Last Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens lost by a score of 4-3 to a surging Florida Panthers team that continues to hunger for first place in the Atlantic Division. The game perfectly represented the Habs’ season that began with 19 wins, 4 regulation time losses and 3 overtime defeats after a 9-0 franchise record start. Carey Price went down to a (knee?) injury on the 25th of November 2015, and the league MVP’s team went 17-33-3 afterwards. Things got worse as the Habs’ clinic was at full occupancy for the duration of 2015-216, which forced head coach Michel Therrien to use over 45 different players in his lineup, 15 of which happened to be defensemen.
Having played in less than a full game, Brett Lernout left and did not return against the Panthers with a lower-body injury. The Habs proceeded to recall the infamous fan-favorite John Scott for a one-game stint, sending Michael McCarron (1G, 1A, 20GP) back to the St. John’s Ice Caps. I don’t understand the latter move, considering that the organization had publicly declared that he would finish the season with the big club. Perhaps playing on a first line in St. John’s will accelerate his learning and development, even if I did not feel like he was completely out of place. Still, I’m hard-pressed to believe that his recent subpar performances and the opportunity to bounce back in the upcoming 3 games might have helped the 20-year-old with developing more character than he already has and could’ve gone a long way towards determining how he handles adversity.
Recalling Scott, however, seems like nothing more than a PR move to please the Bell Centre crowd. I would cheer him on if I was sitting at the arena, and you can bet he’ll be in the starting lineup as soon as the team hits the ice. I expect that he’ll be greeted with fanfare, so to speak, and of all the moves the organization have made this year- trust me, I’m going to criticize them intensely during my post-season autopsy- this is one that’ll give the fans what they want. Frankly, it’s about damn time.
The Bleu Blanc et Rouge also called up defenseman Ryan Johnston, a 5’10… player with 9 assists in 30 games played. He handled himself during training camp, but a hernia surgery kept him out of the lineup for months on end. He’ll get the chance to showcase his skills playing alongside Alexei Emelin tonight.