Habs fans: The worst fans in hockey
Price deserves much better from coach and Habs fans
by Dave Stubbs, The Gazette
"Goaltending is not the issue with our team," Jacques Martin was saying on the eve of his team's crucial game tonight against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
The Canadiens head coach specifically was addressing the strong performance of netminder Carey Price, who absorbed Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The winning goal came on a short rebound with the visitors' Eric Staal having slipped behind the defence; the first was bulled into the net by Price's defenceman, Roman Hamrlik.
A week earlier in Buffalo, Price was less than two minutes from his first shutout in 81 games when Canadiens coverage suffered a colossal meltdown. The Sabres tied it with two goals in 71 seconds then went on to win 3-2 in a shootout, Price tagged with the loss after making 40 saves.
"Look at (Price's) performance last night and in Buffalo," Martin said yesterday. "He's giving us the chance to win hockey games."
This did nothing to discourage a sodden band of morons high up in the Bell Centre from booing Price's introduction as Wednesday's third star in his first home-ice start since Feb. 10. No matter that the goalie's 16 third-period saves again had given his team a chance.
(Blogger Eric Engels reported yesterday that the Canadiens have scored more than twice in only four of Price's 25 losses this season, including overtime and shootouts. So in 21 games, he needed to allow no more than a single goal for his team to win in regulation time.)
Yesterday, Martin was asked whether he was angered or in any way upset by the heckling of his goaltender.
"I respect the fans. They pay good dollars to be entertained and they have a right to an opinion," he replied. "As a professional athlete, or a coach, you have to work within the framework.
"Sure I'd like to see better results (for Price), as he would. At the same time, I can't say we lost the game because of him."
And with that answer, Martin badly let Price down.
I expected the coach to rise in some fashion to his goalie's defence. Not necessarily in the guns-blazing manner of former general manager Bob Gainey, who called fans "gutless bastards" for relentlessly booing rearguard Patrice Brisebois during the 2003-04 exhibition season.
But after two strong efforts, this was Martin's opportunity to give Price a public pat on the back, an atta-boy, and to call out the Bell Centre ignoramuses who might as well be attending a monster-truck rally for all they understand about hockey.
Martin could have done so in his own mild way, saying that Price didn't deserve the abuse. That might have been a little too subtle for the loudmouths in the cheap(er) seats, but it would have been a message nonetheless.
The public support, which Martin might well be delivering privately to Price, needn't have been effusive. The 22-year-old is being schooled invaluably this season, learning hard lessons that will benefit him his entire career.
But with five games remaining in the regular season, a few well-chosen words by the coach would have helped buoy a goalie who's struggled through a surreal season to a 13-20-5 record.
Instead, Martin disappointingly took the fans' side.
Price weathered Wednesday's boneheads with a shrug.
"You know what, I'm not very comfortable talking about it," he said yesterday of the booing. "It's definitely frustrating."
The subject was changed, but deeper in conversation it was revisited and Price was warmer to the topic. He was stunned to have been met by Monday's overflow crowd of 1,500 who queued for two-plus hours at a South Shore autograph appearance.
"Not everybody up there is going to be booing," he said of his Bell Centre critics. "That's something you have to realize - there are more people in this city than the 21,273 in the stands.
"It's tough to play when you're getting jeered in your own rink. But not one person has said: 'You suck' to my face, and hopefully it doesn't start," Price said through a grin. "That's the only thing that's keeping me above this.
"I feel I'm playing well. All I can do is just go out there and play 60, 65 minutes as hard as I can and give it all I've got. As long as I know I'm doing that, then I don't have any regrets."
In his third professional season, Price knows how capricious hockey can be. How it can change with just one of his saves, or a fluky Hamrlik-type goal at the other end of the rink.
"All I can control is how hard I work," he said, praising the moral support he's been shown by his teammates. "Your work ethic is the only thing that doesn't have any variables.
"I think my skin's gotten a lot thicker the last three years. But in the long run, when I'm older, it's going to be great. If I was in a franchise that didn't have this kind of pressure and responsibility, I might never learn these lessons."
A public pat on the back from his coach yesterday wouldn't have hurt.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/spor...etter+from+coach+Habs+fans/2755661/story.html
Habs fans suck!!
you keep trying joesy, if it makes ya feel good..hihi
