The Unsung Heroes | Three Stars of the Week, NHL, Habs, Montreal Canadiens, Jake Evans, Artturi Lehkonen, Ben Chairot
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — Hello there, folks! Back again for another edition of my weekly column here where I take a look back at the week of action for the Canadiens and award my three stars!
Players will earn points each time they appear as a star in this column and at the end of the year, I will award my three stars of the season.
For this week, given the Canadiens played just one game, I am going to take a different approach and recognize players who have yet to feature in my column. The unsung heroes for the Canadiens season to this point.
☆ THIRD STAR: Jake Evans
Jake Evans has been just what the Canadiens have been hoping for from a fourth line center, a role that the Canadiens have has a rough time filling the last few years. We remember the Canadiens going out to acquire Nate Thompson in February 2019 because they needed some stability in that spot.
If the Canadiens were to acquire a veteran fourth line center this season for the same reason, I would be shocked. Evans is performing admirably in that role and doing the little things for the Canadiens to be successful. For example, among Habs centermen, Evans ranks second in faceoff percentage at 51.4 percent.
But it goes deeper than the statistical analysis for Evans, he has just two goals on the season which account for all of his offensive output. We know that Claude Julien likes to roll four lines and he always has. The Canadiens best opportunity to be successful is if they have four reliable lines contributing and Evans has been a reliable presence for the Canadiens to this point.
Evans is also a key fixture in the Canadiens penalty kill, with one of his goals being of the short-handed variety. The team’s penalty kill has not been that good this year, but it’s hard to put that on just one person, as the Canadiens have just looked out of sorts as a unit once the opposition gets set up. Evans has shown promise in the faceoff circle and as a good defensive player which bodes well for his future as a penalty killer.
Evans is just 24 years old, but for a good chunk of this season, he has looked like a more seasoned pro than his age would suggest.
☆ SECOND STAR: Ben Chiarot
The growth that has taken place in Ben Chiarot’s game has been pretty fun to see. When he was brought in as a free agent and placed on Shea Weber’s left, there was some trepidation and it was a process for Chiarot to gain trust as a reliable defenceman who, for the most part, will do the right thing when he’s out on the ice.
While it would be nice to see him head to the penalty box a little less, he currently leads the team in penalties in minutes. He has been playing demanding minutes alongside Weber and it shows how much trust Julien has in him that he ranks third in average time on ice amongst Canadiens skaters, behind Weber and Jeff Petry.
The Canadiens have gone against the norm with this defensive group, wanting to be a bruising team that wears their opponent down. Time will tell how effective that strategy is, but it is a strategy that was more than likely borne out of the effectiveness and reliability that Chiarot showed in the Toronto playoff bubble.
Chiarot does little to catch your eye, and he is not the type of defensive partner that you might ideally want to play with Weber, but all Chiarot can do is play his style of game and to it to the best of his ability.
As far as unsung heroes for the Canadiens go, Ben Chiarot is certainly worthy of the title.
☆ FIRST STAR: Artturi Lehkonen
Artturi Lehkonen has been an unsung hero for the Canadiens for some time now. Drawing the ire of Canadiens fans for his inability to make good on some of his scoring chances in previous seasons, what gets lost in that is it is often his tireless work ethic that creates those scoring chances.
We saw earlier this season, Lehkonen make good on an opportunity that his work on the penalty kill created against Vancouver. It was a highlight reel goal and shone a light on the type of work that Lehkonen puts in every single night for the Canadiens.
He has been playing a fourth line role for the vast majority of this season, so his four points in 16 games, with two of his goals being short-handed, have been a nice offensive boost for the Canadiens. But that is just one part of Lehkonen’s arsenal.
Whatever Lehkonen produces offensively is just icing on the cake because his work hounding the opposition puck carriers, creating turnovers, being in the right spot in his defensive coverage almost all the time is where you really see Lehkonen’s value to this team. He does the work that will not show up in the highlights, but it is invaluable for the Canadiens.
As far as unsung heroes go for the Montreal Canadiens, I can think of no better example than Lehkonen. He does a little bit of everything for the Canadiens and the great part is you know exactly what you’re getting out of him every night, regardless of ice-time or the role he’s playing, Lehkonen is going to be the same player.
The True Unsung Heroes
Part of the reason why I wanted to take the time to recognize unsung heroes on the ice for the Montreal Canadiens was a video the Canadiens put out on their YouTube channel this week. We know the unsung heroes during the pandemic have and continue to be the frontline workers and the work they have been doing has been truly wonderful and deserves all our praise.
But the real unsung heroes for this season for the Montreal Canadiens are Graham Rynbend, the Canadiens head athletic therapist who has assumed the roles of the Canadiens Club Compliance Officer, assuring the Canadiens know and follow the protocols in place, and Hélène Fortin who is a Director of Health and Safety.
The work put in behind the scenes by these two and everyone working with them, in addition to those who play the same roles for other team’s, is why we have the luxury of watching NHL hockey this season. They are the NHL’s true unsung heroes.
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Every Saturday, I host the Canadiens Connection podcast with Rick Stephens to discuss the latest issues involving the Montreal Canadiens. Use the player below to listen. Be sure to share and subscribe!
By Joseph Whalen, Host, Canadiens Connection podcast
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