Montreal Canadiens

[ericdaoust]

Even in a season as bad as this one there are still glimpses of what this team is capable of. This was a good effort by the Habs against a playoff team that resulted in a win after what seemed like a couple thousand shootout attempts each side.

There was some pretty bizarre line-juggling at the beginning where all four lines were different and these combos kept changing throughout the first period. I was distracted at times so I didn't keep track of specific lines later in the game but it was strange to say the least. There is no reason to change the top line.

Louis Leblanc is showing why he really is a gem. He is very tenacious in the offensive zone and is always getting involved in traffic. He scored a goal and four shots in 15 minutes.

PK Subban was up to 26 minutes and very involved physically. He and Josh Gorges did great work on the back end.

Lars Eller had a decent roto game to add to his weird goal from the blue line, which was a terrible read by MA Fleury.

For those who have followed since I started covering last year, we've been through this with Mathieu Darche before. For short stretches he can heat up offensively as his all-around game fits in well alongside skill players. In deep roto leagues he is worth a look for the next week or two.

[ericdaoust]

Some news from TSN Ice Chips:

The team recalled F Aaron Palushaj from Hamilton (AHL) on Wednesday. He will be available for Thursday's game at the New York Islanders. - Team Release

F Travis Moen is missing from practice. His wife Amy gave birth to a baby girl this morning. However, he will be heading to Long Island with the team this afternoon.

D Yannick Weber is out with a lower body injury suffered late in regulation last night against Pittsburgh, when he was hip-checked by Chris Kunitz.

F Michael Blunden underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out four to six weeks. He suffered the knee injury last Thursday against the Devils, on a hit from behind by Patrick Elias. - TSN

I suspect the only lineup change will be Palushaj suiting up in favour of Weber.

[ericdaoust]

Also, a French article comparing Louis Leblanc to Antoine Vermette:

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/334901.html

If he can bring those assets to the table he'll be a fine NHL player.

[ross10019]

Starting to salivate a little over who the Canadiens might be abel to pick up in the 1st round in June. Check out McKenzie's breakdown: http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=387177

A Grigorenko could fall to the Habs, conceivably, but more than likely it would be one of the good Dmen, Dumba, Trouba, Rielly, Reinhart. Or possibly Galchenyuk.

As far as D, a big kid like Griffin Reinhart might be a good add, with all the more offensive / mobile dmen we have in the system.

As far as forwards, wouldn't it be nice for a biggish skilled Cman like Grigorenko to fall to us.

Or we do it right and manage to secure 29th spot (impossible to beat Columbus to 30th) and go for the lottery win and Nail!

Then again, we haven't had all that much good luck with Russians over the years...

[ericdaoust]

Starting to salivate a little over who the Canadiens might be abel to pick up in the 1st round in June. Check out McKenzie's breakdown: http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=387177

A Grigorenko could fall to the Habs, conceivably, but more than likely it would be one of the good Dmen, Dumba, Trouba, Rielly, Reinhart. Or possibly Galchenyuk.

As far as D, a big kid like Griffin Reinhart might be a good add, with all the more offensive / mobile dmen we have in the system.

As far as forwards, wouldn't it be nice for a biggish skilled Cman like Grigorenko to fall to us.

Or we do it right and manage to secure 29th spot (impossible to beat Columbus to 30th) and go for the lottery win and Nail!

Then again, we haven't had all that much good luck with Russians over the years...

A lot will depend on what the team does at the deadline. I hope management and ownership realize that this season is a lost cause and sell expiring contracts instead of stupidly gunning for 10th place. Right now their pick can fall anywhere between 2 and 10. That is such a wide range that I can't really pin a name to the Habs in the draft. With Subban, Gorges, Tinordi and Beaulieu in the system I think the Habs need more help up front but any good prospect is a good addition for the team.

[ericdaoust]

Revisiting the Pouliot/Latendresse trade, it appears as though both teams gained very little. Pouliot has moved on to another team while Latendresse is likely done for the season after only 16 games. He only played 11 games last year. That's Markov-esque.

[grindin griers]

Revisiting the Pouliot/Latendresse trade, it appears as though both teams gained very little. Pouliot has moved on to another team while Latendresse is likely done for the season after only 16 games. He only played 11 games last year. That's Markov-esque.

I will say that Lats was more productive for MN than Pouliot was for MTL, but it looks like in the end, like you say, that very little was gained. My suspicion is that Lats will most likely not be qualified by MN at the end of the season.

[ericdaoust]

I will say that Lats was more productive for MN than Pouliot was for MTL, but it looks like in the end, like you say, that very little was gained. My suspicion is that Lats will most likely not be qualified by MN at the end of the season.

Latendresse did show more glimpse of becoming a good NHL player but neither one was doing anything on their teams so it was a gamble worth taking on both sides. Both of them failed to develop enough to make the other team look silly.

[grindin griers]

Latendresse did show more glimpse of becoming a good NHL player but neither one was doing anything on their teams so it was a gamble worth taking on both sides. Both of them failed to develop enough to make the other team look silly.

Yeah, I agree. I would have liked to see a healthy Lats this year in MN because there was a lot of good news that he came into the season in shape but unfortunately that still didn't prevent him from missing most of the season. He would have been a good net presence on the top line, like he showed in the games that he was playing. But, injuries are all a part of the game and we will never know what could have happened and I don't think Lats will get another opportunity in MN.

[ericdaoust]

Yeah, I agree. I would have liked to see a healthy Lats this year in MN because there was a lot of good news that he came into the season in shape but unfortunately that still didn't prevent him from missing most of the season. He would have been a good net presence on the top line, like he showed in the games that he was playing. But, injuries are all a part of the game and we will never know what could have happened and I don't think Lats will get another opportunity in MN.

