Laraque talks about last season

[KoZed]

Great article by François Gagnon: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey/20...-et-negatif.php

Laraque was saying how this year the team was 100 miles ahead of last year on team spirit, and Gagnon asked BGL to say more.

According to Laraque, last year the locker-room was full of cliques: "Francos here, Russians there, Czechs in that corner, Anglos in the other", and they werent talking with each other. BGL said when the trouble started in the 2nd half, nobody tried to come together and they just "digged ourselves deeper and deeper".

He adds that he wasnt surprised by the big changes made by Gainey this summer. "I know it's easier to fire a coach than 20 players, so that's why Carbo got fired. But sometimes it's the players' fault and it was the case last year. That's why there was that clean-up this summer".

Laraque says now everything is changed. "Markov talks to everybody. I had never seen him talk in the locker-room before." Adds that Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri are part of the group and dont stay in their corner. BGL says the kids are less intimidated so they take their place more easily.

BGL doesnt point fingers at anyone that was there last year and is now gone. He just says that "big names, big personalities" made it so the players split in little groups that wouldnt talk to each other.

Laraque also dont blame Saku. He says Koivu was an "excellent leader" showing the example on the ice and who was saying all the right things in the locker-room, but "collectively, we weren't following". He adds that Gionta's attitude is a lot like Koivu, noting that both are small guys who dont back down from anyone and who's energy is contagious on the ice.

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That makes me wonder who "the big names, big personalities" were that have been part of the "clean-up". I can only think of Koivu, Lang, Kovalev and Tanguay. Schneider came much later but you could add him to the list. Higgins was "purged" as well, but I dont really think he was a "big name". Komo and Kovy are gone, but Gainey did try to bring them back, so there's some doubt there. I'm also thinking that Begin might have been "purged" earlier than the rest when he was traded.

Anyway, I'm pretty optimistic about the way Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri, Spacek, Gill, Mara and Moen seemed to have been included so far. Like when Lapierre invited Gomez to his golf tournament and gave him a tour of the city this summer, or how Gionta and Plex seemed to really hit it off this training camp. Hopefully the guys that remains from last year try everything to stay away from the same pitfalls.

[Fanpuck33]

Haha, reading the rest of his comments makes me feel better about the one you used in the title. I came into the thread expecting to hear him spewing a bunch of hippy crap, haha.

[KoZed]

Haha, reading the rest of his comments makes me feel better about the one you used in the title. I came into the thread expecting to hear him spewing a bunch of hippy crap, haha.

Like what?

"The locker-room isnt feng shui, man"

[saskhab]

Komisarek and Higgins I'd include in the list of big names, big personality guys that could have had a negative impact. Certainly, having that many UFA's also didn't help... too many guys were looking out for their next contract.

And maybe losing Streit and Ryder didn't go over well in the dressing room, particularily with the guys that had an expiring contract. Same with Huet. Who knows where the chemistry went exactly.

I'm not going to lose anymore sleep over what went wrong with the 2008-09 team. It's over, and there's no point in assigning blame over it.

I talked with my old Grade 9 English teacher this past weekend... she's a huge Habs fan. She was also convinced this would be a good year. It's good to hear Habs fans be optimistic about this group.

[Fanpuck33]

Like what?

"The locker-room isnt feng shui, man"

Yeah, or stuff like "dark energies surrounding the team aura." The kind of stuff you'd expect to hear from a hippy lover, not a fighter.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Interesting stuff. Especially the Markov comment. What is it that would make Markov reticent to speak last season and now suddenly so much more open?

I think a lot of it has to do with entrenched 'leaders' or at least prima donas. Sometimes players need a turnover before they can really feel like it's 'their team'. I forget who it was on the Canucks last season, who commented that people felt a lot more comfortable asserting themselves in the locker room with Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund gone. Similar thing here - and our core was as aging and declining as the Linden/Naslund one, tellingly. Once the Alpha males can no longer deliver, you have to get them out of there.

I wrote a lot last year that it reminded me of 1992 - another promising Habs team that collapsed in a stinking heap due to horrible chemistry issues. Lo and behold.

Sounds like Gionta will wear the C.

[Colin]

Siyanora Kovy.

[KoZed]

Interesting stuff. Especially the Markov comment. What is it that would make Markov reticent to speak last season and now suddenly so much more open?

