Thursday, April 1, 2010

Don't even bother

See the previous post for reasons why the Habs don't deserve Carey Price, or any good goalie.

What the Canadiens need to do now is to start Price for the rest of the season, lose every single one of those games despite his sensational play, and hope for a higher draft pick.
Cause the Habs sure as hell ain't beating anyone they'll be seeded against in the playoffs.

What bothers me most about this is, if the Habs had been playing Price from the Olympic break onwards, they would be in prime contention for a lotto pick against the Leafs or the Panthers (given that they flat-out refuse to win a single goddamned game when Price is playing). Instead, we fins ourselves in the all-too familiar territory of hovering around 8th place. They're not very good, and they don't flat out suck. And if you don't think the Habs are rebuilding, you're nuts. At least the Leafs are finally developing a clue that they've been rebuilding ever since 2003.

I live in Virginia, and while hockey sure isn't the most popular sport, the Caps have always been entertaining, and are attracting a lot of fans to the sport. This morning I was shocked to realize that since 1998, Washington has been to the Stanley Cup Finals, rebuilt, rebuilt again, and is now poised to make another deep Cup run.
Compare that to Montreal: since 1993, they have won the Cup, rebuilt, rebuilt again, rebuilt again, won the division ONCE, and is rebuilding again.
Before last year, Pittsburgh last won the Cup in 1992. Montreal will not even match the Penguins brand of "success" the way they're going.

No, it looks like Montreal is set for a Detroit or New York style drought for years to come. It's not getting better, and the real problem is, it's not getting worse either. Only when teams fall to the bottom does it seem they can really rise to the top again. And Montreal is content to keep a lukewarm record. So strap yourselves in for a lot of long, cold winters of mediocrity, Habs fans.
But, there is a glimmer of hope: if they keep Carey Price and play him as the bona fide starter next year, we can be assured of a last-place finish. Then the rebuilding can really start.

1 comment:

Number31 said...

Derp derp derp. Back in 7th and didn't have to do anything.

But if they don't pump 5 past Brian Boucher tomorrow WHO IS A HORRENDOUS GOALIE (that ironically once lead the league in shutouts) then they don't deserve being in the playoffs anyway.