Montreal Canadiens Week 1: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Hey friends,

Here’s the goal. I want to write once a week, a short and simple blog. All that’s going to be here is a few positives that I observed while watching hockey. No need to pull out a thesaurus. No need to daydream half-way through because it goes on forever. A quick and simple read, to recap what happened in Habs land.

In the first week of the season the Canadiens started on the road against two playoff teams from a year ago:

1. Max Domi is hilarious… The fact that Hockey Night’s cameras picked up “Atta’ boy Kappy, you fucking idiot,” had me in stitches. Hope everyone quickly thought back to Kapanen’s violin chirp from a year ago. Domi also backed up his smack talk on the ice, completely engaged with a goal, an assist and 6 shots. His energy is infectious and is a big reason why you can never count the Habs out, even when they’re trailing.
2. A penalty shot goal for Jeff Petry? Guess he was doing his best Dougie Hamilton impression. I don’t care if it was against an American Hockey League goaltender, the game was pretty much on the line and Petry delivered. Goal aside, he’s been their best defenseman and maybe it’s time we stop being surprised.
3. Price delivered when it mattered most. He was below average during the game (no need to start breaking down the goals one by one).  But in the shootout, he went up against almost $33.4 million, and denied all three shooters. How about that celebration at the end? Every game matters and if the Habs make the playoffs, Price with his stick raised to the ceiling in Toronto should be an image we come back to.
4. Jonathan Drouin has been solid through two games. The leadership he’s trying to show also stands out. He might be misunderstood at times as a player, but paying for Nick Suzuki’s parents to be at the game on Saturday was next level. I know Louis Leblanc is forever grateful that Erik Cole did that for him when he made his NHL debut in Anaheim. Suzuki will feel the same years down the road.
5. The Habs played two playoff teams on the road to start the season and picked up three points. The Leafs had won their first two games decisively. Carolina is now 3-0 and out shot the Tampa Bay Lightning (many people’s pick for the Stanley Cup) 44-13 on Sunday. It’s a solid start.