I think a lot of it has to do with entrenched 'leaders' or at least prima donas. Sometimes players need a turnover before they can really feel like it's 'their team'. I forget who it was on the Canucks last season, who commented that people felt a lot more comfortable asserting themselves in the locker room with Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund gone. Similar thing here - and our core was as aging and declining as the Linden/Naslund one, tellingly. Once the Alpha males can no longer deliver, you have to get them out of there.

That's pretty much true in any organization, not just pro sports. Leadership is a fragile chemistry. You can have someone who does all the right things but doesnt have the personality or performances that creates the influence necessary to get the rest of the group to follow. You can have someone who is very popular and has everybody's ear but doesn't bring them in the right direction. You can have a couple of strong egos with conflicting M.O.s who will split the group. You can have someone who's performances are above everyone else but whose personality doesnt inspire the group to follow, etc.

I think something one of the big thing about the whole problems last year and the difference the changes made this year has alot to do with age and seniority. Schneider was 39, Brisebois and Lang 37, Kovy 35, Metropolit and Hamrlik 34, Koivu 33, Dandy 32, Laraque and Bouillon 31, Begin 30. That made Markov's 29 yrs old seem young, so perhaps with all those old guys around he didnt felt any confidence to take some space in the locker-room. And on the other end, you have Komi, Higgins and Plex in their mid-20's who had been groomed to be leaders and seeing some glass-ceiling appear with all those seniors landing all around them.

The difference now is that Gomez is just 29, Camm and Moen 27, Gionta and Mara just hit 30. The only oldies are Spacek and Gill at 34 and 35, the two oldest guys on the team, and they're not really here to have preeminent roles but rather supportive roles. It's probably a lot easier now for a 29 yrs old guy like Markov to feel at ease with players of his age or younger.

[sakiqc]

Great article.

2 questions:

1) Didn't Laraque said he wasn't speaking to the media this year?

2) WTF are journalists doing at the Habs retreat?

[Sir_Boagalott]

Interesting comments by BGL.

Its fairly vague so who knows what happened.

I used to work at a bank and I bet it was very similar sitiuation with the Habs team last year. The bank division I worked in was out sourced and there was 4 or 5 different companies with employees in this division with the division manager actually being a bank employee. When the div manager would tell us to do something one of the individual companies managers would tell his employees not to do that, so nothing that needed to be done ever got done properly. It was so counter productive it was crazy. You cant have a bunch of cliques all pulling in different directions and not heading towards the same end goal.

Its easy to say it was all Kovy, but dont forget that Bob was very close to resigning Kovy, so I doubt he's the scape goat most are suggesting. I beleive that it was Koivus fault. Koivu is a great leader, but not in the way most great leaders are leaders. There are different types of leaders. You can be a good leader and still not be a true leader that the Habs needed last year. Koivu seems to lead by example and he probably isnt the most vocal leader and the Habs needed both types of leadership last year. Somebody needed to be a ball buster, and that simply isnt Koivu, he's to nice. If there was all sorts of cliques like BGL suggests than it should have been Koivu who should have got vocal over it and broke that all up and unified the team.

Didn't Laraque said he wasn't speaking to the media this year?

Well its one thing to go to the media yourself and say stuff thats personally bothering you than it is to answer questions the media asks you.

[BTH]

That makes me wonder who "the big names, big personalities" were that have been part of the "clean-up". I can only think of Koivu, Lang, Kovalev and Tanguay. Schneider came much later but you could add him to the list. Higgins was "purged" as well, but I dont really think he was a "big name". Komo and Kovy are gone, but Gainey did try to bring them back, so there's some doubt there. I'm also thinking that Begin might have been "purged" earlier than the rest when he was traded.

Lang seemed like the most pleasant and likable hockey player I've seen in Montreal. Doubt he was causing trouble.

Probably means Kovalev, Koivu and Price.

Russians: Kovalev, Markov, Andrei & Sergei Kostitsyn. Though we know Kovy is a loner and Markov doesn't have a party attitude of any sort. I think The Russians just means the Kosties.

Anglos: All the young guys we've seen in pictures partying. Price, Higgins, D'Agostini, Chipchura, Stewart, O'Byrne, Gorges and maybe Kostopoulos.

