Tag Archives: Pierre Gauthier


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Total Reversal: Six Concrete, Positive Stats

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As painful as it might be, think back to the Habs under the previous regime. Think of the team that was coached to play the trap when behind by two goals late in a game. Think of the constant circus surrounding the team. Think of the blown leads. Think of the negativity that the organization brought down on itself by hiring people who belonged in Montreal about as much as milk belongs in a Porsche’s fuel tank. The Canadiens were a laughing stock on and off the ice. Worse, they were not likeable save for a few players with irrepressible personality, respect and leadership qualities.

When the final siren mercifully blared, and the house was finally cleaned out, the search for the next leaders of the team was in full swing. In place of a flaccid management and coaching group, the Habs hired a rookie GM who looks good in a suit, and a coach who had been here before with less-than-stellar results. With no option other than to let things play out, Habs fans sat and waited with trepidation and guarded optimism.

The wait has been more than worth it, as the Habs almost immediately began to systematically erase their ill-gotten yet well-deserved reputation.

Here are a few select stats to show just how far the Habs have come in so a short time:

  1. Through 26 games last year, the Habs managed 3 or more goals in a game just 13 times, going 7-3-3 in those games. Not too shabby as far as records go. This year? They’ve done it in 19 of 26 games, going 16-2-1 when doing so.
  2. You may recall the phenomenon known as the Habs Threshold of Doom, where they were essentially guaranteed to lose once the opponent scored its third goal? Through 26 games last year the Habs had coughed up 3 or more goals 14 times, and won only one of those games (1-8-5). So far this season, the Habs have given up 3 or more goals 10 times, yet have managed a winning record; going 5-3-2 in those games. In a complete turnaround over last year, the Habs are almost a lock this season when they score three or more, whereas last year, once the opposition notched their third goal, it was safe to go to bed.
  3. Through 26 games this year, the Habs have scored 8 more even strength goals than last year’s team over the same amount of games. That may not sound like much, but over the course of 82 games that translates to 25 more even strength goals. It’s a much bigger difference than the incorrect belief that the 2011-12 Habs would have been saved if they had a powerplay that was merely average.
  4. While fans and media froth at the mouth over the powerplay’s “ineffectiveness”, the Canadiens are improving in the key, but somehow overlooked area of even strength scoring. Last year through 26 games, the Canadiens were averaging a meagre 1.88 even strength goals per game. That put unrealistic pressure on a comatose powerplay in a year where powerplay opportunities were as rare as buried treasure. Averaging just 0.46 goals per game, the powerplay was of no use at all. By contrast, this year’s team is scoring 2.2 even strength goals per game while more than doubling their powerplay output over last season by scoring 0.96 power play goals per game. All told, that’s a net gain of 0.82 goals per game over last year’s team. Surely a healthy roster helps, especially a healthy Markov for the man advantage. Jacques Martin did not have this luxury, but he also did nothing to adapt to the strengths of his players at any point, either.
  5. If there’s been a down side, it’s that the Canadiens have been a little too reliant on the powerplay. The good news is it’s a problem that they’ve been rectifying rather quickly, with stellar results. In the first quarter of the season the Habs powerplay generated 40% of the team’s total offense. That’s way, way too high. During the second quarter of the season, and including the first two games of the third quarter, the Habs powerplay generated 22.5% of the team’s total offense. That’s much closer to where elite teams live. Incidentally, the Habs have gone 11-1-3 during that stretch. Think about that for a moment: the 2013 Habs have massively cut their reliance on the powerplay in a short time in 2013, while at the same time doubling powerplay output over the deadbeat 2011-12 team. ’Nuff said!
  6. Discipline and a system that suits the players has done wonders, too. Through 26 games in 2011-12, the Canadiens were on the penalty kill more than they were on the powerplay (102 powerplays vs 105 penalties against). Not good for a team built to succeed on the powerplay. Through 26 games this year, the Habs are enjoying a major surplus in powerplay opportunities (119 powerplays vs 98 penalty kill situations).

Before the season started, my expectations for this season were low, low, low. Subterranean low. I thought they might hang around long enough to be considered a bubble team, but that was it. They’d be sellers at the deadline and stock up for a deep dive in the 2013 Amateur Draft. Less than two months later, they’ve certainly surpassed my expectations, the expectations of every cynical fan, and likely their own internal expectations. The best part is they’ve done it the right way, and they’ve done it without being overly reliant on any one facet of the game. They have quickly corrected course when they needed to, and have been resilient. Their game is for the most part, sustainable and in some areas, like faceoffs, there is still room for improvement.

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Beyond Winning: Bergevin’s Mandate to Make Habs Fun Again

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With Boivin, Gainey, Gauthier and Jacques Martin now gone, a new era has truly begun for the Canadiens and fans alike. This is not an incremental sideways step like Gainey to Gauthier was, or like Martin to Cunneyworth was. Those were shuffled deck chairs. The front office clean sweep that was so badly and clearly needed is nearly complete, and a new culture is about to be implemented not a moment too soon.

Let’s just say it now, because it’s stunningly obvious: winning breeds fun. And so in that regard, Bergevin’s only true mandate is to turn the Canadiens in to a consistent winner. But beyond success on the ice, it would be wise for Bergevin and the brass of the Canadiens to recognize the many errors of the previous regime, specifically when it comes to how the organization presents itself. Under Gauthier, the Canadiens came to resemble a secretive cult shrouded in a veil of lead-lined curtains. Impenetrable, inaccessible, unlovable. Fortunately for the Canadiens, fan devotion is as close to an renewable resource as it gets, but they came to take it for granted. Under the previous regime, the outsiders were kept out, and sometimes even the insiders were kept out. I cannot think of a GM and Coach tandem so lifeless, drab and moribund like the Gauthier/Martin tandem was. The Canadiens went from a team that was once the epitome of class (there’s that overused word again), excellence, and flair. This is not to say that the Canadiens downfall is all Gauthier’s fault, or any one single person’s fault, but Gauthier, through his dour methods helped ensure that the Canadiens were a constant source of scorn, frustration and emptyness for its fans, and a laughing stock for everyone else.

