After seeing four defensemen jump on the ice (along with Adam Nicholas) 90 minutes before regular practice, the club’s six centers had a summit meeting with face-off specialist Marc Bureau.
Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak, Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook were all there.
Marc Bureau’s face-off clinic this morning before practice.
So, before practice began, there were two groups working with specialists to correct some of the club’s major shortcomings at the start of the season.
And when I say two, I mean three. Samuel Montembeault was on the second ice of the CN Complex in Brossard to practice his shots with traffic in front of the net.
The center players practice their face-offs on the first ice.
Pascal Vincent is much more qualified than Martin St-Louis.
The Canadiens had started the season well: two wins in three games against your three biggest rivals.
Since then, things have gone from bad to worse: seven losses in nine games.
And it’s worse than worse right now, as the Habs have lost their last three games by a cumulative score of 17-6.
Only the Sharks have a worse record than the Canadiens so far this season in the NHL. And they’re only one point behind the Montrealers…
The Habs don’t score enough goals… they score too many… they give unacceptable performances in front of their fans… their leaders, veterans and head coach are constantly challenged…
It’s obvious to me that Geoff Molson, Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton and the players set expectations a little too high before the season started. How on earth could anyone have thought that the team we’ve been seeing on the ice for the past month could fight for a playoff spot?
The Habs are once again a bottom 5 – or even bottom 3 – club that is more involved in a lottery race than a playoff race. It’s been that way for the last three or four years. Nothing changes.
No, the Canadiens haven’t progressed in the last year; they’ve actually regressed…
The problem – or the joy, call it what you will – is that just a few miles north, in Laval, the opposite is true. The Rocket sits atop the North Division with an 8-1-0 record. Only the Calgary Wranglers have a better record than Laval (9-1-0).
While the Canadiens are losing, the Rocket are winning. The Habs’ training club has won its last seven games. The Rocket is off to the best start in its history, no less!
All this despite injuries to David Reinbacher, Alex Barré-Boulet, Filip Mesar and Jakub Dobes, among others!
Please don’t tell me that the habs are doing so well this fall because of injuries. The Rocket is managing to get by despite several key players being sidelined.
Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux (who was out for several games due to a recall with the big club), Connor Hughes, Owen Beck, Luke Tuch… many players have stepped up in Laval.
But why?
How to explain this?
I think a (large) part of the answer lies behind each team’s bench.
It’s often said that the NHL is not a development league, but a results league. Yet the Canadiens’ coach is a developmental coach whose coaching experience prior to arriving in Montreal consisted of coaching pee-wees and advising John Tortorella as a power play consultant for a year.
In Laval, one level below, they put in place a 53-year-old guy (only four years older than St-Louis) whose track record is already VERY long.
(Credit: HockeyDB)
Think about it: Martin St-Louis is currently making his mistakes as a rookie NHL coach. He’s learning the job, with no real mentor by his side…
Whereas below him, there’s an ultra-prepared coach who knows how to coach and who, both collectively and individually, knows how to bring out the best in his players. The coach below is far more qualified and experienced than the coach above him…
While there’s crying, panic and/or attitude in the Bell Centre dressing room, there’s laughter, fun and performance in the Place Bell dressing room.
Still, it’s special that the coach who’s supposed to be coaching to develop and not necessarily to win, is winning…
Whereas the first-team coach doesn’t win… and seems to be making his players regress! If this continues, it’s going to get embarrassing…
Pascal Vincent is much more qualified than Martin St-Louis.(Credit: Getty Images)
Yes, the Habs are rebuilding, and no, we shouldn’t expect them to win 70% of their games, but there are limits. When you watch the Rocket games, you see that the coach is able to teach and demand clear, concrete concepts from his players (who apply them). When you watch the Canadiens, you always wonder how they manage to be so disorganized on the ice.
Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have to ask themselves one thing: what works in Laval that could be brought to Montreal?
In the short term, we can’t bring Pascal Vincent.
