Chaos is well established at the Montreal Canadiens, who have no solutions to their problems on the ice and who do not know if Carey Price will play again.
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To mention that the 2021-2022 season of the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge is a monumental disaster is certainly an understatement. Again last weekend, Jeff Petry and most of his teammates struggled. Fortunately for the supporters, they did not pay a treacherous penny to attend these two new counter-performances delivered in front of empty bleachers at the Bell Centre. Nevertheless, the Habs are stuck in a deep slump and solutions will have to come quickly, according to former team defender Alexandre Picard.
“Offering similar performances, for me, is unacceptable. We have reached the point where the evaluation of Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes must be done, but accelerated. Something has to happen, because the effort is lamentable, he said during the most recent podcast Stopping Time hosted by Louis Jean. We have a week off and it comes at the right time. We have time to work and throw lines in the water across the National League.
Also, the actions required are likely to be numerous and, according to Picard, their results will appear only after a few years. Canadian fans will have to be patient and indulgent. There is no question of fighting for the Stanley Cup in the next campaign. It will be a proper reconstruction.
“The reason he won’t be able to reset is that there’s nothing in the minor leagues,” the former fullback said. We didn’t draft well and we haven’t developed well enough in recent years. So, nothing allows us to recall players. We’re talking about veterans who don’t do the job and who can be left out for a game. The problem is who are we going to put in their place? Choosing between Sami Niku and Jeff Petry for a meeting on the ice, it will not make a big difference at the end of the season.
The case of Carey Price
Obviously, the new foundations that Gorton and Hughes will have to establish for the future are linked to the status of Carey Price. At a press conference on Sunday, the goalkeeper was not too reassuring about the rest of his career. Inactive since the start of the campaign, he has been struggling with his fitness, with his knee operated on in July continuing to cause him problems.
Referring to Hughes’ claims that a possible Price comeback is not on the eve of materializing, Picard believes that the patience of the organization and the health of the number 31 must guide the continuation of this file.
“It says a lot about Carey’s injury and it’s debatable whether it’s worth it for him to come back this year and risk injury in a miserable season. I think it’s best to take a step back and assess this for next year,” he said.
And if Price can return to hockey, could he be traded? According to Louis Jean, the chances of seeing him evolve with another formation are reduced.
“For me, the story is that he is asking questions about his knee. So if he comes back and starts playing again, a team interested in Carey Price thinks that after his next injury, he won’t come back. So even its market value has just taken a hit,” said the host.