Sunday Night Hockey: Pre-Super Bowl Edition

It's another edition of Sunday Night Hockey before the Super Bowl. As usual there are only a few game and none of them start past past 3PM EST.

Subban is Back

Earlier this week Montreal GM Bergevin signed P.K. Subban to an amazing 2-year, $5.75M contract. This was seen as a huge win for Bergevin, as this showed that he isn't going to be a push over during negotiations. Of course, this does seem like a "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" feel, so in two years Subban is going to get paid - and he should be. It helps that the Habs will have a ton of cap space to accommodate the pay day Subban will get.

Obviously, as a Habs fan I like the deal and enjoy the fact that Subban is back with the team. But I am conflicted. On one hand, the team is on the roll and adding Subban should help that keep rolling for a little longer. Since this is a shortened season, there is a better chance of the Habs making the playoffs, a big improvement from a last place finish in the East last year.

On the other hand, this is a shortened season, and the draft class is one of the deepest in recent memory. It just seems like they should write this year off. Yes, they were bad last year with Subban on the roster, it was a bad year overall for the team. It seems like it would make more sense for some kind of handshake deal were he plays in Hamilton for the rest of the year to stay in shape - Hamilton would have to sign him, as there is no chance he would clear waivers. It's not like the Habs are bound to continue is pace anyway. The hot start will soon end and the team will regress. The problem is knowing how much they are going to regress. There team average PDO* of 1066 suggest that they are on the side of crashing down. Even looking at individual PDO, most of the team would be like a car going off a cliff. Granted, it's only been 7 games, so the sample size is small, but it is an unsustainable pace.

I will be celebrating every win (even if Therrien says not to) and feeling every loss like a fan, but in the end it's either Cup or bust.

*For more on the PDO stat, read this.

Lineup Notables

Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens

Anderson: Jason Spezza (backiotomy), Jared Cowen (hip), and Mike Lundin (finger) are out. Craig Anderson starts this afternoon.
Price: Petteri Nokelainen (back) is out.Carey Price will start.