IT’S TIME FOR CANADIENS, FANS TO LOOK AHEAD
In all likelihood, the team has missed its chance at the playoffs this season
The Canadiens have dragged their fan base through the five stages of grief and it’s time to embrace the final stage — acceptance.
Acceptance that this team isn’t going to make the playoffs. Acceptance that there isn’t a trading- deadline deal that will provide the team with a power forward or a centre with size.
Acceptance that the best wish for Carey Price is a healthy start to the 2016- 17 season.
Acceptance that general manager Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien will be around for a while.
Captain Max Pacioretty is confident that the Canadiens can still make a run for a playoff spot, which is baffling because the team has lost all confidence in its ability to score goals, get off to a good start in games or hold a lead.
The Canadiens are six points out of a playoff spot, which wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle if they were playing well. But the Canadians have lost four in a row, are 1- 8- 1 in their last 10 games and haven’t won two consecutive games since Nov. 27.
Their problems are compounded by the fact that they are sixth in a seven- team race for those final two spots and two of the teams ahead of them — Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — have three games in hand.
The trading deadline is Feb. 29 and for most of the season, the conventional wisdom was that Bergevin would do something to shore up the hole on right wing. The GM has since said he’s not interested in acquiring a rental and if the Canadiens get involved, the team will be a seller and the goal will be to dump contracts and free up salary- cap space.
Acquiring a quality forward with size would have been difficult even if the Canadiens were in a strong bargaining position. Look at last year’s deals and the most significant trade involving a quality winger sent Evander Kane to Buffalo, and it’s safe to say that hasn’t worked out very well.
What’s that you say? Let’s trade for some first- round draft choices? There were only two of those in play last year. To put the market in perspective, the Canadiens only had to surrender a second- round pick to acquire Jeff Petry.
There was some excitement Friday when Price actually stood in the crease in Brossard. But he’s still not skating at full speed and he wasn’t wearing any equipment except for his catcher and his blocker.
Barring a miracle run during the next two weeks, there’s no reason to activate Price until next season. And there’s no reason to consider playing him unless there is an assurance that he is 100- per- cent healthy. The Canadiens need him for the long term and while 90 or 95 per cent might be an acceptable risk for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup it is not worth it for Game 72 in a season going nowhere.
Along the same lines, let’s not even think about seeing Price at the World Cup in September. He has an Olympic gold medal and there’s no benefit for Price or the Canadiens to get involved in this bogus event.
As for the guys at the top, I’ve always said that if you hired the right coach, you keep him through the ups and downs that are part of professional sport. Therrien’s not perfect but until Price was hurt, the Canadiens had won more games than any other NHL team since the 201213 lockout.
Building a winner takes time. The Canadiens’ opponent Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers, haven’t been in the playoffs since 2006 despite having the first overall pick in the draft four times in the last six years.
Finally, let’s address the issue of dissension in the dressing room. Any time you get two dozen individuals together, there’s the potential for friction. Any old maxim in sports suggests one- third of the players are happy, one- third are unhappy and the coach’s job is to get the other one- third on his side.
Players are going to be upset if they don’t get enough ice time or they feel that another player is getting too much time. They’re not happy if they sit out or they’re made the scapegoat for a loss. The problems in the dressing room are a by- product of losing. The same frustrations were there in October, but they are easy to handle when a team is 9- 0.
The best that fans can hope for is an honest effort until the end of the season, a good draft pick, a deal or two in the off- season, a healthy Price for October and a decision by owner Geoff Molson not to raise ticket prices.