The Roller Coaster Continues for the Montreal Canadiens

There is no more storied franchise in the history of the NHL than the Montreal Canadiens, and this was supposed to be a wonderful centenniel year up there in French-speaking land.

But, aside from hosting the All Star game, this season has been more bizarre than idyllic for the Habs.

They’re playing OK (fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 77 points) but have been up-and-down and are just two points ahead of ninth-place Carolina, which is chasing that last playoff spot down.

Then there was that Montreal police investigation into street gangs which uncovered that Pasquale Mangiola (who faces charges like drug-trafficking and illegal weapons charges) is a close friend of brothers and Habs forwards Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn.

To be fair, the Kostitsyns weren’t implicated in any wrongdoing. But that’s a bad choice of friends and an unwanted distraction.

And now the latest gem came Monday when general manager Bob Gainey fired Guy Carbonneau in his third season as head coach.

The best part? Gainey is putting himself behind the bench, effective immediately, and he and Carbonneau were once teammates.

Ah, the high expectations in Montreal claim another victim.

See, both Gainey and Carbonneau won Stanley Cups with the Canadiens. That’s the expectation. No less.

Apparently being in fifth place with the playoffs just around the corner (a year after making it to the conference semifinals) isn’t good enough.

So what happens if the move Gainey just pulled doesnt work? I bet you can guess who the next team official is to get be heading to the chopping block.