To put the Centennial year into perspective...

wow thanks for that.

Even before the season started I felt that the anniversary thing was going to be a huge distraction and it has turned into more than that. I had more fun watching the team in 06-07 when they missed the playoffs than I do this year while they're in the hunt.

Agree with the article about the prestige factor, or lack thereof. While it almost brings me to tears watching old tapes, thinking back of the last game at the Montrel Forum when Richard got a 20min standing ovation or even seeing a jersey hung in the rafters, it absolutely kills me seeing our players just standing around watching the same things I am as if someone put a gun to their head. Overall, there's a lack of respect by the players, the organization and the media.

It's clear the team (and not just ours) has turned into a farce
 
That was an interesting read. I can't really fathom what it's like to have my local area glorify its team as fallible Gods though...but then again, we never rioted over a suspension. I think that Montreal fans are a little wacky, but just as my dad told me about the Grateful Dead, "If I have to explain it, you won't understand."
But as far as talking about people who don't remember the last Cup going because they want to be cool, that's a load of BS. I wasn't alive until 8 years after the Flyers won a Cup, and I'd bet I like them as much as almost any Flyers fan. Just because you weren't around for the glory days doesn't mean that you can't have respect for the old players (btw, that Forum celebration was amazing, even though ESPN2 cut it off midway through) and don't appreciate what they've done and give them the proper respect. Speaking from my experiences, when guys like Hextall, Clarke, Parent, and Barber walk onto the ice in Philadelphia, the place goes nuts and it's not just for show; we all really love those guys.
I'm sure there are fans and players on teams who don't care much about the tradadition and just want to be there because it's a thing to do, but being a fan of a team that's been around less than 1/2 as long as the Habs, I hope he's speaking about a minority of players and fans, not the players and fanbase as a whole.
 
The Montreal Canadiens were my first favourite team. Growing up in Saskatchewan, you'd be amazed at how many people still consider them their favourite.

It's funny, because even though I am more of a fan of the game and certain players (having no real "home team" of my own), I always want the Habs to do well. It goes back to when I was a kid and the names Guy Lafleur, Mario Tremblay, Pierre Mondou, Rejean Houle, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden, Bunny Larocque, Larry Robinson, and even Brian Engblom were household names (in my house anyway).

In western Canada, you either loved the Habs, or you hated them. I think it is still this way. The mystique is eternal, and I for one would not want an NHL without the Montreal Canadiens being a huge part of it.

No one can tarnish this franchise. No European hockey players with mob ties, no lazy players, no one. This is the one team that might be as big as the game itself.
 
J.T. does a lot of excellent writing for the website. She's the only commenter that has her 20-minute analysis cited in every live blog thread.
 
"A good many of today's fans don't remember the Habs ever winning a Stanley Cup"


What a stupid statement..:|Come on people relax the habs are in a slump in February.Lets judge the team after the season is over not on Feb 20.
 
AppleStyles97 said:
"A good many of today's fans don't remember the Habs ever winning a Stanley Cup"


What a stupid statement..:|Come on people relax the habs are in a slump in February.Lets judge the team after the season is over not on Feb 20.
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When taken out of context, yes it seems stupid. Quote the entire paragraph/point JT is getting at with that statement and it isn't.
 
Im not a Habs fan at all one part stood out to me

"Although thrilling to watch at the time, it was a regular-season game in which the team was down 5-0 in the first place. The greatest teams would never have been in that hole, and if they were, they wouldn't want to point it out, comeback or not."
 
fly4apuckguy said:
This is the one team that might be as big as the game itself.
Click to expand...

Interesting article in and of itself, and I think the above statement gets at the heart of the issue. And that being, that there are MTL fans, players, and media sources that truly believe this to be true. It goes above team pride to a point of thinking you are invincible. Its like montreal is its own little world as far as hockey goes.

It is comparable to a lesser extent to the yankees and what they mean to baseball. And believe me, by lesser extent, i mean the issues are 10 times worse in new york concerning baseball.

