2009-2010 Montreal Canadiens Preview

Les Habitants c’est magnifique! The Canadiens enter their second century of play as the NHL’s all time leader in Stanley Cup championships and the franchise carries the banner of an entire province. Quebec is extremely proud of her native team and their fandom is truly fanaticism. As with most Canadian markets, the media spotlight glows hot and Montreal will look to ice a much more consistently competitive team this season after an offseason of enormous change and hopefully calm the nerves of their notoriously jumpy fans.

Looking Back at 2008-2009

Last season did not go the way that Montreal wanted. Their 100 th year was supposed to be a yearlong celebration of the franchise’s glorious history while making a run at the Stanley Cup. After an excellent start, the Canadiens had more strange events surround their team than anyone outside of Tampa Bay, including a coach being fired, three players being accused of having ties to organized crime and their star captain taking a week off to clear his head. Somehow Montreal held onto a playoff berth and their 41-30-11 record earned the 8 th seed thanks to a tiebreaker. Unsurprisingly, Montreal was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs amidst tensions between starting goaltender Carey Price and the Montreal media and fans.

The Offseason

General Manager Bob Gainey was swift to implode his dysfunctional team in the offseason, orchestrating more turnover than any other franchise in the league! Every single free agent was allowed to walk this offseason, including leading scorer Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay, defender Mike Komisarek and longtime captain Saku Koivu. After a high-profile whiff on acquiring native son Vinny Lecavalier from Tampa Bay, Gainey brought playmaking center Scott Gomez in from the Rangers to bolster their offense.

Montreal’s spree continued with the free agent signings of scoring wingers Brian Gionta and Mike Cammelleri, both of whom have the potential to break the 40 goal mark. Furthermore, Gainey remade the defense by signing Paul Mara, Hall Gill and Jaro Spacek! Nearly half the roster will be spending their first season in the Montreal this year.

> Check out a great selection of Montreal Canadiens Apparel & Merchandise through prohockey-fans.com!

2009-2010 Outlook

Up front, things are going to begin with their big three acquisitions. Gomez and Gionta have chemistry from their days in New Jersey and should both rebound from one of their worst statistical seasons in their careers. Along with Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Max Lapierre, there is some talent behind the three new stars but there really isn’t a lot of depth.

The defense is significantly deeper. Spacek will join Andrei Markov (64 points last year!) to give Montreal two of the league’s best offensive blueliners and Mara, Gill, Josh Georges and Roman Hamrlik will allow the Habs to ice three very strong pairings. The defense will be the strength of this team.

The real big question is how Price will react after turning into the Pariah of Quebec last season. At one point, he made a routine save during the final playoff loss and was lambasted with a Bronx cheer, to which he responded with a sarcastic wave. Price was labeled the ‘Loneliest Man in Sports’ by Sports Illustrated last year and he is a concern to collapse under pressure this season. New acquisition Curtis Sanford will be a solid #2 option but if he has to play more than anticipated it will be a long winter in Montreal.

PREDICTION: : There is no denying that Montreal has a ton of talent and they should have a significantly better attitude this season on and off the ice with the major veteran overhaul. The Habs are far better on the blue line and should provide Price with stronger play in front of the net this season. With his situation with the media and fans, he’s going to need all the help he can get.

While their scoring beyond their three big acquisitions is a concern, there is more than enough talent for this team to finish 2 nd in the Northeast Division and make the playoffs. Frankly, the citizenry of Montreal will riot if they don’t. Unfortunately, I see a riot in the city’s future anyway as I don’t expect Montreal to progress beyond the second round of the playoffs. In fact, they’ll be lucky to win a series this year and this team still needs to acquire more firepower up front if they want to truly compete for the Stanley Cup and satisfy their fans.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

> Check out all of the 2009-2010 NHL previews online with Pro Hockey Fans!

> Find all of the NHL news & articles online from Pro Hockey Fans.