Habs Mailbag: Canadiens can learn a lot from Hurricanes series
Do you think getting this far with this roster is a good thing in the Canadiens’ rebuild? I believe that HuGo have facts going forward and will not be guessing about the makeup of the team. This can only be good.
Darren Leblanc
I believe general manager Kent Hughes and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton already knew what the makeup of their team was heading into the playoffs and where they needed to improve.
They need a proven second-line centre, more size and grit up front and another big, right-shot defenceman. Maybe David Reinbacher, the No. 5 overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, can be that defenceman if he can stay healthy.
One thing they have learned during the playoffs is that Jakub Dobes can be a legitimate No. 1 goalie in the NHL and will battle Jacob Fowler for that spot going forward.
Here’s what Gorton had to say last year after the Canadiens were eliminated by the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs:
“I think everyone’s talking about size and Washington and the way they played. Certainly, we’re aware of that and as we move forward, Kent and I had a lot of discussions about this … size. Compete is really the biggest thing. Making sure we have people that are comfortable in a playoff environment to play in all situations. There’s really nothing we won’t look at to try and improve it.”
HuGo now have a pretty good idea of which players are comfortable in a playoff environment and which ones aren’t, which will only help when it comes to decision-making.
The Habs swept the Hurricanes during the regular season and then won the first playoff game decisively. What changed?
Larry Stonebridge
The Canadiens won all three regular-season games against Carolina despite being outshot 103-50.
Goaltending has been the biggest change for the Hurricanes in the playoffs.
The Canadiens won their first regular-season game against the Hurricanes 7-5 in Carolina on New Year’s Day. The Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens 25-23, but goalie Brandon Bussi allowed six goals on 22 shots, with the final goal an empty-netter. The Canadiens won the second game 5-2 at the Bell Centre on March 24 and the third game 3-1 in Carolina on March 29.
The biggest reason the Hurricanes lost the last two games was goalie Frederik Andersen, who allowed seven goals on 36 shots for an .806 save percentage. The Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens 43-19 and 35-18, respectively, in those two games.
Hey, Stu, what’s the deal with the low shots on goal? It’s like they’re not challenging the other goalie. Curious to hear what you have to say.
Travelnut58 on X — @Travelnut581
It’s very difficult to get shots on goal against the Hurricanes because of the aggressive style they play all over the ice, giving their opponents very little time and space. As Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson said, the Hurricanes basically play a man-on-man defence all over the ice.
During the regular season, the Hurricanes gave up an average of 23.9 shots per game — the fewest in the NHL. The Hurricanes have lowered that number to a league-best 22.2 in the playoffs.
The Hurricanes limited the Canadiens to an average of 16.3 shots in the first four games of the Eastern Conference final.
“They’re a pressure team,” Canadiens forward Alex Newhook said. “They make it hard on you to make plays and they try to collapse your space. But we have the skill and we have the team to be able to make plays through that. We’ve just got to be able to execute a little bit better and I think be a little bit more alert probably at times.
“They block shots, they bring a lot of pressure,” Newhook added. “It’s not like we’re not trying (to get shots), but we’ve got to find a way to get some more through.”
What valuable lessons have the playoffs taught Martin St. Louis and HuGo going forward in terms of adjustments to the Habs’ systems and roster changes?
Jim Sneddon
As noted above, the Canadiens need more size and grit.
I think one valuable lesson the Canadiens have learned is that their puck-possession system doesn’t work in the playoffs against a physical, hard-checking team like the Hurricanes. They will need to work on being able to get the puck deep behind the defence of a team like the Hurricanes and then forecheck hard to get it back.
Pretty plays, cross-ice passes and constantly looking for Grade A scoring chances might work in the regular season, but that doesn’t work in the playoffs — especially against a team like the Hurricanes.
In your opinion, how did the back-to-back seven-game series against Tampa Bay and Buffalo affect the Canadiens? Were they too beat up against a well-rested Carolina team or was it a matchup thing?
Ed Helinski Auburn, N.Y.
Having to play 14 playoff games in 30 days — including five overtimes — before facing the Hurricanes definitely had an impact on the Canadiens.
The Hurricanes only had to play eight playoff games in the first two rounds, sweeping the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers before enjoying an 11-day break in their schedule. The Hurricanes had played eight games in 33 days before facing the Canadiens.
Carolina looked rusty while losing Game 1 against the Canadiens 6-2, but rest is definitely a weapon in the playoffs and the Hurricanes used it to their advantage after skating off the rust.
As far as the “matchup thing,” the Hurricanes are a more experienced team than the Canadiens and are simply much better than them.
