We were so captivated by the beautiful outfit of the Canadian that we had forgotten that the greatest danger that could strike him was lying in wait for him hypocritically. COVID-19 has been invited into the life of Dominique Ducharme.
Not lucky, the coach.
This tile falls on his head as he experiences the most exhilarating moments of his young career as head coach in the National Hockey League.
You can easily imagine how he can feel.
This is the second time that a personal tragedy has befallen Ducharme as he goes through an important phase in the performance of his duties.
In 2015, his father passed away suddenly while in Finland as an assistant coach for the Canadian junior team at the junior championship.
Jacques Ducharme fell asleep before a match never to wake up again. He was 68 years old.
Under his mother’s recommendation, Ducharme had stayed there until the end because that was what his father would have wanted.
Caution remains in order
What is happening to him now only reminds us that no one should let their guard down against the virus.
Ducharme contracted it even though he lived in a bubble in his workplace and had received both doses of the vaccine.
This episode also reinforces the calls for caution from Public Health. It is still too early to significantly increase the number of spectators in public places.
Other country, other customs
Unfortunately, it is not the same everywhere, as we can see.
The United States has always stood apart. The situation was ridiculous under the presidency of Donald Trump.
His successor, Joe Biden, made corrections to his entry into the White House last January. But six months later, everything is reopened.
It’s going too fast !
The stadiums are filled to their capacity and masked spectators are rare. We saw it very well during the two games that the Canadian played in Las Vegas.
It’s the same in town.
People walk around without masks and see no distance on the Strip and Fremont Street, as you can see live by clicking on the following link: www.earthcam.com/usa/nevada/lasvegas/fremontstreet/?cam=catsmeow_lv_fremont
It’s crazy !
It is as if COVID-19 has evaporated in nature.
How long ?
Fortunately, Ducharme is doing well under the circumstances. You will have noticed that Marc Bergevin did not mention any time frame regarding the duration of his absence.
He limited himself to saying to this end that the organization is in contact with Public Health and the protocol service of the National League.
This suggests that we could see Ducharme again in the series against the Golden Knights or in the one that could follow, you never know?
Nothing changes for the players
As for his players, they must continue to play as if nothing had happened. As they did last year when Kirk Muler replaced Claude Julien at a moment’s notice in the series that pitted them against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Carey Price is still there, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Tyler Toffoli, Phillip Danault and all the others too.
All of them have worked hard to get to where they are. Their mandate is to win.
Ducharme won’t be far anyway. He will be able to talk to them by Zoom on training days and before games.
He will be in contact with Luke Richardson, who becomes the Canadiens second interim coach in this unusual season.
The new head coach and Alex Burrows know his philosophy.
It’s going to be fine.
I seem to have heard it before, that one …
Hugs!
It might have been a lot of fun to see Dominique Ducharme in his living room when Josh Anderson scored the tying and winning goals in his side’s second victory over the Golden Knights.
And to hell with COVID!
The coach must have hit his head on the ceiling.
It is also reported that several similar cases have occurred in Montreal and in the province.
Again and again Price
This triumph is first of all that of Carey Price, even if it looked bad on the visitors’ second goal scored by Alex Pietrangelo.
While he multiplied the stops, his vis-à-vis Marc-André Fleury knew a quiet vigil.
That was until the veteran goaltender screwed up a long puck shot by Shea Weber in the dying moments of the third period.
Fleury got into her boots and the puck leapt in front of the net where Anderson just had to pick it like ripe fruit.
But what about Paul Byron’s pass on the winning goal! He showed a beautiful presence of mind.
And this is how the Canadian leads the series 2 to 1.
The police are coming!
This game reminds me of a night in Boston, during a series between the Habs and the Bruins in 2002.
Gino Odjick went there with a tasty statement after the meeting.
“We’d better save ourselves fromhere before the police come to arrest us! He said with his toothless smile.
José Théodore, who was having the best season of his career, had just made 43 saves – the same number as Price last night – in a 2-1 victory for the Habs.
Difficult evening
Speaking of police, refs Chris Lee and Dan O’Rourke were miserable last night.
Officials also know some really awful series.
It is frankly appalling what we are seeing this year.
