Playoff bound? Let's hope not! - 12/30/01
If the Canadiens make it to the post season, it will be 1993 all over again... except for the Cup of course.
It's as bad as we thought it might be. Montreal's current road trip looks more like a 20-car pile-up than a detour in the middle of a "Cinderella" season. And the Habs won't be home again until they touch down in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Minnesota - talk about Cinderella stories, all of 'em!
Here are some numbers from the past ten games that prove that the Firewagon is merely a pumpkin after all:
- 3 wins, 5 losses, 1 tie, 1 overtime loss
- the Canadiens have been outshot in every game; they managed a measly 16 shots in 3 of those games and only hit the 30-shot mark in overtime games
- Brian Savage hasn't had a point since December 17th, yet he's still 2nd in team scoring - ugh!
- Jeff Hackett hasn't won a game since coming back from a shoulder injury on December 12th.
Somehow, through all of this wretched play, Montreal remains in playoff contention hovering around 8th-9th place in the Eastern Conference. And we can't have that. We need Montreal to miss the playoffs again or it will be 1993 all over again. Oh sure, we were all drunk with excitement then, just they way we get chills seeing Jose Theodore giving this year's squad the chance to win every night. But in retrospect, winning the Cup in '93 was probably the worst thing that could have happened to the Habs. It gave Montreal's corporate management a false sense of security, letting them think that they actually knew something about the game of hockey. The years since then have clearly proven otherwise.
The Canadiens are in danger of repeating the subtle mistakes of the past. Like Doug Gilmour on today's roster, the '93 team included an aging superstar past his prime (Denis Savard) who didn't have much of an impact on anything. Some middle of the road scorers, Gary Leeman and Brian Bellows, also came to Montreal to fill out a weak lineup, much like the present day Joe Juneau and Yanik Perreault. And the Patrick Roy-Jose Thedore comparison is so close that I have nightmares about a certain number 60 wearing Avalanche colours.
But let's be fair. Ronald Corey, Serge Savard, Rejean Houle and Mario Tremblay are long gone so the comparisons should stop. That is if the new management under Chairman Gillett, President Boivin and General Manager Andre Savard does the right thing. And there are two ways to do the right thing: you can spend money, lots of it; or you can rebuild.
Spending Money
Montreal monangement hasn't been able to spend a lot of cash during these crazy free-agent years. We've heard more than we wanted to about the woes of the federal tax system in Canada, the minicipal tax system in Montreal. But if you're going to play in the big leagues, you're going to have to keep up with every aspect of it. And a good free agent comes with a name like Jason Allison or Michael Peca. Not Trevor Linden or Dough Gilmour (though one clever Sportsnet.ca visitor commented, "At least they didn't give up a first-round draft choice for Gilmour as they did for Linden. Hal Linden would have been just as useful on ice. And more amusing off ice.")
If Andre Savard is given the go-ahead to spend money so that Montreal can improve sooner than later let's hope we see names like Bobby Holik, Tom Poti, Wade Redden, Pavol Demitra, Petr Sykora and Daniel Alfredsson in the mix and let some other team pick up the dranddaddy stars and middle of the road scorers (I'm just glad that last year's pursuit of Martin Lapointe fell short to the Bruins. I still can't believe Boston signed the big ex-Red Wing yet let a young superstar like Jason Allison get away.)
Rebuilding
If Habs fans and the Montreal media could be convinced to accept the rebuilding process, they might be pleasantly surprised sooner than later. Like I said, Houle and his clowns are gone while Andre Savard is in. And he makes all the difference. Just look at the Ottawa Senators, a team of draft picks and potential that he helped pull out of the basement and into contention. He has been a scout and an assistant coach. He's responsible for taking a chance on Marian Hoss, while his skill of grooming young talent is showing every day in Wade Redden and Martin Havlat.
The Canadiens could give him a couple of years to rebuild through the draft and through trades to get good young talent in the house. Even if it means trading Savage, Hackett, or even young Mike Ribeiro and Stephane Robidas. The Oilers make it happen year in year out. The Flames have been patient and the young talent is paying in spades. Andre Savard could do the same for Montreal. ANd just think, a few years from now when Jose Theodore is in his prime (hard to believe he's still a kid), a keen group of young forwards and defencement will be ready to wrestle for the prize again.
Sooo...?
Of course it would be great if Montreal won another surprising Cup this year. But it ain't gonna happen, folks. Already New Jersey, Washington and Buffalo are breathing down Montreal's skivvies; no doubt all of them will pass the boys in blue, blanc et rouge before the February Olympic break. But if the Canadiens open the vault for Andre Savard, or bless him to use his scouting skills to start fresh, Montreal may just be back on the fun side of the stat sheet before the next Olympic break in 2006.