Popular

 

    In Stephen Schwartz' Wicked, Glinda the Good tells the unfortunately green Elpheba: "And when someone needs a makeover, I simply have to take over. I know, I know exactly what they need. And even in your case, though it's the toughest case I've yet to face, don't worry, I'm determined to succeed. Follow my lead and yes indeed, you will be...popular."

    For decades, the Montreal Canadiens have not exactly been popular around the NHL, especially with players who have a choice about whether to play there. They've attempted makeovers many times, unsuccessfully.

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     Picture it. Montreal, 2015-16 season. An iconic hockey team with a devoted, nay, passionate following that was desperate to see the team succeed. There had been little joy in Habsland since the Canadiens' last trip to the winner's circle 23 years before.

    At the time, newly-minted captain Max Pacioretty was the team's leading scorer with 64 points. Michel Therrien was head coach, back for his second try at traumatizing young hockey players and embarrassing older ones. Marc Bergevin, who would have loved to be in a foxhole with Therrien, was into his fourth year of being enigmatic and mercurial in the general manager's office. His trade acquisitions included Lucas Lessio, Max Friberg and John Scott. Among his free agent signings that year: Mark Barberio, Bud Holloway and Alexander Semin (he of chicken slap-fight fame). Their most recent first-round draft pick was Noah Juulsen, who played a total of 44 games for the Canadiens before getting waived. They didn't have a second-rounder.

    There were no playoffs in Montreal that year. 

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    In the 2015-16 NHL season, Quebec's provincial income tax rate for people making more than $138,586.00 was set at a whopping 29%. Federal tax pushed the total to 36.9%, so an NHL player making the league minimum of $575,000 owed about $242,500 in taxes.

    Unless your children had severe learning disabilities, a specific waiver for a temporary stay in the province or a parent who went to English school in Quebec, your kids had to go to school in French even if you didn't speak it yourself.

    On the media side, there were 17 accredited beat reporters covering the Canadiens in French and English, most of whom wanted to know daily what was wrong with the team and why the captain didn't speak la belle langue. Added to that were five official broadcasters with at least 25 staff permitted in the dressing room and at scrums. More than 50 commentators, analysts, sports broadcasters and wire service employees also had access. That's not including daily talk radio shows and the beat reporters and others from visiting teams.

    It's perhaps no surprise that when the Canadiens consistently fell short in their attempts to attract free agents, one of the top reasons they gave was media pressure.

    Surely potential Habs also saw Bergevin keeping his buddy Sylvain Lefebvre in charge of the AHL prospects, despite playing and losing just four playoff games in five years. In-house development was not happening and few young players came up to strengthen the big team.

    As Bergevin's tenure continued, they saw the way Andrei Markov, one of the best defencemen in team history who'd taken more than one hometown discount to stay in Montreal, was nickel-and-dimed out of the city ten games short of his milestone 1000.

    They saw the way he promised he wasn't trading P.K.Subban, then turned around and traded him anyway.

    And they heard him loud and clear when he said "If you want loyalty, get a dog."

    Montreal, in short, was not a desirable place for any player to sign with unless he didn't have many other options or the Habs overpaid in salary and term.

    "It's very hard today to make a trade. You can ask the other 29 general managers," said Bergevin back then. "Great players are rarely available. There's also a salary cap to respect that's changing every year, and you have to be responsible."

    That from the man who would eventually leave the team with several bloated veteran contracts and little cap flexibility.

    The Habs were a mess and nobody was running to sign with them.

    

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    Picture it today. Montreal 2025-26 season. Canadiens fans are just as passionate as ever, if perhaps a little more jaded since it's now 33 years since the last Cup parade. The Habs are the youngest team in the league, leaping ahead of schedule in a team-wide rebuild.  

    Quebec taxes, media pressure and the school system haven't changed, but the Canadiens' image around the NHL absolutely has.

    GM Kent Hughes' draft picks are talented and exciting, many of them already playing vital roles in Montreal. His coach, Martin St.Louis, was an outside-the-box hire that every other GM would now love to have and players adore. St.Louis favours a fast, aggressive style that makes the most of his players' skills and thrills the crowd. He communicates well and his passion is palpable. He never throws his players to the wolves.

    Unlike just about every other coach in recent Habs memory, he says things like "I just stay out of his way," about brilliant young players like Lane Hutson. He feels no need to correct just for the sake of correction.

    The Laval Rocket under Pascal Vincent are leading their division, with NHL-ready players on standby, vying for callups.

    The team brought playoff hockey back at least a year before they expected it to happen.

    They made much-needed amends by honouring Andrei Markov at the Bell Centre.

    Today, Hughes extended Alexander Texier, whom he grabbed from the St.Louis Blues after they terminated his contract, for two more years. Texier has been a versatile, talented addition who's holding his own on the first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. As usual, Hughes saw something in him most other teams didn't.

    Texier had other offers, possibly for slightly more than the Canadiens' one-year, one-million-dollar deal. In a break from the recent past, he just wanted to be in Montreal. He reiterated that desire today.

    "I feel happy here in Montreal," he said. "When I'm happy off and on the ice, I don't overthink things. I have fun and play my game. That's what's happening right now."

    It seems to be the general perception around the league these days. Players want to come to Montreal. They want to have fun, and they want to win. For the first time in a very long time, the Habs are popular.

    As Glinda put it: "It's all about popular. It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed. So it's very shrewd to be very, very popular like me."