This end-of-season version of the Canadiens is kind of reminding me of the way the 2011-12 season played itself out. You probably remember the first part of the season – assistant coach Perry Pearn fired an hour before a game; Mike Cammalleri traded during a game; Jacques Martin fired; unilingual anglo Randy Cunneyworth hired; GM Pierre Gauthier trading for an over-the-hill Mr. Kaberle to replace an injured Andrei Markov; Gauthier trying to fix a leaky roof. And eventually the Canadiens missed the playoffs. Fast forward four seasons later. Ok, it’s not that bad. It’s a lost year alright but with a much stronger base to build on. But what I most remember about the end of the 2011-12 season (aside from spending a lot of time reading about the top prospects for the draft) – is that at some point Cunneyworth and his players got sick and tired of being kicked around. Instead of an easy opponent featuring typical Gauthier type players who could skate but do little else and defined the term soft (Kaberle, Chris Campoli, Aaron Palushaj, Raphael Diaz, Andreas Engquvist) the Habs started to push back, thanks mainly to Brad Staubitz and Ryan White. Suddenly, opposing players who crowded around Carey Price after a whistle were met with a face wash and/or a stick in the back. Opposing players who went out of their way to target Erik Cole (35 goals), Max Pacioretty (33 goals), David Desharnais (60 points) or a 22 year old P.K. Subban were invited to dance. Through mismanagement, bad coaching and a couple of key, lengthy injuries to Markov and Brian Gionta, the Habs had fallen apart, hit rock bottom and become hockey’s second punch line. But over the final 15 games of the season they were actually a team again, going 6-3-6. Then they drafted an 18 year old centre named Alex Galchenyuk and the sun came out.
- I won’t be shy in sending some love Mike Brown’s way. He’s doing his job. The fighting debate is not about him. He can play. I’ll admit I never knew he was part of the 2004-05 U.S. team (with Phil Kessel, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Suter, Alex Goligoski and Corey Schneider) at the World Junior Hockey championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Brown was also a member of the U.S. squad (with Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Cam Fowler, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Derek Stepan, James van Riemsdyk and Blake Wheeler) at the 2011 World Hockey Championship in Slovakia. Did you know this?
- Evander Kane was out of control. Too many greenies, too much Sudafed or was it simply Red Bull or coffee (or both)?
- I was trying to figure out how to describe the emotional state of Robin Lehner when Ben Scrivens did it for me. “He’s a psycho” said Scrivens (in a gentle kind of way) to David Amber after the game. Don’t think the Montreal bench didn’t appreciate Scrivens challenge to fight Lehner – even if it did (smartly) come from behind his own blue line.
- If the Habs defense wasn’t decimated by injuries would Greg Pateryn have become Jarred Tinordi II?
- Andrei Markov played nearly 31:00. He seemed ready to go for another 31.
- Alexei Emelin played a career high 27:15. As Marc Antoine Godin pointed out, Emelin seems to be playing himself onto the Russian team for the World Cup.
- The Marcus Foligno shorthanded goal during Kane’s double minor was the result of a Montreal line change that was so bad it must have been choreographed by Bryan Berard.
- So am I still alone in thinking that Scrivens is a better NHL goaltender than Mike Condon?
- Whatever happened to Frederic St. Denis?
