Canadiens Best Might Not Be Good Enough
by Robert L on Oct 18, 2009 12:15 PM EDT
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After reading the words of commenters this morning to my bleak summation of the Canadiens loss to the Senators last night, and checking out Boone's always dead on target "About Last Night..." at HIO, I received needed injections of hope to cure some of my hopelessness.
Most of it would fall under the heading of "Something's Gotta Give!"
In e-mail exchanges with Dave Stubbs yesterday, he brought up a curious point about those of us who write about the Habs, saying that he would not read something I have posted, due to touching on a similar topic, until after he has completed and posted his piece. I noted that I often feel exactly the same way, and that I lay off reading Boone post game, because not only does he apparently type faster than I can think, but we also often touch upon common thoughts.
Usually, it is just a thought or two, but in this line, originality counts for something and no one wants to appear even remotely influenced by another.
In the past, after noting more than once that Boone's words and mine rang a similar bell, I did read all of "About Last Night" mainly to steer clear of things he spoke of.
That said, I suppose hopeless breeds similar thoughts. Both Boone and I stated we'd keep it brief. I did - he did not. Both of us alluded to the greatest goaltenders ever almost having to be perfect to get this team a win. Boone mentioned "mantra's", and I resorted to old cliche of "When you're going through hell, keep going!"
I guess I do not even have to read Mike any longer to think along similar lines.
I came within a notion of posting a video clip to summarize a feeling I had about the Canadiens, but it was getting late, I was tired and bummed, and I had wanted to keep it brief to begin with. I killed the idea.
Strangely, perhaps inuitively, I radared in on Boone's choice of words. Quote:
"For me, that's the scary part about the way the Canadiens have begun their season: they are doing their best ... and their best might not be good enough."
I laid off slagging on any Canadiens' players last night, precisely because I could not come up with anything new to say. I didn't feel like being redundant. The effort of Canadiens' players IS THERE!
What do you do?
As I said, keep going through hell. Eventually, you keep going, you emerge from it.
The quote is divorce based for me. I used it often when my brother went through that particular hell years ago. It seemed a better "pick me up" than sayings about silver linings, lemonade, etc.
Hence I killed the video notion...until now.
The Habs' players are giving it their all. If you don't think that after a summer of new signings, all these players are dying to taste the thrill of victory inside their Bell Centre, then you don't know much about the pride of a professional hockey player.
Their best has not been good enough yet!
The clip here is from Springsteen's "Tom Joad" album, a most depresing but brilliant piece of work. Back in 1996, I was one of 2,000 or so lucky folk jammed into Theatre St. Denis for his acoustic show, and he prefaced "My Best Is Never Good Enough" by suggesting we cover the little one's ear, as it this song had some dirty words in it.
Whimsical as it is, this ain't no "Born To Run". The song's funny, but a downer, and far from his best work. At that show, he told the crowd he was influenced by an old B-Movie psycho thriller, in which the killer utters some dumb cliche before each trigger pull.
Fittingly, it was the evening's final song.
I hope it somehow brings a smile to ya until the next Habs win...
Lyrics are below.
Every cloud has a silver lining, every dog has his day
She said, "Now don't say nothin'
if you don't have something nice to say."
The tough, now they get going, when the going gets tough
But for you my best was never good enough
"Now don't try for a home run, baby
If you can get the job done with a hit"
Remember, "A quitter never wins and a winner never quits"
"The sun don't shine on a sleepin' dog's ass"
And all the rest of that stuff
But for you my best was never good enough
"If God gives you nothin' but lemons, then you make some lemonade"
"The early bird catches the fuckin' worm,
Rome wasn't built in a day"
"Now life's like a box of chocolates,
You never know what you're going to get"
"Stupid is as stupid does and all the rest of that shit"
Come'on pretty baby, call my bluff
'Cause for you my best was never good enough
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Seems like we see glimpses of what “could be”… like fast puck moving line with Gomez,Cammalleri,Gionta…. also attracting penalties….
But then it fades out.
It will likely take a bit more time. Many new faces, new coaching staff and style… maybe too many changes at once??
I’m gonna be patient. Not just because I think I should be….. but also because I don’t have much choice.
