As the Canadiens slowly pick up the pieces on the ice, Marc Bergevin is shifting them around off of it.
Bergevin--surely with the approval of owner Geoff Molson--made another key decision Sunday morning, placing maligned winger Rene Bourque on waivers. It would seem a trade couldn't be made, and the Canadiens are hoping someone will take Bourque off their roster free of charge.
Unlikely, and as Arpon Basu of LNH.com reported, the Canadiens would save $925,000 on the salary cap if Bourque were to play out the rest of the season in Hamilton. And though some have speculated he won't necessarily be sent to the minors, the man who broke the story of him being on waivers put this out there yesterday:
If Rene Bourque is not claim by noon tomorrow, he'll be send down to Hamilton. #canadiens #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 9, 2014Is there a chance we'll see Bourque back up with the Canadiens at some point this season? So long as he remains with the organization, there is one, but call it slim as this move sends a strong message to both Bourque and his teammates. ******************
1) Not that the Canadiens needed to make it any easier to digest this move, but playing Jiri Sekac sure achieves that.
Can't help but wonder if Bergevin put Bourque on waivers to take him out of Therrien's mix. Bergevin and Rick Dudley don't decide who plays and who sits, but there have been some rumblings that neither of them were happy about Sekac being scratched for seven straight games, especially when it was in favor of Bourque.
2) Every time Sekac hit the ice on Saturday, he created something. And the chemistry with Prust and Eller seemed instant. They were good in Buffalo, but they were great in Montreal, managing six points between them against the Wild.
The second line scored too, with Brendan Gallagher emphatically snapping a nine-game slump with a ripper off the bar, assisted by Tomas Plekanec.
The first line piled it on with a goal for Max Pacioretty, assisted on by both P.A. Parenteau and David Desharnais.
Manny Malholtra won 63% of his draws.
Four line contribution for the first time in way too long.
3) After Saturday's game, the Canadiens have gone seven straight games without scoring in the first period. They were en route to going seven straight games without scoring in the second either before Gallagher broke the goose egg.
That is a heinous stat.
And yet, the Habs went 3-3-1 without scoring in the first period; 3-3-1, only scoring in one of those games in the second.
The Habs have won a lot of their games on the back of Carey Price's stellar play--even if the numbers don't reflect it--and they're edging towards playing better, with the last two performances being steps in the right direction.
4) Nathan Beaulieu's hovering around 16:00/game. And while he's young, and they're breaking him in slow, it would seem he can help this team more with the way he's playing.
He seems pretty composed with the puck, though he won't make perfect decisions with it every time he's out there. He definitely has the legs to play more minutes, and while there are blemishes on other parts of the blueline, he's been steady no matter who he's playing with.
5) Saturday's game was a pretty bad one for both P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. You'd think they'd make a great pair, but they aren't justifying the coach's decision to play them together.
Subban's admitted several times over the last couple of weeks that he must be significantly better, but his attention to the details just seems to be lacking. Maybe he should stop thinking big and start focusing on the small things so he doesn't stand out for the wrong reasons.
As for Markov, it's a rarity that he's as off his game the way he was on Saturday.
6) Jarred Tinordi's been recalled from Hamilton after a weekend of games there. Drayson Bowman's been returned there, though you'd imagine he's probably coming right back up with Bourque making his way down.
With Michael Bournival out, and Bourque out, that leaves a spot as the 13th in Montreal, and it's doubtful Travis Moen's going to play every game.
7) Big week at home for the Canadiens. A chance for three practices in between three big games against Winnipeg, Boston and Philadelphia. Could be a bruising week.
Maybe the powerplay will get some ice-time against Winnipeg, who rank 6th in the league in times shorthanded this season. As for Boston and Philly, they rank 20th and 22nd in that category, while the Canadiens are only behind Colorado for the most times shorthanded this season.
8) They say practice makes perfect, and that's why the Canadiens are way up there at 85.2% successful on the penalty kill, despite a terrible start in that category after the first three games.
Outplaying and outscoring the Wild Saturday, the Habs got half a powerplay for the entire game.
Only the New York Rangers have had less powerplay opportunities this season (38, the Habs are at 39). We can talk about steps in the right direction, but some major ones need to be taken to correct that.
This is not just about the refs hating Brendan Gallagher (though he can't buy a call, and he practically generates an infraction per shift); it's not about the refs hating Subban and Prust; it's not about the refs hating Therrien.
The Canadiens, like the Rangers, play too much of a perimeter game, and they've got find a way to force the issue far more.
9) The Guy Lapointe ceremony was very touching. From the tributes given by Larry Robinson and Serge Savard, to the highlight reels, to the numbers coming down with Lapointe's #5 squeezing right between to complete the big three in the rafters, to Subban and Markov presenting the number, to seeing those tears on Lapointe's cheeks. Shivers. The Canadiens get this right every time.
Nice touch to keep that vintage feeling in the building: Roger Doucet's staccato, speed version of the Canadian National Anthem, sung with incredible emotion. More shivers.
10) Couldn't craft the question properly, and definitely didn't get the answer I was looking for when asking Michel Therrien how he intends to get this team to start games on a different note. He got into how they started against Minnesota, which offered nothing predictive about how they'll start against Winnipeg.
We'll see how far momentum carries...