Montreal Canadiens
Carrier Discusses Series-Changing Wilson Hit
Now that the season has come to an end, the laundry-list of injuries has emerged from the Montreal Canadiens locker room.
The team ended up being bounced by the Washington Capitals in their first appearance in the playoffs since they began their rebuild in earnest, however, they also had to push their players to the limit simply to qualify for springtime hockey in the first place.
That left them in a rather fragile situation heading into the playoffs, and consequently, several players will need a heavy dose of rest and therapy throughout the summer to ensure they’re ready to play come training camp.
For example, Alexandre Carrier injured his foot when Alex Ovechkin threw his first hit of the series. It surely didn’t help that Tom Wilson also trucked him a few games later, but the good news is that the issue seems to be mechanical, a more encouraging diagnosis than a potential concussion.
Fans were understandably upset when Wilson lined up Carrier, but the defender doesn’t hold any animosity toward his opponent.
“It wasn’t dirty,” said Carrier. “I would have done the same thing, I would have finished that hit. It’s my job to know who is on the ice and protect myself better.”
I tend to agree with Carrier, it was not a dirty hit, but it was a good reminder that physical play can turn a series around, as it did in Game 4.
More Injured Montreal Canadiens
And then there’s Josh Anderson, who finished the regular season with a broken everything. Full marks must be given to the Canadiens medical staff, as Anderson’s presence on the ice evoked memories of the Black Knight from Monty Python sketches.
Tis but a scratch!
Anderson ended up leading the physical charge versus the Capitals, a testament to his impressive perseverance, not to mention his commitment to reinventing his game, a rather difficult proposal for any NHL veteran.
The power forward took inspiration from fellow veteran Brendan Gallagher, both when it comes to his effort level, and the concept of playing with injuries.
Unsurprisingly, Gallagher also dealt with several injuries throughout the year, though that’s par for the course when discussing the veteran’s approach to the game.
He’ll need some rest, as will Patrik Laine.
The sniper missed the last few games of the playoffs due to a nagging knee injury and a fractured finger, however, the Finnish forward will not require surgery in the offseason, which means he should be healthy in time to participate in his first full training camp with the team.
Any specifics on what injuries Anderson dealt with all season? He seemed to be banged up pretty bad for a couple of months before the playoffs even began.
What about Montembeault? Any details on what his specific injury was that took him out of the series?
Anderson didn’t want to reveal the extent of his injuries.
“I’m not going to get into the specifics. Enough that if we weren’t in the position that we were in I wouldn’t be playing. I had things going on with my lower and upper body … I’ll leave it at that.”
Ok. Thanks for the follow up. 😁👍
So I get all the issues with Laine’s play, I do. But hopefully people lay off him a bit after learning about these injuries. Hard to shoot well with a fractured finger, hard to battle and skate well with a knee injury. Yes he needs to put more effort in. Yes he needs to win more battles. But the guy hasn’t really been healthy in years. Now that he’s played a bigger chunk of the season, and knows how MSL expects him to play, let’s see what he does with a full offseason (hopefully no preseason injury) and a new 2C. It still really didn’t cost anything but money to acquire him and we can argue that maybe caufield would’ve had those PP goals, but we don’t know (especially since Laine had the best PP scoring pace per game in the league). So it certainly seems like we wouldn’t have made the playoffs without him.
Let’s not run him out of town when scoring is historically such a big issue for us. It’s only one more season and we can easily eat his salary. Totally worth it to see what he can do with a new 2C and full offseason. Besides, we don’t have other real top 6 options. Newhook and Dach can’t be relied on for that, for different reasons. At least Laine has shown himself to be elite at some point in the past. Give him a chance to get back there. A bit more than half a season, jumping in after a big injury, after barely playing for a couple years, probably isn’t enough.
I would like to see him on PP2 next year. Our PP1 with Demidov in and Caufield in Laine’s spot was masterful to watch. Since Suzuki stays out for the whole powerplay and Hutson could be out there for most of it, Laine will still have 2 elite setup men to feed him. They’ll also be facing either a tired PK1 or a lower skill level PK2 at that point which means Laine may actually have better opportunities. I hated seeing Caufield pushed aside like yesterday’s news once Laine got in the lineup, and to me, this would be the best of both worlds.
If I am not mistaken these are the rules concerning body checks:
In the NHL, when body checking, players are not required to be exclusively focused on the puck, but their primary objective must be to gain possession of it. Body checking is legal when the player with the puck is in the vicinity, and the intent is to gain possession. However, a body check should not be delivered to an opponent who is not in possession of the puck or in a vulnerable position.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
In season ending interviews, Laine said his knee was fine.
Monty said groin tear but fortunately not near the bone
Wilson knows he will be suspended if he hits someone in the head so he purposely targets the shoulder and side of the head. But this can also be very dangerous to the recipient.
Blows to the side of the neck can be just as dangerous as blows to the head, and can lead to serious injuries. The neck has vital blood vessels and other structures, and injuries can disrupt blood flow to the brain, potentially causing serious neurological damage