from Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette,

It looks like the pressure-cooker that is life as a Québécois Canadiens player has been tough for Drouin. He’s not the first local francophone to feel the heat nor will he be the last. The only other local francophone on the team, Phillip Danault, talked Wednesday about how locals like him and Drouin can’t help but listen to the radio shows, hear what people are saying on the street, and that can be rough.

Lots of unkind things have also been said this year about Danault, who is presumably the team’s first-line centre yet only has four goals. So he knows what Drouin is going through.

So does David Desharnais, another francophone Quebecer who was often scorched by fans during his tenure ici. Like Danault, Desharnais was a No. 1 centre who probably never should’ve been given the job. It’s no knock on him or Danault; it’s a knock on Habs management, which hasn’t had a bona fide No. 1 centreman for years.

Remember when then-mayor Denis Coderre tweeted to say Desharnais, who was in a scoring slump at the time, should be sent down to the American Hockey League? That was a horrible thing for Coderre to say. A fan can say that. The mayor of Montreal can’t.

Louis Leblanc, a Canadiens first-round draft choice (No. 18 overall in 2009), also knows all about the crazy pressure for local players here. So does Guillaume Latendresse, who was selected No. 45 overall in 2005 by Montreal. You could also have a good chat with Patrice Brisebois about what it was like to listen to thousands booing him every time he touched the puck at the Bell Centre.

There is something unique about being a francophone Quebecer wearing the CH. Many of the Habs greats — Hall of Famers like Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Jean Béliveau, Serge Savard and Guy Lafleur — thrived on the pressure.

But things have changed in the past quarter-century. A good half of the roster of the Canadiens team that won the 1993 Cup were francophones. Now, there are only two francophones on the team and so the weight on those two guys’ shoulders is all the greater.

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