by Josh Saunders, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

During the NHL season, the All-Star break is a time when the best players in the league gather in one spot to showcase their skills in front of legions of loyal fans.

For some players, particularly participants in the event, it seems like a bit of a nuisance. For others, it’s a time where they can they can take a well-deserved break before having to prepare themselves for the homestretch of a long season. For fans, since it occurs around the half-way point, it can be a time of reflection when they can judge their favourite teams and their progress thus far.

For the Canadiens, the season hasn’t been half bad. As of right now, they’ve played 52 games and sit first in the Atlantic Division with 67 points (seven ahead of the second place Ottawa Senators). On the surface, it looks like they could just hit the cruise control button, go about their business, and sail their way into the postseason. However, when you dig deeper, there are questions surrounding the team right now that will be answered in the second half. After taking some time to analyze the team’s first half performance, here are three things I believe they should do in order to have a successful second half.

1) The team needs to find some consistency.

In order to have success in the NHL, both as a player and a team, you have to play at a consistent level. For the Canadiens lately, they have been anything but consistent. After getting off to yet another blazing hot start to the season, they’ve fallen into a bit of a funk. It’s not only the fact that they’ve gone 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, essentially trading one win for every loss, but it’s how they’ve been getting those results that has been a little troubling.

In their most recent wins against the Rangers, Devils, and Flames, they’ve been impressive. They dominated opposition and looked every bit like a team who is first place in their division. In their losses, however, they’ve looked like a completely different team, one with no jump and little to no offensive instincts.

If the Canadiens want to establish themselves as true contenders going forward, they are going to have to find a consistent level of play that confirms this. There are going to be losses and bad stretches as the season wears on, but losses are easier to accept if the effort is there every night.

Hopefully, with the combined rest of the All-Star break and the upcoming bye week, as well as the return of prominent players who have been injured, the Canadiens can return to playing like they did at the beginning of the season.

My suggestion for how to achieve this? Try keeping line combinations that are working together as long as possible, and give each player a defined role. Playing with a revolving door of linemates can throw off your mojo, and knowing what’s expected of you can go a long way when trying to find consistency in your game.

 2) Use Al Montoya more often.

Everyone who follows the NHL and the Canadiens knows that Carey Price is one of the best players in the league and a huge reason for the Canadiens success. That said, there have been games in the last month or so where he has looked like an average goaltender. There could be many reasons for this, but I believe that fatigue is probably more of a factor than people realise.

After missing most of last season due to a knee injury, Price had gone from playing no hockey at all, to being Canada’s number one goalie in the World Cup of Hockey, jumping back into his regular workload with the Canadiens (which is playing around 60 games), and now participating in the All-Star game. That is a heck of a schedule, and one that would take it’s toll on any athlete. If anything, using Al Montoya more would allow Price to take a load off and regain some focus.

Another reason to use him more would be because he has truly earned it lately. After a rough stretch in November and December, Montoya has found his groove, winning four straight games with a 0.915 save percentage and a 2.50 goals against average.

Price is, and hopefully will be, our number one goalie for a long time to come, but having back-up that can perform well and plays more than just the second half of back-to-back games would be extremely ideal when preparing for a playoff run.

 3) Be a buyer at the Trade Deadline.

With the expansion draft looming over the league this coming summer, this has been an uneventful year regarding trades. However, when it comes to being active, you can always count on Marc Bergevin to do something, whether it’d be big or small, in terms of a deal. He proved that recently with his acquisition of defenseman Nikita Nesterov, a minor deal that may prove to be key in bolstering the depth on the blue line.

Besides the Weber-Subban deal, Bergevin isn’t really known for making a big splash, preferring to move minor players or second round draft picks to get what he wants. I believe that if the Canadiens are to compete in the playoffs against offensive juggernauts like the Pittsburgh Penguins, this is the year where they should go for it.

I’m not advocating make a trade for the sake of making a trade, but with names with Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog popping up in trade rumors, I think it would be in the Canadiens’ best interest to really go after one of these kind of players. Bergevin is on record saying he wants to build through the draft, and he’s shown that by keeping every first round pick the Canadiens have had since he’s been GM.

That said, sometimes, in order to take the next step, you have to give up value for the future in order for success in the present. With Carey Price, Max Pacioretty, and Alex Galchenyuk all needing new deals in the next year or two, the window to win The Cup with this particular group may not be open for long.