Troubling signs

"We had a really good first period. and then a bad change leads to a goal with 20 seconds left" - Brian Gionta

I'm sorry. Are you kidding me? Brian, let's be Frank. You had a good first few minutes (as a team) and then disappeared. Six consecutive minutes of a terribly lackluster power play does not make it a "really good" period. Either Captain Gionta is deluded, or he is towing the company line.

If - as I suspect he is - towing the company line, then it's a troubling sign that this team may have quit on Coach Jaques. Earlier in the season when the Canadiens were losing games there was a compete level that was still there. The special team weren't working, the team wasn't winning, but they were competing. I didn't see that last night. I didn't see it in Philadelphia. I didn't see it on Long Island. So- what's going on?


Generally, this group of Canadiens players shows pride and compete and they don't turn in two sour performances in a row - so I expect to see them come out and compete with the San Jose Sharks tonight. I expect nothing less if I'm Pierre Gauthier, Jaques Martin and/or Geoff Molson. The team can lose, it happens, but it depends how they lose. If they come out with another flat performance - I don't see how Martin still has a job by Saturday. If the players come out flat, it's a sure sign to me that they have quit on this coach. If they come out to compete - win or lose - then the coach isn't the issue, something else is wrong.

I'll re-iterate, I expect the Canadiens to compete tonight. If they don't and the Coach is still there on Sat (which is another flat performance) then I'd expect a new Coach and GM hired before they come back to Montreal.

Good luck coach. Let's see what you've got.