Arrested Development in Laval and Montreal
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While Marc Bergevin highlighted the importance of player development when he was first hired, they haven’t done well in that department in recent years.
While Marc Bergevin highlighted the importance of player development when he was first hired, they haven’t done well in that department in recent years.
It appears Antti Niemi’s time with Montreal will last for a while longer as following the Habs’ shootout victory on Thursday over Tampa, they traded backup goaltender Al Montoya to Edmonton.
In what can only be described as their best effort of the season so far, the Canadiens needed an action-packed overtime as well as the shootout to come out on top on the league-leading Lightning 2-1 in a shootout.
The Canadiens were unable to build on the momentum they built at the end of November and with the season starting to get away from them bright spots are getting tougher to find- which players stood out to you?
The Habs were hoping to kick off 2018 on a high note but their offensive woes continued as they dropped a 4-1 decision to San Jose on Tuesday night.
The Habs ended 2017 with a week to forget as their offence dried up completely, squandering solid performances from Carey Price. The same can’t be said for Laval as they won all three of their games while getting some offensive contributions from unexpected sources.
In a perfect underlining of what ails the Montreal Canadiens, the final game of 2017 was a 2-0 shutout loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
All organizations have bad stretches or even down seasons due to injuries, slumps, or a combination of circumstances. However, while there has been disappointing underperformance throughout the lineup, any reasonable assessment would confirm that the Canadiens are a poorly designed team.
Fresh off the Christmas break, the Habs headed to Carolina looking to get over the .500 mark on this road trip on Wednesday night. They really only showed up for one period and it wasn’t enough as the Hurricanes took it 3-1.
Although the week ended in an ugly fashion, it was still a pretty successful Western Canadian road trip for the Habs who took two of three games. Laval managed to pick up a win but their penchant for allowing untimely goals and struggling to score consistently continued as they continue to fall in the standings.