2011-05-23

Habs Hamper Their Chances

The reason I could care less about the Montreal Canadiens these days is because they're not committed to winning.

Let me explain.

There's an "unofficical" rule that the coach of the club should be bilingual in order to communicate to fans and the media. To me, a coach's mandate is to win and not pander to anything else. We put up all sorts of superficial bullshit to confuse this crystal clear mandate. Alas, bilingual must he be and with it a smaller talent pool to choose from. But we can live with this since there are many excellent bilingual coaches the Habs hire, fire and let go: Alain Vigneault, Claude Julien and Guy Boucher for example. The more astute among you will notice that these gentlemen represent three of the four final teams left in the NHL playoffs.

Where I simply don't tolerate the nonsense is at the upper management level. I can just imagine how many qualified candidates the Canadiens organization not only didn't interview but consider for their President and/or General Manager's job. Case in point, I hear Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman wasn't even called. Why I single this out? Well, the Habs are on record as saying they want to be a "puck possession" team like the great Detroit Red Wings. Yzerman is from the Wings system and aside from being widely known as one of the classiest legends in hockey, is a well-regarded hockey executive.

No sooner he entered the world of upper management, he assembled the team that won gold at the Vancouver games - although I still can't believe they chose to not take Martin St. Louis. But that's just a personal quibble.

What better person for the job to execute your plan than he? Instead, the Habs went with Pierre Gauthier. Go figure.

Back in the day, teams copied the Habs. They were the blueprint for success. The New Jersey Devils dyansty was but a knock of the Habs. GM Lou Lamiourello said he wanted to copy the Habs and went out to get former Habs legends like Jacques Lemaire and Larry Robinson to turn them into winners.

Outgoing President Pierre Boivin repeated the bilingual albatross during his tenure but admits it restricts the organization.

Duh.

Until the Habs quit the nonsense in a highly competitive world, expect more mediocrity from a has-been organization spinning its wheels.

***

Anyone who watches soccer knows the great teams go out and get the best available coaches and managers regardless of language, nationality and creed. Cripes, one of the all-time great coaches Giovanni Trappatoni has coached in Austria, Germany and currently is head of the Irish national squad despite his limited German and English; never mind Gaelic.

Why should we accept anything less from a hockey club?

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