If You’re "Embarrassed" Watching The Canadiens Right Now, You're Not Really A Fan

Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens fell 4-0 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final and now trail the series 3-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

And honestly? After Game 1, where the Habs won 6-2 on the road in Carolina, us Montreal fans probably got a little carried away.

Because pretty much ever since that first period of the series, it’s been downhill. Sure, they managed to force Games 2 and 3 to overtime, but tonight was rough. No way around it.

But I’ve been seeing Canadiens fans online saying this is embarrassing, that there’s no effort from this team, and I just have to say this, if you’re saying that, you’re not a real Canadiens fan.

If you’re embarrassed watching this team right now, where was that energy when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games while getting massively outshot? Were you embarrassed then? Were you embarrassed when they got dominated for stretches against the Buffalo Sabres and still found a way to win that series?

Or were you posting playoff graphics on Instagram and tweeting about how this team was special?

Exactly.

You can’t celebrate every miracle win and every upset, then suddenly turn around and say you’re embarrassed the second adversity hits. That’s not how fandom works.

Now, onto the “lack of effort” stuff.

I'll say it again, I don’t see a team that quit. I see a team that’s frustrated because they can’t execute right now. And honestly, I think the coaching staff deserves some criticism.

Martin St. Louis is still learning as a coach. I’m not calling for his job or anything ridiculous like that. He’s a young coach still figuring things out at this level. But after the way the last couple games went, you can’t come into a massive swing game with the exact same lines and expect different results.

By the time the line changes came in the second period, the game already felt over. Against a defensive team like Carolina, you’re not coming back from three goals down. That’s just reality.

They defend unbelievably well. They pressure everything. They don’t give you time or space. The Canadiens are getting some looks here and there, but the chances just aren’t consistently there because Carolina takes so much away.

So no, I don’t see a lazy team.

I see a team that’s exhausted after back-to-back seven-game series. I see a young group learning in real time what it takes to win at this stage. And I see a team that’s honestly ahead of schedule.

If you told Canadiens fans before the 2024-25 season that within a year this team would be one win away from the Stanley Cup Final, everybody would’ve signed up for that instantly.

This team beat Tampa. They beat Buffalo. They were underdogs in both series according to basically everybody. Nobody expected this to be the year.

We just probably got ahead of ourselves after Game 1.

And look, if Friday ends up being the end of this run, it’s still been a hell of a season. Back-to-back playoff appearances. An Eastern Conference Final appearance way earlier than expected. A young core getting massive playoff experience.

That matters.

Next season is going to be fascinating because for the first time, this group is actually going to have real expectations attached to them. Nobody’s going to look at them as some fun underdog story anymore.

But as frustrating as this series has been, I’m still incredibly proud to be a fan of this team.

And honestly, I think this is only the beginning of what will be a special era of Habs hockey.

So, if you're "embarrassed", stay on the other side.