The Haunting

 

    It was a dark and stormy night. Not much moved outside in the city of Montreal, but inside it was a different story. Inside, where an ice rink should have been, was instead an iconic emblem...the one they'd all worn on their chests with pride...painted on concrete. Above, where once hung banners in tribute to a glorious past, a soulless cinema now entertained throngs who didn't know this place used to be a shrine.

    The spirits knew though. The wraiths still flitted within the walls where they earned their immortality, and lamented that they now lived there alone. They knew the ones who carried their torch had abandoned them, and they weren't inclined to follow..

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    It was December, and a special occasion. One of the old comrades would be joining them tonight.

    "Hey boys! It's been a long time," smiled the ghost of Bobby Rousseau.

    "Look who's here," shouted the Boomer. "It's the kid!"

    "Not so much a kid these days. I'm 85 years old."

    "No, you were 85 years old. Here, you're in your prime, kid."

    "Say, what happened to our old barn? I haven't been here since they closed the joint."

    "That was a night," the Rocket chimed in. "I thought they'd bring down the rafters, numbers and all"

    "Not much left of it now," sighed gloomy Jacques Plante, bent over his knitting. "Not much left for us anymore."

    "Yeah, but remember the fun we had, helping the new guys out," asked Gumper.

    "Shit, yeah! I was new here then, but it was a blast standing behind the 'tender in all those overtimes," recalled Bunny. "There was no way anything was going in that year!"

    "Where were you the night everything went in? The kid wasn't sticking around after that. Too bad. He was a real character," said Moore.

    Laughter and shared memories echoed among the ghosts of the old cathedral. They recalled the party when they brought home their fifth trophy in a row. The time the Rocket laid open Laycoe's head and punched out the linesman. The long nights on the train and the night the scoreboard dropped for the last time.

    In a moment of quiet, the Captain cleared his throat. "Okay, boys. I think it's time to go."

    "What?! Why now?! I don't wanna go! What about the ones who'll come to find us and we're gone?!"

    A chorus of protest burst from the assembled wraiths.

    "Phil and Kenny are here now, and most of the younger ones know all about the new place," explained Beliveau. "The future's over there, and the kids could use our help."

    More debate followed until finally, with a collective sigh the spirits agreed. It was time.

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    "See, it's not so bad here," encouraged Henri. "I mean, it's not really home, but watching the games is fun. We used to think Roadrunner was fast, but just look at these guys!"

    "What're the goalers wearing," asked Hainsworth. "They look like mummies out there."

    "Why do their sticks keep breaking like that," Morenz wanted to know. "Looks like they're made of glass."

    "I like that Caufield kid," said Joliat. "He reminds me of me!"

    "Can you believe that Hutson," Harvey marveled. "Look at him handle that puck! He's what I wanted to be, if I could have. I'm gonna give him a little help here."

    "What're you gonna do?"

    "Just watch!"

    (Harvey, invisible, low-bridges Marco Foligno at the blueline, wiping the player out and clearing a path for Hutson. Ref calls a tripping penalty.)

    "What the hell?! How is that a penalty? That ref must be blind," ranted Harvey.

    "Ah, don't worry about it," soothed Lalonde. "You know half the stripes need glasses. I'll try."

    (Mitch Marner cuts across the Montreal crease looking dangerous. Newsy Lalonde shoves Marner from behind, sending him flying. Ref calls a hooking penalty on Caufield.)

    "NO! That's not supposed to happen! What the hell is wrong with these guys!"

    "How're we supposed to help when the zebras are this bad," wondered Flower.

    Dryden piped up, "No more. The truly aggrieved is not the player or the team who receives the occasional unjust penalty. There’s only one but what about that matters..."

    "SHUT UP, KENNY!" the spirits chorused.

    "Are they actually seeing us and calling penalties on ghosts," Butch marveled.

    "Nope, they didn't" interrupted Red Story, calling from the back. "But I did!"

    "What's HE doing here," grumbled Toe.

    "Don't think I forgot about how you got McArthur fired, you old boot."

    "Come on! That was years ago. I can't even remember what happened!"

