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2009 was quite a year for the Canadiens. Of course it was the centennial year for the Habs organization and many celebrations took place to honor the many legendary players that wore the jersey.
As the Canadiens had finished 1st in the east 2 seasons ago the centennial year started with such high expectations that many fans may have been thinking (secretly or not) that the stanley cup was firmly in the team’s sights. It certainly would have been a wonderful story.
Of course, the season didn’t finish that way. After a strong start the Canadiens fell apart with a combination of injuries and off ice issues. The glorious season that many hoped for simply didn’t happen.
Last summer the face of the team was changed in a matter of weeks. A long standing team captain and much of his supporting cast were gone.
On December 4th I saw the 100th Anniversary celebrations. I’ve always loved how so many of the greats are highlighted in these ceremonies. I litterally felt like a little kid again watching this… as soon as I saw Patrick Roy walking out on the ice in full gear I was sold.
To be honest, being a huge fan of hockey, the current Montreal Canadiens and the Habs rich history I was a little teary eyed.
As I watched the ceremony I was totally caught up in the history. After Patrick Roy came up and was in the middle of his speech he said something that caught my attention and got me thinking about the present Habs… He said something to the effect that the fans weren’t just in for the treat of the great ceremony honouring the legends of old but also for the game that would see the Canadiens beat the Bruins….
The statement almost made me a little nervous because the Canadiens had just lost a couple and they weren’t close losses. But then again, I thought it was a nice was for a legend to put a little pressure and meaning into the game for the current lineup.
During an interview by Ron MacLean with Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden something struck me. When asked about what the current team could do to turn things around, if they needed a super star Dryden said something that stuck with me. (You can view the interviews here)
Dryden said “They’ve got to write their own story… it’s pretty hard to carry around a 100 year old story”. As Dryden continued I thought about the Canadiens and their fans. Fans that are very passionate about the team and want to see the team succeed so badly. The fans in Montreal have had very successful teams for generations and have wanted, in my opinion, to mesure their teams up against those standards. That’s a pretty heavy burden to carry for any team. Amidst last season and this season came ceremonies and the continued vision of how great the team or franchise “was”… what a burden.
With the winding down of the centennial celebrations I’d say it’s probably time to turn that page and have this team write their own story. This is no longer Beliveau’s team, Lafleur’s team or Roy’s team. This is Cammalleri’s team, Price’s team, Plekanec’s team… big changes were made and now all the celebrations of times gone by are over.
Getting back to hockey and building a winner is what it’s all about. Maybe some of this took some of the focus away from the rebuilding of the present team. A year’s worth of celebrations is quite a bit.
I thought Dryden’s comments were quite fitting.
The present day Habs have had their nights where they’ve had it rough… but they’ve really showed they can compete with anyone in recent weeks. In my opnion, if they can stay around .500 until Markov comes back and the team gets a little healthier… they’re in pretty good shape.
Yves Arsenault is a blogger from PEI. He also writes about the Canadiens on his blog Yves on Habs and can be found on twitter @yves_on_habs.
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