Poor Len Canayen: Time for Habs fans to panic?

Poor Len Canayen here, with the first in what I hope will NOT be a series of posts on what could be a woeful hockey season for our beloved Montréal Canadiens. Sad to say, the outlook for 2017-18 isn't brilliant. In fact it's downright depressing.

So far, the Habs have (allegedly) played six pre-season games, and won... wait for it... none of them. Not one. They have failed to score more than two goals in any game, while allowing, errr, more. And the roster has showed great gaping holes in front and at the blue line. It's enough to make even a true believer nervous.

With two more exhibition games to be played, it may be a bit soon to start pointing the finger of blame, but I do want to say something about how last year's fine team was dismembered during the off-season. The fault, as I see it, lies chiefly with general manager Marc Bergevin, who's responsible for trades and acquisitions. Coach Claude Julien can only work with the players he's given, and must look down the bench and wonder where all the good guys went.

Let's start with defence, which looks like being the major problem this year. Last night Carey Price allowed an unPricelike four goals. One was a fluke, but two of them he never saw. Why? Poor defence. Coach Julien told La Presse, "Sur les buts marqués ce soir, Carey n'a jamais vu la rondelle. Il faut faire un meilleur travail pour lui permettre de voir la rondelle, car c'est un bon gardien qui va arrêter ce qu'il peut voir. Il faut faire du meilleur travail devant notre filet pour lui laisser voir la rondelle un peu mieux."

During the off-season, the Habs lost no fewer than five (count 'em, 5) defencemen, including two who are already sorely missed. Nathan Beaulieu was traded to Buffalo. No loss there but some say Bergevin should've been able to get more for him -- say a bag of pucks. Mikhail Sergachev found out (by Twitter!) that he'd been traded to Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin. Sergachev was a top defence prospect and we can only hope Drouin will prove to be the sniper the team sorely needs. Nikita Nesterov just disappeared, and is said to have gone back to Russia. Buhbye.

The two fine defenceman who are now conspicuous by their absence are Andrei Markov and Alexei "Boom" Emelin. It's hard to blame Bergevin for losing Emelin. He could only protect three defencemen from the expansion draft, and Emelin was No. 4. After being grabbed by the Las Vegas Golden Nuggets ["Knights", shurely! Ed.] Emelin got traded to the Nashville Predators, where he will get to play with his old friend (NOT) P.K. Subban. I'm not sure if it's possible for Montréal to get him back, but the team sure could use his thundering checks to keep the opposition honest.

And then there's Markov. After failing to negotiate a two-year renewal contract with the CH, Markov went home to Russia, rather than play with any other NHL team. He has now signed up for two years with Kazan of the KHL. For letting this stalwart top-four defenceman go, I invite Marc Bergevin to bend over so I can give his ass a good kick! Sure Markov is getting long in the tooth, but he proved last year that he can still play defence and contribute as a play-maker, especially on the power play. After 16 years with la Sainte Flanelle, was another two too much to ask? Whatever happened to loyalty?

Marc Bergevin asked the same question -- "Whatever happened to loyalty?" -- in discussing Alexander Radulov's jump to the Dallas Stars. "If you want loyalty," Bergevin is supposed to have said, "get a dog." He was referring to the fact that in 2016-17 the Habs took a chance on the previously troublesome Radulov when no other NHL team would touch him. It was a good bet, for which Bergevin deserved the praise he got. But when you're on a roll, why not double down? Radulov proved that he had cleaned up his act, motivated himself and become a real asset to the team. Why not loosen the purse-strings and give him a good long-term contract? He got give years at $31.25 million at Dallas. The Habs could have done better than that... and should have!

Bottom line: Some Leaf fans of my acquaintance -- I don't discriminate against anybody -- kidded me that last year's Canadiens looked a lot like Central Red Army, right down to the colours of their uniforms. The "Flying Frenchmen" of the Golden Age aren't French any more (they said), and the Habs are just a bunch of Russians masquerading as Canadians. I say, who cares. Habs fans are going to be sorry Markov, Emelin and Radulov are no longer with the team. Hell, we're sorry already!!!