Not me personally and nothing of the serious nature, but both my wife and 6-month-old son have been sick as dogs with whatever flu is going around, the last few weeks. As such, I've been running my own triage clinic at home and have been mostly unable to write.
But that doesn't mean that the league has stood still for me!
Over the last week or so, there have been a bunch of interested developments on the Habs and NHL (in general) front.
Montreal had their first convincing win of the year, under new coach Randy Cunneyworth, this past week. It was a 7-3 drubbing of the Winnepeg Jets signed by a foul goal, five point night from Lars Eller.
Has there been a player who is more positively affected by the firing of Jacques Martin than Lars Eller?
This kid is playing with gusto and is not being punished for mistake, a common theme for youngsters in the Martin era. As a result, his confidence is sky high and it shows on the ice.
We've seen flashes of the tremendous skillset that Eller has since he was acquired, but with his performance over the Jets, Eller clearly had his coming out party.
While fans were naturally excited by the blowout win and Eller's performance, I think people need to temper that excitement with a little realism.
The Habs will not make the playoffs this year, as my friend, TSN 990's Matthew Ross points out.
There is always a mathematical chance but let's be honest here, Montreal is not about to win twice as many games as they lose till the end of the season.
Still, the Eller performance is/will arguably be the high point of the year for Habs fans.
A system takes time
The outcry over Cunneyworth's appointment as (unilingual) Habs head coach has died down a little. This even those a political group is organizing a protest in front of the Bell Centre tonight.
But what hasn't been discussed a lot is that we are slowly starting to see some changes on the ice.
You have to remember that Cunneyworth took over in the morning and coached his first game that evening. Couple that with a compacted schedule and a six-game road trip, and he didn't really get many practices in which to implement his system.
What we saw over the Habs extended losing streak was a team trying to adapt to a new style of play without having practiced it. We also saw a bunch of players who were programmed to think a certain way (defensively) under Martin, struggling to embrace a new, more open style.
Now, I don't think the Habs will win 7-3 every night, but the seven-goal outburst showcases the more offensive system that Cunneyworth is putting in place. And if Eller is the player who has benefited the most by playing under a new coach, Michael Cammalleri is a close second.
After going through a stretch of 10 games without a goal, the Habs highest paid sniper now has three goals, four points and a plus-2 rating in the last four games. Moreover, Cammalleri scored his first powerplay goal of the year against the Lightning last week.
Again, I don't think this suddenly makes the Habs a playoff team, but it's nice to see some positive signs for a change.
Realign this!
If you haven't heard by now, the NHLPA rejected the league's proposed division and playoff realignment for next season.
Here's the NHL's statement on the rejection followed by a statement released by the player's association.
To summarize, the league feels the PA has unjustly and unfoundedly rejected the proposal. The PA, on the other hand, feels that they asked the league for more info and were stonewalled.
And so it starts.
This is the first real confrontation/negotiation between Gary Bettman and PA head, Donald Fehr in what is surely a prelude to CBA discussions. The two are supposed to sit down at the All Star game this month, to start talks on renewing the expiring CBA—it expires as the end of this season.
If this first volley is any indication of the way things are going to play out, I think fans can expect to miss at least part of next season due to a lockout.
This move, to me, feels like the PA gathering a bargaining chip. The realignment is sure to come up again in CBA talks and the PA can/likely will use it as leverage.
The problem is that Bettman is known to be as stubborn as a bull and doesn't like being manipulated. As such, he is likely to revert to the petulant style he routinely displays when challenged.
That being said, I truly feel that the owners will have no choice but to bend more than the PA this time around. After the Olympics in 2010 and the recent cup wins by the Pens, Blackhawks and Bruins, the NHL is at an all time high, popularity-wise, in the U.S.
As such, the owners and the league simply cannot risk losing the tenuous momentum they currently have.
Either way, I can see things getting pretty spicy over the next six months.
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Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and featured columnist on PowerScoutHockey.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM. Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/
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(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
