Author: Dose

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No points in 10 games: It’s time for Mike Matheson to wake up

The Canadiens will need the production of all their players if they want to participate in the playoffs.

From the bunch?

Mike Matheson… who has been having difficulties offensively for three weeks. The Canadiens’ defenseman is no longer producing and he must step up before it’s too late.

It’s simple: the defenseman’s last point dates back to… March 11.

He had scored against the Canucks that night, in Vancouver.

Matheson has been shut out in his last 10 games and it’s happening at the worst moment of the season.

Of course, Lane Hutson is taking up a lot of space right now… but still: the Canadiens’ veteran must start doing what he does best, which is to help his team offensively.

(Credit: ESPN)

There’s Matheson who’s “disappointing” right now, but I’ve also targeted the names of four other players who must give more in my opinion.

Let’s start with whom?

I feel like talking about Emil Heineman…

1: Emil Heineman

The Canadiens’ big forward had a great start to the season and we could even say he was on fire in December, when he collected nine points in 14 games.

For a support player, that’s really respectable production.

But since the new year and since his injury, we no longer see the Emil Heineman of 2024.

The Swede hasn’t scored since January 3 (it’s been almost three months) and he’s not capable of earning a point since then.

Heineman has a meager assist in his last 22 games…

For a team to be able to win consistently, it needs the support of its four lines. Heineman has been playing on the second line for a few games, but he’s spent most of his time on the last line alongside Jake Evans and Joel Armia.

The fourth unit isn’t doing “badly,” but we need to see more.

That brings me to Evans…

2: Jake Evans

Jake Evans was so good three months ago that we were all wondering if the Canadiens should absolutely offer him a contract extension.

But…

But since the player signed the extension, he’s been slowing down. A bit like Heineman: Evans had great moments in December – especially during the holiday trip – and it’s been tougher since then.

I’m willing to give him a small break because he’s still excellent in his role on the penalty kill and he helps the Canadiens a lot in that regard.

However, we need to find the Jake Evans we saw before he signed his contract. The center only has eight points (two goals) in his last 37 games… and that’s not enough.

Not nearly enough.

3: Alex Newhook

I said it recently in an article and I’ll say it again: I like what Alex Newhook has been bringing lately.

He’s using his speed to create chances and it seems like he’s able to exploit it more since his return to center.

That being said, Newhook is playing on the second unit and players in that position need to produce offensively to help their team.

That’s not the case with Newhook… who has only four small points in his last 15 games, since the beginning of March and since the Canadiens need to win important games.

He needs to convert his scoring chances to bring offense to the second unit. After all, Patrik Laine isn’t the best at 5-on-5 and it’s not Emil Heineman who will revive that line.

Newhook needs to be able to contribute to the Canadiens’ offensive successes.

4: Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes

I decided to put the two Canadiens goalies in the same “category” because neither of them has been excellent lately.

It seems to have improved a bit for Monty: the Quebecer has won his last two games – against the Panthers, no less – but he also had a tougher stretch in the last days of March.

He seemed tired… and that’s normal.

Dobes, on the other hand, hasn’t been playing much because the Canadiens are having trouble trusting him.

That’s normal too: the big goalie has only one win in his last nine starts and that’s not enough to allow the Habs to dream of glory.

The Canadiens will need both their goalies from now until the end of the season to go get important points in the standings.

Otherwise… we can forget about the playoffs right now.

Extension

I thought about including David Savard’s name on my list.

But at the same time… I find it hard to ask a 34-year-old veteran who’s slowing down significantly to give more on the ice.

He’s doing what he has to do: Savard blocks shots and plays his role on the penalty kill.

But at even strength, we know it’s tougher because it seems like his body isn’t always keeping up.

In short, all these guys need to find a way to wake up…

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The Canadiens have put their tickets on sale for the playoffs

There is truly a buzz in town.

All eyes are on the habs’ ascent up the rankings in the East and the more it goes, the more it’s possible to believe that the playoffs are within reach.

The game against the Panthers yesterday is a good example: the Centre Bell was on fire after Nick Suzuki’s overtime goal. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that in Montreal…

The fact that the habs are fighting for a playoff spot is also reflected in the ratings.

After all, yesterday’s ratings on RDS were tremendous:

The habs have eight games left to play before the end of the regular season and they are currently in the last playoff spot in the East.

At this level, Réjean Tremblay wrote this morning in his article of the day (Punching Grace) that the habs have put their playoff tickets on sale:

My pusher, excuse me, my habs representative, Gabriel Marcotte is preparing to press the magic button on the big computer at the Centre Bell this morning […] This morning, the habs are putting their playoff tickets on sale. – Réjean Tremblay

We can already find tickets on StubHub… but not on TicketMaster.

