Our Greatest Weakness Lies in Giving Up: The Mindset the Canadiens Must Have for Next Game

So here we are? The end is near? Must we say our farewells for the season? Must we dust off our golf clubs? Must we store our jersey back in the closet? If you answered yes, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. In the great words of Thomas Edison: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time”.

The Montreal Canadiens have a good team. In fact, they have a great team. We have truly proven to the world that our storied club has not reached its last chapter. There is more in the tank, enough fuel to spark a fire. While our players have skill, they also have heart. Cliche? Absolutely. Significance? Absolutely.

This team wants to win. They do. And from the looks of what transpired during this season, all the pieces of the puzzle are there in order to succeed. You can point fingers to whomever, but truth of the matter, is that the past is the past. It’s gone. It’s done. Habs have a game Thursday. That’s what is there. That is all there is to look at. Regardless of what happened yesterday, without accusing and the denouncing of other players, we must prepare for the only thing that lies ahead. That game.

If my memory is correct, the Bruins beat the Canadiens the first time, that led to an “oh boy, here we go again”. One thing I have said about the Montreal Canadiens this year, is that they are a good learning team. They are aware of their previous mistakes and they know what was done wrong. This is what led them to beat the Bruins the following three consecutive times. Looking back at game 3, we all knew what was wrong. They lost discipline. They lost will to win. Their goal was retaliation, which clearly was the wrong decision. That being said, they got the demons of out their system. They blew their steam. It was necessary. They came into game 4 with a clean slate.

Although they did not successfully win that particular game, their attitude was right. They went in with a will to play hockey. Price was fantastic, Galchenyuk continued to prove his future eliteness, and hey, how about that Subban? Everything was there in order to win.

Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens must skate onto the ice with the will to play hockey and win. While the key word for last game was “discipline”, this game it is “effort”. They must play a full 60 minute game. They must ignore the idea of it being their last game of the season. Let me tell you, that this does not work. They would be playing in a frantic manner, which would lead to mistakes nearly every single time. What leads from desperation, is extreme and rash behaviour. They must play their game. They must continue to play the way the Montreal Canadiens have played all season-long.

The Canadiens will go into Thursday’s game, back at the Bell Centre, and know, that if there is a time to prove their season was no fluke, the time is then. They will know, that this is what they live for, this is it, and this is what they have to do. The Senators are a good team. They will be in full force. The Canadiens must show they are the better. They must take their mindset of the previous game and use it to their advantage.

The Habs need to realize, that the idea of a “best of 7” is just a figment of the imagination. All this is, is another game that they must win. It will happen, and we will all be there to watch it.