Francos: Dandenault, Begin, Tanguay, Laraque, Lapierre, Latendresse, Brisebois. They've all stayed out of trouble, but there are enough of them to cause an exclusive clique in the room.

Czechs: Plekanec, Lang, Halak, Hamrlik? I've never heard of these guys having any connection together and I don't know who they hang out with (apart from Hamrlik, who hangs out with mobsters). He could be another one of the "big names, big egoes."

Koivu doesn't really fit anywhere. Wasn't really able to take control of anyone.

[Chris]

I think at this point BGL just needs to shut his mouth, get healthy and pay hockey. Stop looking back and move forward witht he new team.

Do your job, stick up for your team mates fight when needed.

I was a big supporter of yours when you arrived and now all you do is talk.

[Habsfan]

I think at this point BGL just needs to shut his mouth, get healthy and pay hockey. Stop looking back and move forward witht he new team.

Do your job, stick up for your team mates fight when needed.

I was a big supporter of yours when you arrived and now all you do is talk.

Trust me, you'll LOVE him when he beats up Lucic. Lucic won't be able to chicken out of it by using some lame excuse that it's the playoffs!

Edited September 30, 2009 by Habsfan

[KoZed]

Lang seemed like the most pleasant and likable hockey player I've seen in Montreal. Doubt he was causing trouble.

Probably means Kovalev, Koivu and Price.

Russians: Kovalev, Markov, Andrei & Sergei Kostitsyn. Though we know Kovy is a loner and Markov doesn't have a party attitude of any sort. I think The Russians just means the Kosties.

Anglos: All the young guys we've seen in pictures partying. Price, Higgins, D'Agostini, Chipchura, Stewart, O'Byrne, Gorges and maybe Kostopoulos.

Francos: Dandenault, Begin, Tanguay, Laraque, Lapierre, Latendresse, Brisebois. They've all stayed out of trouble, but there are enough of them to cause an exclusive clique in the room.

Czechs: Plekanec, Lang, Halak, Hamrlik? I've never heard of these guys having any connection together and I don't know who they hang out with (apart from Hamrlik, who hangs out with mobsters). He could be another one of the "big names, big egoes."

Koivu doesn't really fit anywhere. Wasn't really able to take control of anyone.

That's pretty much what I had in mind as well. Looking at that picture, it's not really hard to see how it couldnt work.

Start with the francos and anglos: All the francos were old guys fighting to get and stay in the lineup, almost all of them having injuries problems at some point. The only young ones Lats and Laps also being mostly concerned about getting in the lineup. Those guy's concern was ice-time. Off the ice, they're all old guys with families to care about, and it rubbed on Lats and Laps. Lats' off-ice focus was his girlfriend and newborn baby, and Laps' concern was getting a new house and having Dandy's wife decorated it for that TV show. On the other end all the anglos were mostly young single guys who mostly had locked their roster spot and were on a high after having "arrived". Two very distinct groups. 

On the side you had the Russians, which counted the team's two top players in Markov and Kovy. One wasnt talking at all and the other was his old moody self-centered self, neither being much of a guiding influence for the Kost Bros who just hung out together. My question here is why the Kost Bros didnt got closer to the Anglos, which would have seemed natural giving their age and time spent in Hamilton together? Were they shunned or were they snobs?

On the Czech side, you've got a completely different mentality. Plekanec and Halak are two of the more dead serious guys you'll find around. Not party-prone. Lang is a very big figure in Czech Rep. so I can Plex being totally star-struck and just sitting in Lang's shadow in the lockerroom. Again, because of age and time spent in Hamilton, you'd expect Plekanec and Halak to hangout more with the Kostys and the Anglos. Hamrlik exposing the Kostys to that mobster was exactly the opposite of what you want from your vets.

Just an overall bad group chemistry. Like I said, the team can only benefit from having vets that are in their prime and on the top of their game, rather than on the decline and concerned about their ice-time and next contract, leaving them no energy to babysit immature kids.

[Easy Ryder]

Laraque was not in that team either last year.

In fact he was the first one to jump off the boat way before the injuries to Lang, Price and Tanguay.

Before that, the players with a habs jersey were just playing good enough to win more games than they deserved.

After the injuries the players with a habs jersey were even less a team than they were before.