Game 3 - Canadiens at Flyers

#MTLHockey Preview

Match Up

The Canadiens (2-0-0) are in Philadelphia Saturday night to face the Flyers (0-2-0) at the Wells Fargo Center. The puck is set to drop at 7:00 and is being broadcast by City, TVA and CSN-Philly.
This is the first of three meetings between the Habs and Flyers, and the only visit to Philadelphia this season. Last year the Canadiens dropped two of three to Philadelphia, but did manage a 4-1 victory in the only Bell Centre game. Alex Galchenyuk had a pair of assists in the game while Lars Eller, Rene Bourque and Brian Gionta had a goal and assist each.

What to Watch

Don't look now, but Tomas Plekanec is tied for the lead in goals with three in two games. Alex Galchenyuk has been a force on Plekanec's wing with two assists and several scoring chances so far this season. Galchenyuk also led the Habs with five hits in Thursday's 2-1 shootout win over the Capitals. The pair is expected to start with Jiri Sekac on their wing, a spot in the line-up the rookie found himself occupying midway through Thursday's tilt.

Wayne Simmonds is coming off a strong performance against the Devils with a pair of big second period goals to draw the Flyers level and an assist on Vincent Lecavalier's third period marker. In the end the Flyers lost their second straight game to open the season. Steve Mason gave up five goals in the 6-4 loss.

What's at Stake

Despite a pair of slow starts, the Canadiens are going into Philadelphia undefeated to start the season. In just two game the Canadiens have been out-shot 26-8 in the first period and outscored 3-1. While the primary objective has been met each game it stands to reason that Michel Therrien will want to make starting strong a main focus in Saturday's game.

Who's Out

The Canadiens are healthy and Carey Price is expected to start in nets after watching Dustin Tokarski get the job done in Washington. Alexei Emelin will miss the contest with an upper-body injury (ribs) and Jarred Tinordi will make his season debut tonight. It looks like Dale Weise and Michael Bournival will be healthy scratches.

The Flyers are missing star defenseman Chris Pronger, although with his recent appointment to the NHL Department of Player Safety, it doesn't appear as though he'll return to action any time soon. They could also be without Braydon Coburn (lower body) and former Hab Ryan White (chest). Kimmo Timonen (blood clots) may be sidelined for the entire season.

What Else

Despite seven power play opportunities in the two games the Habs have played, they have yet to score with the man advantage. The Canadiens ranked 19th in the league in that category last season and are hoping to get a boost this year from newly acquired defenseman Tom Gilbert and the prospect of Nathan Beaulieu playing a full season with significant power play responsibilities.

The Question Mark

Which part of the Habs game is the most solid and which needs the most improvement?

Tonight's Show

Join host Steven Hindle along with Kosta Papoulias and Rob Elbaz for the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show as we go live at 6:00 p.m. Saturday to preview the Canadiens and Flyers.

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Increased Reviews and Coaches Challenges?

Decisions made by referees can have a substantial impact on the outcomes of games. Case in point, last Wednesday night during the opening game of the 2014-15 season Toronto scored on a play that should have been blown dead at the blue line. On the play, Leafs rookie Brandon Kozun was clearly ahead of the play before the puck entered the zone. This led directly to a goal by Nazim Kadri. Thankfully the Habs fought back and won the game. The following night, in the 3rd period two Habs goals were disallowed due to questionable calls on the ice.

I ask you Habs fans, should instant replay be expanded to include every questionable play? Also, should coaches challenges, like the CFL has, be introduced? And how far should reviews be taken? Should every call made by a referee be fair game for review? Or should it just be goals?

Currently, the league reviews questionable goals only. The MLB is the prime exmple of the extremes of video review. This past season, MLB expanded the use of instant replay and challenges to include most plays. Each team is allowed one challenge a game. Most plays are fair game to be challenged in baseball. For those Habs fans who don't follow baseball, already the games were lengthy averaging approximately three hours. After a full season of the expanded replay, the biggest finding was games were significantly delayed by the challenges. NHL games are 2.5 hours long generally, but push three hours when the games include OT and a shootout. The biggest difference between the NHL and MLB is that in the MLB there is no running clock. The length of each inning is solely dictated by the amount of time it takes the batting team to make three outs. Each period in hockey is twenty minutes and the clock stops when the play is blown dead

The CFL has a system where coaches can challenge most plays and can do so 2x/game. In the final three minutes of a game or half the CFL initiates all reviews. The NHL currently has no such means.

