Thumbs down to struggling Canadiens, up to treatment of worst teams

Dave Hodge

Host, TSN The Reporters with Dave Hodge

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Are there “must-win” games in January? Not usually, but there was one in Montreal last night. And the Canadiens lost it. So, “thumbs down” to that.

The second 5-2 loss to Columbus in as many nights leaves the Habs three points away from a playoff spot at the all-star break. They return to action next Tuesday in Philadelphia, so there’s a full week of grumbling and questions ahead, in addition to the Carey Price watch, of course.

When general manager Marc Bergevin addressed the team’s problems last week and accepted responsibility, it didn’t stop the criticism directed at coach Michel Therrien and the players.

But Bergevin has good reason to point the finger at himself. The Canadiens are last year’s team made no better by the GM’s off-season moves. Zack Kassian and Alexander Semin came and went. Tomas Fleischmann, Paul Byron and Mark Barberio came and stayed. John Scott heads the list of players added to the organization during the season. Right, because he’s an all-star.

The core of the team is unchanged, and it needs to be made different.

Price’s return might make it feel better about its chances. A new coach might wake up or shake up the key players who are not themselves, but Bergevin has ruled out a coaching change, and it is accepted that he has no choice but to stick with Therrien. A qualified candidate who meets the Montreal requirements simply doesn’t exist at this time. Neither does any other solution. The Canadiens have ceased to be the team they were the past two seasons, and the team that opened this season with nine straight wins. They have become a team capable of losing on back-to-back nights to the one in 30th place.   

At least the Canadiens are closer to a playoff spot than to the NHL basement.

Not so the teams that are scouting Auston Matthews most closely, and normally, that would make those teams subject to jokes about their incompetence.

You know, like the tired reminder that the Edmonton Oilers might get the number-one draft pick, and who remembers when they didn’t? It gets a laugh or an “oh no, not again” groan every time.

But there are no Oiler jokes this season because the Oilers have had so many injuries. So last place won’t be their fault. Injuries aren’t an excuse, unless there are so many of them they become a reason.

The Maple Leafs have long provided material for comedians, but in this strange season where their fans don’t seem to cheer or boo, the old jokes are stale and nobody can bother to write new ones. They’re for the future, just like the team.

Never mind two wins over the Canadiens, the Columbus Blue Jackets are bad, as usual, and their coach is John Tortorella, who leads all NHL coaches in bringing laughs whenever his lifetime video reel is played. These days, though, the Blue Jackets and Torts are off-limits for the one-liners and they get nothing but sympathy, because the bombastic coach is out of action with broken ribs.

You can’t tell a Buffalo joke this year, because there hasn’t been much snow. And the best lines about the Sabres always seem to have bad weather in them.

So “thumbs up” to the better treatment the worst teams are receiving... sort of.