Montreal Canadiens fans accept defeats easier than they did back in the day.
Sure, if you listen to TSN 690 after a bad loss, there will be the callers freaking out, shouting that everyone from senior management to fourth-liners should be fired. But the bar has been lowered.
Until 1980, if the team didn’t win the Cup, the season was a failure. Then through until, say, December 1995 — when Patrick Roy was booted out of town and the team went into a 25-year slump — you had to win a series or two for the season to be a success.
Today, if Lane Hutson makes a nice play and Cole Caufield scores a beauty, fans will accept going home happy with a loss. Look, the last Cup win was 32 years ago. So if you are younger than 40, you have no idea what it feels like to be living in a city of hockey champions.
Everyone said the Canadiens could never do a real rebuild because the supporters were too impatient for that. But that’s precisely what Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes did and fans were totally fine with it.
Now, the team is on a four-game losing streak and most continue to believe the youngest team in the league will do just perfectly well this season. I’m a little more worried. Hey, I’m not saying the sky is falling (because I’ve said it too many times before, haha) but surely there is cause for concern.
Let me count the ways. Their two goalies are near the bottom of league numbers-wise. Patrik Laine, Kayden Guhle, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach have long-term injuries. New addition Zachary Bolduc has gone stone cold. Nick Suzuki doesn’t look his usual self and many think he’s playing hurt. Noah Dobson hasn’t looked particularly good during the last week, notably on the power play. Speaking of the power play, it’s been positively brutal for several games, with absolutely no creativity.
Insiders are suggesting that GM Hughes is working the phones looking for help from the 31 other teams. But as analyst Marco D’Amico said on BPM Radio Tuesday, the problem with that is there are too many teams looking to buy and too few teams selling. One of the rumoured players Montreal is interested in is Nashville Predators centre Steven Stamkos, but the Cup-winning veteran is off to a terrible start in Music City and hardly seems to be what the CH needs.
I still think the Canadiens can rebound from this skid, mostly because this young squad has shown great resilience in the past, notably in last season’s remarkable late-season sprint to make the playoffs. But all is not rosy.
However, try telling that to the fans. I talked to folks at both the original McLean’s Pub and Maison Publique McLean’s before and during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday and I couldn’t find anyone even remotely worried.
Steve Ross was with family and friends before the Paul McCartney concert at the Bell Centre. He is originally from Montreal, but lives in Kennebunkport, Me., and has always remained a hardcore Habs fan. I asked if he was off the bandwagon.
Blue Jackets’ Jet Greaves blocks a shot by Canadiens centre Jake Evans as Isac Lundestrom moves in to assist in Columbus on Monday.
“No way,” he said. “There’s too many good players down in Laval and this gives a shot for other guys to come up and get their name in there. The coach will get them back. The power play, there’s no net-front presence. Slaf has go up there and pucks will bounce off his butt or whatever. I still have faith in them.”
His friend Tom Dorval — “I don’t think I need to spell that” — also remains upbeat. It’s not that bad, notes Dorval, a former Montrealer who lives in Whistler, B.C.
“You could always be a Maple Leafs fan,” he said, with a laugh. “You remember last year, when things were bad around Christmas and then they came back after the 4-Nations? They have it in them. They have a great captain. I think they’ll turn it around, no doubt.”
William Ducasse said he still believes in Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes, “but they just need a little boost in confidence.”
James Fraser, originally from B.C., is also preaching patience.
“I grew up a Canucks fan, so I’m used to rough weeks,” said Fraser. “It’s up and down. As long as they’re fun to watch, as long as they work hard, that’s all that matters.”
Myriam Rousseau, a very enthusiastic fan who was cheering her team at Maison Publique, said it’s still early in the season.
“The Canadiens, not only are they amazing players, but they have heart. So I think they can go far,” said Rousseau. “They will absolutely bounce back. Even this game that we’re watching now, against Columbus, you can see there’s different chemistry with the different lines.”
She was referring to head coach Martin St. Louis’s decision to move Bolduc to the top line with Suzuki and Caufield and demote Juraj Slafkovsky to the second line alongside Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.
“I think it’s awesome to shake things up,” said Rousseau. “It makes everyone a little more pumped for the game. We have more energy.”
When we were talking during the second intermission, it was 3-1 for the Blue Jackets. Then in the third, the Habs stormed back with goals from Josh Anderson and Hutson to force overtime and eventually a shootout. Sure, the Habs ended up losing in the shootout, but they battled back and showed the kind of chutzpah the fans had been talking about.
bkelly@postmedia.com
Related