by Blain Potvin, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

In this young NHL season, only five regular season games old, we see the Montreal Canadiens slowly gelling together into something close to the one envisioned by Marc Bergevin. This is a team that can boast its fair share of speed, grit, experience, youth as well as having balanced scoring. While there has been some disjointed, sluggish play at times as new pieces come together, the Canadiens have nevertheless produced points in the standings.

Despite the lack of flair shown in the first two games on the road, things changed when at home with the opportunity to set matchups. Then there was an obvious display of speed and determination. Beating the defending Cup champs Penguins by an impressive score of 4-0.  As well as a young, exciting Arizona squad. Then a dominating performance by the Habs in a Saturday night contest at the TD Garden.

Fans bore witness to the steady, unassuming, yet impactful play of the newest addition on the blueline, Shea Weber. With his point per game rate and a rating of plus-8 in five contests, he quietly led by example on the ice. His defense-first mindset, physically intimidating play and an ability to not only shoot but to move the puck on the power-play.

Last season, Therrien leaned heavily on Andrei Markov for top pairing minutes on the left side. But his age and declining skill-set will make him unable to do so for long periods this season. During these first few games however, Therrien has chosen to employ a new top defensive pairing during even strength play. A pair comprised of Shea Weber and, after an impressive camp, Nathan Beaulieu.

With Shea Weber’s arrival, the addition of a fluid-skating, puck-moving defenseman was needed to compliment Weber, just as he had in Nashville. Nathan Beaulieu’s fluid skating and offensive skills were on display during an impressive showing in the pre-season. In my opinion, Beaulieu possesses that skillset that pairs best with Weber’s traditional style of defensive play making him an ideal choice.

Weber plays a prototypical ‘old school’ style of defense. He is physically intimidating, possesses a powerful and accurate point shot, plays with an edge, focuses on defense first and has an unassuming quality that endears him to his teammates and earns the respect of his opponents. His style of play was a welcome addition when the offer was made to team management prior to the largest blockbuster trade of the summer. It is also the style that some fans and others in the faux analytics community have been adamantly opposed to, but more on that later.

Much has been made of Weber’s reputation. One thing that cannot be denied is that he is a game-changing defenseman. Opposing forwards are well aware of his presence on the ice. And given that he is such a workhorse, he is there nearly half of the game as his average ice-time of nearly 27 minutes per game this season can attest.

While most Eastern Conference teams use their speed on the attack to intimidate opposing defenses, there seems to be a shift in strategy with Weber’s mere presence. It is obvious to even the casual observer that they slow their play when Weber is on the ice in order to minimize their exposure to his physical play, or they try to attack the opposite side of the ice hoping for an easier route into the zone. They know that on the right side they will get hit, and hit hard. And those hits will hurt when they come from a six-foot-four-inch, 235 pound “Man Mountain”, a term coined by Mike Babcock at the World Cup of Hockey.

Much has been said about Weber’s leadership abilities. He displays a quiet self-confidence in his own abilities similar to that of his long-time friend Carey Price. This style is one that seems to be of benefit to 23-year-old Nathan Beaulieu. When asked, NHL players who know Weber sing a similar tune to Josh Gorges, who told the Toronto Star, “He kind of just makes people around him follow him. He’s got this intimidating presence to him where if you aren’t going as hard as he is, you better watch out.” This is the style that seems to fit Nathan Beaulieu best, someone to push him to be his best just as he had in the QMJHL with Simon Despres.

Beaulieu is at a crossroads in his young NHL career, and he needs to show that he is capable of progressing to his full potential. Significant improvement is necessary not just for a contract extension, but to show he is a full time top-four NHL defenseman. Beaulieu made great strides in his short time with Sergei Gonchar, and then seemed unable to remain consistent without being paired with a veteran defenseman to act as a mentor and to keep him accountable.

It would seem so far that Weber has been capable of providing Beaulieu the tools he needed to play to his strengths. It has been apparent on the ice with much improved and consistent defensive play as well as a more confident offensive flair giving him two points over five  games and a plus-7 rating.  That isn’t to say Beaulieu has been perfect.  He’s had difficulties adjusting but overall his play has improved greatly from last season.

Weber has never been known as a great skater however, his skating is underrated. As with every other aspect of his game, he goes with the most economical play. And that style is comforting not just for coaches, but also teammates, especially for younger players. As Beaulieu said “He’s been great so far. With Shea I know what I’m going to get. A big strong guy that keeps it simple and makes the right play. He’s very reliable so that makes my job easy.”

What we are seeing is Weber allowing Beaulieu to step into his potential, and play his style of game, a style that is very similar to that of Weber’s last defense partner, Roman Josi. And if that is the end result by the time the playoffs arrive, the Canadiens will be in very good hands.

So far in this season, we have witnessed some difficulties in adjusting to new roles and teammates for many on the team. After all there are many faces this year that were not on last season’s opening day lineup. There is still much to improve upon, but after last year’s hellish season most fans are happy just to see the team return to full health and providing them with wins to cheer.

However, we have watched as the team was able to gain points in those games and improve every shift. This team is currently averaging four goals per game, a pace that would provide 328 goals over 82 games, while allowing 1.8 goals per game, a pace that would provide 147 goals against over 82 games. These statistics aren’t just due to the new top pair, but are none the less heavily influenced by them. Now, this is not likely a sustainable pace, but the pace is one that shouldn’t settle too far from where it is now. It’s a credit to Marc Bergevin doing what he set out to do, improve scoring and defensive play.

Despite the great start to the new look Canadiens this season, there will be detractors. There are some who will dislike the team’s somewhat less exciting style, but more effective play. Others constantly bash management for trading away a fan-favorite player. And, while there are valid arguments, some fans are myopically-focused on selectively presenting information to back their preferred player.

Several detractors of the new look Canadiens will cherry pick some advanced statistics while ignoring others. While advanced statistics can provide a snapshot of specific scenarios, they are simply part of the larger picture not to be relied upon as a sole indicator of play. As Artie tweeted, if you torture statistics enough, they will tell you anything. In other words, statistics can be twisted to fit a narrative.

@MitchyGallo tonight feels like a good night for this quote "If you torture the data long enough, it will confess.to anything"

— Artie (@artie2twos) October 21, 2016

It’s important to understand that in professional sports, the only stats that truly matter are those found in the win column. And this team,  anchored by this new top pair of defenseman, has been helping to put up impressive stats so far. The Canadiens have not yet lost a game in regulation time. And with a healthy squad, if this steady progression is maintained, this team can be a threat in the playoffs thanks in no small measure to the newest dynamic duo.