HF Habs: Anyone else completely losing interest in the Team?

[kohorevolution]

You watch with a different purpose, but there is no doubt every single fan has lost some interest.
The moment you know your team isn't going to make the POs and isn't going anywhere, you lose some interest.
You aren't being entertained nearly as much. You aren't going to be sitting at the edge of your seat, palms sweating, rocking back and forth, telling your gf, friends or family who think you're crazy to shut up when they're talking to you because you're so invested in the game.
That's not going to happen.

Sure, interesting to see how some of the kids play, to see where they're at, what we have, that's about it.
Basically you are watching an early and longer training camp. A lot of people get excited for training camp, but it isn't comparable to the excitement generated from watching a competitive team play.

You are right. But a lot of this has to do qith the fact that the way this team plays is beyond boring! I mean that I get invested as you say when I watch teams that I am not a fan of. Hockey out of mtl this year is crazily exciting to watch! Lots of scoring. Guys are SKILLED!

 

[ZUKI]

This year has been brutal but honestly since the pre-Subban trade collapse I've become less and less interested in supporting/watching this team play. I find the product boring, I really don't feel like ownership cares about winning and the management/coaches are unlikable and incompetent for the most part. Anyone else in my boat/looking for another team to follow?

witch team ? Alouettes ? Impact ?

 

[Kriss E]

It's actually the opposite for me. I want to see them lose, but I can't help but like what I'm seeing. The team is full of young and exciting players.

The games have been more entertaining as of late.

Habs remade their left defense from last year and made it worse. Now it's gone through another makeover now, but a change in the right direction this time around.

Say what?
I mean... full of young exciting guys? Who?..Mete and Scherbak.
Back in 12, Patches had a bounce back year after his next broke, excitement there. PK, Eller, Gallagher, Galch, that's excitement.
In today's roster...Hudon and Lek...meh..was never sold on them. Hope they will prove me wrong but honestly, I don't see them as top 6 guys. Scherbak is the only one I see with that potential.
Galch and Gallagher, I don't qualify as youngsters to be excited about. They're in their 6th year.
Drouin...man..it's a bit sad.
Juulsen, I see a bottom pairing guy.
Mete, I agree.

I don't see the excitement. Maybe next year, all those kids are going to take a step up and will warrant this excitement. As of now, there is very little there.

 

[Kriss E]

You are right. But a lot of this has to do qith the fact that the way this team plays is beyond boring! I mean that I get invested as you say when I watch teams that I am not a fan of. Hockey out of mtl this year is crazily exciting to watch! Lots of scoring. Guys are SKILLED!

I agree there. When I watch top teams play, it takes about 2 minutes of watching for me to remember why I love this sport so much.
Habs are a borefest. I don't put this on Julien though. As much as one can argue about his boring system, which may very well be true, I just can't blame any coach when the roster is this bad.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

I started watching the Habs when I was around 8 years old, then let's say from around 11 years old; for the following decade I watched every single Habs game (including pre-season if it was on TV), I missed probably less than 10 games in total during that time period (I would record it if I were to miss a game). I had a university exchange program in Europe at 21 years old and missed several games for the first time (still manage to catch I few though). When I came back I became used to missing some games if it didn't fit my schedule, but just a few. But the team slowly became more boring to watch, relying on Price to win, MB pilling up grinders, and I simply couldn't stand Therrien has a coach, with DD has his perpetual first center, this team started to feel like a meme to me. The year we lost Price to injury and finished in the bottom of the league is the point where I started to stop caring about the team and became sick of it to a certain extent, I started missing most of the games. If this team was better managed for the last decade and had more talent, I would probably care, but this hasn't been the case. Now I watch a game every 20 games or so, I feel completely detached from this team. I prefer to just follow NHL prospects and the draft instead.

My favorite team was the last one with Saku with a lot of young players coming in and young Price-Halak as our duo. Not resigning Koivu for instead making an extremely awful deal for Gomez put some doubts in my mind for the first time about my passion for this team. Nearly a decade later of Gainey being fired, Gauthier being fired and MB destroying this team further, I lost all faith.

