by Corey Desormeaux , Managing Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine
OTTAWA, ON –- I am really excited to be taking on the All Habs Mailbag with my colleague Marc Lescoutre. Looking forward to answering more of your questions in weeks to come. Thanks to those who submitted questions this week.
This week, despite my efforts to garner interest around Justin Bieber’s new album, we received several questions surrounding the Montreal Canadiens for the All Habs Mailbag. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the answers in the comments section below because I am only right most of the time…
Don't forget to submit ?'s for the @AllHabs Mailbag by replying to this tweet. Will also accept Q's regarding Justin Bieber's new album.
— Corey Desormeaux (@xCoreyDx) March 3, 2016
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Do you have a question or a topic you would like us to discuss? Okay, here’s what you can do.
Let us know:
- who you are
- where you’re from
- if you wish, send us a photo of you in your favourite Habs gear
- who’s your favorite player, present or past
- and of course, your question
You can contact us via Twitter, our Facebook page or email at info (at) allhabs (dot) net
We’ll feature you, and your question, in the All Habs Mailbag!
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Jeff (St. Thomas, ON.)
What will the lines look like when David Desharnais returns?
Wonderful question Jeff. Let me start by telling you that if I had the slightest clue what Michel Therrien is thinking I would be a much less angry person and sleep better at night. The truth is I have no idea what he is thinking, but it is safe to assume that Desharnais will come back with a significant role in the offensive gameplan of the Montreal Canadiens.
There is no secret that Michel Therrien loves David Desharnais and history shows us that he has been used as either the 1A or 1B centre for the past few years. This season has been no different as he is second on the team in even strength ice-time amongst centres on the team (Galchenyuk included in this calculation).
I explicitly mentioned Desharnais’ involvement in the offensive gameplan above and I did that on purpose. David is never used to kill penalties and is rarely relied upon to take defensive zone faceoffs. Michel Therrien loves pairs, and the Desharnais and Pacioretty duo is one of his all time favourites. I like to call it his safety blanket. We saw this first hand when the Habs began their horrid stretch of losing in December. Therrien very quickly reverted back to his safety blanket after a month and a half of them separated despite the teams success of having them apart.
The powerplay is another area where Michel Therrien likes to use Desharnais. This season, Desharnais is averaging 2:20 TOI per game on the powerplay. To give you some comparables: Jeff Carter (2:18), Rick Nash (2:19), Brandon Saad (2:11), Jonathon Toews (2:23) Derek Stepan (2:17), Evgeni Kuznetsov (2:17), Dylan Larkin (2:01).
I understand that Habs fans, myself included want youth to play more often, especially with the Habs’ playoff hopes getting more and more slim by the game. We’ve seen some positive strides forward in this regard with McCarron playing centre with Galchenyuk and Eller as his wingers. However, we’ve seen steps backwards with the demotion of Sven Andrighetto to the fourth line and making him a healthy scratch over Mike Brown.
With all of that said, we must remember that Michel Therrien is fighting for his job next season, it is my thought that when David Desharnais returns, Therrien will continue to reach for his safety blanket.
Trevor (Morden, MB.)
Is there any chance that Michel Therrien is behind the bench next season?
Trevor. I am a nice person. But I must admit that the fear of Michel Therrien returning to the Habs next season brings out the worst in me. Sometimes I think about Michel Therrien returning to the Habs next year and I can’t help but visualise myself in a room with no door filled with snakes and spiders. You know how scary that is, Trevor? It’s frightening.
Nonetheless, my personal perspective is that no coach should survive one of the worst collapses in not just the team’s history but in all of sports. The Montreal Canadiens went from a Stanley Cup contending team to the laughing stock of the league. In my opinion the coach hasn’t done enough to get them out of it and I could probably list hundreds of on and off-ice decisions as to why.
HOWEVER, and I must emphasis however, there are a number of reasons as to why I think Michel Therrien very well could be the coach of the Canadiens next season. Honestly, I could probably write a whole piece on this topic so here is the condensed version…
- Therrien’s track record with this team heading into this season is great. So much so that it earned him an extension on his contract in the offseason. We’ve seen them win the division more than once and an Eastern Conference Final.
- Price’s injury gives the team the ultimate excuse to write-off this season. Plus, we all know far too well how much this team loves excuses.
- Marc Bergevin’s foxhole. In his mid-season press-conference, Marc Bergevin backed his coach and his staff publicly stating that they aren’t going anywhere this season. He talked extensively about trust and just how good of a coach and good guy Michel Therrien is. We’ve seen Bergevin make some tough decisions with players (ie. Josh Gorges) but does he have it in him to do it to his buddy Michel Therrien?
- To Therrien’s credit, he has made some overall adjustments to the team’s game. Last season the Habs finished in the bottom ten of the league in shot attempts, they’ve been sitting firmly in the top 10, and sneaking into the top 5 all season long. Poor shot generation was a huge reason Habs fans despised Michel Therrien last season, he’s managed to turn that around and with a healthy Price, who knows what this season would have looked like.
- I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t look to me like the players have given up playing for Michel Therrien. Despite their horrid record and some very questionable decisions from the coach we haven’t seen any emotional outbursts against him from players, and they seem to be playing every game to the best of their abilities.
So with all of that said Trevor, yes there is chance. Few more months of sleepless nights until we know what the coach’s future is.
Andre (Miramichi, NB.)
Why haven’t Charles Hudon and Nikita Scherbak been called up from St. John’s?
Good question Andre.
Scherbak is a player that I am very excited about. Heading into this season I thought he could be a player that Habs management could call-up for some additional scoring. Unfortunately, Scherbak suffered an injury early into the season and had a relatively long recovery. Since returning, he has gradually elevated his game and seems to really be coming into form/gaining confidence over the last week. The team is likely more comfortable giving Scherbak ice-time in the AHL to continue boosting his confidence while in his first season as a pro.
Hudon on the other hand is building upon his successful first full season as a pro last year. To be honest, not watching the IceCaps much, I’ve been a little confused myself as to why the Habs have not called upon Hudon. So, I reached out to both Rick and Amy of the Rocket Sports Media (All Habs and IceCaps Report) Team to provide their thoughts on both Scherbak and Hudon. Rick and Amy have been providing extensive, comprehensive coverage of the St. John’s IceCaps at the IceCaps Hockey Report. So here are their thoughts summarized…
Scherbak
When he first returned from injury he looked unsure of himself and tentative, even in practice. His move to centre is speculated as a way to remove him from playing along the boards where he may have been hesitating due to risk of re-injury. He is clearly the most skilled prospect on the IceCaps. Amy had a chance to interview Scherbak not long ago and he spoke quite candidly of his injury recovery, and his concern of re-injury. You can hear that interview here:
Hudon
Hudon has great hands and is a threat to score whenever he is on the ice. He’s improved his defensive side of the game and has become versatile as he is used effectively on the wing and at centre. Although he skates well, he is often pushed off the puck too easily and is seen as too inconsistent. Inconsistency is likely the reason he hasn’t been given a fair chance, coupled with the fact that De La Rose and McCarron are stronger on the puck.
Marc and I had Amy on the Habs Banter Podcast this week to talk prospects. I highly suggest checking it out if you want to dive into this deeper.
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