The Canadiens aren’t a playoff team (yet?)

The Canadiens played perhaps their worst game of the season last night against the Kings… at the Bell Centre! The few hundred fans who couldn’t make it to the amphitheatre despite having a ticket – because of the snow, Hydro-Québec and the STM strike – clearly didn’t miss much..

The Los Angeles Kings won their ninth game in a row against the Montrealers, and Marc Bergevin must be laughing into his beard (which he has thankfully trimmed since his heyday in Montreal).

We could talk for a long time about Samuel Montembeault, who isn’t squared up in front of his net, who gives the puck to guys on the other team, who doesn’t inspire confidence in his teammates, who puts in a string of poor performances in front of Team Canada executives, etc. But my only words on the subject will be to say a few words about his performance.

But my only words to that effect will be these this morning: you have one goalie with a 6-0-1 record and another with a 4-4-1 record. Why do you keep coming back to the one who loses more games than he wins, rather than the one who (almost) never loses?

If Samuel Montembeault (who loses) were Mike Miller and Jakub Dobes (who wins) were Lou-Adriane Cassidy, there’d be a revolt in Quebec right now..

But I want to talk about the collective this morning, not about any one individual, because for the past few games, it’s the cohesion of the whole group that seems to be lacking, not just the play of one guy or two.

The Canadiens may still be at the top of their division, but they’ve just lost three of their last four games. Istheir lack of shots on goal starting to take its toll?

Maybe… but yesterday, something even more obvious jumped out at all of us: the 2025-26 version of the Habs is still struggling to compete against big, experienced teams that have made the playoffs recently.

Marc Bergevin’s Kings (in part) are built at the opposite end of the spectrum from Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton’s Canadiens: the Kings have the oldest (average age 29.74), tallest (average 6’2) and second “heaviest ” (205 lbs.) team in the entire NHL. And we saw last night that the experience and size of the Kings’ players made life difficult for Montreal’s younger, smaller players.

Remember that the Habs are the youngest team in the NHL (average age 25.32), as well as one of the smallest.

Another telling statistic: the Habs have won just one of their five games played against a team that made the playoffs last year, so far this season. Unfortunately, eight of its next 11 opponents made the playoffs last year… and if the Canadiens manage to make the playoffs again this year, it will inevitably face a team (or teams) that will make the playoffs in the spring. #LOL

In short, the Habs need to be better against the big teams, the experienced teams and the playoff teams. Otherwise, its excellent start to the season will be quickly forgotten.

Extension

The more time goes by, the more I realize that the Canadiens aren’t yet built for playoff success; they lack experience and toughness. That’s why the names Sidney Crosby, Tage Thompson and Nazem Kadri refuse to die in Montreal..

Beating the Capitals, the Panthers, the Bruins or the best team in the West this spring is never easy.

It’s not normal to see Josh Anderson, who’s having a tough start to the season, be your club’s best forward against the Kings. The Habs still need to make some adjustments. Adjustments that Jeff Gorton wasn’t able to make at the end of his reign in New York.

Let’s hope he’s learned and will be able to make/apply them in Montreal.

For the moment, the Canadiens are a good early-season team. It’s up to him to prove he’s more than that.