A Lump of Coal for Christmas

Twas the night, or a few, before Christmas. Nothing was stirring in the Canadiens' head office or house, not even Mr. Gauthier's mouse...

Montreal is getting colder and finally got some snow on the ground just in time for Christmas.

"Why am I listening to you? You can't speak French." Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images.

Awww. The holidays just aren't the same without any snow. But you know as well as I it's been quite cold for the Montreal Canadiens for some time now.

Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse, they do. The Habs are winless since Randy Cunneyworth took over the head coaching duties and so the question I have to ask is... what has changed?

How is this team different from the one that Jacques Martin coached? I'll tell you how.

It's worse!!!

Last night's blanking at the hands of the upstart Winnipeg Jets is indicative of the team's play of late. Not much energy, nobody doing what it takes to win and mainly -- no flow.

For a team that supposedly counts speed and skill as its primary assets, the Habs are showing very little of each and has absolutely no flow in its game. Chipping and chasing clearly does not work when the team is regularly beaten to the puck and loses puck battles along the boards.

The Habs were essentially steamrolled last night by a Jets team that looked head and shoulders better than Montreal.

Are the Jets that much better than OUR Montreal Canadiens!?

No way.

Are the Habs freefalling!!

Uh huh.

Will the Habs as a group somehow put their demons behind them and start playing to their full potentials???

Not if they don't start playing a different style of game, that's for sure.

The problem I'm having right now is that if the team is going to play the same defensive style game, what was the point of letting Jacques Martin go?

Then Geoff Molson comes along and makes a poor strategic decision by announcing the team will find a bilingual coach, essentially cutting Cunneyworth down. As Nick Kypreos said on Sportsnet, from a player's perspective one might think: "And why am I listening to you??" The team is in a state of hockey purgatory, without an identity or a leader.

This team doesn't look tight. Nobody's skating or hitting. Nobody's battling. Nobody's scoring. Nobody's showing any passion, any fight. Nobody wants to lose, but nobody is doing what's required to win.

And NOTHING is going to change unless something else changes.

What is that something else? We'll find out soon enough...