If at face value it seemed that Michel Therrien was more concerned with sending messages in last night's game than he was with winning it, well... appearances aren't always what they seem. In this case, however, they are exactly what they seem.

Subban's decision--to throw a punch 20 seconds into a scrum at the end of the second period--was selfish, stupid and robbed the team of two minutes they probably needed to try to catch the two goals they were chasing.

I wasn't in Philadelphia, but I can't possibly imagine Subban not apologizing to his teammates for that. I can't imagine him not realizing that what he did was stupid and selfish--and not five-ten minutes later, but right then--in the moment. It was inexcusable. It was indefensible. And it was also the first time all season that he took a penalty of that nature, regardless of game circumstance.

Therrien's decision to deprive the team of Subban's services for the 10 minutes or so that followed was even more selfish than Subban's penalty. He can talk about the team concept prevailing all he wants, but his need to assert his power in this struggle between him and the team's best player took precedent over his number one responsibility: To help the team win.

He reinforced that this was exactly the case when he elected to not pull Peter Budaj in the waning moments of the third period, justifying the decision by claiming it to be a pointless exercise for his team that only generated four measly shots in the frame.

These decisions stunk; absolutely reeked of insecurity.

The Canadiens played awful. Their performance was inexplicable. Their muteness on the powerplay, their spotty coverage in the defensive zone, and the utter lack of commitment from most of their players were incredibly disconcerting signs.

Having seen what this team can be at its best, and knowing that their worst has been .500 hockey, they can't possibly be achieving at a respectable level, having played the better part of a month as a completely healthy team.

Therrien's reaction to all of this is indicative of his own personal standing with some of the players in this room. This much is undeniable. And where it goes from here is very, very unpredictable.

I'm no psychologist, but to view Therrien's benching of Subban as a single moment in a vacuum would be very shortsighted.

This was an assertion of power; of "You may be going to Sochi, but you still play for me, and you're going to play my way."

The point I'm about to raise is debatable. It's not a fact. Call it an educated observation, and if you wish to argue with me about it, I'm all ears.

If Tomas Plekanec took that penalty, there's not a chance in any universe that Therrien would've parked him for 10 minutes of the third period. Not under any game circumstance; not down by two, not tied, not up by five.

Just don't come at me with the: "Well, Tomas Plekanec wouldn't have taken that penalty.".

As for not pulling the goalie, and sending a message to the entire team, how do you think that was received?

What's the point in sending messages in such a manner, if they'll most certainly fall on deaf ears?

There's not a single Canadien that would've come into the room after this game and said they played well. There's not a single one of them that doesn't know what's expected of them and how far short they fell on that last night. There's not a single one of them that wouldn't feel embarrassed about that kind of outing. To be shown up by their coach doesn't reinforce the team concept Therrien's so infatuated with. In fact, it was pretty much the most selfish action taken by any member of the team, all season!

All criticism aside, the troubling truth is that if Therrien hadn't lost his team before last night, he took one step further in that direction with the decisions he made.

There's a time and a place for messages, and there's a way to send them. There's not a single argument anyone would make that would sway me to agree that the timing of Therrien's messages was right, and that the method made sense.

All Therrien did last night was meet one wrong (his team not playing the right way) with another wrong (depriving them of the best opportunity to correct course). And he looks like a coach that doesn't know why his team isn't consistently playing the right way, and his reactions are lacking any discernible intent to find a solution.

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