Greetings Habs Nation,
There was a lot of optimism surrounding the Montreal Canadiens heading into the current NHL season. The Habs were coming off of a playoff run that saw them reach the Eastern Conference finals only to fall to the New York Rangers in six games. The Team became bigger by replacing Francis Bouillon, Josh Gorges and captain Brian Gionta with the likes of Tom Gilbert, Manny Malhotra, P.A. Parenteau and Jiri Sekac and their young stars Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher had another year of experience under their belts.
Fast forward to the present, the Habs sit on top of the Eastern Conference with an 8-2 record and share the league lead with the Anaheim Ducks.
Optimistic or not, raise your hands if you saw this kind of start for the Canadiens. Good, now put our hands down because you're lying.
With all of the success, fans around the city are all weighing in on why the team is finding success so early in the season (actually a fair amount are calling for coach Michel Therrien's head because Habs fans will be Habs fans). The following points are why I believe the Canadiens are looking like an early contender in the East.
1. CHaracter
When Marc Bergevin took the reigns as the new GM of the Montreal Canadiens in May of 2012 he right away spoke of the importance of character in the roster. The word "character" came up multiple time whenever a new player was signed or any time a question was directed towards him really. Fans calling in to TSN690 and all over twitter would make their jokes and sarcastically comment on Bergevin's constant talk of character, but there has been a lot less of that mockery in recent days.
The Canadiens are 8-2 despite having a goal differential of +1. Winning eight of ten games while only outscoring their opponents by one goal shows that they are winning those tight games. Every team wins their fair share of close games but to win so many consistently shows character.
If that's not enough, the Canadiens have scored the first goal only twice. Their record after giving up the first goal is 6-2. Winning 75% of the games in which you've been scored on first is unheard of. Jokes aside, it takes character to never give up. Down 3-0 going into the third period IN Philadelphia? no problem, 4-3 win in overtime. Detroit has you scoreless with three minutes remaining in the final frame? Don't worry, Galchenyuk will battle Kyle Quincey to the ice, climb over him and bury the puck past Howard on a nifty wrap around en route to a 2-1 overtime win.
This team doesn't want to lose. This team doesn't give up. This team has character.
2. Carey Price
It doesn't hurt your team's chances of winning when you have arguably the best goalie in the world between the pipes. Price has been good enough to backstop his team to seven out of the eight games he's started and he hasn't even reached his full potential yet. His .923 save % is seventh among goalies who have played five or more games and will likely rise. His GAA of 2.43 puts him 12th among goalies with five or more games played and will no doubt improve. The 7-1 pounding delivered by the Tampa Bay Lightning (four goals were given up by Price, three by back up Dustin Tokarski) dampened his numbers but it's a long season and he'll no doubt lower that average.
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| Carey Price is a huge part of the Habs success and has yet to reach his full potential. |
The Habs won early on while he looked less than stellar and his recent performances against the Red Wings, Rangers and Flames should provide his team with even more confidence than they've been playing with thus far.
3. Health
The Montreal Canadiens have health on their side. Yes, I knocked on wood so please refrain from any drastic reactions to me pointing out this element of their success. The Canadiens have missed roughly two man-games to injury so far. The healthier a team, the quicker and stronger each line's confidence and chemistry grows. Tomas "TurtlePlek" Plekanec and Galchenyuk have shown phenomenal chemistry playing together and the longer they play together the more they'll light up the lamp. David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty are finding their groove and should produce consistently if Pacioretty can finally play an 82 game season. Although, to be fair Patches heals at a rate roughly 100 times faster than any normal human being so he should be good to go.
4. Depth
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| Tomas Plekanec's opportunity to play a more offensive role has paid off so far as he has nine points in ten games. |
Bringing in Manny Malhotra to take face offs and kill penalties adds depth to their defensive end giving Plekanec more offensive responsibilities. The alternate captain (one of... like... 12) gas responded by putting up a team leading five goals and nine points. More than that, he is noticeably happy. When was the last time you saw the normally straight faced Plekanec smile and celebrate so much after a goal?
On the backend, Nathan Beaulieu has been spending the majority of the games watching from above but he's readily available to jump in if needed, as is Greg Pateryn who's is playing with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
It's worth considering having Beaulieu, Bournival and Sekac play with the Bulldogs rather than be on the sidelines just to get some playing time. Demote them to keep them in game shape? Keep them to watch the game from a different point of view and be ready if called upon? These are problems any GM would want.
Heck, the Habs even started the pre-season with three goalies!
5. Michel Therrien
I feel as though if any of my reasons for the Habs success are going to be slandered it's this one. Therrien is not the most popular man in Montreal. His insistence on playing Rene Bourque despite his production baffles the majority of Habs fans and even media. His decision to bench Lars Eller after only five minutes of ice time in the recent win over the Calgary Flames has lead people to believe that Eller is his whipping boy. Therrien putting both Dale Weise and Travis Moen in the line up on the same nights while sitting more offensive minded players like Michael Bournival and Jiri Sekac has many, including myself, scratching their heads (it could be dry scalp but I'd like to think it's MT's line-up decisions).
Lars Eller has been one to respond on the ice after being benched in the past. It could be that Therrien knows his players better than the fans (crazy, right?!). Each player is sparked differently, it's for that I don't go for Therrien's jugular when hearing about Eller's night off. Plus, as mentioned above the Habs depth provides Therrien the luxury of this approach while giving Michael Bournival a chance to play in his first game this season.
Therrien's decisions will never make all of Habs nation happy. The Canadiens sit atop the standings with an 80% win rate and fans are still complaining about anything they can, most notably the coach. There are a few things I myself question such as Sekac's lack of ice time and at the opposite end of the spectrum, Travis Moen's... well, Travis Moen is getting minutes.
Despite people's minor or major problems with him, Therrien, in his second go as the Canadiens head coach, had his team finish first in the NorthEast in 2012-13, brought them to within six wins from the Stanley Cup in 2013-14 and has an 8-2 record early in the 2014-15 season.
You may not like him, but Michel Therrien is a big reason for the Montreal Canadiens' Success.
What are your thoughts on the Canadiens quick start?
Have I ignored any important factor?
Are any of the above reasons given more credit than deserved?
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