09/10/11: Montreal 5, Winnipeg 1; stay classy, Jets fans

So it was still far from a perfect game for your Montreal Canadiens, but it certainly was a relief to score some goals and get in the win column before hitting the Bell Centre ice this coming Thursday for the team's home opener. Sorry for spoiling your party, Winnipeg, but a huge round of applause to the fans that packed the noisy stadium for sticking around to the end of this one-sided affair (though just on the scoreboard) and then giving your boys an ovation to welcome them home at game's end.

Despite the score, the Habs owe this one to Carey Price who was simply sensational. With the exception of one banged in rebound, he kept buzzing Jets forwards at bay all night, including a number of ten bell saves.

Unlike the game against the Leafs, however, Price got run support this time. The Canadiens were opportunistic, cashing in on their chances with a number of pretty markers as Tomas Plekanec paced the offense with a goal and 2 helpers. Yannick Weber broke the team's powerplay goose egg on a 4-on-3 advantage and also added an assist, taking on a bigger role after Jaroslav Spacek was forced to leave due to an upper body injury early on in the game.

Mike Cammalleri scored the Canadiens first goal of the 2011-12 campaign early on, making him the answer to the trivia question of who scored the first marker in the first game back in Winnipeg. Habs fans will care more, however, about the fact that he was forced out of the game after having his left leg accidentally cut open by the blade of Weber's skate. The report is a leg laceration will keep him out about 2 weeks.

A lot of Habs had pretty good nights. Yannick Weber looked much better than his training camp self after moving back to the point. Raphael Diaz's maturation continues. Alexei Emelin was rather sound for his NHL debut despite a poor penalty.

Others not so much. Erik Cole looks out of synch right now, something obviously not lost on Jacques Martin seen in his greatly reduced ice time. Brian Gionta fanned on a number of in-close scoring chances. P.K. Subban still looks awkward leading the top powerplay and is often caught out of position defensively.

But it was a win. And it felt good. It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens manage to replace Cammalleri and Spacek in the short term, likely by shifting Weber back to D and calling up Aaron Palushaj, while hoping Lars Eller is ready to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday. But perhaps Pierre Gauthier opts to test the trade market or sign a remaining free agent (Bryan McCabe, Paul Mara, and John Madden are some of the more intriguing - and I use that word loosely - names out there).

One thing I am sincerely hoping for is an end to the Plekanec on the powerplay point experiment. Last season, the PP struggles ended when Montreal put two shooters on the blueline (Subban and James Wisniewski), so it would be natural to try Weber with Subban to again give the team two shot options. Until Andrei Markov can re-join the group, this looks like the best choice for the top unit.

With the Canadiens having the day off for Thanksgiving today, don't expect any real updates on Spacek or Cammalleri until tomorrow's practice. The team says the injuries are minor, and Cammalleri said he's "fine," but then again, so was Blair Betts.

In any case, there remains lots of work to do and possible chances to come in the three days off until the next game. But when Thursday does come, I am excited to join in as we Hab fans raise the Bell Centre roof just as Jets fans got to do last night.

Hockey Day in Winnipeg! (Reminder: 5:00 PM EST Start!)

Today marks a historic moment that many old Winnipeg Jets fans have been dreaming about for years. Yes, Winnipeg, NHL hockey returns to your city this afternoon as the Montreal Canadiens visit your Jets for their season and home opener.

To properly set this up, here's a look at the last meaningful NHL game played in the city, some 15 years ago:

Expect a rocking building this evening and a Jets team that will come out all fired up. From a Habs' fan perspective, we can at least hope for a better effort/performance than we saw in the season opener in Toronto.

- Habs' expected lines:

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Andrei Kostitsyn

Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban

Alexei Emelin - Josh Gorges

Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Carey Price

Peter Budaj

- Lines this afternoon for the Winnipeg Jets:

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler

Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Kyle Wellwood

Brett MacLean - Alexander Burmistrov - Nik Antropov

Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn

Ron Hainsey - Tobias Enstrom

Dustin Byfuglien - Johnny Oduya

Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian

Ondrej Pavelec

Chris Mason

- As per Amanda Stein of TSN Radio 990, there is a rumour out there that Blair Betts will officially be returned to the Philadelphia Flyers due to his undisclosed injury at the time he was waived and his failing to pass a physical as a result. A number of sources have since reported the same, so it seems official, but stay tuned for confirmation from the league or either team.

