A Unique Situation

     The Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a very unique situation this summer, and it happens to be one that the media can't stop talking about, and many other teams likely envy. As the Canadiens close in on clinching a playoff spot, the talk is uniformly about which goaltender should be resigned or traded in the summer, or in fact if it would be more beneficial to keep them both for at least another year. Since the calendar changed over to 2010, and to some even before then, it is beyond clear that Jaroslav Halak is the man in goal this season. Price hasn't played terrible, he hasn't even been bad, in fact his save percentage would put him into the starting job on most NHL teams, but a combination of not being able to win games for a litany of reasons and Halak playing unbelievably brilliant has relegated him to the backup role for awhile at least.

     The idea of trading one of the two goaltenders has been bandied about all season, but I tend to agree with JT over on The H Does Not Stand For Habs, as she writes that even with the expected salary increase for Jaroslav Halak, the cap hit for Price may actually go down with an increase to his base salary, but no more rookie bonuses. She estimates his cap hit next season to be approximately $1-1.5 million, likely on a 1 or 2 year deal, similar to Tuukka Rask. It remains to be seen if Price's agent is a bit more savvy than Rask's but if that's what we can get Price for, trading either goalie at this point is absolute insanity. The going rate for a veteran backup in the NHL is around $1 million per season, so adding in another 500,000 in cap hit to have another year to look at these two goalies and solidify the future of the organization is one of the best deals in sports. Although I disagree with JT that we could keep both of them for 2-3 more year, 1 year more would be very doable and very beneficial.

     The question I have for everyone reading this however, is whether the media is correct in focusing our attention entirely on the goalies. Are they really our more pressing issue going into the off season? Personally, I don't think so. I've heard many people say that Halak should be the organization's #1 priority as soon as the season is over, and Price after him, followed by Plekanec. I find this to be a completely wrong way to look at things. Certainly the first thing Pierre Gauthier should  do is tender qualifying offers to all RFAs, including the goalies, but as far as priorities go among signing players I would rank both goalies behind Plekanec, Pouliot, and even Sergei Kostitsyn. My reasoning for this is that for all three of Plekanec, Pouliot and Sergei, we don't have a player in the organization who can step up and do their jobs. However with both goalies, although annoying and unadvisable, it would not be catastrophic to the team if either one left as long as the other was kept. Say for example that Price is signed to an offer sheet that isn't matched, the result is that we now will go into the season with an inferior backup, and we're stuck with a top end goaltending prospect in Halak, instead of two. Halak likely starts 65 instead of 55 games next year, and unless the unthinkable happens and he somehow turns into Jose Theodore, we're still solid.

     On the other hand, we certainly don't have another top 2 center in the organization to take the pressure off of Gomez, and the free agent market is barren. Keeping in mind that Plekanec is also an unrestricted free agent come July 1st, and he should absolutely be our #1 priority. Plekanec is also the player who will be taking up the most salary of all of our (hopefully) returning players, so signing him first to see where the club is at financially is paramount. Benoit Pouliot is also, at this point, irreplaceable within the organization. His size and scoring touch are both fairly unique among the Canadiens roster, and there is no one in Hamilton who is ready to take on his role. The only other player who may be ready to play a top 6 role on the team is another priority, and that's Sergei Kostitsyn. With his talent, tenacity, vision and defensive skill set, there's no better prospect in the Montreal system than Sergei Kostitsyn. Although he started out the season in Jacques Martin's doghouse, and still has trouble getting time on the powerplay, Sergei has become a defensive specialist playing on the third line with Moore and Moen. He plays a ton on the penalty kill and regularly lines up against the opposition's best players at even strength. Tom Pyatt may be able to adequately replace Sergei on the defensive side next season, but offensively he's not even close. Having a player or two with the ability to score on your third line as made the Canadiens much more difficult to play against in the second half.

     I don't want anyone to think that I don't value the goalies, because I do believe that of any one player on a hockey team the one who has the most control of the outcome is always the goalie, this is likely why the Vezina Trophy and Jack Adams Trophy are routinely handed out to personnel on the same team. All I'm saying is that even if we get screwed in the offseason in regards to one of our goaltenders, we happen to have another young goalie who has the ability to be a top 10 goaltender in this league. Clearly it is preferable to keep them both, but it's just more important to make sure we have the irreplaceable pieces signed before we worry too much about the tenders.

Images courtesy of habsinsideout.com/Montreal Gazette

Weighing Expectations

I've been trying all year to weigh my expectations when it comes to young PK Subban. As soon as he began to dominate the World Junior Hockey Championships in December of 2008 the mouths of Habs fans everywhere began to salivate. Many began to boast that we'd stolen the next Bobby Orr in the second round, while others cautioned not to overrate someone just because he was drafted as a Canadien. Some even went so far as to say he was a sure bust because of his lack of defensive skills in his own zone. For me I saw PK has a can't miss prospect, not yet NHL ready but when he is, will be a super star or near it for many years. However like all people with strong opinions I was slightly worried about how he would fair against tougher competition in the AHL. Halfway through the season both Subban and the Bulldogs are buzzing under the tutelage of Guy Boucher. Is PK Subban the next Bobby Orr and poised to take the NHL by storm at any moment? No, but he is likely the best player (not goaltender) drafted by the Canadiens since Tomas Plekanec, and the best defenseman since Andrei Markov.

