DELUSIONAL

Delusional should just about sum it up. After the end of another disappointing season for the Montreal Canadiens, The Ownership and GM held their yearly ``state of affairs``. Subsequent to this everyone comes out of the woodwork to give their ideas, impressions and commentary on the state of their favorite team and the seemingly repeditive position of team ownership and management in regards to the failings of the Team.

 If your frustrated, angry, disappointed or just downright perplexed at how this has gone on for so long with this team, you would not be alone. It just seems that with every Ownership change, GM or Coaching change its always the same old nonsense. In essence the team should just record their season ending ``state of affairs`` and just play it back each year because for the last 23 years very little has changed. It is just different faces with the same message. The unfortunate reality is that the discussion around the team has a tendency to degenerate to ones of passion instead of one of reality. Yes the discussion always degenerates to; plans-dreams vs. reality, rebuilding vs. contending. Justification vs. responsibility, excuses vs. accountability. All of this simply amplifies the quagmire that is the Montreal Canadiens. This problem is compounded by certain in the media  (not all, some get it right) and the unbalanced influance it has on how this team is managed and run. All too often the multiple talking heads are either; a) So past their prime in relation to today’s NHL that all they provide is a recanted version of thier own history mixed with dilusional memories of nostalgia or; b) recently retired talking heads with no rings on their fingers, names on the cup and few games played. These heads who constantly second guess from a position of deficiency and not from a general coaching or management knowledge. In fact if you take the talking heads at both French networks and look at their overall Team management and coaching experience it would be akin to taking an Iron worker off of a multistory high-rise and asking him to give commentary on the overall building concept and construction and then accepting for a fact that he can provide valuable commentary on how to design a better building. This principle is ridiculous at its foundation.

All of this simply serves to confuse the fans, misdirect focus and create general confusion around what it should or will take to make this team a true contender for the cup. To do this it is important as a starting point to recognize specific historical elements of this team over the last 23 years and how that compares to the Teams who have won championships. This at the very least should serve as a road map for what kind of team you need to have to be able to contend in today’s NHL. More accurately it allows management/ownership to aim at the true target of what is required to make a winner out of this team.

Now I am simply an arm chair quarter back who loves hockey. I played until Junior and never skated up for a professional game. I was a very mediocre player. I am however a builder and an organizer who understands that building a team to undertake a $400 million dollar project is not much different from trying to build a championship winning team. For both to succeed you need excellent owners, top tier managers/leaders and most of all you need to piece together the puzzle of the resources (people/players) you need to accomplish the goal. If the Canadiens were a true business trying to survive in today’s market they would have long ago gone bankrupt. Fortunately for them they are an institution that plays to the heart strings of a rabid fan base and the population; who recall with yearning the great old days. They then bath themselves in that past glory to help them forget about the last 23 years. The tired old rhetoric about the Canadiens being the greatest franchise in sports is dead….yes I said it…it’s dead. It`s similar to a scene on the television show, ``Network`` where the anchor tells some naïve university students why "America is not the greatest country in the world" (look it up on YouTube you`ll love it) it’s exactly the syndrome many in the Canadiens camp suffer from. No one (other than Canadiens die hard fans) care anymore about what the Team once did. In todays competitive sports market it is all about what you have done now. It seems however that Ownership/Management is satisfied with the status quo. Fortunately for them the Fans have agreed to permit this. The owner doesn`t have to worry about filling up his arena or private lodges. Does not have to worry about diminishing merchandising sales or corporate sponserships. Nope. Not in Montreal! What this has lead to however is simple complacency.  23 years later Canadians fans have become no better than the Maples Fans or the Cubs Fans or the Jets Fans. They have become equally as delusional as the ownership and management in regards to the team.

So let’s take a closer look using facts from the last 23 years and you tell me how difficult it should be to start recognizing what might be required to help this beloved team find its way back to a championship.  

Just for clarity there have been 22 regular seasons since 1992-93 (as result of the cancelled 2004-05 season). Of those 22, 20 of them have been full seasons (94-95 as well as 2012-2013 were strike/lockout shortened seasons)

1)      Needless to mention it has now been 23 years since the cup has been won by the Canadiens (given the fact that it will not be won in the 2015-2016 season);

2)      In the last 21 years the cup has been won (2015-16 not yet won) 15 of those times it was by teams who scored 235 goals or more during the regular season. During the same period the Canadiens have scored more than 235 goals in only 8 regular seasons;

3)      Excluding strike shortened years and the cancelled season. Teams giving up less than 200 goals in the regular season have won the cup 12 times in 21 years. The Canadiens have given up more than 200 goals in 17 of the last 22 regular season; Bet you have a hard time believing that one!

4)      Excluding strike shortened seasons the cup has been won only 2 times by teams with less than Three 20 goal scores. Montreal has had 7 seasons with less than Three 20 goals scorers;

5)      There has not been a 40 goal scorer since 1993-94 (yes Pacioretty made it close in 2013-14 and 2014-15).

