2000/2001: The Low Point

[Colin]

Here's the team circa 2000/2001. Three years before, what I consider, the Big Turnaround (when Gainey gained control and changed the culture of the club). The team listed here is the worst of the modern era, and a good touchstone and comparison point for today's Habs. How do we compare? I'd love to read thoughts on what fans feel about this time in our storied history.

Without further ado, let me present to you the 23rd overall:

Montreal Canadiens 28 40 8 6 70 206

232

Head Coach: Alain Vigneault

Head Coach: Michel Therrien (23-27-6-6)

Assistant Coach: Rollie Melanson

Assistant Coach: Clement Jodoin

GM: Andre Savard

Saku Koivu 54 17 30 47 40

Oleg Petrov 81 17 30 47 24

Brian Savage 62 21 24 45 26

Martin Rucinsky 57 16 22 38 66

Patrice Brisebois 77 15 21 36 28

Trevor Linden 57 12 21 33 52

Craig Darby 78 12 16 28 16

Chad Kilger 43 9 16 25 34

Eric Weinrich 60 6 19 25 34

Dainius Zubrus 49 12 12 24 30

Andrei Markov 63 6 17 23 18

Patrick Poulin 52 9 11 20 13

Jim Campbell 57 9 11 20 53

Karl Dykhuis 67 8 9 17 44

Benoit Brunet 35 3 11 14 12

Stephane Robidas 65 6 6 12 14

Eric Landry 51 4 7 11 43

Sergei Zholtok 32 1 10 11 8

Sheldon Souray 52 3 8 11 95

Richard Zednik 12 3 6 9 10

Juha Lind 47 3 4 7 4

Francis Bouillon 29 0 6 6 26

Xavier Delisle 14 3 2 5 6

Jan Bulis 12 0 5 5 0

Arron Asham 46 2 3 5 59

Patrick Traverse 19 2 3 5 10

Eric Chouinard 13 1 3 4 0

Andre Bashkirov 18 0 3 3 0

Christian Laflamme 39 0 3 3 42

Craig Rivet 26 1 2 3 36

P.J. Stock 20 1 2 3 32

Johan Witehall 26 1 1 2 6

Matthieu Descoteaux 5 1 1 2 4

Darryl Shannon 7 0 1 1 6

Gino Odjick 13 1 0 1 44

Mike Ribeiro 2 0 0 0 2

Barry Richter 2 0 0 0 2

Matt Higgins 6 0 0 0 2

Francis Belanger 10 0 0 0 29

Eric Bertrand 3 0 0 0 0

Enrico Ciccone 3 0 0 0 14

Jason Ward 12 0 0 0 12

Goalies Name GP G A PTS PIM W L T MIN GA GAA SO SV PCT

Jose Theodore 59 1 0 1 6 20 29 5 3298 141 2.57 2 1546 .909

Jeff Hackett 19 0 1 1 0 4 10 2 998 54 3.25 0 477 .887

Mathieu Garon 11 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 589 24 2.44 2 233 .897

Eric Fichaud 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 62 4 3.87 0 32 .875

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Well, I'd argue that the 'Turnaround' actually began when André Savard, who was underrated and unlucky, took over as GM. There's no question that Gainey consolidated it and built on it, though - bringing a level of major-league respect throughout the organization and throughout the league that Savard could not have done.

The most damning indictment of this era was quietly issued by Savard, who, when he took over, was asked what his top priority was. Supposedly he answered: 'to get some NHL players.' Ouch.

An equally devastating indictment is to go back and look at the assets Serge Savard bequeathed his successors, then contrast it to the roster above. A greater act of self-sabotage was never accomplished, short of Mike Milbury. Truly, truly abysmal.

A truly bleak, almost hopeless era in Habs' history. If you'll recall, the Loonie was in the toilet, the Molsons were trying to sell around this time and did not invest in the team; meanwhile no Canadians buyers were stepping up. There were even vague, whispered rumours of a possible franchise move. Can you imagine.

Unfortunately all those years of suckage somehow failed to deliver top-5 draft picks. So we didn't even come out of it in the fashion of Pittsburgh or Tampa, loaded with star power. Just bad beyond all infinite dimensions of badness.

[Colin]

I'm going to argue a few positives from this team just for fun:

Weinrich and Hackett. When they came in, they made a difference. Weiner was reliable and Hackett was good, and a better mentor for Theo. I think there was an argument made back then that, with out Hack, Theo wouldn't have been what he was. These two were well respected, outspoken in the dressing room, and probably, between the two of them, lifted the spirits of the team to a handful of wins on their own.

Koivu was, of course, Koivu. A first line centre (there, I said it), but in the bottom half of the league of top centres, there's no denying. He's probably responsible for a handful of victories on his own.

Then there's Theo, pre-Propecia (I believe) and pre-All-The-Nonsense. A young goalie who stepped up and carried a team on his shoulders.

Sadly, those guys were probably the only reason to watch games that season. Lind 46 games and Witehall 27. 'Nuff said about those two!

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Hackett, Theo and Weinrich...you can add a young Markov and Sheldon Souray to that list. Actually, looking at this team, by year's end Savard had already taken over and brought in Zednik and Bulis, two promising, useful players. There were some ingredients. The real nadir occured in the first couple of months of that season, with a team so bad that even Vigneault could no longer coach it into bordeline respectability. By season's end Savard had come in and at least some things were starting to make sense.