Offensively Subban is exactly as reported by scouts. As a rookie PK Subban is the highest scoring defenseman, and 5th overall in rookie scoring with 9 goals, 18 assists and 27 points in 39 games. Even more impressive is that Subban is 2nd overall in scoring among defensemen in the AHL, only one point being Jonas Junland of Peoria. Subban is also tied for 1st overall in goals among all AHL defensemen. He's not one to pass up chances either, Subban happens to be tied for 38th overall in shots on goal in the AHL as well. This is all despite a fairly slow start for PK that saw him get only 3 assists his first 10 games, 6 points over the first 17, and only one goal to speak of over that period. The vast offensive improvement after this really speaks to how well Boucher has gotten Subban to adjust to the professional level.

Defensively coming into the season was where many a naysayer balked at PK Subban as a prospect. "He's too raw in his own zone" was the most common criticism. These criticisms were in spite of Subban leading the Belleville Bulls in plus/minus last season with a +47 mark over just 56 games. Many credited the powerhouse Belleville Bulls for his obscene numbers and the lack of defensive play at the junior level. Well it just to happens that Subban is second in the AHL in plus/minus this season with an amazing +22 after just 39 games. He was 1st for awhile before having an off game against Milwaukee where he went -3. I fully expect him to be 1st in plus/minus before long again as his play has been fantastic since mid-November.

Another knock on Subban coming into the season was that he was a soft player. Well his 45 penalty minutes put him near the top of the team on the Bulldogs, and indicate that he's maturing physically with several roughing calls and even a fight. In fact thus far in the season Subban's most impressive game was likely on December 31st against Detroit's farm team the Grand Rapids Griffins as he put up a goal, 2 assists, with 2 shots, a fight and a massive +4.

This kid is a damn good hockey player. He has the skills and attitude to be a superstar in the NHL and I can't see any reason why he won't be. I'm happy that Montreal is not treating PK the same way they have with Latendresse and Pacioretty in bringing them up too soon. I would like to see Subban stay in the AHL for the rest of this season as well as most of next year at the least to get him seasoned before breaking in as an NHL rookie. With dimensional speed and skating ability, an extremely solid yet average sized frame and offensive instincts similar to Mike Green of the Capitals, this kid is for real and I'm done holding back my excitement for him as a prospect.

NHL Officiating and Chris Lee

Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen as I believe this may be a long post. I was fortunate enough to attend last night's game against the Penguins at the Bell Centre in the best seats I've ever had. From right behind the Canadiens' bench I had a perspective I've never had before, unfortunately the game ended with a blown call on the part of Chris Lee and he was showered with the most merciless booing I've ever heard, or taken part in from the 21,273 plus those in luxury boxes who attended. The game ended in such frustrating fashion that I had to sleep on it before I started to right because I felt like this would come off as a whining piece from a poor sport instead of a well-thought-out article from a concerned fan, which is what I intend to present. As frustrating as that game was however, the reaction was so strong that for me at least, I knew it wasn't about just this game, and I believe it was the same feeling for most of the others in attendance, and the million or so Canadiens fans who were swearing at their televisions.

So far this season Montreal is 15-15-2 despite losing its best player before the first game of the season was over, and its second best scorer and winger 13 games ago. We've also had a variety of injuries plaguing the team over the entire 32 game schedule thus far. Having this record despite these obstacles leads me to believe that we have a very good team. 7 of the 15 regulation losses were by one goal, so this seems to support my view as well. Add to this that the Montreal Canadiens also have the fewest powerplay chances per game in the league, and the 4th most penalties called against them per game and you have to wonder how exactly we're getting scoring from this team at all. Every team faces obstacles during the season, but thus far the only team I see as comparable in the injury situation is the Edmonton Oilers, although they have 16 more powerplays than their 108 (7th least in NHL) times short handed. Initial reaction by those outside the Canadiens fan base is likely that the Canadiens are undisciplined while the Oilers are not. So a Pat Quinn team is more disciplined than a Jacques Martin team? Really? I can't fathom how this is possible.

The three teams that are averaging more penalties against per game this season than Montreal's 4.3125 are the Carolina Hurricanes, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Anaheim Ducks. It's interesting to me that these teams have been the worst three worst teams in the NHL over the last 10 games or so (although Florida and Columbus have worse records, Columbus' struggles have been almost entirely due to goaltending and Florida was not predicted to be a contender this season so I don't see their struggles to be as bad as these three teams). The Ducks and Flyers are both known to play a rough style trading off the penalties they get for the intimidation the infractions created. All three were expected to be cup contenders coming into the season, so frustration can also set in leading to bad plays, but what's the excuse for the Canadiens being in this group, and how do they compare? Montreal hasn't played Anaheim yet so that comparison is out, so let's look at the other two.

Against Carolina, in Montreal, we were ahead in chances after two periods after dominating the play in the second period. However despite even play in the third where Montreal tied the game, both calls went against the Canadiens. Then in overtime, a double minor against Spacek to give Carolina a 5-3 advantage in penalties. While from my memory I don't think any of the calls against us could be argued very well, especially Spacek's, I'm sure that under pressure for most of the last 40 minutes of regulation that a struggling and desperate team like Carolina likely got away with a ton of calls, especially as without Pitkanen their defensive corps is very slow and therefore likely to resort to illegal plays.