Essentially, when so much history and tradition originate from you (or your team) ...... ah here, ill let the author explain my thoughts.
´It's not a coincidence that every time a new player joins the team, through draft, free agency or trade, he's almost inevitably quoted as saying something about being proud to join a team with such a great history and tradition, with all the Cups they've won and all the great players they've had. When a man joins the Red Wings or the Devils, on the other hand, he talks about being excited to play for a winner and how he looks forward to the chance to get his name on the Cup.´

On another note, I enjoyed reading this part very much, because I saw it coming from miles and miles away.
´When Alex Kovalev talked about the Centennial being a distraction last week, I thought it might be true. Not that the celebrations take away from the players' attention to the game on the ice, but that they embarrass players who know they're not living up to the hype, by a long shot.´

How bad do you think they all felt for being voted as ASG starters? Knowing they were going out there representing their floundering team. How many people here wanted to rip my head off for suggesting the players wouldnt take it as a sign of respect. I know I would have been ashamed to represent my team under those circumstances (i would also think the fans were nuts, but thats just me):)

Enough rambling, it was a very spot-on article. Glad to see they wrote that in MTL too, was this something that made a newspaper? or just a blog/online editorial?
 
Metrags said:
Interesting article in and of itself, and I think the above statement gets at the heart of the issue. And that being, that there are MTL fans, players, and media sources that truly believe this to be true. It goes above team pride to a point of thinking you are invincible. Its like montreal is its own little world as far as hockey goes.
Click to expand...

I don't think they are invinsible, and they are not one of the teams I normally cheer for. Right now I like Pittsburgh and the Oilers.

But I am Canadian, and you might have to live here to understand just how storied and important the franchise is in this nation.

It is comparable to the Yankees, but I think it goes even deeper than that, simply because there are Montreal Canadiens fans from coast to coast, even in cities where other NHL teams exist. Your "own little world" statement is the exact opposite of the truth of the importance of the franchise to Canada.

Dude, I live in Saskatchewan. That's nowhere near Montreal. I have never even been to Montreal, but Jean Beliveau, the Rocket, and Ken Dryden are three of my heroes.
 
metrags, I suggest you stop making assumptions and blind statements about the Canadiens, Canadiens fans and the city of Montreal. You don't have a clue and you probably never will understand the relationship between the city (even the entire country) and the team and what it means to all of us fans, so please, stop uttering these asinine comments.
 
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I thought the article was a great read. And even though I've never even been to Montreal, I think I get the meaning of the franchise to that city. Most outsiders would look at that article and think the city's being too hard on the team, but really, that's the nature of the beast. Hockey is more than just a sport in Montreal, and the Canadiens are more than just a team to the city. I respect the tradition and heritage, and I've even forgiven them for 1993 (but I haven't McSorely, Melrose, or the rest of that team for giving up after losing game 2).

Anyways, I hope to see Montreal pull out of this tailspin, because love them or hate them, they helped craft the game I love most in life!
 
Metrags said:
Interesting article in and of itself, and I think the above statement gets at the heart of the issue. And that being, that there are MTL fans, players, and media sources that truly believe this to be true. It goes above team pride to a point of thinking you are invincible. Its like montreal is its own little world as far as hockey goes.

It is comparable to a lesser extent to the yankees and what they mean to baseball. And believe me, by lesser extent, i mean the issues are 10 times worse in new york concerning baseball.