[saskhab]

Alain Vaigneault was another big reason why those teams didn't finish dead last in the NHL. That, and the fact that there were 4 new exapansion rosters in that time frame.

[Colin]

As I look again, a shocking point is that no one played a full season and only three players played more than 70 games! How can you have any continuity that way. Between abject suckage and, as usual, a ridiculous number of injuries, I suspect no one knew who was going to be their line mate next shift.\

Oh wait, not much different than now. :-P

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Well, the injuries were, I believe, partly due to how bad the team was. Players were rushing themselves back to help out (and perhaps being rushed back by an incompetent organization). That's presumably not the case these days.

Vigneault did an outstanding job with wretched raw materials, and it has always been a mystery to me why he had to toil for so long in the minors before he was given another chance at the NHL level. His success in Vancouver has not surprised me one bit. Unfortunately, he performed so admirably that the team never quite 'tanked' - we were a borderline playoff team for most of the Houle era - and thus we never collected the super-high, no brainer picks we should have.

A shame that we replaced him with that sweaty blowhard, Michel Therrien, who somehow got another NHL gig before Vigneault did.

Another 'bright spot,' relatively speaking, was Oleg Petrov, who came back from Russia and offered some entertaining plays. Sort of David Desharnais 1.0. However, at the time I remember commenting that this guy could barely crack our roster in the early 90s and was now a top-2 centreman for us...which pretty much said it all.

[Colin]

I think the injuries also have to be attributable the the organizations very proud installation of the seamless concrete around the rink. Seems to me that, since that point, the Habs injury toll has always been somewhat elevated.

Totally agreed about Vigneault. Somehow he was buried after his time in Montreal when the reality is that he should never have been fired in the first place. I can only think how the intervening years would have been with a coach of his quality. That said, I wonder what kind of due date he has on his coaching style. I'm not sure we ever got to know in Montreal considering the fact he wasn't actually coaching an NHL-calibre team.

Do you remember that play where Petrov was on a breakaway and did the drop pass to Koivu? Don't think I'll ever forget that.

Oh, and I note that Jason Ward - one of the fanboi's anointed ones - was in the lineup for 12 games. I think there was a point a year or so later when he was being called the second coming of John Leclair, despite the fact that he had to use the boards to change direction. Good times, good times. LOL

[huzer]

The Habs almost managed a top 5 pick, #7 with Komisarek in '01. Man, this exact team is what started the ESPN message board groupies starting the Yahoo fantasy league (had to have something more entertaining than watching/listening to a listless Habs team), and eventually, this site.

[Commandant]

I think the injuries also have to be attributable the the organizations very proud installation of the seamless concrete around the rink.  Seems to me that, since that point, the Habs injury toll has always been somewhat elevated.

Totally agreed about Vigneault.  Somehow he was buried after his time in Montreal when the reality is that he should never have been fired in the first place.  I can only think how the intervening years would have been with a coach of his quality.  That said, I wonder what kind of due date he has on his coaching style.  I'm not sure we ever got to know in Montreal considering the fact he wasn't actually coaching an NHL-calibre team.

Do you remember that play where Petrov was on a breakaway and did the drop pass to Koivu?  Don't think I'll ever forget that.

Oh, and I note that Jason Ward - one of the fanboi's anointed ones - was in the lineup for 12 games.  I think there was a point a year or so later when he was being called the second coming of John Leclair, despite the fact that he had to use the boards to change direction.  Good times, good times.  LOL

Jason Ward was so good in Hamilton in that season with the split Habs/Oilers affiliation, and the Habs were so bad, that we clung to anything we could find for hope.Rational fans realized he was a 24 year old winning AHL MVP, and was a journeyman NHLer at best.  Others saw the former first round pick ripping up the AHL and thought maybe he's a late bloomer. Also the previously mentionned trade.  Linden and Zubrus, for Bulis, Zednick and the 25th overall pick (Perezhogin) was one that finally injected some hope into this team.

[Colin]

Well, I'd argue that the 'Turnaround' actually began when André Savard, who was underrated and unlucky, took over as GM. There's no question that Gainey consolidated it and built on it, though - bringing a level of major-league respect throughout the organization and throughout the league that Savard could not have done.

I'll agree wholeheartedly that Savard stopped the bleeding and stabilized the patient. I'm not sure I'd call him a turnaround point since he couldn't attract UFA's worth a darn. Gainey had trouble at first, but at the very least he was a well-known and well-respected NHL executive. Once he was brought in, I feel the whole attitude around the franchise changed. I recall his first moves had nothing to do with the product on the ice, but rather in surrounding himself with other smart individuals. While Savard was a credible improvement, Gainey was a top-down re-vamp of a once-proud organization then driven to the depths by hideous management and poor ownership.

[JMMR]

Great read this will be a fun albeit abysmal topic to discuss.

[saskhab]

Savard helped turn around the scouting department, drafting Komisarek, Perezhogin, and with his 3rd rounder Plekanec that first go around. Combined with the fluke 1998 genius Houle draft (Ribeiro, Beauchemin, Ryder, Markov), we had the basis for the 2003-09 Habs. Savard then hired Timmins and our drafting/scouting really took off. Although very little is left from those periods in terms of players, a lot of the decisions in general starting improving to the point where we are today. You know, 12th in the East! lol