- Jacques Martin has said that the injury to defenseman Chris Campoli may take months to fully heal from a torn hamstring. This is certainly not good news for Montreal's blueline, and it will be interesting if Pierre Gauthier decides to be active now to replace both him and Betts.

- Alexei Emelin will make his NHL regular season debut tonight. It will be interesting to see if he plays as the physical player Habs fans expected or the toned-down version of himself we saw in preseason.

- Some prospect news of last night:

Michael Bournival did not score for once, but still had an assist in Shawinigan's 4-2 victory. He now has 10 goals and 13 points in 6 games.

Nathan Beaulieu had 2 assists in Saint John's 8-2 victory, giving him a goal and 3 assists in 6 games.

In the WHL, defenseman Darren Dietz scored his second of the season in a 5-1 win. He has 6 points in 6 games.

Brendan Gallagher added 2 goals for the Vancouver Giants but was stopped both on a penalty shot and in the shootout in his team's shootout loss. Since being cut from Habs' camp, Gallagher has 4 goals in 3 games played.

The Hamilton Bulldogs opened their regular season last night with a big 5-2 win. Nathan Lawson allowed 2 goals on 32 shots, while Brock Trotter led the way offensively with 2 goals and 2 assists. Frederic St. Denis also had 2 goals, while Ian Schultz had the 5th from the fourth line. Aaron Palushaj, completing the top line with Trotter and Brian Willsie, had 2 assists.

Over in the NCAA, North Dakota lost 6-2, but both Canadiens prospects, Danny Kristo and Mark MacMillan, finished with an assist (and Kristo was even a +1 on the night).

Here's some video from that game thanks to HFBoards prospect expert Whitesnake:

Yesterday, 09:39 PM	#579
Whitesnake The perfect match Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Montreal Country: Posts: 29,058 vCash: 500	North Dakota Highlights: 1- Big hit by Kristo at 0:06 2 -Great feed by Kristo shorthanded at 0:32 3- MacMilan wins a faceoff that results in a goal at 1:08 http://www.fightingsioux.com/mediaPo...b_oem_id=13500

2011/12 NHL Preview - Southeast Division

We've covered the West (Northwest, Central, Pacific), so now we turn our attention to the Eastern Conference, beginning today with the Southeast. Seen for several years as the league's softest, the Southeast has rebounded, now with two clubs that have legitimate eyes on taking the East.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Projected depth chart / lines:

Jussi Jokinen - Eric Staal - Jeff Skinner

Tuomo Ruutu - Brandon Sutter - Alexei Ponikarovsky

Chad Larose - Zac Dalpe - Zach Boychuk

Jiri Tlusty - Tim Brent - Anthony Stewart

Joni Pitkanen - Tomas Kaberle

Bryan Allen - Jamie McBain

Derek Joslin - Tim Gleason

Cam Ward

Brian Boucher

The 'Canes have missed the playoffs for two seasons in a row, and were as active as they could be this off-season to try to get back into contention. The club managed to keep most of their pending UFA like Joni Pitkanen and Jussi Jokinen, only really having to say goodbye to Erik Cole. The club will hope young players like Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe are ready to pick up the offensive slack left by Cole's departure, as free agent signings Alexei Ponikarovsky and Anthony Stewart are low-risk gamble shots in the dark. After a strong sophomore season in 2009-10 where he topped the 20 goal mark, Brandon Sutter regressed last year, so Carolina will need him to bounce back. The club must also hope that last year's standout 18-year old rookie Jeff Skinner doesn't hit a sophomore slump, or else it could be a long season for the Hurricanes up front.

On defense, Tomas Kaberle was a great value signing after his poor play with the Boston Bruins minimized interest in his services league-wide. Kaberle has topped 45 points in 5 of the last 6 seasons (the only miss being a year he scored 31 points in just 57 games), despite playing for some pretty poor clubs. 23-year old offensive d-man Jamie McBain should continue his development after putting up an amazing 10 points in 14 NHL games at the end of the 2009-10 season, and building that into a 30 point rookie season last year. He is a nice sleeper pick for a late round of a deep hockey draft.

