The Montreal Canadiens have a lot of great youth on the team right now and some solid defensive prospects for the future. With guys like Subban, Emelin and Diaz in the pipes one guy is often overlooked. That guy is Yanick Weber who I believe is poised to have a solid year in Montreal.
Weber may have had a slow start offensively but in the three games he played against Boston in the playoffs he really stepped up his game notching two goals in only 26:19 minutes of total ice time. That's less than ten minutes a game. During the season after a slow start offensively Weber learned the defensive side of the game and played better defensively than I believe most people ever expected him to. Posting 1 goal and 11 assists in 41 games as a rookie most of his points were had between January and the end of the season.
Weber scoring on Thomas in the playoffs. Can you imagine how many he'll pot if he plays with Markov on the power play?
It may be a little early to say given the small sample size of half a season and three playoff games but this is what my blog boils down to. Predicting who will boom or who will bust. I personally believe this will be Weber's year to shine. If he makes moves like the above goal on Thomas with Markov playing the point he'll be unstoppable. This year the Montreal Canadiens have all the tools to develop this guy to his maximum potential. Only time will tell if Weber is up to the challenge, I think he'll kill it. Weber after this season should be a lock for the Montreal Canadiens line-up, trading him now would be unwise.
Weber's other opportunistic goal on Thomas.
This yearshould be quite the year for the habs and their prospects but don't count Yannick Weber out, he's already worked wonders on his defensive game and was only truly starting to click on his offensive game towards the second half of last year. If all goes well we should be seeing Weber scoring on the Bruins for years to come.
It isn't very often a team picks a superstar defenseman in the 2nd round 43rd overall, but on June 23rd 2007 the Montreal Canadiens did exactly that when they selected PK Subban. Who would have thought on that fateful day that by now we already would have seen the great Subban in action. As the year progressed we only got to see more and more what a diamond in the rough this guy is. From getting under the skin of his opponents to playing an average of 28:51 of ice time a game in the playoffs, this guy truly is a warrior. He is exactly the type of player any team in the league needs to have but hates to play against. Unfortunately people seem to hate him an awful lot more than one would think. That's okay with me, it just tells me PK is doing his job in impeccable fashion.
(PK seen here at the draft after the selection, I bet Gainey doesn't regret this choice.)
Over the course of the year PK took a lot of heat around the league for different situations. Respected players like Mike Richards and Joffrey Lupul had a problem with PK and felt as a rookie he lacked respect for his opponents. PK was a class act in interviews and had nothing but praise for Mike, he even said he was a one of his idols growing up. There is also obvious bad blood between PK and the Bruins Brad Marchand, another solid NHL rookie who plays with an edge and seems to have a knack for getting under his opponents skin. One of the best hits of the year happened in a Boston versus Montreal game at the Bell center. (Just to clarify something a friend brought it to my attention that Marchand and Subban are actually friends and ex junior Team Canada teammates. They are actually friendly off the ice so no bad blood there. Thanks to CrimsonSkorpion of HFBoards for bringing this to my attention. You can also follow his blog at http://hometownanalysis.blogspot.com)
(The hit that sent Marchand back to the bench in a hurry)
It wasn't all big hits and big minutes for PK though. At a certain point he messed up a pass in overtime against one of the leagues bottom feeders in Edmonton. The resulting play had Dustin Penner in the slot to put away the overtime winner. A mistake by PK which led to a three game sit. A very controversial topic for fans and the media because many thought Subban shouldn't have been benched for one mistake, others thought it was fine, some thought it was too long. Everyone had their opinion but at the end of the day Subban came back and it was like a fire was ignited inside of him. From then on until the playoffs he played like a man not a rookie.
(The OT goal Penner ended up getting as a result of the PK error)
Even in the post season a huge part of the reason they were able to give the Bruins such a tough time was PK Subban. There really is no denying this, the guy played over 30 minutes in some games and did so well. He even managed to get the tying goal in game 7 to bring Montreal into overtime and it was a beauty. It wasn't the goal that mattered so much as how great PK was at both ends, we wouldn't have been in game 7 overtime if it weren't for PK playing those minutes. It just would not have happened.
