Canadiens Daily
Habs Daily: St-Louis Not Worried, Trade Talk, Jacob Fowler
Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Friday.
Montreal Canadiens News
Even though the Canadiens are now dead last in the Eastern Conference standings, head coach Martin St-Louis does not seem to be overly worried about the team, but he is concerned about the confidence level displayed by some of his players.
“People ask me if I’m worried. Honestly, the way we’ve been playing, I’m not worried. It’s gonna turn around. I’m only a little bit worried about the confidence of certain players but it’s okay, we’ll work on that. But collectively, I’m not worried.”
– Habs coach Marty tonight pic.twitter.com/yvT39cMasr
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 8, 2024
The Montreal Canadiens are still very much a work in progress, and one trade isn’t going to fix the issues on this club. With their main offseason acquisition in Patrik Laine out until at least December, and no major upgrade anywhere else in the lineup, expecting this club to be a playoff bubble team may have been a little too optimistic. Trades could be part of the solution, but they’re not the only way forward. [Why The Montreal Canadiens’ Woes Are Not A One-Trade Fix]
While there’s no doubt goaltender Samuel Montembeault is off to a difficult start to the season, his sub .900 save percentage doesn’t tell the whole story. The Canadiens are allowing a flood of high-danger scoring chances every night.
“An .890 goalie” doesn’t actually mean anything because shots aren’t created equal and teams don’t allow equal quality shots. And no team allows higher-quality shots more than the Canadiens do. https://t.co/gL0ozzrFnh pic.twitter.com/JJUUXOTQ79
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) November 8, 2024
Speaking of goalies, prospect Jacob Fowler is sporting a ridiculous .941 save percentage through seven games this season for Boston College, including a 3-2 win versus Maine on Friday night. Fowler stopped 30 of the 32 shots sent his way.
Fowler comes up with a huge stop!
Watch on NESN and ESPN+ (https://t.co/1NGj4APAT7) pic.twitter.com/ONTKMKerDu
— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) November 9, 2024
National Hockey Now Network
For the third straight game, the Florida Panthers wore the custom bathrobes made for them to use during their trips to the sauna trips in Finland. Of course, the first two games were in Finland and, the commute was much shorter. [Florida Panthers]
When the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in a shootout on Thursday night, it was a big win for just about everybody on the team. The win, understandably, meant the most to goalie Ivan Fedotov. [Philadelphia Flyers]
Jeremy Swayman is gearing up for the mother of all goalie reunions on Saturday. The Bruins’ netminder will faceoff against old friend and teammate Linus Ullmark, as the Ottawa Senators come to town. For the last three seasons, the pair dominated as one of the best goaltending tandems in the National Hockey League. But on Saturday, they’ll be on opposite ends of the ice, adding a new dimension to the divisional rivalry. [Boston Bruins]
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I don’t understand how Marty can say he’s not worried based on the way they’ve been playing, it’s one of the worst stretches of his tenure. That’s precisely tge reason he should be worried. Of course players confidence will be shaken when they are losing badly most games. I’m worried that Marty isn’t worried….
No panic. Finishing bottom 5 this year is not a bad thing…in fact tge 2025 draft class is full of talent in the top 7 picks to help any club.
At the end of this season, the Habs can finally say bye bye to Armia, Dvorak, Pezzetta, and Evans as well…hopefully trade Anderson. It may be wise to keep Ecans…he is very effective as a 3rd or 4th line center and the PK.
Accepting losing with no real pushback or accountability- is that called tanking? You don’t want a losing culture even if improves your draft position.