They had chances the last couple of games…. the puck just didn’t go in.
- Yves -
http://yvesonhabs.com
This is as hopeful as I’ve been for a Habs team in years, save parts of 07-08 where they looked like a world-beater.
This is a team that actually looks like it might become fundamentally good, as opposed to a gimmick power play-and-goaltending team.
I agree...
And whenever I get to post them, the scoring chances tells the same story.
My hunch is, right now they are grooming two 3rd line guys (D’Agostini and Pacioretty) and using the incumbent 2nd line LW (Gui!) to prop up the 3rd line until then. Bear with me here: I think the teams management see D’Agostini and Pacioretty as able to take the kind of step forward Gorges took a while back; they don’t need to be top notch offensive talent (they won’t play tough opposition anyway), but they do need 25+ games under their belt to actually start holding their own without being thoroughly sheltered on the fourth line (Dags) or riding coattails to two established players (MaxPac).
Markov would’ve allowed us to hide this fact, but alas… So growing pains it is, and hopefully the kids start taking a few steps before it’s too late for the playoffs. But if both Pacioretty and D’Agostini develop enough of a game to let Martin stack big Guimauve on the second line, we may be in for some interesting times.
Then again, I used to root for the Nordiques in the late 80’s, so these guys don’t look that bad to me anyway…
The Poor CH
As I said before the problem is in the net, Price is and will never be a Dryden, he had a good going in Junior but now he is playing with men who knows where the puck’s going while Price is thinking of his great shots in the Junior.
Give me 2 old chewing gums and 1 used stick and U can have Price,We ( The fans) we want Halak but Gainey think his so call savior( Price) will do it , Gainey wake up smell the coffee that price is even worst than Steve Penny we had before did you Think that this goalie could replace guys like Roy, Dryden, Worsley damn man if you think so then you need to step down and fast.
And on defence well you’ve let go many good ones one for example , he was not a Robinson, Lapointe or savard but was always there at 120% each game (Bouillon)will you tell me now that Bouillon didn’t fit with the Canadiens,Where’s Vincent Lecavalier, Heatley and the list goes on and we still have a poor team on paper it is not a team on ice we see what they can do right now the Habs have 4 or 5 good players I said good not excellent butI guest Molson will wake up when the fans will stop going to see the habs playing.
I’m saying that will be the worst ever season the habs ever had if there is no good trades made by a Pee wee GM oh by the way Gainey you will never be another Sam Pollock you are not even a Scotty Bowman, as a player you were great but GM you suck
Sorry Robert
I got carry away after watching the habs for over 50 years,I never saw such a mess with that Team
I doubt this team will be as bad as the late ’90’s teams. It hurts though because we seemed to have a very good team less than a year and a half ago. This is the centannial. It’s all supposed to come together like in 1993…
Did anyone really think that this team had a shot at contending this season?
I thought/think that at best they might be a dangerous team for a first round upset in the playoffs if they can keep from falling too far behind at this point in the season.
The younger players are not good enough for us to compete with the better teams, though, and my thoughts are that this is our biggest weakness. For the most part, the offensive players Gainey brought in are good. Defensively, it is hard to say we’re better. So far, it does not look like it.
But, the goaltending situation has to be dealt with differently ASAP. Price and Halak should be allowed to compete for starting privileges rather than have Price be the designated “number 1”, complete with bullseye attached to the poor guy’s jersey.
As good as Dryden and Roy were, they never had to come into a situation with the kind of expectations that Price has had imposed upon him before ever playing an NHL game. (case in point: how many other players found themselves on the cover of “Les Canadiens” before ever playing an NHL game?)
This is a very unhealthy situation for the entire team, not just Price and Halak.
How Martin handles the team and the media is the most critical element. If they win a game or two then everyone will get excited again.
You´re right. This team will surely be not as bad as the late 90s teams and I think Price is definitely not our biggest problem. I think about a 18 million dollar first line that can´t score or Hal Gill who… Well, you know. That being said I still remember the 2005 draft. We already had been talking about that big centre we needed for years and there he was: Anze Kopitar. I have to admit I am from Europe and he was pretty much the only player (among the ones who were draftet that year) I knew but everyone was aware of his size and his tremendous talent. Yet we took Price despite having Theodore who was still pretty good back then.
