Ridiculous really, I don't even understand how this can bring joy into your life. Just shitting on your so-called loved team 24/7 and it somehow makes you feel better... I mean I hope it makes them feel better at least...
Cuz if it doesn't make you feel better and you're still doing that's f***ed up.
Loving your team, and I do and probably for longer than you, doesn't mean we have to agree with the way the team is run.
I'm of the school of thought that building a solid foundation needs a real rooted plan of developing organic talent. You cannot win by trading and buying players. That's how it's been since the foundation of the league, aside from 1 or 2 outlier teams a la 1994 Rags.
I won't delve into the glorious past of this team, even though all tradition-rich pro sports organisations do maintain a certain decorum proper to its roots (Packers, Man U, Steelers, Yanks, etc.).
Montreal (and it was shown here), is just not 'gifted' in drafting and developing home-grown talent. It just can't do it. Inexplicably.
See, Lou Lamoriello always said that he modeled his organisations on that of the Montreal Canadiens of old. Some younger posters here find Lou's method to be arcane, old-fashioned. Yet, I consider Lou to be the best GM in the league, and probably one of the top 5 in the history of the league. And players RESPECT his methods.
This is exactly what should happen to this organisation. Because that's in this organisation's DNA. Just like the Packers, the Steelers, the Yanks and others have theirs and abide by it through thick and thin.
Under this management team, all I see is improv. Good improv. Great reality TV, TBH. I mean, we ARE entertained. All the time. I have fun with this, it's really entertaining to see this organisation go to an unexpected Cup Final, then unexpectedly draft the 2021 Black Sheep of minor hockey (to the dismay of all in the hockey world), then lose their alledged 2nd centre to a welfare organisation, before trading for a solid centre.
I mean, it's solid Reality TV. Lucky that Montreal Media is tame these days. I mean, that would have warranted a full season of Lance et Compte from Réjeaune.
I know you guys think he's a very capable VP of hockey ops. And Molson seems to agree to a certain degree (although three years is a bit of a 'kiss of death' contract for such an experienced guy). I don't.
You know what? I think the tables have turned. I think Lou Lamoriello SHOULD NOW be the model for this organisation. Because that's the Habs I used to know. One that had a good grasp of its DNA. Of its raison d'être.
What we lived this summer (Cup Run), for 70% of this forum, was unique. For us farts it was a blast from the past, the most fun we had in decades. And we had the internets to share it with others!!! What we lived this summer was exciting for all (although you seemed detached for most of the run, at least from this forum - that seemed united in positivity for once). But it shouldn't be just a unique run. It should be something that can happen a lot more times.
It's funny, I hear people write on this forum : "well, you know, it's not like the old days where there were 20 teams in the league. We have 32 teams now." And I agree. But why is it seemingly easy for a small organisation like Tampa Bay to be dominant in the middle part of the 2000's with a couple of superstars like St-Louis and Lecavalier and THEN rise again from the ashes in the 2010-2020's and win two more cups (poised to win more) with another generation of uber talented players? Why? Why can't it be the Montreal f***ing Canadiens? The Yankees seem to do it all the time. A franchise that had as many World Series as we had Cups when baseball had no more than twentysomething teams. Yet, they still do produce competitive and contending teams.
These organisations do it because they respect their DNA. They know that in order to win, you need to have developed a stable, multi generational identity, and stick to it. At all costs. The Montreal Canadiens were known for developing organically. Tampa does it. The Yanks (and they do go after big UFAs, and spend like crazy) too. All winning franchises do it the right way.
We have become the Dallas Cowboys of hockey : we spend through the roof, but we don't develop home-grown talent. We try to win strickly by trade or UFAs. That is not the Montreal Canadiens I know.
So that is why Bergevin failed in my opinion (just that of a single fan). The fabric of this team has always been to develop its core. He had a great start when he came in. It derailed.
Cheers.
