PLEKANEC MAKES LIKE STEVE AUSTIN TO REBUILD CANADIENS’ PLAYOFF HOPES
If you’re old enough to remember The Six Million Dollar Man TV show, you’ll recall that the intro went like this:
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
Austin was an astronaut barely alive after his jet blew up.
Tomas Plekanec is a hockey player whose career appeared to be blowing up this season. Plekanec is the Canadiens’ highestpaid forward at US$6 million and has the third-highest salary cap hit behind defenceman Shea Weber ($7.9 million) and goalie Carey Price ($6.5 million).
In the first season of a twoyear, $12-million contract, the 34-year-old Plekanec posted 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points, which was a 26-point drop from last season.
Coach Claude Julien didn’t rebuild the Canadiens’ Six Million Dollar Man when he took over from Michel Therrien on Valentine’s Day, but he has certainly helped put the veteran centre back on the right track.
Plekanec has a goal and two assists in the first four games of the Eastern Conference quarter-final against the New York Rangers and might have saved the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup hopes when he scored with 17.3 seconds left in Game 2, which Montreal went on to win 4-3 in overtime.
The Canadiens also won Game 3 by a 3-1 score, with Plekanec picking up an assist. The Rangers levelled the series at two by winning 2-1 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Julien has a history with Plekanec, having coached him with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs during the 2002-03 season and again during his first stint behind the Canadiens’ bench in 2005-06.
After replacing Therrien, Julien sat down for a few chats with Plekanec.
“From the time he came to North America (from the Czech Republic), he was always more of a defensive-type player and he always took a lot of pride in that,” Julien said after Tuesday’s morning skate. “But he also had good offensive skills and we encouraged him to use those as much as he could and then he started doing that and was being successful.”
Julien also gave Plekanec regular linemates in Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron, whose speed and grit have been a great combination with Plekanec’s hockey IQ and experience.
“When I came back, I just said to him: ‘You’re still a good two-way player and you’re doing a great job defensively, but don’t be afraid to create some offence because I’d like to see you create that stuff,’” Julien said. “I encouraged him to do that, but at the same time he’s had two regular linemates that has built good chemistry and it shows. Those three together are relentless on the forecheck in the offensive zone. So I think credit goes to him, but also his linemates.”
While Plekanec has been a target for abuse from Canadiens fans and some media members this season, his teammates have had nothing but praise and respect for him.
“We know how valuable Pleky is to this team and we have known it throughout the whole year,” captain Max Pacioretty said.
Artturi Lehkonen said Plekanec has been a mentor to him and Phillip Danault talked about how the veteran works with him every day at practice to help improve his faceoff skills.
Gallagher said people who have been very critical of Plekanec’s play might not realize just how smart he is on the ice.
“Getting a chance to play with him, you understand little areas in the game where he just finds little weaknesses, little openings in the other team,” Gallagher said.
“It always helps me whenever he comes to me and gives me some advice. The experience that he has, he just picks up on things that not a lot of people in the world would pick up on.
“Look at his positioning. We just talked about Webs (Weber) going against top guys … Pleky’s no different. He’s always on the ice against the other team’s top line. Most of the time it’s a top centreman and we know how dangerous they can be. He’s always on the right side of the puck, he’s always making the guy have to work. He’s a pain to play against. His positioning and his hockey IQ really allow him to be the player he is.”
There’s no doubt any team — and its fans — are expecting more offence from a $6-million man than Plekanec produced during the regular season and it will be interesting to see if he can bounce back in that regard next year.
But for now, the focus is on the playoffs and Plekanec has been playing some very, very good hockey.
“In my estimation, you often remember how a guy finishes, not how he started,” Julien said. “So hopefully he continues to have a good finish here.”
We might just have a hockey sequel to The Six Million Dollar Man.