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Markov Needs Additional Surgery

Dec 4

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

Sidney Crosby wasn’t the only important player to his team to miss a significant amount of time. Montreal made the playoffs last season and is currently sitting outside the East playoff bubble. The senior leader of the defensive corps Andrei Markov will undergo a minor surgery on his knee and will miss about three weeks in addition to the time he has already missed, Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier said yesterday prior to taking on Los Angeles.

“Markov’s knee is almost at full strength,” Gauthier said. “He’s undergoing arthroscopic surgery to clean up debris.”

Markov, 32, had been cleared for contact several weeks ago and there was speculation and anticipation that he might return this week during the team’s California road trip. Markov has not seen game action in more than a year because of knee surgery and has played only 52 regular season games the past two seasons. When ever he returns, look for him to be paired with sophomore P.K. Subban to form the top defensive unit.

He will be an important boost to a struggling power play unit. They have the seventh-highest payroll in the league according to Capgeek.com and have the NHL’s 26th-best power play. Combine that with sitting 11th in the conference and a 21st ranking with 2.46 goals per game, the seat is getting hotter for bench boss Jacques Martin.

With firings this past week in Washington, Carolina and Anaheim, owners who want to win and win now are losing patience with struggling play and injuries to important players.

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Healthy players could provide Fantasy Hockey boost

Dec 3

Posted by Chris in Fantasy | No Comments

Fantasy Hockey owners looking for an upgrade to their lineup could find it this weekend if they act fast and take advantage of several of the news announcements made recently for games this weekend.

It appears as if Montreal’s power play will get a huge boost as defenseman Andrei Markov is expected to return from injury tonight when they visit the Kings. For Fantasy owners, Markov is a high-risk, high-reward type player recently. He missed most of last season with several injuries, but when he is in the lineup he is one of the better points producing defenseman in the league and a staple on Montreal’s power play. Markov is available in roughly 42% of Yahoo Fantasy Hockey leagues, so consider picking him up if you need a boost in power play points.

The St. Louis Blues, winners of seven of their last 10 games, will also get a boost when forward David Perron returns to the lineup after missing 97 games due to a concussion sustained early last season. This is great news for Perron and for the Blues and comes right on the heels of the return of Sidney Crosby, another player who was down for an extended period of time due to a concussion. In 10 games last season, Perron posted five goals and two assists before going down with the injury. He scored 20 goals and 47 points the season before and could be even better. Keep an eye on him when he returns tonight.

Speaking of concussions, it appears as if Mike Richards may have suffered one during Thursday’s game against the Florida Panthers. Although the team is remaining mum on Richards’ condition and the extent of the injury, the team did place Richards on IR today meaning he will miss at least seven days. If you need a replacement for the time being, consider tapping Valtteri Filppula. Not only is Filppula red hot this season with seven goals and 20 points in 23 games, including four goals in his past five games, but the Red Wings will also play four times next week and have 14 games left in the month of December (if Richards stays out long term). Filppula remains available in 60% of Yahoo Fantasy Leagues and is well on his way to a career year.

Other options include Shawn Horcoff, who has seven goals and 10 assists and is owned in only 12% of Yahoo leagues, and Tim Connolly, who has 12 points in 13 games. Connolly is injury-prone, however, so exercise caution before you pick him up.

And good news for Toronto fans as goalie James Reimer has been cleared to play and will be available for tonight’s contest against Boston. Although he will likely serve as the backup for his first game back, Reimer started the season strong with four wins and one shutout in six starts before going down with concussion-like symptoms  and it shouldn’t take long for coach Ron Wilson to get Reimer back between the pipes soon.

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2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Montreal Canadiens

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Power Rankings | No Comments

Offseason Losses: Roman Hamerlik, James Wisniewski, Alex Auld, Jeff Halpern, Benoit Pouliot

Offseason Additions: Peter Budaj, Erik Cole

Last Season Ranking: 6th in the East

Offense: Before Boston was able to hoist the Stanley Cup earlier this summer, they had a hard-fought series with Montreal. Habs fans (like myself) left ourselves scratching our heads at the end of the first round series saying “What if?”. What if Montreal was able to seal the deal against their bitter rival and won two of five games after starting the series 2-0? What if one of the three overtime games went in Montreal’s favor? What if Tim Thomas hadn’t stood on his head during the two-overtime Game 5 and prevented the Canadiens from grabbing a 3-2 series lead? Someone different (most likely Vancouver) would be the champions.