To me, it comes down to the integrity of the game. Definitely, every questionable goal should be fair game for video review. Scoring in the NHL can be a daunting task and to have a goal count that shouldn't is just wrong. It doesn't matter whether the issue occurs several seconds before a goal is scored and is indirectly related or if the issue occurs simultaneously and directly leads to the goal. As far as penalty calls go, it should stay as is where the refs makes a discretionary call on penalties. Coaches challenges are an interesting idea. There would have to be a lot of consultation with players and GM's and the guidelines dictating what's reviewable would have to be clear. I think it's worth trying in the AHL first as some rule changes have been experimented with in the past. Referees are human and hockey is a fast-paced game. Calls are bound to be missed by the officials and in the course of a lengthy season, generally calls should average out.

Habs fans weigh in with your responses. #GoHabsGo

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Game 2 - Canadiens at Capitals

#MTLHockey Preview

 

Match-up

The undefeated Canadiens (1-0-0) are in Washington Thursday night to help the Capitals (0-0-0) start their season. The game is set to start at 7 PM and airs on RDS and Sportsnet360.
This is the first of three meetings between the Habs and Caps this season, and the Canadiens' only visit to Washington. Last year, the Habs went 1-1-1 against the Capitals, although their last meeting ended in a 5-0 loss in Montreal, a game that saw the Habs take just nine shots in the first two periods.

What to Watch

While Carey Price got the job done in Toronto on Wednesday, it will be up to Dustin Tokarski to do the same Thursday in Washington. The alternate captains led the way for the Habs on Wednesday, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and PK Subban scored all four of the Canadiens' goals in their 4-3 victory, with Plekanec tallying a pair including the final minute game winner. The trio also accounted for 14 of the team's 32 shots on Wednesday.

The Capitals are still led by Alex Ovechkin, the star Russian forward posted his fifth 50-goal season last year, with three of his 51 goals coming against the Canadiens. As the season goes on, it will be interesting to watch the dynamic between Ovechkin and new head coach Barry Trotz. Trotz is the Capitals' fourth head coach since the 2011-2012 season.

What's at Stake

The Habs are one game in to an undefeated season with just 81 games left to play.
While it may be a bit too early to worry about jockeying for position in the playoff race, the Bruins did win their first game of the season as well on Wednesday, meaning the two teams are tied for top spot in the Atlantic Conference.

Who's Out

The Canadiens are healthy after their first game of the season.
The Caps are dealing with injuries to Jay Beagle (upper body), Aaron Volpatti (neck), Dmitry Orlov (wrist) and Tom Wilson (ankle). Oft-injured defenseman Tom Green (upper body) is a game-time decision.

What Else

Nathan Beaulieu was shielded considerably in the Canadiens first game of the season, seeing the ice for barely more than ten minutes. It appears the rookies and youngsters will once again need to earn their coach's trust before being given more responsibility on ice. Jiri Sekac was the least used Habs forward in Wednesday's contest, seeing just 12:13 seconds of ice time.

The Question Mark

What, if anything, are the Habs missing to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders this season?

Tonight's Show

Join host Steven Hindle along with Kosta Papoulias and Rob Elbaz of the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show as we go live at 6:00 p.m. Thursday to preview the Canadiens versus the Capitals.

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Can Habs Special Teams Keep Up?

So now that the roster has been finalized and that we are ready to begin the 2014-15 season, there are some concerns that this year’s edition of the Montreal Canadiens may or may not need to be addressed.

