Stars of the Season | Three Stars of the Week, NHL, Habs, Montreal Canadiens, Shea Weber, Josh Anderson, Carey Price, Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — Hello there, folks! Back with my three stars of the season for the Montreal Canadiens!
Players have earned points each time they appeared as a star in my weekly column. They got one point if they finished as third star, two points if they finished second and three points if they finished as first star.
My weekly column awarding three stars of the week has been ongoing since the beginning of the season, right up until the conclusion of the Habs playoff run. The results have been calculated and here are the players who ranked highest.
Honourable Mention: Shea Weber
Shea Weber finished just a point shy of being in a tie for my third star of the season and after the news that came out this week regarding Weber’s uncertain future, I wanted to give Weber an honourable mention for his remarkable performance this season.
Much of the conversation that surrounded Weber this season was centered around the perception that he had lost a step and Jeff Petry was the Canadiens top defenceman. Then the playoffs came around and the Canadiens had four ‘Clydesdales”, the most important of which was Shea Weber. He has a rising tide lifting all boats effect on the Canadiens blueline.
Shea Weber playing through all sorts of pain this season and delivering when it mattered the most says more about him than anything else will.
☆ THIRD STARs: Tyler Toffoli & Nick Suzuki
So, remember how I said that Weber finished just a point shy of tying for third star? Well, these two did tie for third star and given they played a good portion of this season in tandem, it did not feel right to leave one of them out. Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki finished first and third respectively in regular season scoring for the Canadiens and then were the top two in playoff scoring for the Canadiens.
It was Suzuki’s strong play in the playoff bubble in Toronto that was a big factor in drawing Toffoli to sign in Montreal in the first place and when they played together, they found some really nice chemistry. When rookie Cole Caufield joined them in the playoffs, it felt like the Canadiens had a legitimate top scoring line for the first time in a while.
Suzuki’s play in the playoffs was incredible. Both sides of the ice, the young centerman controlled play and was seemingly in the right place at the right time defensively more often than not. His development over the course of the season is a very exciting thing for Habs fans to think about.
Toffoli was less impactful in the playoffs than the regular season, but he was hampered by a groin injury and even with that, he still finished second in Habs playoff scoring behind Suzuki. But who could forget two of his goals against the Winnipeg Jets in the second round, the beautiful shorthanded goal in game two and the series clincher in overtime of game four.
These two playing together for the next few years, alongside Caufield is a pretty exciting thought.
☆ SECOND STAR: Josh Anderson
I think if I were choosing my three stars of the season rather than following the points that have been earned throughout the season, Josh Anderson may not be in this spot, but as I said this is based on points earned from appearances in my weekly column and Anderson appeared quite a bit.
That is not to discredit Anderson, who I thought had a really good regular season and, in the playoffs, he closed out the run pretty strong. Anderson brought an element to the Canadiens this season that has been lacking in previous years and that had a lot to do with him appearing in my weekly column so frequently.
The consistency in the playoffs was not where you would like it to be from Anderson, but in the regular season, Anderson provided speed, physicality, and a scoring touch. He finished first on the Canadiens in hits and second in goal scoring. Prototypical power forward numbers.
It is important to consider that he also played 52 games after missing all but 26 last season in Columbus, so he brought the speed and physicality and stayed healthy enough to provide 17 goals, five of which were game-winning goals, which tied for first with Toffoli in the regular season.
Another reason Anderson appeared frequently had to do with the leadership qualities he displayed this season. Being a new voice in the Habs room, but not being afraid to speak up when he thought the time was right or lead by example, both of which were the case in a March 15th win over the Winnipeg Jets, following two tough losses to Calgary.
In the playoffs we did not see the “Powerhorse” quite as often, but as I said, he closed out the run strong with his play picking up in the Vegas series and again, he was tied for second on the Canadiens in playoff goals, while being tied for first for most playoff game-winning goals.
Hopefully, Anderson stays healthy and keeps providing the Canadiens the type of production that he did this season.
☆ FIRST STAR: Carey Price
Carey Price was simply phenomenal between the pipes. A game that I believe foreshadowed the magical playoff run was February 13th in Toronto.
The Canadiens were sleepy through two periods of that game, with the Maple Leafs maintaining possession and creating scoring opportunities. Price let the Canadiens settle into that game by continuing to make saves. Then Toffoli and Brendan Gallagher got the necessary offense to win the game, but Price’s performance through two periods was the biggest reason why.
People look at the numbers in the regular season and come to conclusions on Price’s performance but if you dive in deeper, in the month of March, Price had a very nice 6-1-2 record with a .931 save percentage. He gave the Canadiens opportunities to win games, but the structure and support we saw in the playoffs was not there often enough in the regular season.
Then Price did what he did in the playoffs. He propelled the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final, allowing the Canadiens to settle into games, settle into key periods by being the steadying presence back there. Think back on Game 6 against Toronto. The shots were 13-2 in overtime, but Price kept making save after save, keeping the Habs alive long enough for Jesperi Kotkaniemi to pot the game-winner.
With what we just witnessed Carey Price do, there is simply nobody else who could have been first star of the season.
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