Tag: Montreal Canadiens

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Will the Montreal Canadiens look for a new head coach this off-season?

Current interim head coach Dominique Ducharme may be the team’s next permanent man behind the bench

The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien on Feb. 24, after four years with the team. The Habs have missed the playoffs twice with Julien. Last season, the Canadiens were lucky enough to be the lowest-ranked club to qualify for the playoffs in a unique COVID-19 playoff format that saw 24 teams fight for the title.

Dominique Ducharme, who was already assistant coach, is taking the lead behind the bench for the rest of the season. However, it’s unsure if the Canadiens will look to bring in a new head coach for the upcoming seasons during the summer or if they will officially make Ducharme their new head coach.

This could depend on the team’s performances this season. After what looked like a solid start to this season, the team has been lacking consistency these past weeks, and losses have been more frequent than wins.

If Canadiens’ General Manager Marc Bergevin wants to sign a more experienced head coach this summer, there are some good candidates. However, we know that this Montreal market has always looked for bilingual coaches. In that category, options are very limited in terms of established coaches.

Gerard Gallant would be a familiar face to the Canadiens. He was an assistant coach with the team during the 2012‒13 season. He then coached the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights. He has experience with veterans and rookies.

Another candidate could be former Dallas Stars head coach and current St. Louis Blues Assistant Head Coach Jim Montgomery. While not as experienced as Gallant, Montgomery has a 67-49-10 record in the National Hockey League (NHL), and an impressive 125-57-26 record with the Denver Pioneers in college hockey.

No matter Bergevin’s decision, it will need to be for the long term, as this Canadiens team is packed with young players and a promising future.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Marc Bergevin: early General Manager of the Year candidate

Bergevin’s offseason moves translate to results on the ice

Somewhere in Montreal right now, Montreal Canadiens’ General Manager Marc Bergevin is smiling. After years of craftsmanship and engineering of the draft, free agency, and the trade market, Bergevin has finally sculpted the Canadiens into the team that he envisioned when he arrived in 2012.

Despite recent struggles, the Canadiens remain amongst the top teams in their division with a 9-5-3 record. When you consider the assets that Bergevin has brought in, and the rate at which they have been producing, you can’t help but think he is amongst the leading candidates for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award.

A mix of veterans and budding youngsters has shaped what is arguably one of the deepest Habs rosters in recent memory. Offensively, the Canadiens are scoring at an impressive rate, averaging 3.35 goals per game on 33.9 shots per night — good for top 10 in the league. On the blueline and between the pipes, they are allowing a respectable 2.71 goals per game, which ranks them just outside the top 10 in the NHL.

This year’s version of the Canadiens has been in the making for years. In his nine seasons at the helm of team management, Bergevin has been under fire seemingly every year. Despite the backlash, however, he’s stayed true to himself, and trusted the process that helped him land the team we’re seeing today.

Some will say they’ve only played 17 games so far, which is a fair point. It was only five years ago that we saw the Habs establish a franchise record 9-0-1 season start, but lose in the first round of the playoffs to the New York Rangers.

But there’s something about this team that just feels different. They have a balanced four-line offence, a shutdown defensive group capable of producing goals, and one of the best goaltending duos in Carey Price and Jake Allen.

TAKE YOUR PICK

In recent history, Stanley Cup champions have proven that the NHL Entry Draft is a launching point for the construction of any championship-calibre team. Building within your organization first, then complementing the foundation with outside pieces is the strategy of most general managers, which has repeatedly proven successful.

The Chicago Blackhawks’ dynasty was built off the likes of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated for years down the middle with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, the winners of two of the past three Stanley Cups, have also benefited from the common denominator in that equation: homegrown superstars.

The Canadiens variant stems from a pair of players out of British Columbia: Price and Brendan Gallagher. Of course, there haven’t been any Stanley Cups to show for it, but still, the cornerstones of this roster were established via the draft.

