Hockey World Loses a Legend

Jean Beliveau has passed away at the age of 83. It is impossible to describe how much #4 meant to the Montreal Canadiens and their fans. Even though I was never able to see him play live, my father would entertain me with stories about watching the Hall of Famer. Beliveau won 10 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens, scored 507 goals and finished with 1,219 points between 1950 -1971.  He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, two years earlier than the traditional three year waiting period.

I was fortunate enough to meet stick-handling legend. I was 8 years old and he was on a book tour promoting his biography Jean Beliveau My Life In Hockey at the Lynden Park Mall in Brantford, Ontario. My father had bought his book but was unable to make the signing. In his place my mother, sister and I waited patiently in line to get the book signed. I remember my mom telling me that I would be the one who would approach Mr. Beliveau which scared me to death. I watched as each person in front of me got their copies signed and walked off with huge grins on their faces. I don't really recall what exactly was going through my head as I walked up to the legendary #4 himself, but I do remember the very first thing he did was extend his hand to me and smile. At that point all fear vanished. I will remember that handshake until the day I die and that was the first thought that came to my mind when I heard the tragic news late Tuesday night. The hockey world has lost a legend, a great ambassador and an even greater man.

Jean Beliveau - August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014

Here is a video of Beliveau scoring the fastest Stanley Cup winning goal in history in Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks, May 1st, 1965

The Habs So Far

We are now 26 games into the regular season and I think we have seen enough of this team to evaluate them. The 2014-2015 Montreal Canadiens are very much a Jekyll and Hyde team. When they play well, they look like they belong near the top of the league. Unfortunately when they lose, they lose big. After winning six in a row, the Habs dropped a 5-0 road game against the less than impressive looking New York Rangers, then dropped both games in a home and home against last place Buffalo.  On Monday night the Habs were able to get back in the win column with a less than impressive 4-3 win against the surging Colorado Avalanche.

           

 Lets start with the positives. The Canadiens possess one of the deepest offensive units in the league and can roll four lines that can make the opposition pay. Max Pacioretty has appeared to heat up offensively and Alex Galchenyuk continues to make improvements. (Even if he has hit a bit of a cold streak) The newly resigned Branden Gallagher remains a throne in the opposition’s side and while producing valued offense and Thomas Plekanec remains  good old reliable Thomas Plekanec.

             

The off season acquisitions to the Canadiens have also pay big dividends for the team. P.A. Parenteau has proven to a clutch player scoring timely goals, Tom Gilbert has been an staple on defense (pay no mind to his haters) and Manny Malhotra has done exactly what he was asked to do. Malholtra leads the NHL in face-off wins and his success has seemed to rub off on the other Habs centres. The jury still remains out on Sergei Gonchar, Bryan Allen and Eric Tangradi until they have played more games.

           

 Now to the negatives; Man is that defense old.  That was clearly evident Monday night in Denver when the speedy Avalanche forwards flew right past the Montreal defense.  That aging defense looked their age out there. I will admit that it is a bit disconcerting that management relies so much on the likes of Gonchar, Allen and Gilbert while Nathan Beaulieu, Jared Tinordi and Greg Pateryn languish in the AHL. You have to believe that those guys will start to wear down as the season goes on.

             

Another concern is the play of PK Subban. While he is by no means playing poorly, he is playing very un-Subban like. He has gotten off to a less than stellar offensive start and the hope is that he can start to heat up, as the games get more important. 

             

As of December 3^rd  the Montreal Canadiens sit 2^nd in the Atlantic Division with 36 points with a 17-7-2 record. All in all I think their positive record is reflective of the way the team has played, but the opposition continues to make ground. The Lightning sit one point ahead while the Red Wings and Maple Leafs continue to surge and you can never count out the Bruins.  

Up next is the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.       

Canadiens Rout Bruins 5-1

BREAKING NEWS! 

The Montreal Canadiens have scored a powerplay goal! 

Canadiens fans were beginning to think they would never score on the powerplay again. What a game to do it in too. This was by far the Canadiens most all around, complete game this season and it couldn’t have come against a better opponent in a 5-1 rout of the archrival Boston Bruins.

As is tradition by this point, the Habs came out in the first period slow, allowing the Bruins to score the games first goal on the PP. Dougie Hamilton blasted a knucklepuck past Carey Price, who had no chance at stopping it. Montreal began to take the game back slowly after that and had a couple of great chances before the period ended.