That being said, we’re starting to prepare for the possibility of seeing the habs participate in the playoffs, and that’s normal.

It must be a lot of work right now for the people involved in the “project”… but it must also be nice to work in a situation like that.

It’s different from the last few years, at least!

Note that in the article, we can read that the habs will only release electronic tickets for the playoffs two games at a time.

This is logical, in a way, since the habs don’t necessarily have the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup this year.

Nevertheless, just knowing that playoff tickets will be available soon… it’s something.

No one expected that to be the case at the start of the season!

Overtime

– Reinforcements in Edmonton.

– There were visitors for Monty this morning in Brossard.

– Nice contest:

– Lane Hutson is fantastic.

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The Canadiens have the second easiest schedule in the NHL from now on

Talking about rankings a bit.

Right now, the Canadiens control their own destiny. If they win the games they need to win, they will clearly give themselves a chance to make the playoffs, even if the Rangers and the Red Wings have more wins in the regular season, in case of a tie.

Here’s what it looks like.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

By the end of the season, the club only has three away games compared to five at home. The trip to Nashville is a bit weird, but otherwise, there’s not much travel to do.

The short trip to Ontario won’t be too taxing in terms of travel.

(Credit: NHL.com)

And when we look at the quality of the opponents, we can see that it won’t be that difficult. I know that nothing is “easy” in the NHL, but we can see that it’s relatively soft, as a schedule.

Boston, Philly, and Nashville this week? They won’t make the playoffs.

Detroit, Ottawa, and Toronto? They are competitive teams and will be the toughest part of the schedule until the end of the regular season for Martin St-Louis’ men.

Chicago and Carolina, at a time when the games will surely be over for the Canes? That’s okay.

And when we look at the Tankathon website, we can see that the Canadiens have the 31st easiest schedule in the league, and only the games against Carolina and Toronto are in the “difficult” category on the site.

And in the top-5 most difficult schedules, we find the Red Wings (1st), the Blue Jackets (4th), and the Rangers (5th), three teams in the running against the Canadiens. The Islanders are 13th.

(Credit: Tankathon)

During the winter, we often said that the schedule was difficult and that there were many away games. We said that by the end of the season, it would be easier.

And we’re at that point. It’s up to the players not to let their chance slip away now.

Overtime

– Anyway.

– LPHF: how negative are the media towards the Victoire? [HEOTP]

– Ouch.

– Excellent.

– Note.

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Ivan Demidov has (again) scored in the playoffs

Give him playing time and he will score.

Ivan Demidov, who plays on the first line of SKA for game #4 of his first-round series, scored in the first period. With good teammates, he can do anything.

Here is the sequence in question.

It may not be the most beautiful goal of his career, but he was well-placed. Nick Suzuki, yesterday, did not score the most beautiful goal of his career in the third, but he knew where to place himself.

More details to come…

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20 goals for Florian Xhekaj: nobody had that on their bingo card

Yesterday, the Laval Rocket was in Manitoba on the heels of a match against the Moose. The Canadiens’ affiliate team won with a score of 3-2.

Alex Barré-Boulet (I wonder how he feels about not having had his chance in the NHL for a few months), Florian Xhekaj, and Sean Farrell found the back of the net.

The Rocket is consolidating its position at the top of its division more and more.

(Credit: The AHL)

But what we need to note from this match against Pascal Vincent’s old team is the fact that Xhekaj scored his 20th goal of the season. That’s really something.

After all, the rookie is a newcomer to the pros, and Arber’s brother plays on a bottom-6 line. Seeing him score 20 goals this season was not expected at all.

Only four rookie players have 20 goals in the AHL at the time of writing. And mentioning Xhekaj among them is unexpected.

In terms of goals, the best rookie in Rocket history had scored 16. And Xhekaj, through his style of play, is increasingly attracting the attention of the Montreal Canadiens. I’m certain of it.

At this point, it’s interesting to wonder what he’ll be able to accomplish in the NHL. Does he have what it takes to be an excellent player on a robust fourth line with some offense?

Can he dominate the game with his brother on the ice? He’d like to become a Tom Wilson and draw inspiration from the Tkachuks.

Between you and me, it’s not utopian to think that Florian could allow the Canadiens to let Arber go. The two have similar strengths and maybe the defenseman’s time is counted in the city.

Unless he also becomes a forward?

Overtime

– Big contract.

– Ivan Demidov on the first line.

– Obviously.

– Collective agreement: negotiations begin.

– News from CF Montreal.

– Anyway.

