With his contract with Montreal now complete, Joel Bouchard became a free agent this month and has found his new home. The now-former Laval head coach has been hired by Anaheim to take over as the bench boss for their AHL team in San Diego.
The Habs have invested a lot of time into revamping their back end in recent years. However, in spite of all of the signings and draft picks used, there are still some holes in the system to address.
Of the three lineup changes that Dominique Ducharme made on Monday, the one to sit Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the most controversial. However, with the lineup composition they were seeking, it was the right one.
Enthusiasm for Montreal’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993 went away rather quickly as the Habs already find themselves on the brink of elimination following a trio of losses to Tampa Bay.
We’re now two games into the Stanley Cup Final and a familiar problem has returned for the Habs. Their top scorers during the regular season have all suddenly stopped scoring and the end result is a 2-0 deficit to the Lightning.
While the offseason hasn’t arrived for the Habs just yet – there is a Stanley Cup Final to be played, after all – the draft and free agency are quickly approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to kick off our annual depth assessment series, beginning with the goalies.
For the first time in 28 years, the Habs participated in a Stanley Cup Final game on Monday night in Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, they didn’t put up much of a fight in the opener as they fell 5-1.
A day after missing practice and being placed into COVID-19 protocol, Habs winger Joel Armia has received the green light to rejoin the team. He is on a flight to Tampa Bay and has not been ruled out for Monday’s series opener.
The Habs took care of a pending unrestricted free agent on Sunday, announcing the re-signing of winger Brandon Baddock to a one-year, two-way contract.
There were definitely some tense moments along the way but the Habs picked up two of three wins for the second straight week, earning them the Clarence Campbell Bowl for the first (and barring another year like this, only) time as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final to take on Tampa Bay.