Habs play for today with future cloudy at best
The decision was made to drop the usual pomp and circumstance on opening night of the 2017-18 hockey season in Montreal. No dramatic passing of the torch. No presentation of stars from the past. After years of being praised as an organization that knew how to do ceremony better than anyone else, the Canadiens were more reserved earlier this week when Chicago came to town.
A few thousand kilometres away, in virgin hockey territory, it was Las Vegas that was recognized around the hockey world for its extraordinary efforts on its first opening night. But it was relatively quiet in Montreal. Some media accounts described the Canadiens’ pre-game efforts as “lacklustre.” There were tickets available on the day of the game, and unfilled seats in the lower bowl in the first period.
Implicit in all of this was a sense that something is amiss with Montreal hockey at the moment, that all is not well.
Hockey’s most successful franchise seems a little lost. On a bit of a walkabout, as it were.
This impression may be somewhat exaggerated, as things related to hockey in Montreal often are. When you’ve won that much over the decades and had so many, many star players, expectations are always in the air and there’s a sense of specialness. Just as Ken Dryden begat Patrick Roy who begat Carey Price, to many Canadian hockey fans there was always this feeling that the stars would keep coming, that winning would continue to follow Les Habitants because it always had. Well, maybe not this time. It will be 25 years next spring since the Canadiens last lifted the Stanley Cup, and suddenly 1993 is starting to have the same heavy resonance in La Belle Province as the fact the Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since 1988 is having in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers may be able to end their drought this month. The Habs? Most aren’t picking them to go deep next spring.
So far, they’re 1-3-0 with speedy Toronto coming to town Saturday, with an 0-for-14 power play and just five measly goals scored on the season after an off-season trade for stylish centre Jonathan Drouin was supposed to give the team a blast of new offensive pizzazz.
The Habs still have the superb Price, and an excellent coach in Claude Julien. They’ve registered 100-point seasons in three of the past four years, and won the Atlantic Division last year.
Like the other 30 teams, the Habs also realize greatness is no longer required to win a Cup in this salarycap era. It was painful, sure, to watch ex-Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban skate in the 2017 Cup final with Nashville, but if the Predators could get that far, well, the Habs and at least 20 other clubs could certainly imagine scenarios where they might be able to make a similar journey with their current allotment of talent.
So a little perspective would tell you Montreal is hardly in dire straits.
But here’s Montreal’s special problem. Like the Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist, they’re trying to win it all with a team whose best player, perhaps by far, is their goaltender. Hockey history says that’s hard to do, although Montreal did it with Roy in ’93. Right now, having one or two elite centres seems more necessary to build a champion. Goalies such as Cam Ward, J-S Giguere, Tim Thomas, Jonathan Quick, Antti Niemi, Corey Crawford and Matt Murray have sipped from hockey’s silver chalice in recent years. None were their team’s best player.
Habs general manager Marc Bergevin has made a number of moves demonstrating a “win-now” philosophy in recent years, an indication Montreal may be feeling the urgency of knowing there’s a window of possibility open for the team while Price, now 30, is in his prime. Subban went to the Preds for Shea Weber, four years older than Subban. Andrew Shaw was acquired from the Blackhawks for two second-round picks, one of which was used to select winger Alex DeBrincat, who scored against the Habs in that home opener this week and has more points this season than any Montreal player so far.
Drouin, just 22, was acquired from Tampa for Montreal’s best prospect, defenceman Mikhail Sergachev, who is already getting regular work as a 19-year-old on the Lightning blue line. The subtext: the Habs needed Drouin now and couldn’t afford to wait for Sergachev.
Drip, drip, drip. A little here for some futures, a little there. Bit by bit. It can catch up with a team. In Montreal’s case, the situation has been made a little worse by the fact Bergevin’s six drafts haven’t yet unearthed a star.
Alex Galchenyuk, Bergevin’s first pick in his first year, has a 30-goal season on his resume but right now has been banished to the fourth line for indifferent play. Of 39 Bergevin draft picks since 2012, only Victor Mete, Jacob De La Rose, Charles Hudon and Artturi Lekhonen are currently on the roster.
The three first-rounders before Bergevin arrived — Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi and Louis Leblanc — are all gone as well, and none brought returns that are helping Montreal right now. So that’s nearly a decade of not getting frontline talent in the first round.
Still, when you have Price, you’re always in the game. Drouin showed the swagger and potential in the pre-season to be a bona-fide firstline centre. Weber’s not what he was, but he’s also far from over the hill. Captain Max Pacioretty is a very good scoring winger. Mete was a revelation in camp and made the team.
It’s also well known and greatly discussed that the Habs have $8.5 million of cap space available even after spending $57 million (all dollar figures U.S.) on new contracts for Drouin and free-agent Karl Alzner. But what to spend it on? Matt Duchene’s name has been sporadically linked to Montreal, but that would again cost a younger player (Galchenyuk?) or more draft picks.
What Bergevin needs is for his team to at least start playing closer to its potential, which is far more than it has done so far. That would strengthen his hand.
The Canadiens have always relied on their history and tradition to get through tough times. But they’ve never had to deal with extended tough times. Ever.
There’s no ceremony for that. Damien Cox is the co-host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. He spent nearly 30 years covering sports for the Star. Follow him @DamoSpin. His column appears Tuesday and Saturday.