If the team was winning, some of that would have been left by the wayside and forgiven or ignored, but in addition to being a joyless dud, Pierre Gauthier was also a bad GM who has his fingerprints all over one of the worst trades in NHL history, and is guilty of the worst player acquisition of this past season in the entire NHL.

With the newly hired Marc Bergevin, the Canadiens are getting a self-professed “people person” and someone with a legendary history of pranks. The man has presence, personality and at least for now, a desire to want to share that with his employer, and with Habs fans. This injection of flair and personality, although not mentioned on a job description, is an important part of reinvigorating a franchise that was getting by with glossy marketing. If teams get their identity from their leaders, then it’s no wonder why the Canadiens offered up so many poor performances void of energy, life and care over the past couple seasons. Marc Bergevin’s personality alone, if it filters down through the organization, will minimize, if not eliminate those corpse-like performances entirely. Of course, much of that will also depend on who he appoints as Head Coach, but that’s another story for another day. Or you can visit the links to the right and probably find that discussion.

A few years ago Bob Gainey described Montreal as a city with spice. What he meant in his statement was that this city has an energy and passion for Canadiens hockey that is unrivaled, a thirst that is unquenchable. Why the front office and coaching staff didn’t reflect that statement is anyone’s guess, but they went ahead and put people in place that were “professional” and button-up. They only said what needed to be said, and expressed it as frostily and formally as possible. Thankfully it looks like Geoff Molson is now trying to change that in a big way. Montrealers want to have fun. Montrealers love a good party, and love to celebrate. Montrealers detest a loser. Montrealers abhor the bland. The Habs should be fun. The Habs need to be fun. With such pricey and exclusive tickets, shelling out tons of hard-earned money to go to a Habs game often felt more like a task rather than something to be joyful about, because you simply didn’t know what you were going to get aside from the pomp of the ultra-loud sound system.

While nobody listed “energetic” or “ebullient” as qualifications for the General Manager’s job, a contagious sense of positivity, leadership and joie de vie will go a long way in putting this team back on the right path, and getting fans in a more upbeat mood. People tend to wholeheartedly support people that they like. Bergevin seems to possess all of these qualities, and seems to be a genuinely likeable guy, while his predecessor expressed none of those qualities and was almost universally despised. It’s no wonder why the Habs sunk to such low depths – and I’m not solely referring to their recent 28th place finish.

The Marc Bergevin era will one day come to an end, and what his legacy will be is anyone’s guess, but if he can make the Canadiens fun to watch and fun to follow once again, while ending the constant cycle of drama that engulfs the team, the epitaph will be infinitely kinder to him. By being personable, transparent and accessible, Bergevin is going to put a much different spin on how this team presents itself, and that’s a great thing on its own.

Just make sure the team wins, Marc. And don’t do anything stupid.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead, Looking Elsewhere

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With six months of misery is now behind us, we can look forward to much brighter days. But Canadiens fans and especially the Canadiens organization itself can never be allowed to forget the embarrassment and damage that this season has inflicted. The old adage that those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it very much applies. Time to start getting things right.

The bookends to the last 4 seasons have been absolute gong shows (the pathetically meek centennial sweep, and this year’s 6-month clown show). It doesn’t take long to sully the name of a once respected brand – just ask Jim Balsillie and RIM. We Habs fans may not see it, or may not want to admit and acknowledge it, but the rest of the world certainly sees it, which is why so many fans bristle when we hear “outsiders” giving the team anything short of a verbal tongue bath.

What does it take to build (in the case of the Canadiens, rebuild) a lasting legacy of excellence, respect and prestige? The Habs once had these elements in spades, but through feckless management, and constant distraction, have totally lost their way. Where once upon a time anything but the Cup was seen as failure, now 8th place is viewed as an accomplishment. As a fan fed up with hapless mediocrity, it felt like winning was treated as something that was great if it happened, as long if politics and profits were taken care of first and foremost. Over the past few seasons, the performance of the team has not matched the presentation and marketing. During the press conference in which the firing of Pierre Gauthier was announced, Molson alluded to raising the organizational standards. No longer would 8th place be the measuring stick, or the goal to shoot for. Who can blame him, when the last 15 consecutive Cup winners started the playoffs with home ice advantage.

How long does it take to rebuild a legacy? One season of being back in the playoffs in 2012-13 won’t restore the Canadiens’ name. It will merely be one more step in the up-and-down pattern that this team has succumbed to. Even if the Canadiens somehow win the Cup next season, it will be an aberration until they cement many years of concrete results to make the Habs relevant and powerful again. This is why hiring the best people for the vacant GM job, and the quasi-vacant Head Coaching job is so important. You want to be the best? Go and hire the best.

The common template for success today is the Detroit Red Wings. They are in a class far above that of the Canadiens today (don’t try to tell me that the Canadiens beating the Wings 7-2 in a meaningless regular season game means they are actually pretty close to each other). The Red Wings have missed the playoffs twice since 1986, the year that the Habs won their 23rd Stanley Cup. The year Patrick Roy, who is now long retired, was a lanky rookie. The Wings often enter the playoffs as a favourites, as evidenced by 16 first place division finishes since 1986, and resulting in four Stanley Cup parades since 1997. They have just reeled off their 12th consecutive 100-point season (by contrast, the Habs have had two 100-point seasons since 1986). The Wings scout well. They draft well – without the benefit of selecting from the cream of the crop. They develop their youth well. They are well run – Habs fans are salivating at the idea of the Canadiens merely talking to their assistant General Manager Jim Nill! They transitioned from the free spending era to the salary cap era seamlessly and have never wavered. They are well coached, as virtually no Coach in the league is as respected as Mike Babcock is. They hire the best personnel, without exceptions, and surround them with even more top-notch talent. They make the thought of not being a Detroit Red Wing unbearable by being the embodiment of the environment that every other team wants for their organization, but to which most fall way short of.

