The Montreal Canadiens jump from 15th place in the Eastern Conference and 28th overall in 2011-12 to winning the Northeast Division, securing the second seed in their Conference and finishing fourth overall was something that nobody in the hockey world saw coming. Their success in the standings was impressive, but what was equally as impressive – if not more – was having three members of the organization get nominations for hardware at the 2013 NHL awards.

Any player, coach or GM will tell you that personal acheivments mean nothing compared to finding success as a team. However, having not one or two, but three potential award winners is a sure sign that Habs GM Marc Bergevin – who is one of the candidates himself – is taking a step in the right direction with this franchise.

I’m going to take a look at the three members of the Montreal Canadiens who have been recognized by the league for their success in the shortened 2013 season as well as who they are up against to try to give you an idea as to who is likely to find themselves winners at this years NHL awards ceremony.

Calder Trophy

Brendan Gallagher could be the Canadiens first Calder Trophy Winner since Ken Dryden in 1970-71 (Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports)

Brendan Gallagher, Montreal’s fiesty rookie forward is up against Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers for the Calder Trophy which is given to the league’s top rookie.

Gallagher finished the season third among rookie scorers with 28 points in 44 games behind Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers and Jonathan Huberdeau who each tallied 31 points. Gallagher’s 15 goals were second to only Yakupov whose hat-trick in the Oilers final game propelled him to 17. In the plus/minus category, Gallagher was fifth with a +10. Saad finished first with a +17 rating and Huberdeau was a -15.

Brandon Saad had the luxury of playing on the league’s top team with a star studded roster that included the likes of Jonathan Toewes, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp as well as a one two punch in goal of Corey Crawford and Ray Emery. Huberdeau didn’t have the all star support that Saad enjoyed but was given the oppurtunity to play top six minutes averaging 16:55 minutes of ice time per game, first among rookie forwards who have played at least ten games.

Gallagher on the other hand had a team that had plenty of depth but no player even remotely close to the talent that Toewes and company possess. As for time on ice, the Montreal rookie played an average of 13:51 minutes per game, placing him 13th among rookie forwards with at least ten games under their belt.

Considering the success he found with the limited time awarded to him, and the success he helped his team acheive, Gallagher should come away as the 2013 Calder trophy winner.

James Norris Memorial Trophy 

P.K. Subban is up against Ryan Suter and Kris Letang for the Norris Trophy (Eric Bolte-US PRESSWIRE)

The Norris trophy is awarded to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the best all-round ability in that position. There is no surprise that P.K. Subban of the Canadiens was named as one of the three finalists along with Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota wild.

Subban finished the year tied in first for points among blueliners with Kris Letang, each notching 38 points. Suter wasn’t far behind as he tallied 32 points of his own. Subban’s eleven goals were second to only Mike Green’s 12 he scored with the Washington Capitals. Seven of those goals were scored on the powerplay, ranking him second in that category behind fellow Canadien Andrei Markov.

Kris Letang’s +16 rating is tops among the three finalists followed by Subban with +12 and Suter with +2.

Suter played the toughest minutes as he averaged 27:16 minutes of ice time per game. Letang’s 25:38 minutes per game place him seventh in the league and Subban’s 23:14 minutes put him in 35th place in the NHL. The lack of minutes may be what cost Subban the Norris.

It can be viewed as more impressive that Subban put up such good numbers without being on the ice as much as his competition but many feel that his reduced time on ice implies he can’t handle the minutes of a top tier defenseman. Suter never tired and put up quality numbers on a team that failed to make it to the post season. Krist Letang played very respectable minutes and managed as many points as Subban despite playing seven less games.

P.K. Subban definitely had a great season but I would be surprised if he took home the Norris Trophy. Suter seems to be the favorite but my money would be on Kris Letang coming out on top.

Jack Adams Trophy

The Jack Adams award is given each year to the league’s top Coach. Michel Therrien lead the Canadiens to the top of the Northeast Division and second place in their Conference just one year after the Habs found themselves in the Eastern Conference and 28th overall. Therrien got the best out of Lars Eller and handled the development of rookies Brendan Gallagher (up for the Calder) and Alex Galchenyuk quite impressively.

These are just a few of the reasons that Therrien is nominated for the…..what’s that? Therrien isn’t a finalist for the Jack Adams? Really?

Bruce Boudreau and Joel Quenneville of the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks you say? hmmm… Both deserving I guess, much better teams to guide than Therrien had, but what can you do.

Winner: Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators

General Manager Of The Year

Marc Bergevin (right) is nominated for the GM of the year (Eric Bolte-US PRESSWIRE)

It’s pretty clear what this award is given out for. What should be just as clear is that Marc Bergevin of the Canadiens will be named the league’s top GM in 2013.

Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins did a heck of a job at the trade deadline when he acquired Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow and Douglas Murray without giving up a single roster player. By doing so he made a Stanley Cup competitor out of a team that beforehand was merely just a…Stanley Cup competitor.

Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks avoided off season stress when he re-signed forwards Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. There’s no question that losing either player would impede the team’s chances of repeating their success from this season (second in the Western Conference) in the near future. Signing Swedish goaltender Viktor Fasth was a move that payed divedends as Fasth posted 15 wins and an impressive .921 save percentage. The signing of Sheldon Souray is nothing to ignore either as the 36 year old defenseman finished with a +19 rating while playing just under 21 minutes per game.

When Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as the Montreal Canadiens head coach there were many skeptics. Therrien however, made Bergevin look like a genius as he brought the Habs to the top of their division while at the same time earning a nomination for the Jack Ad….oh wait no, sorry I keep thinking that the NHL’s top coach in 2013 was nominated for the award given out to the league’s top coach. My Bad. Nevertheless, Bergevin proved to be right in his choice.

When P.K. Subban held out at the beginning of the season, Bergevin didn’t budge. After missing six games, Subban eventually gave in to Bergevin and signed a two year contract worth $5.75 million, an amount nobody expected the eventual Norris Trophy candidate would accept.

Signing Brandon Prust proved to be very beneficial to rookies Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk as well as the whole team and he filled the team’s need for a penalty killer and good face off man by bringing Jeff Halpern back to the team late in the season.

Many were disappointed in Bergevin’s lack of action of trade deadline day, but made one of the best trades of the year earlier on when he somehow managed to talk Dallas Stars GM at the time Joe Nieuwendyk into taking Erik Cole in return for Michael Ryder and a 3rd round pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft. A straight up swap of Ryder for Cole would have already had Bergevin come out on top of that deal, pulling off a draft pick as well was just a work of art.

Having fou.. three members of the Canadiens organization named as finalists for awards this year is enough to give hope to a city that has been losing for too long. Having two out of the three who will more than likey win shows that Bergevin’s goal to return the winning culture to Montreal is one that is very reachable.

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Sean Lloyd

Writer for www.HabsAddict.com, MontrealHockeyTalk.com and TheHockeyWriters.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Even with a disappointing opening round loss to the Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens first season under Michel Therrien and Marc Bergevin has to be deemed a success. (Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

Before the start of the season I picked the Canadiens to finish 7^th in the conference. I felt the team wasn’t quite as bad as their last place finish in 2012. I believed the team had the necessary pieces to be a playoff team. But nobody could have picked them to finish 2^nd in the Eastern Conference behind the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins, or to best the heavily favoured Boston Bruins atop the Northeast Division.

But they did.

Ahead of schedule? You betcha. Sort of hard to predict the fortunes of a team that hires a new GM, an entirely new management staff, a new Head Coach and signs on a bunch of new players to its lineup – all in a matter of months.

That’s what I call a rebuild. And rebuilds can be done the right way like in Montreal, or not so well.

Hello Edmonton Oilers!

GMs Key to Successful Rebuilds

Using the examples of the Canadiens and the Oilers, it’s easy to see how important the GM is to a successful rebuild. Steve Tambellini had lots of time, luck in lottery picks and resources in terms of money and top-overall picks to bring the Oilers out of the league’s basement. He didn’t get it done for one reason or another. As a result he was relieved of his duties during this year’s campaign and replaced by Craig MacTavish.

Craig MacTavish replaced Steve Tambellini as Oilers GM this season but the next one who should be let go is Kevin Lowe. (Icon SMI)

One has to wonder how involved team President Kevin Lowe is in the day-to-day decisions of that team and whether he’ll be the next to get the ax if Edmonton doesn’t start seeing some results next season. He definitely took a defensive stance at the press conference announcing MacTavish’s hiring — implying he is probably the source of many of Edmonton’s ills. In the end Tambellini took the fall, as is the case so often in the world of NHL coaching and management.

