Final Nail in the Coffin

December 23rd 2006.

To most, this date carries little meaning. Perhaps you were rushing to get your Christmas shopping done, or enjoying the lack of snow outside. Students were completing their last exams of the semester. Most of us were getting ready to enjoy the coming holidays.

Yes, December 23rd 2006 was simply but another day in all our busy lives.

Some of you may remember a certain Montreal-Boston matchup that night. At the time, The Habs were riding high. An excellent start the season had pundits all over the city thinking that maybe, just maybe, this team could be for real. They’d dare not admit it, or say it out loud. But they were thinking.

Montreal ended a 5 game winning streak that night. A lackluster performance at best, but hopes for this season never faded.

December 23rd 2006 was just another day for most people. Just another game, for most fans. A minor setback. A write off.

For the Montreal Canadiens, however, it marked the beginning of the end. The loss to Boston that night started what was possibly the biggest slide suffered by any team in the league this season. The team, from that point on, was never the same again.

There have been flashes of brilliance here and there, since that fateful night. For the most part however, it has been nothing short of a death spiral.

Tonight, the Boston Bruins finished the job. They wounded the team in December. Tonight, they lay the finishing blow. It seems almost poetic in a way, after the years of domination the Bruins suffered at the hands of the mighty Canadiens.

Tonight, Boston exposed every weakness this team has. From defense, to offense, to coaching. What we saw out there, dear fans, is a team running scared. This team has lost its killer instinct. Fighting for a playoff spot against an inferior team, and they could not get the job done.

This is no longer a slump. It is no longer a bump in the road.

This is an utter collapse of the foundation of the team. This is the team giving up.

Who is to blame? Does it even matter? The problem can no longer be corrected via simple touch-ups.

The fan in this blogger still holds out hope that Montreal will turn it around and make it to the post-season. With only 14 games remaining, nothing short of a miracle can produce this outcome.

Will they do it? Can they do it?

Only 23 individuals know that answer.