Week 3 of the NHL season is in the books and the Canadiens are like most teams… We have no idea who they are. The Habs didn’t look great at home against the San Jose Sharks getting torched shorthanded and not scoring on their chances. Two nights later, they put some of the best players in hockey in their back pocket and made a statement in prime time. It’s still going to take awhile to figure out who this team, so enjoy the process.
- Joel Armia has been a revelation. Only my buddy Sean Campbell could have predicted that he’d be leading the team in scoring after the first month. And he missed two games! Armia has found his scoring touch using both skill and grit. He’s playing in the top-six and provides something the Canadiens desperately need with his size on the wing. Can he keep it up? Or will he be the second coming of Rene Bourque?
2. The Canadiens seem to rise to the occasion. In the standings they all count the same but for whatever reason, Saturday nights feel more important. The Habs are a perfect 4-0 on Saturdays and now own a three game winning streak against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The fact that they’ve seen the backup goalie twice or faced the Leafs in the second half of back-to-backs doesn’t matter.
3. The team has played well after losses. They’ve lost six games this year, four of their wins were following one of those games.
4. Carey Price made saves when they needed him to. I was critically during the first intermission of our TSN 690 broadcast about the 2-1 goal that let the Leafs back in the game. Mitch Marner was on his backhand and had only one play available which was to pass the puck off to Jake Muzzin. Price wasn’t good with his read, didn’t get over quickly and Muzzin was able to score in the final moments of the period. Yes, it was a good shot but when the former Vezina trophy winner is on his game, that doesn’t find the back of the net. Full marks to Price however, he buckled down and played well the rest of the way making several key saves in both the second and third period. It has become rather ridiculous how divided the fan base is on this player. It’s OKAY to say that he needs to be better or that one of the shots that beat him, needs to be stopped. There’s no need to constantly defend his honor. It works the other way around too. No need to constantly bash the player and put him in a situation where he can do no right because of the salary that he commands. Let’s try to be fair because the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
5. Shea Weber shaved his beard.
*update* So did Marc Bergevin.
I shake my heavy head and find ways to shift the blame
I hate the rules but I still play the game
I got an eye on the prize
Another on the clock on the wall
I get what I want until I want nothing at all
-Mitchy