Aside from Price, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is the only other first-round pick on the roster that was selected by the organization themselves. In fact, no first-round pick between 2006 and 2016 even remains in the system. Whether they simply didn’t develop as expected, or were used as key pieces in trades, first rounders have not fared well for the club in past years.

Instead, the Habs have found value in the rounds subsequent for their supporting cast: Alexander Romanov, a second-round pick; Artturi Lehkonen, also a second rounder; Victor Mete, a fourth round-pick; and Jake Evans, a seventh-round selection.

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

July 1 — typically the day in which the free agency opens in the NHL — is always an exciting day for hockey fans. The rumours that float around in the days and weeks prior are finally made official as general managers jump into the free agent market. This past year, it was Bergevin making the biggest splash.

Entering the offseason, the Canadiens’ needs were clear: a quality backup goaltender, a top-four defenceman and a scoring winger. Bergevin got them all and more. Allen (acquired in a trade and signed), Joel Edmundson and Tyler Toffoli joined the team as immediate impact players, while veterans Corey Perry and Michael Frolik were added as depth moves. Bergevin and the Habs were also able to re-sign Jeff Petry and Gallagher to long-term deals, as they were set to become free agents at the end of the season.

Bergevin has remained quieter on the free agent front in previous years, but has steadily brought in profitable pieces in players like Paul Byron (claimed off waivers and then re-signed), Ben Chiarot, and Joel Armia who have quietly proved their worth in the Canadiens lineup.

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT

One area where Bergevin has excelled is on the trade market. Whether with a minor deal like Brett Kulak, or a blockbuster trade like P.K. Subban for Shea Weber, Bergevin has never shied away from making a move. You look back at some of the deals Bergevin has made during his tenure as general manager with the Canadiens and can’t help but laugh. In hindsight, some of these trades have been straight highway robberies.

Phillip Danault’s acquisition is probably Bergevin’s best via the trade market. The former first-round pick was acquired when the Habs sent Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann  to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the Quebec-native and a second-round pick. That second round pick was then used to select Romanov.

A few months after acquiring Danault, the Canadiens made one of the most monumental trades in franchise history by landing Weber. Weber was born to play in a market like Montreal, and the captain letter on his jersey shows it. His leadership, poise and veteran demeanor is second to none, and is noticed by every player that walks in and out of that locker room.

When Nick Suzuki landed in Montreal in the Max Pacioretty deal, it was known to fans that the Canadiens were getting a highly-skilled forward — but to what extent? In only his second season in the NHL, Suzuki is turning into the Habs’ number one centre, if he hasn’t already. This is the player that the Habs wanted; the player that they needed. The London, Ont., native is wise beyond his years and has fans raving about his ceiling. Throw Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick into the mix and this emerges as another win for Bergevin .

On Oct. 6, Bergevin acquired Josh Anderson in exchange for Max Domi and a third-round pick. Anderson’s size, speed and scoring ability is what the Canadiens were hoping for, and with nine goals in 17 games, that’s exactly what they are getting.

ONLY TIME WILL TELL

Because of this modified season bothered by COVID-19, we won’t truly know just how good this Canadiens team is until the Conference Finals at the very least, where they would see the league’s top teams from the United States. What we do know, however, is that they have 20 players that are willing to buy into Claude Julien’s system on a daily basis, and that is a recipe for sweet success, no matter the opponent.

 

 

Graphic @the_beta_lab

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An offseason to remember for the Montreal Canadiens

A commendable offseason for the Montreal Canadiens and general manager Marc Bergevin

Montreal Canadiens General Manager (GM) Marc Bergevin has perhaps the toughest task of all in terms of satisfying Habs fans, who are still looking for future playoff success despite a Stanley Cup drought of over 25 years.

But Bergevin is probably having his most productive offseason with the Habs, starting things off by trading Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Josh Anderson on the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft day. The terms of the deal were settled shortly after reports started to surface early in the day; the Canadiens sent Domi and a third-round pick in exchange for power forward Anderson.

