Is this the year the Habs bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada?

Ed. here. We welcome the return of our National Sports (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen.

Tank youse, Hed. The last Canadian (or Canada-based) team to win the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the championship of the National Hockey League, was the Montréal Canadiens, who brought Lord Stanley's silverware home in 1993. They defeated the Los Angeles Kings in that year's final series. 

Since then, no Canadian team has won the Cup. And no Canadian team has played in the finals since 2021, when the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Habs (for it was them, again) 4 games to 1.

In about 200 minutes, the same two teams will do battle again. in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They finished the 2025-26 season 2nd (Lightning) and 3rd in the Atlantic Division, behind the surprising Buffalo Sabres by a mere 2 points. Whichever team wins this round will likely meet the Sabres next. 

Who will win tonight? As I point my TV antenna towards Florida, I think of the last match between the Habs and the Bolts in the regular season. It was like the old Henny Youngman joke: I went to the fights the other night and a hockey game broke out! 

Les Glorieux gave as good as they got, and I don't think they're going to be bested in the rough stuff department tonight. I also think the Habs can compete in goal. They have the luxury of two goalies -- the two Jakes -- with save percentages of over.900. TB has only the one. 

As for scoring, Habs are better per the stats after an amazing season. How can anyone stop a power play unit consisting of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson?! The question is defence. 

The loss of Noah Dobson hurts. Alexandre Carrier may be able to play, maybe not. So that puts a lot of pressure on Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj. They've improved greatly in the second half of the season, but can they handle 20 minutes per game? It may come to that because coach will be reluctant to give much ice time to David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom who, IMHO, aren't yet ready for prime time yet. 

I hear you asking for a prediction. My heart tells me Habs in 7, but I wouldn't bet on it! Ed. says some blog posts end suddenly and inconclusively. This is one of them.

Memo from Poor Len Canayen to Martin St-Louis: Rest Hutson!

Ed. here. The condition of the front room of Walt's cabin in the pines when I walked in this morning was such that I doubt we're going to get anything useful out of him. Two large jars of Ma Nifkins' jellied gin -- both empty -- are not a good sign. 

So I called our National Sport (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, and asked him if we could make public his memorandum to Martin St-Louis, head coach of Montréal Canadiens. He said "ben ouais", which I take as a yes. Here `tis. 

Slt Martin! St'une belle équipe là mais [Oops, forgot to turn on the translator. Ed.] but you'd better keep one eye on the rear-view mirror. We can't afford to lose two more games in a row like we did this weekend. Especially not by just one goal. (Yes, I know it was technically 4-2 on Saturday, but that fourth goal was an empty-netter so it was really 3-2)

What is to be done to make sure Boston or Ottawa don't leapfrog over us? Here's my view from the nosebleed seats.

Marty, the guys are tired, especially the rookies. Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen and Lane Hutson have never played a full season in the NHL. The grind of playing 3-4 games a week, week in and week out, is getting to them. And don't forget that Hutson isn't that big -- just 5'9" and 160 lbs. You can't keep giving him big minutes -- over 20 per game -- and expect him to keep up the same torrid pace.

My advice? Rest Hutson a bit. But how to do that, absent a reliable sixth defenceman? Answer: Revamp the power play. Let Noah Dobson QB the first unit at the point for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slavkovsky and Demidov.

Then, for the second unit, you can put Mike Matheson on the point, maybe alterenating with Hutson. Who's gonna be up front, then? Here's my counter-intuitive brilliant suggestion. Activate Patrick Laine! 

Laine's healthy (although probably a bit rusty for lack of playing time) and has been showing up for practice. Put him on the fourth line, and put him in his "office" on the power play, with Phillip Danault and/or Kapanen at centre, and Brendan Gallagher and Alexandre Texier. That's going to put a lot of pressure on Matheson to concentrate on foiling a counter-attack, but hey, he's a horse!

If  you think I'm crazy, consider that the Habs' power play went 0 for 4 against the Ducks(!) last night. The PP has got to be fixed. What's your idea?

Go Habs go!  Len

VIDEO: Habs' captain Nick Suzuki gives first interview en français

Ed. here. We welcome back our National Sports (as long as it's hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen. His notes on last night's exhibition game between the Montréal Canadien and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be posted later today, but first this salute to Habs captain Nick Suzuki, who on Friday gave his first television interview in French. 

There was a time, long ago [Len writes] when giving an interview in la langue de Moliere was no biggie for a captain of les Glorieux, because he would have been a francophone -- native Canadian French speaker. But in the 21st century NHL, the Flying Frenchmen are lucky to have even half a dozen French-Canadian players. I can remember a couple of years back when David Desharnais was voted the fans favourite francophone players, and commented, "Hey, I yam de only one!"

All the same, there is a certain expectation that he who wears the "C" should learn the language, sooner or later. Since being named the youngest captain in franchise history three years ago at age 23, Nick Suzuki has embraced the role, and shown his understanding of the history and character of la Sainte Flannelle. Here's his interview with Félix Séguin of TVA Sports.  

Believe it or not, this is the first time a Canadiens captain had been interviewed in French since Vincent Damphousse -- a francophone -- more than 25 years ago. Suzuki is the first English-speaking captain to learn French and do an interview in that language since Bob Gainey, who felt it was his duty to learn French and taught himself. 

Fellow Canadiens Hall of Famers Larry Robinson and Ken Dryden also learned French. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby learned to speak French during his two seasons playing for the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic and Suzuki spoke with him about it when the two captains were together recently in Las Vegas for an NHL media event.  “He said he didn’t really have much of a choice when he was playing junior... He said all the bus rides they watched French movies and he'd watch them with the guys."

There are language zealots on both sides of the Two Solitudes and Suzuki will never make everyone happy. But he should be applauded for taking a big first step. Il a gagné ses épaulettes!

VIDEO: Congrats to Lane Hutson, winner of the 2024-5 Calder Trophy!

Ed. here. Instead of the usual drivel, we are pleased to turn this space over to our National Sports (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, for a long-awaited announcement.

Tank youse, Hed. All of us at WWW, and Habs fans worldwide, are beyond please to congratulate Montréal Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson, on winning the 2024-25 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. 

Yes! we have video to show why he easily topped the voting for the coveted award.

 

Hutson n'est pas un gars de chez nous. He actually comes from Holland*, but we already consider him a citizen of Québec, and of Canada too. After all, he was a major reason for the surprise appearance of la Sainte Flannelle in this spring's NHL playoffs.

