Increased Pressure
We have all discussed how well the Habs did last year and how much they have progressed. I think that Gainey and his staff have done a tremendous job reshaping the club.
We are all still waiting to see if Sundin decides to play in Mtl and if he doesn’t, then we’ll all be speculating as to what Gainey will do next.
Most unbiased hockey fans will agree that Mtl has made great strides and has a pretty good crop of talent waiting in the wings. But now, the important issue!
Last season Mtl did better than expected. How will they react as a team to the added attention teams will give them. Do they have the mental ability to rise to the next level and be able to maintain the gains they have made and progress to the point that they are really contenders. Or, will they be like the Sens of last year or Carolina after having won the cup!
I have been listening over the last 10 years, while Ottawa has been a strong team, that they have been ” learning” each season about what it takes to win. Problem is, they haven’t been able to use this knowledge. It is always next season and we’re a better team for the experience. Well, what if the teams that have won the cup took as long as the Sens to learn enough to win it. Once you have the talent to win and can keep it together for as long as the Sens did, they should have won.
My hope is that the Mtl players won’t react the same way and remain close, but not get it! I don’t think that this will happen, Gainey and Carboneau weren’t that type of player and don’t accept losing or excuses. I am worried about some players not being able to repeat, mainly Kovalev. It seams when other teams focus on him, especially in the playoffs, he loses his focus and becomes ineffective. I think Price will bounce back, as much as I didn’t like the reason he gave for his melt down, I understand that he did have immense pressure on his young shoulders for a couple of years without much of a break, with Junior, then the world junior, then the AHL playoffs. What he will have to realize very soon, is that it isn’t anything compared to the to the pressure he will face in Mtl, especially if they do well in the regular season. Expectations will always be make the playoffs and challenge for the cup, nothing less will be acceptable whereas it may have been in junior or the AHL.
Let’s hope they continue onward and upward!