Sports
Canadiens Year in Review: P.K. Subban Trade Rocked Fan Base
The year started with the Canadiens defeating the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic outdoor game at Gillette Stadium and it ended with the Canadiens battling for first place overall in the NHL.
Somewhere in the middle, the Canadiens traded defenceman P.K. Subban.
It’s safe to say that The Trade was the most newsworthy Canadiens moment in a year marked by highs and lows.
Subban was vacationing in Europe on June 29 when the Canadiens announced he had been traded to the Nashville Predators. The deal was a shock to most fans even though Subban’s name was frequently mentioned in trade talks. That talk had quieted to a whisper a week earlier when general manager Marc Bergevin said he was not shopping Subban. Two days later, as NHL general managers gathered in Buffalo for the draft, Nashville GM David Poile presented Bergevin with an interesting offer — a straight-up swap of Subban for Shea Weber. The deal was announced two days before a no-trade clause in Subban’s eight-year, $72-million contract kicked in.
When the deal was announced, there was a firestorm of protest. While Bergevin insisted it was a hockey deal, many fans felt that Subban was sent packing because he was too loud, too flamboyant, too far out of step with a button-down management. Angry fans pointed to Subban’s love of the city and his pledge to help raise $10 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital and felt betrayed.
Much of the furor over the deal has evaporated with the arrival of Weber, a two-time Olympic gold medallist. He anchors a solid defensive unit that helped the Canadiens get off to another strong start. He lacks the dazzling footwork that made Subban a crowd favourite, but he’s bigger and more physical. The one potential downside is that Weber is nearly four years older than Subban.
While Weber is a valuable addition, the biggest reason for the Canadiens’ quick start to the 2016-17 season is a healthy Carey Price. The all-star goaltender suffered a knee injury in November last year. While the original prognosis was that Price would miss four to six weeks, he was out for the rest of the season.
For the past several years, Price and the Canadiens have downplayed suggestions that the goaltender was the sole reason for the team’s success. But the collapse of the team underlined the fact Price was the key ingredient in that success.
His absence was compounded by injuries to other players. Brendan Gallagher went on the injured reserve list twice. Defenceman Jeff Petry tried to play through a sports hernia, but eventually packed it in and had surgery. And Subban finished the season on the IR with a concussion. The Canadiens used a record 15 defencemen over the course of the season.
Bergevin made some other moves during the off-season to strengthen his team. He decided it was time for Finn Artturi Lehkonen to give the NHL a shot after several seasons in the Swedish League. He traded two second-round draft picks to acquire Andrew Shaw, a feisty winger whose resumé included a couple of Stanley Cup appearances with the Chicago Blackhawks. And he shored up the goaltending by adding veteran backup Al Montoya.
Bergevin also took a gamble on 31-year-old Alex Radulov, a talented Russian who was tearing up the KHL after two disappointing stints in Nashville. Bergevin was convinced that marriage and fatherhood had given Radulov a touch of maturity and he appears to have been right. When you talk to teammates about Radulov, they marvel at his skill but also praise his work ethic.
The Canadiens also decided that it was time to give Alex Galchenyuk an opportunity to play centre on a full-time basis after he finished last season on a line with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher.
That line started the season, but only Pacioretty remains on the top line going into the new year. He is the team’s top scorer while Gallagher has struggled to find the back of the net and has slipped a notch or two in the depth chart.
As for Galchenyuk, he was the team’s top scorer until he suffered a knee injury in Los Angeles on Dec. 4. Two days later, centre David Desharnais went down with a similar injury and prognosis for each player was six to eight weeks on the sidelines. Coach Michel Therrien said both players have been making progress with their rehabilitation programs and he expects them back in early February.
While the injuries left the Canadiens with gaping holes up the middle, they have yet to have a disastrous impact on the team’s record. While the power play isn’t as dangerous without Galchenyuk, the Canadiens have a 4-3-2 record since he was injured.
