Quoting: Habs4ever
I said two years ago Drouin would not do well in a Canadian and especially Quebec market. I also posted about it a month ago and gave the reasons why. I went into detail about it and people laughed at me. Then I posted it on Reddit and explained why and people not only laughed at me, they blocked me and banned me. It is hard for me to try and be normal on these types of sites when I have worked for the past 28 years on mental life coaching, I worked with Jonathan in 2013 when he was with the Mooseheads. I photocopied the cheque I was paid by the team to work with their athletes (off ice). So I knew Dru would not do well in that market. I actually reached out to him yesterday offering my confidential services to him. I will not say nor comment anymore about this, but I do know and recognize the patterns of people and this includes athletes as they are people first, hockey players second.
Quoting: Habs4ever
In 2001, I was sitting inside the Habs dressing room and I was waiting to go for lunch. The team was outside Quebec on away games. I saw a man tell his son to pretend he had cancer so they could get an empty roll of tape. I was speaking in English but understand perfect French and the man was speaking in French to his 10 year old kid. That is when it really hit me, how worshipped these players are and how unhealthy and unrealistic expectations are placed on the players and as you said the ones from Quebec.
It is just so tough to be a fracophone player in that market: the moment he was traded there, the sheer tonnage of fan expectations fell on his shoulders. People tend to forget that these guys are
people, and in Jo's case, he's really just a kid. He's a 26 year old multi-millioniare. I
just turned 38, and I can remember being 26 and, honestly, pretty full of it. To be him, in that market? Wow.
Fans,
especially fans on this site , tend to think of players as commodities and not people. The media in Montreal and the rest of Canada do the same, and will freely discuss their performances - positively or negatively - and the players are supposed to ignore what is said. I am completely guilty of this; of reading articles on
Sportsnet or
The Hockey News or
TSN or playing around on this site. I watch highlights and cheer or get frustrated. I will complain to my brother when my team is doing poorly (I will freely admit that I am a Canadiens fan from the Philadelphia area. He is a Capitas fan). I've imagined trading Byron because it's his fault he signed his contract (imagine someone saying that?). Honestly, I now kind of feel like crap for doing all of that. I know I am a fan, but realistically, who am I to judge someone on how they are performing? Like does anyone think that he
isn't trying his hardest?? He is a human being, and his health - his mental health - is so important. I hope he gets better, and I hope that he one day gets back to the game he loves (whether it's with the Canadiens or otherwise). Everyone deserves to be happy.