It’s been a tough start for the Montreal Canadiens and especially for Alex Galchenyuk but the reason for his struggles can be tracked to one thing.
The Montreal Canadiens have four games played under their belt. Although the whole team has struggled to score, it’s been disappointing to see that Alex Galchenyuk has a line of 0’s next to his name on the stat sheets. To add to that, he’s been making a lot of irresponsible plays with the puck at times that have led to scoring chances against.
Claude Julien seemed to have reached the edge with the 23-year-old in Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Galchenyuk found himself off of the first power play unit and on the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Brendan Gallagher. A lot of NHL analysts were criticizing him a lot as well. It got to a point in the game where some Habs fans at the Bell Center were booing him when he touched the puck.
The Issue at Hand
So what’s the issue here? How has Galchenyuk gone from such a dynamic player to being non-existent at times. Personally, I think it has to do with confidence.
Think about what his career in the last couple of years. He makes the team and has success but isn’t given the chance to play his natural position. Galchenyuk is finally allowed to play center in the 2015-2016 season and puts up 30 goals and 26 assists.
He starts the following season at center again but misses time with an injury. Galchenyuk obviously came back too early and it showed in his play. He was far from the player he was at the beginning of the season. Because of that, he quickly lost favour with Julien and started playing lower in the line-up. The season ends and all Galchenyuk has to hear is how his coach and GM don’t think he’s a center.
Instead of giving him another chance to prove that he can do it, he’s thrown onto the wing. Imagine that in your head as a player. Imagine thinking that your coach doesn’t believe in you. I’m not saying that is the case, but it is possible.
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Then add-on the fact that there’s pressure on him to contribute offensively since he’s only on the wing, but completely disregarding the fact that he’s playing with two players in Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw who are more defensive . You could even say that Julien’s reluctance to play him on that top line could be seen as another lack of trust in Galchenyuk.
Now we have the fans booing him specifically whenever he makes a mistake whereas other players have gotten a free pass. Let’s be honest with ourselves here, Jonathan Drouin has had his fair share of turnovers as well, but their not talked about as much.
How to Fix It
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I’m not taking all the blame away from Galchenyuk. He has to put in the work to gain the coach’s trust, but he is a much better player than he’s played so far. All he needs is a confidence boost, something to turn things around for him. Scoring a goal could get definitely start that process but Julien needs to start putting him in situations to succeed.
Yes power play time is great, but Galchenyuk should be on the right wall for that one-timer. Max Pacioretty is better to play in the slot because he can get a shot off pretty quickly.
If Galchenyuk succeeds then it helps the Montreal Canadiens succeed. Even if his time with the team is taking it’s course (bearing the recent trade rumours), the team needs him to play better. The mental aspect of the game is just as important as how fast you can skate or how much time you put in the gym. Even the best players can falter if their confidence takes a hit.
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What do you think Galchenyuk’s issue is? Is it his confidence? Let us know what you think down below.