Hutson, selected 62nd overall by Montréal at the 2022 NHL draft, is the Canadiens’ second Calder recipient in the expansion era, after goaltender Ken Dryden (1971-72). He led rookies in scoring, with six goals and 60 assists in his inaugural NHL season.His 60 assists matched Larry Murphy (1980-81) for the most by a rookie defenceman, while his 66 points trailed only Murphy, Brian Leetch (1988-89) and Gary Suter (1985-86) for the most ever by a rookie blueliner.

We predict a great future for the diminutive defenceman who, when he's on the ice, plays twice his size. Il a gagné ses épaulettes!

* Ed. asks: Should we call him Der fliegende Holländer? Errr, no. He's from Holland MI!

Yes! The Habs made the playoffs!

Earlier this month we asked "Are the Habs going to make the playoffs?" Instead of making a prediction, we reposted an article by Brian Wilde in which he said the Canadien rebuild was coming along just fine, but... didn't answer the question.

This morning we are pleased to report that the answer is a big, fat YES / OUI!  For the first time in four years, les Glorieux have earned that nickname, clinching an NHL playoff berth -- second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference -- with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Le Centre Bell last night.

The last time the Canadiens made the playoffs in 2021, they advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But that was the COVID-19 shortened season when teams only played 56 regular-season games and the Canadiens had a 24-21-11 record, which ranked 18th in the overall NHL standings. 

The Habs' first home playoff game this year will be the first post-season game at a full Bell Centre since April 20, 2017, when they lost 3-2 in overtime to the New York Rangers in Game 5 of a first-round series. The Canadiens were eliminated in Game 6 two nights later at Madison Square Garden, losing 3-1 to the Rangers. The only member of the Canadiens who played in that series against the Rangers who is still with the team is Brendan Gallagher, the little warrior. 

Walt will be seeing Poor Len Canayen (our National Sport As Long As It's Hockey Editor) over the Easter weekend and will consult with him before opening a book. Odds of la Sainte Flanelle advancing past the first round are likely to be long. However, with another little warrior, Lane Hutson, continuing to amaze the opposition, and yet another, Ivan Demidov, joining the ranks just this week... 

But wait, there's more. Captain Nick Suzuki emerged this season as one of the top three centres in the entire league. And yet another little warrior, Cole Caufield, had a career-high 37 goals and 70 points, playing in all 82 games. With guys like that hitting peak performance this month, les Canadien seront là!

VIDEO: The Habs in another winter of discontent

Ed. here. Walt's favourite hockey team, the Montréal Canadiens, are enjoying (we hope) a week off ahead of the phoney-baloney NHL All-Star Game. So this is a good time for our National Sports (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, to analyse how the Habs are doing, a little more than halfway through the season. Over to you, Len.

Tank youse, Hed. Don't forget dat I already did a mid-season analysis, not dat long ago. But since you're paying (right?), I do have a few more thoughts. Let's start with this.

  

For years now, Brendan Gallagher, although he's never worn the "C", has been the heart and soul of les Glorieux. No one works harder. No one takes more punishment. No one gets fewer calls from the refs. But for three years now he's been playing for a team which is in rebuild mode, not expected to play better than .500 hockey, let alone make the playoffs. 

Brendan's getting older, too. He has a lot of hard miles on the chassis and simply isn't able to do the things he used to do. In recent weeks, his frustration has led to some late-game penalties, a couple of which have cost his team the game. What you saw here is the latest and worst. I was shocked... really! Even Mme Len put down her knitting to take notice.

The Habs won that game, 4-2. Usually the the final score in way too many Habs' games is 3-2... one way or another. No team in the NHL has had more one-goal games, overtime games or shootouts. They  have played 49 games, with 33 to go. They have a record of 20-21-8, which can be read as one game under .500. 

They are tied in points with the Sabres at 48 but Buffalo has two more wins, leaving les Glorieux in seventh place in the Atlantic Conference. Overall, the Habs are ahead of only the Senators and Bluejackets in the Eastern Conference and the Wild, Blackhawks, Ducks and Sharks in the West. 

The chief lesson to be learned from the stats is that what the Canadiens lack is the ability to put the puck in the net. Their goal differential is -39, worst in the East and ahead of only three teams in the West. In spite of the odd flash of brilliance, their power play ranks 19th at 19.88%, a full 10 percentage points behind the Lightning. Their penalty kill is 29th at 73.53% -- not a good number for a young team that takes a lot of penalties. 

There are some bright spots. After a slow start to the season, Cole Caufield is rounding into form, although he needs to get over an understandable reluctance to go into the corners. Captain Nick Suzuki improves every year. Although he's still inconsistent at the faceoff dot, he has proven himself a true leader. Sean Monaham has managed to stay healthy and regained his confidence, to the point where he's suddenly become real trade bait.

On the defensive side, Mike Matheson is having his best season ever, often deserving a star in those tight games. The surprise of the year is D-man Jayden "Apple" Struble, who's come out of nowhere to be one of the three best in bleu-blanc-et-rouge. Unfortunately I can name only one more -- Kaiden Guhle -- who I wouldn't trade. The team also needs an experienced defence/PK coach.

In goal,  Samuel "Monty" Montembeault, who seemed last year like a perennial backup, has been good, and on some nights brilliant. And why not, with the defence allowing opponents almost 40 shots per game. The dilemma for Montréal's management is whether to trade Jake Allen or Cayden Primeau. Ièm not convinced that young Primeau is ever going to be more than a journeyman goaltender.

In October and November there was talk, amongst us fans, that the Habs might make the playoffs earlier than expected, i.e. this year,  But fans have to understand that rebuilds take time. You can't go from last to first in just a couple of years. 

Say what you like about Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton. They have a plan and it's working out, slowly but surely. Coach Martinuting it well. St. Louis is a terrific teacher and communicator, and has fully embraced recent changes to how hockey should be played. The future isn't brilliant, but it's bright enough. And fans should rememer that the future extends beyond June of 2024.

Poor Len Canayen's Habs report: Déjà vu all over again

We welcome back our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, for his first look at the 2023-24 edition of Canada's Team, aka the Montréal Canadiens. Actually we had to twist Len's arm more than a bit. It took a case of Crown Royal to get him to promise to endure what looks like being a repeat of last year. Over to you, Len.

Tank youse, Hed, for giving away my punch line. What do you want me to say now? Let's start with this. One of the reasons the Habs got into the draft lottery this spring (read: finished near the bottom of the standings) was injuries. 

There were times last season when half the regulars were in sick bay. Paul Byron and Carey Price didn't play at all. Others -- e.g. Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach -- missed so many games that we kind of forgot they were on the team. 

