You've got it all wrong. We don't need to blame players at all any more. Koivu's gone so we can't blame him anyway and Gainey knew this so he hired Jacques Martin. He didn't win in Ottawa with that talent laden roster and couldn't even make the playoffs in Florida. If Montreal continues to sputter into this season we'll just blame him. The players will be relieved to know that they're all off the hook and when Gainey moves to fire Jacques just weeks before the playoffs, the fans will all agree that he's justified in doing so, unless Montreal is playing well, then no one will care.
Good point.
But what about the people who blamed Koivu when we were being run by Rejean Houle – those people have capacity to throw more blame around than just the coach.
Who will they blame?
The K brothers, especially Andreď, are a fine bet. But don't underestimate Gomez; he's like Koivu (well, most probably a better player), but paid twice as much. I don't think the K's hold a candle to him in the long term.
All depends on who doesn't play up to the (sometimes wild) expectations of the media/fanbase/retarded commentators and isn't French-Canadian.
Remember how upset the French media was when Latendresse wasn't called up to the Habs immediately? Some were calling him a superstar in the making. Has he lived up to expectations? No.
But bet your ass that if Cammalleri, Gomez and/or Gionta aren't each on pace for about 80 points and the team hits a skid, any one of them is shark bait. Same goes for the Kostitsyns and Plekanec (albeit with lower expectations).
Gill and Mara will probably also take their fair share of blame - which brings me to "who will we blame now that Brisebois is gone?"
BTW I'm insulted to see you ruin the good name of the Rowdy Roosters like that...
Ian: I think the paycheck is the big difference-maker. We'll never know, but I think Lecavalier in montreal would have been fairly hard on the "he's being run oit of town and the fact he isn't french-canadian is part of it" meme. I understand not everyone will agree with me on that, heck, I may be wrong altogether, but I think the "not a francophone" as a negative comes only once a media clique has decided to turn on a given star-player. Being french *will* buy a good player a few tokens, but not that many. I don't think Tanguay's tits were that far from the wrigner, and they were quite a few to call the 19 years-old Latendresse "Guimauve" because, lo and behold, he wasn't Neely. Oh well, I'm ranting again...
Who (or what) is the (or a) Rowdy Rooster?
"I may be wrong altogether, but I think the "not a francophone" as a negative comes only once a media clique has decided to turn on a given star-player."
Olivier, I know Gagnon's question was directed to the fans as a whole, but I am talkig about who the media clique will target next. They always have a target – if they didn't they'd have no need for their clique.
So far, I'd suggest it's Kostitsyn.
Obviously the fans will boo anyone who has a few bad games in a row. That will never change. But fans booing is not the same as the vindictive and incessant campaign that the media clique likes to undertake.
I don't think the booing for Gomez, Gionta and especially Cammalleri will be met with any such media campaign. It will be boos in the bad times, to be forgotten when the player scores a hat-trick. It'll be the Kovalev roller-coaster rather than the Koivu man-hunt.
Just my thoughts.
Ian: Let's not get ahead of ourselves, season hasn't started, don't want to jinx anything. Plus, can't we still blame 43/71 for blocking the youngsters development when they start shooting for our own net instead of the opposition's?
Rowdy Roosters - in-joke between me, Topham and Tobalev along with another couple readers... not important.
Tanguay had 41 points in 50 games. I am still trying to figure out why wasn't re-signed and why no one has picked him up yet. His agent must be a moron or something. I don't think he was ever close to the wringer here. Probably hear more about Koivu not being good enough to allow Tanguay to play to his potential.
I really do believe in the french-canadian meme in the French media here. Picking a french-canadian #1 in the draft is front-page news for Saturday AND Sunday in the Journal de Montreal. And if we don't pick a local guy like Angelo Esposito, it's in the op-ed columns for weeks after the draft, and sporadically through the season.
I agree salary is a big thing, but if Lacavalier was on a line with Gomez and Cammalleri, and they weren't producing, the blame would fall anywhere but on Vinnie's shoulders.
Anyways, it all depends how the season goes. If we're in one of the top 4 spots at the playoff break, people will be going on about what a genius Gainey is. If we're below 8th, people will be calling for heads to roll - Gainey's especially, but I am looking forward to seeing where retarded television commentators like Benoit Brunet will lay the blame.
I think we can look forward to a lot of lamentation about not getting Lacavalier and/or Beauchemin.
Hopefully for us, Beauchemin will prove to be a total dud – that'd kill two birds with one stone, eh? Though, I suppose he won't be able to help looking good next to 2nd goalie stat machine Komisarek.
One thing is for sure, the "Coalition" will have planty of targets to choose this year. More than ever before I'd say as it looks like Lapierre and Latendresse may be the only opening night players from home.
And it would appear to have started. From Mike Boone at Habs Inside/Out:
"There's a rumour that the Canadiens offered a new contract to RFA Tom Kostopoulos.
Tom the Bomb balked, however, at a clause that required his heart be transplanted into Andrei Kostitsyn."
At least heart transplants are possible. Full skill transplants, alas, are not. Good old Stop-olous, may he impress people in Carolina with effort alone and enjoy the free ride.
Hey L.I.W.:
There is many a time when I bemoan my unilingual status and question my paternal granparents' decision not to have their children speak French when they moved from N.B. to Ont.
Incidents like this however, provide a salve to to my worries. I live blessedly free from much of this weird nationalistic/sports furor. I'd be tempted to call it xenophobia, but since my language status leaves me bereft of more context, I'll hold off on that assertion just yet.
I always enjoy you guys bringing this stuff to the light of day and calling out any and all who might be guilty of this kind of junk. It's much appreciated.
Tnanks Subdox. As an immigrant to Quebec from outside, I know the value of integrating and the perils of the few who don't like the integrators.
By and large people we can classify as xenophobic are very rare specimens in Quebec. It's regrettable that some of them seem to have found a permanent vent for their views on our TVs.
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