After the intermission however, it was a game between boys and men. Dale Weise, who was playing his first game against Boston since the Lucic handshake incident last spring, tied the game up for the Canadiens on a penalty shot. He also added an assist and a fight to the score sheet to complete the Gordie Howe Hat trick. This was easily Weise’s best game as a Canadien.

The Canadiens poured it one from there on and dominated the Bruins on the scoreboard as well as in the physicality department.  Dale Weise leveled Gregory Cambell with a clean check and then pounded him to the ice with no effort at all when Campell took exception to the hit. PK Subban made Milan Lucic look like a pansy when the Bruins power foreword refused to be drawn into a fight with the Habs’ best defenseman.

The Canadiens were able to able to play their speed and transition game against the lifeless Bruins, who have appeared to have lost their “Big Bad Bruins” identity.  Coming off a 6-1 dismantling at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before, the Bruins were hoping to get back on track and prove that the Canadiens are not in their heads. Is this what the post-Chara Bruins will look like, or was this a case of exhaustion for the Bruins, who were playing their third game in four nights?

Lost in all the post game hype was the debut of Sergi Gonchar in a Canadiens uniform. The 40 year old veteran looked like his younger self, playing almost 20 minutes on the Habs backend and adding some much needed structure to the Canadiens powerplay.

Jiri Sekac continues to show he blongs in the lineup, scoring a PP goal and using to speed and size to his advantage. Lars Eller also scored his third goal in as many games and has seemed to gain new life with the addition of Sekac to the third line, after the demotion of Rene Bourque. That Canadiens third line has become the heart and soul of the team.

Carey Price had a rare quiet night, facing just 22 shots, to earn his 10^th win of the season.

Max Pacioretty also scored twice in the win.

Up next the Canadiens host the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.

Canadiens Earn Two Wins in Busy Week

So much has happened over the last couple of days in the world of Habs news. First the Canadiens earned a huge two points Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. For the first time in what has felt like a lifetime, the Canadiens controlled and play and came away with a comfortable 4-1 win. The Canadiens started the first period slow, a reoccurring theme in this early season, but got their act together and took control of the game in the second and third periods to post back to back wins.

Then on Monday the Canadiens finally decided to deal with the Rene Bourque conundrum by placing the enigmatic forward on waivers then assigning him with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Higher expectations were placed on Bourque this season after he broke out in last years playoffs, scoring eight goals and eleven points. However Bourque had only recorded 2 assists in 13 games so far this year which made GM Marc Bergevin's decision painfully easy. I have always thought Bourque possessed all the tools to become a dominant player in the league. When he wants to be, he is strong, fast and has a great shot but for some reason he could not take advantage of those skills. I don't know whether it is a attitude issue or what but hopefully, for his sake he can use this situation as a learning experience and get his game back on track. 

Marc Bergevin wasn't done with his roster moves. On Tuesday the Canadiens moved another under performing forward, Travis Moen, to the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Sergi Gonchar. On the surface this seems like a strictly salary trade. Moen is signed for another year at $1.85 million, while Gonchar is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.  I do not hate this trade as much as other Habs fans. The guys over at SB Nation Eyes On The Prize have published an article explaining how Gonchar cannot help the Habs.

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2014/11/11/7194977/sergei-gonchar-trade-canadiens-travis-moen-habs-powerplay

It is worth the read even though I disagree. While Gonchar is a shell of his former self, he cannot hurt the Canadiens' abysmal power play which ranks 28th in the league. As long as Michel Therrien doesn't rely too much on Gonchar I think he could help the struggling Habs power play.

Tuesday night saw the Canadiens, minus the newly acquired Gonchar  take on the red hot Winnipeg Jets. The Jet came into the game with eight points in eight games. The Canadiens entered the contest looking to extend their win streak to three games. Despite PK Subban playing one of his worst games of the season and the power play still refusing to click, Carey Price was on his game once again and earned his first shutout of the season stopping all 29 Jets shots. Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens who take on the Boston Bruins Thursday night.

Habs Grind One Out Vs. Sabres

It has been a tough couple of weeks for Canadiens fans. I will admit that I have not been able to bring myself to write about them in this slump. It's depressing. It's not that they were just losing, they were losing in spectacular fashion. The team refused to show up for home games against the Flames and the Blackhawks, leaving the Bell Centre uncharacteristically quiet.

Michel Therrien has been criticized for his lineup choices, most prominently sitting Jiri Sekac in favour of veterans Travis Moen,  Dale Weise and Rene Bourque. You have to feel a little sorry for the 22 year old Czech native. He reportedly picked the Canadiens from a list of 12 suitors, had a tremendous training camp and scored his first goal in from of his cheering family. His was rewarded for this by being sent to the press box for seven straight games.