Against Philadelphia, in Montreal, the game was pretty listless as neither team really showed up. The game was even in penalties and called pretty fairly, both teams were allowed to play the game, letting a lot go. That was however until Montreal had a lead with a couple minutes left, when Josh Gorges was called on a phantom tripping penalty by Mike Leggo to give the Flyers an advantage for the rest of the game. This has been a startlingly frequent trend this season, it blew up on us against Washington the week before in a game we deserved to win that ended up a shootout loss. That game ended with the Flyers having a 4-3 advantage in penalties. Not exactly damning, but still not great. Keep in mind that we played Philadelphia at the height of their crap streak, a game after they had a 9 minute penalty kill that led to a blow out for Washington.

So facing the teams that draw the most penalties in the league, we can't seem to get a break. Are we really that bad? As I previously stated I don't believe this to be true, so what's going on here? Some interesting ideas have been raised, like the lack of a strong and persistent forecheck from the Canadiens means less sustained pressure, and therefore less of a chance to draw penalties. This idea sounds like a good explanation, but I don't like it based on what I've seen personally. We clearly don't have the strongest forechecking in the league, but the line of Pacioretty - Metropolit - Moen especially has demonstrated that they can create sustain pressure on the forecheck and draw defenders into hooking, holding and tripping, it just rarely gets called. Some have said that due to a player like Lapierre being known as an agitator that penalties regularly never get called when someone does something to him, and Plekanec's increasing aggression as well as dirty play at times is having the same affect. This also sounds like a good one, but from what I've seen in my life watching the NHL, it's rarely the guy who makes the first dirty play that gets called, it's always the retaliation, and there's been a lot of uncalled retaliation against both players. Pure lack of discipline can explain why we're getting calls against us more often, but I'm not inclined to believe it, and I'm certainly not inclined to believe that it could account for the disparity of being shorthanded 44 times more than having the advantage.

Of course at this point there's the group of people that come out and say Gary Bettman hates Canadian teams, and none more than the Canadiens and is therefore giving the refs directives to call the games against the Canadiens. This kind of thinking is neither true, nor possible. There is no reason the Bettman or anyone involved to call the game in a way that hurts specifically Montreal. Would I believe that referees are asked to be a bit more lenient to the sunbelt franchises that are struggling to make a profit with losing franchises in terrible economies? Maybe, but again this is bordering on conspiracy theory talk and there's been no tangible, coherent evidence presented that I've seen to make me believe it. It also doesn't hold up to the facts to say that the refs hate the Canadiens. As pointed out by frequently frustrating but intelligent poster Chris, last year we had the 2nd most powerplays in the league, and the year before that we had a positive differential of 32 more powerplays than penalties against over 82 games. This year is clearly an anomaly for us. So if it isn't coming down from above, what's happening.

Referees have a difficult job, especially at the NHL level. The game is fast and no matter what they're hated and harassed. Because it's such a difficult job it makes it a lot easier to compartmentalize certain plays in your head and much like a goalie, react to the familiar, muscle memory if you will. From what I've seen watching hockey my whole life it takes a lot for a small player to draw a penalty. It seems like whenever someone under 6 feet tall is knocked over, it's attributed to the player either being weak or diving. This is especially evident if the player who knocks the smaller guy down is a big player. The is very similar to what some on the internet sarcastically dub "Pronger physics", as to how he's allowed to constantly elbow people in the face viciously, or hit them in the head and rarely if ever get suspended because he's taller than most players. Players like Daniel Briere don't help by being one of the most frequent divers in the NHL. Considering that Montreal is only small among it's top 6 forwards as compared to the rest of the league, and we have some massive bodies on the back end and on the bottom two lines, this shouldn't account entirely for the lack of drawing penalties, but there's more to the story.

Ever since Bob Gainey acquired Scott Gomez, and even more so since Cammalleri and Gionta were signed, the media has been repeating ad nauseam that this team was pint sized and way too small to compete in the NHL. I've heard it mentioned at least once between either OTR or Sportscenter every single week day this year. If you think this kind of repetition has no affect then I invite you to look into how propaganda works in politics from communist Russia to separatist Quebec. This idea of Montreal being a small team, despite the average height and weight of the team being above the NHL average, has gotten into the minds of every ref in the NHL, even the good ones. It's not something that has anything to do with Montreal, and it's not on purpose, but it's really hurting Montreal. It's become so ingrained around the league that we're a small team that even players who aren't small, like the Kostitsyns, Pacioretty and Moen are abused often without getting a call.

This is made even more dire because the opposite is also true about taking penalties. When a small players knocks over a big player, most refs in any hockey league will assume an illegal infraction has taken place. This isn't about favouritism or a conspiracy to destroy the great history of the Montreal Canadiens, it's about a subconscious assumption that all referees share to make their jobs a little more simple, which has ended up hurting the Canadiens big time so far this season. I don't blame the refs for this, but let's be honest here, this is inexcusable. Something has to be done instead of letting something innocent plague the team the rest of the season. Bob Gainey or Jacques Martin need to either say something to the director of officiating, or if that doesn't work, play the mind games like Ken Holland and say something in the media. There will be a fine, no doubt, but it needs to be done. Better yet, new owner Geoff Molson, who has a bit more clout as an owner, can rock the boat by addressing the media if speaking in private to NHL head honcho's doesn't work.

