Written by Steven Ellis, AllHabs.net
OAKVILLE, ON — Montreal had a forgettable 2011, with an early playoff exit, coaching issues and a team that just couldn’t win. Yesterday we covered the first three months of the year — click here for Part One if you missed it. What follows is part two of the Montreal Canadiens Year In Review.
April – On the first day of April, Max Pacioretty skated for the first time since being hit by Zdeno Chara, back on March 8th. It was definitely a great moment for Habs fans, as Pac-man was one step closer to returning. Ten days later, the Canadiens found out who they would face in round one of the playoffs, none other than the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas was the star of the series, and quite possibly the entire NHL season as well. He won both the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player. Brad Marchand emerged as a rising star, but Nathan Horton was the killer for Montreal. Horton scored a game-winning overtime goal for the Bruins in both games five and seven to help the Bruins win the series over the Canadiens. A third period goal by Horton against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the only goal of Game 7, later sent the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was their first championship in 39 years, and can be considered the final chapter to Tim Thomas’ amazing comeback story. Star goalie Carey Price would post 38 wins, tied for the league lead with Roberto Luongo, and was no doubt, the best player on the Montreal Canadiens.
In transaction news, GM Pierre Gauthier announced the signing of free agent left winger Alain Berger to a three-year contract.
May – With no hockey to play, there wasn’t much going on in Habsland. The Canadiens did sign two defenseman, Raphael Diaz and Alexei Emelin. Both would go on to play with the Canadiens in the upcoming season. Center Joonas Nattinen would sign a three-year, two-way contract, and would play with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2011-2012. Nattinen has good size and is known for his playmaking ability and proficiency at faceoffs with the SM-liiga (Finland).
June – On June 1st, the Canadiens steadied their defense by re-signing giant Hal Gill to a one year deal. There was a ton of speculation that he wouldn’t be back, so for most Habs fans this was a good thing bringing him back. The Canadiens re-signed prospect Brock Trotter , who would return to the Habs from a one-year stint with Dynamo Riga of the KHL. His stay wouldn’t last long, as he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in November. In a few day span, Montreal re-signed Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber and David Desharnais to two year contracts. Montreal was not done re-signing players, as they brought back injured defenseman Andrei Markov with a three year deal. They were STILL not done, as the team acquired a seventh-round pick in 2012 and future considerations from the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for defenseman James Wisniewsi, a deal most fans still don’t agree with. Prospects Dustin Boyd and Nigel Dawes would sign in the KHL.
Habs Development camp started early in June, and almost all were impressive. Alexander Avtsin scored three goals in one shift during one of the scrimmages, impressing Habs brass.
With the 17th pick overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens selected Nathan Beaulieu from the Memorial Cup Champion Saint John Sea Dogs. Beaulieu is a puck-moving defenseman with offensive talent. He skates well, has good vision and distributes the puck effectively. Beaulieu must continue to improve the defensive part of his game. You can see him play for Team Canada in the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships from Alberta on TSN and TSN 2.
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced after the draft that Habs assistant coach Kirk Muller would become the head coach of the Predators AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. Many people blame the loss of Muller as the reason the Canadiens would play as bad as they would in the first few months of the 2011-2012 season.
July – It was free agent frenzy time in the NHL, and Montreal took part in it by signing forward Eric Cole and backup goaltender Peter Budaj on July 1st. Eric Cole has been one of the top forwards on a weak Montreal squad, and Peter Budaj spends most of his time farting on the bench. Four days later, Montreal signed two minor league goalies, Nathan Lawson and Peter Delmas, to play in the minors. Lawson was part of the goaltending fiasco that was the New York Islanders the season previous. Delmas played in two games with the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs in 2010-11, posting a 1-0-1 record, a 1.92 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. He would split time in the ECHL and AHL in 2011. Montreal also inked Ryan White to a one-year deal, and traded prospect Mathieu Carle to Anaheim for defenseman Mark Mitera. They would also go on to sign two defenseman, Josh Gorges and Frédéric St-Denis to one year deals.
On July 17th, Montreal made two minor moves, signing journeyman forward Brian Willsie to a one-year contract, and acquiring enforced Michael Blunden from Columbus for prospect Ryan Russell. Russell’s brother, Kris, was already playing for the Blue Jackets (but would be traded to St. Louis early in the season), so it was a nice move for him. The Montreal Canadiens website says Blunden averages 5 minutes a game, but sometimes that has been shortened to only one minute under Jacques Martin.
July was definitely a busy month for Montreal, but how would the rest of the year hold up? That’s all coming in part 3 of the Montreal Canadiens 2011 Year In Review.
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