Now that the preseason is finally over for the Montreal Canadiens, we can reflect on just how terrible it was. I don’t mean this from a gameplay standpoint, but rather just how unnecessarily dangerous these games ended up being. When the next CBA is drawn up, the NHL would do best to consider reducing the amount of games being played that don’t count.
Kaiden Guhle suited up for his first game following an appendectomy, and even he had a close call.
This whole kerfuffle came thanks to a perfectly clean hit landed by Guhle, and yet he has to answer for it. Why? Well, every player involved in this game was acutely aware of how violent the last preseason game was between the two teams, and seemed on edge from the first drop of the puck. It had the temperature of a rivalry game in January more so than a preseason tune-up game. That kind of situation doesn’t benefit anyone, and lends itself more to the possibility of injuries than learning anything of value ahead of the real season.
David Reinbacher’s season is essentially over before it started. Patrik Laine might be back around Christmas. And it’s not just the Canadiens, either. Drew Doughty broke his ankle in a meaningless game, and the Los Angeles Kings will have to figure out how to configure their blue line without him basically for the entire season.
In the NFL, star players rarely even suit up for the preseason. Maybe they come in for one series of downs, but outside of that, their preseason is really about trying out bubble players and back ups. Realistically, that’s all the NHL preseason is about as well, yet someone like Laine will be on the shelf for months despite the fact that he wasn’t remotely needing to compete for a roster spot.
The NHLPA is likely already gearing up to argue for shortening the preseason when the time comes, and hopefully the league will acquiesce to this request. Nobody wants to see important players getting hurt over meaningless games in September.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Wednesday, when the games start to count, as the Habs will open their season against the Leafs.
