Top 5 Canadiens to Watch at Training Camp
September 15th, 2017Canadiens Contributors
Ryan Szporer
Kavan Young
Overtime With BSC: Hudon Deserves a Chance With Habs
September 14th, 2017 When the Montreal Canadiens re-signed and subsequently left Charles Hudon unprotected for the Expansion Draft in the offseason of 2017, there were many mixed emotions among fans of the team. For starters, Hudon has become the focal point of a large section of the fanbase who clearly believes that Hudon is ready to make the NHL roster. At the very least, he's ready to be tried on the big club due to the Canadiens' persistent lack of offense that...
Reason No. 92 Not to Trust Canadiens Management
September 13th, 2017 At least Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson and general manager Marc Bergevin seem to be on the same page. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have the league rules to contract tampering on it. Molson's Head in the Stars After saying that he and Bergevin discuss stars, “including Tavares,” earlier this week, Molson may face a fine for publicly insinuating he’s interested in another team’s player. That’s a no-no, and one with which...
The Greatest Team of All Time: The Montreal Junior Canadiens
September 12th, 2017
Canadiens Bring Back Therrien... for Some Reason
September 10th, 2017
Top 5 Questions Plaguing the Canadiens
September 6th, 2017
Top 5 Canadiens' Prospects at Rookie Tournament
September 3rd, 2017
Montreal Canadiens
5 Reasons for Habs Fans to Stay Positive in 2017
There was the first whisper of fall this week. In September the hockey world reawakens. Development camps are completed, and rookie and training camps are just around the corner. This year, there seems to be quite a lot of pessimism among Habs fans. You can hear it in the decidedly un-dulcet tones of the Montreal-based TSN 690 crew. While taking a more upbeat tact, even Brian Wilde referenced the concerns in his inaugural Habs 365 podcast. In short: fans should expect a worse team, likely to finish with fewer wins in 2017/18. This pessimism has been building since last summer, of course. Many haven’t forgiven Marc Bergevin for the Subban trade. Some never will. Losing out on Radulov couldn't be helped perhaps, but the unceremonious departure of Andrei Markov left many scratching their heads. On paper, the Habs today are older, slower, and worse overall on defense, no better down the middle, and have fewer blue chip prospects. More than that, it is not clear to anyone what...
Montreal Canadiens
Gelinas Gives Canadiens Options on D
Defenseman Eric Gelinas’ tumultuous career has taken another turn, hopefully for the positive with the Montreal Canadiens. Gelinas’ professional tryout agreement (PTO) with the team qualifies as a risk-free, potentially high-reward move by general manager Marc Bergevin. Gelinas Can't Make It Work in Colorado There’s little sugarcoating Gelinas’ last few years. Marginalized as a New Jersey Devil, he was sent packing to the Colorado Avalanche back in 2015-16. Playing for the very worst team in the NHL this past season, he couldn’t make enough of an impression to stay, essentially splitting his time between the Avs and their American Hockey League affiliate. It’s hard to imagine that this was a player whose future seemed as bright as that of any other defenseman just three years ago. It was in 2013-14 when Gelinas posted 29 points in just 60 games with the Devils. Then his lack of defensive awareness gradually got exposed to the point that he became a regular healthy...
Montreal Canadiens
How Canadiens Have Improved for 2017-18
If the Montreal Canadiens do fall in the standings in 2017-18, there’s a good chance it will be through little fault of their own. With Atlantic Division rivals like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning poised to attain contender status (and the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers likely to improve), the Habs may very well be usurped and lose their division title, simply by treading water in the standings. That's plausible simply because it would be a mistake to say the Habs have gotten worse as a whole this past summer. While some areas have admittedly suffered due to general manager Marc Bergevin’s moves, some have gotten better, still giving the Habs a realistic shot not just at the playoffs, but home-ice advantage. 3. Cap Space The most obvious way the Habs have improved is through the flexibility afforded to them by their ~$8.5 million in cap space. Consistently a cap team in the salary cap era, the Canadiens can now add one or two significant pieces by...
Montreal Canadiens
Looking Back on Montreal's Pierre Gauthier Era
This article was originally written in December, 2013. The Montreal Canadiens recently faced the St. Louis Blues, making it the fourth head to head battle of former Canadiens crease-mates Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price. Halak vs. Price was a constant refrain in Montreal during the Spring of 2010, one that forced then General Manager Pierre Gauthier to make an enormous decision on the future of Canadiens net minders, as both were Restricted Free Agents who wanted to be number one goalies. Halak has posted a perfect 3-0 record against the Canadiens since the surprising trade that sent him to St. Louis in June of 2010, just one month after he carried Montreal to the Eastern Conference Finals. Halak was the main reason the 8th seeded Canadiens were able to oust the President’s Trophy winning Washington Capitals and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in consecutive grueling seven game series. However, Gauthier decided to roll the dice and hand the keys...
