Gripping the wheel as captain of a leaky vessel is bad enough.
But as he navigated the Good Ship Montreal Canadiens through the stormy waves of the ocean known as NHL February, Max Pacioretty not only had to worry about his men but also his personal plight.
These were virtually uncharted waters for the 29-year-old New Canaan, Conn., native.
For only the third time in his 10-year history with the Habs, a dark spring seemed likely. And because of that, Pacioretty was forced to await his fate as the NHL trade deadline approached on Feb. 26.
No matter which way things went for the star left wing, this season has been a challenging voyage for him. Yet he tried to stay upbeat as the losses mounted, including one in Philadelphia on Feb. 8.
To his credit, Pacioretty remained somewhat optimistic about the future of the team, even though he had been dogged by trade rumors for months. He’s averaged 35 goals over his past five full seasons with the Canadiens and still has one year remaining after this season on his contract.
So why wouldn’t a team that faces some sort of rebuilding mode be interested in trying to get maximum value for him? Pacioretty is a realist. He expressed a desire to stay with the only team he’s ever played for and see it return to championship contention. But circumstances might dictate otherwise.
"It’s frustrating," he said. "We don’t feel like we deserve to be in this position that we’re in.
"If you ask me personally, I’ve been here for a long time. And I would like to see this team do well. We had a really good team last year (first in division with 103 points) and felt like it could carry over to this year.
"But we weren’t able to ice the same lineup and we really haven’t found that chemistry to carry over to put us in a position to make the playoffs."
Frustrating indeed. "I’m very proud of the past success I’ve had in Montreal," he said. "I’ve played here for 10 years and I’ve never gone through something like this. I’ve gone through ups and downs, but never this low."
Pacioretty, who really established himself in the 2011-12 season by recording a team-leading 65 points and winning the Bill Masterton Trophy for "perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship," has been a steady performer throughout his career with the Canadiens.
But a lack of scoring this season (just 16 goals in his first 56 games) made him a candidate for a trade from the goalchallenged Canadiens. "Our team is battling," maintained Pacioretty, who has been to the Eastern Conference finals twice (2009-10, 2013-14) but never a Stanley Cup Final. "You can’t take that away from us. We’re working hard.
"We’re trying to do what we can to win games. We’re just going to keep fighting until the end. No one can really question our effort, especially of late. We’ve given ourselves a chance to win a lot of games.
"We’ve had some guys out, some in positions they don’t normally play. I think guys have punched in pretty well and given our team chances to win games."
Pacioretty was selected in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Canadiens. Formative years playing for his native New Canaan High School and Taft School built a foundation for Pacioretty, who went on to play one year for the University of Michigan before turning professional.
For most of his career, the Habs have been a contending team. This year, with a different cast of players, a fallback was not necessarily surprising. "Yeah, it’s been a challenge," Pacioretty said. "I think we knew going into the year that it would be. We lost a lot of key players from last year, and I think the guys that have stepped in and tried to fill those holes have done a good job."
There was speculation Pacioretty might be moved to acquire a scoring center. As it turned out, the Canadiens parted ways with forwards Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun and D-man Jakub Jerabe but held on to Pacioretty.
"You just live your life and worry about your family (he and wife, Katia, have three sons — Maximus Raymond, James Carter and Lorenzo)," Pacioretty said.
"Right now we don’t have too many centermen on our roster, but we’re still competing," Pacioretty added. "You have to admire the work people are putting in. We knew it would be tough and obviously we’re not where we want to be. But we have to just keep battling."