In summary, the Wings are what the Habs used to be.

The Canadiens 2012-13 season went off the rails right from the very beginning. A poor preseason and a glacially cool start saw the Canadiens with one foot in the grave before Halloween. Injuries kicked the legs out from the other still-standing, but wonky limb, an ill-suited coach was replaced by an unprepared Coach who was immediately undermined, and the coffin was closed. The rest was just waiting for the oxygen to run out. Various players on the roster played their hearts out as if there was hope – Josh Gorges, Carey Price, Erik Cole, Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban to name a few. But tidal wave after tidal wave of distraction washed over this group, and the frustrating part is that most of it was self-inflicted. Clearly, the Canadiens were not reading the Detroit Red Wings manual on how to run a team.

This off-season will be a particularly long one for Habs fans, but in typical Montreal fashion, this summer is going to be not only eventful and controversial, but also critical to the team’s future success. Geoff Molson has to put his money where his mouth is and set this team back on the right path. This is his biggest chance to get it right. The team will be going in to it’s 20th season without a Cup parade, and it won’t be long until Habs fans start becoming the butt of the same jokes that Leafs fans have been for 45 years running.

We look forward to the draft lottery, the draft itself, free agency, and finally the golf tournament that officially launches the pre-season. But if Molson doesn’t find a way to change the culture of the organization by hiring great hockey minds, then we can look forward to another year of the same old, same old, and find yet more convenient excuses to explain the team’s misfortunes.

There are certainly reasons to be “all in” for the Canadiens future, but until Molson takes charge and starts doing things the right way, I’ll only be cautiously optimistic.

Why the McGuire Hate?

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Once again, Paul Branchaud has lent his voice to this blog, and presents a nicely written defense of hockey analyst Pierre McGuire’s candidacy as Habs GM. Paul’s opinions are his own, and not necessarily endorsed by cowhideandrubber writers, but either way you are encouraged to leave a comment below with your thoughts, or to contact Paul personally via twitter with thoughts.

After suffering through the most dismal season in the 40 years I’ve been following the team, the announcement yesterday that Pierre Gauthier had been relieved of his duties as the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens came as a great relief to fans of the team everywhere. The indictments against Gauthier are plentiful, so I won’t perform an autopsy on Gauthier’s tenure as GM (or Gainey’s role as special advisor) and the way the team was run.

As the clock runs out on the 2011-12 season, I’m left with a feeling that, despite the basement-dwelling record, this isn’t the worst team I’ve rooted for. What truly made this season unbearable, without a doubt, was Gauthier. For a guy who did his level best to be invisible, running the team with secrecy and impunity, he managed to be front and center for most fans’ anger, frustration, and vitriol. If, on a scale of 1 to 10 of camerawhoredom, Brian Burke is a 10, Pierre Gauthier was a minus 15. I can’t think of any other team where the General Manager has worked so hard to remove himself from public view while also being the lightning rod for what ails the team.

The desire to be rid of Gauthier was so strong that lists of possible replacements (and the requirements the candidate should meet) have been discussed for months. Now that the Canadiens are in the “post-ghost” era, speculation on who will be the next GM will run more rampant than a 6-year old fueled by Red Bull and Timbits.

One of the frequently mentioned names is Pierre McGuire, and, of all the potential Habs’ GM candidates, his candidacy seems to be the most polarizing. People either feel that he should be given a chance or kept as far away from the Bell Center as possible.

In the interests of disclosure, I am part of the former group; I feel that McGuire can bring a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the position and, if Geoff Molson is to be believed that the “organizational culture is to support and adopt this passion for victory” and that “nothing else matters”, he can set the course for a ship that has been rudderless for too long. That said, I don’t think that McGuire is the ONLY choice, or even the BEST choice (my preferred candidate is Jim Nill). Short of Patrick Roy (who I feel is too tightly wound and emotional), I will defer to the Canadiens’ selection team and accept their decision, trusting that they are serious about restoring the team to a winning path.

Rather than discuss McGuire’s qualifications, though, I want to examine some of the most commonly used reasons people don’t want McGuire as GM. As I stated above, McGuire elicits strong opinions, and the mere mention of his name often brings out the haters. I’ve always found it interesting that listeners to TSN Radio 990 have, in general, been McGuire proponents, whereas people on Twitter and hockey message boards tend to pan McGuire. The six arguments I’ve heard most often against McGuire’s candidacy are:

  • He’s been out of hockey for too long
  • He has no front office experience/hasn’t paid his dues
  • His public criticisms of teams/players affect his credibility
  • He changes his opinion too often
  • He’s regularly undervalued Canadiens’ talent
  • If he’s so qualified, why hasn’t he landed a job before?

They are all valid points and I would fully expect the Canadiens to grill McGuire on these and many more points if he is indeed granted an interview.

He’s been out of hockey for too long

I don’t get this argument at all. I can’t think of anyone who has been more omnipresent at as many different levels of hockey as McGuire has been over the last 18 years. Since he was fired from the Hartford Whalers, he had a few jobs as a scout and coach for various pro and minor-pro teams before finding a niche as a color analyst.

I believe his advancement in television is due to his ability to recognize talent and identify what differentiates one player from another—in other words, his ability to scout players. His network of contacts in hockey and knowledge of players can’t be denied, and I doubt that anyone who’s supposedly been “out of hockey” as long as McGuire has would have quite the same Blackberry address book.

He has no front office experience/hasn’t paid his dues

A fair argument and one that Habs fans like to equate with the regrettable Réjean Houle reign of error. But for every Reggie Houle and Mel Bridgeman, there are successful counterpoints: Steve Yzerman has done a great job in Tampa and, despite a record that is barely better than the Canadiens, Garth Snow has been slowly improving the New York Islanders after taking over from the wasteland that Mike Milbury had left behind.

