For five years we watched Steve Begin report to work with steel toes and a lunchpail. We watched a guy who earned his money, who toiled as a grinder with the Montreal Canadiens, a plumber, a fourth-liner. But being a plumber and a fourth-liner didn’t mean he wasn’t an important player, although lately he’s been a healthy scratch. The Canadiens simply have too many good young players vying for jobs with the big team. Gregory Stewart, Matt D’Agostini, Kyle Chipchura, and expecially Max Pacioretty have all shown they belong, and unfortunately, Begin’s days became numbered.
Steve Begin gave everything he had with the team. He fought bigger foes, often in a losing cause, went into the corners, crashed nets, and would even score a big goal now and then. He was, and is, a player most teams and coaches would like to have. The only complaint I have is that he would sometimes take poorly-timed penalties. But I appreciate the kind of player Steve Begin is, and I hope he has a long career in the NHL, starting with his brand new team, the Dallas Stars.
The player coming Montreal’s way is 28 year old defenceman Doug Janik, Defencemen are valuable commodities, and even though Janik may play mostly in Hamilton for now, the old adage that you can’t have enough good defencemen holds true. Maybe down the road he’ll become a solid blueliner in Montreal.
What else does Bob Gainey have up his sleeve? Between now and next Wednesday, I’m sure there will be more movement from Montreal. The team needs to get stronger. Have you looked at the standings lately?