TSN hockey analyst and director of scouting Craig Button joined the Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro last night and talked about the criticisms that the club and coaching staff have been subject to in recent days and suggested that such critiques are more than justified.
“When you lose in the manner that that Montreal Canadiens have lost in…it hasn’t been pretty, and if was even a little bit ugly, it would be play, but it’s been downright ugly,” said Button two days after the Canadiens fell 8-2 to Seattle at home. “We talk about the Montreal Canadiens at the outset of this year and the hope and the optimism, and you know, when you talk about competing. It’s interesting….
“The market in Montreal is one that has shown a remarkable amount of patience. Geoff Molson talked about the fact that when they were going down this path he wasn’t really so sure about it and really encouraged, and we all talk about the Montreal Canadiens and the path they’re on, the prospects going, and everything.
“Now when you play the way you have, and you get the results that you have, in the manner that you have,..well, there are going to be different comments from the fan base. And the fan base talking about: ‘Oh…we shouldn’t have rebuilt. And this is where we’re at.’ They’re talking about: ‘Okay. This team doesn’t look very functional in terms of defensive play. That it looks highly dysfunctional in terms of defensive play. That’s fair criticism. That is something now with a very knowledgeable fan base that…if you’re the Montreal Canadiens, you might not like it…nobody necessarily likes the critical aspect, but the bottom line is…is anything offside?”