(This one needed a video. It was really a superb goal)
With all of this said Montreal managed to take the future Stanley Cup champions to the breaking point of game 7 and Subban had as much to do with that as the other superstar on the team did, you know who I mean. I'm very optimistic of what this team can do with Price and Subban given the way this team has played with a depleted roster. Don't worry habs fans, our time has come. We finally have the tools to be a cup winner. We will have to rest our faith in management to get things done but ultimately it's become evident no matter how many injuries we get having guys like Price and Subban on your team elevate you to the point of being able to win any game. It would be almost impossible for our coaching staff and management to mess that up.
With the way PK Subban has developed at every level I don't have a doubt in my mind that this guy will be one of the cornerstones of our team for a very long time. This is the beginning of a new era, the era where our youth takes us to the next level. Ladies and gentleman I present to you the rise of sophomore Subban, if my gut is right I think we're in for one hell of a season.
Here's my report on the habs for the break, hope you enjoy:
Gomez:
I'm not afraid to say that Scott Gomez is one of my favorite players in the NHL. I like the way he plays and just think he's having a tough time right now I really do. But Scott you've gotta wake up. You're capable of so much better and you know it. He just seems to have lost his confidence out there and it's really a shame. I want to see the Gomez of the playoffs, I want to see the Gomez of those Stanley Cup runs in New Jersey. The guy who showed up every night and elevated his play, made his line better and setup some sweet goals. Heck he's never been known as a gifted goal scorer but he has been known as one hell of a play maker.
Gomez just needs a clean slate. He isn't going anywhere fans, sorry I know so many of you want him gone but he isn't going anywhere not only because he's an important part of our team but because with his cap hit no team will take him even if he does get paid less in coming years. I don't want him gone regardless but some people need to understand that. That being said we need to support him but he's gotta support himself too. He needs to get his confidence back and clearly needs fans and media support not to be shunned or hated on. I know he cares about this team and wants be successful. But I also know he isn't playing like Scott Gomez the coveted all star play maker from the New Jersey Devils. They did have a good team but he was a big part of the reason they did. He needs to be a big part of our reason. We have injuries now and the team needs him now more than ever.
He's gotta step up his game right now.
Price
Needs his team to stop taking dumb penalties that are costly and momentum shifting. Not kidding you I don't fault this guy one bit in a number of our losses in recent memory. When your team takes 3 penalties at the same time and on top of that takes several too many men penalties in a season (I wonder what the stat is) you really can't be blamed by them throwing away games. I'm not saying he hasn't let in some goals he'd like to have back or mishandled the puck ever, he has. But he's been a good goalie and the team needs to support him and stop ruining him by playing so bad defensively and taking dumb penalties. If it weren't for that Price would be doing a lot better. And another thing, play Auld please, thanks. He's a grown man he knows how to play also. Jacques Martin
Makes some questionable decisions at times I think we can all agree. Anywhere from not taking a time out to taking a bad time out. Not pulling the goalie early enough at times. I find the habs this year have a seriously lack of control in the oppositions zone even on the power play and this direly needs to be addressed somehow.
Pierre Gauthier
What can I say, I like this guy. He goes and gets Wis for nothing. But then at the same time gives Lapierre away for nothing. I can only assume he's making cap space in case of a huge trade. Now I'm not saying we're going after Iginla even though it's rumored. But he freed up the Markov cap space, some of Gorges and even traded Lapierre to get rid of his cap room. Added Wisniewski so that adds cap but we could definitely fit Iginla in. We'd be giving up cap room in the process in that deal, not as much as Iginla's probably but some. If he makes the Iginla trade I'll be thrilled personally. Yes Iginla is 34 years old but I figure he has enough good years left. I want him on our team. He played with Cammalleri already. Cammalleri with Plekanec and Iginla would be a #1 line in the NHL that would match up against any other teams very well. I believe they will want Pacioretty in the deal though, that's the only problem I have with it. But you've got to give to get. O'Byrne
I know he's an ex hab but just because I was speaking about Gauthier I think this trade will look very stupid if the Bournival kid doesn't pan out for us. I knew O'Byrne would be an NHL defense man and I also called the trade on my blog before it happened. It was a no-brainer because O'Byrne clearly was NHL ready. I'm happy for him that he's playing well and progressing.