Firstly, from my last article Jiri Sekac was the last man standing when the final cuts were done. The Habs held onto Jacob de la Rose until the very last day, and told him that he will be reporting to Hamilton when the team flies to Toronto to play their first game of the season. De Larose really impressed at camp at the center position, so much that head coach Michel Therrien praised his development “It’s surprising how well he understands his position,” said Therrien. “He was very well developed in Sweden.” Also, Francis Bouillon, a true Hab at heart, was told on Monday that he will not be offered a contract and that the team will be releasing him from his PTO. The Habs will now be counting on two of their prospects on defense, Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu. Both were first round pics in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

If we take a look at what unfolded at training camp, we can say that Beaulieu has a step up on Tinordi where he looks very smooth with the puck and is able to make quick decisions. Something that Tinordi struggled to do in every pre-season game he played, albeit he did layout a very good hit on Nate Schmidt from the Washington Capitals. The hit did get him ejected with a match penalty, but after review, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety ruled that it was indeed a legal hit, and that his match penalty will be removed from his record. Tinordi and Beaulieu play different styles, but Tinordi’s style is something the Habs have been sorely lacking for years. That brute physical style that can clear the front of the net, along with delivering some crushing hits, and that can drop the gloves when the time calls for it. Based on the aftermath of that hit, he can surely handle himself with his knuckles as he manhandled Chris Brown when Brown tried to defend his teammate, by going after Tinordi.

Beaulieu, in my opinion, is the heir apparent to take over when Andre Markov is set to retire. He is listed as the sixth defenseman on a third pairing with Mike Weaver. From his performance at camp, it would not surprise me that he ends up as a number four, and logging over twenty minutes a night. Again, very smooth skater, and is able to make quick decisions with the puck. He also makes a very good first pass in the defensive zone to counter an attack, something that is crucial when facing the bigger and more physical teams. He will also see some power play time, as he and Tom Gilbert are slotted as the second pairing. The first obviously will be P.K. Subban and Andre Markov. A look to the future and we do eventually see Beaulieu and Subban passing the puck to each other at 100 mph, and finding each other for one timers.

What concerns me is the penalty kill, and the overall defensive zone coverage. Josh Gorges is no longer here, and neither is Brian Gionta. Both were very good penalty killers and very responsible in their own zone. Gorges was notably a very good shot blocker. Gerard Gallant was responsible for the PP and PK when he was an assistant coach under Therrien. He is now head coach of the Florida Panthers and his old role has been filed by Dan Lacroix. Prior to his lone season with the Rangers, Lacroix spent three seasons on the Tampa Bay Lightning's coaching staff. Before coming to the Lightning, he was an assistant coach with Montreal's American Hockey League affiliate in Hamilton for one season in 2009-10. He was also an assistant coach for three seasons with the New York Islanders. He will be responsible for getting the PP going once again, along with trying to keep the PK as good as or even better than last season. Last season, Montreal had an 85.1% efficiency rate in penalty killing, which is good for fourth overall in the league. But with the last two pre-season games against Ottawa, the Senators managed to score winning goals while they were up a man. A sign of things to come, hopefully not, but the penalty kill was notably weaker in pre-season so far.

And what about the PP, Montreal used to be feared when it came to the man advantage, but now going back to last season and the playoffs, it seems that the Habs have become a bit too predictable. Last season, Montreal was nineteenth overall with 17.2% efficiency rate, which translates into 48 goals in 279 opportunities with the man advantage. Option number one would be a bomb from the blue line from P.K (Primetime) Subban, but if that fails then they would turn to Max Pacioretty and his patented wrist shot. The New York Rangers knew that too, so well that they had pretty much shut down the Habs' power play in the conference final and ultimately led to the elimination of the Habs in six games. They really need to have that third option, where a down low play would keep other teams honest in their penalty killing coverage.

Even strength scoring was also a concern going back to last season, as Montreal was nineteenth overall with only 155 goals. P.A. Parenteau, who was traded for by GM Marc Bergevin just before free agency opened, has not particularly looked comfortable on Pacioretty’s line this pre-season, hopefully he can find some chemistry with David Deharnais. If not, he could end up in the press box and Michael Bournival could be his replacement.

Alex Galchenyuk was arguably the best forward in camp, with some highlight reel goals and some sweet moves to get away from defenders. The question is can Thomas Plekanec be the center that Galchenyuk needs to get his career to super-stardom, or will a move to Center on a full-time basis be the answer for getting Alex Galchenyuk to the next level. Mind you, Galchenyuk did look very comfortable at center in the pre-season, scoring a GWG against Colorado.

