Poor Len analyzes Canadiens' first 6 games

Ed. here. Walt is still in Canada. I suspect he is indulging in Boneshaker IPA with our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, who has send these comments on the Montréal Canadiens season, thus far. 

Tank youse, Hed. Let's start with stats. Following last night's loss to the New York Rangers -- which the Habs deserved, by the way -- they have registered 4 wins and 2 losses, for 8 points and a .667 average.

That's good for second place in the Atlantic Division, behind the much improved Detroit Red Wings, who also have 8 points but have a game in hand. 

If la Sainte Flannelle can maintain the .667 average through the season, they should wind up with 109 point and a berth in the playoffs. 

But I did say "if".

The 2025-26 Canadiens are fast and super-exciting to watch, especially when Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov. Yet, of the four games they won, they had to come from behind to win two in overtime. And the power play still hasn't hit top gear. Last night, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki extended their point streaks to five games. Caufield sniped five goals in the first five games.

Noah Dobson scored his first goal in a Habs sweater and has fitted in nicely. After scoring three goals in each of the first three games, Zach Bolduc has gone a bit quiet but looks like a good acquisition. Kirby Dach appeared to have shaken off the rust, but is still injury-prone, missing last night's game with a lower-bodyinjury, as did Kaiden Guhle, who's going to be out for a month.

If the Habs are to sustain their early momentum, some tweaks must be made, not to the strategy of coach Martin St-Louis, but to the lineup. The power play has struggled. Too much passing and not enough presence4 in front of the enemy's net. How about putting Demidov on the right and dropping Juray Slavkovsky down to second, with Dach at centre and, say, Bolduc at left. 

Notice I didn't mention Patrik Laine? Apart from some time on the power play, he's been relegated to the fourth line, where, if he doesn't do much good, at least does little harm. Did anyone else note that while he sat out of last night's game (lower body injury, they said), Jonathan Marchessault was absent from the Nashville Predators lineup vs Winnipeg. Marchessault was showcased in Thursday night's game vs Montréal and I wonder if a trade for Laine is in the works. Marchessault would love to be at home in Québec and It would be a great deal for the Habs.

Then there's the goaltending conundrum. Les Glorieux have scored 21 goals in their first six games, but have allowed 18, a differential of +3. Problem: it wasn't backup goalie Jakub Dobes who allowed most of those. It was the supposed starter Samuel Montembeault. His GAA is 3.26 (sv% .857), compared with Dobes' 1.46 (.940), although the latter played in just two games. Monty's record is 2-2, while Dobes' is 2-0. Do I need to say more? [Please do. Ed.]

Hokay den, here's what dey shoujld do. Send Montembeault down to Laval for some reconditioning, and bring up hot prospect Jacob Fowler to play backup to Dobes for the next few games. See what happens.

[You seem to have a liking for goalies named "Jacob". Ed.] Yeah, well, remember Jake Allen? At the ripe old age of 35, he's still playing for the New Jersey Devils, and putting up respectable numbers. I rest my case. [I think there's still one in there that hasn't been opened. Ed.] Tank youse, Hed.

VIDEO: Poor Len reviews last night's Canadiens vs Senators game (?)

You know the old Henny Youngman joke: "I went to the fights the other night and a hockey game broke out!" Here's our National Sports (as long as it's hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, with his take on last night's tilt in North America's most beautiful second-tier (state/provincial) capital.

Tank youse, Hed! Hockey fans in Québec (the city) are still pissed at Gary Bitchmann, the non-skating Jew who is czar of the so-called National Hockey League. It is he, and he alone, who stands in the way of the return of NHL hockey to Québec City, former home of the much-missed Québec Nordiques, who fell victims of wee Gary's drive to make "National" mean "American", and American only. Perhaps he's one of those behind President Trump's constant allusions to making Canada "the 51st state"?

But I digest. NHL hockey was played last night in the fine Centre Vidéotron, where the Ottawa Senators, the home team for the night, received the Montréal Canadiens in a thrilling match which delighted the multitude of Habs fans in attendance... Sens fans not so much.