Previous front-office experience, especially in a winning organization, is important and can’t be discounted, but neither should an inexperienced candidate be denied the chance to show that his plan can bear fruit. Variants on the lack of experience argument include McGuire hasn’t “paid his dues” or that he feels he is “entitled to the job”. If everyone had to “pay their dues”, the road to an NHL GM’s post would be long and would probably feature more recycling than is already happening. The entitlement comment speaks to what goes on inside Pierre McGuire’s head and I’m not paying Miss Cleo to tell me that. Who hasn’t applied for a job that they lacked experience for, but still felt that they could do? If you’re not dreaming big, you’re wasting your potential.

His public criticisms of teams/players affect his credibility

I might buy this argument if McGuire’s criticisms were in any way personal. For the most part, I find his criticisms are not malicious; he calls things as he sees them. People may not agree with his opinion, and that’s their right. But I don’t believe that McGuire has ever set out to humiliate or demean with his comments. He is an observer of the game he loves, and puts good hockey ahead of rooting interest for any specific team.

People also need to keep in mind that, as a hockey analyst on TV and radio, he has to voice his opinions—good and bad—about what is happening on the ice and within the league. The role of broadcaster is vastly different from that of hockey executive even if they use many of the same basic evaluation skills. At the moment, McGuire (the analyst) is paid first to entertain, second to educate, so the comments and opinions need to follow his job description. To question McGuire’s credibility based on the comments he makes as a media personality, and to use it as an argument against his ability to be a GM, is comparing apples to chopped liver.

He changes his opinion too often

Herein lays the beauty and curse of our current media age. Everything is recorded and saved. No doubt that McGuire has stated one opinion only to change it a few weeks, months, or years later. We all change our views and opinions; this is not a failing unique to McGuire or to any other candidate for the Canadiens GM post. Let he who hath never changed their mind cast the first puck.

I do see where this argument comes into play, though. Because he changes his opinion, it means he misjudged the first time and, therefore, he was wrong or made a mistake. Context is important, though: did he change his opinion quickly? Did he change his opinion as a result of a player’s injury? Did he change his opinion based on an unexpected change in a player’s performance? Hindsight is 20/20, and the comments anyone makes today are subject to change at a later date based on additional information.

McGuire changing his opinion is no more of a concern than any other NHL executive’s. I can’t recall an instance where McGuire, upon changing his opinion, refused to acknowledge his previous statement, or otherwise denied having made a contrary opinion. I may be wrong, but if I am, I’d like some evidence of such a denial before I believe it would affect his ability to make decisions for a hockey team.

Final point about McGuire’s changing opinions: he’s making his statements as a media analyst, without the benefit of a team of scouts, and he has a limited amount of time to cover specific topics in his radio hits and television spots. I’d like to see any long-tenured NHL GM work under the same pressure and not make the occasional mistake.

He’s regularly undervalued Canadiens’ talent

I’m of two minds on this. On one hand, as I’ve previously stated, McGuire is a fan of hockey first, so the perceived undervaluing or criticizing of any Canadiens’ players is tough love. On the other hand, it’s never easy to hear someone make less than favorable comments on your favorite team or players, but if that offends, then you need thicker skin. People often hear what they want to hear, so anything that doesn’t validate a decision made by the team can be perceived as being negative.

A favorite example of changed opinion/undervalued talent is the 2005 draft of Carey Price. McGuire’s puzzlement at the draft choice was based more on what the team needed more at that time: a big centerman. At the time of the draft, the Canadiens were fairly stable in goal (the book on Cristobal Huet had yet to be published), but small and weak down the middle. Almost 7 years later and the Habs still need a big body at center. He never said it was a bad pick, just not what the team needed at the time.

I also believe that McGuire, as a Montrealer, has a soft spot for the Canadiens. His employers, TSN (Toronto) and NBC (New York), could care less about any deep-down love or allegiance he may have for the Habs, so it’s possible that he overcompensates to remove possible accusations of homerism. (After yesterday’s federal budget, that may be my last chance to throw in my two cents’ worth.)

If he’s so qualified, why hasn’t he landed a job before?

On my drive into work this morning, TSN690′s Price and Starr took calls on potential GM candidates and when McGuire was mentioned, this very point was brought up. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall for those final meetings with the shortlisted candidates, but sadly everything is speculative and, very likely, subject to non-disclosure agreements.

Of all the arguments against McGuire’s candidacy, this is the hardest one to counter because it requires the least amount of effort to use and cannot be deconstructed due to a lack of any public information. I can only guess, but possible reasons McGuire not selected could include:

  • He had set out a plan that ownership felt would take too long to bear fruit
  • His view of hockey operations was too far afield from the owner’s
  • He wanted an organizational restructuring that was not well received
  • His salary demands were outside of the team’s set budget
  • He had a different view of the hockey market and how to draw/increase/maintain fan support

McGuire has made it fairly clear that if he were to return to an NHL team, the fit had to be right. He has a good career in broadcasting; one that affords him summers off and probably a salary that he’d be hard-pressed to match in the NHL. I understand that he would only jump if the conditions were perfect—and who knows if that opportunity will ever come?

So What Now?

I would bear no ill will towards Pierre McGuire, and would totally understand if the Canadiens came calling and he turned them down. This Montreal hockey market is nothing but self-chumming, shark-infested waters and it would seem that only a masochist would take on such a thankless job. That said, I think that McGuire might make an excellent GM because he is a solid communicator, his hockey knowledge is sound, and I’m pretty sure he’d surround himself with talented people to ensure not only a return to, but the long-term, continued success of the most storied professional hockey team.