Erik Cole has one Stanley Cup to his name. Can he help bring Stanley Cup No. 25 to Montreal?

The offense is what lacked firepower  last season, as they ranked 22nd in goals-per-game despite having one of the better power play units that finished seventh in the league. This is where Erik Cole comes into play. He will bring added firepower up front, and don’t forget about Scott Gomez. Looking at the numbers, Gomez had one of the worse seasons of his career with seven goals and 31 assists in 80 games. He also had a team-worse -15 rating. The team would have been much more successful if that was even cut in half to -7. Imagine how much better he and the team would have been if it was even or in positive numbers. Hopefully he can find the net more often with some new faces around him.

And don’t forget forward Max Pacioretty, who suffered a serious injury at the hands of Zdeno Chara last season. He has been skating over the summer and told reporters he is stronger than before his injury because he has had more time than usual to workout. He had 24 points in 34 games last season. Expect him to reach at least 55, potentially 60 points this season. Another young player to watch for is center Lars Eller. Eller came to Montreal in the Jaroslav Halak trade and had a decent season last year when he scored seven goals in 77 games. But he is still young (22 years old) and his stock can only go up this season.

Defense: Despite losing Wisniewski, the Canadians could have one of the best blue line corps in the league. They have a lot of young, experienced players as well as the veteran who is the leader of the pack. Andrei Markov has had the worse luck in recent years with various knee injuries, but the team showed faith in his ability to stay healthy as he signed a contract extension until 2014. In his absence last season, rookie P.K. Subban picked up the slack as he became a fan favorite last season.

He was solid on the power play as nine of his 14 goals came on the player-advantage. He wasn’t selected as a Calder Trophy finalist, but he was the second Canadiens defenseman to be named to the NHL All-Rookie team (Chris Chelios in 1984-85 was the other). He was also the first defenseman in the storied history of the Canadiens to score a hat trick as he did so against Minnesota. His slap shot is lethal and clutch as he tied Game 7 against Boston with under three minutes left. Look for him to improve and become a 1-B leader behind Markov on the blue line.

Goaltending: As much as the fan base gives Carey Price crap for the soft goals he tends to allow, he was solid in goal last season when he tied for the league lead with 38 wins. He was the first Montreal backstop to lead the league in wins since #33 earned 31 wins in 1989. Their backup Alex Auld remained in Canada but signed with Ottawa. They did get an upgrade as they were able to snag former starter Peter Budaj.

HWB Playoff Prediction: Not playoff bound.

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Other Transactions That Didn’t Involve Philadelphia

Jun 24

Posted by Eddie in News | 1 Comment

With the Draft occuring tonight and the blockbuster trades and signings that occured yesterday in Philadelphia, other transactions that could have went unnoticed Thursday was the re-signing of Devin Setoguchi by the San Jose Sharks and the Montreal Canadiens coming to terms with defenseman Andrei Markov.

Setoguchi Renews Pact with Sharks

Setoguchi was a restricted free agent with San Jose, and he signed a three-year contract with the team. Craig Custance via Twitter reported the contract to be at $3 million per season but the announcement of the signing on nhl.com didn’t disclose any financial terms. At only 24 years old, Setoguchi scored 22 goals  and finished with 41 points in 72 regular-season games in 2010-11. During the playoffs, he tied for the team lead in playoff goals with seven and had 10 points in 18 postseason games. He had a niche for scoring game-winning goals as he had five during the regular season and two overtime goals in the playoffs.

While he made $1.8 Million last season, he played on a one-year deal that he signed last summer. The team wanted to see what he can prove and he did show flashes of brilliance in the second half of the season. His first half was brutal as he went 7-5-12 on the stat line the first 33 games of the season. He found his touch and lit the lamp more in the final 30+ games of the season when he went 15-13-28 in the later half of the season according to the Fear the Fin Blog.

The Sharks can only hope he can continue his consistency he brought to the table late in the season and in the playoffs. $3 million could have been a stretch to pay him, but Setoguchi played solid at the right time to drive his stock higher.

Markov Remains in Montreal

Andrei Markov will remain in Montreal for three seasons.

