The Mighty-Ish Habs

Last spring the Montreal Canadiens visited the ACC late in the season and had their playoff epitaph written for them.

Not quite twelve months later, the Habs return as one of the conference's best teams to take on a Leaf team tomorrow night that has already eliminated itself from the playoffs. Once again, Montreal's dominant place in Canada's hockey landscape over the intermittently competitive Leafs has been asserted.

But not all is well in Montreal. The hockey club itself is fine, but a controversy has erupted relating to the ugly violence in Chicoutimi last Saturday for which former Habs star goalie Patrick Roy and his son were suspended by Quebec junior hockey authorities.

Roy's conduct was dreadful, and for that reason, and others, some in the Quebec media are now saying that unofficial plans to deify Roy by retiring his number next season - the season of the Montreal franchise's centenary - should be postponed or cancelled entirely.

Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette, the greatest authority on all things bleu, blanc et rouge, has taken the position that the Habs should not honor Roy.

Fisher referred back to Roy's demand to leave Montreal in 1995 and a variety of ugly off-ice issues over the years, while remembering all of his great victories.

"Those were on-ice moments to cherish, but there also have been off-ice issues that people cannot forget or forgive. Ugly moments. Controversial moments. Disgusting moments such as Saturday's brawl," wrote Fisher.

If the Habs do choose not to honour Roy, it will make next season truly forgettable for the former goaltending star, for it seems almost certain his all-time record for wins in an NHL career (551) will be broken by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur. Brodeur has 534 already with his 36th birthday still two months away, and it seems like Roy's record will not only be reached by Brodeur, but utterly demolished.

It's a tricky issue for the Habs, who value class and tradition more than other NHL teams, and are now reaping the benefits of some intelligent building after a series of losing seasons.

In their 100th season, you have to believe they will not wish to welcome the controversy that would come with honoring Roy.

He is, in a reverse sense, Montreal's Dave Keon. The Leafs would love to honour Keon but he won't participate; Roy would certainly want to be so honoured, but now his former team may prefer to look the other way.

Comments

[kenny d]

The Habs should not honour Roy for all the reason's Fisher states. As far as his son is concerned any league that allows him to play does not have mirrors in their offices. What Roy jr. did last weekend was inexcusable.
The Montreal Canadiens fortunes this year perfectly show the difference between the Habs and the Leafs. Management. The Leafs have not won the cup since '67. Why? Management. Since then there have been only two times when the Leafs had any chance. The mid seventies where they were led by Jim Gregory. Gregory was one maybe two players from a great hockey team that was very cup worthy however Ballard had a fit and dismantled the promise. Then in the early ninties Cliff Fletcher built a team that was a gutless call from Kerry Frasier away from playing for the cup. And then some suite who thought he knew hockey better than a pro fired Fletcher. Players come and go but management stays pretty much the same. Montreal has had great management over the years and their record shows accordingly. As for the Leafs management. Well, as a once great captain of the Leafs once said 'a fish smells from the head down'.

[iceberg]

Patrick Roy was a great goaltender. Classy guy? Not so much.

A great organization like the Habs will most likely do something for him. Does he deserve it? No.

He'll be in the Hall of Fame. The Avs will retire his number. I don't agree with that either. But after his acrimonious departure from Montreal, and his abhorrent behavior in the Q, I think it'd be better if they didn't retire his number.

Go Marty! (not that he's the classiest either, but moreso than Patrick)

[Laker]

I've never been one to care about the off ice antics of a player. Much like say how Britney is a wack job, it doesn't affect how I judge her music. It sucks either way!

Goalies are always a little strange. Brodeur, Roy, Kipper, even Luongo is a little different.

[Paul]

And then there are the Leafs fans, they know a lot about class.
Given the way they treated Mats Sundin when he told everyone he liked playing in Toronto and refused to be traded.

[MJB]

The Habs may include Roy in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary (after all, he was one hell of a goaltender while there), but I doubt they will retire his number. Compare him to some of the other players with retired numbers. Ken Dryden just had his number retired, and no goaltender achieved as much in such a relatively short career - Conn Smythe, Calder and Vezina individual awards, 5 times first team all star, 6 Cups in eight years.

Something tells me Roy will pass on any invitation where he cannot be the main attraction (remember Olympic team 2002). And just like 2002, it will be his loss.

As a previous poster commented, management is one key difference between the Habs and the Hab-nots (Leafs). But just as important, I think, is ownership. George Gillett understands the game. He is a genuine sports fan - to hear him talk about any of his sporting ventures, he sounds like a kid in a candy store. He has a genuine enthusiasm which is sorely lacking in Toronto.

