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In Hainsight: Where There's a Will There's a Way |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Let’s not kid ourselves, 2022 might just have been the worst year in Montreal Canadiens’ history. Last season was a nightmare and by the time Dominique Ducharme was dismissed, watching the Habs play felt like pure torture, it reminded me of never-ending advanced maths classes in high school, ones I had no interest in or use for. Since Martin St-Louis was appointed at the helm, things have gotten better but the Habs have now hit a really rough patch, and some are starting to worry about what that will do for the youngsters’ development.
Admittedly, December has been a disaster for Montreal, in a busy 15-game month, the Tricolore was only victorious 4 times and suffered a few blowouts along the way. The 5-1 defeat to the Lightning mid-month was hard to watch, just like the 4-1 one against these same Bolts 4 days ago. More than these though, the last 2 games have got fans worried, losing while being competitive is one thing, but getting blown out of the water by the struggling Panthers 7-2 and 9-2 by the aging Caps is another, is this becoming a toxic environment for the Canadiens’ youth?
Personally, I do not feel like pushing the panic button just yet. This is a rebuilt and it’s meant to be hard. We’ve heard a lot about the growing pains a young team must go through, but this edition of the Montreal Canadiens has to go through pain period. Why? Because the new Habs brass is trying to fashion a team with a new identity and a new style of play while using players chosen by the previous regime and ill suited to this new style. Right now, it’s not the blue line’s lack of experience that is the issue, but rather the lack of effort and offensive output by overpaid veterans. The likes of Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman are paid big bucks and are not doing a whole lot. Soon, they’ll be gone and that will be helpful to this rebuilt.
Will this mess the young Habs development in the long run? I’m hoping it won’t, I trust Montreal has got the right staff in place to make this trying season a learning opportunity no matter the final scores. Martin St-Louis isn’t yelling at his youngster and going full on Tortorella on them, if he was, there would be a problem. The coach knows the predicament his team is in right now and understands that the expectation isn’t to win a truckload of games, so he does his best to teach at practice and to keep the kids happy and the environment positive.
Still worried about the way the Canadiens lose? Then, just like Brian Wilde did yesterday on Twitter, I’ll invite you to check the Colorado Avalanche record in 2016-2017. That year, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions missed the playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season even though they had a respectable start to the season playing just below .500 prior to December. The winter months weren’t kind to the Avs, they won a total of 4 games across December and January and were massacred on many occasions, losing 10-1 to the Canadiens, 6-0 to Toronto, 5-1 to Anaheim, 6-1 to Winnipeg and 7-4 to Edmonton. In the end, they finished dead last in the standings with 48 points, did that prevent MacKinnon (53 points), Rantanen (38 points) and Landeskog (33 points) from becoming the best players they could be? I don’t believe so, do you? Where there’s a will, there’s a way, you’ve got to trust that these young Habs will be able to grow through the pain just like the Avs did. Personally, I'm more worried about Guhle being sidelined, we already know he won't play in Nashville Tuesday and he'll be reevaluated when the team returns to Montreal...
Keep the faith Habs’ fans, the path ahead is a rocky one but when all is said and done, you’ll be glad you stuck around to reap the benefits a few years from now. The new year will bring you more than its share of defeats, but you’ve got to keep seeing the bigger picture.
As we welcome 2023, I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read my blogs and discuss hockey with me, these last few years have been trying times for us all and you’ve been a ray of sunshine for me. Thank you for your time and your passion for the game, this team, and its players. Have a wonderful new year and I hope it brings you everything you need and want.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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