To illustrate how important this could be, with our current powerplay efficiency we would add 8 or 9 goals if we had drawn as many powerplays as penalties. With this team being involved in 9 one goal losses included our shootout losses, imagine how 9 extra goals could change the standings. Even if only 4 (half) of those ended up in a game where we lost by one in regulation, 4 more points this year would put us one point behind Boston for 5th in the Eastern conference. It would also make the Canadiens an even team in goals for and goals against with 91 each way. That's a big difference, especially in how the Canadiens are viewed around the league, one that needs to be recognized by Canadiens management, and we need to start playing the game off the ice as well as people like Ken Holland do.

CHRIS LEE

Now that my rational argument is done, it's time for me to say what I've wanted to say all day. Chris Lee needs to be fired by the NHL, or demoted to the AHL where he can't ruin games that matter. You can tell the NHL doesn't consider him to be a good ref due to the lack of playoff games he's refereed in his career, which is a whopping 4 since 1999. Was last night the worst game I've ever seen officiated? No. It probably isn't even the worst game I've seen Chris Lee officiate, but it's going to be remembered for a long time because the one really bad blown call happened at the worst possible time. Chris Lee will say he lost sight of the puck, even though the puck was out of site on many goalmouth scrambles around Carey Price all night and he refused to blow the whistle, and he was clearly out of position so it would make more sense to wait until he was IN position to make the call. Unfortunately the NHL has made it against league rules to speak negatively of the officials, the response being at least a $10,000 fine for coaches. I believe this rule has given an ego of being untouchable to many referees in the game today.

But this isn't why Lee should be fired, the bottom line is that he's an awful official. It was clear all game that he's more concerned about controlling the game than he is about paying attention. After Plekanec got in Malkin's face last night and they took coincidental minors, Matt Cooke started harassing Plekanec after every whistle. The most glaring of which was a blatant spear in the face with the butt of his stick which likely wasn't shown on television as it was right as the game was going to commercial break. The spear was right in front of Chris Lee, who was directing traffic instead of paying attention to his surroundings. It's true that whenever he referees a game with Montreal there seems to be a controversy, but whether he hates the Canadiens or not is irrelevant, he plays his favourites in every game and he's terrible. Every hockey fan that I know that keeps track of refs thinks Chris Lee hates their team. That's a big sign that he blows calls way too often. It's time to let Mr. Lee officiate at a level where he can keep up with the play, maybe Atom A?

ON THE DISALLOWED GOAL

The NHL needs to wake up and explain why the ref saying that he was meaning to blow the whistle is somehow enough of an excuse to disallow a goal that resulted from the puck being loose. It happens all the time, and one of the responses that I hear from referee apologists is that refs are human and humans make errors. Let them make errors, but on this kind of play there should be video review. We use it on every other kind questionable goal, but for some reason the NHL in its usual draconian fashion refuses to take a little bit of power away from the referees. Well if they're human and make mistakes, why don't we have checks and balances to make sure the right call is made? It's a simple review, much simpler than any others. If the goalie covers the puck at all, then it's no goal. If the whistle blew before the puck goes in the net, no goal. Last night Fleury made no attempt to cover the puck, which he admitted in a post-game interview, because he didn't know where it was. The puck slid between his blocker/stick along his right pad and out to Scott Gomez in front of the net before he knocked it in the net. The puck hit the mesh, and halfway back out of the net you hear the whistle go. If this play could be reviewed that would have been a goal without any doubt. Whether Chris Lee lost sight of the puck while he was out of position, not doing his job properly would be irrelevant, and the right call would have been made. It's so simple, but it won't be done because the NHL refuses to be proactive. What if this had been in the 7th game of a playoff series? Granted because it's the playoffs Chris Lee wouldn't be officiating, but many refs blow these kinds of calls. It's time to start making the correct call instead of the human call.

Second image courtesy of habsinsideout.com/Montreal Gazette

A Man Reborn

A lot of people have already done so, but I think it is time I officially give Tomas Plekanec some major credit this year. Those who communicate with me on a regular basis know I like Plekanec and have been impressed with him this year, but I haven't given him the kudos he's deserved yet.

Plekanec came into this year as an after-thought in my opinion. I thought after last year and how low his confidence was that he would be a poor excuse for a second line center, but boy was I wrong. After watching a couple preseason games I praised Gionta for making Plekanec look good and possibly lighting a fire under his butt, but again, I was totally wrong. Tomas Plekanec is his own worst critic, and that translated into him working his tail off this summer to be a better player. He came into camp in the best shape of his life and ready to prove himself all over again.

It has been talked about all season how Plekanec is playing better than he ever has, how he's become his own player after Kovalev's departure, but to understand how much better Plekanec has been this season I just want to look at one simple statistic; assists. Tomas had a terrible year last year but still managed 20 goals, very impressive for someone who's struggling, but only 19 assists over 80 games. For a guy penciled in as a #2 center coming into the season 19 assists is insanely low, so fans were right to be upset with his game. Over the offseason I questioned how good of a playmaker Plekanec is, thinking that perhaps a dominant powerplay and Kovalev's one good year in Montreal artificially inflated his statistics in 07-08. Tomas has quashed these thoughts in dramatic fashion, in fact he already has 19 assists this season, in 24 games. That means as far as passing goes, he's producing at almost FOUR times the rate as last year. Read that again if you don't believe it. What makes this even more amazing is that before tonight against Columbus, he hadn't played a full game with anyone who could really help him produce. He did most of his work with struggling linemates and on the powerplay.

