Montreal Canadiens

Training Camp Hyperbole

Training camp and the ensuing exhibition games are a necessary process for organizations to evaluate potential prospects, identify the strengths and weaknessess of existing personnel, and utilize the time for team building. In the frenzied market of Montreal, the basic tennants of training camp give way to an intense media scrutiny and rabid fans that rush headlong into rash judgements that border on the absurd.

Inter squad games are given wall to wall coverage in the Montreal media. Saku Koivu is eviserated in parts of the francophone media, due to his decision to not participate in the Habs annual pre training camp golf tournament. Poor play of a veteran or a prospect in a singular exhibition game is grounds for dismissal. The coverage and scrutiny borders on fanaticism. The noise out of the media, and over exhuberent fans should be treated as white noise.

The reality is that the Habs finished first in the eastern conference last season. Gainey identifed areas that he wanted to strengthen. He recognized that the areas that the Habs were deficent in would need to be addressed externally. To that end he acquired veterans Lang and Tanguay to fortify the offense. Unrestricted free agent Laraque was picked up to add a physical dimension to the team. With those moves made, Carbonneau indicated prior to camp that the team was 95 percent set for the regular season. No amount of posturing by the media or the fans is going to change the composition of the team. Gainey alluded to the fact that there would be a lack of openings for rookies this season. As well Gainey indirectly stated that many of the Habs prospects need more seasoning. There time will come…next season. This training camp is all about sychronicity and team chemistry for an established team ready to take a run at the Stanley Cup. The teams core players could to a certain extent go through the motions and lose every exhibition game, and it would not matter. The games are meaningless in importance. Carbonneau will use the exhibition games to experiment with various line combinations. Prospects will be evaluated for future contributions. As promising as some rookies are, they are not going to take jobs away from the established core and role players of the team.

In terms of evaluation, Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber, and Ben Maxwell have looked the most promising thus far. Pacioretty is an imposing power forward. Extremely strong on the puck, he already has the physical attributes to compete in the NHL.Weber has all the attributes to be a polished offensive defenseman with good on ice vision and reads a developing play in the offensive zone extremely well. Maxwell has a silky smooth release on his wrist shot, has good on ice awarness in all three zones, and has good acceleration. Alongside Pacioretty and Maxwell’s offensive gifts were good defensive instincts that could make them very solid allround players. Weber is still somewhat raw and unrefined in terms of defensive positioning, and still needs time to properly read and react to a developing play in the defensive zone. In reality all three players although promising need time to evolve and develop in the AHL. They are not quite NHL ready on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

No matter how much controversy the media attempts to stir up, or advocating the promotion of a prospect at the expense of an established player, the Habs lineup is set to go for the regular season. When the real season commences then evaluations and judgements can be properly deployed. Until then it is all hype with little substance.