You could be forgiven for questioning this old adage if you are a long-time Habs fan.
Perhaps not literally lightning, worse in most eyes, the Canadiens have been stricken with erennial lead-footed defenceman, with disastrous hockey sense, Patrice Brisebois twice already.
So, it is with shock and disdain that I read this article on Habsworld a few minutes ago.
Admittedly the source is as flimsy as they come, but if I remember correctly, it all started this way last year too. Now, you can tell by my tone that I believe this signing would be a grave error.
I believed it last year too (Brisebois offer a mistake). The difference this year is that there are fresh reasons and mountains of evidence pointing to the arguments against this signing. In January, I wrote this piece (Experiment 71: When will the Canadiens admit this is going nowhere?), which shows how the Canadiens were a losing team with Patrice in the lineup. His benching at the end of the season coincided with an unexpected winning run. His reinsertion in the playoffs coincided with 5 wins and 7 losses against teams we had swept in the season.
These results are not coincidences folks. Nor is the fact that every rookie defenceman that is brought in instantly looks like a massive improvement over Patrice. He simply commits errors at an alarming rate.
So how much credence do we give to this report today? Well considering I read this lately too:
"We're still looking for a seventh defenceman," said Gainey, who has ruled out the possibility of Pavel Valentenko making the jump from Hamilton of the American Hockey League.
I am getting worried.
Frankly, if Brisebois is signed again, with the cap room the Habs have, it is nothing but out and out laziness from Gainey and his staff. Laziness whose effects will show their most significantly again in the spring no doubt, I hate to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment