Tomas Plekanec is back

The Canadiens have now played 14 games in this young season and Tomas Plekanec has 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points. Just shy of a point per game. Maybe the title for this article is a tad premature… but maybe it’s not.

Plekanec was one of the players in Montreal that took alot of criticism last season as his numbers had dipped, expectations rose and the Canadiens season tanked.

Back in the 2007-2008 season when it seemed as though everything went right for the Montreal Canadiens Plekanec was matched up with Alex Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn. This line was at times lethal and it really did seem as though they had some solid chemistry.

Plekanec had 29 goals and 40 assists for 69 points.

In the season that followed he was again matched up with Kovalev and Kostitsyn on many nights but the chemistry was not there. Off ice issues and injuries were also dogging the Canadiens during that 2008-2009 season.

Plekanec’s name quite often found it’s way to trade rumors and on some sports talk / call in shows some fans voiced their opinion that Plekanec’s time was done. Perhaps expectations were a bit too high but none the less he took a step back finishing with 20 goals and 19 assists for a total of 30 points less then the previous season.

This last summer Plekanec was offered a one year deal. Again many voices said he would be traded. I myself felt that it was quite possible that his time was up in Montreal.

14 games into this season there’s a difference about him.

This year I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Tomas. He’s been working very hard and making some really nice passes. In a strange way it seems as though his 13 points in 14 games have been easy to miss in the sense that he’s not been dominating games (nor will he) but he seems to be doing many simple things well.

Again, he’s working hard, finding the open man and making the pass, skating and is defensively responsible. He’s a +5 so far.

Plekanec has been a very important part of the puzzle so far in Montreal. The question will arise at some point in the season about what to do for a new deal if he continues to play as well as he is.

Should Gainey drop his “no contract negotiation during the season” policy?

Only time will tell. But so far Plekanec is in the house and the Canadiens need him to be.

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