Friday Habs Headlines: Failing the grade at the quarter mark

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Eric Engels grades the Habs at the quarter mark of the season ... and it ain’t pretty. [Sportsnet]
• Antti Niemi defied the critics with his performance against the Nashville Predators. [Sportsnet]
• The Canadiens could be preparing for a rebuild. [Hockey I/O (Video)]
• Is Victor Mete going to be returned to the London Knights? [London Free Press]
• Marc Bergevin had all the tools. This season is the result of the GM’s own failings. [RDS]
• Justin Bourne thinks mental fragility is causing the Canadiens to give up multiple goals within a 60-second span. [The Athletic]
• Even Hydro-Quebec is taking shots at the anemic Canadiens. [Montreal Gazette]
• Thomas Ebbing is enjoying life after graduation and making the most of the start of his professional career. [Montreal Canadiens]
• Lukas Vejdemo is continuing to enjoy a superb season. [Patrik Bexell]

Around the league and elsewhere:

• P.K. Subban doesn’t want to be defined by his race. [The Athletic]
• In his weekly 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman says the NHL is looking at getting into the eSports market. [Sportsnet]
• Duncan Keith wants to play until he’s 45. [TSN]
• Is Tuukka Rask over the hill? [TSN]
• Connor McDavid has been playing through an illness that’s caused him to lose 5-10 lbs. [TSN]
• Dennis Wideman is joining the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers as an assistant coach. [TSN]
• The NHL is trying to clean up its on-ice language. [Toronto Star]
• A man has been convicted of stabbing another man to death over a comment regarding the criminal’s New Jersey Devils hat. [Yahoo!]