Four April Fools-ish aspects of the Montreal Canadiens season
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens had another frustrating season, but there are three aspects of it that fall directly under the April Fools umbrella.
April Fool’s Day. The day where no one is safe from the occasional practical joke, when everything that happens seems absolutely ridiculous to the point where you know it can’t be real. How many times did you get that feeling while watching the Montreal Canadiens play this season?
It’s not too much of an insult, really. You could argue the April Fools-ish-ness of the Habs year started back in July before the start of the 2019-20 season.
In an offseason when hockey analysts predicted a boatload of offer sheet attempts, the Montreal Canadiens became the first team in years to do so. The initial shock of the move was exhilarating for the fan base as if any general manager was going to make the move; it would’ve been Marc Bergevin. Unfortunately, the optimism of the offer sheet quickly transitioned to the cautious side once we were privy to what the offer sheet actually was.
The five-year deal worth $8.454 million a season wouldn’t be enough to scare the Carolina Hurricanes into giving up Sebastian Aho, and it was easily matched.
The Canadiens’ Fools-ish-ness continued on as their big free-agent signing was Ben Chiarot while the remaining depth additions didn’t move the needle as much. Then came the rest of the season where four things, in particular, stand out the most as being the goofiest things to happen to the Montreal Canadiens.