    Red Fisher laughed his gruff laugh. "They're gonna write it up to say the refs are calling "phantom penalties." Little do they know!

    Beliveau: "Okay, guys. The idea is good, but we have to be a bit more under the radar. We can't give the dummies (sorry Red) any reason to blow the whistle on us."

    "I'm gonna like this place," grinned Fergie. "I can be there the next time the big kid takes on a bruiser."

    "I can get in there on draws," offered Henri.

    "And I can help out in nets," said Vezina. "I don't have a trophy in my name for nothing, you know!"

    Beliveau smiled. "Alright, my friends. The ghosts are back! Just don't give the whistles any excuses."

    "Onward! Bring on 25!" the phantoms shouted. 

    The stragglers leaving the Bell Centre heard an echo that made them smile.

    

  

    

Goals Against

    

    Patrick Roy has a lot to answer for.

    He popularized the "butterfly" goaltending style which evolved into the VH and current RVH techniques that are now used by just about every goalie at every level. (More on what that does to goalies at a later date.)

    At the same time he also brought into vogue a new kind of hockey guru: the goalie coach.

    Roy's coach, Francois Allaire is generally considered the first full-time, dedicated coach just for goaltenders in NHL history.

    "I took phys-ed in university in Sherbrooke," he recalled. "And I read every book I could find on goaltending. Not just the books in English and French. I found books and manuals in Finnish, in Czech, and Russian. Even if I couldn't read it or get it translated I looked at the diagrams and drills they laid out. I incorporated it all."

    The man was into goaltending.

    So was the ultra-competitive Roy, who, when the two met in Sherbrooke, was willing to listen and learn. It was a match made in heaven by the hockey gods themselves and the two developed an understanding rarely found between player and coach.

    As Roy kept winning, building his playing legend, every team wanted a goalie like him and to make that happen, most of them went looking for a goalie coach like Allaire.

    Today, of course, every team has a version of Allaire at the NHL level, and others with their AHL teams. Junior teams have goalie coaches and so do kids' teams in minor hockey.

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    Ilari Näckel has been a Finnish goaltending specialist for more than thirty years. Current Laval Rocket goalie Kaapo Kähkönen is one of his former pupils. Näckel believes the job of a goalie coach is pretty straightforward.

    "This work can be divided into two main areas: improving goalie performance and keeping them healthy. Development happens on multiple levels: technical, tactical, physical and psychological," he notes. "An experienced goalie coach can identify what needs to be done to help a goalie perform better." 

    "It's often said that evaluating goalie coaches is difficult," Näckel continues. "Are they doing a good job or not? This perception goes back to the "mystical" reputation of the role, but in reality it's not rocket science. Some basic metrics include have the goalies improved during the season? Have they over or underperformed compared to expectations? Has the team had to bring in new goalies mid-season? It's pretty straightforward really."

    When he talks about the "mystical" part of the role, he means the long-standing perception that goalies are different and coaches who've not played the position don't know enough about it to effectively help them. There's an idea that goalie coaches have some kind of special rapport with their charges the head coach doesn't understand. 

    That gives the goalie coach a lot of freedom in his or her approach to the role.

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    All this brings us to Eric Raymond. The Canadiens' goaltending coach played the position for about fifteen years, including four in the QMJHL and several more in the AHL, ECHL and Europe. His numbers were similar to those we see now from Samuel Montembeault.

    He started coaching in 2009 and worked in the Q for 7 years. In that time, he handled eleven goalies. Their collective stats came to an average of a GAA of 3.37 with a SV% of 0.880. Only one of those goalies, Jake Allen, had an NHL career. After a stint with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, Raymond was hired in Montreal in 2021.

    The Habs' head coach at the time was Dominique Ducharme. When he and Raymond were both players, they were on the same team in the French league in Europe. Ducharme was the boss in Halifax while Raymond was goalie coach of the Mooseheads. They also worked together with the Canadian national junior team in 2018. (Yeah...that Canadian junior team.) It's no surprise then, that it was Ducharme who brought Raymond to Montreal.

    "Dom and I, we always had this great relationship and in the past we always were happy every time we had the chance to work together," Raymond said at the time. "We kind of knew, were hoping anyway, for one day we could work together again. Se when he gave me the call I was really happy." 

