What happened?

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 commun...

Do I really need a vacation after the sports euphoria I just incurred being an azzurri and hab fan. Some of it I barely believe even now it was all so surreal. The Azzurri are Emperors of Europe and the Habs are Kings of the North. I was feeling positive about both teams as early as January (see some of my tweets back then) but my faith started to crumble a bit especially with the habs. The habs barely made the playoffs. Some of it was due to Covid and their tortuous schedule when some  of the games had been cancelled due to Armia testing positive. Some of it was also due to their collapse during the year which led to Julien’s ouster.   Bergevin and Molson were finally able to sign free agents when American owners decided not to spend after losing money in empty arenas. The cap space Bergevin had left unused for several years helped as well.  The new habs players brought enthusiasm and a winning culture. Corey Perry was a revelation as he symbolically stood in front of th...

The habs are once again in disarray . Is it time for our collective primal scream...Yes they were in disarray last year when the pandemic hit. There were few bright spots, players having good years could be counted on one hand. Tatar, Gallagher, a revitalized Weber, and the improving Suzuki were the only positives. On the negative side  Carey Price was a shell of his former self. Kotkaniemi was in the AHL, Drouin was recovering from an injury and unable to keep up, and Max Domi decided he was going to play like his Coyote days. Well the NHL resumed the season with an improvised playoffs, the habs played like gangbusters for one series and then gradually receded back to reality against the flyers.  Once again the habs came out like gangbusters this year with several new players. The new players produced and there was eternal hope. However, things started to fall apart at the 10 game mark and now the habs are in eternal freefall. They have changed coaches the conservative Julien...

I always preferred Janis Joplin’s version of Summertime she really put some sexual soul into it. Anyways whenever it gets hot and sticky for some reason I start thinking about hockey again and the habs. Free agent frenzy day is just around the corner or as we used to know it as Canada day (and in Quebec moving day). So all the armchair GMs on Twitter are deciding which free agents Bergy should sign. Since I got a very comfortable armchair here are my thoughts on the matter. I am not saying that Bergy will sign anyone because as everybody knows many hockey players even from Quebec do not want to play in Montreal because of  the weather, the taxes, and the media circus. I have to agree with a few of the hockey pundits who think that Jake Gardiner would be a good fit with the habs. However, I disagree that he should be partnered with Shea Weber. I would prefer him playing with Jeff Petry. I still think that Weber and Mete are a viable duo. Mete is underrated as to how his...

What in hell have we witnessed in the first half of the season. Talk about plans going awry. The habs had a disasterous pre-season and they followed that up with a shocking start to the season. Now as we head to the halfway point the season is probably over in terms of making the playoffs. What went wrong? Everything. The hardest part of the habs season has been watching their A list players falter like Price, Weber, Pacioretty, and Drouin. So why did things go sour? We can start with the coaching staff. Sorry I expected more from Claude Julien. Both defensively and offensively the habs have looked disorganized and confused. Julien still has not been able to stabilize the defence pairings or the line combinations. Some of the blame no doubt belongs to Bergy and his off-season signings. There have been way too many defensive lapses and way too many impotent powerplays. Kirk Muller was brought in to help a sputtering powerplay. There has been no visible improvement since Muller’s arriv...

The NHL season and the NHL brand may be heading towards its most interesting and suspenseful season in over a decade. We have established stars trying to maintain their elevated standing in the league, traded franchise players hoping to invigorate their new destinations, high flying rookies adding a new energy and verve, and GM's and coaches hoping to hold on to their jobs. PK Subban and Shea Weber have been pitted against each other through no doing of their own. Both Nashville and Montreal have been close to the Stanley Cup final in the last few years but have been unable to get over the hump. Both teams think they got the missing link that will lead to Cup glory. Each player wants to desperately win the Cup to cement their legacy. Weber is the much more respected player by coaches and players, meanwhile PK has been making his own waves with his personality. Weber has been clearly more productive in the early stages of the season leading the habs to first place overall. PK ha...