What's wrong with les Canadiens?

Poor Len here. I wanted to write this piece Sunday night, following the Montréal Canadiens drubbing by the Calgary Flames [Calgary?! Ed.] but Ed. restrained me. After last night's débâcle -- shut out 5-0 by Chicago -- I can restrain myself no longer. [Have at it, then. Ed.]

The Habs got off to a great start this season. Going into Sunday's game they were 8-2-1, good for 17 points and first place in the NHL Eastern Conference. Today they still have 17 points, and are tied for first with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, both of whom have games in hand. What happened?

Back in October, I was asked by my kids -- unaccountably they root for the Toronto Maple Laffs -- why I wasn't gloating. My response was that if I did so, I'd probably wake up and find it was all a dream -- not real. And so it was. This month, reality has set in. The reality is that this year's "Glorieux" are a mediocre team with a bad defence and terrible special units. For the first ten games they had an incredible run of luck, which has now come to an end.

What's wrong with Canada's team? I will tell you. It's these guys.

Let's start with Carey Price (#31), the Habs' ace goaltender and unofficial captain. I love him to bits but must acknowledge (as he should) that he's not superhuman. Although he's stolen more than his share of games with stand-up and stand-out performances, he still needs help. That means a reliable defensive corps, which is what the Canadiens had last year, not this year.

Over the summer, Habs management made some changes, under huge pressure from the fans, the owners and the Montréal press, to pay whatever was necessary to sign P.K. Subban (#76) to a long-term contract. Result? An 8-year deal at an average C$9 million a  year (almost $8 million in real money).

Is Subban -- former Norris Trophy winner and Olympic gold medalist and a credit to his race -- earning his exorbitant keep? In a word, NO.

Let me quote from an e-mail sent (with bcc to me) by Walt's Agent 3 to long-time Montreal Gazette hockey writer Pat Hickey, one of the chief cheerleaders for P.K.

Your brief report on last night's "game" -- quotes deliberate -- didn't mention the Habs' star defenceman. He was lucky to be only -3 for the night, since he happened to be on the ice when both Montreal goals were scored, and Calgary didn't score on his needless penalty.

I  note for 12 games this season his +/- is 0. He leads the team in only one stat -- penalty minutes.
Don't you think it's about time you sports scribes got over the PC factor that seems to preclude any discussion about whether PK is worth the enormous sum he's being paid?

Looking now at the team stats as of today,  Subban's +/- is now -3, and his PIM total is now up to 22, thanks to another bad penalty last night, which negated a Montréal power play just when they desperately needed a goal to get back in the game. 

I can think of three ex-Habs who must be laughing at Montréal GM Marc Bergevin. One is Josh Gorges, a solid, stay-at-home defenceman who Monsieur B traded to Buffalo rather than pay him half of what Subban is getting. 

Then there's Francis Bouillon, another dependable (if aging) blue-liner who didn't get a renewal contract at all. And there's Doug "Swede" Murray, a tough but less-than-mobile rearguard who was also dumped because, hey, who needs a solid defence when you've got P.K.'s speed and cannonading slap shot going for you? 

If only... So far this year, Subban has 3 goals, behind Plekanec, Pacioretty and Galchenyuk. By my arithmetic he's on track for a 50-point season which would be very good, but what the Habs really need is not more goal production but more goal prevention!

Coach Michel Therrien has been juggling his defence pairings, with lamentable lack of success. The problem is that nobody can (or wants to) play with Subban, of for no reason other than his unpredictability. You can't count on him to be in the right position at the right time. He could be behind the opposing team's goal line... or in the penalty box.

I'm sure I'm not the first to say "I told ya so!" Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has doubtless said so many times, in private at least. He coached Canada's 2012 Olympic team, to which Subban was named, in spite of  his huge "risk factor", for reasons of political correctness. 

Babcock let him ride the pines for all but a few shifts of Canada's least challenging preliminary bout against Austria. So of course he (Babcock) was labelled a racist. Although he's never said so publicly, the truth is that Team Canada's coach simply wanted a player he could count on. Not Subban.