NHL : paroles, paroles...

Year in, year out, some NHL teams pay lip service to winning the Stanley Cup. Others just do what it takes to win it.

The Habs lead the former category, the Detroit Red Wings the latter one.

The Habs, management and players alike, believe in the magic of words, also known as marketing.

So much so they probably take for real the empty upbeat mantra about team spirit, dedication, hard work etc. they intone each time a new season starts.

How could they imagine winning actually requires their paying attention to what they say and putting in practise the values they profess ?

The Habs suffer from fabled -and grossly inflated- media pressure, because no other kind of pressure on them is applied on them : no pressure from management, no pressure from fans either ; there will always be a next year, in which the team will better and build for a receding future.

By season end, Habs players are equally great at sporting appropriately disgusted and downcast "spoilt-brat-with-a-cap" looks and stutter it will be along off-season and they cannot wait to be back on ice in competing and winning mode, while they only dream of running to the golf course or resume barely interrupted partying and marvel at the great deal they made: you do not get paid to pay the series, why should they bother?

(PM)