[FRT]

I grew up in the `60's...it was only because of the great Leaf teams during that most important span of my "mental growth" from `62 to `67 and the 4 Cups that I look back upon as being the sole reason I have suffered since then as a Leaf fan! With that said...and with my "pick" of Canadian teams secure from boyhood...I also grew up despising the Habs with sheer hatred at times. The same could be said for those who chose the Habs...they didn't like the Leafs. But when I look back now on the two organizations...it is plain to see that the Habs have been a classy, well run hockey club...that never suffered too many "bad" years! They honor their tradition like no other team except the Yankees perhaps and are winners from top to bottom! Us long suffering Leaf fans can only hope that the future brings us even a glimmer of hope as to how the Leafs will be run compared to the long standing tradition of Les Canadiens du Habitants!

[joel]

LEAFS: the problem is not totally management, the problem is ownership.. The "board" and Peddie are the decision makers and are the ones that set the mentality. This present set up with the Pension Fund and Peddie is just not working. Peddie is a great marketer but no hockey sense.

ROY: i think that Mr Fisher said it all... Roy Sr. is one of the gratest goalies of out time BUT as a coach and GM he is bush league all the way. Roy Jr will never see the NHL anyway as he is a lifetime minor leaguer. I hope he stays in school.

[Lewis McClain]

Hi Damian: I have that empty feeling in my gut. The Leafs are out of it again. At this point i don't care who wins the cup. Sundin did himself proud with his post game interview saying he felt the team had to do their best in the last four games. The fans paid to see professionals try their best for 82 games. He is truly a class man in this age of classless sports so called heros. I hope we have him back next year. Go Leafs...

[Sandeep Kembhavi]

Your latest article, 'Habs leave Maple Leafs in their draft' is an absolute disgrace. It is everything that's wrong with sports writers in a tidy package.

Apart from Scott Burnside, you're probably more guilty of doing this than any other: first professing your opinion like it's fact, and then, when ensuing events prove you to be completely wrong, you somehow still pull a disgustingly condescending 'I told you so' act while keeping a straight face.

At the beginning of this season, you - like pretty much every sports writer - claimed with some self-imbued great authority that the Habs were languishing in mediocrity, treading water and not going up or down. You boldly predicted, as if aided by some divine knowledge that the rest of us mortals should have felt privileged to have shared with us, that they would miss the playoffs by a couple points in 2008, just like they did last year.

Fast-forward to the present.

Suddenly, you're telling us that the same Habs you had written off eight months ago were always following some great vision that you knew about all along, and that their crew of mediocre players like Plekanec and Streit and Komisarek were destined to have breakout seasons, Kovalev would rediscover his lost magic, and Guy Carbonneau was Scotty Bowman waiting to happen. These were all carefully planned management decisions that somehow only you knew about - except for that stretch of doom-and-gloom predictions before the above unexpected events actually happened.

I have no problem with sports writers professing their opinions and making arguments based on their own beliefs, but how about a little bit of accountability? No one expected the Habs to be battling for anything but the eighth playoff spot - or a draft lottery pick - including yourself, so why not just say so? Why not admit that you were wrong and think twice before making spreading more similar divinely-inspired prophecies about the Leafs? The fact is, there are always surprises and x-factors and the Leafs could be near the top of the conference by next year for all we know.

And no doubt if they are, you'll be there to say 'I told you so'.

[kenny d]

Just to clarify a previous comment I made concerning management of the Leafs. When I say management I include ownership. As a matter of fact I emphasise ownership. Ballard, Stavros and the current 'profit first' committee.

[Julie Godin]

Hi Damien,
I have lived in both Montreal and Toronto, and I read you all the time. I want to point something out in order to provide some of the subtext here. In fact, Roy's antics have not touched Montreal or the Habs as much as you imply, because Roy is very much a product and an icon of Quebec City, as opposed to the more cosmopolitan Montreal. Roy is from Quebec City, and coaches their team, the Remparts. Furthermore, Guy Carbonneau, one of the most popular guys in the province right now, is part owner of the Chicoutimi team and has publicly called out "St Pat" (a fallen saint) several times.
So what you actually have here in the province of Quebec is the Quebec City folks claiming a vast conspiracy of contempt and unfairness, and everyone else, including Montrealers and Habs fans, decrying Roy's un-classy behaviour and the laughable sanctions he has faced.
Hockey in this province, just like hockey in Ontario, is not a monolith.

[Sam]

Sandeep - sports writers do this all the time. At best, they know just as much as any open-minded knowledgeable fan. Their opinion is just published... for some reason. In all honesty, I thought the Habs were a shoo-in for a playoff spot because the youngsters would be better this year. But I didn't expect Kovy's performance, and I sure didn't guess a conference title. At all.

Anyways, Roy lived by the sword - his own drum. Now he has to pay the piper. Performance isn't what retiring a number is all about in Montreal. Does anyone see Naslund's number up there? How about Jeff Hackett? Steve Shutt? Hainsworth? Lach? Lemaire? Blake?

Roy's ego caused him to miss his chance. Too bad for him because Habs history will eventually forget him. I know I will.