Byron hung up the skates, and got a long standing ovation when we was introduced during the first home game last Saturday. The others are still on the roster. Price is (justifiably) on the LTIR, which brings us down to two. Gallagher is getting old and even slower than before, but he still leaves it all on the ice and is truly the heart and soul of la Sainte Flannelle.

  

Which leaves us with Kirby Dach, who impressed during the Habs' first game vs Toronto, and then for a couple of shifts in the first period of Saturday night's game vs Chicago. Then this happened.

Dach was checked into the Blackhawks' bench by defenceman Jarred Tinordi. After being pushed back onto the ice, he was able to skate just as far as his own bench. He then headed to the locker room and never came back. Merde!

In the 3 1/2 periods Dach played this year, he had two assists, slotting in as the Habs' second-line centre behind Nick Suzuki. Last season -- his first with les Glorieux -- he recorded 14 goals and 24 assists in 58 games, missing the last 24 games due to a lower-body injury followed by an upper-body injury. Before yesterday's game vs Minnesota, the Habs announced Dach had sustained injuries that will require season-ending surgery.Shame....

Now let's talk about last night. Montréal always seems to have trouble with "the Wild". (What kind of a name is that for a sports team? It should be something plural -- animals or birds or even fish.) Last night was no exception. The first two goals of the game were scored by Minnesota... short-handed... on the same penalty! That's all ye know and all ye need to know, except that....

Kaiden Guhle was forced to exit late in the first period due to an upper-body injury. So far the team hasn't given any timeline for his return, leaving us fans with serious concerns about the impact his absence will have on the Canadiens' defensive lineup. 

Looks like Justin Barron is the likely candidate to step into the lineup if Guhle is unavailable for the upcoming game vs Washington. Barron played for the big team in a couple of games last season, faut de mieux. I watched him during this year's exhibition games and have to say that, if he's called up, coach Martin St. Louis had better keep him off the ice during power plays and penalty kills. 

In summary... The Canadiens are 1-1-1 in the first three games of the 2023-24 season. That's .500 hockey, about the same as last year. And they've already lost two "regulars", with not a whole lot of talent waiting in Laval for their big chance. 

Pray to St-Jean-Béliveau that nothing happens to Nick Suzuki or Cole Caufield. One more serious injury will open wide the door to the cellar.

Commentaire de la Presse: Le mauvais film - [Nom du joueur] s’est blessé dans une défaite de [xx à xx] du Canadien face à [nom de l’adversaire].

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...

Salut, les Habs!

Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] join our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, in saluting the Montréal Canadiens, who were defeated 1-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, in what became the final game of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Congratulations on a playoff run as improbable as it was inspiring. Now over to Len for the wrap-up.

The spectacular playoff run of le Canadien, known to all as "the Habs", is over. They lost to a better team, the 2020 Stanley Cup winners who have now won their second in a row and could well do a threepeat next year. 

But the Habs have nothing to be ashamed of. They had one bad game -- Game 2 -- and just one really good game -- Game 4 -- but overall played as well against the Bolts as any other team could have. I don't think Las Vegas, who the Habs beat 4 games to 2 in the semi-final, could have done any better. 

Without doing too much shoulda-woulda-coulda, I can't help feeling that if the Habs' coaches had followed my advice and put Romanov and Kulak in place of Merrill and Gustafsson after Game 2, they might have won one more game. Ultimately, though, Canada's team lost through a lack of scoring, as was particularly evident last night. There weren't enough guys who were consistently able to finish a passing play, so it was rush, rush, rush, and the Lightning did a great job of defending against that.

The amazing thing about the Canadiens' playoff run is that many would say (and are still saying, shame on them) that the Habs didn't deserve to be in the series at all! Of the 16 teams who made the playoffs, le bleu-blanc-et-rouge had the worst regular season season, the only team to get into the playoffs in spite of a negative goals for/against stat. 

La Sainte Flannelle finished fourth in what was deemed to be the weakest of the NHL's four divisions, and to reach the finals beat not one, not two, but three teams who were better than they. First they came back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to defeat the much-favoured Toronto Maple Leafs. Then they swept the Winnipeg Jets, four straight. Then they beat Las Vegas, who had finished second overall in the NHL, 4 games to 2. 

Indeed it was an impressive playoff run, of which les Glorieux and their fans right across Canada (and in Canada's 11th province -- Florida!) can be proud. All of us here at WWW offer most sincere congratulations and best wishes for 2021-22.

What about "next year", which begins in just 97 days? The Canadiens will have a much different roster. Although they don't get a pick until the third round of the entry draft, they will lose one of their better players (G Jake Allen?) in the expansion draft. And at least two under-performers -- I can think of four, but won't name names today -- will be gone. So I'll not make any predictions until I see who's in the training camp. See you in September!

Worth watching on YouTube: "Montreal's Cinderella Run Falls Short in 2021 Finals", with THG (Shannon, The Hockey Guy), 8/7/21.

VIDEO: Les Canadiens sont là!

Oh ye of little faith! Shame on all those who thought that just because the Toronto Maple Leafs finished first in the Canadian (aka Northern) Division, and the Montréal Canadiens just barely made it into the playoffs, the latter would be on the golf links before the end of May. You were wrong!

The Leafs, as is their wont, blew a lead of 3 games to 1, allowing the never-say-die Habs to win overtime victories in Games 5 and 6, and close the series out with a 3-1 win tonight. It was actually 3-0 until the second-last minute when Carey Price was robbed of the shutout he deserved. For the moment, at least, we have the video highlights.

Poor Len Canayen gives Carey Price not just the first star, but all three stars of tonight's game. But it can truly be said that the win -- indeed all of the Habs' wins -- was a total team effort. 

Goals by Brendan Gallagher (the heart and soul of la Sainte Flannelle), Corey Perry (the old pro) and an empty netter by Tyler Toffoli, who led the team in scoring this year. In Games 5 and 6, it was the kids -- Nick Suzuki, Kasperi Kotkaniemi and rookie phenom Cole Caufield -- who made the difference. 

The defence registered only one point in those games -- an assist by Jeff Petry in Game 6 -- concentrating instead on shutting down Leafs superstar (?) Auston Matthews, and his sidekick Mitch Marner. That was exactly what the doctor ordered, so full credit to the D-men and to everybody else. There were no weak links.

Alors, félicitations, les boys! On to Winnipeg!

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!

The Canadiens are still there!

Here's our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, breathing a sigh of relief. He'll tell you why.