Montreal obviously doesn’t have the time nor the patience to wait around for results. So the first smart thing Geoff Molson did after showing GM Pierre Gauthier the door was to bring on another former GM as an advisor in the selection process. In this case, it was a former Stanley Cup winning GM, the man at the helm when the Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup, Serge Savard.

And after extensive interviews with a number of candidates, former Chicago Blackhawks Assistant GM Marc Bergevin was hired. Retired NHL-er; well-dressed (they like that in Montreal you know); good head of hair (well at least I think that’s important); communicative (anyone would be after Mr. Gauthier); and most importantly, a Quebecer and a man of character. Il a du charactère, they would say on the street.

The Next Order of Business: The Right Head Coach

The next order of business for Marc Bergevin was to hire a new Head Coach. The right Head Coach. But who could, would, should get the job!? Fans and media alike were up in arms last year when Randy Cunneyworth was quickly rushed into a hopeless situation then cut down by Geoff Molson after the firing of Jacques Martin.

Now for the record, I actually liked Martin. He’s a professional coach who successfully brought together a reshuffled deck of a team after Gainey pulled the trigger on the Gomez trade. He then helmed the team all the way to the Conference Finals in 2010 riding the un-Carey Price-like goaltending of Jaro Halak and the sharpshooting of current Calgary Flame-out Michael Cammalleri.

It was apparent the man they call Martin had lost the room and a coaching change was needed. But Gauthier could have realized the team was adrift and the playoffs were probably a pipe dream. He could have taken his time in finding a new captain of the ship.

Jacques Martin lost the room in 2012 and needed to be replaced.

The point I’m trying to make is the right coach is so important to the fate of any given squad. This individual needs to have the right combination of smarts, coaching ability, charisma, language, communication and flexibility in dealing with a number of different personalities.

Look at Pittsburgh in 2009: the Penguins were flailing under Michel Therrien and midway through the season the team was out of a playoff position. He was summarily replaced by Dan Bylsma and they not only made the playoffs but won the Stanley Cup.

Okay, maybe that’s not the best example. Let’s look at another, the 2011-2012 St. Louis Blues.

Across the NHL everyone picked the Blues as a team on the rise with all the young and upcoming talent they possessed; yet they too struggled under the wishy-washyness of Davis Payne, skating to a 6-7 record start. Not good enough for a team on the upswing.

In came experienced Stanley Cup winning coach Ken Hitchcock, who quickly put his stamp on the team with a tight defensive-minded system. The team went on to be one of the best teams of 2012, finishing with a record of 49-22-11 for 109 points, good enough for tops in the Central Division:

Of course, they went out in the first round that year (and this year too… sound familiar?) but I think you see what I mean. They say a team needs to learn how to first lose in order to win.

Not Just Anyone Can Coach in Montreal

Newly hired GM Marc Bergevin had some hard set criteria for his new Head Coach. He knew he needed someone who could speak French. Yes, this limits the playing field. But this is the reality. Barring Scotty Bowman taking one more kick at the can to come out of retirement and coach the Canadiens (and he speaks a decent French, he is a native Montrealer after all), the new Head Coach must speak a fluent French.

Bergevin also knew he had to have someone who could coach young talent. Many of the team’s stars were 25 or under like Subban, Price, Eller and Pacioretty. Then add Gallagher, Galchenyuk and Tinordi and you have a pretty young squad.

And finally, Bergevin knew he needed a man who could handle the pressures and expectations of the rabid Montreal hockey scene. Not an easy task. So who was up to the task?

Definitely not a job for just anyone. And Guy Boucher was – at least at the time – securely entrenched in Tampa Bay coaching the Lightning. And so the list became quite small indeed. Who could it be? Someone unproven? No. Someone who is a winner ideally? Larry Robinson? Unfortunately not. Someone we’ve seen before like Guy Carbonneau? Close. How about Marc Crawford, the hair-boy who won a cup with Colorado and was the last Head Coach of the Quebec Nordiques? He was my choice.