But we can bring Joshua Roy, Alex Barré-Boulet (once he’s healed), Jakub Dobes (once he’s recovered), Logan Mailloux (and coach him well), Luke Tuch or who knows which player dominates down below.
And frankly, why not ask Pascal Vincent to mentor Martin St-Louis?
No, it doesn’t make sense to ask the AHL coach to mentor the NHL coach; it should be the other way around.
But it doesn’t make sense to have St-Louis in Montreal and Vincent in Laval. The fact that Martin St-Louis had a great NHL career doesn’t justify everything…
Right now, there are four defensemen who seem assured of playing every night for the Canadiens. We’re talking about David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson.
That leaves Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron in a two-position rotation.
Well, the three defensemen in question decided to jump on the ice no less than 90 minutes before the start of the Canadiens’ regular practice in Brossard. That’s what Eric Engels reported.
Although Struble hasn’t really skipped a beat since his return to uniform, he knows he can jump any time.
Arber Xhekaj has often been left out over the past two weeks, and Justin Barron didn’t play in Saturday’s game. Both men are not indispensable at the moment.
Remember that Xhekaj and Struble can go to the AHL without going through the waivers. They know that internal competition is important and that a Logan Mailloux can be recalled at any time.
And let’s also mention that Lane Hutson got the message (even if he’s playing well), as within minutes of seeing his three young teammates jump on the ice, he chose to join them.
We’ll see if this translates into concrete results on the ice, but it’s clear that the four players who skated an hour and a half before the others know they have something to be ashamed of when it comes to the Habs’ biggest problem: defensive coverage.
For several years now, Canadiens players have been teaming up with McDonald’s to do commercials. This year, it’s Juraj Slafkovsky’s turn.
Instead of a burger, this year it’s poutine. As long as Slaf doesn’t eat too much of it before his games, the Canadiens should be okay, I guess.
Slaf and Simon-Olivier Fecteau collaborated on the concept of “En audition avec Simon”, which became “En audition avec McDo”, to present the smoked BBQ poutine with chicken.
Simon-Olivier Fecteau, seen in his director’s chair in the McDo ad, is at the heart of the concept with his ideas for greatness in advertising with McDo.
What you need to know is that the ad is divided into several parts. The video above is the final result.
Basically, we see Fecteau auditioning Slaf to see if he’d be the best man to play the role of Juraj Slafkovsky in the ad. And Slaf tells him, in French, that he’s Juraj Slafkovsky.
But despite everything, Fecteau is skeptical. And one of his sentences was still funny.
Je le sais-tu, moi, who’s the best actor for the part. Claude Legault gave me a great Juraj in the morning. – Simon-Olivier Fecteau to his sidekick Étienne de Passillé
And throughout the ads, the Slovak always speaks in French (except when he’s talking to his agent on the phone to complain), tossing in short phrases. It’s a nice touch.
Over the years, the likes of Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Marc Bergevin, Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli and Shea Weber, to name but a few, have done ads with McDo.
Tomorrow is an important day in the United States. After all, Americans will have an important choice to make: Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
Obviously, you know as well as I do that this is a divisive issue.
Angela, Carey Price’s wife who has never shied away from her ideas, recently confessed publicly that she has chosen to vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
And as TVA Sports reports, via a text by Jessica Lapinski, she’s received plenty of criticism for it. In particular, she was suggested to go to hell as a result of her comments.
American election: Angela Price reveals she voted for Donald Trump and deplores the criticism she receiveshttps://t.co/k7WVbGeOqe
What you need to know is that publicly posting your political choices always leads to comments like this. And I’m not saying it’s acceptable, obviously, but it’s the norm.
Angela, a social network specialist, must have known this before she answered a question on the subject.
That didn’t stop her from saying that, in her opinion, Kamala Harris doesn’t have what it takes to become the first female president in history. And that’s probably where she came in for some criticism.
On the other hand, she believes Donald Trump is a “strong leader” for the country.
Overtime
– The Athletic in the green recently.
