Looking back on season that was for Canadiens
By
Management's goal heading into this season was for the Canadiens to be 'in the mix' for a playoff spot.
The Canadiens did more than that in year three of a rebuild, actually making the playoffs before losing to the Washington Capitals in five games in their best-of-seven first-round series.
In this season-ending episode of the Hockey Inside/Out Show, The Gazette's Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green to look back on the season that was and, now that it's over, how they rate the entire season and what happened in the playoffs against the Capitals.
They also discuss why there's plenty of reason for optimism looking forward with the Canadiens.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Edmonton Journal
McDavid's real value is $50 million year, NHL insider speculates
This in from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, his speculation that in a much freer market situation the Edmonton Oilers would be happy to pay Connor McDavid $50 million per year. Article content Talking about the overall trend in player negotiations this off-season, Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast: 'I think a lot of players expect that the two highest salaries after this wave of signings are going to be McDavid and (the Wild's Kirill) Kaprizov. And look, I don't think anyone's going to have issue. If the Oilers could pay McDavid $50 million, he would deserve $50 million.' Article content Article content Friedman continued: 'And Kaprizov is a great player in a great spot to hit it big. So once those players sign, I think you'll see some of those other potential top UFAs next year say, okay, now the top, top, top of the market has been set. It's easier for me to find the sweet spot or the comfortable place with the team to go after those two guys are done.' Article content Article content 1. I've often wondered what McDavid might be paid if there were no salary cap and he was an unrestricted free agent. The most he can get in a salary capped NHL is 20 per cent of Edmonton's salary cap allotment, which would mean $19.1 million on a new deal. Article content Of course, McDavid is worth that much and far more. Article content But of course, if McDavid signed for as much as $19.1 million per year under the current salary cap system it would mean less cap space to sign other top players and less chance of winning a Stanley Cup. Article content Article content The cap system presents a brutal conundrum to the very top players in this manner. Article content 2. But back to Friedman's speculation. I wondered about a way to test his idea, and came up with this quick back-of-the envelope survey, to look at what the three other top players in the top North American leagues in basketball, football and baseball made in 2025, then compare that to the revenue brought in by their team. Article content When we do that we see that of all these great players McDavid — due to the hard cap model of the NHL's collective agreement — earned by far the least percentage of his team's 2024 revenues. He made $12.5 million, which is 3.2 per cent of Edmonton's $388 million estimated revenue in 2023-24, as reported by Forbes magazine (the source of all the dollar figures here). Article content But what if McDavid took home the same percentage as Dallas Cowboy star Dak Prescott, the highest paid pro football player in America? Prescott makes $127 million, which is 10.6 per cent of the $1.2 billion in revenues made by the Cowboys.
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
SIMMONS SAYS: If the Blue Jays can play .500 the rest of the way, they should reach playoffs
Article content HEAR AND THERE Article content Last season, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for 60 goals with the Maple Leafs. The number was rather low because of the 15 games Matthews missed, his mystery injury and the fact he had the lowest goal-scoring numbers of his career. If whoever plays right wing alongside Matthews and Matthew Knies scores something around 15 goals, they'll be above the 60 goal mark combined. The Leafs were still third in the East in scoring last season, 16 goals ahead of the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers … The Leafs' largest challenge this coming season: Finding a way to replace the 47 primary assists Marner had last season. That's 20 more than anyone else had on the team. One reason for optimism: Max Domi had 19 primary assists while not playing much power-play time or not playing much on the first two Toronto lines … A weird stat: The Leafs were 26-1 last season in games in which Morgan Rielly had an assist … They were 21-2-1 in games William Nylander had two points … This is why Hockey Canada decided on just three goaltenders — the same three from the 4 Nations team — for its summer Olympic team gathering. General manager Doug Armstrong and staff looked at Washington's Logan Thompson, Edmonton's Stuart Skinner, Los Angeles' Darcy Kuemper and Mackenzie Blackwood of Colorado and considered them quite similar to their three named goaltenders. My understanding of this: Jordan Binnington is a sure thing for the Olympic team and, after that, two of Adin Hill, Sam Montembeault and the other four being looked at while being selected for the team in Milan … Montembeault is French Canadian, which helps his chances of being the third goalie … With rosters enlarged for the Olympics to 25 players, expect the 4 Nations forwards and defence to be much the same on the Olympic team, with the likely additions of Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki and maybe Mark Scheifele up front and Evan Bouchard on defence. Still in tough to be named: Zach Hyman. A nice invite but with no chance of making it: Maple Leafs forward John Tavares. You can't pick Tavares over Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Suzuki, Scheifele or Rob Thomas. He's not physical enough to play the wing or quick enough to be an effective forechecker. Article content Article content SCENE AND HEARD Article content Elaine Tanner, once known as Mighty Mouse as Canada's greatest swimmer, predicted to me the other day that Summer McIntosh will soon be 'Canada's all-time greatest athlete ever.' So who wins Canada's athlete of the year this year? The MVP and NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or McIntosh, the multi gold-medal winning, record-breaking swimmer. A strong case could be made for both legends, and it's only August … SGA will be honoured in Hamilton on Thursday and presented with the first key to the city in 27 years … The NFL does Hall of Fame much better than Major League Baseball, the NBA or NHL. They do their inductions in the off-season, with no regular-season games playing