The inglorious Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge - Q1 report

Poor Len Canayen here [over there, in the corner. Ed.] with my take on the worst first quarter of any Montréal Canadiens team that I can remember. And my memory goes waaaaay back!

La Sainte Flannelle have played 20 games out of their 82-game NHL schedule. They sit at 7th in the 8-team Atlantic Division, 29th overall. They have 5 (count `em, five) wins, 13 losses, and 2 overtime losses worth a point each, for a not-so-grand total of 12 points and a .300 average. 

In the Atlantic Division, only the Ottawa Senators have a worse record than the Habs, but the Sens have four games in hand! The rest of the horrible stats: Goals for: 44, goals against: 70, for a plus/minus differential of -26. Remember what I said at the start of the season, that they wouldl need to score 4 goals per game, because they were going to allow 3? In fact the GA average is 3.5!

What's the matter with the Canadiens? GM Marc Bergevin admitted, in a recent press conference, that to get into the post-season you have to have a first-rate goalie and a robust defence. Unfortunately the Habs have had neither, so far this year. Carey Price and Jake Allen were supposed to be 1A and 1B. Price has yet to play a game and is currently "day-to-day" on paper, but yet to take part in a practice. Jake Allen got run over by two 200-pounders a few days ago. It is hoped (but only that) that he will be well enough to play sometime in the three games scheduled for this week.

For the last three games, then, it's been 1C and 1D -- Samuel Montembault and Cayden Primeau. Both have done their best, but have been unable to stop 30 to 40 shots (or more) per game, which is what the defence is allowing. And they haven't had any goal support either. At least Primeau got a win before being sent back to Laval. 

The defence woes come down to the absence of Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson. Edmundson has been slow to recover from injuries and surgery, but at least he's on the ice, and may return before Christmas. Weber is likely to be gone for good -- an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame, but leaving big skates to be filled.

It wouldn't be so bad if veteran D-men Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot had been a reliable top two defence pair. But they haven't. It's hard to say what's wrong with Petry. Last year he was solid on defence, but also (knowing that he had partner Edmundson backing him up) a real threat on the power play, with almost 60 points, after three consecutive seasons of more than 40 points. So far this year he has two assists -- that's all.

Chris Wideman was one of the "expendables", as I called them, hired by Marc Bergevin to pu their fingers in the dike. Wideman has been helpful on the power play, but is risky defensively. The same can be said of David Savard, who has failed to live up to expectations. Brett Kulak, a holdover from last year, is doing no worse than expected, but no better either. Alexandre Romanov has improved, learning to throw those big checks like the second coming of Alexei Emelin, without getting caught out of position on more than one or two goals... per game. 

All in all, a dismal defence, made worse by the absence of Phillip Danault, whose lack of scoring last year seems to have caused Bergie to forget how important he was at the faceoff dot. He didn't get the new contract he deserved, and jumped to the LA Kings. His loss has been a greater factor than any other in the Canadiens' poor showing so far this season.

Not only did M Marc underestimate Danault, but he overestimated the capability of his replacement, Christian Dvorak. He has contributed very little to the attack -- 3 goals and 5 assists in 20 games -- and has proved a liability on defence. You can put that down to the difficulty of adjusting to a new team, but he's not the only forward having problems.

Because of departures -- my, how we miss Corey Perry! -- and injuries, the Habs have had seven newcomers in the lineup. That's more than a third of the team!  But instead of keeping lines constant and giving the new guys a chance to find some chemistry with the veterans, coach Dominique Ducharme keeps mixing them up -- looking for an instant miracle perhaps -- to the point where guys don't know who they're playing with, not from game to game but from shift to shift!

Jake Evans, who was supposed to be the Danault-in-waiting, has been better this season, but still not good for 6 or 7 out of 10 faceoff draws. Nick Suzuki also isn't reliable at the dot, but is showing real talent otherwise. He and Tyler Toffoli are Habs' scoring leaders. Cole Caufield, still technically a rookie, had his confidence checked out of him at the start and has just rejoined the team after a few games in Laval. 

The Habs' heart-and-soul, Brendan Gallagher, is giving his all, but is slowing down, and has but 4 goals and 9 points in 19 games, the same as Josh Anderson in 20. Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia have a goal each, while the once-great-hope Ryan Poehling got 2 in one game out of the three in which he's played. 

In short, the Canadiens' ship is sinking, and this year's crew is unable to bail fast enough. The conventional wisdom is that a team that isn't holding a playoff spot by American Thanksgiving isn't going to climb into one in the remaining three-quarters of a season. Anyone who wants to bet the Habs will make it should contact Walt at the usual address. Odds 50-1. Lifetime pct .992.

VIDEO: "The little team that couldn't"... COULD... and DID!

Note from Ed.: We have left virtually unedited this report from our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen. Take `er away, Len.

`Ow about dat, hey, boys and girls? For the first time since 2011 a Canadian team will compete for the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the championship of the "National" Hockey League. And that team is Canada's team, the Montréal Canadiens! 

Yes indeed, folks, the team that all the "experts" wrote off at the end of the regular season, when they just barely squeaked into the playoffs, defeated the much stronger Las Vegas Golden Knights last night at the Bell Centre, in a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory. Here's the video

Looking at the final standings for the abbreviated 2021 season, a neutral observer might have said, "No way!" The Habs finished fourth in the NHL's Northern (read: Canadian) Division, the only team to get into the playoffs with a negative GF/GA. The "experts" predicted an early exit, but "les vrais" (the true fans), including me and Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] remained hopeful.

Our hopes were rewarded (and smart bets duly collected) when les Glorieux defeated the heavily favoured Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 3, and then swept the Winnipeg Jets in 4 straight, to become the unofficial Canadian champions. 

But the naysayers and sour-grapers in Toronto refused to be impressed. "Wait until they have to play an American team," they said, predicting the Habs would get swept by Vegas. Wrong! In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz, "HA-ha!"

Looking at the reasons why the Canadiens have prevailed over three (count `em, 3!) supposedly better teams, I go back to what I wrote at the beginning of the season: "Habs off to a good start", WWW 17/1/21. 

Kudos to General Manager Marc Bergevin for some very good acquisitions during the off season, by means of which he put together a well-balanced team  which looked like contenders right from the first puck drop.

It's true that after a great start, the team slumped in the second half of the regular season, owing largely to several long injuries to key players including defenceman Ben Chiarot and star goalie Carey Price. Jake Allen covered admirably for Price, playing more than half the regular season games. And M Bergevin, seeing the need for more bench strength, wisely added old-timers Eric Staal (centre) and two more D-men, Jim Merrill and Erik Gustafsson.

Kudos also to assistant coaches Luke Richardson and Alexandre Burrows, who stepped up admirably after interim coach Dominique Ducharme was stricken with the kung flu before Game 2 of the Vegas series. Very smart of them to not play Merrill and Gustafsson together, but put them on the ice with stronger partners.

Throughout the playoffs, Ducharme and his helpers have had the luxury of being able to roll four forward lines, all of whom contributed to the scoring but also played well in their own zone. I will single out only rookie phenom Cole Caufield, brought in just before the end of the regular season, who has had an outstanding playoff run, including last night's beautiful goal. Caulfield's small but speedy -- reminds me of Yvan "the Roadrunner" Cournoyer, in his rookie year.

So... On to the Stanley Cup finals against either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the New York Islanders, who meet in their Game 7 tonight. (I'd prefer the Islanders but bet on the Lightning.) Four more wins will bring Lord Stanley's silverware home to Canada for the first time since 1993, when it was won by... wait for it... the Montréal Canadiens!