Fire Martin Before It Is Too Late Part Two

The Habs and the Hab – Nots

The fans in the pro- Martin camp believe that the coach has the team playing the soundest hockey not seen in these parts since the days of the Pat Burns –  led era They are correct with those assumptions as Les Martin – esque Habitants are playing very consistent. The late Pat Burns also had Les Tri – Couleurs playing the same brand of hockey as the future Hockey Hall of Fame coach led his team to a run of consistency as well. Love him and remember him with all your heart – Pat Burns’ system did not lead to a Stanley Cup . Years from now , historians and fans will gaze backwards through the plexi-glass of time and remember Martin just as fondly.They will not remember a Stanley Cup however. Stanley Cups are for coaches that have instincts that dive into the inner cores of their players and evoke their natural abilities. Jacques Demers is one of those coaches and the strides of time display his name on the Cup in 1993. No one questioned the off – season then

What Demers possessed that Martin is lacking is something that cannot be taught. An antenna that picks up vibes . Vibes that cannot be heard by the common man or coach. Vibes that contain a player’s feelings, desires and wants. Parents, good parents obtain that ability. The ability to decipher the different abilities of their children and elevate those abilities into an atmosphere of outstanding perseverance and productivity. Coaches are essentially parents to a daycare of men that are living their childhood dreams . Dreams that unlike any other type of adult oriented business , allow the ‘ adults ‘ to maintain a childlike existence that contains sometimes very immature emotions and behaviors. A good parent or coach can harness those ‘ reactions ‘ and guide the players into the next realm of productiveness while evoking a quality necessary to win championships. That quality is passion.

A team with passion does not lose to inferior teams such as the present day Canadiens do. If it is so difficult for a team to motivate themselves against lowly opposition then it rests squarely on the shoulders of the head coach to ensure that it does not happen. Therein lies Martin’s failure. Two losses to the Maple Leafs. A loss to the Devils. Another to Edmonton. One of these losses should have been enough for Martin to say or do something that enabled the result to never be duplicated . Martin has been around long enough to know that the points lost ( especially in this day and age ), are not only crucial to the play – off goal yet important for those days that the team does have a ‘ bad day ‘ at the office. During the course of a long season , it is inevitable that these days will come. Weak teams are the protein that feeds the team’s bodies on the nights that the squad is caught in a storm. Squirrels gather nuts in October instead of donning Hallowe’en costumes. They know what is coming and get prepared early. More times than not – a dead squirrel is not the product of a bad squirrel parent or a equally deficient squirrel coach. Martin has not been up to the challenge teaching his kids either and the results could well lead to a dead Subban, Eller and Pacioretty.

To be continued…

Merry Xmas Everyone and let us all thank the Lord that hockey is unlike Basketball. Christmas is family time and even fish should not see nets on this blessed day !