    The relationship in Montreal didn't last long. After a horrible start in the 2021-22 season, Ducharme was shown the door. Raymond stayed.

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    Raymond is indirectly tied to Francois Allaire and his goalie coaching philosophy. Allaire's brother, Benoît, coached Raymond in junior and years later, worked with him when Allaire was the Rangers' goalie coach and Raymond a consultant with the team. Benoît was, and is, his brother Francois' biggest acolyte.

    "When I was young, every goaltender developed in his own way, had his own style," Francois said in 2017. "Everybody developed in his own way. There was no training or trends going on. There was no goaltender coaching. Now it's amazing...every pro organization has two or three goaltending coaches, one with the big club and others with players in development. And now goaltenders, every one of them, looks pretty much the same." 

    The pitfall in that philosophy is that every goaltender is not the same. They may play similar styles and practice the same techniques, but inside their heads they're individuals.

    Ken Dryden said, "If you were to ask a coach or a player what he would most like to see in a goalie...he would probably settle on something like consistency, dependability, and the ability to make the big save."

    "What these qualities suggest is a certain character of mind, a mind emotionally disciplined, one able to be focused and directed. A mind able to be under control. Because the demands on a goalie are mostly mental, it means for a goalie the biggest enemy is himself."

    At the NHL level, a goalie has practiced for thousands of hours on the ice. He knows, physically, what he's doing. A goalie coach may put him through drills to hone a particular skill, but his main job is preparing his charges psychologically. If a goaltender like Montembeault proves he can play well at the highest level, when he suddenly struggles it's probably a mental issue.

    

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    So, back to Finnish goalie coach Ilari Näckel's assessment about whether a goalie coach is successful. His first point...have the goalies improved over the season? In Raymond's case, no they have not. If we take save percentage as one of the most telling stats about a goalie's performance, in 19 games played before the Christmas break, Jakob Dobes had a SV% of 0.882. In three starts since, he's down to 0.840. Montembeault was at 0.834% in 15 starts before the break. In seven since, he's posted a SV% of 0.879.

    In Montembeault's case, there's an interesting blip in that post-holiday stat. After being sent down to Laval for a "conditioning stint" (read: shake his issues and reset) on December 16, he came back on the 28th to put up a SV% of 0.919 in his first four games. Then he started dropping again. In his last three games, he's at 0.825

     And Jacob Fowler, in five games before Christmas saved 0.911 percent of shots against. In the five games after, he's at 0.877. Every one of the goaltenders has gotten worse as the year has progressed.

    Näckel's second question about whether a goalie coach is successful is whether a goalie lives up to expectations or does not. It's difficult to say with Dobes and Fowler, as their NHL body of work is so limited. For Montembeault however, the answer is definitively no. After two solid, if not spectacular seasons in Montreal, he stood on his head in the 2023 World Championships and signed a three-year contract extension. Expectations were that he'd continue to be mostly reliable; enough to support a talented young team and give it a chance to win, at least.  

    Instead, this season has been bad. From giving up goals on the first shot of the game (four times) to whiffing on shots he should have stopped at the worst possible times, he's not exactly giving his team confidence. And when the young players who are still learning to improve in their team defence don't have confidence in their goalie, they don't play freely.

    The third of Näckel's questions is whether the team had to bring up a new goalie mid-season. On December 9, with the Canadiens looking for goalie help, they had no choice but to call up Fowler. The rookie was slated to spend the year getting used to the pro game in Laval, but the Habs were desperate.

    Therefore, all three measurements of a goalie coach's success: improving play, meeting expectations and not having to call up replacements mid-season are not in Raymond's favour. Whether it's because he's instructing the goalies to play in ways not natural to them or he's not getting into their heads in a positive way, there's something wrong.

    Since the goalie market isn't exactly full of NHL-ready replacements, the Canadiens are likely stuck with the roster they have. If they can't change the players, they may have to change the coach.

    Too bad Patrick Roy is busy.