If you're not already blown away by how well Tomas Plekanec has been passing the puck, allow me to throw out some comparisons. Plekanec is currently tied for 6th in the entire NHL in assists. Players who he happens to be tied with include Anze Kopitar, who's been lights out this season, Martin St. Louis, one of my favourite players and playing with Steven Stamkos, and Nicklas Backstrom, who happens to play with some guy you may have heard of named Alexander Ovechkin. While being tied with Kopitar and St. Louis is very impressive and certainly puts Plekanec in the elite level of playmakers in the league, the one that truly stands out to me is Backstrom. Plekanec has managed, without stable linemates, on an offensively inept (to this point) Montreal Canadiens team, to be tied with one of the best playmakers in the NHL in assists. He's managed to be tied with the guy who sets up the best goal scorer in the NHL. If that isn't amazing, I don't know what is.

Tomas Plekanec is the exact reason why players who have off seasons need to be given a second chance. He wants to play in Montreal and it shows. In analyzing just one aspect of his game I think anyone can tell that we need to keep Tomas long term. Let's hope that Bob Gainey feels the same way.

A Road Trip in Bullet Points

• As I said before the season even started, Max Pacioretty is not ready to play big minutes in the NHL, and is definitely not a dependable top six scorer.
• Georges Laraque looks like a much better player this season.
• Off the ice Georges Laraque is still every bit as pretentious and annoying as last season.
• Hal Gill is getting an unfair shake by the fans, he's slow, but look at Robert Lefebvre's breakdown of the Canadien's on the ice during the penalty kill.
• The penalty kill is atrocious, but getting better.
• Brian Gionta is better than Alex Kovalev.
• Carey Price is going to have a bounce back year, although the next week will likely be touch and go after the team abandoned him in his home coming.
• Aside from Vancouver, Montreal has been in every game, and we probably should be 4-1 right now instead of 2-3, eventually we're going to get the bounces and calls to go our way if the effort is maintained.
• When Mike Cammalleri finally does light the lamp, it will be followed by an explosion of offense. He's just too good to struggle much longer.
• Scott Gomez isn't going to be a point per game player, but he's good enough defensively to make up for it, and sometimes he creates plays and doesn't end up with credit on the scoreboard. Is he worth his salary? No, but I'm satisfied with his current play.
• Jacques Martin doesn't like young players very much. You can tell by many of his questionable coaching decisions in Edmonton that he would rather have a veteran like Laraque on the ice than someone who can score but is more of a risk in D'agostini.
• Paul Mara is surprisingly solid, and could be one of the steals of the summer.
• Fans need to remember that Spacek was expected to work the powerplay with Markov, not by himself, so expecting a 50-60 point season out of him is ridiculous.
• This team has more character throughout than last year's team.
• A 2-3-0 record with the Habs being in it 4/5 games on a five game road trip with an entirely new team, coaching staff and system, with Markov gone, is 100 times better than anyone expected this team to do.
• The two people who left in the off season that both fans and the media complained most about Gainey letting go, Kovalev and Komisarek, are having terrible starts with their new teams. Kovalev is disinterested and floating with untalented linemates, and Komisarek is a focal point in everything that's wrong with the 0-5-1 Leafs
• Bob Gainey is a better General Manager than Brian Burke, and he was completely right when he said that the Leafs were building a team that wasn't in line with the way the NHL is evolving, and it makes me grin an annoyingly arrogant grin.
• Andrei Kostitsyn is improving as the season gets older, and he'll still have a breakout year.
• Tomas Plekanec will be largely responsible for Andrei's breakout. His hard work all over the ice and renewed offensive confidence are excellent to see. The backhander in the dying seconds of the middle period against Calgary is something we never saw from Plekanec last year, he was trying too hard instead of following his instincts, which are that of an excellent player.
• We've currently alienated the top 6 forward missing from our lineup, and he's lingering in Hamilton awaiting a trade that likely won't happen. On the bright side, Washington had to SUE Alexander Semin to get him to play there, and look how that turned out.
• This may be a bit harsh, but Gregory Stewart is not an NHL player, and he never will be.
• Kyle Chipchura isn't as bad as his stats make him look, and his skating is better than most fans believe.
• Travis Moen is a third or fourth line player at best, and Martin needs to remember that and stop looking like Carbo. Moen played his best two games of the season on the fourth line, he's not suited to a scoring line.
• Scott Gomez thus far sucks at faceoffs, but he's averaged over 52% since the lockout, so this has to be an aberration, or he gets better as the season goes on.
• Paul Mara's beard is a better defenseman than Mike Komisarek
• Matt D'agostini is a scorer, not a grinder, he needs to be on a scoring line in order to be effective. Eight minutes a game with Kyle Chipchura doesn't help him look good.
• Latendresse should probably get a look on one of the top two lines, he's been good on the powerplay thus far and his puck control along the boards is improved.
• Latendresse needs to stop that stupid wraparound move he does every time he goes behind the net. Every goalie expects a wraparound. You've only scored on it once Gui, and that was against Kari Ramo, not exactly an elite goalie.
• As much as I get frustrated when the Canadiens lose a winnable game, I find it humourous that the same people who are lauding Gainey as a genius after two overtime wins call him an utter failure after one bad game in Vancouver.
• As of right now, the Montreal Canadiens are playing better than the Boston Bruins, despite a tougher schedule and more obstacles to overcome. Suck it Boston.
• Mike Cammalleri has had seasons of 53, 54, 54, and 60% in the faceoff dot, and is at 61.5% this year so far. Why isn't he taking more faceoffs?
• Speaking of faceoffs, as much as fans and those in the media such as Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette and Habsinsideout.com (the best site on the internet btw) have been trashing Kyle Chipchura for his defensive play thus far, he's 11 and 5 on the faceoff dot in three games. That's good for 68.8% and best on the Canadiens. It's also a whopping 30% better than Glen Metropolit in that category. With linemates not named Georges Laraque and Greg Stewart, it's very likely that Kyle Chipchura could be a very good 4th line center.
• The defense are going to take a longer time to adjust to the new system than the forwards, especially with Markov and O'Byrne gone.
• Tom Pyatt deserves a shot on the 4th line with the big club, and Greg Stewart should be sent down even before Pacioretty. Patches can at least play on the third and fourth line and not be a liability, Stewart.... not so much.
• Jaroslav Halak is better than he was against Calgary, and deserves another start soon, but not before Price plays a couple more games to get his groove back.
• Spacek is better defensively than I remember him being when I watching him during Edmonton's playoff run.
• We're the only team to have beaten a strong looking Buffalo team, that just shellacked the Detroit Red Wings.
• The NHL's scheduling this year SUCKS. Somedays we have 15 games, and others we have none. How can it be that unbalanced when it's supposed to be compressed? If the NHL complains about the olympic break, then makes scheduling blunders like this, who'd really to blame?
• Brian Gionta is still going to be the next captain of the Canadiens.
• The Montreal Canadiens will make the playoffs.

