TEAM PREVIEWS: THE MONTREAL CANADIENS

Introduction:

Its the year of the bleu, blanc (imagine its white), et rougue. The franchise is turning 100 years old this year and hopes to add a 25th Stanley Cup to its century of domination. Make no mistake, this is the best Canadiens team we've seen since Patrick Roy was still talking to his goalposts in Montreal instead of telling his kid to go beat the crap out of the opposing goalie. But is it a Cup team?

Key Departures:
Michael Ryder
Mark Streit

Ryder was expendable ad had long ago fallen out of favor with head coach Guy Carbonneau. He will not be missed here.

Streit on the other hand could be a significant loss. I'm convinced that most people could score about 30 points playing point on this Montreal Powerplay (yes Nick even the Cookie Monster) but it takes talent to score 62.

New Faces:
Alex Tanguay
Georges Laraque

Tanguay and Mike Keenan didn't see eye to eye and when that happens its never Keenan who blinks. So Tanguay found himself in Montreal to start the season. I'm not sure if Tanguay is still the 80+ point player he once was but he will certainly get every opportunity to be on this run and gun team.

Though Tanguay was the most talked about addition to this team Laraque may be the most significant. The Canadiens lacked a bruising forward that the opposition would fear last season and it showed as they were brutalized and eliminated in 5 games by the Philadelphia Flyers last season. Laraque should add a dimension to the team that was lacking last season and allow more players to play their games without fearing retribution.

The Offense:
There are seven players on this team who finished with more than 50 points last season. That is an astounding feat. The Canadiens finished second only to Ottawa last season in goals scored last season. I expect that number to go down a little this year, as teams will be more prepared to defend against the powerplay and have a better sense of matchups. That said the Canadiens are one of the most talented teams in the NHL and should be heavily represented in your fantasy league.

You Should Be Happy You Drafted:
Alex Tanguay
Tomas Plekanec
Andrei Kostitsyn
Alexei Kovalev
Saku Koivu

With Tanguay its not that I think 80 points is where he belongs so much as I know that he DOESN'T belong in the high 50's. Tanguay has always been a gifted playmaker and, additionally, has always played with very gifted finishers. Things will be no different here as Alex will be setting Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev on the first line nightly and getting significant powerplay. Early returns show that you should expect great things.
FACT: Tanguay's best offensive season actually came not with Peter Forsberg in Colorado as many believe but in 2006-2007 with Jarome Iginla in Calgary.

Plekanec is steadily turning into a very good player. He is not a physically imposing player nor does he take a ton of shots, but he is defensively responsible and a force on the powerplay. He is a good second/great third center.
FACT: Was also a member of the silver medal winning Czech team in the 2006 Olympics.

Kostitsyn the greater had a solid breakout campaign last year playing with Alexei Kovalev. Kostitsyn managed 26 goals and 27 assists. While he was surprisingly quiet on the powerplay he should see more ice time with the main advantage this season. A solid 60-70 point winger.
FACT: A. Kostitsyn has played with an edge to his game at every level but the NHL and may eventually add PIM to the areas he contributes to fantasy wise.

Oh my god! He's 35 and I'm still talking about Alexei Kovalev. Kovalev who took a year off from being relevant in 06-07 came storming back in 07-08. Kovalev notched 84 points, 70 PIM and was a machine on the man advantage notching 47 points there. His resurgence reminded me a lot of that of Teemu Selanne's in Anaheim, meaning that he was always a star he just needed to be treated like one and given guidance and a leadership role. Can he do it again? No. But I think he'll come pretty close.
FACT: Kovalev has been accused of criticizing the fans, media, coaching staff and team during his time with the Canadiens. Why then do they still cheer for him in Montreal? This hit on Darcy Tucker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khywEqMgtUI

Saku Koivu, like Mr. T before him, beat cancer and continued to do the thing he loves most in life. For that I applaud the guy. I don't think, though early returns indicate otherwise, that Saku really has the offensive value that he once did but he has turned into something of PIM magnet in his 30's. Therefore any offensive risk he might pose can be considered negligible as will be offset by other concerns.
FACT: Cool story. Saku was criticized by Guy Bertrand, a nationalist lawyer, for not speaking French. Koivu is Finnish, and he speaks English and French, but his French is very limited. He responded in two ways. First he laughed it off in the press and said that he is embarassed by his French but that he does speak it to his wife in "intimate moments." Second at the next game a video was played in the arena featuring Koivu introducing the Montreal Canadiens with the phrase "Ici Saku Koivu, voici mon équipe" which translates as "Saku Koivu here, this is my team."

You Want to Be Prepared to Snag:
Christopher Higgins
Sergei Kostitsyn

Higgins hasn't played a game yet this season as he is suffering from a mysterious "lower body injury." Higgins has always impressed me with his play, but seems to be one of the odd men out in Montreal this season. With rumors swirling about his imminent trade I would keep an eye on Higgins. His value would vault if he ended up somewhere where he would be guaranteed more ice team.
FACT: Christopher Higgins is a traitor! An American born player, he grew up in New York... as a Montreal Canadiens fan!!

Ah yes... Kostitsyn the lesser. At last we have come to you. I'm about the only person in the fantasy circles who wasn't high on young Sergei this preseason, and right now he has 4 points through4 games. Can't win em all I guess. I do really think that this will cool off for Sergei as I feel he's a year or two away from really contributing at a star's pace, but I couldn't blame you if you wanted to get swept up in the KtLess excitement. He's fast and fun to watch.
FACT: Lil Kostitsyn makes 2.75 million less per year then his elder brother. I have this image of Andrei lighting cigars with 100 dollar bills and then offering to pay for Sergei's ramen noodles and mac and cheese, or whatever the Belarussian equivalent thereof is.

The Defense:
Montreal's defense IS its offense. They spend so much time in the opposing teams end that they rearely get a solid counterattack going. Unfortunately they are still a little thing behind the blue line, which accounts for Carey Price's elevated GAA last season. They don't have a ton of offensive talent in the back but its unclear exactly what Komisarek is yet. Right now he is already a great shutdown defender, blocking more shots then any other NHLer last season, but it was thought he might one day become a great puckmover. For now there isn't a whole lot of fantasy interest here beyond...

You Should Be Happy You Drafted:
Andrei Markov

Markov turned into an amazing offensive D-man over the last three seasons and was a critical part of Montreal's powerplay explosion last year. He will remain so this one.
FACT: Markov finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting last season.

The Powerplay:
Saku Koivu
Andrei Kostitsyn
Alexei Kovalev
Alex Tanguay
Andrei Markov

Lots of great puckmovers, with Kovaleve having the "heavy shot" of the bunch. Having watched a lot of the Rangers powerplay last season I would say that this unit is what Jagr was trying to mimic in New York... unsuccessfully. Scary fast and loaded with great playmakers, the Canadiens will live and die by this unit all year.

The Goalie(s):
Carey Price, your time has come. We'll never know whether Bob Gainey really wanted to put the future of his franchise up to the playoff scrutiny he was bound to receive last season or if he thought he had a deal in place with Alanta for Marian Hossa and Kari Lehtonen when he dealt Cristobal Huet, and it no longer matters. Carey Price has arrived. Price is prone to... lapses in judgment, but he is also prone to looking spectacular. Take what everyone else is saying with grain of salt and draft him as a later round number 1 starter or solid number 2 netminder on your fantasy team.
FACT: OMG! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikeCcQg6sf4

The Vedict:
When the offense sputters Carey Price is going to have to be spectacular but that might be an order he can handle. The Canadiens are the class of their division and may just be the class of the East.