Let’s not get carried away

Sports  |  Abuzar Jabbar

12-1-1. I’ll just reiterate that. 12-1-1. That is the Montreal Canadiens record after 14 games and its their best start in their long and rich history. On paper, they look like the best team in the league by far along with the Rangers and Blackhawks. Players like Weber, Markov and Emelin are all looking a couple of years younger. Carey Price is once again showing the world that he is the best goalkeeper out there. Galchenyuk is emerging as one of the best young talents in the league. However, let us not get carried away.

We don’t need to go far back in the past to see that a good start does not guarantee success. The 9-0-0 start last year had most fans thinking that a Stanley cup was imminent and that it was the start of a dynasty, most of our core players being in their prime. This all changed with Price’s injury, and we finished among the worst teams in the league. This eventually led to big changes in the organization. Media would have you believe that the team is different and that we can’t compare ourselves to last year’s team where everything relied on Carey Price. The shots against in the previous games suggests otherwise.

Toronto	Vancouver	Columbus	Philadelphia	Boston
38	42	40	38	43

Statistics 1  Canadiens shots against in previous games

Without our goalies, it would be impossible to win 4 of the last 5 games as we did. Though it’s normal to rely on your best players, the Habs have to restructure their lines as this cannot continue.

However, I feel that the coaching staff have noticed this as well. They learned from last year and are really giving wake-up calls to all players. David Desharnais has been a healthy scratch, Beaulieu has been demoted to the third pair and even Max Pacioretty, our captain, was placed on the third line because he wasn’t producing enough! The message is clearly being communicated: you’ll only play if you are helping the team. Also, Therrien has managed the minutes of old players such as Andrei Markov, who has moved from 24 minutes/games to 21 minutes/game this year. This will have positive effects when the playoffs come, as the players will be well rested. In addition, the power play is much more productive with Kirk Muller coaching it; every player seems like a threat rather than just shots coming from the blue-line.

All these changes are paying their dividend as the team’s record shows. I don’t want to jinx it, but the Canadiens do have a great possibility to be a top 3 contending team for the cup. However, they need to continue making adjustments just as they are doing right now. They should not be afraid to trade away pieces in order to strengthen their club even more, a clear need being on the 2^nd line left wing position. Hopefully, they continue going in the right direction, avoiding any important injuries.