It's Playoff Time...Time To Take A Look Back

This is it. Eighty-two games are in the books. Now, it's a two month sprint to 16 wins. Just to make the playoffs this year was a monumental task, whether you played in the Eastern Conference or the Western Conference. The eighth seeded team in the West, the Winnipeg Jets, needed 99 points to make the playoffs. Things weren't any easier in the East, as Pittsburgh needed 98 points to make the playoffs. That is ridiculous. Every year since the '04-'05 lockout the minimum standard to even make the playoffs has been escalating exponentially. The sad thing, in 2 weeks, 8 of the 16 teams who busted their butts to get to 100 points will be eliminated from the playoffs.

As we get ready to plop down on our sofas to watch some playoff hockey, I would like to take a moment to share some thoughts with you on the 2014-15 season that just wrapped up.

Tanking for Connor McDavid

On the flip side, while the majority of the league excelled this season, a handful of teams, not so subtly, tanked. Edmonton, Toronto, Arizona, Colorado and Buffalo all lost a bunch of games in the hopes of being dead last in the league to better their chance of drafting 1st overall. This year's draft is projected to include at least two potential superstars in Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. The draft lottery determines who will be pick first and the odds of selecting number one overall are greatest if you finish last in the NHL. Quite frankly, I think it's shameful to reward ineptitude. I think that every team should have a chance at the first overall pick, even the Stanley Cup winner. I don't think the odds should be equal either. Back in 2005, the NHL gave everyone the chance to select Sidney Crosby at number one. That year, every team started with three balls in the lottery barrel. A team lost a ball for every playoff appearance in the past 3 seasons or the number one overall pick the previous four years. Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers and Columbus had three balls. Anaheim, Atlanta (now Winnipeg), Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, LA, Minnesota, Nashville and Phoenix (now Arizona) each had two balls. And the remaining 16 teams each had one ball in play. I believe a similar draft lottery should be in play every season. Any team that makes the playoffs should get one ball and teams that don't make the playoffs should get an extra ball.

One should be cautious about trying to lose anyway. Edmonton provides a sobering example. The Oilers had 3 1st overall picks in a row from 2010-2012, drafting Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov respectively. Again this season, the Oilers have a solid chance of landing the 1st overall pick. The junior hockey league is significantly easier than the NHL. Numerous players have played well at the junior level only to falter in the NHL. Pat Falloon is perhaps the most notable example. His best year was his rookie year, when he notched 59 points, which is solid. If you want to be successful in the NHL you can't just draft the best players year after year. nor, can you buy a championship team with a salary cap in place. Instead, success arises from a combination of solid drafting, good development and recruiting good free agents. Plus, you need a coach/system that gels with the team you have.

Shootouts

Shootouts have been in place to settle tie games that go beyond five minutes of overtime since 2005. You either love shootouts or you hate them. Skilled teams love them. Teams that miss the playoffs by one or two points hate them. The NHL General Managers discussed the issue during their meetings in March. It was forwarded to the competition committee to play 3-on-3 hockey in OT as a way to reduce the number of games decided in the shootout.

In an attempt to reduce the number of shootouts, teams switched ends and there was a dry scrape of the ice, by the Zamboni for the first month and then the ice crew only for the rest of the season. The effort appeared to have little effect. This season, 291 games went beyond regulation time and of those, 173 or 59.4% went to a shootout.

Admittedly, the shootout is not an ideal way to end games but I would take it over a tie game. It would be nice to see more games end before the shootout so I am in favor of some 3 on 3 hockey. There are two proposed formats in play. In one format, teams would start OT 4 on 4 and move to 3 on 3 at the 1st whistle after the 3rd minute. In the second format, OT would be only 3 on 3. I suspect the former will be more likely to be implemented

Goalie Interference

A third hot button issue that came up this season is goalie interference. This has always been a grey area, as often times goalies will flop at any contact to sell a call. My view is the goalie's space is the blue paint and the goalie must have that space. However, I do not think we should go back to 1999 where the Stanley cup was decided on a Brett Hull goal when he had a toe in the blue paint but was not touching the goalie.

At the same time, goalies are not built to take a body check so they must be treated more delicately. In terms of questionable goals, the call should be allowed to be overturned on the basis of interference vs. no interference. I like the idea proposed during the GM meetings where a coach can challenge a call like interference provided the team has a time out.

