The sky hasn’t fallen – let’s give Jacques Martin a chance

I’m a sports fan, just like all of you, and like what I’m sure is the majority of you, I’m a fan of the Montreal Canadiens.

That said, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my reactions to the Habs when they win or lose, and I’m realizing more and more that while I will always cheer for the team and be happy when it wins, I’m caring less and less when the Canadiens lose.

Why? Well, for starters, I have better things to worry about – which is likely the case for the majority of you as well.

The bottom line is that we all still have jobs, families, lives, etc., to worry about whether the Habs win or lose, so at the end of the day, who cares?

But the beauty of sports is that they serve as a venue to channel our frustration in a usually constructive and relatively civilized manner… instead of punching our bosses in the head, we go to the stadium and yell at the players.

On the other hand, sports often bring out the best of us – think of the ovation Saku Koivu got when he came back from cancer a few years back or the unbelievable support Anthony Calvillo got when his wife was diagnosed with cancer in 2008.

The frustrating part of sports for me has little to do with wins, losses, streaks or slumps.

What gets me frustrated when it comes to sports are the unending, completely ludicrous opinions-presented-as-facts spewed by bandwagon fans in chat rooms and on sports radio ad nauseum.

I’m not going to say that management is always correct – indeed, while I won’t point out specific cases, hindsight has shown us many times that the Habs, Als, or whatever other team you might like have made bad personnel decisions at one point or another.

But there is a key difference between those in sports management and what I like to call “superfans” – those who think they know everything there is to know even though they clearly know nothing at all.

Bob Gainey, the general manager of the Canadiens, didn’t throw a bunch of names into a cap and pull out Jacques Martin.

He didn’t get hammered and ask Martin to be the new coach on a whim before he passed out – similar to how someone I know proposed to his now-wife.

No, Gainey and his team at the Canadiens went out and got who they thought was the best man for the job out of the available pool of potential coaches based on decades of experience at the National Hockey League level.

Is Gainey right every time? No.

Is he right on this particular call? Well, while the superfans of the world are screaming “no” as loud as they can from the top of Mount Royal, the real answer is: We won’t know until we know.

No one’s going on the radio to say “hey, let’s give this guy a chance.”

No, instead, people are going directly to the fact that Martin has never won a Stanley Cup; they’re pointing out relentlessly that his Ottawa Senators teams never went deep in the playoffs; they’re crying about how his Florida Panthers were listless and did not really improve under his tenure.

But how about focusing on the fact that he has won over 500 games as an NHL coach? Or that he is 111 games over .500 for his career?

No, instead, everyone’s focusing on the fact that he’s a defence-first coach who hasn’t yet won a championship.

Well, in my eyes, he’s a proven veteran – something the Canadiens haven’t had since they hired Jacques Demers – with the credentials not to warrant a free pass, but at least a little goodwill.

After all, no one was planning a parade when Demers was first hired – also a coach with a career oh-fer in the Stanley Cup category – but that’s just what the city of Montreal was treated to when the 1992-93 season was done.

Martin may or may not do the same, but let’s at least give the guy a chance! You can always reach me at noahsidel@gmail.com.