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NHL News – Montreal Waives Semin

| December 7, 2015 | News, NHL

VIDEO: See Semin’s Spectacular Display in Skill! Watch Awesome Video Below..

 Playing in his first game for the Capitals in two years, Semin scored the team’s first goal of the 2006–07 season against the New York Rangers on 5 October 2006. In his next game, against the Carolina Hurricanes, he recorded a hat-trick. On 18 March 2007, Semin tallied the second natural hat-trick of his career against the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring three goals on three successive shots in a span of 7:04 in the second period. Late in the season, Capitals Head Coach Glen Hanlon started Alexander Ovechkin and Semin together on the powerplay and occasionally on the team’s first scoring line. Ovechkin and Semin finished as the team’s top two scorers, and Semin soon became known as “The Other Alex.” He completed the season with 38 goals (13th in league scoring) and 73 points in 77 games, missing five games to an injury early in the season. Semin was one of three 30-goal scorers for the Capitals for the season, along with Ovechkin and captain Chris Clark.

UPDATE: Confirmed, via TSN.

Semin, 31, joined the Habs this season on a one-year, $1 million deal after Carolina made the costly decision to buy out his five-year, $35 million contract.

Montreal GM Marc Bergevin took a low-risk, low-cost gamble on Semin, hoping the change of scenery could help him rediscover some of the form that saw him score a career-high 40 goals for Washington in 2009-10.

It ended up being a losing bet.

After a successful NHL comeback in 2006–07, Semin struggled in comparison during the 2007–08 season, scoring 42 points while being sidelined for 19 games. Along with Ovechkin and second-year forward Nicklas Bäckström, Semin helped form a highly offensive core with the Capitals in 2008–09. On 3 March 2009, Semin’s 25th birthday, he scored his 100th career goal, against the Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. Semin spent much of the first couple months of the season as the league’s top point-scorer, but tailed off as he began to experience injury troubles. Regardless, he finished with a career-high 79 points in just 62 games, third in Capitals scoring behind Ovechkin and Bäckström. In the 2009 playoffs, Semin added 14 points in 14 games, including a three-point effort (two goals and an assist) on 20 April 2009, leading the Capitals to a crucial playoff win against the New York Rangers in Game 3 of the opening round.

Midway through the 2009–10 season, Semin signed a one-year, $6 million contract extension with the Capitals.

Semin has been a healthy scratch on numerous occasions this year and, when he did crack the lineup, showed a penchant for unnecessarily putting his team shorthanded.

All told, Semin had just one goal and four points in 15 games for the Habs.

It remains to be seen what happens next. It’s hard to imagine Semin being stoked about an assignment to AHL St. John’s — assuming he clears waivers — and it’s also hard to imagine him fitting into Montreal’s future plans.

Speaking of what happens next, it’ll be interesting to see if today’s move is a precursor to Montreal addressing its second line.

By Mike Halford

Source: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/12/07/montreal-waives-semin/

 

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Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick. In many areas, one sport (typically field hockey or ice hockey is generally referred to simply as hockey.