6)      The team has missed the playoffs 8 times in 23 years;

7)      The team has been knocked out in the first round 7 of the 14 years they have made the playoffs in the last 22 years

8)      The team has had 9 different coaches in 23 years.

9)      The team has had 8 different ``# 1 Goalies`` in 23 years

10)   In 2014-2015 season taking all rostered players who played at least 1 game in the regular season the average age of a player for the Canadiens was 27.5 years old. The Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks was 25.8. So much for the rebuilding and age thing in correlation to championships.

Some might say that all of these are just statistics. They are and they matter. They matter simply for the reason that they give you starting points for where to focus. For all to long (especially the last 6 or 7 season) all we here about is how goaltending and defense is going to be the path to the cup for this team. It is only true in the sense that teams giving up less than 200 goals in the regular season have a better chance of winning the cup then those who allow more. The Canadiens for all their talk about this have in fact allowed more than 200 goals in 17 of the last 22 seasons. It is clear that something is not working in the ``what we’re preaching`` vs. ``what were are actually doing and have done`` category. Notwithstanding any of this it is clear that the Ownership and management have absolutely no idea how to fix this team and make it into a contender.

With each changing GM we hear all the Blah..Blah..blah about the traditions and the history and about accountability and results. Ok so where are the results? In the last 4 years we missed the playoffs once, got knocked out in the first round, second round and third round. The Third round performance getting close to at least a ticket to the dance. Other than that it has continuously been failure after failure. We are not talking about 5 or 10 years of restructuring. This Team has been restructuring for 23 years now. The end line product looks like something you would get if you combined an elephant with a giraffe, lion and a turtle. It would makes no sense and you would have absolutely no idea what you were looking at. This is exactly the case with this team. How many times did this team put all its eggs into the goaltending basket? It seems like forever we have heard nothing but how goaltending is going to win this team a Cup. That same nonsense has been going on for 23 years. This season, that truly came home to roost; as everyone was sure that Carey was going to carry this team on his shoulders to a championship. Thre is no doubt that he is one of the best in the game today. Could he have done it had he not been injured? Absolutely NOT! There I said that too. No team, I do not care how it’s structured cannot get carried through 82 games of a regular season and then potentially 16 games of Playoffs by its goalie alone. The playoffs maybe…the rest. No way! Carey would have been so burnt out by the playoffs having had to backstop this team every night; facing 30 + shots trying to win games 2 -1 or 1-0 or trying for 2-2 and hoping for the shootout. Would he have then been able to carry a miracle into 16 playoff games? Common! This team averaged 2.69 goals per game, how can it be reasonably possible to expect him and his ``back up`` to hold the opposition each night to 2 goals or less. Just for fun the contenders for this year’s cup are averaging 3 plus goals per game.

Now all this said, the sad reality sets in. This ownership nor management have any intention on doing anything other than changing the paint and curtains. There is no rebuilding going on. There is no acceleration plan for surrounding Price, Subban, Galchenyuk, Pacioretty, Gallagher with already high caliber players. All the young players you saw rolled out this past season are 3 and 4 years from achieving the potential required to provide real support to these players. During those 3 or 4 years Price will age, his body will age, Subban is burning 1.5 years for every year he plays. There is going to be nothing left of those current stars in 3 to 4 years to build off other than the youngsters who will have matured but will not benefit from any veterans. In essence the team will look exactly the same in 4 years as it does right now.  The only way to fix this team now and give it the legitimate chance to contend is to let go of some of the veterans and the underperformers. The problem is the contracts and the marketability (saleability/tradeability) of who the Canadiens need to get rid of to make room for strong talent required now. Mr. Lafleur said it best in his recent interview; saying simply the team has, ``four 4<sup>th</sup> lines``. He might not have been exactly right but if he was off it was by just one line. We have Three 4^th lines. Without addressing this, this team cannot win nor even contend for a championship.

So what now? Well if you start feeling like your stuck in the movie Ground Hog Day you wouldn`t be alone. We will as always surely hear countless discussions over the next few months leading up to the draft about how the Team needs to trade Subban or something ridiculous like that. Or how they need to go get Yakopov or Drouin. Or how the team needs more French Canadians. You will hear it all. This nonsense will for the vast majority come from those Journalist and talking heads I mentioned earlier on. You can also bet the management and ownership ownership have no real plans for building a contender. Why would they. You stuck around for the last 23 years haven`t you?

No unfortunately if you’re a Habs Fan you will have to sadly live with the fact that your team under this ownership, with its current management and coaching philosophy will only continue to disappoint you. Fear not however you will continue to hear about the past glory, the tradition, the class of the organization and this will sadly have to compensate you for the lack of success of this team.