Subban’s education continues
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very late in the semester, but P.K. Subban has enrolled in defencemen’s finishing school.
His first class began Wednesday night in Buffalo. A little over eight minutes into the second period, the Canadiens were trailing 2-0 and setting up for a faceoff in the Sabres’ zone.
Randy Cunneyworth sent out his best forward line: David Desharnais centring Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty. The Canadiens’ defencemen were Subban, who usually plays with Josh Gorges and the Ol’ Professor, Andrei Markov, who has been paired, since his return from injury, with Alexei Emelin.
“We were looking to create some offence,” coach Cunneyworth said after the Canadiens held a practice Thursday morning in Brossard. “Combined with the Desharnais line, we were looking to get a bit more opportunity in the Buffalo end.
“(Subban and Markov) see the ice and operate a little differently than some other guys. That was the main goal of putting those guys together.”
Having played a (truncated) season-high 21:49 in the Canadiens’ shootout loss to the Islanders Saturday, Markov was reduced to less than 16 minutes of ice time in Buffalo. The diminished workload was consistent, the coach said, with the pace of Markov’s return from spending the better part of two seasons on the sidelines.
“More than anything, it was in (Markov’s) mind,” Cunneyworth said, “sorting out what his timing should be and getting out there in situations. I think he’s still working on that.
“As far as avoiding physical confrontations, I see him doing a little bit of self-preservation kind of thing, which is fine. We’re looking for him to help us out in other areas.”
If history is a reliable indicator, Markov will help Subban’s evolution, which is advanced already. Markov makes his defence partners look good, the prime example being Mike Komisarek, who parlayed his partnership with Markov into a lucrative freeagent contract with the Leafs.
(Perhaps Markov’s Russian accent made Komisarek misinterpret the advice to “Never fight Milan Lucic.”)
“I enjoy playing with Markie because he’s got that vision, he can find you anywhere on the ice,” Subban said. “I’m the type of player, when we have the puck I like to keep it, and so does Markie. I think we play well together in terms of getting the puck up the ice and sustaining pressure in the offensive zone.
“As we get more familiar with each other, if we do play together in the future, we can do some great things out there,” Subban added. “But we have a lot of guys capable of playing with each other. I don’t think our focus is on who we’re playing with.
“With Andrei, he’s a highend talent and he can do some things out there others can’t.” Injury report: Injured players Tomas Kaberle, Travis Moen, Raphael Diaz and Mathieu Darche skated on the alternate ice at the Brossard complex.
None will play on the weekend, but Cunneyworth said Darche may be available next week.
Carey Price gets the Friday night start against Ottawa at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., RDS, RSE, TSN-HABS, TSN Radio 990), with Peter Budaj likely in nets Saturday when the Canadiens visit Philadelphia (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 990). Bounty hunters: Is there anything in hockey that corresponds to the bounty system that’s landed the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints in scalding hot water?
And if there isn’t, why are teams so coy about upper- and lower-body injuries?
“I’ve been in the NHL for a short period of time and I haven’t seen anything like that,” Subban said. “You compete hard, you’re fighting for the playoffs and young guys want to make a name for themselves. But you never hear of anyone targeting a player or putting bounties on anyone’s head.
“You don’t want teams to know you have a bad shoul- der or whatever. If I’m playing against a good player, I’m not going to target that, but I’ll play tough against him and maybe discourage him from going in the corners. If I’m injured I don’t want the other team to know about it.”
Said Cunneyworth: “I don’t know if you consciously go out there to hurt anybody. But by playing someone hard you understand there’s some risk, especially if you know something is damaged or sore.
“It’s part of the game. I talk many times of being physical from start to finish.” A lineup oddity: The Canadiens’ top six forwards – David Desharnais, Erik Cole, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Rene Bourque and Lars Eller – are all left-handed shots.
The bottom six – Ryan White, Mike Blunden, Louis Leblanc, Brad Staubitz, Aaron Palushaj and Petteri Nokelainen – are right-handed shots. Yet another example of what makes Erik Cole special: The Canadiens’ winger was talking about the prospect of being invited to join the U.S. team at the World Hockey Championship after the Canadiens’ season wraps up. Cole doubts he’ll be asked and would just as soon take some time for his battered body to recover from a rock’em/sock’em first season in Montreal.
Cole recalled turning down the national team because the worlds conflicted with a family commitment. His daughter had been enrolled in a dance program, the culmination of which was a retreat to which dads were invited. For Cole, the schedule conflict was a no-brainer. He attended his daughter’s retreat.
That, peeps, is a man. Looking for work: Matthew Humes, former goaltender at Mcgill (where he was a teammate of Mathieu Darche), is the Henrik Lundqvist of financial planners (he got me in on the ground floor for Greek government T-bills) and has taken it upon himself and his Mrs. to lower the average age in Beaconsfield.
When we talked about the NFL suspensions Thursday, Humes wondered about the fate of Gregg Williams, the New Orleans defensive coordinator suspended indefinitely for his paymaster role in the Saints’ notorious bounty program.
“Do you suppose,” Humes asked, “the Bruins will hire him?”