After 34 games, the Habs delivered some gifts before taking their Christmas break

December 24, 2024 On Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game before a short Christmas break. It was a heartbreaking 5-4 regulation loss that snapped their win streak at three games. The record is still a humbling 14-17-3, but in the last 10 games the Habs have shown signs of growth and areContinue reading “After 34 games, the Habs delivered some gifts before taking their Christmas break”

Eight weeks and American Thanksgiving are past, and the Habs face decisions

December 2, 2024 After playing Jekyl and Hyde in week seven, with a strong win against Edmonton, and an ugly loss against Vegas, the Habs had four games on tap for week eight. Back-to-backs on Tuesday and Wednesday resulted in three of four points claimed, with an overtime loss to Utah and an overtime winContinue reading “Eight weeks and American Thanksgiving are past, and the Habs face decisions”

After six weeks the Habs are finding their way

November 17, 2024 The Montreal Canadiens entered the sixth week of action in the 2024-25 season at the very bottom of the standings and in desperate need of some wins. Being “in the mix” was nowhere near as important as staying out of the gutter and lifting the spirits of a young team. The HabsContinue reading “After six weeks the Habs are finding their way”

Checking in on the Habs progress against the McGuire Profile

August 24, 2024 On April 20, 2023 I wrote an article assessing where the Montreal Canadiens were in their development against what I named the McGuire Profile. The McGuire Profile is a 7-player profile which hockey analyst Pierre McGuire says was developed based on conversations with Scotty Bowman. The profile identifies seven essential pieces toContinue reading “Checking in on the Habs progress against the McGuire Profile”

The Montembeault deal checks a lot of boxes for the Habs

December 1, 2023 On Friday, December 1st, the Montreal Canadiens signed goaltender Samuel Montembeault to a three-year contract extension worth $9.45M. The deal, which begins next season and will take Monty to the end of the 2026-27 season, has an annual average value of $3.15M. The deal does not include trade protection. The contract termContinue reading “The Montembeault deal checks a lot of boxes for the Habs”

Three goalies and three trade proposals

October 26, 2023 The Montreal Canadiens are into their third week of the season and already have six games under their belts. They’ve been carrying three goaltenders on their roster to avoid placing one on waivers, but that approach limits the number of position players they can carry. With the Habs already in a littleContinue reading “Three goalies and three trade proposals”

Kent Hughes has a lesson to learn from Cayden Primeau

October 1, 2023 The Montreal Canadiens training camp roster – the one that could match the list Santa Claus is making and will check twice – took a significant cut on Saturday. A significant group was announced just before the preseason game against the Leafs, and others were added just after. 33 players remained inContinue reading “Kent Hughes has a lesson to learn from Cayden Primeau”

The Habs need to clear some traffic in their crease

September 9, 2023 The Montreal Canadiens are holding their annual golf tournament on Monday, and fans are watching to see how many goalies show up. Veteran leader Jake Allen is under contract for two more years and Samuel Montembeault has done nothing but get better since he was claimed off waivers two training camps ago.Continue reading “The Habs need to clear some traffic in their crease”

Cayden Primeau gets a little PDA from Kent Hughes

Eggs Bennett 22-23 September 9, 2022 On Thursday the Montreal Canadiens signed their final restricted free agent when they inked goaltender Cayden Primeau to a 3-year contract worth $2.67M for an AAV of $890K. The contract is Primeau’s first one-way deal. The deal is a little PDA from Kent Hughes. You might find the publicContinue reading “Cayden Primeau gets a little PDA from Kent Hughes”