Tank youse, Hed. Let us recap. Going into last night's fifth game of their NHL quarter-final playoff series, Canada's National Team, the Montréal Canadiens, trailed the Flyers of Philthydelphia 3 games to 1. How could this could be, when the World's Best Goaltender (TM), Carey Price, had a GAA of 1.25 and a saves pct of .957 in the first four games? I will explain.

Although Price allowed only 5 goals in the first four games, the team in front of him scored only 6. So why wasn't that enough to win, 6-5? Because the Habs scored 5 of their goals in the Game 2 blowout, and 1 in a 2-1 loss in the first game. The scored NO (zero) goals in Games 3 and 4, losing 1-0 and 2-0. So there they were, not having scored in almost 130 minutes, facing elimination.

But, as the saying goes, la plume de ma tante est sur la table. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! And so they did. Starting fast and getting the first goal early has proved critical in this series, and Joel Armia hit the twine, with a short-handed goal (!) just before the 3-minute mark, letting the Flyers know that the Habs weren't going to give up without a fight.

Then, at the 2-minute mark of the 2nd period, came something I never expected to see -- a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding to the formerly mild-mannered, always-smiling Jesperi Kotkaniemi, a kid who can barely raise a playoff beard. Is it true that steroids make you cranky? In the summer of 2019 they told KK that he'd better put some pounds on his lanky frame, and he did. 20 pounds heavier now than he was at Christmas, he's starting to throw his new weight around, but this time too much so, and at the wrong time. During the 5-minute powerplay, Flyers' Voracek ended a scoring drought with two goals, and I must admit I thought that was going to be the end.

Except it waasn't. Les Glorieux came back hard, with Joel Armia leading the charge. He hit a crossbar shortly after the teams got back to even strength, said "I won't do that again", and put his next shot in, just over Philly goalie Carter Hart's shoulder, making it 2-up. Just over a minute later, Brenda Gallagher, on something like his 37th shot in this series, finally scored, making it 3-2 Habs at the end of the 2nd.

Could the Habs hang on to a one-goal lead? Errr, no. Unlike in the first four games, special units played a big part in last night's game. The Canadiens' penalty kill was not as effective as usual, and the Flyers' power play hit for their third goal of othe game at 10:37. BUT... it seemed like Montréal said, with one voice, "Damn it, we are NOT going to lose!" Nick Suzuki, who had a goal called back (offside) earlier in the period, scored what proved to the the game-winner just 22 seconds later.

The Habs put up an aggressive defence for the balance of the game, with centre Phillip Danault -- overworked in the absence of Kotkaniemi -- rewarded an empty-net goal at 19:42. Final score: Montréal 5 - Philadelphia 2. Philadelphia now leads the series 3 games to 2, with another potential elimination game scheduled for 7 ET/4 PM on Friday. Can the Habs win that one and one more, to advance to the next round? Bet against them at your peril!

VIDEO: Not a happy new year for le Canadien... but wait!!!

Last time we heard from Poor Len Canayen, he was mildly optimistic about the Montreal Canadiens' chances of making the NHL playoffs this spring. Now... not so much. Over to you, Len.

Tank youse, Walt. Last night les Glorieux played the 41st game of the 82-game schedule. The conventional wisdom is that if you're not in a playoff position at the half-way point of the season, you're not going to make it. As things stand, after their 2-1 loss (4th in a row) to Tampa Bay last night, the Canadiens have fallen to 6th place in the Atlantic division. And the Metropolitan division is so strong this year that only the top three Atlantic teams look playoff-bound, with the two wild card spots going to Metropolitan teams (Carolina and Philthydelphia). The Habs' playoff outlook is pretty dismal.

The main problem, as I see it, is lack of depth. Injuries are killing the Canadiens. [Kind of awkward phrasing. Must be Len's lack of familiarity with English. Ed.] Yesterday morning, coach Claude Julien announced that Brendan Gallagher has been placed on the injured-reserve list with a concussion, suffered the injury during a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on New Year's Eve in Carolina after being checked by Jordan Staal and then getting accidentally kneed in the head by teammate Ben Chiarot while falling to the ice. Here's the video. Warning: content may be disturbing! [That's to make sure you watch it! Ed.]



Gallagher joins teammates Joel Armia (hand), Paul Byron (knee), Jonathan Drouin (wrist) and Matthew Peca (knee) on the injured-reserve list. Peca is one of those in-betweeners, better than average in the AHL, but not cutting the mustard with the big team. But Drouin, Armia and Byron are all top forwards, and when you are missing four (counting Gallagher), you're going to have trouble putting the puck in your opponents' net. And that was exactly the problem last night and in the New Year's Eve loss to Carolina. You won't win many games scoring only one goal.

The good news -- such as it is -- is that the Habs' defence has improved, although there's still a lack of communications, at times, between the defence pairs and the goalie. And the "third defenceman", goalie Carey Price, has been inconsistent. TBL's winning goal, last night, resulted from Price leaving the puck right on his doorstep, thinking that Victor Mete would pick it up... which he (Mete) didn't.

The defence should be improved as of tomorrow night, when Marco Scandella joins the team, having been acquired by GM Marc Bergevin in a deal with Buffalo yesterday. Scandella will probably take the place of Brett Kulak, who has been less than reliable this year, and will now get on the bus for Laval.

If the Habs are to have any hope of making the playoffs, Bergevin is going to have to buy or rent a couple of seasoned players. Drouin and Byron aren't expected back until the end of January, and there's no help coming from Laval. Three or four of the sputtering Rocket have been called up and have done nothing much. I won't name and shame them, but the initials of one are Charles Hudon.

The good news is that some of the younger players on the forward lines are playing well. Max Domi scored in six consecutive games, before last night. Ryan Poehling shows signs of adjusting to his quick move from college hockey to the NHL.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who himself was concussed until recently, is improving, although not to the point of being the marquee player fans are hoping for. The coming superstar is more likely to be Nick Suzuki, acquired as a bonus in the trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Vegas. In the last four games, he has been the best player on the ice, on either team, several times -- truly a delight to watch.

So... we're only half-way through the season. It's easy enough to see the glass as half-empty, but if you look not at the scores but at the way the Habs have been playing, it might just be half full. The fat lady hasn't sung yet!

UPDATE ADDED at 1130: Cazart! Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin just announced that they have signed Russian star [has-been? Ed.] Ilya Kovalchuk to a one-year, two-way contract which will pay the right-winter $700,000 if he plays with the Habs, 1/10th of that if he winds up in Laval.

