The Montreal Canadiens are in 1st…

The Montreal Canadiens are leading the Eastern Conference standing after 16 games.

Coach Michel Therrien has the team playing well together.

It was a great move to play his younger players. Alex Galchenyuk and Bredan Gallagher are playing well together–bringing skill, speed and exuberance to the team. They have 10 and 8 points respectively.

P.K. Subban is playing 20 minutes and Andrei Markov is playing 24 minutes per a game on defense. No Matter who they are paired with the puck doesn’t spend much time in their zone because of their great ability to skate, move the puck and shoot it.

Carey Price is showing why he is considered a top 5-goalie in the NHL right now.

The injury toBredan Gallagher may affect the team speed for a while.

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens on the score board and physically beat up on them. The Canadiens’ lack of size will become an issue because the NHL referees stop calling penalties as the season gets closer to the playoffs.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins will regain their number 1 and 2 seeds. The Boston Bruins have played 3 less games than the Canadiens.

I believe they will make the playoffs as long as their big 3–that is, Carey Price, Andrei Markov, and P. K. Subban–don’t get hurt.

Enjoy the early season success.

 

Colton Orr missed hit…

The NHL disciplinary committee should start suspending players for attempt to injury. Yes, it was obvious that Orr attempt to destroy Plekanec–not just hit him with a body check.

Seeing Don Cherry justify why it happened made it worse, a few seconds earlier Plekanec had gotten tangled up with Orr, taken his stick out of his hands and thrown it to a few feet away. Orr is upset that Plekanec did that. But Orr’s response was road rage level.

He skated as quickly as he could toward Plekanec, who was bringing up the puck and Orr left his feet to make violent contact with Plakenac. Lucky for Plekanec that he jumped out of the way and avoided serious injury.

If contact was made, Plakenac would have been removed from the game on a stretcher. It also could’ve been a knee on knee which also would have resulted in a few months on the disabled list for the Canandien’s player.

I’m a fan of having 3 enforcers on a hockey team. I believe it is the team’s job to protect its players and send a message to any opponent who tries to injure anybody on their team. The NHL 2-game suspension doesn’t protect your players against cheap shots. Many teams have had a star player been taken out by a cheap shot, which resulted in long term injury and a drop in the player’s production because his team didn’t respond to the opponent’s cheap shot with violence. To name a few: Mike Miller in Buffalo and Mike Green in Washington.

Tomas Plekanec almost got added to that list due to Colton Orr. The NHL disciplinary committee has to start handing out suspensions for players’ intent to injure. The intent to injure should be a 2 – 3 game suspension, and long term injury to a player should also lead to long term suspensions.

Should Orr be suspended for his missed hit?

Enjoy your day!

 

No more Subban and Price celebration…

Michel Therrien the Montreal Canadiens coach has banned the triple low-five between Carey Price and P.K. Subban after wins.

The Canadiens organization is just taking away the fun from the players. The triple low-five is only performed after wins. They have fun doing it. The team has skated off the ice by the time Price and Subban do their thing.

I don’t believe they ban their teammates from participating in the celebration. They are just young players having fun.

This is just one more way to try to tone Subban down. Why do you want to take away player’s right to have fun? I believe it has to with Subban being a black athlete in a predominantly white male sport. They have many unwritten rules about respect for the game and being straight laced.

Subban has been harassed about his goal scoring celebrations and now he can’t do the triple low-five after wins with Price. What is next? Subban will have to tone down his answers to media questons.

Coach Therrien wants the team to meet at center ice and wave to the crowd.  He wants a team celebration. That is what they are calling this cancellation of a fun celebration for players and fans.

I hope for Subban’s sake that he will not be part of the Canadiens organization for too many more years.

Are the Canadiens trying too hard to control Subban?

Enjoy your day!

P.K. Subban finally signs…

P.K. Subban has finally signed a 2-year, $5.75 million contract. He shouldn’t have signed it, but he did.

People are calling him a spoiled brat. The character assassination that is going on is incredible.

Let us look at some of the salaries of his teammates (who are not as talented): Colby Armstrong makes 3 million, Rene Bourque 4 million, Tomas Kaberle 4 million, Brian Gionta 5 million, Tomas Plekanec 5 million and Josh Georges 2.5 million. A few of them will not play a minimum of 25 minutes a game.

In 2 years, Subban will be a restricted free agent once again, and if the Canadiens don’t feel he’s a star player, then they should trade him. The Canadiens don’t want to trade him unless they can get a young star player in return, but they also don’t want to pay Subban.

The Canadiens’ locker room has been damaged with team mates saying bad things about Subban during his hold out.  I hope he doesn’t lose the energy and joy he gets from playing.

Ryan O’Reilly hasn’t signed with the Colorado Avalnache yet.

