Slump

The month of December has made the majority of Habs fans feel a little more than disheartened. We lose the games that we should be winning, are massacred by the tough teams, and are really noticing the lack of Andrei Markov on the blue line.

When #79 was injured AGAIN, I decided that the man of glass needed to go. Having him on LTR makes things easier salary cap wise, as is evident by the recent acquisition of Wisniewski from the NY Islanders. That being said, we should have the talent to not miss Markov all that much, but this is not the case. Our defensemen are exhausted, and it's really starting to show. Josh Gorges, the trooper, has been playing through some undisclosed injury, and hasn't been able to play to his full potential. Hamrlik and Spacek are simply too old for the minutes they've been getting (Spaco played around 24 minutes in the last game against Washington - far too much), Picard & Weber are still learning, and Subban appears to have lost his mojo, being that the Habs played better this month in the games he was scratched. I'm sincerely hoping that having Wisniewski will take some of the pressure off our vets, as we need them to stay healthy and focused for the remainder of the season, otherwise they won't have anything left to give come playoff time.

As a life-long, die-hard Habs fan, I have an inherent inability to give up on the bleu blanc rouge. Whether we're winning 5-1, or down 3-0, I'm with the team from beginning to end. That's what makes slumps like the one we're currently in all the more depressing; you're forced to watch the love of your life struggle. That being said, I think that what the Habs need is to find their confidence again. We need to win against teams like NYI, and we definitely need to win games against teams in our division if we want to keep being seeded to a top 3 position in the conference. Our recent misfortune, and the Bruins strong play as of late, has forced the Habs from 3rd to 8th place overnight.

I also want to point out that while this slump has proven to be extremely disappointing for Habs players and fans, it is only December, we still hold a playoff spot & there is plenty of time left for the Habs to turn things around. I'm going to stick to my pre-season prediction of the Habs finishing 3rd in the east. All this to say, Habs fans: chill.