If the 'Canes due have a chance to surprise this year despite some holes and questions, it's because of Cam Ward. After winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe as a rookie, Ward has shown he is amongst the game's best goaltenders and will give his team a chance to win on any given night.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Bubble playoff team.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Projected depth chart / lines:

David Booth - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg

Tomas Fleischmann - Sean Bergenheim - Tomas Kopecky

Evgeni Dadonov - Scottie Upshall - Matt Bradley

Jack Skille - Marcel Goc - Mike Santorelli

Brian Campbell - Mike Weaver

Dmitry Kulikov - Ed Jovanovski

Jason Garrison - Keaton Ellerby

Jose Theodore

Scott Clemmensen

We covered the remodeling of the Florida Panthers in an earlier piece, and certainly the club that will begin the 2011-12 season looks nothing like that which finished 2010-11. Up front, the acquisitions were numerous as the team struggled to reach the salary cap floor. Kris Versteeg has become somewhat of a journeyman, now joining his fourth club since 2009-10, but his ability to contribute offensively cannot be questioned. Sean Bergenheim and Tomas Fleischmann were great high-potential-payoff underrated signings (both were high on our initial wish list of Habs targets), though the team did have to overpay to bring them in. When Bergenheim was taken in the first round in 2002, he was seen as a similar player to fellow Finn Saku Koivu, but his offense never seemed to translate at the NHL level. He broke out last season, first with a career high of 29 points, but then far more importantly, 9 goals and 11 points in 16 playoff games - certainly the kind of clip the Panthers would love to see him at this year. A third round selection in 2007, skilled Russian Evgeni Dadonov should see full-time action at the NHL level after scoring 17 points in 36 games with Florida last year. It will be interesting to see how this chemistry experiment plays itself out, but it is unlikely to yield immediate results.

On defense, the big ticket acquisitions of Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski will soak up minutes to allow the young core to develop at their own pace. Leading this group of youth is 2009 1st rounder Dmitry Kulikov, already entering his third season in the big league after scoring 26 points in 72 games last year.

The team lost starter Tomas Vokoun to free agency this summer, instead going with a duo of Jose Theodore and Scott Clemensen to hold the fort until top prospect Jacob Markstrom is ready for full-time duty. Over the last two seasons, Theodore seemed to have refound his game, so he should be an adequate stop-gap.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Out of the playoffs.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Projected depth chart / lines:

Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis

Teddy Purcell - Vincent Lecavalier - Steve Downie

Ryan Shannon - Dominic Moore - Nate Thompson

Tom Pyatt - Dana Tyrell - Adam Hall

Victor Hedman - Mattias Ohlund

Pavel Kubina - Eric Brewer

Brett Clark - Matt Gilroy

Dwayne Roloson

Mathieu Garon

The Lightning lost quite a bit of offensive depth this summer, but still possess perhaps the game's top duo in Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis (though I'm sure the Sedins would disagree... so let's say best non-brother duo). Dominic Moore set a career high with 18 goals last season and looks to have perhaps finally found a more permanent fit after stops in New York, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Toronto, Buffalo, Florida, and Montreal (all by the age of 31 - WOW!). Teddy Purcell is coming off a breakout season with 51 points after joining the Lightning from the Los Angeles Kings at the 2009-10 trade deadline, and the team hopes that young first rounder prospects Carter Ashton and Brett Connolly will be able to follow his progression and make the jump to the big league in the near future to replace the likes of Simon Gagne and Sean Bergenheim.

Tampa has quietly assembled what might be the best overall D in the league for the coming season, with Victor Hedman - now in his third year - expected to emerge as a true #1 workhorse. The team managed to retain Eric Brewer after picking him up during last season, and added Rangers cast-off Matt Gilroy in an underrated move (we wanted him in Montreal), ensuring that Marc-Andre Bergeron won't have to form part of the permanent top 6.

It's a good thing the team's defense is so strong, as starter Dwayne Roloson will turn 42 just after the season kicks off on October 12. Rolli had a great year and is a very impressive athlete given his age, but did show signs of fatigue as the playoffs rolled on. Fortunately, the team locked up a very capable back-up in Mathieu Garon who could easily split time with Roloson to give him any rest he needs.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Solid playoff team.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Alexander Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Alexander Semin

Troy Brouwer - Brooks Laich - Mike Knuble

Marcus Johansson - Joel Ward - Jason Chimera

D.J. King - Jeff Halpern - Matt Hendricks

Roman Hamrlik - Mike Greene

John Carlson - Dennis Wideman

Jeff Schultz - Karl Alzner

Tomas Vokoun

Michal Neuvirth

The Capitals seemed to make all the right moves in all the right places this off-season, adding size up front in budding power forward Troy Brouwer while cementing their bottom 6 with the additions of playoff vets Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern. They are a popular pick as a league favourite at this stage, now boasting a far deeper team than just the top line of Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin. Their 2nd line - with Brouwer, Brooks Laich, and Mike Knuble - offers three big bodies that are certain to be a challenge to defend against. Marcus Johansson had a strong rookie season at the age of 20 last year when put into a big minute role due to injuries. When the team is healthy, he should be able to play against opposing bottom lines and thus may be able to surpass last season's 13 goals and 27 points.