    

The Fast Lane

    If Lane Hutson was a fighter jet, he'd be a Eurofighter Typhoon: fast, highly maneuverable and reliable. If he was a gemstone, he'd be Alexandrite: highly coveted for its rarity, its high-end versatility and uniqueness. If he was a dog, he'd be a German Shepherd: highly intelligent, loyal and brave.

    Hutson, of course, isn't a jet, gem (although in a different context, you could argue he is) or pooch. He's a one-of-a-kind hockey player with a brain and skillset all his own. In the course of his playing career, selling that special package to the traditionalist buyers who make hockey decisions has never been easy.

    From his earliest days, the book on Hutson has been "great skater, smart, too small." In his draft year, only 16 of the 32 NHL teams even spoke with him at the combine.

    "Now, for the elephant in the room," critiqued The Hockey News. "He's 5-foot-6 and listed at 165 pounds, and you can tell players bully him around from time to time on the ice. There's still time for him to grow (he's just 17, after all) and he'll need to add some bulk to really be taken more seriously on draft weekend."

    "Pure mass aside, his relative lack of wingspan can be a problem when forwards go wide with speed," said Sportsnet. "Also, even with improved strength, Hutson won't be outmuscling any 220-pound power forwards in front of the net anytime soon." Hutson and his family were so concerned the size prejudice that had followed him all his life would spoil his draft chances, he brought a doctor's note to the combine.

    A report from his endocrinologist claimed his bone age was younger than his biological age, which meant he still had more than a year to grow. 

    In the end, he didn't get much taller, but the Habs took him 62nd overall in the second round of the 2022 draft anyway. They've had absolutely no reason to regret the choice, and are more likely thanking the hockey gods he fell to them.

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    Back in 2022, TSN's Craig Button was one of the few hockey watchers who saw beyond Hutson's size.

    "You watch a player that completely understands everything thrown at him and completely solves everything thrown at him," said Button. "It's beyond impressive. He's a hockey genius. I would argue if Lane Hutson was 5'11" he would've been the first overall pick in his NHL draft."

    "I've watched Lane for a long time and he is a really good defensive player too. He plays defence on his terms. His ability to read the play, close the play, use his stick quick in there and take the puck off, use his feet to escape is tremendous."

    High praise there from a guy who's been right about NHL prospects over the years more often than not.

    At every level, Hutson has proven he's a special player. There's nobody else just like him in the NHL. There are also very few guys at his level of ability who've had such a hard time gaining respect. 

    In his first attempt at making the USA's U18 national team, he only got to play because Quinn Hughes got hurt. In the year before he started at Boston University, his comparable was Domineck Fensore who ended up playing 3 NHL games, scoring no points. In his draft year, he was ranked 72nd overall by TSN's Bob McKenzie, who knows his stuff. He was rated 10th among defencemen, but 17 D were picked ahead of him in 2022. In his rookie NHL year, he wasn't taken seriously as the likely Calder winner until he'd distanced himself from Macklin Cellebrini by putting up unprecedented number at his position.

    And every single time, Hutson ended up topping all his competition and then some, making his critics look somewhat less than prescient. 

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    Now, once again, Hutson is looking in from the outside at an opportunity he really wanted. When GM Bill Guerin announced Team USA's Olympic team back in August, he skipped Hutson. Habs fans knew the snub was because of his size. Guerin prefers old-school thug types like the Tkachuk brothers. However when Seth Jones pulled out with an injury, Guerin had an opportunity to fix his mistake by calling on Hutson. Instead, he went with 6'2" Jackon LaCombe, with a grand total of 97 NHL points and a career -28. 

    Naturally, a winning team can't be made up of only the top scorers available. It needs all kinds of contributions to be successful, but Guerin's exclusion of Hutson shows he doesn't appreciate the way he can play some extremely effective defence as well.

    "There's no question that Lane Hutson, his all-world talent certainly is Olympic worthy, but I think that's you're looking at Quinn Hughes, you're looking at Zach Werenski, and you're feeling that you have enough of that kind of high-end offensive talent certainly for your power play," said analyst Pierre LeBrun. "And so I really feel that this was more about who's replacing whom in terms of skill set. Seth Jones. is such a good player at both ends of the ice, and they're looking for sort of that kind of skill set from Jackson LaCombe. More of an all-around player."

