That’s it, the Canadiens have reached the 10-game mark. After reaching the Stanley Cup finals a few months ago, the hopes were high for this team to come out of the gate fast. But with a very eventful off-season filled with drama, the Habs started the season with $30 million out of their line-up. As the NHL season’s gates opened, instead of pure bread stallions and four Clydesdales, the Habs turned into a bunch of donkeys and mules pulling in any which directions they wanted. And here are the results in numbers.

Team

Instead of typing text, I’ll just let the following table do the speaking.

CATEGORY	STATS	NHL RANK
Wins	2	30
Points	4	30
Points %	.200	30
Goals For per GP	1.90	29
Goals Against per GP	3.40	28
Power play %	11.1%	29
Penalty kill %	65%	30
Shots per GP	27.0	31
Faceoffs %	43.8%	32
Minor Penalties	40	31
Take Aways per 60 mins	5.1	27

To sum it up in one sentence: you have a team that doesn’t score goals, allows too many, has one of the worst power plays, takes way too many penalties and can’t kill those penalties, doesn’t shoot the puck enough, looses most of their faceoffs and can’t retrieve the puck after, all of it resulting in losses.

Individually

Jonathan Drouin seems rejuvenated as he leads the Canadiens in scoring with seven points in 10 games. Prior to Monday night’s games, this puts him 65th in NHL scoring. That’s right. The top scorer on the Habs is not even in the top-60. Next are Josh Anderson and Nick Suzuki with five points each. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Joel Armia and Jeff Petry have yet to score one single goal this season. The later three only have one assist on the season. Ben Chiarot also has more goals (2) than Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli and Christian Dvorak!

Mathieu Perreault (+3), Sami Niku (+3), Brett Kulak (+2), Mike Hoffman (+1) and Chris Wideman (+1) are the only Canadiens on the plus side in goals differential. Gallagher and Armia are at an even zero and everyone else is in the minus.

Jake Allen is 2-6-0 and with a 2.91 goals against average and a .907 saves percentage. Samuel Montembeault only had two starts but hasn’t done anything to persuade anyone that he deserves more. With an 0-2-0 record, a 4.06 goals against average and a .869 saves percentage, the team would have to be near perfect to give him a win… and they’ve been far from perfect so far.

So with team stats and individual stats like that, no wonder the team only managed four points in 10 games. This team unfortunately needs a shot in the arm right now and decisions must trickle from the top down. Either Bergevin is extended or he’s fired. Then, players’ decisions must be made. Whether it’s trades or swaps from the AHL to the NHL, moves must follow. The season seems to already be a write-off. Go with youth then. Stock up on more picks and prospects and unload some veterans and contracts. Prepare for the off-season and go through the motions this year. That’s what the team is doing on ice right now anyway…