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A coach of the Rocket to replace his counterpart with the Habs: the idea of the week

Why do the young goalies of the Canadiens experience success in the American League, but not in the NHL?

Why do they all seem to be excellent goalies with the Rocket, but not with the Canadiens?

Why do they seem to be in perfect control of their abilities when they arrive in Montreal, but not two or three weeks later?

Why do they consistently regain their quality play when they return to Laval?

Cayden Primeau was one of the worst goalies in the entire NHL before being sent back to the Rocket earlier this season (4.70 goals against average and .836 save percentage). In Laval, he looks like a goalie who is too good for the league and should be called up because he has no business being there (2.07, .921 and 18-2-1 record).

Jakub Dobes was burning up the American League before being called up by the Canadiens. When he arrived in Montreal, he continued his excellent work for about a month, and then the chain fell apart. So much so that there is hesitation to put him in front of the net now, preferring to use Samuel Montembeault (a goalie whose statistics are good, but no more).

Dobes has only completed two of his last eight games with a save percentage above .900.

Of course, it must be noted that the level of competition in the American League is lower than in the NHL. Guys like Primeau and Dobes benefit from the extra fraction of a second in executing plays.

But how can we explain the fact that the chain falls apart so much – often after a few weeks – when they are called upon to play in Montreal?

People close to the Habs told me that the most logical explanation is possibly the identity of the goalie coach in Laval and Montreal. Here is the segment where I report what I heard, a segment from the latest episode of Stanley25 :

In Laval, it’s Marco Marciano who takes care of the goalies, and has been doing so since 2017. Before that, he was with the IceCaps of St. John’s and the Hamilton Bulldogs. In short, he has been with the Habs’ affiliate team for over 10 years.

He is 43 years old, his teaching methods are in sync with the young players of the Generation Z who are currently playing professional hockey, and he is up to date with all the things to teach a young goalie. He is also very focused on communication, understanding, and respect.

In Montreal, the goalie coach is Éric Raymond, a 52-year-old man who joined the Canadiens in 2021, a few months before Dominique Ducharme was fired. Initially, he was Ducharme’s guy, with whom he had worked at Halifax (QMJHL).

Martin St-Louis kept him on staff…

Éric Raymond knows his hockey, don’t get me wrong, but he has a more traditional/conservative approach. His way of doing things is not always in line with how the young players of the new generation expect things to happen.

Let’s just say that communication is not his greatest professional quality, unlike Dominique Ducharme Martin St-Louis.

Moreover, how can we explain that goalies who move from Laval to Montreal seem to lose all their landmarks?

According to what I’m told, Éric Raymond teaches different things than Marciano, and in trying to change the way the young goalies from Laval play, he sometimes confuses them more than anything else.

Certain goalies who have left the organization are not kind to Raymond when questioned about him.

Where am I going with this?
We are on Wednesday, April 2, and at the time of writing these lines, Jacob Fowler has still not signed his entry-level contract.

Based on what I wrote above – and what I said on the podcast Stanley25 -, I hope to see Fowler sign a contract that will start in 2025-26, as well as an amateur try-out that will allow him to finish the season in Laval.

He would have the chance to play minutes, but also to work with Marco Marciano, and not Éric Raymond.

I don’t know Raymond. I also don’t know the job of a goalie coach at a level as high as the NHL…

But according to what I hear, working in Laval would currently be more formative for Fowler than working in Montreal. Even if it’s less lucrative for him in the short term, it could be more lucrative in the long term. Especially since next season, Fowler should be the Rocket’s number one goalie. It would be just as well to start that right away…

Extension

I imagine that one day, the Canadiens will evaluate the option of promoting Marco Marciano to Montreal. His goalies have been successful in Laval regardless of the identity of the head coach (J-F Houle or Pascal Vincent). Kasimir Kaskisuo… Connor Hughes…

Except that I have no information about this; I’m just thinking out loud.

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Oliver Kapanen is back with the Canadiens

And there you have it.

The Canadiens announced that Oliver Kapanen is back with the club. In fact, he will be joining the formation “later today” to help the club in the push towards the playoffs.

This was expected.

More details to come…

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Pierre LeBrun : do you expect Jacob Fowler to finish the season in Laval

Since yesterday, the case of Jacob Fowler has been a topic of conversation.

He has the chance to return to university… but it seems like real negotiation tactics are being used to ensure the young man gets what he wants.

And what he wants, is probably to finish the season in Montreal instead of Laval.

However, Pierre LeBrun just tweeted that there is no reason to worry and that there’s a good chance of seeing Fowler not return to Boston for the next season.

And still according to LeBrun, the most probable scenario is that he won’t burn a year of contract and will finish the season in Laval.