Bob Hartley didn’t strike the right chord with this year’s Calgary Flames but to his defense, he didn’t have much to work with. (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

What about someone like Bob Hartley? Yes, maybe. Hartley coached the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 2001, speaks French, appeared on RDS’ “L’Antichambre” many times and also has a good head of hair. He’s French with an English name. The Canadiens seem to be cornering the market on such confusion. Rene Bourque doesn’t speak a lick of French. Neither does Nathan Beaulieu. Go figure.

Hartley seemed to be out of the game but then took his chances to coach once again in Zurich, where he led the ZSC Lions team to a Swiss league championship. He then used this as a springboard to re-enter the NHL coaching fray when on May 31 of last year he was named Head Coach of the Calgary Flames.

From a fan’s perspective, at one point it looked like it was going to be Hartley for the Canadiens job. And I wasn’t too happy. After getting to know him better from his appearances on RDS, there was a quality to him I didn’t like. Sure he led the Avalanche to a cup but it can be argued that a broom handle could have coached a team with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Patrick Roy to a championship. A talented broom handle, mind you. But I digress.

“Back to Le Futur” With Michel Therrien

Then it was what I like to call “Back to le Futur” when Bergevin introduced Michel Therrien as his new Head Coach for MT’s second time around with the Canadiens. Many didn’t like it. I didn’t either at first. I wanted the team to move forward and for me this was a step in the wrong direction. But after listening to his opening press conference and after listening to Bergevin, two things struck me:

First, I liked Bergevin and thought here was a guy who knows what he wants. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he thought Therrien was the right man, then I was onboard and was open to giving Therrien a second chance.

GM Marc Bergevin won me over with his decision to hire Michel Therrien as Head Coach of the Canadiens (Eric Bolte-US PRESSWIRE)

Second, this Michel Therrien was not the same hot-headed guy we saw years back sporting pink blazers who could cost his team at crucial moments with unnecessary outbursts. He has the fire and emotion – which we all like and what was lacking in a guy like Martin – but now he seemed to have learned from his past mistakes. He’s older and more experienced. He learned to control his emotions. And most importantly, this is a guy who coached and helped Sidney Crosby, Gino Malkin, Marc-André Fleury and Jordan Staal take their first strides in the NHL, leading them to the finals in 2008.

The Canadiens were at a deficit once the lockout ended because of the lack of a real training camp. All teams were thrown into the fire but given all of the new personnel changes, the fire was just a bit hotter for Montreal than some of the other teams around the league.

Interestingly enough, the man who was apparently runner-up to Therrien was Marc Crawford, who was replaced by Hartley in Colorado, and who replaced Hartley in Zurich. Therrien replaced Hartley on RDS’ “L’Antichambre.” One can only speculate if Crawford ends up somewhere in the NHL this coming season.

The Canadiens finished 29-14-5 for 63 points under Therrien. Calgary finished a hapless season with a record of 19-25-4 for 42 points under Bob Hartley. Hartley’s winning percentage of .438 is the lowest of any Head Coach in Calgary Flames history.

Would things have been different for the Canadiens under Hartley? Hard to say. Chances are, they couldn’t have been much worse than in 2012. Is it fair to judge Hartley when it’s evident he didn’t have much to work with this year with the Flames? The blame for that falls on Flames GM Jay Feaster who seems to have misfiring down to an artform — even Pierre Gauthier got the better of him in the Cammalleri for Bourque trade. Bourque came to play this season and if it weren’t for the concussion he suffered points-wise he would’ve been right up there this year. And he was no doubt the team’s most consistent player in the playoffs.

What I can say is I’m happy with the way things are heading. They may not have finished 2^nd in the conference in an 82 game season, but one thing is for certain: the Habs were a character team who played and fought for each other and who never gave up. They fought through adversity, injuries and a tough schedule and persevered.

Therrien and Bergevin deserve a lot of credit for that.

Find Ari Grief on twitter @HabsFanLeafLand where he discusses the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL-at-large and other good heads of hair

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Ari Grief

I'm a goalie -- apparently that says a lot. Writer, producer and bon vivant I'm from Montreal but live in Toronto and write from that perspective on HabsFanInLeafLand.com. Young enough to be hip; old enough to remember where I was when Guy Lafleur scored against the Bruins in the infamous "too many men" game in the '79 playoffs. Can you say that? You can contact Ari Grief on Facebook or on twitter @habsfanleafland

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

(Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

With the Ottawa Senators sending the Montreal Canadiens packing in five games, Habs nation finds themselves looking for a way to deal with a disappointing end to a surprisingly successful season.

