Eyes On The Prize: A Montreal Canadiens podcast

A solo episode for Jared Book as he looks at the success of the Laval Rocket and the trickle down effect that is having on some players in the ECHL, especially Michael McNiven who is a victim of the number's game.

He then discusses the past week for the Montreal Canadiens where they picked up five of six points despite not playing their best hockey which is a good sign going forward. They were led by improved performances from Carey Price and Shea Weber.

Finally, Jared ends off by briefly talking about the elite women's hockey mentality that has taken hold in the city.

Andrew Zadarnowski joins the show to give his impression on the EOTP players of the month, the desert road trip, Byron, Lehkonen and the Ryan Poehling call up. There might be some talk about watching the Habs from Europe and a certain comeback against the New York Rangers.

Scott Matla and Patrik Bexell discuss the reasoning behind this the organizational player of the months selection this month (October 2019). The pair discusses the pros and cons of the selectees and what it means for players, in the log run, that wasn't selected.

Producer: Patrik Bexell

Jared Book and Patrik Bexell discuss the win against the Toronto Maple Leafs and how the fight they showed in the win shows a resilience that they haven't shown much before. They also discuss how the Canadiens' depth sets them up for success and how the strong start of Jonathan Drouin changes the outlook of the team.

Sweden's World Junior Championship coach Tomas Montén gives the listeners an idea what he sees in the Montreal Canadiens prospects that he picked for the upcoming 4-Nations tournament in Helsinki, Finland - Jacob Olofsson and Mattias Norlinder.

He speaks about Olofsson's versatility as a player, and about Norlinder's overall game and how happy he is to coach the young defender for the first time.

Anton Rasegård joins Patrik Bexell from Rome to discuss the news that the SHL team Brynäs has asked around for Mattias Norlinder in regards to next season. As Norlinder sits on an expiring contract he can choose his next team freely, which SHL would suit Norlinder, and should he go over to Montreal/Laval .after this season? The discussion then moves on to some of the other European prospects, some who were playing while the pod was being recorded.

Jared Book, Patrik Bexell, and Julian McKenzie discuss the three games last week against the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and St. Louis Blues.

They also discuss the start of the season for the team in general but focus on Jonathan Drouin and his contributions.

Unfortunately we encountered some technical difficulties when this was recorded on Monday afternoon and because it took some time for it to be uploaded, Jared has a bonus section discussing Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tobias Enström has 700+ NHL games under his belt, and he plays together on the first pairing in Modo with Montreal Canadiens prospect Mattias Norliner. The Dispatch asked Enström what he thought about Norlinders NHL chances and development (spoiler alert, its really really good).

Jared Book and Patrik Bexell discuss the two comebacks by the Canadiens, and the week ahead. They also discuss the changing American Hockey League, and more...

We speak to Frederik Dichow's coach Anton Blomqvist to get an idea about the latest Montreal Canadien goalie prospect before speaking to the great Dane.