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***MITCHELL TRADED***Habs Lose Radulov/Subban + Jerabek Recalled |
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***NOV 23, 2017 7:14pm
UPDATE: Canadiens Trade C Torrey Mitchell to the LA Kings for their 18 5th rd pick, or if Kings qualify for Playoffs the pick becomes the 18 4th round pick of the Canadiens (acquired for Dwight King las season). The move looks to be the first of a few moves hat will look to purge the team of non core players.
No idea who could be next but I would guess Davidson. ***
Habs Lose First Half Of Sentimental Back To Back Games To Dallas, Subban’s Pred’s Next
The Montreal Canadiens rolled into Dallas last night looking for a spark to reignite the fire on their floundering season, but instead we saw almost 24 hrs of media coverage asking Radulov about why he didn’t stay and why he signed with Dallas despite his comments about Montreal. We were also treated to a gross sideshow about Carey Price’s personal life that had to be publicly addressed by Mrs’ Price via Instagram…
Sad that she had given more attention to the situation, but good on her for standing up to shut it down. Moving on.
So, we found out before the game that Radulov wanted to stay in MTL, he really did. He told the media that as he sat in the Dallas locker room. He didn’t want to leave at all, according to Radulov. He admitted to having various offers on the table from MTL since about mid way through the season, basically proving Bergevin was actually working towards getting him signed early. Radulov admitted that he didn’t want to sign anything at that point though, which is strange considering how he apparently really, really wanted to stay. By the time he made an agreement with Dallas, Radulov says that the Habs were too late… despite trying to sign him for most of last season and summer… OK, sure. Seems like he really wanted to stay eh?
After the sideshow there was actually a game. A game in which Montreal actually held their own despite still being without Carey Price and finding out late that their best player this season, Shea Weber, would also miss the the game due to a Lower Body Injury. This injury isn’t exactly new as we knew about a week or so ago that Weber left practice after tweaking something. Just unfortunate circumstances for the Canadiens, for sure. But should we really expect anything else this season? It has kind of been the Murphy’s Law of seasons in that if something could go wrong, it has.
Montreal played a pretty solid game last night, for the most part, and even scored first with B Gallagher poking home (literally) his 9th of the season on the PP just past the half way point of the game. I actually thought the Habs might pull this one out after that but my expectations are very tempered at this point so I watched, hoping, the Habs could hold on. Those feelings lasted for about 6 minutes of game time before bad coverage by a Benn (skating too far back on his coverage in his zone allowing player into the slot for a shot) led to Drew Shore being allowed to rip a wrist shot past Lindgren from the hash marks for his 2nd of the season and tying the game. Then we saw the only real consistent part of Montreal’s season so far in that they allowed another Dallas goal just 59 seconds later to Jason Spezza (3rd G) right in front of the net, with 39 seconds left in the 2nd period…
This is the most frustrating part of this team, they fall completely apart after being scored on to the point they let the opponent come right back at them and hang the goalies out to dry. I’m not even certain if there’s a team that has allowed this to happen as many times as the Habs have in the first 22 games. It’s almost sickening as a fan and I wonder what it must be like as a guy on the ice and bench…. At what point do guys start calling each other out? Or someone cracking the whip on the bench so the next shift has extra intensity? I don’t know, but I’m fairly certain that this team has lost all confidence, aside from Gallagher and Lindgren. Without any confidence, this team will continue to fail unfortunately. With all the recent playoff appearances and preseason expectations it may also provide a compounding amount of pressure and an increased loss of confidence greater than just losing. I’m sure these guys expected to be in the top 3 in the division and to now see that they will be LUCKY to get into 8th as of this moment, game 22, must be creating possibly the lowest point of the season for morale within the Montreal Canadiens….
Needless to say, Montreal did not score an equalizer despite playing a pretty good game and allowed Seguin to score an empty net goal to put the nail in the coffin of a 3-1 defeat.
I don’t think it can get any worse…
CANADIENS IN MUSIC CITY TO TAKE ON PK SUBBAN AND THE PREDATORS
Maybe I spoke to soon….
Montreal will meet the cross roads of their season tonight. Tonight they will face former fan favourite (maybe not former as some were more Team Subban than Team Canadiens) PK Subban and his Nashville Predators.
The 28 year old Subban comes into the game with 4 G and 12 A in 20 games to go with a -3 and 14 PIM’s. Subban is averaging almost 25 mins a game to go with a CF% of 48.4% (which is the worst of his career so far) and 49.6 FF% (also career worst). His PDO is on the level at 99.7 so he is likely experiencing standard levels of “Puck Luck”. Surprisingly, Subban only starts 37.7% of his shifts in the offensive zone, that was a surprising stat to me. If anyone can give a reason for this in the comments, feel free. I haven’t watched any Pred’s hockey this season aside from some select highlights.
Subban is 4th among Nashville defenseman in both CF% and FF% and it’s worth noting that other star Pred’s D man Ryan Ellis hasn’t played yet. Now, I’m certain there as some that love to judge players by their fancy stats so for those guys I’ll make THE COMPARISON…
Subban: 48.4 CF%, 49.6 FF%, 99.7 PDO, 37.7 OZS%, 4G 12A.
Weber: 54.0 CF%, 55.0 FF% (both currently career highs), 94.5 PDO, 52.8 OZS%, 4G 9A.
According to the fancy stats crowd, this must mean that Weber has vastly outplayed his counter part Subban this season, despite playing on a team that has vastly underperformed compared to the Predators. The Canadiens have currently only accrued 18 points in 22 games this season and are a massive disappointment. The Predators are currently sitting pretty with 22 points in 20 games which is good for 3rd in the Central Division.
