Why Not Believe In These Canadiens?
Being a blogger can be a pretty tricky and frustrating thing sometimes. The most important reason the average joe like myself writes a blog is because it provides an outlet for an opinion you're dying to express. But at the same time, you want people interested in what you have to say. You want the words you type to ignite something, ANYTHING in someone, ANYONE. That is generally easier to do when negativity surrounds the team because anger and frustration bring out a lot more passion than happiness and satisfaction. Let's change that.
I worked as a call screener for The Team 990 for the better part of a year. I know first hand that the switchboard lights up a lot more easily when there is venom to spew instead of praise. People are a lot more eager to call up and complain that they're more than willing to let Tomas Plekanec go as a free agent when he disappears in the playoffs than they are to call up and praise his status as one of the most underrated (and at this point, underpaid) players in the league. When things go well, there's always a sense that the bottom is about to fall out from under us. But maybe this season, we're standing on a pretty sturdy floor. So why not be happy when things go well? Why not praise the 20 men who have played their hearts out consistently this season? Why not start talking about where this group can go this year, the heights they can reach?
I'm starting to strongly believe the Habs are going places this year for several reasons. First of all, their ability to recover after bad games has been incredible. A few weeks ago, after an underwhelming performance against the Senators, they bounced back to win two games (against Vancouver and Boston) that most analysts already wrote off as loses. On Wednesday night, they played flatter than the two-month old Coke sitting in my fridge against Nashville. But that proved to be another one and done as they filled up their collective passion bucket and took it to the Leafs, playing like all the gatorade coolers in the locker room were replaced with Four Loco. They played 60 minutes of Pat Burns-style hockey on Pat Burns night. It's a testament to a lot of different things.
It's a testament to the leadership group that carried the team through their glorious playoff run last Spring and continues to guide the group through tough times. Where the previous regime of leaders struggled to limit the duds, the current group of Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Hal Gill, Andrei Markov, Michael Cammalleri and Josh Gorges, among others, have succeeded. What once was a string of four or five games of terrible, uninspired performances have been limited to one, maybe two.
It's a testament to the team's balanced scoring attack. The team has six players who have scored at least five goals. There are always a few guns on this team firing bullets when others are firing blanks. Brian Gionta is cold? No problem, Benoit Pouliot is picking up the slack. Michael Cammalleri is struggling? No worries, Jeff Halpern is turning back the clock and scoring goals. Scott Gomez is having a hard time getting going? It's all good, Tomas Plekanec is playing out of his mind. Opposing teams can't focus all of their shutdown guys on a couple of players the way they can with other, more top-heavy teams. If you focus on a select couple of players, the others will make you pay. Focus on Andrei Kostitsyn? Mathieu Darche will gladly take the open ice.
It's a testament to the spark brought on by P.K. Subban. The kid simply doesn't allow his teammates to sleepwalk through shifts or through games. His teammates cannot avoid getting energized when Subban is out there carving up the ice worse than those Bell Centre t-shirt gun guys on their mini-Zambonis. Subban plays with the fire and passion of someone who worked his ass off to get to the NHL and doesn't take his spot for granted. He has no problem telling the Don Cherrys and Mike Richards of the world where to stick their criticisms of his style. He will get in the face of opponents and single-handedly change the league-wide perception that the Montreal Canadiens are a group of soft pushovers.
It's a testament to the emergence of Carey Price as one of the very best goaltenders the NHL has to offer. In fact, respected Bruins writer Jimmy Murphy recently listed off the top goaltenders under 30 he would start a franchise with. The name at the top of that list? Carey Price. Lately, it's become a tradition to run to the computer to see where Price ranks in all the major goaltending statistical categories after every mind-blowing performance. As I write this, Price stands first in the NHL in wins with 12. He ranks third in goals allowed per game among goalies with at least 10 starts with 2.00. Among goalies with at least 10 starts, Price is third in the league in save percentage with a sparkling .932. And as far as shutouts go? Price is tops with four. Price has done all this despite carrying an incredible workload. Price leads all goaltenders in minutes played, having played almost two full games more than his nearest competition in that category. People, we're talking Vezina trophy-caliber numbers here.
Most importantly about Price, he's given the very same sense of calm to his fans and teammates that Jaroslav Halak gave last Spring. Price has very rarely been caught out of position. In years prior, there was no such thing as a routine save for Carey Price. This season, Price has made the impossible seem routine. That kind of goaltending gives his teammates a sense of confidence that they've carried into every other facet of their game. Perhaps there is yet another word we can put on the stop signs in this city.
So why not yell praise and gratitude with the same volume and passion we normally use to yell obscenities and insults? Why not call in to sports talk radio with admiration for those who normally draw our ire and frustration? Sure the season is only 20 games old and maybe we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Why not get ahead of ourselves? Why not believe in this team? There are an abundance of reasons to get on the bandwagon while there's still leg room.
