Tag: habs

On Canadiens: Bergevin sacks Julien to salvage the season and his job

After only eighteen games played this season, the Montreal Canadiens announced this morning that they have fired head coach Claude Julien and his beleaguered powerplay guru, Kirk Muller.

In the hours that have passed, a debate roiling around this decision is whether this is a surprise, and whether the Canadiens have been too reactionary to their latest string of poor results and have been unfair to Julien, who has been the coach for the Canadiens since February 2017.

It is hard to evaluate this decision without the appropriate context. Given the situation that the Canadiens find themselves in, a period in which they have lost six of their last eight games, and have careened down the North Division standings, I cannot say that I am too surprised. In fact, in discussions with other friends that support the Canadiens in recent days, this very situation was discussed. Ultimately, the decision arose from the fact that this slump is not an isolated event, and harkens back to similar happenings that Julien could not resolve a year ago.

This season, the Canadiens started the first ten games of the season 7-1-2, obtaining 16 points and keeping pace with the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the North Division. During that time, they played a swashbuckling brand of hockey; rolling all four forward lines, receiving balanced scoring (scoring 44 goals in that span) from all parts of the lineup, and completely suffocating their opposition with an aggressive forecheck and pace through the neutral zone.

The Canadiens have played with this pulsating, high tempo system on and off since the start of the 2018/19 season, and I wrote a post to share my excitement for how the team may finally sustain this physically taxing style over the shortened 56 game schedule.

As is often the case, the first ten games provided us with only a limited sample of what the Canadiens could accomplish. In those ten games in particular, the problem is that the Canadiens played the Vancouver Canucks five times.

The Canucks were unable to matchup against the Canadiens, and in many of those games, were completely overwhelmed, unable to deal with the Habs’ forechecking pressure. The Canadiens went 4-0-1 and outscored the Canucks 28-15. Through the sheer mental attrition of facing the same opponent so frequently in a short period of time, the Canucks were clearly worn out and demoralized.

The grandiosity that came from beating up the Canucks in such a manner, came to a crashing halt over the subsequent eight games, as the Canadiens have gone 2-4-2 (6 points), a span that has seen them lose three times to the lowly Ottawa Senators. Most concerning of all is that the Canadiens dominant style of play, where they play with pace, balance, an aggressive forecheck, and on the front foot has given way to a more reactive, less aggressive (shooting more from the point) and more mistake prone game (2nd most penalized team in the league), that has been compounded by subpar special teams (20th ranked powerplay, 22nd ranked penalty kill) and below average goaltending from Carey Price.

In the end, Marc Bergevin was forced into making this decision today. Bergevin has been at the helm of the Canadiens since the end of the 2012 season, and during that span, has made the playoffs outright only four times. If the Canadiens miss the playoffs this season, it will represent four straight season that the team has failed to meet this minimum expectation (NOTE: last season’s bubble playoff is hard to count as a playoff appearance, considering the Canadiens were considerably behind the 8th seed in the East when the season was suspended). Although Bergevin has earned plaudits for his trades over the last few seasons, this abject record is a difficult one to justify, especially in a market that was once accustomed to winning and celebrates how high the standards are.

Given the overall level of mediocrity, it is conceivable that if the Canadiens miss the playoffs this season, that Geoff Molson will finally fire Bergevin in the end (of note, Bergevin is signed until the summer of 2022).

Since the disastrous season of 2017-18, Bergevin has led the Canadiens down a great “reset,” restocking the club with young players and draft picks, and the Canadiens once again have the highest number of draft picks of any team, in the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft. Yet, while restocking his cupboard has been a priority, Bergevin is also in the precarious position of having to “win now”, as both Carey Price and Shea Weber, his two highest priced players, are rapidly nearing the end of their peak performance years (though many skeptics contend that both are well past their expiration date already).

After last summer’s performance in the bubble, where the Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins to advance to the playoffs, and where they put up a strong six game struggle against the Philadelphia Flyers, Bergevin strengthened a team that looked capable of competing. He added pieces to reinforce the team, in bringing in scorers Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli, depth on defense in Joel Edmundson, and a goaltender that could truly give Carey Price some rest, in Jake Allen. It was also expected that centres Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were ready to build on their strong performances in the bubble.

Reasonably, the expectations for the Canadiens were raised, and many prognosticators projected that the team would compete with the Maple Leafs for the top spot in the North Division. It all started well enough, the pomposity was in full force, but that has all but since deflated over the last three weeks.

Bergevin’s decision to fire Julien needs to be understood in the context of what happened last season. After barely missing out on the playoffs in the final weekend of the regular season in 2019, the Canadiens started the 2019-20 season reasonably well, posting a record of 11-5-3 in their first 19 games. On the night of their 19th game however, they lost both Jonathan Drouin and Paul Byron to long term injuries, and the Canadiens promptly lost their next eight games in succession.

The team would lose eight games in a row for a second time, in a period just after Christmas, and it derailed any aspirations that the team would make the playoffs. Of note, the team lost all four games last season to the worst team in the league, the Detroit Red Wings.

