30 teams in 30 days: Montreal Canadiens
Finished: 8th eastern conference
Playoffs: Lost in 1st round to Boston
Leading scorers: Alexei Kovalev 65, Andrei Markov 64, Saku Koivu 50, Alex Tanguay 41
Who did they add?: Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Mara, Andreas Engqvist, Curtis Sanford
Who did they lose?: Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins, Tom Kostopoulos
Overview: The Habs entered the 2008-2009 season with expectations as high as they have been in the past. Coming off a season in which many had them finishing miles out of a playoff spot, they surprised many by finishing first in the eastern conference. Things couldn’t have looked better, with Montreal set to face Boston, a team they had swept 8-0 during the regular season, and who had managed to just sneak into the playoffs, in the first round. The Stanley Cup never seemed closer. How very wrong they were. The Bruins put up a valiant fight, taking the habs to 7 games, but finally bowing out with a convincing 5-0 defeat. They then went on to face the Flyers in the second round, who manhandled them, winning the series by a convincing 4-1 mark. After this, people came up with the notion that “this is not their year”. They were right. The habs started the season 6-0, and entered the all-star break 4th in the eastern conference. But this was not to last, as injuries and inconsistency and turmoil in the dressing room started to take over, seeing the Habs slip all the way down to 8th place and get swept in the first round by the Bruins. The lack of success in what many presumed to be the ideal time to capture the cup, their 100th season, prompted Gainey to execute a massive roster shakeup. Now, leading the forwards, instead of Saku Koivu and Kovalev, there’s Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. They will need these guys to produce, as 3 of Montreal’s 4 leading scorers from last year are no longer with the team. The defense, in my opinion, is better than it was last season. With catalyst Andrei Markov at the helm, and additions Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Mara and Hal Gill added into the mix which includes Roman Hamrlik, Ryan O’byrne, Yannick Weber and others, the defense is quite formidable. They are bigger, nastier, and better puck-movers than they were a year ago. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak continue to mind the cage for les habitants. Price will look to improve on an OK rookie campaign, that saw him lack consistency and look as though he was suffering under the pressure at times. Halak is a competent backup, and if either should falter, newly signed Curtis Sanford is also available. It’s hard to know what will happen with the Habs this season because of the HUGE change in the team, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that they will miss the playoffs, unless all the newly added players can find some chemistry in training camp or at the beginning of the season.
Winners or losers?: The habs are losers this offseason, but only because they didn’t address their need for some size down the middle. They took a roster that didn’t have much success and completely revamped it. It remains to be seen whether the changes will turn out as good as habs fans everywhere are hoping, or if they are busts.
