Mar 19 The Weekly Backcheck 03/19/2011

In light of tomorrow being parade day and my inebriation level being significantly higher than normal, I present to you this week's edition of The Weekly Backcheck a day early.

Let's Start With Habs Stuff...

• The Habs are a good team, don't get me wrong, but if Tuesday night's measuring stick game against Washington confirmed anything it's that this team will go as far as Carey Price can take them. The Capitals are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and it was made pretty clear that the Canadiens just aren't quite on their level but obviously as last spring proved, anything can happen when you have incredible goaltending.

• Not that I have one but at this point, Price is at the top of my Hart trophy ballot. Vézina still goes to Tim Thomas in my eyes.

• I have absolutely no doubt the doctors who have been treating Max Pacioretty are taking every necessary precaution but I can't help but be wary of his return to practice in four to six weeks. The news immediately reminded me of Marc Savard and Ian Laperrière, two players who suffered concussions last year and rushed their returns in order to help their respective teams in the playoffs. Lapierrière's career is all but officially over and Savard's is very much in jeopardy. It would be absolutely tragic to see Pacioretty go down the same path.

• It's been echoed many times already but it's worth repeating. What an effort by the Habs against the Lightning. You know Guy Boucher had his team up for a game against the organization he left and for the Habs to put together essentially a patch-work lineup and pull out the win is downright impressive. Newcomers Nigel Dawes and Aaron Palushaj were impressive with getting a few scoring chances each and injecting some life into the team.

• The game misconduct for Vinny Lecavalier was merited because quite frankly, he should know better and be able to keep his emotions in check. That being said, the referees should've stopped the confrontation between him and P.K. Subban long before the slash ever took place and given each coincidental minors.

• I've seen some people upset Lecavalier didn't get at least the same one-game suspension Michael Cammalleri got his his pre-season slash on the Islanders' Nino Niederreiter. I don't see the incidents being comparable for the simple reason that Cammalleri took a slash at (or at least near) Neiderreiter's head whereas Lecavalier targeted Subban's thigh, an area players know to target when they want to send a message as opposed to inflict injury.

• If the Canadiens organization gave out their own MVP award, no doubt it would (and should) go to Carey Price. But not too far behind him should be Hamilton Bulldogs coach Randy Cunneyworth. Obviously Pierre Gauthier has had to dip into the farm system on several occasions just to put together a lineup and just about every player has been well-prepared for the NHL and hasn't looked out of place.

• There's a lot of anger and frustration about the way the Habs played in New York last night but keep a little perspective. The team was playing its third game in four nights including a tough battle at home the night before. The Rangers had a lot of pride on the line as they looked to avoid being swept in the season series by the Habs and oh yea, the Habs were still without nine lineup regulars.

...And On To Other Stuff Around The League...

• Dave Wheeler of the Winnipeg Sun wrote a story this week that if (and more and more are saying when) the Jets return to Winnipeg, they will be known as the "Manitoba (insert team name)". At first, it sounds insane due to the history and popularity of the Winnipeg Jets brand but with concerns about whether a smaller city like Winnipeg can financially support an NHL team, it makes sense to try and attract fans from the area who don't necessarily live in the city.

• So Gary Bettman came out and said only 17% of concussions suffered by players this season came from illegal head shots. 44% came from hits that fall within the league's guidelines for a "clean hit". All this tells me one thing I'm pretty sure I knew before statistical evidence came out: there's something wrong with what the NHL deems a legal hit.

• Bruce Boudreau raised a lot of eyebrows this week with his comments that the protest that took place outside the Bell Centre Tuesday evening wouldn't have happened if the hit had been Hal Gill on David Krejci. To that extent, he's right but he's missing the entire point. Head shots are a problem which is why they were the focal point of the general managers meetings in Florida this week. Sure, it took the Chara-Pacioretty incident for the issue to hit home with a lot of Habs fans but in the end, the issue remains a valid one and worthy of protest.

• It's not often I agree with Damien Cox of the Toronto Star but he was bang on when it came to his opinion on the Dany Heatley suspension. The NHL had an opportunity to show they were serious about taking a stand against blatant head shots and they completely blew it. Heatley's elbow to the head of Steve Ott was wildly unnecessary and the fact that Heatley immediately looked back at the referee knowing he did something wrong tells you all you need to know about intent.

• Between Dany Heatley and Brad Marchand getting two-game suspensions each for their respective blind side head shots, I have a hard time believing the NHL was at all serious about putting in measures to eliminate that kind of hit from the game. Both incidents, after several looks, seem to fit the very definition of "blind side shot to the head". Maybe the skeptics are right, maybe it will take a death on the ice to really wake up the league.

• It's going relatively unnoticed but Manny Malhotra's eye injury, if serious enough to keep him out long-term, could deal Vancouver's Cup hopes a severe blow and change the playoff landscape. Malhotra is an extremely valuable checking forward who ranked second in the league at the time of the injury in both face-off percentage and blocked shots among forwards. That's a gaping hole to fill right there.

About Will Martinez

Will Martinez runs the 'Hey, My Name is Will' blog and is a contributor for TheFranchise.ca. You can follow Will on Twitter @heymynameiswill

Tags: Aaron Palushaj \ Brad Marchand \ Bruce Boudreau \ Carey price \ Dany Heatley \ Gary Bettman \ Hart \ Manny Malhotra \ Max Pacioretty \ Michael Cammalleri \ Montreal Canadiens \ Nigel Dawes \ PK Subban \ Tim Thomas \ Vezina \ Vinny LeCavalier \ Winnipeg Jets