The votes have been counted for the final time this season, and the Habsworld
readers have chosen their 3 Stars for the month of April. This month,
there was an overwhelming sentiment as to who merited the honours, and even more
so with regard to the first star. Mike Cammalleri, Mathieu Darche, David
Desharnais, Lars Eller, Brian Gionta, Jeff Halpern, Roman Hamrlik, Tomas
Plekanec, Carey Price, P.K. Subban and Yannick Weber all received consideration
for the 3 stars, but only the highest ranked made the cut.
Without any
further ado, here are your selections for April’s 3 Stars.
#1 – Carey Price (6-1-3, 1.79 GAA, 0.943 SV%, 1 Shutout)
Despite posting some ridiculous goaltending statistics, Price was unable to
lead his team to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And while
some may use this to dredge up a comparison to Jaroslav Halak’s playoff
performance last spring, Price’s goals-against average (2.11 versus 2.55) and
save percentage (.934 versus .923) were notably superior than those of Halak.
Although his Game 3 gaffe demonstrated that Price still has much to learn, his
consistent play under all situations showed that Montreal should have strength
in net for years to come. Simply put, if Price doesn’t play this way all
season and in the playoffs, the Canadiens would have been emptying their lockers
a lot earlier.
63% of 1st Star votes, 23% of 2nd Star votes, 9% of 3rd Star votes.
#2 – Mike Cammalleri (11 GP – 5 Goals – 9 Assists – 13 Points – Minus 5
Rating)
Aside from higher paid players (*cough* Scott Gomez *cough*), Mike
Cammalleri was considered one of the more underachieving Canadiens in the
regular season. His 47 points in an injury-filled season were tied for his
lowest since breaking into the NHL on a full-time basis, and left a few
wondering where the scoring prowess from the previous year’s playoffs had gone.
Well, that nose for the net returned in April, as Cammalleri was head and
shoulders above all other Canadiens in scoring, and actually led the NHL in
playoff scoring when the Canadiens were eliminated. Moreover, Cammalleri
led the squad with 7 powerplay points, was second in shots, and typically led
all forwards in time on ice. Thus, it seems that Cammalleri saves his best
for the post-season, and anyone could see the focus in his game when the
playoffs began. In fact, in his 26 playoff games with Montreal, Cammalleri
has 16 goals, 13 assists and 29 points for a 1.12 points-per-game average.
20% of 1st Star votes, 37% of 2nd Star votes, 20% of 3rd Star votes.
#3 – P.K. Subban (11 GP – 4 Goals – 2 Assists – 6 Points – Minus 3
Rating)
When the candidates were announced for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the
year’s rookie of the year, Subban’s name was noticeably absent.
Nevertheless, I can’t recall being less bothered by such a "snub", because in
truth, P.K. stopped being a rookie in my eyes a long time ago. With the
losses of Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges to injury, Subban has been thrust into
the #1 defenceman position on many nights, and his team-leading ice-time
reflects this. And while P.K.’s game still needs polishing, the subtle
improvements to his game have been apparent. As the games became more
important, his unnecessary penalties decreased, he proved a thorn in the
opposition’s top lines, and who can forget
this clutch play in Game 7 with less than 2 minutes remaining in regulation
time? The future is bright with Subban in the bleu, blanc et rouge.
11% of 1st Star votes, 31% of 2nd Star votes, 31% of 3rd Star votes.
Honourable Mention – Brian Gionta (11 GP – 6 Goals – 4 Assists – 10
Points – Minus 4 Rating)
Gionta demonstrated early in the playoffs that he would lead by example,
tallying both goals in Game 1 against Boston. Unfortunately, he wasn’t
able to maintain this pace, but he remained a force to be reckoned with, as he
led all Canadiens in goals scored, shots taken and game-winning goals in the
month of April. This is all made that much more impressive as most
defensive pairs know now to focus on the pint-sized captain as the only true
threat on his line. Finally, one must assume that Gionta’s leadership
played a large part in keeping the Canadiens competitive, and permitted the Habs
to fight through adversity all season.
6% of 2nd Star votes, 17% of 3rd Star votes.
This concludes HW’s 3 Star segment for the 2010-2011 season. Until next
season, enjoy your summer and thanks to all who voted!