Here we are as Montreal Canadiens fans, watching our team leave the playoffs again, while that's a sight I'm used to seeing at this point in my life I watched and thought a lot of things. Why did this happen ?? What could they have done to make it further ?? Also boy do I hope the Leafs and Bruins lose. Joking on that last one aside, never in my mind did I picture the kind of backlash the team would receive as soon as they were ousted from the playoffs in a overall good series put forth by the New York Rangers. It was a backlash and outcry from Montreal Canadiens "fans".
I understand that Montreal has an extremely dedicated fanbase, are in one of the most hockey-centric cities in the world, that the franchise has a lot to live up to but the people who call out for Carey Price to be traded, for Claude Julien to be fired, for them to get rid of other key pieces of the team, those people aren't fans. They are cry babies who can't see that we went into a playoff series, played hard, but lost to a better team. Is that disappointing, absolutely, but it's no reason for the kind of backlash that the team got. It'd be okay if it was once in awhile, all sports teams get it, but this is a regular occurrence for the Canadiens. If you think the Canadiens are great, like I do, you stick by them despite the losses, despite the shitty situations, and despite the dumb decisions the organization makes. As a Montreal fan, it is hard to say this but our fanbase could learn a lot from the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase. HERESY !! BLASPHEMY !! I hear you say, I know I know but hear me out.
If we lose, the fanbase and even management of our team will throw anyone under the bus if it means it's "all to better the team" or "we deserve better", whereas Toronto's fans lose a series or don't make the playoffs it is always a "better luck next year" or "we'll try harder and make improvements" mentality from fans, players, coaches, and management. It is rough to see that fans of the Canadiens, like myself, have to be lumped in with the "fans" of the franchise that make the team look bad and that give the franchise a bad name.
My two favourite examples of our "fans" getting upset at players, which almost trickled its way to management, are Patrick Roy and PK Subban. Sure both of them had issues with coaches and management but both players were amazing & exceptional athletes. Roy is one of the greatest goalies in NHL history but the "fans" of Montreal as well as management expected him to be perfect, no one is perfect, so one fateful night all those years ago they left him out to dry in a terrible outing. That was Roy's last game as a Canadien. The worse example is PK Subban who heard a lot from the "fans" about his selfish play, about wanting to be a offensive player and never truly playing defense enough to cover Carey Price. Then management started to get on him about his play, then he disappeared to Nashville in a trade that saw us get Shea Weber. A few years ago, we would've been elated to get Weber but he's an older guy now. What happened to Roy when he left, he went on to help the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup and PK Subban's 1st year in Nashville sees him advance to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks of all teams.
I understand that Montreal has an extremely dedicated fanbase, are in one of the most hockey-centric cities in the world, that the franchise has a lot to live up to but the people who call out for Carey Price to be traded, for Claude Julien to be fired, for them to get rid of other key pieces of the team, those people aren't fans. They are cry babies who can't see that we went into a playoff series, played hard, but lost to a better team. Is that disappointing, absolutely, but it's no reason for the kind of backlash that the team got. It'd be okay if it was once in awhile, all sports teams get it, but this is a regular occurrence for the Canadiens. If you think the Canadiens are great, like I do, you stick by them despite the losses, despite the shitty situations, and despite the dumb decisions the organization makes. As a Montreal fan, it is hard to say this but our fanbase could learn a lot from the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase. HERESY !! BLASPHEMY !! I hear you say, I know I know but hear me out.
If we lose, the fanbase and even management of our team will throw anyone under the bus if it means it's "all to better the team" or "we deserve better", whereas Toronto's fans lose a series or don't make the playoffs it is always a "better luck next year" or "we'll try harder and make improvements" mentality from fans, players, coaches, and management. It is rough to see that fans of the Canadiens, like myself, have to be lumped in with the "fans" of the franchise that make the team look bad and that give the franchise a bad name.
My two favourite examples of our "fans" getting upset at players, which almost trickled its way to management, are Patrick Roy and PK Subban. Sure both of them had issues with coaches and management but both players were amazing & exceptional athletes. Roy is one of the greatest goalies in NHL history but the "fans" of Montreal as well as management expected him to be perfect, no one is perfect, so one fateful night all those years ago they left him out to dry in a terrible outing. That was Roy's last game as a Canadien. The worse example is PK Subban who heard a lot from the "fans" about his selfish play, about wanting to be a offensive player and never truly playing defense enough to cover Carey Price. Then management started to get on him about his play, then he disappeared to Nashville in a trade that saw us get Shea Weber. A few years ago, we would've been elated to get Weber but he's an older guy now. What happened to Roy when he left, he went on to help the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup and PK Subban's 1st year in Nashville sees him advance to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks of all teams.
Now everything is Carey Price's fault according to the "fans" so how long until management leaves him to dry too, if they were smart and learned from mistakes of the past, the best decision is to to ignore the "fans" and make good decisions but I'm not sure they're capable of that after these two decisions above. Listen, I'm not saying management listens to those people but in a hockey-heavy city, those same people will hear about it day in and day out from the media and everyone else if something doesn't change and that kind of pressure can break even intelligent people. Let alone the idiots they have in charge of the Canadiens front office.
I am proud to be a Montreal Canadiens fan, I will always stick by my team even if favourite players of mine go elsewhere. I will support them still, I had Avalanche stuff for Roy and while not yet something Subban it's always a thought for me. The team is important and thick or thin I stand by them, it is hard though to be a fan of a franchise with a large portion of the fanbase being the toxic fans that have either indirectly influenced the teams direction, impacted players decisions to go there, etc. That's why I say worst fans in the NHL.
It's not for the fans like myself or for the friends I know that are going to read this and let me know their thoughts (you know who you are and I look forward to those thoughts). We are true Canadiens fans who appreciate the team and understand we all have good and bad seasons and understand that bad decisions do get made but there's nothing we can do; we just continue to move onward and to cheer for the team we think is the best team in the NHL, hoping that next year is better, hoping that next year we make it all the way, the way a fan should be.
To those "fans" of the Montreal Canadiens, I know a lot of you are in Montreal itself but you do exist elsewhere too, to you "fans" of the team one thing you need to understand is you aren't a true fan, we don't need you nor do we want you around, if you're going to be that fickle about a loss or that snide about a player then please take that toxic & disgusting attitude and go to TD Garden because the Bruins could always use more shitty fans.
I am proud to be a Montreal Canadiens fan, I will always stick by my team even if favourite players of mine go elsewhere. I will support them still, I had Avalanche stuff for Roy and while not yet something Subban it's always a thought for me. The team is important and thick or thin I stand by them, it is hard though to be a fan of a franchise with a large portion of the fanbase being the toxic fans that have either indirectly influenced the teams direction, impacted players decisions to go there, etc. That's why I say worst fans in the NHL.
It's not for the fans like myself or for the friends I know that are going to read this and let me know their thoughts (you know who you are and I look forward to those thoughts). We are true Canadiens fans who appreciate the team and understand we all have good and bad seasons and understand that bad decisions do get made but there's nothing we can do; we just continue to move onward and to cheer for the team we think is the best team in the NHL, hoping that next year is better, hoping that next year we make it all the way, the way a fan should be.
To those "fans" of the Montreal Canadiens, I know a lot of you are in Montreal itself but you do exist elsewhere too, to you "fans" of the team one thing you need to understand is you aren't a true fan, we don't need you nor do we want you around, if you're going to be that fickle about a loss or that snide about a player then please take that toxic & disgusting attitude and go to TD Garden because the Bruins could always use more shitty fans.