Time for a Long Nap

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It’s nearly time to separate the wheat from the chaff. The NHL playoffs are around the corner and in what is normally a hopeful time for Habs fans, this season, there’s nothing. Nada. Zippo. Nothing to do but root against the Bruins, laugh at the Leafs as they cruise past 3000 days since their last playoff game, and take a long summertime nap. But around here, hockey never sleeps and we’re already asking if it’s October yet; the assumption being that there is confidence in this team’s ability to regroup, reload and reorient itself in hopes of a playoff appearance…or better next year.

Is it foolish to think that this team can rebound so quickly? The Flyers did it a couple years ago, and the Senators did it this year, after being terrible last season. The pieces are already in place for the Canadiens to be a competitive team on the ice, so why can’t the bleu-blanc-rouge rebound next year? Well, look up….look waaaaay up! It’s behind the bench and in the front office where the deep, dark questions lie. What becomes of Randy Cunneyworth? How long will it take for Geoff Molson to punt Pierre Gauthier to the curb once game 82 ends? In my view, before any changes on the roster take place, the coaching and management group needs to be rectified, and they need to be rectified without the restraints of politics and sociology attached to them. If the focus is on anything other than hiring the best people for the job, then the Canadiens are in for more mediocrity. And fans, who have become adept at telling themselves whatever they have to in order to maintain sanity (to no avail!) will be left hoping for things that never come true.

It will be up to Geoff Molson, his next General Manager, and his next coach to ensure that this team breaks free from the shackles of mediocrity that have rendered the Canadiens an afterthought in the NHL. The Habs used to be a model franchise, and used to have clout among the ranks of players and league executives. Those days are long gone, and if they are to be restored, it has to come from years of excellence on the ice, not from winning the “league’s most profitable team” award (though the Habs aren’t tops in this regard, either).

If you’re like me, you’re hoping that Geoff Molson has already begun targeting potential candidates for the soon-to-be vacant General Manager position. You’re also hoping that names like Patrick Roy and Bob Hartley are kept far away from the team. While many would be doing cartwheels to have an ex-legend behind the bench, we should be cautious. Certainly a boost of emotion after the sleep-inducing ways of Jacques Martin would be welcome behind the bench, and Patrick Roy could deliver that. But his greatest asset is also his weakest link. His volatile nature would consume the team and he would be the leading story every day. That’s not what “team” is about. In a city like Montreal, it’s a match set to a pool of kerosene.

Before we cast our collective gaze to the prospect pool, and to the list of free agents, we need to acknowledge that it is all for naught if the right suit-wearing men are not in place to steer the ship. Period.

The Habs will finally (hopefully?) be selecting in the top 3 at the amateur draft in June, so fans can hope that Trevor Timmins will wave his magic wand and pick the large, skilled centerman that the team has so desperately needed for so many years. Many have already zeroed in on Quebec Remparts standout Mikhail Grigorenko as the best bet, but even a teen fresh out of junior should not be parachuted in to the Canadiens’ franchise-saviour role so quickly. That’s a recipe for failure and the Canadiens cannot afford to see this draft pick go to waste.

We can hope that Markov remains healthy throughout the summer, and that he returns to form next fall. Together with P.K. Subban, the Canadiens will have 2 healthy, legitimate top-flight defensemen capable of playing 22 or more minutes per night. Buffered with the likes of future captain Josh Gorges, Alexei Yemelin, and hopefully a free agent addition such as Brad Stuart, the back end should be solid, if not spectacular.

It will be interesting to see what any given sportsbook review will think of the cellar-dwelling Canadiens when the preseason bets start rolling in. Will they give the Canadiens’ talented roster a pass for this abysmal season, or will they come down hard on them for this disaster and cast them as long underdogs yet again? It shouldn’t matter, as in past years the Canadiens have thrived as underdogs while choking like dogs when expected to succeed. That’s a cultural thing that must change, and usually takes time to accomplish. But with the right “win at all costs” attitude, at least you’ve given yourself a shot.

So Long, Sniper

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After Cammalleri’s comments the other day, it was quite apparent to me that he wanted out of town, and that if he wasn’t already unpopular in the Habs dressing room, he would be. He may have said the opposite, that he has a love affair with the city and that he’s building a house. To paraphrase Seinfeld: “yadda yadda yadda, now he’s in Calgary”.

The adage is that the team that gets the better player wins the trade. I find that an overly simplistic way of looking at things. Under this prism, it would be a knee-jerk judgement to say that the Flames won the trade, after all, Cammalleri is a star while Rene Bourque is, well not Ray Bourque. If we take their entire careers in to account, there’s no doubt that Cammalleri has been the better player. But over the course of the last 2+ seasons, Bourque has actually outscored Cammalleri. Viewed in that light, the trade is already much more even. Given that Bourque is much bigger and tougher than Cammalleri, he brings another important component that the Habs have been sorely lacking.

When news of the trade broke last night, I didn’t know what to think. I thought Cammalleri deserved to be traded, and I believe he wanted to be traded. I don’t trust Pierre Gauthier, as most Habs fans don’t. When somebody is as univerally disliked as Gauthier is, it’s easy to pan his each and every move. He’s blamed for moves that Gainey ultimately signed off on, as if he forced Gainey to trade for the Gomez’ of the world. Twitter makes for a great sounding board, but it’s prone to make people look like they have some kind of manic disorder. Such was the case with my timeline once the trade was announced. I vacillated between hating and liking the move; If Cammalleri had to go, at least make it a salary dump…make it a move about the future of the team. That wasn’t the case, and the Habs held true to their traditional modus operandi. They’re not holding a firesale, and they will not tank the season in search of a lottery pick. That was a fantasy. After marinating in the trade overnight, I woke up this morning liking it more than when I went to bed. There are reasons to NOT like it, if that’s your choosing, and I wouldn’t hold that against you if are a Cammalleri fan, but I’m opting to look at the positive aspects and run with them:

  • Bourque has actually been a better scorer in recent years than Cammalleri.
  • Bourque is much cheaper (although his contract runs much longer). Nevertheless, he represents good value.
  • Bourque is much bigger, and that is something the Habs need very much need, especially in the dog days of the season when small guys show signs of fatigue.
  • The Habs got a 2nd round pick in return, as well as a depth prospect who may turn out to be a little more than a throw-in.
  • Team unity may improve with the removal of a guy who apparently was not very well liked in the room, and you can’t put a price on that.

