Not only can you not keep a good team down but in today’s NHL you can’t even keep an average team down.
“In the business we’re in, it’s about having a positive outlook,” says the Canadiens Brendan Gallagher. Following the morning skate a week ago in Philadelphia, the cheery Canadiens’ vibe was not of a team that had lost four of five and 10 of the last 16 to allow an almost season-long surprising grip on a playoff spot to all but slip away.
Expressions of bravery are universal. Stiff upper lips beg to be swollen by the reality of a swift uppercut. But that night the Canadiens played an almost flawless defensive game to cool off the hot Flyers. Montreal then smoked the Islanders, beat faded Buffalo by a 7-4 score that didn’t flatter the Canadiens’ dominance and thanks to Carey Price’s brilliance, almost stole a fourth win in six days before losing 2-1 in overtime in Raleigh.
It’s a scramble out there. Suddenly the Habs are back in playoff position just as, if the season lasted long enough, about 25 of the 30 teams would be. Neverthless, Montreal holds the second wild-card spot by two points over Columbus with each team having six to play; the Canadiens that close to making the playoffs for the first time in three years and only the second time in four seasons.
Nos Glorieux this version of the team, is not. The last of 23 Cup was 26 years ago. But, as Guy LaPointe is not coming back, the citoyens, who have seen their team advance past the first round only seven times since 1993, have given up on dominant and will settle happily for plucky. And is personified by Gallagher, the 5-foot-nine team star who has reached 30 goals for a second straight season.
“It’s not just the goals, it’s the way he plays that’s inspiring,” says winger Paul Byron. “Any small player can look at the way he plays and say ‘Well, I can do that, too.’
“He battles he competes, He’s got the heart of a lion out there. The reason he scores 30 goals is he goes to the dirty areas; takes a beating out there. No player should ever feel like they can’t make the NHL.”
No players should ever feel like his team can’t make the playoffs if this Montreal crew does. The No. 1 center is Tomas Tatar, who only once has broken 50 points. The defensive numbers–penalty killing 16th, 19th goals against– are mediocre. Shots being a reflection of effort, goals being a reflection of talent, the third highest shots per game has yielded only the 15th ranked number of goals, which pretty well sums things up. Yet while confidence around the goal has ebbed at times, never energy. Few thought this was a a plyoff team in September, but aas a five and a four game losing streak have been the worst of it, the Canadiens keep fighting back.
“Some gues are squeqqin our stilcs. Want to push things in the right diertion and the best way to do that is to continue to believe, come to the rink and enjoy the challgne. Some teams are out of it, I wold rather still be in it fighting. This is how you get better. We have some teams experience this for the first itme. If we can pull through this, with a positive result we will have grown a lot.
Shows you what coaching, effort and goaltending can do. In Price, the Canaies have a once Hart Trophy netminder still in his prime, In xx-year-old Claude Julien, the Canadiens have a coach who was dumped in New Jersey with three games to go in a 107-point season, dumped after winning a Cup in Boston and getting another Burins team to a final; and let go in his first go-round in Montreal half a season after impvoing the team by 29 wins.
Guess you had to be there to see some logic in any of those moves. In a season with some exceptional coaching jobs—Craig Berube, Barry Trotz, Rod Brind’amour, Bill peters – Julien’s should also be in Jack Adams discussion.
The return of Shea Weber has helped solidify a shaky back-end. Otherwise the epitome of economy of motion in goal is the anthisesis of what Montreal has up front –when you are third in shots and 15th in offense, that fits no definition of smooth–but the Canadiens have handled the bumps well.
Don’t know if we see an upset of Tampa Bay in the immediate future of a return to glory on the horizon, but you would have to be holding a long grudge or be from Boston to not feel its right for the Canadiens, in any year, to be in the playoffs.
Where have you gone, the standard bearers of the NHL? It’s been since since pre-expansion that the Leafs could be considered that. The Bruins haven’t had a deep run in six years. The Flyers have not won a playoff round in seven seasons. It’s been boom or bust since birth for the Penguins, and the two multiple Cup winners since the lockout, Chicago and Los Angeles, are lottery teams now.
The Rangers have had a couple of periods of serious contention but still have claimed only one Cup in 79 years. The Red Wings latest run was even better than its one in the fifties, but its ancient history now. The most conistent franchise over the last 20 years (18 playoff appearances) has been the Sharks, but they still haven’t won.
Expansion and the cap have done their job, if parity is what you want, but the league also needs identity and icons. There is an entire generation of fans who don’t remember when year after year the Canadiens were the Canadiens. To those watching them today, Montreal may be just another team, but this never will be just another franchise. These guys are brining back some honor.
Blogger •NHL Hall of Fame writer • 
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