Poor Len looks at the Canadiens' season, so far

We're nearing the halfway point of the appreviated 2021 National Hockey League schedule, so it's time to let our National Sports Editor (Canadian Division), Poor Len Canayen, assess the performance to date of Canada's Team, the Montréal Canadiens. Over to you, Len. 

Tank youse, Hed. As our readers know, I had high hopes for la Sainte Flannelle as the season got under way. In "Habs off to a good start" (WWW 17/1/21), I wrote that I had trouble seeing a weak link anywhere on paper or on the ice. And for the first 11 games, it looked as if I was right, as the team posted a 9-0-2 record. Then came February.

From a couple of days at the top of the Canadian Division (aka "Scotia North" divison, but who cares), the Canadiens fell to fourth place, still good for a playoff spot if the playoffs started today. Here's how the standings sit [geddit? Ed.] after last night's impressive 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

How did this happen? For most of February, the Habs, who'd been scored almost at will over Vancouver in their first trip out west, seemed unable to find the back of the net. Their goals +/- stat is back up to +15 after last night, but had slipped into the single digits. Disturbingly, much of the goal production came from the blue line corps. Jeff Petry is one of the top 3 defencemen in the NHL when it comes to scoring. Fortunately he's also playing well in his own zone, and is in the conversation for this year's Norris Trophy.

Coach Claude Julien kept juggling his forward lines to see if he could get the right chemistry. It didn't help that Joel Armia and Josh Anderson were both out with injuries, although not for all that long. But when you have a good team that isn't winning, the coach's job is in danger, and sure enough, Julien was made to walk the plank a couple of weeks ago, along with assistant Kirk Muller.

I felt bad for both of them. Julien is reputed to be the salt of the earth, well liked by players and fans. Muller knows his job, and likely would have been promoted, except for his failure to learn French -- a must for a coach who has to deal with the French-Canadian presse. 

Assistant coach Dominic Ducharme got the head job instead, and Alexandre Burrows, just retired from the Canucks, was brought in to help him. Those changes seem to have helped, as the club's record has improved. The first line (Tatar-Danault-Gallagher) has been reunited and have found the old magic, even Phillip Danault, who scored his first goal of the season last night. 

Two of the two young centres, Nick Suzuki(pictured) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, are getting more ice time and have rewarded the new coaches' confidence with better performance. 

Arturi Lehkonen has been rewarded for his non-performance with a holiday in beautiful downtown Laval, leaving another young centre, Jake Evans, as the only forward who needs to pick up his game. 

And let's not forget the old pros -- Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli and Corey Perry -- who are all making GM Marc Bergevin look like a genius for having acquired them in the off-season. Toffoli, in particular, has turned out to be a scoring machine, particularly when he plays against Vancouver!

Which brings us to the defence. The top four (average 6'3.5") have been throwing their weight around, with mixed results. Petry, as noted, is playing well, and newcomer Joel Edmundson, is solid if unspectacular beside him. Captain Shea Weber is -- let's face it -- getting old and slowing down. His partner, Ben Chiarot, is spending too much time in the penalty box. So is third-pair guy Brett Kulak. His partner, Alexander Romanov, is a very talented rookie who has shown no lack of confidence, but said confidence is occasionally a bit misplaced as he learns the hard way the things that only experience teaches. 

And then there's the "situation in goal". In theory, signing Jake Allen, an experienced goalie whose name is on the Stanley Cup, to back up Carey Price seemed like a smart move. Price would get some rest -- he's getting older too! -- and the team would have confidence in Allen, the best backup they've had in years. 

In practice, it seems that having Allen, who's playing very well, breathing down his neck (so to speak) has messed with Price's head. He looked very ordinary in his last couple of starts under Julien, but in this week's two games against Vancouver seems to be back to his old "two goals is all you get" form. 

All in all, I give the Canadiens a B-minus rating for the season to date, and predict (lifetime pct .986) that they will make the playoffs. If the standings in the Canadian division remain as they are today, that would pit them against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a playoff series, for the first time in decades. No matter the outcome, Canadian hockey fans would be thrilled!

Fashion footnote: Nick Suzuki is pictured wearing the Habs "reverse-retro" sweater, the latest wheeze dreamed up by (((Gary Bettman))) to prize more pennies out of fans' pockets. The sweaters look good, but they are a jinx! The team hasn't won a single game while wearing them. Let us hope they won't be seen again!