What the Puck: Losing culture begins to permeate Canadians

Article content

This Habs team is really pathetic.

Article content

I understand that this season ended before it started. I understand that the Canadiens would never make the playoffs. And I understand that the best plan for the new executive vice president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, is to do some kind of rebuild, be it a full rebuild or a rebuild on the fly, to paraphrase my old friend Marc Bergevin.

But enough is enough! These players are tarnishing the reputation of the CH and I’m sick of seeing this. Before Saturday’s game, head coach Dominique Ducharme said it was time for the veterans to show some leadership.

Then the veterans and the kids went out and laid an egg in St. Louis. It wasn’t even that they lost 4-1 to the Blues. It was the way they lost. They didn’t even pretend to try. The game was perfectly exemplified by Pavel Buchnevich’s first goal. He fired two shots at Jake Allen as Blue Line veteran Ben Chiarot stood next to him, looking away, like he didn’t want to see the train wreck that is his team.

Article content

That is unacceptable. They should have gone to war on Saturday night to win this one for Allen, who is the true hero on this team. Allen was hired as a backup goalkeeper and, let’s be honest, he’s not a true No. 1. Last season, Carey Price was out, as he usually is, and Allen had to take on the big job and he was amazing. . Without him, they don’t make the playoffs and they have that magical career.

Then this season Price isn’t there once again and, worse, Bergevin, in his infinite wisdom, didn’t bother to get Allen a real endorsement. So they have worked it on the ground. He is the best player on the team. Then they go to St. Louis and the real teammates would think this is our chance to show appreciation: “We’re going to beat Jake, who spent his entire career with the Blues before joining the Canadiens.”

Article content

But they don’t care. And Allen was not happy. In his post-game comments, he called out his teammates.

“We need more of everyone,” he said.

“I still see this as an opportunity for me,” Allen added. “That’s the way I see it and I want those guys in the locker room to see it that way too.”

Then he really screwed up: “But it depends on how you lose. How you play, how you respect it. If you lose, you lose. But you know you fell swinging. Obviously it’s tough right now, there have been a lot of losses lately. We have to win here to change the culture a bit and get going. “

This team is creating a losing culture and that is terrible. The most important thing is the development of young players who will be key in rebuilding this franchise. There aren’t many promising young players because Bergevin left a team in shambles. But there are some, notably Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Alexander Romanov. What the veterans are showing you is that it’s okay not to try, it’s okay to give up. Honestly, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Article content

Then there is the lame duck trainer. Gorton has already said that Ducharme will keep his job at least until the end of the season. That was the new boss’s first mistake.

I understand the team wants to lose to have the best chance against likely first overall pick Shane Wright. But I don’t think it can take another four months of Ducharme press conferences during which he overlooks the team’s miserable play.

On Saturday, Ducharme said: “Tonight, I found out that we didn’t have any jumps, that we didn’t have a lot of energy, or if we did, it was only for very short moments. In the situation we find ourselves in, we really need to be on top of our game. We did not play as well as we wanted ”.

Not enough energy? This is a team that has given up and, in large part, it is because they have given up on the coach. Is that good for children? Of course it is not. Everything is toxic and the boss is playing with fire leaving the team to rot like this for another half season.

Article content

I’m not saying run into the playoffs. I’m saying at least tell the coach that he has to hold players accountable for what they do on ice.

Shower should look at what New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz did over the weekend. He benched Anthony Beauvillier for Saturday’s 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Beauvillier had gone 13 straight games without a point. Many people say that Ducharme should do the same with extreme fighter Jonathan Drouin. I think it’s an excellent start to finally hold these underperforming players accountable. That’s Ducharme’s job.

[email protected]

twitter.com/brendanshowbiz