Montreal Canadiens: Getting ready for the civil war
By Omar L
Tonight’s game will be an emotional one for the Montreal Canadiens and the fans. It’ll also be a battle between those who are pro and anti-P.K. Subban.
There’s been an ongoing push and pull among Montreal Canadiens fans. When the odds were still in the Habs’ favour in terms of a playoff spot, there were those who strongly believed they could make it and others who were convinced that tanking the season would be the best option. After the loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, it’s pretty much a universal belief that this is a lost season for the Habs.
However, there is one thing that still does and forever will trigger conflict within the fanbase. That is P.K. Subban.
It’s been almost two years, but the emotions around the trade have yet to go away. Mind you; I’m not saying that they should. Subban was a great ambassador for the team and did a lot for the city of Montreal and in turn, was loved. Marc Bergevin and the rest of management made a decision that they thought would be best and we’re where we are today.
So it’s not surprising that the days leading up to this game, the talk around Subban has peaked. Especially after he and members of the Nashville Predators went to the Montreal Children’s Hospital on Friday. Regardless of your feelings towards Subban, it was a great thing they did in making the day of a lot of those children.
Blain Potvin of allhabs.net had the perfect tweet, to sum up how things will go.
Steady yourselves. This weekend will be the #Habs fans civil war. I'll be over here not getting into a 2yr old pointless argument
— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) February 9, 2018
It’s already started as fans have taken to social media to voice their opinions on why Marc Bergevin made the biggest mistake of his career or why the move was necessary OR why they don’t care anymore. The same thing may happen within the Bell Centre during the game. I expect Subban to be cheered, and perhaps even Alexei Emelin, but those debates will be strong and present.
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It would be naive of me to call for the bickering to stop. We’re all entitled to our opinions and have the right to voice them on any platform. More specifically, fans have the right to express how they feel about Subban and Bergevin.
That being said, the argumentative civil war is going to do no good. Unfortunately, because of the scheme of the trade, it’s going to be something discussed and fought over until both Subban and Shea Weber retire (and that’s being optimistic).
Let the game happen, wait for the result, then it’s off the next one. It looks like for the next 8-10 years, that’s going to be the formula for Subban returning to Montreal.