Subban and his agent should have held out for a longer period. The Canadiens won. They got a very good player for less than 3 million a year.

Do you feel this is a fair contract for Subban?

Enjoy your day!

Collusion in the NHL …

P.K. Subban, Jamie Benn and Ryan O’Reilly are very good young players who are considered restricted free agents. Any team in the NHL can make these players an offer sheet, but his original team can match the offer to keep the player.

How else can we explain why a young, very good puck-moving defenseman, a three time 20 goal-scorer and a very good defensive second-line center have not received an offer sheet form any team in the NHL.

Jamie Benn has signed a 5 year 26.26 million dollar contract with the Dallas Stars.

The Philadelphia Flyers are the ones who signed Shea Webber to a very long term and high salary offer sheet. The Nashville Predators had no choice but to match the offer to keep Webber.

Why haven’t the Flyers offered P.K. Subban an offer sheet?

I believe Gary Bettman spoke to the owners about not signing restricted free agents to big offer sheets, which put the original team in a bind. After this lockout, the owners are attempting to collude. Unfortunately for Subban and O’Reilly, the NHL owners are trying to make an example of them for future players in their positions.

The Canadiens and Avalanche can play hardball with their young stars without the threat of an offer sheet from another team. The organization has more control on how long and how much they will sign an unrestricted player who is under 28 years old.

The baseball union successfully sued baseball owners for collusion when owners tried to control players’ salaries by not going after free agents. The NHL union should also start their own lawsuit to prevent collusion.

Hang in there, P.K. Subban. You will get a multi-year contract that will be close to 6 millions dollars.

Do you think P.K. Subban will sign soon?

Enjoy your day!

The Montreal Canadiens season will be…

The Montreal Canadiens started the training camp well by telling Scott Gomez to stay home. Marc Bergevin deserves kudos for this move. The next step is to sign P.K. Subban to his big contract. Don’t make this a long drawn-out affair. If the Canadiens try to paly hardball then their season will be a disaster.

The big decision they will have to make will be the status of Alex Galchenyuk. He played on the World Junior Champions USA squad. He played very well and seems to be ready for the NHL. I believe they have no choice but to play him to show the fans that the Canadiens organization have a future star.

The Canadiens added size and grit to their team. So what? The value of size and grit is only important when the team is very talented. The talented players would have the gritty players on the ice to protect them against any abuse. Unfortunately for the Canadiens they don’t have many talented players.

The Canadiens would be wise to bring up Jared Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu. They should make the team and play as pair. Tinordi is a big physical stay-at-home defensemen while Nathan Beaulieu is a smooth-skating, offensive-minded defenseman. Then you would have P.K. Subban pair with Josh Georges. This would leave 2 spots. One spot would go to Andrei Markov, and the other to someone else. Instead, they left Nathan Beaulieu with the Hamilton Buldogs.

The Canadiens forwards are a bunch of over-priced, marginal players who won’t do much this year in terms of scoring or checking. Tomas Plekanec’s health will be a key. He was hurt while playing in Europe.

Coach Michel Therrien will bring energy and an attitude to the team. He is a no holds barred, straight talker. It will be interesting to see how long before he loses his cool with players and the media.

No playoffs for the Canadiens.

Do you think the Canadiens will make the playoffs?

Enjoy your day!

 

P.K. Subban is a NHL superstar…

Why is P.K. Subban such a polarizing figure in the NHL?

Talent wise, P.K. Subban is a top tier defenseman. He is a tremendous skater and puck handle. He has a great shot and a very good hockey I.Q. He is not afraid to hit and act as a pest on the ice. The Montreal Canadiens have to realize Subban is the second most important player on the team and they need to sign him quickly. To me, Carey Price, the goaltender, is the most important player.

Away from the ice, Subban is a personable, intelligent and fun loving person. The media love to interview him because he gives smart and usually candid answers to their questions. It seems that he is respectful to everybody, except maybe to his opponents during a game.

The Montreal Canadiens offered Subban a 3-year contract for 11million dollars. He was smart to reject the offer. What he wants is a 6-year contract for 36 millions dollars. The Canadiens’ management, some of the fans and even some of Subban’s teammates seem to think that this kid is simply too full of himself. I will provide you with some statistics, which will prove that the Canadiens really need Subban’s talents to build a strong team.

