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Cammy Making His Case, Habs Edge Panthers 3-2 |
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“It takes time. I know everyone wants it to be an instant-overnight magic story, but it takes a little time, and a bit of persistence,” said the first star of last night’s game, Mike Cammalleri.
But it didn’t take long for this line to get the Bell Centre faithful to their feet, as fans welcomed the new members of the Montreal Canadiens with roaring ovations. And dare I say there does seem to be some nice chemistry developing between Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, and Andrei Kostitsyn.
The atmosphere was so friendly at times last night, that the crowd was chanting O’Byrne’s name—and not in a mocking fashion. With that, the preseason is underway. With that, the ’08-09 season is buried; only to be referenced by the masochists who will undoubtedly search to draw parallels the minute things get dicey for the new Montreal Canadiens.
But I digress…new season…new faces…new bully-pulpit for Jacques Martin in the pressroom… new enthusiasm from the fans at the Bell Centre…and soon a new captain.
Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalleri both wore “A”s last night, and both appear to be running for the “C”. If I had to give one of them an edge, Cammalleri seems beyond welcome to the idea of holding court in the dressing room, day-after-day, and night-after-night. Cammy spent so much time answering questions last night he might have considered putting a nice leather chair where his stall is in the locker-room (maybe not leather; don’t want to get on Laraque’s bad side).
Some other tidbits from the game:
-Ryan O’Byrne played a very nervous first game, but there were some bright spots. He showed the type of aggressiveness the Canadiens are undoubtedly looking to him to provide, but wasn’t very composed with the puck. I wouldn’t rush to any judgments in his case; I’m sure he was thrilled to get the first one out of the way.
-Andre Benoit, undrafted, and signed by Hamilton in 2005, has spent the last two seasons honing his craft in the Finnish and Swedish Elite leagues, respectively, where he put up very solid numbers. He rejoined the Canadiens in May of 2009, and his rights belong to the team until 2011. He was great in last night’s game, showing a tremendous amount of composure with the puck, excellent skating abilities, and an offensive flair. He’s got size too. He’s not even in the running for a position in Montreal, but if he can consistently perform like he did last night, he could be a very reliable call-up.
-Matt D’Agostini was singled out by Jacques Martin, for showing his best since camp started, scoring a beautiful goal after pick-pocketing Nathan Horton at his own blue line. “It feels good to get one early on…to get one in exhibition puts the confidence up,” said a very relaxed D’Agostini after the game.
-Guillaume Latendresse made his presence felt on a few shifts last night, including one where Florida-newcomer Ville Koistinen tried to jump out of Latendresse’s way, which made for a much more devastating impact when Guillaume planted him into the boards.
-P.K. Subban had a rough game after admitting he rolled his ankle on his very first shift. He seemed hesitant on many of his shifts, and after several giveaways took a lousy penalty in the second period. His next shift on the ice saw him dart an end-to-end rush, generating a nice chance, and applauded with chants of his name. He was then largely responsible for Florda’s first goal, by David Booth, as according to Jacques Martin, P.K. stopped skating on the play and allowed Booth to pot his own rebound.
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Team B gets a crack at the Sens tonight. First chance for Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Paul Mara, Hal Gill, and others to make an impression. If I were to single out one player to watch against the Sens, it would be Max Pacioretty. And I’m fairly certain fans are eager to see the new (hopefully improved) Tomas Plekanec.
The game will be on RDS, and starts at 7:30.
Shana Tova! To my Hebrew Crew; may this year be THE year.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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