Poor Len Canayen has some advice for Habs' Luke Richardson

Ed. here. Game 2 of the National Hockey League (G. Betchman, Prop.) Stanley Cup finals, between Canada's team, the Montréal Canadiens, and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning, is scheduled for 8 PM ET tonight.TB leads the series 1 game to 0 following a sub-par performance by the Habs on Monday night. Watch it on TVA Sports, SportsNet or NBC Sports. 

We hand over, now. to our National Sport Editor, Poor Len Canayen, who is taking time from his baking to give some advice to the Habs coaching staff.

Although three giveaways sealed the Habs' fate on Monday, the real problem was lack of offence. TB's goalie faced fewer than 20 shots, with only a handful being quality chances. My advice, therefore, is mostly related to the defence. [??? Walt.] 

Interim interim head coach Luke Richardson has been playing, as his third defence pairing, last-minute pickups Jim Merrill and Eric Gustafsson. The latter was billed as a "power play specialist" but against a team that doesn't take many penalties, so what! Both Merrill and Gustafsson are slow of foot, so are reluctant to join a rush for fear of getting caught pinching. 

So, Monsieur Luc, what you do is sit those two and put in, as your third D pair, Brett Kulak and Alexandre Romanov. The latter is just a kid, and makes the odd rookie mistake, but he's fast, aggressive, and not afraid to shoot. The chippy Kulak takes more than his share of penalties, but remember that our guys lead the league in short-handed goals!

Up front, if Joel Armia is not yet ready to take his place on the fourth line, consider putting Tomas Tatar in there. He's been in the château du chien since a  listless performance in the last part of the regular season, but he should be tired of the view from the stands, and might just turn out to be an unlikely hero.

Don't listen to dose other guys, Luke! Listen to me! Have I ever steered you wrong? Lifetime pct .988.

PS - The bagels are from St-Viateur Bagels in Montréal. Get `em while they're hot! Or, if you're not up for the drive, you can get `em delivered, to addresses on either side of the World's Longest Undefended Border (TM).

Poor Len gives up on Habs... for this season

Ed. here. Poor Len Canayen called me yesterday evening following the Montréal Canadiens 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, which puts the ABF nail in the coffin of their Stanley Cup playoff hopes. "Once you've finished crying in your Molson Canadian, write some advice to Marc Bergevin about what to during the summer to give fans a better team next year." Here's what he sent us.

Tank youse, Hed. Just to be clear, though, while I a happreciate evryting la famille Molson has done for Canada's team, I don't drink dat beer because it's just Coors in a can wit a maple leaf. I like Creemore Springs India Pale Ale. Look it up.

Hokay den, I'm not gonna rehash all the reasons/excuses for the Habs' poor performance, including two (2) 8-game winless streaks. I can't remember a season in which the team was so hard-hit by injuries, including two or three key players out at the same time.

Counting Charlie Lindgren, 8 of the players dressed for Thursday night's game vs Tampa Bay were from the AHL Laval Rocket. But there's more to the story than bad luck. If I could work out what's wrong, I'd be standing behind the bench instead of Claude Julien.

But I can't, and, since M Julien will be back next season, the most I can do is ask M Bergevin to ensure that Coach Claude has a bigger group of good players to work with. Here's my list of who to move and not move during the off-season which is fast approaching.

Players you keep, for sure: Carey Price and Shea Weber. Sure they're not getting any younger, but they're both playing well (allowing for the occasional off night) and are, with Brendan Gallagher, the glue that holds la Sainte Flannelle together. Besides, they both have hyuge contracts with years to run, and M Molson would have to eat part of their salaries if you trade them. And who would you get in return? Don't tell me about draft picks. You already have lots of picks; you just need to draft better prospects!

Jeff Petry. That guy's a horse. He can play 20-25-30 minutes per game without breaking a sweat. Sure he sometimes pinches too deep, but he's got a shot from the point second only to Weber's, and you need him on the power play. He's the only D-man you've got, besides Weber, who could even be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy.,

This year the Habs have had just one (1) solid forward line: Philip Danault, Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher. I wish we have a dozen Gallaghers, the kind of players who punch over their weight and never give up, no matter what. Danault is one of the most under-rated centres in the NHL, and he's consistent. I haven't heard any talk about trading those two, but in the run-up to the trade deadline, Tatar's name was mentioned more than once. Why?! "Tuna" was a great pick-up, for cheap, and was having a great year until he got injured last week. Why would you even think about trading him?

Players should probably keep, unless you get somebody who is really good, not just a prospect, in return: Max Domi, Paul Byron, and Nick Suzuki. All three have speed and skill. The trick is getting them on the right lines. Suzuki impressed the hell out of me in the first half of the season, but seems to have hit a wall in his rookie year. He needs some stability -- being on the same line with more experienced players -- to develop. Domi needs to keep it simple and shoot more. Byron's never going to be a 20-goal scorer but he's invaluable on the PK, good for a couple of shorties every year. Joel Armia's worth keeping, just needs to have more confidence in himself.

Back on defence, you should probably keep Ben Chariot, who's been steady if unspectacular throughout the year. Of those who came up from the Rocket, I like Xavier Ouellet, also steady and not trying to do too much. Down on the farm, there's also Cale Fleury, who had a good start with the big team before being sent down for seasoning. [How come he doesn't speak French? Ed.] And behind him, in goal, rookie Cayden Primeau looks like being capable of taking the back-up role next year.

Guys you should get rid of: Charles Hudon, who's had more than enough chances. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, ruined by being poorly managed in his rookie year last year. Arturi Lehkonen, Mr Choke. Charlie Lindgren, who makes the guys in front of him nervous.

So there you go, mon cher Marc. I gave you 13 guys who I'd like to see on next season's edition of the Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge. Shop everybody else around and see if you can get another 10 or 12 to round out the roster. Bonne chance! À la prochaine!