Canadiens Begin Season 0-3-0 For First Time Since 1995

The Canadiens’ Stanley Cup final run sure seems far away all of a sudden. Only three months removed from that magical run, the 2021-22 squad is a far cry from the team that defied all the odds.

What happened?

For starters we can point at the injuries. Not having Shea Weber, Carey Price and Joel Edmundson to begin with doesn’t help. All three play a pivotal role in the lineup and aren’t easily replaceable with the pieces we have in place.

The next blame can be pointed towards the lack of chemistry with the new players. Christian Dvorak, David Savard, Chris Wideman, Matthieu Perreault, Samuel Montembeault and Cedric Paquette all come from different teams and system and teammates. A new player always takes a little bit of time to adjust, but an entire starting lineup can take more time. Not to mention Mike Hoffman who the Canadiens acquired in big fanfare to help bolster the powerplay unit, has yet to play a game. Though there are talks that he will be ready to go sometime this week either Tuesday against San Jose, Thursday against Carolina or at worse Saturday against Detroit.

Aside from Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson, the offense is flat. There’s no creativity or drive. Defensively, players often miss their lanes and leave gaping holes for the opposition to shoot in. Jake Allen has done what he could but he can’t score goals.

Fans of a certain age might remember the last time the Habs had such a disastrous start to the season and that was at the beginning of the 1995-96 season. General Manager Serge Savard and Head Coach Jacques Demers were both unceremoniously fired only 2 seasons and 4 games after winning the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens started that year 0-4-0 and the beginning of one of, if the worst, era in franchise history began. President Ronald Corey announced to the absolute shock of the entire hockey world that former player and current TV personality Mario Tremblay would be head coach, while former player Rejean Houle would serve as General Manager. Both came in with absolutely no coaching or administrating experience.

Savard did reveal through the years that he was fired for having concluded a trade with the Colorado Avalanche sending Patrick Roy to the rocky mountains in return for Owen Nolan, Stephane Fiset and a 1st round pick. Corey nixed the deal with the NHL and proceeded to clean house instead. Cancelling the trade proved to be moot as Roy would eventually request a trade and end up in Colorado anyway. The return proved much less fortuitous as the Canadiens received Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Captain Mike Keane would also be added to the trade going the Avalanche way.

Scott Cowan actually re-visited this infamous trade last year as the team “celebrated” its 25th anniversary of the event.

The Canadiens started their season with 3 losses or more only 6 times in franchise history. 1920-1921, 1926-1927, 1934-1935, 1938-1939,1995-1996 and of course 2021-2022. The 34-35, 38-39 and 95-96 seasons saw the team make coaching and/or GM changes at some point early in the season.

As the current version of the Canadiens are 0-3-0, it’s doubtful that we see both Marc Bergevin and Dominique Ducharme be shown the door. However you can’t help but wonder what is going on in the offices of the Bell Center. Geoff Molson, who famously always makes a statement at the beginning of the season has been completely silent. No word has come from the Owner/President since his statement regarding Logan Mailloux, which was released and buried during the first day of free agency.

Little is known about the current relationship between Molson and Bergevin. Many have speculated that Bergevin is playing hard ball in contract negotiations. Others speculate that no offer has been made because Molson wants a new GM. Many have claimed that Bergevin and Ducharme were on their way out once the Habs went 1-3 against Toronto but the sudden comeback and drive to the finals voided those plans.

There’s no certainty in any of these so-called speculations. However one thing is certain, if the Canadiens don’t start winning soon, someone is going to have to pay the price. Especially with the next three games in front of the home faithful and one coming against Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the Carolina Hurricanes.