 

The Habs are taking a huge gamble and giving a three-year contract to a player who didn’t see any playing time last season in Andrei Markov. Markov, 32, was supposed to be the teams top player on the blue line, but he missed most of the 2010-11 season with a knee injury he suffered seven games into last season. This wasn’t his first rodeo with the injury bug as he has missed 112 games in the regular season from 2009-2011. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the top players on the blue line in the league. But the 6′, 209 lbs. Russian has to find a way to stay healthy and be productive for his team. His cap hit is reported to be $5.75 million per season. He would be interesting to see the progression of younger defensemen who was able to get playing time and experience in his absence. Markov could most likely play with P.K. Subban, who led the team in goals (14) and points (38) in 77 games as a rookie.

Things could also look good for James Wisniewski, as he joined the team via trade and will have an entire off-season and training camp to get adjusted to his new team.

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Who’s Injured?

Oct 8

Posted by Matt in Fantasy, News | 2 Comments

Unfortunately, for a number of players, it seems like the injuries are piling on heavy right as the season gets underway. Here’s a look at some of the bigger names who will be missing time to start the season:

Brian Campbell – A sprained knee will keep Campbell out well into November. He was injured in the pre-season against the Penguins.

Marc Savard – Savard is experiencing post-concussion syndrome and there’s no telling when he will return. He’s been doing some light lifting and bike riding, but no high intensity work as of yet.

Jordan Staal -Suffering from an infection on his foot after having surgery late last season to repair a torn tendon. He’s had multiple procedures done to try to get things going, but was recently placed on long term injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least 10 games.

Kyle Okposo -Had successful shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. He suffered the injury during a practice where fans could attend, and will be out 2-3 months. Expect him back sometime in December.

Vinny Prospal – Prospal is out with a sore right knee. His injury was originally thought to be short term, but no progress has been made. He has yet to start skating again, and will likely be out until the end of October.

Matt Stajan – A separated shoulder, which occurred September 21st, will keep Stajan from playing. Expect a return towards the end of October.

Joffrey Lupul – After missing much of last season with a herniated disc in his back, Lupul will have to sit out a bit longer. He had surgery in December, and hoped to be ready for this season. During his off-season training, Lupul was found to have a blood infection in his back. He’s been placed on injured reserve, and there is no timetable for his return.

Andrei Markov -Markov is recovering from surgery after tearing his ACL late last season. His successful surgery was in the middle of May, and recovery is expected to take 6 months. This places Markov with an expected return sometime in November, depending on recovery.

Michael Leighton – A bulging disc in his back will keep Leighton out for about a month.

Chris Pronger -Pronger is still recovering from off-season surgery on his right knee. He has began skating, but has said he needs to gain more strength before he can return to the lineup.

Mark Streit – A torn left labrum and rotator cuff will keep Mark Streit sidelined for quite a while. His injury occurred during an intersquad scrimmage. After taking a hit from Matt Moulson, Streit fell hard into the boards. Unfortunately for the Islanders, he could be on the shelf for up to 6 months.

Alexandre Burrows -The Canucks winger was placed on injured reserve after having surgery to repair a torn labrum. He’s expected to be out approximately two months.

Peter Meuller – The Avs will be without Mueller indefinitely as he recovers from a concussion suffered during the preseason. There’s a bit of controversy behind this as Mueller was supposed to be wearing the new Cascade M11 helmet, but was not due to fitting issues. The Denver Post blog “All Things Avs” explains it in full detail.

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Hockey World Blog Season Previews 2010: Montreal Canadiens

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | No Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Jaroslav Halak, Sergei Kostitsyn, Glen Metropolit, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Paul Mara, Georges Laraque

Key Offseason Additions: Dustin Boyd, Alex Auld, Lars Eller

Last Season Ranking: 8th, East

Offense: Montreal returns its top four offensive threats. Included in that are top line of Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta. They have a top line that isn’t as flashy as some of the other teams in the East, but they do have the ability to carry the Canadiens. Their main issue last season was staying healthy. They each were effective when they played, but they don’t have the depth necessary to survive if the injuries start to climb. Tomas Plekanec returns to anchor the second line, and should be able to come close to matching his team-leading 70 points from a year ago. Further down the depth chart is where it could become cloudy. Benoit Pouliot is the top returning scorer not from the top two lines, and he posted a 15-goal, nine assist season last year. If he can improve on those numbers, it could help give Montreal the depth down the roster needed to compete. Look for new additions Dustin Boyd and Lars Eller to make contributions to the third and fourth lines.