I will start regaining interest when we decide to go for a full rebuild and restart from scratch, we are 25-31 territory in the standings and in the quality of our prospects pool, this organization needs a reset, too badly managed for too many years.

Looking forward being a fan again once our management as some sort of vision and ability to do their job reasonably well. I won't be cheering for the team they are providing us until then.

 

[Roke]

Since fall 2013. Briere/Murray/Parros and the team performing awfully (outside of Price) made me believe Bergevin would just waste the good core he inherited.

Fortunately Subban managed to get out. It would have sucked to see him stuck with this team without a decent shot of winning.

I got some mild excitement back June, before the Sergachev trade, when I could imagine the team jump-starting the rebuild (that's inevitible) by trading Price, Weber, and Pacioretty and going through a 3 or so year period of Leafs style rebuilding but even that's gone now. Pacioretty has one year left, Weber's injured and got PDO'd this year because of Price's bad performances, and Price signed that monster extension.

If the team can get decent management in, get out of the Price and Weber contracts, and start a competent, non-scorched-earth rebuild I could probably get excited again.

But then again I have a buddy who's a Leafs fan who hasn't come back even though their rebuild's almost successful. He had all the joy of the team/sport driven out of him by Burke and Nonis, hockey's stone age culture, inane broadcasters, and the NHL's allergy to skill and I could see myself being the same way.

Every night it seems there's an absolutely incredible skill play in the NBA - Harden's 3 last night and Lebron's ridiculous nutmeg dribble tonight for instance. The NHL will occasionally have that but too often the star players, the guys who can do amazing things, are just getting hacked or clutched to death. And the Habs are more backwards when it comes to skill than league average.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Sorry, born and raised in montreal.

Im stuck with em.

I still watch the games, but thats just because i like to watch hockey, my "love" for the team is dormant/hybernating for sure, for now.

I guess its a bit easier for non-montrealers to let go of the team

Also born and raised in Montreal and the decision to stop watching this sad sack of **** they have the audacity to call a team was one of the easiest I made in my entire life. I you like to watch hockey, do yourself a favour and give teams like Nashville and Winnipeg a try. Current Habs "hockey" is an insult to actual hockey.

 

[Runner77]

Lost interest in management and ownership. Have gained interest in this:

 

[buddahsmoka1]

I've watched about 100 minutes of the Habs this entire season.

Although this has been part of a bigger trend for the last 5 or 6 years of my life. I don't watch sports anymore. I'm too busy these days and I no longer care about outcomes like I used to.

I'll go to the odd sporting event but I no longer watch sports for entertainment.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

My interest is still there, its wavered but still there. Im not glued to my tv or affected by losses much anymore tho.

The team is not committed to winning, until they are, i wont get emotionally invested in this team

 

[SirClintonPortis]

This team is a team that would get smashed even worse in the dead puck era. Think we can't score now? If we fielded this level of suck then, we'd be shutout double the number of times we have been shutout this year.

It's not a surprise that interest has faded. Heck, I have not watched anything since the free game against Anaheim in October.

 

[Redux91]

Also born and raised in Montreal and the decision to stop watching this sad sack of **** they have the audacity to call a team was one of the easiest I made in my entire life. I you like to watch hockey, do yourself a favour and give teams like Nashville and Winnipeg a try. Current Habs "hockey" is an insult to actual hockey.

Lol dude, of course i watched that game , it was epic, you dont miss something like that when you check whos playing every night

 

[Lebowski]

I watch maybe half the games nowadays. I'll still interested enough to visit HF every day.

This team just isn't very likable. Something's rotten in this organization and everyone can smell it. Even back when we were winning a decent amount it never felt quite the way it used to be if you go back to the Koivu, Kovalev, Souray days.

Beyond the obvious hate for Bergevin and his crew, I think something that gets overlooked is the departure of Boivin as president., and coincidentally Molson stepping in. Things haven't felt quite right ever since that happened.

