Every training camp and every draft is the same. Too many people look like idiots for getting too invested in the Canadiens’ hopes.
Like a goldfish in a bowl looking for a way out without ever remembering that it’s in a bowl. He walks around again and tells himself that he will surely find a way.
Many fail year after year because they overestimate their hopes, and the following year it is the same. As if the forecasts would be good at some point.
I’m not talking about a few overemotional supporters, incompetent bloggers in their basement or journalists for whom everything is always rosy at CH.
Goldfish are pretty much everyone: scouts, general managers, veteran hockey journalists, coaches, rational fans, etc.
I am a goldfish. It wasn’t long before I got excited in training camp, telling myself that this young guy was going to be too strong and that I was going to look for him in my pool. I’m wrong.
And the following year I do the same thing again and smash my head in my glass.
So here we are in Montreal. It’s not serious. We overanalyze, we are enthusiastic, we are passionate… It’s entertaining and it’s fascinating to predict the future of the team.
But the reality is that in Montreal we are bad at predicting the future of our hopes. We let ourselves be carried away. It’s not just in Montreal, but we’re hard to beat. It creates expectations that make no sense.
Many people, for example, already classify Mattias Norlinder as a flop. It’s crazy. He may never be an NHL player, but he only played one season in the American League.
Approximately 13% of third-round picks play 100 games in the NHL. So we can relax and wait a little. Thanks to the Swedish journalist who compared him to Nicklas Lidstrom in 2019, a question that catapults all reasonable expectations to other countries.
To better remind us of how much we get too excited in Montreal, I’ve cited what was said about the Canadian’s previous hopes. And everyone goes there: Marc Bergevin, Pierre Gauthier, Trevor Timmins and journalists from all media. Obviously injuries can have skewed the forecasts, but these are often not very good forecasts. I don’t specify who said what. Those who never take a step forward are never wrong. It would be mean for nothing.
Sebastian Collberg (2e round, 2012)
Getty Images/AFP
What would be said:
- Possibly the theft of this design. His style looks like this [celui de] Daniel Alfredsson.
What really happened:
- Collberg no longer plays professional ice hockey and has never managed to score more than 20 points in the American League. He had a completely normal career in Sweden.
Cam Hillis (3e round, 2018)
MARTIN BAZYL / QMI Agency
What would be said:
- An offensive dynamo who can control play in the offensive zone. Although he is not as talented, he shares some similarities with Clayton Keller.
What really happened:
- Hillis was traded to Chicago last year. He played in Trois-Rivières and Laval in the Canadiens organization. Last year he had two points in 18 games in the American League.
Brett Lernout (3e round, 2014)
JOEL LEMAY/AGENCE QMI
What would be said:
- The Canadian was afraid of losing him and went to the draft to get him. He’s a big, tough, tough defender. It is sturdy and has an excellent shot.
What really happened:
- Lernout hasn’t played in three years. His NHL career was limited to 21 games. With his excellent shot, he scored nine goals in 329 American League games.
Jacob De La Rose (2nde round, 2013)
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
What would be said:
- The development of his offensive potential will determine whether he becomes a second or third line player.
What really happened:
- De La Rose scored 13 goals in 242 NHL games. The third line is not enough.
Martin Reway (4e round, 2013)
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal
What would be said:
- One of the best young talents from the country (Slovakia) since Marian Hossa.
- The Canadian inherited everything from an ice hockey player.
What really happened:
- His development was slowed by myocarditis in 2016. Reway played five games in the American League and enjoyed a modest career in the Slovak League.
Joni Icons (2e round, 2017)
Archive photo, AGENCE QMI
What would be said:
- Similar characteristics to Artturi Lehkonen. It seems like the puck is sticking to the blade of his stick. A revelation at his first camp with the Canadian.
What really happened:
- The Canadian did not offer him a contract in 2021. He didn’t play a single game in North America.
Josh Brook (2nde round, 2017)
Martin Chevalier / JdeM
What would be said:
- We see him as a player who can be used in all situations. Thanks to his agility and game vision, Brook could become the third-best defenseman in the NHL.
What really happened:
- Frequently injured, Brook had four difficult seasons in the American League (40 points in 112 games). He is now playing in Sweden.
Ben Maxwell (2nde round, 2006)
Sebastien St-Jean/24Heures/Agenc
What would be said:
- The Canadian may have gotten his hands on the hidden card of this draft.
What really happened:
- Maxwell scored two goals in 47 NHL games.
In short, anyone can try to predict the future of hopes. We realize that we make mistakes most of the time. The fans fail, the journalists fail and the teams fail.
We can play goldfish by predicting that Logan Mailloux will look like Sheldon Souray and that Emil Heineman will be a dominant power play forward in the NHL.
We have fun. Playing the prediction game is fun, but if sports betting sites are so rich, it’s because it’s impossible to predict the future in sports.