As the Laval Rocket is in the West for the next few days, it’s logical to think that GM Kent Hughes, assistant Jeff Gorton, and Fowler’s agent have time to think about all of this.

More details to come…

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62 points for Lane Hutson: P.K. Subban was already a Norris finalist with less than that

Lane Hutson collected three points yesterday. In a 3-2 win, it made a bit of a difference.

Lane Hutson now has 62 points this season in 74 games. He only has five goals, but it’s clear: the guy knows how to generate offense like few defensemen in the league can.

And it’s making a difference this season.

For the 10th time in history and for the first time since Nicklas Lindstrom in 1991-1992, a rookie defenseman has reached 60 points in a season. Calder Trophy, anyone?

With 57 assists, Hutson holds the record for most assists by a rookie defenseman in the history of the habs (Chris Chelios had 55), which is no small feat.

We could sing his praises until tomorrow morning.

Right now, Hutson is at the top of the rookie scorers. And when looking at defensemen, only Cale Makar, Zack Werenski, and Quinn Hughes are ahead of him.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Want to put things into perspective?

In 2014-2015, P.K. Subban was a finalist for the Norris Trophy, given to the defenseman of the year. He had 60 points, two fewer than Lane Hutson – and Hutson’s season isn’t over yet.

In 2017-2018, his second season in Nashville? Norris finalist… with 59 points.

Of course, the NHL has changed since then, as in 2015, Jamie Benn was the top scorer in the NHL with 87 points. And Subban was six points behind Erik Karlsson at the top of the scoring list for defensemen.

It’s also worth mentioning that Subban had a better shot than Lane Hutson and hit the ice a lot more.

But it still puts things into perspective to remind us that what Lane Hutson is doing as a rookie (and keeping in mind that his season isn’t over) is really, really noteworthy – and worthy of a Calder.

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” I’m sure my mother is helping me up there ” – Martin St-Louis

The Canadiens won their game yesterday. Eh ben!

Martin St-Louis’ men may not have managed to win in 60 minutes (an important aspect for the standings), but they went and got two points when we thought it was all over.

And that’s really the most important thing since the club remains in control of its destiny.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

We’re going to say it: even if the club played well, it was easy not to believe in them at some point. When you take a faceoff in your territory with 30 seconds left, it’s possible you’ll lose the game.

But Lane Hutson worked his magic and Nick Suzuki was in the right place at the right time.

This propelled the Canadiens into overtime and once again, the duo Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki (who is three points away from the 82 mark) worked their magic at the right time.

Without these guys, the Habs wouldn’t be in such a good position in the standings. Since the Confrontation of the four nations, the captain has really put the club on his shoulders, no doubt about it.

Questioned after the game, Martin St-Louis was happy to have won his biggest game as a coach. He couldn’t hide his emotions too much since we saw him being emotional after his captain’s goal in overtime.

St-Louis even mentioned that it was possible his mother, who passed away in 2014, helped him from above.

Clearly, something is happening with this team. Even Nick Suzuki, who is normally very calm, allowed himself to (soberly) ask the crowd to make some noise.

He’s really looking forward to doing the playoffs again someday and it shows when you watch him play.

But anyway. It’s not just Nick Suzuki who caught attention during the game – even if it’s clearly deserved to talk about the one who earned the first star of the game.

What do I retain?

1. The Canadiens faced the Panthers (the reigning champions, news has it) four times this season. And all four times, the Habs came out on top against their division rivals.

That’s worth noting.

2. Lane Hutson had three assists for a second game in a row against the Panthers. He has five goals and 57 assists this season, good for third place among the Habs’ point scorers.

And for the first time since 1992, a rookie defenseman in the NHL has reached 60 points in a season.

3. Samuel Montembeault, for a second game in a row, only allowed two goals against his former team. He was an important element in his team’s victory yesterday.

The Saturday (in Florida) and Monday breaks probably did him some good.

4. Nikko Mikkola was a marked man yesterday. And even if Arber Xhekaj wasn’t in uniform to fight him, the guys on the ice took care of sending him a message.

Even if Mikkola scored, the Habs had the last word on the game’s result… and on that, notably.

5. This has nothing to do with yesterday’s game, but just imagine what the Habs will look like if Kent Hughes adds a top center this summer. The team will be even more dangerous.

And that’s without counting Ivan Demidov.

overtime

On the menu today? An optional practice at 11:30 am in Brossard. We can expect to see Lane Hutson be there, I imagine… because that’s his style.

In the coming days, the Bruins, the Flyers, and the Preds (in Nashville) are on the menu. Theoretically, these are beatable opponents.

(Credit: NHL.com)