After being given a long-term, richly paid deal, Erik Cole should be motivated to justify the faith Montreal management has shown in him. Furthermore, one would believe he is anxious to shake the notion that he can only succeed in Carolina after his less than impressive stint in Edmonton a few years ago.
Andrei Kostitsyn, on the other hand, obtained a one-year deal that takes him to Unrestricted Free Agency next summer.
Eyeing a big pay day come July, AK46 knows how important this season is for his NHL future. Plus, a strong start would go a long way to smoothing over his relationship with Jacques Martin, especially after comments made in a Belarussian newspaper caused some waves this summer.
Yet, three games into the season, both have been incredibly underwhelming.
Cole Disappoints Defensively
Certainly, Cole still possesses the ability to deliver imposing body checks. In fact, statistically, he leads the squad in that category. However, his decision making with the puck has been pedestrian at best.
On Thursday night, he rightly earned scapegoat status for his inability to clear the puck on the Flames 4th goal. Yet, a few nights earlier, lost in the excitement of the Canadiens win in Winnipeg was the fact that Cole was guilty of many dangerous turnovers in that game as well.
If one of those turnovers had become a goal, one can imagine the complexion of the game could have changed dramatically inside a feverish MTS Center.
Beyond his lackadaisical defensive play, his offensive play has been nothing to write home about either. Forgetting for a moment that he is still pointless, it is difficult to recall Cole being at the center of any real scoring chance. And, with only 3 shots on goal, he certainly has not been throwing pucks at the net.
At any time during the year, if you are tied with Hal Gill in shots, it does not bode well.
Kostitsyn Lacks Crease Presence
Andrei Kostitsyn has not been much more impressive either.
Sure, he netted the Canadiens only goal versus the Flames and is 2nd on the team with 8 shots. But most of his attempts at net have come from the perimeter, an area where he has been hanging out far too much.
Mind you, he has managed to bring the puck into the offensive zone well enough, but once there he does not show the necessary net drive to produce goals. Belarussian netminders may be fooled by his quick release, but unless he inserts himself into prime scoring areas, NHL goaltenders will not be so easily flummoxed.
In the end, it is perhaps unfair to single out the above players. After all, it is early in the year and others, namely Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and P.K Subban, have been held without a point as well. However, the fact that these two players entered the season with so much to prove and such lofty expectations only compounds the disappointment in their early showings.
Besides, it is getting redundant to single out Scott Gomez.
---
Louis is an Associate Editor at HabsAddict.com and an Editor at HabsWorld.net. Louis was born in Chicago but grew up in Quebec City where he earned Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Université Laval. He currently lives in Ottawa and works for the Coaching Association of Canada. He can be reached at l.moustakas@habsworld.net.
(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
2 comments:
I don't know, I've kinda liked what I've seen from AK46 so far this season.
Granted, your article was written before he started playing with Patches and DD but, even then imo, he has looked good all season.
The biggest thing I find with AK is that he is physically engaged and has been, imo, since the beginning of the season.
He is built like a tank so it's good to see him throwing his weight around!
As for Cole, well, he HAS been very weak defensively. Way too many turnovers. That being said, he has also shown some incredible flashes of brilliance while playing alongside Plekanec.
With Cammalleri back in the lineup tonight we can only hope that JM puts the three of them together. That could end up being a formidable line!
@Kamal
AK may throw his weight around, but that is not what I am singling him out for. Rather, my qualm is with the fact that he does not take his weigh to the front of the net nearly enough. When he has the puck, I would like to see him drive the net with speed more often. God knows that, with his frame, he would not get knocked away so easily. In short, I wanted to be more present in the crease area, be it with or without the puck.
Post a Comment