Kovalchuk, 36, used to be the terror of NHL goalies, but parted company with the Los Angeles Kings in November after failing to perform miracles. Whether he can do so for the Habs is an open question, but at that price, it's worth a try. And don't forget that la Sainte Flanelle had another Great Russian, not so long ago, whose name began with "Kov"! Wonder if No. 27 is available?

UPDATED: Poor Len Canayen not so worried about Habs now

Our sports editor, Poor Len Canayen, craves space to re-evaluate yesterday's piece, in which he expressed doubt as to the future of Canada's team, the Montréal Canadiens. Have at it, Len.

Pass the crow, please. After receiving an e-mail from a Habs fan asking why I was so negative about the Habs' prospects, and after watching last night's thrilling (after the first period) 4-1 win over the Pittsburg Penguins, I must give kudos do the dozen solid and stout-hearted performers who have carried the Habs through a difficult stretch, from which they now seem to be recovering nicely. [What have I told you about run-on sentences? Ed.]

Let's start with the defence corps. While reiterating the need for one or two more reliable D-men, I can express nothing but admiration for:
Captain Shea Weber: 1 goal (a wraparound, or in French un tourniquet) and 1 assist, 4 hits. Jeff Petry: 1 assist, 8 (count `em, 8!) hits. Ben Chiarot: no points but another 8 hits. Chiarot was picked up this summer from the Winnipeg Jets (well done, Marc Bergevin) and has proved a valuable addition to the team.

These three "older men" have been playing upwards of 20 minutes every game, and as much as 29 or 30 in a couple of recent games. My only question is how long they can keep up that pace and still have something left for the playoffs. Helping out and deserving of mention is rookie Cale Fleury, still growing but not afraid to throw his weight around, with 4 hits last night and smart play in his zone. He's a keeper!

Up front, les Glorieux have a solid first line:
Tomas "Tuna" Tatar: 1 goal and 1 assist last night, and has learned to stay out of the penalty box. Brendan Gallagher: the small-but-mighty sparkplug of the team, also 1 + 1, so that's half the scoring right there. Phillip Danault: one of the most under-rated centres in the NHL, IMHO, got a well-deserved assist on the Tatar goal.

Other forwards who contribute consistently are:
Joel Armia: 1+1 last night, playing the best hockey of his career. Arturi Lehkonen: 1 assist, and developing into the key man on the penalty kill. I take back the unkind words I wrote last year. Nick Suzuki: Rookie-of-the-year, on this team at least. Beautiful stick-handler and play-maker. Another great trade by Bergevin. Nate Thompson: the old pro at centre, increasingly trusted by coach Claude Julien on important face-offs, and does more than his share as a support player.  Nick Cousins: Had my doubts early on, but was impressed with his effort and tenacity in the last two games.

So the Habs have a good core, 4 good defencemen, 8 good forwards. That's 2/3 of a starting lineup. And yes, there's still Carey Price. Allowed just one goal last night -- a 2-on-1 rush following a defensive miscue -- and just one the night before. Is the all-star Price back? Hope so!

Summary: Last night's whole-team effort in a road game against a tough team was great to see... Warmed the cockles of this old man's heart. In fact they got so warm I had to rub them with ice! Keep up the good work, guys, and you'll make the post-season for sure!

UPDATE ADDED 12/12/19: Les Glorieux ont remporté la victoire hier soir! The Habs beat Ottawa 3-2 in OT. Goals by Cousins, Tatar, and Chiarot had the overtime winner! Rookie goalie Cayden Primeau stopped 35 of 37 shots, for a save pct of .946, and got the first star. Not an oil painting, but a sign that Canada's team's recovery for the recent slump is real indeed.

Poor Len Canayen's wrap-up of the Habs' annus horribilis

Ed. here. It has been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegon. [Ed., you'd better check for copyright on that line. Walt] Walt has been preoccupied with foreign politics, not to mention bored to death -- `scuse the expression -- with all the anti-gun, anti-NRA rhetoric following the Florida school massacre. Calls for new and better gun control laws have (predictably) morphed into attacks on big business and the NRA. Plus ça change... But I digress. Since Walt has other things on his mind, I've invited our old friend, Poor Len Canayen, to write what I suspect will be the final analysis, for this season, of Canada's team, the Montréal Canadiens.

Tank you, Hed. It `as been a quiet week `ere in Lac Wobegon. [That's OK. There's no Lac Wobegon in the USA. Ed.] The Canadiens are out of town, the NHL trade deadline has passed with only one major change, and all but the diehardiest fans have thrown in the towel on this year's season.

It has been a dismal season. Oddly enough, now that everyone (except perhaps General Mismanager Marc Bergevin) has admitted that, what's left of the team has started to play somewhat better. Last night they enjoyed a convincing win over the Brooklyn Islanders, having surrendered the lead thrice but turning on the jets in the third period to prevail 6-3. That makes their record from St Valentine's Day to the present 3-3-2, exactly .500.

.500 doesn't get you into the playoffs, of course, but in the circumstances les Glorieux needn't hang their heads in shame. Well, not too low... The team that took the ice last night, and for most of this season, can only be described as "the B team". All-star Goalie Carey Price is injured, having suffered a concussion last month. It's possible he may take the rest of the season off. In Shea Weber's case, it's not possible but definite. His foot was injured in the very first game of the season. He played hurt for some 20 games but finally succumbed late last fall. Now it turns out he requires surgery and won't be on the ice again until next fall... if then.

Tomas Plekanec was traded to the hated Maple Leafs a day before the trade deadline, a move which I concede was necessary -- M Bergevin is in desperate need of new players -- but which makes me sad nevertheless. Farewell "Plecky" and hope you come back home next year. Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw are both rusty after long spells on the injury list. And almost half of the other 19 guys who wore the bleu-blanc-et-rouge last night are call-ups from the Laval Rocket (the Habs' AHL affiliate), who are also having a bad year, owing to so many of their players being brought up to the Big Club.

Clearly, major changes will be needed in the off-season if Marc Bergevin's much-touted rebuilding plan (now in its sixth year) is going to get back on track. Time to give up on Alex Galchenyuk. He was never a natural centre and no-one could ever figure out what else to do with him. At least four of the call-ups from the AHL -- Jakob de la Rose, Byron Froese, Nikita Scherbak and Daniel Carr -- are "not quite ready for prime time" and need to be sent back to Laval or (better) traded. Captain Max Pacioretty is at the end of his rope and needs to go to a team where he can score at will without having to carry the big "C" on his back.