As the lockout came to an end and the puck dropped to begin the 2013 season, nobody could’ve predicted the Montreal Canadiens would enjoy the success they did following a disappointing campaign in which they found themselves in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

Marc Bergevin however, assembled a very competant team both on and off the ice to quickly erase the memory of a season that the entire city was ready to wipe from memory.

As the team piled up wins and continued to climb the standings, expectations grew in hopes that Bergevin and company was the quick fix that the storied franchise needed. But alas, reality kicked in. Injuries piled up and the city was reminded that a rebuild takes more than a lengthy off season and a 48 game schedule.

Although the Canadiens found themselves cleaning out their lockers earlier than anybody supporting the CH would’ve liked, there are a lot more positives than negatives to take away from a season that wasn’t meant to be.

The 2013 NHL Entry Draft

Let’s start with the off season. Thanks to some moves by former GM Pierre Gauthier (yes, you read that right) paired with dismal seasons by the Calgary Flames and the Nashville Predators, Trevor Timmins and the Montreal Canadiens find themselves with three picks in the top 40 at the upcoming NHL draft.

Timmins did one heck of a job last year picking up Alex Galchenyuk, Sebastian Collberg and Dalton Thrower just to name a few. The oppurtunity to add more talented youth to a team that boasts a ton of promising prospects is enough to stay optimistic after being eliminated by an Ottawa team that suprised even themselves by making it to the post season.

Experienced Youth

The 48 game 2013 schedule provided experience to the young players on Michel Therrien’s squad. Alex Galchenyuk showed plenty of promise in a season where he finished with a +14 rating to go along with his nine goals and 18 assists. He may not have run away with the Calder Trophy but he gave Habs nation a reason to look forward to a bright future with a promising star.

Speaking of the Calder. Brendan Gallagher made the team to everybody’s surprise and his 15 goals and 28 points (third among rookies in both categories) and+10 rating (fifth, one down from fourth place Alex Galchenyuk) were enough to earn the fiesty Habs winger a Calder nomination. What makes these stats even more impressive is that his average of 13:51 minutes per game ranked him at 70th in that category among rookies.

Jarred Tinordi found himself with more games played than most would’ve expected after Alexei Emelin’s season was ended prematurely. The 6’6″ 205 pound defenseman averaged 11:42 minutes of icetime in his eight regular season appearances and had two assists and a +5 rating to show for it. Tinordi also appeared in all five playoff contests averaging 13:05 minutes per game and adding another helper, although he did finish with a -3. Once the hulking blueliner adds anywhere from 30-40 pounds, the Habs will find themselves with the crease clearing d-man they’ve been needing.

What’s Next?

The off season is every GM’s chance to look back on the finished season and evaluate where they stand. It doesn’t take much to point out what needs to be addressed on this Montreal Canadiens team.

Size.

The team boasts more depth then they have in years but there’s nothing new in the fact that the roster is over populated by players with speed and lack of height.

Brandon Prust was a brilliant acquisition during last years free agency period but it is only the first of many additions that will be necessary for this team to go far.

The Gally’s have bright futures but will no doubt need to know they have big players watching their backs. Especially Gallagher with that pesky smile of his and his willingness to crash the opposing team’s net at any given chance.

Lars Eller has some size at 6’2″ 209 lbs but playes with more finesse than grit. Max Pacioretty, at 6’2″ 219 lbs, is the closest thing to a power forward the team’s roster boasts but has picked up the habit of slowing down once he hits the offensive zone and looking for a passs rather than crashing the net as he did in his pre stanchion days.

Rene Bourque will need to use his body as well. At 6’2″ 213 lbs, Bourque has at times shown a willingness to use his size to produce points. The Canadiens need more drive like this to avoid being pushed around and rely solely on speedy wingers to get the job done.

Many will say that something needs to be done with Carey Price as this team moves forward but that’s a whole other topic for another day. I personally am of the belief that Price can help provide this team with their 25th Stanley Cup if surrounded by a defensive corps that can help clear his crease. However, this will only be proven to be right or wrong once the Canadiens change their reputation of being a team that is too easily pushed around.