 

[RealityBytes]

Habs games are really, really boring. Even if I turn the game on TV, I don't really watch. I just glance over every so often while I'm doing something else.

Other teams and their games are just more exciting.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

A fan who stops watching/giving interest during dark times, don't deserve to be subjected to the good times.

(mod)

I've been following this team for over three decades. I've seen my share of bad moments. There comes a point where enough is enough. ESPECIALLY when management doesn't seem to give a rat's *** about the fans and ownership is more interested by their bottom line than anything else. Anybody who keeps following such a **** show will keep on getting a **** show, cuz that's the only way such ownership learns the right lesson, is when people tune out in droves.

**** complacency. **** contentment. And **** everyone who keeps feeding this monster. It won't change until enough people use their brain and realize just how little they actually care about their fans. It's big business giving it to you up the ***.

 

[mariolemieux66]

I lost interest in 95-96 after the Odelein departure and the dismantling of the team. I got a little curious after they acquired Kovalev in 05-06. My interest grew when Pacioretty, Subban and Price became regulars followed by Galchenyuk and Gallagher. Bergevin has not done anything to improve the team since being hired. I was almost done with this team after the Subban trade, but where i can not accept it is the Price contract. I really worry about the future of the team, since they dont have the right winning criterias.

 

[voyageur]

I wish I could watch more Habs. Unfortunately Bell blacks out all the games here.

It's different watching Winnipeg all the time and watching Montreal. Winnipeg has so much pace, and speed, skill in their game. The coaching style of Winnipeg allows the defense to constantly pinch and join the rush. The team is built on speed.

But I think that is a product of Winnipeg's division. Hawks started the trend that saw skill beating size. Nashville brought in the offensive minded Laviolette, with Housley coaching their d. I think everyone started to notice the change, and adapted.

Pittsburgh's success with smaller faster d, should have been a message to everyone else. Bergevin's decision to go Alzner, Schlemko, Streit somewhat boggles the mind, with Weber and Benn already there. Same with starting the year with Mitchell, McCarron. I think Montreal has to play tight because they don't have the horses to play run and gun. And it doesn't seem like offense is ever something the Canadiens draft for. It's like the Bob Gainey-Doug Jarvis-Guy Carbonneau era is forever engrained.

I wouldn't say the team is completely boring. Guys like Drouin, Galchenyuk show some high end skill. Scherbak's going to be fun to watch. I don't know if Reilly is an attempt to bring more speed to the defense, he replaced a good skater in Morrow, so the move is lateral. I guess you'll find out in the offseason.

Winnipeg made a significant move in the offseason. They bought out Mark Stuart. He was slow and big. Blocked a lot of shots. Seen as a warrior. But the analytics showed that he was a hindrance to puck possession and unable to defend as well as better skaters. Even on the PK. Replaced him with Kulikov. 3 good d pairings really changed the look of the team.

I still prefer Weber to Subban. I never liked Subban's diving, or Markov's, definitely didn't like some of the antics, though he was fun to watch skate. I look at Weber as being more Chara like, a guy you don't want to mess with, and a leader that others follow.

I think once the torched is passed from Pacioretty the team will change it's identity.

If Gallagher is the guy to lead, the identity will be hard working, persistent, relentless.

Still will not be the most exciting team. For years the weaknesses on the team were covered by superior goaltending, building around Price. His slip up this year might be a lesson to generate some more offense. A little more size would help up front, a little less on the back end.

Being a loser doesn't make me lose interest. Aerosmith said you got to lose to know how to win. Boston went through it. It's frustrating with Bergevin in charge, because he is not someone who you identify with glory, more like a company man.
He has a lot of work to do to restore the winning culture, and I am not sure he should be trusted to the job. Still...Always be a Habs fans, c'est l'équipe du peuple, historically speaking.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I have dreamed a dream, and now that dream has gone from me.

 

[Skip Bayless]

I watch maybe half the games nowadays. I'll still interested enough to visit HF every day.

