A Statistical Look: Montreal Canadiens Sans Michael Cammalleri Equals..

When Michael Cammalleri arrived on the scene, spirits were high in Montreal as the Canadiens had acquired a top-level sniper long term.

He got off to a slow start, but quickly found his mark and went into Saturday’s game with a team leading 26 goals in 55 games.

We all saw what happened Saturday afternoon, after Cammalleri took a hit into the boards from Anton Volchenkov, but in case you missed it, here it is.

The collision sent chills through viewers of the game, whether they were Canadiens fans or not.

Cammalleri was expected to have an MRI either later Saturday or sometime on Sunday and results are expected to be announced on Monday.

But it doesn’t take a medical degree to know that this is not a short term injury.

Late January seems to be  bad time to get injured as a Canadiens player. Just short of a year ago, on Feb 1, Robert Lang sliced his Achilles tendon, ending his short period with the Canadiens.

The most tragic of all fell on January 28, 1937, when Howie Morenz’s career, and ultimately his life, was over after getting his skate caught in a rut after receiving a body check against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Fortunately for Lang and Cammalleri, today’s  modern medicine is far more advanced that that of 1937. Lang is back playing with the Phoenix Coyotes, and Cammalleri will return the the ice. But will it be this season?

Michael Cammalleri is helped off the ice after receiving a body check from the Ottawa Senators’ Anton Volchenkov 01/30/2010 – Ottawa Citizen Photo

Through 56 games in the 2009-10 NHL season, the Canadiens have managed to stay at .500 amidst all their other injuries past and  current.

The team is still holding on to seventh position in the Eastern Conference, amongst a pack of eight teams battling for the last four playoff spots.

While the earlier loss of Andrei Markov crippled the Montreal power play, Cammalleri’s injury is different in a very big way.

The Canadiens have a combined 139 goals, and rank 29th in the league as of the time this is published.

Cammalleri has 26 of those goals (eighth best in the league), or 18.7 per cent of them, and has been in on the scoring for 48 goals in total (34.5 %).

Further breaking down the goal scoring, he has scored four of the Canadiens 43 power play goals, and has eleven power play assists (34.8 %). He has also logged the most power play time on ice of all Montreal forwards.

The key abilities of Cammalleri, that have truly benefited the Canadiens’ offense, are his numbers playing even strength.

Montreal ranks dead last in five-one five-goals (81), despite being tied for first with ten four-on-four tallies.

Cammalleri’s numbers, playing even strength, are  22 goals and 11 assists. Otherwise said, he’s on for 36.3 percent of the team’s even strength goals, not to mention his plus-10 rating that leads the team.

If the team is already last in five-on-five with him in the lineup,imagine how bad it will be without him.

Another key area where the Canadiens will be hurt is in the shot department, where the Canadiens again sit neat the bottom of the barrel.

Cammalleri’s 191 shots on goal are just in the top-ten league wide and makes up for over twelve percent of the pucks that reach the Canadiens’ opposing goals. His 13.6 shooting percentage is comparable to that of Alexander Ovechin’s.

The bottom line in any game though is the end result, so here they are.

When Cammalleri scores a goal for the Canadiens, the team is 12-6-2, and is 3-0-1 in his four multi-goal games.

When he doesn’t score a goal, they are 13-19-4.

What happens when he’s not on the ice at all???

Malone’s Seven-Goal Night: The Hockey News looks back at Joe Malone’s seven-goal game on this day in 1920. The record to this day remains unbroken.

January 31, 1936: Canadiens Play Benefit Game for Injured Rookie

Many Montreal Canadiens fans always recall the 1937 memorial game for the late Howie Morenz, as the team’s first benefit game.

In fact, the Canadiens, in one form or another, participated in at least two known benefit games prior.

One was in March 1929, where Canadiens and Montreal Maroons players, still in town after the playoffs, participated in an event on support of local sports figure Tom Elliott. The game is of interest as the teams experimented with new offside rules planned to be implemented it the next season.

The second took place at the Forum on January 31, 1936 where Inside Hockey’s Mike Wyman has a detailed look back at a benefit game played for Nels Crutchfield, who’s only NHL season was with Montreal in 1934-35.