Expect Mile Cammalleri to carry a large chunk of the offensive workload for Montreal this season.

Expect Mike Cammalleri to carry a large chunk of the offensive workload for Montreal this season.

Defense: This is the area where they lost significant at the top. In addition to Halak in goal, the Canadiens lost Marc-Andree Bergeron. This is significant because he was one of 22 defensemen who scored double-digit goals on the season. Defensive scoring the way Bergeron could is hard to come by, but they do return Andrei Markov. Markov won’t be ready until at least Thanksgiving as he underwent surgery to repair an ACL he injured in game one of the Pittsburgh series. Habsinsideout.com reported last week he resumed skating on his own, but he is still behind his teammates in terms of being in top condition for training camp. Look for top prospect P.K. Subban to make a big impact in his first full season. Subban litthe lamp several times last season in the AHL with Hamilton, and continued to do so when Markov went down in the playoffs. He finished second in team playoff points for defensemen with eight. He’s their top defensive prospect and could contend for the Calder Trophy if he can contribute the way he did in the playoffs.

Goaltending: With Halak gone, it’s do or die time for Carey Price. Price has been given the keys to the car and it’s his job to perform in net. He has to rid his inconsistency and play the entire season the way he does when he’s on his game. Because if he struggles, Alex Auld is not the goalie Halak was. Price was 13-20-5 last season. Those are the numbers you don’t expect from the goalie you signed to a two-year, 5.5 Million dollar contract last week. Just to add a little pressure on Price, top minor league goalie Cedrick Desjardins was traded to Tampa Bay last week for Karri Ramo. And Ramo will remain in the KHL this season and honor his contract before returning to the NHL in 2011.

Season Outlook: Montreal has a chance to win the division and have an encore performance to last season’s magical run to the East finals. If they can surprise everyone and improve on the defensive side of the puck, expect them to make a deep run to the playoffs. In the flipside, if Carey Price struggles, so could the rest of the team.

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Overhaul in Montreal

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 2 Comments

It’s been 16 years since the Montreal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup. It’s also  been 16 years since a franchise north of the border has raised a championship banner. Unfortunately for Hab’s fans, they will have to wait another year.

After backing into the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference last season when they lost 10 of its last 15 games, Montreal GM Bob Gainey had to make changes. And changes he made as 11 players departed including Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang. Gainey did add an all-new first line with center Scott Gomez and wingers Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. It will be interesting to see how can Cammalleri produce an a more pressure-packed environment and without Jerome Iginla.

The main strength the Gomez-Cammalleri-Giontaline line will offer is speed. They have a lot of skill and talent, but with that they are sacrificing toughness and physicality. The depth of the forwards more top-heavy than other teams. After the first line, players such as Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, and Travis Moen need to increase their scoring from last season to help compensate the offense that departed.

Another strength the Canadiens posses is defenseman Andrei Markov. Markov was second on the team in points with 64 last season.  Markov will also be looked upon to lead the power play and penalty kill units, which ranked 13th and 11th respectively in the league last season. Other defensemen that can be expected to contribute this season include Hal Gill and rookies Yannick Weber and P.K. Subban.

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

One big question mark the Canadiens will have is in goal. They have two young, still developing goaltenders in Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak. Expectations will be high for Price and deservingly so. After a stellar rookie season in 2007-08, Price struggled down the stretch and recorded only 1 shutout all season long in 2008-09. They did make a goaltending coach change during the off-season, and we can only hope new goaltending coach Pierre Grolux can teach Price to cut down shooting angles and allow less soft goals this season.

Overall, I can expect Montreal to still be a few steps behind Boston in the division. The Canadiens will have a shot to make the playoffs, but that’s not good enough to the Montreal fanbase. If they play to their potential, they can finish anywhere between fourth-sixth in the conference. But if they stumble down the stretch like they did last season, expect them to miss the playoffs or suffer another sweep at the hands of the Eastern Conference powers: Washington, Boston, or Pittsburgh.

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