As part of the season ending Montreal Canadiens media blitz, Geoff Molson wrote a letter to the fans of the Canadiens in response to the disappointing result. While he was adamant that they have every intention of doing better next year, his letter fell woefully short of instilling any sort of confidence that there is a real plan in place to make that happen.
“As far as what to expect in the off-season, I will let our hockey operations team, led by Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien, detail these in due time. When you have a disappointing season like the one we just had, no stone can be left unturned in looking for ways to improve. You have my full commitment that we will do everything possible to improve our team.”
Is this a joke? If one truly believes that no stone can be left unturned, then how on earth can the coach of the team be safe? It makes literally no sense. So we have his full commitment to do everything possible to improve the team, except that one thing that might make the biggest difference of all. It’s slightly insulting to the intelligence of the fans.
“This being said, despite subpar results this season, stability in our approach remains the focus. The mark of all good organizations in sports is stability and long-term vision. I remain convinced that we have a strong foundation of core players and veterans, as well as younger players with promising futures.”
Stability in the approach? So the plan is to rely far too heavily on Carey Price again, and pray to the hockey gods that he stays healthy? The approach isn’t working, that’s the problem. There is a strong core of players, and talented up-and-comers, but that doesn’t matter if they’re incompetently managed; which to most outside observers seems blatantly obvious.
“Like you, I am a fan of this legendary organization. I hear your frustrations and I read your tweets after a loss. I share your elation and feel the same thrills when we succeed. I know how important it is to have a winning team in this city. You demand and deserve better. I guarantee that we will do everything in our power to honour this and continue building the great heritage of the Montreal Canadiens.
This year we hit a bump in the road. I see this as an opportunity to become stronger, better, and more prepared for the future.”
A bump in the road? I don’t know about that, because to me it seemed like a season that proved the inefficiencies of the team’s system. If the goal is to be more prepared for the future, a great place to start would be to create a system that doesn’t fail miserably in the absence of the MVP goaltender.
I’ll now speak directly to you Mr. Molson, because if you really do read tweets, then maybe there’s a slim chance that you’ll read this. You say that you too are a fan of this legendary organization, so why are you patronizing the rest of us?
You owe us more than empty rhetoric. You said it yourself; we demand and deserve better, so consider this as me doubling down on that statement. I demand and deserve better from you, and I can’t speak for every Habs fan out there, but I’m relatively confident that most of them do too.
Did you read the comments on your letter, posted on the team’s official website? That might be a good place to start, because you have some pretty angry customers on your hands. You might want to consider what the people want, given that they spend a whole lot of money to support your hockey team.
After the 2011-12 season, I had hope. The club seemed legitimately committed to change, and the results that followed were great. After this season, I do not feel the same whatsoever. I’m concerned that I might have to watch a similar trainwreck next season, and I don’t know if I have it in me.
I’ll never stop being a Canadiens fan. I’d probably watch all 82 games next year even if they were to lose every single one. That said, I’m extremely disappointed right now, and your letter did nothing to help that.
You can, and you should do better than this for your fans.