If there’s a reason to not like the trade, it’s that Cammalleri was an elite playoff performer while in Montreal. Halak is hero #1, but Cammalleri is right there with him. Trouble is, his elite playoff production is useless if he can’t help the Canadiens get to the playoffs. Any way you slice it, 9 goals is unacceptable from Cammalleri. There’s no excuse for it. He’s been a giant bust this year, sulking around the ice and not doing what he was paid to do: score goals. Guys who come in on the heels of scoring 39 goals and who are given 30 million dollars are not paid to do anything other than score.

If there’s another reason to not like the trade, it’s the manner in how Gauthier goes about his business. He operates in a cone of silence and seems to not have a concrete idea of how to construct and maintain a team. It’s fair to say that the vast majority of Habs fans want him replaced, and perhaps some of the anger of this trade stems from the fact that we now see that he is likely not going anywhere any time soon. It appears that Molson has continued trust in Gauthier, and that makes us mad, and that casts a pall over any move that Gauthier will make. The Canadiens have long stood as an organization that carried itself with class, from top to bottom. Gauthier is sullying that reputation with his panic moves. Firing Assistant Coaches 90 minutes before a game, and other ‘save my job’ type moves are tarnishing the Canadiens, and the results are trickling down to the ice. They used to get it right nearly everywhere. Now they rarely do. There are no more ceremonies to honour the past, to show off how the Canadiens show class and reverence. The focus is on the present, and the focus is blurry.

In the end, there’s no choice but to get on board with the trade. To pray that Gauthier’s 180° turn from a mantra that asked small, skilled players to win it on the powerplay to a team that is getting bigger & grittier will eventually bring badly needed wins in a division that is quickly improving. We can also hope that it show semblance of a team that can tough it out with sandpaper in the playoffs. They won’t get there this year, but they weren’t getting there with Cammalleri, either. If team unity improves as result of a disliked player being moved, then that’s another huge, intangible plus.

The Conundrum

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If it was a secret, it’s not anymore. Actually, it was never a secret; the signs were there from the very beginning, but most chose to ignore them.

For those still unaware, the Canadiens season has been, and remains in jeopardy. Truthfully, it’s been on life support since Halloween. No, that’s not a typo. On the morning of November 1st, the Canadiens were in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, a mere 2 points out of a playoff spot, and very few fans were concerned with the situation (I was). If that isn’t grounds for “life support”, then let’s call it a gestating illness. There was a lot of nonchalance among the fanbase, despite what historical precedent showed to be the harsh reality. That reality said that being outside of the top 8 on November 1st meant a tough climb to get back in. Yes, November 1st is awfully early to pronounce any conclusions for how the season will end, but history was already against the Habs.

Fast forward to January 2012, and the Canadiens have dug themselves down to 12th place in the East, 7 big, fat, bloated points out of the playoff picture. In short: they went in the wrong direction. If things were unsettling back on Halloween, they must be bleak now. Or are they?

Unbeaten in 2012 (nyuk nyuk nyuk), the Habs appear to be a new team. As Will pointed out in his piece yesterday: “early returns suggest this two-game winning streak is more than just a fluke“. Two games is certainly a short sample, but the attitude and tempo appears to be contagious. They no longer sit on leads, they no longer have poor body language, and they no longer look like the stifled, frustrated, crippled group they were under former Coach Jacques Martin. And not to be overlooked: they are no longer boring to watch. We all reserve to right to reevaluate our opinions after more games against tougher teams are in the books, but we are starting to see the team that we thought we had when it was assembled back in 2009 (and tinkered with ever since).

The big question today is whether or not this modest turnaround is “too little, too late”. The Canadiens need to rack up 53 points in their remaining 41 games to end the regular season with 92 points, which represents the average threshold needed to make the playoffs since the lockout ended. Not to be misplaced is the fact that the 8th place team is currently on pace for 94 points, making things yet again harder. The aforementioned 53pts in 41 games is a win percentage of .646 over the second half of the season. If that imposing number wasn’t enough, they have to do their damndest to earn those points in regulation and not allow Eastern opponents to grab “loser points”. That would only make the Canadiens’ task tougher still. Simply put, the Canadiens need to go at least 27-14 from here until the final siren blares on game 82. That would represent quite the reversal of fortunes, and would still only likely reap them the 8th slot in the East – if that. Making things even harder is that the Canadiens need to leapfrog 3 teams, or hope that other teams completely fall apart. The Panthers, Leafs, Sens, and now massively depleted Penguins are all common targets to have the trap door open under their feet. As of yet, none have officially fallen out of the playoff picture, and even if they do, there’s no guarantee that the Canadiens will play well enough to surpass them. Interesting to note that in the past 3 days, the Leafs beat the Wings, Senators took 3 of 4 points from the Flyers, and the Panthers beat the Canucks. If those teams are going to give up the ghost, they aren’t going to do so quietly.

Here’s where The Conundrum rears its ugly head. Is it worth it for the Canadiens to play each of their remaining games like it’s the 7th game of the Cup finals? How much would they have left in the tank for the playoffs? Sure they’d be battle-tested, but they’d also be incredibly weary. Is it worth it for Pierre Gauthier to be a buyer at the trade deadline? Is it worth it to dump assets in a potentially futile quest to grab the 8th in the East? And given that only one Cup winning team since 1994 entered the playoffs without the benefit of home ice advantage, is all of the back-breaking effort really worth it? I would say no, it is not worth it. I would hate to go through a Habs-less spring, but this hamster wheel of mediocrity has to stop. Stakeholders in the team might disagree, as would those fans who say that “you can’t win the Cup if you don’t make the playoffs“. Personally, I would allow nature to take its course, and I would trade away pending UFAs (unless Kostitsyn can be signed at the right price) for future prospects and draft choices. In the cap era, having good, young talent at a cheap price is the only way to have a perennial contender.

