“I’ve never seen Jeff Gorton so angry”: the weekend left its mark

It was quite a weekend for the Canadiens.

On Saturday, the Canadiens lost to the Rangers in familiar conditions. And on Sunday, the Canadiens lost to the Bruins in familiar conditions.

The result? Tankathon is officially my best friend again.

The games are divided into two parts. First, Sunday’s game was one where the Habs did “a lot of helping the opponent” on the ice, as the club’s coach often says.

But in Saturday’s game, it wasn’t an ugly one. After all, as Martin St-Louis said no less than six times after the game at Madison Square Garden, the club played a good game.

But clearly, he had a message to send to the referees (by refusing six times to comment on their work… without being asked) and it’s rare that he does so in a press conference.

Why did he do it this time? Was it because he sensed his boss’s frustration? One might think so, in light of what reporter Elliotte Friedman reported this morning on the 32 Thoughts Podcast.

People who were in New York over the weekend told me they’d never seen Jeff Gorton so angry. – Elliotte Friedman

If the coach said he was happy with his guys and didn’t want to talk about the officiating, you’d think the real boss of the Canadiens’ hockey operations was directing his anger at the referees.

Had it been 24 hours later, it would have been a different story, after all. Given the fact that there were players who looked bad (hello, Mike Matheson, Cayden Primeau and all those who allowed three goals in 70 seconds), it would have been understandable.

But that wasn’t the case.

I wonder what Gorton, who was playing his old teams this weekend, thinks of the Habs these days. After all, if he was this angry on Saturday, it’s probably because he sees his club’s season going in a direction he doesn’t like. #AccumulatedAnger

Overtime

– The Sharks have a great prospect on their hands.

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– David Jiricek, traded (in part) because of his skating stroke? [NYT]

– 15 M worth of deadwood and first place in the NHL: congratulations to the Wild.

The Minnesota Wild are 1st in the NHL in P%

They have $15m in dead cap space. pic.twitter.com/h7OLEgnSqe

– Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) December 2, 2024

– Tomas Plekanec enjoys watching P.K. Subban talk about his favorite moments in the Boston/Montreal rivalry.

– Pleky14 (@TomasPleky14) December 2, 2024