Another topic of discussion is Lars Eller, will we see the playoff Eller where he had 13pts in 17 games, or will regular season Eller show up, where he lost all confidence in himself and was a healthy scratch a few times during the year. And the same goes for Rene Bourque and his 8 goals and 3 assists in 17 playoff games, or will his 9 goals and 7 assists in 63 games rear its ugly head. Jiri Sekac is set to complete the line of Eller and Bourque, he is a work horse, and very intense. He has something to prove for being ignored on draft day. I’m looking forward to great things from this line.

With the addition of Malhotra, the fourth line has never looked this good. With Brandon Prust and Dale Weise on the wings, this line can provide a boost of energy to complement the other lines. Along with winning key face-offs, Malhotra adds physicality from his 6’2 frame, and is very responsible in his own end. He will be looked upon to be a stable on the penalty kill. And he speaks French, la vie est belle!

By the time you read this article, Montreal will be either playing the Toronto Maple Leafs or have played them and we will be discussing the outcome. For some reason the schedulers always like to set these two teams up for an opening night tilt, kind of like a tasty hors-d'oeuvre before the season gets into full effect. The Leafs, have somewhat change their philosophy of being a “Truculent” hockey team to more finesse and skill as enforcers Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren, have both been put on waivers and replaced them with Carter Ashton, Josh Leivo and Brandon Kozun. They might finally want to play Hockey when they play the Habs.

This year’s edition of the Canadiens are bigger, younger, and faster. Will that ultimately lead to more scoring…well it could not hurt. Jiri Sekac, Alex Galchenyuk are two that I would look to have a great impact this year. Galchenyuk, seems very poised with the puck and every time he touches the puck, you kind of creep up to the edge of your seat and say “What are you going to do now kid”. And when all else fails, there’s always Carey. A special thank you goes out to Peter Budaj, who was the constant professional in what was a very difficult situation. Good luck in Winnipeg!

This team has a quiet confidence about them, they realize that what they have accomplished so far is nothing to brag about. They know what their ultimate goal is. And on a final note Pierre LeBrun, ESPN and TSN Hockey analyst, has said that he sees the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals… boy what a spring that would be.

Now drop the puck already!

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Game 1 - Canadiens at Maple Leafs

#MTLHockey Preview

Match-up

The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs launch the 2014-2015 NHL Season Wednesday night when the puck drops at the Air Canada Centre at 7:15 p.m. Opening day celebrations, dubbed NHL Face-Off, start at noon in Toronto with Maple Leafs Alumni on hand, including Wendel Clark, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Darryl Sittler.

In Canada, the game can be seen on the NHL's new broadcasting partners, TVA Sports in French and Sportsnet in English.

The Habs and Leafs meet four times this season, including the last game of their 82-game schedules. After Wednesday, the teams won't meet again until February 14. Last year the Habs earned wins in three of the five meetings between the two Original Six rivals, including an overtime win. Last season, Max Pacioretty had five goals and two assists in five games against the Leafs while James Van Riemsdyk had five points, all goals, against the Habs.

What to Watch

A new season brings fresh faces, fresh contracts to live up to, fresh expectations, and fresh hopes after a deep playoff run ended in the Eastern Conference Finals with Carey Price watching from the crowd.

New to the Habs this season are P.A. Parenteau, Jiri Sekac, Manny Malhotra, and Tom Gilbert. Parenteau is expected to start with David Desharnais and Pacioretty on the top line, while Sekac had been practicing with Lars Eller and Rene Bourque the team's two top scoring forwards in last year's playoff run. Malhotra meanwhile slots between Brandon Prust and Dale Weise.

The addition of Gilbert and Nathan Beaulieu, expected to be a regular with the big club this year, means the Canadiens have more offensive firepower on defense. PK Subban will continue to lead the way this season, the former Norris Trophy winner is expected to be called upon for even strength, power play, and penalty kill duties.

The Leafs have made several new additions as well, including the return of Russian tank Leo Komorov, who played in the KHL last season after his 2012-2013 rookie season with the Leafs. Stephane Robidas will be playing his first game with the Leafs Wednesday night, and his first game since a broken leg ended his season last year. Robidas will start his tenure with the Leafs against the team that drafted him 19 years ago.