Your Two Cents

Heading into the 2013-14 season, what changes would you make to see the Canadiens further into the playoffs?

Despite the early departure in the first round, do you consider the 2013 season a success?

And finally, was the 2013 campaign a promising glimpse of what’s to come or simply a year where a team just overacheived due to low expectations?

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Sean Lloyd

Writer for www.HabsAddict.com, MontrealHockeyTalk.com and TheHockeyWriters.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Canadiens and Senators shake hands at the end of a grueling series for the Habs (Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

The Habs were in dire straits late in Game 5 Thursday night, going into the third period trailing 3-1 in both the game and the series. Forget the fact that they entered the playoffs as the number 2 seed in the East, that they won of the Northeast Division, that they entered the playoffs with aspirations of going deep, late in the game the Canadiens looked like a team depleted.

And in fairness, they were a team depleted. The Habs started Game 5 minus many of their most important players. Perhaps the end result was a foregone conclusion, but for the first two periods at least, the Habs did manage to stay in the conversation. By the end of the third, they were anything but.

Price Just One of Many Missing Pieces

You could start off the list of walking wounded with Carey Price, he was forced out of Game 4 and will likely have a Summer of rehab ahead of him. Price, who appeared to be playing through a nagging injury for most of April, ceded the crease to Peter Budaj for Montreal’s most important battle of the season. In and of itself, having Budaj backstopping the Habs should not have been an insurmountable obstacle, after all he did finish the year with a 8-1-1 record.

Carey Price was kept out of Thursday’s game with a knee injury. (Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports)

But the list of injuries didn’t stop with Price. For a second consecutive year, Captain Brian Gionta’s season was ended by a torn biceps. Tough guys Ryan White and Brandon Prust were battered and bruised, and unavailable for the eventual final game of the Habs’ season. Defenseman Alexei Emelin’s season was done well before the playoffs began. And of course there was Lars Eller, who was injured in the opening game series after a crushing hit from Eric Gryba.

Without that long list of impact players, it’s no surprise the Habs were unable to stave off elimination Thursday night. To make matters worse, Max Pacioretty, who missed Game 2 of the season, was playing through the pain of a separated shoulder.

With so much wear and tear at the end of a 48-game season, it’s painful to imagine what might happen to this team during a full 82-game campaign.

What Does the Future Hold for Habs?

Calder finalist Brendan Gallagher is one of many bright spots looking forward for the Canadiens (Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports)

The Canadiens can take plenty of positives away from this season. After finishing last in the East and third to last in the league a season ago, the team climbed all the way to fourth overall and second in the Conference. PK Subban emerged as one of the most dominant defensemen in the league, and with Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher both having standout seasons, the future looks bright.

But the slew of injuries that piled up as the Habs were forced out of the playoffs makes it clear that the team needs to get tougher. On his blog, Globe and Mail reporter James Mirtle posted the average height, weight and age for each team for the opening season rosters along, with their ranks. The Habs opened the season not only with the shortest roster in the league but the third lightest as well. The end result speaks for itself.

So while the Habs are moving in the right direction, helped not only by talented rookies, but by the signing of gritty forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong last Summer, they still have more work to do in the sandpaper department, especially on the blueline.

Canadiens Will Need to Bulk up on Defense

As much trouble as the Canadiens had generating traffic in front of Craig Anderson, they had even more trouble clearing traffic from in front of their own goalies. Losing Emelin definitely hurt the team. Aside from rookie Jarred Tinordi, the Habs were without the type of defensemen that could stand up opponents at the Montreal blueline, consistently win battles in the corner, or clear the traffic in the slot.

When the Canadiens made their miraculous playoff run in 2010 they did so with a core of seasoned defensive vets, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek. Each one was difficult to play against in their own end, and at that point in their careers, each was rough and rugged enough to endure a long season and the ensuing playoff campaign. Even Ryan O’Byrne, at 6’5”, played an important role in the Habs’ playoff run.

Marc Bergevin should keep this in mind when he is looking to plug the holes that were exposed in his team’s early exit from the playoffs this year. The Canadiens are still developing after a major retool and it looks like rugged defensive defensemen are among the tools the Habs are still lacking.

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Rob Elbaz

Rob has been blogging about the Habs since 2011 at MontrealHockeyTalk.com and can usually be heard before every Canadiens games on the MHT Pregame Show.