Five Canadian teams in the Playoffs

Canadian teams overall had great success with five of the seven teams making the playoffs. Toronto and Edmonton were the only teams to miss the playoffs and boy, did they ever. Edmonton's collapse was less surprising given their recent history. Toronto was actually in a playoff position heading into the new year,  then they fired coach Randy Carlyle and the team just gave up. The Leafs won just 5 times after the new year.

Ottawa and Winnipeg snuck in as wildcard seeds and both have potential to do some damage in the playoffs. Their goalies Andrei Pavelec and Andrew Hammond are both on ridiculous hot streaks.

Vancouver is having a bounce back year after missing the playoffs last season. Clearly John Torterella was a bad hire that tried to implement/force upon the Canucks a system that wasn't ideal for their players. They had many injuries last season and their stars, Sedins, Edler and Burrows especially had career low stats and looked awful.

Calgary is a team that is up and coming. They were not expected to make the playoffs and that alone means they should not be taken lightly. Every time the Canucks and Flames have met in round one, the winner has gone on to the cup final.

Will the trend continue? Will we see a Habs-Canucks or Habs-Flames final. Personally, I would love to see the former  match-up as the Canucks and Habs are the two teams I follow most. It's very possible it could happen as the league is wide open this year and every team has weaknesses.


The Habs Season That Was

Montreal had a strong season this year. As mentioned, the bar to even secure a playoff berth was exceptionally high, so it was a massive accomplishment to secure home ice advantage. Do the Habs have concerns heading into the playoffs? Absolutely, but so does virtually every team this year.

Look at Ottawa. Sure, they are riding a hot goalie but Hammond is bound to cool off sometime and the Senators are inexperienced in the playoffs and bound to make mistakes. I thought GM Marc Bergevin made some solid trades this season, getting depth on defense in  Sergei Gonchar and getting rid of bad contracts like Rene Bourque.

Dustin Tokarski held his own as a backup. Carey Price was Carey Price and carried the team on his shoulders numerous times. The Habs must give him more goal support in the post-season or it could be an early exit. I think Montreal will prevail in the opening round but it won't be easy

Buckle up Habs fans. Get your beer and popcorn ready and #GoHabsGo

A Habs fan blogging from BC

Read More

Eight thoughts after eight games

Hey Habs fans. It's been a while since I lasted posted here and I have a few thoughts on the Habs and NHL I wish to share with you. Please feel free to weigh in and comment.

The Schedule. The schedule makers did Montreal no early favors starting them off with a tough four games in six night road trip. Then, immediately after the first home-stand which ended last night vs. the NY Rangers, the Canadiens pack their bags and head out on a Western Canada road trip through Alberta and BC. In fact, the Habs play virtually either every night or every other night right through December 5th. The following week they play just twice. It will be interesting to see how the fatigue factor comes into effect with so much hockey to be played the next six weeks or so.

Goaltending Just prior to the start of the regular season on October 5th, GM Marc Bergevin traded veteran goaltender Peter Budaj to the Winnipeg Jets for forward Eric Tangradi. The move effectively made rookie Dustin Tokarski the new backup to starter Carey Price. There was some concern heading into the season about the health of Price, whose playoff run ended early on this dirty play by Rangers pest Chris Krieder. Price has proven that he is back and better than ever. Through his first seven starts, he has allowed 18 goals on 190 shots for a .913 save %and a 2.67 goals against average. Those numbers are improving every game and are bound to improve as the season progresses. Meanwhile, Tokarski has made two appearances, starting in Washington and performing mop-up duty in TB. I'm not worried about the goaltending. This tandem of Price and Tokarski will give the Habs a chance to win on most nights.

Canada's Team? Although it is a brief sample, after eight games, Montreal looks like Canada's best hope to win a Stanley Cup. Toronto has its usual goaltending problems, Ottawa is also off to a good start, but they are a young team and will not be able to sustain the effort all season. In the west, the Canucks have a older team and are atrocious in the faceoff circle. Winnipeg's Evander Kane has demanded a trade and anytime you have an unhappy player in the locker room it creates division. Also, the team still very much resembles the one it inherited when Atlanta relocated to Winnipeg three seasons ago. Edmonton has a comical way of defending and Calgary is very much in a rebuilding stage, likely in the running for Connor McDavid. Montreal currently has a great mix of players who are just entering their prime at the same time, from defenseman PK Subban to Price. The Habs resemble the 2011 Vancouver Canucks squad who dominated the league and nearly brought the Stanley Cup back to Canada.

