There were never any illusions about what type of hockey this team needed to play in order to be successful. Without marquee talent up front, they were going to need the balance their offense was constructed to have, the steady defensive play eight healthy bodies could provide, and the team was going to have to be fully committed in order for them to win. With that recipe in place, with Carey Price on top of his game, this team poses a unique threat in the Eastern Conference, but with the elements discombobulated and the effort waning from certain players, with trust slipping through their hands and with Price slightly short of perfect, things have become a terrible mess.
The review and analysis of what's led the Canadiens down this road is long-winded and overplayed. No one needs a synopsis of how we got here. The question is where do we go from here?
"I gotta lead, and that's what I'm going to do," said Michel Therrien, on how he'll react to the adversity he and his team are currently faced with. As vague of a statement as it was after an absolutely embarrassing effort on home ice, just 24 hours after an embarrassing effort on Detroit's ice, it was said with plenty of conviction. To extract meaning from it seems impossible, however. We'll have to wait and see what Old Michel has planned, but you have to admit it was a better answer than "I don't know.".
As you know by now, Marc Bergevin mandated all of his players to stick around and answer questions from the media. None of the ones I spoke with were willing to suggest this was rock bottom, knowing that in their current standing, things could be worse. "We could be on the outside looking in. We have a chance to turn it around," quipped a frustrated Max Pacioretty.
He continued: "We're not working hard enough. It feels like forever since we put 60 minutes together. The only way we're going to get out of this is by working hard and sticking together."
Lars Eller started by saying he wouldn't reveal what was said behind closed doors, but the similarity between his comments and Pacioretty's leaves very little to the imagination:
"All that matters is what we do now moving forward. We know we have it. We're just not bringing it. It starts with attitude, and all the other things will come. We're going to show--going forward--what we're made of."
One can only hope Eller and the rest of his teammates believe in these statements.
Some of the other Habs I spoke to revealed the other part of the message. The cliche, "look at myself in the mirror" stuff that you hope to hear when things are going so badly.
"Like an addict, the first step is to realize that you're part of the problem," said Daniel Briere, finishing the thought with "And then you take charge and try to do something about it."
Briere pointed to the byproduct of a bad losing skid, and in his answer reveals a lot of what needs to change for this ship to right itself:
"I think confidence is a big thing at this point. Part of the problem is that you're sometimes looking to do too much on your own instead of just doing what you have to do. You're leaving your assignment to do someone else's." If that doesn't perfectly explain the mess in Montreal's defensive end, I don't know what does.
If you're looking for a silver lining, it's likely to be found outside of Montreal. Most teams in the league have seen dramatic dips in their play.
It wasn't long ago that the Toronto Maple Leafs had but three regulation wins in 28 games before winning seven straight and earning an extra point against Winnipeg Saturday to move by the Canadiens in the standings.
The Ottawa Senators are still playing catch up after an absolutely brutal start to their season.
Speaking of bad starts, Philadelphia's gone from last in the conference to dogging it out for a guaranteed spot as one of the top three teams in the Metropolitan division. And they're fighting it out with Columbus, who won eight consecutive games before losing to Buffalo on Saturday.
Speaking of bad starts, the Rangers were atrocious at the beginning of the season, and now, they've got as many points as the Canadiens, three points up on the Blue Jackets, in 2nd place in their division.
Heck, the Washington Capitals had lost seven straight (two in shootouts, followed by five in regulation), in horrendous fashion, before coming in to the Bell Centre and taking advantage of the hapless Canadiens.
The Red Wings haven't really recovered from a terrible stretch leading up to the Winter Classic, hampered by injuries throughout most the season.
There are teams that were slated to do much better than the Canadiens this season, that have done worse. And there are teams that were supposed to be a cut below Montreal that have done some incredible things recently.
For two months, the Habs have played their way into this situation. Time to see if they can play their way out; a challenge that starts against the Hurricanes tomorrow; a challenge that becomes much heavier come Thursday, in Boston.