Saturday 12 October 2019

Game 5: Canadiens 6, Blues 3


Tweaked lineup tonight against the Blues, with Brett Kulak rejoining the action and landing with Jeff Petry on the second pairing, Ben Chiarot dropping down to the third, and Mike Reilly back in the pressbox with Cale Fleury.  (Let's send the kid to Laval for a few games, instead of sitting games.)

Also, Paul Byron vaults to the second line with Max Domi, while Nick Suzuki takes his place on the fourth line.  Claude Julien, knowing a good thing when he sees it, leaves the Drouin-Kotkaniemi-Armia line alone.


The Sportsnet stooges start the game by mentioning it's the 67th anniversary of Hockey Night in Canada, or more precisely, 'La Soirée du Hockey' on Radio-Canada, with NHL hockey shown for the first time on TV, described on-air by the venerable René Lecavalier.

The Canadiens open the scoring with Tomas Tatar getting the goal off the draw, and it's all kinds of malarkey that Phillip Danault, who won the faceoff, and Brendan Gallagher, who shoveled the puck to the front of the net and to Tomas, don't get credited with assists on the goal, at least initially.  I expect this to be corrected, it makes no sense, that two players who happen to be in my hockey pool get stiffed like that.

After another early-season coverage breakdown in the Canadiens' zone allowed Brayden Schenn to waltz into the slot on a rush and wire a wrist shot past Carey Price to tie the game, Jonathan Drouin scored right back on a similar kind of play, taking a long lead pass from Ben Chiarot and lasering the puck past Binnington off the post and in.  It kind of took the sting out of the Schenn goal, just as Gary Galley was nattering on about late-period goals being the bane of the Canadiens so far in October.

Good start to the season from Jonathan, and really, that's the kind of play we should expect from him, the level of intensity and production, from a third-overall draft pick who's the highest-paid forward on the team.  A point a game from him all season long would be very welcome.

The see-saw battle continued to the end of the second period, with Vince Dunn notching an easy goal for the Blues on the powerplay, strolling in unmolested to receive a pass and wrist it into the open net, answered by Phillip Danault, on a great hustle play from Gally.

Some of the negative nellies in the media who've been pointing out the confusion in the defensive zone, all the shots against, and good scoring chances allowed, they're kind of getting to me, because I had a feeling of dread rather than optimism as the third period started, but I shouldn't have worried.  Artturi Lehkonen gave the Canadiens the lead with a wraparound, followed shortly thereafter by a Brendan Gallagher goal, on an assist by a furious Max Domi.  The latter closed out the game with a diving swat at a puck to score the empty-net insurance goal, a play on which Jonathan Drouin earned an assist.

After the game, Jonathan was awarded the player-of-the-game sword by captain Shea Weber, which I guess replaces the sweaty Game of Thrones cape the unlucky recipient had to put on last year.  I admit I'm getting old, but the first thing that leaped to mind was the hope that the thing is quite dull, because how much would it suck for someone to get maimed because of highjinks?

[EDIT: Further reading: Strong start to season has Canadiens’ Drouin brimming with confidence ]

And the Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry duo just works.  As much as on paper, in theory, according to hockey wisdom, it made sense to put Ben Chiarot, a New Age no-nonsense tough physical defensive defenceman, with offensive-minded Jeff Petry, it just didn't quite get airborne, they were still searching for that elusive chemistry.  There was much tangential talk in the media this week about systems, about breakouts, with Ben talking about how the Canadiens want to pass/rush the puck up the middle quickly, while in Winnipeg they were playing more of an old-school puck control slower-pace system.  He said how his first instinct is still to look to pass the puck across to his defence partner, or up the boards, where with the Jets his winger would be waiting.  Now on the Canadiens, he said it takes him a second longer to remember to look up the middle and find his outlet there.

Tonight, Brett Kulak and Jeff Petry were engaged, working well with each other, skating freely.  Each finished +2 and garnered an assist, while Ben Chiarot formed a physical third pairing with Christian Folin, which isn't a bad idea when facing a big team like the Blues.

And Victor Mete looks like he's gunning for that first goal.  He's putting pucks on the net, jumping up on the play on line rushes, he came close (sigh...) again tonight.  I have to believe it'll come.  Soon.  Like, this season or something.

