24 CH uses candid camera to get behind-the-scenes look at Habs
Uncomfortable encounters make for great television
The Canadiens launched 24 CH with a promise to give viewers a candid, behind-thescenes look at the team, and the show has delivered.
Based on the popular HBO 24/7 series that focuses on teams preparing for the annual Winter Classic, 24 CH could have been another bland attempt by an organization to control the message with breezy features and cherry personality pieces.
But the season debut set the tone for this season when the cameras followed Louis Leblanc into general manager Marc Bergevin’s office, where the former first-round draft choice was told he was being assigned to the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
Bergevin said he communicated with Hamilton coach Sylvain Lefebvre after each Bulldogs game last season and asked him who his best player was. Bergevin told Leblanc his name didn’t come up once. The GM went on to say that every NHL player has a window of opportunity and that Leblanc’s was closing fast.
It was a riveting scene, the kind of conversation that is usually kept behind closed doors. I don’t imagine Leblanc was pleased at being pilloried in a public forum, but it provided fans with an insight as to why the player who received a standing ovation at the Bell Centre when he was drafted 18th overall in 2009 is now spinning his wheels in the minors.
(For the record, Leblanc showed signs of life this week when he scored the overtime winner and added two assists in a 5-4 Hamilton win over Rockford. They were the 22-year-old’s first points this season.)
There was another candid look behind closed doors in a recent episode of 24 CH, and this one involved the interaction between head coach Michel Therrien and defenceman P.K. Subban between periods of a game.
Therrien told Subban he wasn’t moving his feet and suggested the defenceman’s mind wasn’t fully engaged and his play was a carry-over from a listless practice the day before.
Therrien was doing his job and Subban said he understood that and agreed with the incident being made available for public consumption. Bergevin asked Subban if he had any problem with the segment going to air and the defenceman said he was fine with it.
But the segment left me feeling uneasy because I deal on a regular basis with people who don’t like Subban. He may have won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman last season, but each week I receive emails suggesting the Canadiens trade him while he has value. I also receive emails saying he’s overrated, undisciplined and lazy.
Therrien’s comments — legitimate discourse — were designed to motivate Subban but suddenly become ammunition for the haters when they are taken out of context from the 24 CH broadcast.
Subban’s larger-than-life persona overshadows the fact that he is a diligent worker striving to get better with each game.
Therrien and Bergevin have on occasion made comments that reflect their belief that Subban can play better, and the team might feel it’s beneficial to mute any praise for the defenceman. That’s because Subban’s contract is up at the end of this season and the 24-year-old is in for a huge payday.
And that brings up an intriguing scenario. Subban ended a holdout last season when he accepted the Canadiens’ offer of a two-year bridge deal.
If negotiations are stalled this time around, it will be interesting to see if Subban’s agent, Don Meehan, tries to sell the Canadiens on another bridge deal — a two-year contract that would bring Subban to unrestricted free agency in 2016.
Those negotiations would make for great TV.