The Athletic made a quarterly profit for the first time since The New York Times bought the sports website in 2022 for $550M.
The Athletic’s adjusted operating profit for Q3 was $2.6M, thanks to an increase in subscriber and advertising revenue, after a loss of $7.9M in last… pic.twitter.com/Lo3nbEWQyg
“This is not an easy league. You have to accept the grind, know the truth of where we are & where we are going to go. This is just part of the season, you have to accept the grind, we accept it & we’ll go to work.”
Lane Hutson has been turning a lot of heads in the NHL since the start of the season. He’s becoming more and more a part of the opponent’s game plan, and Tom Wilson’s post-whistle push yesterday was perfect proof of that.
The spectacular plays he makes in transition and in the offensive zone don’t go unnoticed by the regular and advanced stats.
As Grant McCagg reports, he’s on track for 52 mentions this season. No rookie other than Matthew Barzal has reached 50 assists in the last 16 years.
One NHL rookie in the past 16 years (Barzal) has 50+ assists. Hutson is on pace for 52.
The way he’s playing, he could very well reach the plateau.
Hutson also ranks high in Habs history for most assists by a defenseman in his first 13 career games.
Most assists by a defenseman age 20 or younger in their first 13 career NHL games:
10- Larry Murphy
10- Phil Housley
10- Rob Blake
9- @CanadiensMTL Lane Hutson (Via 2 vs the Capitals on Thursday)
9- Brian Leetch
9- Alexei Zhitnik
9- Cale Makar
9- Moritz Seider
8- Six others tied pic.twitter.com/8m3MoiP5fK
It’s pretty spectacular and you have to consider that Hutson doesn’t even play on the first wave of the powerplay.
It’s incredible when you open the social networks and some analysts put the emphasis on his missed games and some of his defensive deficiencies. The worst part is that when you look at the games, he’s not the worst defensive player on the team, far from it.
There are a few things to clarify. Lane Hutson is 20 years old and averages over 20 minutes a game. He’s going to make mistakes, and that’s perfectly normal.
He looks like he belongs in the NHL and doesn’t let himself be intimidated. Imagine him in 2-3 years when he’s even more mature on the ice.
What’s more, it’s been a long time since the Habs have had a skilled defenseman like Lane Hutson. He’s a unique talent, and we mustn’t limit him too much.
The Habs must learn to live with their mistakes, because what they bring to the table is already extraordinary.
The Canadiens are off to a very poor start to the season. The 9 points collected so far don’t reflect the team’s weak defensive zone and inability to right the ship when things go wrong.
In recent weeks, we’ve heard that the Habs are interested in a sturdy defenseman and forward, but the market is tough right now.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Habs are in a danger zone where they don’t want to make the mistake of trading a young player too quickly.
Friedman on 32TP: “Montreal is in a danger zone now where you are worried about making a deal that you regret”
Friedman emphasizes that this rebuild is not a process that you can speed up, you have to go through the pain unless a Panarin falls in your laps like for NYR.
New 32 Thoughts Podcast @FriedgeHNIC and @sportsnetkyle discuss Montreal’s road to becoming competitive again, the current NHL trade market, and much more!
In his opinion, the fact that taxes are high and the team isn’t good enough yet won’t help Kent Hughes in the short term.
Friedman believes, however, that the general manager has gone about it the right way with high draft picks, and that Montreal could eventually become a destination of choice.
Still, even when the Habs are at the top of their game, it won’t be as easy to attract free agents as the Rangers did.
The tax system doesn’t help, but neither does the pressure of Montreal.
As for transactions, Kent Hughes needs to be patient, especially with young players. He’s accumulated a number of them over the last few drafts, but needs to make sure he keeps the good ones, especially if it’s for trades of rental or near-rental players.
Overtime
– A great acquisition.
Connor Hughes is very solid in front of the net. Already 9 saves for the big Ontario goalie since the start of the game. Bruins regularly threaten in Laval territory.
Alex Formenton is one of five members of Hockey Canada’s 2018 World Junior Team who have been charged with sexual assault.
