It really has to work, the “Gorton Hughes” plan.
The Canadian lost six games out of seven but all is well. The supporters are happy, patient, with hopeful hearts.
For managing the CH it is perfect. It allows them to guide the rebuild boat down a long, calm river without accelerating under pressure. Even quietly, the team approaches Connor Bedard.
Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton seem to have the trust of most fans.
The fans and CH have become an old couple. Love is powerful sometimes. Other times it crumbles. But they stay together.
This is a big moment for this couple. Madame thought things could go no further, and Monsieur decided to take drastic measures to save his marriage. Madame is enthusiastic and supports her husband unconditionally.
But imagine messing it up. This gentleman does not get there. woman is demolished.
CH supporters will also be torn down if the “Gorton Hughes” plan doesn’t work out. Very loyal fans will hand in the towel. But for others it will hurt a lot, especially after years of promises.
Those under 35 have no memory
I am 35 years old. I was five years old when CH won its last trophy. I have almost no memory. The only one I have is that Patrick winked at Roy and a lot of people then had a shirt of his.
It is often claimed that young people have not experienced the success of CH. Young people? They’re getting old, the young ones. We said that 15 years ago. There it begins to be more than just young people. They are adults, mothers and fathers.
The CH is still nicknamed “the Glorious”. My generation, we could only see that on old videos. When the Yankees were winning consistently in the late ’90s and Dainus Zubrus was one of the top players in CH with 14 goals during that period, it was hard enough to convince myself that the Canadian was synonymous with glory. like the Yankees…
When I was 10, I rushed to my journal to look at the stat pages and top counters. I have never seen a player from this team so glorious in the first column. None of my friends had a Canadian player’s jersey. I collected McDonald’s hockey tickets, and apart from Saku Koivu, no one from Sainte-Flanelle was ever there.
ARCHIVE PHOTO, PIERRE-YVON PELLETIER
In 1991, François Pérusse released the song La Bolduc du jour to poke fun at the difference between eras.
“In sports, I tell you, Canadians are not like our time. We watched Richard count, you see Richer fall,” he sings.
If only I could have seen Richer fall. But no, I was too young. I had no way of knowing. If my generation could only have seen a goalscorer like Stéphane Richer for 30 years, it wouldn’t be so bad. At the very least, Caufield is letting Caufield believe that all of this is ending.
Incredibly sad stats
In 1999, CH’s top scorer was 117th in the league. In 2001 he turned 115. It was always Saku.
Only one CH player has made it into the top 20 in the NHL for 16 years: Alex Kovalev.
There is something extraordinary about having so few attacking stars for so many years in a row. Even the worst attacking clubs have always had a points producer who can shine. Columbus had Rick Nash, Nashville had Roman Josi, the Islanders had John Tavares… They almost always have at least one. But not in Montreal.
With the help of a friend who studies finance, I calculated the chances of CH having a single top-20 scorer in 16 years. The methodology is rather simple. We estimate that in a 30-team league, there is a 33% chance that no team will have a single player in the top 20.
Of course, a club can have several. But in a salary-capped league that wants to be level, the tally can still be telling that CH have been unable to showcase attacking stars to their fans.
So the probability of having a single pointer in the top 20 in 16 years was 0.00000599%.
In the casino it would pay off.
Difficult for the sense of belonging
It’s hard to create a strong sense of belonging for the younger generation when all attacking stars never wear the home team jersey.
Yes, CH had its stars in Carey Price and PK Subban. But it was different from the big hands.
With Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield the tide finally seems to be turning. But the recovery plan really has to work because there is a whole generation whose patience is running out and who needs to be convinced that glory with this team is not just a relic.