The Canadiens woes are well documented to this point. There is no point to me telling you they are bottom 3 in GF and GA this season despite being a leader in Shots For. This season is what it is, youth and proven talent struggled to score and stop pucks and the Habs have a big issue at LD that needs addressing and a decades old problem at C.
Drouin’s transition to C hasn’t been horrible, but it’s clear that if this is where he will be played from now on that there will need to be patience for the process. There is growing sentiment that the team needs to put him back onto the wing for him to be successful. To be fair, I believe the player wants this challenge and as long as he wants it, why not let him learn. This season is almost a wash anyways so give him the reigns to learn and grow. You can assess the teams plans going forward at the end of the season. Drouin is also likely playing with a lingering hand issue and is supposedly getting over a flu bug that hit some of the team. Like I said earlier, if it could go wrong it has so far.
So, the Canadiens will hopefully do there best against the Predators tonight in Nashville with puck drop slated for 8 pm. Nashville staple, the 35 year old Pekke Rinne, comes into the game with a 11-3-2 record and a .921 SP% with a 2.48 GAA. Rinne has been know to alternate good and bad seasons and has had his fair share of injury struggles, but Nashville has stuck with him and he has helped make them Stanley Cup contenders as they have built their team through the years. He will be a difficult nut to crack tonight and I’ll maintain my stance on how the Habs have to score this year: DRIVE THE NET. We have no Stamkos, Ovechkin, or Kucherov. No one truly good enough to consistently beat goals with shots so they must just attack the net and muck these pucks in. The more they try floaters from the point, the longer they stay in the bottom of the standings for Goals For.
The Canadiens will have to contain superstar Pred's forward Filip Forsberg tonight to have any chance at victory. Forsberg is on a PPG pace scoring 9G and 12A in 20 games and is shooting at 17.6% this season. He is the heart and soul of the Pred's offense with Ryan Johansen (2G 11A) struggling to start the season. Subban is 2nd in Pred's scoring despite his poor advanced stats so keeping him the Pred's off the PP will be key. If there's one thing I've learned this year its that if you have been struggling, the Habs will help you get back on your feet so look for Johansen to turn in a multi point performance to get back on track.
The Habs may actually turn to vagabond goaltender A Niemi tonight. Niemi is 0-4-0 this year with a .820 SP% and a 6.67 GAA. I’m not a gambling man, but I would bet my paycheque on the Habs not putting up a shut out tonight. Just sayin’….
Look, realistically I’ll say good luck to Niemi. He may be making his first start for the Montreal Canadiens and I hope he feels a bit of pride in that, despite the current state of the team. The 34 year old Niemi is a very accomplished goaltender who is definitely at the end of the NHL road, but he will walk away with his head high at the end as he waves goodbye with his Stanley Cup ring wearing hand. Niemi deserves respect as a Cup champion goaltender so good luck to him tonight.
JERABEK RECALLED… PROBABLY TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE THOUGH
Jerabek may get his first taste of NHL action tonight as he was recalled from Laval today and will be joining the team in Nashville. This could also mean that Weber is still not good to go tonight, but at this point I would say rest any major core players. I truly don’t think this team is as bad as the standings say at its core, but playing guys through injury could affect the future seasons too. Just let them heal.
The 26 year old Jerabek comes into tonight after producing 1G and 10A in 17 games for AHL’s Laval Rocket. He also put up a +10 rating and I know some will call me stupid for even acknowledging that stat, but I don’t think its irrelevant. Simply another form of performance measurement that points to a positive point on Jerabek. It will be great to see him get his shot tonight!
PROBABLY CANADIENS LINE UP
The Habs will likely ice the same line up as yesterday so here are the practice lines from before the Dallas game. Where Jerabek will factor in wasn’t known at the time of writing this but I would guess Morrow, Mete, or Davidson may come out for him, if he plays.
Pacioretty - Drouin - Galchenyuk
Byron - Danault - Shaw
Hudon - Plekanec - Gallagher
Deslauriers - de la Rose - Mitchell/Froese
Benn - Weber
Alzner - Petry
Mete - Morrow
Schlemko - Davidson
Niemi
Price
Lindgren
While the result of tonights game will likely be frustrating for us fans, let’s just focus on the hockey and not the personal lives of the players and their families. This is just a game. The writing on the wall is becoming clearer as to where this season is heading. I think we all know Bergevin isn’t likely going anywhere also, so we really should be hoping all the media pressure doesn’t push him into making a bad deal.
Go Habs Go!
COLLECT THE BEST! COLLECT UPPER DECK!
2017-18 UPPER DECK SERIES 1 IS OUT THERE IN THE WILD! CHECK IT OUT AT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY STORE! #COLLECTTHEBEST
Don't forget to check out Upper Deck products at your local hobby shops and online! Preorders for UD Series 2 are already happening so if you’re a big collector, or a new one, make sure you stop by your local shop and see if you can get yourself a box (or case).
The Young Guns rookie set are one of the most collected rookie sets all year and the Exclusives (#’d to 100) and High Gloss (#’ to 10) are always worth good money on the secondary market (depending on the rookie of course). You can find Auto’s, jersey, and patch cards in these boxes as well! Check it out!
I had the chance to crack open a Hobby box of the Toronto Maple Leafs Centennial set, as I was a big fan of the Canadiens version and I must say they did a great job from the design, subsets, and design of the Auto’d cards! Check out what I got here!
Was hoping for a Gilmour or Matthews auto for my collection but maybe next time!
Follow me on Twitter @BrandonSmillie where I mostly stick to hockey stuff.
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Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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