Other new additions to the Leafs roster this year include Mike Santorelli, Roman Polak, Daniel Winnik and David Booth. Matt Frattin also returned to the Leafs this off-season, he last played for the team during the 2012-2013 season.

What's at Stake

With the Canadiens and Maple Leafs playing the traditional first game of the hockey season, the winner will take the early lead in this year's Presidents' Trophy race, at least until the Boston-Philadelphia game finishes up about a half hour later. Both teams will want to start the year off right, the Habs will be looking to continue their success after a long run in last year's playoffs, while the Leafs will hope to rebound from an end-of-season slide that saw them miss the post-season for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

Who's Out

The Canadiens go into the new season healthy, despite a couple of pre-season bumps and bruises to Parenteau and Eller.

The Leafs are missing new acquisition David Booth who is expected to miss at least a month of action with a broken foot. Cody Franson (knee) is also out.

What Else

This is the sixth straight year that the Canadiens and Maple Leafs open the season against each other. While the Habs have managed to finish ahead of the Leafs in four of the last five seasons, the Leafs have won the past four season opener. The last time the Habs won their first game of season was October 1, 2009, a 4-3 overtime win in Toronto. Josh Gorges had an assist and the OT winner in that game, Tomas Plekanec had a pair of assists.

The Question Mark

Which Hab will bring the biggest boost to his new line: Parenteau, Gallagher, Sekac or Malhotra?

Tonight's Show

Catch the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show starting at 5:30 Wednesday night. The show will be a special hour and a half 2014-2015 Season Preview with host Steven Hindle, Corey Collard, Nick Murdacco, Kosta Papoulias, and Rob Elbaz.

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Goaltending Controversy Averted and Must See Match-Up's

Greetings Habs Nation,

Bye Bye, Budaj

Peter Budaj moves on to Winnipeg along with prospect Patrick
Holland in exchange for Eric Tangradi.

There's no doubt that the main headline in Montreal Sunday was the trade between the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets that sent back-up goalie Peter Budaj and prospect Patrick Holland to the Jets for forward Eric Tangradi.

It would be silly to have an article without at least touching on it and so I will do so, however for a deeper look into the trade, check out Dan Beaulieu's trade analysis.

To me, the deal makes sense. Marc Bergevin is making room for the team's youth by shipping out Budaj and giving the back-up responsibilities to Dustin Tokarski. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it was reported soon after the trade that Peter Budaj had requested a trade after being ignored in the playoffs. It wasn't a shock to see some fans question Budaj's reputation as a good teammate after learning about his request, but that's just unfair. Budaj did what he could to help the team when called upon and when the team was in a dire situation, he was looked over and kept on the bench. It was clear the Canadiens were headed in another direction so why wouldn't he want to move on?

Patrick Holland, whom the Habs acquired as part of the deal that saw Mike Cammalleri off to Calgary, has not done much to impress since the trade. In 126 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Holland managed only 45 points (16 goals and 29 helpers) and in his five NHL appearances with the Canadiens he put up goose eggs on the score sheet. With numbers like that and prospects like Nikita Scherbak, Sven Andrighetto, Jacob De La Rose, Christian Thomas etc. ahead of him, there was no chance he'd ever crack the line-up.

As for Eric Tangradi, he's a bonus to what really was just a trade that gave our former back-up what he deserved, a shot to land more ice time, and a salary dump that saved the Habs roughly $800,000 by giving the job to Tokarski. It doesn't hurt that Tangradi stands at 6"4' 221 lbs, but he'll be starting the year in Hamilton.

Something I like to do each year is take a look at the schedule and talk about which games should not be missed. Due to the fact that my access to a computer is limited these days I'm late to the dance and the games you'll need to catch have already been covered by our own Nick Malofy.

However, going into the 2014-15 season, there are a few games I'm looking forward to for different reasons. I usually point out the first game of the season between the Habs and the Bruins or Leafs strictly because of the rivalries. Or games against former teammates just because they used to play with us or even games against superstars. This year I have different reasons to look forward to certain games.

