|
2015-2016 Part II, by Andrew Saadalla |
|
|
|
|
|
That would be the second time this past season that Carey Price would go down to what was revealed to be a knee injury.
Backtrack to October 29th of 2015 where he would hurt his (insert conspiracy theories here) against the Edmonton Oilers. He reportedly traveled to New York with the hopes of receiving a second medical opinion on November 9th after he was supposed to miss only a single week of action. One week turned into a little less than a month, and as you can see in the above video, November 25th of 2015 would prove to be the last game Price would play with the Montreal Canadiens this season.
It also marked the downfall of the team, as my personal choice for the team captaincy Brendan Gallagher would break his fingers blocking a shot on November 22nd. The latter would miss approximately six weeks of action and would watch as his team won a measly 3 games in all of December. He would return on January 1st’s Winter Classic as the hero of the day, scoring a goal and posting an assist in what fooled everyone into believing would be the revival of the despairing, once-upon-a-time Stanley Cup contending Habs team. Let’s face it: we were all gravely mistaken.
It was when both of those leaders went down that it became abundantly clear: this is not an elite team, and Tomas Plekanec was wrong in sheepishly claiming that the Bleu Blanc et Rouge’s successes were the sum of much more than just the heroics of the reigning Hart, Vezina, Lindsay, Jennings, and Conacher winner. Wait, let that sink in for a second…
January was marked by another 3-win month, and the writing was on the wall when general manager Marc Bergevin held a press conference on the 21st of the first month of 2016, defending Michel Therrien and stating that the head coach would be back next year, regardless of the outcome of this season.
Most of us already knew by the end of December that this season was doomed. We all knew Price wasn’t coming back, and if you didn’t think so, I had no issues reminding you all since the end of 2015. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone, because it turned out we were right. If I recall correctly, it was right around that time that I started propagating the idea of trading Carey Price, and turned all of my readers against me faster than the Habs’ organization pissed their fans off via secretive and downright disrespectful poorly-timed, poorly-planned public relations statements (more on this another time).
Unfortunately, the players must have been disillusioned. Nathan Beaulieu and P.K. Subban were publicly claiming that they would prove naysayers and doubters wrong, and postgame interviews by captain Max Pacioretty became a subject of heated debates questioning his integrity and overall leadership capabilities. Reinforced by a 10-point Atlantic Division lead in early December, their misplaced confidence would falter as the face of the team would drastically change.
Tom Gilbert and Jeff Petry would injure themselves, as would Brendan Gallagher (again). Dustin Tokarski, Dale Weise, Tomas Fleischmann, Devante Smith-Pelly and Jarred Tinordi would all be shipped out of town in exchange for draft picks, Stefan Matteau, Victor Bartley, Philip Danault, and the newly-anointed A-list celebrity John Scott (more on him soon). Mike Brown would be picked up from waivers as well, and all of a sudden, there was a sudden youth movement in the Habs’ organization as 46 different players, including 16 defensemen, would close the dreadful and forgettable year out in bittersweet fashion…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»