    "There's too much redundancy with Quinn Hughes and he's so young," said noted Leafs-dynasty builder Brian Burke. "Same thing with Macklin Celebrini on Team Canada. This is a men's tournament. It's not the World Juniors, it's the Olympics."

   

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    Craig Button immediately came to Hutson's defence. "I was shocked that Lane Hutson wasn't the replacement for Seth Jones, very shocked," he said. "You know Lane Hutson is one of the best defencemen in the entire NHL. We don't have to start getting into USA Hockey...but Lane Hutson is a brilliant offensive mind. He's a very, very good defensive player, and he's unique." 

    "Listen. Jackson LaCombe is a good player. Jackson LaCombe is not a better player than Lane Hutson. I like their chances better with Hutson on the team."

    The repeated underestimation of Hutson's overall game has dogged him at every step of his journey to becoming an NHL star, but he's disproven his critics time after time. The problem with the trend is it could cost him when it really matters.

    The Olympics are prestigious and making that team is an honour. Playing in the Games doesn't define a career, however. In the far distant future, when Hall of Fame voters look at a career, they consider long-term success. Did the player win the Cup? How many points did he put up? Was he recognized as the best at his position at trophy time?

    Hutson's numbers in his year-and-a-half in the NHL stand up to the best competition he faces. He should already be in the conversation to win a Norris trophy as top defenceman, if not this year, then soon. (He was ninth in voting in his rookie year.) When the establishment continues to underestimate him, it won't be to their detriment...it'll be to his. And that's pretty small of them. 

Top Ten Reasons to Be a Habs Fan in 2026

    

    There are so many reasons for Canadiens' fans to enjoy their team right now. It's like driving through those tunnels in Italy that go underneath the hills. They can go on for miles in the dark, with only cold artificial light to keep you from hitting the wall. Then, just when you're getting claustrophobic and thinking it's never going to end, you burst out into the brilliant sunshine with the green vineyards and shining rivers all around.

    After the Houle years, the Gauthier years, the Gainey and Bergevin years; after the first-round draft picks of Michael McCarron, Louis Leblanc, Nikita Scherbak, David Fischer and Andrei Kostitsyn, Habs fans are finally enjoying the sunshine and the vineyards.

    With so many good reasons to be excited about this team, it's not easy to pick a top ten. Keeping that in mind, here are a few:

10. The Calm. When the Canadiens aren't doing well, there tends to be a level of chaos around the team. That's when politicians start whining about them not being French enough and how they're betraying their francophone legacy. It's when rumours start about the players' off-ice activities because there's little to celebrate on the ice. Players get booed, scraps at practice get blown out of proportion and trade proposals occupy the legion of pundits and message boards online. It makes for an uncomfortable environment for the team. On the flip side, when things are going smoothly, all people want to talk about is how much fun the team is to watch. That's where we are right now.

9. The Plan. This isn't 2010 when an eighth-place bubble team shocked the Penguins and Capitals in the playoffs. That was tremendous fun and Jaro Halak stood on his head to keep the train rolling, but it couldn't last. This isn't 2021 when veterans like Shea Weber, Paul Byron and Carey Price sacrificed everything they had left in the tank to drag their team to the Cup finals. This is a carefully-constructed team with measurable year-over-year improvement. Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes know what they're doing and they've proven it with great drafting, shrewd trades, excellent cap management and the brilliant decision to hire Marty St.Louis to coach. This team isn't a fluke. It's a team with a plan and that plan is working.

8. Leafs Fans. When Michael Hage led all players in scoring at the recent World Junior Championships, fans unfamiliar with his game looked him up. You could hear the collective tooth grinding from Leafs fans across the country when they found out he was a Habs prospect. They hate Cole Caufield who's got 15 points (11 goals) against their team in 19 games. They despise the fact there's something special happening in Montreal and stagnation in Toronto. Their disgust is palpable and it's glorious.

7. Sportsnet. The corollary to the anger of Leafs fans is the butt hurt of the Toronto-centric Canadian sports broadcasting world. The announcers that audibly root for the Leafs and enjoy pointing out every mistake the Canadiens make; who sound like they're chewing gristle when they have no choice but to highlight a great play in Montreal hate this. And Habs fans love that for them.