So a big 6-3 win that should calm the waters a little, until the next tempest in the fandom.
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Thursday 10 October 2019

Game 4: Canadiens 2, Red Wings 4

The Canadiens, playing a second game in two nights, and having flown back from Buffalo in the wee hours, lacked a bit of pep, of spring in their stride, of cohesion, and fell to the rebuilding Wings 4-2.


Vidéo RDS en français ici.


Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said his team wasn't sharp, but didn't want to say it was due to fatigue.

The boys on l'Antichambre said that luck, which had been on the Canadiens' side for the first three games, caught up with them tonight.

Same with Pierre Houde and Marc Denis in their post-game analysis, their thesis was that the Canadiens were playing with fire again tonight, and this time got burned.

Anthony Mantha continued his hot streak, scoring a beautiful goal on a great shot, and hitting a crossbar on another.  He's also very noticeable in other ways, something which maybe wasn't the case in seasons past.  We saw him tonight jostle with Ben Chiarot, and he wasn't the meek scorer being pushed around, he rather was the cocky big forward not taking any guff from anyone.  He seems to be that late-bloomer who took a while to grow into his large frame, the gangly Great Dane puppy who took an extra long while to become a dog.

Joel Armia, who I criticized in camp and in the first game of the season as a player who was invisible even with his being the biggest forward on the team, seems to have had things click overnight, and scored his third goal in two games, another beauty, and had other opportunities.  And it's not just bouncing pucks that skitter by him and he can't cash in, à la Artturi Lehkonen.  He's actually engaged, skating with the puck with authority, and taking it to the net, weaving around to find an angle.  Great stuff.

Jonathan Drouin had another quiet point, his fourth in four games, and we can almost expect more, like he'll have a big night one of these days.  If he can skate and work hard, and chip in offensively like this on his 'off' nights, we'll be en voiture.

And the honeymoon with Nick Suzuki seems to be over already.  As many said during his strong camp, let's see if he can keep up to the pace of the regular season against full NHL squads, and right now it's not conclusive.  Expect him to be sent down to Laval any day now, and expect a fourth line with Michael Chaput and Ken Agostino Riley Barber and Phil Varone coming soon to a rink near you.

ADDENDUM: Opening ceremony here and here.
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Saturday 5 October 2019

Game 2: Canadiens 6, Leafs 5 (SO)

The Canadiens took another game all the way to the shootout, after Thursday's loss against the Hurricanes, but this time, they came out with a 6-5 win.




When the Leafs tied the game then jumped out to a 4-1 lead, I reflected that this was the expected result, the Leafs being built to win now, while the Canadiens in my opinion need to onboard more talent for a couple seasons or so.  A team with Victor Mete on its first pairing on defence and with Phillip Danault as its first-line centre, no matter how valiantly they play above their station, isn't ready to compete with another turning in a lineup with John Tavares and Auston Matthews 1-2 at centre.  Or is that 1A-1B?

So yeah, I'd admitted defeat, was more concerned about how to keep the game respectable at this point, more concerned with how this would affect my fantasy team.  And I was okay with that, I'm not one of the simpletons who claim that the Canadiens MUST make the playoffs this season.  I'm going to be satisfied with a season where the team skates and plays hard, with intensity and drive, a team that shows spirit and courage, that supports each other and develops.  Give me a season where KK takes another step forward, where Nick Suzuki and Ryan Poehling become productive, promising members of the team, where we can see just around the corner Cole Caufield and Alex Romanov, and I'll be happy.

So while I was cheering for a moral victory, the Canadiens had other ideas.  They don't quit as easy as I do.

What a comeback, what a game.  Four unanswered goals by the Canadiens to respond to the Leafs' four, giving them a 5-4 lead, until Auston Matthews (him again) tied it on the powerplay with 90 seconds to go.  An exciting end-to-end overtime didn't decide it, although both teams came close, especially Max Domi, with a shot that hit Michael Hutchison in the mask before striking the crossbar flush. 

