Review of the Canadian 2021 | From Stanley Cup Final to Worst Performance in History

The year 2021 could hardly have been more incredible for the Montreal Canadiens.

From a great start to the season, to a slide that leads to the departure of head coach Claude Julien. From an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup final to a summer marked by the controversial selection of hopeful Logan Mailloux in the draft. The Canadian experienced the ecstasy of victory, but also the agony of defeat.

Here is a retrospective of the year 2021 at the Canadiens.

A season in two stages

With a seasoned lineup following the acquisitions of forwards Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson and Corey Perry, defenseman Joel Edmundson and goalie Jake Allen, the Canadian is off to a great start to the 2021 campaign.

With a record of 8-2-2 after 12 games, the Canadian won only one of his next six games and general manager Marc Bergevin decided to shock his troops. On February 24, he showed the door to head coach Claude Julien and his partner Kirk Muller, handing over the reins of the Habs to Dominique Ducharme. A few days later, Bergevin also fired goalie coach Stéphane Waite, telling him the news in the middle of the game.

The transition under Ducharme’s orders is difficult. The Canadian also saw his campaign halted for a week when Joel Armia tested positive for COVID-19. With a busy schedule which leads in particular to a certain congestion in the infirmary, the Habs will finally qualify for pain and misery for the playoffs.

A dream course

With the Canadian back to the wall as he fell 3-1 in his first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, no one believes in the Habs’ chances of turning things around. However, a team meeting before Game 5 in Toronto in which the veterans speak will have an unexpected effect on the Canadiens.

Thanks to goals from Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Canadian snatched two overtime wins from the Leafs and forced the presentation of a final game, which he won 3-1 in Toronto.

On a roll, the Canadian easily swept the Winnipeg Jets in the second round and was crowned champion of the North Division. The Canadian then managed to get rid of the Vegas Golden Knights in six games, winning the ultimate game on June 24, offering a big celebration of St. John the Baptist to his fans.

The Canadian finally hits a wall in the final. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning wins in five games. Failure so close to the goal will be hard to take for the Habs veterans.

A disastrous summer

Barely two weeks after his setback in the grand final, a first tile fell on the Canadian’s head when general manager Marc Bergevin confirmed that the career of captain Shea Weber was compromised due to an accumulation of injuries.

The next day, star goalie Carey Price, who was left unprotected in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft to everyone’s surprise, underwent knee surgery. The team expect him to be restored in time for the start of the season.

The same evening, the Canadian put his feet in the dishes, selecting Logan Mailloux in the first round of the draft, after the defenseman had asked the NHL teams earlier in the week not to select him. Mailloux said he did not deserve this honor, he who had been found guilty by the Swedish justice of having taken and shared without the consent of his partner photos during a sexual act in November 2020.

Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is disappointed with the Canadiens’ decision, while club president Geoff Molson will have to defend the decision with financial partners.

On July 28, the Canadian lost the services of center Phillip Danault, who accepted a contract with the Los Angeles Kings as an unrestricted free agent.

And with everything looking in place for the start of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes are putting forward a hostile one-season offer for around $ 6.1 million US to forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. On September 4, the Canadian announced that the offer would not be matched as it was deemed “disproportionate”. Kotkaniemi therefore becomes a member of the Hurricanes, while Marc Bergevin will try to compensate for the loss of the young Finn by obtaining Christian Dvorak from the Arizona Coyotes.

Worse and worse

If the Canadiens’ summer had been difficult, it was nothing compared to what awaited him during the fall.

During the opening of his camp, the Habs announced in particular that the striker Mike Hoffman and the defender Joel Edmundson are injured. Even though Edmundson’s condition is seen as a day-to-day situation, Edmundson still hasn’t played this season.

A shock wave then struck Montreal on October 7, when the team announced that Carey Price had joined the NHL Player Assistance Program and the NHL Players Association. Price will spend 30 days in a substance abuse treatment center. This will delay his rehabilitation from his knee surgery and he will not play until the Christmas break.

When the season finally begins, the Canadian stumbles at the starting line and loses his first five games. After 30 games, he posted the worst performance in his history with just 15 points by virtue of a 6-21-3 record.

The president of the Canadian, Geoff Molson, had placed the general manager Marc Bergevin in a delicate position by deciding not to extend in advance his contract expiring on the 1^er July 2022. Molson will finally decide to end his association of more than nine and a half years with Bergevin on November 28. Bergevin’s assistant and drafting manager for longtime Canadian Trevor Timmins is also shown the exit.

Jeff Gorton is hired as vice president of hockey operations. This decision is badly digested by a portion of the supporters and observers since Gorton is an American and he does not speak French. Molson insists, however, that the person who will be hired as general manager will be bilingual and will be the one responsible for making the hockey decisions.

This file is still to be followed. And the next general manager will have a lot of work to do to bring the Canadian back to the threshold of respectability. It remains to be seen when the Canadian returns to the ice, following the disruption of operations due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.