The results of preseason hockey bare little, if any relevance, but there are elements that are certainly important for an organization.
For instance, it probably shouldn't be taken for granted that Carey Price is in mid-season form coming off a season-ending injury that deprived him of some off-season ice time.
And hey, when a bunch of kids slated for the Hamilton Bulldogs give an impressive Blackhawks lineup a run for their money and end up on the winning side, that's a sign of depth that hasn't been in Montreal's system in quite some time. Sure, there was some luck involved in pulling off that win, and brilliance from Price reinforced it, but the kids deserve credit for hanging in there until the opportunities arose.
And maybe we should take something from Rene Bourque's effort level in a meaningless preseason game, especially when it was elevated above anything he's shown in a regular season game in recent memory.
I can guarantee that Sven Adrighetto and Jacob De La Rose are benefiting from the experience of playing at this level of competition and realizing they aren't far off from playing up here regularly. Last night was a significant improvement for De La Rose, who must have gained some confidence by the end of it.
It was an impressive performance for Nathan Beaulieu, who's affirmed the coaching staff's nod as their consensus sixth defenseman, as opposed to just benefiting from the spotty play of Greg Pateryn and Jarred Tinordi. Beaulieu's job out of camp was to not lose the job, and last night he was full value in his puck movement, his decision making, and his finish for the game's winning goal, securing himself.
I doubt Christian Thomas felt that it was the best game of his life, but he continued to leave an impression on Michel Therrien and co. Thomas registered an assist on Bourque's opener--his fourth point in four games--and has done his part to secure rights to being the team's first call-up from the farm.
The 7th defenseman has yet to be decided, but it's hard to imagine Davis Drewiske not having a beat on the position. The club's better served having Tinordi and Pateryn eat top pairing minutes in Hamilton than riding the press pine up in Montreal. If it's between Drewiske and Bouillon, there's no question Drewiske's proven more reliable, and did a lot to convince the coaching staff of that last night in Chicago. The line on him for the game: 18:51, one shot, two blocks, +3, and he and Beaulieu were the only +
Corsi blueliners for Montreal.
Michel Therrien said some hard decisions are en route, and he's right. The players at this camp have forced him into some very hard decisions, and with two games remaining, starting with Friday night's tilt in Ottawa, the team is going to ice it's regular season roster to attain the cohesion they need leading up to October 8th.
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Speaking of hard decisions, there's no doubt the Canadiens have made one regarding their goaltending, but unfortunately, we don't know which of three ways this is going.
1. The Habs will send Dustin Tokarski down, and risk exposing him to waivers because they don't believe the goaltending market is existent.
2. The Habs are scared to send Tokarski down because they believe they'll lose him on waivers, thus losing what they believe could be a valuable trade asset down the line, or a valuable replacement for Price should the injury bug strike.
This would mean trading or waiving Peter Budaj.
3. They're going to carry three goaltenders until the trade market is ripe to move one of them, thus forcing them to either only go with six defensemen (unlikely), or only 13 forwards (bad news for Travis Moen and Michael Bournival).
This is probably the toughest nut the Habs have to crack between now and opening day. My opinion: They made this call when they passed over Budaj in last year's playoffs. Tokarski is the guy they trust, should something happen to Price. And it's painful for them to move on from Budaj, who's cultivated such a strong relationship with Price, who's bled for the cause in more way than one, proving to be the ultimate teammate--even after he was passed over. Imagine they can't find a trade for him. Imagine they have to tell him they're waiving him and he could end up in the minors. Business can be cold and emotionless, but don't kid yourself that they wouldn't feel bad about being forced to move in that direction. Marc Bergevin isn't so far removed from being a player that he's without empathy. Every organization has to make tough calls like this, and I can promise you they aren't easily swallowed by the people who make them. If you want to debate this, think back to Bergevin's face when he walked out of that arbitration session with P.K. Subban.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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