Les Canadiens de Montréal
If you are anything like me, the deep run through the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup Finals last year by the Montréal Canadiens had you excited about the prospects for this new season, and for the future more generally.
Yet with that in mind, there is something regarding the Canadiens to this point in the season that is simply inescapable.
Namely, it is that they suck. At least this year they do.
Sorry, I do not mean to be crass or anything. But seriously, they have played 14 games to this point as I write this. They have won three games and gotten a single point for another game, for a total of 7 points accumulated. Otherwise, they have lost 10 games, which includes the three straight losses that they have suffered through to this point. That ties them with the Ottawa Senators for dead last place in the Eastern Conference, although at least Ottawa has played less games than the Canadiens have. The only team in the league that is outright doing worse than Montréal right now would be the Phoenix Coyotes, who just won their first game of the season, and who have gotten 3 points in their 12 games to date. Those are some sad numbers, but that would be the only team that the Canadiens are ahead of to this point.
All of which leads to the obvious question. Specifically, just what the hell happened to the Canadiens this season?
Just a few months ago, I was overjoyed by scenes of fans in downtown Montréal celebrating the team’s incredible accomplishment, as they overcame a deficit of 1 game to 3 against Toronto to survive past the first round, then swept the Winnipeg Jets, and ultimately dominated the Vegas Golden Knights to qualify for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Finals in well over a quarter of a century.
It was a great run, and wonderful enough to have fans of the team dreaming about the Canadiens lifting the Stanley Cup for a record 25th time in franchise history, adding to the obviously storied history for this team, and for the city of Montreal in this sport.
Now obviously, that did not happen. The Tampa Bay Lightning are a very good team, and they beat the Canadiens soundly, unfortunately.
Still, the Canadiens were a damn good team, and that incredible run was just a few months ago. What changed so drastically?
I saw some Canadian news reports where the players were asked what was going wrong, and they seemed to be at a loss. They could not seemingly put their finger on why things were so different, and they all uniformly seemed to express their understandable frustration. It has been frustrating from the standpoint of fans as well, obviously.
Now, I cannot say what is wrong with the team, either, of course. They have allowed 48 goals, which is more than most. They also have scored precious few goals in comparison to most other teams, and their goal differential so far is a dismal and depressing -20. Once again, only the Phoenix Coyotes are worse to this point in the season.
All we can hope for is that the Canadiens are going through a phase, that they got off to a bad start, but that things will pick up shortly. Not sure that this is the case, because generally, playing well or failing to do so in any sport is not a matter of turning a switch on or off.
Yet, what else can we fans hope for at this point?
Les Canadiens de Montréal
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