Our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen (not pictured), continues his jeremiad anent the 2021-22 Montrèal Canadiens, aka the Hapless Habs.
In addition to defenceman Ben Chiarot, I should mention Alexandre Romanov. He was benched in November for not trying hard enough, and that appeared to teach him a lesson, although you wouldn't know it by Monday night's game in Mineesota. He's more engaged now, but still needs the defensive puck smarts that only experience will bring.
Now to talk about some of the shoulda-coulda-woulda, and the "expendables" as I call them, picked up cheap by former GM Marc Bergevin because he was desperate.
Three years ago, Ryan Poehling, a high draft pick, was going to be the saviour of les Glorieux, and proved it by scoring a hat trick in his first game wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge, which also hapopened to be the last game of the season. Since then, he's done next to nothing, languising in Laval. He was called up to the big team when the ranks were decimated by Covid, and has had flashes of brilliance, but nothing to write home about. Again, the problem is lack of consistency.
31-year-old David Savard, hired in the off-season to bolster the defence which was bound to suffer from the absence of Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson, is over the hill. He's been asked to play top-two minutes and has done his best, with 23 minutes per game, but the stats (see yesterday's post) are not his friend.
Québécois Jonathan Drouin is producing goals and assists, on track for 50 points, which makes him one of the Habs' top attackers. But I can't see him every reaching the super-star status which was hoped for when M Bergevin traded a good defence prospect to Tampa Bay to get him. He still seems fragile -- susceptible to injury, illness and (yes) the depression that sidelined him for the latter half of 2020-21.
Josh Anderson was a leading light last season. This year, on good nights, he's the best player on the team. With his right shoulder down, hurtling up the left side at full speed, he's a menace to the opposing defence. The trouble is that there aren't enough of such nights.
Jake Evans, at age 25, gives the impression of being a steady and experienced player. In fact he has yet to play his 100th game. Lacking real depth at centre, Coach Ducharme gives Evans a lot of minutes, but he has yet to show any real offensive punch. He's getting enough chances, but can't seem to finish.
Speaking of centres, the biggest disappointment this year has been Christian Dvorak, who was supoposed to fill the very large hole left by M Bergevin's failure to resign Phillip Danault. Dvorak's style is nothing like that of Danault and he's had a hard time adapting to the Ducharme system. [Is that a system? Ed.] He's not bad at faceoffs on the PK, but doesn't have the offensive instinct of, say...
Mike Hoffman, who can be a real threat, given enough time and space. Which means you can't look for him to do much close to the net, like Brendan Gallagher, who is sidelined by injury. And Hoffman's play in the Habs' end is not to be discussed. At all.
Back to the defence. When asked to name the Canadiens' top four defenceman, most fans would say Jeff Petry (which would be wrong, this year), Ben Chiarot, and Alex Romanov. Then they would dreaw blank. Brett Kulak is the one who's playing a lot but in such a way as to be easily forgotten. In spite of good skating and puck-handling skills, he's been a healthy scratch at least twice, in favour of complete unknowns. I can't figure it/him out.
The aforementioned Jeff Petry, who was terrific last year, still has his place in the top four D-men, but just seems to lack interest in keeping it. Maybe he's just getting old. Maybe he misses being with Weber and Edmundson [Who? Ed.]. Or maybe he just doesn't care any more. Look for him to be trade bait as we approach the deadline.
Three more defencemen who, but for the Wuhan flu, would be "surplus to requirements". Chris Wideman was the top-scoring D-man in the KHL last year. So what. The hard-hitting Habs take more penalties than they draw so what you do on the PK counts for a lot more than what you do on the power play.
Sami Niku was a real "expendable", acquired cheap because his previous team didn't need him. He has given exactly what you'd expect from a bargain basement pickup. A fancy skater who is more of a threat to his own team than to the opposition.
Then there's Kale Clague, who, like Niku, was hired on the basis of his résumé, but doesn't look as good on the ice as on paper. In his first game with the Habs he turned the puck over right in front of the goal. That pretty much set the tone for what followed.
Another big disappointment is Mathieu Perreault, who's played in just 14 matchs (of which only 6 in a row), and hasn't found his rhythm with the Tricolore. He's an experienced forward who should be able to contribue a lot, but has been sidelined by not just Covid, but injuries.
Un autre gars de chez nous who has failed to impress is Alex Belzile. To be fair, he was hired for a support role on offence, and that's what he has delivered -- a good and honest effort, but nothing more.
So also Cédric Paquette. On a healthy team he probably wouldn't see a lot of ice time. As it is, he's had his chances on the fourth line, but just can't seem to get untracked. At centre, he has won only 30% of the faceoffs he's taken, and seems destined for Laval if other forwards get healthy again.
Brendan Gallagher certainly won't be looking back on this season as a success. Another victim of injuries and illness, he's played in only 25 games, racking up a mere 4 goals, in spite of having many chances from in front (or on top) of opposing goalies. Just bad luck. He's still the heart and soul of le Canadien, à mon avis.
The Canadiens are back at the (empty) Centre Bell tomorrow night. I'll be watching, because I cannot do otherwise. But the most I can hope for is a pleasant surprise.
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