This team just isn't very likable. Something's rotten in this organization and everyone can smell it. Even back when we were winning a decent amount it never felt quite the way it used to be if you go back to the Koivu, Kovalev, Souray days.

Beyond the obvious hate for Bergevin and his crew, I think something that gets overlooked is the departure of Boivin as president., and coincidentally Molson stepping in. Things haven't felt quite right ever since that happened.

The philosophy wasn't different during the Gainey/Gillette years, the main difference is that the drafting and development was pretty good despite us being a bubble team on most years, which is how Timmins earned his reputation and kept his job after the regime change.

In the end, the main problem with the habs the past 20 years has been acquiring elite forwards (Most notably Cs). They've had elite goaltending and defensemen simultaneously, but very grim on forwards. They don't draft 'em, they can't trade for 'em (not enough assets) and they can't sign 'em, they'd rather not play here.

We're in a market where we basically have to get lucky or suck involuntarily every 5 years to acquire elite talent. And that wont change, even if the GM goes and a new one is brought in.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Gone from watching just about every game to probably catching 1-2 month and even then usually just on in the background

My G-A-F Meter is matching the Habs mgmt these days, got half excited for the TDL and will watch the lottery/draft but if we enter next season without at least 1 Top 6 centre (that's not on the current roster unless his name is Alex) I likely won't watch at all

 

[Bacchus1]

I do not fell stoked about my team. But, like you, I am posting on a fan site, so I can’t have completely.

I am hoping for good things to come. There is chance involved. But for the last few games the team has played well. Other teams are probably playing us easy, but stiil, they are giving the young guys a chance to play,and they are doing well. Looking forward to the draft.

 

[Saint Patrick]

Yep, not one of these fans that will drink the cool aid and thank the Gods we have team. It's a two way street and right now the way this team is being managed, I just dont care. I watch 1 or 2 games a month, and it's also usually in the background. I always get my notifications on game results though otherwise I have no interest in following a management staff that has an arrogant attitude and takes the fan base for a bunch of idiots. I will never stop being a fan but I dont have to go around an parade like Im the biggest fan in the world to prove it. As long as Bergevin is there I'll keep my distance, I've had enough of this circus.

 

[PaulD]

This year has been brutal but honestly since the pre-Subban trade collapse I've become less and less interested in supporting/watching this team play. I find the product boring, I really don't feel like ownership cares about winning and the management/coaches are unlikable and incompetent for the most part. Anyone else in my boat/looking for another team to follow?

Dec 015 . By then I had seen enough and was watching other games. Not just because of the losing, not just because they had the worst December in Canadiens history........simply because there were way more entertaining and enjoyable games going on. That has changed . The Canadiens are one sorry ass team to watch.

 

[PaulD]

Most of my apathy regarding the Habs are a direct result of Bergevin's moves and non-moves over the years. I won't go into full details but the Subban trade and failing to sign Radulov and Markov are some of his recent failures. Price's contract extension at 10.5 mil for 8 years can potentially backfire but it remains to be seen. Failing to make meaningful roster upgrades before the playoffs particularly in the 2014-2015 season and the 2016-2017 season comes to mind as the Habs lacked scoring depth. Keeping Therrien for so long despite the team collapsing in two different seasons is another mistake on his part and don't even mention the fact that Therrien prioritized giving DD prime offensive minutes instead of developing Galchenyuk as the #1 center for the future.

Despite all of the negatives that have been mentioned, I can't say that I am completely disinterested in this team. I am looking forward to this off-season. Habs have 5 picks in the first 2 rounds and potentially more if they decide to trade Pacioretty so at least our prospect pool should be improved this off-season. Bergevin seems to make his most impactful moves during the off-season so I'm curious to see what he plans on doing this time around.

Going on seven season without acquiring a number one centerman is not even funny. He has made alot of bone headed errors but that one is the cream of the crop.

 

[NORiculous]

Anyone fear the Preds win the cup and PK brings the cup to MTL?

That would surely rub it in!!