A Case for Captaincy: Five Players who Could be the Next Captain of the Montreal Canadiens

Today in a press conference Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier stated that the Canadiens will have a Captain this season.  However Gauthier did not say who the team was leaning towards just that numerous players are being evaluated for the position.  With that in mind here are five players on the Habs roster that could wear the C next season.

Andrei Markov:  Markov has spent nine seasons with the Canadiens and was an assistant captain last season.  Markov expects the best from his teammates and will let them know when he doesn’t approve of their effort (such as a verbal confrontation last season with Carey Price after a loss).  Markov could miss some time at the start of this season recovering from injury but he is still one of the most respected players in the Canadiens dressing room.  Markov quarterbacks the PP as good as anyone in the league and he chipped in offensively to the tune of 34 points in 45 games last season.  Markov is the longest serving member of the Canadiens currently on the roster which should give him an edge.

Josh Gorges:  Once considered a throw in as a part of the deal that sent Craig Rivet to San Jose Josh Gorges has become a true leader and shutdown defenseman in the NHL.  Gorges is another well respected voice in the Canadiens dressing room and along with Hall Gill was a part of blocking shots and stopping the oppositions top players during last seasons playoff run.  Gorges has been a leader at every level of hockey that he’s played in and could be the next Canadian captain of the Canadiens.

Hall Gill:  Hall Gill is a veteran with a Stanley Cup ring who knows what it takes to win in the playoffs.  Gill sacrifices his body on a night in night out basis and is a journeyman who commands respect from his teammates.  Although Gill has his shortcomings he gives 100% effort every night and could mentor the Canadiens youngsters quite well.  Gill also wore an A for the Canadiens last season.

Brian Gionta:  Don’t let his little frame fool you Brian Gionta is willing to go to the dirty areas to score goals.  Gionta was also an assistant captain for the Habs last season and he has a Stanley Cup ring from his time with the Devils.  Gionta is a veteran who is respected and gives 100% effort, he also is one of the Habs go to players and many Captains are who their teammates are looking for to make plays in crunch time. 

Mike Cammalleri:  Cammalleri similar to Gionta is a little guy who’s willing to sacrifice his body to score goals, and when his teammates see this they want to do the same.  Cammalleri was the Canadiens go to goal scorer in the playoffs last season and was seen mentoring the likes of Subban and Kostitsyn during games.  Cammalleri lifted the whole city of Montreal with his play reminding fans of Lafleur and Shutt.  Cammalleri is the Habs best player and commonly a team’s best player is their Captain since they are looked to for big goals.  As we saw during last seasons playoff run Cammalleri can score big goals.         

    

The Montreal Canadiens Top Ten Prospects

P.K Subban: It was a tough decision if P.K. should be considered a prospect or not considering he is clearly NHL ready, but for now he’ll count as a prospect. Subban played in only 2 NHL regular season games last season scoring 2 assists in them. Subban then took the league by storm in the playoffs scoring 1 goal and 8 points in 14 GP while shutting down the likes of Crosby and Ovechkin. Subban was also elected to the AHL All Star Team last season as well as winning the AHL’s Presidents Award as AHL MVP.




Lars Eller: A former St. Louis Blues 1st round selection the Canadiens acquired Eller in the Jaroslav Halak trade. Eller scored 2 goals in 7 games with the Blues last season and 57 points in 70 GP in the AHL last season. Eller was also a member of the AHL all-rookie team last season and will compete for a full time spot on the Habs roster.



Louis Leblanc: Leblanc was the Canadiens 1st round selection in the 2009 entry draft. Leblanc played at Harvard last season scoring 11 goals 12 assists for 23 points, good enough to lead his team in all categories. Leblanc also won Ivy League rookie of the year and was one of the final cuts of Team Canada’s World Junior team. Leblanc will play this season for the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the QMJHL in order to play more games and increase his chances of making the World Juniors squad.



Danny Kristo: Kristo has the Canadiens 1st selection in the 2008 draft (56th overall). Kristo has great speed and skill and was a member of the Gold Medal winning USA World Junior team. Kristo is a bit undersized but should add weight to his frame over the next few years. Kristo is currently playing at the University of North Dakota of the NCAA.



