If all of this is true, it makes the Montreal Canadiens organization look like even more of a joke.
Hockey is what it is because it is the only sport (now that baseball is fun again) where extroverts are openly neutered as a part of the "culture" of the league/sport. First off, who gives a **** if PK made that Doughty comment? Is every player in the league supposed to spout cliches 110% of the time, even when they're not in front of the cameras? Good on him for speaking his mind, and if those players couldn't take it they're a bunch of mentally fragile pansies. Don't like what PK said? Bust your balls off and be better at hockey.
Second, a lot of this crap boils over when a team is losing. When the wins are rolling in, who gives a **** if a guy wants to go to a different event instead of the family Christmas party. At least, I'd hope that's what it is but based on some of those comments this has been happening for a couple years which makes the Habs look even worse. I've played sports up to a high school level and get the whole concept of wanting to create a culture in the dressing room...but it seems to get overblown at the NHL level where any deviance from the "clean cut Canadian kid" image is seen as disastrous beyond repair.
Unsurprisingly, that's always the first thing that these archaic managers look to resolve rather than the talent of the team which would fix the actual problem of losing hockey games. Because seriously, if these grown ass men are so ****ing triggered that a member of their hockey team doesn't show up to a Christmas party that it affects their performance...what does that say about their character? It's one thing for a person to be an annoying, even toxic presence, but in most work places that doesn't excuse performance. It sure as hell wouldn't fly if I told my manager I'm slumming it at work because the kid three cubicles away is an *******. I'd be told to just maintain a professional working relationship and move on. An HR rep might listen to me ***** for a bit if it got that bad. That's it.
If that kid is the best at what he does, he's definitely not getting fired just because he talks too loud at the water cooler. All around poor leadership starting from Bergevin and ending with Captain AINEC.
Finally, what the **** is with the obsession with controlling players during their off time? I get that these are elite athletes that need to keep their body in peak shape to perform on ice, but is PK supposed to follow curfew when he's injured for the sake of optics? Like he can't play an NHL game so he's supposed to be in the gym doing a Rocky style workout regimen until he can will his way into playing? That's ****ed, haha.
Overall, this does just sound like the typical post-trade smear campaign. This one is even funnier than "the Bruins have the best leadership in the league and even that character dressing room couldn't turn Seguin around" argument. "PK once pointed out the LA Kings are a good hockey team and it caused the Habs dressing room to meltdown."