Those eight game stretches were difficult, and it seemed that the team played well in parts, but not well enough. Aside from replacing injured players in the lineup, Julien made very little changes, and was unable to conjure a response in any manner that could have salvaged the season. The play became static, bereft of the speed and control that marked the team’s high point, and the special teams continued to lag. By the time he did, the Canadiens were lapped by their rivals in the Atlantic Division, and could never recover.

Fast forward to this season, and the same “negative energy” (as labelled by captain Shea Weber) and lack of response has been spiraling around the Canadiens. Last night, with the Canadiens having lost five of their last seven games, and needing a more urgent performance against an objectively inferior and inexperienced opponent, found themselves dominated by the Ottawa Senators for the first 15 minutes, and trailing 2-0 (before Shea Weber scored in the 16th minute).

It was in sports’ parlance a “statement game,” and after being outshot 19-9 in the second period, to their credit, the Canadiens responded in the third, outshooting the Sens 12-4, and ending regulation with a 4-4 tie.

Ultimately the Canadiens controversially lost (a last second winner by Brendan Gallagher was ruled out due to a dubious goaltender interference review), and as they have been passed in the standings by the Oilers and the Jets in recent days, the pressure has been mounting. The system that they surprised and overwhelmed their opponents with is no longer novel, and the trend of taking more shots from the opposition blue line is alarmingly similar to how the Canadiens played during their eight game losing streaks a year ago.

The urgency feels even more intense this season, in a divisional format in which every game feels part of a zero-sum game, and every loss is doubly felt. Given the level of expectation at the start of the season, Bergevin truly felt this was an opportunity to conquer the Canadian division with a deep team, get a place in the NHL’s “final four” and mount a serious challenge for the Stanley Cup. Sitting on his hands any longer would have jeopardized that opportunity.

In the end, it is sad to see Claude Julien leave again (he was fired in 2006 by Bob Gainey, the general manager of the Canadiens at the time). Although over four years with the Canadiens, in this tenure, his teams were mostly mediocre in the standings, they performed well on 5 v 5 metrics, appeared to have some structure, but were sunk by atrocious special teams (26th in the powerplay and 29th on the penalty kill during his time) and the lack of an elite offensive star finisher.

In comes, Dominique Ducharme, a young coach who has been an assistant to Julien for the last two seasons, who has an excellent track record coaching in Canadian major junior hockey (with Halifax and Drummondville) and the Canadian World Junior team. Of course, without NHL head coaching experience, it will be a tall order replace a veteran like Julien, who brought structure to the Canadiens over his four years. Ducharme also inherits the same plagued special teams and struggling Carey Price that finally felled Julien.

If Ducharme can bring the Canadiens out of the struggle that they are currently mired in, he can salvage the season and we can all carry on. If he cannot, then almost assuredly, Marc Bergevin will be joining Claude Julien as another casualty of 2021, for his repeated failures in leading the Canadiens to prominence.

Jaideep Kanungo

On Canadiens: Early season success owes to a deep forward corps

We have certainly been here before.

As fans of the Montreal Canadiens, we are not unfamiliar to our beloved club starting the season off with a searing pace. We are collectively turned into chest thumping optimists, replete with incidental facts that somehow tie this current iteration to the teams that lived through the unexpected glories of 1986 or 1993. The day dreaming of a long coveted Stanley Cup parade down Rue Ste-Catherine, makes us glance ahead into our calendars to June, to ensure that we will have the free time to attend.

We went through this in 2015, when after a Hart and Vezina Trophy winning campaign from Carey Price, the Canadiens won their first nine games of the season. The following year, the Habs were 9-0-1 before losing their first game in regulation (which history will also remember, as it arrived in the form of a 10-0 loss to the perpetual cannon-fodder that are the Columbus Blue Jackets).

In each of those years, the team’s sheen and place in the standings eventually faded, the Canadiens were besieged by some misfortune (an injury to Carey Price, or a complete level of underperformance which led to the firing of a coach midseason) and the season ended as it always does (for the last 26 years at least)… in disappointment.

Yet somehow, this year feels different. A cynic would be absolutely right in noting that we say this every year, but somehow this season actually does feel different.

The Canadiens have surged to 10 points after six games, and are tied for first place atop the North Division with the heavily favoured Toronto Maple Leafs. They have yet to lose a game in regulation time, have yet to be outshot in regulation time, and currently sit first in the league in ‘goals for’ in the entire NHL (18). They are 4th in the league for team CF% (54.7), an area that they have remained strong since the start of the 2018-19 season. All of this has been accomplished without the team playing a single game in Montreal.

In previous years, one could point to the towering bulwark that is Carey Price, and pin the team’s success solely on the work of their star netminder. Yet, thus far this season, Price has not been at his quintessential best. Price and his backup Jake Allen (who has featured in two games) have a combined 5 v 5 save percentage of .913, which sits firmly around league average. In truth, both netminders could have made saves on some of the goals that they have conceded so far, but uncharacteristically, the Canadiens’ impressive offensive numbers have made this less essential.

