MONTREAL, QC.- – The puck finally dropped this past Wednesday to kick-off (or is it skate off?) the 2010-11 regular season schedule, and already, we’ve been treated to some exceptional hockey.
Quickly if we look at a couple of rookies, Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers comes to mind with his fine dangle of a goal Thursday night against the Calgary Flames. New York Rangers rookie Derek Stepan had a hat trick in his NHL debut against the Buffalo Sabres.
In the old timer category, Mike Modano scored his first goal as a Detroit Red Wing, helping them beat the Anaheim Ducks back on Friday night.
Closer to home, the Montreal Canadiens dearly missed Mike Cammalleri in their opener visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs, losing the game 3-2 at the Air Canada Center in Toronto. Click here for game summary.
Last night, Mike Cammalleri made his debut following his one game suspension, he showed his value to the Canadiens by netting two goals to lead the Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although Evgeni Malkin scored a beauty of a goal on a feed from Sidney Crosby, much of the night involved watching the Penguins, Crosby in particular continually getting the door slammed in their face by Carey Price. Click here for game summary and highlights.
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Also last night, a grouping of Habs fans got together at Ye Old Orchard pub for the first Montreal Habs TweetUp of the year. The event was hosted by All Habs’ managing editor Rick Stephens and it was a tremendous success. The turnout was great, prizes were awarded, food was made available for everyone, the pub was packed, and even Amy of the All Habs team came all the way up from Philadelphia for the gathering.
Habs TweetUps were also hosted in other locations such as Vancouver, Toronto and even New York city and those were also a great success. Don’t forget to visit HabsTweetUp.com website for other scheduled events.
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This week, the Habs host their home opener on Wednesday as the Tampa Bay Lightning with Guy Boucher at the helm come to town for a visit. They play in Buffalo against the Sabres on Friday, then come back to Montreal to face off against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Here are some quick notes on the three games:
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Conference match-up.
- Much anticipated game because of Guy Boucher, previously the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs and one who many thought was next in line to be the next Montreal Canadiens head coach.
- For a team who had many talking because of the French players they were going after in the off season only have Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St Louis and Simon Gagne as Quebecois players in their lineup.
- Currently sit at 1-0 following their 5-3 victory at home against the Atlanta Thrashers (1-1) on Saturday.
- Steven Stamkos leads the team with 2 goals and an assist.
- Don’t play again until Wednesday when they face off against the Habs.
Buffalo Sabres
- Divisional match-up.
- Currently sit at 1-1 following a 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators, and a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers.
- Jordan Leopold (2-1), Derek Roy (3-0) and Tyler Ennis (0-3) lead the team with three points a piece.
- Have a much busier start of season as will face off Monday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks (0-1), and then again Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils (0-1) prior to facing the Canadiens on Friday, all three games being at home for them.
Ottawa Senators
- Divisional match-up.
- Currently sit at 0-2 following a 2-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres and a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- After two games, not one player on the team has more then a point, Chris Kelly and Jason Spezza have the lone goals and Chris Phillips stands out at -3.
- Ottawa plays away on Monday against the Washington Capitals (1-1), and Thursday at home against the Carolina Hurricanes (2-0) prior to facing the Canadiens next Saturday.
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If the Canadiens carry the energy from last night’s victory into Wednesday’s game, I have no reason to believe they can not win against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. As for the next two divisional games, Ottawa shouldn’t be a problem and Buffalo stands to me as the biggest test.
One thing is certain, the defense will need to be better. Hopefully, Hamrlik is close to a return and Markov, well, we will be patient in his case although he supposedly is not too far from a return himself. Players like Spacek, Gill and Picard have struggled in this very early part of the season, and although the Canadiens won against Pittsburgh last night, they simply can not afford to give up the number of scoring chances they did.
The offense will also need to be better. Everyone loves Mike Cammalleri but the Canadiens can not solely rely on him for offensive support. Players like Benoit Pouliot will need to step up their game with players like Lars Eller breathing down his neck. He wasn’t awful in last night’s game but his role is to put the puck in the net and he simply hasn’t shown this year that he can do that.
What was apparent to me last night was that Jacques Martin has done nothing to change the style of play of the Montreal Canadiens. They still seem to rely getting everyone to back in towards Carey Price while they let the other team buzz around and shoot from all angles. A style of play that has proven to often result in being out shot by the opponent, and although you can argue it kind of worked last season for the Canadiens, I don’t believe it’s the style of play should be preached as a best practice.
None the less, the Habs are at 1-1, we are only 2 games in, and it’s much too early to be too critical of anyone at the moment.
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My fearless weekly prediction is that on a possible six points, the Habs will pick up four points, winning two of their three games, and the one they will drop is against Buffalo.
Have a good week everyone, Go Habs Go, and feel free to share your comments!