Did politics kill the Habs franchise ?
- Thread starter OldManGroin
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I think it's (some of) the fans mostly personally. A lot of them are just a bit much honestly. I understand being passionate, and voicing displeasure with a coach, GM, player etc, but if you read the Habs board on here for example it's just vile and personal. It was like that even when the team was doing well. Players say they tune that stuff out, but I'm sure it gets old. Not sure I'd want to be any part of that if I were a player, or coach or GM or whatever.
Taxes are probably a close second. And yeah the language thing is an issue. I blame the era of political correctness, not wanting to offend a very small minority that is worried about that. Having said that back in the day the anglo guys that came here sorta made an effort to learn the language. Even if only a few words, though some learned it quite fluently. You don't really see that anymore for some reason either.
Taxes are probably a close second. And yeah the language thing is an issue. I blame the era of political correctness, not wanting to offend a very small minority that is worried about that. Having said that back in the day the anglo guys that came here sorta made an effort to learn the language. Even if only a few words, though some learned it quite fluently. You don't really see that anymore for some reason either.
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haveandare
Registered User
Eh, it hurts them but the main issue is they have a terrible GM and management who doesn't care that their GM is the worst in the league.
But yeah, hiring this or that person because of what language they speak is beyond idiotic and just compounds their issues. Do MTL fans care at all? I'd think they want a good team more than a team that speaks French.
But yeah, hiring this or that person because of what language they speak is beyond idiotic and just compounds their issues. Do MTL fans care at all? I'd think they want a good team more than a team that speaks French.
Habs are going no where with the French Canadian rule, I remember the habs lost a game last season after they scratched Desharnais and the headline in the french newspaper the next day was “no quebecois, no win” that right there shows people don’t care about winning. Cups don’t matter in Montreal anymore it’s all about French, everything else is secondary.
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
I'm a Caps fan but I've lived in Montreal for the past 12 years and my first language is French. Everything OP says is true. The language requirements and the politics around the team are killing it. The Canadiens will never win another Stanley Cup as long as the French requirement is enforced for key positions such as GM, coach, or even for some players. You need to get the best man for the job.
Toene
Y'en aura pas de facile
- Nov 17, 2014
- 4,971
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Yawn.
Aurèle Joliat
Maurice Richard
Émile Bouchard
Dickie Moore
Doug Harvey
Jean Béliveau
Bobby Rousseau
Henri Richard
Bernard Geoffrion
Yvan Cournoyer
Jacques Plante
Jacques Laperrière
J-C Tremblay
Serge Savard
Guy Lapointe
Mario Tremblay
Claude Provost
Yvon Lambert
Guy Lafleur
Jacques Lemaire
Pierre Larouche
Pierre Mondou
Guy Carbonneau
Patrick Roy
Stéphane Richer
Vincent Damphousse
Serge Savard
Éric Desjardins
And many others
Scotty Bowman
Serge Savard as a GM
Jacques Demers
Pat Burns
Jean Perron
Claude Ruel
And many others
How many total cups between all of these people?
Seems to me that les Canadiens were at their best when they had MORE French/local players and staff, not less.
Aurèle Joliat
Maurice Richard
Émile Bouchard
Dickie Moore
Doug Harvey
Jean Béliveau
Bobby Rousseau
Henri Richard
Bernard Geoffrion
Yvan Cournoyer
Jacques Plante
Jacques Laperrière
J-C Tremblay
Serge Savard
Guy Lapointe
Mario Tremblay
Claude Provost
Yvon Lambert
Guy Lafleur
Jacques Lemaire
Pierre Larouche
Pierre Mondou
Guy Carbonneau
Patrick Roy
Stéphane Richer
Vincent Damphousse
Serge Savard
Éric Desjardins
And many others
Scotty Bowman
Serge Savard as a GM
Jacques Demers
Pat Burns
Jean Perron
Claude Ruel
And many others
How many total cups between all of these people?
Seems to me that les Canadiens were at their best when they had MORE French/local players and staff, not less.
Typical habs fan, stuck in the past
What's killing the habs:
1) they need a rebuild and have needed one for a long time. But medias/owner think it's impossible in MTL (old mentality )
2) hard to attract UFA with (media/weather/tax)
3) not hiring best gm/coach due to langage
4)prior to cap era, value of can. dollard. / municipal taxe. from what i remember habs were paying 21 millions in taxes for molson centre
1) they need a rebuild and have needed one for a long time. But medias/owner think it's impossible in MTL (old mentality )
2) hard to attract UFA with (media/weather/tax)
3) not hiring best gm/coach due to langage
4)prior to cap era, value of can. dollard. / municipal taxe. from what i remember habs were paying 21 millions in taxes for molson centre
Eisen
Registered User
And then the NHL opened the market to the big world. I get that some clubs are important for the local identity and I don't mind that one bit.