I worked as a call screener for The Team 990 for the better part of a year. I know first hand that the switchboard lights up a lot more easily when there is venom to spew instead of praise. People are a lot more eager to call up and complain that they're more than willing to let Tomas Plekanec go as a free agent when he disappears in the playoffs than they are to call up and praise his status as one of the most underrated (and at this point, underpaid) players in the league. When things go well, there's always a sense that the bottom is about to fall out from under us. But maybe this season, we're standing on a pretty sturdy floor. So why not be happy when things go well? Why not praise the 20 men who have played their hearts out consistently this season? Why not start talking about where this group can go this year, the heights they can reach?
I'm starting to strongly believe the Habs are going places this year for several reasons. First of all, their ability to recover after bad games has been incredible. A few weeks ago, after an underwhelming performance against the Senators, they bounced back to win two games (against Vancouver and Boston) that most analysts already wrote off as loses. On Wednesday night, they played flatter than the two-month old Coke sitting in my fridge against Nashville. But that proved to be another one and done as they filled up their collective passion bucket and took it to the Leafs, playing like all the gatorade coolers in the locker room were replaced with Four Loco. They played 60 minutes of Pat Burns-style hockey on Pat Burns night. It's a testament to a lot of different things.
It's a testament to the leadership group that carried the team through their glorious playoff run last Spring and continues to guide the group through tough times. Where the previous regime of leaders struggled to limit the duds, the current group of Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Hal Gill, Andrei Markov, Michael Cammalleri and Josh Gorges, among others, have succeeded. What once was a string of four or five games of terrible, uninspired performances have been limited to one, maybe two.
It's a testament to the team's balanced scoring attack. The team has six players who have scored at least five goals. There are always a few guns on this team firing bullets when others are firing blanks. Brian Gionta is cold? No problem, Benoit Pouliot is picking up the slack. Michael Cammalleri is struggling? No worries, Jeff Halpern is turning back the clock and scoring goals. Scott Gomez is having a hard time getting going? It's all good, Tomas Plekanec is playing out of his mind. Opposing teams can't focus all of their shutdown guys on a couple of players the way they can with other, more top-heavy teams. If you focus on a select couple of players, the others will make you pay. Focus on Andrei Kostitsyn? Mathieu Darche will gladly take the open ice.
It's a testament to the spark brought on by P.K. Subban. The kid simply doesn't allow his teammates to sleepwalk through shifts or through games. His teammates cannot avoid getting energized when Subban is out there carving up the ice worse than those Bell Centre t-shirt gun guys on their mini-Zambonis. Subban plays with the fire and passion of someone who worked his ass off to get to the NHL and doesn't take his spot for granted. He has no problem telling the Don Cherrys and Mike Richards of the world where to stick their criticisms of his style. He will get in the face of opponents and single-handedly change the league-wide perception that the Montreal Canadiens are a group of soft pushovers.
It's a testament to the emergence of Carey Price as one of the very best goaltenders the NHL has to offer. In fact, respected Bruins writer Jimmy Murphy recently listed off the top goaltenders under 30 he would start a franchise with. The name at the top of that list? Carey Price. Lately, it's become a tradition to run to the computer to see where Price ranks in all the major goaltending statistical categories after every mind-blowing performance. As I write this, Price stands first in the NHL in wins with 12. He ranks third in goals allowed per game among goalies with at least 10 starts with 2.00. Among goalies with at least 10 starts, Price is third in the league in save percentage with a sparkling .932. And as far as shutouts go? Price is tops with four. Price has done all this despite carrying an incredible workload. Price leads all goaltenders in minutes played, having played almost two full games more than his nearest competition in that category. People, we're talking Vezina trophy-caliber numbers here.
Most importantly about Price, he's given the very same sense of calm to his fans and teammates that Jaroslav Halak gave last Spring. Price has very rarely been caught out of position. In years prior, there was no such thing as a routine save for Carey Price. This season, Price has made the impossible seem routine. That kind of goaltending gives his teammates a sense of confidence that they've carried into every other facet of their game. Perhaps there is yet another word we can put on the stop signs in this city.
So why not yell praise and gratitude with the same volume and passion we normally use to yell obscenities and insults? Why not call in to sports talk radio with admiration for those who normally draw our ire and frustration? Sure the season is only 20 games old and maybe we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Why not get ahead of ourselves? Why not believe in this team? There are an abundance of reasons to get on the bandwagon while there's still leg room.
Will Martinez runs the 'Hey, My Name is Will' blog and is a contributor for TheFranchise.ca. You can follow Will on Twitter @heymynameiswill
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