Coach’s Challenge is a Smart Addition to the National Hockey League

The Habs were able to generate an okay defensive play during the Leafs’ 2nd PP, but the strength came in strong from Carey Price as he shut down any chances Toronto had at the net. This is something that GM Lou Lamoriello spoke about with Steve Simmons from the Toronto Sun saying that the real challenge will be to remain patient.

“I had Galchenyuk and [Alexander] Semin on after an icing and they were burnt”, Therrien said in French. “We all know it will take time and patience, but we’re three impatient people”.

And with that, the Maple Leafs took a Canadiens goal off the board and retained their time out. Nazem Kadri and Dion Phaneuf assisted on the goal by van Riemsdyk, who played well last season on a sub-par team, posting 27 goals and 56 points in 82 games.

The Leafs take on the Red Wings, in Detroit, next; a homecoming for Mike Babcock. Little things like that make huge differences in the long run. Would the Leafs part with prospects and draft picks if presented an opportunity to add a significant player or players in a trade? “I only get better by repetition and taking faceoffs”. Understandably that would be hard to believe after what happened last season, but Babcock is different from Randy Carlyle, and Peter Horachek.

“Right-hand shot, young guy, skates, moves the puck”, Babcock said.

There are no style points in the standings, but the Leafs showed Wednesday night that they are absorbing Babcock’s system and the way he wants them to play: up-tempo, go, go, go, don’t sit back, no back-pedaling but rather push the pace. Hopefully with a coach that can instill a lot of confidence in his players can do the same for a player that has seen a rapid decline since he broke out with the Calgary Flames years ago. The Leafs fell to the Canadiens 3-1, in what was one of the better losses in recent memory.

“We’re going to have to find a way to score a couple more goals”, said Lupul. Then there is Scott Harrington and Martin Marincin who were brought in this summer and now both are expected to be in the lineup in favour of Roman Polak and Stephane Robidas (who is dealing with an injury).

All eyes will be on what Price can do for an encore as the Canadiens go after their third division title in four years.

“Just by the decision they made, they clearly thought that it wasn’t good enough”.

Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban got to open his National Hockey League season at “home” and he responded with an assist on each of his team’s goals in a 3-1 win over the host Toronto Maple Leafs. They dug, they forechecked, they outshot the Canadiens 37-30, aiming 66 pucks at Habs goalie Carey Price, 11 more than their visitors fired at Jonathan Bernier.

The Canadiens drought continues and the team would love to get back to the finals and win a Cup for the entire nation.

While the playoffs are not on the minds of the organization, fans should understand that the team is looking at the long-term picture instead of making the playoffs only to be eliminated in the first round. The Leafs’ challenged and it’s revealed that the stick of Tomas Plekanec had hit Bernier square in the neck before the shot was released, and the goal was overturned.

It was the day before the season opener, and Joffrey Lupul was adamant that this team will be better.