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 writes: If I were Marc Bergevin...

Poor Len Canayen here. Ed. wanted an excuse to run this beautiful photo again, so has invited me to talk about what's likely to happen with/to our beloved Montréal Canadiens, now that the so-called all-star game is over and we can get on with real hockey.

It is often said that the position of the teams at the all-star break pretty much spells out where they'll finished when the regular season winds up in early April. That's good news for fans of le bleu, blanc et rouge, because the Habs, to the suprise of everyone including themselves, are in third place in the NHL's Atlantic Division, just one point behind the Toronto Maple Laffs.

Even if the positions are reversed, that would mean Toronto vs Montréal in the first round of the playoffs, something which hasn't happened since 1979. You couldn't ask for a better rivalry than that, although Montréal vs Boston would be pretty close.

The prospect of a playoff run has to change Habs' GM Marc Bergevin's plans for changes to the roster. Before the season started, when everyone was counting the Habs out before the first whistle blew, the conventional wisdom was that M Bergevin would stand pat with the team he'd assembled over the summer, and be neither a buyer nor a seller at the end-of-February trade deadline. The GM himself said he didn't see any need to pick up a "rental" to give the team a boost at playoff time. I'm guessing he is having second thoughts now, so here's my suggestion for a blockbuster trade that could keep les Glorieux from bowing out in the first round.

What I'd do... if I were Marc Bergevin... which I'm not, I know... is... wait for it... get on the phone to Chuck Fletcher, who was hired in December to manage one of the worst teams in the NHL... namely... wait for it... the Philadelphia Flyers. My feelings about Philthydelphia and its alleged sports teams are about the same as those of Bill Burr, but the Flyers have 5 -- count `em, 5 -- assets that could help the Habs, and vice versa. So I'm talking straight-up trade... or pick any 2, 3 or 4 from each list.

Philadelphia Flyers -- Scoring punch comes from 2 solid centres, Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux, and 2 good right-wingers, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds. (I should mention that Simmonds is black, and I say that to put paid to all the flak I've been taking for my repeated shots at P.K. Subban, who I'm still glad is gone.) And Habs still only have 3 experienced defencemen, so how about picking up Radko Goudas. He's the type who puts the fear on his opponents (as well as his teammates, sometimes) and Montréal needs that.

Montréal Canadiens -- Sorry I couldn't find a left-winger on Philly to trade with the Habs, who have a surplus. The real trade bait is Jonathan Drouin, who was supposed to be the next superstar who would single-handedly lift the team out of the cellar. Didn't happen last year. As for this, I see flashes of brilliance but I also see inconsistency, and I'd trade Drouin for someone who's going to show up for every game. The other two left-wingers, Artturi Lehkonen and Charles Hudon, are, sorry to say it, choke artists. Hudon tries hard, but has a problem with his hand-eye coordination or timing or something. Lehkonen just doesn't seem to care. They've both had ample opportunity to prove their worth, but have failed.

The other two players on my time-to-go list are defencemen: Karl Alzner and David Schlemko. Last I heard, Schlemko got waived through the league and is presently toiling with the AHL Laval Rocket. There's a reason why no-one picked him up. The reason, in the case of Alzner, was the size of his huge contract, one of Bergie's poorer moves. He's not a bad D-man, but just can't play the style that coach Claude Julien wants. The emphasis now is on speed and the ability to move the puck. Alzner is only a bit faster than Hal Gill (who I really liked, by the way) and seems content to stop skating when he gets to the opponent's blue line, which used to be fine, but that was then.

There you have it, fans, 5 players from each team who could be the subject of trade discussions in this off week. I know I haven't factored in age, contract terms, upcoming free agencies and so on. That's the stuff general managers think about, and I am merely a humble fan. Selah.