Statistics from Anderson’s 2019–20 season could stir some doubt among fans, considering he finished with a meager one goal and three assists in his 26 games played. In comparison, Domi totalled 44 points in 71 games. However, the former Blue Jacket suffered a shoulder injury in December, eventually undergoing surgery in early March, which suggests he probably played through the injury throughout the regular season.

Apart from Anderson’s unfortunately derailed 2019–20 season, he has been a force to be reckoned with. Over a three-year span from 2016 to 2019, Anderson was ranked 22nd in the NHL for 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes of ice time, ahead of marquee names such as Sidney Crosby (34th) and Nathan MacKinnon (35th).

Shortly after the trade, Bergevin wasted no time in signing the 26-year-old to a seven-year contract worth a total of $38.5 million. Anderson’s new deal will count as $5.5 million per year to the team’s cap hit.

Barring injuries, Anderson is an imposing figure that will provide some needed physicality to a team that is otherwise lacking. The Burlington native provides great protection for the young core, and a nice scoring touch at his size.

The Canadiens also used their first-round pick in the draft to select Kaiden Guhle, a defenseman coming off a rousing success of a season with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Prince Albert Raiders.

Fans were largely critical of the decision, imploring the Habs management to draft a higher risk player at that stage in the draft. With the NHL’s recent explosion of young, exciting defensive talent, such as Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar, Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes and Buffalo Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin, many fans are looking for flashy, offensive-minded defense over solid fundamentals and consistency.

Fans are willingly obstinate when they are being spoiled with extravagant plays like this league-wide on a nightly basis. Regardless, it would be overly skeptical to fault the Habs management in the draft choice. A reliable and sizable (six-foot-two, 190 pounds) defenceman who likes to play physical, Guhle should have no problems adjusting to NHL level.

The Habs made their first major free agency acquisition on Oct. 12, announcing the signing of Tyler Toffoli to a four-year contract with an average annual value of $4.25 million. The 28-year-old winger split playing time between the Los Angeles Kings and the Canucks in 2019–20, tallying 44 points in 68 games.

Toffoli will bring offence to the Canadiens without sacrificing defensive awareness and positioning. He has a knack for finding the back of the net, and will add another scoring option from the wing no matter which forward line he ends up on.

The Canadiens’ offseason objectives were clear from the onset, and by mid-October, Bergevin accomplished everything he sought to do.

Bergevin acquired and signed backup goaltender Jake Allen to alleviate pressure from Carey Price. He also acquired and signed defenceman Joel Edmundson to a four-year deal. He addressed the need for a power forward and a scoring winger with the acquisitions of Anderson and Toffoli, respectively. Bergevin added further stability to the blue line in re-signing Habs defenceman Jeff Petry for four more years.

For many Habs fans, the GM had one more task to complete. Long-time Canadien and current alternate captain, Brendan Gallagher, was set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020–21. The entire Habs offseason would be for naught if the Canadiens management couldn’t lock in the right-winger for the future.

Undoubtedly, he is the most prominent gear in the Canadiens complex system, a sentiment no rational Habs fan could dispute. Contract negotiations briefly reached an impasse that sparked drama for Habs fans, but later reports affirmed the delays resulted from a simple misunderstanding between Bergevin and Gallagher’s agent Gerry Johannson. Canadiens fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief as Gallagher’s contract was eventually extended by six years, totalling $39 million over the span.

The only thing left to do is wait hopefully and see if the seedlings that Bergevin has planted in 2020 will bear fruit.

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

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An interesting draft for the Montreal Canadiens

The Habs have the sixteenth overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft

As COVID-19 delayed the National Hockey League (NHL) 2019–20 playoffs, this year’s NHL Entry Draft will be presented on Oct. 6 and 7. It will be conducted online, while players and fans alike will watch from home.

The Montreal Canadiens have 13 draft picks this year, including the sixteenth overall selection. The team’s last two first-round picks were Cole Caufield and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, fifteenth overall pick in 2019 and third overall pick in 2018, respectively. As the team begins to see the impact of its young talented players, this year’s draft should only add to what the Canadiens are heading towards: youth.