If All Else Fails Part 2: Free Agents

On to the second and final part of this rundown of what the Canadiens could do to shore up the defense now that Markov and O'Byrne have gone down. There are several free agents out there that are available, and even some that are heavily rumoured to be in contract talks with the Canadiens, or have at least offered their services. Let's take a look at the players available and what they would bring to our team.

Marc-Andre Bergeron

Pros: I lived in northern Alberta from 1998-2005, and went back there from May to August from 2005-2007, so I've actually seen Bergeron play a lot when he was with Edmonton, while my experience watching him is a bit old, I've asked around and apparently he hasn't changed much. Bergeron has a wicked shot, an absolute rocket. Possibly better than Yannick Weber's shot as far as power goes. Bergeron is also a very good skater, he brings speed and acceleration above the average on our defensive corps right now. He has a fairly good pass, but not elite, shooting is where he makes his money. He would undoubtedly contribute on the powerplay, that's his bread and butter. Bergeron is also a Quebecer, so it would be very appreciated by the Francophone members of the media to have another player to interview, as well as the Francophone fans watching on RDS to see the opinion of another player.

Cons: And there are some big ones! While his shot is extremely hard, it is also wildly inaccurate. I can't even count how many times I've seen Bergeron tee up for a massive shot, with no bodies in the way, and miss the net by 12 feet only to see the puck bounce off the boards and out of the zone on a powerplay. If Habs fans found Mike Komisarek's constant shooting into a player's shin pads frustrating, wait until you see this shot cause multiple 2-on-1 breaks for the other team on the same powerplay. Bergeron is also a little reckless in his own zone, and because of his small stature and lack of strength, he can rarely cover up his mistakes by muscling players off the puck. His positioning in his own zone is also not the best we could hope for. I don't see this as a necessary move for the Canadiens unless Yannick Weber struggles mightily offensively. With Ryan O'Byrne going down I would much rather see a more defensive minded defender coming in. There's also the issue of salary, I don't think Bergeron is going to take a bargain basement deal to play, even though he may be desperate. He made over 1.5 million last year and had a solid year, so he may still be looking for over 2 million. It easily fits in while Markov is gone, but when he's back I would think Bergeron would be trade bait at best. 2 million in the cap world his harder to move than say, under a million. Also he may kill our goalie in the first game of the Stanley Cup finals, like he did to Roloson. Sometimes being a veteran (the only clear advantage Bergeron has over Weber) doesn't necessarily make you a better option. If anything players have become used to Bergeron's turnovers and he may be more of a risk than he's worth. I think that while Bergeron may be initially cheered for offensive prowess as well as being French Canadian, he may in a few short games become the next Patrice Brisebois, constant source of ridicule. Speaking of the Breezer, apparently he's offered his services, so....

Patrice Brisebois

Pros... Cons: I'm sorry Breezer but the time has come and gone for you to make an impact. I appreciate that you absolutely bleed bleu, blanc et rouge, but at 38 you no longer have the speed and endurance to make up for the turnovers. Even though you'd surely be willing to take the NHL's lowest salary to play one more year, it's time to give the youngsters a chance, and there's nothing you bring to the table that I can't see Yannick Weber doing just as well, and getting better as the year drags on, not worse. I think Mike Boone said it best...

Mathieu Dandenault

Pros: Dandenault is a familiar face to most of the team, the fans and the media. He couldn't crack the San Jose Sharks lineup in training camp which I found fairly astonishing, because I really like Dandenault as a player. He was easily one of our best last season. He possesses blinding speed, and surprisingly (at least to me), excellent offensive capabilities according to some analysis done by Lions in Winter contributer Topham. He's also solid in his own zone, very good positionally and strong enough to handle most forwards. Another French Canadian, it would be useful to have him on the team for that purpose alone, as it's been pointed out several times already this season that 3 French speakers on the team is not enough. Mathieu is also extremely versatile. He played forward for most of his time with the Canadiens, and he excelled last year especially on the fourth line. I think most would agree with me that his constant beating out of icings is very valuable in important games. Dandenault is a good mixture of offense and defense that could undoubtedly help the Canadiens depth on defense right now, as well as contribute on the 4th line when Markov returns from injury. It's also very likely that Dandenault would be willing to settle for a small salary, allowing the Canadiens to save some of the cap space created by Markov's injury for future deals throughout the season.