6. Class. The team that in recent years traded Mike Cammalleri mid-game, didn't tell him where he was going and made him pay for his game-worn sweater he wanted as a keepsake is gone. The management that forbid pizza and banned the press from team flights is too. So are the people who chose to nickel-and-dime Andrei Markov and drove him away ten games short of a thousand. Now, the class the Canadiens became known for in the age of Beliveau is back. The players are treated with respect and alumni like Markov are honoured as they deserve. Class brings pride in the organization from the owner all the way through to the fans.

5. The Kids. The young Habs are so much fun to watch. Caufield's snipes, Hutson's puck handling, Arber Xhekaj's toughness, Ivan Demidov's no-look pass brilliance and Juraj Slavkovsky's coming-of-age as a power forward bring hope and excitement to every game. Knowing there are more young gems coming up through the system lends fans a sense of optimism they haven't felt for years.

4. Comebacks. The Canadiens are team nobody can count out anymore. They're still a work in progress, but even if they have a rotten second period or give up a crap goal or two, you can't turn off the game in disgust and go to bed before the third anymore. Knowing they always have a chance to make a game of it...and very often come all the way back to win...is exciting. It makes every game a possibility for success.

3. The Olympics. The first-half schedule in this Olympic year has been brutal with multiple back-to-back games, long road trips and little time to practice. The reward for most of the players will be a much-needed Olympic break which will give them a chance to rest and heal up their persistent injuries. Lots of fans are upset Team USA didn't choose to take Caufield or Hutson to the Games, but that oversight on Bill Guerin's part is a gift for the Canadiens who'll need those guys in peak form as they make a run for the playoffs post-Olympics. While it'll be fun to root for Nick Suzuki and Team Canada, but it'll be more fun to watch a reinvigorated Habs team light it up afterwards.

2. Cole Caufield's Face. How can you not love a player whose entire demeanor radiates happiness? Caufield's smile is infectious and he always seems to not only be having fun himself, but to be sharing it with his pals. Every teammate who's asked about off-ice Caufield smiles when they talk about the fun and energy he brings to the room. Fans can just hope he never stops.

    And, the number one reason why it's great to be a Habs fan in 2026 is:

1. The Joy. For fans, the day after a Canadiens' win feels different. Colours are a little brighter, the mood is a little lighter and nothing seems as stressful as it does on other days. It feels good to look forward to the next game for the first time in a long while. Fans don't know where their team will end up this year; whether they'll make the playoffs or go deep if they do, but they absolutely know there will be joy. This team has emerged from the tunnel and into the sunshine. At last.

He Shoots...No He Doesn't

     

    To shoot: transitive verb 

1. a (1): to eject or impel or cause to be ejected or impelled by a sudden release of tension

       (2): to drive forth or cause to be driven forth by an explosion (as of a powder charge in a firearm or of ignited fuel in a rocket)

       (3): to propel (something, such as a ball or puck) toward a goal by striking or pushing with part of the body or with an implement.

    -Merriam-Webster Dictionary

    That's just a quick reminder for the Montreal Canadiens' players who have not recently checked out the official definition of what it means to shoot the puck. This season, in 49 games, the Habs rank 24th in the league in shots taken. Teams that want to win hockey games need to shoot, and the Canadiens don't do it very often.

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    When Canadiens forwards cross the blueline, the puck carrier rarely shoots. For some reason they most often stop inside the line and look for a pass. Or they drop it back on the rush in order to set up a nice passing play on the zone entry. It's a problem reflected in the rest of their offence as well. These are young, dynamic, skilled players. They love to play pretty hockey. When that works, it's a thing of beauty. Some of the goals they've scored this year will make year-end highlights.    

    The problem is, they only seem to shoot when the set-up is perfect. Even the bottom-six forwards, with the exception of Josh Anderson and, sometimes, Jake Evans, look for the sweet play instead of the dirty one. And in the NHL, dirty beats sweet at least half the time.

