The rebuilding of the team is going much faster than expected, thanks to Martin St. Louis and talented youngsters like Cole Caufield.
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This tank work is not going well.
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For those keeping score from the cheap seats, the Canadiens are, at the time of this writing, tied at four for third place in the Atlantic Division, with the Sabers and Red Wings holding the advantage with one game. less.
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They are ahead of the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs and a young Ottawa Senators team that was expected to take a big step up in the standings this season. They’ve even scored more goals than the Leafs after nine games, and Cole Caufield alone has one fewer goals than Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares combined.
It is unlikely to last. Teams find their level in a brutally long NHL season. The Leafs won’t finish the playoffs and Matthews won’t continue to score at a pace worthy of Hal Gill, but this exciting young Habs team is more fun to watch than ever since Pierre Turgeon was traded for Shayne Corson — and probably with a higher rise.
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It would still be too optimistic to expect this team to make the playoffs, or for Caufield to score 50 goals, or for the Habs to finish ahead of the loaded Leafs at the end of the season. But things are falling into place faster than anyone imagined and Martin St. Louis is so perfectly suited to this group that it is too pessimistic to think that they will be looking for Connor Bedard.
Tank work for Bedard was fool’s gold from the start. The draft comes with no guarantees, no matter how hard you try to lose. Buffalo lost the lottery to Edmonton and got stuck with Jack Eichel, whose career can be summed up as “not Connor McDavid and never will be”.
This draft is different in that there are at least four elite players at the top, so many that it’s not inconceivable that Bedard himself, like Shane Wright, would drop an ankle or two. The 2023 draft will be even deeper in top-flight forwards, which is what the Canadiens need if they are to become real contenders over the next three or four seasons.
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For now, just watch Nick Suzuki and Caufield operate. Like all great snipers, Caufield can do more with less space than mere mortals. Give him a ray of light and the puck is in the net.
This represents a very permeable reservoir work. But it sure is fun to watch.
Then there’s this other trainer… St. Louis has done great things in this city – but it will have to do the same to match Wilfried Nancy, who took CF Montreal from nowhere to the third-best record in Major League Soccer before the club fell victim to its personal kryptonite in the form of New York City FC in the second round of the playoffs.
This result should be worth to Nancy, who is entering the last year of her contract, a heavy extension. Should – but will it? There are persistent rumors that a Joey Saputo meltdown after a loss to Kansas City last summer left bad feelings on both sides, and even that Saputo intended to fire Nancy even if the club won the Cup. MLS.
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It would be catastrophic, but it would also be in the character of an owner who operates a revolving door for coaches. The president of the team, Gabriel Gervais, indicated during a stop at RDS that Nancy will be back for the last year of his contract, but what happens after?
Nancy is both a classy actress and an outstanding coach. The club must offer him three more years and a substantial increase in his salary of $180,000 a year – that or face the wrath of some rightly angry fans.
Nancy has shown that not only can he develop young players (a necessity in Montreal) but that he can win while developing them. You don’t let a guy like that get away with it.
Lies, rumors &&&& vicious insinuations: A little esoteric, perhaps, but we’d like to see striker Christian Dvorak’s goal song taken from its namesake, composer Antonin Dvořák’s New World Symphony. One shot from Dvorak serves as another. …
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Pleasantly surprised to see Genie Bouchard having an impact and winning games. For a very long time it looked like Bouchard would slide comfortably into a career in television broadcasting (which she’s good at), but she fought back and, at 28, she’s still young enough to be a factor on the WTA tour if she does. can put it all together. . …
Samuel Montembeault can sometimes look like a guy who can carry a hockey team for 50 games or more. His performance against Buffalo was one of those games. He’s tall, he’s young, he’s healthy – is it possible he could be a long-term solution? …
World events? Did someone say World Series? I don’t know – if there is, the games end way too late for me.
Hero: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak, Samuel Montembeault, Jordan Harris, Summer McIntosh, Maggie Mac Neil, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Djordje Mihailovic &&&& last but not least, Wilfried Nancy.
Zeros: Soccer Canada, Hockey Canada, Kyrie Irving, Danny Maciocia, digital on-ice ads, Joey Saputo, the shambolic Maple Leafs, Claude Brochu, David Samson &&&& last but not least, Jeffrey Loria.
Now and forever.
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