All five players are still awaiting trial.
But Formenton is in the news for another reason today: the former Ottawa Senators is suing his former agent for more than $20 million for negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
Formenton claims that his former agent, Wade Arnott (Newport Sports Management), gave him bad advice when the Sens made him a qualifying offer on July 5, 2022, which had to be accepted by July 15.
He claims that he was not represented according to “professional standards” and that he was misinformed about the procedure for signing a new contract.
Formenton was therefore unable to sign a new contract… and was therefore unable to play in the National League in the 2022-2023 season.
The result?
In Formenton’s eyes, Wade Arnott is responsible for a significantloss of revenue between 2022 and 2024… As well as a loss of future revenue.
He would have liked to be better protected:
Alex Formenton sues former agent for $20 million while awaiting sexual assault trial.
Formenton suing for negligence and breach of contract and alleging that his agent did not provide “public relations support”
Alex Formenton now works in construction. He resigned to a $125,000 deal with Swiss club Ambri-Piotta, but ended his association with the club last January.
That said, the story of the lawsuit will continue to be the talk of the town, not least because of Formenton’s reputation.
Not surprisingly, Wade Arnott declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In front of a home crowd, Teppo Numminen and Jere Lehtinen joined @DallasStars forward Roope Hintz and @FlaPanthers captain Aleksander Barkov for the ceremonial face-off ahead of the 2024 #NHLGlobalSeries Finland.
Matvei Michkov has managed to make new friends quickly in Philly.
With nine points in his first ten games in a Flyers uniform, he’s living up to the (high) expectations placed on him.
But Michkov – like every other player his age – isn’t perfect… And his coach sent him a message last night.
The Flyers were facing the Blues, and in the first period, Torts decided to “bencher” his player to call him to order.
The Flyers’ head coach wasn’t satisfied with Michkov’s 5-on-5 performance, and that’s why he made this decision.
Because if Michkov continues to play sluggishly, there will be other consequences:
Where I’m going to have to teach, and I’m not going to tell you everything, but if we keep seeing the same mistakes, he’s going to miss out on playing time. I’ve been very honest with him about that. – John Tortorella
TVA Sports also reported:
“If we keep seeing the same mistakes, he’s going to miss out on playing time. I’ve been very honest with him about that ” https://t.co/UZ9uFU4Dpq
For a young player, you have to understand one thing: when you’re on the ice, your mandate is to give it your all.
That said, we know that Michkov has a bad habit of dragging his feet sometimes on the ice… And to make sure it doesn’t happen again, Torts decided to take action.
And he did the right thing.
Matvei Michkov is a very talented player, and everyone knows it.
But just because he’s got talent coming out of both ears doesn’t mean he shouldn’t do things the right way.
That’s part of the adaptation process for a player making his National League debut.
Among all the talk about the Habs so far this season, not much is being said about Juraj Slafkovsky.
Stats-wise, he has six points in seven games, which isn’t bad. However, he only has one goal and his level of involvement in the offensive zone is nowhere near what it was at the end of last season.
But is this a reason to draw conclusions? According to Simon “Snake” Boisvert, the answer is yes.
He appeared on Tony Marinaro’s podcast “The Sick Podcast” to discuss the Habs’ season.
“I thought it was going to be Suzuki and Caufield this year. We’ll talk about it later this year” – Simon Boisvert
He added that his draft was weak and that the season was long after that, but it’s the fact that he’s already talking about it that gets me.
We’re talking about a first overall pick in a less-than-stellar draft who’s still learning.
He’s a great player, and it’s often slower in terms of progression for this type of player. Slafkovsky is showing encouraging signs and is putting points on the scoreboard.
In his case, you have to be patient, unlike many veterans who simply aren’t up to the task right now.
It’s just a matter of time. And when it does, it will be hard to stop, just as it was at the end of the season last year.
A young player’s progression is far from linear, and dips are normal. Don’t panic, especially after 11 games.
@MovemberCA
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