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In Hainsight: How Things Change... |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
On July 7th 2021, the Canadiens lost game five of the Stanley Cup final and their bid to collect a 25th cup died. At the same moment, three careers came to an end for all intents and purposes. Captain Shea Weber would never play another game in the NHL, star goaltender Carey Price would attempt a comeback but just couldn’t live with the pain anymore and Swiss knife extraordinaire Paul Byron would only play 27 more games in the NHL before calling it quits because of hip issues.
The loss of Weber and Price sent the franchise into turmoil as they were the foundation of the team built by Marc Bergevin, and without them the general manager and coach drowned and were fired the following season. Two years on, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Allen, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are the sole survivors of the Tricolore’s last participation to the playoffs.
Last night, I watched Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast and he was interviewing Georges Laraque who had spoken to a Canadiens’ scout on his way back from the draft in Nashville. Laraque challenged the scout about the Canadiens’ decision not to select Matvei Michkov and Big George broke it down for Marinaro’s public. In short, there were two reasons, firstly, the organization believes that defense wins championships and secondly, Michkov raised red flags from a team culture standpoint, the words “rotten apple” were even used in the podcast.
Marinaro took issue with the explanation, not because of the team culture aspect, but rather because of the affirmation that defense wins championship. The host recalled that when the new leadership was appointed, both Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis were clear that they wanted the Canadiens to be a more offensive minded side, a puck possession team. For Marinaro those affirmations could not be reconciled with Montreal’s selection.
I really enjoy Marinaro’s podcast, I find him very articulate, and I like the way he presents his points, but I don’t always agree with him. The defense corps that the Canadiens’ brass is attempting to build right now fits perfectly well with the team’s new offense mindset. This new regime is lightyears away from the type of defense Bergevin and co. preached for.
Bergevin wanted big punishing defensemen which were hard to play against and emphasis was put on that. It was never clearer than when he traded the very mobile and creative Subban for the big stay at home Weber. Under the current leadership, the Canadiens selected Lane Hutson, a defenseman who weighs in at a very modest 158 pounds. Why did they do that? Because of his offensive flair, in an ideal world, Hutson would develop and turn into the next Cale Makar.
Picking David Reinbacher at the last draft follows the same line of thinking. While he only put up 22 points in 46 Swiss National League games, he showed at development camp that he’s not a stay-at-home defenseman. His pairing with Lane Hutson was spectacular and very offensive minded. It’s also worth noting that the year he was drafted by the Nashville Predators, Roman Josi only put up 8 points in 35 games in the Swiss National League. The following year, he totaled 24 points in 42 games. Nowadays, the Preds captain is a safe bet for at least 60 points a season, he even reached 96 points the year before last. Point is, when a player is drafted, he’s a work in the making. Reinbacher has said that he wants to focus on improving his offensive game and there’s no reason to doubt that he’ll be able to.
Bottom line, saying that defense wins championships doesn’t mean that a team will solely focus on that aspect of the game and that’s been amply demonstrated by the type of blue liners Hughes and co. are seeking and using. I for one look forward to seeing how the Canadiens’ new look defense shakes up once the more promising prospects are ready to graduate, and I firmly believe that it will be instrumental in helping this team improve its offense. Mobile blue liners who excel in transition are an integral part of an effective attack like the one Kent Hughes wants his Canadiens to have.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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