Montreal Canadiens: Questions from the other side

Montreal Canadiens fans aren’t the only ones who have questions about what’s going on with the team as we debut a new segment on A Winning Habit.

The rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs is one that will always have significance. Although the two teams haven’t met in the playoffs since the ’70s, regular season games with the Leafs usually don’t disappoint for either side (except for the 6-0 loss but let’s not talk about).

However, everyone can have their own thoughts and questions about the Habs, and that includes the other side of the rivalry. That brings us to the origins of this post. A Winning Habit and Editor in Leaf – FanSided’s Toronto Maple Leafs site – has been doing work together this season as co-affiliates of the Habsfan vs. Leafsfan podcast. If you haven’t tuned it, it’s a great show by Ari Shapiro and one of our contributors, Kamal Rehman.

Myself and the site expert at Editor in Leaf, Mike Stephens, thought it would be an interesting idea to ask each other questions on our respective teams on a weekly basis. You know what they say, you can learn a lot about yourself from an enemy than a friend. Let’s see if that same idea can be brought out here.

1. With a 30-year-old, injury prone Carey Price about to start a 10-year contract at a $10.5 million cap hit, do you think the Habs make any attempts to offload him to another team?

Not an outrageous question at all. Carey Price‘s availability has been something fans have been talking about for a number of weeks now, especially with the speculation involving the St. Louis Blues.

However, I put a lot of stock into the idea that Habs management would rather lean towards a one or two-year retool opposed to a full-on rebuild.

If that’s the case, then keeping Price in the system would be the better option. That being said, if there is a deal out there that they can’t refuse, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they listen to some of them. The organization has Charlie Lindgren right now in the AHL who showed his worth playing in place of an injured Price in November, and he was outstanding.

But I don’t think the 30-year-old is a player the Habs choose to move.

2) What do you think Claude Julien’s biggest flaw as a coach is?

Going to start by saying this season is so far from being Claude Julien‘s fault. He’s always been touted as a defensive minded coach, and unfortunately, he doesn’t have the players to do that. In some ways, you can put that on him and say that it would be better to work to your players’ strengths, but the basic miscues and errors in the defensive zone that the Habs have made this are shocking.

Julien does have a knack for being a tad stubborn though. I understand that he wants to grow the chemistry between Jonathan Drouin and Alex Galchenyuk, but I don’t get why he can’t play with the idea of having them as your top two centres. Additionally, there have been times where you can tell that he’s really trying to grow Joseph Morrow‘s game and will play him over Victor Mete and Jakub Jerabek.

I do think that his enforcement of accountability is a little lacking. The only player who I’ve noticed get glued to the bench during a bad game has been Galchenyuk and Mete. Obviously, he can’t bench everyone every game, but it’s frustrating sometimes to see someone commit multiple mistakes in a given night and be thrown over the boards instantly. Every coach has their way of managing their bench though.

3) What do you think it’ll take to get Marc Bergevin fired?

The funny thing is that I thought a season like the one we’re in now would be the end of Marc Bergevin. A lot of people were married to the idea that he would get the pink slip once the regular season was over, but all signs are pointing to him sticking around. Whether it’s Geoff Molson’s sky-high confidence in him or the fact that he’s signed until the end of the 2021-22 season, it doesn’t seem like his seat is that hot anymore.