The Canadian | A few observations (a little) before the break

(Boston) The Canadiens still have three games left before their bye week and the All-Star weekend, presented from 1^er to February 3 in Toronto. Some observations on the state of things before the break.

Sean Monahan could be leaving, and that’s not good news

In a normal world, the Canadian would do everything possible to retain Sean Monahan and offer him a new contract. But the Canadian is in another world, that of teams who must already think about the following season. Faced with this reality, the 29-year-old forward could of course be traded before the March 8 deadline. If that proves true, it would still be possible to try to court him later as a free agent, but regardless, his departure would not be good news. With his three points collected Saturday night in Boston, Monahan finds himself with 7 points in his last 5 games, and with a total of 31 points in 46 games this season. In a context where the Canadian is not overflowing with talented attackers, neither here nor in Laval and nor anywhere, his departure would leave a fairly significant void in this formation. On the other hand, if an opponent offers Kent Hughes a first-round pick in return, it will be very difficult to say no.

Joshua Roy is capable of playing in this league

This observation comes from Roy himself, who made this little confession in the visiting locker room in Boston before Saturday night’s game. The Quebec forward didn’t play much against the Bruins—only 11 minutes and 43 seconds of playing time—but he found a way to make a poetic pass to colleague Joel Armia in the first period, which led to the second goal for the Canadian. There are not many good news in the club’s entourage this season, but the emergence of Roy in attack is one, and his presence in the team allows him at the very least to make a good impression with a view to the next season.

The Canadian is far from the elite

This observation is (very) easy to make after Saturday’s disaster in Boston, but at the same time, the Bruins’ recipe can give hope. This recipe can be summed up in three words: good decisions. While a fourth-line player (Danton Heinen) humiliated the Canadian with three goals, the guys at the top of the lineup took care of the rest. Interesting detail: of the Bruins’ eight best scorers this season, none were drafted in the top 10 by the team, but two of these players (James Van Riemsdyk and Pavel Zacha) were by another club. The third scorer, Charlie Coyle, is a former first round pick (28^e in total) of the Sharks. These good decisions lead to what we saw Saturday night, and what we see in general from the Bruins.

Another worst moment

Before Saturday night’s match, Martin St-Louis had said earlier in the day that the club’s previous match in Boston, on November 18, had been his team’s worst moment this season. It’s unclear whether Saturday night’s 9-4 loss was another worst moment or an even worse moment, but following the November failure, the Canadian responded with three wins in their next four games, against rivals from classification background. Is such an answer possible with the three matches coming up before the break? We’ll let you be the judge, because the Canadian will host the Senators on Tuesday, Patrick Roy and the Islanders on Thursday, and will visit the Penguins on Saturday.

The poise of Samuel Montembeault

It’s a detail, but also, it’s not without importance: Saturday night in Boston, after having had a difficult evening and allowing eight goals to the Bruins (“it goes with me, I didn’t have a good game” , he admitted), Samuel Montembeault still showed up in the locker room. This deserves to be underlined, because in the more or less recent history of the Canadiens, goalkeepers who come to answer questions after a difficult evening is a rarity, and it almost never happens (see Price , Carey). Despite everything, Montembeault did not go into hiding, and he chose to come forward. This strength of character deserves attention, especially for those who still claim that the Quebec goalkeeper is not a “real” number one. Well, it turns out that showing up in tough times is also part of this task definition. “A goalkeeper must have a selective memory,” he admitted on Saturday evening. Indeed, and we can assume that he has already forgotten everything about that evening in order to think better about the next one.