Not Habin’ It: Where the Montreal Canadiens are and where are they going?

On episode one of Not Habin’ It, Joshua Delorme looks at the Montreal Canadiens season and how things can change as well as the craziness of the playoffs.

It’s been a long time coming here at A Winning Habit. The site finally has its own podcast hosted by contributor Joshua Delorme (@joshuadelorme95), one of our more fiery and energetic writers matching the passion of what it means to be a fan of the Montreal Canadiens.

Not Habin’ It – Episode 1

The show begins with a mental refresher of the 2018-19 season for the Habs (3:50). There were a number of key moments from the beginning of training camp onward that kept the fan base on their toes. Max Pacioretty was dealt, Alex Galchenyuk was dealt, the team’s coaching staff added two new assistant coaches, and despite a goal to make the playoffs from the organization, there was still a profound belief that there wouldn’t be any postseason performances in Montreal.

Two things, in particular, that was touched on in this segment was Marc Bergevin‘s ‘Attitude Adjustment’ on the roster and the need for adaptation from the coaching staff.

At one point it was ‘character,’ and the magic word became ‘attitude’ and Bergevin made it known that it was going to change. It fueled the big trades given how the likes of Max Domi and Tomas Tatar influenced the playing style and spread further by the names on the team who do it right every night such as Brendan Gallagher, Andrew Shaw, and Paul Byron.

Josh makes an interesting point later in the playing style of the Montreal Canadiens, especially the defence (14:50). The blue line was a lot more active than we’ve seen in Julien season’s past which helped players like Jeff Petry make the most of his abilities.

Then came the emotion. Many Habs fans chose to take the ‘glass half empty’ approach when looking at the team’s year. But Josh went the other way deeming the season a failure (21:55). One of the biggest dips was the trade deadline where Bergevin chose to add depth instead of going for a major acquisition. Was that a mistake given what other teams were doing? (25:11)

The power play is going to be a massive topic and ties in well to the lack of movement at the deadline (37:00). Is it stylistic decisions that is stunting it so much or is there something else going on?

The playoffs have been absolutely crazy with the number of upsets and wild-card teams pushing further (49:40). It’s exciting to watch but also ties Bergevin’s claim that if you make it, anything can happen.

Lastly, Josh has Jason Greenwood, a contributor from Union and Blue (FanSided’s Columbus Blue Jackets site) to talk about the team’s shocking win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and what it was like down the stretch to the playoffs (59:07).

It’s a growing show and one that will include more and more. If you have any questions or wish to reach out, make sure to follow A Winning Habit on Twitter (@FSAWinningHabit) or Josh himself!