Well last night Sekac finally made his way back into the lineup against the Buffalo Sabres. Taking his place in the press box was Rene Bourque. Bourque has not been awful, he has had his chances, but he just seems to be a player where offense goes to die.

To be honest, there is not a whole lot to say in regards to the Buffalo game. It was incredibly boring. The team played with zero intensity and at times the Canadiens made the Sabres look like a legitimate playoff team. It is understandable to come out slow in the second game of back to backs but you would think that the Canadiens would want to come out flying against a weaker opponent to get themselves out of this funk. However, the Canadiens offense sputtered and if not for some heroics by Tokarski, they would have lost.

Word has also come out that Jiri Sekac will not receive a call from the Department of Player Safety for his check from behind on Sabres Defenseman Nikita Zardov. This is surprising to me. Sekec is not a dirty player but that hit was. Zardov was cut on the play and had to leave the game for a bit. However Sekac only received a two minute minor for boarding. Sufficed to say, the next meeting between these clubs may get interesting.

There were some positives that came out of this win. One was that the Canadiens continue to excel in the shootout. Another was that P.A. Parenteau came up clutch once again. That trade for Daniel Briere keeps on looking like a absolute steal for the Habs.

Next game up is a tough one against Minnesota on Saturday.

Canadiens' Win Streak stopped In Edmonton

Well that was a stinker. After a character 3-1 win Saturday over the Rangers, the Canadiens dropped the first game of their Western Canada road trip.

The Canadiens came out strong against the Oilers but could not capitalize early. The Oilers did a great job of blocking shots and had their key players step up to hand Montreal only their second loss this season and ended their 4 game winning streak. The Oilers themselves extended their own winning streak to four games and have seemed to erase their poor start to the season to re-inject some hope back into their long suffering but patient fan base. Ben Scrivens stopped everything he saw with 29 saves tonight.

If the Canadiens want to remain atop the Eastern Conference and establish themselves as a legitimate contender they have to improve on their power play. The Habs went 0-4 and their power play % is 23rd in the league with 11.5%. That is unacceptable.

To state the obvious, this road trip has not started out the way Habs fans had hoped. Things don't get any easier for the Canadiens as they travel to Calgary to face the Flames Tuesday night.

  

Alex Galchenyuk poised for breakout year

There has been speculation that if the 20 year old Milwaukee, Wisconsin native had not missed all but eight games for Sarina in his draft year due to a knee injury, he would have been taken first overall. I don't know how true that is but watching Alex Galchenyuk so far this season, it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.

Galchenyuk has started the season with points in six of the Canadiens first seven games so far is a on a point per game (ppg) pace. He looks like a completely different player on the ice compared to last year. He is more confident, aggressive and stronger and has finally shown Canadiens fans the game breaking ability we all hoped for when he was drafted third overall. Last year we saw glimpses of Galchenyuk's potential, he started out with a similar point pace as this year, however as the season wore on he struggled, he lacked confidence and ultimately fell into injury trouble.

This year, however, Canadiens fans are being treated to something special. This is Galchenyuk's coming out party. If any proof is needed look no further than his late game heroics in Montreal's 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings this past Tuesday. With just over three minutes to go in a 1-0 game, Galchenyuk shook off Red Wings defender Kyle Quincy, who had been shadowing him all night, like he was a peewee defender to score on a clueless Jimmy Howard with a wrap around to tie the game. No one saw that from the young American last season, where questions about his strength persisted. This season Galchenyuk seems determined to establish himself as one of the Canadien's most dangerous offensive weapons.

 Coach Michel Terrien on Galchenyuk after Tuesday's win,

"Galchenyuk competes really hard. That's the reason he scored that goal. The kid's got character; this is what we like about him."

The kid even has ice in his veins,

 "My job was to get that puck and put it on net, and his job was not letting me do it. I got the best of that, but that game's over and to be honest I already forgot about it."

That is Galchenyuk when asked about his game tying goal against Detroit.

So what is a realistic prediction for Galchenyuk for this year? 50 points? 60? is 70 too high? I would say realistic expectations would be 55+ points but I don't think 70 is impossible.  


As a side note, many Canadiens fans seem anxious to move Galchenyuk to his natural centre position as soon as possible but I think that it can wait. Let the kid flourish, get stronger and gain more confidence on the wing.  Allow him to become that ppg player the Canadien's believe they have drafted. Then when the Canadien's feel that they are confident enough with Galchenyuk, they can move one of their centres and give him the reigns.