It helps that Carey Price is healthy
phickey@postmedia.com
Every year, a raft of exciting new players come onto the scene across all of the major US sports. With the MLS season getting underway and the NFL and MLB drafts not too far away, now is a great time to look at the young sports stars that could have a very bright future ahead of them, and the ones that are already proving they are destined for greatness.
Theo Bair (MLS)
This MLS season is looking like it could be one of the best yet, with David Beckham’s Inter Miami team adding some extra dazzle to the league. Whilst Beckham might be able to attract a lot of new players to his MLS team, there are a lot of young stars on their way through such as Theo Bair at Vancouver Whitecaps. Bair has already made an impact on the first team and after impressing at under-20 and under-23 level for the national team, he has made two appearances for the senior team, well before his 21st birthday. This year could see Bair make a real name for himself in the MLS.
Source: Pixabay
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (MLB)
Montreal-born Vladimir Guerrero Jr has one MLB season under his belt but it looks like the best is still yet to come from him at the Blue Jays. He was heavily backed to take the league by storm but he failed to live up to the hype that surrounded him. Without the pressure of being the top-ranked prospect, this season could see Guerrero play with some weight lifted off his shoulders. He has been working very hard on his fitness over the offseason, something that his manager Montoyo has been quick to comment upon.
“Baseball” (CC BY 2.0) by andrewmalone
Connor McDavid (NHL)
McDavid has already established him as a top hockey player but at 23, he has the potential to go on to do so much more. The player was born in Ontario and was the first overall draft pick, showing how much expectation was already on him at that stage but he has gone on to prove that he is one of the best players in the NHL. McDavid could go on to be one the NHL’s best-ever hockey players and this season could be the year that he shows the world, not just the NHL.
Chuba Hubbard (College Football)
The Oklahoma State Cowboys running back has been making the headlines for several years now. He continues to improve and grab more attention for his impressive stats and performances. He was close to being a sprinter and nearly made the Canadian Olympic team before switching over to football. He is passing up the 2020 NFL draft to play his senior season at Cowboys. He should give them a good chance of winning the College Football Championship, though they’re trailing at the seventh spot in the latest American football odds at +2400.00, with Clemson as the current betting favorites.
2020 will definitely be a very exciting time with some of these young stars looking to breakthrough in their respective sports and show the world what they are capable of.
Bob Baffert is back at the Kentucky Derby with early favourite Justify after watching the race from his sofa in Southern California last year.
The Hall of Fame trainer’s ability to produce Derby contenders year after year is an enviable feat and why his absence a year ago stood out. It was just his second since 2009 and occurred because his lone candidate got hurt.
Baffert will saddle Justify and 30-to-1 shot Solomini in Saturday’s Derby.
Justify is one of the greenest colts Baffert has brought to Churchill Downs. He’s won all three of his starts by a combined 19 lengths. If Justify wins, he’d be the first to do so since Apollo in 1882 without racing as a two-year-old.
“The thing about the Kentucky Derby, you have to have the right horse. It just happens. You can’t force it,” Baffert said. “All of a sudden, you have good horses and you’re there. So I’ve been really fortunate to have some really good horses.”
Baffert’s four victories are tied for second-most in Derby history. He’s finished second three times, too, including in 2012 with Bodemeister, also the last time he had two starters in the same year.
Like Justify, Bodemeister didn’t race as a two-year-old. He set a blistering pace and led the Derby until the final 150 yards when I’ll Have Another overtook him to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Magnum Moon, the 6-to-1 third choice, also is unbeaten and didn’t run as a two-year-old.
“It’s going to happen,” Baffert said, referring to the curse being broken. “Whether it happens this year or whatever, but it will happen because Bodemeister almost got away with it. But I don’t really worry about that.”
Baffert almost had a third starter this year until McKinzie developed a hind-end issue that knocked him off the Derby trail.
“When McKinzie got hurt, I wanted to throw up,” he said. “I really think McKinzie would probably be second choice here. We’d really have a 1-2 here.”
Justify cleared the biggest pre-Derby hurdle by drawing the No. 7 post. Jockey Mike Smith can use the colt’s early speed to position him well for the long run to the chaotic first turn. Solomini ended up in the No. 17 post; no horse has ever won from there.
