Morning Skate: Canadiens and Blue Jackets prove first-half success is overrated

When will we learn?

We were stunned when the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, and Minnesota Wild stormed out of the opening-night gates toward great first-half runs.

We lobbed praise bombs at the Jackets and Wild as they went on historic win streaks in December. “Golly,” we said, “maybe the Canadiens are #actuallygood!”

We’re well into the second half of the season now, and we should’ve learned. The Dallas Stars were not world-beaters after a franchise-best start last season, and the Capitals didn’t even make it out of the second round with their President’s Trophy. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup after a terrible first half.

But we bought into the fun again and got burned. Columbus is 8-8-1 since that streak. Montreal has one win this month amidst six losses and is 17-18-7 in its last 42 games. They’ve played 58 games. That’s more than two-thirds of the season.

That’s a meh team.

And Carey Price (he of few words) called them out yesterday, saying the Habs have lost their identity.

What if this is their identity? After all, they were pretty bad last year, too. Someday we’ll learn to not mistake first-half success for actual talent.

It was one of the more violent plays of the season, and the Red Wings winger will have to answer for it.

The Bruins would like you to know that Alex Galchenyuk did something similar.

Speaking of Detroit, longtime Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch passed away on Friday. Our Wings blog is covering his memorial and public gathering today, and they had some nice tributes over the weekend you should read. The man meant a lot to that city.

Reports indicate that the Blues defenseman has 12 teams on his mind, and the Leafs and Canadiens are two of them.

Evander Kane is playing himself off the Sabres’ trade block.

And it’s making Sabres fans wonder if they’ve changed their opinion about Kane, who’s been a lightning rod for bad press recently.

The Avs and Canes are clearly interested in a deal. Could Justin Faulk be headed to Colorado?

Patrick Sharp is just one of many names the Stars could deal at the deadline.

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Dallas’ collapse yesterday means a roster or coaching shakeup is in order.

At least the Stars and Predators made fun of the NBA on Twitter.

Alex Burrows picked a fight with a goalie and lost.

Apparently the Blue Jackets told John Tortorella to go easier on them. Millennials! SMH! Sad!

Craig Anderson won his first game since his leave of absence to help his wife through cancer treatments. An awesome moment for them both.

The Kings waived Devin Setoguchi yesterday. He’s making a comeback from alcohol addiction, so we obviously wish the best for him.

The Ice Garden was all over the CWHL/NWHL All-Star Game this weekend. Check out their great coverage! We’re super proud of the work they’ve done since joining our blog family.

The Minnesota Gophers are primed for a second-half surge.

The Flames have a goalie conundrum.

Chicago sent four players to the AHL. Hmm.