   It's worse now than it was early in the season because the pressure of holding their place in the tight standings and preserving that precious playoff spot is ramping up. They want to be on the positive side when the Olympic break comes around. Add to that the pressure of a crowded lineup in which players are competing internally for their spots and you've got a bunch of young guys who are playing with nerves. Unfortunately, they respond to that pressure by being careful and trying even harder to make the perfect play.

    Perfect plays that end up being imperfect get intercepted. They lead to odd-man rushes and they further inhibit shots on goal because the Canadiens so often lose possession. Then they end up chasing the play and backing up instead of advancing.

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    The Habs are getting tons of respect around the league for their ability to crank up the heat and come back in the third period. There's no real secret to it. They drive the net relentlessly and shoot like they're on a Scottish moor in grouse season.

    The frustrating part of that is it proves they can play to win. Once they forget the pressure, the fear, the need to be perfect, they shoot the puck and they score goals. Marty St.Louis and the coaching staff have to figure out how to convince their players they can do it more often than just when they're desperate.

    The Ottawa game is a perfect example. The Habs' first three goals came on only eight shots. Then, in the third, down by two, they got as desperate as a private in No-Man's Land and went to work. Even so, by the time they got to overtime, shots were 34-16 in favour of Ottawa. The Canadiens were redeemed in a game they chased just by getting a loser point. Actually getting the win was proof that when they fire away, they're successful.

    Shooting the puck more often can change a lot of what ails the Canadiens right now. Perhaps when the remainder of the season turns into one big third-period deficit, they'll check out that definition. 

Influence and Influencers

     

    In the halcyon days of the NHL, players were unquestioned heroes to their fans. Hockey Night in Canada was the dominant Saturday-night entertainment in households across the country. Players were judged on their points totals, shutouts, wins or losses. It was all about what happened on the ice. Back then, kids collected autographs outside rinks after games, and the players would climb onto their trains or buses and disappear from public view until next time.

    Of course, behind the scenes players drank, smoked, cheated on their wives, broke laws and got into all kinds of trouble. Beat writers, privileged to travel with the team, had relationships with these guys that often meant misbehaviour ended up in the dead-letter file. Most fans had no idea.

    Today's world is very, very different. The kids who used to collect hockey cards and wait for Saturday night while they played shinny on the local pond now have cell phones and social media accounts. Players can't go anywhere in public without a camera recording their every move and there are legions of websites and outlets to publish them. 

    The hunger for more and more information about players is different too. Fans want to know what their favourites' apartments look like, where they eat, where they stay on the road, what they like to do in their spare time...and their politics. Kids who want to be just like their hockey heroes are paying attention.

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    With that ubiquity comes responsibility, regardless of whether the players want it. These guys have real influence, and their public behaviour and beliefs matter.

    So, when the Staals decide not to wear a Pride jersey on the one night a year dedicated to respect for the LGBTQ community because of their "beliefs," kids notice. They absorb the fact that not everyone believes in respect for all people, yet they still succeed and make lots of money.

    When Alexander Ovechkin proudly poses with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, he's telling his fans he sides with oppression and tyranny, but holding those ideals doesn't make a difference to his success.

    When George Parros lets blatant infractions slide because a player is a "star," or the league needs that player for PR purposes, it's telling kids only some people have to pay the price for wrongdoing. It's telling them the rules are malleable. Then we end up with eight-year-olds in the midst of a bench-clearing brawl that goes viral and encourages the next one.

    When Carey Price wrongly claims the Canadian government is taking people's guns away and is limiting the rights of hunters, he gives right-wingers who want to remove bans on hand guns and assault weapons a spokesperson. Young fans see their hero being "wronged" by the government, and they take his side.

    When Wayne Gretzky sucks up to the denizen of Mar-a-Lago, he's telling people he doesn't respect Canadian sovereignty and enjoys hanging out with one of the worst people in history.

    And when Matthew Tkachuk gushes about how meeting the corrupt, evil American president is better than winning the Stanley Cup, smart fans know he's a callous dunce without empathy. He still gets to play in the Olympics and stand as an example to people who want to be like him.

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    No human on this earth is perfect. Every one of us has influences, history, biases and ideals. For most of us, our words and behaviours affect only the others in our personal circles. We may share our views with our families, friends and co-workers. Sometimes we reach strangers online who can accept or ignore our statements because we're just randos on the internet.

