Habs News: Canadiens Week in Review, Brendan Gallagher Milestone, The Big Marc Bergevin, Cole Caufield Appreciation
Habs fans held their breath during that game when Carey Price was hit on the helmet with a skate. There was some concern about the concussion protocol as Price remained in the game, which led to TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reporting that Bill Daly confirmed to him that the league and the organization followed the process that is in place. I’m happy to hear that they took the necessary steps for the health of the player. I will leave it to the concussion experts to determine if the concussion protocol in place is sufficient.
Rick Stephens and Joseph Whalen discussed the issue of concussion protocol in the NHL on the most recent edition of the Canadiens Connection podcast. Listen here.
On Halloween night, Max Domi scored his first career overtime goal to gave his team a 5-4 win against the Golden Knights. After a day off in Dallas in Friday, the Canadiens took the night off against the Stars that led to a 4-1 loss to conclude their road trip.
“I think the real explanation is we didn’t have our legs” said Claude Julien following Saturday’s game. “We had a couple of good shifts here and there, but overall we looked like a tired team tonight.” It was definitely a game to forget for Montreal.
The Canadiens now begin a sequence that will have them play 11 of their next 14 games at the Bell Centre. It’s crucial for the team to collect points in the standings during this portion of their schedule.
In the upcoming week, the Canadiens will host the Bruins on Tuesday and the Kings on Saturday. In between those games, they will fly out to Philadelphia on Thursday to face the Flyers.
Gallagher Milestone
Wednesday night was Brendan Gallagher‘s 500th career game in the NHL and he celebrated in style by scoring 22 seconds into the game. That goal was a typical Gallagher goal; Gallagher driving to the net, and whacking away on the puck in the crease while fighting off a defender.
“For coaches, you always appreciate guys that you know what you’re going to get from them, night in night out and he’s one of those guys. You never question his effort doesn’t mean he has a perfect game every night, but the effort is there and the coaches would love to have 20 guys like that on a nightly basis,” Julien told reporters prior to that game.
Gallagher has shown that he’s a proven NHL goal scorer scoring 31, and 33 times per season over the last two years, and he’s on pace for 41 goals this season. His work ethic and his intensity has earned him respect throughout the league.
“He’s a guy that never gives up,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet told The Athletic a few hours before the game. “For me, the last three, four or five years, he’s one of the best net front guys – or getting to the net guys – in the league, for sure. Most of his goals are five feet in. Those are the goals that win you Stanley Cups.”
When Julien needs a spark plug, he taps Gallagher’s shoulder to send him on the ice. On Thursday night, when the Habs were trailing by one goal, you probably know where I’m going with this, it was Gallagher that scored the tying goal with 1:58 remaining in the third. Gallagher was at the top of the blue paint in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.
A surprising fact considering that he spends the entire game in the oppositions crease, is that Gallagher hasn’t received a penalty in his last 19 games.
Prior to Tuesday’s puck drop, Gallagher will be presented the Molson Cup for the month of October, a well deserved honour.
The Big Marc
Last week, McDonald’s launched a television advertising campaign in the province of Quebec featuring Marc Bergevin. The fast food chain has used figures of the Canadiens organization to promote their brand.
Amongst others, we have seen Max Pacioretty in Boston promoting his burger to Bruins fans, Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk compete for best burger, and in last year’s campaign Jonathan Drouin approaching clients asking for a fry. All the campaigns were funny.
Bergevin received criticism for taking part in this year’s commercials. Critics said that the General Manager needs to focus on improving the team instead of filming advertisements, and let the players be featured because they are the stars of the game.
I disagree with the critics on this subject. The decision to have Bergevin featured on the campaign was made by McDonald’s and not the general manager himself. I don’t think there’s any reason for him to decline the opportunity. If the filming took place on key hockey days like July 1st or trade deadline, I would agree that it would be bad timing. Realistically, these ads were recorded over the summer, when there’s down time.
Fans Appreciate Caufield
Cole Caufield has been getting a lot of attention from fans and the media since being drafted by the Canadiens 15th overall at this year’s draft. Caufield played for the USA National Team Development Program (USA NTDP) and currently holds the program all-time record for goals. He has outscored current established NHL players such as Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, and Auston Matthews, that are alumni of that program. For a team that has lacked goal scorers, his potential is definitely exciting.
In a recent interview that was published by Radio-Canada, Clarkson University goalie Francis Marcotte wondered aloud if Caufield may feel pressure from Montreal fans. Now let’s be clear, it was simply idle speculation on Marcotte’s part and there is no evidence that it is the case.
It’s understandable that there has been attention on the youngster as several media outlets have recently visited him. I have observed from discussion on social media about him.
Amy Johnson and Rick Stephens from the Rocket Sports Media team visited Caufield last week as the University of Wisconsin faced Penn State for a pair of games. Visit the AHL Report website for complete wrap up including interviews with Caufield and his head coach Tony Granato.
In eight games this season with the University of Wisconsin, Caufield has scored eight goals and three assists.
By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2019 Rocket Sports
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