By Stevo, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC. — We all know John. We work with John. John is that colleague that does pretty much does the bare minimum. He never outdoes himself on anything, but he manages to do a good job none the less. John is not flashy or extroverted, he manages to fly under the radar, and is seen as a good employee.
Maybe you know Jane? Jane is that student that rarely studies or does her homework. She manages to pass her tests and classes but is never top of her class. She doesn’t strive to be excellent, but is rather comfortable with just being good and getting by in this manner.
Meet John and Jane.
The Montreal Canadiens currently sit in sixth place in the eastern conference with 69 points, one less than the Washington Capitals who sit in fifth, and four less than the Boston Bruins, their division rival who sit in third with 73 points, and lead the northeast division.
This is especially good considering the Canadiens have had so many man games lost due to injury this season, notably Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges who are out for the season.
The defence has been specifically plagued this season, as Thursday’s game in Edmonton ended with Roman Hamrlik being the sole veteran d-man in the lineup for the Canadiens. The Habs got a scare when James Wisniewski headed to the hospital with a bloody face after receiving a puck to the cheekbone. He and Cammalleri are scheduled to play in the Heritage Classic game in Calgary on Sunday. (See Carey Price’s Heritage Classic mask here)
Much of the Canadiens’ success this season can be attributed to the play of young goaltender Carey Price. Price leads all NHL goaltenders in ice time, and is second in the league in wins with 27. His goals against average (GAA) of 2.39, and save percentage (Sv%) of 0.920 both put him ninth in the league for goalies having played 30 games or more this season, and he’s third amongst all goaltenders with six shutouts.
Jacques Martin’s system of play has lead to the Canadiens having to count on Carey Price, a little the same way they had to do so with Jaroslav Halak last season. Their inability to produce offense, as so well explained by friend of AllHabs.net Habswatch has them sitting 25th in the league in average goals scored per game with 2.55, and they sit 26th in the league when it comes to 5-on-5 scoring, even the Leafs are better in this area.
Jacques Martin’s continued emphasis on defense first hockey has the Habs in a good position, but not great.
So what can be expected out of Pierre Gauthier with a little over a week left until the trade deadline? So far, the acquisition of James Wisniewski has helped provide some offense from the blue line, on the defensive side, things are far from perfect. I like to think the good outweighs the bad, and hopefully the Habs can resign him at a price that doesn’t empty the bank.
I have trouble understanding the latest acquisition of Paul Mara. Yes the defense is plagued with injuries, yes the Canadiens did not have to give up much (fifth round pick) for him, but he did little while he was in Montreal during his first visit, injured for a large part of it. During his stay with the Ducks, he was a healthy scratch for almost a month before being traded to the Habs.
I’m not so sure that those in favor of this move will be thinking the same after he’s played a few games, but time will tell.
Many of you have told us what you think Pierre Gauthier should do going into the trade deadline, many have strongly reacted to recent trades stating that Pierre Gauthier is not doing enough to help the Canadiens.
The fact of the matter is, Pierre Gauthier is not in a position to do much. In order to get tangible assets, you need to have something to give in return, the Canadiens don’t have much of that.
“Gauthier should have went after Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk” I saw some people say on Twitter. (Traded with a conditional second round pick from Colorado to St. Louis for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and a conditional first round pick.) It essentially cost the Blues two first round picks (including a first overall in Johnson) and a second pick to acquire those players. I don’t see how this deal could have been done with the Habs without them giving up P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty and a first round pick for example. Would you have given all of this up?
I fear many Habs’ fans will be disappointed on trade deadline day, because I simply feel not much will happen on the Gauthier front. He simply doesn’t have much to do with. Rental players are simply not worth it as this point.
The Habs should still make the playoffs, they pretty much always do, but I fear it could be a short playoff appearance this year, they are simply not a cup contender, there’s only so much Carey Price can do.
So the Canadiens continue to be good, that they are, but I’m not ready to call them any differently, because under Gauthier and Martin, they are simply not great.
If that makes me a lame pessimist, then so be it.
(Photo: André Pichette, La Presse)