Jared Tinordi: Tinordi was the Canadiens 1st round selection 22nd overall in the 2010 entry draft. Last season Tinordi captained the US NTDP Under-18 team where he had 5 goals and 13 points in 56 games. Tinordi is known for his defensive ability and will play next season with the London Knights of the OHL.



Alexander Avtsin: Avtsin was selected by the Habs in the 4th round 109th overall in the 2009 entry draft. Avtsin is a big body at 6-2 and 198 lbs and has recently signed an entry level contract with the Canadiens. Avtsin scored 56 goals and 110 points as a member of Dynamo Moskva last season.



Yannick Weber: Weber was selected by the Canadiens 73rd overall in the 2007 entry draft. Weber was an integral part of the Kitchener Rangers 2008 Memorial Cup runners up. Weber is known for his ability to chip in offensively from the back end. In the 2008-09 season Weber made the AHL All Star team after tallying 18 goals and 44 points in 68 GP. Last season however was not as good; Weber scored only 32 points in 65 GP and was a minus 5 in the 5 NHL games he played last season.



Aaron Palushaj: Palushaj was selected by the St. Louis Blues 44th overall in the 2007 entry draft and was acquired by the Habs in a deal for Matt D’Agostini. In 2008-09 Palushaj scored 50 points while playing for the University of Michigan which was good for 2nd in the CCHA. Last season Palushaj scored 32 points in 62 games between Peoria and Hamilton of the AHL.



Brendan Gallagher: Gallagher was selected by the Canadiens in the 5th round 147th overall in the 2010 entry draft. Gallagher was invited to Team Canada’s World Junior Summer Evaluation Camp this summer. Gallagher scored 41 goals and 81 points in 72 GP with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL last season, good for 16th in league scoring. Although Gallagher is small a 5’9’’ it’s hard to argue with his production.



Mathieu Carle: Carle was selected in the 2nd round 53rd overall in the 2006 entry draft. Due to injury Carle only played 31 games in the AHL last season scoring 5 goals and 15 points. Carle also played in 3 games for the Canadiens last season failing to record a point. Carle has all the tools to be a top 4 defenseman in the future for the Habs if he puts his mind to it as his focus is a question mark.

Big Shoes to Fill: Replacing Clausen and Tate at Notre Dame

The Brian Kelly era will officially start at Notre Dame in two days when the Boilermakers travel to South Bend. Kelly has fans excited about ND football again after the Irish have fallen on rough times over the last few years. Kelly’s biggest challenge this season other than installing his new system is to replace to of the best players at their positions in the history of Notre Dame football, Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate. Clausen was the #1 recruit in the country coming out of high school in California and was committed to bringing Notre Dame a National Championship. Although that never materialized Clausen is still one of the best quarterbacks in Notre Dame’s history, Clausen completed 62.6% of his passes for 8148 yards 60 touchdowns and 27 interceptions during his Notre Dame career. Now that Clausen is gone the new man in charge is redshirt sophomore Dayne Crist. Crist threw for 130 yards 1 TD and 1 INT while appearing in 4 games for the Irish last season. Crist ran a similar offence in high school that he will run under Coach Kelly this year, which should work in his favor. Crist like Clausen was a very highly touted recruit out of California and hopefully he to can go down as a great QB at Notre Dame.




The other key playmaker Notre Dame lost on offence to the NFL is Golden Tate. Last seasons Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation’s top receiver Tate crushed opposing defenses all of last season with his ability to find open space and be next to impossible to tackle. It helped Tate that defense’s also needed to worry about Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph who will both be returning this season. Tate was recruited out of Tennessee as a RB before switching to receiver, a path similar to the man that might replace him New Jersey’s Theo Riddick. Riddick is among many candidates for Tate’s old job alongside Michael Floyd. Other players vying for the spot are Duval Kumara, TJ Jones, John Goodman, and Deion Walker.



Tate and Clausen will go down as two of the greatest ever to play at ND, but now it’s time for the next era of Notre Dame Football stars to be born, starting on Saturday September 4th against in state rival Purdue.