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Sliding down to the bottom |
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After losing 6 of their last 7 games, barely beating the team with the worst record in the NHL for their lone win, Montreal has continued their slide to the bottom of the standings, now being 13th in the eastern conference and 5 points out of a playoff spot.
Now 5 points might not sound like much right? Just as the current losing streak managed to send the Habs down, a few wins a row should see them rise in the standings easily!
Not quite.
With the amount of games the 7 teams ahead of the Canadiens currently fighting for a playoffs spot are playing against each other (meaning they’re all getting some points along the way), it would not only take the kind of surge the Habs showed us between mid-december and mid-january, it would take several other teams collapsing completely for them to have a realistic chance of making it.
After seeing them play so well a few weeks ago, does it suck to see the whole team take a huge step back and look like a shell of what we know they can do? Absolutely.
In the grand scheme of the rebuild though, this might actually be a blessing in disguise.
Montreal’s objective was to be “in the mix” for the playoffs. Baring they just go back to playing close to .500 hockey, that objective will be fulfilled. They wouldn’t make them, but they’ll be closer than they’ve been the past few years.
Getting another top 10 pick would also be a big help towards the goal of turning this team into one that can contend for the Stanley Cup for a long time.
So while the fan in me does feel frustrated seeing them lose looking like a team that’s running on fumes, I try to put things into perspective and remember the fruits of the rebuild are not there yet. New record holder for most points by an under 20 player in the KHL Ivan Demidov is coming next season, Reinbacher might make his NHL debut after losing most of the season to injury, our young players will get another year of experience under their belt and, in all likelihood, next year should see the team take another significant step towards their goal of being a contending team.
I’ll roll my tankathon odds and wait until next season before getting frustrated. In the meantime, maybe shooting more than an average 23 times on the opposing goaltender would help get more goals. Just an idea I’m throwing out there…
Individual notes
The Habs finally called some players up from Laval (well, technically both players were already in California for the AHL all-star game) as we saw Owen Beck and Logan Mailloux suit up for the Habs in their last couple of games. I thought Beck looked great in both contests he took part in despite playing limited minutes. He had a few scoring chances, threw out some good hits and had some effective forechecks. Perhaps his confidence was boosted by his 3 goals performance at the AHL all-star game or it’s simply him getting accustomed to playing in the NHL but I think it’s fair to say we’re looking at a candidate for a regular spot on the team next season. It remains a mystery to me why we kept seeing Pezzetta in the lineup when a guy like Beck is obviously a much better player already.
As for Mailloux, I thought he basically looked exactly as he did in his first callup earlier this season. The young man can obviously shoot as he scored against the Kings with his heavy shot increasing his points total to 4 in 6 games this season and I enjoy the physical aspect of his game, but his positioning and awareness defensively are still major flaws in his game. I still believe he will end up playing as a regular NHL defenseman but I’m not convinced he’ll ever be reliable enough to play big minutes against the opposing team’s top players.
When Patrik Laine came back from injury and scored power play goal after power play goal, everyone was excited to see a world class talent perform with the Canadiens. And for the first few weeks, despite looking less than stellar at 5 on 5, his power play production still made fans dream as they did when the trade bringing him to Montreal happened. Now maybe Laine’s knee isn’t 100%. Maybe he’s just in a bad stretch of games like many of his teammates. Maybe there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he’s currently playing the way he is. But I have to say, I haven’t been this frustrated watching a Habs player play since Mike Hoffman finally left the organization. Laine’s lack of intensity has him float on the ice and actually become an anchor, preventing his teammates from generating anything worthwhile in the offensive zone. Maybe things will get better and he’ll start generating things on the ice, but until then, limiting his time on the ice sounds like the right thing to do to help the team win games.
With the Habs currently sitting out of the playoffs picture, talks about what to do with the team’s future UFA players will surelyl pick up. If you had to keep just one of them, who would it be? A few months ago, I’m sure plenty would have chosen Jake Evans. Personally, I think the hardest player to replace on the team would actually be Joel Armia who’s now been extremely effective for a year without going back to the “bad” version of himself. If Montreal ends up having to make a choice between their role players, he’d be my pick to keep around the team at a reasonable price.
The Canadiens have two more games until the four nations tournament break. If they want to remain close to the playoffs picture, they need to find a way to get points out of those games, especially against a direct rival in Tampa bay. The way they’ve been playing lately though, it’s difficult to be too optimistic about it. The #Optobus prediction gives Montreal 2 points out of 4 for their last two games! How about you?
Thank you all for reading and have a nice day!
Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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