Something drastic needs to be done about the defence. I still blame Bergevin for having let go three good defencemen -- Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Mikhail Sergachev -- plus a terrific forward, Alexandre Radulov. See "Bring back the Russians!", WWW 9/10/17. Surely it can't be that M Bergevin just doesn't like Russians! Now, with Shea Weber unlikely to be in top shape ever again, the team is left with not a single ace defender. Jeff Petry has played well enough on offence and the power play, but is still something like -30 for the season. Newcomers Victor Mete and Noah Juulsen show promise but need to gain experience... and size.

So, it's up to Bergie to find a couple of top-four defenceman, plus the big, fast centre we've been waiting for for over a decade. I'm actually beginning to think that the BFC may be a mythical creature. For now, unless there is some major development in the world of Le Canadien between now and the end of the season, that's it for me, Poor Len Canayen. Tank you.

[Hé! Hed! Did you check the spelling of the second-last word in the headline? Two Ns or just one? Len.]

Habs report: Inconsistent Canadiens baffle Poor Len

Poor Len here. Ed. asked me a week ago [Only a week! Ed.], after the Montréal Canadiens had won their fourth game in a row, thumping Detroit 10-1, if I wasn't going to write something on the team's incredible turnaround. "Let's wait a few days," I told him. "I think I may be dreaming. I want to see if this is real." Alas and eheu! It wasn't.

This past Tuesday the Habs lost a close one (4-3) to a bigger, tougher team, the St. Louis Blues. On Thursday they lost 3-2, in overtime. tio the Calgary Flames, a team they should have been able to beat handily. Their play in the couple of minutes of extra time was a model of ineptitude. And then there was last night, when they got mauled 6-2 by one of the worst teams in the Western conference, the Edmonton Oilers. It's been a tough week to be a fan of la Sainte Flannelle.

Their modest winning streak seemed attributable, in large part, to the return of Carey Price. "Mr Saturday Night" appeared to have regained his all-star form, allowing just two (2) goals in the first three games he played since coming off the injury list. And he played in the games against St. Louis and Calgary, getting his GAA for the season down to 3.00 going into last night's game. Last night, for some reason, he fell apart, getting the hook at 2:24 of the second period, after allowing 4 goals on 15 shots.

Price gave the impression of having no energy, and not being in the game mentally. Why? Who knows? It's not for lack of rest. He played two games in two nights the week before, winning both. Perhaps it's a recurrence of rumoured personal problems that (they say) were part of the reason for his time off for most of November. To be fair, last night's débâcle was not his fault alone. As Shea Weber told the meeja, "Why should he deserve all the blame? It's a team sport. I don't know why the finger should be pointed only at him."

Indeed, there's plenty of blame to go around. The Canadiens were outshot 40-26. Where was the defence?! Weber was -3 last night. So was Jordy Benn. But it's not all down to the D either. There are still some forwards -- step forward Alex Galchenyuk -- who are either unaware of or incapable of performing their defensive duties. Captain Max Pacioretty said, "From the first face-off, we were back on our heels, worrying too much about playing defence against some of their players [meaning Connor McDavid, no doubt] who were coming through the neutral zone at speed."

Quite so. Brendan Gallagher, who I love to bits, took two penalties in quick succession, near the beginning of the third period, trying to stop Edmonton rushes. Sure enough, the Oilers scored on one of the ensuing power plays. Cap'n Max says "The best way to defend against that kind of thing is to create an attack." That would have been fine, except the Habs forwards didn't do that. Rookie goaltender Laurent Broissoit, who started the game with a GAA of 3.71, was never sorely tested.

The warning signs were there in Tuesday night's 4-3 loss to the Blues. St. Louis scored first, and Montréal was able to tie the game and then go into the lead (which they blew) thanks to goals by the aforementioned Weber (2) and Benn, both defencemen. Where was the offence? MIA.

And there you have the problem of this season's edition of the Canadiens in one word: inconsistency. One night there's no offence. The next night there's no defence. And on the third, the (former?) best goalie in the world has an "off night"...or a night off. Price was defensive in the meeja scrum after last night's game. "I didn't get up this morning intending to be pulled in the second period!", he snapped.

I believe him. I believe they all want to win. And they know I and 1000s of other fans of Canada's team want them to win. I just wish that the forwards, the defence and the goaltenders could all get their acts together for sixty minutes in the same game, 6 or 7 times out of 10, from here until April. Ainsi soit-il!

Poor Len Canayen: Bring back the Russians!

Poor Len Canayen here. On September 28th, I posed the question: is it time, yet, for Habs fans to panic? I answered my own question with the word "no". But that was then, before the NHL season got underway. This is now, after the first three games played (sort of) by the bleu-blanc-et-rouge.

The record so far:
Thursday - Montréal Canadiens 3 - Buffalo Sabres 2 - shootout victory.
Saturday - Washington Capitals 6 - le Canadien, errr, 1 - débâcle.
Sunday - New York Rangers 2 - Habs 0 - shutout loss.

Thursday night's win did not inspire confidence. The Habs had to come from behind twice to tie the game late in the third period. The three-on-three overtime produced no excellent chances on either side, and it was just a beauty goal -- his first as a Canadien - by Jonathan Drouin that did the trick. Carey Price deserved his first "W", having faced 45 shots thanks to a lazy and inept defence.

Saturday night's game was indeed a debacle. The Caps' Alex Ovechkin (the Great Eight) scored four (4) goals, two of them in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the first period. With another goal having been potted between Ovie's first two, that left the Habs in a 3-0 hole with the game not yet three minutes old. It just got worse after that.

Last night les Glorieux played well enough to win, I thought, or at least get a point, but they didn't. The puck got behind Rangers' goalie Hendrik Lundqvist twice in the first period, but both goals were disallowed after review, and rightly so, it must be said. That seemed to discourage our lads, who just went through the motions in the second and third frames. The Rangers scored on a bad bounce off Shea Weber's skate and an egregious giveaway by Jeff Petry, and that was all she wrote.

So... In nine periods of regulation time (plus a five-minute overtime), the Habs have scored but three -- count 'em, three -- goals. That's an average of just under one (1) per game. Even with Carey Price in top form, you don't win a lot of games by scoring just one goal. It's worth noting that two of the three goals were scored while short-handed! What does that tell you?

What the team needs is a couple of players who can be counted on to put the puck in the opposition's net! Only one forward line -- the third line centred by Tomas Plekanec -- played hard. Plekanec and Paul Byron are dangerous on the PK. Captain Max Pacioretty tired hard as did wee Brendan Gallagher. (I love that kid.) Drouin has talent, but is not going to turn things around single-handedly.

