Canadiens Bomb as Ship Begins to Fade Below Surface

Mayday! Mayday! The Montreal Canadiens’ ship is sinking and it’s sinking quickly. At the all-star break the Montreal Canadiens were one of the best teams in the league. They had Robert Lang going, Carey Price was living up to the billing by seemingly evolving into one of the best goaltenders in the league, and despite a subpar power play—and Alex Kovalev for that matter—it was smooth sailing in Montreal. Since January 27^th however the story has been much different. Robert Lang was lost for the year with an achillies injury, Price has gone off the deep end, Kovalev’s game has not really improved at all, Mathieu Schneider’s reacquisition had too short a positive effect, no moves were made at the trade deadling, and now Bob Gainey has replaced Guy Carbonneau with who else but Bob Gainey (and throw in an alleged link to organized crime by the Kostitsyn brothers to boot). A 5-2 loss to rival Toronto made it only four points in their last nine games dropping them to eighth in the east with only one point separating them from complete playoff exclusion. Many solutions have been offered but none have resulted in wins. Now one of sports greatest teams who entered this year optimistic about their chances of ending a 16 year Stanley Cup drought in this their 100^th year anniversary are now headed toward April tee-times. Montreal is sending out an S.O.S. but can anyone save their beloved Canadiens’ season?

Flames Win Big; Penguins, Rangers Improve; Canadiens Do Nothing

Now that the NHL trade deadline has come and gone the general consensus is that the Calgary Flames made the biggest splash acquiring Ollie Jokinen. Many in the hockey world think this acquisition puts them over the top and makes Calgary the new Stanley Cup front runners. Calgary did indeed improve their status greatly but not because of Jokinen but rather because of Jordan Leopold. In recent years the Flames have struggled in the playoffs in large part because of their inability to limit the amount of shots Mikka Kiprusoff. Adding Leopold may be just what the doctor ordered to take some pressure off of Kiprusoff and Dion Phaneuf. With this acquisition and Detroit’s goaltending issues the Calgary Flames have now put themselves up there with the San Jose Sharks as the front runners to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Looking to the bottom part of the West perhaps the most notable move was made by Columbus who acquired Antoine Vermette. For the first time Columbus is on the cusp of making the playoffs and now management has shown that they are both serious about making the playoffs and also about winning once they get there.

Turning to the Eastern Conference now it’s probably fair to say that no major splashes were made by any of the teams on deadline day. The biggest impact of any trade to this point in the season is probably how Chris Kunitz has played in Pittsburgh netting three goals and five total points in only three games. Pittsburgh added Bill Guerin in the meantime and have won four in a row all without Crosby, so adding Guerin and Crosby to the lineup probably makes Pittsburgh somewhat of a wildcard down the stretch/into the playoffs. Perhaps the “splash” of the day in the east was made by the Rangers who acquired Nick Antropov which may just be the answer to all of their offensive woes and may provide the spark the Rangers need to break out of their recent funk. Erik Cole going back to Carolina means they are sure to score a lot of goals the final month and a half of the season. The bigger question for the Canes is can Cam Ward continue to carry them defensively; they rely on Ward a ton and he will probably get burned out pretty soon.

There were also some “non-moves” that will greatly impact the Eastern Conference race. Most notable was Florida not moving Jay Bouwmeester. If the Panthers were going to make the playoffs or at least make any noise once they got there they were going to need Bouwmeester and now they’ve got him so Eastern Conference teams beware. Also of great significance is the fact that the Montreal Canadiens did not make a single move. After addressing none of their on ice issues the Canadiens promptly lost to Buffalo 5-1 in a game they were thoroughly outplayed by Buffalo in the final 40 minutes. Many (including myself) believed the Canadiens were the favorites to win the East and they still can do just that, but by not making a single move at the deadline coupled with Price’s continues woes their chances are in jeopardy. Mathieu Schneider has done a lot to improve their power play and it’s possible that Wednesday night was the exception but considering how poorly they played it’s hard to imagine. In the end, no matter how the season turns out these final 19 or 20 games will be an awful lot of fun to watch.

By the way, I know Sean Avery is back in New York… I don’t care.

Therrien Out. Schneider to Habs. Rangers Seek Avery?

Every now and then I do a sweep around the league commenting on various topics and I think now is the time for one of those sweeps.

Therrien out – Michel Therrien has paid the price for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season of gravely underachieving. Despite having the league’s top two scorers in Malkin and Crosby respectively, the Penguins are in 10 in the East and are coming off losses to out-of-contention Toronto and the lowly New York Islanders. Therrien is hardly to blame for Pittsburgh’s struggles but coaches are usually the ones to take the blow when a team is struggling because firing players is hardly an option. Baby Penguins (Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate) boss Dan Bylsma has been called up to lead the team for the remainder of the season. Therrien stated he believes the now Bylsma led team will make the playoffs but now having lost two in a row to teams they should have beaten it certainly seems unlikely. The good news for Pittsburgh is that a lot of teams in front of them have been struggling to win games as of late keeping the Penguins in contention.

Rangers sliding – The New York Rangers have hit a bit of a rut lately losing eight of their last nine, including a five game losing streak and a 4 game slide that was extended Monday night with a loss to home-standing St. Louis. Tom Renney’s job is in jeopardy and the Rangers are considering making a move for Sean Avery of all people to help turn them around. When a team looks to Sean Avery to “right the ship” that team is probably in a hole they will never dig out of.

Mathieu Schneider to Canadiens – The Canadiens—another team in a free-fall—have acquired defensemen Mathieu Schneider from the Atlanta Thrashers for two draft picks. Schneider, now in his 20^th season, returns to the Canadiens after being a part of their last Stanley Cup team in 1993. Perhaps Schneider’s presence will serve as a morale boost but not much more than that. The defense may be sured-up slightly with him in the lineup, but in the end the Canadiens’ problems stem from Carey Price’s collapse, not being able to score on the power play, losing Robert Lang, and Kovalev having an extremely average season. If those pieces don’t shape up then it won’t matter what Schneider does because he cannot carry this franchise to the promised land alone.