It’s far too early to say the Habs are back on track but they took some strides towards getting there this past week with a couple of big wins over divisional rivals. In St. John’s, things weren’t as rosy as the team dropped two of three games. Plus. Marc Bergevin is being sent a message by the hockey gods right now which is the focus of my Final Thought.
The New Year brought new life to the Habs as they played one of their best games in quite some time at the Winter Classic as they beat the hometown Bruins 5-1 in front of over 67,000 fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
Brendan Gallagher is ready to return to the lineup as on Thursday, team doctors gave him the green light to play in the Winter Classic. To make room for him on the active roster, the team assigned Sven Andrighetto to St. John’s.
The acquisition of Ben Scrivens for Zack Kassian has not been met with a lot of support. Some wanted Kassian to get a shot with Montreal while others just don’t trust Scrivens. Do our writers feel the same way or are they in favour of the deal?
After the Habs told Zack Kassian not to report to the minors, many speculated a trade was near completion. That deal is done now as the Canadiens have flipped him to Edmonton in exchange for goalie Ben Scrivens.
Montreal’s offensive woes continue to plague them as they managed just three goals in three losses this past week. Things are a bit better in St. John’s as they split a pair of games against the AHL’s top team. Plus, 2015 is almost over which means it’s time to look back at some of the important Hab headlines over the past calendar year.
With the Christmas break now finished, the Habs will look to get back on a winning note on Saturday as they continue their road trip. That will be a challenging task as standing in their way are the conference-leading Washington Capitals.
The 2016 World Juniors are almost upon us and for the first time in many years, the Canadiens will not have any prospects representing them. However, quite a few current Habs and IceCaps have had a chance to suit up for their respective countries in the past with quite a bit of success.
With the Habs struggling to score while having issues between the pipes at the same time, frustration is at its highest point of the season. The top players aren’t producing but strangely enough, they’re not doing anything that hasn’t already happened before.
To put it nicely, it was a week to forget for the Habs whose offence has completely fallen off the wagon. It was a better week for the IceCaps who picked up a pair of key divisional wins. Plus, Marc Bergevin made his first trade of the year; my Final Thought takes a closer look at the Lucas Lessio acquisition.