Bob Gainey flushed the engine in Montreal between the 2008-09 season and 2009-10. A group of veterans lead by Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay were allowed to leave while a group of younger veterans were signed to expensive long term contracts to be the team core for years to come.
That group was lead by Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta at forward. They had mixed results last year struggling through the regular season. The veteran defense lead by Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik, and Jaroslav Spacek had trouble keeping the shot count down. The tiny forwards had trouble scoring at even strength.
That roster barely backed in to the playoffs in their last game of the season by losing a shoot-out to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They struggled to score last year and surrendered one of the highest shots against per game counts in recent Canadien's history.
Jaroslav Halak won the starting job in nets. His fifth best in the league, .924 save percentage, allowed him to drag Les Habitants, practically single handedly, into the playoffs.
Once they made the playoffs Montreal transformed into a team of giant killers. They b ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Scott Weldon
Montreal Canadiens: Confidence Is the Key So Far for the Team
November 18th, 2010 by Scott Weldon Leave a reply »
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