He has been in the league since 2010 – exactly 11 seasons. Below are the statistics and salaries of his teammates during the period Subban has been with the Canadiens:

Name	Salary	Year	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-
B.Gionta	5 million	2010-11	82	29	17	46	3
		2011-12	31	8	7	15	-7
T.Plekanec	5 million	2010-11	77	22	35	57	8
		2011-12	81	17	35	52	-15
S.Gomez	7.5 million	2010-11	80	7	31	38	-15
		2011-12	38	2	9	11	-9
A.Markov	5.75 million	2010-11	7	1	2	3	2
		2011-12	13	0	3	3	-4
P.Subban	875 000	2010-11	77	14	24	38	-8
		2011-12	81	7	29	36	9

The defensemen who are currently in the NHL who currently make 6 million a year range are: Dion Phaneuf, Bret Burns, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle and Jason Garrison.

Name	Million	Year	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-
D. Boyle	6.6	2010-11	76	9	41	50	2
		2011-12	81	9	39	48	10
J.Bouwmeester	6.6	2010-11	82	4	20	24	-2
		2011-12	82	5	24	29	-21
D.Phaneuf	6.5	2010-11	66	8	22	30	-2
		2011-12	82	12	32	44	-10
Bret Burns	5.75	2010-11	80	17	29	46	-10
		2011-12	81	11	26	37	8
J.Garrison	5.5	2010-11	73	5	13	18	-2
		2011-12	77	16	17	33	6
P.Subban	875 000	2010-11	77	14	24	38	-8
		2011-12	81	7	29	36	9

As you can see from the 2 statistics tables, P.K. Subban’s numbers are comparable to those of his teammates and the NHL defensemen who make more than 5.75million. The Canadiens should realize Subban deserves the money he is asking for and that he is worth signing for 6 more years for 36 million. The Canadiens should stop looking for excuses to deny Subban his big contract.

Now that I confirmed the value of Subban to the Montreal Canadiens and the salary range he deserves compared to similar defensemen in the NHL. We will look at his perception in the media, fans, players, and his teammates.

In my opinion, P.K. Subban might be a polarizing figure because the NHL has never had a Black, intelligent, confident, charismatic, proud and talented player. He refuses to be low key and also “talks a lot trash” in the hockey league. So far, NHL fans have only been used to seeing brash Black athletes in the NFL, NBA and MLB. He is definitely not DeMarcus Cousins or Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson. The NHL players, teammates and media talk about Subban as if he is a terrible person, as if he is a player who can divide a locker room or who only cares about his statistics.

Many hockey players and the media don’t like how Subban celebrates his goals. All hockey players have a signature move they like to do when they celebrate goals. Subban’s celebration is not over the top.

Many players don’t like his “trash talking”. Every team in the NHL has a minimum of 2 trash-talking players. Some players are better at it than others. Is Subban that good at “trash talking” or are players more sensitive to his comments because of other issues?

P.K. Subban, because of his discipline and work ethic is a role model both for the Black community and for the NHL. He is a good individual, an excellent player, and he does a great job at promoting himself.Is that why many hate Subban? If so, then I must attribute this hate to jealously and envy.

Please P.K. Subban, just BE and STAY you.

What is your own view of P.K. Subban?

Enjoy your day!

The Canadian NHL teams…

The Vancouver Canucks, the Ottawa Senators, and even the Edmonton Oilers will make the playoffs for the Canadian teams.

The Edmonton Oilers’ players have played well during the lockout. Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Nick Schultz were in the top 5 scorers in the American League. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the World Junior tournament in scoring and Devan Dubnyk played in the Spengler Cup representing Canada.

Ales Hemsky is the key to their playoff run.

They are in a great position to get off to good start. Having players who are in game shape so quickly is key to making this short season a great one.

Last years number1 pick overall selected by the Oilers’ Nail Yakupov is a puck hog. I would rather they traded the pick to get multiple pieces which could have helped the team immediately.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired Brian Burke. Dave Nonis has been a general manger before with the Canucks. It will be interesting to see how that will affect the possibility of getting Roberto Loungo. The Leafs roster is a mess.

They are too dependent on 1 line to have success.

The Montreal Canadiens’ season will be a non-playoff season. P.K. Subban signing is a major priority. They can’t wait until summer to dump some bad contracts in order to improve the Canadiens’ future.

The Ottawa Senators are in good shape. The return of Daniel Alfredsson was great news for them. They had 7 players score more than 14 goals last year. Balance scoring must continue for success. They will make the playoff.

The Calgary Flames should start the season with Jarome Iginla, Maikka Kiprusoff, and play many of their top prospects. They have multiple top junior players who are ready to play now.

The Vancouver Canucks should only trade Roberto Loungo for the right package. In a shorted season I would keep him in case Cory Schneider has a bad start. Ryan Kesler‘s injury is a big loss. This may force the Canucks to trade Loungo in order to replace Kesler’s scoring.

The Winnipeg Jets’ season will hinge on the development of Evander Kane. They have 3 players who scored more than 24 goals last year. It will be another non-playoff year for the Jets. They will score some goals.

Which Canadian teams you think will make the playoffs?

Enjoy your day!