I think Lats gets brought back, for the simple reason that there isn't much else in the stable and this is a chance to re-sign him without having to give him a raise. It's a reclamation project that they are already familiar with, and it won't cost much on the cap.

[grindin griers]

I think Lats gets brought back, for the simple reason that there isn't much else in the stable and this is a chance to re-sign him without having to give him a raise. It's a reclamation project that they are already familiar with, and it won't cost much on the cap.

See, I don't know about the, "for the simple reason that there isn't much else in the stable." Their top six, while not sexy, will still be a little crowded next year. They have Heatley, Koivu, Seto, PMB (well depends on his concussion situation too), Cullen, Grandlund will most likely be a second liner. And Lats doesn't fit into the bottom six system in MN. I also think they will pursue a top six forward in FA too. They do have several different options that could make room, but I think they are tired of the injuries.

[ericdaoust]

Gomez scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and the Habs won too.

Unfortunately I missed the entire first period but it's a good thing I made it home on time for history to be made. One year and four days after his last goal, Scott Gomez scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. You can't make this shit up.

Oh, and Pacioretty scored a hat trick too. The top line was dominant once again. Patches had 10 shots and Erik Cole added five. The team had 31 total shots. So two players accounted for half of the team's shots.

Josh Gorges and PK Subban were excellent and finished plus-2 apiece.

Someone needs to call Alexei Emelin's agent and start negotiations ASAP.

Mathieu Darche didn't have any points but had a ton of chances. He and Moen played 20 minutes at Tomas Plekanec's wing.

Carey Price was outstanding. A couple tough ones went in at the end but he played an awesome game overall.

In case you didn't know yet, Scott Gomez scored a goal.

[ross10019]

Was at the game tonight. Solid input from Eric. To supplement:

1. Price made some fantastic stops. Man is he calm, cool and collected back there. When he is on, he is very very tough to beat with the net he covers. In my mind only Rinne is in the same league in that regard.

2. Patches was all over the place, and up close his speed is something to behold for such a big player. Will love to see this guy dominate for years. 10SOG, and it's becoming ho hum.

3. Cole is a BEAST. And I mean not just on the scoresheet, but in the intangibles and leadership as well. Third period. It's 3-0 Habs with less than 4 minutes to go in the 3rd. Many players would be mailing it in. Not Cole. He DIVES HEAD FIRST at the blueline while forechecking, keeps the puck in the zone, feeds MaxPac for one of his 10 shots. This is the stuff that doesn't show up on the scoresheet or the TSN highlight reel, but it speaks volumes. Is anyone questioning the signing now? Where are all the hyena-ish squeals of laughter? Where are all the naysayers? Where are all the guys who conveniently focused on his one non-Carolina stint in Edmonton to predict the outcome? Eric Cole has proven you all dead wrong, and then some.

4. I was with 3 Montrealers at centre ice behind the Habs bench, and after Gomez scored 2 of our guys received iphone clips of RDS shots showing us celebrating the goal. Too funny.

5. Remember the name Keanu Hilaire, a 16 year old 6'2 185 Dman playing for the Laval/Mtl Midget AAA team. Met his dad at the game tonight. Let's hope we see him in the NHL oh 5 or 6 years from now. A bruising stay at home D type. Next stop hopefully Connecticut prep school and then who knows. Good luck kid!

Gomez scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and the Habs won too.

Unfortunately I missed the entire first period but it's a good thing I made it home on time for history to be made. One year and four days after his last goal, Scott Gomez scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. You can't make this shit up.

Oh, and Pacioretty scored a hat trick too. The top line was dominant once again. Patches had 10 shots and Erik Cole added five. The team had 31 total shots. So two players accounted for half of the team's shots.

Josh Gorges and PK Subban were excellent and finished plus-2 apiece.

Someone needs to call Alexei Emelin's agent and start negotiations ASAP.

Mathieu Darche didn't have any points but had a ton of chances. He and Moen played 20 minutes at Tomas Plekanec's wing.

Carey Price was outstanding. A couple tough ones went in at the end but he played an awesome game overall.

In case you didn't know yet, Scott Gomez scored a goal.

[ericdaoust]

Has there been a UFA signing that has ever worked out better for the Habs than Cole? At 4.5 million that's a steal. His level of play might drop off as he ages but with the way he plays he'll be a contributor from start to finish. He never stops!

[ross10019]

Has there been a UFA signing that has ever worked out better for the Habs than Cole? At 4.5 million that's a steal. His level of play might drop off as he ages but with the way he plays he'll be a contributor from start to finish. He never stops!

He has been amazing on so many levels. At the game last night, we were 7 or so rows behind the Habs bench, and on one occasion you saw Cole come off the ice and kind of throw up his hands at Cunneyworth as if to say "it's like I've been telling you". But it wasn't a primadonna thing or anything, it was obviously Cole trying to help Cunneyworth resolve some issues, maybe with one of the younger players, or maybe in terms of some on-ice strategy. Anyway, it was pretty cool. Gill also is quite vocal back there, you can easily tell the leadership skills these guys have, and it's so obvious that they are both so well-respected by their teammates, especially the younger guys.

Also great to see Desharnais up close, man is he perfect for Cole and Pacioretty, the pass to Patches on his 2nd goal was a beauty, perfect little dropper through a few legs and Pacioretty fired without a moment's hesitation.

Did notice though that they had Plekanec taking some D-zone faceoffs instead of Desharnais, so looks like Cunneyworth trying to maximize Desharnais' offensive zone starts, and this may explain why Desharnais' total icetime tends to be lower than one would think for a 1st line centerman. It makes some sense to me, at least until Desharnais can improve on the D side of things, right now Plekanec is much better and more experienced in that area and still a better faceoff man although Desharnais isn't far behind.