The Montreal Canadiens were given the lucky opportunity to avoid a massive Canadian storm with a five-game road trip through the western U.S. starting today. The first stop was in Arizona, with a game that will have some bearing on who will get the number one lottery spot in the NHL draft.
The Coyotes and Canadiens had the best hopes by far at the bottom of the standings.
The Coyotes took this chapter 5-2.
Wilde Horses
Congratulations to Rem Pitlick on his first goal with the Montreal Canadiens. Pitlick, who was released by the Minnesota Wild and picked up on the waiver wire by the Canadiens, moved into a tie for the lead on Montreal with his seventh goal of the season. It’s a three-way deadlock with Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson.
It’s about as good an example that can exist, given how difficult that goals have been to score on the Canadiens this year. A player deemed not even worthy to stay in Minnesota now leads Montreal in goals this year.
It sure was an outstanding shot by Pitlick. Jonathan Drouin stole of an ill-fated Arizona pass through the defensive zone. He quickly found Pitlick across the ice, and he one-timed it with force into the top corner.
There might just be a full-time job for Pitlick on the roster next season when the Canadiens resemble a real team again.
Another humorous thought: When Josh Anderson was injured on the second day of December, he led the Habs in goals. He returned to the lineup against the Coyotes Monday afternoon 46 days later to still be tied for the team lead in goals.
The Canadiens have the fewest goals in the NHL.
Ryan Poehling has the strength and size to be a power-play specialist in front of the net in the NHL. He scored the Canadiens’ second goal by parking it just outside of the blue paint, taking the physical abuse that he had to, screening the goalie by simply using his large and unmovable frame, then waiting for an opportunity to deflect a point shot.
Poehling should ask for extra work in practice and after-practice learning in terms of how to deflect point shots at a high skill level. He should be developing that hand-eye coordination to become the best on the team at this one aspect of the game.
The Canadiens have tried small players in this role and it really doesn’t make sense. Brendan Gallagher has found himself in front of the net. While Gallagher’s courage is second to none, he has a terrible time screening a big goalie when he is so much smaller than today’s big net minder.
Being great in this role requires courage, size and an ability to deflect shots. Poehling has the first two requirements, and he should be able to develop the third. If he does, he could be a vital player for Montreal in this area.
NHL careers are made being good at many things, and terrific at one thing. Good at many things, but not outstanding at any one thing does not a long career make. A player must stand out at something. Often a long and prosperous NHL career has been made by only being amazing at winning face-offs at a high rate. You must have that one quality to make you not expendable.
Poehling needs to find that one thing to make him not expendable.
Get in front of the net. Be unmovable. Deflect the puck. If Poehling does that, he’ll never go back to the AHL again.
Wilde Goats
There have been a lot of low moments this season, but that third Arizona goal was right up there for awful. Janis Moser has the puck in the Canadiens zone. Possession has been established, so everyone is supposed to be in position to defend. Moser is at the point.
Firstly, he skates around Josh Anderson who got out of position to handle Moser coming from the left point. That’s mistake number one.
Ben Chiarot and David Savard are the defenders and they are concentrating on their checks so much that they don’t even notice at all that Moser is making his way toward the goal unencumbered.
Moser faces no resistance at all from the two defenders who barely notice that a skater is coming right at Primeau.
It might not be fair in this season where everyone has struggled so mightily to point out these three players in this instance, but this one felt like such a microcosm of the entire season.
Certainly, all the players are struggling and the issue all season is a talent gap, but the system also seems broken. When only one missed assignment by Anderson leads to no other player making even an attempt to cover up for him, and the goal is scored that easily, something has to be wrong behind the bench too.
Whatever message they’re sending is not getting through.
Wilde Cards
The search for a general manager continues with the short list coming into view. Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton is interviewing the best candidates for a second time.
Back in the mix, surprisingly, is Kent Hughes who is a longtime acquaintance of Gorton’s and lives in the Boston area. He is bilingual. Interestingly as well, his son Jack Hughes plays at Northeastern University and is expected to go in the first round of this year’s NHL draft.
The connection that Hughes has with Northeastern could be important as the Canadiens want to sign another Huskies player Jordan Harris. He is one of the most highly-ranked college defenders in the U.S., but the Canadiens are on the verge of losing their draft rights if he does not sign this summer with Montreal.
Other choices apparently in the hunt are Mathieu Darche, Marc Denis, and Daniel Briere. Darche has been working under Julien Brisebois in Tampa Bay and already has cup wins on his resume.
Denis has no managing experience, but he brings a high hockey acumen and is currently working on the RDS broadcast of the Canadiens games.
Briere has taken a different path working through the ranks managing the Maine Mariners organization of the ECHL — a team that was affiliated with the New York Rangers when Gorton was in charge there. Briere is also getting a degree in business so his becoming the appropriate choice is multi-faceted.
Word is that other hirings are also possible before the end of the month, like positions in scouting and development to replace Trevor Timmins and Scott Mellanby.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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