Also uncharacteristic is that the team has been mired with a streak of indiscipline, having been penalized 28 times, which is 3rd most in the league. The Canadiens took nine penalties on 21 January in Vancouver, a day after the team took six against the Canucks. That evening, coach Claude Julien spent much of the post game conference espousing how the team had to be much more disciplined. For a team that plays much of the game on the front foot, and dictates the pace of play, this fact is somewhat astonishing. One could reasonably expect, that this issue can be improved upon as the season progresses.

Ultimately, what has given the Canadiens the ability to open the season with such verve has been the balanced contributions of the Canadiens’ four forward lines, in terms of point production and distribution of work load.

The steady trio of Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher has been well documented as being the lynchpin for the Canadiens’ attack in the two previous seasons, but this year, the growth of Nick Suzuki as a legitimate playmaking, and reliable two way centreman (flanked by Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson), and the emergence of Jesperi Kotkaniemi (who plays alongside Joel Armia and Tyler Toffoli) as a solid NHL player has given the Canadiens’ offense a level of depth that they have not had in decades.

All three of these lines have proven that they can play in all situations, and are in the the positive ledger of puck possession at 5 v 5, with Danault demonstrating a CF% 55.5, Suzuki 53.2 and Kotkaniemi 61.1% (stats via Natural Stat Trick). On a nightly basis, the Canadiens have also had different offensive stars emerge and carry the burden.

Against Toronto on opening night, it was the speed baron Josh Anderson (two goals) and nifty playmaker Jonathan Drouin (3 assists) who provided the offensive thrust. In two games in Edmonton against the Oilers, Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar each scored twice, the Canadiens’ scored two short handed goals (from Artturi Lehkonen and Jake Evans) and saw the first goal of Alexander Romanov’s burgeoning career. In three games in Vancouver against the Canucks, the team was led by the offensive explosion of Tyler Toffoli who notched five goals in the first two of those games, against his former club.

Not yet mentioned has been the emergence of the Canadiens’ fourth line as a reliable and high energy trio. Jake Evans, in his second NHL season, has become a revelation and has been trusted by Claude Julien to provide key minutes on the penalty kill, and take defensive zone faceoffs. His linemates, of Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron, flank him with veteran presence, that gives coach Julien the confidence to not only play, but to control, regular shifts.

The Canadiens’ balance through their forward ranks is evidenced by the fact that Nick Suzuki leads in ice time with 17:33. Paul Byron is the least played forward at 11:53 (this also comes after he took a Shea Weber slap shot to his foot on 21 January, and missed the final half of the third period). Compared to North Division rivals Edmonton and Vancouver (who the Canadiens have faced in five of six games), the Canadiens forward corps usage is far more spread out. The Oilers have three forwards that play on average over 21 minutes each game (McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins), while the Canucks have four forwards (Horvat, Boeser, Miller and Pettersson) that play more than 18 minutes.

For the time being, Julien has been able to exploit this advantage, as he has rolled four lines at regular intervals, ensuring that the Canadiens play with consistent pace and intensity. Over the last two seasons, the Habs have been at their best when they have been able to play with this aggressive forecheck/reload system, which allows the team to persistently harangue opposition defense with unyielding pressure, create turnovers, and pin their opponent in the defensive zone for several minutes at a time. Over the first six games, the Canadiens were able to suffocate their opponents in this manner, and particularly against the Oilers and Canucks, it completely demoralized them for subsequent game (s).

At the best of times, lacking discipline is a recipe for disaster. Not only is the opposition afforded a powerplay and an improved opportunity to score, but it also impedes with the flow of the game, and displaces many skilled forwards that do not contribute to the penalty killing efforts, away from a regular shift. When penalties stack up, teams can see their offensive stars out of the rhythm of the action for several minutes, and it threatens to throw all the line combinations out of sync. Although the Canadiens have had moments of penalties stacked upon one another this season, they have a full complement of forwards that can effectively kill penalties. Julien has used seven forwards on the penalty kill so far, using pairings of Danault/Lehkonen, Evans/Byron, Suzuki/Armia, with Toffoli as an extra. This has allowed the team to return to 5 v 5 play without a loss in vim.

The depth in the forward ranks has also ensured appropriate coverage for injury, which the Canadiens have unfortunately had to deal with in the past week. Joel Armia scored four points against the Canucks on 21 January, and had his best game of the season, but suffered a concussion in the closing moments from an egregious and unnecessary hit from the Canucks’ woeful defender Tyler Myers. In previous years, an injury of this magnitude to an important player that provides terrific effort on the forecheck, and work on the penalty kill, would have been a sizeable blow. However, the Canadiens replaced him with a decorated veteran in Corey Perry, who fit into the lineup admirably, generated a few scoring chances and scored in his first game. The Canadiens’ also have the peripatetic utilityman Michel Frolik and 2017 1st round pick, Ryan Poehling, in their reserves. These players continue to train with the team on a daily basis, as part of the travelling taxi squad.

Having played three of the six opponents that they will face over the course of this regular season, the Canadiens have proven to themselves that not only can they compete in the North Division, but that they have a decided advantage through the depth that they possess. This advantage manifests fully when the Canadiens play an opposition in back to back, or three in a row situations, as they physically and mentally overwhelm through their speed and intensity. Provided that they can remain healthy, the Canadiens should be able to use this advantage to its full extent as the attrition of this season mounts.