The question is, who should the Montreal Canadiens select? Here are some players who might interest the Habs.

Hendrix Lapierre: 

Besides Alexis Lafrenière, projected first overall selection in the draft, Lapierre is the next best French-Canadian player the Canadiens could select.

Unfortunately, Lapierre has suffered multiple concussions, which led him to miss over half of the 2019–20 season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). During his short season, Lapierre produced two goals and 15 assists for 17 points in 19 games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

His playmaking and ability to control the puck is something that could definitely help the Canadiens at the centre position. He isn’t the best offensive player in the draft, but he is definitely one of the best defensive centremen available. His hockey sense is impressive and he can easily find players on the ice. Lapierre could be the first French-Canadian drafted by the Habs in the first round since Louis Leblanc in 2009.

Dylan Holloway:

Ranked at number 16 on Bob McKenzie’s list on TSN, Holloway is another player that could interest the Habs. Although Holloway had an average season with the University of Wisconsin, scoring eight goals and nine assists in 35 games, the forward who can play centre and left-wing has a great potential.

His speed and physicality could help a team like the Habs, which mainly consists of small players. Finding players with the speed and size of Holloway is rare. He would help his teammates to free up space on the ice. The fact he played with Caufield in Wisconsin could also convince the Canadiens to draft him.

Dawson Mercer: 

The Habs desperately need offensive power and if their General Manager Marc Bergevin does not trade for a goal scorer, Mercer could at least be a solution for the future. Last year, Mercer registered 24 goals and 36 assists for 60 points in 42 games, playing for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

His stickhandling skills help him get great opportunities for his powerful shot. While not the fastest, he is capable of outskating players and taking the puck from his opponents. He has a great mentality and works really hard on both sides of the ice, which is important for the Habs organization.

Noel Gunler:

This Swedish offensive player could add offensive power to the Canadiens. Playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and the J20 SuperElit League, Gunler got 29 goals and 22 assists for 51 points in 46 games during the 2018–19 season. Gunler has an ease in finding the space and time to shoot the puck.

Being very tall, he doesn’t have any difficulty driving the net and blocking the goalie’s view, which could be a great addition to the Habs’ power play. Although he might need another year to be ready for the NHL, Gunler could potentially be a top-two player playing alongside the team’s great centres like Kotkaniemi.

Rodion Amirov:

Ranked as one of the best prospects for the Canadiens by RDS journalist Stéphane Leroux, Amirov is a tall, Russian left-winger. He has played in Russia in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the Molodiojnaïa Hokkeïnaïa Liga (MHL) and the Vyschaïa Hokkeïnaïa Liga (VHL).

In 2019–20, Amirov counted 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 43 games. Amirov has amazing skills, and can easily score goals on a penalty shot or a breakaway. His shot is also extremely good, as he has a powerful release. However, he might not be the heaviest player, which may deter the Habs.

He definitely has the potential to become a great goal scorer in the NHL, and he, just like Gunler, could help the Canadiens on the power play. He still has amazing potential and he is very entertaining to watch.

With all the great players available in this year’s draft, it will be interesting to see which one the Canadiens will pick. No matter who it is, it’s almost guaranteed they’ll have something to solve the team’s needs. However, after recently signing defencemen Alexander Romanov and Joel Edmundson, the Habs might look into drafting a forward for the fourth straight year.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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The good and bad of the Jake Allen trade

Having two good goalies is a key to any NHL team’s success

Excluding Carey Price, nine goalies have started at least one game for the Montreal Canadiens since the start of the 2013-14 National Hockey League (NHL) season.

Finding a reliable second goalie at a reasonable price has been a problem for the Habs since Peter Budaj was Price’s substitute from 2011 to 2014. The team’s general manager (GM) Marc Bergevin made a significant move on Sept. 2, 2020 in order to solve that problem. The GM acquired veteran Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a third-round and a seventh-round draft pick. Allen will play the last of a four-year contract next season with the Habs, and will have a $4.35 million cap hit.

