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2010/11 Montreal Canadiens Predictions – Odds – Season Preview

Ian Van Den Hurk weighs in with his 2010-2011 Montreal Canadiens Season Gambling Picks and NHL Preview, plus he provides the lastest NHL odds, Canadiens future lines, and Stanley Cup predictions…

2010-11 NHL Predictions/Previews: Montreal Canadiens

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Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup odds: 25/1

Montreal enjoyed a fantastic postseason run in 2009-10, topping first-place Washington before taking the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games.

That effort may be luring fans into a false sense of security; it’s easy to forget the club just barely squeaked into the postseason, finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference. Odds are Montreal will be in the same neighbourhood again.

Goaltending is the biggest issue at hand. Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price battled for the job; Halak certainly played better, especially in the playoffs, when he was positively brilliant and practically stole the Washington series. Despite this, the Habs shipped Halak to St. Louis. Now, Price has more pressure on his shoulders than ever—and we’re talking about a guy who the Montreal media at one point caricatured as Jesus.

Price certainly has the pedigree. He has great size, is a former fifth-overall draft pick, and has a wonderful amateur resume. He’s never lived up to the hype, though, and it’s beginning to look like he can’t handle the pressure cooker that is hockey life in Montreal. This will be Price’s final chance to prove he can. Behind him is journeyman Alex Auld, a serviceable back up but nothing more.

Montreal ranked 13th in goals allowed last season, and the blue line should get an upgrade thanks to P.K. Subban. The youngster was brilliant in the 2010 playoffs and will contend for Rookie of the Year honors.

Unfortunately, Subban’s impact may be lessened over the first month or so as the unit moves forward without Andrei Markov. Markov underwent knee surgery in the offseason and his return is unclear. Nov. 1 has been pencilled in, though the defenseman is skating and claims to be ahead of schedule.

Hall Gill will be expected to pick up the slack. While Gill isn’t going to be in Norris Trophy contention any time soon, he’s a big, rangy defender who can play a lot of minutes. That will be crucial, especially until Markov returns.

After finishing 26th in scoring last year, Montreal oddly spent the offseason twiddling its thumbs. The core up front returns almost completely intact, and that’s probably not a good thing—few teams have gone deep into the playoffs with a group of undersized, overpaid forwards.

Tomas Plekanec, Michael Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn form the top line. Plekanec was solid with 25 goals and 70 points. Cammalleri was a bust after signing from Calgary. He missed 17 games and scored just 26 goals and 50 points—a major drop off after posting 39 goals and 82 points the previous year with the Flames.

Kostitsyn was equally disappointing. The temperamental Russian scored 49 goals during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns, but he fell off to just 15 last year. His brother, Sergei, was sent packing in the offseason, and it remains to be seen how Andrei will react.

Ultimately, it’ll be more of the same in Montreal this year; some respectable defense, not enough scoring, and questions between the pipes. If Price can rebound and deliver solid results, though, the Habs will at least contend for one of the final playoff spots in the East.

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By Ian Van Den Hurk

Ian Van Den Hurk has covered amateur and pro sports for years, including a successful run handicapping anything from football to mixed martial arts. Looking for more sports betting tips and expert sports handicapping articles from Ian V? We've got your back...

One reply on “2010/11 Montreal Canadiens Predictions – Odds – Season Preview”

I am a Habs fan, but this is an unbiased opinion on your odds for the Canadiens. The fact that your relying mostly on regular season stats doesn’t work for the Canadiens, because this team had a rough injury year last season and this still squeaked in without their star defenseman for most the year, and pretty much everyone else for weeks at a time. Price is going to be the good this year. And how is Cammaleri a bust? Most goals in the playoffs a bust? And thats without going to the finals. He missed games last year from injury ya dolt. You want to talk about decreased production look a players like tanguay. Montreal got rid of lots of dead weight the past 2 years. And watching so far this year they seem like a really tight group, we’re finally getting chemistry here.

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