I'm not personally going to circle any games between the Penguins or Capitals because I've been watching Crosby and Ovechkin for years. I won't get too excited about a match up against the Leafs because, well let's face it... rivalry or no rivalry the Leafs have become pretty irrelevant. So much so that the league may even give the city another team, kind of a "do-over".

So here are the match up's I'm going to be sure to watch this season.

Milan Lucic vs. Dale Weise/Alexei Emelin
Thursday, October 16th 2014

The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens always put on a hell of a show. The fact that the Habs ousted the heavily favorited Bruins in the seventh game of last year's Eastern Conference semi-final will add some excitement to this game. However, as I mentioned there is more to it than a simple rematch or an added game to on of the most storied rivalries in all of sports.

What everybody remembers most about the match-up last spring was the end of series handshake when Bruins jacka... forward, Milan Lucic said something along the lines of "I'm going to f*cking kill you" to Canadiens forward Dale Weise. Some not so loving words were also shared with Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. With these two teams already hating each other and more than likely heading into a season where they will fight for the division title, some added death threats should add to the excitement.

*I feel as if the word "allegedly" should have been thrown in there.

Tomas Plekanec is hated most by the NHL's most hated
player, Brad Marchand.

Brad Marchand of the Bruins, who is very hated by Canadiens fans, other team's fans and pretty much anybody decent, stated in the off season that the player he hates more than anybody else in the league is none other than Montreal Canadiens co-co-co-co captain, Tomas Plekanec. When Plekanec was asked about it he laughed and stated "I enjoyed his comments about me. It comes from a person that actually almost everybody in the NHL hates!"

Just a little more fuel the fire.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Chris Kreider 
Saturday, October 25th 2014

Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers is not the most loved player in Montreal since taking Habs goaltender Carey Price out of the playoffs last spring on route to the Rangers six game series win in the Eastern Conference finals. I'm not going to re-open the case to discuss whether or not it was on purpose. The fact is the fans haven't forgotten and you can sure as hell bet the players haven't either.

Players are professional and the Canadiens have more than likely put the incident behind them. I wouldn't be surprised to see the game end without Kreider receiving any kind of punishment from the Canadiens, but on the off chance that I'm wrong... I'll be watching. That's not to say that fights will get me to watch (to be completely honest you could take fighting out of the game and I couldn't care less), but just the energy in the building after seeing a player who an entire city blames for their lack of a 25th Stanley Cup being reprimanded... has to be electrifying.

For the record, in my opinion Tokarski played great, Lundqvist played better and I've still yet to be sold by opinion or video evidence that Kreider did it intentionally.

Brendan Gallagher vs. Josh Gorges
Wednesday, November 5th 2014

This is so much more than just a player facing off against his former team, you can tell by the fact that I left out Brian Gionta. Players play their former teams all the time, get over it. What attracts me towards this one is the opportunity to watch a pesky net crashing Gallagher battle in the blue paint against Josh Gorges, the man who plays a solid shut down role and who also happened to take Gallagher into his home when the young pest first joined the league.

Whether it was in interviews or the two jabbing at each other via Twitter, you could see that Gorges and Gallagher were close. After being taken under his wing you could always see just how much Gallagher respected Gorges. What adds to the match-up is their respective style of play, Gorges is a stay at home defenseman whose job it is to keep players like Gallagher out of the blue paint and it's Gallagher's job to get under the skin of the opposition's d-man. Should be an entertaining battle in front of the net.

It's tempting to add the Habs vs Peter Budaj simply because of the recent transaction, but that would be quite hypocritical, wouldn't it? Instead I'll add one last match-up that doesn't even include the Canadiens.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Josh Gorges
Thursday, October 28th

Hahaha... Gorges was asked to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Leafs and he declined because he hates them hahaha.

Ok, ok that's enough. While that is fantastic for Habs fans because of the love for Gorges and the hate aimed at the Leafs, it is a very reasonable reason. That's not a jab at the Leafs. If any player who had played for the Leafs for as long as Gorges wore the "CH" was willing to just up and join the Habs without a second thought you'd have to question his dedication to his team.

Gorges simply didn't want to play for a team he had grown to hate over the years because of the bitter rivalry stating that there was no way his heart would be in it. That's quite reasonable if you ask me. Even Brendan Shanahan, president of the Maple Leafs, went on record as saying that if Gorges had accepted right away he would have questioned whether or not he was the type of player the Leafs wanted.

