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.

Montréal Canadiens: it's OK to panic now

The Montréal Canadiens have now played the first five games of the 2021-22 NHL season. Here is our National Sports Editor with his take on how the Habs are doing. Ed.

Tank youse, Hed! Dere is no joy on top de contree today. Last year's Stanley Cup finalists are doing much worse than feared, having lost their first five games. They are now dead last not only in the Atlantic Division, but in the NHL overall. How could this happen?!

When I wrote a fortnight (Allo! Agent 17) ago about the Habs' prospects for this season, I said they would need to score 4 goals per game, since the weakened defence -- missing Carey Price, Shea Weber and (for now) Joel Edmundson -- was bound to allow at least 3.

The Canadiens scored 4 goals, but that's over the first 5 games of the season, for a GFA of 0.80. You don't win hockey games with a statistic like that, and indeed, the team's record, as of this morning, is 0-5-0, or .000, 0 points, zip, nil, nada.

What's the problem? Let's start with goaltending. It was thought, not unreasonably, that les Glorieux would be all set in that department, with experienced and competent (or better) pros Carey Price and Jake Allen in front of the cage. Who knew that Carey Price would enter a rehab programme, leaving Allen as the starter, with... errr... no backup. 

Cayden Primeau, the heir apparaent, showed during the pre-season that he's not ready for prime time, so on October 2nd, Habs General Manager Marc Bergevin  claimed Samuel Montembeault off waivers. Montembeault's NHL experience consisted of 25 appearances with the Florida Panthers, a record of 9-8-3 with a 3.20 GAA and save percentage of .892. He allowed 5 goals in his first game with the Habs.

It wasn't entirely Montembault's fault that they lost that game 5-1. The defence left him virtually unprotected. [Are you going to use the cliché about suing them for non-support? Ed.] At the end of the playoffs this summer, the Habs had four reliable D-men: Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Joel Edmundson and Ben Chiarot. 

Weber is out for the season, maybe for good. Edmundson is at home dealing with family problems. That leaves Petry and Chiarot, who don't play together, Brett Kulak and Alex Romanov, and new hires David Savard and Chris Wideman. 

Wideman is useful on the power play, but just mediocre in his assigned role. Savard is not even that. That's why I advised M Bergevin, two weeks ago, to get his derrière over to Moscow and bring Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin back with him. It was his mistake not to keep them when he had the chance.

Finally we come to the major problem, a pitiful offence. M Bergevin's greatest mistake, this summer, was not giving new contracts to Phillip Danault and Corey Perry. They are both sorely missed, as is Tomas Tatar (kind of). Jonathon Drouin is back, and has scored half of the Habs' four goals. Brendan Gallagher is still the heart of the team. Youngsters Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are trying, but not producing. 

Marc Bergevin, searching for a top centre and other replacements, hired some new guys over the summer, whose names aren't worth mentioning here. They were expendable on their previous teams, for a reason. There isn't one of them who has contributed much. Last year's top scorer, Tyler Toffoli, got his first goal last night, but is -7. And that's it. That's the offence. Terrible.

Head coach Dominique Ducharme can juggle his lines and defence pairings until the cows come home, trying to find five guys who can play as one unit, but so far it hasn't worked. But it's not his fault. The coach can only work with the players given to him by the general manager. That would be Marc Bergevin. If the Canadiens are short on talent and skill this year [Whaddya mean "if"? Ed.] it's his fault. That's all ye know and all ye need to know.