Montreal Canadiens: The Eye Sores of the Preseason

It wasn’t all just good things for the Montreal Canadiens at training camp and the eventual preseason. Some players in particular were pretty bad.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There are two sides to every coin…I can’t think of anymore contrasting lines. The Montreal Canadiens played eight preseason games and unfortunately lost six of them. Again, it’s just the preseason ya, but that didn’t stop fans from panicking.

What some failed to do was look into the reasons as to why they lost. For one, the players that were guaranteed to be in the line-up didn’t look like they were trying. That changed towards the end of the preseason (9-2 vs Ottawa). However, a large part of their loses were because of players who were trying to make an impression.

To narrow it down, there were four players who didn’t play well.

Related Story: Saving Graces of the Preseason

1. Joseph Morrow

When you read the title of this article this was probably the name that instantly shot up in your mind. Joseph Morrow is a former first round pick and familiar with Claude Julien. Many fans were intrigued to see what he could do this season after he was signed back on July 1st. It was difficult for the 24-year-old to hold a spot in the NHL, but if there was anyone who could rejuvenate his career, it would be Julien.

The preseason started well for Morrow. He looked confident in the first game and was willing to play the puck more. His play to the net even led to the team’s first goal.

Then things started going south. Turnover, after turnover, after turnover. What made it worse was that they weren’t always the harmless, but the ones that led to a goal against. Playing that way for the Canadiens isn’t going to fly with Julien.

Over the course of the preseason, Morrow went from being a dark horse who could possibly play on the bottom pairing to an easy send off to the AHL.

2. Mark Streit

There were a lot of emotions around the Habs community when Mark Streit was signed. It was supposed to be a feel good story since the veteran would be making his return to the Montreal Canadiens after eight seasons. However, the Andrei Markov news negated that.

Many considered the Streit signing as a clear hint that Markov will not be coming back. At the same time, there was excitement to see what the 39-year-old could do after coming off a Stanley Cup winning season.

To put it bluntly, he wasn’t good either. Not because of any mistakes he made, but because of his speed. It just doesn’t look like Streit can keep up anymore. The veteran can’t be Julien’s first choice to play on the bottom pairing. He may very well be kept as a 7th or 8th defenceman for the entire season.

3. Jordie Benn

I’ll give Jordie Benn the benefit of the doubt a little and say it was because it was the preseason. However some of the mistakes he was making raised eyebrows. As much as the hype was around Victor Mete, it’s not a good look to be outdone by a 19-year-old defensively.

It wasn’t all bad, he did have that nice stretch pass to Andrew Shaw in the Florida game.

Hopefully this was just an early season slump and not something that could drag on.

4. Brandon Davidson

Of the four, Julien had the most confidence in Brandon Davidson. He played on the team last season for 10 games and three in the playoffs. Back then his main issue was consistency.

This year, his issues were the same thing. Davidson would sometimes make the right play, but a lot of the times make the wrong one. What made it worse was that he always stood out when a goal was scored while he was on the ice. Be it a missed assignment or a turnover.

Habs fans will most likely see Davidon playing on the Montreal Canadiens this season on the bottom pair. If we can assume that, similar to Benn, this is just an early season slump, then ok that’s fine. But it’ll be concerning if these are signs of what’s yet to come for him.

Next: Joni Ikonen Overcoming the Slump

Who were you disappointed with in the preseason? Let us know your thoughts down below.