It seems that the Habs could really use Brendan Gallagher’s drive and tenacity and ability to get to the net. Where is he and why has he not played more than three games in the playoffs? He scored in one of them. It doesn’t seem fair to sideline the heartbeat of the Habs during a playoff run.
MJ Henderson
It has become obvious during the playoffs that Gallagher doesn’t have a future with the Canadiens and that St. Louis doesn’t believe the 34-year-old can keep up with the fast-paced style he wants his team to play.
St. Louis used Joe Veleno as his 12th forward in Games 3 and 4 against the Hurricanes, but didn’t give him much ice time — 8:26 and 6:05, respectively.
No knock on Veleno, but if St. Louis is only going to give his 12th forward six minutes of ice time, I’d prefer to see Gallagher in the lineup. You know at this point in his career Gallagher will leave everything he has on the ice and make life difficult for Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen by crashing the crease.
Andersen hasn’t had to deal with much net-front traffic in this series — or many shots.
Martin St. Louis has shown he is very thin-skinned and gets easily annoyed when media members question his coaching decisions. So my question is, in all the years you have covered the team, have you ever seen a more arrogant or stubborn Habs coach than him?
Deke Rivers
St. Louis can be stubborn in his beliefs, but he is far from arrogant with the media. He is usually very patient and polite, even when it comes to answering dumb or long-winded questions — or questions he has already been asked several times.
No coaches like having their decisions questioned by the media and there are times when St. Louis does get annoyed. But he doesn’t let it bother him.
“I’ll tell you why I don’t listen to that stuff, because why would I listen to criticism from somebody I would never go to for advice?” St. Louis said last season when asked about people criticizing his coaching. “It’s not going to change what I do, and it’s not going to make me upset. But if it does one thing, I’m almost thankful, because I usually overcome the obstacles and the people that doubt, and it fuels me.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but did the Canadiens dynasty teams not sequester themselves in the Laurentians during their many long playoff runs? It certainly helped drown out the “noise” of day-to-day living and family distractions. It strikes me that they should go back to that formula.
Joe LaRussa
During the 1970s, the Canadiens did retreat to the Laurentians during the playoffs as sort of a hideaway. When the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986, they stayed at a hotel on Île Charron on Montreal’s South Shore.
During a recent episode of The Gazette’s Hockey Inside/Out Show, Chris Nilan, Rick Green and Brian Skrudland — who were part of that 1986 team — talked about staying at the hotel, which they called “Alcatraz.”
“It was surrounded by water and alligators,” Green joked.
“I kind of enjoyed it,” Nilan said. “I think for married guys with young kids and stuff like that, it can be a good thing — even at home — the night before the game being in a hotel because you can get your rest, you can focus and get your mind set where it belongs. Those distractions at home — especially when you have young kids — it’s not that easy.”
Skrudland was a rookie in 1986 when he was sent to “Alcatraz” with his teammates.
“I didn’t know any better, No. 1,” Skrudland said. “So we’re always together. I said: ‘Now, this is all about bonding if I’ve ever seen bonding.’ I mean, you couldn’t go anywhere — it was just 24/7 each other. So you got to really like or hate the guy beside you — but 90 per cent of us we loved one another and it was just a whole different experience.
“We’d come off the road and, boy oh boy, here we are driving right to another hotel,” Skrudland added. “So you saw your wives after the game for a couple of minutes and that was it — and you were so focused. We were so focused on hockey, there was nothing else in my life back then. Twenty-two years of age, we were out in Alcatraz, I never saw anything — it was a tunnel of: Bring me that Cup. And, hey, it worked out. At the end of the day, there we were raising that Cup, so I wasn’t against it one little bit.
“I think the wives, they get a chance to live their lives as well. When they’ve got to worry about keeping everybody quiet because we need a two-hour nap in the afternoon, that’s not really fair, either.”
Considering the fact the Canadiens are 2-6 at home in the playoffs this year, bringing back some form or “Alcatraz” in the future might be a good idea.
How has Patrik Laine’s demeanour been? We’ve only seen him celebrating victories in the hallway after a game. Any other insights on a forgotten man? How is he approaching the off-season.
Scott Weldon
Laine’s demeanour seems to be very good for a guy who only played five games this season and hasn’t played in more than seven months after having surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
He has been practising regularly with the team for more than three months, watches games from the press box and is in the locker room after games.
“I feel like he’s had a great attitude,” St. Louis said last month when asked about Laine. “It’s been good. I know it’s not easy, but it is what it is. But he’s had a great attitude.”
As for how he’s approaching the off-season, Laine can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and the 28-year-old will be free to sign with any team that has interest in him.
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