Bizzarro (what in tarnation)

What in tarnation. Has a franchise had a more bizarre few months than the habs? It has been so weird making it to the Stanley Cup final seems like a distant secondary memory.

It started even before the end of last season when Jonathan Drouin decided to take a leave of absence during a playoff race. The team made the playoffs and went to the stanley cup final not knowing what was ailing one of their star players. Once the season ended things took a more twisted turn as the main pillars of the stanley cup run began to crumble or disappear. I am not sure if I am chronologically listing the twists and turns correctly but here is what happened.

Rumours began that Shea Weber was chronically injured and would probably retire.  These rumours have been proven to be true since Shea Weber never showed up for training camp and apparently is still at home in BC. The key word is apparently because all we have had are vague statements from Bergevin as to Weber’s status and zero communication from  the Weber camp. Since Weber is the captain of the habs a little clarity as to his status would seem necessary especially since no one is wearing the C right now. 

At about the same time, the habs were outbid for two of their key players last year Corey Perry and Phil Danault. Corey Perry who seemed to inspire the team with his physical play and veteran smarts and who at one point was made assistant captain was signed by Tampa. If true, the main sticking point was he wanted a two year contract which at a million per year sounds like peanuts in this day and age. Instead Bergevin decided to quiet the nationalists in Quebec by signing a couple of journeymen quebecois for the same money.

Phil Danault was let go as well which is a little contradictory because he was a quebecois with some talent. Danault had become a defensively inclined nightmare for the league’s superstars as Mcdavid and Matthews had suffered facing him. However, Danault became  overpriced for what he did and surprisingly the Kings made him an offer he could not refuse and habs did not match.

The next twist was the circus surrounding the junior draft and the expansion draft. Granted the habs stayed in the spotlight but took a public relations hit. The habs made a controversial first round pick taking Logan Mailloux.  The expected backlash from the media and women’s groups was probably worse than the Habs organization foresaw. Then the expansion draft and the habs protected list which did not include Carey Price, Shea Weber, Jonathan Drouin among others. In hindsight, Carey Price asking not to be protected might be for more dubious reasons than taking a gambler’s dice roll Kraken would not take on that contract.

Next we had the Kotkaniemi soap opera. As discussed in a previous blog KK was a high draft pick who had underperformed and became the center of a feud. The Canes owner Tom Dundon got his vengeance for the Aho bid by signing KK to a contract he did not deserve. The Habs did not match and the compensation they received was transferred to the Coyotes for Christian Dvorak. KK also got some vengeance for his treatment at year-end.

During the summer we found out that Price and Byron needed surgery. Drouin finally reappeared and discussed his reasons for the leave of absence. As well, during training camp Edmundson and Hoffman arrived already injured. Finally, we had the shocking news during training camp Carey Price needed help for an unknown health problem and would need time to try and overcome  it. 

The last issue surrounding the habs is their General Manager. Bergevin who has been given leeway to sign Ducharme as the head coach for 3 years and future star center Suzuki for 8 years is himself unsigned. Once again vagueness reigns supreme as to his contractual situation. Yesterday he proclaimed he wants to stay in a perfect world. However Molson has not spoken so habs fans are left with social media rumours as to what the GM’s fate is.

If things could not get any worse the winless habs had a terrible training camp and have been horrendous defensively and offensively at the start of the season.  Frankly how many of these twists and turns have been caused by Bergy to begin with. When they say hiring Patrick Roy would be wrong because he is hot-headed and would create a circus atmosphere…what exactly are the habs enduring right now...it has been a bizarre circus these last few months under Bergevin…