Bye bye Bell Centre; hello Cowtown
Erstwhile Montreal Canadiens’ star winger Michael Cammalleri – possibly the most skilled, exciting player to suit up for the Habs in recent years – has been sent packing for Calgary after a post-game interview in which he called out his team for its losing ways.
What exactly did Cammalleri say? Here’s what he told reporters after his team lost to Boston on Tuesday: “I can’t accept that we will display a losing attitude as we’re doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose.”
The Habs are in the midst of a disastrous season: they sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, 7 points out of a playoff spot, barely ahead of the hideous Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. The Canadiens have already canned their coach and assistant coach – but the new coach is having serious PR issues in La Belle Province because he can’t speak French. The captain, Brian Gionta, is done for the year, out after surgery on his arm. Most importantly, the team seems lost on and off the ice.
Maybe after all this, Cammalleri’s frustrations boiled over; maybe he was more outspoken than he should have been. Or maybe he was just speaking the truth. But in the NHL, you’re not really supposed to do this. Honest answers are frowned on – you don’t take personal credit for a good game, you don’t question a teammate’s play or a coach’s decision, and you don’t call out your team as a whole, no matter how badly everyone is performing.
At least, not on most teams. Here’s what Jay Feaster, Calgary’s GM, has to say about the guy he just traded for: “I have to tell you — for me to hear the passion, the emotion, the enthusiasm, that he had when I called him… If that’s the corollary to it, that every once in a while, he’s going to pop off and stir the pot and maybe get some people’s nose out of joint, I’ll take that. Because that’s what I want — I want that passion. That’s something that we need in our locker-room.”
Feaster is himself in the middle of a nasty house-cleaning job in Calgary, getting rid of the deadwood and pre-Cambrian thinking brought in and fostered under the Sutter regime. (Brent Sutter still survives behind the bench there, but you get the feeling his days are numbered.) Bringing Cammalleri back to Calgary – where he once scored 39 goals – is a powerful statement from Feaster about what kind of player and mentality he’s after…especially since to get Cammi, he’s shipped out Rene Bourque, more of a tough guy than a skill guy.
They say that in a trade, whichever team gets the best guy wins the deal. On the surface, this looks like a no-brainer. Let’s see if Cammalleri’s scoring – and honesty – pay off on a new team. And let’s see how long the dysfunction in Montreal can continue before things reach a critical point and the fans – the most demanding in the NHL – take to the streets.
