Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens
Two years ago, the Montreal Canadiens had the best record in the Eastern Conference. After things went south last season, they’ve got a revamped roster and a new coach in Jacques Martin.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, believe they may be able to end a franchise-record four-year playoff drought — if they can fix their leaky defense.
The Original Six and Northeast Division rivals open the new season on Thursday night as Martin makes his debut behind the Canadiens bench in the start of a five-game trip for his club.
Montreal (41-30-11) had an East-leading 104 points in 2007-08 under Guy Carbonneau before losing in five games to Philadelphia in the conference semifinals. Last season, the Canadiens were 35-24-7 when they fired Carbonneau on March 9 with general manager Bob Gainey taking over, but the change failed to provide much of a spark.
Playing as the eighth seed, Montreal was swept by Boston in the opening round.
Gainey hired Martin, who had stints with St. Louis, Ottawa and Florida. Martin coached the Blues and Senators to the postseason in 10 of his 11 seasons with those clubs but never reached the playoffs in three seasons with the Panthers from 2005-08.
“It was a priority for me that we find a head coach that had seen a lot of situations,” Gainey said. “We love Montreal as a marketplace, if that’s the right word, but it comes with the demands and expectations and pressures. And I think Jacques has already proven that’s well within his capacity to handle not only the coaching but the environment in Montreal.”
Gainey also went about reshaping his roster, and the Canadiens will have a smaller — and perhaps quicker team — on the ice.
The Canadiens acquired Scott Gomez in a trade with the New York Rangers and signed forwards Brian Gionta from New Jersey and Mike Cammalleri from Calgary.
Cammalleri had a career-high 82 points last year for the Flames while Gomez tied for the Rangers’ lead with 58 — his lowest total in five years. Gionta had 60 points in his final season with the Devils, his most since a career-high 89 in 2005-06.
Among those gone are Alex Kovalev, who led the Habs with 26 goals and 65 points, and longtime captain Saku Koivu. Kovalev signed with division rival Ottawa while Koivu joined Anaheim.
Carey Price is back in net after a bit of a rocky second season for Montreal. Price went 23-16-10 with a 2.83 goals-against average in 2008-09, but never seemed to recover from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for nearly three weeks in January.
Over his final 32 games including the postseason, Price was 7-16-5 with a 3.48 GAA. He also comes in having lost seven straight, but believes he can bounce back.
“I’m not really doing anything different, just working hard and staying focused,” Price told the Canadiens’ official Web site.
His counterpart, Vesa Toskala, also will be under pressure. Toronto (34-35-13) allowed a league-worst 3.49 goals per game last year and Toskala was 22-17-11 with a career-worst 3.26 GAA.
General manager Brian Burke made sweeping changes to the Maple Leafs’ blueline, adding Francois Beauchemin from the Ducks and prying Mike Komisarek away from the Canadiens. An All-Star, Komisarek spent his first six seasons with Montreal before signing a five-year, $22.5-million deal to join Toronto.
“We are extremely pleased to add a player with Mike’s ability and leadership qualities to our lineup,” Burke said. “He’s a respected competitor in this league and we know that he will bring his hard-nosed approach to our team on a consistent basis.”
Burke also added high-scoring forward Phil Kessel, who was acquired from Boston on Sept. 18 for two first-round picks and a second-round pick. Kessel led the Bruins with a career-high 36 goals last season, but won’t be available until November while recovering from rotator cuff surgery.
The Maple Leafs play five of their first seven games at Air Canada Centre, and know their defense will come under scrutiny in the early season.
“We got guys that can score, we can obviously play better defense,” forward Jason Blake said.
Montreal and Toronto split six meetings last season with each being decided by at least three goals.
Starting Line-ups
Canadiens: One year after taking the East’s top seed, Montreal had a disappointing campaign last season, costing coach Guy Carbonneau his job before the Habs barely squeaked into the final playoff spot. Montreal has had moderate success thus far, finishing 4-2-1 in the preseason, but coach Jacques Martin and GM Bob Gainey will be expecting more production out of an offense that finished eighth in the conference in scoring in 2008-09, after adding Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, and Scott Gomez. The Canadiens’ new trio of forwards totaled 200 points last season, but those points didn’t come cheaply. The three will make a combined $18 million this year.
Maple Leafs: Brian Burke’s rebuilding operation is in full swing, and the GM wasted little time molding the roster into a similar unit to the one he won a Stanley Cup with in Anaheim in 2007. Those Ducks were noted for their physical play, and with Toronto adding Francois Beauchemin, Garnet Exelby and Komisarek to accompany maturing defenseman Luke Schenn, the Leafs have enough brawn on the blue line that few teams will push them around. Newly-signed winger Colton Orr also brings toughness to the lineup. So far this has worked for Toronto, which went 6-3-0 in the preseason, but the goals may not come so quickly. Phil Kessel, perhaps the biggest fish reeled in by Burke this offseason, is out until at least mid-November.
Who’s Hot — After spending his entire career in the defensive-minded Devils organization, Gionta might be primed for a big season in Montreal. The winger is on a roll with three goals in the last three preseason games. For Toronto, Swedish winger Viktor Stahlberg is set to make his NHL debut, and if he produces as he did this past month, he’ll become a mainstay. Stahlberg finished September at a blistering pace, netting five goals in the Leafs’ final five exhibition games.
Injury Report – With Kessel out of the lineup, Toronto’s offense could prove sluggish, and the loss of Mike Van Ryn will make the Maple Leafs thinner on the blue line. The Leafs may also be without gritty center Jamal Mayers, who has not played since a collision with Pittsburgh’s Tim Wallace last week. Montreal should have a full lineup for the opener.
Stat Pack — One might assume the Kessel-less Leafs will want for scoring, but that may not be the case. Despite finishing outside the East’s top eight, Toronto ended the 2008-09 season a respectable 10th overall in goals.
Puck Drop — With the excitement of opening night, it’s unlikely either side will come out flat. Look for Montreal to unleash their newly added firepower, but don’t be surprised if Orr and Toronto’s physical blueliners attempt to establish the tone early, both for the game and the season.
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