I think I'll get my wish.  This will be an exciting team to watch this season.
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Friday 4 October 2019

Game 1: Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 4 (SO)

The Canadiens played a game at breakneck speed against the equally swift Carolina Hurricanes, and had to settle for an overtime loss of 4-3, in the shootout portion.


Some disjointed thoughts occurred to me as the game unfolded and I corresponded with brave-hearted like-minded supporters of the Good Guys.



1)  Jonathan Drouin will at least start the season as the point man, the quarterback of the first-wave of the powerplay.  I'm going to be a broken record and repeat myself from last season, but Jo has to figure out how to just make a quick simple pass, not a highlight-reel wizardy pass on every play.  Keep the puck moving, and don't get your pocket picked at the blue line.  Don't try to pull a rabbit out of your hat every time you touch the puck.

Like on the Kotkaniemi goal, just skate hard and take the puck in the opponents' zone and then take it to the net.

2)  Why isn't it a penalty when a dumbass like Nino Niedereiter sits his dumb ass on the puck, behind his own net, as if he lost the ability to roll off or get up on his feet?  With a stupid stupid look on his face, completely gobsmacked by events, "Heavens to Betsy, what on Earth is going on, I must persist on lying down here for a spell..." Isn't that delay of game?  Shouldn't this be something the dumb dumb GM committee deals with, instead of futzing with faceoffs and the hand pass?

Keep the play moving, keep the puck moving.  Don't let an overmatched player lie down on the puck and freeze it.  Don't let a scrambling team kill the play and reset.  Give the attacking team the advantage.

You fall down and the puck is under you?  It's your frigging job, your responsibility to get off it, or your team gets two minutes for delay of game.  There.  How hard is that?

This crap doesn't fly in rugby, you can't bury the ball, lie on it and kill it like that.  That's an automatic penalty.

3)  It's a small sample size, but this game is the first time it truly sank in that the NHL game is different, that it is changed.  It's fast, blindingly fast, relentlessly so.  Finishing checks is going the way of the dodo.  Grinding in the corners used to be about thumping, now it's about clashing sticks and actually battling for the puck, not just crosschecking and wrestling with your opponent, not just trying to wear him down for the third period.  Now you skate your opponents into the ground.

The buzz at TSN 1040 Vancouver is that their opening game in Edmonton was lost due to a bad pass by Brandon Sutter at a critical juncture in the third, a flub/brain cramp by Brandon Sutter who tried to weakly bank the puck ahead to a teammate, but it was easily intercepted and it ended up on Connor McDavid's stick going the other way, and in the net.  And the radio jocks who watched the game both agreed that Brandon Sutter, who said in camp he did a lot of Pilates and core work over the summer to recover from groin injuries, looked gassed in the third period, and that's a big part of the reason he turned over the puck, his legs were burnt at the end of a shift and he was fried.

With all the speed though, while a lot of the strategic or functional 'toughness' and goonery that was endemic is being extirpated, sadly the artistry of a Gilbert Perreault or Alex Kovalev is also phased out.  Players have half a second when receiving a pass to make a decision and move it along, before two opponents converge on them.  Tic-tac-toe goals will still exist, and I hope that efforts will continue to reduce the importance of goalie gear in the equation so that snipers can still see some net, so that a Mike Bossy or Reggie Leach can still thrive, but we'll not see a Guy Lafleur in full flight ever again.

And the sport, to my eyes, risks becoming almost impenetrable, like fencing or Kendo, with the subtlest of moves having huge outcomes, and I being made aware that someone did well or won only because of the crowd cheering or the refs indicating.  The fact that a true slapshot from the point is becoming more and more rare, because defencemen simply don't have the time to unleash one, is not really a positive development in my book.

4)  I had the occasion during the game to form the opinion that Joel Armia wasn't really contributing, was a little slow, a little late on the play, a little invisible.

Until the overtime, when he had a couple of sequences where he took the puck to the net with strength, with drive, against an opponent draped all over him.  And I appreciated this effort, how close he came to getting our team the win, but it makes me pine for that quality, the codeword hockey men throw around, the fabled consistency.  He needs to 'be more consistent'.  As in, excellent all game long, every game, not just for a spectacular burst or two last night in OT.

(Faits saillants RDS)
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