Jan 26 Orange Kryptonite

I’ve developed a mantra for relating the size issue to whether or not the Canadiens win. Assuming skill levels are relatively equal between 2 teams, the saying goes a little like this:

Small can beat big, if big doesn’t play big and small plays big. But small can’t beat big if big decides to play big.

The Canadiens have a size issue right now that doesn’t always manifest itself during regular season play, but almost always does when the chips are down in the playoffs.

Fortunately, the future is looking brighter.

I was one of those people that didn’t want to see Pacioretty in Montreal this season, but not because I didn’t think he was good enough to play at an NHL level, but because I didn’t want Martin to get his hands on him. Martin’s modus operandi gives youngsters scant minutes only to bench them soon after for not producing immediately, or heaven forbid taking a penalty. Turns out I was wrong, and Martin, has seen the light with Max. Or, perhaps Martin needs Max more than Max needs Martin. The Canadiens also have some size in developing players like Lars Eller and Alexander Avtsin.

As far as the Habs & Flyers matchup goes, the Canadiens are a combined 4-9 vs Philly over the past 2 seasons, being outscored 40-25 over those 13 games. Maybe there are those among you who would say that that isn’t such a bad thing, after all, those number break down to an average loss of 3-2 for the Canadiens. Not so bad, right?

The Canadiens played the Flyers pretty evenly last season, going 2-2 and being outscored 10-8.

The real interesting (or damning?) part is looking at the playoff matchup. The Canadiens went down in 5 games, and were not able to generate ANY offense against a physical defense. The Canadiens were outscored 17-7 in the 5 game series, but 5 of the Canadiens goals came in their game 3 victory. Eliminating that game, the Canadiens were outscored 16-2 in the remaining 4 games, being shutout in 3 of those games. Need I remind you that the Flyers had the immortal Michael Leighton in goal? If you’re still keeping score, the average playoff loss for the Canadiens morphed in to an ugly 3.4 goals against versus 1.4 goals for. Eliminating the game 3 victory, and the average loss was an abyssmal 4 goals against to 0.5 goals for. Round up if you like, but that’s still not nearly good enough.

The Flyers are the Habs kryptonite right now. But I think it’s also painfully clear that while the Canadiens smaller forwards have hearts the size of Texas, reach is reach and size is size, especially when the organizational edict is to use that size. The smaller Habs forwards are forced to skate twice as far as they ought to just to get themselves clear of the big Flyers defense, and once they are clear, they more often than not find themselves on the perimeter where a decent goalie needs to only worry about the first save. When Mathieu Darche, God bless him, is the only player able to get near Bobrovski, there’s a problem. True, the Canadiens can cause bigger teams fits when they get their speed game going, but as we’ve seen plenty of times, they are rarely able (or allowed) to use that speed for 60 minutes, night in, night out.

The Canadiens, on most nights are a good team. On some nights they are a very good team (witness the 2-0 win vs the current Cup favorite Canucks), but don’t try and tell me that they’re an elite team. Even with the injuries to Markov, Gorges and Cammalleri, the Canadiens are still a few pieces away from being a bonafide Cup contender. And to be considered a bonafide contender, they will need to get bigger and grittier. Offensive teams like the Capitals and Penguins, while bigger than the Habs, don’t always play bigger than the Habs. The Flyers do, and last night’s loss should serve as a good measuring stick for Gauthier to see where he needs to upgrade his team.

Tags: habs \ Lars Eller \ Mathieu Darche \ Max Pacioretty \ Montreal Canadiens \ Philadelphia Flyers \ Pierre Gauthier