I’m in tab*rnak

Maxime Truman
I’m in tab*rnak
Credit: Screenshot/YouTube

The Canadiens players once again served up the same inedible poutine os*i to their fans.

It's not normal to see the Habs suffer five thaws in less than a month in front of 21,000 people who paid big bucks to come support you and see your “show” on the ice.

In the space of 30 days, the Habs have…

1. Lost 5-1 to the Kings at the Bell Centre;

2. Lost 7-0 to the Stars at the Bell Centre;

3. Lost 8-4 to the Capitals at the Bell Centre;

4. Lost 5-2 to the Senators at the Bell Centre; and

5. Lost 6-1 to the Lightning at the Bell Centre. To think that the Lightning had just played two games—including one the day before—without finding the back of the net…

Each defeat is a copy-paste of the last: lack of experience, toughness, willpower, courage, saves, and efficiency in the coach's man-to-man system.

Please tell me that this defensive positioning was normal and effective:

Result: the Habs have been the worst team in the entire league for the past month. No less!

How can a team like the Canadiens have a 7-8-1 record in front of their fans (in their “fortress”) and an 8-3-2 record on the road? Isn't it harder to win on the road, especially for a young team? Is the Bell Centre becoming – a bit like Toronto – too intimidating for the home team?

Houston, we have a problem!

The panic button
The Canadiens announced after the game that they had decided to recall Owen Beck, Adam Engstrom, and Jacob Fowler. Presumably, this decision was made somewhere between the first and second periods, when it was clear that the on-ice collective wasn't getting the job done.

Frankly, I can understand the need to press the panic button and send a message to the existing group; it's not normal to never have extra players to challenge the dressed players night after night, no matter how well they perform. Competitive sport has always been like this: healthy internal competition allows everyone to offer their best. When it gets too safe and comfortable, many start to give less, given the lack of consequences for failure. You have to know that someone will take your place when you suck…

I've been talking about this since practice camp: Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton need to stop trying to save a few pennies by only having 20 players on the team. The authorized limit is 23; that's not for nothing!

Secondly, Martin St-Louis and Stéphane Robidas will have to look in the mirror; their man-to-man system is as flawed as my Spanish when I go south! You can't ask Jayden Struble to go man-to-man on Nikita Kucherov and think that Kucherov will never beat Struble. And when he does, it's outnumbered (1 v. 0, 2 v. 1, etc.). You're playing with fire.

Third, can you explain why we decided to recall a 21-year-old (Beck), a 22-year-old (Engstrom), and another 21-year-old (Fowler)? The Habs are the youngest team and lack experience on the ice? The veterans in place aren't getting the job done, especially at forward.

Why not give Samuel Blais (29), Alex Belzile (34), Lucas Condotta (27) or Kaapo Kahkonen (29) a call? Especially since Owen Beck has just 11 points in 22 games with Laval, nine less than Alex Belzile! And he has the Rocket's second-worst differential (-4).

What's more, Beck was playing eight or nine minutes a game when he was recalled, and Engstrom, a dozen at most! And nobody's really bringing toughness and grit to the table…

It's like the doctor prescribing you penicillin, but you'd rather take Viagra to cure your cough!

As for Jacob Fowler, I recognize his enormous talent… but I seriously wonder whether bringing him into the defensive fair that is Martin St-Louis' current man-to-man system will be good for him, first and foremost.

I talked about this in detail yesterday on the Stanley25 podcast. I recommend you listen to the few-minute segment, already posted below:

Doesn't this risk shattering the confidence Fowler is building in the AHL?

Especially since I'm worried that Éric Raymond, the Habs' goaltending coach, will undo what Marco Marciano built with Fowler in Laval.

By then, I would have had Patrick Chèvrefils sign a contract.

Since you're probably saying I'm too negative or pessimistic—imagine if I'd paid $250 to be at the Bell Centre last night—I'll leave you with a statistic/piece of information that means nothing, but will piss off a few fans: Is Jacob Fowler the next Patrick Roy or the next Carey Price?

Go Habs Go!


In Overtime

– Doug Armstrong, Team Canada's GM (Olympic Games), is constantly making questionable decisions in St. Louis. And this has repercussions on the team's play! Can we really trust him with Team Canada?

– What's going on with Samuel Montembeault? The excerpt is placed.

– After (or before) Brayan Vera, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

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