October, a Month to Forget for the Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens 2021-22 season has officially kicked off its first month of regular season play in October for the first time since the beginning of 2019.

Despite it being only a month deep, this NHL season has provided a plethora of notable storylines. While the Chicago Blackhawks debacle has dominated much of the circuit, there have been some other stories to track, like the ongoing Jack Eichel odyssey, or the fact that the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes are undefeated to start the year.

Brady Tkachuk and Morgan Rielly’s contract extensions were long awaited questions that were finally answered as it looks like those players will be with their respective teams for quite some time.

And of course, who can forget that the Seattle Kraken are in the NHL and dazzling hockey fans everywhere with those fresh threads.

However, this is a Montreal Canadiens blog, and we have to talk about the obvious elephant in the room. After finishing the month of October, the Montreal Canadiens are a dismal 2-8-0, with them and Anaheim playing the most games in the league at the time of this writing. The season had started with such promise, their season opener against the Leafs was a well fought battle that they came just short of winning.

Personally, I felt this was a good thing to come, however, that would seemingly be the most this team would try in the next coming games. After listless performances against Buffalo, New York, San Jose, Seattle, etc, the Habs find themselves in the hole they are currently in.

I haven’t been able to catch all of the games as I normally do lately, but maybe that is a good thing, as the games I have watched, this team has looked lost out on the ice. I believe that there are a number of contributing factors to this terrible start, the turn over from last year has hurt the Canadiens on both ends of the ice.

While the performance of the players they brought in has varied, its hard to argue that the Canadiens penalty kill doesn’t miss the abilities of Phillip Danault. Furthermore, the loss of leadership both on and off the ice is clearly missing with the departures of savvy vets like Corey Perry, and Eric Staal.

This issue is amplified when we look at the injuries facing the Canadiens lineup, with the majority of their leadership group on injury reserve. Paul Byron’s speed and experience in the lineup could undoubtedly be helpful on the penalty kill and the breakout when the Canadiens find themselves hemmed in their end.

The injury to Joel Edmundson cannot be understated either, as last season he was one of the team’s most steady defensemen alongside Jeff Petry. Of course we cannot talk about missing leadership without discussing the massive hole left behind with the injuries to Shea Weber. The captain’s stoic leadership is undoubtedly missing on the ice and in the locker room, and his abilities on the ice would at least give this lineup a degree of stability that it is currently missing.

Finally, we reach the issue in crease. Jake Allen is doing an admirable job as the Canadiens impromptu starter, but with a lack of goal support, he is struggling to win them games. While Carey Price wouldn’t help the team score goals, he does add a level of confidence to the team that is crucial for them to succeed in this league.

It cannot go without saying that Price has struggled in past years during the regular season, he is a pillar of this team, and his value to the team cannot be outlined enough.

Moving away from the veteran side of the Canadiens lineup, the Canadiens’ younger players have struggled mightily in this brand (or should I say bland) new season, most notably Cole Caufield having just a single point through 10 games and Nick Suzuki not having a goal yet. It is a bit of a head scratcher as to why these two players who looked so dynamic in the middle of the toughest portion of the NHL last year are struggling so much against teams like Anaheim and San Jose this year.

In an effort to not be a complete pessimist about the season so far, there are some positive storylines to follow, Mathieu Perreault’s hat trick in his home province with the crowd chanting his name was definitely a feel good story that you couldn’t help get excited for.

Another interesting story is that Christian Dvorak has come onto the team and looked pretty good, while his point total is nothing special, it is par for the course in relation to the rest of the team, however he has looked great on both ends of the ice, and owns a 50.25% faceoff percentage.

Additionally, Mike Hoffman has looked like the player the Habs envisioned when they signed him. Hoffman missed the first 3 games of the season, and after taking a few games to get into shape, he has scored 4 goals in 7 games, which is already the most goals on the team.

Finally, we land on what may take home the NHL’s heartwarming moment of the year, Jonathan Drouin took time away from the team last year to deal with his anxiety and mental health issues and since he has returned, he has looked like a different player. He looks like he is much more invested and aggressive, but most importantly, he is enjoying playing the game, and it shows in his production. So while everyone on the team hasn’t looked amazing given the team’s circumstances, its hard not to smile when you think about Jonathon Drouin scoring the first goal of the Canadiens season.

While I can only speculate and play arm chair coach when thinking about this team, my personal suggestions are as good as yours as to what this team needs to do to try and right the ship. I personally have hit a wall into what they need to do, they have reshuffled the lines, they have worked on the special teams, and nothing has broken through.

While many have called for a shakeup in hockey operations or a roster trade, management has outlined that they will not panic. At this point in time, I think that it is still early and it is on the players at the moment. They have the skill and the same coaching staff that helped bring them to the Stanley Cup Finals just a few months ago.

Yes some things have changed since then, but not enough to warrant how this team looks on the ice. Professional hockey is all about having a short memory, so while the Canadiens have forgotten just how far they got last year, they need to forget the past 10 games and look to the brand new month ahead of them.

After a closed door players meeting, let’s hope that the Canadiens can find a way to play with some more confidence and consistency.

What do you think the Canadiens can do to get out of this funk?