Cons: It's easy to forget after how good he was last year, but Dandenault was rarely a happy player in Montreal. He complained constantly in his first few seasons about being a healthy scratch when he knew he could contribute. Seeing his play last year it would seem very difficult to argue with him, but his play the two years before as a minus player didn't do him any favours. He also complained a bit when he was forced to play forward, as he would much rather be playing defense, which might be a problem again as it's likely that when O'Byrne returns from injury, Mathieu would be bumped down the depth chart on defense and only draw into games as a forward on the 4th line, if he gets into games at all since it seems like Jacques Martin likes Georges Laraque and Gregory Stewart. There's also Chipchura and D'agostini to think about, both of whom are looking to break out this year. Having a complaining Dandenault in the dressing room, reverting to his form of two years ago would not be good.

Chris Chelios

NO!!!!!!

If All Else Fails Part 1: Trades

The Internet is flooded with rumours of what Bob Gainey could do to help out the Canadiens now that Markov is out for 2-4 months, and we've taken another hit (although relatively minor) in O'Byrne going down 4-6 weeks with some ankle and knee problems. I still believe the best way to weather this storm of injuries is within the organization, giving our young players the opportunity to take on more responsibility, but if we're struggling after 10 games and under .500, Gainey may feel he needs to make a move to improve the offensive portion of the defensive corps. Two main trade rumours have been cropping up again and again in the last few days, and I want to explore the pros and cons of both, while adding a third option that I haven't heard anyone else talk about.

John Michael Liles

Proposed trade: This one varies a bit depending on the source, but the one I've heard most often is Liles coming our way for both Kostitsyn brothers.

Colorado's take: This trade give Colorado a slight amount of cap relief by shipping out Liles' 4.2 million dollar cap hit and only taking on 3.25 from Andrei and Sergei's small (under 0.9 million) contract as well as RFA status. That could be appealing to Colorado as they've acquired Kyle Quincey in the off season to man the powerplay, and Colorado is by all accounts, rebuilding, so a small salary would be helpful now that Sakic is retired and the Pepsi Center is rarely full. Adding the Kostitsyns also would give Colorado two solid wingers to play on the second line with Matt Duchene, both would be huge upgrades on Marek Svatos and Darcy Tucker.

Montreal's take: Coming Montreal's way, Liles would upgrade the speed of our defense for sure, and possibly play well with Spacek on the powerplay, but Liles has always been criticized in Colorado for his defensive play and his lack of a big shot. One of the major reasons for Liles' big goal production early in his career was Rob Blake's big shot on the point drawing the shot blockers to him instead. Liles is an excellent skater, but he is also very small, and for the money he's making I think i'd much rather play Yannick Weber, who has a big shot, and is more solid size wise (199 to 185 lbs respectively). Not to mention Weber is much cheaper, and we don't lose anything to get him. To be honest, I can't see this trade as anything more than a massive fleecing of Montreal which could only take place if we're absolutely desperate for Yannick Weber to get older and lose his bullet shot.

Brian Campbell

Proposed trade: Brian Campbell and Patrick Sharp to Montreal, Sergei Kostitsyn, Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Kostitsyn and a draft pick (possibly conditional) to Chicago.

Chicago's take: Chicago has been looking for a way to get out of Brian Campbell's contract since pretty much the day they signed it. Massively overhyped by the media in his contract year (a la Bouwmeester), it seems like NHL scouts were too lazy to actually check out what they were signing to a long term deal at big money. It's undeniable that with cap trouble looming in Chicago, Keith, Toews and Kane up for big raises, they want Campbell's contract out of town. In order to facilitate this they MAY be willing to trade Patrick Sharp, who they value heavily for his leadership, clutch goals and grit. Uniting Sergei Kostitsyn with Patrick Kane is an intriguing possibility for Chicago I'm sure, but at this point in his career Patrick Kane is doing just fine without our temper-mental little Belorussian. With Huet a question mark in goal, it's a possibility that Chicago would be looking at Halak as an option, but they seem to have high hopes for Antti Niemi for now. Andrei Kostitsyn could be a capable replacement for Sharp going the other way, but I don't think Chicago is in any way desperate to obtain him.

Montreal's take: I love Patrick Sharp, he's a solid player in every aspect, signed to a very reasonably salary for the next 3 seasons and easily an upgrade on Andrei Kostitsyn at this point for the second line, but I just can't see how Montreal can take on a salary like Campbell's especially after already taking on a similar salary in Scott Gomez. According to NHLnumbers.com, Montreal has about 1.902 million in cap space available. If Markov's salary goes to LTIR that brings us up to 7.652 million in cap space to work with over the next 2-4 months. Sounds like a lot, but after this trade it really isn't. We'd still be taking on more salary than we're giving away after you consider we'd have to recall Curtis Sanford's 0.6 million dollar salary from the minors. We'd be left with about 0.4 million in cap space by my quick calculations, in other words, not enough for a call up in case of injury. The other problem that arrises is what happens when Markov comes back? Campbell isn't some guy who can be bought out with one year left, or traded away to a team who can eat the cap number, he's signed for 7 more seasons at the insane 7.14 million per season mark. Read that again, SEVEN seasons. Trading for Campbell would all but force Montreal to say good bye to Andrei Markov as a Canadien, as there's just no way you can find a sucker to take on Campbell's salary twice. Markov is the only tradable salary aside from Cammalleri that would put us back near the cap for next season. Terrifying thought isn't it? For purely financial reasons this trade just can not happen.

