Get Back to Basics: Montreal Canadiens Need To Learn the Clichés

How come it's so difficult?

To win a hockey game, a team must, you know, play a fulll 60 minutes, give it their 110 percent, leave it all on the ice and...uh...play well defensively.

They've learned and preached the hockey cliches. Through countless interviews, they have either heard or said them all.

So how come the Montreal Canadiens cannot get back to basics and win hockey games?

If you're a hockey fan, you chuckle when you hear how silly the players sound in the dressing room. It doesn't matter how many times it's been said before, you can count on the stars spouting the same old hockey jargon.

But everything seems to be falling on deaf ears when it comes to our Habs. They are not playing a full 60 minutes, they are not giving any effort, they are certainly not playing well defensively, and they are not winning hockey games.

When the goalie plays well, the team can't score goals. When the teams starts scoring goals, the goalie lets in too many.

I'd love a middle ground. If the Canadiens can score, say, four goals like they did against the Senators last night, and our goalie, whether it be Price or Halak (I don't care anymore), can let in two or three goals, then maybe, just maybe, the team would win.  

They should all confer so they could just make it happen.

I really miss consistent victories, don't the players?  Time is ticking on the season: desperation should be a key word for the team.  I've defended them thus far, if they don't start winning, I'm going to look very silly and there are going to be a lot of angry Habs fans.

Rather than shuffle the lines, Bob Gainey should make the Habs listen to post-game interviews for an afternoon. Maybe then, the players will once again understand what it takes to win.