opposite. Baseball and hockey have their induction ceremonies opposite league games being played. It means if you're a fan, you can't watch the Hall speeches and inductions and your favourite team play because it's happening at the same time. The NHL needs to find a way to honour its Hall of Famers properly on a night when no games are being played and the event could be televised nationally in both Canada and the United States … If you missed Ichiro Suzuki's Hall of Fame speech last Sunday, go find it. It's special and unique, just as he was as a player … Couldn't ESPN have waited another week before announcing it had fired Shannon Sharpe? His older brother Sterling Sharpe was being inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. There was no reason to put a damper on the weekend for the Sharpe family … I can see why Bryce Harper would be obstinate with baseball commissioner Rob Manfred when it comes to the possibility of having a salary cap in baseball. Harper, who will be paid $150 million over the next six seasons, ordered the commissioner to get the eff out of the Phillies clubhouse if he's talking salary cap. Article content Article content AND ANOTHER THING Article content Terry Greer is the best Argonauts receiver I've ever seen. Mookie Mitchell and Darrell K. Smith not far behind him. Current Argo Damonte Coxie is among the best the team has ever had. And in less than half a season, with below-average quarterbacking, Coxie has 10 catches of more than 30 yards this season. Last season, no one in the CFL had more than that for an entire season … Former Argo Makai Polk, a key Grey Cup contributor last year as a rookie, was an early cut of the Atlanta Falcons. It's never good when you get let go before pre-season games begin. Might be good for the Argos if they can get him back … Yeah, it was eight years ago that John McEnroe predicted big things for the teenager, Denis Shapovalov. It's never quite happened the way McEnroe figured. Shapovalov is 26 years old now and just another guy on the men's tennis tour. He lost in his first match at the National Bank Open, as did fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who also looks like he should be significantly better than his results … How much does NHL regular-season scoring matter? In their back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons, the Florida Panthers finished 13th and 11th in goal-scoring … Rafael Nadal won 63 tournaments in his career and lost only 51 matches in his entire career. The retiring Genie Bouchard's reaction to that nearly impossible statistic: 'This makes me want to throw up.' … With Aaron Judge out for some time and the rest of his season in question, does that put Cal Raleigh in the MVP chase, or is it simply Judge and nobody else in the American League race? … This is how bad a season Mookie Betts is having with the Dodgers: He ranks 63rd in the National League in batting, 55th in home runs, 47th in RBIs, 72nd in OPS, 63rd in on-base percentage … I don't suspect Connor Bedard or Macklin Celebrini have much chance of playing for Team Canada in Italy in February, but I do like the idea that both young stars have been included on the summer camp invite list. They both will be on the Olympic roster in 2030 in the French Alps … Happy birthday to Marv Levy (100), Tom Brady (48), Marcel Dionne (74), Jim Gott (66), Dominic Moore (45), Kristaps Porzingis (30), Evander Kane (34), Bombo Rivera (73), Troy Glaus (49), Sid Bream (65), and Tony Amonte (55) … And hey, whatever became of Devon Travis?
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
'They probably should have been signed': Have Oilers recovered from August '24 disaster?
This in from former NHL GM and player agent Brian Lawton, his assessment of the August 2024 that saw the Edmonton Oilers lose Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to the St. Louis Blues for pennies on the dollar, a transaction that may well have cost the Oilers the Stanley Cup this season. Article content 'There's no doubt he welcomed the offer sheet,' said Lawton in regards to Broberg, speakng with John Shannon and Darren Millard on the 100% Hockey podcast. 'It wasn't working out. That was a very tough, difficult situation for everyone involved. Ultimately, I would say that both those players, they probably should have been signed… You give them a little more and you lock them up. That didn't happen. I wasn't there, so I can't say why.' Article content Article content Lawton said he was impressed with Broberg in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. 'There was a lot of controversy. I watched every game of that Finals. He played very well, but his analytics weren't great in some areas. So people kept saying it was like he was lucky. And if you really watched that series, you wouldn't conclude he was lucky. He's a big kid that can skate… And that's what he really proved in St. Louis. And that's why that's worked out so well for St. Louis. Tough to find Top 4 D in the NHL. Really tough.' Article content Article content 1. Most Oilers fans will agree that Edmonton suffered a massive blow in losing Broberg and Holloway to the Blues and getting just a second round and a third round pick respectively in compensation. That is way less than those two players were worth in trade, even last summer when they were less proven. Article content Broberg played his way this year into the Top 4 on the Blues defence, while Holloway became one of the NHL's premier power forwards. Holloway attacked with speed, hit with ferocity and scored 63 points for the Blues, before missing the playoffs due to injury. Article content Article content 2. Who is to blame for the fiasco? Oilers fans will also generally agree that former GM Ken Holland failed to ink Broberg and Holloway during the 2023-24 season and that interim GM Jeff Jackson got the Oilers into a dangerous salary cap situation last July when he signed a number of expensive veterans such as Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson and Adam Henrique. Article content If Jackson had held off on just one of those signings, the Oilers might have avoided the two offer sheets, or at least of had ample room to match on Holloway. But not to be. Article content 3. So how have the Oilers recovered from disaster of August '24? Article content Vasily Podkolzin was brought in on a trade and provided great physical play but not the scoring Holloway brought to St. Lou. Edmonton also traded a first round pick to bring in d-man Jake Walman, who played as well, if not better, than Broberg would have for the Oilers in the 2025 playoffs. In this way, new GM Stan Bowman minimized the damage done by the loss of Holloway and Broberg. But it cost the Oilers a first rond pick to get Walman.