Toene
Y'en aura pas de facile
- Nov 17, 2014
- 4,971
- 4,950
Seems to me that we won more cup than any franchise in this "past". Could be wrong though.
It's not because we hire dumb French personnel that there arent competent French people out there.
Let's be honest, the idea the GM and the coach has to speak French gives them by far the worst pool of candidates of any organization. That really does hurt them. There are actually less Franchophones in the NHL than ever before.
Shouldn't the Stanley cup be the #1 priority?
Shouldn't the Stanley cup be the #1 priority?
And people cheered so much in Montreal with that pick. Oh boy.
Years ago, you could prioritize french speaking players and get away with it. Now? No.
Because there were a lot more % of players from Quebec back then and Toronto was owned by the worst sports owner in history.
The coach and GM needs to speak French. No one said the players have to all be. That would be impossible.
Mickey Marner
Registered User
For decades they had a monopoly of the best French players, coaches, managers etc. Their stranglehold on that talent weakened and the quality of talent produced by the PQ decreased dramatically. There are two active players from Quebec that will be HOF'ers; Bergeron & Luongo. The Habs had 5+ French future HOF'ers on their team for decades straight.
Their MO has mostly remained the same, their ability to succeed with it has not.
Their MO has mostly remained the same, their ability to succeed with it has not.
But the french players are not the best anymore. QMJHL has been bust central for years. Who was the last high scoring french player with a long career? Robitaille? Audette even? Who was the last great french goalie? Jocelyn Thibault?
GeeoffBrown
Registered User
- Jul 6, 2007
- 6,101
- 4,066
Patrice Bergeron? Claude Giroux?
Although neither of these players are available to the Habs.
Captain Mountain
Formerly Captain Wolverine
- Jun 6, 2010
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I think it's more to do with the fact that a) the organization is stuck in the past. Old ideas, old ways of thinking, etc.; and b) management/ownership is comparatively impatient and/or too aggressive.
Its not like other teams haven't overcome media/pressure/taxes/weather too. Hell, Winnipeg has to deal with crappy weather, significant local media pressure, high taxes, vocal and critical fans AND being a small market. But their management had a good plan, stuck to it, and were patient. Now they have a deep, young team with good prospects and lots of salary flexibility.
Its not like other teams haven't overcome media/pressure/taxes/weather too. Hell, Winnipeg has to deal with crappy weather, significant local media pressure, high taxes, vocal and critical fans AND being a small market. But their management had a good plan, stuck to it, and were patient. Now they have a deep, young team with good prospects and lots of salary flexibility.
Toene
Y'en aura pas de facile
- Nov 17, 2014
- 4,971
- 4,950
Mario Lemieux (2 Stanley cups), Vincent Damphousse (1 Stanley cup), Luc Robitaille (1 stanley cup), Pierre Turgeon, Stéphane Richer, Raymond freaking Bourque, more recently Vincent Lecavalier(1 Stanley cup), Martin St-Louis (2 times Art-Ross winner and Stanley cup champion...), Brad Richards speaks French (1 Stanley cup), Claude Giroux, Jonathan Toews (3 Stanley cups), Kris Letang (3 Stanley cups), Patrice Bergeron (1 Stanley cup).
Goalies : Roberto Luongo, Martin f***ING Brodeur, Marc-André Fleury (3 Stanley cups), José Théodore, Corey Crawford (2 Stanley cups).
I must forget some. I mean you couldve at least used a quick Google search before posting.
Care to mention the rule where habs had 1st choice of any Qc born players or that there was only a handful of teams in the league when all those guys won ?
Please enlighten us with a glorious list of all the dominant cup winning french players the Habs had since Roy got dealt.
It was much worse. One of the JdM scribes compared the dearth of French Canadian players to the Holocaust. I'm not joking.
If a NHL team came to Quebec City, would the "we French speaking GM and Coach" cause problems there?
I am asking because I don't know.
I am asking because I don't know.
Bergevin killed them
And Price playing absolutely out of his mind carrying the team despite the terrible squad in front of him blinded a lot of people, and so many thought the skaters were actually competitive in comparison to other teams.
And Price playing absolutely out of his mind carrying the team despite the terrible squad in front of him blinded a lot of people, and so many thought the skaters were actually competitive in comparison to other teams.
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
That was at a time when the worldwide talent pool was smaller and during the golden age of Quebec hockey.
The Canadiens' dream would be to have guys like Patrice Bergeron or Kris Letang to build their team around. This isn't happening.
You can brag about the 24 Stanley Cups, they were won over 25 years ago. The game changed.
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