Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey Follow @Karinehains
Sean Monahan’s unavailability meant that Kirby Dach was off the first line and acting as a center in between Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Hoffman with Josh Anderson filling in by Suzuki’s side. The experiment didn’t even last the whole game, and it wasn’t because Dach wasn’t doing well as a pivot (he won 50% of his faceoff), but rather because try as he may Josh Anderson just couldn’t fill his skates on the first line.
It's a small sample, but judging by last night, the Habs do have two top six centers, what they don’t have is enough top six talent to complete them on the wing. How do you go about getting said talent? Well, considering how tight the cap the Canadiens are, talented youngsters should be the preferred option, which means that losing games like this 4-2 defeat against LA isn’t really a big deal with a deep draft right around the corner.
For me, there’s no question, if Sean Monahan stays healthy, he has to be traded and hopefully for a first rounder at July’s draft. Don’t get me wrong, I like Monahan, he’s a great player but he’s 28 and he has a lot of wear and tear. At 28, how much mileage does he have left? At his age, he’s going to be looking for a long-term deal and not for a couple of years pact. The Canadiens have been burnt before by keeping hold of their players too long, just look at Price and Weber, no, there’s no sense in keeping Monahan.
I’ll admit that I didn’t pay attention to the game as much as I normally do last night, I had been invited to a fundraising event at Sunill Peetush’s place. For those who don’t know, Sunill was one of the first fans inducted in the Habs Fan Hall of Fame thanks to his incredible Habs Cave. It was my first time there and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a man cave that impressive. As a collector, I would have been jealous if I had not been as excited as a kid in a candy store.
To top it off, both Stephane Richer and Benoit Brunet were in attendance for the fund-raising event and Richer was the live of the party, entertaining guests with plenty of tasty anecdotes. He told us how Michael Thelven, a Swedish defenseman playing for the Bruins, broke his hand in 3 places with a monster slash in the 1988 playoffs, allowing the Bruins to eliminate the Habs in 5 short games that season. We also learnt that the following season, it was “Mr. Robinson” (not Larry, not Big Bird, no he calls him Mr. Robinson) who told Richer that if he wanted respect, he needed to settle the score and fight Thelven, who would go back to Sweden after the 1989-1990 season.
When asked if he thought the Canadiens finally had a 50-goal scorer on their hands in Cole Caufield, he replied that he sure hopes so. He said that he wants to see someone break that number while he’s still alive, just like Guy Lafleur got to see him realize the feat when he was just 21 years old. Since his retirement, Richer did think that Michael Ryder had a shot at doing it with the Tricolore, but things didn’t turn out that way, now he’s hoping that number 22 has more success. He also reminded us that he once wore Caufield’s 22, when he was recalled in a panic by the Habs who were plagued by injury for a game at the Colisée de Québec, the same number that saw Steve Shutt repeatedly beat goalkeepers.
Who was the easiest goalie to score on? For Richer, incredibly, it was Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek. As for the hardest to beat? He named Curtis Joseph, he couldn’t explain why but Cujo just had his number and whenever he faced him, it was in the back of his mind. It’s the same for every player, and even every goaltender. He told us that even Patrick Roy had a couple of nemesis and that “Casseau” was shaking in his boots when he had to face the Bruins’ Cam Neely and the Nordiques’ Michel Goulet. From his years in New Jersey, he remembers that Martin Brodeur Achiles’ heel was John Leclair.
But of all the things he shared with us, the most interesting story was Scott Stevens. The tough as nails defender made a career of ending careers and apparently, he practiced just like he played. Richer told us about one night when Stevens destroyed Eric Lindros and how he had warned him: “Tonight’s the night. I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill your mum and your dad in the seats, I’m going to shut down the Spectrum” and for those who remember the epic Lindros-Stevens battles, it’s not hard to believe that he did say that. I asked Richer if Stevens felt bad about the careers he ended and he just said that back then, all you got for doing that was pride and respect, it was another era, one in which we didn’t know just how damaging hits to the head could be… It’s hard not to wonder what kind of careers Lindros and Kariya would have had if they hadn’t been run over by Stevens. Just think what Stevens would have done to say Jake Evans or Juraj Slafkovsky, the youngsters should count their blessings that hockey as evolved.
And that’s how a boring game turned into a great Saturday night, one in which I even got to wear a Stanley Cup Ring, thanks to Benoit Brunet. The Canadiens will be back on the ice tomorrow night as they’ll host Tyler Toffoli and the Flames at the Bell Center.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»