Let me preface this by saying that I am a lifelong Canadiens fan and I’ve always said they could go 0-82 and I’d still cheer for them.
I think loyalty is a key element of being a sports fan.
That said, in my opinion, we as fans need to understand that that loyalty is a one-way street when it comes to the "Big Four" sports leagues.
It’s a little different with leagues like the CFL or the USL… Those players make reasonable salaries and tend to commit to the cities in which they live, for at least the duration of their careers.
In the Big Four, with multi-million-dollar salaries, the players for the most part simply don’t give a rat’s behind about the fans in each city. And in most cases, neither do the owners – they’re running a business.
But not Saku Koivu.
Koivu was about as good a representative of our team and our city as we could have asked for. Was he a little over-rated as a player? Probably.
But that’s because he really never had much to work with in Montreal and was expected to be a 40 goal scorer with little-to-no help, so the fans put all their hopes on him.
Was he a great captain? Absolutely.
As the guy wearing the "C" for the Habs, Koivu always acted with class and dignity and did nothing but make Montrealers proud.
He may have never been a top-10 scorer, but he always worked his hardest and did his best to carry himself proudly.
Frankly, that’s about all you can ask for in an athlete.
Then there’s Kovalev.
Montrealers like to think of themselves as knowledgeable hockey fans, but anyone who knows anything about the sport and goes to watch a game at the Bell Centre can clearly tell that the vast majority of fans there don’t know the difference between flash and substance.
Kovalev was fun to watch on occasion, but in reality he’s the definition of the sizzle without the steak.
A lot of people think he’s the most skilled player in the NHL…
I think he’s the best player in the world – if what you’re looking for is someone to go end-to-end faking out four players, go behind the other team’s net, bring the puck back up to the blue line, fall down, turn the puck over, and give the other team an odd-man rush.
In his time here, Kovalev became a lightning rod for the kind of people who spend their days commenting on how bad of a GM Bob Gainey is on Facebook and travel from Sept-Isles to protest the fact that he didn’t sell his own body to re-sign the Russian.
If Kovalev really is a super hero, then he would have offered Gainey a hometown discount to re-sign in Montreal and try to redeem himself after a truly terrible 2008-09 season.
Instead, he took the money and ran to Ottawa where he can replace another class A flake, Dany Healtey.
People seem to be happy Koivu’s gone and down about losing Kovalev.
The truth is that neither of them should be in Montreal anymore – Koivu because we don’t deserve him and Kovalev because the people who are crying about him leaving deserve the disappointment.
It’s a little late, but I wanted to also take a second to talk about the life of Michael Jackson.
Yeah, he was a weirdo, but the world lost one of its great superstars last week with his passing.
Most importantly, he was a hero to the black community for the work he did opening doors for people to be judged based on their merits before their colour.
But I’m not talking about the great black entertainers who followed him – I’m talking about the generation of black people in general he inspired.
Look, I’m not black, but I do know what it is to be part of a minority as a Jew.
I’m fortunate that my community has long established itself in nearly every industry in the world and I have thousands of people to look to for inspiration.
For the black community, Jackson was one of the first to truly be seen as a talent before being seen as a black talent and he should forever be remembered and lauded for that.
Rest in peace, MJ.
