CH’s best goalie must play more than 40% of the team’s games

It’s December the fourth, and we had to get out our shovels when we left home this morning. In short, it’s normal life in Quebec, climate change or not…

Although I do have a thought for those without electricity this morning – there are more or less 100,000 of you, according to Hydro-Québec’s website – and for the children whose school (which wasn’t already on strike) was closed. Now that’s not so normal…

Back to sport…

December began as November ended for the Canadiens: the club lost in front of its fans on Saturday night at the Bell Centre. And it had all kinds of difficulties on the power play…

Our power play is special. It doesn’t work for a dozen games, then looks like a Renaissance masterpiece for the next 10…

And then it looks like a pee-wee B power play again for another ten games. Hard to like and trust him, let’s say…

But you know what bothers me even more about the Habs this morning? No, it’s not the Youppi! rental at $195 for a few minutes or Jake Walman’s celebration last Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

And yet, Martin St-Louis – on the recommendation of Éric Raymond and/or Kent Hughes – continues to employ his three goaltenders in perfect rotation. A-B-C-A-B-C-A-B-C…

It just doesn’t make sense!

We’re in the best league in the world… a league that’s not about development, but rather about getting results.

A league where every head coach – unless your team is tanking – must try to field the line-up that gives him the best chance of winning every night.

Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis said before the start of the season that their club had to take the next step(from baby to kid, if memory serves), but the coach refuses to give the net more often to the best goalie of the three. Tonight will be the 21st game in a row where the starting goalie won’t be the same as the previous game. I’m repeating myself, but it doesn’t make sense.

Montembeault is better than Allen (who hasn’t won since late October) and Primeau; why don’t we give him more of the net? We need to put an end to the ménage à trois, even if it means handing Jake Allen over to the waivers and then to Laval.

The team’s best goaltender should play 60-70% of games, and his back-up, 30-40%. Maybe even a little less if he’s really not as good as #1…

But right now, it’s more or less 40-40-20. In short, the coach only maximizes his chances of winning four nights out of ten. The other six, he’s defending a theoretical concept and/or being told what to do so as not to displease certain players’ agents. Not a perfect example of a meritocratic system, let’s say…

On Friday, the Habs announced that they had extended Montembeault’s contract for three years ($9.45 million total)… and on Saturday, Montembeault was on the catwalk because Allen and Primeau were dressed. Did I mention that none of this makes sense?

Extension

The Canadiens’ promotion of a new service (renting Youppi! for a few minutes at your Bell Centre seat for $195) was the talk of the weekend. Charging young families to spend a few minutes with the Habs mascot doesn’t make sense to me.

But now the Habs have added an important paragraph to their website this morning, which wasn’t there until 9:59 a.m. today. Here it is:

Let’s just say it goes down a little better…

Still, I don’t think it was created to enrich the coffers of the Canadiens Children’s Foundation in the first place. Rather, I think the CH saw just how much this new promo wasn’t getting through – and rightly so – on social networks. Youppi! shouldn’t be a $200 service, but a little something for young fans, that’s it.

I’ve tried to buy the Folie Fourrure experience on several occasions, and never once was it mentioned to me that I would (or wouldn’t) receive a tax statement in exchange for my donation, as is the case with the 50-50 draw, donations to the Foundation when purchasing tickets, or purchases at the annual golf tournament. And the other teams across the NHL who offer their fans a visit from their mascot don’t report doing so in partnership with any foundation, either.

Whatever. If the $195 a visit brings in goes to help sick kids in the end, I have a lot fewer problems with the concept. Don’t you?

Still, I’m pretty convinced that, in the beginning, profits were supposed to go into the pockets of shareholders, not sick kids. I don’t think we would have bought a lot of ads on Facebook for a charity initiative.

In the end, we’ll have served as a modern-day Robin Hood on DLC.