Craig Button harshly criticizes the Canadiens’ defense

Vincent Larue
Craig Button harshly criticizes the Canadiens’ defense
Credit: Arianne Bergeron/NHLI via Getty Images

The CH has a talented offense, but with Ivan Demidov, who's been out for a while, and now Nick Suzuki going down, it will be interesting to see if they can keep up the pace.

Especially since their defense is far from perfect.

It's also important to remember that Suzuki, a Selke Trophy winner, is a huge loss on that front. His absence is therefore likely to be felt on both ends of the ice.

And indeed, the Habs' defensive shortcomings are starting to spark some talk.

Craig Button didn't hold back when discussing this during his appearance on Tony Marinaro's Sick Podcast.

“The Canadiens are a weak defensive team.” – Craig Button

It doesn't get any clearer than that.

The TSN analyst acknowledges, however, that Martin St-Louis's team has made progress over the past two weeks. But, in his view, the team absolutely must show more discipline in its on-ice decisions.

He specifically used a clip from the last game against the San Jose Sharks to illustrate his point.

Regarding Jake Evans' turnover, which led to a goal by Macklin Celebrini, Button believes the problem isn't limited to the forward's mistake.

Who's in his crosshairs? Alexandre Carrier.

The analyst simply cannot understand why the Quebec defenseman moved up into the neutral zone on that play, forcing Evans to back up to cover him.

He even called Carrier's decision “stupid.”

That says a lot.

Obviously, Evans made a mistake. No one is going to argue otherwise. But Button raises an excellent point. When a team is already struggling to protect its territory and its offensive advances, it can't afford to make a string of risky decisions.

Especially when they're avoidable.

It's also important to remember that the Canadiens aren't a particularly physical or intimidating team. Their greatest strength remains their speed and offense. We certainly shouldn't question the team's offensive talent.

But let's be honest: the Habs can't always count on their forwards to clean up the mess.

Especially not with Demidov and Suzuki out.

It's all well and good to score goals and put on a show, but the team also needs to be able to limit the opponent's scoring chances.

If the Habs want to take their development to the next level, they'll inevitably have to tighten up their defensive play. The talent is there. Now they just need to play better without the puck and protect their leads.


In a nutshell

– To be continued.

– Adam Fox reaches a major milestone.

– Wow!

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