Written by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net (with inspiration from Judith Viorst and Larry Miller)

MONTREAL, QC. — Another loss. That’s two in consecutive days to those hated guys in black and yellow (or is it gold?)

But wait — it doesn’t really count because it’s still pre-season and also they dressed more NHL’ers than we did and the officiating has been awful in exhibition games and we have lots of injuries, you know, and the league made us play six times in seven days and there’s other things, but I forgot, and besides I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game.

Anyway, good try!

“Good try” is the most frequently heard phrase on the minor soccer field and can be directed at a player who gets a scoring chance, an entire mob who swarm around the ball in bee-like fashion or a child sitting in the field of play picking dandelions. It’s all good.

But with all due respect to the kids on the neighbourhood pitch, no one in their right mind would pay $150 a seat to watch them play — in an exhibition game.

The Montreal Canadiens have played six pre-season games and have won precisely none of them in regulation time. While I am not suggesting anyone press the panic button, at what point do we become mildly concerned?

“Our main goal is to evaluate our players. With a depleted lineup, I think it gives a good opportunity to see where some of our young players, whether they’re our American (Hockey) League players or our juniors, where they are and obviously we’ve got lots of work that needs to be done.” — Jacques Martin after the Bruins routed the Habs 7-3 on Sunday in Halifax

So let’s concede that the first six games have been all about the coaching staff filling out report cards on each of their students — “Not very strong skating, Mr. Masse, but good try!” Can we humbly suggest that perhaps now it’s time to focus on how their team will win hockey games this season? I wonder how many of the prognosticators who picked the Canadiens to win their division are confidently placing bets on their prediction.

From what we have seen so far, can we expect that this year’s version of the Habs will have trouble scoring 5-on-5 goals, spend an inordinate amount of time in their own zone, and rely heavily on their goaltender to win games? In other words, not a whole lot different from last season.

Or will the coaching brain-trust review the comprehensive player evaluations and come to the conclusion that they need a whole new game plan?

You know, like implementing:

• A system that capitalizes on the Canadiens strengths of skill and speed.
• A system that features an aggressive forecheck to exploit slow defenders.
• A system that relies on a possession game that forces the opposition to take penalties.
• A system that demands discipline reducing the penalty-killing responsibilities of skilled players.
• A commitment to be relentless with or without the puck.

I can see you shaking your head — unlikely, you say. So I ask, what was the point of the exhaustive evaluations of player strengths if there was no intention to devise a system to match? There is an almost certain chance that we will see the same system that has been the hallmark of the head coach (with some minor modifications) since 1986.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions whether the style of play in the NHL has changed in the past 25 years.

So is all hope lost? Of course not, the Montreal Canadiens are a talented team.

• They have two of the most exciting young impact players in the NHL in Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban.
• They have solid leadership through a core of veterans like Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec, Hal Gill and Josh Gorges.
• They have two dangerous snipers with lethal shots in Andrei Kostitsyn and Mike Cammalleri.
• They have one of the summer’s most coveted free agents in Erik Cole.
• They have (health-willing) one of the elite defensemen in the league in Andrei Markov.
• Most importantly, they have arguably the best goaltender in hockey in Carey Price.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the coaching staff have been able to realize the potential of all this talent — not yet, anyway.  Like a two-footed driver (one with their right foot on the gas and the left riding the brake) they have had some success getting to their destination, even though they haven’t been taking full advantage of the equipment they own.

Soon, we will be to the part of the season when excuses are meaningless and where we stop applauding for a good try.  Winning is everything and we will demand more than just effort.

I, for one, can’t wait to get there.

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All Habs Out Loud

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