On defense, Roman Hamrlik seems like the perfect signing to balance out the offense-first Mike Greene and John Carlson. The veteran may be slowing down with age, but he provided very valuable services to the Canadiens and will be missed. Former first round selection Karl Alzner should take on a bigger role entering his second year as a full-time NHL'er. The club has a bit of a log-jam on the bottom pairing, with both Tom Poti and John Erskine also under contract, at $2.875M and $1.5M respectively. Given that the team still needs to do a bit of wiggling to get under the salary cap, expect one of the two to find a new employer soon enough.

The team's biggest coup this off-season, however, was in nets. After getting a king's ransom in return for Semyon Varlamov - who some felt would ultimately end up being a third stringer behind Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby - the club signed star keeper Tomas Vokoun to a dirt cheap one year contract, filling perhaps the last hole needed to make the Caps a true top flight contender.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Conference contender.

WINNIPEG JETS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Andrew Ladd - Nikolai Antropov - Bryan Little

Evander Kane - Alexander Burmistrov - Blake Wheeler

Chris Thorburn - Jim Slater - Eric Fehr

Patrice Cormier - Ben Maxwell - Tanner Glass

Dustin Byfuglien - Tobias Enstrom

Ron Hainsey - Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart - Johnny Oduya

Ondrej Pavelec

Chris Mason

Excitement over the return of the Jets gave way to a bit of disappointment as the former Atlanta Thrashers were rather quiet over the off-season. This may have been in part intentional, however. It gives management and ownership one year to evaluate the talent that is in place, and besides, given the crazy travel schedule they'll have playing one year out of the Southeast Division, even the best of rosters would have likely had some difficulty in succeeding. So perhaps the bigger splashes come next summer.

Meanwhile, the team should benefit from the continued development of Bryan Little and Evander Kane up front, two young stars who just happen to be western Canadian born and should feel at home in Manitoba. Alexander Burmistrov, the team's first round pick in 2010, had a quiet season as a 19-year old, but with a full year of experience under his belt should easily surpass the 20 points he finished with. Team captain Andrew Ladd (who conspiracy theorists will remind you is also a western Canada kid) set career highs with 29 goals and 59 points last year so he'll look to continue on that high armed with a new long-term contract. While there is a solid young core in place, the team lacks in depth at the moment, and without sufficient go-to talent on the top lines, they will struggle to produce for stretches this year.

On the backend, though, the Jets can count on a solid group of 7 (the 6 above + Randy Jones). Developing star Zach Bogosian remains unsigned but hopes to have a deal in place for camp. While the team lacks in offense, the top pair of Dustyin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom are skilled in supporting the attack and will both be counted on when the younger forwards slump.

In goal, it is reasonable to expect that Ondrej Pavelec and Chris Mason split games at about a 50-30 ratio, provided the former's health concerns are all behind him. When he has been on the ice, Pavelec has shown improvement year over year and this could be the season he establishes himself as a true number 1.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Out of the playoffs.

Thanks for reading. Monday we move on in the East to the Atlantic Division, before previewing the Habs and the Northeast Tuesday, and finally our full predictions on Wednesday.

What Realignment Means and Why Not to Worry

At the occasion of last week's NHL Awards (want to beat Jay Mohr WON'T be back next year?), Gary Bettman revealed his vision of the future - specifically the 2012-13 NHL season. With the Winnipeg franchise playing out the coming season in Atlanta's old spot in the South-East Division, it is clear that something will have to change. But what exactly? Could it be as simple as Winnipeg jumping to the West with Detroit finally coming East, and then re-configuring the make-up of the existing divisions? Then what happens if Phoenix moves to, say, Quebec City or Hamilton a year later? And what about Columbus, who like Detroit, is burdened with a difficult travel schedule from their geographic location?