So in the end, while Canadiens fans have been here plenty of times before, standing atop the mountain after a handful of games, boasting that Lord Stanley will once again return to its eternal resting place, only to have those delusions end abruptly, this time surely feels different. For the first time in a long time, the Canadiens appear to be well built, and capable of coping with the duress of a long season.

Jaideep Kanungo

On Canadiens: Some excitement on the horizon amidst the darkness of the pandemic

This winter has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult periods in our lifetimes. As many of us attempt to trudge through the post-Holiday dreariness that comes in January, with a distant hope of mass inoculation for the coronavirus, many Canadians can seek more immediate solace with the return of the familiar sights and sounds of NHL hockey, starting on 13 January.

For the Montreal Canadiens, the return of hockey brings with it an unbridled sense of optimism, a genuine glow that has not been seen at the club in over half a decade (it can be argued as to when expectations were genuinely this high for Les Glorieux. Perhaps in 2014, after the Canadiens were felled in the Stanley Cup semi-final by the New York Rangers after losing their stalwart netminder, Carey Price, at the height of his powers? Perhaps it goes back to 2008, when the Canadiens were preparing for a memorable Stanley Cup run in their Centennial season, and bolstered their lineup in the offseason with offensive stars in Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang, to complement the likes of Kovalev and Koivu, who had brought a sense of style, flair and production in the previous season).

The Canadiens and their fans are positively sanguine about their prospects for this upcoming season. Although they entered the NHL “play-in” rounds last summer as the 24th (of 24) ranked team, they managed to upset the heavily favoured Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the best of five series, three games to one.

In the following round, they played the Philadelphia Flyers tight over six hard fought games. The Canadiens ultimately lost, and saw their 9th overall pick (had they lost to the Penguins) tumble and turn into the 16th overall pick, the team found several benefits that GM Marc Bergevin used to build his off season plan.

Bergevin, who has drawn the ire of the fanbase at multiple points over his eight year tenure as General Manager, has earned goodwill for his management over the last two years, as he has accrued draft picks, made a series of savvy trades and has committed to the long term future of the club. Although the future remains the priority, Bergevin has crafted a situation where there is genuine hope for the present, based on the following:

Breakout of the team’s two young centremen

The most notable positive development to emerge from this past summer’s playoffs was the emergence of the club’s two young centremen, Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Suzuki had an impressive rookie season last year, recording 41 points in 71 games, and gradually saw an increase in his usage and responsibilities over time.

Just prior to the interruption of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Suzuki’s overall production and impact took a slight dip, prompting coach Claude Julien to openly question whether Suzuki had hit the proverbial “rookie wall.” Yet, Suzuki was the creative pulse for the Canadiens in the series against both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. He notched 7 points in 10 games, and by the end of the Canadiens’ run, had arguably usurped Phillip Danault as the club’s number one centre.

Suzuki is a crafty and cerebral player, who has sublime vision and the requisite puck skills to be a first rate playmaker. He appears to drift in and out of crowds without drawing a commotion, and has a strong innate positional awareness. He also has an impressive defensive acumen, and for a player of only 20 years old, it was remarkable to see the normally conservative coaching staff of Julien and Muller, trust Suzuki with assignments against top centres (Malkin and Crosby), and take crucial defensive faceoffs against the Flyers. Comparisons were made between Suzuki and another Julien young protégé, the highly rated, much lauded Patrice Bergeron, who is considered one of the finest defensive forwards of his era.

After the season, Phillip Danault, who was starting to establish a reputation as one of the best 5 v 5 players in the game, who is entering the final year of his contract, questioned whether he still had a place in the team, prompting a slew of unnecessary and obtrusive trade rumours. It was a testament to how far Suzuki had come in a matter of months.

While Suzuki had a remarkable ascent over the summer months, similarly, the playoffs saw the resurgence of Jesperi Kotkaniemi as a legitimate NHL player, and one that gives the Canadiens an ever spritely duo up the middle of the ice. Kotkaniemi had put together a solid first half of his rookie season, in 2018-19, and finished the season with 34 points in 79 games. Although the numbers may not be eye-catching, Kotkaniemi showed tremendous poise, skill and potential, in a year in which he was the youngest player in the NHL.

Until the playoff rounds however, Kotkaniemi’s sophomore season resembled more a nightmare than a fairy tale. He had arrived to training camp, slightly behind the pace, having had knee surgery in the summer. He never fully settled physically, eventually suffered a pair of injuries, and saw a complete erosion of his own personal confidence and the trust of his coach. Kotkaniemi posted a mere 8 points in 36 games, before being ignominiously sent down to Laval in early February. His season was thought to have ended a few weeks later, when he suffered a ruptured spleen in a game against Cleveland.

The layoff with the pandemic offered Kotkaniemi a chance to heal, focus on his training, and rediscover his joy for the game. He returned to the Canadiens for their camp in July, looking noticeably more muscular and refreshed.

His solid playoff performance, where he scored 4 points in 10 games, managed heightened responsibilities and became more of a physical force (including taking a game misconduct), was well noticed by everyone with the Canadiens. The young Finnish kid had grown from a naïve stick figure to a hulking behemoth, who could cope with the physical demands of being a centreman in the NHL.

