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The Montreal Canadiens : An Unexpected Journey

October 26, 2018, 11:09 AM ET [52 Comments]
Adam French
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We interrupt your usual broadcast for a brief interlude by a feckless hack.


Brandon unfourtunately is dealing with a family emergency and so the powers that be have asked me to write a few Habs blogs while he is away. I’m as shocked as you are lady and primarily gentlemen posting while avoiding work. I’ll give it my best shot and keep the raucous applause to a minimum.


The Habs are off to a rather unexpectedly solid start. With the media turbines swirling their toxic excrement as per usual in Montreal, we got a constant earful of controversy. Carey Price’s contract and knee status. The Subban/Pacioretty ideological clash coming back into light as the former Captain was widely on the block and ultimately traded. The high skepticism on picking Kotkaniemi over Zadina or Tkachuk (though I personally did not fell this way) being forever memed by that woman’s reaction at the draft. The underachiever trade between Galchenyuk and Domi. Lastly the news that Shea Weber would miss a large chunk of the season.


Doom and gloom was in the air, but there was a sense of understanding that most fan bases don’t tend to get until you near the end of the year. An understanding that comes of low expectations. It’s not quite hope, but not taking things for granted.


The Canadiens have taken everyone by surprise to start the year. With a record of 5-2-2 they sit in the first Wildcard position. More importantly has been the fact that they have yet to really be dominated in a game. Their team speed has pretty much tripled. Their work ethic is off the charts. Plus the accountability that has often been the praise and scorn of Claude Julien’s coaching career has been working positively. Who would have guessed that 9 games into the season that perennial mainstay Plekanec and overpaid pylon Alzner would be benched in favour of youth and speed? If you asked any pundit or fan over the summer, you would find a lot of people with “no” tattooed across their mouths. I would be included in this group as I was more than convinced Kotkaniemi would find himself in Laval, given his age and that Bergevin would try to stack his team’s bottom-6 from the waiver wire of large, slow “CHaracter” players.


Obviously its early days, but you have to give it to the Canadiens whose players are by and large giving it their “all.”


As I’m not a huge follower of the Habs and only seen two and a half of their 9 games played, I don’t have a ton of specifics to talk about. I was asked to write these fill in blogs this morning, so I didn’t even watch the game last night! I was watching Daredevil Season 3 by the by. It’s pretty good, though not as good as seasons 1 or 2. I will be watching their next game, so you can read my inane, lethargic brain dumps on how I felt it went.


Surprises


Max Domi


So a little bit of history that you may not know. When Max Domi was entering his OHL Draft year, there was a lot of rumours swirling around him. The rumours went that he would opt out of the OHL and go to the USHL (rights held by the Indiana Ice) should he be picked by any team other than London. This was a very annoying fact as the Knights had the 9th overall pick and Domi was considered the second best pick after the unanimous man moose Aaron Ekblad. With this rumour (one can call it a fact at this point after what happened), Domi was selected 8th overall to the kiss of death organization that is the Kingston Frontenacs. Domi threatened to use his right to go to the USHL and a trade was made just 3 months after being drafted by the Fronts. Where did he go? Well London of course! Surprise! He was traded for 3 second round picks and London would become a powerhouse with Domi (8th) and Horvat (9th) helping lead the charge.

The point I’m making is that Domi losing faith and confidence and having some “special needs” (this isn’t a dig at his diabetes btw) has followed him from a very young age. It certainly followed him to Arizona where the former GM’s obsession and fetishization with ex-players kids being drafted in the first round was fulfilled with Domi’s selection in 2013. After a strong rookie season, he quickly lost the plot and fell apart in his following two seasons. With back to back 9 goal campaigns, including one with 4 Empty Netters; it was apparent to all that he needed a change of scenery.

From what I’ve seen this season, it’s worked. Don’t look at the points or goals (10 and 4). Those are nice. Look at the play. He’s faster than I’ve seen him since the Memorial Cup. He’s playing with the intensity of a playoff run. He’s playing like the player he was drafted to be. A fast, feisty and creative player that never quits. Obviously nobody expects a PPG pace, that would be rather remarkable, but if he can provide the 55-65 level and play this style of game consistently then I think Montreal will have a fan favourite duo of smurfs in Gallagher and Domi.


Jeff Petry and Mike Reilly


He’s a PPG player. I’m…I don’t know what to say. Fans either love him or hate him. Petry26 has been his biggest supporter on this site for years and even he was slightly pessimistic this offseason. With Weber out, he took the brunt of the defensive duties last year and struggled mightily. This season, with similar expectations, he has been a lot better. I’m sure he will find a way to be a “minus” player at some point, but what a start.

Mike Reilly was another NCAA signee that caused an overabundance of hype. A hype that fizzled out as he failed to crack a deep Wild defense. This past season he has been the pleasantest of surprises for the Habs in my opinion. He has been actively strong in the defensive zone. Very quick in his transition game and smart in his reads. Night and day to the player from last season. I really have liked his game from what little I’ve seen. He’s no All-Star, but he has been a very effective and quietly efficient two-way defender this year.


Drouin is a winger!

Shocker. Putting undersized wingers at centre doesn’t work. “60% of the time it works every time” is a great idea in theory, but doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Let him play where he’s comfortable and just get over the fact that the Lightning may have duped you. They have duped a lot of people throughout their history in the league. Feed him PP time and stack him with offensive zone starts.


Thank for reading.
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