The good:

Allen lost his starting position during the 2018-19 season when young goaltender Jordan Binnington made a solid impression on the Blues during the Stanley Cup playoffs, helping the team win its first championship in franchise history.

Allen probably lost value because of Binnington’s dominance in goal, which can explain how the Habs managed to get him for two draft picks. However, it doesn’t mean he lost talent. In fact, Allen finished this season second in the NHL for goals against average (GAA) with 2.15, and fourth for save percentage with .927, both career bests in the league.

A problem these past few seasons was that Price was over-used by playing too many games, including back-to-back games in 48-hour spans. With Allen, not only will the Canadiens have two trusted goalies they can send against any team, but Price will be able to rest more. It’s easy to imagine that Price will also feel a weight off his shoulders now that he’s not the team’s only hope between the pipes.

The bad:

With that salary, Allen will need to perform, especially since he’ll not play as much as he could elsewhere in a bigger role. Not every team has the chance to have two goaltenders who can act as starters. Teams who do, however, usually don’t have a superstar like Price.

Many backup goaltenders can win from 10 to 20 games per season and start from 15 to 30 games. Allen could easily exceed these numbers, but likely won’t get that chance in the 2020-21 season with Price in the starting role.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Canadiens will re-sign him, considering that both Allen and Price are aging veterans looking for ice-time. If not, it’ll be interesting to see why the team traded for a single season of Allen, and didn’t try a similar trade in the past two or three years instead.

It’s yet to be seen whether or not Allen will solve the Habs goalie problems.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Colour Commentary: The importance of asset management

The past couple of weeks included a big stretch of games for the Montreal Canadiens.

They played a back-to-back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, then went to Carolina to play the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve, and back home for another game against Tampa on Thursday night.

They needed to win at least two of those games to remain comfortably in the playoff chase. Well, they went 0/4. That is what we, in the sports world, call “not good.”

With a multitude of players out of the lineup due to injuries and fans calling for change, the Canadiens General Manager, Marc Bergevin, went out and made two notable acquisitions.

First, he traded a fourth-round pick for NDG-native Marco Scandella, a left-handed defenceman — something the Canadiens lack. Bergevin also signed an aging Ilya Kovalchuk to a one year, US $700,000 contract.

Will these moves save the Canadiens’ season and catapult them into the playoffs? Probably not. But what Bergevin is doing is flexing his asset management skills — something a lot of Canadiens fans fail to see.

Scandella is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning come the trade deadline, teams will be lining up to give up an asset for him for their playoff chase. This is what, in the business, is called a “rental player.”

Kovalchuk, who turns 37 in April, is an interesting one. He signed a contract two summers ago with the LA Kings, figuring he wanted to play with a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Well, the Kings are anything but that, so in December they mutually decided to part ways.

According to many hockey analysts, Kovalchuk is still very motivated and wants to play. Bergevin said himself in a press conference that this move may work, or it may not, but it’s totally up to the player.

If the move works, Kovalchuk will likely get dealt again at the trade deadline should the Canadiens still be out of the playoff picture at that point. If not, they terminate his contract and everyone goes on with their lives.

Trading Kovalchuk at the deadline, should he pick up his play, would literally be Bergevin creating something out of nothing, when it comes to assets.

A lot of people are calling for Bergevin’s head saying that this was a desperate move. I think it was an incredibly savvy move on his part.

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Colour Commentary: Why do fans put so much stock into prospects?

If you’ve been reading my columns, I think I have made it pretty clear that I am a Montreal Canadiens fan. Like most fans, I love trade rumours – they create fun discussions and make imaginations run wild.

Amid the New Jersey Devils’ horrendous start to the NHL season, Taylor Hall’s name has started to surface in trade rumours. The 28-year-old winger will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and will presumably not be resigning in New Jersey.

I think it is objectively fair to say the Canadiens have one of the top five best prospect pools in the NHL. Ryan Poehling, Nick Suzuki, Alexander Romanov; the list goes on and on.

