Cornwall Ontario – And now for something completely different.
I know. Anything can happen in sports. But in 2017, in a cap age with parity, the odds of the Montreal Canadiens winning Lord Stanley’s Cup are about where that Norwegian Blue is.
When you fail in the postseason, fail in the off season, fail in pre season, and fail in your near first ten percent of the season it’s time to take a step back and look what’s going on.
An expansion team is doing really well, not so much because it has a great roster, but because it has a great coach, of francophone heritage no less, that matches his talent to his strategy and makes his roster perform better than it is as Gerard Gallant did in Florida. You can’t make a roster fit a strategy if the players simply aren’t built for said strategy.
Claude Julien isn’t a bad coach, but he’s playing with nearly 15% of his cap missing and a team that just isn’t built for winning.
It’s easy to point out the Galchenyuk issue. I still don’t get why this young man isn’t playing Centre. Even with his failings a 25 goal centre is not something the Habs have had in a long time. 4th line winger? Really? Is that asset management? Does that send a message to other GM’s? Matt Duchene has been on the block for about a year. You don’t see him on the fourth line now do you?
Clearly Marc Bergevin does not have the right stuff. Retaining JJ Daigneault instead of bringing in a Larry Robinson after jettisoning most of last year’s d squad…
I could go on, but frankly the results are in the numbers and they show a team that is currently fourth from the very bottom of 31 teams. Of course it’s early. Of course Bergy can pull a magical deal, but history and his record is not on his side; chiefly because other GM’s smell him a mile away and he has little to no leverage. Good GM’s smell desperation and really good GM’s smell stupid. Does the team need to see more of its meagre assets traded away for players that can’t fix it’s ills?
Looking around the NHL former Habs are lighting it up. Even David Desharnais would be a top scorer on the current roster and he’s playing bottom six minutes. Sergachev, Subban, Emelin, Markov clearly would make a better top four on D than what the team has now.
The good news is that the Habs, as bad as they are right now, are in better shape to blow up and rebuild than the Leafs were when they blew up.
Can Carey Price’s contract be traded? If he says yes, probably. Pacioretty, Weber, Petry, Alzner, and even Al Montoya can bring back youthful assets, or draft picks.
Drouin is only 22. While there are no real studs on the team, there are some good players to rebuild through; many who would still be in their prime in 3-5 years.
Personally, if I was Mr. Molson, I’d terminate Mr. Bergevin, and put Trevor Timmins in as interim GM for the balance of this season or until a suitable replacement were found. This also would follow the tradition of the team since the Montreal Maroons of alternating English and French GM’s and coaches. I also would eventually terminate all of the remaining management staff unless the new GM wanted any of them.
It’s time this once glorious franchise actually remembered what it is and what it’s about and take the politics out of hockey. The only thing that should matter is winning and if you want to see solitudes come together nothing would work better than a Stanley Cup.
The glass is half full. Sometimes it’s best to pour that half out and refill it with fresh water.
What do you think Hab fans? You can post your comments below.