But what do April tee times mean for “interim” Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth? Quite simply, it would likely mean his termination, but is that not already inevitable? He’s already been thrown to the wolves by his Owner and by his General Manager. Short of long playoff run, I’m not sure that anything can secure his future as Coach of the Habs. As much as I like Cunneyworth, and as much as I believe he deserves every single opportunity to be this team’s long-term Head Coach, there’s every reason to believe that the Canadiens brass will bow to pressure from narrow minded media types and extremist fringe elements and opt yet again to take the path of appeasement rather than institute a meritocracy. That means that Cunneyworth’s future as a Coach is elsewhere, and for that reason I see no reason to sacrifice key parts of the future for what is already a virtual mission impossible.

What’s your take? Go for broke, or look to a brighter future, albeit one minus Randy Cunneyworth?

Bonus question: What if the players, as a group, tell Molson that they adore Randy Cunneyworth and want him to stick around permanently? What then? Appease the nose-out-of-joint lunatics, or keep the team happy?

Limbo Champs

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As the Habs continue to fight against the current, one thing is becoming more and more clear: this team is not living up to anyone’s expectations. Not the fans’, not the media’s, who, although they didn’t peg the Habs as elite, didn’t have them as being this bad, either. Most importantly, they aren’t living up to their own expectations. We hear it repeated over and over in post game scrums and press conferences about how they we not prepared, not focused, not playing as a team. Now they’re griping about seeing the standings every day in their own locker room and not being pleased with what they see. As the writing on the wall starts to take shape, the mood in the room sounds decidedly flat and negative. A once jovial and tight locker room seems to be fraying at the edges. It’s hard to believe that they’ve turned on one another, given that their good character guys, but it’s not hard to believe that they no longer believe in the game plan that is being forced upon them.

It’s clear that the Canadiens are currently not living up to their own expectations. After all, they were the ones who came up with the “Rise Together” marketing campaign. What, exactly were they implying by that? Rise to where, exactly? To 8th place? 6th place? After a 2010-2011 year in which the Canadiens showed great promise, fueled by Price, Subban and Pacioretty, the team’s Marketing department may have made their first misstep in actually trying to RAISE the bar for once. They finished 6th last year, and, as the refrain goes, if they had Markov, Gorges and Pacioretty all year, they could have done better. So I assume they had higher targets this year.

Oops!

You might tell me that injuries have derailed the best laid plans, but I think that’s nothing but a lazy, old and tired excuse. Markov has been out for so long that he should no longer be factored in to the team’s plans or fortunes until he’s back in the lineup. Same goes for Campoli, a wildcard player left on the free agent scrap heap until late September. Surely, such saviours don’t rot on the scrap heap do they? The only thing we can say is that we don’t know how he would have fit in to this roster. Maybe he would have helped, maybe not. Scott Gomez, another big name and cap hit on the shelf wasn’t producing and was a drag on the team, so don’t tell me about him. You can spin the injury argument all you like, but the Penguins hummed along without Crosby, Malkin and Staal for long stretches so save the injury excuse for the apologist round table discussions. Mismanagement of resources, weak bench management, puzzling choices, lack of coach-to-player communication, motivation, outdated and ill-fitting systems, unprepared (and yes, underachieving) players are the real problems of the team. Many of these can be fixed by putting a Coach in place that puts talent in position to succeed, armed with a game plan that matches their skill sets. That hasn’t happened for much of the last 2+ seasons.

Ask yourself this: What other organization can steeply raise prices across the board and deliver such an average product? Even worse than losing is that they’ve become BORING. From the General Manager, to the Coach and now finally tricked down to the ice, the team is void of flair, personality and FUN. That’s perhaps the biggest knock against the brand of hockey that the Jacques Martin era will be known for. Montreal is a city teeming with flair, fun and personality, and given how tightly woven the Habs are in the fabric of the city, their current state is a loose thread on the tapestry. Yet legions of people are willing to accept it? I understand “accepting it because you’re virtually powerless to change it” (you’re not, by the way), but I cannot comprehend anybody “accepting it because you think it’s good enough”. By the way, the Canadiens have played many poor games this year, and currently have the worst home record in the league. Some reward for those people who scramble to find ways, despite the rapidly escalating prices, to go to the Bell Center and buy up all things Canadiens.

Rise Together? I guess if you’re at the bottom, then there’s nowhere to go but up, right? Maybe this has been the plan all along.

Yet as team owner Geoff Molson stands pat, offering his support for the General Manager, Head Coach, and Gomez alike, it seems all too clear that profits are a higher priority for the powers that be than winning is. This should come as no surprise. All outward appearances seem to indicate that making the playoffs and reaping pure profit from a couple home games is the goal. They tell us that the Cup is the goal, but as we all know, actions speak louder than words. In my last post, I’ve clearly showed that winning the Cup is a matter of home ice advantage. Without it, chances of glory are slim, yet that doesn’t stop pie-eyed optimists from believing that “anything is possible”. I don’t hold that belief against anybody, because anything is possible if you want to get in to semantics, but with just one of the last 34 Cup finalists winning it all (that’s 3%) without entering the playoffs with home ice advantage, I tend to put my stock in the overwhelming stat that has been proven over a long period of time.

And so we’ve become very good at limbo, because we happily bend over backwards to make time for this team, spend money on it and invest our hopes in it. What a pity.

Sadly, the Canadiens, through spin, media mouthpieces, marketing and PR have successfully lowered the bar to the point where making the playoffs is seen as some great accomplishment, and as a result, fans now believe that an upset or two (and even near-upsets) are highwater benchmarks of success.