Bettman's tentative plan, it seems, is something somewhat drastic: a vast realignment whereby the current structure would be scrapped in place of two conferences of just two divisions each. In the shorter term, it would mean uneven balances, with each conference having a division of 8 and one of 7 teams, but Bettman expanded by adding expansion to 32 teams at some point would not be impossible. He didn't say it, but hockey fans everywhere would be quick to remind him that contraction to 28 teams could be just as adequate of a solution.

Radical, perhaps, but not never-before-seen. Before the most recent waves of NHL expansion, the league consisted of four divisions: the Patrick and Smythe Divisions, which made up the Campbell Conferenece, and the Adams and Norris Divisions, which made up the Wales Conference. But it is issues like these that had the Toronto Maple Leafs playing in the “Western” Conference at times in their history.

Let’s take a look for a second at a scenario whereby no one moves after this season and there are no new teams being introduced. What might this new NHL look like? I guess the easiest way is to group together teams who MUST be in the same division. Starting with the East…

1) North-East:
Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins

When the NHL went to the newest iteration of its schedule, one of the justifications was to “increase rivalries.” Of course it makes sense for the Maple Leafs to be in a division with their biggest rivals, the Senators and Canadiens, but Montreal’s nearby north-eastern foe, the Bruins, should be glued to this trio as well.

Clusters:
2) New York: New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils
3) Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers
4) Florida: Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning

For both rivalry and geographic reasons, it would make no sense to ever separate any of these club groupings.

Now we’re left with the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and Washington Capitals, plus one team moving from the West to the East. Everything points to that team being the Detroit Red Wings, but it is hard to move them while justifying keeping the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators West.

The Sabres fall somewhere between the North-East and New York groupings, while the Canes and Caps could realistically join any of the clusters, making them the easiest ones to work with.

So let’s take a shot at this.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

North-East Division
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers

South-East Division
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils

It’s a little awkward putting the New York teams in the “South” while the Pennsylvania teams are in the “North”, but this is roughly as close as you can get due to the inability to split the clusters we identified. Maybe we’ll see the re-emergence of naming schemes like Adams and Norris to smooth the understanding of the realignment.

Next we shift our focus to the other side. Similar inseparable clusters emerge:

1) Western Canada
Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets

2) The North + East (ironically also the “Mid-West”)
Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues

3) California + South-West
Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes

This geographic grouping leaves us with 3 “outliers”, being the Nashville Predators, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Dallas Stars, where it would seem the easiest classification goes according to time zone. However, given the three zones covered by Western Canada, a North-South split that alleviates travel distance seems easiest to establish.

Coordinating this is a bit messy, but let’s try:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

North-West Division
Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
St. Louis Blues

South-West Division
Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Phoenix Coyotes
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators

This would be one scenario with each conference featuring divisions of 7 and 8 teams respectively. There are a number of scenarios as to how this could work in terms of standings. One option is to follow the AHL’s imbalanced divisions approach: the top 4 teams from each division make the playoffs, and the first round of the playoffs is within the division only (followed by the standard re-seeding). There can be a clause by which if the 5th place team in the 8-team division has more points than the 4th place team in the 7-team division, it gets ranked ahead and “crosses over” to make the playoffs instead.

Alternatively, you could imbalance the conferences by taking Columbus out of the West and adding it to the East to create a conference with divisions of 8 and one with divisions of 7. The most logical way to manage this model would be a system that some in the media have been clamouring for regardless: have the top 16 teams league-wide make the post-season regardless of divisional or conference ranking.

In either case, there are a number of plausible scenarios that will shake-up the make-up of the National Hockey League following this season. But just as the league has survived many schedule alternations, and even the standings-impacting implementation (and subsequent modification) of the shootout/overtime loser point, this will not truly impact the game we all know and love on the ice.

So don’t freak out when you hear about a “major change to the NHL” in the form of realignment. Your Canadiens will still be Your Canadiens, whether they play in the North-East Division of the Eastern Conference or the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Division of the Ted Lindsay Conference. Let the cards fall as they may, and don’t let this be another reason to hate on Gary Bettman – the man has a difficult job, and may make mistakes, but let’s focus on the important issues like quality of product and safety of players. It is in the NHL's favour to bring us the fans the great matchups like Montreal-Boston, Montreal-Toronto, or games against other Canadian teams, and since we indirectly sign their paycheck, at the end of the day, they will give us what we want.