{"id":4181,"date":"2016-12-16T01:35:37","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T06:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=4181"},"modified":"2016-12-16T01:35:20","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T06:35:20","slug":"paul-byron-montreal-canadiens-secret-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2016\/12\/16\/paul-byron-montreal-canadiens-secret-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Byron, the Montreal Canadiens Secret Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Byron<\/a><\/strong>, the Montreal Canadiens new secret weapon, has been providing the Habs with scoring depth this season. After signing a three-year contract midway through last season, many argued that the Ottawa native\u00a0did not deserve\u00a0a long-term contract. He has proved that he’s worth every penny of the $3.5 million owed to him by the end of the contract.<\/p>\n

Paul Byron, the Montreal Canadiens Secret Weapon<\/h2>\n

Not-So-Speedy Start<\/h3>\n

Like most depth NHL players, Byron did not have a glamorous start to his career. He spent parts of the four seasons with the Calgary Flames, never scoring more than seven goals, nor playing in more than 60 games.\u00a0\u00a0After losing his spot in Calgary’s lineup\u00a0right before the start of the 2015-2016 season, general manager\u00a0Marc Bergevin<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>claimed Byron off waivers.<\/p>\n

With the Canadiens last year, Byron set new highs for goals scored, with 11, and games played, with 62. He showed why Bergevin picked him up, because of his\u00a0speed. Byron earned the nickname “Breakaway” from fans in Calgary because of his top-end speed and ability to create breakaways.<\/p>\n

However, Byron rarely scored on those breakaways, so a fan made a video of him missing 10 breakaways. The video has nearly 45,000 views on YouTube, some of which are from the Canadiens management staff.\u00a0Habs Assistant General Manager Larry Carriere<\/a><\/strong> said him and the rest of the management saw the video before claiming Byron<\/a>.<\/p>\n