As free agency season is still open, and it's time to look towards another exciting season, let's take another look at the starting lineups for the 2008-09 version of Les Canadiens de Montreal.
As they always say, defense wins championships.
But does it?
Take a look around the NHL, and you'll see many teams stacked up on the blue line. The New York Rangers weren't too shy about spending the big bucks on the back end, acquiring Wade Redden and Dmitri Kalinin to an already strong defense—including Michael Roszival, Paul Mara, and Marc Staal among others.
The Chicago Blackhawks gained Brian Campbell to go along with Cam Barker, Brent Seabrook, and Duncan Keith. The defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings re-upped Brad Stuart to an already lethal blue line, including Nick Lidstrom, Nik Kronwall, and Brian Rafalski.
So how's it going in La Belle Province?
Let's just say we're down a D-man.
One of the most lethal defensemen on the blue line during the power play, Mark Streit walked away from the team that brought him into the NHL after a stellar season in which he notched 62 points—the most by any Swiss player. Off to Long Island, Streit has found a new home to play only defense.
After finding Streit to fit into the hole left by the departure of Sheldon Souray last offseason, the Canadiens now have to turn to other defensemen to fill the hole that Streit has left.
Possible candidates could include workhorse Josh Gorges, big-man Ryan O'Byrne, or even the newly acquired Shawn Belle.
Whomever it is, the hope is that the Canadiens' league-leading power play does not struggle through the season after dominating with the extra man in 2007-08. Perhaps the departure of a powerhouse defenseman to quarterback to the power play will help the Canadiens to be more concerned about scoring five-on-five—an area in which they seemed to improve this last season.
Gorges was solid down the stretch, after having some ups and downs in the first half of the season. And he always seemed to make it onto the after-game interviews, quickly becoming a favorite of the reporters.
O'Byrne started his rookie season down in the AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs, but with injuries to Bouillon and others down the stretch, he got his first taste of the NHL in late December. He didn't fail to impress, notching his first NHL point in his first NHL game in the sunny state of Florida.
O'Byrne's 6'5" frame gives the Canadiens a much needed height presence on the blue line. He also likes to throw around his 234 pounds on the back end too.
Shawn Belle has seen limited NHL action—only nine games with the Minnesota Wild in 2006-07, notching one assist. Belle's 6'1", 235-lb. frame is another welcome addition, considering the fact the Canadiens dealt 5'9", 168-lb. Corey Locke for the big defenseman.
With Gorges, O'Byrne, and Belle all vying for the lower spots on the defensive roster, the Canadiens have always been supported by the main top-four defenseman Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik, and Francis Bouillon.
After taking part in his first career NHL All-Star Game, Andrei Markov seemed to disappear in the playoffs. Shying away from the physical play, Markov appeared to be playing injured throughout the final games of the Boston series and throughout the Flyers series.
4 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Alan Bass 11 months ago
i believe that their defense is the weakest part of the team, but it is not weak at all. they are absolutely able to win the conference again and perhaps make it to the third round or the finals
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Matt Woodman 11 months ago
Your not the only one to notice this. The Habs need a scoring defencemen if they want too go big places, but he also needs to be able to play defence, unlike in my opinion Mark Streit. And i heard the Habs never offered him a contract?!
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Matt Eichel 11 months ago
Yeah, I don't know what Gainey's reasoning is, but I think he wanted to make room for guys like Belle, O'Byrne as well as for McDonaugh, Fischer, and Subban in the near future.
As we all know, the Canadiens blueline has been somewhat bunched up in recent years with too many players. That's why the likes of Francois Beauchemin and Ron Hainsey had to go elsewhere to become successful defensemen.
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Kirbias 11 months ago
i think the defence is fairly solid...the big question though is what is carbo goin to do in centre?....1st line koivu or tanguay?...trade one???...higgins and plekanec are ready to step up but theres no room out of the four... theres a very deep talent pool but no star...i think centre is the big question mark.
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