On the debit side, Alex Galchenyuk still hasn't learned to play in his own zone. He was -5 against Washington. We've seen Charles Hudon and Jakob De La Rose before, last year. IMHO the only reason they were kept with the Big Team after the pre-season is that we didn't have anyone else!

As for the defence, the less said the better. IMHO (again) the only top-notch defenceman wearing the CH is Shea Weber, and you can't expect him to play 25 or more minutes every night. Jordy Benn and Karl Alzner have not lived up to expectations. Jeff Petry doesn't seem to realize the season has started. Just as I predicted, Andrei Markov and Alex Emelin are already sorely missed. The only bright light is rookie Victor Mete, but he's young (19) and not yet fully grown. I don't know if he'll be able to stand the gaff for another 79 games.

In my (still) humble opinion, it's not too early to lay the blame for this year's terrible start at the feet of Habs' GM Marc Bergevin. The loss of Emelin couldn't be helped -- stupid expansion draft! -- but we could still have had Markov and Alex Radulov if he (Bergevin) had only softened his "I'm the boss" attitude and opened up the purse-strings a little.

Radulov got a sweet deal from Dallas, so there's no getting him back, but if I were M Bergevin, I'd be on the phone to Kazan [That's in Russia. Ed.] to tell Markov all is forgiven and please come home quick. And who knows? It's just possible that Emelin won't be happy in Nashville (with his old friend P.K. Subban!) and would welcome a trade back to the Mecca of hockey. It's happened before (Hello, Mark Streit!) so it could happen again!

Further reading (added 10/10/17): "Les premiers matchs du CH sèment déjà l'inquiétude": Michel Lamarche dans La Presse.

Poor Len Canayen: Time for Habs fans to panic?

Poor Len Canayen here, with the first in what I hope will NOT be a series of posts on what could be a woeful hockey season for our beloved Montréal Canadiens. Sad to say, the outlook for 2017-18 isn't brilliant. In fact it's downright depressing.

So far, the Habs have (allegedly) played six pre-season games, and won... wait for it... none of them. Not one. They have failed to score more than two goals in any game, while allowing, errr, more. And the roster has showed great gaping holes in front and at the blue line. It's enough to make even a true believer nervous.

With two more exhibition games to be played, it may be a bit soon to start pointing the finger of blame, but I do want to say something about how last year's fine team was dismembered during the off-season. The fault, as I see it, lies chiefly with general manager Marc Bergevin, who's responsible for trades and acquisitions. Coach Claude Julien can only work with the players he's given, and must look down the bench and wonder where all the good guys went.

Let's start with defence, which looks like being the major problem this year. Last night Carey Price allowed an unPricelike four goals. One was a fluke, but two of them he never saw. Why? Poor defence. Coach Julien told La Presse, "Sur les buts marqués ce soir, Carey n'a jamais vu la rondelle. Il faut faire un meilleur travail pour lui permettre de voir la rondelle, car c'est un bon gardien qui va arrêter ce qu'il peut voir. Il faut faire du meilleur travail devant notre filet pour lui laisser voir la rondelle un peu mieux."

During the off-season, the Habs lost no fewer than five (count 'em, 5) defencemen, including two who are already sorely missed. Nathan Beaulieu was traded to Buffalo. No loss there but some say Bergevin should've been able to get more for him -- say a bag of pucks. Mikhail Sergachev found out (by Twitter!) that he'd been traded to Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin. Sergachev was a top defence prospect and we can only hope Drouin will prove to be the sniper the team sorely needs. Nikita Nesterov just disappeared, and is said to have gone back to Russia. Buhbye.

The two fine defenceman who are now conspicuous by their absence are Andrei Markov and Alexei "Boom" Emelin. It's hard to blame Bergevin for losing Emelin. He could only protect three defencemen from the expansion draft, and Emelin was No. 4. After being grabbed by the Las Vegas Golden Nuggets ["Knights", shurely! Ed.] Emelin got traded to the Nashville Predators, where he will get to play with his old friend (NOT) P.K. Subban. I'm not sure if it's possible for Montréal to get him back, but the team sure could use his thundering checks to keep the opposition honest.

And then there's Markov. After failing to negotiate a two-year renewal contract with the CH, Markov went home to Russia, rather than play with any other NHL team. He has now signed up for two years with Kazan of the KHL. For letting this stalwart top-four defenceman go, I invite Marc Bergevin to bend over so I can give his ass a good kick! Sure Markov is getting long in the tooth, but he proved last year that he can still play defence and contribute as a play-maker, especially on the power play. After 16 years with la Sainte Flanelle, was another two too much to ask? Whatever happened to loyalty?

Marc Bergevin asked the same question -- "Whatever happened to loyalty?" -- in discussing Alexander Radulov's jump to the Dallas Stars. "If you want loyalty," Bergevin is supposed to have said, "get a dog." He was referring to the fact that in 2016-17 the Habs took a chance on the previously troublesome Radulov when no other NHL team would touch him. It was a good bet, for which Bergevin deserved the praise he got. But when you're on a roll, why not double down? Radulov proved that he had cleaned up his act, motivated himself and become a real asset to the team. Why not loosen the purse-strings and give him a good long-term contract? He got give years at $31.25 million at Dallas. The Habs could have done better than that... and should have!

Bottom line: Some Leaf fans of my acquaintance -- I don't discriminate against anybody -- kidded me that last year's Canadiens looked a lot like Central Red Army, right down to the colours of their uniforms. The "Flying Frenchmen" of the Golden Age aren't French any more (they said), and the Habs are just a bunch of Russians masquerading as Canadians. I say, who cares. Habs fans are going to be sorry Markov, Emelin and Radulov are no longer with the team. Hell, we're sorry already!!!

Poor Len Canayen explains Habs' Subban for Weber trade

Last April 6th, in "Re P.K. Subban - Told ya so!", Walt's very close friend, Poor Len Canayen, wrote "Unless something startling happens between now and the end of September, I'll be back then..." Well, as reported here (first!) earlier this afternoon, something startling has happened, so it's with pleasure that I turn the keyboard over to Poor Len.

Shed a tear (he writes) for Dave Stubbs, formerly the Montreal Gazette's cheerleader-in-chief for P.K. Subban, now scribbling for nhl.com. Who will Stubbsy worship now that his hero has been traded by the Montréal Canadiens to (gasp!) the Predators of Nashville?

