Poor Len Canayen reports on the Habs: AAAAUUUUGGGH!

For the Montréal Canadiens, the NHL season is half over, and thank St-Jean-Béliveau for that. The 2021-22 iteration of the Habs is the worst in the very long memory of our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen. Here is his mid-term report.

Tank youse, Hed. After watching last night's debacle in Minnesota (8-2 loss), I'm not happy to do write this terrible tale, but it is my duty, so here goes.

Let's start with some grim statistics. Le Canadien have played 41 games, with a record of 8-26-7, good [not very! Ed.] for 23 points out of 82 available (pct .280), and last place in their division and in the National Hockey League overall. Terrible.

But wait (as Vince Offer said), there's more. In 41 games the Habs have scored just 90 goals, but have allowed 154. Do the math. That's a goal differential of -64. Nick Suzuki, our leading scorer, is -18. David Savard, the only defenceman to play in all 41 games, is -17.

About all that fans of la Sainte Flanelle can hope for is for the team to finish in the bottom three, for a good chance to win the draft lottery and pick Shane Wright, a good Kingston boy (Hello, Don Cherry!) and a top prospect for sure. But if they get him, they'll have to develop him much more carefully then they have Cole Caufield, who has not responded well to the challenge of playing with the big boys. Spending the rest of this season in Laval should help him regain his confidence.

OK, let's talk about some additions to the team who have done well.

???

Nobody???

Hahaha, just kidding (sort of). There are one or two, starting with Michael Pezzetta, whose energy, combativeness and style of play have won him many fans. Not among his opponents though, who have made him a target for heavy hitting, as in the last minute of last night's game. It's OK. Pezzetta can give as good as he gets.

The Habs have now played four goalies, with Michael McNiven coming in to relieve Samuel Montembeault in the third period last night. He allowed 3 goals in 20 minutes, for a GAA of 9.00. That's pretty much the bottom of the barrel.

The good news is that Montembeault has grown into his present position as starting goalie, in the absence of Jake Allen, who held the job in the absence of Carey Price. Montembeault was used sparingly while Allen was healthy, usually in a cause already lost, but is doing better now. His save percentage of .932 is 12th in the league, for goalies who have played in at least ten games.

It should be noted that Allen was doing well enough, in spite of having little help from the defence, until he was injured. He is still the Habs' top goalie, and is likely to remain so, even if Carey Price is fit to play in the spring, which is becoming increasingly doubtful.

That I should begin the section on players who aren't doing too badly with a fourth-line guy tells you all you need to know. But let's continue. Laurent Dauphin hadn't played in the NHL for three years, so not much was expected from him when he was thrown into the deepo end on 7 December. He's been decent, if not spectacular, on attack, and good on the PK.

Then there's Artturi Lehkonen, who has appeared on our fecal roster in past years. Now that a lot is no longer expected of him, he has earned a place on the bottom six, especially on the PK. His 15 points make him the fufth-best scorer on the hapless Habs.

I didn't really mean to diss Nick Suzuki. He is without doubt le Canadien's offensive leader, and his creative play is lovely to watch. But this season has been hard for him for lack of reliable linemates. He's proved that he can be a top line guy. He just needs to be able to do so consistently.

I could say the same about Tyler Toffoli, one of my favourites. He'd be at the top of the honour roll if one looked only at his performance on the road this past week. But in the preceding weeks he was nearly invisible. I blame coach Dominic Ducharme for the constant juggling of lines (admittedly, due to injuries and the Wuhan flu), which means that Toffoli constantly had to adjust to new linemates. When he's out there with Suzuki, good things happen, as in a great short-handed goal last week.

Finally (for now -- running out of space), kudos to defenceman Ben Chiarot, who most fans regarded as the fourth guy last year, behind  Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, and Joel Edmundon. He was regarded as a defensive defenceman, not capable of contributing much in front of the blue line, but he has been good on the power play this year. And he's piling up a ton of minutes, because he's more reliable than the other d-men.

That's it for the list of good guys. We'll pick this up again tomorrow. À la prochaine...