Either way, respectable reason or not it's safe to say that decision and reasoning will more than likely upset the Leafs fan base (yes, they have one) and the reception Gorges will get at the Air Canada Center on the 28th of October is one that I'm hoping to see.

Would you take offence if a player refused to play for your city's team?
Will the Habs target Kreider in October or leave the incident in the past?
Is there anyone easier to hate than Marchand?
And finally, does the parting of Budaj really mean that much or was too big of a deal made over the situation of a back up goalie?

Let me know your thoughts.

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Budaj vs Tangradi Trade Analysis

Today, we learned Habs GM Marc Bergevin finally made a choice about which goaltender is going to be Carey Price's backup for the upcoming season, and it seems Dustin Tokarski has won the second goaltending spot in Montreal. The Canadiens confirmed they have traded goaltender Peter Budaj and prospect Patrick Holland to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for journeyman Eric Tangradi. Here's my point of view on that situation.

Budaj definitely had a pretty good year last season as a backup goaltender (10-8-3, with a 2.51 goal against average and a 0.909 efficiency) and always kept a professional attitude, whatever happened. The perfect teammate, the Slovakian goalie never seemed affected by the possibility of Tokarski getting his spot as the second goaltender of the Canadiens. The reason behind the trade must be the inability of Budaj to perform under pressure. Sure, as a backup, he could definitely step up his game when asked for it, but on long trips, he always cracked up after playing two or three straight games. He could always deliver one or two good performances, but he failed to show up when he had to start many games in a row.

More than that, he had chances to show what he could do during the playoffs, but he has never been able to prove he deserved to be in the net at that crucial time of the year (7 games started, 0-2 with an awful GAA of 5.13 and a terrible 0.843 save percentage). In fact, in the only game he started last playoffs, he allowed three goals on eight shots, not to mention the year before against Ottawa, he allowed seven goals on 31 shots. With Winnipeg, he will come in the room as a veteran who has some experience, and he will be able to help their young players grow up just like Gionta will do in Buffalo. 

As for Tokarski, many people told me they were expecting Bergevin to send him down to Hamilton for another year, but what you must keep in mind is that if Tokarski had been cut, he would have had to go on waivers for 24 hours, then another team could have claimed him, and then, the Habs would have lost him for nothing and it is pretty certain a team would have claimed the young keeper. He had a pretty decent season with Hamilton last year considering their very young team (20-16-3 with a 2.38 average and 0.919 efficiency) and showed promising things when he was called up to replace Carey Price against the New York Rangers last spring (2-3 with a 2.60 average and a 0.916 save percentage). Not only that, but he has been one of the Canadiens' top players during this last playoffs run. Bergevin always said he wanted to bring as many young players as he could in the big league since he want the Habs to be competitive for a long time, so he did not have any other choice than to promote Tokarski as Price's backup and trade Peter Budaj.

We also learned today that Peter Budaj had asked to be traded after last season since he was not happy about the way the organization treated him. Still, he didn't go publicly as he is a pure professional. 

Instead of losing Budaj for nothing by placing him on the waiver wire, Montreal's general manager decided to trade him for forward Eric Tangradi. As a trade, I think it is a good fit for both teams. Former Winnipeg Jets forward Tangradi in on the last year of a two-year contract worth $1.35M. His cap hit counts for 675,000$, compared to Budaj's salary of $1.4M for the upcoming season, so Habs save $725,000 in salary. Patrick Holland is not included in these maths because he is mostly going to play in AHL. However, if by any chance he would be playing in the NHL, his salary would be a $640,000 cap hit. Financially speaking, Bergevin made a pretty good move there. Also, Budaj really couldn't bring anything else to the Habs, as though Tangradi can bring a physical presence as well as being a 4th liner and bench warmer if needed. Don't expect him to score 30 goals, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Therrien dress him against bigger opponents such as Boston or Philadelphia.

All in all, I think it is a pretty good trade. Only time will tell if Tokarski will be able to live up to his status of #2 goaltender. One thing is certain though. Our future is pretty bright in goal, with Price, Tokarski and the promising Zachary Fucale.

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