Essentially, when so much history and tradition originate from you (or your team) ...... ah here, ill let the author explain my thoughts.
´It's not a coincidence that every time a new player joins the team, through draft, free agency or trade, he's almost inevitably quoted as saying something about being proud to join a team with such a great history and tradition, with all the Cups they've won and all the great players they've had. When a man joins the Red Wings or the Devils, on the other hand, he talks about being excited to play for a winner and how he looks forward to the chance to get his name on the Cup.´

On another note, I enjoyed reading this part very much, because I saw it coming from miles and miles away.
´When Alex Kovalev talked about the Centennial being a distraction last week, I thought it might be true. Not that the celebrations take away from the players' attention to the game on the ice, but that they embarrass players who know they're not living up to the hype, by a long shot.´

How bad do you think they all felt for being voted as ASG starters? Knowing they were going out there representing their floundering team. How many people here wanted to rip my head off for suggesting the players wouldnt take it as a sign of respect. I know I would have been ashamed to represent my team under those circumstances (i would also think the fans were nuts, but thats just me):)

Enough rambling, it was a very spot-on article. Glad to see they wrote that in MTL too, was this something that made a newspaper? or just a blog/online editorial?
Click to expand...
Anything you post on this site has a dig involved. If it's not a dig than it's you tooting your own horn, everyone around here see's it but you, it was the same on Beckett, I don't know if your were the kid that picked on all the time and you have grown up and still hold that grudge and feel it's important for everyone bow to your opinions, I bet you have caused more people to get suspended on this site and Beckett than anyone else, your are the SEAN AVERY of Hockey message boards ::owned:
 
Chris - if his ramblings bother you, go into his profile (left click on his name and select view profile) and add him to your ignore list.

It would be like you telling him all about baseball wearing your Habs ball cap. LOL.

As for the relationship between the Habs fans and the team.... Passion is the only word that comes to mind. Is that a bad thing? I think not - they are fans.

We are located 50 minutes south-east of Detroit. 2 hours west of Buffalo. 2.5 hours west of Toronto. Within 6 hours of Columbus and Chicago.

Most of our customers are Habs fans. Go figure.
 
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sholi2000 said:
I respectfully feel that JT is just another writer trying to make a wave. Garbage is what I think of it.
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So I'm guessing you missed this part Shane?

"It would be one thing to honour the great players and managers of the past who worked so hard to be the best and who made the team's name revered around the world for its success. That part of the Centennial is appropriate and should be enjoyed. But the poor unfortunate public relations people are trying to prop up the corpse of a once-great institution, slap on some makeup and tell us it's still alive. "See? Looks as good as ever!" "

I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but I saw your comments on the Habs I/O site and would actually like to debate the article.
 
No I didn't see it James. I stopped reading it.

JT has been doing her blogs for a while now. I get a tad upset when I see a Canadiens fan trashing the team. Let me take another boo.
 
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That fair enough Shanes. The team gets too much criticism thanks in large part to the Montreal media's obsession on the negative rather than positives, but some of it is deserved. In this case, I believe it is.
 
Nope, I stand with my comments.

The Canadiens are in a slump, they've had poor goaltending, and even worse defense. When slumps of this magnitude happen, everyone looks for the worse, and I feel that's what's going on here.

What would she have written about back in December when the Canadiens were flying to the top? Mostly good blogs about the Canadiens. In fact wasn't she the one who was doing blogs about a different retired player every single day, talking about the past as if it were today. I'm sure she was. Now the Canadiens are stinking up the East and she's looking for blame. Now she wants enough of the "Centennial BS" (that erks me). Hmm bandwagon jumper 101.

I keep looking at the March schedule and say to myself, a healthy team will win these future games. It all starts Saturday vs the Sens.

When they start winning again, people will look back Jan/Feb and say something about the distractions, the goaltending, the injuries, and the poor coaching and how they battled through it all to make the playoffs.

Can't wait for the slump to be over. If March is another disaster then 8 UFAs will walk, and Bob's 5 year plan will have failed, and then he will take on the brunt of the blame. I hope to the Hockey Gods that it doesn't happen. I like where this team is going. Of course I'm a fan, I'll cheer for them no matter how good or bad times are, and I'll defend them to the ends of the rink and back.

James I know you're not looking for a fight, I would never treat a hobby friend like that. This is a great discussion. :beer:

I'm 37 years old, seen the highs and the lows. Enough to say, they'll be back.:stanley::dance:
 

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