Much of the success for the Canadiens this year will depend on how Suzuki and Kotkaniemi develop and take the next step in their professional careers. This certainly will saddle them with significant pressure, which risks overwhelming youngsters aged 21 and 20 respectively, but given their pedigree, proven skillset and the opportunities that they will be trusted with, they should be reliable bets to flourish this season.

Having a rested Carey Price

Over the last two seasons, it is fair to say that Julien lost complete faith in the backup netminders that Bergevin had enlisted to give Carey Price an occasional breather, in both Anti Niemi and Keith Kinkaid. As a result, in 2018-19, Price was forced to start 66 games, and in 2019-20, he started 58 (of 71 games). While Price had been brilliant at times to the most ardent, rose-coloured glass wearing Canadiens fan, his overall save percentages demonstrated that he was no better than an average netminder (.918 in 2018-19, .908 in 2019-20).

Indeed, over the last three seasons, when Price had more than three days off between starts, he posted a .919 save percentage. If he had less rest than that, his save percentage dropped to .907. Although Price prefers to play every game if possible, his performances clearly dropped, and has been one of the reasons for why the Canadiens have not been higher up the standings, in spite of their elite 5 v 5 play.

The value of rest was demonstrated in the play-in/playoff of last season, where after nearly four months off, in the 10 games that Price played, he posted a .936 save percentage, and his cool and calm play was reminiscent of the halcyon days of 2014 when he captured a Gold Medal at the Olympics and in 2015, when he captured the Hart Trophy as league’s most valuable player.

The acquisition of Jake Allen finally gives Price a quality backup, that Julien will actually feel comfortable in playing. The former St. Louis Blues’ netminder was fourth in the league last season in save percentage, for goalies that played more than 20 games, at .927. Over the last two seasons, as the Blues handed over starting duties to Jordan Binnington, Allen adapted well to the daily expectations of being a backup goalie and performed admirably.

Critics will point to the Canadiens spending $15 million of their cap space on goaltending for this season. Yet, by trying to limit the number of starts for their number one netminder with a competent backup will ensure that they get the best out of both players.

The arrival of Alexander Romanov

Since being drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2018 draft, Russian defenseman Alexander Romanov has seen his stock soar. He played his way onto the famed CSKA Moscow senior team as an 18 year old and helped the club win the 2019 Gagarin Cup. Romanov also dazzled on defense for the Russians at the 2019 and 2020 World U20 tournaments, being named the best defenseman at the 2019 tournament, and being named to the all-star team at the 2020 tournament.

Upon arriving to the Canadiens in 2016, Shea Weber has never had a solid or consistent partner on his left hand side, and the left side on defense has long been an area of weakness for the Canadiens. Romanov’s performance over the World Junior tournaments and two seasons in the KHL provided fans a glint of excitement, in that he is exactly the type of player that the Canadiens have long coveted.

How Romanov integrates into the Canadiens’ lineup will be one of the questions to watch during the course of training camp. He will likely find himself on the third pairing to start, as Julien will pair Ben Chiarot with Shea Weber, and possibly newcomer Joel Edmundson with Jeff Petry. In spite of this, the Canadiens remain bullish on the young Russian, and I expect that he will work his way up the lineup as the season progresses.

The reality is that though young, Romanov has the tools that the Canadiens are in desperate search of. At the World Junior level, Romanov demonstrated strong skating, a courageous streak when attacking from the point, and an offensive knack. Over two tournaments, he posted 14 points in 14 games.

In a review of Romanov’s shifts in CSKA, Arpon Basu highlighted that Romanov was far more conservative, defensively sound, less risk averse playing the professional game, compared to his exploits at the junior level. I envision that initially, Romanov will be sheltered and asked to play in this conservative manner as he adjusts to the NHL pace and intensity. The question will be how soon do we see the unleashed version? Furthermore, how long will it be until he is paired on the first pairing with Shea Weber?

The Canadiens finally have offensive depth

Over the last two seasons, the Canadiens have been one of the league’s best teams at 5 v 5 play, led by the line of Tomas Tatar, Danault and Brendan Gallagher. However, despite that 5 v 5 dominance, the Canadiens were only 19th in the league in goals scored last season. The relatively disappointing production numbers have largely resulted from a mediocre power play, that ranked 22nd in the league last season (and 30th the season before).

Marc Bergevin bolstered the Canadiens’ attack this off-season, bringing in sniper Tyler Toffoli, who scored 24 goals last season (playing with Los Angeles and Vancouver). Additionally, Bergevin traded Max Domi for a bullish forward, in Josh Anderson, who scored 27 goals in 2018-19 (unfortunately, Anderson was injured for much of 2019-20 with a shoulder injury, which limited him to only 26 games). Bergevin further reinforced his forward corps, by signing wingers Michael Frolik and Corey Perry to bargain basement deals, providing the Canadiens with some veteran depth, grit and playoff experience.

Unfortunately, the Canadiens still lack a five star alpha general in their forward ranks to play the big minutes. Instead, they possess a wealth of options along the wings, and this ensures that Julien is armed with four lines that can evenly distribute minutes, and play every shift with an elevated intensity. Over the last two seasons (and last season in the playoffs), the Canadiens were at their best when they played an ultra aggressive forecheck/reload system.