Here’s where the two connect: the idea of Taylor Hall being traded to the Habs has caught fire in the Habs-Twitter world. Naturally, when the idea of Suzuki, a first round pick, and another player was thrown around as a hypothetical trade, fans were split in saying either yes or no to that idea.

I understand that Suzuki and the others are exciting prospects. In Suzuki’s case, he has the potential to be a top six centre in the NHL. The operative word in that sentence is potential. If he were to reach that ceiling, it would be amazing. On the other hand, he can very well fall flat and become a 40-point-player.

Hall doesn’t have the potential to be an elite scorer. The former Hart Trophy winner has already proven to be one while playing for two pitiful teams. He is an instant game-changer that is worth taking a one year gamble on.

The fact is, a marquee free agent has never signed with the Canadiens. There are too many factors working against the organization. They need to be creative in how they acquire elite talent.

Potential is nice. But it is just that: potential. Nothing more.

Some fans, and this is not exclusive to Canadiens fans, fall into a trap of overvaluing potential and would not give it up for a tangible asset.

You may have noticed that I excluded Cole Caufield from the list above. That’s where I draw the line. Caufield is considered by many analysts as a “can’t miss” prospect. Other than him, when it comes to acquiring elite talent, potential should not be the determining factor on a possible trade that pushes the needle of a team from being a bubble playoff team to an instant contender.

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Colour Commentary: Winning is a universal language

It seems like we have this conversation every couple of months, and I’m sick and tired of it. But since seeing the signs some people decided to put up all around the streets surrounding the Bell Centre, I’ve been really pissed off.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, there are a bunch of signs hung up on lampposts in the design of a Habs jersey that read “Minimum 10 Québécois.” The signs were paid for and authorized by Stefan Allinger of La Fondation Équipe-Québec.

Really? We’re doing this again?

Before I rant on this subject, let’s think about this logistically for a second. Including goalies, there are 38 active players in the NHL that are born in Quebec, two of which play for the Canadiens. Some of these players have played most of their careers with the same team; Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Huberdeau and Kristopher Letang. Yes, the Canadiens had the chance to draft two of those players, but they didn’t, and 29 other teams passed on them as well.

Traditionally the Canadiens have always had a French-speaking coach; this has apparently turned into a prerequisite for the job as they need to be able to address the French media in the city. Even with that reasoning, I don’t understand the need for it.

The Montreal Canadiens are the only team in the world that limit themselves to hiring a coach and general manager from a single region of the – one that isn’t the most highly populated. Now some people are calling for a minimum amount of Quebec-born players.

In 2013, Gareth Bale, who could have been argued as one of the top footballers on the face of the planet at that time, signed with Real Madrid in Spain. He did not speak a lick of Spanish, so what did the club do? They hired a translator for him to answer questions because they have millions of dollars at their disposal.

There are countless other examples of teams signing foreign coaches and players. It’s okay with fans because they are proven winners. Winning is a universal language that everyone understands.

I couldn’t care less where a coach or player is from – if they bring a team success, they’re good enough for mine. Let’s stop this debate right now, because frankly I’m not alone in being absolutely sick of it.

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U SPORTS All-Star Team Face Off against Montreal Canadiens Prospects

Earlier today, Concordia Stingers men’s hockey head coach Marc-André Élément led a U SPORTS all-star team against the top prospects of Montreal Canadiens‘s National Hockey League (NHL) club at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.

The U SPORTS all-star team presented seven players from the Stingers, seven from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes, and another seven from McGill University.

Élément was contacted a few months ago by the Canadiens to organize the event. He said he then decided to create a U SPORTS all-star team with the Quebec teams of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) to give the Canadiens a good challenge.

“I think it’s a really good thing for the promotion of our league and the three university programs in Quebec,” Élément said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to be seen. The number one priority is to show people that university hockey in Quebec is a good level of hockey, which is something people may not really know.”

