Could NHL coach lead us out of recession?

Last week the Montreal Canadiens, the winningest franchise in all of pro sports, was in a slump having lost game after game, nothing was going right. The goaltending was dodgy at best, the scoring was abysmal and the defense was virtually invisible. Then the coach, Guy "Carbo" Carbonneau, decides that he's forcing his big star Alexei Kovalev to take a few days off to rest and reflect on his poor play. Since Kovalev's return from his "time off" Carbo has reunited his old top line, placed the number two goaltender in net and GM Bob Gainey has added a veteran defenseman to the lineup. And up until tonight, the Canadiens had been unstoppable.

Which leads me to my question: could we do the same thing with our government? And would it work? Seriously... think about it.

Ask Harper (playing the role of Kovalev) to take a few days off to contemplate how he's screwing the country with his slush fund and his pompous attitude. Then ask Ignatieff what he would do differently (he'd play the role of backup goaltender) and ask him how he would stop the hemorrhage. Then, just to add a veteran to the mix, bring on an oldie like Tobin or Jean Chretien to advise on how to handle the crisis.

I'm not saying this is the ultimate answer, but the slush fund seems to be something that is foolish at best. The opposition seem, for the most part, to be against it and right now, the opposition represents the majority of Canadians. And an old warhorse should be brought in to advise both the current leadership and the opposition leadership. To bridge the gap in policy and to prevent the now imminent fighting that will ensue after the Tories start their attack adds.

In my opinion, a government that seems to put a lot more planning into attacking the opposition than it does in planning a 3 billion dollar emergency fund should take a serious step back, take a long hard look at themselves and say: what is our priority in leading this country? Is it staying in power through slander or through earning the trust and respect of Canadians.

Kovalev did just that. He looked at himself in the mirror and decided that he would step up and play the way he should. He admitted that this was the best thing for him even if, at first, he was unhappy with it.

Maybe if the Conservatives did the same, they'd come to similar conclusions.

Muchacho Enfermo