Defense Talk! Will The Canadiens Win the Stanley Cup? 10 Questions About The Montreal Canadiens

1. Can Carey Price play like he did last year?

A: All of Montreal hopes so. He had an outstanding year this year, tying Roberto Luongo for the league lead in wins (38). But after 2 good years in Montreal to start off his career, he had an ugly one in 2009-2010. Luckily he was able to rebound, but their is still the possibility he goes down that horrid path again of bad play. Montreal can’t trust Peter Budaj with the starting duties.

2. Will Scott Gomez return to His 84 Point form?

A: 84 points? No.50-60 points? Yes, His career is not over yet, and with the right people, he could get revived (Cole, Gionta anyone?) He hasn’t played well under Jaques Martin, so he better perform before he loses his job.

3. Where Does Yannick Weber fit in the Montreal depth chart?

A: Personally, I Think he should be top 4. But with Montreal’s defensive depth, he will likely be bottom 2 with Jaroslav Spacek, while Markov/Subban and Gorges/Gill fill the top 4. Weber has a big point shot, and can run a power play very well. A big reason why hes not getting bigger minutes is because of his small size (5″11). He will get his turn.

4. How will Gorges perform this season?

A: Despite Playing only 36 games with an injury, his play should not be affected. He only had 7 points last year, and never got more then 23, so no matter what he wont get many points. Since it was a knee injury, his skating may be affected. He did have major reconstructive surgery, so his play will be different then it was before the injury. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? We will have to see.

5. What’s Montreal’s biggest need?

A: A second line left winger. With all due respect to Max Pacioretty, they can do better. He’s a solid forward, but he’s coming off of a horrible injury, which can completely affect his play. Will he be the same? The risk is something Montreal doesn’t need. Im not saying at all that they should trade him. I Would not like that at all. But having someone like a Alex Kovalev or Cory Stillman for a year cant hurt at all.

6. Is this team better then last year?

A: Defensively, they got worse. They lost Mara, Hamrilik and Wisnewski. Good thing is, Montreal’s defense is already amazing. In terms of goaltending, Budaj is in a very similar situation as Auld was last year, with the plan that he will play around 10 games. So they did not improve in goal, but did not get worse. Offense wise, Montreal’s top 6 got better by adding Cole. I’m undecided whether or not Montreal is a better team now, but they have their strengths and weaknesses.

7. Does Alexei Yemelin make the  team?

A: If that is the case, Weber would have to not make the team. Yemelin is a physical, stay at home defenceman who has a good shot. He has lots of potential, and can easily make a lot of teams. This is a good young defensive prospect you don’t want to let go, but in doing so you may be hurting a talented blue liner in the process. I hope Weber makes the team, but it will all come down to camp.

8. What Happens If Markov Gets Injured again?

A: Uhhhhhh……………….um…………..uhh……….

Subban should be ready to take the reins as a top defenceman in the NHL. While I don’t see a Norris trophy anytime soon, he should be able to get a considerable amount of points, something Montreal misses when Markov is out. You don’t want to trade arguably your best player. It just doesn’t make sense. But as I have said many times so far in this blog post alone, Montreal has a good defense corp and should be able to have a replacement ready if Markov goes down again (Yemelin, Weber, Nash Or Diaz).

9. Will The Montreal Canadiens Win Their twenty fifth Stanley Cup?

A: I hate to say it, but no. Still needs a lot of improvement up front before we can talk Stanley.

10. My question to you, who would you like to see play, as the 6th defenceman, Weber, Yemelin or someone else?

Comment BELOW.

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