Is Hughes turning into Sisyphus?

You may be asking yourself, reading this title, whatch you talkin about Willis? Or just how many peace pipes did you blow through before slapping your fat fingers on the keyboard ....

But hear me out first.

I was immediately on the Kent Hughes bandwagon the moment he got hired. Scout's honor.

His pedigree, eloquent communication skills, low key demeanor, and out-of-the-box thinking, were a refreshing change from his pompous, scattered and often incoherent predecessor.

I was impressed by the grand theft auto robbery that occurred in broad daylight when he acquired Sean Monahan and added a first (eventually, the gift kept on giving, as the Habs were able to get an additional first from Winnipeg- I guess it was Chevel's Day Off ). Mike Matheson for Jeff Petry Dish also had highway theft written all over it.

But then, you lost me, Kent. You made my head spin round and round. Heck, of late, you even managed to infuriate me.

So what the heck is this title, and are you going to spill the beans?

Sisyphus was a character from ancient Greek mythology who was punished for his wrongdoings (he annoyed the Gods with his never-ending trickery). The sentence he was given was having to push a boulder up a hill,...only to watch it roll back down over and over again. For eternity.

The term Sisyphean is derived from the story of Sisyphus. In a nutshell, it's a task that seems impossible to complete. Despite your efforts, the more you try the more you keep failing.

And it feels like we have reached this point (yet again) with the Canadiens' management. The more they try things, the more they fail.

Simply said, it feels like the honeymoon could soon be over.

*** Reader alert *** the rest of this blog could be detrimental to your mental health, if you are a glass half-full individua (heck one that is borderline overflowing) GET OUT NOW...

You've been warned. I won't be pussyfooting the rest of the way...

So since we mentioned Monahan earlier, let's start there.

A couple of summers ago, he was back on the market. A UFA. Asking price: roughly 5M$. We know the Habs then and even now, had no depth up the middle (and despite Hage looking like a promising prospect he may not even pan out as a center down the line) beyond Suzie Q. Dvorak was an amateur signing by Bergevin, and Evans is who he is (a solid FOURTH line center), and nothing more.

And we just let Monny get away. Suffice it to say with a rising cap, given he was absolutely adored by teammates, had 60+ points in him, won faceoffs, and truly enjoyed playing in Montreal, he should have been a priority for Hughes. And 5M$ for a 2C or eventually even had he moved to a third line C (with a projected cap over 100M in a couple of seasons would have been more than reasonable a price to pay). But...we let him go. And we had no back up plan whatsoever.

They had high hopes that Kirby Dach would be THE man. If not, surely Alex Speedy Gonzalez Newhook could fill the big second line center shoes. A couple years later, we have a clear cut answer. We can play Dach Dach Goose all we want, neither have proven to be capable of assuming the role (heck one has to wonder if Dach's career could even be over, and as for Newhook, he is at best a hard working third liner...if at all...arriba arriba all the time but heading nowhere).

And then there's the case of the goaltending. How on earth did we think Primeau could replace Jake Allen, and be a viable option as a 1b (given Montembeault does not appear to be a bona fide #1 at least not on an eventual Cup contending team)? Heck I'm not even sure at this point if poor Cayden could be a viable option for Red Light Racicot! Acquiring a veteran goalie either in the off season or during this current one, that didn't seem like a Herculean task Kent (yes, another Greek God....Hercules...not Hughes).

Even more hard to digest is how the Canadiens brass have drafted in the past few years. I get we lacked depth on the right side of the D (and still do) back in 2023, but how on earth do you pass on a talent like Michkov, or a power forward like Ryan Leonard for that matter?

Reinbacher just has injury-prone written all over him. Scouts were already worried about his knees at the draft. And the fact he has sustained a major knee injury so early into his career (not to mention that he has been sitting out games and practices of late with the Laval Rocket) does not bode well.

And let's be perfectly honest. Drafting Demidov was not a "coup de genie" by any means, anyone and their blind uncle would have taken him when he inexplicably fell to 5th overall.

And then there's being completely inactive at the trade deadline, when the team was making a strong push, and desperately needed depth, notably up front (heck we have been resorting to dressing Michael f'n Pezzetta of late...how's that for depth?!)

Honestly at this point someone please, please give me pills to knock me out...something to help me cope before they take me away screaming on the way to the Arkham asylum.

30 years of rinse and repeat, unkept promises, questionable decision-making, is apt to make anyone go bananas....or turn into Maniae, the Greek God of Rage & Insanity....