JiC wonders if the Habs lose games on purpose

The Montreal outfit is winless in its last five games…

And the club’s record in the last 10 games is not exactly stellar (2-7-1).

Is there a reason for Martin St-Louis’ men’s woes?

Since the trade that sent Sean Monahan to Winnipeg, the Habs just don’t seem like the same team on the ice… A bit like when Monahan was injured at the start of the 2022-2023 season.

But it goes even further than that. The Habs lack natural talent, they lack experience, Monty is the only consistent goaltender so far this season, and there are a lot of holes in Martin St-Louis’ lineup.

That said, the Habs have been pulling so hard lately that JiC wonders if the club is “losing games on purpose”. The host didn’t mince his words in a recent article published on the TVA Sports website:

Is it possible that the absurdities we see in the heat of the moment actually serve the guiding principle of the team staff? Develop without regard to results… or rather yes with regard to results, as long as they’re losers. – JiC

JiC feels that the problem is the lack of reaction by the team’s leaders to the shortcomings of their playing system and strategies:

Is the Habs deliberately awful defensively?https://t.co/WaciJYFTCD

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) February 26, 2024

JiC’s reaction is understandable, because everyone wants to see the Habs win.

In Montreal, we take the team’s success to heart, and that doesn’t change even if the club is rebuilding…

The game is disjointed and the Habs are struggling at times because they don’t yet have what it takes to compete with other NHL clubs. And that’s not Martin St-Louis’s fault…

The club is young, and mature players on the roster can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Of course we want to see the club be good… But we have to be realistic in our expectations too.

It’s often said that patience is needed, and it’s true that at some point, the Habs will have to post better results. That said, the team hasn’t reached that stage yet.

In a gust

– It’s going to be tough.

– Nice transaction.

Seems like a pretty fair trade to us!

via @Canes pic.twitter.com/2cBXDo3uXI

– BarDown (@BarDown) February 27, 2024

– Yikes. Tomorrow’s game against the Coyotes is important.

– Anthony Marcotte argues that Sean Farrell needs to give more.

– Will he be able to?