Good thing Cole and Nick are here

Last Tuesday, the Canadiens put in their worst home performance in a VERY long time. This varlope in front of fans who had paid a high price didn’t go down well in the Montreal market. Allowing two goals in the first few minutes of a game at the Bell Centre when you’re as focused as my futsal players at 6pm on a Friday night was a sign that something was wrong.

Not having a game until Saturday gave way to 1001 analyses and opinions on Martin St-Louis’ system and (non) hard-coaching, who even allowed himself a few answers that bordered on arrogance in front of the media. But hey, two wins in two nights over the weekend put all that to bed. Until the next storm…

It looks like the pressure from the media and fans brought out the best in Montreal’s coach and players…

The most optimistic say that the club is back in the mix and that only two teams have more points than the Canadiens in the Atlantic Division: the two Floridian teams.

Except that the most pessimistic – or realistic – are aware that the Canadiens beat a team on Saturday, many of whose players were at the Palma on Friday night…

And last night, the Habs faced the worst team in the East.

Yes, the Canadiens got hot, but they held their own against Michkov and his Flyers.

“You’re negative, Max! Didn’t you ba*sé this weekend?”

Collectively, yes, I remain more negative than positive about the Canadiens.

The Habs are the sixth-highest-scoring team in the NHL so far this season… and they’ve only taken more shots than their opponents once in nine games: on October 12 against the Senators, the last-ranked team in the Atlantic. And that was 26-25…

The Canadiens often allow 10 or 15 more shots than they take. In the long term, this won’t work. Unless they fix their defensive system for good…

If the Canadiens are still in the mix a few days before Halloween, it’s because of two players: Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson Nick Suzuki. They are the ones who fill the gaps in a porous defensive system that will have to be polished…

This morning, Cole Caufield is the second-highest scorer in the NHL behind Nico Hischier. Caufield has eight goals in nine games and Hischier one more, but with four more games played.

What’s more, Caufield has scored five of his eight goals at even strength. Impressive!

He’s on a pace to produce 73 goals in 82 games! I know, it won’t happen since Caufield won’t be able to maintain that pace, but if he stays healthy, the 40-goal mark will definitely be a possibility… and 50 goals may even be attainable.

As for Nick Suzuki, this morning he is the NHL’s 16th-highest scorer with 11 points in nine games.

The Habs captain has scored only three of his points on the power play… and his three goals, combined with Caufield’s eight, mean that the 13-14 duo has scored over 40% of the Montreal team’s goals so far in 2024-25. It could have been even more if Caufield hadn’t hit the post on their two-on-zero last night…

Suzuki has picked up at least one point in his last seven games, after an anemic first two games.

I’m repeating myself, but without Caufield and Suzuki, the mix would really just be a bad playlist filled with tunes by Sir Pathetik, Safia Nolin and Éric Lapointe.

So when we hear a specialist paid to analyze the Canadiens’ hockey suggest sending Cole Caufield into the stands for a game, it’s only natural that it should have the same effect on us as an influencer’s fingernail making contact with a blackboard or greenboard… you know, the kind used in elementary school classrooms twenty years ago.

With Slafkovsky or Dach?
No matter whoyou place next to Caufield and Suzuki, the latter accumulates points (sometimes for free). Juraj Slafkovsky had six points in six games before he was injured, and Kirby Dach has returned to form on the wing of the first line (four points in three games).

It will be interesting to see what our two best forwards can do this week, when the Kraken will be at the Bell Centre and the club will have to travel to Washington (Thursday) and Pittsburgh (Saturday). Only the Penguins haven’t been playing for .500 or better since the start of the season…

Will any injured players return to the Habs? #Slafkovsky #Guhle #Barron

Cole Caufield, journalists and resto-bars
There’s clearly something wrong with Cole Caufield last season that’s not wrong this year. In that sense, yes, asking him in a press briefing why his shot is more threatening and why he finds the back of the net more than last year was apropos.

@9millions_ Does Cole Caufield need to watch his attitude with journalists? Max and Jean talk about it in episode 12 of #Stanley25, available Thursday on all platforms! #quebec #9millions #québec #hockey #canadiens #habs #caufield #fyp ♬ original sound – 9millions

No, Cole Caufield hasn’t gone back to his college girlfriend and yes, he still goes out in Montreal bars (and still DMs several girls at night). Nothing’s changed there (and that’s fine)…

Stanley25 material…

CC22 CC13 went for a drink on Wednesday and Thursday, when the team had the day off, and that didn’t stop him from scoring on Saturday AND Sunday. The only thing these outings do is give one more reason to criticize a player for going out when he’s not producing. See Joshua Roy…

Imagine if we learned that Josh Anderson was going out three or four nights a week this afternoon. Many people would criticize him, given his anemic start to the season. When you’re seen in Montreal bars, you condemn yourself to perform… you add an extra layer of pressure. That’s it.

What’s changed with Caufield this year is clearly the complete healing (physical and mental) of his operated shoulder. I wonder why it’s so taboo to talk about it with the main person involved…

Extension

Speaking of taboo subjects, the Stanley25 podcast is back, and no, there are no subjects too taboo for the podcast. I invite you

On the most recent episode of the podcast, we talked about Jonathan Diaby(the excerpt is not for the faint-hearted), but also about drunk and/or fat fans in Montreal.

@9millions_ Drunk fans Canadiens players Excerpt from episode 12 of #Stanley25! #quebec #9millions #hockey #habs #canadiens #fyp ♬ original sound – 9millions

If you like the Canadiens AND content that’s different from anything you hear/see elsewhere, I (really) invite you to watch episode 12 (or the second of the second season, if you prefer) of Stanley25. Careful, it’s a bit of a blast!