Montreal Canadiens
Worst Case for 2017-18 Canadiens?
The best-case scenario for the 2017-18 Montreal Canadiens is fairly obvious: They will ideally contend with their sights set on the Stanley Cup. What about the worst-case, though? Capable of Great Things While that ultimate goal may be unrealistic considering the long list of classic legitimate contenders and new ones that have emerged (Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, etc.), it’s hard to argue that, with Carey Price in nets, the Habs are capable of a great regular season. From then on, anything can happen as the old adage goes. Essentially, making the safe assumption that the Habs will punch their ticket to the playoffs, once they do they’ll have a puncher’s chance to make a half-decent run. There is a flipside to that coin, though. How far down the standings can the Canadiens slide? Even ignoring how division rivals like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning will be taking huge steps forward, fans don’t have to look too far back for examples...
Montreal Canadiens
Lorne "Gump" Worsley: The Story of an Icon
This article was originally written in September, 2010. Lorne “Gump” Worsley, born and raised in Montreal, was the last NHL goalie to play without a mask. “My face is my mask,” he would say, refusing to don facial protection. He acquired the nickname Gump as a youngster due to his facial resemblance to Andy Gump, a cartoon character of the time. The Origins of Gump Worsley's Pro Career After two years with the QJHL Verdun Cyclones, his early pro career was spent in the minors (EHL, USHL, WHL) where he succeeded three years in a row to be named to the First All-Star team and the league’s top goaltender. In 1952 he signed with the not-very-successful New York Rangers, playing 50 games with a 3.09 goals-against-average and winning the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie-of-the-year. The following season he came to camp somewhat out-of-shape and lost his job to Johnny Bower. The Gumper ended up playing the entire 1953-54 season in the WHL for the Vancouver Canucks,...
Montreal Canadiens
John Tavares Alternatives for Canadiens
Most everyone wants a piece of New York Islanders captain John Tavares. You can probably add the Montreal Canadiens to that list, seeing as they’re (supposedly) in need of a No. 1 center, and Tavares fits the bill perfectly: He’s 6’1”, 210 pounds, still in his mid-20s with presumably plenty of good to great years left and has drawing power to spare. He’s your prototypical star, in other words, which translates into a seller’s market for the Islanders up until the trade deadline, assuming they aren’t contending and don’t foresee re-signing him by July 1. As an unrestricted free agent come that date, Tavares can then write his own check to play wherever he wants. So, on the pretty decent chance that’s not Montreal, what are some alternatives for whom the Habs could trade? Taking into account age, availability, and skill, here are the top options general manager Marc Bergevin could conceivably be looking into as we speak. 5. Claude Giroux (Philadelphia...
Montreal Canadiens
Top Canadiens Options at Center
It turns out the Montreal Canadiens actually have many options at center for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, “many” simply implies quantity over quality. Nevertheless, while head coach Claude Julien has some work to do on that front (assuming general manager Marc Bergevin doesn’t on his end), there are some diamonds in the rough that could end up slotting in perfectly on the top line. Generally limiting ourselves to players currently on the roster who are listed as centers on TSN.ca (with some exceptions), who are the Habs’ best options to fill that other massive hole in the line-up? Here they are ranked from worst to best: 7. Torrey Mitchell Ranking Torrey Mitchell last on this list is probably as much of a surprise as the moon coming up every night, even to him. At this point in his career, with twilight starting to set in on the 32-year-old’s career with the Canadiens barring an extension, most everyone knows what he is and his limitations. He’s a...
Montreal Canadiens
How Close Are Canadiens Prospects?
It’s not just a matter of skill and merit that dictates when a prospect makes it to the NHL. It’s also dependent on how the rest of the roster has taken shape. Just take the Montreal Canadiens as an example. Down to the Wire The Habs officially have 22 of 23 spots filled on their roster page. Meanwhile, the widely cited ~$8.5 million in projected cap space they have has taken the Peter Holland signing into consideration, effectively pre-determining the team’s opening-night roster two months in advance. Obviously, training camp will have a lot to say about where Holland ends up, but so will the terms of his contract. He’s on a two-year deal that pays him an average of $675,000 per season and turns into a one-way contract in 2018-19. The 26-year-old is essentially a veteran at this point, having last played in the American Hockey League in 2013-14. He may not be an everyday kind of player at this juncture, having never so much as scored 30 points in a single season,...
Montreal Canadiens
