Montreal Canadiens: The Blemish of the Blueline
By Omar L
Team defence has been one of the leading issues with the Montreal Canadiens, but there has been one player in particular who desperately needs to improve.
Say you are selected to be a participant on a Montreal Canadiens version of Jeproday. You’ve answered the previous question correctly and tell Alex Trebek that you want to choose, “Issues for 500”.
The clue pops up: this has been costing the Habs games early in the 2017-2018 season. Since you’re a dedicated fan and have watched all the games, you immediately hit your buzzer and say, “What is defence!”. Correct answer.
It doesn’t take an A+ analyst to point out that aspect of the team. The Habs have been playing a lot better as of late, but have seen the puck go by Carey Price too often. Some (and I mean some) of it is on the goaltender, and he hasn’t shied away from it. However, a lot of the goals against have been bad luck, but mostly poor coverage.
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The blueline was an area of the team that didn’t have the fans confidence. Shea Weber and 19-year-old rookie Victor Mete have been solid on that top pair. The second pair of Jeff Petry and Karl Alzner had a shaky start to the season but has been a reliable duo for the Montreal Canadiens as of late. That’s good to see from Alzner considering shutdown minutes was one of the main reasons the team signed him in the offseason.
Then there’s the bottom pair. Mark Streit was the guy on the right side to open the season. The signs of struggles from him were apparent back in the preseason and after two games. It didn’t last long for Streit, and he was out of the lineup in no time. Jordie Benn has probably been the most disappointing defenceman on the team so far.
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The 30-year-old was a useful addition for the Montreal Canadiens at the end of last season. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone the same for him so far this year.
Benn has stood out at least once in every game, and not for the right reasons. Price has bailed out that bottom pair, with Benn and Brandon Davidson, at times. You can’t expect Price to correct everything.
So what is it with him? Sure Benn wasn’t necessarily a go-to top four guy, but he was never this bad. The decisions that he’s been making are the kind that makes you want to pull your hair out. Additionally, his overall coverage at times and the turnovers have led to goals against the team.
If you need a few examples:
- Jason Pominville‘s first goal of the Buffalo game
- Alex Debrincant’s first career goal
- Auston Matthews first goal of the Leafs game
It’s hard not to think that Benn might be sitting in the press box for the upcoming games if David Schlemko didn’t re-injure himself. He now has another three games to prove to Claude Julien and the rest of the coaching staff why he belongs on the team.
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The BC-native only has a $1 million cap hit. Cap space is far from being an issue with the Montreal Canadiens at the moment, but Benn doesn’t cost them much. Waivers probably won’t be an option considering a team should have no qualms in wanting to take a flyer on a player like Benn. If this continues, Joseph Morrow may have another guy to accompany him.
Montreal can’t afford to have their chances of winning inhibited by costly mistakes like this. Improvement is something happens over the course of every season, but it has to start from Benn for the Habs to have success.
What have you thought about Benn’s game? Let us know in the comments.