Habs/Ducks Post-Game October 24th

Bournival scores to extend his point streak

The Canadians needed a bounce back game after the oilers loss on Tuesday and a 4-1 win against the Ducks of Anaheim was just what the doctor ordered.

The return of long time Captain Saku Koivu called for a respectable standing ovation in particular when he was named the third star of the game. His value as a Canadien may not be fresh in the mind of the younger fans but he definitely earned his stripes playing in this city.

For the Habs getting off to a good start has not been the issue as of late, rather it has been maintaining that lead throughout the entire game.

The scoring opened past the midway point in the first period. After being unable to convert on a powerplay, the Ducks failed to clear the zone and Habs rookie Nathan Beaulieu launched a puck at the net that was tipped in front by Michael Bournival to get by Jonas Hiller. The helper for Beaulieu was his first career point. He has also been given an extended stay now that Jared Tinordi has been sent down to the farm team. Before the end of the period,Tomas Plekanec scored with a pass across the slot from Bournival.

The play of Michael Bournival is turning heads. He now has points in 4 consecutive games and amassed 5 points in 7 appearances thus far.

Tomas Plekanec has also been upping his game recently. In the last 5 games he has 7 points. With 1 goal and 2 assists against the Ducks he now sits second behind Subban for the team lead in points. He is showing the ability to play in all situations. He is the one Canadiens player that can always be counted on to produce at a consistent level and yet he always falls under the radar when he performs well. More credit should be given to the #1 center.

In the second period Price was counted on to stop more than his fair share of shots. The Ducks came out strong and hard and finished with 15 shots on goal in the frame. Price held his ground, making the necessary saves, but the defense was able to limit the amount of dangerous scoring chances. Price had a less than stellar start against the Oilers and was able to show how solid he has been in nets with a strong performance against a strong team.

Scoring the goal in the second to give the Habs a 3 goal lead was Brian Gionta. The Ducks took one penalty too many and down to a 5 on 3, a scramble in front of the net eventually ended when the puck got put in by the captain. It was the second time in the game the Canadiens scored on the man advantage moving them to 6th in the league.

There was a scary moment in the second period when Corey Perry came in hard on the boards against P.K. Subban. Subban hit the glass hard with his head and fell to the ice. He was able to play on the ensuing man advantage and did not appear to show any lingering signs of pain. Given the recent slew of injuries one could only imagine the hole it would leave if the Habs were to lose their leading scorer.

The Ducks got on the board when a costly give-away by Josh Gorges lead to a 2 on 1 putting Diaz against Nick Bonino and Patrick Maroon. Bonino crossed it to Maroon who scored his first of the year.
However, any attempt to force a late comeback was stopped when Rene Bourque slipped one by Hiller 5 hole off of a weak backhander that must of caught the net minder sleeping.

Given the recent success and the start of the Ducks this game will definitely be one to keep in mind as the red hot Sharks make their only
appearance at the Bell Center this saturday night in what many hope to be one of the most exciting games of this young season.

(Photo courtesy of the Gazette)

Read More

Davis Drewiske Out

Montreal Defenceman Davis Drewiske has undergone shoulder surgery. The injury originally occurred during training camp this season. His initial window of rehabilitation was around a month's time.

After surgery his expected recovery time is 5-6 months.

He has yet to play a game this season but his loss drains the Habs pool of NHL experienced defencemen. With Douglas Murray yet to play and Alexei Emelin still sidelined this means that Tinordi and Beaulieu will continue to be with the team for some time.

The Canadiens have done well in their absence but will need for the young duo to continue playing at an NHL level in order to maintain their recent success.


Drewiske Out: TSN

Drewiskie Blesse: RDS

(photo courtesy of: awinninghabit.com)

Read More

Marc Bergevin Drops The Ball As Canadiens Lose Alexei Emelin

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in the following article are those of the writer, and do not reflect the opinions of HabsAddict.com.

Despite a very important 2-1 win against their division rivals on Saturday at Bell Centre, the Canadiens lost a key element of their defensive brigade when bruising defensemen Alexei Emelin left the game midway through the first period. He sustained a left knee injury in a thunderous collision while taking a run at big Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic in the neutral zone.