Mr Stubbs thought that the sun, moon and stars shone out of the arse of the "transcendant" defenceman. The Canadiens management and coaching staff felt otherwise, as did many of his teammates. But the club's owners (Geoff Molson, prop.) loved him... when business was good. When the team missed the playoffs and fingers started to be pointed, minds were changed, and permission was given to GM Marc Bergevin to do what had to be done "for the good of the team". Which is exactly what I'd been advocating for the last two years.

P.K. Subban is a talented hockey player, when he manages to not fall down. But it takes more than talent to be a true star and an inspiration to your teammates. You need good judgment, maturity and, dare I say it, a modicum of humility. Those are the qualities which, combined with hockey skills, made Jean Béliveau, Gordie Howe, and Wayne Gretsky all-time greats. Those are the qualities which, sadly for him, Mr Subban lacks. To him, the game was all about P.K., and the cheerleaders at the Gazoo must take some of the blame for feeding P.K.'s ego, which long since became too big for the dressing room. That was why he had to go... for the good of the team.

Now P.K. has gone to Nashville, where he should feel right at home. Southern hospitality, you know. He will get an especially warm welcome from Nashville's finest if he appears on Main Street dressed as in the picture at right. Oh, they'll love him there, that's for sure.

In return for Subban, the Habs got the Predators' captain, Shea Weber, an all-star defenceman who is older, bigger and wiser than the One whose critics were labelled as incorrigible racists. Weber is not only more experienced, but more reliable on defence. Yet he scored 20 goals and 31 assists in 78 games with the Predators last season, compared with Subban's 6 goals and 45 assists in 68 games for the Canadiens.

In a statement this afternoon, Marc Begevin said, "Nous venons d'effectuer une importante transaction qui, j'en suis convaincu, fera du Canadien une meilleure équipe. Ce fut également l'une des décisions les plus difficiles que j'ai eu à prendre comme dirigeant du Canadien de Montréal. Nous venons d'obtenir, en Shea Weber, un défenseur de premier plan dans la LNH, un leader exceptionnel et un joueur qui, selon nous, améliorera notre brigade défensive et notre jeu de puissance pendant plusieurs saisons. Shea Weber a dominé tous les défenseurs de la LNH la saison dernière avec 14 buts en avantage numérique. C'est un défenseur complet, avec un gabarit imposant qui possède un puissant tir frappé."

For those who don't understand French -- wen you come on top da countree you gotta speak da langue, eh -- the key part is the first sentence: "...an important transaction which, I'm convinced, will make the Canadiens a better team." Ainsi soit-il.

What's wrong with les Canadiens?

Poor Len here. I wanted to write this piece Sunday night, following the Montréal Canadiens drubbing by the Calgary Flames [Calgary?! Ed.] but Ed. restrained me. After last night's débâcle -- shut out 5-0 by Chicago -- I can restrain myself no longer. [Have at it, then. Ed.]

The Habs got off to a great start this season. Going into Sunday's game they were 8-2-1, good for 17 points and first place in the NHL Eastern Conference. Today they still have 17 points, and are tied for first with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, both of whom have games in hand. What happened?

Back in October, I was asked by my kids -- unaccountably they root for the Toronto Maple Laffs -- why I wasn't gloating. My response was that if I did so, I'd probably wake up and find it was all a dream -- not real. And so it was. This month, reality has set in. The reality is that this year's "Glorieux" are a mediocre team with a bad defence and terrible special units. For the first ten games they had an incredible run of luck, which has now come to an end.

What's wrong with Canada's team? I will tell you. It's these guys.

Let's start with Carey Price (#31), the Habs' ace goaltender and unofficial captain. I love him to bits but must acknowledge (as he should) that he's not superhuman. Although he's stolen more than his share of games with stand-up and stand-out performances, he still needs help. That means a reliable defensive corps, which is what the Canadiens had last year, not this year.

Over the summer, Habs management made some changes, under huge pressure from the fans, the owners and the Montréal press, to pay whatever was necessary to sign P.K. Subban (#76) to a long-term contract. Result? An 8-year deal at an average C$9 million a  year (almost $8 million in real money).

Is Subban -- former Norris Trophy winner and Olympic gold medalist and a credit to his race -- earning his exorbitant keep? In a word, NO.

Let me quote from an e-mail sent (with bcc to me) by Walt's Agent 3 to long-time Montreal Gazette hockey writer Pat Hickey, one of the chief cheerleaders for P.K.

Your brief report on last night's "game" -- quotes deliberate -- didn't mention the Habs' star defenceman. He was lucky to be only -3 for the night, since he happened to be on the ice when both Montreal goals were scored, and Calgary didn't score on his needless penalty.

I  note for 12 games this season his +/- is 0. He leads the team in only one stat -- penalty minutes.
Don't you think it's about time you sports scribes got over the PC factor that seems to preclude any discussion about whether PK is worth the enormous sum he's being paid?

Looking now at the team stats as of today,  Subban's +/- is now -3, and his PIM total is now up to 22, thanks to another bad penalty last night, which negated a Montréal power play just when they desperately needed a goal to get back in the game. 

I can think of three ex-Habs who must be laughing at Montréal GM Marc Bergevin. One is Josh Gorges, a solid, stay-at-home defenceman who Monsieur B traded to Buffalo rather than pay him half of what Subban is getting. 

Then there's Francis Bouillon, another dependable (if aging) blue-liner who didn't get a renewal contract at all. And there's Doug "Swede" Murray, a tough but less-than-mobile rearguard who was also dumped because, hey, who needs a solid defence when you've got P.K.'s speed and cannonading slap shot going for you? 

If only... So far this year, Subban has 3 goals, behind Plekanec, Pacioretty and Galchenyuk. By my arithmetic he's on track for a 50-point season which would be very good, but what the Habs really need is not more goal production but more goal prevention!

Coach Michel Therrien has been juggling his defence pairings, with lamentable lack of success. The problem is that nobody can (or wants to) play with Subban, of for no reason other than his unpredictability. You can't count on him to be in the right position at the right time. He could be behind the opposing team's goal line... or in the penalty box.

I'm sure I'm not the first to say "I told ya so!" Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has doubtless said so many times, in private at least. He coached Canada's 2012 Olympic team, to which Subban was named, in spite of  his huge "risk factor", for reasons of political correctness. 

Babcock let him ride the pines for all but a few shifts of Canada's least challenging preliminary bout against Austria. So of course he (Babcock) was labelled a racist. Although he's never said so publicly, the truth is that Team Canada's coach simply wanted a player he could count on. Not Subban.