops at 10pm eastern time.
Cheers and follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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