Crutchfield was a standout with the McGill Redmen, and a prospect of the Montreal Maroons before his rights were traded to the Canadiens in October 1934.

He played just one season with the Canadiens, before suffering a severe skull fracture, during a car accident, in September of 1935.

St. Maurice Valley-Chronicle 10/03/1935

Montreal Gazette – 10/01/35

Fans from Crutchfield’s hometown of Shawinigan spent their $2.00 for the train ride to the Forum to see the event. The Canadiens donated the use of the Forum rent free, and provided ushers at no charge.

Members of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had played the Canadiens the night before, chose to stay in Montreal to participate in the event  before heading to Chicago.

The New York Rangers and Canadian Olympic Team also sent cash donations.

The game was just part of a full evening of events for the benefit.

After a figure skating exhibition, and a twenty minute women’s game, a squad of Canadiens and Maroons players took on a team of players from Crutchfield’s former amateur teams.

Itinerary for Crutchfield benefit game –St. Maurice Valley Chronicle 01/23/1936

The speed skating race featured the Leafs King Clancy, the Canadiens Johnny Gagnon and the Maroons Bob Gracie. There was even a goalie race between the Canadiens Wilf Cude and the Maroons Bill Beverage.

The original on-ice entertainer, Jean Pusie of the Canadiens, won the event overall even outskating provincial amateur champion Leo Sylvestre.

Canadiens legends Newsy Lalonde participated in a seven-on-seven Old-Timers game, with former linemate Billy Boucher scoring the lone goal.

The main event saw the Canadiens against the Maroons, with the help of a few Leafs in a seven-on-seven game. The Montreal clubs swapped goalies for the night as Cude earned a shutout in the Maroons/mixed teams 3-0 win.

In total, $7,777 was raised and Canadiens president Ernest Savard, and co-owner Maurice Forget went to Crutchfield’s home to personally present the check in March, 1936.

More on Nels Crutchfield can be found at Greatest Hockey Legends, and Legends of Hockey.

 Crutchfield’s ECHA contract with the 1929-30 Shawinigan Cataractes

A Pair of Habs Bargain Book Finds

Ever had one of those days when you walk into a store, with no real intentions to buy anything, then luck in on a great deal?

Last weekend, I had one of those. My goal was to find a small printer cart or table for my fiancée and her two girls. After not finding any to my liking, or that were reasonably priced, I spotted a discount/clearance store across the street from where I was parked.

“Couldn’t hurt to try,” I said to myself so in I went.

With no luck in the small furniture area, I noticed a used book area in the far corner and decided to see what was there.

I found the sports shelf, and thumbed my way through. Low and behold, there stood out the greatest hockey book ever written, Ken Dryden’s “The Game”.

It was in excellent shape, in light of a small tear on the sleeve in the corner, but on opening it I realized that this was a very early edition (4th printing).

My only other copy was a paperback release, that I had in my possession for over 20 years. To find an early printing was quite a treat, especially at the price of $3.99.

There was even an old 1984 First Choice (now the Movie Network) card calendar between one of the pages. So this copy had likely not been handled too often, and likely by just one owner.

Then I found something peculiar. A page or two in, the inscription “John, He Shoots, he scores! Sincerely, Gordie Howe” was written in blue pen.

The signature had been written over slightly in marker. An added bonus, I wondered. But why would Gordie Howe sign Ken Dryden’s book?

Later in the day I researched Mr. Howe’s signature, but alas the one in the book doesn’t match up to any I saw online. Perhaps John’s father did it to cheer him up, who knows.

Working my way through the books I hit another jackpot. “Thunder and Lightning” by John Ferguson, and Stan and Shirley Fischler.

This was a better find for me than the other book as for months I had been tracking down a decent copy of this book. A few times it pops up on eBay or in Amazon’s used lists, but my timing, or the ridiculous shipping costs, kept me away from it.

The timing couldn’t have been better either, given the Georges Laraque mess that was going on in Montreal. Here in my hand was the autobiography of the man who basically created the enforcer position, while at the same time the Canadiens had just bought out the man they thought could carry that role or them.

Off to the checkout I went, and passed over the money for my new finds plus a 75th Anniversary NHL book, just under $13 after taxes well spent.

As for the printer cart, I did manage to find one on sale the next day. A successful weekend all around.