Last year, the Canadiens started the season strong, were able to establish their desired style of play and were 11-5-3 and near the top of the Atlantic Division standings on 15 November. That night both Jonathan Drouin and Paul Byron suffered significant injuries, and in their absence, the Canadiens experienced the first of two 8-game losing streaks which derailed their season.

Having a deep complement of forwards ensures that Julien can play his high intensity pressing style for far longer, and allow the Canadiens to play the bulk of their games on the front foot.

The excitement of the “All Canadian Division“

Like many Canadians who have had the chance to live in different parts of the country, I have made numerous friends that support different teams, and can count many friends that support each Canadian team.

In a compressed 56 game schedule, where all Canadian teams play each other nine or ten times, where every game will have the weight of a proverbial “four-pointer,” this season will prove to be particularly intense, and will give the impression that every game matters. Not having an outright “favourite” will only enhance that feeling that everything is up for grabs. Even more so, having friends and colleagues that provide daily (online) banter and chirps will make the experience ever more colourful and immersive. I can already foresee the daily ritualistic glance at the standings, checking over opposition schedules, and feeling the angst of where the Canadiens fall in the mix. I yearn for that palpable tension in sports, where everyone in my circle is also invested.

So while the pandemic continues to cast a pall over much of Canadian society and daily discourse, the prospects of a winter and spring filled with the intense cauldron of NHL hockey will surely help distract us as we huddle in our homes, limit our physical excursions and patiently await our turn in line for the much coveted vaccine. There are far worse ways to spend an otherwise gloomy winter, and a successful, glory filled hockey season will help to make that time feel even better.

Here’s hoping it is the Canadiens’ year!

Jaideep Kanungo

On Canadiens: Are the Habs better off compared to last season?

On the surface of it, the Montreal Canadiens lineup entering the 2019/20 season does not appear much different from the one that narrowly missed the playoffs by two points in 2018/19. As other Eastern Conference teams reinforced their teams this offseason, the question remains whether the Habs have done enough to contend for a playoff spot.

The Canadiens did move on from Jordie Benn (who signed with Vancouver as a free agent), Antii Niemi (who signed with Jokerit of the KHL) and Andrew Shaw. The Habs sent Andrew Shaw to the Chicago Blackhawks for 2nd (2020), 3rd (2021) and 7th (2020) round picks. The incoming players include netminder Keith Kinkaid, depth defenseman Ben Chiarot and checking centreman, Nick Cousins.

Most notably, the Habs signed centre Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet of 5 years, worth $8.454 million per season. The Carolina Hurricanes emphatically matched the contract, retained Aho, and openly mocked the Canadiens in doing so. In the aftermath, there was much derision from members of the hockey media and fans of opposing teams on social media. It was felt that the Habs did not make a serious attempt at an offer sheet, that the annual salary being offered was too low, and the terms being far too easy for Carolina to match.

The Canadiens made a shrewd and calculated gamble in tendering Aho the offer sheet that they did. They identified a player that fills a need, as a young, slick, skilled, playmaking number one centre. They also identified a team that they judged to potentially have money problems in Carolina. While owner Tom Dundon is a billionaire, he recently had troubles with the folding of the Alliance of American Football, a project he purportedly invested $70 million into and subsequently lost. Furthermore, Dundon has proved to be notoriously cheap at building his hockey club, dismissing previous Canes’ General Manager, Ron Francis, over contract demands, which were meagre by all accounts. The Canadiens structured their offer sheet in a way that upon signing, Aho was due a $21 million dollar signing bonus. It was a financial stress test for Dundon if there ever was one.

Based on the comments Canadiens’ GM Marc Bergevin made on 1 July, the team did not feel that going up in terms of annual salary (AAV) would have made significant difference whether Carolina would match the offer. At $8.454 million, the compensation was a first, second and third round pick. Had they gone up in AAV, they would have had to surrender an additional first round pick. Had they gone up to an AAV of $10.6 million, the compensation would have been quite steep, at four first round picks.

On a five year deal (which Aho signed, and what most RFAs are thought to be interested in, after Auston Matthews signed a five year contract with the Maple Leafs), surrendering two to four first round picks would have been a steep price. This is of particular importance in an NHL where even good teams can have an anomalous season, miss the playoffs, and find themselves in the NHL Draft Lottery. Increasing the AAV also would not have substantially changed the bonus structure.

The Canadiens made the offer, it got matched, and the saga was closed. It was a worthwhile attempt, and though unsuccessful it showed the Canadiens intent in wanting to acquire talent through different means. The Canadiens have failed repeatedly in luring the glamour unrestricted free agent to Montreal, chiefly due to factors out of its control, including poor weather, the highest tax rate in the league, and the NHL players’ general disdain for having to live in a city where English is not the only language.

Yet, there remains the question of whether the Canadiens are actually a better hockey team heading into this season.