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Parity amongst discipline?

The 2013 National Hockey League(NHL) post-season has been one of the most physical in recent memory. The parity of the league has resulted in closely matched teams where any impact in the game, be it minute or otherwise, can result in a game winning play or series wining scenario. Being the fastest non-motorized sport on earth, hockey plays happen fast. Athletes are notorious for playing with emotion; dreams of Lord Stanley’s receptacle dance in their head. It is natural that tempers will spill over on the ice.

That is when sheriff Brendan Shanahan steps in and draws his guns:

Brendan Shanahan with the NY Rangers (Photo by Troy Parla/Wikimedia Commons)

National Hockey League tries to maintain a temperate climate while officiating and delivering supplemental discipline. While it has long been the hallmark of hockey that penalties in the regular season and in the playoffs are worlds apart, the same can be said about suspensions. This is not an astute observation, I know.

The NHL disciplinary arm, the Department of Player Safety  has not been performing as advertised. There is a serious discrepancy with discipline charges… and it makes our league worse for it.

Enter the Ottawa-Montreal series.

The playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators has been adhering to the preview trailers beautifully… it is action packed, full of drama and now the lawyers are getting involved.

Both teams play possession-style hockey and dominate the opposition with speed. Montreal is faster; Ottawa bigger.

Some of the hits in the series have been downright vicious: Eric Gryba on Lars Eller resulted in a game misconduct, a 5 minute major, and a two game suspension. Lars Eller received a broken nose, facial contusions and a possible concussion. Video of the hit here:

The referee on the play, Dan O’Rourke, will not be on Senator fans’ Christmas cards list this year, for several reasons. However, he did make the correct call at the time of the play.

With Eric Gryba suspended two games, the NHL sent notice to teams around the league. A two game suspension in the playoffs is a severe penalty… roughly equated to a 10 game suspension during the regular season plus or minus a game or two. Many argue that two games is a bit much for what many hockey experts and analysis stated on record was a clean hockey hit… a hockey play gone bad. But…. the suspension was delivered and a new precedent was set.

The problem with it… is this type of hit has been in hockey for decades. Scott Stevens earned a living making that play and punishing players breaking down the middle of the ice.

The NHL changed today.NHL players have to learn to play a new way and coaches have to coach a different way.

— Dean Brown (@PxPOttawa) May 3, 2013

what “hockey people” until today called “a hockey play” is no longer.New era for the game for better or worse.

— Dean Brown (@PxPOttawa) May 3, 2013

It is with this reason that this suspension rubbed many Ottawa Senator fans the wrong way. If you are punishing the result on an otherwise clean hockey play, what about Matt Cooke’s slice of Erik Karlsson’s achilles tendon?

My question to you, sports fan,  is Boston Andrew Ferences’s elbow to the head of Mikhail Grabovski worse than Eric Gryba’s hit on Lars Eller?

The intent to injure on the Ference ‘check’ (Playing fast and loose with the definition of check there…) looks much more substantive, yet both Gryba and Ference were suspended for those hits and Gryba(!) got the extra game despite the track record of Ference.

Fast forwarding to game three in the Ottawa-Montreal series, a powder-keg exploded and sent ugly all up in Scotiabank Place.

Halfway through the third the game erupted when Ryan White two-hand slashed Zack Smith in retaliation for his shove off of the faceoff… this is when the game went to hell in a hand basket.

Just look at the penalty sheet for the game!

Both teams knew going into this game that it was going to be physical and push the envelope of the rules. Many times during the game it bordered on illegal play. Fans of both teams were upset at non-calls on the ice… but nothing compares to Rene Bourque’s blatant elbow to the head of Cory Conacher:

Prust’s best reenactment:

Both are similar to Ference’s hit… precedent has been set, right?

Well… let’s review here. We have elbows to the head? Check. Penalties called on the play? Yes. So the is NHL going to review the headshots? Yes.. er, no.

There will be no supplementary discipline/hearings resulting from MON/OTT last night.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 6, 2013

Double standard?

Not quite. The league did not think that this was worthy of anything either:

Which, frankly, is a lot more vicious. I am a huge proponent of Dustin Brown… I love the way he plays the game (most times), but an attempted knee-on-knee AND an elbow to the head is a disaster and PR nightmare that the league wants to avoid.