Denis Grebeshkov (my proposal)

Proposed trade: Denis Grebeshkov to Montreal, Sergei Kostitsyn and a 2nd or 3rd round pick to Edmonton.

Edmonton's take: Edmonton has 4 very adept puck moving defensemen. The one they likely would like to move is Lubomir Visnovsky, but his salary in the salary cap era makes it a far more difficult venture and Edmonton would likely have to take a loss with the trade. Grebeshkov is signed to a much more reasonable salary, and is an RFA next season, so he's both the easiest and most likely to be traded. Much has been made of the pairing of Sergei Kostitsyn and Patrick Kane, but many have forgotten that Edmonton's Sam Gagner was also part of that trio, and unlike Kane, has struggled to adapt fully to the NHL game. Sergei and Sam had major chemistry in junior and it's very likely that Edmonton would be interested in reuniting them to establish consistency from both players. If it works Edmonton could go from 2 good scoring lines to 3, which could help them compete right now in the Northwest division, which is weaker than previous years with Colorado rebuilding. The draft pick sweetens the deal for Edmonton as Grebeshkov has established himself thus far as a MUCH better NHL player than Kostitsyn. Along with this, Edmonton gains over 2 million in cap space to be used later, probably at the deadline to help put them into the playoffs.

Montreal's take: Losing Sergei at this point is probably a good thing, and to maximize his loss by bringing in a good defender like Grebeshkov at a time when Markov is down would be one of the better moves a general manager in the NHL makes all year. Grebeshkov has good size at 6'0, 209 lbs, although I've seen him listed as high as 6'2. He has a ton of poise with the puck on the blue line, and filled in great for Visnovsky last year in Edmonton on the first wave of the powerplay. He doesn't have a bullet shot, but he is an excellent skater, has great vision and passing ability, is defensively responsible and not afraid to get physical. I'm not a cap expert, but from what I've seen on other teams, when Markov comes back, only his salary for the remaining games counts against the cap. This means that in all likelihood Grebeshkov's modest 3.15 million dollar cap hit will fit right under the cap all year long. This also gives us options at the trade deadline if Markov is back and lighting it up, as we could acquire a top 6 forward for Grebeshkov for a playoff run, or keep him for depth on defense. Who knows. I see this trade as a win for both teams, and if we're really struggling 10-20 games into the season I would be delighted to see Gainey pull of this deal.

The Sky Is Falling!

So it seems as if these are the only types of clothes we're going to see Andrei Markov wearing for the next two to four months. For the second game in a row at the Air Canada Center in Toronto Markov has suffered a devastating injury. Memories of the end of last season are flashing in the minds of all Montreal Canadiens fans, but we have to remember how different this team is. For starters we have more depth on defense this year than last. Remember that last year Mathieu Schneider was also injured against Toronto, and the loss of both our big power play guys was too much to handle for a fragile team. This year we have much more depth on defense, and it's very lucky we do.

Last year the Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to play without both Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar for most of the season, and while I'm not saying the Canadiens will win the cup this year, there are important parallels to draw in this situation. Pittsburgh didn't panic when faced with this adversity, and although Michel Therrien was fired as head coach, the Penguins didn't sell the farm for an offensive defenseman to come in as a temporary replacement. They put their faith in young Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. The Penguins were a bubble team for the first half of the season, but this expanded responsibility forced Kris Letang especially to become the player he has the potential to be. Goligoski also improved from this experience, and we'll see that more this year as he gets a shot with the big club. The maturation of Letang and Goligoski allowed Ray Shero to trade highly coveted Ryan Whitney to the Ducks for Chris Kunitz and a top prospect in Eric Tangradi. In all likelihood Yannick Weber will be called up from Hamilton in the next few days to occupy the 7th defenseman slot, and he'll draw into the lineup soon enough to play small minutes on the 3rd pairing along with powerplay time alongside Spacek on the first wave.

Unlike last season we have a lot of depth on defense in the organization. We poached a division rival's #1 defenseman in the offseason in Jaroslav Spacek, and at the beginning of the season Roman Hamrlik won't be as tired as he was last year, so we have two good guys for a first pairing. Josh Gorges is used to playing a top 4 role from last season, and Ryan O'Byrne also seems ready to take a bigger role with the club. Hal Gill and Paul Mara need to have their ice time kept lower than it was last night, I think everyone who saw that game can agree to that. Unlike last season we don't have to depend on Patrice Brisebois to play beyond his years, and with all due respect to Bob Gainey, we have a much better coach manning the bench this year, who can insulate the defense by changing the way Montreal plays. We also have a glutton of prospects who can fill in if need be in Weber, Subban, Carle and if desperate and decimated by injury, even Bell and Benoit. Obviously no one in the organization can replace Markov, but this isn't a death sentence as some would have you believe.

This team will be stronger by the end of this season, and going on in the next few seasons because of this injury. Am I'm not happy that Markov got injured, don't get me wrong, I'm devastated. But I refuse to pack up and throw this season down the toilet because of it, we need to see this as an opportunity to improve.