The loss of Andrew Shaw cannot be understated. When Shaw was signed to a six year contract, worth $3.9 million per season in 2016, few would have given Marc Bergevin credit for spending his money wisely. Over three seasons with the Canadiens, Shaw did not once appear in more than 70 games in a season . He has also experienced a series of concussions over this span, which limited his effectiveness.

Yet, this past season, he managed a career high in assists and points (47 pts in 63 games), largely playing alongside Max Domi. He was incredibly 25th in the NHL in 5 on 5 goals per 60, and the Canadiens controlled 60% of high danger attempts when he was on the ice. By all accounts, Shaw was also the classic “glue guy” in the Canadiens room, with many young players sharing stories on how the veteran helped them get acquainted to life in the professional game.

Shaw was deemed expendable, as the Canadiens who had ample salary cap room over the last three seasons, will come into a cap crunch in the summer of 2021, with many key contracts expiring including those to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling, Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher and Jeff Petry. There may have been no better time to move on from Shaw, after a career season, but his loss remains significant.

Nick Cousins was brought in as a free agent signing from Arizona, for a one year, $1 million deal. Cousins offensive production pales in comparison to Shaw, but perhaps the edge that he plays with may help placate the fans that usually fawn over such attributes.

The swap of Jordie Benn for Ben Chiarot may also be a bit of a downgrade on defense. The 28 year old Chiarot was signed after spending his entire career with the Winnipeg Jets. He signed a three year contract, with an annual cap figure of $3.5 million. For much of last season, Chiarot was partnered with Dustin Byfuglien, and he hit career highs in games played (78) and points (20). Additionally, when Chiarot was paired with Byfuglien, his contributions were positive (>50% CF), a number which fell off substantially when he was with other partners.

Chiarot is a big, physical, relatively immobile defender, who head coach Claude Julien will hope can clear out the persistent traffic in front of Carey Price’s goal. The concern is that he carries a relatively large cap hit for what he provides, and is signed beyond the dreaded summer of 2021. This point is especially hard to swallow, since Jordie Benn signed a two year deal with the Canucks for $2 million per season. It is quite difficult to look at both players and suggest that Chiarot will be significantly better than Benn, considering their offensive numbers and defensive attributes are quite similar.

The Canadiens also brought in netminder Keith Kinkaid, to serve as backup netminder for Carey Price. Last season, Anti Niemi, who had surprised the Habs with his play in 2017/18, had a series of gaffe prone performances, causing Claude Julien to lose complete trust in him. As the Canadiens chased a playoff spot down the stretch, Julien played Carey Price in 28 of the team’s final 29 games, including in four back to back situations, where normally the club’s backup would have provided a start.

Kinkaid was a standout with the New Jersey Devils in 2017/18, when he took over starting duties briefly after injury besieged Cory Schneider. He played 41 games, posted a respectable .913 save percentage, and was critical in helping the Devils clinch a post season berth. Last season however was a different story, and his numbers crumbled. Kinkaid posted a .891 save percentage, was traded to Columbus at the trade deadline, and failed to inspire coach John Tortorella. The Jackets paid the Devils a 5th round pick for Kinkaid, and literally received nothing from him, as he did not feature a single second.

At a one year deal worth $1.75 million, the Canadiens hope that Kinkaid can recapture his form from 2017/18, and help provide Price with some relief, and allow their star to make no more than 55-60 starts.

It remains uncertain whether these personnel changes truly make the Canadiens a better team heading into this coming season. With an increasingly competitive Atlantic Division, featuring strong contenders, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Boston, and a burgeoning power in Florida with new head coach, Joel Quenneville, the Canadiens will need to see the emergence and continual development of their young players, like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Victor Mete, who may need to play more important roles. Rookie Ryan Poehling, who notched a hat trick in his first and only NHL game, may make the club and surprise, but as a whole, any contribution from him would be viewed as a bonus.

I remain skeptical whether this is a playoff team for this coming year, but with the Canadiens burgeoning prospect pipeline, being a consistently competitive team in the years to come is on the cards. Hopefully before the Stanley Cup drought reaches 30 years.

Jaideep Kanungo

On Canadiens: Season is over, but the world is not

When Charlie Lindgren stopped Kasperi Kapanen on the final shot, in the final shootout in the final Canadiens game of the season, there was an immediate sense of exultation and joy amongst the players on the ice at the Bell Centre clad in red, and the millions of Canadiens fans in the stands and watching on television. After all, it was a Canadiens victory on a Saturday night, against the hubristic, self acclaimed “dynastic,” rival Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yet, the thrill of the victory was not in celebration of what was hoped for days earlier, that of confirmation that the team had qualified for the playoffs. No. Rather, the jolt of excitement came from the way this team played, a genuine, helter skelter, firewagon hockey, and for the hope for the future that this team promises.

The game on Saturday night was a thrilling game from start to finish, as the Canadiens traded goals with the Leafs all evening, and where the staunch defensive hockey that the Habs valiantly played over the last month of the season was quickly abandoned for a crowd pleasing, back and forth game of shinny.

