Poor Len Canayen's first look at the 2019-20 Montréal Canadiens

Ed. here, welcoming our hockey-lovin' buddy, Poor Len Canayen, back from his summer hibernation. (He burrows into the sand around the 29th of June and pokes his head out on Labour Day to see if there's ice in the Bell Centre yet, in which case he puts on his hockey sweater.) He watched the Montréal Canadiens first pre-season game at the Bell Centre last night and send this report.

Tank youse, Ed. Last night's game -- New Jersey Devils @ Montréal Canadiens -- wasn't good hockey, but you wouldn't expect that for the very first game, eh. Both teams looked as if they'd just met during the warm-up.

There was a noticeable lack of cohesion, loads of errant passes and turnovers, plus a certain lack of physicality. More like a scrimmage than a game. But hey, no-one wants to get hurt right out of the gate, and everyone wants to impress the coach and GM to avoid getting sent down to the farm. Click here to see the TSN/NHL video highlights.

Going by shots on goal, the Devils had the better of the play, especially in the second half of the game, but Les Glorieux emerged victorious, with 4 goals to the Devils' 2. Carey Price allowed one goal on 9 shots in 30:08, and rookie goalie Cayden Primeau, who played college hockey in the USA last year, looked good in stopping 16 of 17, including a spectacular save on NJ's Nico Hirschier just a minute or so after he took over from Price in the 2nd period. Keith Kinkaid is slotted to be the regular backup to Price once the season starts, but Primeau will make it a three-way fight for the starting position with the Laval Rocket farm team.

Habs' scoring came from Arturri Lehkonen, Nate Thompson, Jake Evans and an empty-netter from Nick Cousins. I cross my fingers that Lehkonen's late-season improvement of last year will carry over into this year. Thompson is a solid player (take that two ways) and should be a fixture on the third or fourth line. Cousins looks like a good bet to stay with the big team. About Evans, I'm not so sure, need to see more of him.

I'm betting on Charles Hudon to be sent down to Laval, again. Poor guy just can't finish. In the first period he had a glorious opportunity, standing unmarked about two feet to the left front of the NJ goalie, and fanned on the shot. Story of his life. Joining him on the bus will be Dale Weise, who just doesn't have the speed or finesse for the young and speedy Habs. Rookie Nick Suzuki, up from the juniors, has finesse and puck smarts, but needs to work on his skating, and -- let's face it -- is a bit on the small side. Maybe a season in the AHL, rather than with the big team, would do him good.

It was good to see Shea "Dad" Weber healthy and solid on the blue line, playing over 21 minutes without breaking a sweat. He got the assist on Lehkonen's tip-in. Brett Kulak looked out of shape, and should know that there's a rookie, Cale Fleury, who will be a contender for a regular start. So will another rookie, Josh Brook, and old(er)-timer Xavier Ouellet, who I like a lot.

All in all, I'm mildly encouraged. I don't see any glaring deficiencies at any position, and I do see some promising youngsters. No predictions yet, but good performances by a couple of talented rookies, backstopped by Weber and Price, could be all it takes to get the Canadiens into the playoffs.

BONUS VIDEO: By popular request, here, once again, is the excellent story of "The Hockey Sweater", written and narrated for the National Film Board video by Roch Carrier. No subtitles. If you gonna come on top da country `ere you better learn to talk like we do!



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