A theme seen throughout this post-season is the unwillingness of the NHL to suspend a player for intention. The lack of supplemental discipline charges in the Montreal-Ottawa game fit with the current modus operandi of the NHL… but it does not make sense.

If Cory Conacher ended up like Lars Eller did in game one, the NHL would review the play.

This needs to change before vigilante justice becomes the true standard by which our beloved league policed.

What we are seeing right now is bush league hockey, and the NHL is not better for it.

Author information

Mike Johnson

I live in Ottawa. Passionate hockey player and fan.

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Montreal Canadiens rookie forward Brendan Gallagher celebrates 21st birthday with Calder nomination day after
Game 3 brouhaha with Ottawa Senators (Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports)

Brendan Gallagher: Calder Front-runner?

If you asked him, he’d probably say he’d prefer it the other way around.

From what we know of Montreal Canadiens rookie forward Brendan Gallagher, the small but feisty forward — who has quickly made a name for himself around the league for his ever-present smile, determination and net presence — would probably rather be basking in the afterglow of a Game 3 victory in his team’s best-of-seven series against the Ottawa Senators instead of receiving a Calder Trophy nomination for the league’s best rookie.

Of course, both a win and a nomination would have been nice, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The right winger joins Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers as this year’s nominees. Huberdeau led all rookies in scoring with 31 points (with Nail Yakupov, whose late season push wasn’t enough to get a nomination) and comes with the pedigree of being the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 entry draft. Saad was good on a great Chicago Blackhawks team, and finished the year with 10 goals and 17 assists and a +17.

Gallagher finished with 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) and was a +10. The fact that Gallagher was a fifth-rounder, 147th overall makes his candidacy for the prize that much more intriguing. And though the playoffs technically do not apply towards the awards, if he should continue his strong play, does it give him the edge over Saad and Huberdeau?

Gallagher’s Success Underscores Lack of Production From Canadiens’ Veterans

After three games Gallagher has been the Canadiens’ best player so far in the playoffs. He leads the league in shots on net (17), scored the game winning goal in Game 2 and is ultimately outplaying and outperforming some of his more experienced and higher paid teammates.

Max Pacioretty needs to start producing if the Habs hope to even the series against the Ottawa Senators (image property of BridgetDS)

That’s not to take away anything from his or even Rene Bourque’s contributions, but Gallagher’s success ultimately underscores the lack of production from the likes of veteran forwards Tomas Plekanec, Michael Ryder, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta — all who should be the leading the way for the Canadiens.

Granted, both Pacioretty and Gionta are rumoured to be playing through injury, but this doesn’t discount the need for them to contribute on the scoresheet for the Habs. Pacioretty led the team with 39 points this season and Gionta – who interestingly enough plays a game similar to Gallagher when he’s on – has been nowhere to be found so far in the two games he’s played against the Senators.

Although he looked good in Game 1, at least Pacioretty recognizes he needs to do more and is trying to work through it:

Max Pacioretty on the ice for the optional practice. #canadiens #RDS

— Renaud Lavoie (@RenLavoieRDS) May 6, 2013

Much was made of Montreal’s advantage over Ottawa in scoring depth, but so far, it’s been the Senators who have gotten production from throughout their lineup, highlighted by Pageau’s hat trick in Game 3.

Can Gallagher’s Calder nod breathe new life into the Habs for Game 4? Certainly the browbeating they took should be motivation enough to come back hard to even the series. Pretty much everyone across their lineup needs to come up with a better effort.

But how many rallying points does this team need to start playing an emotional, yet controlled version of playoff hockey? Eller’s concussion? Price’s teeth? Gallagher’s Calder nomination? Paul MacLean’s supposed slight in the form of a timeout with 17 seconds remaining in a 6-1 game? Or simply the fact that if they don’t win Game 4, their chances of playing hockey further on into the spring become very slight indeed.

Author information

Ari Grief

I'm a goalie -- apparently that says a lot. Writer, producer and bon vivant I'm from Montreal but live in Toronto and write from that perspective on HabsFanInLeafLand.com. Young enough to be hip; old enough to remember where I was when Guy Lafleur scored against the Bruins in the infamous "too many men" game in the '79 playoffs. Can you say that? You can contact Ari Grief on Facebook or on twitter @habsfanleafland

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.