Baffert turned 65 in January, making him eligible for Medicare and retirement at most other jobs. However, he entertains no such thoughts.
“I work hard at it. I just don’t give up,” the white-haired trainer said. “I’m constantly meeting people. They’re sending me horses. If you don’t have success, you’re not going to get those opportunities.”
After a successful run in the quarter horse ranks, Baffert switched to thoroughbreds. He started with one horse.
“After 25 years, I’m finally getting horses that I don’t have to buy,” he said. “The big guys are sending me horses.”
None was bigger than American Pharoah in 2015. The colt swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont to become racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.
Baffert has compared Justify to American Pharoah, citing the colt’s imposing physical presence and big stride. Still, Justify has yet to encounter the kind of traffic the Derby’s 20-horse stampede creates and the talent as he’ll run against on Saturday.
“I’d rather have a really talented horse than one who’s seasoned and just on par with the rest of them,” Baffert said.
Early on, Baffert knew Justify had the goods.
“The first time I worked him at Santa Anita, I knew he was a really good horse,” he said. “The track was really deep that morning, and he went around there effortlessly. His first race, he ran incredibly and showed how special he was.”
That kind of intuition is what separates Baffert from his rivals, fellow Hall of Famer trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.
“Bob’s got a great feel for it,” he said.
NASHVILLE — The hurtin’ tune that Auston Matthews has been singing for the past four weeks finally can be put in the remainder bin in Music City.
The Maple Leafs’ top centre on Wednesday declared himself set to return to the lineup after recovering from a right shoulder injury.
Wonderful timing, of course, considering the Leafs will take on the No. 1 club in the National Hockey League, the Nashville Predators, on Thursday night.
“In my mind, I think I’m ready to go and taking it as I’m getting ready to play (Thursday),” Matthews said after resuming his normal role, between William Nylander and Zach Hyman, during practice at Bridgestone Arena.
“It felt good, nice to get in all the reps and everything. (Wednesday) was a good step forward in that process, going through the line rushes.”
It seemed probable that the Leafs also will have defenceman Nikita Zaitsev, who missed the past five games as he recovered from an illness, against Nashville. Zaitsev was paired with Jake Gardiner, his regular partner, at practice.
For Matthews, it has been 10 games as a spectator with his latest injury, his third of the 2017-18 regular season after he missed four games in November with a back issue and then sat for six in December because of a concussion.
Thursday will mark four weeks since Matthews was hurt when he was sandwiched by the New York Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck and Adam Pelech in a game at the Air Canada Centre.
A major bonus for Matthews in his recovery has been the fact he has been able to skate though much of his recuperation. That was not the case when he was out with his previous two injuries.
It’s worth noting that Matthews scored two goals versus the Montreal Canadiens upon returning on Nov. 18 from his back injury; in his first two games upon coming back from a concussion, he scored a goal in each.
Mike Babcock said a final decision on the participation of Matthews and Zaitsev against the Predators would be made on Thursday morning, but the Leafs coach was talking as though it would be a rubber stamp.
“This is going to be the best opportunity for (Matthews) because he has been able to skate and compete,” Babcock said. “The other times he was not able to do anything.
“To get him back … it’s still going to be going way faster than he has been practising, so there is going to be an adjustment period, but he’s a good player and he will figure it out.”
Defenceman Morgan Rielly didn’t think Matthews will take long to find his footing. Rielly missed six games in late January/early February with an arm injury, so knows what Matthews could be feeling.
“You’re nervous and you just want to get back into it,” Rielly said. “You play your first shift a bit hesitant, but after that it’s important you get back to yourself.
“It’s never easy, but Auston is one of those guys that I will imagine it won’t take long for him to get back into a rhythm.”
And there’s the trickle-down effect through the forward lines with Matthews in uniform.
“Guys are used to playing with certain players and when everyone is healthy, I think you get better chemistry throughout the entire lineup,” centre Nazem Kadri said. “Certain guys don’t have to play with different guys constantly and it’s just more of a set group, so I think it’s going to help us.”
