Home Woes for the Montreal Canadiens

As we near the All-Star break and halfway point of the regular season, it is not an uncommon thing for a team to go through a rough patch. However, in the case of the beloved Montreal Canadiens, a rough patch is becoming an understatement.

At this point they sit second in their division and fourth in the conference with 48 points. That does not really sound bad, yet if you look at Montreal's home record, things start to change.

They are a meager 7-7-5 at home, while 13-6-3 on the road. You would think that of all the teams in the NHL, Montreal would have one of the better home records primarily because of the atmosphere in their city. Unfortunately it is that very atmosphere that is working against them.

Montreal has a huge fan base. Every game has been sold out for ages. The thing is, the fans in this city love their team, but can hate them just as quickly, heaven forbid the team makes a mistake on home ice.

Take for example the game a few weeks back against the Buffalo Sabres. Montreal was down 2-0 going into the third period. It could be a lot worse, right? Apparently not. Montreal was booed off their own ice at the end of the second period.

Now I know people say that when you are in the game everything around you can get blocked out, which is fine. I am sure in the moment it could be, but do you think it's not remembered pregame or postgame? How can a team perform at home when they have the fear of their own crowd booing them?

However, it does not just stop at the fans—it continues with inconsiderate media pressure. The media will praise you one day, but make a mistake and you're on your way out of town the next day! I recently overheard an older gentlemen talking about the good old days of the Canadiens. He was saying we should just get all French-Canadians on our team, problem solved.

I was forced to interrupt, arguing that things would only become worse. Local boys not performing, the media would eat them for dinner. How often do you see the media in Montreal go to guys like Mathieu Dandenault after a game for comments? More than needed, no offense but he is a third or fourth liner. He needs to be interviewed?

Take this rising star Sergei Kostistyn. He has been performing very well to date, yet the media interviews are no where to be found. Sure I know there's the whole language thing, but there are such things as translators. (They do it for Yao Ming and other athletes.)

I am just sick and tired of hearing the same old stuff about Saku this and Carbonneau that. How about stepping back and taking a look at what goes on elsewhere in the NHL. Then decide just how bad we have it here.

We wonder why we were unable to sign the likes of Ryan Symth and Daniel Briere. Would you want to play here with the media breathing down your neck? Montreal has won 24 Stanley Cups and the Maple Leafs have not won the Cup in 40 years and counting, but the Leafs do not get booed off the ice for being down 2-0. Maybe they are used to it.