No Solution in Sight as the Subban and Luongo Controversies Keep Simmering

Nothing gets Montrealers buzzing like a good old-fashioned hockey fight, even if it’s an internecine affair. The town’s hockey-obsessed media continues to breathlessly cover the increasingly nasty contract dispute between team management and its top player, defenceman P.K. Subban.

On Saturday, when the Habs and Toronto Maple Leafs met in their season opener, Subban stayed home in Toronto, refusing to report to the team until they agree to his contract demands, which are said to be in the area of $5 million per year.

Montreal looked listless in their 2-1 loss to the Leafs on Saturday, which only means there will be more pressure on general manager Marc Bergevin to sign the dynamic D-man quickly. There’s no doubt whose side the fans are taking in this dispute – in an intra-squad game on Thursday, they loudly voiced their support for PK.

As the Montreal mess festers, Vancouver’s endless goalie soap opera continues to drag on. Last we saw, Roberto Luongo was out as No. 1 (and all but traded to the Leafs) and Corey Schneider was in as goalie of the future. Well, on Saturday that scenario quickly changed when – surprise, surprise – Luongo was back in net after Schneider played terribly and was pulled from the opener. Further adding to the confused plotline, Luongo also played in last night’s loss to Edmonton.

When asked after Saturday’s game whether he thought he’d be playing in net for the Canucks again, Luongo told the Vancouver Province: “I don’t think any of us would, right? Probably most of you don’t believe it right now, either.”

One thing you can believe? If Montreal and Vancouver don’t sort their problems out soon, neither team will see the playoffs.