Editorial – Addition by Subtraction

The Habs are definitely in another pinch due to that pesky injury bug.  Over the weekend, leading goal scorer Mike Cammalleri suffered a right MCL injury, which leaves him out for upwards of six weeks.  His return is expected in mid-March and with the recent speedy recovery of Andrei Markov from his tendon injury, one can only hope that Cammalleri returns sooner rather than later.

However, subtracting the 26 goals from the lineup, the Habs are hard-pressed to find a replacement within the ranks that can pick up the scoring absence left behind by Cammalleri.  The next leading scorers on the club are Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta, and Benoit Pouliot.  There are signs that the Habs are going to be able to balance out the scoring woes amongst the three forwards, however, the team already had trouble scoring before the injury to Cammalleri.  The loss of Cammalleri may motivate the team to band together… similar to what happened with Markov’s early injury.  Things could improve just from the fact that the team may become more desperate in the coming weeks.

In the Eastern Conference, Montreal ranks 10th in conference goals for, and not surprising to see, the Habs also rank 10th in goals against in the conference.  The team has done little to improve in the first two thirds of the campaign, being riddled by injuries to key players combined with a number of off-ice distractions.  To top things off, the city, the media, and all of the fans have been enraptured by this ongoing saga of Carey Price vs. Jaroslav Halak, which is becoming similar to the cutthroat divisions amongst fans of Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien in recent weeks.

Despite my allegiances to the Habs, I must admit that the team hasn’t given us much to cheer about in recent weeks.  Miscues, player squabbles, temper tantrums, and injuries have plagued this team and these challenges are not going away anytime soon.  Even the poor Toronto Maple Leafs, with all of the recent blunders related to team management have made moves to further solidify the team’s culture.  Moving forward, I hate to admit these things, but the Leafs did make some moves that some may question, but the team has more of an identity now than just a few days ago.

What’s the Habs identity?  Can they really be happy with the status quo of hovering around the eighth place spot as teams below them start to improve and heat up, while teams above them and within their division are starting to pull away?  Will the Habs actually make sound team decisions for the future both on the short-term or the long-term, or is this current roster part of some quirky long-term plan that only GM Bob Gainey knows about.  The team needs a spark… making a trade or even a coaching / management change may only prove to be a short-term solution, but it will at least hold the players and all the staff accountable for the current state of the team.

Yes, yes, the team won against the Canucks, but it took a 45-save performance from Halak to hold things together.  And if he loses – will the team go back to Price, or at least try to take a run with the hot hand?  Is it reasonable to pull a goalie who is currently 3-1-1, with a 1.59 goals against average, and .955 save percentage in his last five appearances… in Montreal, it is.

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Tags: Andrei Markov, Benoit Pouliot, Bob Gainey, Brian Gionta, Carey Price, Conan O'Brien, Jaroslav Halak, Jay Leno, Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec