A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: The Pressure Of Being ‘Québécois’

By Patrick Lortie

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 30: Jonathan Drouin #92 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on October 30, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Canadiens defeated the Coyotes 4-1. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 30: Jonathan Drouin #92 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on October 30, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Canadiens defeated the Coyotes 4-1. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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UNIONDALE, NY – CIRCA 1979: Guy Lafleur #10 of the Montreal Canadiens. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY – CIRCA 1979: Guy Lafleur #10 of the Montreal Canadiens. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

The near obsession of having a home grown superstar has reached an insatiable and obsessive  point. The 90’s saw fans stripped of their heroes for reasons some are still trying to figure out today. Gone were Patrick Roy, Pierre Turgeon, Vincent Damphousse, Guy Carbonneau. Patrice Brisebois was put in an awkward situation where he was expected to be the next Bobby Orr because he was the highest profiled local player at the time and he was booed every time he touched the puck because he didn’t meet those expectations. This drove him to a deep depression and of course out of town.

When the Canadiens traded for Jonathan Drouin in the summer of 2017, of course fans went wild. Yes we knew we possibly traded a future All-Star in Mikhail Sergachev, but in return we got a former 3rd overall pick who was born here. He completely dominated the QMJHL and started flashing some of his skills after breaking out in the 2016-17 season with 21 goals, 32 assists and 53 points.

At the time Drouin was up for the challenge and the pressure. Coming off a strong season he wanted to prove that he had more in him.

Then we crushed him.

In his first year in Montreal, head coach Claude Julien decided it was a good idea to play Drouin at center because the team didn’t have any true natural centerman after Tomas Plekanec, Phillip Danault and Byron Froese. Alex Galchenyuk and Paul Byron were parading between all forward positions so the team thought to put a dangling winger as the team’s top centerman. Of course Drouin looked lost and saw the opposing red light glare on him more times than none. Still, he racked up 46 points.

Year 2 saw Drouin back at the wing and him wanting to shake that awful first season. A full season and another 53 points. Good but that wasn’t enough for the fans. Another year of no playoffs and Drouin hasn’t delivered nearly enough of what his potential is capable of. The critics are coming down hard on him.

The pressure was reaching a critical point. Anyone who was anyone in the media was blasting Drouin from all angles, especially on the French panels. In their minds, without openly admitting it, he’s supposed to be a superstar and carry this team on his back.

We thought people were brought back to earth after he left the team this past season for personal reasons. Unfortunately, now that we’re approaching training camp and Drouin said that he’s fully healthy and ready to go, some have already opened the negative box and started slandering Drouin and starting rumors that he’s going to be traded before camp even starts.

Patrick Roy was traded because he made the team look bad after a blowout against the Red Wings. Guy Carbonneau was traded because he gave the finger to a paparazzi who was stalking him and the picture made the front page of all newspapers. Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon were traded due to the absolute ineptitude of then General Manager Rejean Houle and President Ronald Corey. The former set in motion a flurry of trades, approved by the latter, that transformed the team from a potential dynasty into bottom feeders that would take over a decade to recuperate and find some sense of respectibility.

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