Élément announced to his Stingers players their nominations to the U SPORTS all-star team when they came back to Concordia after summer vacation. One of those players, forward Philippe Sanche, said this game will help players gain experience.

“There are players [on the team] who want to play at a professional level after, either in Europe, here, or in other leagues,” Sanche said. “We can also compare with players drafted or invited to professional camps. I think it will [help] us to compare ourselves to them, know what we need to work on or understand what they did to receive an invitation.”

Sanche said even if today’s game isn’t part of the OUA regular season, the best for the players is to play as if it were.

“If you want to go to the next level, you need to be yourself, play how you can play and show what you’re capable of,” Sanche said. “It’s a game like [any] other. You should not put yourself under too much pressure and try to do too much because that’s when you’re going to look bad.”

Defenceman Carl Neill, another of the seven Stingers on the team, said it will be interesting to be in a team with players he normally faces during the season.

“We know a bit of their tendencies and what kind of players they are, but it’s going to be really interesting given [our rivalries],” Neill said. “I’m sure we’ll put all of this aside for the game, but once the season starts, there will be no more love.”

Rivals or not, knowing a bit of each other should be a good thing for today, as the team’s only practice for the game was held yesterday. However, Élément said he and the players will be fine, as it’s not the first time they have had to deal with such situations.

“We’ll get to know each other quickly for the time of a game,” Élément said. “Yet, they’re all players we know, as we play against them [during the season]. I even tried to recruit some of them before they went into other programs. It will be fun.”

 

Photo by Alec Brideau

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Colour commentary: Fighting in hockey is not necessary

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Paul Byron’s injury sparks debate about the NHL’s “code”

After Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron suffered a head injury in a fight against the Florida Panthers’s MacKenzie Weegar on March 26, it’s time to revisit the debate about fighting in hockey.

Probably the most violent contact sport besides boxing and mixed martial arts, fighting has been part of hockey since its inception over 100 years ago. Things change over the course of a century, including the rules of hockey, so why is fighting still a part of the game? It’s because hockey players are way too traditional.

Byron injured Weegar with a hit to the head on Jan. 15, and was suspended for three games. Weegar suffered a concussion but returned to the line-up on Feb. 2, missing only four games. In the first meeting between the Canadiens and Panthers since, the six-foot tall, 200-lb Weegar challenged the five-foot, nine-inch tall, 163-lb Byron to a fight early in the first period. With a clear size advantage, Weegar landed an uppercut, which knocked Byron down, and he missed the rest of the game.

The Canadiens are in the middle of a playoff hunt and can’t afford to lose their assistant captain. Was the fight really necessary? I don’t think so, since Byron already served his three-game suspension. Weegar and Byron fought because of the NHL’s ancient “code,” the unwritten rule that players have to stand up for themselves or their teammates with a fight.

It’s an unwritten rule that comes from the dinosaur ages of hockey. It’s completely unnecessary in today’s game, and needs to be phased out in order to avoid injuries. Habs forward Andrew Shaw told Arpon Basu of The Athletic that the code is “a thing that hockey players do.”

How about this: don’t do it—it’s not worth it. There’s ongoing research about concussions and how it affects the brain long-term. Unlike a broken bone or a pulled muscle, effects of concussions can linger, and for some players, it could last years.

Like Weegar, and likely now Byron, I suffered a concussion in February while playing hockey, and it sucks. My opponent only received a two-minute minor for the check to the head, and wasn’t suspended, but I didn’t go after him the next time we played.  

Going after an opponent to avenge a previous injury is childish. I’m sure Weegar didn’t intend to hurt Byron, but the whole situation could have been avoided if there was no fight.

I don’t know if fighting will ever be banned from hockey, but staged fights like these are barbaric and useless. You play hockey to score more goals than the other team, not to knock your opponent out. Try boxing if you want to knock someone out.

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Colour commentary: Habs season successful no matter the standing

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Canadiens exceeding expectations as they continue to push for playoffs

Coming into this season, the Montreal Canadiens were projected to be near the bottom of the league. After trading their two best goal scorers, Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk, everyone wondered where the offence would come from. Yet, the Habs are fighting for a playoff spot in the final stretch of the season.

