Ann 2NHL Pre-Season: Canadiens Top Senators 2-1
September 19th 2009 15:10
It's a new era in Montreal as the Canadiens enter their second century of existence. With this new beginning comes several changes in the organization. Gone are veterans Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins and a slew of other players who had come to call Montreal their home. Gone is head coach Guy Carbonneau and most of the coaching staff from the big club all the way to the Habs' farm team in Hamilton. And gone is owner George Gillett who sold the team to the Molson family.
After a disastrous season, the slate has been swiped clean. Experienced coach Jacques Martin was brought in to give some direction to a club which had the ill-advised habit of signing rookie coaches since the mid-90s. Seven new players were acquired to replace the ten departing UFAs. Among them, veterans Bian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Hall Gill are counted on to bring some leadership to the squad while Mike Cammalleri brings the star-power that will (hopefully) help Habs fans forget Kovalev.
After two weeks of getting to know each other, the 50 players taking part in the training camp were split up in two squads in order to get ready for exhibitions where the Canadiens will play five games in five nights before final team cuts and two more games to prepare for the season.
Since the first game (a win against the Florida Panthers) wasn't televised, I can only talk about the second game which didn't have many Habs regulars. In fact, excluding goaltender Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens had six NHL regulars on their roster for Friday night's game against the Ottawa Senators.
After a dismal first period where the Senators opened the scoring with a powerply goal, the Canadiens got better as the game went on with Ben Maxwell leveling things up with a powerplay goal of his own in the second period and Brian Gionta scoring the winner in the third period.
Here are couple of observations I have on this game.
- With no Markov or Spacek on the blueline, the Canadiens had a hard time moving out of their zone when pressured by Ottawa forwards. The powerplay was also a complete mess due to those guys' absence.
- The defense may be bigger but they are awfully slow. I cringed several times during the game because the Senators forwards could easily skate their way past Belle, Henry and Gill.
- Speaking of defensemen, Paul Mara was a mess in the beginning of the game, making bad decision after bad decision. He got better as the game went on but I'm still not sure about him.
- Youngster Weber on the other hand is making a case for a longer stay with the big club. Although he is not the biggest player out there, his positionning seems to have gotten better since last year and his speed is appreciated during offensive rushes.
- In front, Plekanec's line was speed at its purest. It took awhile for the line – composed of Plekanec, Gionta and Pacioretty – to find its bearing but once they found their groove, they buzzed around the Senators' net like bees on the hunt. In Gionta, Plekanec finally has a winger who plays the exact same style as him and who can also keep up with his speed. They made some nice passing plays towards the end of the game that showed that there's a lot of potential on that line. Pacioretty was also good by their side but in his case, a stay at Hamilton might be better for him until he gets a call-up.
- Apart from Pacioretty, Weber and Maxwell, most of the youngsters didn't really impress me. Eric Neilson stole the show by taking part in two fights, decisively winning his first against Jeremy Yablonski and coming down to a draw against veteran Chris Neil.
All in all, the lack of NHL regulars makes it hard to really judge this game especially when you take into account all the time spent on special teams which didn't have the proper players. Saturday, the Habs will play at Ottawa where they'll see Kovalev on the other side for the first time. Then it's on to Quebec on Sunday to face the Boston Bruins.
My 3 Stars:
3. Eric Neilson
2. Tomas Plekanec
1. Brian Gionta
After a disastrous season, the slate has been swiped clean. Experienced coach Jacques Martin was brought in to give some direction to a club which had the ill-advised habit of signing rookie coaches since the mid-90s. Seven new players were acquired to replace the ten departing UFAs. Among them, veterans Bian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Hall Gill are counted on to bring some leadership to the squad while Mike Cammalleri brings the star-power that will (hopefully) help Habs fans forget Kovalev.
After two weeks of getting to know each other, the 50 players taking part in the training camp were split up in two squads in order to get ready for exhibitions where the Canadiens will play five games in five nights before final team cuts and two more games to prepare for the season.
Since the first game (a win against the Florida Panthers) wasn't televised, I can only talk about the second game which didn't have many Habs regulars. In fact, excluding goaltender Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens had six NHL regulars on their roster for Friday night's game against the Ottawa Senators.
After a dismal first period where the Senators opened the scoring with a powerply goal, the Canadiens got better as the game went on with Ben Maxwell leveling things up with a powerplay goal of his own in the second period and Brian Gionta scoring the winner in the third period.
Here are couple of observations I have on this game.
- With no Markov or Spacek on the blueline, the Canadiens had a hard time moving out of their zone when pressured by Ottawa forwards. The powerplay was also a complete mess due to those guys' absence.
- The defense may be bigger but they are awfully slow. I cringed several times during the game because the Senators forwards could easily skate their way past Belle, Henry and Gill.
- Speaking of defensemen, Paul Mara was a mess in the beginning of the game, making bad decision after bad decision. He got better as the game went on but I'm still not sure about him.
- Youngster Weber on the other hand is making a case for a longer stay with the big club. Although he is not the biggest player out there, his positionning seems to have gotten better since last year and his speed is appreciated during offensive rushes.
- In front, Plekanec's line was speed at its purest. It took awhile for the line – composed of Plekanec, Gionta and Pacioretty – to find its bearing but once they found their groove, they buzzed around the Senators' net like bees on the hunt. In Gionta, Plekanec finally has a winger who plays the exact same style as him and who can also keep up with his speed. They made some nice passing plays towards the end of the game that showed that there's a lot of potential on that line. Pacioretty was also good by their side but in his case, a stay at Hamilton might be better for him until he gets a call-up.
Gionta's first goal as a Hab
- Apart from Pacioretty, Weber and Maxwell, most of the youngsters didn't really impress me. Eric Neilson stole the show by taking part in two fights, decisively winning his first against Jeremy Yablonski and coming down to a draw against veteran Chris Neil.
Neilson vs. Yablonski
All in all, the lack of NHL regulars makes it hard to really judge this game especially when you take into account all the time spent on special teams which didn't have the proper players. Saturday, the Habs will play at Ottawa where they'll see Kovalev on the other side for the first time. Then it's on to Quebec on Sunday to face the Boston Bruins.
My 3 Stars:
3. Eric Neilson
2. Tomas Plekanec
1. Brian Gionta
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