The battered and bruised Montreal Canadiens suffered another loss in Sunday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. Forward Michael Cammalerri left the ice after his leg was cut in a freak incident by teammate Yanick Webber’s skate, while Jaroslav Spacek suffered broken or bruised ribs on a check from Evander Kane. Cammalerri did not return to the game, and he is reported to miss around ten days. Thankfully he did not sustain a cut to a tendon or muscle. For now, forward Travis Moen is likely to join the top line of Erik Cole and Tomas Plekanec. Spacek has no estimated return time, as head coach Jacques Martin keeps a close eye on his recovery.
"We hit the injury bug a little bit early, but that's OK. We've got guys that can step up and play hard," defenceman P.K. Subban said after practice Tuesday. "We've been through this sort of thing before. Guys have to step up."
The news is hard to swallow for the Habs, as the team isn’t one week into the regular season and they’re already down many players. The Canadiens started the season shy of forwards Lars Eller and Ryan White, along with veteran defenceman Andrei Markov. The blue-line suffered another blow when newly acquired Chris Campoli suffered a left leg injury in the season opener. Now with Spacek out, the blue-line just got very thin.
Hall Gill and Josh Gorges now become the only two defencemen on the blue-line with over 82 games of NHL experience, and will be forced to lead the team defensively for an undisclosed amount of time. Goaltender Carey Price’s responsibilities have seemingly increased as well.
"I think we'll have to take on a bigger responsibility of keeping things calm back there, especially trying to enforce the fact of keeping things simple," Gorges said. "It's the home opener, the fans are going to be excited, and a lot of times you get a little overanxious and you make plays you normally wouldn't. So I think for Hal and I to keep everyone calm, cool and collected, and just get them to play their games will be big."
The Canadiens will play their first home game of the season on Thursday as they play host to the Calgary Flames. The team will have quite a different look to it minus these big names. Head coach Jaques Martin believes in his youth and depth in defense.
"You don't control injuries, what you control is what you bring to the table," Martin said. "It gives an opportunity to other people -- that's why in the offseason you feel your depth is very important to the hockey club. We added some defencemen in Emelin and Diaz. Did we think we would need them as much this early in the season? Probably not. But they have played pro before in Europe and they are adjusting as they move along."
Lars Eller, who suffered a shoulder injury in which he had surgically repaired on the offseason, is easing his way back into the lineup. Eller, a 22 year-old center acquired from the St. Louis Blues last season, is a capable goal scorer who collected 7 goals and 10 assists last season with the Canadiens. He practiced on the fourth pairing in Tuesday’s team practice, as Jacques Martin carefully inserts him back into the lineup as he recovers.
"I'm the first one to return," Eller said, "so hopefully things start to turn around now and we see guys getting back into the lineup instead of going out."
The Canadiens are a team of resolve, and despite being hobbled, they do benefit from having a great amount of talent with veteran leadership in players like Hal Gill, and talented youth in P.K. Subban, Alexei Emelin, and Raphael Diaz. Montreal is forced to overcome, and thankfully for Habs fans they have a wise head coach in Jacques Martin at the helm to guide these young players.
- Kendall Grubbs
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