No player shone more brightly on that stage, than a youngster from Minnesota playing in his first NHL game. Signed a week earlier to the Canadiens, Ryan Poehling remarkably became the sixth player in NHL history to record a hat-trick in his first NHL game, and capped the historic evening off with a shootout winning goal. The game also marked the final broadcast of the venerable 50 year career of Hockey Night in Canada announcer Bob Cole. Imagine that for a debut; four shots, four goals, in just over 11 minutes of ice-time, on a Saturday night on one of hockey’s grandest stages, broadcast to an entire country and narrated by one of the game’s most legendary voices.

These scenes would not have been fathomable, given the despair and emptiness that resulted from the Columbus Blue Jackets’s win in New York against the Rangers the night before. That result knocked the Canadiens out of the playoff race, and stripped the Canadiens-Maple Leafs’ Saturday night tilt of all of its pomp and grandiosity.

The day Poehling signed with the Canadiens, there was much fanfare and discussion as to whether he would feature in any of the Canadiens games this week, against Tampa Bay, Washington or Toronto. These were do-or-die games, and given how coach Claude Julien stresses the importance of having all four lines contribute, how he emphasizes conservative and disciplined hockey, it was seen as highly unlikely that a raw rookie like Poehling would feature in these “playoff-like” games. Marc Bergevin essentially quashed any notion that Poehling would feature in these games on the conference call in which he discussed the signing.

Thus, it was the Canadiens’s elimination on Friday evening that allowed Poehling to find himself centering the Canadiens fourth line on Saturday night. The Canadiens also rested Carey Price, who started 26 of the Canadiens last 27 games, and played Charlie Lindgren in goal for the first time this season.

It would have been conceivable for the crowd and the team to come out flat, having had their hearts ripped out from their chests less than 24 hours earlier. But after trailing 2-0 early in the game, Poehling’s first goal late in the first period piqued the Bell Centre’s interest. His second goal, in the second period, turned the mood into a more festive one. As the teams traded goals back and forth, and the Leafs held a 5-4 lead in the third, it was Poehling’s hat-trick which sent the crowd into a near delirious state.

From then on, every time Poehling touched the puck, there was an audible murmur, a palpable sense that something would happen. And so when the Habs and Leafs were tied after three shooters in the game’s final act, the shootout, the crowd was stirred into a frenzy when Poehling skated towards centre ice to take the Habs’s fourth attempt. Poehling slalomed down the ice, and fired a sneaky wrist shot past Leafs netminder Frederik Andersen to put the Canadiens up. Lindgren would stop Kapanen, and skate to the Canadiens bench in sheer bliss, as the team and crowd around him exploded with the genuine ecstasy of victory.

After the celebrations on the ice wore off, there was a bittersweet sense to the evening. The Canadiens have missed playoffs in recent years, and in the most recent seasons in 2012, 2016 and 2018, the team was reduced to playing meaningless games for over a month. The atmosphere grew near hostile each of those years, as a series of players who have never been heard from since (Mike Blunden, Petteri Nokkelainen, Darren Dietz, John Scott), mindlessly skated out the season for the sake of filling a lineup card. When those seasons ended, there was a sense of gratitude that fans could move on with their lives, rather than consecrate two and a half hours nightly to such dross and pointlessness.

Yet, in spite of missing the playoffs in back to back years, last night, there was a genuine sense of sadness. This team was one that had expectations of being a lottery team at the start of the season, and there was extreme fan resentment towards Marc Bergevin for his work over the last three seasons, and even Carey Price and Shea Weber felt some wrath for their enormous contracts. Bergevin and Julien’s messages about the team lacking “character” last season (which were cited as a major reason for why they missed the playoffs) were largely derided and mocked by those that felt they were out of touch with the sophistication of the modern game.

However, after 82 games, there is a sense of sadness because this edition of the Canadiens actually did have a lot of “character.” They were resilient throughout the season, were one of the top 5 teams in “5 on 5” situations all season, and played fast, exciting and up tempo hockey. Furthermore, there were glimpses of how this team has some legitimate pieces for the future, whether it be Jesperi Kotkaniemi playing with the Habs, Alexander Romanov playing as an 18 year old in the KHL, Nick Suzuki dominating the OHL and now Ryan Poehling, who put on an unforgettable show in his first NHL game.

In the end, the Canadiens missed the playoffs despite finishing the season with 96 points. Only two teams in NHL history have had more points and have missed the playoffs. Both the 2014-15 Boston Bruins and 2017-18 Florida Panthers missed the playoffs with more points, and ignominiously failed to make the playoffs the following year as well.

Ultimately, there is no guarantee that the Canadiens will make the playoffs next year, despite all their youth and all the promises that youth brings. But, what this year’s Canadiens did provide was a lot of fun for its fans, and an ounce of hope for the future. In the end, those are just some of the reasons we watch the game, and that’s not a bad mindset to go into the summer with.

Jaideep Kanungo

Friends with Opinions Podcast: Episode 16

I had the pleasure of joining my friend Ahmad Ghahary on his Friends With Opinions podcast last week. In it, we discussed the Montreal Canadiens push for the playoffs, a look at the challenges that the club faces on the ice, and a bit of a forecast for the summer ahead for Marc Bergevin.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/friends-with-opinions-a-hockey-podcast/id1436506409?mt=2&i=1000432300980
Friends with Opinions Podcast: Episode 16