A few weeks ago, it was a four-team race between the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Canadiens for the two wild card spots. Three of these teams are in the Metropolitan Division, meaning the third seed in the division is up for grabs. One of these teams will have to miss the playoffs.

With the Penguins and Hurricanes surging up the standings, Montreal and Columbus are competing for the final spot. Columbus currently holds the tiebreaker, which is overtime and regulation wins, so Montreal needs to surpass Columbus’s point total.

Montreal still has games against Carolina and Columbus to gain ground, but the Metropolitan teams aren’t making it easier for Montreal to squeeze in. Over the last month of the season, the Metro teams played each other at least once, leaving a possibility for them to hurt each other. However, Montreal has failed multiple times to win games, and take advantage of other teams’ losses.

With a handful of games left, is it worth it for the Habs to be in the playoffs? They have more points than Columbus, but have a more difficult schedule. If they make the playoffs, they would face-off against the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

The odds of Montreal beating Tampa Bay in a series are slim. Is it worth being eliminated in the first round and getting a first-round draft pick between 16th and 19th overall? Or is it better to miss the playoffs for a better draft pick?

As nice as it would be to make the playoffs, the team has come a long way since the beginning of the year, making it a successful Habs season no matter the result.

If they miss the playoffs and don’t win the lottery, they would have the 15th pick. In the current format, any team can win the top three picks. Montreal would have a one per cent chance at the number one pick and a 3.3 per cent chance at a top-three pick, according to Tankathon.

Whether in the playoffs or not, Montreal is a young and tough team to play against, and will only get better with young talent knocking on the NHL’s door.

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Colour commentary: Carey Price not appreciated enough

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Canadiens goalie record-setting win is another accomplishment in great career

I remember the first time I watched Carey Price on TV; Canada was playing the United States at the 2007 World Junior Championships, and the semi-final game went to a shootout. The shootout lasted seven rounds but Price made three huge saves, including the last on Peter Mueller, to send Canada to the final, which they won. I remember thinking, “Wow, this guy is a Montreal Canadiens prospect.”

Fast forward 12 years, and Price is more than just a Montreal Canadiens player. On March 5, he tied Jacques Plante for most wins in franchise history, with 314. In a franchise that’s been around for 110 years, with its many legends and all-time greats, Price is now number one for wins.

Although Price has often been criticized, Canadiens fans of this generation are so lucky to have him. I don’t think we truly appreciate just how good Price is.

With a career 314-220-67 record, Price also has a career .918 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average (GAA). Since becoming the Canadiens’s full-time starter in 2010-11, he’s only had two seasons with a GAA higher than 2.50: 2.59 in 2012-13, when he played 39 games, and 3.11 last season when the Canadiens finished third to last in the league.

We definitely can’t forget about Price’s 44-win 2014-15 season, in which he had a career-best 1.96 GAA, which is just mind-blowing. It’s a no-brainer that he won the Hart Trophy as the league’s best player that year.

There is one thing missing from Price’s trophy cabinet, and that’s a Stanley Cup. Pessimistic fans will be quick to criticize Price’s career with the Canadiens for this reason, since Plante and Ken Dryden won six, while Patrick Roy won two with the Habs and two more with the Colorado Avalanche.

However, these Hall of Fame goalies had Hall of Fame players in front of them. Price doesn’t, except for a potential Hall of Famer in Shea Weber—who’s only been with the Habs since 2016. Plante played on the 1950s dynasty team, which included 12 Hall of Fame members from Jean Beliveau to Maurice Richard. Dryden’s team in the 1970s had 11 members in the Hall of Fame.

It’s a shame Price couldn’t have played on better Canadiens teams. They came close in 2014, as he carried them to the Conference Final before getting injured. This season, he’s helped carry the Habs past expectations as they continue to fight for a spot in the playoffs. We can only hope this young team will improve and Carey Price will finally win his Stanley Cup.

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