Many of us know better. Unfortunately, it seems that not enough do.That, my friends, is the magic of good marketing.

He’s Lying to You

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I really feel like I could spin the title of this post – “He’s Lying to You” in to a series of posts, and I may just do that. But for now, let’s kick this one around.

“The plan was not to sit back at all. The best defense is offense.” — Jacques Martin

Martin has tried to sell us many good yarns this year, but this one is really a shocker coming from the King of Passive hockey. But if we are to believe what the Coach said in the aftermath of a game blown to the Buffalo Sabres last night, then certainly he must have recent memories and statistical evidence track record that speaks to that belief, right?

Let’s take a look and see what the Coach may be talking about.

In 2009-10, his first season in Montreal, the Canadiens scored 217 goals. That was good for 10th overall in the Eastern Conference, 23rd overall in the NHL and the 2nd lowest of any Eastern playoff team. I know, I know. The Canadiens went to the Eastern Conference Finals, so stuff it, right? Blah blah blah. Spare me your circular logic. As I’ve said before, we know how the Canadiens got to the Eastern Conference Finals and it had little to do with a spectacular offense.

In 2010-11, his second season in Montreal, the Canadiens actually slipped to 216 goals, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference, 24th overall in the NHL and the LOWEST of any Eastern Conference playoff team. I can hear the homers already: “But they took the eventual champs to overtime in game 7…and the injuries…..THE INJURIES! ARGH!!!!”. Where’s the snooze button, because I’m going to push it. Hard. There are no moral victories in the playoffs, and there were plenty of other teams that had more injuries than the Habs last season. In fact, the Canadiens were pretty much right in the middle of the pack in terms of man games lost to injury.

This season, the Canadiens have scored 42 goals through 17 games. That’s 2.47 goals per game on average, and projects out to 203 goals for the season. So if the Coach think that a best defense is a good offense, his team is going in the wrong direction, and has been going in the wrong direction for what is now a 3rd consecutive season. The addition of Erik Cole, a full season of Max Pacioretty and a bounce back season for some vets were supposed to set the stage of a more potent offense, was it not? Aside from Markov, who has been a gigantic question mark for many months now, the team has been relatively healthy. Cammalleri and Kostitsyn have missed a few games apiece, but certainly not enough to be the sole reason for the Habs’ continued inability to score goals.

Going back to what the Coach said: “The plan was not to sit back at all. The best defense is offense.”…how exactly does the Coach practice what he preaches? As the moribund powerplay continues to circle the drain, the Coach still affords Mathieu Darche precious minutes while other more talented, more deserving players sit and watch from the bench. Does having Tomas Plekanec on the point help or hurt? Does the Coach get his team to continually push the pace? Does he encourage and motivate them to play the same way that put them in a position to have a 2-goal lead to begin with? Or rather does he stand pat while his passive 1-2-2 system kills any offensive momentum his team may have had? If he in fact does not preach sitting back to protect a lead, then why does he continue to let it happen? It’s his job to change his players’ habits, is it not? If the players come out and talk about how they sat back, yet the Coach says that wasn’t the plan, then where’s the disconnect from the Coach to the players? Are the players stubborn? Incompetent? Is the Coach’s message not getting through? Is it not properly delivered? No matter, getting the best from his team and ensuring that his message is getting through is HIS job.

We’ve taken a look at some of the things we can see with our own eyes, but now let’s delve a little deeper in to some stats to try and help paint a clearer picture.
The Canadiens have 14 third period goals this season, which puts them in a logjam with the likes of Phoenix, Columbus, Nashville, Winnipeg and Detroit for 21st in the NHL. Red Wings aside, those aren’t the teams I think of when I think of “offense” and pushing the pace. Until last night, the Canadiens were actually 5-0 when leading after two periods, so a 5-0-1 record this morning should not be the end of the world, and truly it isn’t. The record and team are not on trial here. But that 5-0-1 record still only places them 18th overall in the league when leading after two periods. Since a near-perfect record ranks them a mediocre 18th, it can only mean that more than half of the teams in the league have had more leads to protect after two periods than the Habs, which speaks to the Habs overall inability to score at any point in the game. But the Habs ranking of 21st in the NHL in 3rd period goals means two thirds of the league still manages to score more goals in the final frame. When you put these seemingly disparate pieces of information together, it tells me that the Canadiens don’t push the pace in the third period, whether they are leading or trailing (Habs remain winless when trailing after two periods with an 0-6-2 record) and do in fact sit on leads going in to the third period when they have a lead to protect.

The final analysis says that if Jacques Martin believes that the best defense is a good offense, he does almost nothing to prove it. Is the Coach simply stating what he believes, but is unable to implement? Or is he trying to make us believe (similar to him telling us that young defensemen are to blame, or that his team plays puck possession hockey) what he wants us to believe? Given his track record, we know he’ll probably throw his friend and boss, General Manager Pierre Gauthier to the wolves for failing to provide enough talent. Hmm, that is curious, isn’t it? Tomas Plekanec, Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Max Pacioretty, Lars Eller, David Desharnais, Erik Cole, Andrei Kostitsyn, PK Subban, Yannick Weber, Raphael Diaz…does that sound like a talentless roster to you? Is that a list of names that evokes “can’t score goals” to you? It’s not to me.

Campoli the Canadien

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This afternoon, Habs General Manager Pierre Gauthier inked free agent defenseman Chris Campoli to a 1-year, 1.75M contract. This out-of-the-blue signing has Habs Nation scratching its head…what does this signing mean?

Take your pick of the following potential reasons:

  • Markov isn’t going to be back any time soon
  • Subban’s back injury will keep him out of the lineup for a while
  • Yemelin isn’t going to make the team
  • Nothing to see here, just a depth signing
  • Something more – a trade – is in the works
  • Weber has fallen out of favour
  • None of the above

Whatever the reason for the signing, there will be no shortage of discussion and dissection for each reason…

What say you?


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