    When you're a hero, though, people...especially young people...take you seriously. They're just forming their personalities and opinions, and NHL players can influence that process.

    Nobody ever said it was easy to be a hero, especially if you didn't want to be one. However, if you're an NHL player in today's world, you are one. And part of that involves responsibility. 

    Every player is entitled to his own ideals, politics and opinions. The responsibility comes in keeping those aspects of belief private. 

    Just because a player has notoriety, it doesn't make him a teacher or moral icon. Depending on the particular belief he broadcasts, it might not even make him a hero anymore.

    

Bending the Knee

    

    When the Florida Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup back in June, they took it out to party. In the process, they managed to crack the bowl and dent the base of the iconic 131-year-old trophy. They broke the Cup.

    It's not the first time Lord Stanley's legacy has been through the wringer. It's been stolen, lost and drop-kicked. Patrick Roy famously threw it into a swimming pool to see if would float. (It did not.) Michael Ryder knocked it off a table at a celebration in front of half of Newfoundland and dented it in 2011. Players have eaten out of it, drunk out of it and let their babies poop in it. Maurice Richard broke his two front teeth on it, and the Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin ate oats out of it. It's been a dog bowl and a baptismal font, been set on fire and guest-starred in more than one TV show.

    For all its adventures and misadventures, the Stanley Cup has been many things, but it's never been deliberately disgraced.

    Unsurprisingly, the team that has managed that ignoble feat is the one that most recently broke it: the Florida Panthers.

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    Today, in the USA's "Hockey State," armed, masked brutes are illegally beating, detaining and even killing American citizens. They've stolen a civilian's car with a baby in the back, and the baby was eventually returned with a bruised face. They've pummeled an unarmed 16-year-old citizen, stole his phone and then sold it for profit. They shoot protesters in the face with pepper balls multiple times a day. Residents of Minneapolis are cowering in their homes depending on neighbours to get food and medicine to them rather than risk attacks from "law enforcement." People who have done nothing wrong or illegal are being disappeared.

    All of this horror is being visited on the people of Minnesota because they didn't vote for the antichrist occupying the national seat of power and its governor dared to run against him. The American president is a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, a cruel, narcissistic demon. He's bombing countries around the world and threatening others. He is very likely a pedophile and definitely a Russian asset working for Vladimir Putin. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he will be responsible for starting World War III in order to satisfy his overlord.

    This creature has threatened Canada with annexation and nobody believes he's done with his aggression in a quest to take ownership of this country's minerals and fresh water. He is pure, unfiltered evil.

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    Thirteen members of the Florida Panthers are Canadian. Another three played at least a season in this country. Coach Paul Maurice and both of his assistants hail from here as well. They, presumably, have family and friends back home who are watching the American cretin warning them they're on his international hit list.

    Yet, there were the Panthers today, in their sycophantic matching red ties, standing proudly behind the warmonger, gifting him a Panthers sweater, replica Stanley Cup rings and (of course!) a golden hockey stick. It was embarrassing when they visited the White House last year. This year it's traitorous.

    It's probably not a surprise to learn the Panthers' owner is a dude named Vinnie who's a billionaire and US military veteran.

    And right in the middle of this grotesque tableau was the Stanley Cup. If a trophy could hang its head, it probably would have.

    Canadiens fans have little love for ex-Bruin Tim Thomas, but even he exercised his principles by not attending the team's White House visit. Braden Holtby didn't go either when the Capitals won. On the other hand nobody with the Panthers seemed to have a single issue with kissing the ass of one of the worst people in history.

    Hockey players aren't generally the brightest of lights in the intellectual galaxy. Still, even the dumbest among us can see what's happening in the US and around the world due to American lawlessness. If these players and coaches have paid the slightest bit of attention to what's happening in the real world outside of their narcissistic bubble; if they had any social awareness, principals or conscience, they would not have been there. 

    Because they were there, they're telling the world their values support racism, sexism, bullying, greed and stupidity.

    The Stanley Cup has been pretty much everywhere.

    This is the first time it's been to hell.