Alexei Emelin will miss an extended period of time (Jerome Davis/Icon SMI)

The injury forced the team to play newcomer Davis Drewiske more than 23 minutes, something he was not accustomed to doing with the Los Angeles Kings. Drewiske finished the game with four blocked shots, two hits and a minus-1 rating. Following Emelin’s injury, Therrien had to deploy the remaining five defensemen in various combinations, and the rearguards rose splendidly to the challenge.

After the game, head coach Michel Therrien said that Emelin had a lower body injury, and unfortunately for the Habs, the news got worse Monday, as it was announced that Emelin would be sidelined for the rest of the season.

With that blow to the lineup, there are numerous factors that have to be examined.

Who will replace Emelin Boom?

As a result of the injury, the Canadiens called-up puck-moving blue liner Nathan Beaulieu from the AHL to fill the void left by Emelin’s untimely injury. Beaulieu played two games with the Habs earlier this season, notching his first NHL point, an assist, to go along with a +2 rating. The left-handed rearguard has 7 goals and 21 assists for 28 points with 56 penalty minutes in 64 contests with the Hamilton Bulldogs this season.

While Raphael Diaz has resumed skating, he has yet to participate into a full practice with his teammates, so we still don’t know when he will be able to return to the line-up. As for Tomas Kaberle, the team does not want to play him as they don’t want him to suffer a major injury which would prevent the organization from buying him out this summer. The other option would be Swiss defenseman Yannick Weber who has only played two games this season, more often relegated to the healthy scratch sheet and sustaining a lower-body injury that sidelined him for a few weeks. 

The problem with the right-handed defenseman is that Michel Therrien doesn’t have any confidence in him or he would have used him more often after the injury sustained by Diaz. According to Renaud Lavoie reporting on RDS, the Blue Blanc Rouge, who were shopping Weber at the trade deadline, was asking a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Yannick Weber… no wonder they didn’t find any takers! This was the first mistake by GM Marc Bergevin as he should have let Weber go for a lower draft pick as he doesn’t seem to fit into the organization’s long-term plans.

Who will play with Andrei Markov? (photo by azarius@Flickr)

Bergevin’s mistake

Bergevin’s other mistake at the trade deadline was to be very passive and only acquire a journeyman defenseman who didn’t play a single game last Spring during the Los Angeles Kings’ magical playoff run. Drewiske was the team’s eight defenseman after the acquisition of veteran Robyn Regehr. While Drewiske can do the job in a short period of time, he is not a top-four defenseman by any means. With Andrei Markov, PK Subban and Josh Gorges all playing great hockey this season and Francis Bouillon being paired with the team’s sixth defenseman on the third pairing, whether it is Drewiske or a youngster called up from Hamilton, the Habs are left with a gaping hole in their top four slots.

Montreal could also decide to call up a more physical rearguard for the playoffs, namely Jarred Tinordi, but the way they will use that defenseman is still a mystery to most fans and journalists. The problem with Tinordi is that he was very soft during his first six-game stint with the Habs earlier this season, recording a paltry three hits despite his big 6’6”, 205-lb frame. Tinordi will have to be more physical if he gets the nod in order to replace Emelin’s physical presence on the Habs’ blue line.

Bergevin should have acquired more than a journeyman defenseman at the deadline, and his inertia will come to bite him in the behind as injuries to key players always happen during the season. With Rene Bourque close to return to action and a lot of depth at forward following the waiver-wire pick-up of Jeff Halpern, I understand that Bergevin didn’t want to pay a premium to acquire a rental forward before the deadline. The team’s general manager had already made his move, acquiring Michael Ryder and a third-round pick in exchange for disgruntled forward Erik Cole. Ryder has been terrific for the Habs, notching 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in 18 games with the team. Ryder’s acquisition has improved the power play drastically, with him scoring half of his points (6 g and 3 a) on the man advantage.

What now?

The team better pray Drewiske is the next Josh Gorges and turns into an efficient shutdown defenseman able to log more than 20 minutes a game every game, playing alongside Andrei Markov. The Canadiens are only three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins with one game in hand for the Eastern Conference lead, so they have a great chance to go very deep in the playoffs this season as they could begin each series on home ice where the team has had great success in 2013.

The problem with Bergevin looking at the parade, is that the team might struggle mightily and suffer serious injuries next season, pushing the team outside the top eight teams in the East, making them miss the playoffs… The window of opportunity was open wide, but Bergevin decided to close the shutters instead of looking at the bigger picture and add more depth to his blue line!

Read More