Hockey

Habs: the best team culture of the last 30 years according to Martin Leclerc
Pablo Herrera-Vergara
Habs: the best team culture of the last 30 years according to Martin Leclerc
Credit: Getty Images

Who's looking forward to the start of the Habs season? After a long summer, the serious business begins tomorrow morning with the first intra-team games. But even before seeing a single preparatory game, you can sense that something special is going on with this 2025-2026 edition. Many of the players spent their summers in Montreal, and the vast majority got together in the last few weeks to practice before training camp. The core of the group seems very close-knit, and the culture seems excellent. But to what extent? Martin Leclerc, the journalist on the Habs beat for a very long time, talked about it in his column on Martin Lemay's new comeback show. When asked by the host when he'd seen an edition of the Habs with such a culture, Leclerc couldn't recall.

“You have to go back a long way. I don't remember seeing this kind of culture with the Canadiens. You're talking '93, there was a special group (…), but in the last 30 years, I don't think I've seen this level of cohesion.”

–

Martin Leclerc

Leclerc has seen it all. He's covered some good teams, so his commentary is rather special and should be seen as a good sign for the years to come. As we know in the playoffs, to be successful, you need talent, of course, but you also need a cohesive team capable of overcoming adversity. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have done an excellent job since their arrival, and for me, the most encouraging sign is that there are no players who see themselves as bigger than the team. Everyone contributes in their own way and fights for the logo. It's been a long time since we've seen that in Montreal. On October 8, a new page in the great reconstruction begins against the Maple Leafs, one that could lead to a much more interesting playoff run.

'Overtime'

– Well deserved.

– It's getting rarer and rarer.

– It's never far away.

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