With Kopitar instead of Price who would be our Nr. 1 right know? I have no idea but we would surely not have acquired Gomez and his ridiculous contract. And yes, we now could have Kopitar, Plekanec, Koivu and Lapierre at centre. Aside from Pittsburgh pretty much as good as it gets in this league…
Price is a (potentially) phenomenal asset. But he’s been thrust into an environment that will surely crush him if some changes aren’t made. Halak is also being wasted in the meantime, not being given a chance.
Something has been missing in recent years with how younger players are being groomed in Montreal. There’s more attention and praise lavished on them for mere signs of promise. They’re blown up into superstars virtually overnight, but also burdened with equal pressure. It’s a no-win situation for the fans, who will be consistently let down and desperately searching for new superstars from nowhere, and the players who will be squashed by the pressure.
The situation with the K brothers last season shows that we’re being careless with how we manage our players off ice. It is true, they are not “kids” but “adults”, but there have to be some standards imposed and maintained, and the organization has to look after its young players as well. It is surprising that someone like Gainey would miss these things. Perhaps, since he was a player who was self-disiplined, that did not occur to him.
The Rangers had these kind of problems for decades until Messier joined the club.
Now, we don’t have that kind of on-ice leadership, so Martin has to take a stronger role, be the lightning rod to take the shit from the media and buffer the players, and just keep them focused on playing their best.
I’m concerned because more and more I am seeing a team that is looking like the Rangers of the ’80’s. Modest or unproven talent blown up to celebrity status without it being earned or nurtured.
Give them 20 or even 30 games. We don’t have a lot of superstars whose individual talents overwhelm the opposition. We don;t have tremendous size that overpowers the opposition. Instead, our offense depends entirely on teamwork—on finesse, on skating, on speed, on passing, on split=second timing, on knowing where everyone is. It takes time to develop that kind of teamwork in the best of circumstances. But this is a brand new team—the product of the biggest player turnover ever in postwar Canadiens history==working under a new coach installing a new system.
I am glad I am not alone is saying I’ve seen promising signs that things are improving. Most promising of all is what Robert L. notes, that the entire team is putting in the effort—something which was lacking last season. Most of the fan base seems bent on trying to demoralize the team, as illustrated by the forum discussions over at Habs Inside/Out, from which more heat than light emanates. Psychological factors play a huge role in team success, and their impact is often underestimated. One hopes this team will be able to weather the storm of discontent from mostly young fans who don’t understand what it takes to build teamwork. I think some strong statements calling for patience and restraint from Martin and Gainey and perhaps from some of the respected stars of the past might help in that regard. And I don’t mean statements like Gainey;‘s singularly unhelpful :“I don;t know whether this team will make the playoffs.” That may be honest, but it’s not what the team needs at this moment.
Is there a man worth millions to play hockey
18,000,000 and we do not have a 40 goals scorer what a shame, Hockey will never be the same because the NHL have let the owners giving way too much money to the players, and many guys who makes millions of dollars are not even forcing their butts on ice, they do not like the situation they ask to be trade.
In Montreal there was a saying if you want to play for Montreal you better like the Saint Flanelle but I guess since Pollock is gone there is no more Saint Flanelle now in Montreal is just ask for money even you do not know how to be a team player and you will get it.
Years ago everyone’s dream was to be part of the Canadiens but now everyone’s dream is les Canadiens do not draft me many people saying not enough French Canadian players but for the love of god should we get guys that cannot even play Junior open the safe in Montreal and pay good players they will come to play and be a team or take the rest of the money and buy a plywood board to put behind Price when he is in the net that might help the CH to win a few games, I am sorry I cannot watch a game when price is in the net otherwise I’ll die of a heart attack I dispite that player
Enough of Price now we will talk about the defense ok Markov is out is it the reason they cannot play, I remember when Maurice Richard was suspended the CH kept on going to win that’s to prove bot only one player can make a team they are 20 players but 19 do not know what to do because Markov is injured come on now give me a break. We should bring the Bulldogs they might all be better than the CH now.
According to the Cup well keep on dreaming Montreal that will not be for at least another 5 to 10 years
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