The Refereeing. So far, the refereeing hasn't been stellar. Case in point, opening night Toronto scored a goal that should have been blown dead due to an obvious offside. The following night vs. Washington, the Habs had two goals called back in the 3rd period. This season, the referees are conferencing on controversial calls. I'm still an advocate for increased video review, especially on goals that should or should not be counted. I think penalty calls should continue to be discretionary with the exception of too many men on the ice calls. That penalty is not called often enough in my opinion. I also think coaches challenges are worth trying in the AHL or junior league or a preseason game next year.

Shootouts. The shootout has been a controversial addition to NHL games. Introduced after the 2003-04 lockout in an effort to make sure there are no ties in hockey, many games that have gone beyond 60 minutes have been decided in the shootout. There are many fans who argue that the shootout is not a fair way to decide a game. There are some teams that just aren't good at a shootout. The Vancouver Canucks have been traditionally bad at it. Also, you might have a game where one side plays awful but manages to get to a shootout and because they are good at the skill game they win. In an effort to cut down on the number of games decided by the shootout, the NHL implemented a few changes. First, at the end of regulation there is a dry scrape of the ice. Second teams switch ends, thus making line changes harder when tired. Finally, the spin-o-rama has been eliminated as a legal move in the shootout. Have the changes worked? Of the 27 games that have gone beyond regulation time, 15 of them have required a shootout. I think the switching of sides is a good idea but perhaps the dry scrape has the opposite effect. By dry scraping the ice, the puck sticks  to the surface. Teams need more incentive to win in regulation or OT. I propose that teams get three points for winning in regaulation, two for overtime and just a single point for winning in a shootout. The losing team gets nothing at all.

Expansion/Relocation. There has been much debate of expanding the league by a couple of teams. Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City. Before considering expansion, one has to ask whether there is enough viable NHL talent that an expansion team would win consistently? Currently the Carolina Hurricanes are winless and there are several teams that have won just twice in their 7 or 8 games. There is an imbalance of talent between conferences with the West generally dominating and the Eastern conference having a few teams doing well, including your Habs. If the NHL wants to go the relocation route, Florida would be a prime candidate to move. Their attendance has been abysmal the last few seasons, especially this one. Part of the problem is the Panthers aren't winning despite having to spend tons of money on high-end talent just to make the cap floor. Also, the Panthers are having to compete with the MLB (Miami Marlins), NFL (Miami Dolphins), college football, and NBA (Miami Heat). In my opinion, the league should not consider expansion but should definitely consider relocating teams like Florida and Carolina. I highly doubt the league would simply fold a team like Florida due to loss of revenue. Instead, I can see the league relocating to a more viable location.

Ottawa Tragedy I would like to give a shoutout to the fallen Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was gunned down Wednesday in a terrorist attack that could have ended so much worse if not for the quick action of Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers who killed the lone gunman. Like many of you I was moved by the actions of bystanders who tried in vain to save the fallen Cirillo. Kudos to every NHL team who played the Canadian anthem and honored our fallen soldier, I wish MLB had followed suit instead of simply releasing a statement on behalf of the Toronto Blue Jays. I do not wish to turn this blog into a political debate. However, we must not condone the actions of extremists. In times like this week, we are not Habs fans, we are Canadian citizens who stand together as one united voice that terrorists will not win. Please hug your loved ones tonight and keep in your thoughts and prayers those currently fighting overseas and/or enrolled in the military. #OttawaStrong.

Playoff Rematch. Montreal faced Tampa Bay, Boston and NY Rangers respectively in their lengthy playoff run last season. Already they have had one game against each this season. One has to wonder if the Habs would have beaten Tampa Bay if a healthy Steven Stamakos was available. When the Habs faced the Lightning, Stamakos had only recently returned from a bad break in his leg on this play. Based on the start he has had this season, if he was healthy last season, the Habs would have had a tougher fight on their hands at the very least. The Habs defeated the Bruins in an entertaining battle that featured 10 goals. Finally tonight, they exacted their revenge in a clinical 3-1 victory over the Rangers. Not surprisingly, Chris Kreider was booed mercifully after he took out Carey Price in last year's playoffs. All in all, it's great to see the start Montreal has had to their season

Go Habs Go

Read More