       

Interviewed after the game, Habs D-man Alexandre Carrier said, "Rendu en troisième, on ne jouait plus vraiment au hockey." True enough. Between them, the teams racked up 152 penalty minutes in a fight-filled 5-0 victory for les Glorieux.

At the centre of the mêlée were the Xhekaj brothers, Arber and Florian, with two fights each. Florian fought Jan Jenik in the first period, and Arber and Jenik traded blows in the second. Then, in the third, both brothers fought on the same shift when Arber took on Zack MacEwen and Florian battled with Carter Yakemchuk near the Habs' bench. The brothers combined for 31 penalty minutes and were both ejected from the game, along with MacEwen, after those third-period fights. 

Also in the third period, Senators forward Nick Cousins was penalized for an egregious slash on tiny but terrible Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov, who, along with Lane Hutson, put on a skating and stick-handling clinic that deserved a standing O.

For the record, the Canadiens' goals were scored by Oliver Kapanen, Patrik Laine, Alexandre Carrier, Lane Hutson and Kirby Dach, three of the goals coming on the power play. Assist went to Dach, Demidov, Hutson and Laine, as well as Alex Newhook, Mike Matheson, and Brendan Gallagher.

The victory was largely due to the fine work of the young players, but the contribution of the old pros should be noted. It was good to see Dach figure in the scoring. We hope doing so will help him regain his self-confidence. And Brendan Gallagher... what can we say except "We love ya!"

Last night was perhaps the last opportunity for players who are "on the bubble" to show that they deserve to stay with the Big Team when final cuts are made after Saturday's last pre-season game at Ottawa. Owen Beck, Joe Veleno, Samuel Blais and Zach Bolduc were present last night but did nothing in particular to help or hurt themselves.   

The best of the prospects, IMHO, was Kapanen, whose goal last night was the icing on the cake of a strong performance. My money's on him to be in the starting line-up for the first regular season game, along with maybe Beck. The season opener is October 8th, at Toronto.

We leave you with a pic from last night's game: Jayden Struble on top of Jan Jenik.

If you like your hockey like a good steak... bloody... this was your kind of game!

Footnote added at 1235 FMT: The blatant attempts of certain Ottawa players to inflict serious physical damage on the smaller and better Canadiens did not go unnoced by the NHL Department of Player Safety. Nick Cousins has been fined $2148.44 -- the maximum permitted under the agreement with the players -- for his vicious slash on the arm of Ivan Demidov. Hayden Hodgson was fined $2148.44 for boarding Alex Newhook. The money goes to the NHL Players Emergency Fund.

Montréal Canadiens' October surprise!

WWW's National Sports (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, does a bit of gloating.

Tank youse, Hed. It was a wonderful night au Centre Bell for fans of the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge, as the Canadiens started the 2024-25 season by shutting out the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0. It was the first time the Laffs had lost a 1-0 season opener since 1957, when they were edged by the Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium.

Here's what may be the best hockey action picture of the year [Already? Ed.], as Juraj Slafkovsky shows off his Slavic heritage in front of Leafs' surprise starter, Anthony Stolarz, while Habs captain Nick Suzuki keeps his eye on the puck. 

Slafkovsky and Kirby "Doc" Dach assisted on the Canadiens' winning (and only) goal, scored by the inevitable Cole Caufield on a perfectly executied tic-tac-toe power play at 7:48 of the first period. It was Caufield's 150th career point in his 206th game, making him the fastest Canadien to reach that mark since Saku Koivu in 1997-98.

Goalie Sam "Monty" Montembeault looked as if his third season with the Habs might be the breakout year in which he becomes recognized as a worthy successor to Carey Price. He became the seventh Canadiens goaltender to post a shutout in a season-opening game. Jacques Plante was the only other to do it against the Maple Leafs -- twice, on 6/10/55 and 5/10/60. 

Midway through the second period, Montembeault flashed the leather with a glove save on a one-timer from the slot by Maple Leafs sniper Auston Matthews, who, along with former Hab Max Pacioretty, was booed every time he was on the ice. Monty's 47th save of the night was on another Matthews chance from the slot in the dying seconds of a great game.

So far, my prediction for this season semble pas trop pire, eh!

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].